Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 14 June 2007
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax
An estimate of the average Band D council tax set by parish and town councils in 2006-07 is to be found in table A2b of “Local Government Financial Statistics England No. 17” which was published on 30 April 2007.
A copy can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/stats/lgfs/2007/lgfs17.
Details of the average Band D council tax and average council tax per dwelling for 2007-08 were published in a statistical release “Levels of council tax set by local authorities in England—2007-08” on 27 March 2007.
The release can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/ctax/ctax067.htm
Departments: Carbon Emissions
Communities and Local Government calculates its carbon emissions from buildings by establishing energy consumption in kilowatt hours, through either automated meter reads, manual meter reads or utility billing information. The resultant energy consumption figures are then multiplied by the relevant carbon emission factors.
All carbon conversion factors are provided by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, and the resultant emissions data are submitted to the Sustainable Development Commission as part of the Sustainable Development in Government Report. Last year’s report is available on the Sustainable Development Commission’s Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) Report 2006 website:
http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/sdig2006/.
Departments: Church of Scientology
No local government institutions have contacted the Department for guidance on these matters during the last two years, nor has any such guidance been issued.
Departments: Consultants
This question can be fully answered only at disproportionate cost.
Communities and Local Government has engaged consultants to support policy development in response to the need to develop sustainable homes and communities. The skills required for these programmes were not available from civil servants.
In addition, specialist skills including project management, finance, engineering, technology specification, building specification and design, security and resilience have been procured to support the delivery of projects to enhance the ability of the Fire and Rescue Service to respond to major incidents.
The work undertaken includes provision of radio engineering expertise for the new radio systems for the Fire and Rescue Service; also, logistical support and design for responding to chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear incident, and search and rescue incidents.
However the following table lists the 10 highest consultancy costs incurred by the Department.
Vendor name Programme Value of supply 1 April 2003- 30 March 2007 (£ million) PA Consulting FireControl 18.6 Mott McDonald FireLink 12.7 SERCO New Dimensions 7.2 IBM Planning Portal 6.0 CapGemini Supporting People 5.5 Collective Enterprises Home Improvement Advice 3.1 Xansa LogasNet 2.8 Turner Townsend Fire Control 2.5 Xansa Hub Project 1.9 Ernst Young FireLink 1.1
Domestic Wastes: Waste Management
I have been asked to reply.
My Department has funded research and guidance through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to assist local authorities in carrying out their waste collection operations in their chosen manner efficiently and effectively. However, decisions on the best way to collect waste are rightly a matter for local authorities, not central government.
European Regional Development Fund
I have placed a copy of the Roadmap to Assurance in the Library of the House, which sets out the Department’s response to the EC decision to delay payment to five English ERDF programmes and one urban programme. The roadmap supplements and strengthens guidance already issued by the Department.
The following English ERDF programmes have had payments held back by the European Commission:
Objective 1 Merseyside
Objective 1 South Yorkshire
Objective 2 West Midlands
Objective 2 Yorkshire and The Humber
Objective 2 North East of England
Objective 2 London
Stockwell
Burnley, Blackburn and Darwen
Halifax in Calderdale
Hetton and Murton
Peterborough
These programmes have increased the number of on site checks as part of a robust action plan to address the Commission requirements. We are confident that payments can resume quickly after we have submitted our reports to the Commission at the beginning of July.
Housing: Carbon Emissions
I refer the hon. Member to the comments made by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary, on 15 May 2007, Official Report, column 142.
Immigration
Communities and Local Government receive representations from local authorities about the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) population estimates and population projections used in the local government finance settlements on a range of issues.
Officials meet with ONS officials regularly and discuss a variety of issues including population estimates.
Local Authorities: Committees
The Department issued the New Council Constitutions Guidance Pack to local authorities in 2000, which includes reference to the rules relating to the political balance of area committees. The documents are available in the Library of the House and can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1133792.
Non-domestic Rates
The average business rates bill in England in 2007-08 is expected to be £10,817.
For details of previous years, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 March 2007, Official Report, column 238W.
Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property
The Government estimate was published in the Red Book alongside the Budget Report 2007.
Non-Domestic Rates: Valuation
The number of properties described as “golf course” in the 2005 Rating Lists for England, at 31 March 2007, is 1,928.
In addition to the number shown, there may be other golf courses that are secondary to a main assessment (e.g. with hotels). There may also be courses that are exempt from rating, if held as part of a larger public park and available for free and unrestricted use by the public.
Regional Housing Boards: Freedom of Information
As voluntary bodies, Regional Assemblies are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Nevertheless the Government expects the Assemblies to comply with the spirit of the Act when they perform their designated functions, as set out in “Guidance on the General Principles of Designation of Voluntary Regional Assemblies”.
Waste Management
I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 March 2007, Official Report, column 1641W.
I have been asked to reply.
It will be for interested local authorities to submit proposals for joint waste authorities (JWAs) to the Secretary of State for approval and implementation through secondary legislation.
The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill, which contains the Government’s proposals to allow the creation of joint waste authorities, is scheduled to receive Royal Assent in the autumn. Following Royal Assent, the Government will undertake a consultation on draft Regulations which will set out what authorities' proposals must address. Any proposals will also be subject to a local public consultation. It is therefore estimated that the first JWAs may be established at the end of 2008 at the earliest, depending on the wishes of local authorities.
Waste Management: Cost Effectiveness
The following councils have included alternative waste collections in their annual efficiency statement:
2004-05 Backward Look
Babergh district council, Mid Bedfordshire district council, North Norfolk district council, Rossendale borough council, South Cambridgeshire district council.
2005-06 Backward Look
Broadland district council, Canterbury city council, Charnwood borough council, Chorley borough council, Crewe and Nantwich borough council, Mid Bedfordshire district council (included above), Mole Valley district council, North Shropshire district council, Rossendale borough council (included above), South Cambridgeshire district council (included above), Wycombe district council.
2006-07 Forward Look
Bridgnorth district council, Canterbury city council (included above), Charnwood borough council, Chichester district council, Crewe and Nantwich borough council (included above), Hertsmere borough council, Kennet district council, Rotherham metropolitan borough council, Salisbury district council, Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council, South Kesteven district council, Suffolk Coastal district council, Tewkesbury district council, West Lancashire district council, Wycombe district council (included above).
Culture, Media and Sport
Departments: Buildings
Information on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Royal Parks Agency does not lease any buildings or office space.
Departments: Manpower
Both the Royal Parks Agency and Ofcom have no staff funded by the public purse classified as people without posts.
The British Library has five members of staff whose position may be deemed pertinent to the classification in question. These five employees have all been affected by recent restructuring in their area or the completion of projects on which they were engaged. Therefore, appropriate action is being implemented in each individual case to arrive at a satisfactory outcome, in terms of redeployment or a suitable settlement, to their current situations.
Departments: Property
The Department received the sums recorded as follows for the letting of its properties in each of the last five years.
£ 2002-03 1,915,250.00 2003-04 1,841,425.00 2004-05 1,627,000.00 2005-06 1,679,262.17 2006-07 482,000.00
The following properties were (a) owned and (b) rented by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in each of the last five financial years.
(a) The Department owns the freeholds to the following properties in Windsor:
21, 22, 23, 29 Park Street and St. Mark’s Place.
During the period in question the Department sold hitherto owned properties as follows;
the freehold with vacant possession to 10 Chantry Close Windsor in 2003-04;
freeholds to 30, 31 and 32 Park Street, Windsor were sold in 2004-05;
The freehold to the North East corner of the Royal Garden Hotel was sold in 2005-06.
the freehold to 20 Park Street Windsor was sold in 2006-07 and in the same year Fairview Cottage was sold as freehold with vacant possession.
The Department owns an area of land to the north of the British Library in London.
(b) The Department rents the following properties—all in London and has done so throughout the period in question;
2-4 Cockspur Street;
Oceanic House;
Grove House;
Queen’s Yard.
The Department rented floor space at Woburn Place, London until the end financial year of 2004-05 and rented a floor at 55 Blandford Street, London during financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06.
The freeholds of certain properties in Windsor are held in the name of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. These are leased on a long term basis by private individuals.
The latest estimated value held in the Department’s asset register for these properties is £140,000.
One other property in Windsor cannot be sold as it is within the security compound of Windsor Castle.
The Department owns an area of land to the North of the British Library in London. There are plans to sell this land: it is currently valued in our asset register at £26.6 million.
Digital Broadcasting: Copeland
The Whitehaven, Gosforth and Eskdale Green transmitters will switchover to digital in October this year. The technical characteristics for each transmitter have been chosen to allow their predicted digital coverage levels to match current analogue coverage levels.
The switchover will begin in Whitehaven and the surrounding area on 17 October and in the rest of Copeland as part of the wider border region in late 2008.
Public awareness of switchover in Copeland is now 97 per cent. and 71 per cent. of primary sets have already been converted in advance of the area switching in October.
The contractor for operating the help scheme in Copeland, Capita, has now been appointed.
In addition, of those asked none has stated that they will not convert at least one set prior to switchover.
Households in the Whitehaven area where at least one person is registered blind or registered partially-sighted or with a severe disability will be provided with the appropriate equipment to convert one TV set and, where necessary, the relevant help to install and use such equipment and an aerial installation.
We estimate that around 8,500 households will be eligible for assistance from the digital switchover help scheme (DSHS) in the Copeland constituency. The vast majority will be eligible for help when the Whitehaven transmitters are switched over in between October and November 2007. All others will be eligible when the Caldbeck transmitter switches in early 2009.
We estimate that around 36 per cent. of those eligible, will be eligible for free assistance on the grounds of receiving pension credit, income support and income based job seeker's allowance. 64 per cent. of those eligible, will be eligible for assistance subject to a charge of £40.
European Capital of Culture: Liverpool
DCMS and Arts council have committed £10 million over the period 2005-09 to support Liverpool’s Capital of Culture. In addition Liverpool received a grant of £1,200,000 from the Urban Cultural programme; and the North West Development Agency has approved £2 million.
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has approved £10 million funding and in addition provided Phase 1—£946,000 ERDF pre 2008 approval and Phase 2—£2.63 million ERDF post approval.
Olympic Games: Greater London
The mandatory ceremonies will be directly funded from the London 2012 Organising Committee’s budget for the 2012 games. It is confident that the mandatory ceremonies will be funded within its £2 billion revenue budget. The bid projects and signature events and the UK-wide cultural festival will be delivered and funded in partnership with a range of public and private partners. For example, the £40 million Legacy Trust will fund cultural and sporting activity in the run up to the 2012 games.
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will shortly set out more detail on the bid projects and the UK-wide Cultural Festival. The Cultural Olympiad is an opportunity for exciting proposals to be generated in the regions over the four-year period with funding being drawn in from a number of sources.
Meetings of the cost review group which took forward the work of the steering group were held on:
26 January 2006;
7 February 2006;
21 February 2006;
9 March 2006; and
25 April 2006.
KPMG were commissioned in October 2005 to provide advice on the cost of the Olympics. That advice was provided on an ongoing basis; and included KPMG being involved in the cost review set up to take forward the work of the cost review steering group.
The cost review steering group included membership from DCMS, HMT, ODPM (now DCLG), GLA, LOCOG, the interim ODA and KPMG. These organisations were also represented in the cost review group that was chaired by the Minister for Sport.
Dependent on the subject under discussion, representatives from HO, DfT, British Olympic Association (BOA), the Olympic Board Secretariat (now the Olympic Programme Support Unit) and Sport England were also invited to attend these meetings.
The cost review group chaired by the Minister for Sport assessed opportunities for reducing costs. This included the consideration of alternative options for the configuration of the Olympic park, alternative locations for venues, and for rationalising the design of supporting infrastructure. The group did not produce a report, although the output of its work informed decisions on the new Olympic park master plan announced on 7 June 2006.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 21 November 2006, reported in paragraphs 48 to 50 of the Committee's report, published on 24 January 2007, where I stated that it was known at the time of the bid that the bid did not include VAT. The basis for that was the understood and agreed assumption that it was not possible to sort out the tax treatment until the delivery structures were in place, and that matter could not be known before the bid was won. This issue was taken forward as part of the cost review work, and I announced the VAT position in respect of the Olympic Delivery Authority in my statement to the House on 15 March 2007.
Following London winning the bid, I instituted a thorough review of costs and provisions for the Olympic games. This included consultations and discussions within Government, with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and with other delivery partners. This also incorporated consideration of what funds needed to be available, and by when. Following the conclusion of this cost review, I announced on 15 March 2007, Official Report, column 450, a budget for the ODA and on a number of issues including wider security, tax and contingency provision.
The work to develop the revised Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London is progressing well. The revised Memorandum will be published as soon as possible, following its agreement.
(2) what provision is made for consideration of impacts on Scotland in the contractual specification and terms of reference governing KPMG's provision of on-going advice on the cost of the Olympic games in 2012.
After winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympic games, I instituted a thorough cost review. This cost review, to which KPMG provided advice, was overseen by the Olympic cost review steering group.
No specific assessment of the interests or impact to Scotland formed part of the drafting of the terms of reference of the Olympic cost review steering group, or the contractual specification and terms of reference governing KPMG's provision of on-going advice on the cost of the Olympic and Paralympic games.
The Government are committed to ensuring that people across the UK, including Scotland can benefit from, and participate in, the 2012 Olympic games and Paralympic games. We are working closely with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic games and Paralympic games (LOCOG) and the Nations and Regions Group (NRG), chaired by Charles Allen, which brings together representatives from every Nation and region. Each Nation and region is finalising its own plan to maximise the impact of the games in their area, as well as the wider opportunities to deliver a sustainable legacy from the games.
Further detailed information regarding Scotland’s plan can be provided by the relevant NRG Coordinator, Ian Campbell (Scottish Executive, Sports Division, Room 1-B(N), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ).
In addition, Hampden Park in Glasgow will host group stages of the Olympic football competition. This will add significant strength to Scotland’s potential to benefit from the games.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave 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. My response sets out 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. This is also summarised in paragraphs 48 to 50 of the Committee's report published on 24 January.
Tourism: Greater London
DCMS provides funding of around £50 million per annum to VisitBritain, which promotes Britain as a whole. The Department's funding agreement with VisitBritain includes a target that, of the additional expenditure by inbound visitors generated by VisitBritain, a specified percentage should be achieved outside London. For 2005-06, the target was 55 per cent. and VisitBritain exceeded this by achieving a regional spread of 61 per cent.
Campaigns run by VisitBritain and enjoyEngland highlight attractions across the country to both inbound and domestic visitors. They target, for example, the growing demand for city breaks and the lifestyle market (including the appeal of food, sport, culture and family friendly attractions).
VisitBritain also co-funds (with Visit London) the Britain and London Visitor Centre. This acts as a gateway for visitors to learn about, and set out to explore, the rest of the country. VisitBritain’s quality assessment schemes for accommodation and visitor attractions ensure uniform national standards for visitors.
The Department, along with our partners, will shortly publish a strategy to ensure that the tourism sector makes the most of the opportunities provided by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. One of the principles of this will be that the benefits of the games are felt as widely as possible throughout the UK.
VisitBritain
VisitBritain has restructured to meet the challenges posed by market trends, such as the move away from printed consumer literature and towards online marketing. VisitBritain will focus its activities on developing new and growing markets, including proposed increases in staffing levels in the Asia-Pacific region.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departments: Advertising
The Cabinet Office does not keep central records of such revenue. To provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Departments: Manpower
The Central Office of Information has no staff classified as people without posts.
All members of staff in the Department’s Priority Talent Pool are engaged in work to deliver the Department’s business objectives to ensure that there is no additional cost to the public purse.
Departments: Official Cars
All travel is undertaken in accordance with Travel by Ministers and the Ministerial Code, copies of which are available in the House Library.
Energy: Environment Protection
Information relating to the policy review is available on the Cabinet Office website http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/policy_review/index.asp. Papers were drafted for working group meetings of each strand of the policy review. However, these were working papers prepared for internal discussion by Ministers and have not been disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussions in future.
Voluntary Work: Young People
The independent youth-led charity v has created nearly 120,000 volunteering opportunities for young people.
In addition to the grant funded and match funded projects, v has commissioned 20 teams based within local communities with the aim of creating a further 22,800 local opportunities over the next two years.
A detailed breakdown of expenditure will be in v’s annual report which will be published later this year.
Education and Skills
Advertising
Sponsorship costs for running the supplement were £50,000. There were no additional costs for print or online advertising to promote the supplement.
(2) when he expects to answer Questions (a) 129957 on publications tabled on 22 March 2007 and (b) 129955 on advertising and sponsorship tabled on 21 March 2007 by the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire.
In financial year 2006-07, the following activity was placed:
(a) Sponsorship of supplements in newspapers and publications.
£000 Evening Standard (London Challenge) 60.0 The Guardian (Every Child Matters) 1120.0 TES (14-19 reforms) 51.4 The Guardian (14-19 reforms 42.0 1 Covers two supplements in Guardian Education and Guardian Society
(b) Advertorials in newspapers and magazines.
£000 Kerrang (Student finance) 2.3 NME (Student finance) 15.6 More (Student finance) 9.6 Daily Mirror (Childcare) 13.0 The Voice (Childcare) 1.5
Animal Experiments
The Department has not distributed any information to schools regarding vivisection.
Building Schools for the Future Programme: Leicester
The DFES was informed of Centerprise's voluntary withdrawal from providing ICT equipment as part of Leicester's BSF programme on 12 March 2007.
Children: Protection
The core statutory guidance document ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ sets out the way in which the training and development of staff and volunteers should be undertaken to help them safeguard and promote the welfare of children effectively. The guidance states that it is the responsibility of employers to identify adequate resources and support for multi-agency training. It is the responsibility of the local authorities (LAs), with their partners in children’s trusts, and in discussion with the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) to decide, which bodies should commission or deliver the training. In some local areas it is the LSCB themselves who are commissioned to deliver the multi-agency training.
The Department only has data on this final type of training—delivered by LSCBs themselves. LSCBs were invited to take part in a voluntary survey in December 2006. In those survey returns, planned expenditure on the delivery of training in 2006-07 across those LSCBs for which we have data—around two thirds of all LSCBs in England—totalled around £2 million. If this is representative of all LSCBs then across the whole of England we could expect LSCBs to have spent around £3 million on safeguarding training in 2006-07. However this LSCB expenditure will be only part of the overall expenditure on multi-agency safeguarding training.
City Academies
There are 26 Academies open where construction work has been completed. The cost of each is detailed in the chart. These figures presented are as at May 2007 and are subject to change as final accounts have yet to be agreed.
Academy Cost DfES Contribution 1 Bexley Business Academy1 38.5 36 2 Walsall City Academy 17.5 15 3 Greig City Academy, Haringey 16.5 14.5 4 Capital City Academy, Brent 27.5 25.5 5 Lambeth Academy 25.5 23.5 6 King's Academy, Middlesbrough 22.5 20.5 7 Unity City Academy, Middlesbrough 22.0 18.5 8 The West London Academy, Ealing1 32.5 30.5 9 Stockley Academy, Hillingdon 28.0 25.5 10 Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham 23.5 23.5 11 The Academy at Peckham, Southwark 30.0 28 12 Bristol City Academy 27.5 25 13 Manchester Academy 20.0 18 14 Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney 28.5 26.5 15 The Academy of St. Francis of Assisi, Liverpool 21.0 19 16 Northampton Academy 27.5 25.5 17 City of London Academy, Southwark 33.5 31.5 18 Trinity Academy, Doncaster 25.0 23 19 Marlowe Academy, Kent 28.0 25 20 London Academy, Barnet 33.5 32 21 Sandwell Academy 27.0 24.5 22 Grace Academy, Solihull 31.5 29.5 23 Salford City Academy 16.5 15 24 David Young Community Academy, Leeds 23.5 21.5 25 Dixons City Academy, Bradford2 6.5 6 26 Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham Academy, Lewisham2 7.0 6.5 1 The Business Academy, Bexley and West London Academy, Ealing are “all through” Academies catering for pupils from age 3 to 19. This cost includes the cost of both the primary school and secondary school. 2 Dixons and Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham are both conversions from City Technology Colleges.
City Academies: Finance
When the academy programme was launched in 2000, sponsors were required to provide 10 per cent. of the capital costs of a new building up to a maximum of £2 million. We have since moved to an endowment model of sponsorship, and sponsors will, as the norm, establish an endowment fund worth £2 million (or £1.5 million for the fourth or subsequent academy for sponsors of multiple academies). The Department does not distinguish between sponsorship commitments made by private sector donors and those made by charitable organisations.
