Written Answers to Questions
Friday 25 January 2008
Culture, Media and Sport
Overseas Sports Programmes
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: No firm allocations from departmental or UK Sport budgets have been made for overseas sports programmes beyond 2008-09.
Allocations to date for the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 are:
2007-08 2008-09 (a) From the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Total £200,000 — (b) From UK Sport Total 1,609,000 1,530,000
Sportsmatch UK
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: Management of the Sportsmatch programme in England successfully transferred to Sport England’s direct control in April 2007. Sport England is in the process of developing and agreeing with Ministers their new three-year strategy for 2008-11. We envisage that small grants, with matched funding, will form a part of the new strategy. Sport England is consulting partners and stakeholders on whether the Sportsmatch brand should continue.
Trade Unions
Ministers meet many people as part of the process of policy development. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Accountancy
The requested information is as follows:
(a) Revenue generated by the Northern Ireland Office is based on prices set by Government legislation and therefore the Department does not increase prices through indexation or any other measure of inflation.
(b) The Northern Ireland Office carries out an annual indexation exercise on its Fixed Assets using the Price Index Numbers for Current Cost Accounting as well as the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS), Residential Land Index and the Dwellings Index in relation to Land and Buildings.
Inflation is also taken into consideration in the preparation of business cases for future expenditure in accordance with Treasury guidance.
Departmental ICT
The figures shown in the following table include the numbers of personal digital assistants, including blackberries and most recently smart phones issued to staff each year within the NI0. It should be made clear however that some of these items may be re-issued when there are staff changes.
Male Female 2001 0 0 2002 0 0 2003 4 2 2004 3 2 2005 4 2 2006 6 2 2007 4 1 2008 5 4
Please note none of these devices are allowed to be connected directly to the NIO confidential ICT network.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
None of the Apache or Lynx helicopters deployed to Afghanistan are equipped with a winch or any other device designed to extract personnel from situations where landing is impossible. That is not the purpose of those helicopters. All UK Sea King and all UK Chinooks deployed in Afghanistan are equipped with winches.
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
There are at present 24 personnel with serious multiple injuries who have submitted a claim and will benefit from the change to the multiple injury rule which comes into effect on 8 February 2008. Under the rules of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, individuals have up to five years in which to make a claim, accordingly, there maybe others who have yet to claim. However, it is estimated that the 24 cases will cost an additional £2-4 million following the revised rule coming into effect.
Estimating the numbers of potential claimants and therefore future costs is always difficult. The Ministry of Defence will meet its obligations to pay entitlements to compensation in accordance with the rules of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
Armed Forces: Pensions
The costs of the Armed Forces Pensions Schemes are routinely monitored by officials. The last significant review of the Armed Forces Pensions Schemes resulted in the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004 and the creation of the pension scheme known as AFPS 05 in April 2005. As part of the ongoing process of providing such benefits we are keeping under review how to manage the Schemes’ long term liabilities.
Athena Mechanism
[holding answer 10 January 2008]: The amount spent on ESDP military operations since January 2004 under the Athena mechanism is set out as shown.
The amount spent on ESDP military operations since January 2004 not under the Athena mechanism format includes national borne costs which are held theatre wide rather than for NATO/ESDP (for example in the Balkans). Further work is therefore required to determine these costs as accurately as possible. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as this work is complete.
EU operation Where When Under ATHENA (£ million) ALTHEA (Bosnia and Herzegovina Since July 2004 15.177 EUFORDRC Democratic Republic of Congo April 2006 to November 2006 1.417 EUFOR CHAD/CAR CHAD/ Central African Republic Yet to deploy 5.902 Total — — 22.496
Substantive answer from Mr. Bob Ainsworth to Dr. Fox:
I undertook to write in answer to your Parliamentary Question of 14 January 2007, Official Report, column 878W, with more detail on the amount spent on ESDP military operations since January 2004 not under the Athena mechanism format.
In addition to the figures already provided, the national borne cost for NATO and ESDP missions is £208.95 million for the period requested. As this figure represents a national pan-Balkans commitment it has not been possible to disaggregate further between the NATO-led mission in Kosovo and the missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at first led by NATO and after July 2004 led by the EU.
For the EUFOR mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo mission, two staff officers were deployed, but it has not been possible to disaggregate this figure.
For the EUFOR mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, two staff officers have deployed to the French OHQ in Paris and two staff officers will deploy with the Force Headquarters to Chad, but the figure for these costs has not yet been identified.
Departmental Data Protection
The laptop stolen on 9 January 2008 was a departmental laptop.
Departmental Equipment
(2) pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2007, Official Report, column 58W, on departmental computers, how many of the computers which were stolen in 2007 had a classification of (a) no classification, (b) restricted, (c) confidential, (d) secret and (e) top secret.
As a result of the theft of the Royal Navy laptop, the Ministry of Defence has initiated an investigation into the details of all lost or stolen computers since 2003.
I will write to the hon. Member when the information is available and arrange for a copy of my reply to be placed in the Library of the House.
Devonport Naval Base
There are 26 Royal Navy vessels currently base ported at HM Naval Base Devonport, as shown in the following table :
Class of vessel Name of vessel Nuclear submarines HMS Trafalgar HMS Turbulent HMS Tireless HMS Triumph HMS Torbay HMS Talent HMS Trenchant Amphibious vessels HMS Ocean HMS Albion HMS Bulwark Type 22 Frigates HMS Campbeltown HMS Cumberland HMS Chatham HMS Cornwall Type 23 Frigates HMS Montrose HMS Northumberland HMS Monmouth HMS Sutherland HMS Somerset HMS Portland HMS Argyll Survey vessels HMS Echo HMS Scott HMS Gleaner HMS Roebuck HMS Enterprise
Health Services: Armed Forces
Under the War Pensions Scheme the Department has the discretionary power, in Article 21 of the Service Pensions Order, to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of the medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of a member of the armed forces that arise wholly or mainly as a result of the disablement due to service before 6 April 2005 where it is not provided free of charge under other legislation of the United Kingdom. This power predates the NHS and is now little used because health care is through the normal mechanisms of the health service.
MOD continues to fund the fees of a small number of war pensioners who are in homes that provide skilled nursing care for the condition for which they receive a war pension. Funding is provided on a case-by-case basis. Funding under the War Pensions Scheme comes from Annually Managed Expenditure, is demand led and is not subject to forecast other than for the purposes of the War Pensions supply estimate.
Lobbying
MOD security policy allows the issue of passes to persons who, for business reasons, require frequent access to MOD buildings and who meet relevant security criteria. Details of the company each individual is employed by are held, but their post title or function is not usually recorded.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
As the Prime Minister announced on 12 December 2007, Official Report, column 304, NATO has negotiated a contract to lease commercial helicopters to move routine freight in Afghanistan, which will free up military helicopters for other tasks. This contract will commence shortly and will be of significant benefit to UK forces. There are no separate UK commercial helicopter leasing initiatives planned although commercial helicopters were leased for a few days in December 2007 to help deliver Christmas mail and parcels to troops in Afghanistan.
Home Department
Community Policing
[holding answer 17 January 2008]: Key individual networks (KINs) are intended as a mechanism for neighbourhood policing teams to canvass the opinions of the local public on a broad range of policing-related issues.
The KIN structure is flexible in nature; the minimum number of participants per ward or boundary in KINs is governed by the needs of the community that it serves. For example, the Metropolitan Police Service has identified its neighbourhoods based on existing ward boundaries. Other police forces have used different methodologies to identify their neighbourhoods such as discussions with local residents and partnerships, together with an analysis of local crime and demographic data.
Community Support Officers: Humberside
Information on the retention rate of police community support officers in Humberside is a matter for the chief constable and his police authority.
Crime: Databases
This Government believe that the sharing of data with other countries is fundamental to our ability to tackle serious crime, terrorism and illegal immigration. We have therefore been engaging with our EU partners to pursue a number of projects to improve the exchange of law enforcement data including through the joining up of national databases on DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registration (the Prüm Council Decision), and through the joining up of criminal records databases.
The United Kingdom is a significant provider of information to Europol and Eurojust to facilitate the cross-border prosecution of terrorism and organised crime. We are also in the process of implementing the Schengen Information System II, which will provide us with alerts on matters such as missing persons, fugitives and stolen vehicles.
As part of the G8 the UK has encouraged all states to contribute data to and participate in the Interpol 1-24/7 database for lost and stolen passports and identity documents. G8 states took the lead by being among the first states globally to submit all of their data on both issued and unissued lost and stolen documents to Interpol.
Furthermore, the UK is participating in a project to evaluate the extent that G8 countries share data between their own migration authorities and police and other competent security authorities with a view to development of best practice procedures for this. The UK has also led a project to create the G8 DNA 1-24/7 Sear Request Network, which involves access between national databases (although on a hit/no hit basis only for DNA). It does not include the creation of a common data base, automatically link databases or allow automatic access to an existing database or information held on the database of a G8 state from outside that state itself. All participating states retain direct in-country control to enable them to decline any inquiry.
We have numerous bilateral relationships with key partners both in Europe and beyond, including the United States, which enable our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to cooperate effectively to protect the security of the public in the UK and other countries.
In all cases where the Government shares personal data with other countries, it must ensure the relevant arrangements comply with legal obligations to provide appropriate safeguards for privacy rights, including those set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Data Protection Act 1998 (which implemented EC Directive 95/46 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data). Many of the key instruments providing for the sharing of personal data between law enforcement agencies at the EU level incorporate data protection safeguards tailored to the specific types of data to be shared. The Data Protection Framework Decision will, when adopted, set uniform data protection standards for personal data sent from one member state to another, and also to European bodies such as Europol, for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties.
Dogs: Children
The information requested is not available centrally from the recorded crime statistics. Attacks by dogs are not crimes as defined in law. The relevant offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 relate to an owner or person in charge allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place injuring any person or allowing a dog to enter a non-public place and injure any person. These offences would generally be recorded under the Home Office classification ‘Less serious wounding’ and cannot be separately identified from other offences recorded within that classification.
Essex Police Authority: Costs
This information is not held centrally. The staffing and related costs of the authority are a matter for the Essex police authority.
Essex Police: Emergency Calls
HMIC inspected all forces in England and Wales across a number of police business areas as part of their Baseline assessments up until 2007. Contact management was one of those business areas. In the three years to 2007, Essex police had been graded Fair (2003-04), Fair (2004-05) and GOOD (2005-06), indicating steady and continual improvement.
In the year to date Essex have been performing very well in respect of their 999 emergency call-handling, answering 92.5 per cent. of call received within 10 seconds, which is 2.5 per cent. above the expected target of 90 per cent. in 10 seconds as laid down in the National Call Handling Standards.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(2) what plans she has to reconsider the restrictions placed on the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam;
(3) how often she reviews the proscription of organisations considered to be involved in terrorism;
(4) whether the proscriptions of organisations under the Terrorism Act 2000 are indefinite; and if she will make a statement.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was proscribed by the then Home Secretary in 2001. The Terrorism Act 2000 contains a number of offences relating to proscribed organisations including membership, fundraising, inviting support and wearing clothes or displaying articles so as to arouse reasonable suspicion that the wearer is a member or supporter of any such organisation. The Police and Crown Prosecution Service are responsible for, respectively, investigating and prosecuting offences under this legislation.
The proscription of organisations is not subject to a time limit. And an organisation which is proscribed can only be de-proscribed by an order subject to the positive resolution procedure removing it from schedule 2 of the Terrorism Act 2000. However, it is our policy and practice to review regularly proscribed organisations on the current list and to assess whether they should continue to be proscribed. Any person who is affected by an organisation's proscription can apply to the Secretary of State for it to be de-proscribed, and we take any such requests very seriously.
Members: Correspondence
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 January 2008, Official Report, column 2062W.
Merseyside Police: Modernisation
[holding answer 15 November 2007]: I am not aware of any restructuring being undertaken by Merseyside police and have received no representations about it.
National Bureaucracy Advisor on Police Reform
The National Bureaucracy Advisor role has been vacant since July 2006. Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s Review of Policing, which began on 26 April 2007, is taking forward the work on reducing bureaucracy in the service.
Recommendations for reducing police bureaucracy were made in Sir Ronnie’s interim report and are being taken forward by the National Policing Improvement Agency. The agency will be shaping the staffing and leadership of this work to meet the requirements made in Sir Ronnie’s report.
Sir Ronnie’s final report will be published shortly.
Police Patrolling
[holding answer 18 December 2007]: The information requested on the percentage of time spent on front-line duties by the Essex police is set out in the following table. This measure was only introduced in 2003-04 and is not available for earlier years, and the definition is kept under review.
Percentage time spent on front-line policing 2003-04 56.8 2004-05 60.9 2005-06 62.9 2006-07 64.8
Police: Complaints
Responsibility for the collation and publication of complaints against the police rests with the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Police: Finance
There is no reduction in funding for police authorities in 2008-09.
The provisional police funding settlement for the next three years was announced on 6 December 2007. General grant will increase by 2.7 per cent. in each year with each police authority in England and Wales receiving a minimum increase in general grant of 2.5 per cent. for each of those years. In addition, a range of other funding will be made available to all police authorities. In line with the Government’s commitment to neighbourhood policing, the settlement includes an increase from £315 million to £324 million for neighbourhood policing provision for 2008-09.
Police: Manpower
Data are available from 2002-03 onwards, and the Home Office only started collecting this level of detail from that year.
These figures are given in the following tables, and are on the same basis as the ones given for police officers who left the service within two years of joining—28 November 2007, Official Report, columns 471-75W. The number of transfers between forces has been separately identified as these officers, while leaving individual police forces, have not left the police service itself.
