Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 10 December 2008
Work and Pensions
Child Trust Fund: Wansbeck
I have been asked to reply.
Constituency level data, including parental account opening figures, on Child Trust Fund accounts was published on 6 November 2008 and can be viewed on the HM Revenue and Customs’ website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctf/cons-stats-oct08.pdf.
Departmental Official Visits
Of the countries mentioned, the Secretary of State has only visited the United States on official business. He went once in March to meet a range of welfare service providers and experts.
Departmental Recruitment
Records of internally and externally advertised director level posts are available and are shown in the following table.
As at April each year External posts Internal posts Total 2005-06 8 6 14 2006-07 10 5 15 2007-08 5 2 7 2008 to date 1 15 16 Note: The director positions counted for the purpose of this PQ response are SCS pay band 2 and SCS pay band 3 only.
Electronic Government
Under the Service Transformation Agreement, 95 per cent. of citizen facing services are to converge on to Directgov by 2011 and the remainder shortly thereafter. Directgov has a transactions strategy that describes different methods of integrating transactions and, depending on the transaction, the appropriate method will be applied.
A list of financial transactions due to converge on to Directgov and the planned date is as follows:
Money claim online: March 2009
Retirement Age calculator: September 2009
e-BOC (better off calculator): March 2010
About my benefits (My DWP): September 2009
Get a State Pension Forecast (pension estimator): September 2009
Pension credit calculator: September 2009
Tax Return—Self Assessment online: September 2009
Offshore voluntary disclosure: March 2010
SA payment online: March 2010
Company car and fuel benefit calculator: March 2010
National Insurance calculator: March 2010
National Insurance Calculator—Director: March 2010
PA YE tax calculator: March 2010
R85 checker: March 2010
Student tax checker: March 2010
Child Benefit Application: March 2010
Inheritance Tax calculator: March 2010
Taxable value of guaranteed annuity calculator: March 2010
Pay adjustments: March 2010
Lloyds calculator: March 2010
Warm front grant (Registration/application): March 2011
Child Benefit online service—HMRC website: March 2010
The effectiveness of Directgov’s CRM system was reviewed during the first quarter of this year as part of a capability model review. A further review is planned to be carried out during Q2 2009 to ensure that the citizens’ needs continue to be met and the CRM remains robust enough to meet the demands of the Government’s website convergence programme.
Starting in January 2009, we will be conducting a trial of a hyperlink between the Directgov website and MySociety’s FixMyStreet.com. The trial will run for up to three months, against a set of agreed evaluation criteria, and will allow us to gather evidence of the benefits and issues arising from associations between services of this nature and Government’s digital channels. This evidence will be used to inform future development decisions.
Directgov’s core usage measure is visits rather than unique users. Monthly visits for 2008 are shown as follows.
Million visits January 2008 8.1 February 2008 7.2 March 2008 8.4 April 2008 8.2 May 2008 7.1 June 2008 7.8 July 2008 7.9 August 2008 10.1 September 2008 11.3 October 2008 11.3 November 2008 11.0
Directgov has unique user statistics for part of our site but does not yet measure unique users for all our sub domains.
Directgov has a working strategy document. We aim to place a summary of our strategy in the House in January. Our full strategy document is a living document and is currently under review; this will also be made available in January.
A pilot to examine how users could be allowed to rate content pages on the Directgov website is currently being developed to run from January 2009. If successful, the aim is to introduce the service during a scheduled release of the Directgov website during Q2 of FY 2009-10.
Electronic Government: Public Consultation
The Directgov website contains links to individual departmental consultation websites
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/PublicConsultations/DG_170463
Details of the latest public consultations are also provided. Citizens can also find out about consultations in their area where searching by postcode, street and town or local authority will take them direct to the consultations page on the relevant local authority website. An enhanced consultations index is planned for delivery by mid-2009.
At present, all consultations are hosted by individual departments and it is for those Departments to determine how the public are engaged in that consultation. Directgov has agreed to host cross-government consultations in the future and we are working with Cabinet Office on how best to do this.
Forum functionality could be used to enable people to participate in online conversations on Government consultations. Directgov has future plans to add forum functionality to our web platform. We will consider the merits of bringing forward the implementation of this, although it will be for individual Departments to agree as to how this will be used with their own consultations.
Employment Services
Lone parents have access to a comprehensive package of measures via new deal for lone parents or new deal plus for lone parents pilots to encourage them to improve their employment opportunities and gain independence through working.
We have also introduced additional pre and post employment support to help more lone parents move into and remain in work. This includes: increasing work trials from three to up to six weeks; options and choices events and rolling out nationally in work credit, an in work discretion fund and in work advisory support.
From October 2008 incapacity benefits were replaced for new customers by employment and support allowance with a revised medical assessment which focuses on what people can do, as well as what they cannot. To underpin the new more work-focused system we have made Pathways to Work support available to everyone receiving incapacity benefits, and in the future employment and support allowance.
Specialist disability employment services also enable many thousands of disabled people to lead fulfilling working lives, people who may otherwise be excluded from the workplace. We have carried out a major review of the specialist disability employment services. The public consultation ran between 3 December 2007 and 10 March 2008 and sets out how we think we can improve these services to help more disabled people.
The consultation also set out proposals for a new programme to replace Workstep, Work Preparation and the Job Introduction Scheme, and proposals for an enhanced role for Disability Employment Advisers. The Welfare Reform Green Paper “No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility”, Cm 7363, said that we would implement these improvements to services. The Green Paper also said that we would double, by 2013/14, the budget for Access to Work. As a consequence of these changes, we will be able to help greater numbers of disabled people prepare for, take up and retain paid work.
Low Incomes
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer he was given on 30 June 2008, Official Report, column 694W.
Post Office Card Account
We provide information which helps customers choose the account which best meets their needs and circumstances, including making the Post Office card account easily available to those who need it. And more than 10,000 new Post Office card accounts are opened on average each month.
We have already made changes to the booklet being sent to existing cheque customers so that it explicitly refers to the Post Office card account. We have also updated the messages that staff use when speaking to customers to reflect the fact that the Post Office card account will now continue until at least 2015. Other communications material will be kept under review.
We are currently discussing with the other bidders who were still in the competition at the point at which it was halted the details of their reasonable bid costs to be reimbursed. The precise amounts payable are still to be decided and will be subject to commercial confidentiality.
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The decisions to put the contract out to tender, and the decision to end the tender process, were taken in accordance with domestic and European Union law, including the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 and EU Directive 2004/18/EC.
We are currently discussing with the other bidders who were still in the competition at the point at which it was halted the details of their reasonable bid costs to be reimbursed.
[holding answer 9 December 2008]: The decision to end the tender process was taken in accordance with European Union law (EU Directive 2004/18/EC—enacted through the Public Contracts Regulations 2006), so the need for specific agreement from the Commission did not arise.
Revenue and Customs
A list of all the sites which the Department shares with staff from HM Revenue and Customs has been placed in the Library.
Culture, Media and Sport
British Library: Security
This is a matter for the British Library. The security of the collections is an issue to which the British Library Board assigns very high priority.
Departmental Disabled Staff
DCMS published its first annual report on progress on disability equality in March 2008, available on the DCMS website
http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5082.aspx
The report describes progress on each item in our action plan and further action, for example, the establishment of a Disability Reference Group, plans to improve our data collection on participation by disabled people in our sectors and work to improve the diversity of the boards of our public bodies.
We will publish our second progress report early in 2009.
Departmental Temporary Employment
The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Work Experience
DCMS takes part in the Summer Diversity Internship Programme which is led by Cabinet Office. In the last three years, DCMS has taken five graduate/postgraduate interns (per year) for a period of six to eight weeks. They were each paid equivalent of a grade C/EO post and worked an average of 36 hours per week across the Department. Each candidate sent a CV which outlined their interests and as a Department, sought to match each intern with a particular area of interest in the Department. All the interns who took part in the programme completed the agreed time with us.
Film: Bradford
The Department has not received any direct requests for support regarding Bradford’s bid to become the first UNESCO City of Film.
However, the Regional Screen Agency, Screen Yorkshire—which is funded by the UK Film Council—has continued to provide a great deal of assistance to the bid. In the last six months they have given senior management time to the board, awarded finance to help in purchasing a projector and they are working to align City of Film activity with the UK-wide Film Education Strategy (21st Century Literacy). In addition, Steve Abbott chairs both the Screen Yorkshire and the City of Film bid Boards.
National Lottery Commission: Finance
(2) how much the National Lottery Commission spent on staff expenses in each year since 1997;
(3) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the National Lottery Commission in each year since 1997;
(4) how much the National Lottery Commission paid to external consultants in each year since 1997;
(5) how much the National Lottery Commission spent on salaries in each year since 1997;
(6) how much the National Lottery Commission spent on staff bonuses in each year since 1997.
The National Lottery Commission have advised that the following payments were made:
Administration Staff expenses Number of FTE staff Consultants costs Salaries Bonus 1999-2000 271,000 37,000 37 1,378,000 1,367,000 — 2000-01 293,000 88,000 33 2,438,000 1,443,000 11,000 2001-02 224,000 77,000 30 700,000 1,362,000 26,000 2002-03 224,000 41,000 28 772,000 1,439,000 32,000 2003-04 217,000 32,000 41 1,049,000 1,811,000 50,000 2004-05 275,000 40,000 42 1,029,000 1,960,000 49,000 2005-06 344,000 129,000 42 5,241,000 2,283,000 61,000 2006-07 356,000 35,000 44.5 7,506,000 2,536,000 80,000 2007-08 628,000 57,000 43.6 2,637,000 2,650,000 72,000 Notes: 1. The National Lottery Commission was set up on 1 April 1999. As such, figures have been provided from financial year 1999-2000. 2. Administration costs exclude legal advice, external auditor's remuneration or other consultancy costs. 3. Staff expenses figures are travel and subsistence expenses claimed by NLC staff. 4. Consultancy costs include legal costs, external auditor's remuneration and other consultancy costs. 5. Salaries include pension and national insurance contributions. 6. Staff bonuses are paid in July each year, in arrears for the previous financial year. 7. Throughout the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 the Commission was running the competition to award the national lottery operator licence.
National Lottery: Finance
Income received by DCMS in each year from the National Lottery Distribution Fund is shown in the following table:
Recovery of National Lottery Commission grant inaid Recovery of DCMS costs 1997-98 1,991 203 1998-99 1,815 589 1999-2000 2,740 161 2000-01 4,396 238 2001-02 2,809 228 2002-03 2,342 223 2003-04 3,765 243 2004-05 4,401 236 2005-06 7,921 245 2006-07 8,047 267 2007-08 9,848 210
Queen Elizabeth II: Anniversaries
(2) what plans his Department has made to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge) on 19 June 2008, Official Report, column 1077W.
Sports: Public Participation
The Taking Part Survey provides annual estimates of the number of adults in England who participate in moderate intensity sport (including recreational cycling and walking) at least three times a week. The survey began in 2005 and comparable data are therefore not available before this point.
Percentage Estimated number 2005-06 20.9 (+/- 0.6) 7,952,000 2006-07 21.5 (+/-0.7) 8,429,000 2007-081 21.6 (+/-0.9) 8,493,000 1 This figure is based on interim six-month data, as final estimates from the 2007-08 survey have not yet been published.
Video Games
The information is as follows:
In 2007, the turnover of the UK games market (games consoles, software and accessories) totalled £3.356 billion, rising from £2.18 billion in 2006. (Source: Screen Digest)
There are 280 games companies in the UK employing over 10,000 creative staff. Employment of a further 18,100 people is supported by the sector. (Source: Oxford Economics report: The Economic Contribution of the Games Development Industry)
In 2008 so far the UK games development industry contribution to GDP is £386 million. (Source: as aforementioned)
Please note that the aforementioned figures are taken from industry commissioned reports. It is not possible to use official Government statistics to measure the total size of the games sector as relevant figures are currently included in the wider SIC category of “software, computer games and electronic publishing”. An SIC code revision exercise took place in 2007 and the newly identified code for computer games publishing will come into effect in 2009 when the first data are published.
Youth Alcohol Action Plan
The adoption of a yellow and red card approach to licensing reviews does not necessarily mean the physical issue of actual cards. The term is an illustrative one used to explain how enforcement and licensing officers can put irresponsible premises on notice that they face losing their licence if they do not improve. At first review (yellow card) tough conditions can be included on the premises licence. If, after another review, there has been no improvement or the licence conditions have been breached, the licence could be suspended or revoked (red card). We are working with licensing authorities to explore how they might use such an approach to take swift and firm action against problem premises.
Zoneparcs
The Youth Sport Trust have advised that the budget for Zoneparc between 2004 and 2007 was £8,250,000 and has all been spent. This has resulted in a total of 425 Zoneparcs being set up.
Zoneparc was a playground project aimed at tackling social exclusion and increasing activity levels of young people by introducing innovative break time activities and playground management systems to make break times safer and more fun for everyone in the school.
There is currently no more planned funding. However, the Department for Children, Schools and Families Children’s Plan sets out a new agenda on how Government will support children with the biggest ever investment in play of £225 million. In April 2008 this was increased by an additional £10 million—a vital investment to support the development of more stimulating play facilities for children which children and families have told us they want to see.
An offer of capital funding will be made to every local authority in England to support the delivery of stimulating local places to play. The £235 million will fund 30 new adventure playgrounds or play parks, and up to 3,500 play areas nationally will be rebuilt or renewed. We expect these to be fun, stimulating, accessible places to play. We want these to be inclusive for all children, including disabled children, and aimed particularly at 8 to 13-year-olds and those living in disadvantaged areas.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Written Questions
Out of a total number of 1,720 questions received by my Department in the last Session, four questions did not receive a substantive reply. All four questions were tabled in November. Unfortunately, it was not possible to answer any of them prior to Prorogation.
A further seven questions received a Prorogation answer (these were tabled on or after 20 November).
Wales
Departmental Disabled Staff
The Wales Office is included in the MoJ Disability Equality Scheme, published at:
www.justice.gov.uk/docs/disability-equality-scheme.pdf
Departmental Rail Travel
All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
I travel by train on a weekly basis. I last used a train on 9 December.
House of Commons Commission
Right of Search
This is not a matter for the Commission. The House has decided to set up a Committee to review this matter.
Transport
Departmental Rail Travel
My official travel is undertaken in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code. The last rail journey I undertook on official business was today, 10 December 2008.
Driving Tests: Motorcycles
The number of candidates who took the practical motorcycle riding test in each of the last 18 months is in the following table.
Month Candidates (number) 2007 April 6,293 May 7,590 June 8,309 July 8,706 August 9,214 September 8,238 October 8,458 November 7,654 December 4,353 2008 January 4,023 February 4,576 March 5,268 April 7,772 May 8,404 June 9,208 July 11,285 August 11,436 September 13,517 October 7,669
Railways: Fares
The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The office of Rail Regulation publishes “National Rail Trends” on a quarterly basis. This document contains a variety of industry information and statistics including a national fares index.
Roads: Accidents
A table showing the numbers of reported personal injury road casualties in each county in England in each month of the past five years, showing (a) fatalities (b) seriously injured casualties and (c) slightly injured casualties has been deposited in the Libraries of the House.
Scotland
Devolution Settlement
I have regular discussions with my Cabinet colleagues and others about the devolution settlement to ensure that it continues to deliver for the people of Scotland and maintain our place within the Union.
Pre-Budget Report
The package of measures represents a welcome £2 billion boost for Scottish families and businesses. This will provide the required fiscal stimulus while ensuring stability and readiness to take advantage once we enter the upturn in the economy.
Banking Sector
I am in regular contact with the First Minister and discuss a variety of issues. The Scottish banking system is now well placed to combat these difficult times after the significant intervention by this Government to stabilise the market.
National Minimum Wage
I have regular discussions with the Chancellor on a range of issues. We are committed to effective national minimum wage enforcement through new penalties contained within the Employment Act 2008, and initiatives such as the current “It’s Your Call” roadshow, which I attended in Glasgow last month. The roadshow will give workers advice on their entitlements and on how to make a complaint if they have been underpaid.
Mortgage Lenders
I met with Scottish representatives of the Council of Mortgage Lenders on 30 October to discuss steps to minimise house repossessions.
Scottish Water
My right hon. Friend has had no recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the status of Scottish water.
Income Support
From 27 October 2008 employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers. From 24 November 2008 changes were introduced to income support for certain lone parents. Lone parents and other groups will continue to receive the same amount of benefit on jobseekers allowance as they do under income support. There will be no impacts on benefit payments. The modified JSA will cater for a wide variety of different support needs. As now, there will be no requirement for some groups (for example, carers) to engage in work-focused activity.