There are at present 47 open academies. Of these: two academy trusts had met their full sponsorship commitments before May 2006; one is a former city technology college which is not required to provide sponsorship in the form of a capital contribution; and one is providing sponsorship under the endowment model of sponsorship, leaving a total of 43 academies with commitments to provide a contribution to capital costs.
Over the 12 months ending 31 May 2007 sponsor contributions to capital costs amounted to £13,202,000, an average of £307,023 over the 43 open academies described above.
Sponsors' donations contributing to capital costs are normally made over the lifetime of the building costs of the project, so in the majority of cases a number of payments towards capital costs remain to be made.
Departments: Sign Language
We always consider the needs of minority audiences, including those for whom BSL is a first language, when developing communications campaigns for external audiences, working closely with the Central Office of Information (COI) Diversity Unit. Decisions about the scale and shape of campaign activity need to reflect our responsibility to get the best possible value for money from our marketing budgets.
In recent years, we contributed to a cross-Whitehall BSL video magazine, distributed by COI, which has now been discontinued. The increasing public access to digital media has helped us to respond to accessibility issues around provision of our information. We are committed to including all our public information campaigns on our website in plain English, which helps to overcome many barriers for those with impaired hearing.
Departments: Travel Agents
Details of payments of travel agencies' fees incurred by the Department over the last eight years are set out in the following table.
Hotel contract Business travel contract 2006/07 169, 864 447,131 2005/06 129,224 422,565 2004/05 142,697 396,225 2003/04 98,107 381,192 2002/03 87,541 385,627 2001/02 100,746 441,353 2000/01 97,738 425,770 1999/2000 92,753 399,975
The Department has engaged an agent to arrange hotel accommodation for DfES staff that stay overnight when on official business. The Department has also engaged an agent to arrange all travel tickets for both domestic and foreign travel. The fees stated above form part of the contract of both agents.
The Department does not have any executive agencies.
Departments: Westminster City Council
The grants made to Westminster city council in each year since 1997-98 by this Department, as recorded by the council in the Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) returns, are as follows.
£000 1997-98 Standards Fund 545 Section 11 (Ethnic Minorities) Grant (excluding SRB) 1363 1998-99 Standards Fund 809 Under-5s Specific Grant 460 Ethnic Minorities Achievement Grant 1,539 1999-2000 Standards Fund 1,879 Nursery Education Grant for four-year-olds 64 Ethnic Minorities Achievement Grant 1,398 2000-01 Standards Fund 3,650 Nursery Education Grant for four-year-olds 47 Provision for three-year-olds 30 Ethnic Minorities Achievement Grant 1,249 Sure Start 2 Child Care and Early Years 360 2001-02 Standards Fund 7,478 Teachers Pay Reform 867 School Standards Grant 1,469 Child Care and Early Years 678 2002-03 Standards Fund 9,555 Nursery Education for three-year-olds 915 Teachers Pay Reform 1,083 School Standards Grant 1,540 Child Care and Early Years 593 2003-04 Child care 865 Excellence in Cities 1,065 School Standards 1,967 Standards Fund 8,223 Teachers' Pay Reform 2,073 Children's Services 5,706 2004-05 Adoption Support and Guardianship Special Orders 189 Choice Protects 246 General Sure Start Grant 15 Education Actions Zones 10 Excellence in Cities 1,119 Safeguarding Children 739 School Standards 2,125 Standards Fund 8,472 Teachers' Pay Reform/Threshold 2,415 Teenage Pregnancy Local Implementation 65 2005-06 Adoption Support and Guardianship Special Orders 314 Choice Protects 530 General Sure Start Grant 3,877 Change Fund 43 Safeguarding Children 862 School Standards 2,286 Standards Fund 10,465 Teachers' Pay Reform/Threshold 2,402 Transforming Youth Work Development Fund 17 Teenage Pregnancy Local Implementation 115 2006-07 Children's Services 901 General Sure Start Grant 2,366 Standards Fund - School Standards Grant 2,420 Standards Fund—Other 8,725 Teenage Pregnancy Local Implementation 140
This table sets out the specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF) (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils' core services) paid to Westminster and exclude grant outside AEF such as capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities, European funding; or where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area. Revenue support grant and other elements of formula grant (such as redistributed business rates and police grant) have also been excluded.
Revenue outturn data have been used from 1997/98 to 2005/06 (the last year available) and Revenue Account (RA) data have been used for 2006-07. Dedicated schools grant (DSG) started in 2006/07 and this has been recorded by Westminster council on their RA return. However, it has been excluded from the above table as prior to 2006-07 this funding was part of RSG, and the question excludes the funding from RSG. The Department can confirm that £86,014 of DSG was paid to Westminster in 2006/07.
There are a number of smaller grants included in an ‘Other’ category on the revenue returns submitted by local authorities. It is possible that there may be some DfES grants within this category, but it is not possible to identify these separately within the return.
Examinations: Fees and Charges
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is currently consulting on the principles which should inform the setting of fees for the Diploma.
Free School Meals: Lone Parents
The information requested is not held centrally.
Further Education: Finance
As the Secretary of State confirmed in his speech to the Association of Colleges annual conference in November 2006 we have, by 2006/7, reduced the funding gap between school sixth forms and FE colleges for comparable 16 to 18 provision by 5 per cent.. We committed in the FE White Paper to take further steps to narrow this funding gap by a further 3 per cent. by 2008 and beyond that to take steps to narrow the gap further as resources allow. For the longer term we plan to establish common funding arrangements for all 16 to 18 provision with comparable funding for comparable activity, irrespective of the type of institution providing the education and training. Our recent consultation on the creation of a demand led system included proposals for this common 16 to 18 funding approach. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and plan to implement changes in time for the 2008/09 academic year.
Per capita funding for full-time equivalent 16, 17 and 18-year-old learners in further education colleges in 2005-06 was £5,000. In 2006-07 we estimate this will rise to £5,100 but this will not be confirmed until final student numbers are available later in the year.
For 16, 17 and 18-year-olds in school sixth forms the level of funding per pupil was £4,900 in 2005-06, this rose to £5,200 in 2006-07.
Figures for school sixth forms and colleges are not directly comparable as a range of factors affects them including the mix of provision offered, achievement and retention levels and the location in which the provider is based. It is also impossible to get an entirely accurate full time equivalent learner figure for college students whereas for schools, as almost all pupils study full time in sixth forms, the pupil count is precise.
Data for 2007-08 will not be available until autumn 2007.
Heartease High School
Cambridge Education (CE Ltd) has been appointed to manage the feasibility study; the cost of this work is £323,000, which is in line with the average cost of a nine-month feasibility phase on other academy projects. As a limited company the articles and memorandum of association for CE are available from Companies House.
Literacy: Computer Software
There is extensive guidance on the use of reading and literacy software for local authorities and schools on the TeacherNet website (www.teachernet.gov.uk) for both primary and secondary education. This includes the practical support pack which is an online collection of high quality lesson content, lesson plans, multimedia resources and ICT support materials designed to help teachers develop their teaching practice using ICT. It shows the role that ICT can play in teaching and learning objectives as a practical approach.
The practical support pack will soon be replaced by a new CPD microsite contained within TeacherNet, called ‘Reach’. Reach will contain all of the PSP materials and more within a new design.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
The requested information has been placed in the House Library.
Schools: Admissions
Data on heard and successful admissions appeals for all local education authorities in England, covering the years 1997-98 to 2005-06, have been placed in the Library.
Schools: Choirs
The £10 million is not being devolved to schools at this stage. There has been huge interest in the national singing campaign and Howard Goodall, the singing ambassador, has received hundreds of messages from schools, organisations and individuals asking how they can become involved or providing details of the work they already do. Plans are being made to allocate the funding to major national initiatives to achieve the widest possible impact. This will include the production of a major song resource to be made available to every school and every child and the training of vocal leaders for schools.
Schools: Church of Scientology
(2) what assessment he has made of the success of the Narconon programme in schools;
(3) what contact his Department has had with (a) Narconon and (b) the Church of Scientology in the last two years.
The Department has had no contact with Narconon or the Church of Scientology in the last two years, nor have schools contacted the Department for guidance on visits by these organisations.
The Department’s guidance, “Drugs: Guidance for Schools” (DFES 2004) is clear that teachers should be the main providers of drug education and maintain responsibility for the overall drug education programme in their school. External contributors can be used where they add to the drug education programme a dimension that the teacher alone cannot deliver.
The Department has not assessed the Narconon drug programme for schools as it is for schools and local authorities to decide whether to use the services of an external contributor to assist with their drug education programme, and if so who this should be.
Schools: Finance
By 1 June 2007, the closing date of the consultation, my Department had received a total of 1,163 representations about our proposals for the school, early years and 14-16 funding arrangements for 2008-11. This includes 651 representations made as part of six campaigns including 542 letters supporting the position of the F40 group of authorities of which the hon. Member for Stafford is chair.
We are now considering the responses. The final total, including a number received since the closing date, will be set out in a report summarising the responses to the consultation to be published on the TeacherNet website when we announce our decisions on the proposals in the summer. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library.
Special Educational Needs: Finance
The requested information has been placed in the House Library.
Swimming: Finance
Swimming activities and water safety is a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for physical education in primary schools and schools can choose it as a programme of study in secondary schools. Funding for schools to deliver the National Curriculum is part of their core funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant—£28.3 billion in total in 2007-08.
In addition, £5.5 million in 2006-08 is being targeted at supporting pupils to reach the Key Stage 2 requirements for swimming, including being able to swim at least 25 metres.
Teachers: Vacancies
The following table shows the number of full-time vacant teaching posts in local authority maintained nursery/primary, secondary and special schools in each January from 1997 to 2007. Vacancy rates as a percentage of full-time teachers in post are also included.
A full-time teacher vacancy refers to a full-time appointment of at least one term's duration that, on the survey date, had been advertised but not filled. Vacancies include those filled on a temporary basis unless filled by someone with a fixed term contract of one term or more.
Vacancies as a percentage of teachers in post2 Number of vacancies 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20073 20073 Nursery and primary All vacancies Number 1,090 1,390 1,370 1,420 2,110 1,800 1,110 780 740 710 660 — Rate 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.2 1.0 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.0 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7 230 Head 0.6 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.6 100 Deputy head/assistant head 1.3 2.0 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.7 130 Classroom teacher 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.2 1.1 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 430 Secondary All vacancies Number 730 970 940 1,250 2.590 2,450 2,050 1,630 1,550 1.340 1,220 — Rate 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.7 1.4 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.4 80 Head 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.5 1.0 0.9 0.5 20 Deputy head/assistant head 0.7 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 60 Classroom teacher 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.7 1.5 1.4 1.2 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.7 1,130 Special All vacancies Number 200 230 220 240 280 290 240 220 190 180 170 — Rate 1.5 1.8 1.7 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.4 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.5 1.7 1.6 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.5 1.3 40 Head 1.2 1.1 2.0 2.5 1.0 1.1 1.0 0.8 0.9 1.6 1.2 10 Deputy head/assistant head 2.7 2.7 2.0 2.6 2.3 2.0 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.4 1.4 30 Classroom teacher 1.4 1.8 1.6 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.4 130 Nursery/primary, secondary and special All vacancies Number 2,020 2,590 2,530 2,910 4,980 4,540 3,410 2,630 2,480 2,230 2,040 — Rate 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8 1.4 1.2 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 1.0 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.6 350 Head 0.7 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.6 130 Deputy head/assistant head 1.2 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 220 Classroom teacher 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.4 1.3 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 1,690 1 Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration). Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis of less than one term. 2 Teachers in post include full-time qualified regular teachers in (or on secondment from) maintained nursery and primary schools, plus the primary portion of full-time regular divided service, peripatetic, advisory and miscellaneous teachers. 3 Provisional. 4 The number of teachers in post by grade is from the 618g survey for 2001 onwards, previous years were estimated using the Database of Teacher Records. 5 The role of assistant head was created in 2001. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because of rounding. Source: 618g survey
Teachers: Training
The following tables show the number of final year initial teacher training (ITT) trainees for each year between 1998-99 and 2004-05 who did not gain qualified teacher status (QTS) in their final year of training and of these the number who left their course before completion and the number where the outcome of QTS is unknown for:
1. Mainstream initial teacher training (ITT) trainees
2. Employment based routes (EBR) trainees
Number of mainstream final year trainees who have not gained QTS Total number of mainstream trainees in their final year Number of mainstream final year trainees gaining QTS Known not to have completed course Undefined outcome Other outcome Total 1998/99 27,200 24,070 1,310 460 1,350 3,130 1999/2000 24,650 21,690 1,290 350 1,330 2,960 2000/01 25,720 22,640 1,350 480 1,250 3,080 2001/02 26,350 23,280 1,130 0 1,940 3,070 2000/03 28,570 25,430 1,050 10 2,090 3,140 2003/04 30,970 27,340 1,470 0 2,160 3,630 2004/05 31,360 27,150 1,410 20 2,780 4,210 Notes: 1. Includes trainees from universities and other higher education (HE) institutions, school centred initial teacher training (SCITT) and open universities (OU), but exclude employment based routes (EBR). 2. Numbers are individually rounded to the nearest 10, therefore may not sum. 3. 'Other outcome' includes final year trainees who are yet to complete their course, those with withheld QTS (including those where their skills test was not met, their standards were not met and where both their standards and skills test were not met) and those where the skill test has not been taken (include those whose standards were met and those whose standards were not met). Source:TDA performance profiles.
Number of EBR final year trainees who have not gained QTS Total number of EBR trainees in their final year Number of EBR final year trainees gaining QTS Known not to have completed course Undefined outcome Other outcome Total 2001/02 2,440 2,210 30 0 190 230 2002/03 4,030 3,670 340 0 20 360 2003/04 4,950 4,470 440 0 30 470 2004/05 7,220 6,600 260 0 350 610 Notes: 1. Includes trainees through employment based routes (EBR) only. 2. Numbers are individually rounded to the nearest 10, therefore may not sum. 3. 'Other outcome' includes final year trainees who are yet to complete their course, those with withheld QTS (including those where their skills test was not met, their standards were not met and where both their standards and skills test were not met) and those where the skill test has not been taken (include those whose standards were met and those whose standards were not met). Source: TDA performance profiles.
Train-to-Gain Programmes
[holding answer 4 June 2007]: Train to gain is an ongoing service and as such performance is updated on a regular basis. Detailed operational information is not held centrally by the Department but is collected by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC); Mark Haysom the LSC Chief Executive has written directly to the hon. Member with the available information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 11 June 2007:
I am writing in response to your question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills about how many employees within the public sector had enrolled in train to gain programmes by the end of February 2007. In public sector employers with (a) fewer than 250 (b) between 250 and 1,000, (c) 1,000 and 5,000, (d) more than 5,000 employees
The LSC employer database structure does not report all of the size bands requested. However, the following information should be helpful.
Employer size Number of learners 1 to 49 5,225 250 to 4,999 2,052 5,000 + 255
Aggressive Pupils
The provision of counselling and legal support is a matter for the local authorities and schools that employ teachers and for teachers’ professional associations. Teachers who have been subjected to physical aggression should report incidents to their employer, who has a duty of care to support them.
The Department has issued new guidance, Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education which gives advice about dealing with allegations against teachers. This came into force on 1 January 2007.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Bees
A 2001 Economic Evaluation of DEFRA's bee health programme estimated the value of honey bees to commercial pollination at approximately £120 million, although changes in crop areas and values suggest that the value may now be lower. No valuation of the role of honey bees in relation to the pollination of wild plants is available.
Agriculture: Subsidies
In England, as of 6 June 2007, 24 claimants have not received a payment for the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) and approximately 4,400 claimants have not yet received a payment for the SPS 2006.
Detailed analysis of all the payments made under the Single Payment Scheme is not yet available. Once the remaining scheme payments have been completed, a decision will be taken on the level of detail that will be published.
Bees: Diseases
The term Colony Collapse Disorder is being used in the USA to describe cases in which some very large scale commercial operations have lost a high percentage of their hives. A wide range of possible causes are being investigated by researchers in the USA. The National Bee Unit at DEFRA's Central Science Laboratory is maintaining close contact with researchers from the USA.
There have been widely reported, but isolated, cases in the UK in which beekeepers have lost a high percentage of their bee colonies. However, overall percentage losses are similar to previous years, albeit reflecting the gradual increase seen in the last five years.
Bees: Research
DEFRA has received a small number of representations in the last three years regarding funding of research into bees.
Biodiversity
There are 373 single species action plans and 45 habitat action plans under the UK biodiversity action plan. These are referred to as the priority species and habitats. Reporting on the status and trends of these priorities is done every three years. The latest available figures are for 2005. The next and final figures before the 2010 biodiversity target will be made available in February 2009. In 2005, the information below was reported:
175 species (47 per cent.) are either increasing or are stable, which is an improvement on the 2002 figures. Similarly, the number of species assessed as ‘declining or lost’ fell between 2002 and 2005. For habitats, 35 per cent. are now increasing or stable.
102 species (27 per cent.) are thought to be declining, but the decline is slowing for 36 species (10 per cent.). Although 17 habitats (39 per cent.) are thought to be declining, this decline is slowing for 11 habitats (25 per cent.).
Declining habitats
Chalk rivers;
Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh;
Littoral and sublittoral chalk;
Sheltered muddy gravels;
Modiolus modiolus beds;
Coastal saltmarsh.
Declining habitats but slowing
Fens;
Lowland dry acid grassland;
Purple moor grass and rush pastures;
Eutrophic standing waters;
Blanket bog;
Lowland wood-pasture and parkland;
Upland hay meadows;
Upland calcareous grassland;
Lowland calcareous grassland;
Lowland meadows;
Limestone pavements;
Declining species Thlaspi perfoliatum Cotswold Pennycress Silene gallica Small-flowered Catchfly Ranunculus tripartitus Three-lobed Water-crowfoot Pyrrhula pyrrhula Bullfinch Pallavicinia lyellii Veilwort Orthotnchum pallens Pale Bristle-moss Mentha pulegium Pennyroyal Luronium natans Floating Water Plantain Liparis loeselii Fen Orchid Limoniscus violaceus Violet Click Beetle Juncus pygmaeus Pygmy Rush Idaea ochrata cantiata Bright Wave Harpalus froelichi a Ground Beetle Gentianella uliginosa Dune Gentian Galium tricornutum Corn Cleavers Galeopsis angustifolia Red Hemp-nettle Formica candida Black bog ant Ditrichum plumbicola Lead-moss Cicindela sylvatica Heath Tiger Beetle Cerastium nigrescens Shetland Mouse-ear Bidessus unistriatus a Diving Beetle Anostirus castaneus Chestnut coloured click beetle Eunicella verrucosa Pink Sea-fan Zygodon gracilis Nowell’s Limestone Moss Weissia multicapsularis Moss Tetrao tetrix Black Grouse Streptopelia turtur Turtle Dove Squamarina lentigera Scaly Breck-Lichen Sium latifolium Greater Water Parsnip Sciurus vulgaris Red Squirrel Schismatomma graphidioides a Lichen Rheumaptera hastate Argent and sable Raja batis Common Skate Potamogeton compressus Grass-wrack Pondweed Oria musculosa Brighton Wainscot Muscicapa striata Spotted Flycatcher Miliaria calandra Corn Bunting Melanitta nigra Common Scoter Margaritifera margaritifera Freshwater Pearl Mussel Lycopodiella inundata Marsh Clubmoss Lycia zonaria britannica Belted Beauty Linnaea borealis Twinflower Leptopsammia pruvoti Sunset Cup Coral Leptodontium gemmascens Thatch Moss Juniperus communis Juniper Jodia croceago Orange Upperwing Hydroporus rufifrons a Diving Beetle Heliophobus reticulata Bordered Gothic Formica rufibarbis Red Barbed Ant Donacia bicolora a Reed Beetle Damasonium alisma Starfruit Cotoneaster integerrimus Wild Cotoneaster Chrysotoxum octomaculatum a Hoverfly Chaenotheca phaeocephala a Lichen Carduelis cannabina Linnet Caloplaca luteoalba Orange-Fruited Elm-lichen Calicium corynellum a Lichen Bryoria smithii a Lichen Boloria euphrosyne Pearl-bordered Fritillary Bidessus minutissimus a Diving Beetle Austropotamobius pajlipes Freshwater White-clawed Crayfish Aspitates gilvaria gilvaria Straw Belle Anisus vorticulus Ramshorn snail Alauda arvensis Skylark Acrocephalus palustris Marsh Warbler
Declining species but slowing Zygaena loti scotica Slender Scotch Burnet Woodsia ilvensis Oblong Woodsia Triturus cristatus Great Crested newt Tolypella intricata Tassel Stonewort Segmenting nitida Shining ram's-horn snail Potamogeton rutilus Shetland Pondweed Polia bombycina Pale Shining Brown Plebejus argus Silver-studded Blue Perdix perdix Grey Partridge Pechipogo strigilata Common Fan-foot Ostrea edulis Native Oyster Osmia xanthomelana a Mason Bee Odontomyia hydroleon a Soldierfly Muscardinus avellanarius Dormouse Mejiicta athaila Heath Fritillary Lejeunea mandonii Atlantic lejeunea Jynx torquilla Wryneck Hemaris tityus Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth Hammerschmidtia ferruginea a Hoverfly Graphoderus zonatus Spangled Water Beetle Formica exsecta Narrow-headed Ant Eurodryas aurinia Marsh Fritillary Eristalis cryptarum Bog hoverfly Enterographa elaborate New Forest beech-lichen Dicycla oo Heart Moth Coiietes floralis The Northern Colletes Coenagrion mercuriale Southern Damselfly Cephaloziella nicholsonii Greater Copperwort Carterocephalus palaemon Chequered Skipper Bufo calamita Natterjack Toad Athetis paijustris Marsh Moth Asparagus officinalis ssp. prostratus Wild Asparagus Asilus crabroniformis Hornet robberfly Arvicola terrestris Water Vole Argynnis adippe High Brown Fritillary Agabus brunneus a Diving Beetle
Bovine Tuberculosis: Compensation
[holding answer 11 June 2007]: Since 1 February 2006, compensation in England for bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been determined primarily using table values, which reflect the average sales price of bovine animals in 47 different categories. The categories are based on the animal’s age, gender, type (dairy or beef) and status (that is, pedigree or non-pedigree).