(a) Officers leaving with two to less than five years' service 2002-03 2003-04 Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 4 9 4 7 14 10 Bedfordshire 4 13 14 8 16 15 Cambridgeshire 4 5 5 10 13 14 Cheshire 1 1 1 4 8 7 Cleveland 1 1 2 3 9 11 Cumbria 1 3 5 3 5 10 Derbyshire 3 6 5 1 7 8 Devon and Cornwall 5 7 5 1 8 6 Dorset 1 6 9 3 3 4 Durham 4 5 7 8 10 13 Dyfed-Powys 1 1 2 1 1 3 Essex 20 26 12 7 19 9 Gloucestershire 8 13 16 7 9 16 Greater Manchester 22 42 11 21 40 12 Gwent 0 6 10 4 6 8 Hampshire 10 17 8 12 20 9 Hertfordshire 14 19 10 7 16 10 Humberside 4 8 8 7 14 14 Kent 7 12 6 16 21 9 Lancashire2 — — — 0 13 10 Leicestershire3 10 14 11 0 4 5 Lincolnshire 3 4 5 5 8 13 London, City of 1 2 3 2 3 5 Merseyside 2 5 3 7 16 9 Metropolitan Police 143 187 11 147 205 13 Norfolk 2 3 3 1 3 6 Northamptonshire 2 5 9 4 12 16 Northumbria 3 8 5 4 15 8 North Wales 3 9 12 2 7 12 North Yorkshire 1 2 3 2 4 5 Nottinghamshire — 10 7 10 14 11 South Wales 4 12 8 5 17 12 South Yorkshire 7 14 8 5 11 7 Staffordshire 3 8 6 3 6 6 Suffolk 8 13 15 — 2 3 Surrey 65 72 29 35 46 31 Sussex 11 15 6 13 21 7 Thames Valley 52 64 17 35 45 14 Warwickshire 4 10 17 4 8 14 West Mercia 3 6 5 0 5 4 West Midlands 51 65 12 46 69 15 West Yorkshire 1 10 4 6 15 6 Wiltshire 0 6 7 5 7 11 Total4 483 730 10 471 778 11
Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 8 16 9 9 24 13 Bedfordshire 4 8 8 6 13 15 Cambridgeshire 10 20 19 13 21 19 Cheshire 3 7 6 3 14 8 Cleveland 6 13 16 8 19 18 Cumbria 1 2 4 2 4 6 Derbyshire 2 11 10 3 11 8 Devon and Cornwall 6 13 7 5 12 6 Dorset 0 4 5 1 9 9 Durham 4 10 12 4 7 7 Dyfed-Powys 1 3 5 2 6 8 Essex 13 22 10 14 26 10 Gloucestershire 1 3 5 5 11 12 Greater Manchester 12 47 13 34 73 15 Gwent 3 7 10 3 12 15 Hampshire 23 31 12 10 21 7 Hertfordshire 14 25 16 11 25 15 Humberside 5 21 19 10 16 10 Kent 10 23 11 11 30 11 Lancashire2 6 13 8 3 10 5 Leicestershire3 — — — 5 11 7 Lincolnshire 1 1 1 4 10 10 London, City of 8 9 15 9 11 14 Merseyside 9 20 9 2 10 4 Metropolitan Police 86 142 10 112 214 13 Norfolk 1 2 3 1 3 3 Northamptonshire 6 14 15 5 6 7 Northumbria 6 8 5 2 14 7 North Wales 0 8 15 0 3 3 North Yorkshire 7 16 18 4 8 8 Nottinghamshire 15 21 14 10 16 10 South Wales 1 6 5 2 14 8 South Yorkshire 6 11 6 3 14 6 Staffordshire 1 7 6 3 6 5 Suffolk 8 11 15 4 7 8 Surrey 32 42 27 15 26 17 Sussex 3 5 2 9 24 11 Thames Valley 38 52 17 36 62 19 Warwickshire 1 3 5 1 5 7 West Mercia 7 12 10 1 9 6 West Midlands 26 54 12 29 66 14 West Yorkshire 11 25 9 11 22 6 Wiltshire 2 8 10 0 6 8 Total4 401 763 11 417 910 11
Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 16 28 17 Bedfordshire 2 12 21 Cambridgeshire 6 10 11 Cheshire 4 11 10 Cleveland 3 8 10 Cumbria 1 9 18 Derbyshire 3 10 7 Devon and Cornwall 3 8 6 Dorset 4 7 6 Durham 1 7 11 Dyfed-Powys 6 6 13 Essex 0 21 7 Gloucestershire 3 9 12 Greater Manchester 32 76 15 Gwent 8 12 18 Hampshire 14 19 9 Hertfordshire 24 45 25 Humberside 6 17 14 Kent 14 27 12 Lancashire2 4 20 11 Leicestershire3 7 17 12 Lincolnshire 3 10 12 London, City of 6 8 12 Merseyside 4 19 7 Metropolitan Police 86 226 13 Norfolk 2 7 7 Northamptonshire 8 13 13 Northumbria 3 15 8 North Wales 6 13 15 North Yorkshire 6 15 15 Nottinghamshire 7 15 10 South Wales 0 8 4 South Yorkshire 8 18 9 Staffordshire 6 16 14 Suffolk 4 9 17 Surrey 19 32 17 Sussex 12 32 15 Thames Valley 46 77 26 Warwickshire 7 11 15 West Mercia 4 16 11 West Midlands 26 65 13 West Yorkshire 16 38 11 Wiltshire 1 6 10 Total4 430 1,011 13
2002-03 2003-04 Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 12 25 12 5 14 10 Bedfordshire 6 6 7 8 10 10 Cambridgeshire 12 23 21 8 12 13 Cheshire 2 13 12 4 16 15 Cleveland 1 5 8 2 7 9 Cumbria 3 7 12 0 3 6 Derbyshire 2 7 6 1 4 5 Devon and Cornwall 4 13 8 6 11 9 Dorset 3 3 4 2 8 11 Durham 4 10 14 7 10 13 Dyfed-Powys 2 10 18 0 1 3 Essex 23 35 16 16 22 11 Gloucestershire 1 2 2 3 5 9 Greater Manchester 20 44 12 16 40 12 Gwent 0 9 15 0 4 5 Hampshire 14 22 10 19 32 14 Hertfordshire 21 25 13 8 11 7 Humberside 2 10 10 4 6 6 Kent 18 27 13 12 19 8 Lancashire2 — — — 0 9 7 Leicestershire3 14 28 22 0 10 12 Lincolnshire 2 5 7 2 5 8 London, City of 5 10 17 8 13 23 Merseyside 2 11 6 8 18 10 Metropolitan Police 93 179 10 88 144 9 Norfolk 5 8 9 2 4 8 Northamptonshire 6 7 13 7 14 19 Northumbria 6 17 10 4 20 11 North Wales 2 2 3 1 8 14 North Yorkshire 1 2 3 6 10 14 Nottinghamshire — 17 12 6 7 6 South Wales 3 8 5 0 6 4 South Yorkshire 3 14 8 3 12 7 Staffordshire 5 17 13 4 10 10 Suffolk 1 3 4 1 7 9 Surrey 26 30 12 6 12 8 Sussex 17 28 11 17 30 10 Thames Valley 28 40 11 31 42 13 Warwickshire 2 2 3 1 1 2 West Mercia 5 8 7 10 15 12 West Midlands 57 82 16 43 93 21 West Yorkshire 6 18 7 7 25 10 Wiltshire 0 8 10 0 3 5 Total4 425 812 11 376 734 11
Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 5 15 9 6 14 8 Bedfordshire 4 5 5 3 3 3 Cambridgeshire 3 9 9 4 12 11 Cheshire 4 6 6 7 14 8 Cleveland 0 8 10 3 8 8 Cumbria 3 4 9 5 7 10 Derbyshire 5 9 8 1 3 2 Devon and Cornwall 7 11 6 5 13 7 Dorset 4 11 14 2 6 6 Durham 2 5 6 7 9 9 Dyfed-Powys 1 7 11 0 6 8 Essex 16 23 10 21 22 8 Gloucestershire 2 3 5 3 6 6 Greater Manchester 13 32 9 19 45 9 Gwent 5 11 15 3 9 11 Hampshire 17 27 10 9 19 6 Hertfordshire 9 15 10 17 23 13 Humberside 1 3 3 6 19 12 Kent 10 20 9 11 21 8 Lancashire2 2 8 5 4 6 3 Leicestershire3 — — — 11 23 14 Lincolnshire 3 8 10 4 7 7 London, City of 5 9 15 3 5 6 Merseyside 4 7 3 6 16 6 Metropolitan Police 62 136 10 77 140 9 Norfolk 3 4 5 2 7 8 Northamptonshire 4 10 11 4 8 9 Northumbria 5 11 7 7 15 7 North Wales 0 0 0 0 10 10 North Yorkshire 1 4 4 7 15 15 Nottinghamshire 2 8 6 8 12 8 South Wales 1 5 4 7 13 7 South Yorkshire 3 13 7 11 19 8 Staffordshire 5 10 8 2 3 3 Suffolk 2 10 14 5 7 8 Surrey 12 16 10 16 24 16 Sussex 19 32 12 6 13 6 Thames Valley 18 25 8 16 36 11 Warwickshire 1 3 5 1 5 7 West Mercia 4 10 9 3 9 6 West Midlands 24 49 11 30 57 12 West Yorkshire 0 19 7 7 14 4 Wiltshire 2 8 10 0 6 8 Total4 291 621 9 354 700 8
Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 7 13 8 Bedfordshire 5 10 18 Cambridgeshire 1 5 6 Cheshire 5 9 8 Cleveland 1 7 9 Cumbria 1 3 6 Derbyshire 3 15 11 Devon and Cornwall 6 13 10 Dorset 4 8 7 Durham 5 8 13 Dyfed-Powys 2 2 4 Essex 0 11 4 Gloucestershire 1 6 8 Greater Manchester 25 69 14 Gwent 2 6 9 Hampshire 8 17 8 Hertfordshire 22 30 17 Humberside 3 7 6 Kent 12 26 11 Lancashire2 3 7 4 Leicestershire3 7 15 11 Lincolnshire 4 6 7 London, City of 8 10 15 Merseyside 3 11 4 Metropolitan Police 90 167 10 Norfolk 1 4 4 Northamptonshire 6 8 8 Northumbria 4 16 9 North Wales 6 11 13 North Yorkshire 2 10 10 Nottinghamshire 11 20 14 South Wales 1 16 8 South Yorkshire 19 26 13 Staffordshire 6 9 8 Suffolk 4 6 11 Surrey 22 37 19 Sussex 12 21 10 Thames Valley 25 38 13 Warwickshire 4 8 11 West Mercia 9 18 12 West Midlands 36 63 13 West Yorkshire 2 12 3 Wiltshire 1 10 16 Total4 389 792 10
2002-03 2003-04 Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 13 133 65 7 83 58 Bedfordshire 17 56 61 20 56 54 Cambridgeshire 13 62 58 12 60 63 Cheshire 3 93 82 8 73 67 Cleveland 2 53 87 8 57 70 Cumbria 4 44 75 0 37 77 Derbyshire 2 90 82 1 62 72 Devon and Cornwall 5 114 74 6 99 77 Dorset 6 46 68 4 49 65 Durham 2 53 72 3 47 60 Dyfed-Powys 2 38 69 7 33 83 Essex 40 131 61 49 147 71 Gloucestershire 3 55 66 4 33 58 Greater Manchester 14 233 62 15 186 56 Gwent 2 44 72 6 60 82 Hampshire 16 157 70 14 132 57 Hertfordshire 47 113 59 33 88 56 Humberside 2 69 66 3 55 57 Kent 21 133 62 36 141 62 Lancashire2 — — — 0 86 68 Leicestershire3 15 76 60 12 56 65 Lincolnshire 1 49 67 2 41 67 London, City of 9 36 61 8 35 63 Merseyside 2 170 87 4 128 73 Metropolitan Police 185 968 56 156 834 53 Norfolk 2 69 75 2 38 75 Northamptonshire 4 36 64 5 40 55 Northumbria 6 119 73 13 127 70 North Wales — 57 74 3 35 61 North Yorkshire 5 46 79 4 53 72 Nottinghamshire — 102 74 6 89 72 South Wales 2 108 71 1 113 77 South Yorkshire 5 120 70 2 117 72 Staffordshire 9 94 72 3 75 73 Suffolk 9 57 67 6 46 61 Surrey 34 92 37 7 50 34 Sussex 42 154 63 37 152 52 Thames Valley 60 213 58 63 194 61 Warwickshire 4 34 59 3 40 71 West Mercia 6 89 77 11 81 66 West Midlands 73 292 55 45 281 62 West Yorkshire 13 199 77 12 177 71 Wiltshire 0 58 71 7 42 64 Total4 685 4,879 64 636 4,286 61
Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 8 111 65 8 131 71 Bedfordshire 15 55 56 9 57 64 Cambridgeshire 11 63 61 8 65 59 Cheshire 7 79 72 32 142 80 Cleveland 1 46 57 10 71 67 Cumbria 1 31 69 15 56 78 Derbyshire 4 83 76 16 121 87 Devon and Cornwall 5 136 76 28 151 76 Dorset 1 51 65 4 74 71 Durham 1 49 60 17 71 69 Dyfed-Powys 0 41 67 11 59 79 Essex 21 144 65 53 172 66 Gloucestershire 5 41 71 13 73 78 Greater Manchester 16 224 63 16 330 67 Gwent 1 51 70 1 46 58 Hampshire 18 171 64 41 222 76 Hertfordshire 20 79 50 23 92 54 Humberside 5 77 68 17 101 65 Kent 22 146 68 56 197 73 Lancashire2 6 125 75 50 181 86 Leicestershire3 — — — 16 106 67 Lincolnshire 0 57 71 8 65 68 London, City of 9 35 59 17 60 76 Merseyside 13 179 79 4 239 84 Metropolitan Police 111 886 64 288 1,155 72 Norfolk 5 67 84 11 70 77 Northamptonshire 8 62 68 11 67 74 Northumbria 8 122 76 38 160 79 North Wales 0 36 67 10 80 81 North Yorkshire 1 56 63 4 76 75 Nottinghamshire 4 101 70 25 128 80 South Wales 2 108 83 25 143 78 South Yorkshire 11 121 69 43 185 77 Staffordshire 6 75 60 10 92 81 Suffolk 4 37 50 12 66 73 Surrey 18 70 44 11 78 52 Sussex 21 138 53 23 135 61 Thames Valley 27 174 56 14 190 58 Warwickshire 9 55 86 16 58 79 West Mercia 12 81 70 28 127 82 West Midlands 29 266 60 38 301 62 West Yorkshire 13 184 69 50 267 73 Wiltshire 4 52 66 7 49 67 Total4 477 4,640 65 1,071 6,022 71
Police force area Number of transfers (included as part of overall officers leaving the service) Number of police officers leaving the force with two to less than five years' service Percentage of police officers leaving with two to less than five years' service Avon and Somerset 9 110 68 Bedfordshire 8 22 39 Cambridgeshire 11 63 70 Cheshire 5 78 68 Cleveland 7 46 60 Cumbria 0 31 62 Derbyshire 2 106 76 Devon and Cornwall 9 91 69 Dorset 1 81 73 Durham 3 40 63 Dyfed-Powys 2 37 77 Essex 0 210 74 Gloucestershire 1 57 75 Greater Manchester 30 328 67 Gwent 2 39 60 Hampshire 13 154 73 Hertfordshire 22 76 42 Humberside 5 81 67 Kent 14 162 71 Lancashire2 10 134 76 Leicestershire3 16 99 71 Lincolnshire 6 58 72 London, City of 10 47 70 Merseyside 3 199 76 Metropolitan Police 95 1,226 72 Norfolk 9 77 77 Northamptonshire 19 70 67 Northumbria 3 141 76 North Wales 2 55 63 North Yorkshire 3 61 59 Nottinghamshire 6 106 72 South Wales 1 155 82 South Yorkshire 9 127 65 Staffordshire 8 80 68 Suffolk 3 36 67 Surrey 23 70 37 Sussex 20 128 59 Thames Valley 16 150 51 Warwickshire 1 49 65 West Mercia 13 99 68 West Midlands 23 325 65 West Yorkshire 15 253 73 Wiltshire 2 40 65 Total4 434 5,364 68 1 Leaving figures include police officers leaving the force within the designated range of years of joining or re-joining the service, due to dismissals (including requirement to resign), voluntary resignations, medical retirements, ordinary retirements, all transfers and all deaths. 2 Data for Lancashire were not available in 2002-03. 3 Data for Leicestershire were not available in 2004-05. 4 In order to compare data between 2002-03 and 2006-07 Lancashire and Leicestershire have been excluded from the total.
Police: Training
The number of police officer recruits in England and Wales who began residential training in each of the year from 1999 to 2006 is given in the following table. The new Initial Police Learning and Development Programme commenced in April 2006 and, apart from recruits to the Metropolitan Police Service, negated the requirement for a residential element as training is provided locally.
1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Total 1999-2006 Forces in England and Wales1 3,613 5,787 7,421 7,760 8,434 6,023 3,641 42,679 Metropolitan Police Service2 994 1,350 2,748 3,489 3,362 2,351 1,332 15,626 Total 4,607 7,137 10,169 11,249 11,796 8,374 4,973 58,305 Non Home Office force recruits trained for service inside England and Wales Total 73 109 101 119 183 311 264 1,160 Non Home Office force recruits trained for service outside England and Wales (Channel Islands) Total 53 46 48 29 26 21 19 242 1 Excludes Metropolitan police force, British Transport police, NCS/NSPIS, Channel Island police and non-Home Office police forces 2 This figure includes transferees from other forces who underwent residential training
Reoffenders
Data from the performance management arrangements for the prolific and other priority offender programme (JTrack) provides the number of such offenders identified through partnership arrangements in each police force area. The data are provided in the following table. The data cover the two calendar years 2005 and 2006. Figures for the calendar year 2007 are not yet available for publication.
Police force area At December 2005 At December 2006 Avon and Somerset 239 245 Bedfordshire 123 139 Cambridgeshire 93 110 Cheshire 182 180 City of London 5 12 Cleveland 127 145 Cumbria 66 70 Derbyshire 368 373 Devon and Cornwall 395 365 Dorset 208 208 Durham 61 58 Dyfed Powys 93 82 Essex 258 235 Gloucestershire 100 106 Greater Manchester 739 846 Gwent 79 85 Hampshire 209 274 Hertfordshire 247 149 Humberside 181 214 Kent 334 261 Lancashire 424 367 Leicestershire 330 353 Lincolnshire 155 232 Merseyside 410 445 Metropolitan police 1,080 1,185 Norfolk 131 110 North Wales 159 120 North Yorkshire 56 89 Northamptonshire 195 229 Northumbria 208 236 Nottinghamshire 505 558 South Wales 190 204 South Yorkshire 249 252 Staffordshire 157 252 Suffolk 173 173 Surrey 151 191 Sussex 320 320 Thames Valley 326 351 Warwickshire 74 88 West Mercia 155 120 West Midlands 714 768 West Yorkshire 284 243 Wiltshire 81 73 All forces 10,634 11,116 Notes: 1. Figures represent those PPOs in each area who were known to be members of schemes in December of the year concerned, based on JTrack data. 2. If a PPO belonged to more than one scheme during the December of the year concerned then they would be counted more than once.
Work and Pensions
Departmental Freedom of Information
This Department has adopted a selective disclosure log whereby only the most interesting and high profile pieces of information released in response to Freedom of Information requests are published. In 2005 and 2006 around 1 per cent. of such responses were published on the Department’s web-based Freedom of Information disclosure log. The Department does however routinely publish large amounts of information on its website including policy documents and research, analysis and statistics.
Departmental Manpower
The Department for Work and Pensions’ target for spending review 2004 is that 10,000 posts will be redeployed from back office to front line posts by March 2008. By March 2007 10,228 posts had been redeployed to the front line. The following table shows the breakdown by year:
By March: Number of posts redeployed Proportion of total headcount redeployed (percentage) 2005 1,607 1.3 2006 6,667 5.8 2007 10,228 9.4
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract and Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Housing Benefit: Havering
Nobody is being paid local housing allowance in the London borough of Havering; it has not yet been rolled-out to that borough.
Local housing allowance will roll-out nationally for all new claims in the deregulated private rented sector from 7 April 2008.
Incapacity Benefit
[holding answer 13 December 2007]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. Details of benefit claims are confidential so she will write to the hon. Member directly on the matter in question.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 25 January 2008:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking when the award of incapacity benefit arrears due to Mr Hudspith of Christchurch following the decision of the Appeal Tribunal (Ref. 85/07/00866) on 14 November and what the reasons are for the time taken to make the payment. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Details of benefit claims are confidential and I will write to you directly on the matter in question.