Debt Advice Services
I held a constructive meeting with the First Minister and Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, STUC and CBS Scotland on 21 October to discuss the actions being taken by the UK Government to address these difficult economic times. We agreed at that meeting to maintain regular contact and this has continued. I also convened a meeting with representatives of Citizens Advice Scotland and Money Advice Scotland to discuss how new measures in the pre-Budget report, such as the £10 million, with £1 million consequentials for Scotland, between now and March 2010 for the Citizens' Advice Bureaux, will help the most needy in society.
Bank Services
My right hon. Friend regularly meets representatives of the Scottish banking sector to discuss a range of issues.
Departmental Official Hospitality
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for the Scotland Office on 17 April 2007, Official Report, column 765W.
Justice
Legal Services Ombudsman
The office of the legal services ombudsman (OLSO) aims to provide an excellent service to all of its customers.
The average turnaround time between 1 December 2007 and 30 November 2008 is 2.44 months for the legal services ombudsman to deal with and decide individual cases.
Migration: Isle of Man
The Ministry of Justice has not made any such estimates. However, I am informed by the Isle of Man Government that according to the 2006 Census, between 2001 and 2005 some 6,910 new residents arrived from the UK and were still residing in the island at 23-24 April 2006. It should be noted that this figure would include previous Isle of Man residents, including those who were Manx-born, and non-British nationals.
Prisoners: Foreigners
At the end of September 2008, the latest date for which this information is available, there were 26 Australian nationals detained in prison establishments in England and Wales. Information on the number of foreign national prisoners by nationality is published quarterly in table 5 of the Population in Custody monthly brief at the following website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/populationincustody.htm.
The figure has been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prostitution: Offenders
The legal background to the offence of being a common prostitute, loitering, or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution is contained in Section 1 of the Street Offences Act, 1959.
Under the Act the maximum penalty for this offence is a fine, not imprisonment. Figures obtained from the prison service IT system confirm that there are currently no women serving prison sentences for the offence. Non-payment of any fine accruing from the offence would be recorded as defaulting on the payment of the fine.
Reoffenders
Table 1 shows the one-year reoffending rates for offenders leaving custody in the first quarter of the years 2000 to 2006 (data for 2001 are unavailable due to problems with archived data for community sentences). The table shows the proportion of offenders that committed at least one further offence and the number of further offences committed per 100 offenders.
Number of offenders Proportion of offenders offending (one year)(percentage) Number of offences per 100 offenders (one year) 2000 15,727 51.4 245.5 2002 15,578 55.0 288.2 2003 14,358 53.9 279.1 2004 15,761 51.9 253.1 2005 14,595 49.1 228.5 2006 14,380 46.5 208.4
Two-year reoffending rates are available for the 2000 to 2005 cohorts. For these cohorts, the only figures available are the proportion of offenders who committed a further offence within two years. These figures are shown in Table 2.
Number of offenders Proportion offenders offending (two years)(percentage) 2000 16,527 64.8 2002 15,887 67.4 2003 15,305 65.8 2004 16,385 64.7 2005 14,713 62.1
It should be noted that comparisons between the one and two-year rates should be interpreted with caution. This is due to a slight improvement in the method used to count offenders released from custody (or starting court orders under probation supervision) when we moved to measuring reoffending over one year rather than two.
Information on the percentage of offenders that reoffended between one and two years of release is not readily available. However, some information on the rate of reoffending between the first and second year can be seen in Figure 2 (page 4) of the publication.
http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb2505.pdf
We have had real success in reducing the reoffending of offenders released from custody. Between 2000 and 2006 the number of reoffences committed by offenders released from custody has fallen 15.1 per cent.
Overall, the most recent reoffending statistics, published in September 2008, demonstrated that reoffending frequency fell among adult offenders in 2006.
The figures showed a 22.9 per cent. fall in the frequency rate from 189.4 to 146.1 offences per 100 offenders between 2000 and 2006.The number of adult reoffences classified as most serious fell 11.1 per cent. from 0.78 to 0.69 offences per 100 offenders.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal
The Ministry of Justice has received 157 representations on the changes to the special educational needs and disability tribunal in the last six months.
Tourism: Isle of Man
The information is not held in the form requested. The Isle of Man Government estimate that there were approximately 295,600 visits to the Island in 2007 by UK residents, but this number does not equate to the number of visitors.
Young Offender Institutions
(2) how many children were detained in the prison estate on 1 April in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) sex and (b) offence for which they were detained.
In law, children are young persons under the age of 15. Young offender institutions accommodate sentenced prisoners aged from 15 to 21. No children under the age of 15 are held in prison. The following figures refer to children and young people under the age of 18 as at the end of June in each year since 1997 held in prison establishments in England and Wales.
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Male 15 to 17 1,620 1,627 1,643 1,786 1,901 1,986 1,724 1,706 1,780 1,814 1,827 Female 15-17 53 62 67 65 64 103 57 58 56 50 56
This table is taken from table 7.3 in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2007, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library, and at the following website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm.
The following table gives the numbers of 15 to 17-year-olds held under immediate custodial sentence in all prison establishments in England and Wales between 2003 and 2007, by offence:
Males and Females 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Immediate custodial sentence 1,781 1,763 1,835 1,865 1,883 Violence against the person 320 341 389 391 422 Sexual offences 42 55 65 68 73 Robbery 456 456 438 503 509 Burglary 290 248 289 282 283 Theft and handling 299 277 233 192 191 Fraud and forgery 2 7 11 11 10 Drug offences 49 57 79 71 74 Motoring offences 123 94 58 69 44 Other offences 155 203 257 265 259 Offence not recorded 44 27 18 13 19
This table is taken from table 7.10 in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2007, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library, and at the following website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm.
Figures for the years between 1997 and 2002 are as follows:
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total 1,673 1,689 1,710 1,860 1,976 2,084 Violence against the person 231 241 267 288 358 364 All sexual offences (before 2001) 40 47 48 59 Rape 30 29 Other sexual offences 22 29 Burglary 452 434 454 468 391 404 Robbery 443 475 425 409 439 519 Theft and handling 181 202 219 310 325 319 Fraud and forgery 0 4 6 6 5 5 Drugs offences 49 51 Other offences 191 179 230 280 293 287 Offence not recorded 135 107 61 39 64 78
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Beaches: Standards
The Secretary of State has not held any discussions with EU counterparts in the last year about the quality of bathing waters in England.
The Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC, as revised by 2006/7/EC) sets water quality standards for bathing waters. The Blue Flag scheme is an independent award, administered in England by ENCAMS, which has water quality as only one of its criteria.
British Waterways Board
The Treasury Operational Efficiency Programme Review will consider the scope for improved asset management across Government. The project will include a review of the British Waterways non-operational property portfolio, and business model, to consider how its assets might best deliver public value. The review will consider carefully any implications of options considered for the long-term funding of British Waterways’ statutory responsibilities. Formal Terms of Reference for the review will shortly be finalised.
Departmental Consultants
This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department will in its departmental report 2009 publish a list of its 10 most valuable contracts in the expenditure area of consultancy. A copy of the departmental report will be placed in the Library of the House.
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department will in its departmental report 2009 publish a list of its 10 most valuable contracts in the expenditure area of consultancy. A copy of the departmental report will be placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Public Expenditure
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The information is being compiled for inclusion in DEFRA’s departmental report for 2009, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House.
Environment Agency: Manpower
The Environment Agency estimates that it employs around 200 chartered and incorporated engineers with experience in flood and coastal risk management. The Environment Agency has 64 vacancies in engineering posts. It is recruiting to fill 20 posts and will start recruiting for the remaining 44 posts in the new year.
Flood Control
In the last survey undertaken by the Government (the National Capability Survey in January 2008) some 70 per cent. of Category 1 responders indicated they had validated their flood response plan through an exercise or during a real event in the last two years. Category 1 responders are those organisations at the core of the response to most emergencies (e.g. emergency services, local authorities, NHS bodies).
More recent information has confirmed that there have been exercises in every Government office region across the country since summer 2007. These range from in-house exercises by individual responder organisations to multi-agency exercises involving a number of Local Resilience Forums across the region. There have also been a number of real flooding events that have triggered the use of local flood emergency plans.
In response to Sir Michael Pitt’s interim report, the Government agreed the need to introduce a systematic, co-ordinated, cross-sector campaign to reduce the disruption caused by natural hazards to critical infrastructure and essential services. The Government will now establish a ‘Natural Hazards Team’ charged with co-ordinating efforts to identify and counter the risks to national infrastructure from natural hazards. In the short term, the systematic programme will co-ordinate the early assessment of the vulnerability and risk of flooding in the most critical elements of national infrastructure.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change instigated reviews of the resilience of the electricity, gas and oil sectors to flood risks in 2007 and 2008. In the case of electricity, work is well advanced to identify and develop additional resilience measures on a site specific basis. The oil and gas industries demonstrated a high level of confidence in the inherent resilience of their infrastructure. However, both industries are reviewing the remaining risks to identify precautionary measures. In the telecommunications industry, the distributed network largely provides the necessary service resilience. In the water sector, Ofwat has issued guidance for water companies on flood risk assessment and identification of priority investments in preparation for the 2009 price review.
Floods: Housing
The Environment Agency undertakes regular assessments of the number of properties at risk of flooding from rivers and from the sea through its National Flood Risk Assessments (NaFRA). There are no national figures available to estimate the number of properties at risk of flooding from surface water, drains or sewers.
DEFRA made estimates through its national assessment of assets at risk (NAAR) in 2000 and 2001. The Environment Agency undertook risk assessment for strategic planning (RASP) research in 2002 and developed the research tool into the NaFRA methodology with results in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
DEFRA and the Environment Agency have estimated the number of properties to be at risk from flooding in the following years.
Source Properties at risk (million) 2001 NAAR 1.9 2002 RASP 1.7 2004 NaFRA 2.2 2005 NaFRA 2.2 2006 NaFRA 2.3
Floods: Warnings
The Environment Agency continuously investigates ways to improve the service it provides to all customers at risk through its flood warning systems. Recent and planned improvements include:
extending real-time river level monitoring network to cover more sites at risk;
improving the quality of forecasts of tidal and river flooding by developing computer models;
recruitment of over 70,000 people since summer 2007 with a further 60,000 expected to be recruited by February next year, raising people on the system to well over 400,000;
a series of local campaigns to raise awareness of flood risk and encourage more people to sign-up to our flood warning system;
negotiating with the telecommunications companies holding ex-directory landline phone numbers so we can warn everyone on this list by the end of 2009;
working with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to produce audio versions of the leaflets which tell people what to do before, during and after a flood;
producing audio versions, developed in conjunction with the RNIB, of their guides to flooding;
working with critical infrastructure operators to share information on flood depths and levels so energy and water companies can identify which of their assets are at risk;
launching an online registration system for the public to sign up for floodline warnings direct by spring 2009;
providing a more targeted flood warning service by creating more specific and appropriately named community flood warning areas;
reviewing existing Floodline Warnings Direct (FWD) customer data to ensure that they hold accurate information;
contacting 9,200 existing customers to inform them that the flood risk to their property had been reduced and they no longer had to stay registered with FWD; and,
undertaking trials with a number of local authorities to see how advice from different organisations can be accessed at one point through the Environment Agency’s Floodline service.
Insects
(2) what assessment he has made of trends in the populations of (a) bees, (b) moths, (c) butterflies, (d) beetles, (e) upwing flies and (f) other invertebrates in the last five years.
Trend data do not exist for all invertebrates, but have been collated for some groups, especially the more iconic ones, such as butterflies and bees. Only the longer term data sets can give a meaningful picture of the changes in trends rather than shorter term fluctuations.
Trends for UK Biodiversity Action Plan invertebrates are also assessed individually every three years through a national reporting round. The data from 2008 reporting will be available early in 2009.
Marine and Fisheries Agency
The Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) currently operates from 18 offices around the coast of England and a HQ office in London. DEFRA intends for the functions delivered by the MFA to be taken on by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) as proposed in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill published on 5 December.
There are no functions of the MFA HQ which are dependent on the location. Careful consideration is currently being given to the most suitable location for the MMO’s HQ, which will also comprise the existing coastal offices of the MFA. The criteria being used to identify a suitable location include identifying marine stakeholder clusters to promote close relationships with users and regulators in the marine area, and universities with marine specialisations.
No decision has been taken on the location of the MMO HQ or the timing of any move. However, DEFRA is working hard to ensure continued effective services are provided during the transition to the MMO, and beyond.
Marine Management Organisation
A significant part of the operational work undertaken by Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) HQ is to meet EU obligations, and the effective transition provided by the skeleton body will help avoid the possibility of infraction if the organisation is unable to meet these requirements. A Marine Management Organisation (MMO) skeleton body will be set up to start running from autumn 2009 to run in parallel with the MFA until 31 March 2010 to mitigate any risks arising as a result of relocating.
To ensure there is no loss in knowledge and skills from the MFA between now and autumn 2009, I will be announcing a decision on the MMO HQ’s location as soon as possible. This is to ensure that existing staff work closely with both the MFA’s senior management team and the MMO implementation team to capture knowledge and pass it to MMO staff who will begin to populate the skeleton body.
Until existing Marine and Fisheries Agency staff have had the opportunity to choose whether or not to relocate, it is not possible to say how many new jobs there might be.
When it is clearer how many staff will relocate and, therefore, how many new people will need to be recruited, my officials will be able to start a recruitment exercise. In order to attract the best possible pool of talent for the Marine Management Organisation, this will not necessarily be restricted to recruiting locally.
For these reasons, it is not possible to say how many new jobs there will be for local people and hence, relate this to the costs of the move.
Seals: Conservation
Seal conservation is a devolved issue, so I will answer with respect to England only. Seals are protected in England by the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Under the 1970 Act it is an offence to take or kill common and grey seals out of season.
The 1970 Act also allows the Secretary of State if it appears necessary for the proper conservation of seals, to prohibit by way of an order the killing, injuring or taking of either or both the above seal species in any area specified in the order. There is currently such an order (The Conservation of Seals (England) Order 1999) protecting common and grey seals on the East coast of England in order to allow the numbers to recover from the Phocine Distemper Virus (PDV) outbreaks of 1988 and 2002 which greatly reduced the common seal population on the east coast of England.
Several marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) have been created around the UK to specifically protect, among other species, common and grey seals. Within SACs, competent authorities have to take appropriate steps to avoid significant disturbance to the species concerned or deterioration of their habitat.
Seas and Oceans: Noise
(2) if he will bring forward proposals to designate ocean noise a pollutant for the purposes of the forthcoming Marine Bill.
The UK Government are concerned about the potential impact of undersea noise on cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and the wider marine environment, and have taken action on a number of issues in this respect.
In October 2004, DEFRA commissioned research assessing the feasibility of examining the ears of stranded dead cetaceans to determine whether they show any signs of damage due to marine noise. A report on the findings of this research was published in November 2006 and showed that of the three sets of cetacean ears examined in detail, none had evidence of acoustic trauma. It went on to outline the technical problems associated with examining cetacean ears for the effects of marine noise. A copy of the report is available on the Science pages of the DEFRA website at
www.defra.gov.uk
In November 2005, the UK supported the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Resolution 8.22 on adverse human induced impacts on cetaceans, which included requesting the CMS Secretariat and Scientific Council to review the extent to which CMS and CMS cetacean-related agreements are addressing various human induced impacts, including marine noise.
DEFRA was also part of an Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST) working group on ‘Underwater Sound and Marine Life’. This working group prepared a report detailing what steps were needed in light of present information, in order to achieve a regulatory framework for the control of sound in the marine environment. This report can be found on the IACMST website at
www.marine.gov.uk
More recently, the Government have provided funding towards work on cetacean distribution and abundance in European Atlantic offshore waters. The information collected as part of this project is intended to assist in making an assessment of the different threats to cetaceans, including seismic activity. We anticipate the final report to be available by early 2009, and we hope that it will help to inform what mitigation measures may be required for the protection of cetaceans.
In order to improve our understanding of the scale and impacts of human derived noise occurring in the marine environment, the Department also intends to complete a call for research proposals in early 2009. This call will be to identify and take forward research on assessing the current status of marine noise occurring in the marine environment, including shipping, and assessing what the impacts are on marine life.
DEFRA, in line with its commitments under both ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas) and the Habitats Directive (Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora, Council Directive 92/43/EEC), also supports a long running contract with the Natural History Museum examining causes of mortality in stranded cetaceans and marine turtles around the UK. This research helps to inform what factors, e.g. disease, malnutrition, may be affecting the populations of cetaceans in UK waters.
In addition, The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is funding two projects by consultants, Subacoustech Limited—estimating, measuring and controlling the environmental effects of man-made noise on the marine environment, and a feasibility and demonstration study on the active and passive detection of marine mammals.
Using powers contained in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, the Government plan to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) which will form part of an ecological coherent network of marine protected areas around the UK. MCZs will be designated to protect habitats and species of national importance and will be protected through new duties being placed on public authorities. Where the achievement of the conservation objectives for an MCZ requires marine noise to be controlled, the competent authority will have duties to that effect.
