Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Defence
Afghanistan: Bombs
In order to protect UK forces, analysis and assessment of the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan continues to receive the highest priority. We routinely analyse IED incidents that occur in Afghanistan, in close consultation with our ISAF partners. I cannot comment further on this type of work as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
UK forces do not play a role in anti-corruption activity in Afghanistan. However, on 15 December 2008, Official Report, column 819, the Prime Minister announced to Parliament a multi agency anti-corruption taskforce to assist the Afghan Government in tackling corruption.
The taskforce is currently agreeing a strategy focused on prevention and political will; enforcement; and accountability. The task force liaises regularly with the Afghan High Office of Oversight, which is the Afghan lead anti-corruption institution, and other relevant Afghan institutions.
In December 2008, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a temporary uplift in UK force levels in Afghanistan to bring our deployment to around 8,300 troops.
At the NATO summit the Prime Minister announced an increase in troop numbers on a temporary basis to provide additional security during the forthcoming Afghan presidential elections. Further details will be announced in Parliament shortly.
Armed Forces: Housing
The requested information will take a little time to collate and verify. I will write to the hon. Member.
Armed Forces: Pinch Point Traders
The ranks of infantry private and lance corporal were added to the Pinch Point Register on 20 September 2007.
An operational pinch point occurs in a branch specialisation, sub-specialisation or area of expertise where the shortfall in trained strength (officers or ratings/other ranks) is such that it has a detrimental impact on operational effectiveness. This might be as a result of adherence to single-service harmony guidelines, under-manning, and/or levels of commitment that exceed the resourced manpower ceiling for the trades or areas of expertise involved.
As I stated in my reply on 20 October 2008, Official Report, columns 122-26W, ‘Fit for Task’ strengths are not routinely recorded and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table shows the liability, strength and shortfalls, in real numbers and percentage figures.
Liability Strength Number Percentage Royal Navy Operational Pinch Point Trades Lt Cdr X SM Command Qualified (SM(CQ)) 47 45 2 5 Lt X SM IWC Qualified and SQEP 40 39 1 3 Principal Warfare Officers 359 289 70 20 RN Harrier GR7 Instructors 9 6 3 33 RN Harrier GR7 Pilots (inc. Instructors) 33 24 9 27 MCD/MWO Lts 81 47 34 43 Strategic Weapons Systems Junior Ranks 110 86 24 22 Merlin Pilots 122 78 44 36 Merlin Observers 116 71 45 39 Merlin Aircrewmen 103 80 23 22 Leading Seaman General Warfare 1,105 815 290 26 Able Rate Diver 135 95 40 30 Lt X SM Advanced Warfare Course Qualified (SQEP) 34 30 4 12 Able Rate 1 Seaman 388 291 97 25 Able Rate 1 Warfare Specialist 666 635 31 5 Able Rate 1 Communications and Information Systems 367 335 32 9 Leading Aircraft Controllers 73 41 32 44 Royal Marines Other Ranks (Pt-Cpl) 6,525 6,003 522 8 Able Rate Warfare Specialist (Sensors Submariner) 178 144 34 17 Sea-King and Lynx Avionics Supervisors 348 284 64 18 Cat A2 Nuclear Watchkeepers 189 157 32 17 Cat B Nuclear Watchkeepers 377 316 61 16 L Logs (CS) (P) 328 261 67 25 AB Logs (CS) (P) 456 447 9 2 L Logs (Pers) 239 222 17 7 AB Logs (Pers) 392 391 1 0 LS (MW) 70 65 5 8 Able Rate Warfare Specialist (Tactical Submariner) 124 116 8 7 Army Operational Pinch Point Trades RE Clk of Wks—SSgt-WO1 248 237 11 44 RLC Ammo Tech—Cpl-SSgt 306 176 130 42.5 Infantry—Pte-LCpl 14,980 13,380 1,600 10.7 REME Rec Mech—LCpl-Cpl 339 213 126 37.2 RE EOD—Cpl-SSgt 131 109 22 16.7 REME VM—Cfn-Cpl 3,521 3,224 297 8.4 Int OPMI—Cpl-Sgt 708 476 232 32.8 REME Armourer—Cfn-Cpl 377 303 74 19.6 RA Gunner—Gnr-Bdr (including Para/Cdo Gnrs and OP Asst) 4,987 4,490 497 10.0 Manning Pinch Point Trades AMS Radiologist—Maj+ 4 2 2 50.0 AMS ITU Nurse—Cpl-Capt 121 35 86 71.1 AMS EM Nurse—Cpl-Capt 101 38 63 62.4 AMS Radiographer—Cpl+ 24 12 12 50.0 AMS Anaesthetist—Maj+ 49 23 26 53.1 AMS Orth Surg—Maj+ 13 10 3 23.1 AMS Gen Surg—Maj+ 17 10 7 41.2 REME Geo—Spr-WO2 365 284 81 22.2 RLC P&C Op—Pte-Cpl 433 435 -2 -0.5 RA UAV Op—LBdr-SSgt 370 299 71 19.2 REME Fitter—Spr-LCpl 495 409 86 17.4 AGC(SPS) Mil Admin—Pte-Sgt 2,666 2,292 374 14.0 AMS GMP—Capt+ 155 137 18 11.6 R Signals IS Engr—Cpl-Sgt 252 124 128 50.8 CAMUS—Musician 300 199 101 33.7 AMS ODP—Cpl+ 95 81 14 14.7 AMS RGN—Cpl-Sgt 293 263 30 10.2 REME C3S—Spr-LCpl 712 611 101 14.2 RLC Chef—Pte-LCpl 1,459 1,383 76 5.2 Royal Air Force Operational Pinch Point Trades Flying Branch (Career Stream)(Senior Officer) 677 576 101 15 Pilot (junior Officer) 1,490 1,288 202 14 Operation Support (Intelligence) 229 224 5 2 Operations Support (Regiment) 275 235 40 15 Operations Support (Flight Operations) 224 219 5 2 Medical 282 213 69 25 Medical Nursing Officer 179 128 51 29 Weapons System Operator (Crewman) 577 503 74 13 Weapons System Operator (Linguist) 63 50 13 21 Mechanical Transport Technician 355 342 13 3 Gunner 1,924 1,702 222 11 Firefighter 545 518 27 4 Air Traffic Controller (ATC)/Flight Operations Manager (FOM)/Flight Operations Assistant (FOA) 1,246 1,228 18 1 Logistics (Mover) 895 849 46 5 Manning Pinch Point Trades Chaplains 78 63 15 19 Operation Support (Air Traffic Control) 397 371 26 7 Dental 71 57 14 20 Intelligence (Analyst) 679 590 89 13 Musician 175 152 23 13 Weapons System Officer (Junior Officer) 513 439 74 14 Operation Support (Aerospace Battle Manager) 342 293 49 14 Personnel (Support) 521 494 27 5 Personnel (Training) 219 198 21 10 Aircraft Technician (Mechanical) 4,965 4,299 666 13 Aircraft Technician (Avionics) 3,942 3,437 505 13 General Technician (Electrical) 551 491 60 11 General Technician (Mechanical) 963 436 527 55 Biomedical Scientist 15 9 6 40 Survival Equipment Fitter 607 562 45 7 Dental Nurse 131 122 9 7
Armed forces: Parachuting
Over the last 12 months (1 April 2008 to 1 April 2009) a total of 11 parachuting courses were cancelled due to lack of aircraft. Of these, eight were basic courses, including basic regular para; basic TA para; re-qualifying courses, and three were specialist courses including special forces.
As at 19 April 2009, 16 Air Assault Brigade was authorised to hold 2,434 qualified parachutists. There are 293 personnel in 16 Air Assault Brigade awaiting the basic parachuting course (BPC). A further 445 personnel are no longer current (i.e. have not completed a parachute jump in the last two years). Therefore 30 per cent. (738) of the military parachutists in 16 Air Assault Brigade are not qualified.
Armed Forces: Rescue Services
(2) what average distance from base to the location of search and rescue activities was in the last 12 months; and what the longest distance from base to such an activity was.
The following table shows the number of call-outs undertaken by each UK base, the average distance travelled and the longest distance travelled between 1 January and 31 December 2008, the most recent period for which figures are available.
Base Call-outs Average distance (nautical miles) Longest distance (nautical miles) RAF Boulmer 211 58.3 188.0 RAF Lossiemouth 275 65.8 423.0 RAF Leconfield 232 43.4 316.0 RAF Valley 222 38.9 130.0 RAF Wattisham 174 50.3 240.0 RMB Chivenor 262 36.8 327.0 RNAS Culdrose 204 41.4 529.0 HMS Gannet 382 49.9 253.0
Further data on military search and rescue activities are published by Defence Analysis and Statistical Advice (DASA) and are available to view on the DASA website at:
www.dasa.mod.uk/natstats/natstatsindex.html
Armed Forces: Resignations
As soldiers are no longer able to buy themselves out, this question has been interpreted to mean all those individuals who voluntarily left the Army.
Due to the ongoing validation of data on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system, a break down of exit by reason, including voluntary outflow (VO), cannot currently be produced for the Army from 28 February 2007 onwards.
However, the following table shows the number of soldiers leaving under ‘VO' from 1998 to 28 February 2007:
Financial year Number of voluntary outflows 1998-99 5,950 1999-2000 5,310 2000-01 5,310 2001-02 4,980 2002-03 4,610 2003-04 4,500 2004-05 4,880 2005-06 4,620 April 2006 to March 20071 4,410 2007-08 2— 1 Only 11 months of data currently available. 2 — denotes unavailable. Notes: 1. The figures are for trained regular army other ranks (soldiers) only and therefore exclude officers, Gurkhas, Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, full-time reserve service, mobilised reserves, TA and all other reserves. 2. For the purpose of this PQ, VO is defined as all exits from trained personnel which are voluntarily generated by the individual before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period (i.e. time expiry). Females who leave on marriage grounds are included in VO exits. 3. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Soldier voluntary outflow figures can be found in Table five of Tri-Service Publication five 'UK Regular Forces Outflow from Trained Strength to Civil Life' which can be viewed on the DASA web at the following link:
http://bravo.dasa.r.mil.uk.applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=48&thiscontent=60&date=2009-04-20&pubType=1&PublishTime=09:30:00&from=home&tabOption=3
Army: Health
Figures for the period since March 2007 are provided in the following table:
Number Percentage of held strength Number Percentage of held strength March 2007 1,809 8.7 1,015 4.9 March 2008 1,716 8.0 1,174 5.4 April 2009 1,149 5.3 2,099 9.7
The figures are taken from statistics relating to deployable strength of Infantry battalions and include officers and soldiers augmented from other cap badges for deployment purposes.
Following individual risk assessments, including an assessment of medical facilities in Theatre, the majority of soldiers officially listed as being of limited deployability are able to deploy to Theatre.
Figures for earlier years are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Atomic Weapons Establishment: Recruitment
Based on current contract assumptions and subject to any change in priorities, AWE plc is planning to recruit in the order of 110 scientists, 160 engineers and 180 technicians over the next five years. The areas of expertise are diverse, and will include computer, measurement and material science; decommissioning and waste management; facility design and operations; manufacturing; systems engineering; project management; assurance, and IT/telecommunications.
Defence Equipment: Lost Property
Data on losses are not held in such a way that enables the separate identification of ‘spare parts’.
Defence: Expenditure
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: Urgent operational requirements (UORs) are, in most cases, funded from outside of the Defence budget through access to the Treasury Reserve. As such the “budget” for UORs is not a limit, but an agreed estimate which has been established in the last two years in order to assist with planning. For the last financial year (2008-09), that estimate was set at £900 million (with facility to roll over committed spend which had not accrued in the previous year), and for this financial year (2009-10) the estimate currently stands at £635 million (with an expected spend from the Reserve of £424 million on the protected mobility package agreed separately).
Given the urgent and operationally-driven nature of UORs it is not possible to generate long-term estimates with any accuracy and thus no estimates have been made for spend beyond this financial year. For historic expenditure I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in another place by my noble Friend Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 24 March 2009, Official Report, House of Lords, columns WA107-08, to the noble Lord Dr. Moonie. To date no repayments have been made to the Treasury in respect of UORs. Beyond the specific arrangements described in the answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 99W, by the Under-Secretary of State for Defence my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Mr. Davies), to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox), no repayments are currently planned.
Departmental Training
There is no specific central guidance on this point which is left to the discretion of local business units to decide based on local requirements. Departmental instructions do make it clear that all expenditure on away days and other similar events should be demonstrably necessary, appropriate, cost-effective and an admissible charge against the Defence budget.
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 5 November 2008, Official Report, column 483W, and 11 February 2009, Official Report, column 1994W, to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands). Recent MOD Ministers' training has been mandatory pre-deployment training in preparation for visits to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraq and Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Given the rapid pace of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, command briefs are prepared for individual visitors or groups at an appropriate level of classification for the audience. These briefings do not exist in the format required to be placed in the Library of the House because they are usually verbal.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 68W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox).
NATO
The UK put forward the idea of an Alliance Solidarity Force as a tangible demonstration of NATO's determination to deter aggression at short notice against any of its allies. The proposal is that, within the wider NATO Response Force, there should be a small, about 1,500 strong, rapidly deployable multinational task force with a dedicated collective defence role. This proposal is currently being written by NATO for further consideration by allies.
Nuclear Weapons: Finance
Additional resources were made available to the Ministry of Defence to fund the activity necessary over the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 period to implement the decisions set out in the December 2006 White Paper: “The Future of the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent” (Cm 6994). Those resources are allocated by central staff to Defence Equipment and Support, which is responsible for the acquisition and logistic support of all military equipment.
The Government have made it clear that the investment required to maintain our deterrent will not come at the expense of the conventional capabilities our armed forces need.
RAF Leuchars
Detailed planning is under way and it is too soon to provide details of the outcome of this process. Manpower on the station will be carefully managed, taking account of the planned introduction of Typhoon Squadrons at RAF Leuchars.
The Tornado F3 force will be reduced to a size commensurate with its UK-based air defence duties and those of the Falkland Islands, until it is replaced in the latter role by Typhoon later this year. The Tornado F3 force will continue to maintain the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) North commitment until its out of service date and the transition of UK and Falkland Islands air defence capability between F3 and Typhoon will remain seamless.
The decision to reduce the number of Tornado F3 was considered in the course of the routine defence planning cycle and taken this April. The station commander at RAF Leuchars was informed of the decision on 8 April 2009. Briefings to station personnel commenced at that time.
We plan to reduce the Tornado F3 force by September this year. Work continues to develop the detailed timetable for this reduction.
Somalia: Piracy
The Royal Navy has been conducting specific counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden since October 2008 in order to deter and disrupt pirate activity in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
UK vessels have been involved in a small number of incidents involving a total of 47 suspected pirates. Of these, eight suspected pirates were considered to have sufficient evidence on which to charge and were subsequently detained and transferred to Kenya for prosecution under the provisions of a Memorandum of Understanding. 37 were permitted to sail back to their coastal waters once all suspected piratical equipment was confiscated. Two suspected pirates were killed during the course of a counter-piracy operation.
Trident: Finance
The estimated costs of the programme to maintain the United Kingdom's deterrent capability beyond the life of the current system, as set out in the December 2006 White Paper, 'The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent' (Cm 6994), and endorsed by Parliament on 14 March 2007, over the next two years are:
£ million at outturn prices 2009-10 400 2010-11 400
Costs are greater in 2009-10 than previously announced due to the agreement with the US to design and manufacture a Common Missile Compartment. However, this is the result of re-profiling of funding rather than cost growth in that year and the overall budgetary provision for the successor deterrent has not changed.
Spending plans for 2011-12 and beyond will be set as part of the Government's spending review process.
War Pensions
As at 31 December 2008, there were 159,300 disablement pensioners in receipt of a war pension.
Warships: Deployment
Data on nautical mileage undertaken by the Royal Navy surface fleet is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
The table shows ceilings (maximum amounts) that the UK can draw from the EU budget (which the UK contributes to) to make direct payments to farmers under EU support schemes included in pillar 1 of the EU common agricultural policy. The totals reflect amounts subtracted where modulation arrangements have been applied (the subtracted funds being redirected to pillar 2).
The vast majority of these payments fall under the Single Payment Scheme (SPS), and are decoupled from production. Actual payments will depend on future changes to EU legislation, future decisions on modulation, and factors such as the application of financial discipline; but will in any case be less than the permitted ceilings.
Calendar year UK direct payments (modulation subtracted) (€ million) 2009 3,370 2010 3,340 2011 3,330 2012 3,340
Current forecasts are only available up to 2012.
Climate Change: Finance
DEFRA delivers the ‘Adapting to Climate Change Programme’, which is a cross-Government programme which aims to help society adapt to climate change. The role of the programme is to develop and provide a comprehensive evidence base including adaptation tools, to raise awareness of the need to adapt, to measure success and to work across Government at all levels to embed adaptation.
Measuring adapting to climate change in expenditure does not give a full picture, it is also about encouraging behaviour change and increasing resilience to risk which does not always involve additional expenditure.
DEFRA and DECC jointly fund the Hadley Centre, and we also fund the production the new UK Climate Projections, due to be launched in summer 2009.
Adapting to climate change forms parts of many areas of DEFRA's work, and it is not always possible to distinguish the costs associated with adaptation. In many cases it will be the way we do something that will help us adapt, rather than a specific project. So it is not possible accurately to estimate the total amount of expenditure on adaptation measures, for example in areas such as animal health, farming and protection of the environment.
A range of other activities which DEFRA leads on will also help adapt to climate change, for example, the introduction of measures to assist communities in adapting to future risks from flooding and work arising from recommendations in the Pitt review. This comes from the central DEFRA budget so it is incorporated into a wider range of expenditure which delivers many benefits, not only on adaptation.
Departmental ICT
The following figures show an average 24/7 central processing unit utilisation for those servers covered by IBM’s server monitoring tool during March and April 2009.
CPU utilisation
15 per cent. on Unix servers
6 per cent. on Wintel servers
We have not been able to produce historical information without incurring disproportionate cost.
Providing figures broken down to divisional level is not possible. Many servers are shared across the Department by a number of divisions. Figures for individual usage could therefore not be obtained.
Departmental Redundancy
The following table (table 1) indicates how many staff from DEFRA have been made redundant in each of the last three years and how much compensation was paid to those made redundant. Please note that information is provided in financial years, not calendar years.
For staff leaving on compulsory or flexible severance terms ‘compensation’ refers to the lump sum compensation payment made. For staff leaving on compulsory, flexible or approved early retirement schemes ‘compensation’ includes lump sum compensation payment, capitalised cost of paying pension or annual compensation payment, pension enhancement and the cost of bringing forward payment of pension lump sum.
The level of compensation paid to each individual is in accordance with the rules set out in the relevant Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
Financial year Number of staff Compensation (£ to the nearest 25,000) 2008-09 8 200,000 2007-08 11 675,000 2006-07 22 400,000
The following table (table 2) indicates how many staff are expected to be made redundant in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and estimated amount of compensation. Again, information is provided in financial rather than calendar years and the definitions of ‘compensation’ used above stand.
Financial year1 Number of staff Compensation (£ to the nearest 25,000) 2009-10 5 2200,000 2010-11 0 n/a 1 Please see below for narrative regarding work force planning for 2009-10 and 2010-11. 2 Approximately.
The five people noted above for financial year 2009-10 are currently undertaking redundancy and redeployment processes which will conclude during 2009. We will continue to work with staff, trade unions and the Cabinet Office throughout the redundancy and redeployment period to try and secure suitable alternative employment wherever possible. However, should any of these individuals not secure suitable alternative employment within a reasonable time, they will be issued notice of redundancy.
Farmers
The Department has made no estimate of the number of hill farmers or dairy farmers who will leave the industry in 2009.
Farmers: Income
The estimated Farm Business Income1 of (a) all farm types and (b) dairy farms for 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 is shown in the following table.
£/farm Farm type 2006-07 2007-08 2008-092 All farm types 34,400 48,100 44,300 Dairy 30,800 55,100 72,800 1 Farm Business Income represents the financial return to all unpaid labour (farmers and spouses, non-principal partners and directors and their spouses and family workers) and on all their capital invested in the farm business, including land and buildings. 2 Provisional Note: Years ending in end-February Source: Farm Business Survey
Fisheries: Western Sahara
The current EU/Morocco Fisheries Partnership agreement was signed in 2006 and sets out the terms for which UK and other European fishing vessels may fish in the waters off the coast of Western Sahara. The agreement does not prejudice the issue of the status of Western Sahara, which the UK regards as undetermined pending UN efforts to find a resolution, nor does it represent recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Maritime waters off Western Sahara.
In the event that an exclusive economic zone was declared, and internationally recognised, the EU would need to consider whether or not it wished to have an agreement with Western Sahara. If it was decided that no such agreement should be entered into, UK vessel owners would still be free to enter into private agreements with Western Sahara.
Waste Management
A copy of the minutes, presentations and handouts from the sixth Waste stakeholder group meeting has been placed in the Library.
Waste Management: Essex
It is for Essex county council to decide if and when to publish the conclusions of the Essex Waste Plan. There is no obligation for DEFRA to do this.
Waste Regional Advisory Group
Waste Regional Advisory Groups (WRAGs) were established by some Government offices to assist in the dissemination of funding from the Waste Implementation Programme’s Regional Support Fund (RSF). However, the South West, Yorkshire and Humber, North East and North West regions maintained their WRAGs when RSF funding ceased. Details of membership and the specific remit of individual WRAGs can be sought from the relevant Government office.
Water: Pollution
Further to the answer to the previous question on this issue, the Secretary of State made a provisional decision on the two appeals in November 2008. The proposed decision would result in changes to the remediation notice which is the subject of the appeals. A further round of consultation with the relevant parties was, therefore, initiated under the Contaminated Land Regulations 2006 which set out the legal framework in this area. This period of consultation has recently ended, and the Secretary of State is currently considering the responses received to determine whether these affect the proposed decision. If there is no change to the proposed decision, the Secretary of State would expect to issue the decision before the summer recess.