[holding answer 22 January 2008]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 25 January 2008:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking when the claim for incapacity benefit by Mr. Bernard Pierce of Verwood Dorset will be determined and what the reason is for the time taken. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Details of benefit claims are confidential and I will write to you directly on the matter in question.
New Deal Schemes
All employment-related schemes are available to non-EU citizens subject to the participant meeting the eligibility criteria of the programme. For the new deals, this usually involves being in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
Pensions
There are two methods by which those who have lost their pensions might receive restoration of up to 90 per cent. of their loss. These are the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF) and the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).
Scheme trustees are responsible for informing scheme members where an approach to the PPF or the FAS is necessary. Both FAS and the PPF provide assistance to trustees with member communications. Both also have websites where scheme details are displayed.
The FAS Operational Unit (FAS OU) which is administered by the Department, contacts individual members once a scheme has been assessed and the trustees have provided the necessary information. Eligible scheme members receive a form and an explanatory leaflet about FAS. The FAS OU may also contact some members by telephone—for example where forms have not been returned and people might be missing out on assistance.
Following the Secretary of State’s announcement on 17 December extending FAS assistance, the Department has embarked on a programme of communication with trustees, is in the process of restructuring the FAS website, and updates the media regularly on progress.
Personal Accounts: Advisory Services
Information about personal accounts will be provided, as with other pension schemes, by the scheme itself. We are also considering what general information will be needed by all those auto-enrolled, whether into personal accounts or another pension scheme.
We already produce information on retirement planning, alongside a number of other organisations, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Pensions Advisory Service and the Financial Services Authority. We have a programme of research underway, the results of which will be published, to establish what more might be needed.
The Thoresen Review, and the Government’s action plan on financial capability, will assess the need to add to the services on offer. We will work with these and other organisations to ensure that a range of information and help is available to those who are making decisions about their retirement.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
(2) how many benefits claimants were imprisoned for fraudulently claiming an amount (a) less and (b) more than £103,000 in each year since 1997.
The information is not available in the format requested as it is not centrally collated.
The Department does hold figures for the total number of prosecutions and the total number of people imprisoned, but these are not centrally available broken down by the amount of the overpayment and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Unemployment Benefits: Peterborough
Information is not available prior to 2004. The available information is in the following table.
Number 2004 5,910 2005 5,640 2006 5,415 2007 5,470 Notes: 1. All figures supplied have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. All data represent a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically. 3. Data represent children dependent on a parent or guardian who is claiming one or more of incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, jobseeker’s allowance, income support or pension credit. 4. Due to the introduction of child tax credits in April 2003, information on child dependents are not reliably completed on the benefit computer system, therefore children’s data has been merged onto IS/JSA/IB/SDA/PC claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC. Source: DWP Information Directorate
Written Questions
(2) when he expects to answer question 162358, tabled by the hon. Member for Hertsmere on 6 November, on incapacity benefit.
I replied to the hon. Member’s questions on 6 December 2007, Official Report, column 1505W.
Women and Equality
Females: Prisoners
[holding answer 19 November 2007]: The Government launched the Women’s Offending Reduction Programme (WORP) in March 2004 to tackle women’s offending and to reduce the number of women in prison. This multi-agency strategic programme of work aims to provide a more appropriate response in the community to the particular factors that lead to women offending.
In March 2005, the Government allocated £9.15 million to help support a more local response to women’s offending and to establish new initiatives to tackle women’s offending in the community—the Together Women Programme. This is the first time that the Government have dedicated funds specifically to tackling women’s offending and to exploring how alternatives approaches to custody could work effectively for women.
The Together Women Programme is being delivered over four years through demonstration projects in two regional offender manager regions—Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West. Centres are located in Doncaster, Leeds and Bradford (YH) and Liverpool and Salford (NW). The centres provide a one-stop shop where women from the local community can access appropriate services and interventions such as mental, physical and sexual health, drug misuse, physical and sexual abuse, housing advice and debt and benefits service.
On 6 December 2007, the Government published its response to Baroness Corston’s Review of Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System. This sets out our commitment to build on the work already under way to meet the needs of women offenders and those at risk of offending in the community in order to divert women from custody.
Members’ Correspondence
The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/peers correspondence. Information relating to 2007 will be published as soon as it has been collated. The report for 2006 was published on 28 March 2007, Official Report, columns 101-04WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
Trade Unions
Ministers meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Electoral Commission Committee
Departmental ICT
The Electoral Commission informs me that 23 male and 23 female members of staff have been issued with personal digital assistants since 2006, which was the first year such devices were used.
These figures are broken down as follows:
Male Female 2006 6 3 2007 17 19 2008 0 1 Total 23 23
Departmental Travel
The Electoral Commission informs me that it only holds information on travel expenditure dating back to the financial year 2003-04. This information is set out in the following table.
April to December 2007 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 Local travel costs (£) 186,957 227,147 202,337 266,574 269,480 Overseas travel costs (£) 18,092 5,055 13,931 39,227 32,693 Local travel (Percentage total expenditure) 1.25 1.02 0.92 1.07 1.36 Overseas travel (Percentage total Expenditure) 0.12 0.02 0.06 0.16 0.16
These figures include travel costs for both staff and Commissioners.
Departmental Visits Abroad
The Electoral Commission informs me that the costs associated with international visits by staff are only available from 2003 onwards. No visits have taken place in 2008. The information requested is set out in the following table.
Number of Visits1 Country visited Cost (£) 2001 7 Australia — Canada Croatia New Zealand Republic of Ireland Spain Sweden 2002 9 Kosovo (Election Observation) — Mauritius Poland Republic of Ireland Russia Spain Sweden 2003 17 Antigua and Barbuda (Election Observation) 28,773.27 Armenia (Election Observation) Australia Belgium Canada Germany India Mexico Poland (Referendum Observation) Serbia and Montenegro (Election Observation) Sweden (Referendum Observation) Switzerland Ukraine (Election Observation) USA Zanzibar (Election Observation) 2004 22 Albania 41,943.79 Australia (Election Observation) Austria Belgium (Election Observation) Canada (Election Observation) Chile Cyprus (Election Observation) Georgia (Election Observation) Germany (Election Observation) Italy (Election Observation) Latvia (Election Observation) Malta (Election Observation) Netherlands (Election Observation) Poland (Election Observation) Republic of Ireland (Election Observation) Spain (Election Observation) Sweden (Election Observation) USA 2005 13 Austria 14,361.92 Canada (Referendum Observation) France Hungary India Mexico Poland Russia Spain (Referendum Observation) USA 2006 4 Canada (Election Observation) 3,892.68 Latvia Poland 2007 9 Canada 12,159.04 Poland Republic of Ireland Russia South Africa Sweden Switzerland (Election Observation) USA 1 Some countries were visited more than once in any given year.
Political Parties: Donations
(2) how many individual donations to regulated donees by registered political parties were registered by individual regulated donees in each year since 2000.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it records donations to regulated donees in its register, available on its website. The register indicates that the number of donations reported by regulated donees from political parties were as follows each year since reporting began in 2001:
Cash donations Non-cash donations Overseas visits provided 2001 0 0 0 2002 0 1 0 2003 0 3 0 2004 0 3 0 2005 1 3 0 2006 0 0 1 2007 1 2 0 2008 (to date) 0 0 0
The Electoral Commission informs me that when it has reason to suspect that a donation to a regulated donee may not have been correctly reported under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, the Commission may make enquiries to establish whether statutory reporting obligations have been met. If the enquiries suggest a breach of the requirements, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the police and/or to the relevant prosecuting authority, as appropriate. The Commission may also issue further advice and guidance.
The Electoral Commission informs me that there is no requirement that a political party advise regulated donees to report donations.
However, the Commission works closely with regulated organisations and individuals to ensure that they are aware of the rules. The Commission publishes guidance, runs training sessions and responds to requests for advice.
Political Parties: Finance
The Electoral Commission informs me that, in 2004 and in 2007, it canvassed all registered accounting units to inquire as to whether their total income or gross expenditure was greater than £25,000 for the prior financial year. Those that were under this threshold were asked to confirm so in writing.
The purpose of the exercise was to confirm which accounting units should be submitting accounts to the Commission and which should not. The Commission has conducted no research into spending by those associations under the threshold.
In the course of each canvass, some associations under the threshold provided sets of accounts to the Commission. These were not requested and the Commission has no plans to undertake research into them.
Prime Minister
China
(2) whether he plans to raise the issue of the human rights situation in Burma with Chinese officials on his forthcoming visit to China;
(3) whether he plans to discuss China’s use of the death penalty with Chinese officials on his forthcoming visit to China.
I discussed a wide range of issues on my visit to China. I refer the hon. Members to the press conference I held with Premier Wen of China in Beijing on 18 January 2008. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website:
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14307.asp
and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Correspondence
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has replied to the letter.
Official Visits: English Heritage
A list of my UK visits will be published in the usual way following the end of the financial year. My visits cover a range of matters and details of them can be found on the No. 10 website.
Written Questions
Justice
Driving Under Influence: Prosecutions
Available information held on prosecutions and resultant convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or taking drugs from 1996 to 2005 (latest available) are provided in the following tables. 2006 data will be available later this year.
The data provided cover both drink and drugs offences combined, as they cannot reliably be distinguished separately.
Number of offences 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Police force area Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Avon and Somerset 2,574 225 2,836 278 2,574 258 2,690 281 2,427 292 Bedfordshire 1,102 94 1,235 88 1,064 103 879 82 802 82 Cambridgeshire 951 90 1,078 98 1,038 107 915 107 794 88 Cheshire 1,984 244 1,945 220 1,864 230 1,773 229 1,681 218 Cleveland 952 77 943 86 864 83 832 80 779 79 Cumbria 935 84 915 101 845 82 825 100 779 95 Derbyshire 1,645 152 1,684 169 1,558 137 1,481 132 1,441 158 Devon and Cornwall 2,179 227 2,375 262 2,277 254 2,248 259 2,135 286 Dorset 1,214 141 1,223 132 1,172 138 1,091 132 1,083 161 Durham 1,039 100 1,067 73 1,014 120 1,121 130 1,108 110 Essex 2,608 260 2,760 261 2,535 241 2,566 269 2,468 234 Gloucestershire 958 110 1,070 100 954 125 865 106 790 101 Greater Manchester 5,153 415 4,830 405 4,652 465 4,787 467 4,707 479 Hampshire 3,520 353 3,683 416 3,530 390 3,659 403 3,398 414 Hertfordshire 1,454 144 1,693 151 1,665 169 1,678 149 1,500 191 Humberside 1,363 120 1,301 110 1,355 118 1,306 104 1,314 154 Kent 2,638 177 2,364 170 2,624 229 2,606 245 2,559 248 Lancashire 3,178 330 3,334 350 2,831 373 2,893 397 2,550 329 Leicestershire 1,551 112 1,662 120 1,499 116 1,652 126 1,511 140 Lincolnshire 838 71 1,102 104 973 101 930 101 834 77 London, City of 451 53 413 50 303 35 231 28 179 14 Merseyside 2,942 240 2,864 251 2,493 267 2,172 197 2,301 214 Metropolitan Police 16,588 1,453 17,428 1,561 15,026 1,409 13,391 1,329 12,923 1,243 Norfolk 980 95 1,078 96 1,082 115 959 111 913 101 Northamptonshire 984 72 1,155 93 1,117 113 1,110 118 813 85 Northumbria 2,625 166 2,757 216 2,526 260 2,533 260 2,691 267 North Yorkshire 1,335 123 1,316 165 1,194 125 1,091 138 1,026 134 Nottinghamshire 1,986 162 2,081 189 1,856 157 1,850 176 1,734 181 South Yorkshire 2,209 151 2,403 178 1,996 192 1,911 165 2,125 197 Staffordshire 1,939 151 2,092 210 1,944 219 1,709 176 1,825 185 Suffolk 1,054 117 1,037 119 1,021 125 1,044 143 891 111 Surrey 1,358 151 1,367 145 1,286 169 1,350 188 1,516 213 Sussex 2,207 251 2,366 292 2,117 227 2,170 270 2,091 236 Thames Valley 4,144 357 4,172 394 3,955 399 3,818 374 3,489 432 Warwickshire 917 82 815 92 767 88 832 95 777 78 West Mercia 1,947 147 1,970 125 1,809 137 1,707 160 1,587 154 West Midlands 6,271 365 6,761 427 5,938 410 5,129 341 4,766 446 West Yorkshire 4,336 303 4,089 305 3,759 341 3,708 310 3,454 344 Wiltshire 971 98 1,004 114 1,094 90 954 113 876 121 England 93,080 8,063 96,268 8,716 88,171 8,717 84,466 8,591 80,637 8,692 Dyfed Powys 980 115 1,046 117 985 117 936 111 890 95 Gwent 1,016 86 1,146 122 1,211 125 1,119 107 1,209 132 North Wales 1,336 152 1,347 149 1,258 152 1,184 163 1,279 151 South Wales 2,867 231 2,972 267 3,014 295 2,543 280 2,763 312 Wales 6,199 584 6,511 655 6,468 689 5,782 661 6,141 690 England and Wales 99,279 8,647 102,779 9,371 94,639 9,406 90,248 9,252 86,778 9,382
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Police force area Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Avon and Somerset 2,147 256 2,332 293 2,646 333 2,567 384 2,486 387 Bedfordshire 925 88 959 110 1,068 129 1,019 101 1,069 101 Cambridgeshire 800 80 827 100 905 114 1,029 130 1,154 135 Cheshire 1,560 193 2,114 318 1,862 304 2,234 340 1,637 266 Cleveland 890 83 916 96 1,021 115 1,064 119 915 122 Cumbria 720 90 734 98 798 117 865 97 778 145 Derbyshire 1,470 142 1,451 163 1,589 189 1,824 218 1,552 212 Devon and Cornwall 2,317 277 2,389 286 2,574 380 2,429 363 2,295 344 Dorset 1,130 154 1,162 185 1,217 167 1,197 169 1,125 174 Durham 1,054 127 1,101 146 1,150 128 1,188 150 1,070 179 Essex 2,435 282 2,506 294 2,548 299 2,734 376 2,444 381 Gloucestershire 842 108 912 113 866 131 856 139 809 128 Greater Manchester 4,732 503 4,607 512 4,615 578 4,636 559 4,426 590 Hampshire 3,436 384 3,766 474 3,590 451 3,642 479 3,202 497 Hertfordshire 1,621 205 1,826 252 1,852 280 1,834 259 1,780 271 Humberside 1,213 142 1,418 138 1,481 130 1,596 156 1,545 162 Kent 2,571 290 2,686 338 2,802 295 2,928 323 2,798 349 Lancashire 2,256 314 2,545 383 2,668 346 2,634 385 2,623 372 Leicestershire 1,591 139 1,648 169 1,683 187 1,681 187 1,592 185 Lincolnshire 901 90 841 76 1,110 123 1,133 165 1,132 162 London, City of 162 20 229 31 226 22 186 18 196 15 Merseyside 2,299 214 2,287 264 2,748 329 2,874 357 2,932 363 Metropolitan Police 12,549 1,196 14,103 1,390 13,911 1,365 14,089 1,518 13,631 1,410 Norfolk 1,158 135 1,180 175 1,291 143 1,205 169 1,210 169 Northamptonshire 429 35 226 27 793 89 897 103 851 129 Northumbria 2,590 260 2,598 323 2,759 357 2,635 386 2,519 336 North Yorkshire 1,014 144 1,068 139 1,153 172 1,073 152 1,172 180 Nottinghamshire 1,609 177 1,489 127 1,663 187 1,623 205 1,602 199 South Yorkshire 2,039 192 1,954 211 2,133 264 2,227 247 2,203 227 Staffordshire 1,506 167 1,639 231 1,682 217 1,690 251 1,662 257 Suffolk 935 114 1,102 135 1,204 174 1,325 172 1,069 141 Surrey 1,774 281 1,618 232 1,405 210 1,371 200 1,375 242 Sussex 2,352 283 2,268 266 2,357 290 2,182 355 2,195 325 Thames Valley 3,305 376 4,291 512 3,831 481 3,455 451 3,357 450 Warwickshire 844 111 821 94 880 106 814 88 803 114 West Mercia 1,691 183 1,655 223 1,758 213 1,627 186 1,881 156 West Midlands 5,173 431 5,410 448 5,517 476 5,731 597 5,674 575 West Yorkshire 3,419 320 3,772 353 3,813 357 3,900 371 3,876 383 Wiltshire 1,001 126 971 129 958 147 998 131 977 137 England 80,460 8,712 85,421 9,854 88,127 10,395 88,992 11,056 85,617 10,970 Dyfed Powys 856 117 937 132 994 138 949 152 902 143 Gwent 1,142 155 1,059 116 1,174 147 1,149 162 1,057 199 North Wales 1,230 136 1,249 166 1,303 168 1,301 170 1,273 186 South Wales 2,847 328 2,748 350 2,838 388 2,788 372 2,743 392 Wales 6,075 736 5,993 764 6,309 841 6,187 856 5,975 920 England and Wales 86,535 9,448 91,414 10,618 94,436 11,236 95,179 11,912 91,592 11,890