The impacts of marine noise on the wider environment will also be taken into account through decisions made using the new marine planning system and licensing process as proposed in the Bill, and as required under section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. The Government consider that the proposals contained in the Bill, together with existing legislation, will provide the necessary powers to control marine noise where it poses a risk to valuable marine wildlife.
I am pleased to confirm that the Government introduced the Marine and Coastal Access Bill into the House of Lords on 4 December 2008.
Home Department
Identity Cards: Fees and Charges
Martial status will not be recorded on the National Identity Register. As such, a need to update marital status does not arise. It is currently expected that a change of address on an individual’s record on the National Identity Register will not incur a fee.
For a change of name, or any change that would require a replacement identity card to be issued, it is proposed that the initial fee for a replacement card will be £30 in 2009 and 2010, subject to an evaluation phase at relevant airports where the fee may be waived for airside workers who are required to enrol on the National Identity Register and are issued with an identity card.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices: Greater London
Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in the region of London from January 2006 to July 2007, by the month in which the apprenticeship started. Figures are presented up to the end of the 2006-07 academic year, the latest year for which fully audited data are available.
Numbers for Wandsworth local authority are too small to split by the month in which the course has started.
Table 2 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in Wandsworth local authority, London and a total for all regions for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic year.
Month apprenticeship started Advanced apprenticeship Apprenticeship Total 2006 January 240 660 900 February 220 540 760 March 200 610 810 April 140 390 520 May 150 390 550 June 140 370 500 July 250 530 780 August 330 810 1,140 September 860 1,750 2,610 October 270 780 1,060 November 290 610 910 December 140 380 510 2007 January 250 610 860 February 70 110 180 March 220 490 710 April 150 470 620 May 160 350 510 June 180 410 580 July 330 560 890 Notes: 1. Figures for advanced apprenticeships include a small number of higher level apprenticeships. 2. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 3. Local authority and region is based on learner's home postcode. Source: WBL ILR 2005-06 and 2006-07
2005-06 2006-07 Advanced apprenticeship Apprenticeship Total Advanced Apprenticeship Apprenticeship Total Wandsworth London 60 3,250 190 7,770- 250 11,010 70 3,380 140 7,710 220 11,090 All regions 52,130 122,850 174,980 57,020 127,410 184,430 Notes: 1. Figures for advanced apprenticeships include a small number of higher level apprenticeships. 2. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 3. Local authority and region is based on learner's home postcode. Source: WBL ILR 2005-06 and 2006-07
Copyright
Penalties for criminal copyright infringement must be proportionate to the harm caused to UK industries, so that they act as an effective deterrent. We have recently (31 October) completed a consultation on introducing exceptional summary maxima (above £5,000) in the magistrates courts for offences of online and physical copyright infringement.
Degrees: Standards
I have been asked to reply.
The available information relates to undergraduates gaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) by class of degree in English Higher Education Institutions, and is given in the following table.
Of which: class of degree Pass Third Lower Second2 Other3 Total classified Unclassified4 Academic year Total first degree qualifiers with QTS1 No. %5 No. %5 No. %5 No. %5 No. %5 No. %5 1997-98 8,740 180 2.1 225 2.6 3,720 43.4 4,450 51.9 8,580 100.0 160 — 1998-99 8,385 110 1.3 285 3.4 3,605 43.7 4,260 51.6 8,260 100.0 125 — 1999-2000 6,785 70 1.0 170 2.6 2,685 40.2 3,760 56.2 6,690 100.0 95 — 2000-01 6,205 25 0.4 160 2.6 2,430 39.6 3,520 57.4 6,135 100.0 65 — 2001-02 5,920 20 0.3 145 2.5 2,320 39.8 3,350 57.4 5,830 100.0 90 — 2002-03 5,785 40 0.7 150 2.6 2,175 38.3 3,325 58.4 5,690 100.0 95 — 2003-04 5,585 30 0.5 220 3.9 2,145 38.7 3,145 56.8 5,535 100.0 50 — 2004-05 5,200 65 13 195 3.8 2,095 40.5 2,815 54.4 5,165 100.0 30 — 2005-06 5,175 35 0.7 170 3.3 2,090 40.4 2,870 55.6 5,165 100.0 15 — 2006-07 5,740 50 0.9 180 3.2 2,245 39.3 3,235 56.6 5,710 100.0 35 — 1 Includes Unclassified qualifications. 2 Includes Lower Second Class Honours and Undivided Second Class Honours. 3 Includes First Class Honours, Upper Second Class Honours and Fourth Class Honours. 4 Includes Unclassified, Aegrotat, Ordinary and General Degrees. 5 The percentage calculations are expressed excluding Unclassified from the denominator. Notes: Includes those on BEd courses and those on BA or BSc with QTS. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five and percentages have been rounded to one decimal place. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.
Defence
Armed Forces: Adult Education
Information on how many members of the armed forces have enrolled in adult education courses are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Allowances
The aim of LSA is to support and improve retention by compensating those personnel experiencing separation over and above that compensated for by the X factor. The Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB) conducted a review of the X factor as part of their 2007-08 programme, and the Government accepted the AFPRB's recommendation to increase the X factor from 13 per cent. to 14 per cent. with effect from April 2008. Importantly, since X factor is merged into basic salary, its benefit is not only in a significant increase in monthly salary, but also in pension growth.
Given this X factor provision for lower levels of separation, LSA has a qualifying period of 10 days’ involuntary separation before entitlement is triggered, at which point the allowance is paid with effect from the first day of separation. There is an exception for seagoing units, where LSA is awarded from the first day of departing base port, and also for ‘on the road’ posts in which individuals experience high frequency of separation of periods of at least four days’ duration. Moreover, noting the close relationship between X factor and longer separation allowance, LSA is reviewed periodically by the AFPRB.
The allowance is paid according to 14 different tiers, currently ranging from £6.38 to £26.94 (taxable) per day—as recommended by the AFPRB. Increment level 1 is paid for the first 400 days’ qualifying separation, with incremental progression for each subsequent 300 days of qualifying separation. As such, the daily payment increases according to the through-career separation ‘clock’. Payment to individuals is through the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system.
The number of longer separation allowance days paid is recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration System.
There is no maximum entitlement to longer separation allowance. It is an allowance paid for separation from the family or, if single, from the duty station over and above that accounted for within the X factor element of basic pay.
Activities that cause service personnel to be separated from their home base are as numerous as they are diverse. For this reason the joint personnel administration (JPA) records separated service through 16 separate activity codes that cover all aspects of individual training, collective training, pre-deployment training, courses and operations. Every 24 hour period that a service person spends away from their home base is used in the calculation of harmony, including operations.
Armed Forces: North West
(2) how many battalion headquarters were registered in the North West in each of the last three years.
From 2005 to 2006, four infantry battalion headquarters were based in the North West, comprising two regular and two Territorial Army battalion headquarters.
In 2006, the two TA units combined. Since this time, three infantry battalion headquarters have been based in the North West, comprising two regular and one Territorial Army battalion headquarters. Between August 2007 and August 2008, one of these headquarters was temporarily relocated.
There are no plans for the number of battalion headquarters in the region to change over the next two years. The following table summarises battalion headquarters locations in the North West.
Unit Location Remarks 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh Dale Barracks, Chester Barracks unoccupied August 2007-August 2008 during Future Army Structures implementation 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment Weeton Barracks, Preston Replaced 2nd Battalion The Rifles in August 2007 4th Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Kimberley Barracks, Preston Formed of Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers and Kings and Cheshire Regiment (Based at Kimberley Barracks and Peninsula Barracks, Warrington respectively)
Defence Storage and Distribution Agency
Detailed Terms of Reference for the studies on individual assets are still being prepared. In the case of the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency (DSDA) these might provide for the organisation to offer new related products and services; to identify new sources of revenue; to consolidate with other elements in the defence supply chain or to identify alternative ways of providing DSDA services.
Falkland Islands: Air Routes
(2) what assessment he has made of the socio-economic impact on the Falkland Islands of the proposed pricing scheme for the Falkland Islands Airbridge under the provisions of the Joint Policy Statement agreed between his Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office;
(3) what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the withdrawal of the child/student fare from the Falkland Islands Airbridge agreement on the ability of Falkland Islands family members to travel between the Falkland Islands and the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement;
(4) if he will reinstate the child/student fare to the Falkland Islands Airbridge pricing scheme under the provisions of the Joint Policy Statement agreed between his Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office;
(5) what representations his Department has received on the proposed pricing scheme for the Falkland Islands Airbridge under the provisions of the Joint Policy Statement agreed between his Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office;
(6) what consultations were carried out by his Department on the proposed pricing scheme for the Falkland Islands Airbridge under the provisions of the Joint Policy Statement agreed between his Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and if he will make a statement;
(7) if he will reduce the prices under the proposed pricing scheme for the Falkland Islands Airbridge under the provisions of the Joint Policy Statement agreed between his Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and if he will make a statement.
The existing Joint Policy Statement governing the South Atlantic Airbridge dates from 1992 and is based on the previous service provided by Royal Air Force TriStar aircraft. The introduction of a civilian charter service clearly required a revision to this statement, and this is being currently discussed between the MOD and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It would be premature to comment on any of the detail of this revised statement until these discussions have been completed.
Harrier Aircraft: Manpower
Information on the exact number of Harrier pilots deployed on Operation Herrick in each month since the deployment began is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, prior to September 2006, around nine pilots at a time were deployed in theatre. Since September 2006 (when the number of Harrier aircraft deployed in theatre increased from six to eight), around 11 pilots at a time were deployed in theatre. These figures may have occasionally fluctuated for short periods.
Joint Force Harrier
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1554W.
All armed forces personnel, including those serving with the Joint Force Harrier, are administered by the joint personnel administration system.
Keep Our Future Afloat
During the course of this year the Ministry of Defence has received several representations from the ‘Keep Our Future Afloat Campaign’. All letters received a written reply. Additionally, my predecessor as Minister with responsibility for Defence Equipment and Support, my noble Friend Baroness Taylor of Bolton, met representatives of the group in July.
Stress
The MOD reports sickness absence figures over a 12 month period on a quarterly basis and does not report working days lost on a monthly basis. The MOD does not have a specific sickness absence code for stress. Stress falls within the mental and behavioural disorders ICD10 category, which includes anxiety, depression and stress. The following table shows the number of working days lost for Ministry of Defence civilian personnel1 which was attributed to the mental and behavioural disorders category for the 12 month period preceding each quarter point.
Year ending Industrial Non-industrial Total 30 June 2007 24,530 102,790 127,320 30 September 2007 25,510 102,990 128,500 31 December 2007 25,380 99,570 135,040 31 March 2008 22,720 94,100 116,820 30 June 2008 20,770 87,720 108,490 1 This includes all permanent and casual non-industrial and industrial civilian personnel, but excludes locally engaged civilian and Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel for all periods and trading fund personnel prior to 1 January 2008. Note: From 1 January 2008, due to a change in definition personnel classed as on zero pay absences are excluded.
Territorial Army: Pay
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, there are no known systematic problems with any back pay owed to TA soldiers who have undertaken active service in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Where isolated errors are notified by individuals, SPVA take immediate action to rectify the situation.
Trident Submarines
The estimated maintenance costs of Vanguard class submarines in 2008-09 and each of the next five years, which cover fleet maintenance and capital spend incurred as part of the long overhaul period (refuel) (LOP-R) maintenance programme, are:
Total (£ million) 2008-09 95 2009-10 134 2010-11 152 2011-12 123 2012-13 105 2013-14 161
Communities and Local Government
Departmental Disabled Staff
The conclusions the Department has reached to fulfil its disability equality duty are outlined in our Disability Equality Scheme Annual Report published in February 2008, which is available on our website at:
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/disabilityequalityscheme2008
An update on progress on these actions will be published, as explained in that document, as part of our Department’s Single Annual Report on Equalities. We intend to do this in spring 2009.
The Secretary of State’s report on Disability, published on 1 December, also reports on progress made towards disability equality by public authorities in our policy sectors. The report is available on our website at:
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/disabilityequality2008
Departmental Rail Travel
My right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) made one expense claim during the period January to October 2008. This was in June 2008, a single ticket for £178.
Empty Property: Business Premises
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1493W, to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather).
Fire Services
The running costs for the eight regional control centres (RCCs) which have completed their commissioning process—‘practical completion’—are shown for October, broken down by region, in the following table:
Region Running costs (£) NE 143,994 EM 145,889 SW 140,839 WM 113,463 SE 46,142 NW 36,920 Y and H 48,558 EoE 84,617
These eight buildings are in the process of being fitted out, including installing the IT hardware, AV screens and furniture. Note, the range reflects the relative stages of completion. Therefore, no regional control centre is yet operational.
In the interim the buildings are used for a range of purposes including Fire and Rescue Service meetings and workshops to progress FiReControl work. In many cases the regional project team works out of the RCC.
Under Fire Control, the risk management toolkit will replace the fire service emergency cover toolkit and will be rolled out prior to the point at which there is an FRS cut-over.
Fires: Death
The Department holds data for the UK on the number of deaths caused by fire, including by type of accommodation, and whether it was a multiple occupancy dwelling. Data are not collected by type of tenure. Comparable data are available since 1994. Data for England are shown in the following table.
Multiple occupancy dwellings All dwellings All Houses Flats, maisonettes, etc. Unspecified 1994 376 119 7 81 31 1995 428 143 13 80 50 1996 428 145 8 86 51 1997 432 144 18 86 40 1998 383 140 14 94 32 1999 334 116 9 89 18 2000 351 112 11 73 28 2001 358 120 9 82 29 2002 310 110 6 83 21 2003 344 118 9 84 25 2004 268 91 7 68 16 2005 289 103 8 74 21 2006 287 82 9 52 21 2007 (provisional) 240 74 5 59 10
Green Belt
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The area of green belt land in each region in England in each year since 1997 for which data have been collected is set out in the following table. The figures are in hectares.
Figures after 2005 exclude 47,300 hectares of land that were re-designated as New Forest National Park. National Park status confers a higher status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty than green belt. The conservation of the natural beauty of the landscape and countryside should be given weight in planning decisions in these areas. Therefore figures for 2006 and 2007 are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
Hectares Region 1997 2003 2004 2006 2007 North East 53,040 66,330 71,910 71,910 73,000 North West 249,490 260,610 260,590 260,310 260,300 Yorkshire and the Humber 276,720 262,640 262,640 264,930 264,450 East Midlands 62,730 79,520 79,480 78,900 79,000 West Midlands 273,900 269,140 269,460 269,260 268,770 East Anglia 26,690 26,690 26,750 26,300 26,270 London/wider South East 549,330 600,470 601,410 1553,890 1554,240 South West 157,740 106,180 105,950 106,330 109,640 England1 1,649,640 1,671,580 1,678,190 11,631,830 11,635,670 1 This figure excludes green belt in New Forest DC and Test Valley BC (47,300 hectares) which have subsequently been designated as New Forest National Park in 2005. Note: 1 hectare = 2.471 acres. Source: Communities and Local Government Statistical Releases: Green Belt Statistics, England
Ordnance Survey
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The HM Treasury/Shareholder Executive assessment of trading funds has considered the potential for innovation and growth from increasing commercial and other use of public sector information including Ordnance Survey vector data. It will shortly publish some key principles for the re-use of this information, and consider how these should be applied to ensure that Government policy is fully reflected in practice.
As part of the assessment, Ordnance Survey is in the process of undertaking a strategic review of its operations and underlying business model. The aim is for Ordnance Survey data (including vector data) to be made more freely available for exploitation for the benefit of the wider UK economy. Further details will be announced in due course.
In the meantime Ordnance Survey will continue to enable users of all types to access a wide range of vector datasets through its normal licensing arrangements.
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: For reasons of commercial confidentiality income derived from each local authority is not published. However, Ordnance Survey’s total direct revenue from the local government sector (including fire and police services, national park authorities and other sector bodies) in England, Scotland and Wales for the year ended 31 March 2008, was £21.26 million. This represented 18 per cent. of Ordnance Survey’s total turnover. A significant proportion of local government income came from the local authority Mapping Services Agreement (MSA), a collective purchasing agreement competitively tendered by Local Government Information House Ltd. (LGIH) on behalf of local government. Apportionment of the single charge for each data lot in the MSA tender to individual local authorities is determined by LGIH.
Since the MSA is currently subject to an active re-tendering process, release of further detailed information about the value contributed by individual local authorities could be prejudicial to the conduct of the tender process.
Regeneration: Coastal Areas
No discussions have taken place so far, but the cross-departmental working group on coastal towns would be keen to hear from hon. Members whose knowledge and expertise could help to better inform action on improving outcomes in coastal towns.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, made a written statement to the House on 17 July 2008 before she published ‘Transforming Places; changing lives: a framework for regeneration’. A copy of the consultation document was made available in the Library. The document was also sent to all local authority chief executives in England.