The Government are obliged to pay compensation for cattle that are culled as a result of TB. However, we believe that table valuations provide a fairer balance between the costs that are expected to be carried by the taxpayer and those that are expected to be carried by the farmer than was provided by the previous system of individual valuation.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Testing
We are considering how to introduce lay testing for bovine tuberculosis. However, final decisions have still to be taken on whether to proceed.
Details of the Animal Health pilot study have been circulated and discussed with interested parties. The pilot has demonstrated that lay staff can successfully be trained to carry out this work under veterinary supervision. However, we recognise that extending the principle of lay testing raises some important issues. These need to be fully explored with the veterinary profession and other interested parties before firm proposals can be developed.
BSE: Disease Control
A Veterinary Risk Assessment (VRA), published on 21 May 2007, concluded that culling cohorts of cattle affected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) as soon as possible:
(i) supports the Government’s challenging target of eradicating BSE in Great Britain by 2010;
(ii) promotes consumer confidence in UK beef; and
(iii) avoids the need for expensive additional control measures to monitor cohorts.
The VRA is available on the DEFRA website.
Dairy Farming: Republic of Ireland
The Irish Government announced a dairy processing industry investment package in 2006. Following commercial and technical evaluation of the applications, the announcement of grant awards was made in April 2007. A total of 19 capital investment projects were approved and awarded Government grant assistance of €114 million. Industry will fund an additional €172 million to generate an estimated capital spend of €286 million.
The UK Government have made no assessment of the impact on the UK dairy industry as the details of the proposals have only recently been announced. Proposals for research to assess the impact will be evaluated alongside competing proposals in line with Government's priorities. It is, of course, open to the UK dairy sector to fund its own research into the likely effects of the Irish dairy package so that it can respond appropriately.
Departments: Carbon Emissions
The information requested is as follows.
1. Carbon emissions from buildings
Carbon emissions from buildings are calculated from total kilowatt hour energy use (electricity and fossil fuel) in all buildings on the estate. Conversion factors to convert kilowatt hours into tonnes carbon/carbon dioxide are provided by the Sustainable Development Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) return.
2. Carbon emissions from travel
Carbon emissions from official travel within DEFRA are calculated using engine size, total mileage and fuel type. Conversion factors to convert fuel type into tonnes carbon dioxide are provided by the Sustainable Development Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) return.
Departments: Guildford
The planned date for closure of the Epsom road, Guildford site is 30 December 2007.
The Department is conscious that any development scheme for which planning consent is submitted should comply with all available sustainable energy and environmental standards.
The Department confirms that the application for planning that is to be submitted is for residential property and as such will attract the relevant policy (SE2) within the Surrey structure plan relating to sustainable energy and the level three standard for sustainable homes as detailed by Department for Communities and Local Government.
The Department and its agent have had extensive discussions with Guildford borough council’s Trees and Woodlands Officer. The officer is satisfied that there is no threat to the trees under the Department’s planning proposal and no Tree Preservation Orders have been made.
Departments: Manpower
No staff in CEFAS are classified as people without posts.
Departments: Property
The most recent valuation of the Department’s property portfolio was on 1 April 2005. The estimated total value at that date was £490,224,550.
Departments: Publicity
From its inception in 2001 to 2003-04, the Department did not record separate advertising costs as part of its overall communications expenditure. The figures for key advertising campaigns from 2004-05 are as follows.
Advertising campaign Amount (£) 2004-05 Personal food imports 92,343 2005-06 Personal food imports 94,278 2006-07 Personal food imports 81,732 2005-06 Avian flu 185,976
The Department undertakes all of its advertising through the COI’s rosters of advertising agencies.
Domestic Wastes: Waste Management
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 March, Official Report, column 1641W.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP) 2005 guidance on alternate weekly collection of waste is currently being updated and has been withdrawn. Copies of the new guidance will be placed in the House Library as soon as it is available.
Environment Protection: Finance
My Department does not provide any additional funding to local authorities to implement the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (CNEA).
A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) published in July 2004 concluded that, taken as a whole, the measures introduced in the CNEA do not involve significant additional costs for local authorities. Indeed, the RIA concluded they could well lead to overall savings in local authority costs through increased efficiency and effective, well publicised enforcement.
Local authorities themselves asked for these new powers to combat the minority who continue to fly-tip, drop litter and behave in an antisocial manner and the Government have now provided them.
In most cases, local authorities also have the flexibility to set their own fixed penalty rates for offences under the Act and, since November 2003, have been able to retain receipts from fixed penalties issued for local environmental crimes. Poor performing local authorities must re-direct this money into their street cleansing service, although those awarded an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ rating are free to use the penalty receipts as they wish.
Comprehensive guidance has been issued to all local authorities to help them implement the CNEA. This includes specific guidance on developing an enforcement strategy and making the most effective use of available enforcement tools. DEFRA has also produced guidance on how local authorities can make efficiency savings in street cleansing and related services. Copies of all guidance can be downloaded from DEFRA’s website.
Fisheries
Fisheries Administrations regularly undertake quota swaps to support the diverse needs of our inshore fleet. The following table sets out details of the numbers of quota swaps undertaken on their behalf by Fisheries Administrations since January 2005. The monthly breakdown relates to the month the swaps were attributed to the 10 metre and under allocation:
March April May June July August September October November December End year swaps Total 2005 Tonnes gained — 137 37 136 338 172 343 135 171 134 47 1,650 Number of swaps — 15 3 5 25 7 18 9 11 3 9 105 2006 Tonnes gained 10 741 258 163 64 194 165 85 78 134 144 2,036 Number of swaps 1 13 16 17 4 14 18 7 10 18 23 141 2007 Tonnes gained — 700 117 112 — — — — — — — 829 Number of swaps — 19 16 12 — — — — — — — 37 1 Completed as of 12 June 2007.
DEFRA Ministers will meet Ministers from the new administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues, including the Marine Bill, in the week commencing 18 June.
As with the previous administrations, there will continue to be regular contact on the Marine Bill between DEFRA and the devolved administrations. I am committed to working with the devolved administrations to bring a joined-up approach, through the Marine Bill proposals, to the delivery of our shared vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.
No. The arrangements for allocating quota to inshore and other vessels are a matter for individual member states. In the UK the management of the inshore fleet, including these vessels' access to quota, is being considered in the context of the current quota management change programme, with a view to public consultation later this year.
The issue of the application of days at sea limits to under 10 metre vessels has already been considered in the context of the cod recovery plan. The conclusion at Community level was that this was not appropriate, since the large number of these vessels in the UK and other fleets made both the administration and enforcement of the controls potentially extremely difficult and resource intensive. We were supportive of this line and remain so.
Fisheries: Carbon Emissions
Shipping from UK based vessels in territorial waters, is included in the UK greenhouse gas inventory, under national navigation. DEFRA does not produce specific figures on emissions from the fishing industry.
Fisheries: Devon
Future management arrangements for the inshore fleet are being considered in the context of the UK’s current quota management change programme. Issues being examined include access to quota and fleet capacity: the case for region-specific measures, for example in terms of localised management, may also be addressed.
Fishing Catches
In 2006, the UK 10 metre and under fleet landed 7,286 tonnes of fish subject to quotas. Estimates of the level of fish discards are made by scientists involved in the assessment of the state of fish stocks. However, these are made at the level of the overall fish stock rather than for individual segments of the fleet. In addition, such estimates are not made for the full range of fish stocks caught by the 10 metre and under fleet. As such, an estimate of the level of discards attributable to this fleet is not available.
Fly Tipping: Greater London
(2) how many (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions there were in each London borough for fly-tipping in each year since 2004; and how much has been recovered through related fines in each London borough.
[holding answer 5 June 2007]: Flycapture, the national fly-tipping database was set up in 2004 by DEFRA, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association, to record the number of fly-tipping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency and local authorities.
The following tables show the number of incidents and prosecutions recorded by each local authority in Greater London on Flycapture for 2004-2005 and 2005-06. Data recorded in square brackets have been reported by the Environment Agency, who deal only with larger-scale fly-tipping incidents. Data for 2006-2007 are not yet available but will be published in the summer.
Flycapture does not record details of any costs awarded to local authorities by courts following successful prosecutions.
London borough Total number of incidents Estimated clearance costs recorded Number of prosecutions taken to court Number of successful prosecutions Corporation of London 171 9,132 0 0 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham No Data Supplied (11) No Data Supplied (2,841.83) No Data Supplied No Data Supplied London Borough of Barnet 5,726 (14) 273,780 (4,050) 16 15 London Borough of Bexley Council 175 (5) 263,90 (1,170) 0 0 London Borough of Brent 969 (17) 33,037 (2,625) 0 0 London Borough of Bromley 1,913 (5) 157,848.31 (635) 0 0 London Borough of Camden 24,287 (2) 704,323 (150) 0 0 London Borough of Croydon 6,801 (5) 427,877 (505) 2 2 London Borough of Ealing 1,848 (13) 52,375 (2,102.50) 0 0 London Borough of Enfield 2,509 (91 122,050 (1,920) 9 9 London Borough of Greenwich 156 14) 17,930 (325) 4 4 London Borough of Hackney 63 (8) 1,827 (865) 2 2 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 8,099 (7) 381,327 (1,527.50) 0 0 London Borough of Haringey 52,006 (2) 1,508,358 (210) 1 1 London Borough of Harrow 248 (8) 8,333 (775) 0 0 London Borough of Havering 4,943 (6) 284,200 (580) 0 0 London Borough of Hillingdon 2,128 (11) Data not Supplied (4,592.31) 4 (2) 2 (2) London Borough of Hounslow 5,824 (9) 151,929 (1,625) 0 (1) 0 (1) London Borough of Islington 5,196 (5) 232,872 (557.50) 2 2 London Borough of Lambeth 13,783 (2) 404,591 (150) 24 24 London Borough of Lewisham 20,171 (4) 1 ,441 ,300 (350) 48 47 London Borough of Merton 5,155 (8) 272769 (585) 5 5 London Borough of Newham 9,069 (11) 584,741 (1,532.50) 0 0 London Borough of Redbridge 5,864 (5) 299,575 (640) 2 2 London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames 899 (2) 39,91 1 (355) 0 0 London Borough of Southwark 23,006 (1) 994,263 (360) 40 34 London Borough of Sutton 227 (5) 13,319 (583.56) 0 0 London Borough of Tower Hamlets 3,109 (6) 144,998 (862.50) 0 0 London Borough of Waltham Forest 8,304 (7) 539,174 (647.50) 1 1 London Borough of Wandsworth No Data Supplied No Data Supplied No Data Supplied No Data Supplied Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 39,677 1,428,542 6 6 Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames No Data Supplied (1) No Data Supplied (105) No Data Supplied No Data Supplied Westminster City Council 8295 (2) 338,678 (210) 0 0 Totals 260,621 10,895,449.31 166 156 EA Totals 195 33,707.70 3 3
London borough Total number of incidents Estimated clearance costs recorded Number of prosecutions taken to court Number of successful prosecutions Corporation of London 675 31,899 0 0 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham 3,481 (1) 234,117 9 8 London Borough of Barnet 4,843 (7) 236,961(3,750) 32 (1) 32 (1) London Borough of Bexley Council 407 (2) 43,809 (187.50) 0 0 London Borough of Brent 5,233 (4) 311,456 1 1 London Borough of Bromley 4,697 (2) 342,797.90 0 0 London Borough of Camden 170,28 (1) 493,812 (75) 6 6 London Borough of Croydon 8,355 (2) 372,734 (75) 3 3 London Borough of Ealing 9,044 (8) 263,076 (150) 0 0 London Borough of Enfield 5,772 (11) 312,835 (6,750) 4 (7) 4 (7) London Borough of Greenwich 3,233 (2) 124,582 (280) 8 8 London Borough of Hackney 770 (2) 2,5508 (300) 1 1 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 6,017 (1) 528,014 0 0 London Borough of Haringey 63,767 (3) 1,849,243 (150) 11 11 London Borough of Harrow 3,843 (4) 171,150 0 0 London Borough of Havering 9,629 (3) 529,783 (150) 0 0 London Borough of Hillingdon 2,384 (4) 14,596 (225) 39 (2) 39 (2) London Borough of Hounslow 7,345 (4) 210,972 (375) 0 0 London Borough of Islington 8,812 (2) 459,431 16 16 London Borough of Lambeth 10,434 (2) 307,672 (75) 31 31 London Borough of Lewisham 18,987 (3) 941,536 (215) 64 64 London Borough of Merton 3,330 (3) 190,121 (225) 9 9 London Borough of Newham 3,527 401,100 0 0 London Borough of Redbridge 4,455 184,582 6 6 London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames 1,771 (1) 95,709 (75) 0 0 London Borough of Southwark 24,852 (1) 1 ,089,995 49 39 London Borough of Sutton 2,762 (2) 152,555 (70) 5 5 London Borough of Tower Hamlets 5,681 (1) 217,502 (75) 4 4 London Borough of Waltham Forest 8,566 (2) 385,563 (75) 0 0 London Borough of Wandsworth 166,195 (1) 3,655,746 8 8 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 58,374 1 ,876,596 2 2 Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames No Data Supplied No Data Supplied No Data Supplied No Data Supplied Westminster City Council 10,365 (2) 420,222 0 0 Total 484,634 16,475,674.9 308 297 EA Totals 81 13,277.50 10 10
Members: Correspondence
I apologise for the delay in replying to my right hon. Friend's letter. A response was issued on 8 June.
Packaging: Waste Disposal
Food-related packaging makes up an estimated 18-20 per cent. of household waste and around 3.3 per cent. of the controlled waste which is sent to landfill1. No estimate is currently available of the proportion of food packaging waste landfilled or recycled specifically relating to sales of fresh produce.
However, the Packaging Regulations, which place requirements on obligated businesses to recover and recycle a certain amount of the packaging waste they handle, have so far helped to raise the UK packaging recycling rate from around 27 per cent. in 1997 to around 56 per cent. in 2006. In real terms, the total amount of packaging waste recovered or recycled has increased from 3.3 million tonnes in 1998 to around 6.3 million tonnes in 2006.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme is currently working with all leading supermarkets through the Courtauld Commitment to achieve a standstill, and then a reduction, in the amount of packaging waste. A number of retailers are considering the role that the selling of loose fruit and vegetables could make to those objectives, without increasing the amount of damaged produce which is then discarded.
1 Figures are based on estimates of waste composition contained in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit 2002 report, “Waste Not Want Not”, and information from WasteDataFlow for 2005-06.
Recycling: Business
The most recent survey on industrial and commercial waste was carried out in 2002-03 by the Environment Agency. Information was collected from approximately 4,500 businesses and included the type, quantity and form of the waste, as well as the disposal or recovery method used. Data collection was limited to controlled waste and related to England only. The information is available, broken down by region, from the Environment Agency’s website and is shown in the following table.
Thousand tonnes Disposal/recovery option Region Land disposal Land recovery Re-used/recycled Thermal Treatment and transfer Not recorded Total per subregion Industry East Midlands 2,550 152 2,555 145 170 198 5,771 East of England 857 193 1,461 202 271 272 3,256 London 482 6 1,027 88 89 210 1,902 North East 1,293 76 1,671 181 104 76 3,400 North West 1,867 269 1,669 226 317 154 4,502 South East 1,310 63 1,257 192 345 414 3,581 South West 802 114 1,174 63 256 179 2,589 West Midlands 1,457 74 2,133 135 277 170 4,246 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,574 377 4,588 89 507 204 8,339 Total 13,194 1,324 17,536 1,321 2,335 1,877 37,589 Commerce East Midlands 1,178 33 863 113 67 69 2,322 East of England 1,389 24 1,248 111 287 248 3,308 London 2,520 21 2,281 285 215 282 5,604 North East 589 5 408 121 30 45 1,199 North West 2,035 90 1,245 133 241 88 3,833 South East 2,547 59 1,565 223 354 523 5,271 South West 1,549 62 1,051 47 188 70 2,967 West Midlands 1,457 6 1,221 99 140 97 3,019 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,261 20 1,221 64 153 78 2,797 Total 14,524 320 11,104 1,196 1,675 1,500 30,320 Grand total 27,718 1,645 28,640 2,518 4,011 3,377 67,907 Source: C and I survey 2002-03: England region and disposal/recovery option.
Recycling: Licensing
The Environment Agency (EA) does not have a specific category for green waste recycling centres. As of 8 June 2007, the EA’s records show a total of 211 licensed composting facilities and 524 licensed civic amenity/household waste sites, which generally accept green waste from the public.
In 1998-99, there were 108 EA licensed composting sites and 458 licensed civic amenity/household waste sites. A breakdown of the number of licences issued per year is not available.
The number of composting facilities processing green waste has steadily increased since 1998, in line with the Government's strategy to promote the reuse, reduction and recycling of waste.
Smoking: Public Places
Smoking-related litter is one of the most prevalent types of litter. Each of the last three local environmental quality surveys of England showed that smokers’ materials were present on 79 per cent. of survey sites. Without action, the introduction of smoke free legislation in July this year is likely to increase this problem. However, the Government are taking steps to tackle this form of littering through a combination of regulatory options, partnership work, guidance and awareness-raising.
Smoking-related materials were clarified as litter in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, in order to encourage greater enforcement against this offence. Street litter control notices may also be issued by local authorities where there is a significant problem with litter on the street. Notices can be used to place requirements on the occupiers (or owners) of premises to take steps to reduce litter outside their premises, such as the installation of litter bins.
Following a consultation that closed on 8 May, DEFRA is also extending these provisions to allow notices to be issued for eating and drinking establishments where food is consumed on the premises. A legislative opportunity will be sought to extend the list of premises further to include office buildings, aimed particularly at helping to deal with smoking litter dropped by customers and employees. This forms part of a package of tools already available to local authorities for tackling litter problems, including the use of on-the-spot fixed penalty notices for individuals caught dropping litter.
In order to raise public awareness, the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign, run by Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS), launched a poster campaign earlier this month to encourage all smokers and businesses to take responsibility for cigarette ends, with posters appearing on bus stops, billboards and telephone boxes across England. A number of councils across the country are supporting the campaign.
Waste and Resources Action Programme
The information requested is currently being collated by the Waste and Resources Action Programme. I will write again to the hon. Member when it has been prepared and place a copy in the Library of the House.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Azerbaijan: Ballistic Missile Defence
President Putin's offer to include the radar at Qabala in Azerbaijan in the US ballistic missile system is a policy issue for the United States government and is subject to the agreement of the government of Azerbaijan. The UK, however, welcomes this constructive Russian approach; and welcomes the US's continuing commitment to discuss with Russia its co-operation in their ballistic missile system.
British Nationality: Armed Forces
There are no restrictions on UK citizens joining the armed forces of a foreign state other than those related to the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870. This Act makes it an offence for a British subject without licence from Her Majesty the Queen to enlist in the armed forces of a foreign state at war with another foreign state, which is at peace with the UK.
There is no general restriction on UK citizens joining armed organisations that are not under the direction of a state. However, in certain circumstances, a UK citizen engaging in military-style operations as part of such an organisation might be in breach of, and hence liable to prosecution under, specific UK legislation. A case in point would be counter terrorist legislation, which enables the prosecution of those who commit terrorist offences overseas.