Number of offences 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Police force area Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Avon and Somerset 2,309 203 2,557 255 2,332 234 2,476 252 2,197 265 Bedfordshire 1,011 82 1,063 83 969 91 798 71 722 75 Cambridgeshire 867 84 1,005 88 962 98 844 97 713 80 Cheshire 1,807 227 1,762 207 1,694 209 1,612 215 1,460 192 Cleveland 830 72 847 79 790 80 734 77 706 71 Cumbria 854 73 838 92 779 77 772 99 717 89 Derbyshire 1,460 135 1,472 141 1,420 127 1,346 117 1,272 145 Devon and Cornwall 1,943 201 2,113 229 2,036 229 2,044 233 1,941 258 Dorset 1,064 126 1,097 117 1,056 130 1,002 118 967 148 Durham 943 93 976 68 924 111 1,012 125 1,020 104 Essex 2,323 232 2,505 231 2,223 215 2,289 239 2,244 218 Gloucestershire 876 103 973 95 873 112 792 97 710 94 Greater Manchester 4,711 374 4,433 373 4,293 422 4,412 438 4,358 443 Hampshire 3,230 326 3,390 384 3,237 360 3,355 370 3,085 387 Hertfordshire 1,294 127 1,529 141 1,517 154 1,534 145 1,374 178 Humberside 1,241 112 1,173 101 1,248 110 1,227 96 1,220 151 Kent 2,409 167 2,168 154 2,411 216 2,408 225 2,360 232 Lancashire 2,896 315 3,071 318 2,604 341 2,641 369 2,288 296 Leicestershire 1,380 98 1,536 112 1,376 109 1,507 117 1,404 127 Lincolnshire 771 68 991 97 886 93 852 89 746 70 London, City of 413 51 388 48 269 32 213 23 151 11 Merseyside 2,537 208 2,492 229 2,214 237 1,957 180 1,945 183 Metropolitan Police 13,784 1,231 14,811 1,344 12,663 1,225 11,281 1,133 10,754 1,046 Norfolk 926 87 1,026 90 1,014 104 907 103 840 95 Northamptonshire 861 66 1,023 84 963 99 955 103 716 66 Northumbria 2,265 149 2,434 191 2,222 235 2,231 232 2,372 249 North Yorkshire 1,203 108 1,216 149 1,094 111 996 128 943 130 Nottinghamshire 1,786 145 1,869 162 1,658 146 1,637 165 1,553 169 South Yorkshire 1,988 141 2,142 154 1,820 182 1,774 153 1,942 180 Staffordshire 1,722 132 1,857 179 1,763 192 1,553 158 1,731 137 Suffolk 960 106 939 111 931 111 961 128 805 97 Surrey 1,239 137 1,245 135 1,170 158 1,240 177 1,341 198 Sussex 1,975 225 2,109 264 1,910 203 1,978 246 1,886 226 Thames Valley 3,620 322 3,720 352 3,524 371 3,379 346 3,108 388 Warwickshire 833 74 751 85 704 80 765 91 712 74 West Mercia 1,794 137 1,834 115 1,668 126 1,598 149 1,484 147 West Midlands 5,564 314 5,972 382 5,211 371 4,468 307 4,167 392 West Yorkshire 3,834 268 3,663 290 3,365 304 3,321 276 3,069 306 Wiltshire 917 94 934 107 1,022 86 897 112 816 114 England 82,440 7,213 85,924 7,836 78,815 7,891 75,768 7,799 71,839 7,831 Dyfed Powys 890 103 925 104 886 109 842 102 777 81 Gwent 889 77 1,053 113 1,088 115 979 100 1,093 118 North Wales 1,225 138 1,214 140 1,164 142 1,096 152 1,191 142 South Wales 2,512 219 2,661 232 2,651 252 2,270 256 2,472 285 Wales 5,516 537 5,853 589 5,789 618 5,187 610 5,533 626 England and Wales 87,956 7,750 91,777 8,425 84,604 8,509 80,955 8,409 77,372 8,457
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Police force area Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Avon and Somerset 1,964 234 2,135 266 2,366 300 2,344 348 2,243 352 Bedfordshire 837 77 851 104 952 120 932 96 957 93 Cambridgeshire 738 76 761 90 829 104 962 121 1,089 125 Cheshire 1,359 170 1,729 264 1,634 271 1,833 295 1,464 245 Cleveland 814 73 831 90 876 105 960 111 844 115 Cumbria 673 88 676 92 735 108 813 94 721 132 Derbyshire 1,290 121 1,318 147 1,449 168 1,672 202 1,451 194 Devon and Cornwall 2,119 250 2,180 261 2,313 354 2,242 318 2,127 319 Dorset 1,020 131 1,028 171 1,110 154 1,087 152 1,048 159 Durham 982 115 1,002 134 1,049 121 1,134 143 1,002 166 Essex 2,199 257 2,253 269 2,352 270 2,505 348 2,211 338 Gloucestershire 764 101 826 100 772 118 782 131 720 114 Greater Manchester 4,257 458 4,245 475 4,206 537 4,284 527 4,095 558 Hampshire 3,105 359 3,422 424 3,249 414 3,302 441 2,910 462 Hertfordshire 1,475 191 1,661 233 1,657 246 1,634 247 1,589 247 Humberside 1,127 132 1,270 125 1,327 118 1,476 147 1,448 144 Kent 2,315 260 2,433 311 2,535 276 2,710 300 2,593 314 Lancashire 2,020 284 2,258 341 2,336 316 2,360 346 2,382 341 Leicestershire 1,416 130 1,504 155 1,557 168 1,578 176 1,460 171 Lincolnshire 792 85 773 74 999 112 1,057 152 1,027 149 London, City of 144 18 191 30 208 22 151 18 173 11 Merseyside 2,011 184 2,056 237 2,395 292 2,518 331 2,634 330 Metropolitan Police 10,265 989 11,746 1,160 11,486 1,135 11,932 1,295 11,658 1,229 Norfolk 1,027 116 1,067 153 1,146 128 1,086 154 1,115 150 Northamptonshire 370 29 209 27 714 85 825 97 740 113 Northumbria 2,295 235 2,302 286 2,424 323 2,338 337 2,263 298 North Yorkshire 937 129 990 129 1,037 157 988 143 1,073 171 Nottinghamshire 1,441 157 1,305 114 1,476 168 1,479 190 1,445 181 South Yorkshire 1,845 176 1,756 189 1,856 233 2,010 214 2,013 207 Staffordshire 1,359 154 1,489 215 1,539 194 1,508 225 1,490 228 Suffolk 821 99 986 119 1,061 152 1,176 156 974 129 Surrey 1,384 208 1,408 206 1,270 194 1,245 180 1,272 231 Sussex 2,091 267 2,061 245 2,162 268 2,032 336 2,074 305 Thames Valley 2,934 341 3,841 476 3,448 436 3,136 403 3,059 415 Warwickshire 776 104 754 87 824 94 764 81 762 109 West Mercia 1,574 166 1,515 204 1,600 197 1,518 171 1,773 144 West Midlands 4,526 389 4,655 395 4,799 434 5,067 517 5,160 533 West Yorkshire 2,936 284 3,259 304 3,397 323 3,558 339 3,513 350 Wiltshire 929 116 881 124 894 137 908 116 907 131 England 70,931 7,753 75,627 8,826 78,039 9,352 79,906 9,998 77,479 10,003 Dyfed Powys 767 100 815 112 874 121 853 133 806 126 Gwent 1,019 133 971 103 1,014 135 1,039 149 945 184 North Wales 1,099 128 1,121 149 1,169 157 1,193 156 1,194 170 South Wales 2,525 287 2,439 322 2,493 347 2,482 329 2,445 366 Wales 5,410 648 5,346 686 5,550 760 5,567 767 5,390 846 England and Wales 76,341 8,401 80,973 9,512 83,589 10,112 85,473 10,765 82,869 10,849 1 Offences of aiding, abetting, causing or permitting driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s4(1), 4(2), 5(1)(a), 5(1)(b), 6(4), 7(6), 7A (as added by Police Reform Act 2002 s56); and Transport & Works Act 1992 s31A (as added by Police Reform Act 2002 s52). 2 Data covers summary offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs (which cannot reliably be distinguished). Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Rape: Sentencing
A research study into prisoners received into prisons in England and Wales under indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) between April 2005 and March 2006 found that 46 IPPs had been given for rape or attempted rape. This research study involved confirming individual case details with prisons and has not been repeated. However, data held in administrative IT systems suggest the number of IPPs given for rape or attempted rape was around 170 in the year from April 2006 to March 2007, and around 140 from April 2007 to November 2007 (the most recent data available).
These figures have been drawn from data returns from prisons and administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
High Sheriffs
None of the names on the most recent list of nominations for the position of High Sheriff were chosen following open advertisement, or by a selection committee or board, where membership is published. The arrangements for seeking nominees are a matter for individual counties. It is the responsibility of High Sheriffs in office to provide the names of people suitable to serve in the future. With the help of local selection panels, they should cast the net as widely as possible and consider candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Health
Childbirth: Greater London
The information requested can be found in the following tables. However, the latest figures for birth rates at each hospital are only available to 2006-07.
Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust (RAL) Barnet hospital (RVL01) Edgware hospital (RVL07)1 Total finished consultant delivery episodes Total caesarian deliveries Total finished consultant delivery episodes Total caesarian deliveries Total finished consultant delivery episodes Total caesarian deliveries 2006-07 3,227 810 3,651 733 233 6 2005-06 3,217 901 3,131 689 — — 2004-05 3,178 858 3,027 757 — — 1 No data available for this organisation for the periods 2005-06 and 2004-05.
Total finished delivery episodes with complications (Diagnosis codes 060 - 075 Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust (RVL01) Barnet hospital Edgware hospital (RVL07)1 2006-07 2,159 2,680 153 2005-06 2,284 2,182 — 2004-05 2,071 2,141 — 1 No data available for this organisation for the periods 2005-06 and 2004-05. Notes: Data Quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS Trusts, and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England. Data is also received from a number of Independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Maternity Coverage and data quality The maternity tail data coverage is not as complete as the rest of HES data. There are a number of reasons for the coverage and data quality issues such as: Trusts submitting a significantly higher number of delivery episodes compared to birth episodes Trusts failing to submit data on the number of birth episodes where they record a high number of delivery episodes Trusts failing to submit delivery—the reason for this is that approximately 20 trusts have a stand alone maternity system which is not linked to the Patient Administration System Trusts identifying a high number of maternity beds available, but not recording any information about deliveries or births Trusts identifying that they have no maternity beds available, but recording a high number of birth and delivery episodes Some trusts have space in their maternity system to record 9 birth tails, whereas other systems have space for 18. As deliveries, miscarriages and abortions are all recorded in the birth tail, there are cases where 9 tails is not enough to record all of the relevant data All Diagnoses count of episodes These figures represent a count of all FCE’s where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in a HES record. See table 3 for Diagnosis codes used. Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. Episode Type: 2 - Deliver/ Event 5 - Other Delivery Event Ungrossed Data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Source: HES, The Information Centre for health and social care
Diagnosis codes 060 Preterm delivery 061 Failed induction of labour 062 Abnormalities of forces of labour 063 Long labour 064 Obstruct labour due malposition and malpresentation of fetus 065 Obstructed labour due to maternal pelvic abnormality 066 Other obstructed labour 067 Labour and delivery comp by intrapartum haemorrh NEC 068 Labour and delivery complicated by fetal stress [distress] 069 Labour and delivery complicated by umbilical cord complications 070 Perinea/ laceration during delivery 071 Other obstetric trauma 072 Postpartum haemorrhage 073 Retained placenta and membranes without haemorrhage 074 Complications of anaesthesia during labour and delivery 075 Other complications of labour and delivery NEC
Departmental Public Expenditure
Departmental expenditure limits, including near cash, apply to the aggregate level of departmental expenditure not individual programmes within the overall budget. The near-cash expenditure in 2005-06 for each activity in figure A.2 of the 2007 departmental report is shown in the following table.
Consumption of resources by activity Near cash outturn 2005-06 (£000) National health service 72,156 Of which: Hospital and community health services 68,955 Of which: Health authorities unified budgets and central allocations and grants to local authorities 68,955 Family health services 2,131 Of which: General dental services 1,038 General ophthalmic services 358 Pharmaceutical services 1,162 Prescription charges income -427 Central health and miscellaneous services 793 Of which: Welfare food departmental expenditure limit 104 European economic area medical costs 343 Other central health and miscellaneous services 346 Departmental administration including agencies 277 Personal social services (PSS) 2,060 Of which: PSS 181 Local authority social services grants 1,880 Of which: Training support programme for social services staff Grants for adults 1,459 Grants for children 91 Human resources development strategy 63 Grants funded form the invest to save fund performance fund NHS superannuation—England and Wales1 — Credit guarantee finance1 — NHS annually managed expenditure1 — Total Department of health resource budget 74,232 1 This expenditure is outside the Department’s expenditure limit and near cash controls.
Departmental Reorganisation
The Commercial Directorate will continue to play a major role in providing commercial expertise to the Department and in helping build commercial capability across the national health service. It will exercise its role in partnership with strategic health authorities and other NHS organisations.
The Commercial Directorate will be reshaped to ensure it is ready for its future responsibilities. This transition is under way and will continue over the coming months.
Dermatology: Finance
In the 2007 comprehensive spending review the national health service received annual growth in revenue resources of 3.7 per cent., above inflation, increasing total revenue expenditure from £86.8 billion in 2007-08 to £104.8 billion in 2010-11. Of these over 80 per cent. is allocated to primary care trusts to provide them with funding to deliver local and national priorities. It is not possible to provide an estimate of how funding for dermatology services will change as it is for local NHS organisations to commission services to meet their local health needs.
English Language
We do not hold central records of expenditure on English language classes. A survey to gather relevant information would involve disproportionate costs. Informally, we believe that a survey would identify very little or no expenditure on such classes.
General Practitioners
We do not collect this information centrally. Primary care trusts have a responsibility to ensure they provide, or secure provision of a high quality, sustainable service that meets the needs of their local population.
All out-of-hours services must be delivered to the national quality requirements, ensuring patients have access to consistently high quality and responsive care, regardless of where they live. Providers must deliver services that meet the quality requirements, as a contractual obligation. The requirements stipulate that:
patients will be guaranteed a general practitioner consultation—including a home visit if there is a clinical need;
patients are treated by the clinician best equipped to meet their needs in the most appropriate location; and
services will be regularly audited to ensure that patients are receiving quality care.
Health Professions: Barnet
The information requested is held at national health service trust level only.
The table shows the data held for Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, Barnet primary care trust and the Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust, which serve the Barnet area, and the former Barnet health authority. 1997 data is available only for the Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust, and Barnet health authority. Latest available data is for 2006.
Over 1.33 million people were employed in the NHS in England as at September 2006. Between September 1997 and 2006 the total number of NHS staff increased by over 280,000 (27 per cent.); the number of doctors and hospital dentists employed in the NHS in England increased by 35,993 (40 per cent.) to 125,612; the number of nurses employed in the NHS in England increased by 79,479 (25 per cent.) to 398,335; and the total number of qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff employed in the NHS in England increased by 38,200 (40 per cent.) to 134,498.
We are now moving away from year-on-year growth in the NHS workforce to more of a steady state where there is a closer match between demand and supply. The focus now is strengthening frontline capacity through increases in productivity and skill mix. In some cases, productivity gains may mean that fewer staff are needed to deliver the same service outcomes.
Number (headcount) 1997 2006 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS trust specified staff total 3— 2,366 All doctors 3— 585 Of which: Medical and dental staff2 3— 585 GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)2 3— 3— Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 3— 1,692 Of which: Practice nurses 3— 3— Modern matron 3— 11 Community matron 3— 0 Administrative managers 3— 89 Barnet health authority* GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)2 195 n/a Practice nurses 135 n/a Barnet PCT specified staff total 3— 711 All doctors 3— 246 Of which: Medical and dental staff1 3— 28 GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)2 3— 218 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 3— 389 Of which: Practice nurses 3— 133 Modern matron 3— 3 Community matron 3— 0 Administrative managers 76 Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust 1,965 2,877 All doctors 462 737 Of which: Medical and dental staff1 462 737 GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)2 3— 3— Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 1,402 2,035 Of which: Practice nurses 3— 3— Modern matron 3— 10 Community matron 3— 0 Administrative managers 101 105 1 Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part time in hospitals. 2 General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP Providers and GP Others. 3 Data not available. The numbers of modern matrons were not collected until 2005, and community matrons were not collected until 2006. Note: 1. Due to a high number of organisation mergers in the Barnet area it is impossible to accurately map figures from predecessor to current trust organisation structures to provide data for 1997. The Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust has remained consistent, so figures are included. *The exception is GPs and their staff recorded in the former Barnet health authority in 1997 which is consistent with the current Barnet PCT. In 1997 there were 195 GPs (excluding retainers and registrars) and 135 Practice Nurses in Barnet Health Authority. 2. GP Census does not display nurse practitioners as a separate work area. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census. The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census. The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
Health Services: Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway Cross Government Board, comprising several officials from a number of Government Departments, including the Department, is responsible for the co-ordination of central Government investment in the Thames Gateway growth area, including the provision of health services.