Whales: Conservation
UK officials met with those of other likeminded anti-whaling countries at the intersessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and also with EU countries, in March. At both meetings, the UK stressed its continued support for the moratorium on commercial whaling and the risks attendant upon allowing any exceptions to it.
The UK has consistently voiced its opposition to commercial whaling to the Small Working Group of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which is looking at the future of the IWC. The UK would not agree to any proposal which it considered was likely to be detrimental to either the welfare or the conservation of whales.
UK officials discussed Iceland’s decision to issue new whaling quotas, including what representation might be appropriate following the forthcoming election in Iceland, when they met with those of other like-minded countries at the recent intersessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Rome, in March.
Wolf-dogs
The keeping of wolves, and certain hybrids, is controlled under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 and licences to do so are required from local authorities who administer and enforce the 1976 Act.
The 1976 Act contains no provisions relating to the breeding of wolf hybrids and there has been no assessment of such practice in this respect.
The schedule, or list, of species requiring a licence under the 1976 Act was revised in 2007. The general entry for “mammal hybrids” was amended so as to ensure that keeping both first and second generation hybrids, including wolf hybrids, requires a licence. Third generation hybrids, or generations further removed, in this instance, from the original wolf content, do not require a licence.
DEFRA and the RSPCA jointly funded research into the keeping of wolf-dog hybrids which was published in 2001. The contractors found that very few wolf hybrids were kept and that advertisements for wolf-dogs were generally misleading and had been embellished to attract public interest and justify high prices.
Communities and Local Government
Community Relations
Following an extensive consultation process, my Department published “Face to Face and Side by Side—a Framework for Partnership in our Multi Faith Society” in July 2008. The aims of the document were to create more local opportunities both for ‘face to face’ dialogue between people from different religious backgrounds, and for ‘side by side’ collaborative social action.
We are making very good progress in implementing the framework. For instance, we will shortly be announcing the innovative local inter-faith projects around England which will be receiving funding under round 1 of the £4 million Faiths in Action scheme. We have invested £3.5 million to support the capacity of regional faith forums. We are working with the Inter Faith Network for the UK to deliver inter-faith week, a week of activities in November which will celebrate and promote inter-faith activity at local, regional and national level. A number of other commitments on the framework are also being taken forward.
Violent Extremism (Prevention)
I wrote to local authorities who will receive Prevent funding as part of their area-based grant between 2008-09 and 2010-11 on 12 February 2009.
Community Relations: Immigration
The Department for Communities and Local Government has budgeted £50 million in the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 to support integration and community cohesion and to assist local authorities in preventing and managing community tensions. This includes £7.5 million to develop inter-faith activity and £4.5 million to help schools and others offer positive activities for young people. CLG has also contributed £50,000 in start-up funding to help the East of England Development Agency develop an information portal to help migrants find out more about living and working in the UK.
Communities and Local Government is also co-ordinating the allocation of the new cross-Government Migration Impacts Fund. This will provide £35 million in 2009-10 to local services managing the transitional pressures of migration. It will be paid for through increases to migrant fees. Subject to a review in the autumn of the economic position and the migrant fees being received, a similar amount will be made available in 2010-11.
Provision for 2011-12 and beyond will be determined by future Spending Reviews.
Energy Performance Certificates
The Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations (2007/991) for England and Wales came into force for all property on 1 October 2008. From this date a valid Energy Performance Certificate was required to be made available free of charge to any prospective buyer or tenant. Enforcement of the regulations is a matter for trading standards officers.
The Department does not record information about whether new homes for which Energy Performance Certificates have been issued are in either the private or social rented sectors.
The requirement for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for homes in the social and private rental sectors came into force on 1 October 2008. The facility to lodge rental EPCs in the central register became available on 22 September 2008. In the period since 22 September 2008, 537,413 EPCs have been lodged in the private rented and 204,294 EPCs have been lodged in the social rented sector.
Equal Opportunities
The REACH report recommended that the Government should take action to improve the visibility of positive black male role models. The panel who wrote the REACH report envisioned a network of 20 national champions who would be used to challenge negative stereotyping, and support a network of black male role models in local communities. We have been working very closely with members of the REACH panel to ensure that their vision is realised.
On 3 December 2008 the Department launched the National Black Role Model Programme, and announced the names of the 20 National Role Models. These individuals are now working as champions of the programme, engaging at a national level and spearheading the work. The Role Models are being supported by the Windsor Fellowship, an organisation with very strong links to the black community at a grass roots level whom we are now funding to deliver the Role Models Programme.
Fire Services
The information requested is set out in the following table, broken down by region.
Region Lease commencement date Rent commencement date North East 6 June 2007 13 April 2008 East Midlands 6 June 2007 20 January 2008 South West 22 August 2007 15 February 2008 West Midlands 31 December 2007 4 October 2008 North West 8 July 2008 1 January 2009 Yorkshire and Humberside 8 July 2008 14 April 2009 East of England 8 October 2008 21 April 2009 South East 12 June 2008 14 November 2008 London (projected) 26 February 2010 26 November 2010
The buildings are undergoing a fit out programme at present to bring them into a fully operational state. No regional control centre has yet begun operation. The current schedule for cut over was set out in the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) on 11 December 2008, Official Report, columns 248-50W, setting out the revised cut over schedule.
Fire Services: Emergency Calls
The information requested is available in the following tables.
2003 2004 FRS area Total Malicious Good intent Due to apparatus Total Malicious Good intent Due to apparatus England 382,283 46,351 107,607 228,325 365,304 39,229 91,178 234,897 North East 19,603 2,403 5,656 11,544 17,825 1,799 4,620 11,406 Cleveland 4,372 569 1,515 2,288 3,746 394 1,254 2,098 Durham 3,683 669 1,309 1,705 3,569 377 1,027 2,165 Northumberland 2,037 200 459 1,378 1,914 166 394 1,354 Tyne and Wear 9,511 965 2,373 6,173 8,596 862 1,945 5,789 North West 55,939 9,840 14,361 31,738 52,173 8,044 11,302 32,827 Cheshire 5,641 569 1,023 4,049 5,296 535 823 3,938 Cumbria 3,056 370 669 2,017 2,696 184 488 2,024 Greater Manchester 23,342 5,200 5,771 12,371 22,209 4,572 4,564 13,073 Lancashire 11,556 1,320 3,439 6,797 11,285 1,205 2,904 7,176 Merseyside 12,344 2,381 3,459 6,504 10,687 1,548 2,523 6,616 Yorkshire and The Humber 40,330 5,423 10,996 23,911 37,877 4,207 9,051 24,619 Humberside 6,034 717 1,936 3,381 5,654 642 1,629 3,383 North Yorkshire 4,603 310 960 3,333 5,086 384 922 3,780 South Yorkshire 9,195 2,109 2,868 4,218 7,566 1,131 2,226 4,209 West Yorkshire 20,498 2,287 5,232 12,979 19,571 2,050 4,274 13,247 East Midlands 26,801 2,766 7,090 16,945 26,304 2,706 6,344 17,254 Derbyshire 6,244 619 1,739 3,886 5,986 574 1,490 3,922 Leicestershire 6,015 531 1,447 4,037 5,914 533 1,234 4,147 Lincolnshire 3,159 505 884 1,770 3,200 562 776 1,862 Northamptonshire 4,260 388 1,166 2,706 4,371 344 1,145 2,882 Nottinghamshire 7,123 723 1,854 4,546 6,833 693 1,699 4,441 West Midlands 40,028 5,297 13,134 21,597 39,467 4,670 11,471 23,326 Hereford and Worcester 4,130 301 1,165 2,664 4,086 323 901 2,862 Shropshire 2,251 202 665 1,384 2,112 203 636 1,273 Staffordshire 6,166 624 1,647 3,895 6,150 535 1,421 4,194 Warwickshire 3,539 160 998 2,381 3,490 174 931 2,385 West Midlands 23,942 4,010 8,659 11,273 23,629 3,435 7,582 12,612 East of England 35,183 3,363 10,521 21,299 32,390 2,910 8,960 20,520 Bedfordshire 3,287 355 1,062 1,870 2,973 289 788 1,896 Cambridgeshire 6,096 348 1,507 4,241 6,220 352 1,427 4,441 Essex 10,669 1,600 4,236 4,833 9,971 1,485 3,696 4,790 Hertfordshire 6,263 438 1,587 4,238 4,947 234 1,155 3,558 Norfolk 4,788 273 1,218 3,297 4,448 221 1,109 3,118 Suffolk 4,080 349 911 2,820 3,831 329 785 2,717 Greater London 74,709 9,565 16,148 48,996 74,692 8,558 14,244 51,890 South East 55,525 4,378 18,466 32,681 53,593 3,788 15,638 34,167 Berkshire 6,710 596 1,862 4,252 6,645 561 1,744 4,340 Buckinghamshire 3,913 351 1,170 2,392 4,099 318 674 3,107 East Sussex 5,869 471 3,973 1,425 5,684 439 3,751 1,494 Hampshire 10,203 779 2,916 6,508 9,827 666 2,431 6,730 Isle of Wight 788 60 465 263 718 78 215 425 Kent 11,015 1,173 3,805 6,037 9,819 773 3,160 5,886 Oxfordshire 2,378 163 757 1,458 2,368 163 709 1,496 Surrey 7,997 420 1,824 5,753 7,904 420 1,476 6,008 West Sussex 6,652 365 1,694 4,593 6,529 370 1,478 4,681 South West 34,165 3,316 11,235 19,614 30,983 2,547 9,548 18,888 Avon 10,070 1,666 3,321 5,083 8,750 1,271 2,548 4,931 Cornwall 2,403 171 850 1,382 2,034 120 758 1,156 Devon 7,514 618 1,680 5,216 6,954 406 1,543 5,005 Dorset 4,473 315 2,968 1,190 4,336 351 2,729 1,256 Gloucestershire 3,142 133 928 2,081 3,469 133 808 2,528 Isles of Scilly 11 0 8 3 7 0 1 6 Somerset 2,828 234 675 1,919 2,288 155 444 1,689 Wiltshire 3,724 179 805 2,740 3,145 111 717 2,317
FRS area Total Malicious Good intent Due to apparatus Total Malicious Good intent Due to apparatus England 354,786 30,264 92,151 232,371 349,846 25,428 94,651 229,767 North East 18,196 1,421 5,511 11,264 18,485 1,316 6,712 10,457 Cleveland 4,093 321 2,108 1,664 4,647 274 2,786 1,587 Durham 3,619 290 1,079 2,250 3,063 281 1,063 1,719 Northumberland 1,821 143 401 1,277 1,527 128 473 926 Tyne and Wear 8,663 667 1,923 6,073 9,248 633 2,390 6,225 North West 49,699 6,419 11,668 31,612 45,989 4,534 11,682 29,773 Cheshire 5,216 458 1,180 3,578 5,111 368 1,100 3,643 Cumbria 2,830 171 576 2,083 2,696 148 557 1,991 Greater Manchester 20,456 3,353 4,389 12,714 20,210 2,319 4,832 13,059 Lancashire 11,008 1,092 2,927 6,989 8,589 680 2,478 5,431 Merseyside 10,189 1,345 2,596 6,248 9,383 1,019 2,715 5,649 Yorkshire and The Humber 37,371 3,665 9,269 24,437 37,285 3,180 9,994 24,111 Humberside 5,588 536 1,633 3,419 5,475 488 1,484 3,503 North Yorkshire 5,090 467 933 3,690 4,672 283 1,037 3,352 South Yorkshire 7,507 831 2,347 4,329 7,342 767 2,700 3,875 West Yorkshire 19,186 1,831 4,356 12,999 19,796 1,642 4,773 13,381 East Midlands 25,912 2,378 6,538 16,996 25,717 2,142 6,471 17,104 Derbyshire 5,794 456 1,592 3,746 5,737 489 1,616 3,632 Leicestershire 5,836 440 1,287 4,109 6,090 423 1,284 4,383 Lincolnshire 3,181 490 799 1,892 3,379 430 779 2,170 Northamptonshire 4,298 342 1,163 2,793 3,926 240 1,172 2,514 Nottinghamshire 6,803 650 1,697 4,456 6,585 560 1,620 4,405 West Midlands 38,195 4,234 10,317 23,644 37,777 3,774 9,972 24,031 Hereford and Worcester 4,004 283 900 2,821 3,972 265 926 2,781 Shropshire 2,113 173 639 1,301 2,239 160 705 1,374 Staffordshire 6,402 450 1,594 4,358 6,803 395 1,609 4,799 Warwickshire 3,677 299 919 2,459 3,992 345 1,043 2,604 West Midlands 21,999 3,029 6,265 12,705 20,771 2,609 5,689 12,473 East of England 31,103 2,472 9,514 19,117 32,773 2,308 10,998 19,467 Bedfordshire 2,053 259 491 1,303 2,735 178 1,354 1,203 Cambridgeshire 5,886 313 1,292 4,281 6,280 337 1,337 4,606 Essex 10,224 1,249 4,481 4,494 10,029 1,146 4,743 4,140 Hertfordshire 4,576 252 1,408 2,916 4,772 230 1,393 3,149 Norfolk 4,370 197 1,073 3,100 4,845 209 1,308 3,328 Suffolk 3,994 202 769 3,023 4,112 208 863 3,041 Greater London 71,329 4,429 13,921 52,979 69,089 3,227 13,239 52,623 South East 53,298 3,121 16,121 34,056 53,599 2,999 16,846 33,754 Berkshire 5,785 286 1,348 4,151 6,206 341 1,375 4,490 Buckinghamshire 4,170 251 651 3,268 4,271 233 682 3,356 East Sussex 5,817 399 3,879 1,539 6,174 393 4,150 1,631 Hampshire 10,018 592 2,695 6,731 9,565 612 3,018 5,935 Isle of Wight 793 75 159 559 809 74 227 508 Kent 9,900 718 3,396 5,786 9,977 550 3,295 6,132 Oxfordshire 2,622 139 831 1,652 2,504 143 749 1,612 Surrey 7,727 351 1,554 5,822 8,016 381 1,650 5,985 West Sussex 6,466 310 1,608 4,548 6,077 272 1,700 4,105 South West 29,683 2,125 9,292 18,266 29,132 1,948 8,737 18,447 Avon 8,331 1,056 2,210 5,065 8,512 880 2,089 5,543 Cornwall 2,053 124 739 1,190 2,125 254 655 1,216 Devon 6,715 356 1,484 4,875 6,175 320 1,479 4,376 Dorset 4,221 276 2,736 1,209 3,632 222 2,332 1,078 Gloucestershire 3,730 142 925 2,663 3,600 84 802 2,714 Isles of Scilly 11 1 4 6 7 0 5 2 Somerset 1,564 79 494 991 1,744 78 644 1,022 Wiltshire 3,058 91 700 2,267 3,337 110 731 2,496
FRS area Total Malicious Good intent Due to apparatus England 334,255 22,306 94,534 217,415 North East 17,943 1,243 7,127 9,573 Cleveland 4,510 219 2,818 1,473 Durham 2,932 257 1,062 1,613 Northumberland 1,516 89 430 997 Tyne and Wear 8,985 678 2,817 5,490 North West 46,026 4,026 12,376 29,624 Cheshire 4,923 266 1,335 3,322 Cumbria 2,599 120 533 1,946 Greater Manchester 19,624 1,951 4,855 12,818 Lancashire 10,254 832 3,214 6,208 Merseyside 8,626 857 2,439 5,330 Yorkshire and The Humber 34,950 2,586 10,730 21,634 Humberside 5,028 394 1,553 3,081 North Yorkshire 4,019 232 1,010 2,777 South Yorkshire 6,979 574 2,668 3,737 West Yorkshire 18,924 1,386 5,499 12,039 East Midlands 26,092 1,875 6,805 17,412 Derbyshire 5,717 416 1,544 3,757 Leicestershire 5,785 393 1,259 4,133 Lincolnshire 3,020 264 930 1,826 Northamptonshire 4,781 254 1,405 3,122 Nottinghamshire 6,789 548 1,667 4,574 West Midlands 34,660 3,277 10,929 20,454 Hereford and Worcester 3,860 196 905 2,759 Shropshire 2,039 137 665 1,237 Staffordshire 6,700 377 3,687 2,636 Warwickshire 3,382 257 925 2,200 West Midlands 18,679 2,310 4,747 11,622 East of England 30,678 1,991 10,194 18,493 Bedfordshire 2,554 213 883 1,458 Cambridgeshire 5,564 312 1,264 3,988 Essex 9,711 956 4,696 4,059 Hertfordshire 4,596 176 1,312 3,108 Norfolk 4,667 162 1,207 3,298 Suffolk 3,586 172 832 2,582 Greater London 66,807 2,818 12,908 51,081 South East 50,431 3,041 15,080 32,310 Berkshire 5,989 362 1,400 4,227 Buckinghamshire 3,781 215 765 2,801 East Sussex 6,166 351 2,321 3,494 Hampshire 7,746 505 3,205 4,036 Isle of Wight 754 66 213 475 Kent 9,737 528 3,181 6,028 Oxfordshire 2,454 128 701 1,625 Surrey 7,877 609 1,616 5,652 West Sussex 5,927 277 1,678 3,972 South West 26,668 1,449 8,385 16,834 Avon 7,356 658 2,064 4,634 Cornwall 1,922 100 678 1,144 Devon 5,372 263 1,371 3,738 Dorset 3,530 190 2,095 1,245 Gloucestershire 3,362 64 758 2,540 Isles of Scilly 9 0 3 6 Somerset 1,832 82 667 1,083 Wiltshire 3,285 92 749 2,444 1 Provisional Source: CLG
Homes and Communities Agency
The predecessor bodies for the Homes and Communities Agency were English Partnerships, the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. A range of departmental programmes also transferred to the Agency from Communities and Local Government.
The only reference to the provision of confidential advice in a Framework Document or management statement of the Homes and Communities Agency or one of its predecessor bodies is found in the management statement of the Housing Corporation.
However, given the volume of correspondence between the Housing Corporation and Communities and Local Government, specific pieces of advice that were given in confidence in accordance with the management statement over the last three years cannot be identified without disproportionate cost and effort.
Homes and Communities Agency: Finance
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1076, which gave information on the Homes and Communities Agency's estimated outturn for 2008-09.
2008-09 total outturn figures for the HCA will be published in its first annual report and accounts.
The information requested is set out in the following table. It is not possible to distinguish between the end year flexibility (EYF) entitlements taken up by the Department in relation to the Homes and Communities Agency and the Tenant Services Authority predecessor bodies. Information about EYF in 2004-05 could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Homes and Communities Agency, Tenant Services Authority and predecessors 176,132 10,657 0 0 Other Housing programmes 18,521 42,989 138,041 0
Housing: Low Incomes
The following table sets out the number of Open Market HomeBuy equity loan redemptions (both full and partial), and the number of shared owners increasing their equity shares in their homes, for each of the last three years for which figures are available. No breakdown is available between equity loan redemptions and redemptions by shared owners.
Financial year Number 2005-06 1,265 2006-07 1,704 2007-08 1,678
(2) how much she expects to be allocated to each region from the national Affordable Housing programme in each of the next three years.
The following table shows the expenditure in each region through the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing programme for 2006-07, 2007-08 and provisional figures for 2008-09.
2006-07 2007-08 2008-091 North East 43 37 58 Yorkshire and Humberside 65 72 102 North West 111 108 195 East of England 153 191 272 East Midlands 74 85 134 West Midlands 97 97 198 London 887 855 1003 South East 374 383 427 South West 114 175 236 Total 1,918 2,003 2,625 1 Provisional
The following table shows indicative allocations for 2009-10 and 2010-11 for each region. Some of the programme is held centrally such as the Growth Support (Affordable Housing) Fund, mortgage rescue and HomeBuy Direct.
Allocations have not yet been adjusted to reflect Budget changes announced on 22 April.
£ million 2009-10 2010-11 North East 65 47 Yorkshire and Humber 125 94 East Midlands 124 90 East of England 285 205 London 1,258 928 South East 490 374 South West 287 204 West Midlands 181 144 North West 206 156 Not allocated to regions 550 150 Total 3,571 2,392
Allocations for 2011-12 will be subject of the next spending review.
No properties that have been marketed by developers as HomeBuy Direct properties have subsequently been withdrawn from the scheme.
Information on new affordable homes built by constituency is not available. The following table shows the number of new affordable homes built in Ribble Valley local authority, Lancashire, and England between 2003-04 and 2007-08.
Ribble Valley local authority Lancashire England 2003-04 0 320 23,890 2004-05 0 320 26,930 2005-06 10 350 33,260 2006-07 20 290 36,260 2007-08 20 560 43,560
Affordable housing figures are collated from the Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System (IMS); and Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) returns and P2 house building returns submitted to CLG by local authorities and the National House-Building Council (NHBC).
Not all affordable housing is provided by new build completions, as some supply can come from acquisitions. An additional 10,170 affordable homes were acquired in England in 2007-08; these are not included in the table above.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
The £200 million Government mortgage rescue scheme has been operational across the country since 1 January 2009. The scheme aims to support up to 6,000 vulnerable households in England at risk of repossession over the next two years. The scheme consists of two options, Government Mortgage to Rent and Shared Equity. The Government have not made any estimates of the number of households they expect to benefit from each of the two options of the scheme, neither do they make projections of the total number of housing repossessions. The mortgage rescue scheme is demand-led, with the number of vulnerable households benefiting from each of the scheme's options dependent on the circumstances of eligible households approaching their local authority for assistance.
The Government's mortgage rescue scheme was officially launched on 16 January, following successful ‘fast tracking’ by around 80 local authorities in December 2008. The scheme comprises both a shared equity and a Government Mortgage to Rent option, which are dependent on an eligible household's financial circumstances and an assessment of the long-term sustainability of the rescue.
As part of the monitoring arrangements for the Government mortgage rescue scheme, headline data will be published on a monthly basis on the Department's website starting this month. We will be publishing headline data for January, February and March 2009 on 30 April 2009, as pre-announced on the UK National Statistics publication hub, after which local authority breakdowns can be made available. The date of this publication has been delayed from 21 April 2009 owing to unforeseen issues with data quality and validation.