Regional Planning and Development: South West
[holding answer 9 December 2008]: The regional spatial strategy focuses on the long-term—a strategy to deliver sustainable development in the region over the next 15-20 years—to provide long term supply of housing needed to meet the demand for new homes and to address the long term shortages which affect affordability. Despite the current economic climate the medium- to long-term need for housing in the South West remains high.
In proposing changes to the overall housing provision, the Secretary of State had regard, among other things, to: the independent examining panel’s recommendations; the Housing Green Paper “Homes for the Future: More Affordable, More Sustainable”; further advice from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit; ONS Household Projections; and assessments of economic growth potential. The full reasons for the proposed changes to the overall housing provision are set out in the schedule of the Secretary of State’s Proposed Changes and Reasons, published in July 2008. The Secretary of State is currently considering responses to the consultation on the proposed changes.
Rents
An impact assessment detailing the impact of the empty property reforms was published by Communities and Local Government in May 2007 accompanying the introduction of the Rating (Empty Properties) Bill and a further assessment was laid before this House on the 26 February accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008—Number: 386.
Right to Buy Scheme: Yorkshire and the Humber
The following table shows the number of local authority Right to Buy sales in North Yorkshire and in the City of York, for each year since 1997-98. We have taken North Yorkshire to comprise the districts of Selby, Harrogate, Craven, Richmondshire, Hambleton, Ryedale, Scarborough and York. Information on Right to Buy sales by constituency is not available centrally, but as Vale of York constituency includes the City of York we have included sales figures for York as well.
North Yorkshire City of York 1997-98 471 152 1998-99 401 199 1999-2000 688 1108 2000-01 541 186 2001-02 636 171 2002-03 847 188 2003-04 570 127 2004-05 215 65 2005-06 113 35 2006-07 69 36 2007-08 51 28 1 Data not reported for all four quarters of the financial year, therefore figure cannot be used for comparison over time or with other areas. The 1998-99 figure for the City of York is from three quarterly returns, the 1999-2000 figures from two quarterly returns. Note: The figures shown for the City of York are as reported, and do not include estimates for missing returns. Figures for North Yorkshire include imputed figures for missing quarterly returns from any of the local authorities in North Yorkshire. Source: Quarterly P1B returns from Local Authorities
Four of the North Yorkshire local districts have transferred their housing stock to registered social landlords, and consequently do not have any housing stock to sell through the Right to Buy scheme. Hambleton and Ryedale transferred their stock before 1997-98, Craven in March 2003, and Scarborough in December 2003.
Women and Equality
Discrimination
We received over 4,000 responses to our consultation “A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain”, which were carefully considered. The Government's response to the consultation (Cm 7454) provides a summary of the responses and sets out the measures we intend to include in the Equality Bill. The response was published on 21 July 2008. A copy is available on the website of the Government Equalities Office at the following web address:
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/publications/Government_Response_to_the_consultation.pdf.
The responses to the consultation received from organisations have also been published on the GEO website.
Domestic Violence
The Government have produced a cross-Government National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan which provides a strategic framework to address domestic violence. We have taken a range of action to reduce levels of domestic violence including establishing 104 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVCs) and plan to reach 128 by 2011. We have provided over £6 million this financial year to support the roll-out of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences across England and Wales linked to these SDVCs. IDVAs provide invaluable support to victims of domestic violence. Evidence shows that incidents of victimisation decrease and victims are less likely to withdraw from cases.
There has been significant progress in reducing the levels of domestic violence. There has been a 58 per cent. decline in the incidence of domestic violence between 1997 and 2007-08, as measured by the British Crime Survey. Further, the success rate on prosecuting domestic violence continues to improve. In December 2003 only 46 per cent. of domestic violence prosecutions resulted in conviction. By September 2008 this figure had increased to 72.1 per cent.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Departmental Rail Travel
4 December 2008. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Insolvency: Hotels
Statistics are only available for “Hotels” and only available from Q3 2007 on a consistent basis. The following table records the number of “hotels” that have entered into an insolvency procedure in each quarter since 2007 Q3 in England and Wales.
Insolvency procedure Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Compulsory Liquidations 6 8 7 12 n/a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation 10 8 3 11 13 Receiverships 2 1 3 2 0 Administration 0 4 8 5 2 Company Voluntary Arrangements 0 0 1 3 1 Bankruptcy Orders for self-employed individuals 7 11 14 6 n/a Notes: 1. The business activity of an insolvent company or small trader is classified according to Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC2003). This does not separately identify bed and breakfast establishments, but it is likely that some of these will be included under "Hotels" and others under a different SIC Group. 2. There have been changes over recent years to the classification and extent of sectoral information collected and analysed. Consistent data are only readily available on a quarterly basis from 2007 Q3. 3. Companies may enter consecutively into more than one type of insolvency procedure. For example, an establishment may enter into Administration, but subsequently become the subject of a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation. This means that counts should not be summed to a total number of company insolvencies in the sector. 4. Data for Compulsory Liquidations and for self-employed bankruptcies for 2008 Q3 are not yet available.
Insolvency: Leisure
There is insufficient, detailed information held centrally, and in a readily available format, to provide an answer to this question. This is because:
(1) Corporate insolvency statistics are not currently available for Government office regions within England and Wales.
(2) There is no consistent information on the industry sector of insolvent companies for the period requested.
(3) Corporate insolvency information has more than one source, and there are differences between these in the information available for industry sectors.
(4) The current standard industrial classification (SIC) does not enable the “leisure industry” to be readily defined.
Members: Correspondence
[holding answer 9 December 2008]: I responded to the hon. Member on 12 November.
Office of Fair Trading: Complaints
This is a matter for the independent Office of Fair Trading. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member directly.
(2) which super complaints have been made to the Office of Fair Trading under section 11 of the Enterprise Act 2002 in each calendar year since June 2003; what estimate he has made of the cost of investigating each complaint in each such year; how long each investigation took; what the outcome of each investigation was; and what subsequent action was taken.
[holding answer 9 December 2008]: These are matters for the independent Office of Fair Trading. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member directly.
Office of Fair Trading: Research
(2) what percentage of the Office of Fair Trading's current workload is comprised of market studies; and what proportion of its budget was spent on such studies in the last 12 months;
(3) how many market studies of public sector activities have been undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading since 2003;
(4) how many market studies have been undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading since January 2003, broken down by market; what the cost was of each study; and what the outcomes were of each study.
These are matters for the independent Office of Fair Trading. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member directly.
Trade Unions
It is not the practice of the Department to place the minutes of private meetings with business or other organisations in the House Libraries.
Solicitor-General
Departmental Official Hospitality
The Attorney-General’s Office records its expenditure on official hospitality on our accounts system and copies of relevant receipts and invoices are filed. Separate records are not kept for alcohol nor individual items.
Essex Crown Prosecution Service: Complaints
The number of complaints recorded by CPS Essex each year since 1998 is shown in the following table. Complete figures are not available for 1997. The figures shown represent all the letters of complaint received and replied to by CPS Essex. They do not indicate the outcome of the complaint, whether the CPS was at fault or whether the correspondence was forwarded to another appropriate agency to deal with.
CPS Prosecution Service1 42 areas CPS Essex 1998-99 2,288 2,017 25 1999-2000 2,565 2,168 41 2000-01 2,840 2,431 53 2001-02 2,990 2,274 90 2002-03 3,093 2,172 73 2003-04 3,949 2,190 105 2004-05 3,739 2,481 105 2005-06 4,616 3,178 72 2006-07 4,166 2,505 109 2007-08 4,555 2,252 87 1 Incl. Casework Directorate
Fraud: Elections
The records maintained by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) comprise information at defendant level rather than at specific offence level, and include no data identifying decisions not to proceed in cases of electoral fraud, either as regards the pre-charge decision phase or post-charge prosecutions. The information may be held on individual case files, but could only be retrieved by locating and examining every relevant file in each CPS office and would incur disproportionate cost.
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
By long-standing convention, observed by successive Administrations and embodied in the Ministerial Code, the fact that the Law Officers have advised (or have not advised) on a particular issue, and the content of any advice, is not disclosed outside government.
Road Traffic Offences: Electronic Vehicles
I have had no recent discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on the prosecution of users of personal transporters, also known as self balancing scooters, on public highways.
However, I can confirm that the Department for Transport considers that powered personal transporters are subject to road traffic legislation and that the CPS has no specific guidance on prosecuting offences involving these vehicles.
Were the police to refer a case involving the use of one of these vehicles to the CPS, the matter would be reviewed in the same way as any other road traffic prosecution.
The CPS does not keep figures on the numbers of prosecutions that have been brought in relation to the use of these vehicles.
Health
Abortion
Only legislation pertaining to the laws governing abortion in Great Britain was considered as part of the partial regulatory impact assessment on the Termination of Pregnancy Bill of Session 2006-07.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
The Alcohol Harm Reduction National Support Team commenced visiting areas with the highest rates of alcohol related hospital admissions in September 2008. Four visits have been completed.
Visits are planned to 48 primary care trusts in total between 2008-09 and 2010-11.
Children in Care
The Department does not hold this information centrally.
Children: Disabled
The service transformation programme ‘Aiming High for disabled children’ (AHDC) sets out clear expectations for improving choice, access and continuity of care, and seeks to place disabled children’s services at the centre of local children’s service provision. Supported by substantial new funding and measures designed to make the system work better, the AHDC programme aims to deliver access and empowerment for disabled children and families, responsive services and timely support, and improved service quality and capacity. The AHDC programme will provide assistance to parents through a variety of new initiatives—from a full service ‘core offer’, to parents forums and new performance management arrangements that will hold local authorities and primary care trusts to account for the services they provide to families. By 2011, parents of disabled children and young people should be able to report a more favourable experience of these services.
Chlamydia: Screening
During the period 1 April 2003, when the National Chlamydia Screening programme was launched, to the end of September 2008, the latest date for which figures are available, a total of 962,919 screens have been undertaken. The data are for the number of screens carried out not the number of people screened.
Community Care
The information requested is as follows.
‘Supporting people with long term conditions to Self Care—A guide to developing local strategies and good practice’ (24 February 2006) sets out four key areas in which people need support (skills and training, information, tools and devices and support networks) and gives examples of good practice together with the role of professionals and PCTs/Trusts in supporting people to self care.
‘Your Health, your way—a guide to long-term conditions and self care’ was launched on the NHS Choices website on 2 November 2008 and can be found at:
http://www.nhs.uk/yourhealth/Pages/Homepage.aspx
This is the public face of the aforementioned policy and provides people living with long term conditions with information about the choices that should be available to them locally (by April 2009 if they are not available already) to support them to self care in partnership with health and social care professionals.
Community Hospitals
(2) how much his Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in each of the next three financial years under the community hospitals programme;
(3) what the (a) location, (b) cost and (c) date of opening of each hospital built to date under his Department's community hospitals programme is.
We have given the go ahead to 28 schemes, which are listed in the following table.
We are currently giving consideration to the Department's capital programme budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11, and in connection with this process, we will take into account which additional schemes are ready to progress and might be funded.
Hospital Department of Health contribution (£ million) Total cost (£ million) Completion date—actual/projected Felixstowe Community Hospital 1.8 1.8 January 2008 Ashfield Primary Care Centre, Nottingham 1.1 1.1 April 2008 Rotherham Primary Care Centre 1.0 1.0 February 2009 Hartlepool primary Care Centre 3.0 3.0 March 2009 Royal South Hants Community Hospital 6.1 6.1 April 2009 Washington Primary Care Centre 9.0 9.4 May 2009 Hornsey Community Hospital 1.7 2.4 May/June 2009 Gosport War Memorial Hospital 6.1 6.4 July 2009 Keynsham Health Park, North Somerset 5.0 6.9 September 2009 Teddington Community Hospital 4.0 4.5 September 2009 Yate Community Hospital 5.0 12.4 November 2009 St Charles Community Hospital, Kensington 3.7 8.8 March 2010 Calderdale and Kirklees Hospitals (Calderdale Royal, Holme Valley Memorial, Central Halifax and Princess Royal Hospitals) 13.8 29.2 From March 2010 to November 20011 Barking Community Hospital 5.0 8.2 April 2010 Station Plaza Community Health Centre, Hastings 12.3 15.5 Spring 2010 South Bristol Community Hospital 3.9 30 August 2010 Moreton and Bourton Community Hospitals, North Cotswolds 13.2 15.8 Autumn 2010 Malvern Community Hospital 19.2 19.2 September 2010 Minehead Community Hospital 24.5 26 November 2010 Eltham and Mottingham Community Hospital 4.6 14.6 January 2011 Thame Community Hospital 4.0 5.1 Early 2011 Dursley (Gloucestershire) Health and Social Care Campus 6.4 7.9 April 2011 Selby Primary & Community Care Centre 13.0 15.6 Summer 2011 Stockport (St Thomas') Community Hospital 20.1 29.5 Summer 2011 East Riding (Beverley, Hornsea and Driffield Community Hospitals) 20.0 26.0 From November 2011 King's Avenue (Ashford) Community Hospital 9.0 13.1 Autumn 2011 Finchley Memorial Hospital 9.9 48.7 March 2012 St Mary's Community Hospital, Portsmouth 17.1 17.1 Spring 2012 Total 243.4 385.2
Figures may not tally with total due to rounding.
Departmental Manpower
We do not publish planning assumptions relating to the comprehensive spending review.
Departmental Official Hospitality
The Department’s central financial recording system captures information on expenditure under the headings of ‘working lunches’ and ‘hospitality’. No separate records of expenditure on alcohol are maintained.
Departmental Private Finance Initiative
Since 1997 the Department has agreed compensation payments in respect of abortive bidding costs at two private finance initiative (PFI) schemes, either as a direct result of a cancellation or at a scheme which later went on to be cancelled. Details of the payments are:
£7.3 million in respect of the Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust PFI scheme cancelled in June 2006; the Department paid the full amount directly to the bidders in March 2007; and
£9.1 million in respect of abortive costs resulting from the decision of the Department's PFI review in August 2006 to reduce the scope of the University of Leicester Hospitals NHS Trust scheme. 80 per cent. of the settlement—£7.2 million—was met by the Department and paid to the trust for disbursement via an adjustment to the local primary care trusts (PCTs) revenue allocations in May 2007. The trust contributed £2.1 million. The scheme was subsequently cancelled in July 2007.
The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Departmental Public Consultation
The Department does not hold information centrally about the costs of public consultations. Information on the Department’s expenditure on public consultations can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Training
The following departmental staff attended the departmental board away day on 11 and 12 September 2008:
Hugh Taylor (Permanent Secretary)
David Nicholson (NHS Chief Executive)
Liam Donaldson (Chief Medical Officer)
David Behan (Director General Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships)
Richard Douglas (Director General for Finance and Chief Operating Officer)
Richard Mundon (Director of Operations)
Ralph Coulbeck (Policy Adviser, Office of NHS Chief Executive)
Alison Ismail (Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary)
Stephen Mitchell (Head of Governance).
The total amount of expenses claimed by those who attended the away day was £626.20. This includes train fares to and from the hotel.
The Department's departmental board away day held on 11 and 12 September 2008 was held at Great Fosters hotel, Stroude road, Egham, Surrey TW20 9UR.
No formal minutes were produced of the departmental board away day, held on 11 and 12 September. An informal note was produced, and this, with the agenda, has been placed in the Library.
Diabetes
The national Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) records the number of people recorded on practice diabetes registers, and counts are available for the years 2005-06 to 2007-08. The figures are available by primary care trust (PCT). The diabetes register only includes patients aged 17 years and over, as the care of children with diabetes is generally under the control of specialists.
2007-08 data are contained in ‘PCT level QOF tables’, which has been placed in the Library. It is also available at the following link:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/supporting-information/audits-and-performance/the-quality-and-outcomes-framework/qof-2007/08/data-tables
The table in question can be found in the section ‘PCT level QOF tables’ at this link: ‘PCT level QOF tables 2007/08—prevalence.xls’.
2006-07 data are contained in ‘PCT QOF tables’, which has been placed in the Library. It is also available at the following link:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/supporting-information/audits-and-performance/the-quality-and-outcomes-framework/qof-2006/07/qof-2006-07-data-tables
The table in question can be found in the section ‘PCT QOF tables’ at this link: ‘PCT QOF tables 2006-07—prevalance.xls’.
2005-06 data are contained in ‘Disease prevalence at PCT level’, which has been placed in the Library. It is also available at the following link:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/supporting-information/audits-and-performance/the-quality-and-outcomes-framework/qof-2005/06/qof-2005-06-detailed-spreadsheets
The table in question can be found in the section ‘QOF Achievement Data at General Practice Level’ at this link: ‘Disease prevalence at PCT level’.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) records the number of people recorded on general practice diabetes registers in England. As the care of children with diabetes is generally under the control of specialists, the register excludes those patients age 16 and under.