Departments: Advertising
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not receive any revenue from advertisements placed in public information leaflets or on the FCO’s websites in the United Kingdom. Some overseas posts may receive advertising revenue from their own publications or websites, but this information is not held centrally and to obtain the information from each post would incur disproportionate cost.
Departments: Sign Language
We have made no formal assessment of the merits of providing British Sign Language (BSL) videos on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office websites. There are, however, plans to translate two pages of our travel advice into BSL for our Deaf Awareness Day this year (18 September) as an initial trial.
Libya: Foreign Relations
Officials in Government Departments are consulting with their counterparts in the Scottish Executive, according to the principles set out in the memorandum of understanding with the devolved administrations of 2001. It sets out how the Government and the devolved administrations should interact in the conduct of international relations.
Middle East: Peace Negotiations
The Arab League's re-endorsement of the 2002 Beirut Declaration at the Arab Summit in Riyadh is a welcome step. The Arab League has a key role to play in promoting reconciliation between the Israelis and Palestinians and moving forward the peace process. We support the Arab League's engagement with the parties and welcome the meetings since the re-endorsement of the Arab League Initiative.
The Arab Peace Initiative offers Israel comprehensive peace with all member states of the Arab League. In exchange, it calls on Israel to withdraw fully from all territories occupied since 1967; to agree to "a just resolution" of the refugee problem; and to accept a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Any final status issues will need to be negotiated directly between the parties. The Arab Peace Initiative offers a framework to move towards these discussions.
Pakistan: Human Rights
We do not usually raise individual cases and have not recently made any representations to the Pakistani authorities concerning Younis Masih. However, we are aware of this case and regularly raise our concerns about the treatment of religious minorities in Pakistan both bilaterally and with our EU partners. We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle.
Although we do not usually raise individual cases, we regularly raise our concerns over the situation of religious minorities with the Government of Pakistan. Most recently, in May, we again voiced our concerns over the treatment of religious minorities in Pakistan, together with our EU partners.
Pakistan: Politics and Government
As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and President Musharraf reiterated in their joint declaration in November 2006, the UK and Pakistan share a common agenda to promote enlightened moderation and to combat the forces of extremism. To this end, the two leaders agreed to support civil society and youth interaction between Pakistan and the UK. We fully appreciate the personal risks taken by President Musharraf when he took his position against extremism.
Bilaterally and together with EU partners, we continue to regularly raise our concerns with the government of Pakistan over the situation of religious minorities. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade (Mr. McCartney) also raised this issue in correspondence with the Pakistani Prime Minister in February.
Pakistan: Religious Freedom
I am aware of the continuing problems faced by minority groups in Pakistan, including the Christian community in the North West Frontier Province. We regularly raise our concerns with the government of Pakistan, bilaterally and together with our EU partners, and will continue to encourage Pakistan to pursue its vision of enlightened moderation for the benefit of all its citizens.
Palestinian Authority: Finance
The Palestinian Authority is facing a severe fiscal crisis in 2006-07, mainly caused by a collapse in revenues. This fall has largely occurred as Israel has withheld the revenues, such as VAT receipts and customs payments, that it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. These resources typically made up around a third of the Palestinian Authorities domestic revenues and have been withheld since March 2006. Precise figures for the amounts are not available but the International Monetary Fund recently estimated they may be in the order of US$750 million. Other sources of tax finance have also fallen as a consequence of the broader collapse in economic activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. External funding from donors (including to the Palestinian Authority and the Office of the President) has risen since 2005 but this has been insufficient to offset the reductions elsewhere. Overall revenues for 2006 are estimated at US$1.4 billion, down from almost US$2.2 billion in the previous year. The EU has provided more financial assistance (over €680 million) to the Palestinian people in 2006 than it did in previous years. During financial year 2006-07 the UK gave over £70 million to the Palestinian people, £30 million bilaterally and an additional £40 million through our EU contributions.
Sailesh Vithlani
No Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers or officials have had any discussions with Sailesh Vithlani since 1 January 2007.
Saudi Arabia: Human Rights
We regularly discuss the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia with the Saudi authorities at all levels. Human rights are also raised on our behalf by the European Union, which has decided to keep the details of these discussions confidential.
We are committed to encouraging Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights record and adhere to international human rights standards. The hon. Member may also welcome the recent increase in activities by the National Society on Human Rights (NSHR). In May 2007 the NSHR published its first annual report on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, since it was established in 2004. This is a significant step forward.
Sudan: Armed Conflict
We are considering a number of measures to improve air monitoring in Darfur, from enhanced monitoring on the ground to a no-fly zone and we rule out nothing. We need to assess the logistical challenges of implementation and impact on the humanitarian effort of any measures. We are working with partners in the UN Security Council to press both the African Union and the Panel of Experts to notify the UN Sanctions Committee of any instances of offensive military flights in Darfur.
We believe sanctions have contributed towards containing the crisis in Darfur, for example in the Government of Sudan’s acceptance of the UN’s Heavy Support Package to the African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan. However, we want a solution to the crisis which may require further sanctions.
We are concerned that sanctions should not impact on those in Sudan who have no responsibility for violence in Darfur, or on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, thus damaging the south. We are therefore pressing for further targeted sanctions on individuals and an extension of the UN arms embargo from Darfur to all of Sudan, in line with the EU embargo, if the Government of Sudan and the rebel movements fail to honour their commitments.
Sudan: Peace Keeping Operations
The UK is a leading provider of financial support to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). We have committed 373 million since AMIS was set up in July 2004. UK funds have helped to provide the force with vehicles, ground fuel and airlift of troops into Darfur, as well as funding for personnel costs such as troop salaries. We also contribute through the EU Africa Peace Facility that has so far committed €242 million to AMIS and is about to commit an additional €40 million. We are also pressing for others to do more.
The UK will be a strong supporter of the African Union (AU)-UN hybrid force, both politically and financially through our contributions to UN assessed funding for peacekeeping, currently set at 7.9 per cent. of the total. We are providing police and military advisers to assist the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) with planning for the hybrid operation. We have also deployed a military officer to Sudan to assist with the transition from the AU Mission in Sudan to the hybrid force. We will consider requests for troop contributions as and when we receive them from DPKO. The details of the force have now been agreed between the AU and UN and we are pressing the Sudanese Government to accept them and facilitate its deployment. A significant part of that agreement is that troops should be to the greatest possible extent contributed by African states.
Zimbabwe: Politics and Government
The Government's concern relating to human rights abuses, governance and democracy in Zimbabwe were most recently raised this week at the fifth session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The EU and UK asked a number of questions of the UN special rapporteurs on the rights to food and housing concerning the impact of the denial of both for the human and political rights of ordinary Zimbabweans. In March, 50 UN member states supported a statement at the Human Rights Council by the EU presidency, on behalf of all EU member states, expressing concern at the situation in Zimbabwe. The UK also continues to raise these concerns in dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, and to press for her and other UN rapporteurs to have access to Zimbabwe. Other recent discussions with the UN have taken place with senior officials in the Department for Humanitarian Affairs, following on from the briefing in March to the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe which was given by the Office of the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs at the UK's request. Our embassy in Harare is in regular discussion with the UN Development Programme Office regarding human rights, democracy and good governance.
Home Department
Anti-semitism
The information requested is not collected centrally in the recorded crime series.
The recorded crime statistics only hold data for racially or religiously aggravated offences as defined by statute. Specific details relating to the victim or alleged offender are not collected.
Antisocial Behaviour
The information from the Health and Safety Executive concerning the safety of the mosquito device derives from a letter written to the Welsh Assembly from the HSE. I have placed a copy in the Library.
Arrests
[holding answer 11 June 2007]: Information is not collected centrally on arrest rates. Numbers of arrests are collected on a recorded crime basis only.
Asylum
The Border and Immigration Agency wrote separately to my hon. Friend in relation to this matter on 7 June 2007.
Asylum Seekers
The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (now Chief Executive of the Border and Immigration Agency) wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February and updated them on, among other matters, the legacy programme. A copy of her letter is in the House Library.
Asylum: East Sussex
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 following table shows the number of asylum seekers recorded as receiving asylum support in Eastbourne and the local authorities within East Sussex as at the end of March 2007. This figure excludes those asylum seekers who are living in these local authorities but are not receiving support.
The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support, broken down by Government office region and local authority, are published on a quarterly and annual basis. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from 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, by parliamentary constituency, are also available from the Library of the House.
Local authority In dispersed accommodation In receipt of subsistence only support Total in receipt of support Brighton and Hove 15 40 55 Eastbourne — 20 20 Hastings 60 — 60 Lewes — — — Rother — — — Wealden — — — Total 75 60 135 Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
Asylum: Northern Ireland
As the Home Secretary set out in his evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 23 May 2006, following the dismantling of embarkation controls beginning in 1994, no Government have been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally, and that remains the case. The Home Secretary has set a clear goal of reintroducing systems to count everyone in and out of Britain.
Bokhari Family
The decision to remove a person from the United Kingdom (UK) is only taken after full and careful consideration of individual circumstances and in accordance with Home Office guidelines. When a decision is to be made by the Secretary of State personally, he is provided with all available evidence and is fully briefed by Border and Immigration Agency officials.
Cleveland Police
Information on time spent by police officers on front-line duties has only been collected since 2003-04 and is not available at basic command unit level. The available data for the Cleveland Police for each year since March 2004 is set out in the following table. The Cleveland Police has set a target for 69.9 per cent. of police officer time to be spent on front-line duties by March 2008.
Percentage of police officer time spent on front-line duties 2003-04 58.50 2004-05 53.60 2005-06 55.20
Departments: Complaints
The Home Office does not record complaints received in writing or over the telephone. These separately are received and recorded as part of overall correspondence figures. Once received, all correspondence including any complaints is either sent to individual policy units to be dealt with or is dealt with centrally. They are not tracked separately.
The Identity and Passport Service recorded 8,597 complaints in 2005-06 and 9,410 complaints in 2006-07.
Since 2001, the Borders and Immigration Agency have been recording complaints about the misconduct of staff, and recorded 555 complaints in 2001-02; 240 complaints in 2005-06 and 326 complaints in 2006-07. During 2005-06, the Border and Immigration Agency also began recording operational complaints (about service delivery). The figure for 2006 is 8,966.
Border and Immigration Agency are planning a complete overhaul of the system under their complaints change programme.
Departments: Internet
The Government’s Central Sponsor for Information Assurance within the Cabinet Office is responsible for the Government’s strategy to protect the public sector and those services forming the Critical National Infrastructure from cyber attacks.
CESG (the Information Assurance arm of GCHQ) is the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance and develops Government advice for protecting data in partnership with the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance and advises on its implementation. CESG manages the Government’s UK computer emergency response team heads of Departments and agencies are individually responsible for engaging with CSIA/CESG to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to protect against any risks to business continuity.
Departments: Public Expenditure
The Home Office continues to exchange information with HM Treasury on matters relating to the development of the comprehensive spending review 2007. It is not appropriate to comment in detail on these exchanges.
Departments: Sign Language
We have not made an assessment. The vast majority of our content is text and is therefore read by the hearing impaired. Any video content has a textual transcript attached.
Departments: Telephone Services
The number of telephone lines with the prefix 0870 and 0845 used by the Home Office was printed in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 8 June 2007, Official Report, column 672W. Of the 63 listed, 27 (42.9 per cent.) have geographic alternatives.
Departments: Websites
Since publication of the Transformational Government Strategy in November 2005, the Home Office has been actively engaged in developing an e-communications strategy that centralises the operation and management of all Home Office websites.
The names of all sites managed by the Home Office, as per the Transformational Government annual report published December 2006, will be placed in the Library of the House.
In May 2007, following the handover of 13 websites to the new Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Home Office reported:
52 closing sites (39 already earmarked for closure and a further 13 moving to MOJ)
33 remaining of which:
One is the main Home Office departmental site
10 are sub-domains of this site
Three agencies
15 NDPBs
One inspectorate
Three extranets
Of these websites, only about half are managed by the central Home Office web team. The others are all operated by the web team or agency of the Home Office entity, agency or NDPB responsible.
Departments: Westminster City Council
The grants made to Westminster city council in each year since 1997-98 by this Department, as recorded by the council in the Communities and Local Government Revenue returns, are as follows.
Grants £000 1997-98 Asylum seekers: various grants 7,166 1998-99 Asylum seekers: various grants 10,403 1999-2000 Asylum seekers 12,912 2000-01 Asylum seekers 15,394 2001-02 Asylum seekers 12,987 2002-03 Asylum seekers 12,454 2003-04 Asylum seekers 8,948 2004-05 Asylum seekers 5,697 2005-06 Asylum seekers 3,698 Young People Substance Misuse Partnership 527 2006-07 Asylum seekers 1,373 Young People Substance Misuse Partnership 458
This table sets out the specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF) (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils' core services) paid to Westminster and excludes grants outside AEF such as capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities, European funding; or where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area. Revenue support grant and other elements of formula grant (such as redistributed business rates and police grant) have also been excluded.
Revenue outturn data have been used from 1997-98 to 2005-06 (the last year available) and revenue account data have been used for 2006-07.
Deportation: Sudan
Information about the conditions in Sudan including the security situation is obtained from a wide range of governmental and non-governmental sources, human rights organisations and the media. This information is utilised by case owners responsible for decision making on asylum claims and is published in regularly updated Home Office country of origin information reports. The latest country of origin information report on Sudan was published in January 2007 and can be accessed on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/country_reports.html.
An updated report containing the most recent information available will be published later this month.
Drugs: Crime
Data collected centrally on recorded crime do not identify whether offences are drug related. The recorded crime statistics do include the number of specific drug offences which are given in the tables.
Police force area Number Avon and Somerset 484 Bedfordshire 223 Cambridgeshire 205 Cheshire 635 Cleveland 227 Cumbria 222 Derbyshire 302 Devon and Cornwall 637 Dorset 183 Durham 404 Dyfed-Powys 374 Essex 401 Gloucestershire 210 Greater Manchester 1,051 Gwent 389 Hampshire 770 Hertfordshire 215 Humberside 444 Kent 790 Lancashire 554 Leicestershire 309 Lincolnshire 235 London, City of 46 Merseyside 694 Metropolitan Police 4,695 Norfolk 337 Northamptonshire 286 Northumbria 445 North Wales 238 North Yorkshire 171 Nottinghamshire 373 South Wales 525 South Yorkshire 535 Staffordshire 389 Suffolk 333 Surrey 163 Sussex 695 Thames Valley 566 Warwickshire 136 West Mercia 436 West Midlands 828 West Yorkshire 1,807 Wiltshire 191 Total 23,153 Note: Prior to April 1998, ‘trafficking in controlled drugs’ was the only drug offence included in the recorded crime series.
Police force area 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 Avon and Somerset 2,145 2,017 1,990 1,860 Bedfordshire 1,141 1,081 896 1,009 Cambridgeshire 1,166 1,011 829 798 Cheshire 2,470 1,854 1,644 1,591 Cleveland 1,120 992 952 1,109 Cumbria 1,621 1,360 949 925 Derbyshire 1,689 1,659 1,374 1,635 Devon and Cornwall 3,873 3,784 3,374 4,079 Dorset 1,102 1,379 1,237 1,390 Durham 1,388 1,259 1,207 1,317 Dyfed-Powys 2,483 2,030 1,690 2,407 Essex 2,312 2,421 2,208 2,212 Gloucestershire 1,152 1,285 1,293 1,223 Greater Manchester 5,439 4,919 4,932 4,698 Gwent 2,447 2,214 2,196 1,729 Hampshire 4,195 4,155 3,464 3,449 Hertfordshire 1,197 1,180 1,441 1,350 Humberside 1,639 1,534 1,342 1,513 Kent 3,891 3,644 2,940 3,051 Lancashire 4,117 3,135 3,124 3,169 Leicestershire 1,433 1,478 1,395 1,705 Lincolnshire 1,229 975 906 1,116 London, City of 504 357 296 469 Merseyside 5,620 4,838 4,421 4,390 Metropolitan Police 32,152 26,233 23,626 26,204 Norfolk 1,534 1,561 1,160 1,211 Northamptonshire 1,285 1,157 967 958 Northumbria 3,934 4,209 4,238 4,804 North Wales 1,885 1,586 1,427 1,382 North Yorkshire 1,560 1,408 1,259 1,491 Nottinghamshire 2,004 1,846 2,028 2,070 South Wales 2,934 2,690 3,038 3,907 South Yorkshire 3,983 3,614 3,521 3,408 Staffordshire 1,915 1,650 1,623 2,186 Suffolk 1,581 1,410 1,178 1,292 Surrey 1,557 1,510 1,858 1,872 Sussex 2,235 2,323 2,002 2,602 Thames Valley 3,838 3,635 3,364 4,093 Warwickshire 683 776 629 659 West Mercia 2,393 2,137 2,073 2,109 West Midlands 7,180 6,536 7,519 7,578 West Yorkshire 6,720 5,852 4,820 4,297 Wiltshire 1,199 1,172 1,028 1,076 Total 135,945 121,866 113,458 121,393 Note: The introduction of the revised counting rules in April 1998 expanded the offence coverage. This included the addition of ‘possession of controlled drugs’ and ‘other drug offences’. These data are not comparable with earlier years.
Police force area 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Avon and Somerset 2,308 2,457 2,739 4,642 Bedfordshire 1,069 1,130 1,131 1,228 Cambridgeshire 904 1,047 1,174 1,442 Cheshire 1,717 1,695 1,546 1,748 Cleveland 1,685 1,368 1,451 1,822 Cumbria 1,038 1,189 1,321 1,576 Derbyshire 1,877 1,932 2,023 1,680 Devon and Cornwall 4,516 4,826 4,356 4,147 Dorset 1,371 1,455 1,577 1,703 Durham 1,289 1,205 1,062 1,299 Dyfed-Powys 2,978 2,420 2,327 2,495 Essex 2,377 2,295 2,328 2,889 Gloucestershire 1,311 1,288 1,218 1,352 Greater Manchester 5,667 5,981 6,703 8,843 Gwent 1,585 1,422 1,332 1,412 Hampshire 3,938 3,967 3,773 4,037 Hertfordshire 1,553 1,678 1,754 2,044 Humberside 1,883 1,874 2,048 2,127 Kent 3,236 2,795 2,170 2,713 Lancashire 4,084 3,640 3,411 3,245 Leicestershire 1,629 1,821 1,942 2,747 Lincolnshire 1,060 1,061 951 1,230 London, City of 790 744 876 1,023 Merseyside 5,419 5,497 5,649 11,952 Metropolitan Police 33,311 32,332 33,011 42,681 Norfolk 1,392 1,508 1,602 1,821 Northamptonshire 979 971 1,477 1,394 Northumbria 6,040 5,414 4,636 5,159 North Wales 1,830 1,830 1,834 2,120 North Yorkshire 1,582 1,624 1,690 1,915 Nottinghamshire 2,352 2,830 2,667 3,301 South Wales 3,872 3,837 3,705 3,483 South Yorkshire 3,448 3,191 3,013 3,283 Staffordshire 2,264 2,586 2,689 3,242 Suffolk 1,689 1,923 1,974 2,015 Surrey 1,934 1,689 1,904 1,787 Sussex 2,665 3,050 3,343 4,276 Thames Valley 4,903 5,404 6,167 7,515 Warwickshire 751 944 914 1,313 West Mercia 2,053 2,218 2,278 2,537 West Midlands 8,828 8,656 7,840 10,035 West Yorkshire 5,015 5,295 5,666 6,739 Wiltshire 898 971 1,066 1,340 Total 141,090 141,060 142,338 175,352 Note: Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These data are not comparable with earlier years.
Entry Clearances
Normally any request to enter the United Kingdom must be made within a category within the Immigration Rules. However, it is possible to grant someone limited leave to enter the United Kingdom under the category of ‘Leave Outside the Rules’.
There are two circumstances in which “Leave Outside the Rules” will be considered in non-asylum and non-protection cases:
where someone qualifies under one of the immigration policy concessions; or
for reasons that are particularly compelling in circumstance.
There are currently 25 immigration policy concessions which are outlined in chapter 1, section 14 of the Immigration Directorate Instructions, which may be found at:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk
Cases where there are particular compelling circumstances will be considered on their individual merits and in line with any relevant policy at that time. The decision to grant leave outside the rules in such cases will only follow in rare circumstances where there are genuinely compassionate and circumstantial reasons and no other option is available.
Firearms: Crime
The information requested is set out in the following table.