Regional Planning and Development: South East
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will make a final decision on the South East Plan. It is anticipated that publication will be in the spring.
A statement will be laid on the day of publication.
Smoke Alarms
Provisional figures show that in 2007 there were 193 accidental dwelling fire deaths in England, down 17 per cent. from the 2006 figure of 233 accidental dwelling fire deaths. This is the lowest figure for accidental dwelling fire deaths in England since 1981.
It has been our policy for some time that smoke alarms have a vital role to play in saving lives as they provide the vital early warning of fire and therefore help people to escape. Since 1987, the Government have conducted high profile national and regional television campaigns promoting smoke alarms which have proved very successful. Ownership has increased from 9 per cent. in 1987 to the current level of 80 per cent. and we are seeking to raise it further as evidence suggests that those without alarms are often in those groups who are most at risk from fire. The Government are committed to running further smoke alarms ownership and maintenance campaigns as part of this years programme.
Furthermore, in 2004, Communities and Local Government invested £25 million pump priming capital over four years in the Home Fire Risk Check initiative. This funding resulted in just under 2 million Home Fire Safety Checks by fire and rescue services in England, installing over 2.4 million smoke alarms. Research into the impact of the Home Fire Risk Check initiative showed it was responsible for 57 per cent. of the fall in accidental dwelling fire deaths. The research also concluded that the Home Fire Risk Check grant was responsible for 13,670 fewer fires and 888 fewer non-fatal casualties. The value placed on these figures showed a total benefit of £926 million to £ 1,943 million to the economy.
Travelling People: South East
The Government encourages members of the public to make their views known on planning issues. However, representations must be made on material planning matters relevant to the issue being considered. It is for the body considering the responses to make the judgment on whether responses are material. The Regional Assembly held the consultation into the partial review of the Regional Spatial Strategy and took decisions on how to treat responses. They have not yet submitted the outcome to the Secretary of State.
The Government encourage members of the public to make views known in relation to any planning issues. However, representations must be made on material planning matters relevant to the issue being considered.
In exercising their planning responsibilities, all public bodies must ensure that they fulfil their duties under the Race Relations Act 1976 to actively seek to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote good race relations.
In this case, the regional assembly, the then regional planning body, was responsible for the consultation into the partial review of the regional spatial strategy in relation to Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Show People and it was the assembly that took decisions on how to treat responses.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Crime
Information showing the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the sale of alcohol in England and Wales from 2003-07 (latest available) is in table 1. From data collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice, it is not possible to separately identify the number of off-licences from the number of on-licences. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
The penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme was rolled out to all police forces in England and Wales in 2004 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Information showing the number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued relating to the sale of alcohol is shown in table 2.
Persons Other defendants4 Total 2003 409 10 419 2004 605 4 609 2005 771 1 772 2006 839 16 855 2007 510 16 526 1 Includes the following offences and statutes: 14203: Selling intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 for consumption on the premises (Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 Schedule (Sec 3) para 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 Sec 169(1)). 14352: Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. (Licensing Act 1964 Sec 181 A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 Sec 17). 14353: Wholesaler allowing a person under 18 to sell intoxicating liquor without the specific approval of the wholesaler or an adult acting on his behalf. (Licensing Act 1964 Sec 181 A(2) as added by Licensing Act 1988 Sec 17). 14374: Sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. (Licensing Act 2003 S.141) 14379: Sale of alcohol to person under 18. (Licensing Act 2003 S.146) 14380: Allowing sale of alcohol to person under 18. (Licensing Act 2003 S.147) 14398: Persistently selling alcohol to children (Licensing Act 2003 as added by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006). 2 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 Other offenders include companies and public bodies. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
Number 2004 113 2005 2,090 2006 3,242 2007 3,664 1 Includes the following offences: Sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. (Licensing Act 2003 S.141): introduced on 4 April 2005. Sale of alcohol to person under 18. (Licensing Act 2003 S.146): introduced on 1 November 2004. 2 Sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk was introduced to the PND scheme on 4 April 2005. 3 Sale of alcohol to person under 18 was introduced to the PND scheme on 1 November 2004.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 February 2009, Official Report, column 1025W.
Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Pubs, nightclubs and off-licences are included within “other defendants” but cannot be separately identified.
Antisocial Behaviour: Greater London
Between January 2004 and 31 March 2006, the police have used the power in section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 to disperse unruly groups in over 1,000 designated areas. Figures are not available broken down by year. Figures for 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008 by police force area are due to be published shortly.
Asylum: North East
The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) no longer exists, although its functions continue to be exercised within the UK Border Agency.
Information on the number of asylum seekers that have applied for support in the North East by local authority area over a period is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Since the second quarter of 2008, statistics on the numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support at the end of the quarter are published in tables 5 and 6 of the quarterly bulletin “Control of Immigration”. Earlier published figures are available in the quarterly bulletin “Asylum Statistics”, tables 9 and 10.
These statistics are broken down by Government Office Region and local authority.
Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
Further breakdowns by parliamentary constituency are available from the Library of the House.
Crimes of Violence: Firearms
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: Available information relates to violence against the person crimes recorded by the police in England in which firearms (excluding air weapons) were reported to have been used from 1998-99 up to and including 2007-08.
Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument, or used as a threat.
Recorded crime Number of offences 1998-99 1,664 1999-2000 2,203 2000-01 2,492 2001-022 3,405 2002-033 4,130 2003-04 4,651 2004-05 5,707 2005-06 5,368 2006-07 4,239 2007-08 4,575 1 Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. 2 Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. 3 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable.
Criminal Records: Databases
The Home Office does not require notices served under section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act to be collated or recorded on a database. The guidance issued by the Home Office on section 27 ‘Giving Directions to Individuals to Leave a Locality' indicates that each police force should determine how information relating to these notices should be gathered and recorded. The guidance can be found by accessing the following web link:
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/operational-policing/directions-to-leave-locality
Departmental Air Travel
The Department's accounting system does not hold the information at the requested level of detail. An answer could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
All travel is undertaken in accordance with the guidance set out in the ministerial code, the civil service management code and departmental staff handbooks.
Departmental Sick Leave
The Home Office, which comprises headquarters, UK Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, and Criminal Records Bureau, lost, on average, 9.29 working days per staff year to sick absence in 2008-09 financial year.
11.31 average working days per staff year were lost to sick absence in the Criminal Records Bureau during the same period.
Driving Offences: Speed Limits
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: Available information on written warnings for speeding offences in Lancashire police force and England in from 2002 to 2006 (latest available) is provided in the table.
Information on written warnings given in 2007 is due to be published on 30 April 2008 as a part of the Home Office publication, “Statistics on Police Powers and Procedures 2007-08”.
Number of warnings Police force area Lancashire England 2002 0 5,209 2003 1 4,850 2004 1 6,048 2005 0 5,498 2006 0 3,719
Driving Under Influence
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: Until 2006, breath tests data had been collected and published by the Ministry of Justice as a part of the ‘Motoring offences and Breath Tests Statistics’ publication. The Home Office has taken over this work, and data for 2007 are due to be published on 30 April 2009 as a part of the Home Office National Statistics bulletin “Statistics on Police Powers and Procedures—England and Wales 2007”. This bulletin contains a wide-range of statistics, all of which require data to be submitted from police forces. Data then has to be quality assured before publication.
From 2008 onwards, statistics on breath tests will be reported to the Home office annually (broken down by month) to ease the burden on police forces.
Previously, they had reported monthly for an annual publication.
The publication date for 2008 breath tests data has yet to be announced.
Drugs: Misuse
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths and serious injuries following the use of gamma hydroxybutyrate have been recorded in each of the last five years. (270936)
The table attached provides the number of deaths where the underlying cause was drug poisoning and gamma hydroxybutyrate was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, in England and Wales, for 2003 to 2007 (the latest year available). Figures for serious injuries following the use of gamma hydroxybutyrate are not available.
Deaths 2003 6 2004 1 2005 4 2006 7 2007 9 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (shown in the box below) and where gamma hydroxybutyrate was mentioned on the death certificate. 2 Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
ICD-10 Description F11-F16, F18-F19 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) X40-X44 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X60-X64 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X85 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances Y10-Y14 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent
Entry Clearances
[holding answer 23 April 2009]: When we introduced the requirement for all visa applicants to submit their biometric data we extended the number of collection points through the arrangements provided by our commercial partners. In some cases mobile collection is also possible. We do keep the arrangements under review and recently, for example, opened new visa application centres in Russia.
G20: Greater London
The Metropolitan police are still collating accurate figures on injuries which will take time given the large numbers of officers and forces involved in the policing operation. I will write to the hon. Member when this information is available.
Hezbollah
Reviews for the purposes of proscription draw on sensitive intelligence material. It is therefore not possible to place a copy of the review of Hezbollah in the Library.
Hillsborough Stadium: Disclosure of Information
The Government are committed to helping those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough tragedy. A number of national and local agencies hold a great deal of documentation on the Hillsborough disaster. Copies of the documents examined by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith as part of his review of Hillsborough papers were placed in the House Library when the then Home Secretary reported on the review in February 1998. The Home Secretary has been working with colleagues across Government, in the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Attorney-General’s Office to put out any information that could shed light on the disaster and its aftermath in the public domain as soon as possible. In doing so, we are working closely with South Yorkshire police.
Immigration Controls
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: While the UK Border Agency continues to work with its supplier, the information requested is, at present, commercially sensitive.
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: The sponsorship management system (SMS) will be available from autumn 2009 for all sponsors to trial the gradual roll-out of issuing confirmations of acceptance for studies (CAS) and the associated reporting duties across migrant application types.
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The IPCC is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Home Office and its work is monitored by the Department as part of its sponsorship responsibilities. The IPCC is also required to lay its annual report before Parliament and its work is scrutinised by Parliament through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC).
National Policing Improvement Agency: Recruitment
164 vacancies were advertised on the Civil Service Gateway.
It is not possible to recapture the data as at 21 January 2009, which were provided in the answer of 29 January 2009, Official Report, column 822W. It is estimated that there were 344 vacancies around the end of January 2009. The job title and salary range for the 344 vacancies is provided in the table.
Job title Salary range Business Support Administrator £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Security Officer x 2 £18,671 - £22,149 (London) Administrator, Design and Development £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Quality Assurance Administration Officer £15,026 - £20,685 (national) NCALT Immersive Learning Office Administrator £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Training Registration Officer £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Administration Officer NCMP £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Accounts Payable Transactions Officer £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Procurement and Contract Assistant £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Planning Administrator x 2 £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Project Support Admin x two (1 London and one National) £15,026 - £20,685 (national) £18,671 - £22,149 (London) Receptionist x two (one London and one National) £15,026 - £20,685 (national) £18,671 - £22,149 (London) Customer Service Standards Officer £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Centre Support Officer £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Admin Clerk temporary £15,026 - £20,685 (national) Scanning Clerk £15,026 - £20,685 (national) PA to Head of Commercial and Procurement £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Policy Assistant £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Ten-Print Identification Officer £22,817 - £32,194 (London) PA to Chief Technology Unit £22,817 - £32,194 (London) IT/AV Admin Support £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Administrative Support Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Identification Administrator £22,817 - £32,194 (London Service Desk Analyst x two (1 London and one National) £17,808 - £24,725 (national) £22,817 - £32,194 (London Assistant Crime Analyst x 6 £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Administrative Support Officer to Regional Team £17,808 - £24,725 (national) PA to Head of Technology Product Management Unit £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Office Manager £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Assistant Crime Analyst £17,808 - £24,725 (national) PA to the Head of Examinations and Assessment £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Implementation Support Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Project Support Officer x 2 £17,808 - £24,725 (national) PA to Service Director £22,817 - £32,194 (London) QA and Accreditation Administrator x two £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Central Support Team Officer £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Training and Business Support Administrator £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Training Support Officer £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Publishing Co-ordinator £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Admin and Finance Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Marketing Assistant £17,808 - £24,725 (national) PA to ACC Head of Operations £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Administrative Officer £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Doctrine Coordination Assistant £17,808 - 24,725 (national) PA to Head of RAI Unit £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Procurement and Contract Assistant £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Health and Safety Co-ordinator £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Financial Accounting Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Transport Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Senior Transactions Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) HR Recruitment Administrator x 3 £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Centre Support Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Health and Safety Officer £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Payable Clerk £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Filing Clerk x two £17,808 - £24,725 (national) HR Administrator £22,817 - £32,194 (London) PA to the Chairman and three Directors £22,817 - £32,194 (London) First Line Manager, Examinations and Assessment x five £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Trainee Psychologist, Examinations and Assessment x three £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Reprographics Support Assistant £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Procurement and Commercial Assistant £17,808 - £24,725 (national) SAP Programme Team Administrator £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Customer Support Assistant - Part time £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Customer Support Assistant - Full time £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Estates Programme Officer Administrator £17,808 - £24,725 (national) Procurement and Commercial Assistant - Police National Database £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Learning Programmes Evaluator £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Project Support Officer £21,949 - £30,906 (national) IDENT1 Monitoring Specialist £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Field Support Manager £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Programme Information Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Forensic Policy Support Officer x 2 £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Programme Support Specialist £25,104 - £38,117 (London) National Tactical Support Team Member £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Change Analyst £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Technical System Administrator x 2 £25,104 - £38,117 (London) PentiP Implementation Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Training Design Officer x 2 £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Project Support Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Policy Advisor x 4 £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Policy Advisor £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Training Business Support Manager £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Training and Development Officer x two £21,949 - £30,906 (national) International Assistant Operations £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Quality Assurance and Evaluation Officer £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Training Design Officer x 7 £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Communications Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Online Editor/Publisher £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Online Editor/Publisher Supervisor £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Analyst £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Marketing and Communications Officer x two £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Health and Safety - Bramshill £21,949 - £30,906 (national) SAP Business Support Analyst £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Asst Human Resources Business Partner £25,104 - £38,117 (London) HR Recruitment coordinator x two £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Customer Service Standards Manager £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Organisation Development Consultant £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Estates and Service Delivery Health and Safety Co-ordinator £25,104 - £38,117 (London) SAP Analyst £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Diversity and Human Rights Officer £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Legal Researcher £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Performance and Compliance Manager, Examinations and Assessment x 2 £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Psychologist, Examinations and Assessment x four £21,949 - £30,906 (national) Senior Legal Researcher £21,949 - £30,906 (national) or Inspector PA to Senior Business Advisor £22,817 - £32,194 (London) PA to Chief Officer and Service Director £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Assistant to Head of HR £22,817 - £32,194 (London) PA to Chief Technology Unit £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Data Migration Analyst x 4 £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Administrative Support Officer £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Finance Administrator £22,817 - £32,194 (London) Forensic21 Administrator £22,817 - £32,194(London) Events Assistant £22,817 - £32,194(London) Business Support Officer x 2 £22,817 - £32,914 (London) DNA Policy Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Police Liaison Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Business Advisor £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Systems Developer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Senior Analyst Programmer x three £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Training and Business Support Officer £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Facilities Manager £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Finance Manager - IMPACT x 2 £25,104 - £38,117 (London) SAP Training and Contract Support £25,104 - £38,117 (London) Business Advisor £25,104 - £38,117 (London) or Inspector Procurement and Commercial Officer - category management - National or London base £27,300 - £38,633 (national) £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Manager - Bus. Development - e business- National or London base £27,300 - £38,633 (national) £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer - Bus. Development - National or London base £27,300 - £38,633 (national) £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer - Major Projects x six - National or London base £27,300 - £38,633 (national) £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer - Security and Counter Terrorism £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer - PND £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer- Bus development £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer - (SRM) £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Procurement and Commercial Officer - Estates and Facilities x two £27,300 - £38,633 (national) International Forensic Officer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Identification Specialist (Fingerprint Expert) x 2 £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Technical Liaison Officer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Business Change Officer - Forensic21x 7 £32,230 - £46,359 (London) 3rd Line Citrix Engineer £27,300 - £38,633 (national) CAS Forensic Specialist £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Senior Capacity Planning Specialist Manager £32,230 - £46,359 (London) TPMU Product Accreditation Manager £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Senior Crime Analyst £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Preventing Violent Extremism Trainers £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Higher Psychologist £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Lead Developer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Covert Learning Programme Imaging Specialist £27,300 - £38,633 (national) NCALT Project Manager £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Covert Training Manager £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Senior Press Officer x 2 £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Implementer x two £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Senior Analyst x 2 £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Implementer - MoPI £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Field Support Officers x 3 £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Research Officer x 4 £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Community Safety Partnership and Engagement Advisor £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Business Development Manager £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Private Secretary to Director £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Project Manager, Examinations and Assessment £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Higher Psychologist, Examinations and Assessment x 4 £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Administrator, Examinations and Assessment x 11 £27,300 - £38,633 (national) Regional Co-ordinator for the Special Constabulary x 8 £27,300 - £38,633 (national)/Chief Inspector Neighbourhood policing Delivery Manager £32,230 - £46,359 (London)Chief Inspector Manager of Intelligence Skills £27,300 - £38,633 (national)/Detective Chief Inspector Senior Analyst £32,230 - £46,359 (London)/Inspector Research and Development Officer £27,300 - £38,633 (national)/Inspector Office Manager £27,300 - £38,633 (national)/Sergeant Covert Training Manager £27,300 - £38,633 (national)/Sergeant Senior Business Analyst £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Oracle Development DBA £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Technical Architect £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Instructional Designer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) E-learning Developer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) E-learning Producer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) E-Learning Instructional Designer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Project Manager £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Communications Security and Interoperability Engineer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Lead Systems Developer £32,230 - £46,359 (London) Deputy to Head of Police Science and Forensics £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Procurement and Commercial Manager - Category Manager x three £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Procurement and Commercial Manager - Operations £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Procurement and Commercial Manager Bus development x two £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Senior Forensic Pathology Officer £43,440 - £61,812 (London) National Accreditors x 2 £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Policy and Compliance Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) IT Systems Architect £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Business Analyst £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Forensic Pathology Development Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) PentiP Implementation Team Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Product Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) National Strategy for Police Information Systems Custody and Case Programme Business Liaison Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Communications Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Strategic and Business Improvement Analyst x two £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Senior Research Officer £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Communications Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Internal Communications Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Senior Research Officer x two £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Business Development Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Head of Security and Business Continuity £43,440 - £61,812 (London) SAP Functional Lead £43,440 - £61,812 (London) SAP Technical Architect £43,440 - £61,812 (London) SAP Functional Lead (Finance) £43,440 - £61,812 (London) National PNC Business Development Partner £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Crime Scene Investigator £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Network Specialist £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Programme Office Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) SAP Training and Communications Manager £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Fingerprint Instructor Secondment £43,440 - £61,812 (London) Principal Analyst £43,440 - £61,812 (London)/Superintendent Strategic Co-ordinator £43,440 - £61,812 (London)/Superintendent Chief of Staff - ICTS £43,440 - £61,812 (London)/Superintendent Principal Research Officer - Knowledge Management £56,216 - £79,552 (London) TDA Lead £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Principal Research Officer Risk £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Senior Procurement Manager ( PND) £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Senior Procurement Manager - Supplier Relationship - (SRM) £56,216 - £79,552 (London) National Accreditation Manager £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Software Engineering and Business Analysis Manager £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Programme Manager £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Senior Project Manager NBC £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Principal Research Officer - Efficiency/Productivity £56,216 - £79,552 (London) Information Risk Manager £56,216 - £79,552 (London) (London) Head of Leadership Programmes £60,060 - £82,416/Deputy Chief Constable Programme Director, ISIS Programme £76,440 - £88,597 (London) Chief Technology Officers £76,440 - £88,597 (London) Head of Finance £76,440 - £88,597 (London) Head of Operations, PPP Assistant Chief Constable Police Liaison Officer Chief Inspector International Policing Adviser Chief Inspector Field Officer x 3 Chief Inspector Field Officer - CF and NPP Chief Inspector Deputy Head of Unit Chief Superintendent PC Operational Planning Constable Senior Policing Advisor to the CIO Deputy Chief Constable High Tech Crime Training Course Manager x two Detective Constable Regional Co-ordinator (West Midlands) Detective Inspector Business Advisor x 2 Detective Sergeant Crime Investigation Support Officer Detective Sergeant Field Support Officers x 2 Inspector Staff Officer to Independent Reducing Bureaucracy Advocate Inspector Police Expert—Intelligence Inspector PC/Sgt Public Order x two Sergeant Operations Advisor Sergeant Airwave User Assurance Co-ordinator Superintendent Firearms Gold Command Training Superintendent Impact Stakeholder Engagement and Events Manager Superintendent
National Security
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: The issuing of authorisations under section 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994 is scrutinized by the Intelligence Services Commissioner. In the most recent report of the Intelligence Services Commissioner 2007 (HC 948) he gave an account of his scrutiny function and noted that:
“Consistent with the practice since annual reporting by the respective statutory Commissioners began, I do not propose to disclose publicly the numbers of warrants or authorisations issued to the security and intelligence services. That is because it would assist those unfriendly to the UK were they able to know the extent of the work of the Security Service, SIS and GCHQ in fulfilling their functions. The figures are, however, of interest and have been included in the confidential annex to the report.”
Police Stations: Wales
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each Welsh chief officer and police authority, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
Police: Bureaucracy
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary gave to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) on 21 April 2009, Official Report, columns 604-05W.
Police officer time spent on the beat for Northamptonshire is a matter for the chief constable of that force. The latest figure available was provided by my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty) on 29 September 2008, Official Report, columns 2352-53W.
Police: Complaints
The IPCC is not responsible for imposing disciplinary sanctions on police forces or individuals. The evidence, findings and recommendations of IPCC investigations are fed in to the police performance and conduct systems as and when appropriate.
Police: Finance
The information requested is set out in the following table.