The following table shows the number of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes recorded on diabetes registers from 2004-05 to 2007-08, for the years for which data are available.
Financial year 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 North Yorkshire and York PCT2 22,777 24,346 25,682 27,329 England 1,766,391 1,890,666 1,961,976 2,088,335 1 The diabetes registers make no distinction between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. 2 The figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 are the sum of the diabetes registers for the health areas that make up the North Yorkshire area, the details of which are given as follows: Craven, Harrogate and Rural District; Hambleton and Richmondshire; Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale; and Selby and York.
Diabetes: Health Services
The three Year of Care pilot areas, Calderdale and Kirklees primary care trusts (PCTs), Tower Hamlets PCT and NHS North of Tyne, have now completed the first phase of the three-year project, which has focused on preparing systems and workforce to enable the delivery of the Year of Care approach. The pilots are now beginning to deliver the Year of Care programme to people with diabetes in their area.
In October 2008 the Year of Care team launched “Getting to grips with the Year of Care: a practical guide” to help spread the learning acquired during the preparatory phase. An evaluation report, “Evaluating pilot sites as they prepare for the Year of Care: Final project report”, is also available. This document has been placed in the Library.
Drugs: Misuse
According to the 2007-08 British Crime Survey (BCS), 3.7 per cent. of the population aged 16-59 years of age in London reported use of any Class A drug in the last year and 9.2 per cent. reported use of any illicit drug in the last year. It is not possible to provide robust estimates of the number of 16 to 59-year-olds who have taken drugs in London from the BCS.
The information requested is in the following table. The system of diagnostic codes used to classify admission to hospital does not distinguish between recreational, illicit misuse or medical use of drugs. The diagnostic codes used are listed in the following table.
Number of total admissions2006-0725,7822005-0625,1482004-0521,9382003-0418,8102002-0316,069Notes:1. Finished admission episodes: A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.2. The ICD-10 codes used to identify a drug related diagnosis are as follows. It is not possible to identify in ICD-10 all diseases caused by drugs (legal or illegal) and there is no way to guarantee, that the admission was drug related. For example, a patient admitted for inguinal hernia surgery may also be dependent on a drug.F11—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of opioidsF12—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoidsF13—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of sedatives or hypnoticsF14—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cocaineF15—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of other stimulants, including caffeineF16—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of hallucinogensF18—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of volatile solventsF19—Mental and behavioural disorders due to multiple drug use and use of other psychoactive substancesF55—Abuse of non-dependence-producing substancesK71.0—Toxic liver disease with cholestasisK71.1—Toxic liver disease with hepatic necrosisK71.2—Toxic liver disease with acute hepatitisK71.3—Toxic liver disease with chronic persistent hepatitisK71.4—Toxic liver disease with chronic lobular hepatitisK71.5—Toxic liver disease with chronic active hepatitisK71.6—Toxic liver disease with hepatitis, not elsewhere classifiedK71.7—Toxic liver disease with fibrosis and cirrhosis of liverK71.8—Toxic liver disease with other disorders of liverK71.9—Toxic liver disease, unspecifiedT36—Poisoning by systemic antibioticsT37—Poisoning by other systemic anti-infectives and antiparasitics T38—Poisoning by hormones and their synthetic substitutes and antagonists, not elsewhere classifiedT39—Poisoning by nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumaticsT40—Poisoning by narcotics and psychodysleptics (hallucinogens)T41—Poisoning by anaesthetics and therapeutic gasesT42—Poisoning by antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic and antiparkinsonism drugsT43—Poisoning by psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classifiedT44—Poisoning by drugs primarily affecting the autonomic nervous systemT45—Poisoning by primarily systemic and haematological agents, not elsewhere classifiedT46—Poisoning by agents primarily affecting the cardiovascular systemT47—Poisoning by agents primarily affecting the gastrointestinal systemT48—Poisoning by agents primarily acting on smooth and skeletal muscles and the respiratory systemT49—Poisoning by topical agents primarily affecting skin and mucous membrane and by ophthalmological, otorhinolaryngological and dental drugsT50—Poisoning by diuretics and other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substancesT52—Toxic effect of organic solventsT53—Toxic effect of halogen derivatives of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbonsT54—Toxic effect of corrosive substancesT55—Toxic effect of soaps and detergentsT56—Toxic effect of metalsT57—Toxic effect of other inorganic substancesT58—Toxic effect of carbon monoxideT59—Toxic effect of other gases, fumes and vapoursT60—Toxic effect of pesticidesT61—Toxic effect of noxious substances eaten as seafoodT62—Toxic effect of other noxious substances eaten as foodT63—Toxic effect of contact with venomous animalsT64—Toxic effect of aflatoxin and other mycotoxin food contaminantsT65—Toxic effect of other and unspecified substancesX40—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumaticsX41—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classifiedX42—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics (hallucinogens), not elsewhere classifiedX43—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous systemX44—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substancesX46—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to organic solvents and halogenated hydrocarbons and their vapoursX47—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other gases and vapoursX48—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to pesticidesX49—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified chemicals and noxious substancesX60—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumaticsX61—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classifiedX62—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics (hallucinogens), not elsewhere classifiedX63—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous systemX64—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substancesX66—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to organic solvents and halogenated hydrocarbons and their vapoursX67—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other gases and vapoursX68—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to pesticidesX69—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified chemicals and noxious substancesY40—Systemic antibioticsY41—Other systemic anti-infectives and antiparasiticsY42—Hormones and their synthetic substitutes and antagonists, not elsewhere classifiedY43—Primarily systemic agentsY44—Agents primarily affecting blood constituentsY45—Analgesics, antipyretics and anti-inflammatory drugsY46—Antiepileptic and antiparkinsonism drugsY47—Sedatives, hypnotics and antianxiety drugsY48—Anaesthetics and therapeutic gasesY49—Psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classifiedY50—Central nervous system stimulants, not elsewhere classifiedY51—Drugs primarily affecting the autonomic nervous systemY52—Agents primarily affecting the cardiovascular systemY53—Agents primarily affecting the gastrointestinal systemY54—Agents primarily affecting water-balance and mineral and uric acid metabolismY55—Agents primarily acting on smooth and skeletal muscles and the respiratory systemY56—Topical agents primarily affecting skin and mucous membrane and ophthalmological, otorhinolaryngological and dental drugsY57—Other and unspecified drugs and medicamentsY58—Bacterial vaccinesY59—Other and specified vaccines and biological substancesT80.0—Air embolism following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection T80.1—Vascular complications following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injectionT80.2—Infections following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injectionT80.8—Other complications following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injectionT80.9—Unspecified complication following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injectionT88.0—Infection following immunisationT88.1—Other complications following immunisation, not elsewhere classifiedT88.2—Shock due to anaesthesiaT88.3—Malignant hyperthermia due to anaesthesiaT88.5—Other complications of anaesthesiaT88.6—Anaphylactic shock due to adverse effect of correct drug or medicament properly administeredT88.7—Unspecified adverse effect of drug or medicamentZ71.5—Drug abuse counselling and surveillanceT96.X—Sequelae of poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances3. London Strategic Health Authority of Treatment: In 2006-07 London as a whole was a strategic health authority (SHA). Pre 2006-07 London was made up of five SHAs.2006-07: London SHAPre 2006-07: North West London; North Central London; North East London; South East London; South West London4. Ungrossed Data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).Source:Hospital Episode Statistics, The NHS Information Centre for health and social care
East Riding of Yorkshire PCT
The information requested is not held centrally.
General Practitioners
The Department does not hold this information centrally.
The information requested has been placed in the Library.
The average general practice list size, by strategic health authority (SHA), as at 30 September 2007 is shown in the following table.
Total number of general practitioners practices Average practice list size North East 394 6,681 North West 1,272 5,679 Yorkshire and Humber 807 6,603 East Midlands 627 7,134 West Midlands 965 5,890 East of England 769 7,417 London 1,546 5,441 South East Coast 644 6,918 South Central 503 8,363 South West 734 7,252 Source: The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
The Department does not collect these data for the Northern Ireland regions.
List size data for dental practices are not held centrally.
(2) with reference to page 113 of the 2008 Pre-Budget Report, Cm 7484, how the £100 million for upgrading GP surgeries to training practices will be allocated.
These are early days and quite rightly no full and final decisions have been made yet. The decisions need to be made with the full involvement of all parties concerned, and we will ensure that this happens, so that we achieve the maximum benefits and direct investment to address health inequalities.
Genetics
The Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) approved 17 new trials over its last annual reporting period of January to December 2007. Four of these trials were in cancer research, nine were addressing infectious diseases, two were potential treatments for cardiovascular diseases and two were studies of inherited disorders. Further details on these trials are in the “Fourteenth Annual Report” of GTAC, which has been placed in the Library. Details of trials approved by GTAC in 2008 will be included in its next annual report, due for publication in 2009.
Headaches
(2) if he will estimate the number of people in employment who experience migraine or other headache disorders.
We have no estimates, or plans to make such estimates, of the proportion of the working population living with migraine or headache disorders.
Nursing staff working for the national health service who specialise in treating or diagnosing headaches are not identified in the NHS Workforce Census. There are a variety of causes of headache and if a cause can be identified then the care of the patient will follow the appropriate clinical pathway.
In April 2003 the College of General Practitioners and the Department of Health issued joint guidance “Guidelines for the Appointment of General Practitioners With Special Interests in the Delivery of Clinical Service—Headaches”. This guidance has already been placed in the Library.
Health Centres
(2) for each primary care trust whose plans for a new (a) GP-led health centre and (b) GP practice do not meet core criteria, what the reasons are for this being the case.
Strategic health authorities have provided assurances via performance management discussions with the Department that none of the General Practitioner (GP)-led health centres or GP practices will not meet the core national criteria aimed at improving patient care and access to services.
Health Professions: Vetting
I have been asked to reply.
All the quality control procedures at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) are geared to achieving the highest levels of accuracy. In addition, the CRB carries out a post disclosure accuracy check that analyses all aspects of the disclosure application and its issue. This check was introduced in 2007 and is based on a statistical sample of disclosure applications and from that sample it can be ascertained that the accuracy rate for 2006-07 is 99.94 per cent. and for 2007-08 is 99.98 per cent. No comparative data are available before these dates and the CRB does not collate information by specific employment sectors, such as the care sector or providers.
If, as a result of this additional check, the CRB needs to correct a disclosure, it does so free of charge to the employer and the applicant.
As with any public sector organisation, the CRB operates a Redress Scheme where there has been evidence of maladministration on its part.
Health Services: Ethnic Groups
As part of the GP Access Programme, the Department has sought to engage primary care trusts and general practitioner (GP) practices in improving access for people with the poorest experience such as patients from black and minority ethnic groups. In 2008, the national GP Patient survey showed that patients from a black and minority ethnic group had seen the biggest improvement in their experience of accessing GPs with whom they are registered. Nevertheless, more needs, and can be, done to improve access for such patients. We are continuing to work with strategic health authorities to collate and share the best practice that exists within the national health service in order to support implementation of Professor Mayur Lakhani’s recommendations. We expect to see continued improvements in patient experience and satisfaction with the access they receive to general practices as reported through the national GP Patient Survey.
Health: Disadvantaged
The national health inequalities Public Service Agreement target aims to reduce inequalities in health by 10 per cent. by 2010, as measured by infant mortality (by socio-economic group) and life expectancy at birth (by geographical area).
The latest assessment, based on 2005 to 2007 data, shows that:
For infant mortality, there has been a slight narrowing in the gap between the “routine and manual” group and the population as a whole, compared with last year. The target to narrow this gap by at least 10 per cent. by 2010 is still a challenging one, but if the gap continues to narrow at the rate observed since 2002 to 2004, the infant mortality element of the target will be met.
For life expectancy, the relative gap in life expectancy between Spearhead areas (the areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators) and the England average has increased for both males and females since the 1995 to 1997 baseline. The target therefore remains challenging.
A detailed assessment of progress towards the target is contained in “Tackling Health Inequalities: 2005 to 2007 Policy and Data Update for the 2010 National Target” which has been placed in the Library. This document was published on the Department's website on 4 December 2008 at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_091414.
Health: Screening
The Department has been working with partners including health and social care professionals, academic researchers and experts and end-users to develop national health service LifeCheck for three key stages in people’s lives:
Early Years LifeCheck—for people with babies under one-year-old;
Teen LifeCheck—for young people about 11 to 15-years-old; and
Mid-life LifeCheck—for the 45-60 age group.
The NHS Mid-life LifeCheck is expected to commence piloting in early 2009. The pilots will be independently evaluated and subject to the findings, the tool will be revised and rolled out nationally later in 2009.
Heart Diseases: Health Services
The Payment by Results development site project being led by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation (BACR) is making good progress in examining the basis on which cardiac rehabilitation services should be funded.
Progress to date includes helping to define what constitutes ‘best practice’ cardiac rehabilitation services, identifying options for the coding of cardiac rehabilitation activity, and collecting cost and activity data from a number of sites over a four-month period.
Further data collection and evaluation is needed before a decision can be made on a timescale for implementing any currency or tariff for cardiac rehabilitation services. In taking that decision, the Department will be guided by the expert opinion of those involved in the development site project.
Helmets: Children
The Department has received one item of correspondence regarding Bolton primary care trust’s (PCT) policy on prescribing cranial helmets from the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen in October 2008.
HIV Infection
The Department has funded the following voluntary organisations for work to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination: the National AIDS Trust, the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health and NAM Publications (formerly the National AIDS Manual). Additionally, the Department has provided additional funding to the Terrence Higgins Trust and the African HIV Policy Network to include work on HIV-related stigma in the Department's programme of HIV health promotion for gay men and African communities.
Hospital Wards
The information is not held centrally.
Hospitals: Closures
Information on hospital closures is not held centrally. It is for national health service organisations to decide locally what constitutes the best configuration of healthcare services and facilities for their populations, working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
The Department provides guidance on isolation practice but decisions on the provision of isolation facilities are made locally. However, isolation facilities do not have to be designated solely for this purpose and additional isolation facilities can be created to meet transitory demand by using general beds.
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
The role of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is to advise the Secretary of State for Health and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Ministers on matters relating to communicable diseases, preventable and potentially preventable through immunisation.
JCVI considered vaccine efficacy data for the Human Papilloma virus vaccines, presented from published papers and as provided by the manufacturers.
At the time of writing the statement (published 18 July 2008) JCVI concluded that both vaccines have a good safety record, and they are highly effective in protecting against the precursors of cervical cancer. Individuals who received the vaccines have been followed for at least six years in clinical trials so far, and the level of antibodies remains at a high level. Based on these high levels, the opinion of the JCVI was that the duration of immunity is expected to be at least 10 years.
A copy of the “JCVI statement on Human Papilloma virus vaccines to protect against cervical cancer” has been placed in the Library.
The routine Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme is ongoing and is available to 12 to 13-year-old girls. The routine HPV vaccination programme coincides with the school year and runs from September to September. A three year catch up campaign also commenced in September 08 and will make the HPV vaccine available for 13 to 18-year-olds. Girls aged 17-18 will be offered the HPV vaccine in the 2008-09 school year, girls aged 16-18 in the 2009-10 school year and girls aged 15-17 in the 2010-11 school year.
The Department estimated that there are approximately 300,000 girls in each age cohort in England and primary care trusts should be offering the vaccine to all of these girls.
Women over the age of 18 are not eligible for the HPV vaccine under the national programme. The Department has made no estimate of the number of women of this age who may be vaccinated with Cervarix. Doctors may prescribe the HPV vaccine to women over the age of 18 in exceptional clinical circumstances. HPV vaccines are also available privately.
The only cost associated with the procurement of the Cervarix vaccine was for legal advice on the development of the tender documents. This amount was £52,934.59. The individual cost of the vaccine and the total cost to Government is commercial-in-confidence.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) were provided with funding to implement the national programme. A list of allocations per PCT is available from the following web link, which has also been placed in the Library.
www.immunisation.nhs.uk/publications/HPV_DSletter190608.pdf
The Department has a five year storage and distribution contract with Movianto UK. The Human Papillomavirus vaccine is distributed as part of the current distribution arrangements under this contract.
Infectious Diseases
The information requested is not available. The best data are from the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) voluntary reporting system for outbreaks. This is not comprehensive but identifies where hospital outbreaks occur and the cases associated with these. Data for the last five years are shown in the following table by HPA region.
Region 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Grand total East Midlands 55 26 10 9 — 100 East of England 703 435 390 229 32 1,789 London 249 176 74 34 — 533 North East 216 84 — 50 — 350 North West 631 82 — — — 713 South East 370 225 7 — — 602 South West 1,252 228 215 144 25 1,864 West Midlands 21 — — 33 — 54 Yorkshire and Humber 126 121 23 — — 270 Grand total 3,623 1,377 719 499 57 6,275 Note: The number of laboratory reports received underestimates the true number of affected individuals as specimens are not taken from everyone affected during outbreaks of norovirus (clinical diagnoses are often made once it is known that the virus is in circulation). Source: Health Protection Agency
Kidney Patients: Children
This information is not collected centrally.