Recorded crime Police force area 1997 1998-991 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-022 2002-033 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 North East Region Cleveland 18 20 26 16 24 18 45 37 41 Durham 17 13 40 18 19 16 15 21 18 Northumbria 78 76 107 99 86 103 169 182 137 North West Region Cheshire 22 32 22 44 50 31 44 61 71 Cumbria 8 11 5 13 9 13 11 26 18 Gtr. Manchester 620 647 875 935 1,361 1,240 1,275 1,268 1,200 Lancashire 71 50 78 59 103 66 58 259 372 Merseyside 127 286 240 278 299 318 483 491 485 Yorkshire and the Humber Humberside 83 76 61 69 63 68 68 174 108 North Yorkshire 28 11 8 9 28 18 23 13 15 South Yorkshire 80 75 114 129 170 153 127 185 301 West Yorkshire 162 193 191 335 332 333 269 318 355 East Midlands Region Derbyshire 69 52 65 72 58 73 75 149 109 Leicestershire 48 98 71 58 74 174 141 123 89 Lincolnshire 5 16 19 24 22 37 26 90 72 Northamptonshire 40 54 48 40 55 107 123 113 128 Nottinghamshire 120 112 173 157 204 264 233 305 277 West Midlands Region Staffordshire 36 23 53 108 116 131 108 144 128 Warwickshire 20 20 14 39 53 62 102 73 76 West Mercia 36 38 36 41 54 48 62 151 115 West Midlands 428 407 664 816 1.289 1,101 1,138 959 946 East of England Region Bedfordshire 43 46 56 48 82 86 89 94 103 Cambridgeshire 34 35 43 31 49 57 34 50 34 Essex 58 47 61 77 98 148 145 193 280 Hertfordshire 45 30 36 36 69 139 138 139 114 Norfolk 20 34 24 20 26 36 33 23 29 Suffolk 5 15 18 22 15 28 45 59 58 London Region 1,960 2,034 2,945 3,036 4,197 4,202 3,891 3,697 3,884 South East Region Hampshire 29 38 52 49 58 97 130 148 85 Kent 100 76 109 108 60 64 65 100 142 Surrey 31 35 42 52 40 34 88 63 87 Sussex 107 115 119 110 155 136 82 67 85 Thames Valley 109 96 107 198 267 362 421 437 401 South West Region Avon and Somerset 55 71 103 100 131 119 123 196 167 Devon and Cornwall 40 75 81 64 52 36 84 174 Dorset 25 11 12 14 34 17 45 49 27 Gloucestershire 23 22 21 23 89 92 108 87 77 Wiltshire 19 19 10 13 26 60 53 49 43 Wales Dyfed Powys 13 16 13 26 26 17 37 40 21 Gwent 19 26 19 11 18 52 74 85 53 North Wales 19 27 10 6 6 18 11 60 88 South Wales 34 31 52 67 56 74 47 104 71 England and Wales 4,904 5,209 6,843 7,470 10,023 10,248 10,338 10,882 11,084 1 There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. 2 Numbers of some recorded crimes may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. 3 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by this
Identity Cards
A precise estimate of the impact of identity cards in combating identity fraud is difficult to quantify. However, in the Identity Cards Scheme Benefits Overview, published in June 2005:
http://www.identitycards.gov.uk/downloads/2005-06-27_Identity_Cards_Scheme_Benefits_Overview.pdf
it was estimated that the benefits arising from reduced fraud overall would be in the range of £310 million to £570 million per annum once the identity cards scheme is rolled out.
The circumstances under which an ID card must be surrendered are set out in section 11, subsections (3) and (4), of the Identity Cards Act 2006. In particular, someone who is in possession of an ID card without lawful authority would be required to surrender the card as soon as is practicable to do so and a person who is in possession of an ID card that had expired, been cancelled or was invalid may be required to surrender it.
The Identity Cards Act 2006 has been designed to allow for flexibility in the identity card application process. For example, in the case of an applicant who was unable to give informed consent or to sign an application form, it would be possible to provide in regulations for an authorised third party to make an application on the person's behalf, as happens currently with passport applications.
The Identity Cards Act 2006 has been designed to provide flexibility in the identity card application process. Regulations will be able to allow the Identity and Passport Service to accommodate the special needs of applicants, such as those unable to travel, either by making special arrangements or excluding particular individuals from the normal requirements.
Schedule 1 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 sets out the information that may be held on the national identity register (the register will include details of those persons issued with identity cards). This information includes a person's full name, together with names by which a person is or has been known. It will therefore be possible for an alternative name, such as a stage name or maiden name, to be registered.
Illegal Immigrants: Faroe Islands
All passengers arriving from the Faroe Islands at Lerwick are subject to immigration control.
An additional route to Scrabster becomes operational on 18 June and all passengers arriving there will also be subject to immigration control.
Border and Immigration Agency officials advise there is no evidence to support speculation that this route is used for clandestine entry to the UK.
Immigrants
Following the IND review there is an ongoing programme of improvement activity across the whole of the Border and Immigration Agency including all migration casework areas. Resources have been diverted to some areas where backlogs exist in order to improve performance.
Immigrants: Unemployment
The Border and Immigration Agency does not provide support to unemployed A2 and A8 nationals who have come to the UK to work but who do not have access to benefits as they have not completed 12 months of continuous employment in the UK. In work and contributory benefits are available to some migrants who meet the relevant DWP tests.
As for all EEA nationals, migrants from the A8 and A2 countries that come to the UK are expected to be self-sufficient if they are not working or self-employed.
Immigration: Detention Centres
The staff to detainee ratios at the contracted out immigration removal centres are shown in the following table.
Any part of an operating contract can be changed through the ‘Notice of Change’ process which can be initiated by either side. This allows changes in operating circumstances to be recognised and resources added or reduced according to need, usually following informal consultation. This process is regularly used and contractors are fully familiar with it.
The agency does not provide guidance on staff to detainee ratios to HM Prison Service as they have vast experience in operating custodial environments.
Centre Ratio—detainees per officer Campsfield 7.6 (1) Day shift 15.2 (2) Night shift Colnbrook (1) Early shift 10 (2) Late shift 8.7 (3) Night shift 17.8 (4) Mid shift 26.3 Dungavel (1) Day shift 5.5 (2) Night shift 9.1 Oakington (1) Day shift 6.5 (2) Night shift 8.8 Tinsley (1) Day shift 5.5 (2) Night shift 9.1 Yarl’s Wood (1) Weekdays 11.6 (2) Weekends 13.06 Harmondsworth 1— 1 Average across all shifts converts to 16.7 detainees per officer
Immigration: Judgments
The House of Lords ruling related specifically to the considerations given by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT). This advised that, when assessing proportionality, the AIT was required to weigh up all relevant competing considerations and was not required to establish that the circumstances of a case were truly exceptional in order to find that removal would give rise to an unlawful interference with article 8 rights. As no specific findings were made to considerations given by immigration officers, no general guidance has been issued. Where article 8 claims are made the Border and Immigration Agency do consider all factors raised.
National Policing Improvement Agency
The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) began its work on 1 April this year and its published Business Plan for 2007-08 includes 15 delivery statements reflecting the strategic priorities of the Police Service and of the tripartite partners in policing—the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities (APA) and the Home Office. Some good progress has already been made on a number of these, for example:
The national strategic assessment has been completed and will now be used as a key underpin for the NPIA’s work.
The IMPACT programme has successfully progressed to the stage where it can now proceed with the procurement of the first stage of the police national database.
Leadership: a major review of the entirety of the NPIA’s leadership approach and training has been completed. The next step is to bring the work on leadership and workforce strategy together.
Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS): There is now a nominated senior lead in each force for SCAS. ACPO and NPIA will bring them together to agree a renewed national approach to maximising the way the service is used.
Diversity impact assessment: an impact assessment of the DMA database is underway and NPIA is working closely with the Commission of Racial Equality (CRE) on this work.
There has also been progress in other areas of NPIA’s work. Key performance indicators have been established for both the external and internal strategic priorities of the organisation. The Chief Executive will be providing regular reports of performance and issues facing the Agency.
North Wales Police
Information on time spent by police officers on front-line duties has only been collected since 2003-04. The available data for the North Wales Police for each year since March 2004 is set out in the following table. The North Wales Police has set a target for 66.6 per cent. of police officer time to be spent on front-line duties by March 2008.
Percentage of police officer time spent on front-line duties 2003-04 53.34 2004-05 63.37 2005-06 63.50
Offenders: Deportation
The information requested is not available.
Foreign national prisoners are only transferred into the Border and Immigration Agency's removal estate when their sentences have expired.
Offensive Weapons: Custodial Treatment
(2) how many people convicted of carrying knives received the maximum custodial sentence available in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
The information requested, for England and Wales, for the years 2003 to 2005, is contained in the table.
Court proceedings statistics for 2006 will be available in the autumn.
Offence Statute Year Total persons sentenced Non-custodial sentence Custodial sentence Persons given maximum custodial sentence2 Having an article with a blade or point in a public place Criminal Justice Act 1988 sec 139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 3 2003 5,311 4,556 755 1 2004 5,802 4,999 803 — 2005 5,957 4,992 965 1 Having an article with a blade or point on school premises Criminal Justice Act 1988 sec139A(1) and (5)(1) as added by the Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 4(1) 2003 88 82 6 — 2004 106 94 12 — 2005 45 40 5 — Possession of offensive weapons3 without lawful authority or reasonable excuse Prevention of Crime Act 1953 sec 1 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 2(1) 2003 5,394 4,634 760 — 2004 5,758 4,941 817 — 2005 5,689 4,860 829 2 Possession of offensive weapons3 without lawful authority or reasonable excuse on school premises Criminal Justice Act 1988 sec139A(2) and (5)(b) as added by the Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 4(1) 2003 21 17 4 — 2004 33 29 4 — 2005 30 27 3 — 1 Principal offence basis. 2 Two years for blade or point offences and four years for offensive weapon offences. 3 Will include knives but information collected centrally does not provide a distinction between them and other offensive weapons. Source: RDS-NOMS, Home Office
Personation
(2) what recent discussions he has had on the Confidential Access website;
(3) what categories of information his Department holds on the Confidential Access website.
[holding answers 7 and 11 June 2007]: I will write to the hon. Member on these issues.
Police: Career Structure
[holding answer 12 June 2007]: The available data are given in the following table.
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Number of promotions 486 376 331 Percentage of female promotions from total 10.5 14.6 14.8 Percentage of ethnic minority promotions from total 3.3 3.2 3.6 Relative proportion of ethnic minority promotions as a percentage of total ethnic minority promotions3 Mixed 12.5 41.7 50.0 Black or black British 31.3 16.7 16.7 Asian or Asian British 50.0 33.3 33.3 Chinese or other 6.3 8.3 0.0 1 There were also a number of cases where the ethnicity of the officer was “not stated”. 2 Data refer to the number of officers (headcount) promoted during the year. 3 Rounded percentages that may not sum to total.
Police: Disciplinary Proceedings
[holding answer 12 June 2007]: This is a matter for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) who have oversight of the police complaints system.
Police: Finance
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her question on 28 March 2007, Official Report, column 1639W.
Police: Road Traffic
This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Religiously Aggravated Offences
The information requested is not collected centrally in the recorded crime statistics. The crime statistics have data for racially or religiously aggravated offences as defined by statute but details of the victims of religious-based hate crimes are not available.
Road Traffic Act 1988
Section 41D of the Road Traffic Act 1988 was inserted by the Road Safety Act 2006 and came into effect in February 2007. I have received no specific representations on this provision.
Section 41D provides for the punishment of offences relating to construction and use requirements in respect of having proper control of a vehicle and a full view of the road ahead or to use of a hand-held mobile phone or similar device while driving. Breach of any construction and use requirement was already an offence. This section makes specific provision for breach of these particular requirements by introducing a heavier penalty of obligatory endorsement, with disqualification at the court’s discretion if the matter goes to court, or a fixed penalty of £60.
Enforcement of the provision is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. The likelihood of detection has been increased by the increasing numbers of police, including the deployment on roads of teams involved in the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition equipment (ANPR). They can stop vehicles to deal with offences as the result of direct observation as well as an ANPR hit. The dangers of mobile phone use and the penalties associated with the offence are the subject of a publicity campaign by the Department for Transport.
Sexual Offences
The available data relate to sexual offences recorded by the police and are given in the tables.
Police force area 1997 Avon and Somerset 1,000 Bedfordshire 344 Cambridgeshire 390 Cheshire 728 Cleveland 253 Cumbria 229 Derbyshire 528 Devon and Cornwall 808 Dorset 396 Durham 341 Dyfed-Powys 337 Essex 740 Gloucestershire 240 Greater Manchester 1,634 Gwent 470 Hampshire 1,222 Hertfordshire 290 Humberside 758 Kent 770 Lancashire 928 Leicestershire 585 Lincolnshire 329 London, City of 46 Merseyside 906 Metropolitan Police 7,558 Norfolk 487 Northamptonshire 332 Northumbria 562 North Wales 480 North Yorkshire 262 Nottinghamshire 882 South Wales 587 South Yorkshire 611 Staffordshire 544 Suffolk 400 Surrey 499 Sussex 766 Thames Valley 731 Warwickshire 223 West Mercia 751 West Midlands 1,226 West Yorkshire 1,637 Wiltshire 355 Total 33,165
Police force area 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 Avon and Somerset 821 759 930 1,095 Bedfordshire 344 402 382 354 Cambridgeshire 431 418 464 560 Cheshire 625 379 423 384 Cleveland 369 414 354 442 Cumbria 200 224 168 199 Derbyshire 556 546 527 651 Devon and Cornwall 876 936 911 960 Dorset 314 306 327 434 Durham 243 251 238 333 Dyfed-Powys 317 292 304 292 Essex 877 975 852 887 Gloucestershire 344 323 348 267 Greater Manchester 2,142 2,258 2,154 2,466 Gwent 452 503 440 437 Hampshire 1,066 1,384 1,455 1,453 Hertfordshire 321 348 397 392 Humberside 743 717 694 816 Kent 924 872 974 1,003 Lancashire 879 754 936 992 Leicestershire 764 800 651 753 Lincolnshire 393 325 281 414 London, City of 31 21 10 33 Merseyside 1,019 935 982 1,018 Metropolitan Police 8,102 9,189 8,759 9,924 Norfolk 508 415 364 509 Northamptonshire 306 287 271 340 Northumbria 943 983 891 1,030 North Wales 334 373 406 466 North Yorkshire 297 294 289 346 Nottinghamshire 949 987 985 1,046 South Wales 715 581 552 541 South Yorkshire 654 645 624 605 Staffordshire 566 760 818 924 Suffolk 405 389 421 486 Surrey 579 505 653 547 Sussex 911 1,003 1,029 1,034 Thames Valley 879 1,002 1,010 1,099 Warwickshire 194 169 181 199 West Mercia 618 585 537 806 West Midlands 1,985 2,319 2,521 2,985 West Yorkshire 1,774 1,806 1,464 1,532 Wiltshire 404 358 334 378 Total 36,174 37,792 37,311 41,432 Note: 1. The introduction of the revised counting rules in April 1998 expanded offence coverage. These data are not comparable with earlier years
Police force area 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Avon and Somerset 1,570 1,516 1,914 1,533 Bedfordshire 465 516 622 688 Cambridgeshire 694 736 766 799 Cheshire 537 696 927 979 Cleveland 519 767 805 725 Cumbria 214 293 337 358 Derbyshire 882 920 1,160 1,117 Devon and Cornwall 1,149 1,336 1,564 1,527 Dorset 498 579 689 802 Durham 341 362 397 694 Dyfed-Powys 274 434 503 440 Essex 1,165 1,296 1,347 1,371 Gloucestershire 409 403 539 670 Greater Manchester 2,819 3,200 3,470 3,319 Gwent 486 404 560 548 Hampshire 1,810 2,034 2,658 2,701 Hertfordshire 553 644 971 983 Humberside 1,095 1,269 1,403 1,413 Kent 947 1,220 1,766 1,900 Lancashire 1,069 1,337 1,632 1,505 Leicestershire 960 1,000 1,372 1,361 Lincolnshire 583 636 816 703 London, City of 34 30 50 55 Merseyside 1,277 1,284 1,442 1,390 Metropolitan Police 10,410 10,200 10,860 10,293 Norfolk 676 774 889 1,474 Northamptonshire 608 544 642 633 Northumbria 1,371 1,360 1,496 1,431 North Wales 555 569 666 628 North Yorkshire 448 502 557 637 Nottinghamshire 978 1,055 1,294 1,343 South Wales 717 714 866 1,054 South Yorkshire 851 938 1,382 1,543 Staffordshire 963 1,025 1,323 1,306 Suffolk 588 641 620 664 Surrey 598 585 820 765 Sussex 1,148 1,201 1,801 1,655 Thames Valley 1,469 1,618 2,096 2,123 Warwickshire 277 349 435 382 West Mercia 923 949 1,139 1,014 West Midlands 3,033 3,207 3,470 3,483 West Yorkshire 2,106 2,343 2,351 2,522 Wiltshire 558 584 525 580 Total 48,627 52,070 60,942 61,111 1 The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced in May 2004 altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences, in particular, it redefined indecent exposure as a sexual offence. Note: 1. Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These data are not comparable with earlier years.
Counter-terrorism: East Sussex
Since 2002, the Home Office has sponsored two table-top (non-live play) exercises, in March 2004 and in December 2006, and one live-play exercise (in conjunction with Surrey police) during March 2007 (Exercise LION’S KEEP), in Sussex. Details of other locally organised counter-terrorism exercises in which Sussex may have taken part during this period are not held centrally by the Home Office.
Vehicle Crime Reduction Team
(2) what considerations were taken into account before taking the decision to close down the Vehicle Crime Reduction Team; and if he will make a statement.
The decision to wind down the Home Office Vehicle Crime Reduction Team was taken as part of the Home Office Reform Programme and in the context of developing a new strategic approach to crime reduction.
We do not believe the decision to wind down the Home Office team will have an adverse impact on the theft rates of motorcycles or motorcycle parts. Front-line practitioners are experienced in implementing initiatives to deal with vehicle crime, including thefts of motorcycles. This includes providing relevant crime prevention advice and making use of the Motor Salvage (Operators) Regulations 2002 to drive criminals out of the motor salvage industry to prevent vehicles, including motorcycles, being stolen for their parts.
Performance management arrangements will ensure that the significant gains made to date in this area are sustained.
Written Questions
[holding answer 29 March 2007]: I replied to the hon. Member on 6 June 2007, Official Report, column 609W.
I replied to the hon. Member on 7 June 2007, Official Report, column 678W.
Young Offenders
The information requested is not collected centrally. It is not possible to determine the age of the alleged offender from the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.
International Development
Africa: Climate Change
The UK accords high priority to investment climate reform in Africa. An improved investment climate will stimulate increased private sector investment and higher rates of sustainable growth, enhancing job creation and enabling Africa to lift itself out of poverty. This is why DFID, along with several other donors and companies with a long-term interest in Africa, supports the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF). The G8 recently reaffirmed their continuing support for the ICF at their Summit meeting in Heiligendamm.
The ICF is an independent pan-African trust that brings together African governments and institutions, the private sector and donor agencies to work collectively to improve the investment climate in Africa.
The ICF’s first major project, the Rwanda Investment Climate Project, was launched on 28 May 2007, encompassing commercial dispute resolution and business and land registration. It is a three-year project in partnership with the Rwanda Government. The ICF is contributing about $9 million to the project.
The ICF is also financing work on customs reform in East Africa in partnership with Business Action for Improved Customs Administration in Africa, as well as a project to speed up the payment of VAT refunds in Southern Africa. ICF expects to announce the approval of other projects under development in the coming months.
Departments: Dismissal
DFID has dismissed three employees since 1 January 2000 who fall within the criteria set out in the question. They were all dismissed following legal advice and in line with the terms of their contracts.
Departments: Official Cars
The Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) is responsible for providing ministerial cars in line with the Ministerial Code and the Prime Minister’s guidance Travel by Ministers’.
GCDA advises the Prime Minister on the suitability of cars for inclusion in his guidance, taking into account a number of criteria when assessing suitable cars including their environmental impact, running and maintenance costs and overall suitability as a ministerial car.
Ministers in the Department for International Development are provided with two Toyota Prius cars.
All travel is undertaken in accordance with ‘Travel by Ministers’ and the ‘Ministerial Code’, copies of which are available in the House Library.
Developing Countries: Climate Change
The UK is trying to limit the negative effects of climate change on low income countries by leading the call internationally for a global framework with ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK is leading by example in this, with a commitment to reduce emissions by 60 per cent. by 2050.