Percentage Police authority 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-091 2009-102 Avon and Somerset 13.1 5.4 10.5 11.5 7.5 14.8 33.9 12.0 5.0 4.9 6.8 4.9 4.5 Bedfordshire 14.2 6.3 9.9 9.2 4.9 12.0 18.7 14.7 4.5 5.0 5.0 9.6 3.9 Cambridgeshire 13.4 -5.5 8.0 19.9 8.9 39.0 19.8 14.1 4.8 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Cheshire 13.7 5.3 4.5 8.5 5.9 13.7 19.6 10.9 5.0 5.7 6.9 17.0 3.6 Cleveland 19.3 -11.7 29.2 4.8 6.0 38.3 25.1 13.8 5.0 4.9 4.9 10.0 4.9 Cumbria 14.1 24.3 8.2 7.6 7.6 10.9 30.1 15.0 4.0 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 Derbyshire 14.0 11.7 14.9 8.0 6.0 22.0 21.5 9.9 5.0 4.8 5.0 4.6 8.7 Devon and Cornwall 8.2 -3.0 10.8 10.0 5.0 19.4 39.9 9.8 5.5 4.9 4.9 7.9 4.9 Dorset 11.6 11.0 9.2 9.5 9.3 12.2 19.2 9.7 5.0 4.9 4.9 4.9 5.0 Durham 16.0 -6.9 3.7 4.5 7.2 14.2 23.5 15.0 4.9 5.0 34.6 5.0 3.5 Essex 12.7 15.1 4.5 4.4 4.5 9.4 19.7 6.8 5.5 5.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 Gloucestershire 13.7 12.8 19.3 13.2 5.2 14.6 51.7 9.9 3.9 4.9 5.0 5.0 2.9 Hampshire 12.5 -3.1 7.5 2.2 7.2 27.3 29.5 11.4 5.0 5.0 5.0 8.1 4.8 Hertfordshire 12.0 14.2 8.0 7.0 6.5 11.9 21.3 14.5 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.5 Humberside 14.1 0.0 4.5 10.0 42.2 11.2 18.5 15.0 4.4 5.0 5.0 4.5 3.9 Kent 12.2 -6.2 8.4 6.2 8.1 22.2 28.9 11.3 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Lancashire 15.6 0.3 8.0 8.5 8.5 8.8 18.6 15.0 7.0 5.0 11.4 7.9 4.5 Leicestershire 16.1 17.1 4.2 6.3 11.4 26.1 10.0 14.6 4.9 5.0 5.0 15.4 3.0 Lincolnshire 3.0 14.3 3.9 5.5 4.5 5.0 10.1 7.5 6.4 5.0 5.0 26.0 5.0 Norfolk 12.4 6.0 20.0 12.0 16.0 20.0 21.5 13.7 4.9 5.9 6.9 8.3 3.9 Northamptonshire 10.3 -1.8 9.8 4.7 4.2 26.8 23.6 14.9 3.3 5.0 5.0 4.9 4.5 North Yorkshire 10.5 -2.5 7.7 9.3 9.7 41.5 76.1 9.9 2.6 2.3 3.0 4.3 3.0 Nottinghamshire 8.2 9.1 13.3 5.9 7.7 21.4 28.3 9.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 Staffordshire 14.0 32.3 8.9 5.8 13.1 7.0 25.3 9.4 4.9 5.0 5.0 3.8 3.9 Suffolk 14.2 1.9 7.2 8.8 9.9 22.3 33.2 9.5 4.4 4.7 5.0 9.0 4.3 Surrey 3.8 48.0 13.9 5.5 4.6 16.1 40.1 8.9 4.9 5.8 4.9 9.7 4.9 Sussex 12.3 -1.4 4.4 4.4 6.5 18.1 39.9 7.6 4.9 5.0 6.0 4.9 4.7 Thames Valley 12.3 -3.8 11.4 6.7 6.9 14.0 44.6 13.4 4.8 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.5 Warwickshire 11.1 18.9 14.6 9.0 9.8 19.5 15.2 7.9 4.7 4.9 5.0 12.9 4.0 West Mercia 13.0 5.4 10.0 25.5 6.0 33.1 14.6 14.9 4.0 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 Wiltshire 12.7 13.7 9.9 9.9 9.8 9.9 19.8 10.0 5.0 4.9 4.9 4.3 5.0 Total shires 12.1 6.1 9.4 4.6 12.2 18.0 28.2 11.4 4.8 5.0 5.7 6.9 4.6 Greater Manchester 17.6 4.0 7.0 4.2 3.1 6.5 33.1 7.5 7.0 5.0 5.0 7.5 7.5 Merseyside 15.3 7.3 7.9 5.0 5.0 11.0 7.2 8.5 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.8 5.0 Northumbria 14.6 -9.6 4.5 4.5 6.9 4.5 9.7 4.9 4.6 2.5 4.0 4.7 3.9 South Yorkshire 15.8 1.9 4.5 4.5 6.0 18.0 27.3 9.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.5 3.2 West Midlands 15.7 -7.9 4.5 7.0 4.5 8.2 15.0 12.5 4.5 4.6 4.5 3.4 3.5 West Yorkshire 18.2 -1.4 4.5 7.2 3.6 24.8 17.0 14.9 4.9 5.0 5.0 4.5 3.0 Total mets 16.6 -1.0 5.6 5.5 4.5 11.9 18.9 10.0 5.3 4.7 4.8 5.2 4.6 Total England (exc London) 13.2 4.3 8.5 4.8 9.2 16.7 26.4 11.2 4.9 4.9 5.6 6.6 4.6 Metropolitan 13.0 20.9 7.9 10.2 30.7 9.9 21.9 15.7 6.6 7.4 6.1 1.5 -1.2 Total England (inc London) 18.0 7.7 8.3 5.3 15.0 15.1 25.3 12.3 5.3 5.5 5.7 5.3 3.2 Dyfed-Powys 4.0 23.0 22.5 17.0 6.4 7.9 26.5 14.9 0.3 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.9 Gwent 5.0 10.7 9.9 25.5 12.1 13.3 25.2 16.8 4.3 5.0 5.0 4.5 4.5 North Wales 5.0 20.7 13.3 18.3 5.4 16.7 31.5 19.4 4.9 5.0 6.8 4.5 5.0 South Wales 6.2 14.3 16.2 23.0 6.4 5.0 15.2 11.8 4.1 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Total Wales 5.2 16.6 15.6 21.1 7.1 9.7 23.1 15.3 3.7 5.0 5.5 4.8 4.9 Total England and Wales 12.7 8.1 8.7 6.2 14.5 14.7 25.2 12.4 5.2 5.5 5.7 5.3 3.3 1 In 2008-09, seven police authorities were proposed with capping action: Lincolnshire—in year designated (capped). Required to reduce budget from £116.6 million to £100.6 million. Bedfordshire—Nominated. Will be measured against a notional budget of £95.8 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Norfolk—Nominated. Will be measured against a notional budget of £137.9 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Surrey—Nominated. Will be measured against a notional budget of £189.6 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Cheshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire—Nominated with future designation. Budget increases restricted at a level equivalent to a maximum council tax increase of 3 per cent. in 2009-10 and 2010-11 2 In 2009-10, two police authorities are currently being considered for capping action, Derbyshire and Surrey. Sources: 1. English Police Authorities—DCLG 2. Welsh Police Authorities—WAG
The information requested is set out in the following table.
£ Police authority 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-091 2009-102 Avon and Somerset 52.04 54.86 6062 67.59 72.66 83.40 111.64 125.09 131.34 137.84 147.17 154.32 161.26 Bedfordshire 52.51 55.84 61.36 66.98 70.26 78.69 93.44 10717 111.98 117.55 123.43 135.28 140.56 Cambridgeshire 51.03 48.24 52.11 62.46 68.04 94.59 113.31 129.33 135.54 142.29 149.40 156.87 164.70 Cheshire 51.16 53.86 56.28 61.06 64.66 73.54 88.10 97.71 102.60 108.49 116.03 135.75 140.70 Cleveland 54.87 48.43 62.55 65.58 69.51 96.13 120.22 136.84 143.68 150.72 158.10 173.87 182.47 Cumbria 58.20 72.35 78.27 84.23 90.60 100.48 130.71 150.28 155.43 163.08 171.09 179.46 188.25 Derbyshire 51.31 57.30 65.85 71.12 75.38 91.96 111.77 122.88 129.02 135.15 141.91 148.44 161.32 Devon and Cornwall 49.79 48.30 53.52 58.87 61.81 73.80 103.27 113.39 119.62 125.53 131.73 142.19 149.22 Dorset 63.59 70.61 77.13 84.42 92.25 103.50 123.39 135.36 142.11 149.13 156.51 164.25 172.44 Durham 52.20 48.60 50.40 52.65 56.43 64.44 79.56 91.53 96.03 100.80 135.72 142.47 147.51 Essex 54.09 62.28 65.07 67.95 71.01 77.67 92.97 99.27 104.76 110.97 116.46 122.22 128.25 Gloucestershire 51.17 57.74 68.90 77.98 82.05 94.01 142.59 156.71 162.90 170.96 179.49 188.45 193.99 Hampshire 51.75 50.13 53.91 55.08 59.04 75.15 97.29 108.36 113.76 119.43 125.37 135.54 142.11 Hertfordshire 51.51 58.83 63.54 67.99 72.39 81.01 98.28 112.53 118.09 123.98 130.17 136.67 142.82 Humberside 52.47 52.47 54.81 60.30 85.77 95.40 113.04 129.96 135.72 142.47 149.58 156.31 162.41 Kent 51.59 48.41 52.48 55.73 60.26 73.64 94.95 105.66 110.88 116.37 122.18 128.25 134.65 Lancashire 53.25 53.41 57.69 62.60 67.89 73.86 87.57 100.70 107.72 113.09 125.95 135.96 142.08 Leicestershire 52.26 61.21 63.79 67.80 75.52 95.21 104.77 120.11 126.04 132.33 138.96 160.40 165.21 Lincolnshire 69.03 78.93 81.99 86.49 90.36 94.86 104.40 112.23 119.43 125.37 131.58 165.79 174.06 Norfolk 50.58 53.64 64.35 72.09 83.61 100.35 121.95 138.69 145.53 154.17 164.88 178.56 185.58 Northamptonshire 70.56 69.29 76.08 79.65 83.00 105.25 130.09 149.43 154.41 162.11 170.21 178.62 186.66 North Yorkshire 49.72 48.46 52.20 57.04 62.59 88.59 156.00 171.50 176.00 180.00 185.40 193.37 199.17 Nottinghamshire 49.78 54.32 61.55 65.17 70.17 85.17 109.30 120.12 126.01 132.24 138.78 145.62 152.82 Staffordshire 54.74 72.42 78.86 83.43 94.37 100.93 126.50 138.44 145.28 152.53 160.15 166.16 172.71 Suffolk 51.39 52.38 56.16 61.11 67.14 82.08 109.35 119.70 125.01 130.86 137.34 149.67 156.06 Surrey 44.64 66.06 75.24 79.41 83.08 96.44 135.09 147.06 154.26 163.26 171.27 187.92 197.10 Sussex 51.66 50.94 53.19 55.53 59.13 69.84 97.74 105.12 110.25 115.74 122.67 128.70 134.73 Thames Valley 52.79 50.76 56.53 60.34 64.49 73.49 106.24 120.51 126.28 132.58 139.19 144.76 151.27 Warwickshire 52.24 62.09 71.18 77.57 85.17 101.78 117.30 126.55 132.52 138.95 145.90 164.68 171.22 West Mercia 50.87 53.64 59.00 74.06 78.50 104.50 119.80 137.69 143.17 150.24 157.66 165.45 173.62 Wiltshire 55.22 62.77 68.98 75.84 83.26 91.54 109.68 120.63 126.63 132.84 139.35 145.34 152.59 Total Shires 52.79 56.00 61.24 64.03 71.85 84.78 108.71 121.12 126.97 133.31 140.94 150.66 157.54 Greater Manchester 54.10 56.28 60.22 62.72 64.66 68.86 91.65 98.52 105.41 110.67 116.19 124.90 134.26 Merseyside 66.87 71.78 77.44 81.31 85.37 94.76 101.54 110.17 115.68 121.46 127.53 133.91 140.61 Northumbria 52.73 47.67 49.82 52.06 55.65 58.15 63.80 66.93 70.03 71.78 74.62 78.27 81.32 South Yorkshire 53.29 54.28 56.72 59.26 62.79 74.09 94.30 102.79 107.88 113.27 118.92 124.56 128.60 West Midlands 53.20 48.99 51.19 54.77 57.21 61.88 71.16 80.08 83.68 87.55 91.47 94.67 97.98 West Yorkshire 53.17 52.41 54.76 58.73 60.82 75.92 88.81 102.06 107.05 112.40 118.02 123.62 127.32 Total Mets 55.05 54.52 57.59 60.76 63.50 71.06 84.50 92.98 97.94 102.56 107.48 113.06 118.29 Total England (exc. London) 53.34 55.65 60.37 63.28 69.90 81.57 103.07 114.60 120.25 126.20 133.22 141.99 148.50 Metropolitan 63.27 76.48 82.51 90.95 118.85 130.59 159.13 184.08 196.28 210.82 223.60 227.02 224.34 Total England (inc. London) 55.09 59.32 64.26 67.68 77.80 89.52 112.16 125.91 132.62 139.97 147.90 155.81 160.85 Dyfed-Powys 48.42 59.58 72.99 85.41 90.90 98.10 124.11 142.65 143.10 150.21 157.68 165.51 173.70 Gwent 49.10 54.36 59.74 74.97 84.03 95.17 119.11 139.13 145.07 152.32 159.94 167.14 174.66 North Wales 48.52 58.54 66.33 78.49 82.72 96.53 126.94 151.57 158.94 166.89 178.16 186.18 195.48 South Wales 49.22 56.25 65.36 80.42 85.57 89.85 103.51 115.71 120.40 126.42 132.74 139.38 146.35 Total Wales 48.89 57.03 65.91 79.84 85.54 93.87 115.60 133.34 138.22 145.07 153.03 160.32 168.17 Total England and Wales 54.74 59.19 64.36 68.35 78.24 89.77 112.36 126.33 132.95 140.28 148.21 156.08 161.28 1 In 2008-09 seven police authorities were proposed with capping action: Lincolnshire—in year designated (capped). Required to reduce budget from £116 6 million to £100.6 million. Bedfordshire—Nominated. Will be measured against a notional budget of £95.8 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Norfolk—Nominated. Will be measured against a notional budget of £137.9 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Surrey—Nominated. Will be measured against a notional budget of £189.6 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Cheshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire—Nominated with future designation. Budget increases restricted at a level equivalent to a maximum council tax increase of 3 per cent. in 2009-10 and 2010-11. 2 In 2009-10, two police authorities are currently being considered for capping action, Derbyshire and Surrey. Source: English Police Authorities—DCLG Welsh Police Authorities—WAG
Police: Staffordshire
There were 763 police staff in Staffordshire in 1997 and 1,309 such staff in 2008. Police staff figures exclude traffic wardens, designated officers and PCSOs. PCSOs were first introduced in statute in 2002. In 2008, there were 209 PCSOs in Staffordshire. All figures are based on full-time equivalent strength and are correct as at 31 March in the given years. Police personnel statistics are not collected by parliamentary constituency.
The Government allocate funding to police authorities. The allocation of resources to Tamworth is a matter for the chief constable and Staffordshire police authority. We do not hold centrally information on resources allocated to the Tamworth parliamentary constituency.
Staffordshire police authority has increased its budget from £113 million in 1997-98, a real terms increase of 0.6 per cent. over 1996-97, to £170.9 million in 2007-08, a real terms increase of 1.4 per cent. over 2006-07.
Police: Standards
Following the publication of the Policing Green Paper (From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our Communities Together) in July 2008, the Home Office will no longer make graded assessments of policing performance. Instead, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) will take the lead in making any qualitative assessment of forces’ performance.
The Home Office last published graded performance assessments of all police forces in 2006-07. For 2007-08, we only published performance data without any graded assessment. The performance data for the West Midlands in 2007-08 can be found at:
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performanceand measurement/performanceassessment/assessments-2007-2008/west-midlands
In addition, West Midlands police provide local crime information and crime maps for the public, available at:
www.myneighbourhood.info
Salvia Divinorum
At the Home Secretary’s request, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is reviewing the availability and harms of psychoactive legal alternatives to illegal drugs, so called ‘legal highs’, with a particular focus on protecting young people. I fully anticipate that this work will include salvia divinorum.
The Government’s position on their control will be informed by Advisory Council’s advice.
Surveillance: Local Government
The Government launched a three month public consultation inviting views on this and other matters on 17 April. Copies of the consultation paper “Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000: Consolidating Orders and Codes of Practice” have been placed in the House Library.
Terrorism: Crime Prevention
While there was no specific input made by the Department for Energy and Climate Change or the Office for Civil Nuclear Security into the United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering International Terrorism (Contest), they have both been fully engaged in discussions in support of civil nuclear security in the UK.
Overseas, all our representative posts and institutions have access to Contest, as it is a published document and is freely available on the internet. Over 130 posts and institutions were specifically informed of the launch of the Contest strategy and were invited to brief their hosts and report back on their reactions.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
British Council: Contracts
None of the projects under the British Council Reconnect programme (funded under the additional £6 million total over the triennium 2008-09 to 2010-11) has been delivered by subcontractors in 2008-09. The British Council did use some external facilitation and research support for its Active Citizens programme in 2008-09 but does not have any present plans to engage subcontractors this year (2009-10).
China: Human Rights
The seventeenth round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue was held in London on 12-13 January 2009. This comprised one day of talks and visits to a psychiatric detention facility and disability centre run by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation. The delegation also met a group of MPs from the China All-Party Parliamentary Group.
The formal talks were held with representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, United Front Works Department, Supreme People's Court, Ministry of Public Security, State Council Information Office, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation. We discussed recent human rights developments in China, the drafting of the first Chinese human rights action plan, the ratification of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Tibet, co-operation with international human rights mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review, UN Special Rapporteurs, the Universal Convention Against Torture Committee and the UN Human Rights Council, the use of the death penalty, Rule of Law issues including administrative detention, Xinjiang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea border-crossers, and the freedoms of religion, expression and association. Detailed discussions were held on the role of the prosecutor, and a separate workshop, which included representatives of British non-governmental organisations, covered disability rights and mental health issues. We also raised more than 50 individual cases of concern. The following day the Chinese delegation visited a secure mental health unit and disability centre in London.
Given the nature of the discussions, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on the Chinese position on each issue. We maintain close official-level contact with parliamentarians and key non-governmental associations involved in human rights in China and discuss our dialogue with them.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
The Government are committed to publishing an annual list detailing the number and costs of special advisers. Information for 2007-08 was published by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 99-102WS.
European Union: Civil Servants
All 18 UK-based officers, accredited to the devolved Administrations as diplomats, are registered to the Belgian Partena Mutuelle.
The number of UK-based staff, of the EU offices of the devolved Administrations, responsible to the UK Permanent Representative to the EU for their personal conduct, by grade and Administration, are:
Staff SCS 1 Grade 6 2 Grade 7 1 HEO 2 Total 6
Staff SCS 1 Grade 7 2 HEO 1 Total 4
Staff SCS 1 Grade 7 4 HEO 2 EO 1 Total 8 Note: Grades are listed against their Cabinet Office equivalent.
Flags
The total identifiable expenditure by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in each of the last five years is as follows:
Flags purchased for internal use at conferences, official events, etc.
£ 2004 2,876 2005 7,140 2006 2,559 2007 2,088 2008 9,099
A breakdown of this expenditure between Union flags and flags of other nations is not held centrally and providing this information would incur disproportionate cost.
In addition to this, in 2008 £1,694.54 was spent on Union flags and £995 was spent on other nations’ flags for external use at FCO buildings. Before 2008 a contractor was used to provide a flag raising service. This included supplying flags as required.
Gaza: Smuggling
We are extremely concerned with the smuggling of arms and people into Gaza. We are currently working with the Government of Egypt and our international partners on ways to help prevent smuggling.
Government Departments: Wines
The most recent available valuation of the Government hospitality wine cellar places the current value of the stock at approximately £792,000.
The cellar contains approximately 39,500 bottles, of which fewer than 500 are spirits or liqueurs. Small quantities of beer are bought on an ad hoc basis; it does not form part of the cellar stock.
Immigration Officers
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not employ any migration officers. Such officers are employed by the UK Borders Agency, which is the responsibility of the Home Office.
India: Foreign Relations
The UK already enjoys a close and constructive relationship with India. We have extensive contacts with the Indian Government and civil society on a wide range of diplomatic, political, security, economic, trade, development, scientific and cultural issues. We have an extensive network of posts in India staffed from several departments across Whitehall who work to promote UK interests in India. Government Ministers also have regular discussions with their Indian counterparts about current bilateral, regional and global issues. The UK is committed to improving relations with India even further in 2009 and beyond.
Iran: Drugs
Between the financial years 2000-01 and 2008-09 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has spent approximately £3,025,000 on counter-narcotics assistance in and with Iran.
Our funding has contributed to a mix of supply and demand reduction projects such as:
Training drug enforcement agencies on border management and intelligence sharing.
Supply of mobile drugs detection units for anti-narcotics police.
Donation of IT equipment and training for intelligence analysis.
Training and funds to Iranian NGOs involved in the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Most of the funding has been channelled through the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for capacity building on Iran's eastern border and improving investigative capability. Some equipment has been provided through UNODC and bilaterally.
No specific assistance is currently agreed for 2009-10 but we are looking for ways to continue our work with Iran on counter narcotics.
Middle East: Armed Conflict
We have been in regular contact with both the Government of Israel and Palestinian Authority, including during this period the Prime Minister speaking to the Israeli Prime Minister and Palestinian President.
There was no contact with Hamas. We do not believe it is productive to talk to Hamas until it makes significant movement towards the Quartet principles of rejecting violence, accepting Israel's right to exist and recognising previous agreements.
The Arab League has mandated Egypt to communicate with Hamas. We are in regular contact with both the Arab League and Egypt. Turkey, Syria, Qatar and others are also speaking to Hamas.
Palestinians: Human Rights
We are extremely concerned with the current situation in Occupied Palestinian Territories and throughout the conflict in Gaza called for an immediate ceasefire.