Incontinence
The latest consultation closed on 28 December 2008. Ministers have agreed that the Department can meet with industry and other relevant parties to discuss the best way to conclude this review.
No further decisions have been made.
Meat Products: Origin Marking
There is no definition of place of ‘last substantial transformation/change’ in European Union law. However, the Food Standards Agency suggests in its “Guidance on Country of Origin Labelling” that, for example, the transformation of pork into bacon, ham or pies should be regarded as a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change, while simply slicing, cutting and/or packing meat does not amount to such a change.
Mental Health Services: Greater London
[holding answer 14 January 2008]: The information is not available in the format requested. There are no mental health primary care trusts (PCTs). Furthermore, the Department does not hold information on the budgets of PCTs. However, the following tables shows the net operating costs, which relates to the size of the PCT, of all London PCTs and the spend on secondary mental illness from 2000-01 to 2006-07.
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 London PCT Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Barking and Dagenham PCT — — 110,618 14,862 146,269 15,408 170,823 23,158 Barnet PCT — — 249,700 25,809 327,960 28,788 358,235 33,562 Bexley PCT/Care Trust 62,248 4,476 141,028 13,748 190,708 23,122 209,679 20,636 Brent Teaching PCT — — — — 297,936 35,832 337,737 39,823 Bromley PCT — — 214,671 22,692 283,730 28,016 317,805 28,502 Camden PCT — — — — 325,834 52,007 314,241 59,411 Chingford, Wanstead and Woodford PCT — — 91,622 12,275 108,227 13,753 — — City and Hackney Teaching PCT — — 188,409 38,125 256,962 43,875 295,976 44,907 Croydon PCT — — — — 310,484 31,874 330,656 33,316 Ealing PCT — — — — 322,152 89,702 357,416 40,438 Enfield PCT — — 192,252 21,117 245,943 32,280 281,614 34,892 Greenwich Teaching PCT — — 195,183 28,125 261,854 48,841 281,191 35,983 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT — — — — 208,876 31,172 222,992 28,066 Haringey Teaching PCT — — 192,093 31,657 255,480 32,656 280,934 76,146 Harrow PCT — — — — 184,884 17,592 202,870 22,112 Havering PCT — — 162,056 19,792 213,658 21,160 251,412 24,534 Hillingdon PCT 173,211 0 189,563 16,073 220,908 20,118 243,802 23,758 Hounslow PCT — — — — 222,958 21,514 254,520 22,789 Islington PCT — — — — 258,769 51,429 261,761 53,522 Kensington and Chelsea PCT — — — — 217,367 31,435 245,191 30,175 Kingston PCT — — 103,160 11,073 148,481 18,273 160,794 18,459 Lambeth PCT — — — — 351,925 72,408 403,207 73,061 Lewisham PCT — — — — 284,012 50,618 307,559 53,722 Nelson and West Merton PCT 93,633 0 103,387 11,264 — — — — Newham PCT — — 215,444 22,500 281,592 36,012 312,981 37,503 Redbridge PCT — — 134,036 20,228 159,537 18,385 227,233 30,083 Richmond and Twickenham PCT — — — — 161,896 19,683 184,296 18,459 Southwark PCT — — — — 295,368 50,784 315,022 51,359 Sutton and Merton PCT — — — — 343,166 37,367 384,936 38,249 Teddington, Twickenham and Hamptons PCT — — 57,637 7,622 — — — — Tower Hamlets PCT — — 177,331 21,136 246,660 28,864 276,118 28,243 Waltham Forest PCT — — — — — — 257,849 29,153 Walthamstow, Leyton and Leytonstone PCT — — 138,664 19,100 172,676 20,644 — — Wandsworth PCT — — — — 301,074 37,545 331,813 39,685 Westminster PCT — — — — 315,490 91,507 315,363 44,862
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 London PCT Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Net Operating costs Spend on secondary mental illness Barking and Dagenham PCT 201,098 27,082 218,854 25,622 227,117 24,222 Barnet PCT 400,164 34,169 425,382 35,379 417,143 36,064 Bexley PCT/Care Trust 235,681 24,203 247,400 26,650 259,522 23,395 Brent Teaching PCT 376,277 51,065 381,484 54,604 429,853 46,782 Bromley PCT 343,334 33,485 372,593 38,206 371,239 39,638 Camden PCT 362,678 57,973 394,966 48,095 372,848 47,091 Chingford, Wanstead and Woodford PCT — — — — — — City And Hackney Teaching PCT 336,596 51,103 366,008 56,530 366,985 60,109 Croydon PCT 380,122 36,590 405,093 37,166 417,424 50,874 Ealing PCT 408,317 44,454 440,525 58,787 441,886 60,253 Enfield PCT 307,941 41,605 331,714 39,848 358,550 42,333 Greenwich Teaching PCT 307,506 38,131 328,526 47,718 341,711 51,981 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 232,758 32,546 242,090 34,765 265,818 37,184 Haringey Teaching PCT 318,050 89,057 340,680 55,213 345,851 57,540 Harrow PCT 228,638 27,217 245,102 28,925 246,058 31,856 Havering PCT 279,653 25,652 302,778 27,854 321,874 31,035 Hillingdon PCT 282,354 24,690 322,254 26,529 305,227 24,563 Hounslow PCT 295,683 23,620 283,884 27,767 301,200 29,540 Islington PCT 313,248 57,478 333,447 66,493 341,988 77,725 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 290,956 34,812 305,377 39,082 277,048 40,048 Kingston PCT 187,224 21,693 205,562 22,007 205,200 22,988 Lambeth PCT 467,200 83,655 499,124 94,337 480,619 94,306 Lewisham PCT 352,106 57,968 373,037 65,826 403,457 69,871 Nelson and West Merton PCT — — — — — — Newham PCT 356,015 41,118 394,628 46,642 417,865 48,789 Redbridge PCT 251,948 33,068 273,348 36,652 280,864 36,705 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 213,348 23,149 225,637 25,206 216,911 25,729 Southwark PCT 366,301 59,770 403,334 62,489 397,637 64,896 Sutton and Merton PCT 420,047 40,157 455,205 43,322 455,702 45,074 Teddington, Twickenham and Hamptons PCT — — — — — — Tower Hamlets PCT 318,881 36,838 372,777 40,342 347,070 42,610 Waltham Forest PCT 284,825 32,225 305,436 38,599 314,622 40,561 Walthamstow, Leyton and Leytonstone PCT — — — — — — Wandsworth PCT 366,191 45,736 373,973 48,748 387,068 55,194 Westminster PCT 347,333 48,330 364,076 59,232 355,717 62,855 Notes: 1. Health authorities were responsible for commissioning health care up to 2002-03 therefore figures by PCT are not comparable in these earlier years. 2. Where indicated by ‘—’, the PCT was not in existence in that year. Source: Audited summarisation schedules of London PCTs for 2000-01 to 2006-07.
NHS Direct: Standards
Performance review meetings were held on:
23 March 2006
18 May 2006
20 June 2006
26 July 2006
31 August 2006
21 September 2006
25 October 2006
29 January 2007
26 April 2007
9 August 2007
1 November 2007.
Making available minutes of performance review meetings could prejudice the Department's ability to performance manage NHS Direct effectively, but copies of agendas for these meetings have been placed in the Library. In future, we will publish agendas and a summary of the minutes on the Department's website.
NHS: Reorganisation
The Department of Health is working closely with the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission to prepare for the establishment of the Care Quality Commission. As part of this, two pieces of work have been commissioned by the Department:
a scoping study to more clearly understand what information technology work is needed to support the establishment of the Care Quality Commission. This work is finished; and
a study to identify options for the location(s) of headquarter functions of the Care Quality Commission. This work is ongoing.
NHS: Telephone Services
The provision of telephone services for patients and the public is a matter for the local national health service. The Department did however issue guidance in December 2006 clearly setting out that patients should not be charged more than the equivalent of a local call.
Information on which of the primary care trusts in England advertise non-geographical telephone numbers and how many calls were made to these numbers in the last 12 months is not collected centrally.
Peterborough Primary Care Trust
The weighted-capitation formula is used to determine primary care trusts’ (PCTs’) target shares of available resources, to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need.
The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) continually oversees the development of the formula. ACRA’s objective is to ensure equity in resource allocation to all PCTs.
ACRA’s current work programme includes a review of the market forces factor, the need element of the formula and the population base for revenue allocations. ACRA’s current review of the formula will be used to inform revenue allocations post 2008-09.
International Development
International Assistance
DFID Country Offices were provided with guidance about how to undertake Country Governance Analysis (CGAs) in February 2007. Since then, 16 CGAs have been completed. These have been used, alongside other tools such as Drivers of Change Analysis, to inform programming decisions and Country Assistance Plans (CAPs). They are now a mandatory component of all CAPs. We are currently reviewing experience over the past nine months, and plan to update our guidance in April once that review is completed.
Members: Correspondence
A reply to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire’s letter of 23 November 2007 has been issued.
Natural Resources: Armed Conflict
The Department for International Development’s work on conflict resources is managed by advisory and administrative staff in both the UK and in our offices overseas where conflict is a significant barrier to development. We also contribute indirectly to conflict policy development managed by the large multi-lateral donor organisations and non governmental organisations.
As an indicator of the numbers involved, we have 110 staff working centrally on conflict and security issues, including specialist advisory staff, plus 165 staff overseas in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There will also be a number of other not readily identifiable staff working indirectly in support of those mentioned above.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Carbon Sequestration
I have been asked to reply.
The climate change levy is a tax on non-domestic use of energy aimed at promoting energy efficiency. There are currently no commercial-scale power generation plants in the UK which deploy carbon capture and storage, so the issue of liability to pay the levy does not arise.
HMT consulted on the barriers to carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment in 2006 and the Government announced in the Energy Review that the next logical step would be a full-scale demonstration project. A competition to design and build one of the first ever-commercial CCS demonstration projects was launched by the Prime Minister on 19 November. This demonstration will provide the evidence, which will enable us to take informed policy decisions, including on taxation issues.
All taxes and reliefs are kept under review and any changes are announced by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Europe for Citizens
I have been asked to reply.
The elements of the Europe for Citizens programme currently operating in the UK include town twinning co-operation projects and structural support for public research and civil society organisations.
Duchy of Lancaster
Labour Party: Marketing
I have been asked to reply.
The majority of Crown copyright material can be re-used without charge under the terms of the online Click-Use Licence. The Labour party has a licence. Charges may be made for re-use of multiple Crown copyright photographs. No payments have been made by the Labour Party in this period.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Climate Change
The Secretary of State has not met, and has no immediate plans to meet, the Chairman of the Environment and Energy Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce UK, to discuss the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
However, there is a regular formal dialogue between UK Government officials and International Chamber of Commerce members on a range of energy and climate related issues.
Floods: Crosby
The Environment Agency (North West Central Area) is currently undertaking a study into tidal flood risk in the Crosby constituency as part of their “Tidal Areas Benefiting from Defences” study.
This study is due for completion at the end of March 2008, and will produce a tidal flood outline which takes into account sea level rise due to climate change by the year 2115.
The Environment Agency completed a study of the River Alt taking into consideration fluvial flood risk in 2000. The results of this study are already included in the Environment Agency's Flood Map.
The River Alt and Crossens Catchment Flood Management Plan, which incorporates the Crosby constituency, is currently under development and at the consultation stage.
The Environment Agency is investing approximately £8 million over the next three years in the Crosby constituency, which includes the refurbishment of the Altmouth pumping station, a major and key asset vital to flood protection is this area.
A strategic management plan for the coast between Crosby and Formby Point is being developed by Sefton metropolitan borough council with support from the Environment Agency. This plan is considering the most sustainable means of managing the risk posed by coastal erosion and tidal flooding over the next 100 years, incorporating the effects of climate change.
Consultation took place with local communities and interest groups between September and December 2007 and the comments are currently being collated and assessed. The plan will be finalised during the coming year. Any proposals to refurbish, replace or upgrade defences at Crosby will be evaluated further and incorporated into the national prioritised capital works programme based on their relative merits.
Fuel Poverty: Targets
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: We have been successful in reducing fuel poverty between 1996 and 2005 by 3 million vulnerable households across the UK. However, as indicated in our most recent UK Fuel Poverty Strategy fifth annual progress report, available on the website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, rising energy prices since 2003 have had an impact on households and we estimate that there may still be 1.2 million vulnerable households in fuel poverty in England by 2010.
Game Birds
In my answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 859W, on game birds, I confirmed that, in general, scientific data referenced in parliamentary questions are drawn from peer reviewed publications or are reviewed by staff within the Department or statutory advisers. As is usual practice, the peer review was organised by the organisation which funded the report.
New Forest Verderers
The current Official Verderer was appointed in May 2002 and was re-appointed in 2005 for a second term of office, with the expectation that he would serve until 2008.
The Official Verderer wrote to the Office of the Prime Minister in October 2007 placing his office at the disposal of the Crown, and this offer was accepted. The appointment process for a new Official Verderer, which is being administered by the Forestry Commission and which will follow the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, is now under way.
Rural Areas: Community Development
I was pleased to announce, on 14 December, a new investment of £3.45 million to support the network of rural community councils (RCCs) in England for each of the next three years. This funding will be channelled through Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), the lead body for the RCC network. The Government has no plans to continue with other elements of the Rural Social and Community Programme, which was designed to be a two-year investment in building rural community capacity.
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given on 21 January 2008, Official Report, column 1493W.
Rural Areas: Energy
(2) what (a) measures his Department is taking and (b) advice and support is available to encourage rural consumers in hard to heat homes to become more energy efficient.
Details of grants and offers for energy efficiency measures are available, by postcode, on the website of the Energy Saving Trust, which is funded by DEFRA to promote and support energy efficiency in the household sector. The trust’s Innovation Programme has included four projects relating to the use of energy efficiency measures in hard to treat homes.
Rural Areas: Housing
As part of its preparations for the comprehensive spending review (CSR) during the summer of 2007, DEFRA asked the Housing Corporation to provide advice on the feasibility of a potential funding programme to improve the delivery of affordable rural housing at local level. That advice will be carefully considered in decisions about departmental spending priorities over the CSR period. No decisions about the fund have yet been made. We are currently finalising the Department’s overall funding package and an announcement will be made shortly.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Arms Trade: Treaties
The UK is a strong supporter of the UN process towards securing a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made this clear in his recent speech at the Delhi Chamber of Commerce.
In 2006, the UK co-sponsored the original UN Resolution that called for work towards an ATT and which 153 countries voted to adopt. Since then the UK has worked closely with the defence industry and with non-governmental organisations, and has lobbied internationally to attract support for an ATT. Nearly 100 countries, including the UK, have submitted their views on an ATT for publication on the UN website:
http://disarmament.un.org/cab/att/Views_Member_States.html
The UK maintains a dialogue with its international partners to work towards a legally binding global ATT, and will participate in the UN organised Group of Government Experts’ meetings, which start in February to take this process forward.
British Council: Film
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 24 January 2008, Official Report, column 2196W.
Chad: Peacekeeping Operations
We understand that the minimum requirements for deployment of this force have now been met. The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council is therefore expected to confirm the launch of the force on 28 January, and deployment will be initiated in February. We expect that the force should reach full operating capacity by May.
The requirements for deployment of the EU force to Chad and the Central African Republic were discussed at a force generation conference on 11 January 2008. The operation commander for the mission, Lieutenant General Nash, confirmed that he now has enough forces and assets available to recommend launching the mission.
The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council on 28 January is therefore expected to confirm the launch of the force, and deployment will be initiated in February. We expect that the force should reach full operating capacity by May.
Departmental Accountancy
We do not link any changes in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's revenue or expenditure directly to the consumer price index or the retail price index.
We adjust the cost of living allowances, which we pay to staff serving overseas, every six months. We base changes in these allowances (up or down) on indices and data collected by Employment Conditions Abroad.
Departmental Consultants
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett) on 6 December 2007, Official Report, column 1427W. I also refer the hon. Member to the reply the Minister for Europe gave to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 9 October 2007, Official Report, columns 542-43W.
Departmental Freedom of Information
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has published 5 per cent. (165) of responses to 3,125 Freedom of Information Act requests received between January 2005, when the Act came into force, and the end of September 2007. The FCO has adopted a selective disclosure log whereby only the most interesting and high profile pieces of information are published.
Developing Countries: International Assistance
The UK’s National Contact Point for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines is currently managed by officials from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform dedicates one full time official to work on the National Contact Point and is in the process of recruiting a second, while the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development each currently contribute 20 per cent. of one official’s time.
Embassies: Manpower
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently has 261 posts overseas. 43 are staffed exclusively by locally-recruited staff. 218 are staffed by UK-based civil servants and locally-recruited staff. The latest FCO departmental report (2006-07) sets out the total number of FCO UK-based staff worldwide as 6,364. The 1997-98 FCO departmental report stated that there were then 5,971 UK-based staff.