The UK is also at the forefront of supporting poor countries adapt. DFID’s rapidly rising aid budget means we can spend more money than ever to lift people out of poverty which makes them less vulnerable to climate change. But there is still much more that needs to be done. The UK has pledged at least £75 million to support adaptation directly. For example, at the grass roots level we are investing in schemes such as safer flood resistant housing for thousands of people in Bangladesh. We are also contributing £5 million over five years to improving Africa's ability to get and use information on what future climate trends will be, so that countries can plan better for this. In the last budget the Chancellor announced a new £800 million Environmental Transformation Fund, which will include support for adaptation in developing countries.
Developing Countries: Politics and Government
The 2006 White Paper on International Development announced a new fund to support better governance and transparency in poor countries through working with civil society. Following a public consultation, the Secretary of State launched the five year £100 million Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF) in February 2007.
Applications are to be assessed through a fair and rigorous competitive process, with a commitment to begin spending before the end of this calendar year. We are on track to achieve that, anticipating all decisions on funding to be made in the autumn.
It is therefore too early for any projects to have been funded under the GTF. Once decisions have been taken, we will post details of all proposals supported on the DFID website.
HIV Infection: Medical Treatments
The UK Government are not funding any research into the development of new oral anti-retroviral medication but is funding research into the development of microbicides (vaginal medication) against HIV and AIDS. The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) has received £8.7 million between 2002-08 and the Microbicide Development Programme (MDP), a joint programme between the UK Medical Research Council and Imperial College London, has received £39.8 million between 2001-09.
The UK Government are providing £5.6 million for two clinical trials that are developing simplified treatment protocols to use existing oral anti-retroviral therapy in Africa. Both trials are coordinated by the Medical Research Council clinical trials unit—DART (ART for adults 2002-07) and ARROW (ART for children 2006-11).
International Assistance
On climate change, the G8 summit made significant progress towards a new global agreement, which is very important for developing countries.
The summit also reaffirmed the Gleneagles commitments on development assistance, and set out how the fight against AIDS will be taken forward, with additional funding and help for vulnerable mothers and children. There has also been considerable progress on debt cancellation.
Overseas Aid
DFID introduced a new governance assessment tool, the Country Governance Analysis (CGA), in February 2007. It will help ensure that our aid strategy and programming better reflect governance context and trends. The CGA is mandatory for all countries where DFID is preparing 3-5 year Country Assistance Plans. Between 17 and 21 countries are likely to prepare CGAs in 2007. The rest will be done in 2008-09. To date, none have reached the final approval stage but several are near to finalisation, including Sierra Leone, Malawi, Mozambique and Ghana. CGAs are undertaken with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Sierra Leone: Health Services
Since April 2002 the Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £5,284,945 to support health systems in Sierra Leone through direct projects.
Please see following table for a breakdown for each financial year.
£ 2002-03 1,038,361 2003-04 2,322,258 2004-05 320,302 2005-06 162,335 2006-07 1,441,689
Some of the projects we have funded include:
Support to UNICEF to help children, families and communities to provide care and protection for orphans and other vulnerable children;
Malaria prevention and treatment;
Support to UNICEF for Immunisation;
Reproductive health;
Rehabilitation of the Primary Health Care System in four Chiefdoms in Tonkolili District; and
Establishing access to emergency Primary Health.
DFID also supports health systems in Sierra Leone through Direct Budget Support to the Government. Of the £59.5 million that has been provided through Budget Support over the last five years, approximately 11 per cent. or £6 million has been spent on the health sector.
In addition, in 2006 DFID provided $30 million through the Africa Catalytic Fund to fund the World Bank’s accelerated Child Survival Programme in Sierra Leone. This is in its early stages of implementation. DFID is also working with the Government of Sierra Leone to prepare a 10 year programme aimed at strengthening the Health System to increase access to quality sexual, reproductive and child health services. It is expected this programme working closely with the World Bank will begin in 2008 and DFID will contribute £50 million over 10 years.
The 2006 Department for International Development (DFID) White Paper commits the UK to “help partner Governments abolish user fees for basic health services”. DFID is fully committed to supporting the Government of Sierra Leone to ensure that this is achieved.
DFID’s position is shared by our partner agencies working in Sierra Leone, including WHO, European Commission, World Bank, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Food Programme and International NGOs. Recent Health Development Partners meetings in country have established a common position: we would like to see user fees abolished and want to help the government to reach that position for themselves, including helping them to understand how to fund the cost of health services.
The first step towards abolishing user fees is to establish the cost of providing basic health services and how to make this cost sustainable when user fees are removed. Currently fees collected by the government go towards funding the provision of services.
DFID is therefore funding preparation of National Health Accounts through World Health Organisation (WHO) to help establish how much money is currently being spent on health services in Sierra Leone from all sources (donor, International non-government organisations, private sector etc.). In addition DFID, along with other Health Development Partners, is planning to finance a study on options for pro-poor health financing. Once DFID has this Options paper it will be able to discuss with government the best way forward.
Somalia: Overseas Aid
In Somalia, DFID uses three principal mechanisms to ensure that humanitarian relief is reaching those who need it most. DFID is
only funding the most experienced international relief agencies;
obtaining regular and detailed reporting from the relief agencies, working with other donors where possible, backed up with visits in the field by DFID experts, where security permits;
supporting objectively targeted assistance, where possible, such as: emergency medical relief—people are assisted if they are seriously ill—or emergency nutritional support—where entry onto a feeding programme is decided on the basis of the weight and height of the child. There is less likelihood of abuse when entitlement is established in this way.
DFID provides a major proportion of our humanitarian funds to the International Committee of the Red Cross in southern Somalia, as they are experts at assisting victims of conflict and have good on-the-ground access.
During the drought in Somalia last year, DFID's humanitarian adviser for east and central Africa visited south central Somalia in April. Following this assessment, DFID was able to provide further targeted assistance.
As part of our ongoing humanitarian programme, DFID has committed £900,000 to International Medical Corps (IMC). Part of this support provides targeted assistance to malnourished children in the Bakool and Hiran regions.
DFID provides financial support to the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) through a strategic partnership with the United Nations Development programme (UNDP) and a separate UNDP Somali Institutional Support project. Between July 2006 and December 2007, DFID has committed £5 million to the UNDP partnership to support the achievement of reconciliation, stability and improved governance, rule of law and assisting Somali Diaspora to return and use their skills in public service delivery. Activities are being carried out with the TFG and with the regional administrations in Somaliland and Puntland. DFID has also committed £2.5 million to the Somali Institutional Support Project (SISP) which focuses on supporting the key functions and actions to be performed by the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs).
Both the UNDP partnership and the SISP have provided technical and financial assistance to the Offices of the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker, Supreme Court and other institutions. In the absence of a fully trained civil service, this assistance is enabling the Transitional Federal Institutions to have some technical capacity to function and interact with key stakeholders including the Somali people. Achievements include helping re-establish the National Civil Service Commission and providing management and financial training to civil servants. The UNDP partnership agreement has also been effective in helping the re-establishment of the Somali police force in South Central Somalia, through the training of 1000 cadets and the construction of Armo Police Training Academy and Hargeisa Central prison.
Zambia: Health Services
Strengthening the systems that deliver health services is a priority for DFID in Zambia. Under Zambia’s Joint Assistance Strategy, DFID is the overall lead donor in the health sector during 2007 and has responsibility for coordinating the contributions of 15 multilateral and bilateral agencies.
In 2006-07, DFID provided an estimated £5.5 million to support health systems in Zambia, of which approximately £4.7 million was through Direct Budget Support.
DFID is also providing technical support to the implementation of the Zambian Government’s human resources strategic plan which is working to address Zambia’s severe human resource crisis in the health sector. In addition, we are supporting improvements to financial management, monitoring and evaluation, as well as timely procurement of drugs and supplies.
From 2002-03 to 2006-07, DFID provided a total of approximately £30.6 million to support health systems in Zambia.
DFID does not have a formal definition of “health systems” but the following table shows DFID spend in the health sector in Zambia. The top three rows relate most closely to health systems. Direct Budget Support means the funds have been provided directly to the Zambian Government’s budget either for general or sector specific purposes. The data incorporate a notional allocation of 20 per cent. of Direct Budget Support for the health sector.
£ Input sector 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-071 Health sector: Notional allocation of direct budget support — — 1,833,043 4,215,999 4,745,544 Health Policy 8,366,796 4,991,898 2,797,303 2,837,159 810,833 Pro Poor Health Policy and Systems — — — 13,846 — Nutrition — — 13,212 426,551 3,970 Communicable Disease Control — — — 12,813 — Reproductive Health incl. Family Planning Activities 1,198,188 1,502,875 63,072 6,128 — Health Research 97,865 49,926 — — — HIV and AIDS 275,712 135,109 1,978,281 5,211,737 4,273,106 Health total 9,938,561 6,679,808 6,684,911 12,724,232 9,833,453 Of which: Estimated health systems 8,366,796 4,991,898 4,630,346 7,067,003 5,556,377 1 Provisional.
In April 2006, health user fees were removed in all Zambian government-funded health institutions in rural areas. This has made health care free at the point of access in 54 of Zambia's 72 districts. Overall, it is estimated that a third more people are being seen in health facilities. However, there has been concern about the quality of services. In many clinics, drugs ran out, and health workers become even more overworked than before. There is a plan to expand free care to peri-urban areas later in 2007. Expansion to urban areas is expected to follow in time; however this needs to be undertaken with care because of the limited capacity of current facilities such as numbers of clinics, health workers and drug supply systems to cope with additional use.
The Government of Zambia, together with DFID, has therefore prioritised improvements to drug procurement and supply chain systems, and the development of plans to address the human resource crisis. To assist, DFID plans to provide an additional £2.9 million per year for five years in general budget support, which will be used to increase the grants to districts, procure drugs, and recruit and retain more health workers.
Justice
Departments: Manpower
The 67 employees referred to in the answer of 16 May 2007, Official Report, columns 783-84W, are from former DCA, the Criminal Injuries Complaints Authority and NOMS HQ. All are actively in employment, but due to business reasons, for example restructuring, relocation, closure of offices/courts, the end of projects/secondments etc, their posts are potentially coming to an end. The majority of the 67 employees comprise 39 members of staff from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which is relocating to Scotland later this year. Their redeployment status is being managed in securing suitable alternative employment within the Ministry of Justice or the wider civil service.
As the 67 employees referred to in the written PQ of 16 May 2007, Official Report, columns 783-84W, are actively in employment, and their redeployment status is being managed in securing suitable alternative employment within the Ministry of Justice or the wider civil service, there is no yearly cost to the public purse.
Departments: Official Cars
All travel is undertaken in accordance with Travel by Ministers and the Ministerial Code, copies of which are available in the House Library.
HM Courts Service: Manpower
There are currently no employees who are funded by the public purse in HM Courts Service who are classified as people without posts.
Home Detention Curfews: Greater London
Child abuse is not a recorded offence type in itself.
Since March 2001 offenders required to register under the Sex Offender Act 1997 (now replaced by part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) have been statutorily excluded from being considered for home detention curfew. Prior to March 2001 such prisoners were presumed unsuitable for release unless there were exceptional circumstances. Since July 2003 prisoners with any history of sexual offending and those serving a current sentence for offences involving child cruelty, neglect or similar offences involving violence against children have been presumed unsuitable for release unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Statistics which apply solely to offences against children of a violent or sexual nature would not be available without disproportionate cost and would not be available for each London borough in the Metropolitan area.
Information on the numbers of prisoners released under the home detention curfew scheme from all prison establishments in England and Wales can be found in the following table:
Number/percentage 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Number released on: HDC 14,847 15,510 13,649 20,456 21,188 19,294 17,296 Males 13,523 14,005 12,121 18,509 19,050 17,159 15,392 Females 1,324 1,505 1,528 1,947 2,138 2,135 1,904 Population on HDC at end of year2 2,000 1,700 1,700 3,100 3,700 3,400 3,300 Notes: 1. This table is taken from table 10.3 in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005. Information showing the figures by individual London boroughs within the Metropolitan Police district is not held centrally. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Legal Services Bill
We have discussed the Legal Services Bill with those representing both the Trades Union Congress and individual unions. While they have expressed support for the aims of the Legal Services Bill, they have been concerned to ensure that it does not inadvertently restrict trade unions from providing valuable support and assistance to their members.
Life Imprisonment
Prisons receive funding to manage all prisoners, including those subject to the life sentence planning process. For 2007-08, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Board has allocated additional funding, specifically to provide for assessments of and programmes for prisoners sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection, who are also currently subject to the life sentence planning process. The additional funding will be distributed to prisons where such prisoners are held. The NOMS Board has also commissioned a ‘service review’ which is looking at the systems and services currently in place for indeterminate sentenced prisoners. The final report and recommendations are expected in August 2007.
Miscarriages of Justice: Compensation
It was estimated at 31 March 2007 that the potential liability in respect of compensation for miscarriage of justice was some £25 million. This estimate was based on the number of cases in which the Secretary of State had approved eligibility for compensation and in which the assessor was to make his final assessments. The performance of the independent assessor is monitored by the miscarriages of justice team in the Better Trials Unit of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. A monthly audit of cases is carried out and regular meetings are held with the assessor. It is also open to any applicant who is dissatisfied with the assessor's handling of their case to seek a judicial review.
The independent assessor does not have a dedicated support office, but is able to look to the miscarriages of justice team to support him in administrative duties associated with his role. It is the responsibility of applicants to make written submissions to the independent assessor regarding the quantum of their claims, and he cannot make a final assessment until such time as those submissions have been made and agreed. Of the 38 cases in which a final assessment was made in 2006-07, 28 (76 per cent.) took more than two years from eligibility for compensation being approved to the final assessment. Over the five years from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2007, the average length of the independent assessment process, that is from eligibility being confirmed to final assessment, was three years. As at 7 June there were 116 cases in which eligibility for compensation has been approved but a final assessment not yet been made. In 79 of those cases (68 per cent.) one or more interim payments have been made, on application by the applicants. There were 16 cases with the independent assessor for final assessment and three cases in which applications for an interim payment have been made. The total fee payments to the independent assessor in each of the last five years were:
£ 2002-03 62,436 2003-04 24,246 2004-05 20,325 2005-06 77,874 2006-07 92,660
The independent assessor does not make deductions from assessments for 'board and lodgings'. In certain circumstances he makes deductions in respect of saved living expenses. This practice was upheld by the House of Lords in a recent appeal. Central records of the amount of such deductions are not kept.
Notaries
In England and Wales, qualification and regulation as a notary is governed by the Court of Faculties. No person in England and Wales is entitled to practise as a notary public, or do any notarial act unless he has been duly sworn, admitted and enrolled in this court. The Notaries (Qualification) Rules 1998 set out the qualification and admission requirements for becoming a notary.
The Legal Services Bill, which is currently before Parliament, introduces greater competition in the provision of legal services. Under the Bill, notarial services will become a reserved legal activity and it will become possible—subject to proper authorisation from the Legal Services Board—for other approved regulators to authorise and licence the provision of these services.
Prison Service: Manpower
HM Prison Service does not hold central records on the number of staff classified as "without posts". It is a geographically widespread organisation and most aspects of personnel management are devolved to a local level.
HMPS redeploys staff on a temporary basis until a permanent position is found for them. There are no known instances where this has not occurred.
Prison Service: Vacancies
The shortfall against staffing requirements across the public and private sector Prison Service is shown in the following tables.
Prison Shortfall on unified1 staffing requirement having included CSH2 Shortfall on non-unified staffing requirement having included agency staff Acklington — — Albany — 13 Ashwell 5 13 Askham Grange — 3 Aylesbury 5 8 Bedford — 13 Belmarsh — 36 Birmingham 10 23 Blakenhurst 6 18 Blantyre House 1 2 Blundeston — 4 Brinsford 15 1 Bristol 7 6 Brixton 18 9 Brockhill 8 — Buckley Hall 3 — Bullingdon 1 5 Bullwood Hall 1 16 Camp Hill 4 — Canterbury 2 8 Cardiff 6 10 Castington 6 6 Channings Wood — 4 Chelmsford 9 10 Coldingley 3 6 Cookham wood/East Sutton Park 2 11 Dartmoor — 4 Deerbolt 4 2 Dorchester 4 3 Dover 6 — Downview 3 1 Drake Hall 3 1 Durham 7 12 Eastwood Park — 16 Edmunds Hill 1 6 Elmley — 2 Erlestoke 5 15 Everthorpe — 8 Exeter 5 4 Featherstone 10 — Feltham 2 87 Ford 5 12 Foston Hall 5 4 Frankland 12 37 Full Sutton 18 2 Garth — 30 Gartree 2 11 Glen Parva 8 25 Gloucester 6 — Grendon 10 4 Guys Marsh 14 8 Haslar 2 3 Haverigg — — Hewell Grange 1 3 High Down 31 19 Highpoint 7 9 Hindley — 7 Hollesley Bay — 4 Holloway 12 9 Holme House — — Hull 13 — Huntercombe 6 9 Kingston 3 1 Kirkham 5 19 Kirklevington Grange — 1 Lancaster — — Lancaster Farms — — Latchmere House 1 10 Leeds — 10 Leicester — 10 Lewes — 9 Leyhill 1 18 Lincoln 4 — Lindholme — — Littlehey — 8 Liverpool 8 — Long Lartin 3 9 Low Newton — 5 Maidstone — 10 Manchester — 46 Moorland — — Morton Hall — — New Hall 2 3 North Sea Camp 2 1 Northallerton 5 3 Norwich — 13 Nottingham 13 9 Onley 8 12 Parkhurst 4 6 Pentonville — 3 Portland 1 — Preston — — Ranby 12 8 Reading — 1 Risley — — Rochester — — Send 6 4 Shepton Mallet — 1 Shrewsbury 3 — Stafford 5 14 Standford Hill — — Stocken — 3 Stoke Heath 14 5 Styal — 20 Sudbury 2 9 Swaleside — 2 Swansea 3 — Swinfen Hall 0 23 The Mount 6 9 The Verne 3 14 Thorn Cross 2 1 Usk/Prescoed 1 5 Wakefield 21 39 Wandsworth 6 84 Warren Hill 0 — Wayland — 2 Wealstun — 5 Wellingborough 6 15 Werrington 6 4 Wetherby 11 12 Whatton 3 11 Whitemoor — 49 Winchester — — Woodhill 18 32 Wormwood Scrubs 4 — Wymott — 14 Sheppey Reducing Reoffending 18 —
Area Shortfall on unified staffing requirement having included CSH Shortfall on non-unified staffing requirement having included agency staff East Midlands 68 130 Eastern 22 91 High security prisons 71 249 Kent and Sussex 32 55 London 42 201 North East 17 26 North West 17 90 South Central 75 77 South West 44 92 Wales 10 15 West Midlands 77 89 Yorkshire and Humberside 31 42 1 Unified staff are officer grade staff and operational managers. 2 CSH—Contracted supplementary hours. Notes on public sector prison figures: 1. The shortfall is shown after accounting for the contribution of contracted supplementary hours and agency staff. 2. The totals have not been offset by surpluses at other locations but have been offset by surpluses in individual grades within one site. 3. A dash represents an establishment that is either fully staffed or reporting a surplus. A zero represents a shortfall of a fraction of a post that rounds to zero. 4. The columns in the table cannot sensibly be added together to find an overall level of shortfall. This is because dashes represent either no shortfall or an unstated level of surplus that could be used to offset overall staffing variances. 5 The information is derived from the Personnel Corporate Database, Oracle HRMS and quarterly forecast change forms. These systems are liable to the normal inaccuracies associated with any large-scale reporting systems.
Shortfall on staffing requirement Prison Operational Non-operational Altcourse (GSL) 10 8 Ashfield (SERCO) 15 19 Bronzefield (KALYX) 11 4 Doncaster (SERCO) 6 12 Dovegate (SERCO) 12 4 Forest Bank (KALYX) 6 4 Lowdham Grange (SERCO) 9 12 PARC (G4S) 0 15 Peterborough (KALYX) 0 15 Rye Hill (GSL) 2 0 Wolds (GSL) 12 1
Public Guardianship Office: Manpower
There are currently no employees who are funded by the public purse in the Public Guardianship Office who are classified as people without posts.
Solicitors: North East Region
The Legal Services Commission has sufficient cover from other legal aid firms based in the region to provide full duty solicitor cover in Goole and Beverley magistrates courts. Hull firms have never provided duty solicitor cover in Bridlington magistrates court.
Young Offenders
The individual circumstances surrounding convicted offenders are not held centrally.