We have called for allegations of abuse to be thoroughly investigated. The report of the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur is unbalanced and contributes little. We are awaiting the results of several ongoing investigations into alleged human rights violations during the Gaza conflict and will consider very carefully the results of these investigations once they are available.
We continue to press the Israeli Government to abide by all their international commitments, including their obligations under the fourth Geneva convention which makes clear that an occupying power must co-operate in allowing allow free movement of people, humanitarian supplies and commercial goods.
Rashid Rauf
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including the Foreign Secretary's office, first learned of the suspected death of Mr. Rauf from initial media reports coming out of Pakistan.
We do not have confirmation of the death of Rashid Rauf. Following a request from his family, we have requested official confirmation from the Government of Pakistan.
Russia: BBC External Services
The latest available figures are from January 2009, and estimate that the number of unique users of BBC Russian.com in the Russian Federation was on average 247,000 per week. However, we would therefore expect this number to increase.
Research shows that the number of internet users in Russia continues to grow, and that by the end of 2008 Russia had overtaken the UK as the second largest internet market in Europe. The BBC World Service regularly reviews the performance of all its websites, but predictive performance estimates of websites in individual countries are not available in this fast-changing environment.
The BBC World Service carried out a strategic review of the BBC Russian Service in 2008 in order to increase its impact and deliver a better service to audiences in Russia. It will continue to seek new opportunities to expand Russian audiences' access to the BBC Russian Service.
The BBC World Service has no plans for another strategic review of the service. However as with all services, it regularly reviews the Russian service output and assesses its impact through regular audience measurement.
The BBC World Service is editorially and operationally independent of Government. Though the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was consulted on the recent changes to the Russia Service, strategic decisions on individual language service reviews are taken by the BBC World Service.
Somalia: Piracy
The international Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) met in Cairo on 17 March 2009. The UK, as the chair of the Contact Group working group on international co-ordination and co-operation, asked for its mandate to be expanded to include regional capability development, given the importance of this work to a sustainable solution. This was agreed. As a result, and in co-ordination with key international organisations and partners, a UK-led needs assessment mission will be visiting the region in April/May to assess requirements in the judicial, penal and maritime security (Coastguard/naval) sectors. The mission will report back to the Contact Group via its working group as soon as possible, seeking funding support for the areas it assesses as priorities.
Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations
The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is now 15,136 troops, police and military observers, and approximately 2,000 civilians. The UK has staff officers deployed in UNAMID and is helping to train UNAMID police.
A full breakdown of UNAMID troop and police contributors can be found here:
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/contributors/2008/dec08_5.pdf.
There are currently 35 Troop Contributing Countries. The largest are: Nigeria with 3244 troops, Rwanda with 3241 and Ethiopia with 1470. There are currently 41 police contributing countries. The largest are: Ghana with 577 police officers, Nigeria with 268 police officers and two formed police units and Bangladesh with 88 police officers and one formed police unit.
Funding for UNAMID is managed by the United Nations. As well as our assessed contribution, the UK is making available approximately £2.5 million of funding this financial year to train and equip African contributing nations.
Tamils: Cluster Bombs
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North, (Joan Ryan), on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1176W.
Ukraine: Human Rights
[holding answer 18 December 2008]: An assessment of the human rights situation in Ukraine can be found in the 2007 FCO Human Rights Report
http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/human-rights-report-2007
and the European Commission's review of Ukraine's progress against its European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan
http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/progress2008/sec08_402_en.pdf.
Ukraine has made good progress in recent years on democratisation and freedom of expression and the media, with three consecutive elections recognised as largely free and fair, and a diverse and lively media environment. We welcome the increasing involvement of human rights organisations in Government work to protect human rights. There are, however, a number of areas where urgent action is required, for example on tackling corruption, strengthening the rule of law, reversing the rise in suspected serious racist and anti-Semitic attacks, preventing people trafficking, improving the way in which detainees are treated by the law enforcement agencies. We are working closely with Ukraine on all of these issues, in particular through the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
Work and Pensions
Mortgages: Government Assistance
(2) how many applications for support under the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme have been received in each of the last 24 months.
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Mel Groves:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking how long on average his Department took to process claims for assistance with 100% of eligible mortgage interest; what the average was in the period immediately prior to 5 January 2009; what it has been since that date; and how many applications for support under the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme have been received in each of the last 24 months. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus does not capture the average processing time for claims for assistance with 100% of eligible mortgage interest. What is recorded is the average clearance time for the processing of our benefits, for example Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Income Support (IS). Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is not a separate benefit but rather forms an integral part of the benefits such as JSA and IS. The customer may not be eligible to claim SMI from day one of their claim and as a result that element will be processed later in the life of that claim. This is why we do not capture the clearance time.
Jobcentre Plus does record the actual number of claims received for SMI, by benefit type. Please find attached this information for each of the last 24 months.
No data on Employment and Support Allowance will be released until the first set of official statistics have been published in the Summer.
mortgage interest 2007-08 2008-09 IS claims received JSA claims received IS claims received JSA claims received March 3,923 2,181 2,479 1,690 April 3,780 1,834 5,013 2,220 May 4,065 2,168 2,335 2,090 June 3,706 1,992 2,401 2,109 July 3,598 2,020 2,946 2,481 August 3,808 2,022 2,408 2,224 September 3,965 2,001 2,583 2,662 October 2,891 2,266 3,182 2,805 November 3,612 2,317 2,479 2,855 December 2,744 1,580 1,930 2,654 January 3,560 2,500 2,083 3,727 February 3,750 2,203 2,099 3,224 12 month total 43,402 25,084 31,634 30,741
State Retirement Pensions
We are regularly engaged in discussion with stakeholders about the pensions system and pensions reform.
Following representations, the Government introduced legislation in the Pensions Act 2008 which will help people, particularly women and carers, who have recently reached or are approaching state pension age and who have gaps in their national insurance records to improve their basic state pension.
The measure will allow those who reach state pension age between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2015 to purchase voluntary class 3 national insurance contributions for up to an additional six years from 1975, provided they already have 20 qualifying years (taking into account home responsibilities protection).
The measure, which came into force on 6 April 2009, will help to mitigate the potential differences in outcomes for people reaching state pension age either side of 6 April 2010.
Culture, Media and Sport
Exercise
The information requested is as follows:
Active People survey
The Active People survey was commissioned by Sport England in 2005 to measure adult participation in sport and active recreation at a local authority (LA) level. Core costs of the survey are therefore incurred by Sport England.
In April 2008, the scope of the survey was extended to collect data for participation in cultural activities for the purposes of measuring LA national indicators owned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This cultural element of the survey is funded jointly (approximately 50:50) by DCMS and two partner bodies (Arts Council England and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council). The cost to DCMS in 2008-09 was £590,000, which included the cost of boosting the sample size to ensure robust data.
Taking Part survey
The Taking Part survey was commissioned in 2005 and is jointly funded (again, approximately 50:50) by DCMS and four partner bodies (Arts Council England, English Heritage, Sport England and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council). The survey collects data about engagement and non-engagement in culture, leisure and sport at a national level, and is a National Statistic.
Between 2005-06 and 2008-09, DCMS contributed the following levels to the cost of Taking Part.
£ million 2005-06 0.7 2006-07 1.3 2007-08 1.4 2008-09 1.2
In addition to supporting core running costs of the survey, these figures include other expenses such as additional analysis, piloting and questionnaire reviews.
Licensed Premises: Closed Circuit Television
Installation of CCTV inside licensed premises is not a compulsory prerequisite of holding a premises licence. However, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has issued guidance on the installation of CCTV inside licensed premises which can be found at the following web address:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/3667.aspx
Public Libraries: Wirral
(2) what discussions he had with representatives of library users before he took the decision not to intervene in the library closure programme proposed by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council;
(3) if he will review his decision in relation to public libraries in Wirral and intervene to prevent Library closures.
Local authorities are not required to advise DCMS of plans to review their library service or reform their estate but, in December last year, following the receipt of letters from concerned residents, the Head of Library Services at Wirral metropolitan borough council confirmed to DCMS officials that the council planned to close 11 of its 24 libraries.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), as the national strategic body for the library sector and a source of best practice advice, has been in discussion with Wirral council about the restructuring of the library service since before Christmas and has shared information with DCMS officials since that time. In February, the Secretary of State requested that Wirral council work with the MLA on the proposed restructure of library services. Following their work, the MLA wrote to the Secretary of State to express their concerns about the closures. As a result he intervened on 3 April 2009, by calling a local inquiry to test whether the council's plans are consistent with their statutory duties under the Public Libraries and Museums Act, 1964. The person appointed to carry out the DCMS inquiry will be announced shortly, and will invite the views of all interested parties. Its conclusions will form part of the DCMS Library Service Modernisation Review, to be published in June.
The Secretary of State has discussed the decision to intervene with Councillor Steve Foulkes, Leader of Wirral metropolitan borough council. He has not however discussed the council's plans with library staff, library users or their representatives.
As a separate issue, significant concern has been expressed by various stakeholders about the consultation process conducted by the council. If substantiated, this would constitute a procedural rather than a specific statutory duty failure by the council, the remedy for which would be outside the Secretary of State's powers under the Act.
Tickets: Touting
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport issued a consultation on ticketing and ticket touting running from 19 February 2009 to 15 May 2009. The consultation appears on its website:
www.dcms.gov.uk
Government will consider any steps needed after the end of the consultation period.
Olympics
Departmental Rail Travel
The Cabinet Office is committed to minimising travel costs and reducing our carbon footprint.
The Cabinet Office's guidance to staff travelling by rail on official business is that standard class should be used. However, first class travel may be used when travelling over 2.5 hours.
Olympic Games 2012: Contracts
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has received no formal complaints in respect of its procurement and contract award procedures. It does, on request, provide feedback to businesses that have been unsuccessful in an ODA procurement. Details of the ODA's complaints procedure are available on the London 2012 website:
http://www.london2012.com/index.php
Olympic Games 2012: Finance
(2) whether a loan from the European Investment Bank for the funding of the 2012 Olympics would need to be underwritten by the Government.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has given in-principle agreement to a loan in two parts. Part of that loan would assist with the financing of the social housing arising from the Olympic village; the other part would assist with the financing of the whole Olympic village.
European Investment Bank loans are among a number of options being considered to fund the delivery of the Olympic village.
The terms and conditions for any loan are yet to be agreed in full.
Once a final decision has been taken about the funding of the Olympic village I will make a statement to the House.
As a number of options for funding the delivery of the Olympic village, remain under consideration, it is not possible to give a breakdown of public/private investment levels in the village project at this time. Once a decision is taken on the funding options, I will make a statement to the House.
Detail on the Olympic Contingency Fund is included in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games annual report 2009. The financial report section of that report includes a description of contingency fund budget headings.
The £9.325 billion public sector funding package exists primarily to deliver the venues and infrastructure which will enable the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games (LOCOG) to take place and will leave a valuable legacy of physical regeneration, particularly in East London. The bulk of this funding will have been spent by the time the games take place in 2012, just over three years from now.
This expenditure creates considerable opportunities for UK business. The Olympic Delivery Authority and LOCOG will directly procure £6 billion worth of contracts, and this is expected to generate 75,000 supply chain opportunities. Where existing supply chains are not in place,—approximately 20 per cent. of contracts—these will be placed on CompeteFor, the brokerage service for buyers and suppliers which opens up supply chains to businesses, large and small across the UK. There will also be wider opportunities for businesses in sectors such as tourism, sport and hospitality.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There is currently one member of staff in the Northern Ireland Office suspended. As there are fewer than five cases, details about the cases cannot be released for reasons of confidentiality.
Departmental Official Hospitality
The following table shows the expenditure recorded by the Northern Ireland Office, excluding its Agencies and Executive NDPBs, in relation to events it has hosted in the last five years:
Financial year Expenditure on hosting events (£) 2007-08 161,924 2006-07 190,580 2005-06 114,388 2004-05 n/a 2003-04 n/a n/a = Not available.
The Department records expenditure on hosting events within a general hospitality expenses heading. Since 2005-06, a separate database has been introduced to capture the details and costs of events hosted by the Northern Ireland Office. However, the provision of costs prior to 2005-06 would require a manual investigation of the hospitality expenses heading which could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
The events include Royal Garden Parties and receptions hosted at Hillsborough Castle, which acknowledge the contribution made by a wide range of people to life in Northern Ireland. These include representatives from the voluntary and business sectors and also the police and armed forces.
Leader of the House
Select Committees: Internet
Solicitor-General
Racial Hatred
The CPS holds a record of the number of defendants prosecuted for racist hate crimes. The following table shows the number of such proceedings completed during each year for which figures are available, together with the outcome of proceedings. Outcomes are divided into conviction, including guilty pleas as well as convictions after trial, and unsuccessful outcomes, representing all outcomes other than a conviction.
CPS records are not held by parliamentary constituency, but according to the organisation unit of the service responsible for conducting the prosecution.
Separate figures are shown for north-east Essex, for CPS Essex, and for England. In addition, the table also shows figures for England and Wales in total.
Number Percentage Number Percentage Total 2005-06 North East Essex 25 83.3 5 16.7 30 Essex total 121 65.1 65 34.9 186 England 6,420 74.3 2,225 25.7 8,645 England and Wales 6,785 74.2 2,365 25.8 9,150 2006-07 North East Essex 41 89.1 5 10.9 46 Essex total 156 79.2 41 20.8 197 England 8,636 77.0 2,577 23.0 11,213 England and Wales 9,038 76.9 2,712 23.1 11,750 2007-08 North East Essex 61 84.7 11 15.3 72 Essex total 185 74.9 62 25.1 247 England 9,812 79.9 2,463 20.1 12,275 England and Wales 10,254 79.9 2,575 20.1 12,829 2008-09 North East Essex 45 84.9 8 15.1 53 Essex total 200 84.0 38 16.0 238 England 8,900 82.5 1,887 17.5 10,787 England and Wales 9,306 82.4 1,982 17.6 11,288
International Development
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There are no officials suspended.
The Department for International Development's (DFID) detailed Disciplinary Procedure and Guidance notes are held on the internal website. All staff have access to the website.
Departmental Lost Property
The Department for International Development's policy is that staff are only charged for the cost of replacing laptops if it is established that the member of staff was negligent. No staff have been charged for the cost of a replacement laptop in the last 12 months.
Non-Governmental Organisations
For security reasons it is not possible to name the individual non-governmental organisations (NGOs) receiving direct funding from the Department for International Development (DFID).
DFID has allocated the following amounts directly to NGOs over the last five years:
£ 2004-05 1— 2005-06 4,083,540 2006-07 2,592,558 2007-08 3,625,886 2008-09 7,123,535 1 No direct support to NGOs
The Department for International Development (DFID) has indirectly funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to carry out development and humanitarian work in Sudan through a number of channels: UN agencies that use NGOs as implementing partners for UN programmes; NGOs with which DFID has agreed Partnership Programme Arrangements; and pooled multilateral funds managed by the UN or World Bank that have disbursed to NGOs. Our total contributions to pooled multilateral funds for 2004-05 and 2008-09 are as follows:
£ million Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) 165 Sudan Recovery Fund (SRF) 15 Darfur Community Peace and Stability Fund (DCPSF) 3 Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) 49.6 UN Development Programme Strategic Partnership (SP) 19.7
DFID provides funds directly to NGOs under the Basic Services Fund for South Sudan; for programme delivery such as elections or disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) support; and through bilateral partnerships. DFID has funded the following organisations in this way between 2004-05 and 2008-09:
NGO Total funding received (£ million) Oxfam GB 14.97 GOAL 11.60 Action Contre le Faim 8.10 International Rescue Committee 7.26 Medecins Sans Frontieres - Holland 6.20 Medecins Sans Frontieres - Belgium 6.16 Tearfund 4.63 Medair 3.98 Solidarites 3.70 Save the Children UK 3.28 Skills for Southern Sudan 3.14 Christian Aid 2.53 Medecins Sans Frontieres - France 2.52 Mines Advisory Group 2.44 Population Service International (PSI) 2.44 Medecins du Monde 2.30 Merlin 2.25 Caritas 2.09 Save the Children US 2.06 Care International 1.90 African Medical and Research Foundation 1.57 Comitatio Colaborazione Medica 1.47 Malaria Consortium 1.44 Pact 1.35 International Medical Corps 1.34 Okenden International 1.31 BBC World Service Trust 1.17 RedR 1.17 Humanitarian Assistance for South Sudan 1.15 HALO Trust 0.95 Concern Worldwide 0.79 Femme Solidarites' Africa 0.70 World Vision 0.50 Adventist Development and Relief Agency 0.50 Organismo Di Volontariato Per La Cooperazione Internazionale 0.46 Freidrich Ebert Stiftung 0.39 Hope and Homes for Children 0.38 World Relief 0.37 Windle Trust International 0.34 Tufts University 0.28 Together for Sudan 0.27 Saferworld 0.24 AMA 0.19 Islamic Relief 0.19 Centre for Police Research and Dialogue 0.17 EISA 0.16 Redress Trust 0.13 Action Africa 0.13 Total 1113.3 1 Including following grants Mothers for Peace, Ahfad University, the Small Arms Survey, Justice Africa, Sudan Production Aid, Padak Fisheries Training Centre, Loka Women's Association, the Africa Partnership Aid for Rehabilitation and Development, Al Asala Women's Association, Veterinaires Sans Frontieres, Rift Valley Institute, Friends for Africa International, Diocese of Rumbek, CMS Ireland, Valid International, Information Technology Development Group (now Practical Action), Carter Centre, Echo Bravo – Education Base, Save the Children Sweden, Overseas Development Institute and Catholic Relief Services have each received grants of £100,000 or less.
Overseas Aid
The Bangladesh Partnership, led by the Bangladesh Central Bank, has improved payment systems throughout the banking system, promoted innovations in remittances and promoted better understanding of migrants' needs on remittance transmission channels. The Partnership has created incentives to use formal channels for transferring remittances rather than the informal 'hundi' system.
The Ghanaian Partnership is now in its final design stage after an extensive consultation process with the Government. Discussions are still underway on a Nigerian partnership. In the meantime, the Department for International Development (DFID) supports 'Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access' (EFInA): an organisation that works with the Nigerian Government to address the regulatory challenges facing payment systems. This should improve the flow of formal remittances.
Duchy of Lancaster
Business
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 28 April 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many people have been employed in the small business sector in (a) Hemel Hempstead, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England in each year since 1997. (270378)
Table 1 shows the number of employees within the size-band 0-49 employees from 1998 to 2007. Figures for 1997 are not available.
Period Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire England 1998 20,500 225,500 9,711,400 1999 20,400 216,400 9,844,200 2000 21,600 231,600 10,059,300 2001 21,300 226,800 10,089,800 2002 20,600 224,700 10,154,300 2003 19,900 229,500 10,102,200 2004 19,900 229,200 10,151,900 2005 20,100 233,500 10,379,000 2006 19,300 224,100 10,251,800 2007 20,100 230,200 10,325,800 1 Estimates for 2005 and earlier periods are on a different basis to those from 2006 onwards. A preliminary assessment of changes in survey methodology suggests that the estimated total number of employees (for GB at the whole economy level) was reduced by around 1 per cent. Direct comparisons of employee estimates over these different periods should therefore be treated with caution. Source: Annual Business Inquiry
Business: Cleveland
I have been asked to reply.
There were 4,820 administrations (Enterprise Act 2002) in England and Wales in 2008. Statistics covering business administration are not currently available on a regional basis within England and Wales.
Charities: Sports
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.
Letter from Andrew Hind, dated April 2009:
As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking when the Charity Commission plans to update its Guidance on charitable status and sport, booklet RR11.
The Commission’s current work programme has RR11 scheduled for revision and publication by summer 2010.
I hope this is helpful.
Elderly
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question asking what recent estimate has been made of the number of people likely to reach the state pension age between now and 6 April 2010. [270778]
The number people projected to reach state pension age in the United Kingdom between 22 April 2009 and 6 April 2010 is 660 thousand.
This estimate is derived from the 2006-based national population projections for the United Kingdom, published in October 2007.
Members: Correspondence
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: A response has been sent to the hon. Member.
Personal Income: Milton Keynes
I have been asked to reply.
Detailed information on the distribution of incomes for each parliamentary constituency is not available due to small sample sizes at this level of geography.
Available information on incomes by parliamentary constituency based on the latest available Survey of Personal Incomes (2006-07) can be found in table 3.15 “Income and tax by Parliamentary Constituency’ on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu.htm
Statistics: Tourism
(2) whether any changes have been made to the methodology of the International Passenger Survey for 2009;
(3) when his Department plans to publish international passenger survey statistics on foreign visitor numbers to the UK for the first quarter of 2009.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply to the hon. Member. A copy of their response will be placed in the Library.
Transport
Airports: Repairs and Maintenance
The Government support the sustainable development of airport infrastructure needed to serve the interests of air transport users and the wider UK economy. Within this policy framework, airport operators deliver infrastructure improvements. Over the last 12 months, there have been numerous infrastructure improvements at airports across the UK ranging from enhanced surface access links and terminal facilities to runway resurfacing. Details of all of these are generally available on the websites of individual airports.
Biofuels
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation suppliers of fossil fuel for transport are required to ensure that a proportion of the fuel they supply is renewable. In the first nine months of the scheme which began in April 2008 approximately 3 per cent. of the biofuel supplied was from recycled waste cooking oil.
In January 2009 £27 million of public-private investment was made into the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre which will include in its research programme biofuels made from waste. Under the renewable energy directive the use of biofuels produced from waste will be further incentivised as these will count as double towards meeting the target of 10 per cent. renewable energy in transport by 2020.
Bus Services: Concessions
I am aware of the concerns of some local authorities regarding the allocation of concessionary travel special grant funding. Around 30 authorities, out of a total of nearly 300, have written to the Department for Transport to express their concerns. However, the bulk of funding for concessionary travel is not delivered by special grant, but through the formula grant process.