We keep the number of FCO staff at each post under constant review in the light of changing world circumstances, operational requirements and financial constraints. We are not able to compile data for changes in staffing at each post for each of the last 10 years as this would incur disproportionate cost.
European Commission: Manpower
We do not hold this information centrally. However, information on the proportion of staff holding British nationality in each directorate-general is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/about/figures/index_en.htm
Horn of Africa: Terrorism
Al-Qaida and its local affiliates have a long history of terrorist activity in East Africa, from the Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam bombings of 1998 through to more recent activity in Somalia. Al-Qaida has exploited the absence of an effective Government in Somalia to use the country as a base for both terrorist training and planning. This is mainly focused on the region, but some has been directed against the UK. The UK is home to a small number of extremists of East African origin, as the failed 21 July 2005 attacks in London demonstrated.
The Government’s policy are to promote peace, stability and good governance in the horn of Africa. We are working, with our international partners, through the UN, EU and other international fora, to support programmes in the region that will assist development in these areas. We also support programmes to reduce the instability and lack of governance in Somalia. These mechanisms will help counter the terrorist threat to the UK from the horn of Africa.
International Contact Group for Somalia
The next meeting of the International Contact Group for Somalia is due to be hosted by the African Union in Addis Ababa. A date for the meeting has not yet been set.
Kenya: Christianity
We have had no reports of religious conflict or of targeting of Christians during the post-election violence. The Government are appalled by and condemn the incidents of violence that have broken out across Kenya, including horrific killings in several Kenyan cities and towns. We call for calm and for any grievances to be dealt with through the appropriate legal channels.
Kenya: Politics and Government
The Government are deeply concerned about the post-election crisis in Kenya. We are supportive of the African Union initiative to facilitate talks between the political parties and the mission, led by Kofi Annan, to assist them in doing so. We have been in touch with regional, and other African, leaders to underline our support for this African led process aimed at restoring peace, stability and prosperity to Kenya.
The Government are working tirelessly with all our international partners to support the African Union’s leadership in trying to find a way forward. We believe Kofi Annan’s mission is the best way to assist the parties to agree a solution, which will restore peace and stability to Kenya.
The Commonwealth Secretariat has undertaken a visit to Kenya since the elections to find out what more can be done to help. The EU presidency statement of 11 January set out the EU’s key concerns. The EU is a key element to the broad international support for the African Union’s lead and for Kofi Annan’s mission. The UN is focused on the humanitarian situation in Kenya and is working to ensure a swift and effective response to the humanitarian needs.
Kenya: Uganda
We have no evidence to support reports of Ugandan soldiers entering Kenya during the current unrest. The Kenyan and Ugandan authorities have assured us that this has not happened.
Members: Correspondence
I replied to the hon. Member on 21 January.
Middle East: Diplomatic Service
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employs staff at its posts under a variety of terms and conditions, for example as casual staff and contractors. In addition, staff from other Government Departments, such as the Department for International Development, also work at our posts. The number of UK diplomats employed by the FCO at our posts in the Middle East and South Asia are listed in the following table.
Number Middle East Abu Dhabi 13 Alexandria 1 Algiers 13 Amman 27 Bahrain 9 Baghdad 33 Basra 11 Beirut 16 Cairo 33 Casablanca 1 Damascus 12 Doha 14 Dubai 26 Jedda 5 Jerusalem 12 Kuwait 20 Muscat 11 Rabat 12 Riyadh 29 Sana’a 14 Tehran 27 Tel Aviv 15 Tripoli 19 Tunis 8 South Asia Chennai 21 Colombo 19 Dhaka 34 Islamabad 118 Kabul (includes Lashkar) 70 Karachi 6 Kathmandu 10 Kolkata 4 Mumbai 31 New Delhi 69
I refer the right hon. Member to my written ministerial statement of 23 January 2008, Official Report, columns 52-53WS.
We will provide training for staff going to the Middle East and South Asia in languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Pashto and Urdu wherever there is an operational requirement. We do not yet know precisely how many staff will require this. It will depend on a range of factors, including the location, role and existing language skills of each officer.
British Nationals: Overseas Detention
As at 31 December 2007, British consular officials were aware of 2,419 British nationals detained overseas. We do not compile separate statistics on those detainees serving life sentences. We provide the same consular assistance regardless of sentence.
We are currently aware of 10 British nationals abroad who have been sentenced to death. A further eight British nationals have been charged with offences that may carry the death penalty.
As at 31 December 2007, British consular officials were aware of 2,419 British nationals detained overseas. We do not keep statistics on the numbers of British nationals detained for violent crime.
We do, however, keep statistics for those detained on drug offences. Of the total number of British nationals currently detained abroad, 40 per cent. are for drugs related offences.
Pakistan: Nuclear Power
We continue to monitor closely issues of nuclear safety and security within Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has recently given the UK assurances about the security around its nuclear installations.
Somalia: Armed Conflict
The Government are very concerned about the continuing potential for the security situation in Somalia to affect peace and stability in the horn of Africa.
The UK is working with the international community and the UN to encourage the development of government institutions in Somalia that will enable the authorities to develop the capacity to tackle insecurity in Somalia and reduce the risk to neighbouring countries.
Somalia: Human Rights
The Government attach great importance to the protection of human rights. In Somalia, the security situation means that monitoring the human rights situation and gathering reliable information is very difficult. The UK is working with EU and UN agencies to find practicable solutions to increasing monitoring without endangering the individuals tasked with investigating allegations of abuse.
We urge the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to embrace its responsibility to protect the human rights of its citizens. We believe the improvement of governance and rule of law in Somalia is the best way to improve human rights situation in the country. We are therefore working closely with international partners and the Transitional Federal Government to support improvement in governance institutions in Somalia.
Somalia: Peacekeeping Operations
During the financial year (FY) 2007-08, the Government have committed the following expenditure for support to the African Union for their mission to Somalia:
£4.5 million for Ugandan and Burundian troop sustainment (fuel, food, rotation costs, airlift);
£2.3 million for Burundian troop allowances (per diems for 2 battalions up to end of FY);
£1.3 million for supplies to the Ugandan battalions (trucks, vehicle spares, paint etc.);
£120,000 (maximum) for subsistence payments and accommodation for military planners;
£20,000 for a Burundian military reconnaissance visit to Mogadishu;
£20,000 for a Burundian liaison officer in Kampala (subsistence and accommodation); and
£40,000 (maximum) committed for a potential Nigerian reconnaissance visit to Mogadishu.
The current total UK commitment for supporting the African Union mission to Somalia during FY 2007-08 is £8,300,000.
Sudan: Peace Negotiations
The Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC) is the main mechanism for engaging Darfurian civil society in the Political Process, and will be the main mechanism for engaging Darfurian civil society in longer-term reconciliation and rehabilitation. The five key posts being filled by the UK for an initial six-month period are: Chief of Operations, Communication Officer and three Field Co-ordinators. This support over the next six months will help the DDDC to increase its financial management, planning and implementation capacity.
The UK welcomed the Government of Sudan’s announcement on 27 October 2007 of a unilateral cessation of hostilities. We have urged others to make the same commitment and all parties to honour their commitments. We are working with the UN, the African Union (AU), key allies and troop contributing countries to ensure that the AU/UN hybrid operation in Darfur is an effective peacekeeping force; and with the UN, the AU and other international partners to ensure that any new agreement on a cessation of hostilities can be effectively monitored.
Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations
We have repeatedly discussed with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the appropriate EU authorities the issue of co-ordination between the African Union/UN hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which assumed authority on 31 December 2007, and the UN/EU mission in Chad/Central African Republic (EUFOR) which is scheduled to start deploying in February. UNAMID has a number of liaison officers deployed in Abeche in Eastern Chad and we understand EUFOR may also deploy liaison officers in Darfur.
We have also extended the Joint Action of the EU Special Representative to Sudan to cover the EUFOR deployment in Chad, and to encourage co-ordination between the two missions. We are monitoring incursions across the Chad-Sudan border and, in bilateral contacts, we have urged both the Government of Sudan and the Government of Chad to exercise restraint.
The UN Security Council will continue to take a close interest in the African Union/UN hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID) deployment throughout 2008. In response to the attack on a UNAMID convoy on 7 January, the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement on 11 January that called on the Government of Sudan to conclude
“all the necessary arrangements for the expeditious deployment of an effective UNAMID force”.
We will continue to press the Government of Sudan to resolve outstanding issues, including force composition, the Status of Forces Agreement and night flying rights. We will also continue to discuss this issue with EU partners and to reiterate with them our readiness to consider further measures in the UN framework against any party that obstructs the prompt deployment of an effective force.
Terrorism: Detainees
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed this subject with the US administration.
USA: Detainees
It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on matters relating to intelligence issues.
The UK unreservedly condemns the use of torture as a matter of fundamental principle. The Government, including its intelligence and security agencies, never uses torture for any purpose, including obtaining information. Nor would we instigate action by others to do so.
Transport
A2: Gravesham
No estimate was made of the cost of replacing the underpass connecting Down’s Road and Hog Lane under the A2 in Gravesham.
However, the estimated cost of the road and road bridge due to replace the underpass is £1.1 million.
A27: Selmeston
The Highways Agency undertook investigations into accident types in the Selmeston area in 2006-07. As a result, a programme of schemes has been developed to address safety concerns.
In December 2007 the Highways Agency extended the double white lines and the existing 40 mph speed limit by approximately 400 metres west of Selmeston village where accidents have occurred due to vehicle movements at a bend and lay-by.
During the next three years the Agency is planning, subject to funding, to improve safety on the A27 in the Selmeston area in two other locations:
Between Selmeston and Middle Farm localised widening, introduction of a central hatched area and physical islands to discourage inappropriate overtaking.
Improvements to the junctions between the A27 with Common Lane, Bopeep Lane and The Street.
A303
Further work on plans to upgrade the A303 and the A358 has been put on hold while the implications of the A303 Stonehenge decision for the wider strategy of improving the A303/A358 corridor are resolved between the Department of Transport and the South West region.
A303: Stonehenge
No decisions have yet been taken on whether or not junction improvements are to be pursued on the A303 at Countess and Longbarrow roundabouts or on the A344/A360 at Airman’s Corner. Such measures will be considered as part of the development of proposals for improving the visitor facilities at Stonehenge. Decisions about funding will be made when decisions are made in due course about what, if any, improvement measures are to be pursued.
A38: Plymouth
Any investigation by the Highways Agency would have to await the outcome of police investigations. The agency obtains details of accidents from the police, who provide this data once their own investigations and those of any coroner’s inquest, if appropriate, have finished. This process can take up to a year to complete.
It is not possible to justify an inquiry into the number of road traffic accidents on this section of the A38, as the collision rate for the last five years is more than 10 per cent. lower than the national average for this type of trunk road. The Highways Agency continually monitors safety on its roads with a view to implementing improvements as priority allows.
A5
[holding answer 21 January 2008]: Following the meeting of officials with the hon. Gentleman and representatives of regional groups in December 2007, opportunities to advance the scheme have been reviewed.
I have asked that all these opportunities should be considered before the report is finalised. The Government Office for the East of England is working with the Department for Transport and other partners to finalise the report. I expect to receive the report during February 2008 and will send a copy of it to the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire as soon as possible.
Aviation: Radioactive Materials
[holding answer 21 January 2008]: This Department holds information on one shipment of spent nuclear fuel by air within UK airspace in the last 10 years. This was a shipment in 1998 from Tbilisi, Georgia to Dounrey, Caithness containing approximately 4 kg of uranium.
Aviation: Security
For security reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment on the specific security arrangements which have been put in place at UK airports.
Bus Services: Concessions
The Department does not hold information about the number of passes issued at the level requested. Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) administers the Concessionary Travel Scheme that covers (a) Formby, (b) Crosby, (c) Hightown and (d) Seaforth and Waterloo. In October 2007 Merseytravel reported to the Department that they had a total of 286,794 concessionary travel passes currently in circulation.
The Department does not have information about the number of bus trips taken by concessionaires at the level requested. Merseytravel is responsible for administering the scheme and may hold this data.
Funding for concessionary travel is within Revenue Support Grant (RSG), so it is not possible to disaggregate information for the cost of this to the public purse since 1997. When the statutory minimum concession was raised from half fare to free off-peak local bus travel from 1 April 2006 an additional £350 million was added to RSG in 2006-07, with a further £367.5 million in 2007-08. From April 2008 an additional £212 million will be paid directly to local authorities by special grant to fund the new national concession, rising to £217 million in 2009-10 and £223 million in 2010-11. In the provisional distribution of the grant in 2008-09 Merseytravel would receive £6.519 million through special grant in addition to the existing RSG funding.
Cars: Exhaust Emissions
In 2006, cars with less than 100 g/km CO2 tailpipe emissions accounted for no UK sales and 0.002 per cent. of the total EU market.
Neither we nor the European Commission have any plans to set a limit per car. The Commission intends that new cars emit an average of 130 g/km from 2012, but has not yet proposed any figures for the longer term. We do not yet have a view for 2040; but we believe that 100 g/km as an average should be achievable by 2020 (or 2025 at the latest). We are urging the Commission, Parliament and Council to seek consensus on this as soon as possible.
The dossier containing the Commission’s proposal will be debated in Europe during 2008.
Crossrail Line
The Planning Bill introduced to Parliament on 28 November 2007 provides for a Community Infrastructure Levy. As part of the funding agreement between Transport for London and the Department for Transport, it is envisaged that the levy will be used to secure contributions from developers to provide funding for Crossrail. I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by the Secretary of State on 26 November 2007, Official Report, columns 133-34WS.
The timing of the charge, the type of developments and local authorities affected, and other details will depend on the final form of the legislation, the regulations laid under the proposed powers in the Planning Bill, and on the Mayor of London’s policies established in line with the legislation and the regulations.
Gatwick Airport
The Secretary of State announced last year that the one bag restriction would be lifted from 7 January 2008, subject to airports demonstrating that they would be able to handle the additional bags without adversely affecting security. 23 airports have been approved to fully lift the restriction. Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal Flight Connections Centre has also been approved. We expect the other parts of Gatwick Airport to achieve this aim later in the year.
Heathrow Airport: Noise
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: The current daytime levels of continuous decent approach (CDA) are around 80 to 85 per cent.
Noise modelling for future Heathrow scenarios is based on the airspace arrangements described in the supporting technical reports by NATS. This assumes full CDA capability on all approaches to a three runway airport; but reduced CDA capability under the mixed mode (‘maximum capacity, baseline’) option, at around 35-40 per cent., as explained in paragraphs 3.102 to 3.105 of the consultation document. As the document states, the main noise benefits from CDA are felt further from the airport, outside the area of the 57 dBA noise contour.
Heathrow Airport: Public Participation
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: It is not for the Secretary of State for Transport to determine consultation criteria for airspace changes.
Changes to airspace arrangements are subject to the independent Airspace Change Process, governed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). CAA Guidance on the Application of the Airspace Change Process (CAP725) provides detailed advice on the application of the process, including consultation requirements. It makes clear that all airspace changes will require some form of consultation but that the level of consultation will be determined by the impact that the change will have on others and not the size of the change itself.
Specific consultation requirements on airspace changes in support of a third runway at Heathrow would be a matter for the sponsor of the airspace change, in this case the airport operator, BAA, with the support of NATS, the air traffic service provider, to discuss with the regulator, the CAA, as and when a detailed proposal is developed.
M25: Contracts
There are three organisations that have been invited to tender for the M25 Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract. These are:
A consortium of Amey, Laing O’Rourke and Ferrovial
Connect Plus—Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Atkins and Egis Projects
Flow—Costain, Carillion, Vinci and Laing Roads.
Network Rail: Bridges
Network Rail-owned bridges over railways most commonly carry local authority roads. EC directives 85/3/ECC and 89/460 ECC require member states’ “principal roads” to be made accessible to 40 tonne vehicles with 11.5 tonne axle weights. Network Rail-owned bridges are statutorily required to be able to carry 24 imperial tons. They are covered by a national programme of assessment and works (Bridgeguard 3), and a national cost sharing agreement with local authorities relating to the costs of assessment and strengthening.
There is no obligation on Network Rail to strengthen its bridges carrying roads to accommodate 40 tonne lorries. If such carrying capacity were required, it would be for the local highway authority to provide the funding.
Public Transport: Rural Areas
Local and central Government are currently spending £2.5 billion a year on buses—including those operating in rural and isolated areas. This includes bus service operators grant (BSOG), the costs of mandatory concessionary fares, local authority subsidy of non-commercial services and capital expenditure on bus-related infrastructure schemes. It is for local authorities to decide what resources to devote to the support of rural bus services within their area.
However, recognising the particular needs of rural areas, we have provided funding to local authorities in the form of rural bus subsidy grant. This grant is currently supporting over 2,000 new and enhanced services on which over 33 million passenger journeys are made annually. This year’s allocations total £55.6 million, bringing the grant’s total to nearly £450 million since its introduction in 1998.