Maternity Services
The Child Health and Maternal Health Intelligence Unit was set up as a pilot in May 2008. It has been working well with all strategic health authorities, with primary care trusts and with the Association of Public Health Observatories, whose website it shares. The pilot ends in March 2009 and its future development is being reviewed.
Mental Health Services
The proposed NHS constitution right applies to all drugs and treatments that are recommended in technology appraisal guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and covered by the associated funding direction.
MRSA: Screening
The Department’s Saving Lives guidance1 gives general guidance on screening, referring specifically to emergency orthopaedic and trauma admissions. The guidance issued covering elective patient MRSA screening2 also includes information relevant to emergency patient screening. Both guidelines have been placed in the Library.
We currently require all relevant elective admissions to be screened for MRSA by April 2009, and all emergency admissions by April 2011. Further guidance will be issued as necessary.
1 Department of Health (2007). Saving Lives: Reducing infection, delivering clean and safe care. Screening for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation.
2 http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersand circulars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_086687
NHS: Buildings
(2) what the maintenance backlog to reach estate code condition B was in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997.
The information is shown in the following tables.
NHS Estates collects data on backlog maintenance annually from national health service trusts through its Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). It has not been amended centrally and responsibility for its accuracy lies with the contributing NHS organisations. Risk adjusted backlog maintenance was introduced in 2004-05 and therefore not collected prior to that year.
The 28 strategic health authorities were created in 2002-03 and re-organised in 2006-07 into 10. For backlog maintenance data relating to before 2002-03, the national totals have been provided.
National total Total backlog maintenance (£ million) 1997-98 2,836 1998-99 3,027 1999-2000 3,108 2000-01 3,242 2001-02 3,378 2002-03 3,518 2003-04 3,198 2004-05 3,142 2005-06 3,684 2006-07 3,740 2007-08 4,044
National total Risk adjusted backlog maintenance (£ million) 2004-05 1,342 2005-06 1,744 2006-07 1,542 2007-08 1,854
Total backlog maintenance by the 28 strategic health authorities 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 177 91 128 130 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 94 82 136 138 Birmingham and the Black Country 244 262 286 360 Cheshire and Merseyside 153 75 53 69 County Durham and Tees Valley 62 29 57 63 Cumbria and Lancashire 97 64 58 58 Dorset and Somerset 47 10 18 15 Essex 82 76 93 77 Greater Manchester 205 172 117 122 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 89 80 102 131 Kent and Medway 106 114 109 151 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 109 118 100 95 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 99 87 63 78 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 72 79 85 93 North Central London 172 189 135 241 North East London 147 174 168 121 North West London 221 344 266 456 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 81 70 76 74 Shropshire and Staffordshire 98 100 94 90 South East London 164 145 119 154 South West London 161 154 176 204 South West Peninsula 41 18 31 70 South Yorkshire 69 46 49 67 Surrey and Sussex 108 85 75 94 Thames Valley 151 106 124 149 Trent 148 151 146 106 West Midlands South SHA 94 90 84 92 West Yorkshire 224 188 193 185 National total 3,518 3,198 3,142 3,684
Total backlog maintenance by the 10 strategic health authorities 2006-07 2007-08 East Midlands 297 285 East of England 290 363 London 1,110 1,106 North East 132 148 North West 309 309 South Central 276 307 South East Coast 249 306 South West 173 249 West Midlands 519 553 Yorkshire and the Humber 383 418 National total 3,740 4,044
Risk adjusted backlog maintenance by strategic health authority 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 East Midlands 92 118 65 154 East of England 115 116 107 152 London 346 535 451 489 North East 60 73 58 69 North West 86 108 111 96 South Central 80 115 103 136 South East Coast 121 139 140 159 South West 88 116 76 129 West Midlands 253 296 265 259 Yorkshire and the Humber 101 128 164 211 National total 1,342 1,744 1,542 1,854
The Department recognises the important role, which facilities play in the delivery of modern high quality, accessible care, as envisioned by High Quality Care for All. To facilitate a streamlined and timely approach to facilities development, decision-making about the planning and development of all facilities is vested in local health organisations, who can consult and engage with their local communities on key issues to ensure that those facilities meet their specific needs.
At a national level, the Department develops and publishes a suite of best practice guidance on health care facilities, which are made available free of charge to the national health service. It has also developed a range of products and initiatives to support the NHS in the planning and construction of facilities.
The data items collected by the Estates Returns Information Collection system for the latest period 2007-08 have been placed in the Library.
National health service organisations have devolved responsibility for the efficient utilisation of their assets including the estate. The Department has supported the efficient utilisation of assets by ensuring that NHS organisations disposing of surplus property retain the proceeds for reinvestment. The Department continues to work with the NHS to improve efficiency in all areas.
NHS: Fees and Charges
National health service hospital treatment is only provided free of charge to those people who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom or who are exempt from charges under the provisions of the “National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989”, as amended. Hospitals have a duty to identify those who are not entitled to free treatment, charge them for that treatment and, where possible, to recover the costs of treating them if treatment has had to be provided to them urgently.
Successive Governments have not required the national health service to provide statistics on the number of overseas visitors seen, treated or charged under the provisions of the charging regulations nor any costs involved. Therefore, it is not possible to provide this information.
Pathology
Lord Carter of Coles, chair of the Independent Review of NHS Pathology Services in England, has delivered to Ministers his report on the second phase of the Review’s work. The report is due to be published this month, together with the Department’s initial response to the Review’s recommendations.
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
We have asked the President of the Royal College of Physicians (Professor Ian Gilmore) to carry out a review of prescription charges that will consider how to implement the commitment to exempt patients with long-term conditions from prescription charges. The review is in its initial stages and is due to make its recommendations to ministers in summer 2009. The terms of reference for the review are to:
consider how to implement the Government's commitment to exempt patients with long-term conditions (LTCs) from prescription charges over the next few years following the exemption for cancer patients, which will be introduced in 2009;
engage with patients and their representatives, clinicians, the public, health care organisations and other interested groups to ensure the widest range of views contribute to the review's findings;
consider how to define the range of long-term conditions affecting patients that should be exempted from prescription charges; and
consider how exemption from charging can be best phased in, with due regard to what is in the best interests of patients, the potential impact on the wider health care system, implications for existing policies on management of long term conditions, implications for public expenditure.
The Department does not know the number of prescriptions that have been issued, only the number of prescription items dispensed.
Prescription information taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis system, supplied by the Prescription Pricing Division of the NHS Business Services Authority, indicate that in 2007 a total of 11.4 per cent. of prescription items (90.8 million) dispensed in England attracted a charge. Of these, 7.1 per cent. of prescription items (56.7 million) were charged at the point of dispensing and 4.3 per cent. of prescription items (34.1 million) were attributable to pre-payment certificates.
Public Consultation: Yorkshire and the Humber
The information requested is not held centrally.
Sex: Young People
Survey data published by the Office for National Statistics “Contraception and Sexual Health 2007-08” Omnibus Survey Report No. 37 found that 80 per cent. of women aged 16-24 reported one or more sexual partners in the last year. The data are not analysed into smaller age bands.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Funding to support sexual health services is not allocated separately to primary care trusts (PCTs) but is contained within the mainstream revenue allocations made to PCTs. It is the responsibility of PCTs to commission the health services they need to meet the health requirements of the local populations they serve. Genital warts can be diagnosed and treated in a variety of settings but currently data are only collected from genito-urinary medicine clinics, so it is therefore not possible to accurately forecast how much PCTs spent on the treatment and prevention of genital warts.
Strokes: Health Services
The National Stroke Strategy mandates the establishment of stroke care networks. All proposed networks originally proposed have now been established and are expected to be fully functional by spring 2009. Details of the networks can be found on the Stroke Improvement programme website.
Vioxx
The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for Care Services, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) met with representatives of Merck Sharpe and Dohme UK Ltd on 10 July 2008 where he highlighted the concerns raised by hon. Members on behalf of their constituents. A representative from Merck and Co., Inc. was also present at that meeting.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed Conflict
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The military situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is comparatively calm for the time being. Fighting between the National Congress for People Defense (CNDP) and DRC government forces was last reported on 17 November, when the two sides clashed around the town of Rwindi in North Kivu province. Since then, the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has fulfilled commitments to withdraw from positions captured in recent fighting. However, skirmishes have taken place between the CNDP and other militia groups more recently.
We continue to follow events in eastern DRC closely, and urge all parties to return to processes to achieve a political solution to the issues underlying the violence.
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) requires a political solution acceptable to all sides. We strongly support the efforts of former President Obasanjo, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General, to achieve such a solution through mediation between key figures in the region. Peace agreements have been reached between leaders in the region. It is important that these are observed.
We would welcome dialogue between the DRC government and Laurent Nkunda. However, talks between them should take place within the framework of the Goma Process, which remains an essential element of a lasting peace in the region.
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: During recent fighting, UN observers reported that shots had been fired across the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. We understand from the UN's mission in DRC that Congolese forces fired several mortars into Rwanda on 29 October; the Rwandan military responded with fire from three T55 tanks. The incident did not escalate any further.
We have urged both the Rwandan and DRC governments to pursue political solutions to the problems in eastern DRC to ensure the full implementation of the Nairobi and Goma agreements. Effective co-operation between the two governments is crucial to ending the conflict. The progress they have made towards resolving the issues posed by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia's continued presence in eastern DRC and towards improving their bilateral relations is welcome.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Human Rights
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: Human Rights Watch published a report on 25 November 2008 called “‘We Will Crush You”, The Restriction of Political Space in the Democratic Republic of Congo’. It accuses Kabila's government of using “brutal and repressive tactics to stifle opponents” since the first round of presidential elections in July-August 2006.
We remain concerned about allegations of human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and we continue to raise these issues with the authorities. We are working with European partners to monitor the treatment of leading detainees and the conduct of proceedings against them, share information on cases and make representations where appropriate.
Diego Garcia: Rendition
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the then Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) on 12 December 2005, Official Report, column 1652W.
Since 2005, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has conducted a number of thorough reviews of our files on rendition. Prior to 2008, given that we had firm assurances from the US that they had not and would not use our territory or airspace for rendition without our permission, these reviews focussed on the question of whether requests for rendition had been made. But, given the thoroughness of these reviews, had they revealed any instances where rendition had occurred, we would have informed Parliament.
However, following the new information received from the US this year that, contrary to previous assurances, there had been two instances of rendition through Diego Garcia in 2002, we conducted a further review of records to compile a list of flights where we had been alerted to concerns regarding rendition and ascertain whether we had any evidence that UK territory may have been used for renditions. This included looking back at the process and findings of the previous reviews. No such information was discovered.
Thailand: Protests
During the occupation of Bangkok's two main airports by People's Alliance for Democracy protestors, our embassy officials ran a call centre to offer advice to British nationals in Thailand. The call centre also offered to collect details from those worried about getting a flight home and pass those on to airlines as and when emergency flights were being scheduled. Officials were present at Phuket and Chiang Mai airports to provide assistance, and others travelled to U-Tapau military airport once flights began leaving from there. Consular officials helped British nationals obtain urgent medical prescriptions and assisted them in obtaining financial support from family and friends in the UK. Throughout the disruption, embassy officials have been in constant contact with the Thai authorities and have worked closely with the Tourist Authority of Thailand to ensure those British nationals who needed assistance, received it. Officials also toured hotels to communicate with British nationals.
We have been in close contact with all the airlines encouraging them to uphold their responsibility to their ticket holders. I spoke to the United Arab Emirates ambassador on 28 November about problems British nationals in Bangkok were experiencing with Emirates; our ambassador in Abu Dhabi also made additional contact with the head of Emirates in Dubai. The Secretary of State for Transport spoke to the British Airways chief executive on 3 December. As a result of our interventions some carriers did lay on additional flights from alternative airports in Thailand, and others arranged for their passengers tickets to be valid on other airlines with better capacity.
With the reopening of Suvarnabhumi International Airport a British embassy helpdesk has been established, and officials have been liaising closely with airlines in order to give British nationals the best chance of getting a seat home as soon as possible.
Duchy of Lancaster
10 Downing Street
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer the Prime Minster gave to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 13 October 2008, Official Report, column 881W.
Central Office of Information: Advertising
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Central Office of Information. I have asked the chief executive to reply.
Letter from Alan Bishop, dated December 2008:
Re: Advertising Costs
As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) name, (b) cost and (c) purpose was of each advertising campaign carried out by COI in each of the last three years [240655].
The information that you have requested has been placed in the Library.
Departmental Broadcasting
Mr. Byrne: I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 25 June 2008, Official Report, column 400W.
The Cabinet Office has not paid for any television programmes. However, the Office of the Third Sector is providing a grant of £2.4 million to the Media Trust between 2008-11. This funding is to support the Community Channel, a digital television channel which promotes volunteering and the work of charities. This funding also supports the Community Newswire, which enables charities to promote their work to journalists. The Media Trust is an independent charity overseen by a board of trustees which sets the channels’ programming priorities. Details of the Community Channel’s programmes are available on their website at:
www.communitychannel.org
Departmental Consultants
The information requested for the Cabinet Office is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Data Protection
Data protection is a top priority for Government Departments and there are a number of key areas in which we have made improvements:
Vital openness and transparency achieved through the publishing of data breaches in annual resource accounts—there is currently no equivalent requirement to report in the private sector
Enhanced departmental roles increasing accountability with senior information risk owners at board level owning risk and reporting to accounting officers on data security measures
Huge training efforts—90,000 staff trained at HMRC alone, NHS training package available to 1 million plus staff, new civil service wide e-learning package delivering data security training on an unprecedented scale
Increased technical precautions to minimise the likelihood of data losses—encryption programmes in all Government Departments with over 30,000 laptops encrypted in MOD alone.
Updated and improved guidance being issued on all aspects of departmental security including physical, personnel and information security.
Departmental Disabled Staff
The Cabinet Office published its Single Equality Scheme in February 2008, which included a report on progress in meeting its disability equality duties. Copies are available in the in the Libraries of the House and on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/corp/assets/publications/corporate/equality/equality_scheme.doc
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
National insurance employer contributions incurred on behalf of special advisers and expenses are not included in the pay bill costs provided by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 99-102WS.
Employee pension contributions form part of salary and are included in the costs provided by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 99-102WS.
Departmental Travel
The Cabinet Office’s mid-year report, the autumn performance report 2008 (cm 7517), was laid before Parliament on 8 December 2008.
The autumn performance report 2008 is also available from the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/psa/autumn_delivery.aspx
Foreign Investment in UK
[holding answer 9 December 2008]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the (a) inflow and (b) outflow of foreign capital into the UK in each month since January 2004.(241564)
The Office for National Statistics does not collect data for total inflows and total outflows of foreign capital into the UK. Data is compiled for net inflows only, that is total inflows of foreign capital less total outflows of foreign capital. This data is not available on a monthly basis but. is compiled on a quarterly basis. Therefore data for net inflows of foreign capital into the UK are attached for every quarter since the first quarter of 2004.
This data is published in the quarterly Balance of Payments First Release.
£ million Direct investment in the UK Portfolio investment in the UK Equity capital Reinvested earnings Other capital transactions Total direct investment in the UK Equity securities Debt securities Total portfolio investment the UK Other investment the UK Total investment in the UK by non-residents HJYR CYFV HMAD HJYU XBLW XBLX HHZF XBMN HBNS 2004 23,716 8,558 -1,066 31,208 -6,938 95,487 88,549 425,577 545,334 2005 82,949 10,501 4,395 97,845 9,482 123,236 132,718 487,400 717,963 2006 55,393 22,195 7,301 84,889 -10,122 164,078 153,956 382,315 621,160 2007 87,809 24,288 -13,947 98,150 17,327 192,464 209,791 732,367 1,040,308 2004 Q1 1,382 2,759 1,131 5,272 -132 53,300 53,168 219,446 277,886 Q2 7,127 1,776 -2,865 6,038 -2,877 16,102 13,225 65,824 85,087 Q3 3,676 3,319 365 7,360 -1,382 17,047 15,665 84,968 107,993 Q4 11,531 704 303 12,538 -2,547 9,038 6,491 55,339 74,368 2005 Q1 8,445 2,632 4,765 15,842 11,379 47,322 58,701 199,555 274,098 Q2 2,786 3,141 8,598 14,525 3,608 25,308 28,916 131,625 175,066 Q3 64,961 3,497 2,252 70,710 -14,199 19,047 4,848 93,865 169,423 Q4 6,757 1,231 -11,220 -3,232 8,694 31,559 40,253 62,355 99,376 2006 Q1 25,916 4,857 3,480 34,253 -10,555 38,602 28,047 290,389 352,689 Q2 13,870 6,829 2,426 23,125 -7,215 29,914 22,699 -39,954 5,870 Q3 12,481 8,098 -749 19,830 12,161 49,318 61,479 55,629 136,938 Q4 3,126 2,411 2,144 7,681 -4,513 46,244 41,731 76,251 125,663 2007 Q1 12,843 7,437 -6,624 13,656 -294 34,936 34,642 410,748 459,046 Q2 25,264 5,761 -7,104 23,921 3,653 88,388 92,041 89,289 205,251 Q3 16,198 5,636 -8,439 13,395 -8,279 44,149 35,870 117,156 166,421 Q4 33,504 5,454 8,220 47,178 22,247 24,991 47,238 115,174 209,590 2008 Q1 23,784 5,730 -5,415 24,099 6,772 45,770 52,542 218,731 295,372 Q2 11,405 5,606 -2,766 14,245 14,557 83,270 97,827 -433,671 -321,599
Government Departments: Standards
The Cabinet Secretary intends to complete the programme of re-reviewing all major Government Departments two years on from their original Capability Review.