The Government are confident that sufficient funding is available, in total, to fund statutory concessionary travel. Some authorities' analysis of their own funding arrangements can also misrepresent the true picture. Funding for concessionary travel is not separately identified within formula grant, so it is not possible to identify how much authorities receive specifically for providing concessionary travel. It is also the responsibility of authorities to ensure that operators are truly left no better and no worse off as a result of concessionary travel. Authorities should consider whether the new England-wide concession means that their existing reimbursement arrangements need to be reviewed.
It is not known which local authorities in England have withdrawn companion passes or concessionary travel at peak times since 1 April 2009. The Government are responsible for the statutory minimum concession that all travel concession authorities (TCAs) are required to provide. TCAs have discretion to enhance their concessionary travel schemes at their own expense. These can give residents concessionary travel beyond the statutory times or extend eligibility to other groups of people such as companions. Any decision to change these discretionary elements is entirely a matter for individual TCAs.
The Department for Transport undertakes a biennial survey of TCAs, asking for details of their concessionary bus fares schemes for older and disabled people. The most recent results, to 30 June 2008, are published in Chapter 4 of the Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2008 edition. A copy is in the Library of the House.
Car Sharing
(2) what estimate he has made of (a) the savings in carbon dioxide emissions attributable to car sharing in the last year for which figures are available and (b) the potential future annual savings attributable to car sharing.
The Department for Transport promotes car sharing as one of a range of measures known collectively as ‘smarter choices’ or as part of a workplace or other travel plans. They are aimed at helping people travel in a more environmentally friendly way. In addition, the travel information service Transport Direct provides links to car sharing organisations and car clubs. The Department has also recently provided funding to Carplus so that it can continue to promote, develop and support car clubs and developed its car sharing website elements to support the promotion of car sharing. High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes are being trialled on the M606/62.
Because smarter choices relies on a package of measures, it is hard to disaggregate which measure produce which results, and the department does not currently produce either of the carbon dioxide estimates requested.
Departmental Pay
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: The Department for Transport comprises a central Department plus seven executive agencies each with its own pay and reward system. Information regarding bonus payments has been collected from the central department and its agencies and collated into one set of figures.
The number of Civil Servants in DFT to receive a non-consolidated performance payment in 2008-09 was 13,471 which is 68 per cent. of staff. The total amount paid was £11,267,771, an average payment of £836.
DFT was created in 2003 therefore there are no figures for 1997-98 and 2002-03.
Parking: Nottingham
An announcement of the decision on Nottingham city council's workplace parking order, and the reasons for it will be made as soon as possible.
Ports: Repairs and Maintenance
The Government support the sustainable development of ports to meet the needs of port users and the wider economy. The diverse and competitive ports sector in the UK undertakes infrastructure improvements according to market conditions. The ports sector has successfully maintained a consistent share of handling 95 per cent. of UK goods in international trade by volume in competition with other modes of transport. Details of improvements undertaken at ports in the UK are generally available on the websites of individual ports.
Public Transport: Greater Manchester
The Department for Transport will continue to engage with local authorities who seek to bring forward packages of transport measures to tackle local congestion problems in line with the Transport Innovation Fund criteria.
Railway Stations
2009-10 is the first year of implementation of the National Stations Improvement programme. Under this programme, the Government are providing £150 million over five years for the modernisation of around 150 stations. The programme is being led by Network Rail.
The Access for All programme is continuing to install obstacle free, accessible routes into priority stations. 145 stations have been identified for enhancement through to 2015. 24 sites are now finished and Network Rail expect to complete a further 20 during 2009-10. In addition, the Access for All Small Schemes programme has awarded funding of £6.2 million towards a variety of access improvements with a total value of around £37 million at over 500 stations during this financial year.
In addition, Reading station is being re-developed. This is a five year project with a total value of around £800 million and will increase capacity and improve performance on a key railway junction on the Great Western main line. Planning consent is underway and when achieved, enabling works will commence, scheduled for the beginning of 2010.
At Birmingham New Street station the Department for Transport is providing a significant contribution to the £600 million gateway scheme to redevelop this station. Work is scheduled to begin later in 2009 and will deliver significant improvement in passenger handling capacity, access, facilities and environment.
Railways: Electrification
Between 1996-97 and 2007-08 approximately 46 route miles were electrified, accounting for about 0.5 per cent. of the GB network that is open to passenger traffic. Electrification schemes completed during this period include Heathrow Express and Crewe to Kidsgrove. Rail electrification in Scotland is a devolved matter for the Scottish Executive.
Source:
Table 6.1, Transport Statistics Great Britain 2008
Railways: Safety
The Office of Rail Regulation (the independent rail safety regulator) has received the information in the following table on the safety of doors on high speed trains operated by First Great Western.
Date Unit Location Details 7 February 2008 HST Taunton Train brought to emergency stop two miles from Taunton after customer host discovered open door in coach H. Failure by dispatcher. 12 February 2008 HST Bodmin Parkway Train brought to emergency stop approximately three miles from Bodmin after passenger discovered open door in coach B. Train dispatched by guard only, without dispatcher present. 14 February 2008 HST Camborne Train brought to emergency stop by train manager as door in coach C opened on departure. 19 May 2008 HST Exeter St. Thomas Train brought to emergency stop by train manager as door opened on departure and struck infrastructure. 30 October 2008 HST Hamstead Train brought to emergency stop as train door open. Human error—dispatched from Newbury while dispatcher distracted by threat of violence from youths on platform. Dispatcher advised. 15 March 2009 HST Evesham Train dispatched with door not closed on departure from Honeybourne.
Selective Door Operation (SDO), which is operated by the train manager and which prevents doors not at platforms from opening, has now been fitted to the whole First Great Western (FGW) HST fleet as part of the refurbishment undertaken since the beginning of the new FGW franchise.
Following the change in FGW's selective door opening policy in relation to short platforms, there was a spate of door incidents in early 2008. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reviewed the industry's investigations into these incidents—including the changes that FGW made to its selective door opening policy to deal with these incidents (including the one of May 2008).
The RAIB review concluded that no further investigation by RAIB was necessary at this time, but it would keep the situation under review. Following the changes made by FGW, there have been two subsequent incidents. The RAIB considered both of these and their particular circumstances. One clearly was due to specific distraction, and for the other RAIB is still ascertaining the circumstances and the action proposed by FGW as part of our ongoing monitoring. The RAIB is not aware of any door opening incidents on HSTs operated by other train operators over the last year, but continues to monitor Network Rail's daily log for reports of door incidents.
Speed Limits: Castle Point
Signing is the responsibility of local traffic authorities. The Department for Transport's guidance on the use of speed cameras stipulates that drivers should be warned of the presence of cameras and reminded of the speed limit through signing. The guidance states that camera housings should be yellow and recommends that camera signs should be co-located with speed limit signs where permitted and practicable. In addition, all speed limit signing must be lawful and correct and in accordance with the traffic signs regulations and general directions (TSRGD) in order for speed limits to be enforced. The guidance has been placed in the Library of the House and is also available on the Department's website.
Transport: Bournemouth
Following the decision in 2005 to give regions a greater role in determining priorities for major transport schemes with indicative allocations, the Government announced in July 2006 plans to fund a programme of major transport schemes in the period to 2015-16. The programme includes the Poole Bridge Regeneration Initiative which is subject to major scheme approval by the Department for Transport. No other major transport scheme proposals in the Bournemouth area have been received by the Department in the last five years.
It is for the South East Dorset authorities (Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch) to determine how capital allocations for integrated transport and highways maintenance are utilised and whether to put forward major transport scheme proposals.
We have made the following capital allocations to the South East Dorset authorities in the five years to 2008-09:
£000 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 Total Integrated Transport 3,052 3,066 3,032 4,050 3,299 16,499 Maintenance 3,247 2,699 5,757 2,321 2,366 16,390 Total 6,299 5,765 8,789 6,371 5,665 32,889
Treasury
Financial Recovery
The Government set out their forecast in paragraph B.59 in the Budget.
Fiscal Rules
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Henley (John Howell) on the Floor of the House today.
Government Borrowing
Global economic developments will have a profound effect on the fiscal positions of most countries. The OECD published its Interim Economic Outlook on 31 March 2009, which forecast the UK deficit to be 9.3 per cent. of GDP in 2009.
Bank Lending
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
The Bank of England will publish a monthly report on ‘Trends in Lending’. The first report in this series was published on 21 April.
RBS and Lloyds Banking Group have entered into legally binding agreements to increase the amount of lending they provide to home owners and businesses. The Government will monitor these arrangements and report to Parliament annually.
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such representations.
The first monthly report on “Trends in lending” was published by the Bank of England on 21 April.
Savings
The Government recognise the importance of saving in providing people with independence throughout their lives, security if things go wrong and comfort in retirement. Budget 2009 announced that the annual ISA investment limits will rise to £10,200, up to £5,100 of which can be held in cash, from April 2010. These new limits will apply from October 2009 for people aged 50 and over.
The Government recognise the importance of saving in providing people with independence throughout their lives, security if things go wrong and comfort in retirement. Budget 2009 announced that the annual ISA investment limits will rise to £10,200, up to £5,100 of which can be held in cash, from April 2010. And these new limits will apply from October 2009 for people aged 50 and over.
The Government also announced an extra £100 per year to the Child Trust Funds of disabled children, with £200 per year to severely disabled children.
In addition, the Saving Gateway will be introduced nationally in 2010 to encourage saving among working age people on lower incomes.
Money Flow
The Budget assessment is that it will take time to fully restore the effective functioning of financial markets. The Government have taken a number of steps to increase lending and confidence. Under the Asset Protection Scheme, RBS and Lloyds will lend an additional £39 billion in the year from March.
Business Confidence
The Chancellor received a number of representations from a variety of organisations before the Budget statement on 22 April. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such representations.
The Chancellor received a number of representations from a variety of organisations before the Budget statement on Wednesday 22 April. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such representations.
Budget
The Chancellor received a number of representations from a variety of organisations before the Budget statement on 22 April. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such representations.
Tax and Public Spending
The Government set out their latest assessment of economic prospects in the Budget, taking account of all relevant factors.
The Government set out its latest assessment of economic prospects in the Budget, taking account of all relevant factors.
World Bank Fund
The UK's contribution to the 15th replenishment of the International Development Association will be £2.134 billion for the three years 2008-09-2010-11.
The London summit of G20 leaders set out a clear plan for assisting the poorest countries through the global crisis. Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and achieving Official Development Assistance pledges; made $50 billion available to low income countries—this includes the World Bank Rapid Social Response Fund to which the UK is contributing £200 million; agreed the IMF should double confessional lending access limits and capacity to increase support to low income countries; agreed to review the flexibility of the Debt Sustainability Framework; and called on the UN to establish a mechanism to monitor the impact of the crisis on the poor.
Employment
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations. Taken together, the total policy support for the UK economy since last October is expected to support up to half a million jobs.
Public Sector Debt
The Government set out their fiscal projections in the Budget report 2009.
Members: Correspondence
I replied to my right hon. Friend on 27 April.
National Income
(2) what estimate his Department has made of revenue in each category of housing sector receipt in each of the next three years;
(3) how much housing sector receipts were as a percentage of all taxation receipts in each year since 1997.
Box C3 in Budget 2009 provides details of housing and financial sector receipts as a percentage of GDP. Taxes such as capital gains tax and inheritance tax will reflect both housing and financial assets. Stamp duty will reflect shares, housing and commercial property.
Outturn data for stamp duty, capital gains tax and inheritance tax are available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_receipts/table1-2.pdf
and
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_receipts/1_2_v2_dec05.pdf
Table 2.9 in Budget 2009: the economy and public finances—supplementary material provides projections for stamp duty, inheritance tax and capital gains tax up to 2013-14. This is available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/Budget2009/bud09_econfinances_968.pdf
Total taxation receipts are available in Table C1 of the Public Finances Databank:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/public_finances_databank.xls
Public Expenditure
I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Davies) on 26 March 2009, Official Report, columns 633-34W.
Taxation
No estimates have been made and HMRC cannot extract the information requested from the data it holds.
Health
Cancer: Mental Health Services
Recommendations on the provision of psychosexual support for cancer patients are set out in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on supportive and palliative care, published in 2004.
Plans for the implementation of this guidance are now in place in every cancer network. The guidance is expected to be fully implemented by December 2009.
Carbon Monoxide: Departmental Coordination
The most recent meeting of the Health and Safety Executive-led Officials Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness was held on 5 September 2007 and was attended by departmental officials.
Chernobyl
We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that restrictions on land use as a result of the Chernobyl accident relate to sheep farming only. There are 369 farms, or part farms, and approximately 190,000 sheep within the restricted areas of England, Scotland and Wales. This represents a reduction of over 95 per cent. since 1986, when approximately 9,700 farms and 4,225,000 sheep were under restriction across the United Kingdom. All restrictions in Northern Ireland were lifted in 2000.
The Food Standards Agency has not evaluated the effect of these restrictions on the rural economy.
Number of farms under restriction Approximate number of sheep Approximate land area (hectare) Wales 355 180,000 53,000 England 9 7,000 12,000 Scotland 5 3,000 7,000 Northern Ireland 0 0 0 Total 369 190,000 72,000
Departmental Aviation
Travel by civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the “Civil Service Management Code”. The Department does not have a policy on the use of British Airways.
The details of air travel on British Airways by officials are not easily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Freedom of Information
The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Eczema
(2) how much his Department spent on (a) the treatment of and (b) research into eczema in each of the last 10 years.
Information on the number of people diagnosed with eczema and the cost of their treatment is not collected.
Investment in eczema research in the 10 years from 1998-99 has been undertaken by the National Institute for Health Research health technology assessment programme, and has been as follows:
£ 1998-99 169,221 1999-2000 169,997 2000-01 192,495 2002-03 55,776 2006-07 129,736 2007-08 273,912
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies though which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In the last 10 years, the MRC has funded three research projects specifically relating to eczema at a total cost of £2.2 million. The MRC also funds a broad portfolio of research relevant to dermatology and skin disorders (amounting to around £2.8 million in 2007-08) some of which may benefit sufferers of eczema in the future.
Electricity: Health Hazards
The Department has commissioned, either directly or through the Health Protection Agency (HPA), research on the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) in the following areas:
exposure to radiofrequency fields including from mobile phones, base stations, terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) and WiFi;
studies to examine the potential cellular and behavioural effects of radiofrequency fields;
measurement of exposures to power frequency fields for population studies;
laboratory studies of the effects of power frequency fields on cells; and
development of realistic three dimensional (voxel) models for male, female, and pregnant female, to allow assessment of exposures from electromagnetic field sources at various frequencies.
The Department’s Radiation Protection Research (RPR) programme mainly covers ionising radiation research topics, but it also includes research on EMF. Information on the current RPR programme research strategy and research projects can be found on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_082096
A copy has been placed in the Library.
The independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme, jointly funded by Government and industry has supported a number of studies into the possible health effects of radiofrequency technology relating both to base stations and hand-held mobile phones. The MTHR programme published its first report in September 2007. None of the 23 individual studies reported under this programme to date demonstrates that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones or base stations. Ongoing studies include a case control study of cancer incidence in early childhood and proximity to mobile phone base stations.
The MTHR programme management committee recognised that some concerns still remain and proposed a further programme of work. Three studies in this second phase are under way. Details of all MTHR projects can be found on the MTHR website at:
www.mthr.org.uk
The Department additionally has provided an annual contribution to the World Health Organisation International Electromagnetic Fields Project since its inception in 1996. Information on this project can be found at:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/project/en/
The Department has not commissioned any research specifically on the effects of EMF on the health of elderly people.
The HPA’s Radiation Protection Division keeps the relevant research publications under continual review largely through its Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation and provides advice on electromagnetic fields and health to Government and the general public at:
www.hpa.org.uk/
Fertility: Medical Treatments
Most primary care trusts (PCTs) do not commission fertility services for couples who already have a child together. Approximately 40 per cent. of PCTs will not fund fertility services if either partner has a child from a previous relationship, whereas about 30 per cent. of PCTs require at least one of the partners to be childless in order to be eligible. The remaining PCTs have differing eligibility criteria, for example whether there are any children under a certain age living with the couple. We have funded the leading fertility patient support group, Infertility Network UK, to draw up standardised access criteria as a guideline to help PCTs in working towards more equitable provision, and this is in progress.
Approximately 33 primary care trusts (PCTs) commissioned one fresh cycle of in vitro fertilisation in 2008. From April 2009 12 of these PCTs have increased the amount commissioned and 18 are considering increases.
Good progress is being made in the commissioning of in vitro fertilisation treatment by primary care trusts (PCTs). All provide this treatment, though North Staffordshire PCT considers exceptional cases rather than routinely commissioning services and North Yorkshire and York provides treatment for women within a very limited age range. This compares favourably with non-provision by 14 PCTs in 2006.
Genito-urinary Medicine
The organisations submitting data on the Department’s genito-urinary medicine access monthly monitoring return are shown as follows.