Demand responsive, flexibly routed and community transport services provide essential links in rural areas. To assist these types of services, we changed the regulations that govern the operation of bus services to enable more flexibly routed services to be registered with the traffic commissioner. We have also provided support for many community transport services by making them eligible for the first time to receive BSOG.
The Local Transport Bill will benefit rural areas as well as towns and cities by modernising the regulatory framework for buses, giving local authorities a bigger role where this is necessary and providing strengthened arrangements for partnerships between local authorities and bus operators.
The Bill also contains measures to expand the role of community transport and enable private hire vehicle operators to provide local bus services, extending the existing taxibus provisions to this sector for the first time. Both these measures are of particular relevance to meeting rural transport needs.
Railway Stations: Chelmsford
The proposed new station in north Chelmsford is being privately promoted in connection with a major development in the Beaulieu Park area. The promoter is in active discussion with Network Rail, the train operator (‘One Railway’), the Department for Transport, local authorities, and the Highways Agency.
Railway Stations: Chorley
This is a project that is being led by Lancashire county council with Network Rail. It is being funded largely by developer contributions. There is an active dialogue between the local authority and Network Rail, who will be responsible for project managing and delivering the station, provided the funding is fully in place. They are planning for the station to be operational by 2009 subject to funding.
Railway Stations: Easington
We have no plans to re-open rail stations at Horden, Easington and Blackhall. It would be for the local authorities to propose and fund any new stations provided that they have a business case and if they consider that new stations are the best way of meeting local transport needs.
Railways: Chorley
97 passenger trains stop at Chorley and 42 passenger trains stop at Adlington (Lancashire) on weekdays.
The rail White Paper was published in July 2007. It sets out the resources we intend to make available to the rail industry and the increases in capacity, as well as safety and performance that we expect the industry to deliver in return.
The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ bid for funding from the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF). The proposal seeks to address congestion issues within the Greater Manchester area through introducing a road congestion charge bid while also investing in providing additional public transport opportunities, as part of the TIF bid.
Railways: Colchester
Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and ‘one’ to address performance issues. These are monitored monthly.
The most recent published PPM figures are those shown on Network Rail’s website for the rail industry as a whole. This shows confirmed PPM figures up to period 9 (ending 8 December 2007). The website shows that ‘one’s PPM for period 9 was 84.7 per cent. and the moving annual average (‘MAA’) was 89.7 per cent., compared to whole industry figures of 86 per cent. and 89.2 per cent. respectively.
Railways: North West Region
Officials from the Department, along with Network Rail, met officers from Blackburn and Darwen borough council in November 2007 to discuss improvements to the railway line between Blackburn and Bolton that would be necessary to deliver the council’s aspiration for half hourly off-peak services between Blackburn, Darwen and Manchester Victoria. A funding bid has not been received from the council for this scheme.
97 passenger trains operate between Preston and Manchester via (and calling at) Chorley, Monday to Friday.
Railways: Overcrowding
There are no specific requirements regarding levels of crowding on this route. The Department’s general requirements for crowding are that passengers should not be expected to stand for more than 20 minutes.
The rail White Paper was published in July 2007. It sets out the resources we intend to make available to the rail industry and the increases in capacity, as well as safety and performance, that we expect the industry to deliver in return.
Railways: Prices
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: The measure of inflation used for Southeastern’s January 2008 regulated fares was the July 2007 retail prices index figure—3.8 per cent.
Southeastern may price unregulated fares at its discretion.
Road Traffic
[holding answer 22 January 2008]: The average delay on England’s motorways and trunk roads, expressed in minutes per 10 miles in respect of all journeys and the worst 10 per cent. of journeys in each year since 2004-05 is shown in the following table. The earliest available data are for the period August 2004 to July 2005 and the latest for November 2006 to October 2007. Data before 2004-05 are not held centrally on this basis.
Average delay (minutes per 10 miles) All journeys Worst 10 per cent. August 2004 to July 2005 1.16 3.78 August 2005 to July 2006 1.24 3.78 August 2006 to July 2007 1.32 4.18 November 2006 to October2007 1.29 4.08 Source: Information derived from the Highways Agency Traffic Information Systems database
These figures represent average daytime delays (6 am to 8 pm) on the 91 routes currently used for monitoring performance on the strategic road network.
Delay is the difference between observed journey time and a reference journey time (the time that could theoretically be achieved when the traffic is free flowing).
Road Traffic Offences
Where traffic regulation orders are subject to civil enforcement by local authorities, a motorist wishing to dispute a penalty charge notice may make formal representations to the relevant local authority. If these are rejected, the motorist may appeal to the independent parking adjudicator. The grounds on which a formal representation and any subsequent appeal can be made include that the “alleged contravention did not occur”. This might be the case if there was a dispute as to whether the traffic regulation order applied to the conduct complained of (for example if there was a question as to when parking restrictions applied under the order).
Where civil enforcement has not been introduced, issues as to the application of a traffic regulation order would need to be raised in the first instance before the magistrates court.
Roads: Accidents
The information requested is not available. Statistics on reported personal injury road accidents in 2007 are due to be published in June 2008.
The information requested is not available. Research reported in the published “Second Review of the Government’s Road Safety Strategy” and “Road Safety Research Report No. 76: Trends in Fatal Car-occupant Accidents” both published on 26 February 2007, estimates that about a third of fatally injured car occupants were not wearing their seatbelts. For 2005 figures, it represents about 565 people, and it is estimated that about 370 people might have survived if they had been properly restrained. These reports are available at the following links and have also been deposited in the Libraries of the House.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/strategytargets performance/2ndreview/
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/76?version=2
A research report giving further details on seat belt wearing has also been published by TRL limited.
http://www.trl.co.uk/store/report_detail.asp?srid=6160&pid=220
[holding answer 22 January 2008]: Tables showing the number of (a) reported personal injury road accidents, (b) fatalities, (c) reported personal injury road accidents involving at least one motorcycle, (d) motorcycle fatalities, (e) reported personal injury road accidents involving at least one pedal cycle and (f) pedal cycle fatalities in each county in GB for 1997 to 2006 have been deposited in the Libraries of the House.
The national collision statistical reporting form (commonly known as STATS19) is used to collect standard information, when a personal injury road accident is reported to the police. The information is collected by the police at the scene of the accident or, in a minority of cases, it is reported by a member of the public at a police station. Some 50 data items are collected for each accident, including the time, location and circumstances of the accident, the vehicles involved and some information on each casualty. After processing this information is forwarded by each police force (via local processing authorities in the case of some forces) to the Department electronically and entered into a database. The data are checked, analysed and detailed results published annually in “Road Casualties Great Britain”.
Personal injury road accident data in Devon are collected on behalf of the Department by Devon and Cornwall constabulary. Accident and casualty totals for the year are agreed with Devon county council at the year end.
Roads: Colchester
Delivery of the junction is tied to planning consent and is a matter for developers to take forward in line with plans for delivery of proposed housing, employment and leisure facilities in North Colchester. Both English Partnerships and the Highways Agency are working to help bring forward time scales for delivery. In view of this, start date is not currently available, although it is anticipated that work could start during 2009, subject to the completion of statutory procedures.
Roads: Tolls
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State speaks regularly to both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor about transport issues across the range of her responsibilities.
We continue to take forward work on road pricing, notably supporting local authorities in the development of local pricing schemes, and working with industry to explore how more advanced technologies might support schemes on a wider scale in due course. No decisions have been taken on national road pricing.
South West Trains
The South West Trains franchise agreement does not require the provision of Travel Centres at its stations, nor does the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) which governs station ticket offices.
However, the change of use of part of a station or facility at that station, such as a Travel Centre, to another use which is non rail related is governed by the Network Modifications (Closures) regime contained in the Railways Act 2005 (“the Act”). Should South West Trains propose to change the use of Travel Centres with a non rail facility, their proposals will be dealt with under the provisions of the Act.
Virgin Rail: Rolling Stock
The Department received in 2007 an unsolicited proposal from Virgin Trains to extend their franchise for two years (2012-14), which included a plan to lengthen Pendolino trains, which was analysed in considerable detail. The Department concluded that this proposal provided significantly less value for money compared with the likely outcome of the refranchising exercise scheduled for completion in 2012. The Department is preparing its own proposals to introduce extra capacity on the west coast main line.
Communities and Local Government
Allotments: Chorley
The provision of allotments is the responsibility of local authorities. The Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 places a duty on local authorities to provide allotments where they perceive demand for them in their area.
Written representations may be made to the local authority on the need for allotments by any six resident registered electors or persons liable to pay council tax, and the local authority must take those representations into account (section 23(2) of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908). The council must assess whether there is a demand for allotments in their area. If the council then decides that there is a demand for them, they have a statutory duty to provide a sufficient number of plots. In terms of the duty to provide under section 23 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 there is no time limit for provision once it has been established that there is a demand.
The local government White Paper provides new opportunities for citizens to hold their local providers to account for quality of services and facilities.
Planning Policy Guidance Note 17 (Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation) requires local authorities to assess the needs of their communities for a range of open spaces, and to address any identified deficiencies in provision. This is consistent with our wider policy to give local authorities flexibilities and freedoms to determine what is most appropriate for their local area.
To further support local authorities, we are currently revising the good practice guide for the management of allotments in conjunction with the Local Government Association.
Community Development: Finance
Communities and Local Government will provide £l,586 million in 2007-08, £l,548 million in 2008-09, £1,510 million in 2009-10 and £1,474 million in 2010-11 to the regional development agencies' single budget. The RDA single budget is intended to deliver a range of statutory objectives including regeneration, business support, employment, skills and sustainable development. The RDAs’ detailed proposals for business support covering the next three years will be set out in their corporate plans which will be published in the spring.
Communities and Local Government does not hold separate expenditure data for the range of the Department's planned spending on business support or promotion of enterprise and economic development, although the Department's funding is expected to contribute significantly to these areas, including through the RDAs.
Departmental Visits Abroad
I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) on 15 October 2007, Official Report, column 844W.
Green Belt
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 January 2008, Official Report, column 2046W.
Housing: Planning
Using land efficiently is a key consideration in planning for housing. Guidance to local planning authorities on developing appropriate housing density policies is set out in Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3), published last November. While PPS3 advises a national indicative minimum density figure of 30 dwellings per hectare, it also grants more flexibility to local planning authorities to take account of local circumstances and set their own local standards for density by setting out a range of densities across their plan area, rather than one broad density range.
Housing: South West Region
The Secretary of State is currently considering all the recommendations made by the Panel and she is planning to publish her Proposed Changes to the Draft Regional Spatial Strategy in the spring. I would like to stress to the hon. Member that no conclusions have yet been reached on any of the Panel’s recommendations.
The following table has been prepared using information at Appendix (ii) of the Panel’s report.
Draft Regional Spatial Strategy as submitted to Government in April 2006 by South West Regional Assembly Recommendations of Independent Panel in their report December 2006 Between Panel report and Draft Regional Spatial Strategy West of England Housing Market area 110,200 126,950 15.20 Bristol City 28,000 30,000 7.14 South Gloucestershire 23,000 30,800 33.91 North Somerset 26,000 26,750 2.88 Bath and North East Somerset 15.500 18,800 21.29 West Wiltshire 10,500 12,300 17.14 Mendip 7,200 8,300 15.28 Swindon Housing Market area 49,000 53,900 10.00 Swindon 34,000 34,200 0.59 North Wiltshire 10,000 13,700 37.00 Kennet 5,000 6,000 20.00 Gloucester and Cheltenham Housing Market area 48,600 56,400 16.05 Gloucester 11,500 11,500 0.00 Cheltenham 8,500 8,100 -4.71 Tewkesbury 10,500 14,600 39.05 Stroud 6,700 9,100 35.82 Cotswold 6,000 6,900 15.00 Forest of Dean 5,400 6,200 14.81 Exeter Housing Market area 38,400 46,900 22.14 Exeter City 10,500 12,000 14.29 East Devon 11,400 17,100 50.00 Elsewhere in Exeter JSA (Exeter City/East Devon/ Teignbridge) 4 1,500 — -100.00 Mid Devon 3 6,400 7,400 15.63 Teignbridge 3 8,600 10,400 20.93 Torbay Unitary Authority Housing Market area 10,000 20,000 100.00 Taunton Housing Market area 27,900 34,500 23.66 Taunton Deane 17,300 21,800 26.01 Sedgemoor 8,400 10,200 21.43 West Somerset2 2,200 2,500 13.64 Bournemouth and Poole Housing Market area 40,150 48^00 19.80 Bournemouth 14,600 16,100 10.27 Poole 9,500 10,000 5.26 Christchurch 3,450 3,450 0.00 East Dorset in JSA 5,200 6,400 23.08 Elsewhere in East Dorset District 4 200 — -100.00 Purbeck 2,100 5,150 145.24 North Dorset 5,100 7,000 37.25 Plymouth Housing Market area 45,100 47400 4.66 Plymouth City 24,500 24,500 0.00 South Hams 3 11,000 11,800 7.27 Caradon 5,800 6,500 12.07 West Devon3 3,800 4,400 15.79 West Cornwall Housing Market area 31,600 48,800 54.43 Penwith 4,800 7,800 62.50 Kerrier 8,200 14,400 75.61 Carrick 10,000 10,900 9.00 Restormel 8,600 15,700 82.56 Polycentric Devon and Cornwall Housing Market area 20,500 35,000 70.73 North Cornwall 7,600 13,400 76.32 Torridge 4,800 10,700 122.92 North Devon 2 8,100 10,900 34.57 Salisbury District Housing Market area 9,200 12,400 34.78 Weymouth and Dorchester Housing Market area 13,800 18,100 31.16 West Dorset 8,200 12,500 52.44 Weymouth and Portland 5,600 5,600 0.00 South Somerset District Housing Market area 13,600 19,700 44.85 Dartmoor National Park1 1,000 1,000 0.00 Exmoor National Park1 400 400 0.00 Isles of Scilly1 100 100 0.00 Total 459,550 569,450 23.91 Dwellings pa 22,978 28,473 23.91 1 Estimated strictly local needs provision only. 2 Excludes part in Exmoor National Park. 3 Excludes part in Dartmoor National Park. 4 The draft RSS distinguishes between allocations for complete districts and allocations for “elsewhere” within the HMA.
Housing: Waiting Lists
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, West and Royton (Mr. Meacher) on 13 November 2007, Official Report, column 116W.
Local Authorities: Grants
I have placed in the Library of the House a table showing the information on central Government grant per capita for each local authority in 2006-07 and budget estimates for 2007-08.
The average central Government grant per capita by class of authority in 2006-07 and budget estimates for 2007-08 is in the following table.
Class of authority 2006-07 2007-08 District councils 91 90 Unitary councils 1,085 1,109 County councils 800 833 Metropolitan councils 1,288 1,316 London boroughs (including City of London) 1,359 1,402 Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) 2006-07 returns and Revenue Account (RA) 2007-08 budget estimates returns.
Central Government grant is defined here as the sum of formula grant (revenue support grant, police grant, general GLA grant and redistributed non-domestic rates) and specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF), i.e. revenue grants paid for councils’ core services.
Figures exclude grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for authorities' core services, but is passed to a third party; for example, rent allowances and rebates), capital grants, funding for the local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
Per capita figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are based on Office for National Statistics' (ONS) 2006 Mid-Year Population estimates. 2007 Mid-Year Population estimates are not published yet.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities.
Local Government Finance: Disabled
Further to the announcement on 6 December of the national funding for Disabled Facilities Grant programme of £146 million for 2008-09, individual local authority allocations are currently being calculated. Government offices are due to submit their recommendations for ministerial approval shortly. Additionally the Government announced an extra £11.5 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant programme for 2007-08 on 14 January, individual local authority allocations for 2007-08 can be viewed on the following link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/doc/646786
Minister for the South East
My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Jonathan Shaw), in his role as Regional Minister for the South East, has acted as a champion for the region, with particular focus on housing and skills issues and on taking forward the sub-national review of economic development and regeneration in the best way for the region. My hon. Friend has held meetings with and visited key stakeholders to encourage coordination between different areas of government policy and discuss the unique requirements of the South East region. During the recent floods and animal health crises, my hon. Friend visited farms in affected areas across the region.
My hon. Friend has visited the following towns in the South East in his capacity as Regional Minister: Newhaven, Hastings, Reading, Newbury, Thatcham, Cranbrook, Winslow, Guildford, Portsmouth, Aylesbury, East Mailing, Lymington, Winchester, Leatherhead, Folkestone, Ramsgate, Dover, Elstead, Icklesham and Hungerford.
Out of Town Shopping Centres: Carbon Emissions
We will shortly conduct a 12-week consultation on our proposals to review Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for Town Centres (PPS6). As explained in the Planning White Paper, “Planning for a Sustainable Future”, our objectives for this review include the continued support for the Government's environmental goals, and the promotion of competition and improvement of consumer choice. The consultation will invite views on our proposals, including these two issues.
The Planning White Paper also made clear that planning has an important role to play in meeting the challenges of climate change. That is why, at the end of 2007, we published a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS): Planning and Climate Change, which makes cutting carbon emissions a key Government priority for the planning system in England. The PPS sets out how planning can help secure enduring progress against the UK's emissions targets, by direct influence on energy use and emissions, and in bringing together and encouraging action by others. As part of this contribution, planning authorities are expected to prepare and manage the delivery of spatial strategies that help secure the fullest possible use of sustainable transport and make the most of existing and planned opportunities for decentralised and renewable or low-carbon energy. This document should be read alongside our forthcoming consultation on revisions to PPS6.