Northern Ireland
Departments: Advertising
The (a) advertising agencies and (b) other organisations who have supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for (i) the Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; including the cost of these services are listed as follows:
£ (i) Department 2006-07 Genesis 5,028.90 (ii) Agencies 2003-04 Anderson Spratt 61,454.06 2004-05 Anderson Spratt 77,231.90 2005-06 Anderson Spratt 69,591.97 2006-07 Anderson Spratt 29,310,10 Direct Marketing Ltd. 2 937.50 Ovation N.I 9,000.00
Departments: Carbon Emissions
Carbon emissions from the NIO’s estate are calculated from energy data supplied by the NIO Energy Manager to Energy Branch in the Department of Finance and Personnel, which collates such data for all public sector bodies in Northern Ireland for publication in the annual Public Sector Energy Campaign Report. They use the following conversion factors (similar to those used by DEFRA) to calculate carbon emissions:
Grammes per kWh Electricity 430 Gas/diesel oil 250 Natural gas 190 Liquid propane gas 230 Heavy fuel oil 260
The Department also participates in the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund, which aims to offset emissions from air travel. The emissions are calculated as follows:
For short haul each km flown equals 0.3kg CO2
For long haul each km flown equals 0.22kg CO2
Further information on the fund can be found at:
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/carbonoffset/government.htm
Departments: Official Cars
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today (UIN 141990) by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Transport.
Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) is not included within schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Organisations will be considered in the context of any review of extending the coverage of the Freedom of Information Act. We have no plans to review the coverage of the Act at present.
Local Government Re-organisation
This has now been placed in the Library.
The full title of the report is:
Office of the First Minister Deputy First Minister
Exercise to Estimate the Costs and Efficiencies of the Review of Public Administration Proposals November 2005
Final Report 15 November 2005
Public Expenditure
In the run-up to devolution I had a number of discussions with the Chancellor about the funding of programmes which, since 8 May, have become the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Valuation and Lands Agency
This has now been placed in the Library.
Prime Minister
Departments: Eligo International
My Office has made no payments to Eligo International Limited since 1997.
Departments: Official Residences
On the allocation of ministerial residences, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 789W.
On costs, I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1808W and on 30 January 2007, Official Report, column 150W. Expenditure on other official residences is a matter for the relevant Minister’s Department.
East Riding
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 2 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1385-87W.
Information on visits made in the UK during 2006-07 will be published by means of an annual list before the summer recess.
European Constitutional Changes
I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Sir Nicholas Winterton) on 6 June 2007, Official Report, columns 256-7W.
Libya
The Memorandum of Understanding is publicly available, and copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Ministers: Pay
No. Severance pay is payable in accordance with section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991.
Details of all Ministers since 1997 are contained in editions of the “List of Ministerial Responsibilities”, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House. In addition, the press notices of ministerial appointments issued by my Office, note whether a particular appointment is unpaid.
Official Spokesman
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Davies) on 8 February 2007, Official Report, column 1096W.
Rendition
It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all discussions with foreign Governments.
Scotland
Departments: Carbon Emissions
The Scotland Office subscribes to the principles of environmental performance and accounting methodology adopted by the Ministry of Justice.
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Special advisers’ involvement in party political matters is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, including section 22 (iii), and the guidance issued by the Cabinet Secretary in December 2006 and May 2007, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.
Departments: Official Residences
No Ministers in the Scotland Office are allocated a ministerial residence.
Departments: Property
All Scotland Office property is rented and therefore the property portfolio value is nil. However, Dover House, which is held as an historic leasehold, is independently re-valued by the Valuation Office Agency, on the basis of existing use value, in accordance with the appraisal and valuation manual of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The most recent valuation undertaken in 2005-06 valued the building at £1,085,000.
Departments: Sovereign Strategy
The Scotland Office was formed on 1 July 1999. Since then, there have been no ministerial or official meetings with Sovereign Strategy.
Trade and Industry
Auctions: Internet
I understand that the OFT are not investigating the online money transfer marketplace and have no current plans to do so. The use by the OFT of their powers under the Enterprise Act to conduct market investigations is a matter for the OFT.
Clothing: Fire Prevention
The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985, which govern the fire safety of children’s nightwear, are already the most stringent in Europe—most member states have no legislation in this area. There are no current plans, therefore, to review these regulations. In addition, manufacturers of clothing, including pyjamas, that do not meet the flammability standard of the regulations have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
My Department commissioned research into nightwear safety in 1994, which included looking at the costs of extending the scope of the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations to include cotton nightwear garments, e.g. pyjamas. It was found that, as well as the cost of testing a finished product adding up to £3 per garment, making it from chemically flame retardant cotton would add another £3-£4 per garment. The research did not assess affordability but any such assessment must also take into account that flame retardant chemicals can affect the feel and comfortability of cotton fabric, and could pose problems for allergy sufferers.
Departments: Official Residences
The DTI does not have any official ministerial residences.
Low Carbon Buildings Programme
The microgeneration team has responsibility for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1 and 2, along with a range of other policy and delivery activities relating to microgeneration. There are currently five Civil Servants (two Range 10s and three Range 8s) working in that team.
Official Cars: Ministers
[holding answer 11 June 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for Transport on 11 June 2007, Official Report, column 728W.
Seals: Animal Products
(2) what assessment he has made of the European Commission's position on the EU-wide ban on the import of seal products; and if he will make a statement.
The European Commission is currently conducting a study of the Canadian seal hunt in order to assess the need for EU-wide action.
The Government decided to pursue EU-wide measures because national measures would be impossible to enforce under EU single market rules.
However we continue to believe that EU wide measures are the only effective way of banning seal products from the UK. The EU is a single trading market and therefore national bans could not prevent seal products being imported via other member states, such as Denmark and Finland. The UK does not intend to introduce a measure that could be so easily circumvented, as it would not prevent the cruelty that the public is concerned about. For these reasons the Government considered national ban and rejected it.
Transport
Airports: Noise
The Government’s “The Future of Air Transport” White Paper invited airport operators to bring forward voluntary schemes to address generalised blight where runways are supported by the White Paper or where land is safeguarded for future development. Voluntary blight schemes have been introduced at Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. Home-owners directly and indirectly affected by airport development will also have access in due course to statutory blight provisions.
There are over 140 licensed aerodromes in the United Kingdom and the information about voluntary plans to tackle noise pollution is not collected or held centrally by the Department.
In the “Future of Air Transport” White Paper, we encouraged airport operators to have voluntary schemes to mitigate the impact of aircraft noise. We have therefore introduced statutory powers to strengthen the airport operators' powers to introduce noise control schemes and fine aircraft that breach noise controls. We hope that this will encourage larger airports to establish schemes where they do not already exist. We have recommended that airport consultative committees monitor how well these new powers are being implemented by airports. We propose to consult the committees in 2008 on progress made by airport operators.
Under the environmental noise directive, all airports with over 50,000 movements per year are required to produce strategic noise maps by 30 June 2007. The completion of these maps will need to be followed by action plans aimed at managing and reducing environmental noise. These action plans are required to be completed by 18 July 2008.
BAA: Secondment
There are no BAA staff seconded into the Department for Transport.
Departments: Official Cars
The Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) is responsible for providing ministerial cars in line with the ministerial code and the Prime Minister's guidance Travel by Ministers'.
GCDA advises the Prime Minister on the suitability of cars for inclusion in his guidance, taking into account a number of criteria when assessing suitable cars including their environmental impact, running and maintenance costs and overall suitability as a ministerial car.
It is for individual ministers to account for their travel arrangements. Ministers in the Department for Transport are provided with three Toyota Prius and one Ford Mondeo for their official use.
Mobility: Finance
(2) what future funding streams he has allocated for vehicles to assist the elderly and people with disability; and if he will make a statement.
The Department has regular discussions with colleagues in Communities and Local Government (CLG) on many issues including on the important role which local authorities play in acting as an essential conduit for Central Government funding.
The Government are committed to an accessible transport system in which disabled and older people have the same opportunities to travel as other members of society. Its overall transport strategy, as set out in the Transport White Paper “The Future of Transport”, recognised the vital role that extending mobility plays in meeting the wider objectives for the economy and an inclusive society.
Transport provision is largely funded via local authorities who are best placed to deliver the solutions that best meet the needs of local people. For example, to assist these aims the West Midlands region were provided with over £155 million capital funding for both integrated transport and maintenance for 2007-08.
We have ensured, through the introduction of “accessibility planning” into the most recent round of local transport plans, that the needs of socially excluded groups are prioritised.
We have already achieved a great deal to make mainstream public transport more accessible (for example, all new trains, buses and coaches must be accessible to disabled people, including wheelchair users) but the Government’s wider strategy is to devolve decision making responsibility about local service provision closer to where services are delivered, and to encourage the removal of ring fenced funding so that local decisions can increasingly be informed by local context, priorities and need.
Motorcycles: Theft
I have been asked to reply.
The decision to wind down the Home Office Vehicle Crime Reduction Team was taken as part of the Home Office Reform Programme and in the context of developing a new strategic approach to crime reduction.
We do not believe the decision to wind down the Home Office team will have an adverse impact on the theft rates of motorcycles or motorcycle parts. Frontline practitioners are experienced in implementing initiatives to deal with vehicle crime, including thefts of motorcycles. This includes providing relevant crime prevention advice and making use of the Motor Salvage (Operators) Regulations 2002 to drive criminals out of the motor salvage industry to prevent vehicles, including motorcycles, being stolen for their parts.
Performance management arrangements will ensure that the significant gains made to date in this area are sustained.
Parking
All local authorities outside London already have the power to make Traffic Regulation Orders which can, among other things, ban parking on grass verges. It is for the local authority to put a ban in place where they consider it appropriate. Pavement parking (which includes parking on grass verges) is banned in London apart from where signs indicate otherwise.
Parking: Schools
There is a wide range of parking controls that a local authority can provide near schools. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 2002 gives local authorities powers to implement yellow zig-zag and keep clear road markings. These markings indicate where vehicles should not stop outside a school entrance. The local authority can determine whether the markings are advisory or made mandatory with an appropriate traffic regulation order. There are no plans to change these controls.
Railways: Ashford Kent
I have met a number of hon. Members to discuss the issue, which has also been the subject of two Adjournment debates in the last eight months. In addition, I have received a small number of letters from hon. Members, and around another 30 letters from members of the public, local authorities and others.
Road Works
Part 3 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, permit schemes, is dependant upon part 4 of the Act, the notices, directions and restrictions regulations. As such the permit regulations cannot be laid prior to part 4.
I would refer the hon. Member to the written statement made to the House on 7 June 2007, Official Report, columns 30-31WS, which set out the reasons for the time taken to implement Traffic Management Act regulations. All these reasons apply to part 4.
Roads: East Sussex
(2) what assessment he has made of the potential environmental impact of the proposed Bexhill to Hastings Link Road.
The promoters of the scheme, East Sussex county council, have reported that the total cost of the scheme is now estimated to be £89.3 million. It is for the South East region to decide whether it still wishes to prioritise funding for this scheme at its higher cost within its regional funding allocation for major transport schemes. Should the region formally advise that it continues to be a funding priority, the scheme will then be subject to a re-appraisal and value for money assessment in accordance with the Department’s guidance before a final decision on whether to provide additional funding to the scheme is taken. The environmental impact of the Link Road was assessed in accordance with our appraisal methodology, when the scheme was originally approved in December 2004.
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
The Government does not collect statistics on user satisfaction in relation to the condition of local authority-maintained highways.
The Department for Transport collects statistics from local authority surveys of road conditions which are collated and published annually in the ‘National Road Maintenance Condition Survey’. The latest of these reports relates to 2006 and a copy of the report, published on 10 May 2007, was placed in the House of Commons Library and it is also available at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/roadstraffic/maintenance/nrmcs2006intro.
The two most recent National Road Maintenance Condition Surveys (NRMCS), published in April 2005 and April 2006, both showed that the deterioration in the condition of local authority highways during the 1990s had been halted, and that there had been a significant improvement in local road conditions since 2000.
Taxis: Disabled
The Department for Transport issued advice to taxi licensing authorities on 9 September 2002 which included factors they should consider in relation to improving access for disabled people. In November 2006, the Department also issued Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing: Best Practice Guidance which contains a section on improving accessibility of taxis. Further announcements will be made in due course.
The Department has received a number of representations from organisations representing disabled people, individuals, licensing authorities and vehicle manufacturers which will help to inform the development of the policy on improving access to taxis. In addition the Department has regular discussions with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee. Formal consultations will take place once options have been firmed up.
The Government recognise the vital role taxis play in the transport of disabled people, and are committed to bringing forward requirements for accessible taxis.
Consideration is currently being given as to how best this might be achieved, and this will comprise evaluation of all of the options, including both regulatory and non-regulatory approaches.
Tolls
The Department does not have data in this form. Work to explore the potential of road pricing to address traffic congestion, most notably the 2003-04 Road Pricing Feasibility Study, was undertaken within overall departmental headcount and budgets.
The demonstration into Time-Distance-Place charging announced by the Secretary of State on 23 May is presently in the procurement stage, therefore it is not possible to state how much the project will cost until we have received proposals from bidders and evaluated them.
Tolls: Business
It is for local authorities to assess the impacts of their proposed schemes and consider what mitigation might be necessary or appropriate.
Tolls: Manpower
There are 22 members of departmental staff working primarily on the exploration of road pricing, and, in particular, work needed to make a success of schemes being developed by local authorities (e.g. on the provisions contained in the draft Local Transport Bill published for consultation on 22 May). This work also draws on expertise in other areas of the Department from time to time, for example, on legal, economic and scientific issues as necessary.
A consultancy framework has recently been put in place to secure external expert input for road pricing and there are currently 24 individual consultants engaged full or part-time, this number varying dependent on the expertise required.
Trains: Bicycles
Bidders for the franchises that are out to tender currently (East Midlands, West Midlands, New Cross Country and Intercity East Coast) require bidders to consider bike-rail integration and facilities at stations in their bid submissions. The Government’s aspiration is to see 95 per cent. of journeys originating from stations with adequate cycle parking facilities.
Last year, the Government asked Cycling England, our advisory group on cycling, to look into how we might better encourage bike and rail journeys. They have accepted this remit and are now looking to see where progress can best be made further to improve bike and rail integration. Officials here will assist them and we have written to all train operating companies who will be facilitating its work. I look forward to receiving the report from Cycling England.
Transport: Disabled
A request for a meeting was sent to the Secretary of State on 4 April 2007 in a joint letter from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and the Disability Rights Commission. A reply was sent on 10 May 2007.
Treasury
No. 11 Downing Street
I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones) on the Floor of the House earlier today.
Rail Projects
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
World Trade
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Chancellor gave to the hon. Member for Ipswich (Chris Mole) on the Floor of the House earlier today.
Intellectual Property
In the 2006 pre-Budget report, the Government made clear that it intends to take forward all of the recommendations of the Gowers Review for which it is responsible. Significant progress has been achieved since then, and the Government is working to implement the majority of the recommendations by the end of 2008.
Public Expenditure
The fiscal rules have enabled the Government to make historic increases to investment in public services—overcoming the decades of underinvestment before 1997 and helping secure improvements in services—while simultaneously delivering a decade of sustained growth alongside low and stable inflation.
Saving Gateway Pilot
The final evaluation of the second Saving Gateway pilot was published on 25 May.
Overall the evaluation found that the pilots were very successful in generating savings and that the Saving Gateway encouraged some lower income participants, in particular, to save and to reduce their expenditure in order to save.
There was a positive impact on participants' attitudes to saving which was most marked among those who had little or no prior experience of saving. The findings also point overwhelmingly to the success of matching as a targeted incentive for lower income savers.
The pilots have provided a wealth of evidence for future policy development. The Government will need time to analyse this information and will make further announcements on next steps for the roll-out of the Saving Gateway in the pre-Budget report.
Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit
The latest figures show that in 2004-05 take up of the child tax credit was 82 per cent. with over 90 per cent. of the money available being claimed, higher than any previous system of income-related financial support for in-work families. Precise figures are not available for child benefit, but it is estimated that approximately 98 per cent. of eligible families claim child benefit.
Savings Ratio
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) on the Floor of the House earlier today.
Africa: Education for All Initiative
With 77 million children out of school, urgent action is needed to achieve universal primary education. The UK has made a long-term £8.5 billion commitment and is working with developing countries and other donors to develop and fund the long-term plans needed. The EC, World Bank, France, US, and Australia have all joined the international effort by committing new funds to education and private sector companies are working with African countries to support their efforts. Progress is being made: Enrolment in school in sub-Saharan Africa increased by 27 per cent. between 1999 and 2004. But more needs to be done.
Children
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 14 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of (a) children under three, (b) children under five, (c) children under 10 and (d) children under 14 years were being brought up by (i) two parents who were both unemployed, (ii) two parents with one in full time employment and one not in paid employment, (iii) two parents with both in full-time work, (iv) two parents with both in part-time work and (v) two parents with one in full-time work and one in part-time work in each year for which figures are available. I am replying in her absence. (141689)
A table showing the information requested is attached. The figures in the table are estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the three months ending in June of 1997, 1999 and 2001-2006. Comparable information for 1998 and 2000 is not available.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
April-June 1997 Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 324 511 1,006 1,530 18.1 17.1 16.7 18.4 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 598 1,064 2,351 3,315 33.5 35.7 39.1 39.9 Both parents employed part-time 10 22 49 75 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 631 1,017 1,828 2,305 35.3 34.1 30.4 27.8 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 55 89 203 280 3.1 3.0 3.4 3.4 Both parents unemployed 10 18 40 52 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.6 Both parents economically inactive 63 115 258 390 3.5 3.9 4.3 4.7 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 95 149 275 356 5.3 5.0 4.6 4.3 Total 1,786 2,984 6,011 8,305 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 316 511 1,032 1,593 18.1 17.8 17.7 19.6 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 610 1,053 2,360 3,360 34.9 36.7 40.6 41.4 Both parents employed part-time 11 19 44 63 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 619 975 1,731 2,183 35.3 33.9 29.8 26.9 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 61 101 203 291 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.6 Both parents unemployed 7 15 30 41 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 Both parents economically inactive 64 107 230 356 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.4 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 62 93 185 236 3.5 3.2 3.2 2.9 Total 1,751 2,874 5,815 8,123 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 303 489 1,042 1,620 18.3 17.5 18.3 20.1 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 604 1,063 2,337 3,364 36.6 38.1 41.1 41.7 Both parents employed part-time 11 21 46 64 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 567 944 1,700 2,157 34.3 33.9 29.9 26.8 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 49 88 176 258 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.2 Both parents unemployed 5 8 17 21 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 Both parents economically inactive 62 105 242 398 3.7 3.8 4.2 4.9 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 50 71 126 174 3.1 2.5 2.2 2.2 Total 1,652 2,789 5,686 8,058 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 267 433 964 1,537 16.8 16.1 17.5 19.6 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 551 995 2,223 3,231 34.7 37.0 40.3 41.2 Both parents employed part-time 14 25 53 76 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 576 937 1,669 2,151 36.2 34.8 30.3 27.4 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 55 92 183 255 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.3 Both parents unemployed 7 10 23 28 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 Both parents economically inactive 74 126 270 402 4.7 4.7 4.9 5.1 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 43 71 124 156 2.7 2.7 2.2 2.0 Total 1,589 2,692 5,512 7,841 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 264 432 950 1,533 16.8 16.1 17.4 19.8 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 547 989 2,182 3,172 34.6 36.9 40.1 40.9 Both parents employed part-time 13 20 42 68 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 594 970 1,710 2,182 37.7 36.2 31.4 28.1 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 52 88 197 282 3.3 3.3 3.6 3.6 Both parents unemployed 6 10 18 20 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 Both parents economically inactive 64 115 241 361 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.7 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 37 54 103 134 2.4 2.0 1.9 1.7 Total 1,577 2,679 5,445 7,757 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 287 467 972 1,525 17.6 17.3 17.9 19.8 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 568 964 2,187 3,175 34.8 35.7 40.2 41.1 Both parents employed part-time 17 26 55 75 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 589 951 1,651 2,135 36.1 35.2 30.4 27.7 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 55 93 198 279 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.6 Both parents unemployed 4 7 16 22 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 Both parents economically inactive 71 123 239 357 4.4 4.6 4.4 4.6 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 39 65 116 148 2.4 2.4 2.1 1.9 Total 1,631 2,698 5,436 7,720 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 320 479 1,008 1,592 19.3 18.0 18.8 20.8 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 599 988 2,140 3,085 36.2 37.1 39.8 40.3 Both parents employed part-time 19 28 55 79 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 555 906 1,607 2,100 33.6 34.0 29.9 27.4 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 51 87 192 265 3.1 3.3 3.6 3.5 Both parents unemployed 5 8 13 16 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 Both parents economically inactive 60 102 234 366 3.6 3.8 4.4 4.8 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 43 66 122 149 2.6 2.5 2.3 1.9 Total 1,652 2,664 5,372 7,653 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Thousand Percentage Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Under 3 Under 5 Under 10 Under 14 Both parents employed full-time 328 492 982 1,516 20.0 18.1 18.2 20.0 One parent employed full-time and the other part-time 591 1,018 2,168 3,067 36.0 37.5 40.2 40.5 Both parents employed part-time 17 26 56 82 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 One parent employed full-time and the other not in employment 543 905 1,614 2,093 33.0 33.3 30.0 27.6 One parent employed part-time and the other not in employment 56 88 187 268 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.5 Both parents unemployed 5 8 15 21 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 Both parents economically inactive 67 109 242 362 4.0 4.0 4.5 4.8 One parent unemployed and the other economically inactive 38 69 121 160 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.1 Total 1,644 2,716 5,386 7,573 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1 Estimates have been adjusted for children with parents who have unknown economic activity status. 2 Comparable figures for April-June and 2000 are not available. Source: Labour Force Survey
Council Tax: Valuation
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 274W.