SHA code Provider code Provider name Clinic code Clinic name Q36 5C1 Enfield PCT 5C111 Enfield Town Clinic Q36 5C9 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C910 St. Ann’s Hospital Q34 5CN Herefordshire PCT 5CN18 Sexual Health at Gaol Street Q30 5D7 Newcastle PCT 5D704 Newcastle PCT GUM Clinic Q30 5D8 North Tyneside PCT 5D802 1 to 1 Centre Q31 5F5 Salford PCT 5F535 Hope Hospital Q31 5HP Blackpool PCT 5HP13 Blackpool Victoria Hospital Q36 5K7 Camden PCT 5K702 The Archway Sexual Health Clinic Q36 5K7 Camden PCT 5K7MM Mortimer Market Centre Q31 5LH Tameside and Glossop PCT 5LH24 Tameside and Glossop PCT Q34 5PL Worcestershire PCT 5MT19 The Arrowside Unit Q34 5PL Worcestershire PCT 5MT25 The John Anthony Centre Q34 5MX Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 5MX16 Whittall St Clinic Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N916 Lincoln Sexual Health Clinic Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N927 Boston Sexual Health Clinic Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N950 Pilgrim Hospital Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N951 Grantham Hospital Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N952 Clinic 10 Lincoln GUM Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N955 Gainsborough Sexual Health Clinic Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N956 Louth Spectrum Sexual Health Clinic Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N957 Spalding Sexual Health Clinic Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N958 Skegness and District Hospital Q33 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N964 Newland Integrated Centre Q31 5NE Cumbria Teaching PCT 5NE4P Furness General Hospital Q31 5NF North Lancashire Teaching PCT 5NF61 Ashton Community Care Centre Q31 5NG Central Lancashire PCT 5NG82 Royal Preston Hospital Q32 5NV North Yorkshire and York PCT 5NV9C Craven GUM Clinic Q32 5NX Hull Teaching PCT 5NX23 Conifer House Q32 5NY Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT 5NY24 Keighley Health Centre Q35 5P3 East and North Hertfordshire PCT 5P3J6 Woodlands Clinic Lister Hospital Q35 5P3 East and North Hertfordshire PCT 5P3JJ Hertford County Hospital Q37 5P5 Surrey PCT 5P505 Farnham Road Hospital Q37 5P5 Surrey PCT 5P506 Leatherhead Hospital Q37 5P5 Surrey PCT 5P5A1 East Surrey Hospital Q37 5P6 West Sussex PCT 5P667 Crawley Hospital Q37 5P7 East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT 5P722 Avenue House Q37 5P8 Hastings And Rother PCT 5P808 Ore Clinic Q33 5PA Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 5PAAC Loughborough General Hospital Q34 5PK South Staffordshire PCT 5PK21 Sir Robert Peel Hospital Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 5QA04 West Thanet Suite Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 5QAD1 Dover Health Centre Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 5QAE6 William Harvey Hospital Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 5QAFA Folkestone Health Centre Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 5QAK1 Kent and Canterbury Hospital Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 5QAR1 Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital Q37 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent IPCT 5QARV Sheppey Hospital Q38 5QD Buckinghamshire PCT 5QD31 Brookside Clinic Q38 5QG Berkshire East PCT 5QG12 The Garden Clinic Q39 5QH Gloucestershire PCT 5QH04 Hope House on Gloucester Royal Hospital Site Q39 5QH Gloucestershire PCT 5QH05 Benhall Clinic on Cheltenham General Hospital Site Q38 5QT Isle of Wight NHS PCT 5QT01 St. Mary’s Hospital (Isle of Wight) Q39 RA3 Weston Area Health NHS Trust RA301 The Wish Clinic Q39 RA4 Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RA430 Yeovil District Hospital Q39 RA7 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust RA701 Bristol Royal Infirmary Milne Centre Q39 RA9 South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust RA901 Torbay Hospital Q32 RAE Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RAE01 Trinity Centre Q35 RAJ Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RAJ01 Southend Hospital Q36 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RAL01 The Royal Free Hospital Q36 RAS The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust RAS01 Tudor Wing Hillingdon Hospital Q36 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Trust RAX36 Wolverton Clinic Kingston Hospital Q39 RBA Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust RBA11 Taunton and Somerset Hospital Q39 RBD Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RBD05 Weymouth and District Hospital Q34 5PM Warwickshire PCT RBJ01 Hospital of St. Cross Q34 RBK Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust RBK02 The Manor Hospital Q31 RBL Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RBL14 Arrowe Park Hospital Q31 RBN St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust RBN02 St. Helen’s Hospital Q31 RBT The Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust RBT20 Leighton Hospital Q39 RBZ Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust RBZ12 North Devon District General Hospital Q35 RC1 Bedford Hospital NHS Trust RC110 Bedford Hospital Bridge House Q36 RC3 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust RC368 Ealing Hospital Pasteur Suite Q35 RC9 Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RC900 Luton and Dunstable Hospital Q32 RCB York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RCBJC Monkgate Health Centre Q32 5NV North Yorkshire and York IPCT RCC25 The Mulberry Unit Q32 5NV North Yorkshire and York IPCT RCD35 Heatherdene Centre for Sexual Health Q35 RCX The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Trust RCX70 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Q39 RD1 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust RD101 Royal United Hospital Q39 RN3 Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RD102 Chippenham Community Hospital Q38 RD8 Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RD816 Milton Keynes General Hospital Q35 5PY South West Essex PCT RDDH1 Orsett Hospital Q35 RDE Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust RDE02 Needas/Open Road Clinic Q35 RDE Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust RDEE2 Clacton and District Hospital Q35 RDE Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust RDEEB Essex County Hospital Q35 RDE Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust RDEEK Halstead Hospital Q37 RDU Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RDU01 Frimley Park Hospital Q39 RDZ The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation RDZ20 Royal Bournemouth Hospital Q30 5KG South Tyneside PCT RE9GA Stanhope Parade Health Centre Q39 REF Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust REF01 West Cornwall Hospital Q39 REF Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust REF12 Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske Q36 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust RF4BK Sydenham Centre Barking Hospital Q36 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust RF40C Oldchurch Hospital Q32 RFF Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RFFAA Barnsley District General Hospital Q32 RFR The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust RFRPA Rotherham General Hospital Q33 RFS Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RFSDA Suite 7 Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital Q36 RFW West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RFW01 West Middlesex University Hospital Q36 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust RG222 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Trafalgar Clinic Q36 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust RG302 Beckenham Hospital Q36 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust RGCKH Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust Q35 RGN Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RGN42 Peterborough District Hospital Q35 RGP James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RGP75 Bure Clinic James Paget Hospital Q35 RGQ Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust RGQ02 Ipswich Hospital Q35 RGR West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust RGR50 West Suffolk Hospital Q35 RGT Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RGT01 Clinic lA Addenbrookes Q39 5QQ Devon PCT RH801 Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Heavitree) Q38 5L1 Southampton City PCT RHM02 Royal South Hants Hospital Q32 RHQ Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RHQHH Royal Hallamshire Hospital Q38 RHU Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust RHU02 St. Mary’s Hospital Q38 RHW Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust RHW01 Royal Berkshire Hospital Q36 RJ1 Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust RJ121 Lloyd Clinic Guys Hospital Q36 RJ1 Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust RJ122 Lydia Clinic St. Thomas’s Hospital Q36 RYJ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust RYJ01 Jefferiss Wing St. Mary’s Hospital Q36 RJ6 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust RJ611 Mayday University Hospital Q36 RJ7 St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust RJ701 Courtyard Clinic Knightsbridge Wing St. George’s Hospital Q36 RJ7 St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust RJ731 Roehampton Clinic Queen Mary’s University Hospital Q39 REF Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust RJ807 Newquay and District Hospital Q34 RJC South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust RJC02 The Jephson Centre Warwick Hospital Q34 RJC South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust RJC03 The Hathaway Centre Stratford Q34 RJD Mid Staffordshire General. Hospitals NHS Trust RJD01 Staffordshire General Hospital Q34 RJD Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust RJD13 Cannock Chase Hospital Q34 RJE University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust RJE01 University of North Staffordshire Trust Q34 RJF Burton Hospitals NHS Trust RJF02 Delia Morris Centre Q32 RJL Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RJL30 Diana Princess of Wales Hospital Q32 RJL Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RJL32 Scunthorpe General Hospital Q31 5NP Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT RJN71 Macclesfield District General Hospital Q31 RJR Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RJR01 Countess of Chester Hospital Q36 RJZ King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RJZ01 Kings College Hospital Q33 RK5 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RK5BC Kings Mill Hospital Q33 RK5 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RK5HP Newark Hospital Q39 RK9 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust Rk950 Derriford Hospital Level 5 Q34 5MD Coventry Teaching PCT RKB02 Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital Q34 RL4 The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust RL401 New Cross Hospital Q30 RLN City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust RLNGL Sunderland District General Hospital Q34 RLT George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust RLT01 George Eliot Hospital Q35 RM1 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust RM102 Norfolk and Norwich Hospital Q31 RM2 University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust RM201 Withington Hospital Q31 RM4 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust RM401 Trafford General Hospital Q31 5HQ Bolton PCT RMC01 Royal Bolton Hospital Q38 RN1 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust RN100 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust Q39 RN3 Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RN325 The Great Western Hospital Q38 RN5 Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust RN506 North Hampshire Hospital Q37 RN7 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust RN707 Darent Valley Hospital Q34 RNA Dudley Group Of Hospitals NHS Trust RNA02 The Guest Hospital Q36 RNH Newham University Hospital NHS Trust RNHB1 Newham General Hospital Q36 RNJ Barts and The London NHS Trust RNJ12 The Royal London Hospital Q36 RNJ Barts and The London NHS Trust RNJ65 St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Q31 RNL North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust RNL06 Workington Community Hospital Q31 RNL North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust RNLAY Cumberland Infirmary Q33 RP1 Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust RNQ51 Warren Hill Centre Kettering General Hospital Q33 RP1 Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust RNS01 Northampton General Hospital Q39 RNZ Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust RNZ01 Salisbury District Hospital Q32 RP5 Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RP5DR Doncaster Royal Infirmary Q32 RP5 Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RP5RE Retford Hospital Q37 RPA Medway NHS Trust RPA02 Medway Maritime Hospital (St. Bart’s Rochester) Q37 RPL Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust RPL03 Warren Browne Unit Q37 RPR Royal West Sussex NHS Trust RPR01 St. Richard’s Hospital Fletcher Clinic Q31 RQ6 Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust RQ617 Royal Liverpool Hospital Q35 RQ8 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust RQ8LH St. John’s Hospital Q36 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQM01 John Hunter Clinic Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Q36 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQM02 The Victoria Clinic South Westminster Centre Q36 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQM03 Charing Cross Hospital Q35 5PP Cambridgeshire PCT RQQTC Hinchingbrooke Hospital Clinic 6 Q35 ROW The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust RQWG5 Princess Alexandra Hospital Q36 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQXM1 Homerton Hospital Q34 RR1 Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust RR101 Birmingham Heartlands Hospital Q32 RR8 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust RR801 Leeds General Infirmary Q31 5HQ Bolton PCT RRF54 Thomas Linacre Centre Q33 RTG Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RTGFA William Donald Clinic Derby GUM clinic Q38 RTH Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust RTH01 Harrison Department Radcliffe Infirmary Q38 RTH Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust RTHA5 Banbury GUM Clinic Orchard Health Centre Q37 RTK Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust RTK01 St. Peter’s Hospital Q30 RTR South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust RTR00 The James Cook University Hospital Q30 RTR South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust RTR45 Friarage Hospital Q30 RTR South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust RTRHP University Hospital of Hartlepool Q36 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust RV820 Northwick Park Hospital Q36 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust RV831 Central Middlesex Hospital Q36 RVL Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust RVL01 Barnet General Hospital Q36 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust RVR05 St. Helier Hospital Q30 RVW North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust RVWAE University Hospital of North Tees Q31 RVY Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust RVY01 Southport District General Hospital Q31 RW3 Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospital RW3MR Manchester Royal Infirmary Q31 RW6 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust RW601 Fairfield General Hospital Q31 RW6 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust RW602 North Manchester Hospital Q31 RW6 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust RW603 Royal Oldham Hospital Q31 RW6 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust RW604 Baillie Street Health Centre Q33 RWE University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust RWEAA Leicester Royal Infirmary Q33 RWE University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust RWEAK Leicester General Hospital Q33 RWE University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust RWESP St. Peter’s Health Centre Q37 RWF Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust RWF02 Kent and Sussex Hospital Q37 RWF Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust RWF05 Preston Hall Hospital Q35 RWG West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust RWG02 Watford Sexual Health Centre Q35 RWG West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust RWG03 The Waverley Wing Q31 RWJ Stockport NHS Foundation Trust RWJ09 Stepping Hill Hospital Q31 RWW North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust RWWHG Halton General Hospital Q31 RWW North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust RWWWH Warrington and District General Hospital Q32 RWY Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust RWY06 Laura Mitchell Health Centre Q32 RWY Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust RWYJJ Princess Royal Health Centre Q33 RX1 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust RX1CC Nottingham City Hospital Q32 RXF Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust RXF04 Clayton Hospital Q32 RXF Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust RXF10 Dewsbury District Hospital Q37 RXH Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust RXH01 Claude Nicol Centre Q34 RXK Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust RXK01 Dartmouth Clinic Sandwell General Hospital Q30 RXP County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust RXPBA Bishop Auckland General Hospital Q30 RXP County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust RXPCP University Hospital of North Durham Q30 RXP County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust RXPDA Darlington Memorial Hospital Q38 RXQ Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust RXQ50 Wycombe General Hospital Q31 RXR East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust RXR10 Burnley General Hospital Q31 RXR East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust RXR20 Royal Blackburn Hospital Q34 5MK Telford and Wrekin PCT RXWAS Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Q34 5MK Telford and Wrekin PCT RXWAT The Princess Royal Hospital Q30 TAC Northumberland Care Trust TAC02 Northumberland Clinic
Gonorrhoea
Data for finished consultant episodes where the main procedure was marsupialisation operations performed for Bartholinitis and the primary diagnosis was Neisseria gonorrhoeae in England for the years 2003-04 to 2007-08 are given in the following table.
Number 2007-08 1 2006-07 2 2005-06 4 2004-05 2 2003-04 0 Notes: Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Finished consultant episode A finished consultant episode (FCE) is defined as a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. The figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. ICD 10 code used: A54.1—Gonococcal infection of lower genitourinary tract without periurethral and accessory gland abscess. Main procedure The main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedure. OPCS 4.4/4.5 code used: P03.2 Marsupialisation of Bartholin gland. Changes to coding classifications: OPCS-4 Operative procedure codes were revised for 2006-07 and 2007-08. The 2007-08 data use OPCS 4.4 codes, 2006-07 data use OPCS 4.3 codes, data prior to 2006-07 use OPCS 4.2 codes. All codes that were in OPCS 4.2 remain in later OPCS 4 versions, however the introduction of OPCS 4.3 codes enable the recording of interventions and procedures which were not possible in OPCS 4.2. In particular, OPCS 4.3 and OPCS 4.4 codes include high cost drugs and diagnostic imaging, testing and rehabilitation. Some activity may have been coded under different codes in OPCS 4.2. These changes need to be borne in mind when analysing time series and may explain some apparent variations over time. Care needs to be taken in using the newer codes as some providers of data were unable to start using the new codes at the beginning of each data year. More information about OPCS 4 changes is on the Connecting for Health website (www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk). Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
(2) when he expects to bring into force those provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 which are not yet in force; and if he will make a statement.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill received Royal Assent in November 2008 becoming the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (the 2008 Act). The first provisions of the 2008 Act came into force on 6 April 2009. These provisions related to parenthood. The majority of provisions will come into force on 1 October 2009 and it is intended that the remaining provisions (relating to parental orders) will come into force in April 2010.
Since December 2008, there has been one Statutory Instrument issued (the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2009. No departmental circulars have been issued but the Department of Health has published a consultation on four sets of regulations, which are required to implement the provisions in the 2008 Act. The consultation closed on 30 March 2009.
Mental Health Services
This information is not held centrally.
Mental Health: Unemployment
(2) what assessment has been made of the link between mental health disorders and rising rates of unemployment; and if he will make a statement.
There are clear links between unemployment and poor mental health and well being. That is why in November 2007, my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) asked Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, to lead the development of a national strategy for mental health and employment. The strategy will help to ensure a co-ordinated approach across Government to the challenges faced by people of working age with mental conditions and improve their employment prospects. The strategy development is being overseen by representatives from the business, medical and academic worlds and will be published later this year.
Further, on 8 March 2009, my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced an additional £13 million to support a package of measures to help people who are distressed, depressed or anxious as a result of the economic downturn. These measures include a greater provision of talking therapies and a new network of employment support workers.
This extra money will build on the £4 million DWP initiative in which employment advisors are already working in 12 of the 35 new talking therapy services to help people keep their jobs if their mental health has put them at risk.
Missing Persons
The Department has for a number of years required national health service trusts to establish protocols for the sharing of confidential patient-identifiable information with other organisations where that need arises. These must be governed by clear and transparent procedures that satisfy the requirements of law and associated guidance, and regulate working practices in both disclosing and receiving organisations.
It is the responsibility of individual NHS organisations to determine which organisations should be included within local protocols and to ensure that information is shared appropriately.
NHS: Statistics
The items collected centrally through the critical care minimum dataset are as follows:
Critical Care Local Identifier;
Critical Care Start Date;
Critical Care Unit Function;
Advanced Respiratory Support Days (Number);
Basic Respiratory Support Days (Number);
Advanced Cardiovascular Support Days (Number);
Basic Cardiovascular Support Days (Number);
Renal Support Days (Number);
Neurological Support Days (Number);
Dermatological Support Days (Number);
Liver Support Days (Number);
Critical Care Level 2 Days (Number);
Critical Care Level 3 Days (Number); and
Critical Care Discharge Date.
Nurses: Manpower
A table showing the number of full-time equivalent nurse by speciality in the years requested has been placed in the Library.
This information is not collected centrally.
Obesity: Children
The information requested is not available in the form requested.
Information on the proportion of children aged two to 15 in England that are overweight or obese, broken down by age is collected by the Health Survey for England.
This information can be found in tables 8.2 on page 236 of” Health Survey for England 2007: Volume 1 lifestyles: knowledge, attitudes and behaviour”, which was published on 16 December 2008. This publication has been placed in the Library.
Further information on the proportion of children that are overweight or obese in England is also collected through the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The NCMP report provides high-level analyses of the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children, in Reception year (aged four-five years) and Year 6 (aged 10-11 years), measured in England in the school year 2007-08.
This information is available in the “National Child Measurement Programme: 2007/08 school year, headline results” which was published on 11 December 2008. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in England is shown in table 1 of the NCMP 2007-08 data tables. This publication has already been placed in the Library.
Obstetrics: Consultants
The number of consultant obstetricians employed by the national health service in England in each of the last five years and the numbers by hospital trust in the most recent year for which figures are available are given in a table which has been placed in the Library.
Pharmacy
Information for England and Wales is available in tables 5 and 5a of the bulletin “General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-99 to 2007-08”, published by the Information Centre for health and social care.
Copies of the latest bulletin have been placed in the Library and at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/pharmacies/general-pharmaceutical-services-in-england-and-wales-1998-99-to-2007-08
Prescriptions
The information is not held centrally. The National Patient Safety Agency encourages the reporting of patient safety incidents which are submitted on a voluntary basis from national health service organisations including primary care trusts.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions
We review and evaluate our energy efficiency policies on a continual basis, with the most recent summaries published in the 2006 Climate Change programme, the 2007 Energy White Paper, and the 2007 Energy Efficiency Action Plan. The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy consultation, currently underway, has provided a fresh opportunity to review our strategy. In doing so, our aim is to ensure that our policies are capable of meeting the increased challenges over the next decade, particularly in light of our recently proposed carbon budgets over the period to 2022, and our legally-binding target to cut UK greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. by 2050.
Departmental Assets
DECC has no land and property holdings and no other surplus assets have been transferred to the Department since formation.
Economic Situation
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: The following Ministers attended the London Energy Meeting on 18 and 19 December 2008:
Algeria: Dr. Chakib Khelil, Minister for Energy and Mining
Angola: HE Eng Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, Minister for Petroleum
Australia: The hon. Martin Ferguson AM MP, Minister for Resources and Energy
Azerbaijan: HE Natig Aliev, Minister of Industry aid Energy
Bahrain: HE Abdul Hussain Ali Mirza, Minister for Oil and Gas
Brazil: HE Edison Lobao, Minister for Mines and Energy
Canada: Ms Lisa Raitt MP, Minister of Natural Resources
Germany: Jochen Homann, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
India: Shri Marli Deora, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas
Iran: HE Gholamhossein Nozari, Minister for Petroleum
Iraq: HE Hussain al-Sharistani, Minister for Petroleum
Italy: Mr. Claudio Scajola, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Japan: Mr. Toshihiro Nikai, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Kuwait: HE Muhammad Abdullah al-Aleem, Minister of Oil
Libya: Dr. Shokri Ghanem, Chairman, National Oil Company of Libya
Nigeria: Dr. Odein Ajumogobia, Minister for Pstroleum
Oman: Dr. Mohammad bin Hamad al-Ruhmy, Minister for Petroleum and Gas
Poland: Mr. Waldemar Pawlak, Vice-Premier and Minister for Economy
Qatar: HE Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah, M:nister of Energy and Industry
Saudi Arabia: HE Ali I al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
South Africa: Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Minerals and Energy
Spain: Mr. PeDr.o Marin, Minister of Energy
The Netherlands: Ms Maria van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs
UAE: HE Obeid bin Saif al Nassiri, Minister o f Petroleum and Mineral Resources
United Kingdom: The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and the Minister of State, DECC (Mr. Mike O'Brien).
USA: Mr. Jeffrey Kupfer, Deputy Secretary for Energy
Energy: Rural Areas
Both Warm Front and Decent Homes provide energy-saving measures to homes in the private and public sectors respectively. The Department for Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for Decent Homes, does not split data by rural and urban areas and therefore this data is not available for this programme.
The figures for Warm Front spend in the past five years are as follows. The data is split in accordance with the Office of National Statistics' definition of rural and urban areas.
Rural Urban 2004-05 12,629,835.18 105,924,222.76 2005-06 17,438,767.99 127,452,054.17 2006-07 36,582,126.42 243,362,656.92 2007-081 50,821,943.25 313,608,368.82 2008-09 to 28 February1 57,291,838.28 316,466,440.93 1 Please note that figures provided for 2007-08 and 2008-09 include spend generated through interaction with energy companies under the Energy Efficiency Commitment and Carbon Emissions Reduction Target respectively. Whilst this is not public expenditure, as it is not recorded on an urban/rural basis it cannot be removed from these data and maintain the distinction between urban and rural assistance. The total value of this spend in each year is as follows: 2007-08 : £44,575,836 2008-09 : £20,217,000
Fuel Poverty is a devolved matter and we are unable to provide data for the Scottish and Welsh administrations.
Fuel Oil: Canada
It is not possible to identify the region within Canada of oil and oil product imports. In 2007, the latest year for which full data are available, imports of oil and oil products from Canada were equivalent to less than 0.1 per cent. of the UK's primary energy demand.
Members: Correspondence
I understand the office of my right hon. Friend has now had a response.
Nuclear Power Stations
The Government have conducted two consultations on the SSA process. We consulted on the principle of conducting the SSA process in 2007 and then on the detail of the process in 2008. We received consultation responses from energy companies in relation to both consultations and we have published those responses on the Department's website at
http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/closedwithresponse/index.html.
As part of the consultation on the SSA process and criteria, the Government also held a roundtable meeting with potential nominators, including RWE, EoN, EDF and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Minutes of the meeting and the responses to the consultation received from potential nominators can be viewed at the above website.
Officials also met with non-governmental organisations and other interested parties to discuss the siting process.
After the close of the consultation on the SSA process, the Government published guidance on the SSA process as part of the Government Response to the SSA Consultation in January this year. The Government have had discussions with potential nominators and others in the run up to the deadline for receipt of nominations (31 March 2009), in particular to answer enquiries about the process for assessment and what is required of nominators.
As we made clear in the Government response, the Government will maintain a dialogue with nominators during the assessment. This may include discussing any areas of concern on the nomination and requesting further information or clarification on the nominations.
Nuclear Power Stations: Construction
Site nominations are available for viewing online at:
www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk
Paper versions of nomination forms, accompanying guidance and response forms have been sent to the following locations, as agreed with the appropriate local authority and detailed on our website and in local media:
Nomination Locations Bradwell West Mersea town council, Melrose Road, or Colchester town hall; the following libraries: Burnham-on-Crouch, Maldon, Southminster, Wickham Bishops, West Mersea, Tiptree, Chelmsford, South Woodham Ferrers, Danbury or Colchester. Dungeness Kent County Hall in Maidstone, Shepway district council in Folkestone, the One Stop Services in Hythe, New Romney or Lydd. Hartlepool Hartlepool Civic Centre, Victoria Road, or Bryan Hanson House, Hanson Square, or any library in Hartlepool. Heysham County Hall in Preston, Lancaster town hall, Morecambe town hall, Lancaster Planning Services at Palatine Hall, Morecambe town centre library, Bolton-le-Sands library, Heysham library, or other principal libraries in Lancashire. Hinkley Point Somerset county council, County Hall, Taunton; West Somerset council, West Somerset House, Williton; the Customer Centre, Summerland Road, Minehead; Sedgemoor district council, Bridgwater House; Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge town council, Jaycroft Road; people can also contact their parish or town council. Oldbury Any of the three South Gloucestershire council 'One Stop Shops' located at the council offices in Thornbury, Yate and Kingswood, and Thornbury library. Sellafield, Kirksanton, Braystones Copeland borough council, Whitehaven, Millom council centre, St. George’s Road or Cleator Moor council centre; libraries in Allerdale and Copeland and at the four main libraries in Barrow, Kendal, Penrith and Carlisle. Sizewell Ipswich borough council, Suffolk county council or Suffolk coastal district council; the following libraries: Leiston, Saxmundham, Aldeburgh, Woodbridge, Southwold, Lowestoft, Framlingham, Wickham Market or Ipswich Central. Wylfa The Planning Department reception at Anglesey county council, Llangefni; the following libraries: Menai Bridge, Beaumaris, Llangefni, Holyhead and Amlwch.
Nuclear Power Stations: Public Consultation
Detailed meeting plans as part of this consultation are not yet finalised.
Nuclear Power Stations: Security
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: On 20 April 2009.
Renewable Energy: Finance
In July 2009.
Warm Front Scheme
The following table summarises the total grant spend on installations delivered under the Warm Front programme from 1 June 2005 to 28 February 2009, together with the amount that has been paid to Eaga and its subsidiaries for measures installed by those subsidiaries.
Total spend on installations under Warm Front programme Total spend on installations completed by Eaga and subsidiaries 2005-06 154,600,000 12,384,000 2006-07 253,251,000 43,136,000 2007-08 303,462,000 58,462,000 2008-09 302,208,000 72,263,000
The following table details the number of households assisted by Warm Front in each of the last five years.