Utilities
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Joe Grice, dated 8 December 2008:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, what the average quarterly household expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels was in each region in England in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (240880)
The tables below provide estimates of average expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels for each region in England. Figures have been provided both in current prices, and adjusted for general inflation (shown here in 2007 prices). The figures are based on those published each year in Family Spending, the annual report on the Expenditure and Food Survey:
http://www.statisties.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=361
Regional estimates published in Family Spending are based on regional sub-samples of the Expenditure and Food Survey. Due to the smaller size of these sub-samples, regional estimates are generally based on data collected over three years. However in some years, changes to the survey meant that this was not possible, and regional estimates were produced using data collected over one or two years.
£ per quarter, 2007 prices4 1997-981 1998-992 1999-20002 2000-012 2001-021 2002-033 2003-042 2004-052 2005-062 20061 20073 North East 215.20 204.00 193.50 177.30 184.60 177.60 168.20 164.30 164.70 195.70 194.30 North West 221.60 208.90 200.00 187.10 176.80 175.40 171.50 170.20 175.70 212.30 208.40 Yorkshire and the Humber 207.40 203.40 189.70 180.90 167.30 166.00 163.90 168.40 175.60 211.20 210.40 East Midlands 208.30 202.40 191.80 182.40 178.90 181.40 174.40 171.20 170.80 202.20 198.40 West Midlands 220.90 211.40 199.70 187.60 180.30 172.00 169.00 167.00 176.50 215.70 216.80 East of England 206.20 197.70 182.90 171.70 182.10 176.40 173.50 172.00 179.50 221.00 218.60 London 191.10 191.30 176.30 171.60 161.60 159.00 159.60 160.30 167.50 196.00 197.90 South East 204.50 196.70 181.70 177.40 187.70 176.80 175.10 169.90 175.50 216.40 213.90 South West 208.40 196.70 180.10 176.70 179.60 182.50 176.60 173.50 176.40 209.50 214.70 England 208.60 200.70 187.50 179.00 177.30 173.50 170.20 168.50 174.10 209.90 209.10 1 Figures based on data from one year only. 2 Figures based on an average from three years of data up to and including the reference year. 3 Figures based on an average from two years of data up to and including the reference year. 4 Figures have been adjusted to 2007 prices using the RPI all items index.
£ per quarter 1997-981 1998-992 1999-20002 2000-012 2001-021 2002-033 2003-042 2004-052 2005-062 20061 20073 North East 165.50 161.80 155.80 147.00 155.40 152.50 148.50 149.70 154.00 187.70 194.30 North West 170.40 165.70 161.00 155.10 148.90 150.60 151.40 155.10 164.30 203.60 208.40 Yorkshire and the Humber 159.50 161.30 152.70 150.00 140.90 142.60 144.80 153.40 164.10 202.60 210.40 East Midlands 160.20 160.50 154.40 151.20 150.60 155.80 154.00 156.00 159.70 193.90 198.40 West Midlands 169.90 167.60 160.70 155.50 151.80 147.70 149.20 152.10 165.00 206.90 216.80 East of England 158.50 156.80 147.30 142.40 153.30 151.50 153.20 156.70 167.80 212.00 218.60 London 147.00 151.70 141.90 142.30 136.10 136.60 140.90 146.10 156.60 187.90 197.90 South East 157.20 156.00 146.30 147.10 158.00 151.90 154.60 154.80 164.10 207.50 213.90 South West 160.20 155.90 145.00 146.50 151.20 156.80 155.90 158.00 165.00 200.90 214.70 England 160.40 159.20 150.90 148.40 149.30 149.00 150.30 153.50 162.70 201.30 209.10 1 Figures based on data from one year only. 2 Figures based on an average from three years of data up to and including the reference year. 3 Figures based on an average from two years of data up to and including the reference year.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies: Standards
Most academy pupils—almost 70 per cent. (based on the income deprivation affecting children index)—come from deprived areas, but we have made no separate assessment of their performance compared to pupils from other areas. Overall, however, the evidence shows that academies are improving educational attainment compared with their predecessor schools and at a much faster rate than the national average. The fifth annual independent evaluation of academies by PricewaterhouseCoopers concludes that
“Academies are meeting the needs of a wide range of pupils”.
Building Schools for the Future Programme
We have not yet identified which local authorities and projects will be in waves 7 to 15 of the Building Schools for the Future programme. The deadline for authorities to submit revised expressions of interest was the end of November 2008.
Departmental ICT
As stated in my previous answer of 28 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1001-02W, the Department does not currently hold a comprehensive list of IT expenditure at every level of detail sponsored by the Department or its delivery partners. To research this information further could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1841W.
Departmental Pensions
The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) is a multi-employer occupational pension scheme for civil servants employed by Government Departments, including the Department for Children, Schools and Families, as well as some other public bodies. The liabilities for the PCSPS are contained in the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts, which are laid before Parliament each year. Figures for the liabilities relating to individual employers are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The value of the teachers’ pension scheme is available in the latest published Resource Accounts (2006-07).
Departmental Public Expenditure
Expenditure on entertainment by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2007-08 has been provided previously, please refer to the answer given on 17 October 2008, Official Report, column 1583W.
Promotional campaigns, including those using advertising, are funded from the Department’s central Advertising and Publicity Budget and from individual programme budgets held by policy directorates. It is therefore not possible to establish a definitive figure for all advertising and promotion, except at disproportionate cost.
Advertising is part of a full integrated promotional campaign. We are able to separate the Department’s spend on campaign advertising, as this is centrally placed through the Central Office of Information, in 2007/08 expenditure by the Department on such advertising was £4,588,000.
Public relations agencies are employed for specific communications tasks, most commonly working alongside our press office to provide campaign support in local, regional and specialist media. The Department’s expenditure on public relations in 2007-08 was £2,333,000.
Education Maintenance Allowance
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for the operation of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) scheme. The LSC does not collect information about the A-level subjects studied by EMA recipients.
EMA was rolled out nationally in England from September 2004. The A-level entry time series from the 2002/03 academic year onwards can be found at
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000769/index.shtml
GCSE
The requested information is given in the following tables, for years going back to 2003. Data prior to 2002 are not available, due to information on free school meal eligibility not being collected. The 2008 data are expected to be published in December.
Number Percentage FSM Non-FSM All pupils FSM Non-FSM All pupils 2007 18,019 45,174 63,193 23.5 8.5 10.5 2006 19,683 47,445 89,727 25.2 9.2 15.1 2005 21,085 47,447 68,532 26.4 9.5 11.8 2004 22,760 51,223 76,722 27.8 10.1 13.0 2003 23,114 50,798 76,620 28.5 10.3 13.3
Number Percentage FSM Non-FSM All pupils FSM Non-FSM All pupils 2007 4,047 9,651 13,698 5.3 1.8 2.3 2006 4,867 11,072 17,132 6.2 2.1 2.9 2005 6,032 12,293 18,325 7.6 2.4 3.2 2004 7,213 15,680 23,939 8.8 3.1 4.1 2003 9,667 19,713 30,213 11.9 4.0 5.2
Please note that the data for 2005-07 are based on pupils at the end of KS4 and years 2003 and 2004 are based on 15-year-old pupils at the start of the academic year.
Figures relate to pupils in maintained schools only.
Data for 2002 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
History: Education
The information required is given as follows.
Only schools that were published in the 2007 School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables have been given.
School Number of 16 to 18-year-olds1 2024104 Haverstock School 255 2024652 Maria Fidelis Roman Catholic Convent School FCJ 141 2044686 The Skinners’ Company’s School for Girls 152 2084509 Charles Edward Brooke School 88 2035403 Archbishop Tenison’s School 36 2106906 The Academy at Peckham 133 2114242 Mulberry School for Girls 356 2124329 Battersea Technology College 62 3036905 The Business Academy Bexley 90 3044006 Wembley High Technology College 180 3045408 John Kelly Boys’ Technology College 134 3046905 Capital City Academy 140 3076905 West London Academy 112 3084041 Salisbury School 124 3084043 Highlands School 192 3094034 Woodside High School, a Business and Enterprise Specialist School 68 3094037 Park View Academy 64 3096905 Greig City Academy 114 3124654 Guru Nanak Sikh Voluntary Aided Secondary School 72 3134021 Hounslow Manor School 100 3145403 Coombe Boys’ School 93 3206905 Walthamstow Academy 2 3304084 Washwood Heath Technology College 113 3304207 Handsworth Wood Girls’ Visual and Performing Arts Specialist College and Sixth Form Centre 51 3304227 Broadway School 143 3304245 Moseley School A Language College 141 3305412 George Dixon International School and Sixth Form Centre 185 3314030 Lyng Hall School 65 3335400 Manor Foundation Business and Sports College 74 3354017 Alumwell Business and Enterprise College 164 3354100 Darlaston Community Science College 114 3364115 Deansfield High School 96 3364131 Parkfield High School 108 3364139 Moreton Community School 110 3404609 All Saints Catholic High School 152 3414419 Shorefields School 53 3414420 Fazakerley High School 71 3414423 Croxteth Community Comprehensive School 91 3414425 Broadgreen High School a Technology College 164 3414788 St. Benedict’s College 114 3414796 Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College 168 3416906 North Liverpool Academy 156 3524257 Whalley Range 11-18 High School and Business and Enterprise College 297 3714607 Rossington All Saints Church of England (VA) School—A Sports College 145 3804034 Rhodesway School 206 3804066 Greenhead High School 182 3804100 Carlton Bolling College 312 3804613 Feversham College 96 3804616 Immanuel College 122 3814036 The Ridings School 27 3824048 Batley Girls’ High School 182 3834031 City of Leeds School 52 3834044 Primrose High School 99 3834045 John Smeaton Community High School 84 3834054 Intake High School Arts College 99 3834058 West Leeds High School 90 3834059 Parklands Girls’ High School 73 3834851 South Leeds High School 93 3904605 Cardinal Hume Catholic School 91 3914500 All Saints College 49 8004108 Culverhay School 62 8014032 Brislington Enterprise College 304 8016905 The City Academy Bristol 12 8114063 Howden School and Technology College 93 8124086 The Lindsey School and Community Arts College 55 8154203 Ripon College 76 8254001 Highcrest Community School 124 8254036 Princes Risborough 73 8254072 Cressex Community School 43 8254074 Burnham Upper School 134 8254094 The Wye Valley School 156 8254095 Amersham School 95 8264085 Sir Frank Markham Community School 121 8315403 Merrill College 62 8364111 Rossmore Community College 32 8364112 Ashdown Technology College 135 8374189 Oakmead College of Technology 53 8564005 New College Leicester 37 8604066 Norton Canes High School 73 8604084 Maryhill High School 39 8674030 The Brakenhale School 72 8714082 Baylis Court School 67 8715409 The Westgate School 72 8724041 Ryeish Green School 90 8754161 Ellesmere Port Specialist School of Performing Arts 81 8814735 St. Peters College 81 8825414 The Eastwood School (11-18) 88 8864026 Dartford Technology College 63 8864031 Swanley Technology College 85 8864059 Swadelands School 64 8864065 Holmesdale Technology College 133 8864114 Archers Court Maths and Computing College 76 8864204 Wilmington Enterprise College 52 8864207 Castle Community College 91 8864219 Hextable School 111 8864242 The Abbey School 93 8865409 Wrotham School 89 8865410 Aylesford School—Sports College 109 8865455 The Hayesbrook School 79 8865456 Northfleet Technology College 8865466 Brockhill Park Performing Arts College 159 8884408 Fleetwood Sports College 2 8914008 Kirkby College 52 8925402 Greenwood Dale School 171 8926905 Djanogly City Academy Nottingham 226 9094301 Morton School 33 9094630 Newman Catholic School 77 9095408 North Cumbria Technology College 31 9164039 Vale of Berkeley College 7 9164040 Brockworth Enterprise School 87 9194117 The Sele School 61 9194154 Onslow St. Audrey’s School 54 9195427 Hockerill Anglo-European College 162 9254036 The City of Lincoln Community College 112 9254609 St. Clements College 103 9255414 Joseph Ruston Technology College 11 9255423 The Giles School 136 9264048 Charles Burrell High School 77 9264067 Heartsease High School 43 9264068 Earlham High School 86 9265403 Costessey High School 130 9284103 Unity College 78 9314074 Peers School 47 9314145 St. Gregory the Great VA Catholic Secondary School 131 9365405 Epsom and Ewell High School 123 1 Age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August 2006.
National Curriculum Tests
(2) when he expects all national curriculum test papers from 2008 to have been re-marked and returned to schools.
The National Assessment Agency (NAA) has in place arrangements for marking to be reviewed where a school believes that it is inaccurate to the extent that a pupil has received an incorrect national curriculum level. The NAA is currently managing the final phase of the reviews process and expects that all results will be issued to schools in the coming weeks. The great majority of schools have already received results for their review applications. Once the final phase of review marking is complete, NAA will be able to provide data on the volume of reviews for the 2008 national curriculum test cycle.
The National Assessment Agency (NAA) is responsible for administering national curriculum tests. NAA advise that the annual costs of pre-tests are as follows:
KS1: The last pre-test was conducted in 2005 and NAA does not have separate costs for this.
KS2: An estimate of pre-testing costs for 2008 per subject are as follows:
Pre-test 1 (recruitment, administration and courier costs): £41,000
Pre-test 2 (recruitment, administration and courier costs): £40,000
KS3: An estimate of pre-testing costs for 2008 per subject are as follows:
Pre-test 1 (recruitment, administration and courier costs): £107,000
Pre-test 2 (recruitment, administration and courier costs): £125,000
Pre-school Education: Class Sizes
The number of infants in classes of over 30 pupils in each year since 1997 can be found in the Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England Statistical First Releases between 2000 and 2008 and the Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England Statistical First Release between 1997 and 1999. These can be viewed online at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000147/sfr15-2000.pdf
(Table 9 for figures between 1997 to 1999).
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000457/08-2004v2.pdf
(Table 9 for figures between 2000 and 2003).
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/SFR_09_2008_National_Tables.xls
(Table 11 for figures between 2004 and 2008).
Private Education: Specialised Diplomas
There are currently no independent schools offering diplomas in 2008/09. However, Wellington college has confirmed its intention to offer the diploma in engineering as early as September 2009.
Schools
The number of Fresh Start schools which opened each year is as follows:
Number of Fresh Start schools 2001 4 2002 3 2003 5 2004 6 2005 5 2006 3 2007 7 2008 1
The majority of Fresh Start schools have made real progress towards raising standards of attainment. At secondary level we expect other programmes, including National Challenge, to be the main focus for secondary school transformation in future.
Schools: Disabled
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 October 2008, Official Report, column 1159W.
Special Educational Needs: Finance
Specialist schools receive a one-off capital grant of £100,000 on their initial designation, which is conditional on them raising £50,000 in sponsorship. The capital grant must be used, together with the sponsorship raised, to enhance the school’s facilities for teaching the specialist subject(s). Specialist schools may also apply for a one-off capital grant of £25,000 when they redesignate, if they can match this with £25,000 in sponsorship, to enable them to renew their specialist facilities and improve and sustain relationships with business and employer partners.
Specialised Diplomas: Costs
Five diploma lines in engineering, construction and the built environment, information technology, creative and media and society, health and development have started being taught from September 2008; five lines (business, administration and finance, environmental and land-based studies, hair and beauty studies, hospitality, and manufacturing and product design) will start being taught from September 2009; four lines (public services, sport and active leisure, retail business, and travel and tourism) will start being taught from September 2010; and three lines (humanities, science and languages) will start being taught from September 2011.
The estimated funding levels for diplomas from 2008-09 to 2010-11 are shown in the following table.