Planning Permission
Ministers were not involved in the selection of Pilots for Planning Delivery Agreements (PDAs, which have since been renamed to Planning Performance Agreements). The Pilot programme was managed by the Planning Advisory Service and all nominations put forward by local authorities and developers were accepted on to the programme. The Planning Advisory Service is part of the Improvement and Development Agency.
Planning Permission: Appeals
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: Over the last 5 years 1,663 appeals led to local planning authorities being liable to pay costs, following awards made against them by inspectors and the Secretary of State.
The breakdown by financial year is:
Number 2002-03 307 2003-04 352 2004-05 338 2005-06 304 2006-07 362
No further detail of authorities by regions is readily available.
The actual amount to be paid is not determined by a costs award. This is for the parties to settle by negotiation initially in accordance with longstanding Government guidance contained in DOE Circular 8/93. Accordingly, no records are available of costs paid in each case.
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: The following table shows the numbers of planning appeals lodged (received) in England and determined by the Planning Inspectorate for the five-year period 2002 to 2006, where a site visit was carried out, together with the number of appeals where a site visit had not taken place 12 months after the appeal was lodged.
Appeals lodged where a site visit was carried out Number of site visits not taken place 12 months after appeal lodged 2002 12,150 10 2003 14,192 18 2004 17,786 66 2005 15,329 77 2006 17,200 26 Note: Data for 2007 has not been included as a proportion of the appeals lodged in that year are still to be allocated site visits and the period of a year from receipt has only been reached for those appeals lodged in January 2007.
[holding answer 24 January 2008]: The following table provides the information requested.
Received Decided Allowed 2003 East Midlands 1,252 1,080 339 East of England 2,653 2,309 740 London 3,912 3,407 1,199 North East 516 478 178 North West 1,672 1,473 566 South East 4,995 4,419 1,435 South West 2,805 2,392 775 West Midlands 1,509 1,347 460 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,279 1,164 359 Total 20,593 18,069 6,051 2004 East Midlands 1,700 1,112 354 East of England 3,128 2,048 625 London 4,365 2,874 1,007 North East 741 465 167 North West 2,282 1,481 554 South East 5,988 3,868 1,320 South West 3,301 2,295 745 West Midlands 1,981 1,331 456 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,650 1,034 355 Total 25,136 16,508 5,583 2005 East Midlands 1,399 1,500 461 East of England 2,560 2,783 850 London 3,634 3,872 1,415 North East 525 692 239 North West 1,630 1,897 660 South East 4,993 5,336 1,784 South West 2,957 3,054 971 West Midlands 1,697 1,759 614 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,372 1,476 440 Total 20,767 22,369 7,434 2006 East Midlands 1,438 1,270 425 East of England 3,007 2,596 851 London 4,148 3,510 1,319 North East 587 466 185 North West 1,618 1,463 542 South East 5,473 4,712 1,525 South West 3,088 2,735 849 West Midlands 1,846 1,609 588 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,850 1,493 468 Total 23,055 19,854 6,752 2007 East Midlands 1,357 1,278 472 East of England 2,790 2,712 922 London 3,878 3,724 1,410 North East 577 590 220 North West 1,514 1,446 549 South East 5,294 4,854 1,714 South West 2,907 2,685 867 West Midlands 1,544 1,545 575 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,769 1,702 602 Total 21,630 20,536 7,331
Rough Sleepers
A national estimate of the number of rough sleepers in England is published every September. The estimate is based on the results of local authority street counts in those areas where a known, or suspected, rough sleeping problem has been identified. The following table sets out the national rough sleeping estimate over each of the last 10 years.
Number 1998 1,850 1999 1,633 2000 1,180 2001 703 2002 596 2003 504 2004 508 2005 459 2006 502 2007 498
We do not hold national data on the proportion of rough sleepers who are military veterans. However, there is specific data for London provided under the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) recording system. In 2006-07, for those rough sleepers in London contacted by services, CHAIN records show around 5 per cent. of rough sleepers had spent time in the armed forces in the past.
Standards Board for England
The information requested, which has been provided by the Standards Board, is set out in the following table. The power to impose sanctions rests with either a local authority standards committee or the Adjudication Panel for England, following their consideration of the results of the investigations by either a local authority monitoring officer or one of the Standards Board’s ethical standards officers.
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-present Total complaints received 3,566 3,861 3,836 3,549 2,550 Complaints referred for investigation 1,105 949 857 634 389 Complaints not referred for investigation 2,144 2,756 2,842 2,591 2,224 Other (for example, outside the SBE’s remit) 317 273 244 164 139 Complaints referred for investigation Complaints referred to the Standards Board’s ethical standards officers (ESO) for investigation 1,105 1,009 465 241 127 Complaints referred by the ESO for local investigation by the local authority monitoring officer n/a 96 385 347 203 Directions issued by ESO to the local authority monitoring officerl n/a n/a 7 46 58 Completed cases by final findings (investigated by ESO) No evidence of breach of the code of conduct 154 310 119 128 65 No further action 462 947 459 182 93 Referred for local determination by monitoring officer 58 78 66 12 10 Referred to Adjudication Panel for England 89 111 94 9 7 Standards Committee decisions and sanctions No breach of the code of conduct 2 4 3 1 0 No further action 3 8 5 1 0 Censured 18 26 18 7 1 Suspended for up to 2 months 14 19 12 6 5 Suspended for up to 3 months 2 15 19 2 3 Adjudication Panel decisions and sanctions No breach of the code of conduct 3 8 12 5 1 Breach but no sanction imposed 3 7 24 5 0 Suspended 0-6 months 13 13 5 3 2 Suspended 6 months-1 year 0 6 13 0 0 Disqualified for up to 6 months 3 1 5 0 3 Disqualified for 6 months-1 year 19 11 15 5 1 Disqualified for 18 months 4 4 1 1 1 Disqualified for 2 years 12 3 7 0 0 Disqualified for 3 years 10 2 1 0 0 Disqualified for 4 years 2 3 2 0 0 Disqualified for 4.5 years 0 0 1 0 0 Disqualified for 5 years 1 1 0 0 1 1 Direction issued by an ESO to a local authority monitoring officer for action falling short of full investigation, for example conciliation or training to be undertaken by the member.
Treasury
Capital Gains Tax: Second Homes
The 2007 pre-Budget report announced a reform of the capital gains tax regime for individuals. The impact on investors will depend on their personal circumstances and economic conditions more generally. The Government continue to monitor such issues.
Child Tax Credit: Poland
[holding answer 17 January 2008]: Further to the answer given on 3 December 2007, Official Report, column 1018W, to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond), at the end of September 2007, out of the 16,286 ongoing awards to Polish nationals, child benefit was being paid for around 26,000 children. The other information requested is not available.
Migrants from the new EU member states continue to come to the UK to work and contribute to the success of the UK economy.
Departmental Equality
The Treasury is fully committed to the equality and diversity agenda. In the last three years the Treasury has promoted equality of opportunity for all, supported internal employee-diversity networks, funded diversity and equality events in the Department and funded diversity awareness raising seminars.
The Treasury has spent the following amounts on reasonable adjustments for staff with disabilities, on promoting equality and diversity by awareness raising events and on subscriptions (for example membership of the Employers Forum on Disability):
Amount (£) 2004-05 46,000 2005-06 61,679 2006-07 96,196
The Treasury introduced a Child-Care Voucher Scheme in 2004 as part of its work to promote equality and diversity. The costs for child-care vouchers are:
Amount (£) 2004-05 120,000 2005-06 172,531 2006-07 139,370
In 2004-05 the staff costs for the Treasury’s diversity team (three members of staff) were £91,000.
Following a restructuring, in 2005, the staff costs for one member of staff were:
Amount (£) 2005-06 26,500 2006-07 27,000
Another 80 to 100 employees are involved in promoting diversity in the Department i.e. members of diversity support groups, diversity champions and senior staff sponsors. Staff costs for this work are not available.
Employment
(2) how many people in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were employed in each year since 1997;
(3) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were unemployed in each year since 1997;
(4) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were in part-time employment in each year since 1997;
(5) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were in temporary employment in each year since 1997.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 25 January 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions concerning employment and unemployment in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK. (181287, 181288, 181289, 181372, 181373)
Questions 181288 and 181289 ask for the same information on total employment and unemployment as questions received in July and October of last year, and I refer you to the answer given in official report volume 463 of 26 July, column 1460, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library, and volume 464 of 8 October, column 577.
The above answers were compiled using the most up to date datasets available. Annual estimates are compiled from the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
Table 1, attached, shows the number of people, who were (i) aged 16 and over, (ii) working age (Males 16-64, Females 16-59) resident in the Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside metropolitan borough, the North East and United Kingdom who were in full time, part time and temporary employment for the 12 months ending February 1997 to 2003, from the LFS and for the 12 months ending March 2004 to 2007, from the APS.
Some estimates in Table 1 are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas; they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.
In this case, the sample sizes for the Jarrow constituency and South Tyneside metropolitan borough are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over time. The information on the number of people in temporary employment is unavailable for 1997.
Thousand UK North East Full-time Part-time Temporary Full-time Part-time Temporary 19971 Age 16+ 19,752 6,594 — 774 279 — Working Age 19,534 6,026 — 769 266 — 19981 Age 16+ 19,997 6,654 1,678 775 272 78 Working Age 19,784 6,096 1,611 772 254 76 19991 Age 16+ 20,142 6,756 1,622 755 285 75 Working Age 19,918 6,162 1,551 749 267 72 20001 Age 16+ 20,283 6,885 1,616 787 277 78 Working Age 20,052 6,282 1,545 782 259 75 20011 Age 16+ 20,687 6,930 1,585 796 279 78 Working Age 20,448 6,321 1,509 791 262 75 20021 Age 16+ 20,696 7,086 1,534 801 280 71 Working Age 20,448 6,449 1,448 795 266 69 20031 Age 16+ 20,765 7,134 1,325 807 282 63 Working Age 20,491 6,456 1,253 800 265 61 20042 Age 16+ 20,835 7,182 1,116 813 285 56 Working Age 20,535 6,463 1,058 805 265 53 20052 Age 16+ 20,930 7,229 1,265 820 286 61 Working Age 20,603 6,464 1,192 812 264 58 20062 Age 16+ 21,025 7,276 1,415 828 287 66 Working Age 20,671 6,466 1,326 819 264 63
South Tyneside Jarrow Full-time Part-time Temporary Full-time Part-time Temporary 19971 Age 16+ 39 18 — 16 9 — Working Age 39 17 — 16 9 — 19981 Age 16+ 44 15 5 21 8 2 Working Age 43 14 4 21 8 2 19991 Age 16+ 43 15 5 23 8 2 Working Age 42 14 5 23 8 2 20001 Age 16+ 43 15 4 23 8 2 Working Age 43 14 4 22 7 2 20011 Age 16+ 46 18 5 24 9 2 Working Age 46 17 5 24 9 2 20021 Age 16+ 46 17 5 23 8 2 Working Age 45 16 5 23 7 2 20031 Age 16+ 47 16 5 23 8 2 Working Age 46 16 5 23 7 2 20042 Age 16+ 48 14 4 23 8 2 Working Age 47 13 4 23 7 2 20052 Age 16+ 46 15 4 23 8 2 Working Age 45 14 4 23 7 2 20062 Age 16+ 45 16 4 22 8 2 Working Age 44 15 4 21 8 2 Sources: 1 Source LFS. 2 Source APS.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 25 January 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have been employed by agencies in each year since 1997. (181295)
The answer was compiled using the most up to date datasets available. Annual estimates are compiled from the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS).
The attached table gives figures of those (i) aged 16+ (ii) of working age (males 16-64, females 16-59) employed by agencies, resident in the UK, North East, South Tyneside and Jarrow constituency for the 12 months ending February 1998 to 2003, from the LFS and for the 12 months ending March 2004 to 2007, from the APS. Comparable estimates are not available before 1998.
The LFS estimates at this detailed level are only consistent with the UK population estimates published in February and March 2003 and they do not incorporate the more recent population estimates that are used in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Thousand UK North East South Tyneside Jarrow 19984 Age 16+ 238 7 3— 3— Working age 233 7 3— 3— 19994 Age 16+ 263 11 3— 3— Working age 259 11 3— 3— 20004 Age 16+ 266 11 3— 3— Working age 260 11 3— 3— 20014 Age 16+ 268 9 3— 3— Working age 260 9 3— 3— 20024 Age 16+ 254 9 1 3— Working age 245 8 1 3— 20034 Age 16+ 248 8 1 1 Working age 240 8 1 1 20045 Age 16+ 217 9 1 3— Working age 209 9 1 3— 20055 Age 16+ 221 10 1 3— Working age 215 10 1 3— 20065 Age 16+ 249 11 1 3— Working age 242 11 1 3— 1 In the LFS these are people who are employed as an agency temp in a non-permanent job. 2 For 1998-2003 the period covered is the 12 months ending in February the following year. For 2004-07 the period covered is the 12 months ending in March the following year. 3 Sample sizes too small to provide reliable estimates. Sources: 4 LFS 5 APS
Internet Access: Lone Parents
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 25 January 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of lone parents with internet access, broken down by income decile (181258).
Estimates are not available for income deciles due to incomplete responses from those surveyed and an insufficient sample size. The small sample size also means that the estimate provided below has a wide margin of statistical error associated with it and should be used with caution.
With this caveat in mind, the estimated proportion of lone parents in the UK in 2007 with Internet access is 44 per cent.
More detailed information on Internet access is available in the published tables from the 2007 e-Society module of the Integrated Household Survey. The relevant estimates can be found on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/inta0807.pdf
The e-Society module is used to collect data in the first quarter of the year using the Integrated Household Survey and is the most comprehensive source of household and individual Internet activity in the UK.
Members: Correspondence
The Chancellor has today written to the right hon. Gentleman.
Northern Rock
Guarantees are contingent liabilities, and will be recorded as such in the Treasury’s accounts. Contingent liabilities only impact on public sector net debt if they become actual liabilities.
Office for National Statistics: Relocation
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 25 January 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking if a sustainability appraisal has been made in respect of the relocation of the Office for National Statistics. (181300)
The decision to relocate some posts to South Wales was driven by the need to respond positively to the Lyons Report and move posts out of London and the SE. In taking this decision we considered the impact of the additional posts on the infrastructure at our existing Newport site. In London we are vacating a large building and moving the remaining posts to an existing smaller site.
ONS is consistently ranked among the top performing departments in the Sustainable Development Commission’s annual report on progress against government environmental targets. Our policies and efforts are directed towards maintaining, if not improving our position. While there has not been a formal sustainability appraisal in respect of our relocation, we are confident that the decision has no negative environmental impact.
Energy Efficiency
(2) whether his Department has adopted the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management Programme;
(3) whether his Department met the target in the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate to reverse the then upward trend in carbon emissions by April 2007;
(4) whether his Department is working towards an accredited certified environmental management system for (a) its whole estate and (b) some of its buildings.
The Treasury sources 100 per cent. of its electricity from renewable sources. The department recycled 49.8 per cent. of the waste it produced as at December 2007. As part of its strategy to reduce carbon emissions, the department has adopted the Carbon Trust Management Programme. The Treasury has reduced carbon emissions progressively since 1999-2000, achieving a total reduction of 19 per cent. and has achieved certification for its environmental management system which covers the Treasury’s main building, 1 Horse Guards Road. Work is under way to extend this coverage to offices the Treasury occupies in Norwich. The Treasury is currently reviewing with the Carbon Trust the progress we have made in reducing carbon emissions and are looking to identify ways in which further reductions can be made in 2008-09 and beyond.
Revenue and Customs: Data Protection
[holding answer 3 December 2008]: This information is not gathered by HM Treasury.
Stamp Duties
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of zero carbon houses that will qualify for stamp duty land tax relief which are currently under construction; and if he will make a statement.
Since the relief has been available in October 2007, the stamp duty land tax relief for new zero carbon homes has been claimed for six transactions. Figures are not yet available for 2008.
The tax relief will help stimulate the market for new highly efficient technologies in homes, both for the fabric of the building and in the use of microgeneration, and sets a gold standard for green homes.
No estimate has been made of the number of houses that will qualify for the stamp duty land tax relief which are currently under construction. But we expect the numbers of qualifying transactions to rise as more properties eligible to claim the relief go on the market.
The Government are committed to conducting an interim review of the relief in 2010 which will examine the effectiveness of the relief in stimulating the innovation necessary to ensure that all new homes are built to a zero-carbon standard from 2016.
Tax Allowances
The information requested is not available.
Taxation: Domicil
(2) how many individuals filed a DOM1 form with HM Revenue and Customs in the last five years; and how many of those did not submit a self-assessment tax return in the 2005-06 tax year.
The information requested is not available.
VAT: Bingo
The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review and decisions about gambling taxation are made at Budget alongside all other tax decisions.