Councillors: Pay
HMRC provides general guidance on the taxation of expenses and allowances payable to councillors and civic dignitaries in its employment income manual. The guidance also covers the tax treatment of termination payments and benefits. The employment income manual (EIM) is available to the public on the HMRC website at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk.
Crown Estate Commissioners: Land
In 2005-06 the Crown Estate sold 30.3 hectares of land for residential housing development.
Financial information for 2006-07 is not yet available.
The Office of Government Commerce published the “Guide for the disposal of surplus property” in November 2005. This applies to central civil Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and sponsored bodies. It does not apply to the Crown estate, being property owned by the Sovereign “in right of the Crown”, which is governed by the Crown Estate Act 1961. The guide is available at:
www.ogc.gov.uk.
Departments: Caparo Group
None of the Chancellor’s Departments or their agencies has found any records of payments to Caparo Group or its known subsidiaries within the last five years. Changes in accounting systems mean that a positive confirmation for all bodies over the whole period since 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Information Officers
In 2006-07 the Treasury employed the full-time equivalent of nine press officers, the Debt Management Office employed two and the Office of Government Commerce employed three. Exact figures for previous years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost but there have not been significant variations in the past five years.
Departments: Official Cars
The Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) is responsible for providing ministerial cars in line with the Ministerial Code and the Prime Minister’s guidance Travel by Ministers’ which is available at;
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
GCDA advises the Prime Minister on the suitability of cars for inclusion in his guidance, taking into account a number of criteria when assessing suitable cars including their environmental impact, running and maintenance costs and overall suitability as a ministerial car.
Direct Payments
Each local authority has its own direct payments service and it is their responsibility to develop services in consultation with their local populations and service users.
Gift Aid
The Government expect to report on the progress of the Gift Aid consultation by the end of the year.
Government Shareholding
The Government holds the following special shares:
Responsible Department: Ministry of Defence
Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd
Rosyth Royal Dockyard Ltd
AWE plc
AWE Pension Trustees Ltd
QinetiQ Group plc
QinetiQ Holdings Ltd
QinetiQ Ltd
BAE Systems Marine (Holdings) Ltd
Responsible Department: Department of Trade and Industry
Royal Mail Group plc
British Aerospace plc
British Energy Group plc
British Energy Holdings
British Energy Generation
British Energy Ltd
Nuclear Liabilities Fund Ltd
Rolls Royce plc
Responsible Department: Department for Transport
NATS Holdings Ltd,
Eurostar (UK) Ltd.
London and Continental Railways Ltd.
Union Railways (North) Ltd
Inter-Capital and Regional Rail Ltd
Responsible Department: Treasury
Partnerships UK Ltd
Responsible Department: Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development
Belfast International Airport Ltd
Informers
Each reward payment made by HMRC is calculated on the circumstances relevant to that case.
It would not be in the public interest to divulge the exact factors taken into account when calculating such payments, however all Law Enforcement agencies, in accordance with the relevant ACPO guidelines, apply similar considerations when determining levels of rewards payments
National Insurance Contributions
There are no plans to review the age thresholds of national insurance contributions.
Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property
(2) whether a regulatory impact assessment has been produced on the Budget 2007 proposals to reduce business rate relief for empty properties; and whether this move was planned to be revenue-neutral;
(3) whether the Government undertook consultation on their plans to reduce empty property business rate relief.
The Government estimate that the impact on tax revenue of reforms to empty property relief will be £950 million in 2008-09, and £900 million in subsequent years. This estimate was published in the Red Book alongside the Budget Report 2007.
A regulatory impact assessment for this measure has been produced and is published on the Communities and Local Government website:
www.communities.gov.uk.
As part of the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government, Sir Michael Lyons consulted extensively on Kate Barker’s recommendation that empty property relief be reformed. As announced in the Budget, we are taking forward legislation to reform the relief from April 2008.
The Government intend to publish a consultation document next month which will seek views on proposals for detailed reforms to secondary legislation, including the existing exemptions from empty property rates.
Pensions
The impact on tax revenues of changes to the rules governing alternatively secured pensions, announced in the 2007 Budget, were set out in the regulatory impact assessment of tax relief for pensions, published on the Treasury website, available at:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.
PFI
The Treasury does not hold this information. Equity sales are private transactions between two private institutions; therefore the Treasury does not collate information on them. The Treasury does, however, and will continue more broadly to examine developments in the secondary equity market both through its relations with other Departments and key participants in the PFI market.
Suicide: Young People
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 14 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many and what percentage of victims of suicide under the age of 18 years in each year since 1997 lived (a) with a parent who had sole custody, (b) with parents who had joint custody and (c) with parents who were married. I am replying in her absence. (142648)
Information on the marital status of parents of deceased children or their custodial circumstances are not collected at death registration and are therefore not available to tabulate. The table below therefore only contains numbers of suicides for those aged under 18 in England and Wales from 1997 to 2005, the latest available year.
It is assumed that most deaths from injury/poisoning of undetermined intent at ages 15 and over are cases where the harm was self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to kill themselves. This cannot be assumed in deaths at ages under 15 and therefore deaths from injury/poisoning of undetermined intent are not included when examining suicide (intentional self-harm) in children. As there were no deaths in children aged under 13 with a suicide verdict for the period requested, the table shows the number of suicides in children aged 13 to 14, and the number of suicide or injury/poisoning of undetermined intent deaths in those aged 15 to 17.
Aged 13-14 Aged 15-17 Suicide2 Suicide and injury/poisoning of undetermined intent3 1997 5 61 1998 3 68 1999 2 64 2000 3 69 2001 5 54 2002 5 62 2003 3 47 2004 5 50 2005 1 37 1 Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year. 2 The cause of death for suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the years 2001 to 2005, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84. 3 The cause of death for injury/poisoning of undetermined intent was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the years 2001 to 2005, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner’s verdict was pending.
Teenage Pregnancy
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 14 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your request for how many and what percentage of mothers under the age of 16 lived (a) with a parent who had sole custody, (b) with parents who had joint custody and (c) with parents who were married in each year since 1997.1 am replying in her absence. (142657)
Only a small proportion of births are to mothers aged under 16 and, of these, most are at age 15 (see table below). For this reason the only reliable source for the figures requested is the 2001 Census as there are relatively few mothers aged under 16 at any one time. There were 1,040 mothers aged under 16 recorded by the 2001 Census. The figures requested by you are being extracted and will be placed in the Library of the House at a later date.
Age 1999 2000 2001 2005 11 0 8 8 4 12 5 5 9 4 13 35 37 38 15 14 228 245 239 188 15 1,207 1,187 1,138 977 Total under 16 1,475 1,482 1,432 1,188 1 A maternity is a confinement resulting in the birth of one or more live-born or stillborn children. There are only a small number of stillbirths to females under 16. In 2001 there were nine. Source: Birth statistics Series FM1 nos. 28, 29, 30 and 34
Valuation Office Agency
The Valuation Office Agency has paid no speaker's fees for its North West Excellence Award in 2004.
Valuation Office Agency: Secondment
The Valuation Office Agency has taken a total of three staff from overseas on secondment during 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 as follows:
7 November 2005 to 4 May 2006: One secondee from Australia, Australian Valuation Office;
3 July 2006 to 31 December 2006: One secondee from Hong Kong, Hong Kong Valuation Office;
10 April 2007 to 9 October 2007: One secondee from Hong Kong, Hong Kong Valuation Office.
The Valuation Office Agency is unable to provide any further information about any such secondments for earlier financial years without incurring disproportionate costs.
No overseas staff have been attached to the Valuation Office Agency in the last five years.
VAT: Electric Motors
(2) whether he has any plans to re-classify electric mobility scooters thereby attracting value-added tax to their sale.
Electric mobility scooters and golf caddies are classified in the same tariff heading for customs purposes and have been since at least 2002 when the World Customs Organisation published its ‘Classification Opinion’ on the subject. We are not aware that the European Union has any plans to change that classification.
However, VAT and Customs are separate regimes. Classification for duty purposes under the Customs regime has no direct bearing on VAT liability, which is determined by VAT law.
For VAT purposes, mobility scooters may qualify for the zero-rating that applies when disabled people purchase certain “carriages” or other equipment specifically designed to meet their needs. The Government have no plans to change the scope of this VAT relief.
VAT: Repayments
HMRC has a duty to protect the VAT system from fraudulent attacks. It has a risk-based approach. Verification of VAT repayment claims is an important part of the Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud (MTIC) strategy.
Unfortunately it is not possible to disclose the numbers of claims that are subject to verifications, so the requested information cannot be disclosed. To do so would undermine the measure introduced by HM Revenue and Customs to counter MTIC fraud and as such prejudice the assessment and collection of tax.
Welfare Tax Credits
The HM Revenue and Customs chairman wrote to my right hon. Friend about his constituent on 24 May 2007 and apologised for the delay in resolving the issues affecting his constituent’s claim for tax credits.
Wales
Departments: Manpower
The Wales Office publishes staff numbers in its annual departmental report. This document is available in the House Libraries and on the Wales Office website:
www.walesoffice.gov.uk
Departments: Official Cars
All travel is undertaken in accordance with Travel by Ministers and the Ministerial Code, copies of which are available in the House Library.
Departments: Sick Leave
Figures relating to sickness absence are available for the last three years.
For each year, the average number of days sick absence recorded for each member of staff is as follows:
Days 2004-05 4.61 2005-06 3.22 2006-07 4.73
Work and Pensions
Bereavement Benefits
Bereavement benefits cannot be paid to cohabiting partners. There are no plans to change this.
It is a principle of the social insurance system that all rights to benefit derived from another person’s contributions are based on the concept of legal marriage or, more recently, legal civil partnership.
Departments: Property
(2) what properties the Department (a) owned and (b) rented in each of the last five years;
(3) what recent estimate has been made of the value of his Department's property portfolio.
The DWP estate (not including properties held by sponsored bodies) has been sold (freehold, freehold and long leasehold interests) or transferred (short leasehold interests) through its PFI Contract known as PRIME to Land Securities Trillium (LST). The proceeds were released to HM Treasury in April 1998 (for the original DSS estate) and further in December 2003 when PRIME was expanded to include the former Employment Service (ES) estate.
In 2003, the Department and LST agreed a vacant possession value of £140 million for the freehold and valuable leaseholds covered within the expanded PRIME Contract. The Department decided to receive this amount split into an up-front payment of £100 million after seeking variant bids and a reduction in the annual Unitary Charge over the life of the contract, equivalent in present value terms to the £40 million balance.
Following the expansion of the PRIME Contract, DWP retained two properties which for commercial reasons could not be transferred within the expansion. These two properties were subsequently sold in 2005-06 for £5.075 million.
Despite having already sold its property assets, DWP retains some ‘claw back’ rights in the form of what is called ‘development gain’. Under this mechanism, if LST sells a property vacated after April 1998 for more than the price it paid at the start of the contract, then after the sale costs are deducted, DWP receives 50 per cent. of the uplift in value with LST. This applies to market driven value increase as well as LST’s activities to enhance value such as obtaining change of planning use. For 2006-07, DWP will receive £2.8 million.
Departments: Recruitment
DWP has this information available only from 6 April 2004. The amounts given as follows represent the total value of the contracts awarded to recruitment agencies, rather than actual spend, for exercises to recruit staff into the Department within the periods shown.
The Department for Work and Pensions makes use of executive search consultants to provide expertise in executive search and selection, particularly for senior and specialist staff in circumstances where the relevant skills, qualifications and experience are not available or in very limited supply across the Department and Whitehall.
Contracted spend (£) 2004-05 1,387,106 2005-06 3,265,273 2006-07 1,164,375 2007-08 (to date) 38,000
Financial Assistance Scheme
We announced an extension to FAS on 18 April 2007 to cover members of schemes that began winding up between 1 January 2007 and 5 April 2005, where a compromise agreement is in place, and where enforcing the debt against the employer would have forced the employer into insolvency. On 23 April 2007 we subsequently issued an indicative list of schemes potentially eligible for support from the FAS where a compromise agreement is understood to be in place.
We do not currently have any detailed information on schemes sponsored by other solvent employers.
On 28 March the Secretary of State announced a review to examine whether an alternative treatment of the residual funds in affected pension schemes and other non-public expenditure funding that have not already been allocated could be used to increase levels of assistance above the 80 per cent. provided by the financial assistance scheme. One objective for this review of scheme assets is to determine whether there are other pension schemes (in addition to those with compromise agreements) where although the sponsoring employer did not undergo an insolvency event, it would not be reasonable to expect the employer to have a continuing responsibility for supporting an under funded scheme. The review will provide an initial view in the summer, consult formally in the autumn and then report by the end of the year.
Incapacity Benefit
[holding answer 7 June 2007]: Up to the end of November 2006, new deal for disabled people had been successful in helping 134,160 people into work.
A total of 15,640 people who had previously left new deal for disabled people and were not participating at the end of November 2006, were claiming incapacity benefit at the end of November 2006.
A total of 14,460 people who had left new deal for disabled people to employment had a subsequent out-of-work benefit claim at some point up to the end of November 2006.
Because some people are included in both totals there is overlap between the two sets of figures.
Jobcentre Plus: Christchurch
(2) where he proposes former clients using the Christchurch Jobcentre Plus office will be able to use jobpoints and free telephone services after the proposed closure of the Christchurch office;
(3) on what date Jobcentre Plus in Dorset and Somerset finalised its service delivery plan for the district; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the plan;
(4) whether he is now in a position to place in the Library a copy of the business case for the closure of the Christchurch Jobcentre Plus office;
(5) pursuant to the letter of 15 May 2007 from the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform to the hon. Member for Christchurch, what assessment he has made of the ways in which closure of the Christchurch Jobcentre Plus office will enable his Department to provide a better service to the residents of Christchurch than it has been able to provide up to now.
[holding answers 23 May 2007]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Mel Groves, dated 14 June 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the consultation process on Christchurch Jobcentre. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Lesley Strathie as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. I am replying on her behalf as Acting Chief Executive.
I am unable to provide details of customer usage in Christchurch Jobcentre in the last 6 months as this information is not recorded. I can tell you that Christchurch has a Jobseekers Allowance customer load of 277 customers and an Income Support/Incapacity Benefit customer load of 2,065, of which 1,720 are sick and disabled and 345 are Lone Parents. As part of the consultation period which began on 21 May 2007, for 6 weeks, we will be analysing usage in detail via a questionnaire to customers who visit the office.
Lesley Strathie’s letter of 14 December referred to the Service Delivery Plan, which has yet to be finalised as we are just entering the consultation period. We are therefore unable to place a copy of the Business Case in the Library as it is not complete until after the consultation period when the Service Delivery Plan will be finalised.
If after the consultation period the decision is taken to close Christchurch Jobcentre customers will be able to use the facilities at Bournemouth Jobcentre Plus. All Jobcentre Plus customers can access 0800 and 0845 telephone numbers when making claims to benefit and benefit enquiries, in addition to the 0845 number for Jobseeker Direct. Additionally the Jobcentre Plus website is available to all 24 hours a day.
As you will know, we are continuing to develop our nationwide network of Jobcentres, and to review and improve our services. Advances in technology and increased availability of Contact Centre facilities mean that increasing numbers of customers—including employers—access our services by using the internet or telephone.
I hope this is helpful.
Learning Disability: Basic Skills
[holding answer 22 May 2007]: All Jobcentre Plus customers, including those with learning needs, have access to a range of literacy and numeracy basic skills training. Jobcentre Plus fund training for customers eligible for the new deal programme or voluntary training funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
The new Employability Skills programme, for Jobcentre Plus customers, will be introduced in August 2007 and will target help for customers for whom basic skills are the primary barrier to employment. It will also be possible for customers with learning needs to be referred to have their needs assessed and, if it is suitable, will be able to take up this training. If the Employability Skills programme is not suitable the LSC provider will refer them to other LSC courses.
Customers with a learning difficulty or disability who are registered on a LSC funded literacy and numeracy course are entitled, through the Skills for Life strategy, to free training. People with learning needs and in employment can also access a range of LSC provision either direct or via their employer.
Education and training is a devolved issue and these arrangements for training refer to Jobcentre Plus customers in England only.
We have no plans to review the availability of provision at this time.
Pensions Bill
We have not worked out the exact cost of implementing the amendments as they are somewhat contradictory in effect and may be technically deficient. The intended effect would appear to be payment of PPF levels of benefit to those qualifying for FAS schemes (costs below). The amendments would also extend the level of benefits to an unspecified number of pension schemes in wind up with a solvent employer, costings for which will not be available until after the report of the review of FAS scheme assets. There would be very significant implementation costs in setting up and running the institutions proposed but these have not been costed.
Paying PPF level benefits to the current set of qualifying FAS schemes would cost around £2.5 billion in NPV terms (£640 million in addition to the budget extension) and £10.6 billion in cash terms (an additional £2.7 billion on the Budget extension).
Pensions: Bankruptcy
(2) when he decided to publish an initial report in summer 2007 on pension scheme assets held by schemes in wind-up with a deficiency of assets in addition to a final report before the end of the year; for what reasons; and if he will make a statement;
(3) whether the initial report on pension scheme assets held by schemes in wind-up with a deficiency of assets is planned to be published before the summer parliamentary recess 2007.
On 28 March 2007 the Secretary of State announced a review to examine how the best use could be made of the assets in pension schemes that are winding up underfunded. He also said the review would consider any suggestions from interested and concerned parties.
On 23 April 2007 in a letter placed in the House, the Minister of State for Pensions Reform provided the full terms of reference which referred specifically to the review considering other sources of non-public expenditure funding (that have not already been allocated). It also stated
“The Review will provide an initial view in the summer, consult formally in the autumn and then report by the end of the year.”
We expect that an initial report will be provided before the summer parliamentary recess of 2007.
Remploy
[holding answer 6 June 2007]: 29 per cent. of the Remploy workforce is aged over 55 years.
[holding answer 6 June 2007]: Remploy has contacted over 120 local organisations, including local colleges, providers and community groups to establish how they can work together.
Remploy has established national partnerships with four major charities and Social Firms UK to establish what they can do to support employees should a decision be taken to close any factories.
Remploy: Closures
Remploy will provide a support package to help employees through the transition and ensure that disabled people will continue to be able to choose to maintain meaningful employment on Remploy’s terms and conditions, including membership of Remploy’s final salary pension scheme.
The Government will consider the Company’s final proposals once they have been submitted later in the year following consultation. No decisions by the Secretary of State on the future of the Company will take place until then.
(The total retraining and job placement budget for dealing with those affected is £58 million).
Social Security Benefits
[pursuant to the reply, 18 May 2007, Official Report, c. 941W]: The available information is in the following table.
£ 1997-98 2005-06 Single pensioner 96 145 Married pensioner couple 134 192 Single non-pensioner 94 110 Married non-pensioner couple 53 61 Married non-pensioner couple with children 41 48 Notes: 1.Data for 1997-98 were collected between April 1997 and March 1998 and data for 2005-06 were collected between April 2005 and March 2006. 2.The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a nationally representative sample of approximately 28,000 households. 3.Pensioner couple is defined as a couple where the head of the benefit unit is over pension age, defined as 60 for women and 65 for men. 4.Married couples include Civil Partnerships in 2005-06. 5.The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government Office Region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error. 6.Figures are mean-averages of weekly benefits received by claimants only (i.e. excluding non-claimants) and have been rounded to the nearest £1. Figures for couples are average weekly benefit amounts per couple. 7.Figures for weekly benefits include both income-related and non-income related benefits but exclude tax credits. Source: Family Resources Survey: Great Britain 1997-98 and 2005-06.
Social Security Benefits: Prosecutions
The information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.