£ million 2008-09 117.6 2009-10 113.1 2010-11 78.1
The diploma spending plans for 2011-12 will be considered as part of the next Spending Review and funding levels will be determined at that stage.
Specialised Diplomas: Finance
The estimated funding levels for diplomas from 2008-09 to 2010-11 are shown in the following table:
£ million 2008-09 117.6 2009-10 113.1 2010-11 78.1
These costs include teacher training, additional funding to local areas and per student, and preparation and delivery costs such as transport.
The diploma spending plans for 2011-12 will be considered as part of the next spending review and funding levels will be determined at that stage.
Specialist Schools: Languages
The information requested has been placed in both the Libraries.
Teachers
The information requested is shown in the following statistical publication: School Workforce in England (including pupil:teacher ratios and pupil:adult ratios), January 2007 (Revised)
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000743/Addition_I_DOU.xls
(Table I1 and I2 give figures for March 2006).
Figures for 2007 will be published on 11 December 2008 and may be viewed online after 9.30 am that day:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000813/index.shtml.
Teachers: Pay
(2) how much was spent on wages for (a) teachers, (b) teaching assistants and (c) support staff in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (ii) Vale of York constituency in (A) 1997 and (B) 2008.
The available information is contained within the following tables:
Staffing (pay) expenditure by local authority maintained schools in England 1996-97 2007-08 (estimated) £ As a percentage of GDP £ As a percentage of GDP Teaching staff 9,725,742,000 1.23 18,429,079,000 1.30 Education support staff 1,213,867,000 0.15 4,246,602,000 0.30 Other school staff 1,754,316,000 0.22 3,022,919,000 0.21
1996-97 2007-08 Teaching staff Education support staff Other support staff Teaching staff Education support staff Other support staff Yorkshire and Humberside 1,094,692,000 136,602,000 177,427,000 1,840,920,000 453,859,000 286,883,000 Barnsley 44,590,000 5,196,000 6,819,000 75,231,000 18,618,000 11,840,000 Bradford 115,239,000 33,686,000 11,536,000 207,242,000 58,551,000 32,955,000 Calderdale 30,630,000 4,780,000 6,474,000 83,093,000 18,286,000 14,111,000 City of Kingston upon Hull 58,226,000 6,773,000 11,928,000 85,705,000 28,501,000 15,961,000 Doncaster 69,012,000 12,415,000 8,241,000 111,336,000 24,867,000 17,928,000 East Riding of Yorkshire 65,170,000 7,764,000 9,834,000 111,236,000 23,102,000 20,545,000 Kirklees 86,091,000 13,195,000 8,995,000 151,600,000 38,052,000 20,445,000 Leeds 158,403,000 6,625,000 39,893,000 247,972,000 64,563,000 40,054,000 North East Lincolnshire 38,299,000 4,679,000 6,311,000 52,803,000 14,925,000 11,230,000 North Lincolnshire 35,543,000 3,555,000 7,584,000 55,700,000 14,056,000 8,495,000 North Yorkshire 124,708,000 9,917,000 13,607,000 216,073,000 40,361,000 28,108,000 Rotherham 64,616,000 6,379,000 8,312,000 108,298,000 28,890,000 14,114,000 Sheffield 99,886,000 14,828,000 16,910,000 165,695,000 42,402,000 28,910,000 Wakefield 70,542,000 3,805,000 16,133,000 113,163,000 27,019,000 15,824,000 York 33,737,000 3,005,000 4,850,000 55,776,000 11,666,000 6,362,000 Notes: 1. Teaching Staff includes teaching staff, supply teaching staff and agency supply teachers. 2. Other School Staff includes premises staff, admin staff, catering staff and other staff. 3. GDP cash data sourced from ONS data for money GDP. 4. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000. 5. The 1996-97 data taken from the R01 which was collected from CLG (formerly ODPM). The 2007-08 data taken from Section 52 Outturn statements. 6. Cumbria LA has yet to make a 2007-08 Section 52 Outturn Submission and consequently the England total for 2007-08 is estimated. 7. Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 4 December 2008.
International Development
CDC
The Department for International Development (DFID) has set an Investment Policy for CDC—recently renewed in November 2008—which dictates where and in what the company may invest. In accordance with advice from Her Majesty's Treasury, the policy requires that, when CDC invests in intermediary companies for fiscal, regulatory or other reasons, it should seek to avoid those jurisdictions listed as unco-operative tax havens by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or tax regimes listed as harmful under the European Union Code of Conduct for Business Taxation.
DFID does not make investments abroad through any other bodies.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Hospitality expenditure is processed through the Department for International Development's (DFID) financial systems, recording budget authoriser, date, accounting period, department and identifying costs against the chart of accounts.
Beverage costs (including alcohol) are not accounted for as separate items.
Departmental Rail Travel
The Secretary of State last used a train in the course of his official duties on 28 November 2008.
Departmental Research
The forecasted expenditure on centrally managed research is £134 million this financial year (2008-09) rising to £181 million next year (2009-10) and £220 million in 2010-11 through to 2013-14.
The areas of focus for the Department for International Development’s (DFID) research is set out in the DFID Research Strategy 2008-13 published in April this year. The six theme areas are health, sustainable agriculture, growth, climate change, governance in challenging environments and future challenges and opportunities.
A link to the DFID Research Strategy is as follows:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/Research-Strategy-08.pdf
The Department for International Development (DFID) works closely with research programmes and draws on appropriate evidence and knowledge as it becomes available. DFID has recently re-organised the management of research so that research teams work directly with policy teams. There will also be a much enlarged policy and research communication team, which will include a new team on research uptake. The mandate of this team is to ensure that processes are in place that enhance access to and use of research. This includes:
(i) Knowledge Brokers whose mandate is to sign-post policy advisers with relevant research information;
(ii) A new synthesis function, to systematically review relevant research in a defined policy area;
(iii) Management of a range of research communication programmes that make research more accessible (for example, through policy briefs, short research summaries, better reporting of research findings in the media); and
(iv) Introduction of Senior Research Fellows who will provide scientific leadership and enhance the relevance of research in policy and practice.
Further information on DFID research is available through the central portal at:
http://www.research4development.info/
Members: Correspondence
A reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton has been issued.
Overseas Aid
Full details of the Department for International Development's (DFID) planned programme allocation for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 are set out in table 4 of annex 2 of the 2008 DFID annual report, “Development: Making it Happen”. Summary totals are reproduced in the following table.
2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Country/regional programme Allocation (£ million) 2,304 2,587 2,887 As percentage of total programme 43 41 39 International Divisions’ programme Allocation (£ million) 2,614 3,120 3,595 As percentage of total programme 48 49 49 Policy and Research Division programme Allocation (£ million) 489 641 837 As percentage of total programme 9 10 11
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/annual-report-08.asp
Zimbabwe: Cholera
We are responding to the cholera outbreak and wider crisis in the health service in Zimbabwe with a £10 million package of assistance. This is part of an overall aid programme this financial year worth £47 million, of which £9 million has been given for food aid. Since the beginning of the financial year, our total programme in Zimbabwe has been increased by nearly 20 per cent., from a baseline budget of £40 million, making it the largest ever British aid programme to Zimbabwe.
In addition to our emergency response, we continue to give life saving support to people affected by HIV and AIDS, and are helping thousands of small farmers to increase their food production through the supply of seeds and fertilizer and the introduction of improved farming methods. None of our aid goes through government, but is all channelled through the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisation (NGOs).
Zimbabwe: Overseas Aid
The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing a £10 million package of support to respond to the cholera outbreak and the collapse of health services in Zimbabwe. The cholera has killed hundreds of people and hospitalised several thousands more.
As part of this package we are strengthening the capacity of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to strengthen its capacity to co-ordinate the cholera response, and ensure timely surveillance and effective health information systems to track and respond to new cholera cases.
The collapse of the water and sanitation system in Zimbabwe has resulted in the worst cholera epidemic in the country’s history and has already led to thousands of cases and several hundred deaths. Fatality rates are high because of the collapse of the health system.
The additional £3 million funding will be disbursed through the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Department for International Development's funding will help provide life-saving health services and safe drinking water in the areas worst hit, better co-ordination, surveillance, and hygiene education. These additional funds will also help prevent and respond to other epidemics should they occur in the coming months.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided both emergency and longer-term support for water, sanitation and hygiene in Zimbabwe over the past three years. This has been mainly through direct contributions to UNICEF for emergency disease preparedness programmes (including cholera) and also through the DFID Protracted Relief Programme (PRP) which seeks to provide longer-term sustainable solutions to supplying potable water. In 2007-08 a total of £700,000 was channelled through NGO partners under the PRP and a contribution of £1 million was made through UNICEF for disease preparedness. This year (2008-09) £1.9 million was channelled through NGOs for a strengthened response to access to clean water and participatory health and hygiene education.
Treasury
Climate Change
The cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change Programme increases Government’s capacity to adapt by ensuring a coordinated approach across all Departments and the public sector. This includes implementation of the adaptation aspects of the Climate Change Act, such as development of the national climate risk assessment. Information about the programme can be found at
www.defra.gov/adaptation.
The Treasury is working with other Departments to enhance the Government’s capacity to adapt by, for example, reviewing its appraisal guidance (the Green Book) to ensure that policy and investment decisions incorporate adaptation.
Debt
HM Revenue and Customs calculates its debt balance as at 31 March each year and includes the relevant figures in the Trust Statement which form part of it’s published accounts.
The accounts for 2007-08 (HC 674) which include the debt balances as at 31 March 2007 and 31 March 2008 were published on 14 July 2008. Copies of the accounts are available on the HMRC website at:
www.hmrc.govuk/about/reports.htm
HM Revenue and Customs has no evidence of a direct correlation between recent changes in its debt management work force levels and the collection of outstanding debt.
Departmental Internet
The GSi forms part of Critical National Infrastructure, and as such, detailed customer information is not made publicly available.
Departmental Official Hospitality
The Department maintains a record of total spending on official hospitality in its general ledger. For the recording of alcohol spending I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (John Healey) on 20 June 2006, Official Report, column 1855W. All expenditure, including that on hospitality, has to be incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Economic and Monetary Union
The Chancellor announced in Budget 2008 that,
“the Government do not propose a euro assessment to be initiated at the time of this budget.”
The Treasury will again review the situation at Budget time next year as required by the Chancellor’s June 2003 statement.
Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks
(2) what the level per hectolitre of each type of alcohol duty was in each year since 1997.
All changes to excise duty rates are published at the Budget and where relevant in the pre-Budget report. Historical data on alcohol duty can be found on the UK Trade Information website:
http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=bulletins.
Government Departments: Property
The Treasury does not record which Government-owned assets have been sold in each year. The estimate of annual asset disposal proceeds is made at an aggregate Government level. Details of proceeds raised from the disposal of fixed assets are published in the PBR (Ch. B), Budget (Ch. C) and in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (Ch. 5).
Government Securities
The Government’s revised issuance plans for 2008-09 can be found in Table B20 of the pre-Budget report 2008. The Government will publish their issuance plans for 2009-10 at Budget 2009.
National Income
The Government do not produce regional GDP data series and do not forecast regional growth rates in the United Kingdom. The ONS produce regional GVA. In terms of GVA at current basic prices, the latest data show that between 2005-06, the south-west grew at 5.4 per cent. compared to the United Kingdom's average growth rate of 5.1 per cent. Data on regional GVA can be accessed publicly via the following link:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/gva1207.pdf.
HM Treasury works with Communities and Local Government, where appropriate, to inform regional spatial strategies for every region.
National Insurance
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: In 2009-10, an estimated 3.7 million people with incomes of £10,000 or less will pay income tax—a reduction of 58 per cent. compared to the estimated 8.8 million people in 1997-98. The estimated number of employees and self-employed with earnings of £10,000 or less who will pay national insurance contributions in 2009-10 is around 3.5 million.
Estimates for earlier years of the number of taxpayers with incomes below £10,000 can be found in Table 2.5 “Income tax liabilities, by income range” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income tax/menu.htm
Non-Domestic Rates
National outturn figures for total business rates revenues are published in table B13 of each pre- Budget report document, the most recent of which can be found at the address below:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/prebud_pbr08_index.htm.
A regional breakdown of business rates collected in England is published in table 2.3e of ‘Local Government Financial Statistics (England) No 18’, which can be found at
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/stats/index.htm.
This document also (in table 2.3d) sets out the receipts collected each year connected to assets that cannot be allocated by region (e.g. telecommunications networks and oil pipelines).
Business rates in Scotland and Wales and district rates in Northern Ireland are a devolved matter. Data can be obtained from the relevant devolved administration.
Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property
Figures for 2008-09 will not be available until after the end of the financial year when local authorities submit their returns to the Communities and Local Government.
The Government published estimates of the revenue generated from the abolition of empty property relief in the 2007 and 2008 Budget reports.
This information is not available. Business rates are collected by reference to the property not by business.
This information is not collected by central Government.
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such representations.
The Department of Communities and Local Government published an impact assessment of the empty property rate relief reforms in May 2007 alongside the primary legislation.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/ratingempty.
On 26 February this year, my colleague, the Minister for Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (John Healey) laid a further assessment before the House, alongside the regulations.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/em/uksiem_20080386_en.pdf.
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such representations.
Public Expenditure
Box B3 of the 2008 pre-Budget report discusses the impact on the public finances of the financial stability measures taken by the Government. The Office for National Statistics has yet to rule on how some of the transactions associated with these measures should be classified. Table B5 of the 2008 pre-Budget report sets out the fiscal impact of the measures being taken by the Government to support the economy.
Public Sector: Contracts
OGC recommends, in its contractual guidance available on the OGC website, that Departments include a general break clause in their contracts for goods or services as a precautionary measure. In the event that there was a change of policy, as a consequence of a change of Government, this clause provides them with a facility to terminate a contract early, after giving the contractor a period of notice.
Revenue and Customs: Personnel
Pre-surplus status gives staff priority for vacancies in HMRC and in other Government Departments.
On 5 December the number of staff classified as pre-surplus was as follows:
(a) 2,874 HM Revenue and Customs staff, and
(b) No Valuation Office Agency staff.
Royal Mint
[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The pre-Budget report (PBR) reference to the asset strand of the Operational Efficiency Programme stated that Gerry Grimstone will be working with Departments, agencies, and the Shareholder Executive to consider the potential for alternative business models, commercialisation, new market opportunities and, where appropriate, alternatives to public ownership for a number of Government assets. With respect to the Royal Mint, the PBR stated that this would entail
“a study to explore the potential benefits of alternative future models for the Royal Mint”.
Scottish Consolidated Fund: Fossil Fuel Levy
The funds drawn down from the fossil fuel surplus to the UK Consolidated Fund are used to fund public spending. Public spending plans are set out in spending reviews and the Scottish Executive receives Barnett consequentials in the normal way, including in respect of the promotion of renewable energy.
Tax Credit
The estimated saving, in 2009-10, of increasing the first taper rate of tax credits to the rates requested, is provided in the following table. No account has been taken of possible behavioural effects.
First taper rate (percentage) Effect on expenditure (£ million) 46 -1,510 45 -1,320 44 -1,130 43 -930
These changes would not affect the number of claimants eligible for tax credits. However, they would increase the number of claimants with awards reduced to zero.
I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 5.16 of the pre-Budget report November 2008 Cm 7484 which states, following input from stakeholders, the Government’s intention to trial making child care payments that more closely reflect child care costs at the time they were incurred.
Tax Credit: Applications
For information up to and including September 2008 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) on 27 October 2008, Official Report, column 792W. The number of new claims received by household in October and November 2008 was 125,757 and 113,259 respectively.
Tax Credit: Complaints
For information up to and including September 2008 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 October 2008, Official Report, column 2367W, and the answer given to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 1 May 2008, Official Report, column 634W.
Information for October and November 2008 is provided in the following table.
2008 Number of complainants (approximate) October 4,000 November 3,450
Tax Credit: Overpayments
The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Tax Credit: Telephone Services
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy) on 11 December 2007, Official Report, column 375W.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jane Kennedy) on 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1691W.
For the number of calls answered each month by the Tax Credit Office MP Hotline up to and including May 2007, I refer the hon. Member to the answer that the then Paymaster-General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo) gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 419W.
The information requested for the period June 2007 to November 2008 is provided in the following table.
Number of calls to Tax Credit Office MP Hotline 2007 June 1,291 July 1,071 August 976 September 1,146 October 1,404 November 1,233 December 887 2008 January 934 February 1,025 March 775 April 947 May 994 June 1,118 July 1,083 August 826 September 912 October 1,009 November 775
VAT: Hotels
HMRC does not collect information at the requested level of detail.
Numbers of VAT registered enterprises by broad sector (at the three-digit standard industrial classification level) are published on the website of the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Voluntary Work
The independent Office for National Statistics has made occasional estimates of the amount of unpaid work in the economy. There is an ongoing programme of work looking into producing these estimates on a regular basis.