Scheme year Assisted households 2004-05 139,724 2005-06 153,785 2006-07 253,079 2007-08 268,900 2008-091 211,920 1 To 20 March.
Eaga subsidiaries have delivered 29 per cent. of installed measures since 2005, prior to which no Eaga subsidiaries worked on the Warm Front scheme.
Justice
Bail Accommodation and Support Service
The information requested cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.
Care Proceedings
The following table shows the number of care orders applied for, and the number of care orders made, in January and February 2009 in England and Wales. Figures for March 2009 are not yet available, as the centrally-held data are not yet complete.
The figures relate to the number of applications and orders counted by child. This means that if an application or order relates to two children then it will be counted twice. The figures cover the family proceedings courts and county courts, but exclude the small proportion of cases dealt with in the High Court (in 2007 the High Court received 3.1 per cent. of all care order applications in England and Wales, and made 3.4 per cent. of all care orders).
Research undertaken on behalf of the Ministry of Justice has identified that some cases transferred from a family proceedings court (FPC) to a county court have been incorrectly identified as new applications made to the county court. This may therefore inflate the number of reported applications.
Applications made Orders made January 1,226 366 February 1,369 467 Note: These figures are provisional, subject to updates made on the FamilyMan database. Source: This information is taken from the HMCS FamilyMan database and manual returns sent in by FPCs. High court activity is not counted
Corruption
Information showing the number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences relating to bribery in England and Wales from 1998 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Offence Statute 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 5338 Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 S.13 11 8 20 11 19 6 4 1 10 12 9999 Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 S.1(l) and 1.(2)4 6 3 5 2 — 1 — — 3 — 9905 Representation of the People Act 1983 ss.113-1155 — l 1 — — 1 2 4 — 4 Total 17 12 26 13 19 8 6 5 13 16 1 These data are on the principal offence basis 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 Includes the corresponding offence description(s): Agent corruptly accept/obtain/agree to accept/attempt obtain a gift/consideration for self/another as inducement/reward. Corruptly give/agree to give/offer gift/consideration to an agent as inducement/reward. Agent knowingly use receipt/account/document containing false/defective statement with intent to deceive principal. Agent knowingly give receipt/account/document containing false/defective statement with intent to deceive principal. 4 Includes the corresponding offence description(s): Corruptly solicit/receive/agree to receive for self/other gift/loan/fee/reward/advantage as reward to do/not do an act. Incite another to corruptly solicit/receive/agree to receive for self/other gift/loan/fee/reward/advantage as reward to do/not do an act. Corruptly give/promise/offer a gift/loan/fee/reward/advantage as reward to do/not do an act. Conspire to corruptly give/promise/offer a gift/loan/fee/reward/advantage as reward to do/not do an act. Incite another to corruptly give/promise/offer a gift/loan/fee/reward/advantage as reward to do/not do an act. 5 Includes the corresponding offence description(s): Bribery at election. Treating at election. Use undue influence at election. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit—Ministry of Justice
Damages
The consultation on the law on damages closed on 27 July 2007. The consultation paper considered proposals put forward in a series of Law Commission reports and consequently covered a number of distinct and complex issues. There were 103 responses, many very detailed, that required careful consideration. This work has taken longer than planned, partly because of the scale or the response and the inherent complexity. The Government do, however, intend to publish a response paper outlining the way forward as soon as possible.
Debt Collection
Available information on those received into prison establishments by way of enforcement proceedings for community charge/council tax, from 1998 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the table. Data for 2008 will be available later this year.
Number of persons 1998 194 1999 101 2000 41 2001 29 2002 21 2003 30 2004 28 2005 21 2006 45 2007 29
This information can be found in the following Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm
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.
The enforcement restriction order (ERO) is intended only for those with short-term problems, the court must be satisfied that there are realistic prospects of recovery, which will allow normal commitments to be met within six months, before an order can be made. This decision can only be made on a case by case basis taking into account the circumstances of each individual case.
It is not possible to say what effect the ERO provisions would have had on those who defaulted on their debts in 2008-09 without knowing their individual circumstances. The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information.
Departmental ICT
There are more than 1,900 servers distributed across the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and National Offender Management Service (NOMS) IT estates. There are many different elements to server capacity utilisation and the information we have provided below is for server capacity utilisation as it relates to disc space. Figures are provided from November 2007 (the earliest data point after award of the new MOJ HQ and HMCS IT contracts) and for regular intervals thereafter.
Percentage 1 November 2007 26 September 2008 6 April 2009 HQ and associated offices 30 36 31.8 HMCS and Tribunals 31.2 30.9 30.4 HMCS Magistrates Courts 36 36.5 35.5
On the NOMS estate (including HMPS), there are over 600 servers hosting a variety of services. Depending on the server and service provided, a number of capacities are measured, with alerts raised if these exceed per-defined thresholds. Detailed information for NOMS (including HMPS) is not held centrally, so cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Driving Offences: Insurance
The average fine imposed at magistrates courts and at the Crown court for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2007 (latest available) are shown in the following table.
Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 20034 2004 2005 2006 2007 Magistrates courts 224 214 212 203 150 155 160 169 177 185 194 Crown Court 149 156 193 183 214 150 142 167 185 339 201 1 An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.143(2). 2 It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences may be less than complete. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 As from 1 June 2003, ‘driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks’ became a fixed penalty offence. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit.
Prison Service: Dismissal
The figures provided on dismissals include staff dismissed for reasons of conduct, performance or attendance. 60 per cent. of dismissals in 2008 were related to attendance.
Dismissal of staff for poor attendance has helped to reduce the sickness absence rate across the Prison Service by 17 per cent. over the last five years.
Where dismissal is the result of disciplinary cases, these are for very serious matters such as racial/sexual harassment, assault, following criminal conviction.
Information on the number of staff employed and dismissed, including for reasons of attendance, performance and conduct in each London establishment from 2004 to 2008 is shown in the following tables. The tables show the dismissals, split by age and ethnicity.
Location Function Operational capacity Staff employed Belmarsh Male local 910 963 Brixton Male local 798 353 Feltham Male closed YOI 762 738 Holloway Female local 500 520 Latchmere House Semi open 207 84 Pentonville Male local 1,152 626 Wandsworth Male local 1,644 707 Wormwood Scrubs Male local 1,277 586
Age at leaving Year of leaving Establishment <20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-60 >60 Total 2004 Belmarsh 0 0 1 4 1 0 6 Brixton 0 1 0 4 0 0 5 Feltham 0 2 3 2 2 0 9 Holloway 0 1 5 6 1 0 13 Latchmere House 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 Pentonville 0 1 1 1 2 0 5 Wandsworth 0 0 5 3 0 0 8 Wormwood Scrubs 0 6 5 7 4 0 22 2004 total 0 12 20 28 11 0 71 2005 Belmarsh 0 1 1 2 0 0 4 Brixton 0 2 2 4 4 0 12 Feltham 0 1 5 3 1 0 10 Holloway 0 2 1 4 4 0 11 Latchmere House 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Pentonville 0 5 2 4 1 0 12 Wandsworth 0 1 1 2 1 0 5 Wormwood Scrubs 0 1 5 3 3 0 12 2005 total 0 13 17 23 14 0 67 2006 Belmarsh 0 0 1 1 2 0 4 Brixton 0 2 2 5 0 0 9 Feltham 0 2 1 7 3 1 14 Holloway 0 2 4 6 4 0 16 Latchmere House 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pentonville 0 2 5 5 2 1 15 Wandsworth 0 4 5 4 1 0 14 Wormwood Scrubs 0 1 2 3 0 0 6 2006 total 0 13 20 31 12 2 78 2007 Belmarsh 0 0 1 2 4 0 7 Brixton 0 0 2 0 1 1 4 Feltham 0 0 3 4 0 0 7 Holloway 0 1 1 2 1 0 5 Latchmere House 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Pentonville 1 2 4 5 4 0 16 Wandsworth 0 2 8 5 0 2 17 Wormwood Scrubs 0 2 6 1 0 0 9 2007 total 1 7 26 19 10 3 66 2008 Belmarsh 1 2 3 4 3 0 13 Brixton 0 2 1 1 2 0 6 Feltham 0 1 3 2 1 0 7 Holloway 0 1 0 1 2 0 4 Latchmere House 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Pentonville 0 3 2 4 3 0 12 Wandsworth 0 3 6 6 2 2 19 Wormwood Scrubs 0 3 0 1 0 0 4 2008 total 1 15 15 20 13 2 66 Grand total 2 60 98 121 60 7 348
Date left Loc name BME White No data Total 2004 Belmarsh 0 6 0 6 Brixton 1 3 1 5 Feltham 3 6 0 9 Holloway 3 9 1 13 Latchmere House 1 2 0 3 Pentonville 0 5 0 5 Wandsworth 5 1 2 8 Wormwood Scrubs 9 12 1 22 2004 total 22 44 5 71 2005 Belmarsh 1 2 1 4 Brixton 6 5 1 12 Feltham 1 7 2 10 Holloway 2 7 2 11 Latchmere House 1 0 0 1 Pentonville 9 3 0 12 Wandsworth 3 2 0 5 Wormwood Scrubs 4 8 0 12 2005 total 27 34 6 67 2006 Belmarsh 1 3 0 4 Brixton 3 6 0 9 Feltham 4 9 1 14 Holloway 5 11 0 16 Latchmere House 0 0 0 0 Pentonville 5 8 2 15 Wandsworth 2 6 6 14 Wormwood Scrubs 2 4 0 6 2006 total 22 47 9 78 2007 Belmarsh 1 6 0 7 Brixton 2 2 0 4 Feltham 0 7 0 7 Holloway 1 5 0 6 Latch me re House 1 0 0 1 Pentonville 7 9 0 16 Wandsworth 3 17 0 20 Wormwood Scrubs 3 7 0 10 2007 total 18 53 0 71 2008 Belmarsh 2 11 0 13 Brixton 2 4 0 6 Feltham 1 5 1 7 Holloway 2 1 1 4 Latchmere House 0 1 0 1 Pentonville 3 8 1 12 Wandsworth 6 13 0 19 Wormwood Scrubs 1 1 2 4 2008 total 17 44 5 66 Grand total 106 222 25 353
Prisons: Construction
(2) what the timetable is for the construction of Titan prisons;
(3) when he plans to publish his response to the consultation with relevant parties on the building of Titan prisons;
(4) what the current estimated cost is of (a) purchasing land for (b) obtaining planning permission for and (c) building Titan prisons;
(5) when the tendering exercise for the building of Titan prisons will commence.
I refer the hon. Member to the oral statement I made on 27 April 2009, Official Report, columns 569-81.
Prisons: Telephone Services
The current contract for the prisoner telephone system runs to 2011. In the re-tendering process to provide the telephone system after the current contract ends, the aim will be to provide a safe and secure system balanced with the need for reasonably priced calls for prisoners.
We acknowledge the importance of prisoners keeping in touch with their family and positive influences, and seeking a reduction in the cost of calls will be a key feature in the re-tendering exercise. This must, however, be balanced with the need to provide a safe and secure system to prevent misuse of telephones by prisoners.
There are no plans to commission research as suggested. There has been no loss of access by prisoners to telephones within the prison system. Using pin technology the current contract to provide prisoners with telephone access was awarded to the supplier in 1998 and this service has been widely available since 2001. Before using the system prisoners are required to sign a compact agreeing to the terms and conditions of use. Providing a prisoner signs this compact s/he will have access to the prisoner telephone or pinphone system and there are no plans to change this.
There are currently no plans to commission research on the effect of telephone charges on the use of mobile phones in prisons.
The cost of telephone calls is determined under the terms of a national contract which is in place until 2011; however, we have recently reached an agreement with the supplier for some reduction to the cost of national and mobile calls which came into effect on 1 April 2009. To impose a reduction to the costs of calls without the supplier's agreement would require a large subsidy from the taxpayer.
We are implementing a strategy to minimise the number of phones entering prisons, and to find or disrupt those that do enter. As part of the strategy, prisons are being provided with technologies to strengthen local security and searching strategies, in line with the recommendations in David Blakey's report Disrupting the Supply of Illicit Drugs into Prisons, published in July 2008. This includes the roll out of “BOSS” chairs to all prisons, and the deployment of other detection and disruption technologies.
We have also strengthened the law, through the Offender Management Act 2007 (implemented in April 2008), which makes it a criminal offence with a punishment of up to two years' imprisonment to bring an unauthorised mobile phone or component part into a prison.
Reoffenders: Hertfordshire
(2) how many offenders re-offended while on probation in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in the last five years.
The number of offenders that were charged with offences while being supervised by the probation service is not available. This is because the extract of the police national computer held by the Ministry of Justice does not provide comprehensive coverage of charges. Data relating to the offending of offenders under probation supervision are based on proven reoffending—offences which have led to a conviction or a caution.
The measure of reoffending used to provide National Statistics for England and Wales is not broken down by area. However, newly published data on local adult reoffending (a different measure of reoffending to the national statistics) are broken down by probation area and local authority (upper tier only).
Because the data are not broken down below the upper tier of the local authority area level there are no figures available for Hemel Hempstead.
The number of offenders used to calculate the local reoffending rate for the Hertfordshire probation area between 1 October 2007 and 30 September 2008 is 10,229 and the reoffending rate is 7.93 per cent.
The local measure measures the reoffending of all offenders on the probation caseload, aged 18 or over, at a certain point in time (a “snapshot”), while the national measure covers all offenders commencing a court order under probation supervision or released from custody during the first quarter of the year. Additionally, the local measure allows a three month period for reoffences to be committed, while the national measure allows a year.
The local reoffending figures are produced by aggregating the data of four snapshots of the probation caseload. Therefore the number of offenders quoted above is approximately four times the number of offenders on the case load at any one time.
A reoffending rate of 7.93 per cent. with a case load size of 10,229 does not mean that 811 different offenders committed a reoffence, as some offenders may have appeared in more than one cohort and reoffended more than once.
It should be noted the probation supervision of some offenders may end during the period while their reoffending is being monitored. Therefore some reoffences may be committed after probation supervision has finished.
For further details please see “Local reoffending results 1 October 2007-30 September 2008 England and Wales” available at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/local-adult-reoffending-oct07-sept08.pdf
This is the first time that reoffending data at the local level have been made available.
Theft: Lorries
Information held on the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database cannot separately identify the number of convictions for the offence “theft of a motor vehicle” which relate to a heavy goods vehicle.
Youth Justice
During the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, 671 young people under 18 were remanded in custody for a period of seven days or less; and 173 were remanded for a period of seven days or less to the care of a local authority with a requirement that they be accommodated in secure conditions. This information has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board and is drawn from administrative computer systems.
We believe that young people should only be sent to custody as a last resort. The decision on whether to grant bail or remand a defendant in custody is one for the courts to make, in each case, in line with the statutory framework primarily set out in the Bail Act 1976.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Building Colleges for the Future Programme
I have met and had correspondence with a large number of MPs and college principals and I will be continuing this dialogue. The nature of the contact to date has been to discuss individual concerns rather than specifically regarding the Learning and Skills Council's list of colleges affected by changes to its capital spending programme.
We are aware that there are other colleges that will be at various stages of preparing their capital proposals. The response from the LSC in connection with the earlier question makes clear that some smaller projects were not included as they did not require national approval. Some colleges are also still submitting applications for approval in principle so the list will be subject to change.
I continue to have regular dialogue with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), as we consider how best to move forward with the further education capital investment programme.
I have not had any specific discussions with the LSC on representations made by further education colleges on either the completeness nor on the accuracy of the LSC's list of colleges affected by changes to the LSC's capital spending programme.
We are aware that there are other colleges that will be at various stages of preparing their capital proposals. The response from the LSC in connection with the earlier question makes clear that some smaller projects were not included as they did not require national approval. Some colleges are also still submitting applications for approval in principle so the list will be subject to change.
Ministers are responsible for determining and monitoring the implementation of broad policy and to hold the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to account for delegated responsibilities. Effective implementation is the role of the LSC.
My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) was Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education up until October 2008, during which time the further education capital programme was within his remit. When my hon. Friend left the Department in October, in my role as Under-Secretary, I took over in leading on the further education capital programme.
Budget 2009 announced additional capital funding of £300 million for this spending review period (2009-10 and 10-11), which will allow the Learning and Skills Council to give approval to a limited number of projects starting in 2009-10.
Recognising the long-term nature of capital projects, the Government are planning a continuing FE capital investment programme in future years, with a planning assumption of £300 million a year from 2011-12 to 2013-14 to be confirmed at the next spending review.
This provides a provisional £1.2 billion in total to 2013-14 which should allow us to develop around £750 million of new schemes.
Further Education: Mergers
The table sets out all further education colleges merged since May 1997.
Further education colleges Name of merged college Date of merger Reading College of Arts and Technology and Berkshire College of Art and Design Reading College of Arts and Technology 6 January 1997 De La Salle College and Pendleton College Pendleton College 7 February 1997 Prior Pursglove College and South Park Sixth Form College Prior Pursglove College 1 August 1997 Worcestershire College of Agriculture and Horticulture and Pershore College of Horticulture Pershore and Hindlip College 10 May 1997 Hyde Clarendon College and Tameside College Tameside College 18 February 1998 Airedale and Wharfedale College and Park Lane College Park Lane College 1 August 1998 Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture and Norfolk College of Arts and Technology College of West Anglia 1 August 1998 Clarenden College and Basford Hall College New College, Nottingham 1 August 1998 East Birmingham College and Handsworth College City College, Birmingham 1 August 1998 North Bolton College and South College, Bolton Bolton Sixth Form College 1 August 1998 York College of Further and Higher Education and York Sixth Form College York College 1 April 1999 Durham College of Agriculture and Horticulture and East Durham Community College East Durham and Houghall Community College 1 June 1999 Charles Keene College of Further Education and Leicester South Fields College Leicester College 1 August 1999 New College, Nottingham and High Pavement Sixth Form College New College, Nottingham 1 April 1999 Greenhill College and Harrow and Weald College Harrow College 1 June 1999 Holme Lacy College and Pershore and Hindlip College The Pershore Group of Colleges 1 August 1999 New College, Nottingham and Arnold and Carlton College New College, Nottingham 1 September 1999 Bilston Community College and Wulfrun College Wolverhampton College 1 October 1999 Kirkley Hall College and Northumberland College Northumberland College 1 January 2000 Phoenix College and Merton College Merton College 1 April 2000 The Rutland College and Tresham Institute Tresham Institute 1 August 2000 Barnet College and Hendon College Barnet College 1 August 2000 College of Care and Early Education and City of Bristol College City of Bristol College 1 August 2000 Brooksby College and Melton Mowbray College Brooksby Melton College 1 September 2000 Kingsway College and Westminster College Westminster Kingsway College 1 September 2000 Trowbridge College, Chippenham College and Lackham College Wiltshire College 1 November 2000 Walford College and North Shropshire College, Walford Walford and North Shropshire College 1 January 2001 Abingdon College and West Oxfordshire College Abingdon and Whitney College 31 March 2001 St. Austell College and Cornwall College Cornwall College 1 August 2001 Basildon College and Thurrock College Thurrock and Basildon College 1 August 2001 Dudley College of Technology and Rowley Regis College Dudley College of Technology 1 August 2001 Shena Simon College and City College, Manchester City College, Manchester 1 September 2001 Lewes Tertiary College and Eastbourne College Sussex Downs College 1 September 2001 Broomfield College, Derby Tertiary College, Wilmorton and Mackworth College Derby College 1 January 2002 Soundwell College and City of Bristol College City of Bristol College 1 January 2002 Ealing Tertiary College and Hammersmith and West London College Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College 1 January 2002 Coventry Technical College and Tile Hill College City College, Coventry 1 February 2002 East Yorkshire College and Beverley College East Riding College 1 March 2002 Brinsbury College and Chichester College of Arts, Science and Technology Chichester College 1 August 2002 Teesside Tertiary College and Middlesbrough College Middlesbrough College 1 August 2002 North Birmingham College and Sutton Coldfield College Sutton Coldfield College 1 April 2003 Warwickshire College, Royal Leamington Spa and Moreton Morrell and Rugby College of Further Education Warwickshire College, Royal Leamington Spa, Rugby and Moreton Morrell 1 August 2003 Oxford College, North Oxfordshire College and Rycotewood College Oxford and Cherwell College 1 August 2003 Guildford College of Further and Higher Education and Merrist Wood College Guildford College of Further and Higher Education 1 August 2003 Park College and Sussex Downs College Sussex Downs College 1 November 2003 Daventry Tertiary College and Northampton College Northampton College 1 August 2004 Rother Valley College and Rotherham College of Arts and Technology Rotherham College of Arts and Technology 1 August 2004 Cannington College and Bridgwater College Bridgwater College 1 September 2004 Tynemouth College and North Tyneside College Tyne Metropolitan College 1 March 2005 Haywards Heath College and Crawley College Central Sussex College 1 August 2005 Stockport College of Further and Higher Education and North Area College Stockport College 1 January 2006 Isle College and College of West Anglia College of West Anglia 1 April 2006 The People’s College, Nottingham and Broxtowe College Castle College 1 June 2006 Josiah Mason Sixth Form College and Sutton Coldfield College Sutton Coldfield College 1 August 2006 Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College and Halton College Riverside College, Halton 1 August 2006 The Newark and Sherwood College and Lincoln College Lincoln College 1 January 2007 Brooklands College and Spelthorne College Brooklands College 1 August 2007 Guildford College and Farnham College Guildford College 1 August 2007 Sparsholt College (Agriculture and Horticulture) and Cricklade College Sparsholt College 1 August 2007 Newcastle College and Skelmersdale College Newcastle College 1 August 2007 Keighley College and Park Lane College Park Lane College 1 August 2007 North Trafford College and South Trafford College South Trafford College 1 August 2007 Salisbury College and Wiltshire College Wiltshire College 1 January 2008 Manchester College of Arts and Technology and City College, Manchester The Manchester College 1 April 2008 Penwith College and Truro College Truro College 1 April 2008 Stockton Riverside College and Bede Sixth Form College Stockton Riverside College 30 April 2008 North Devon College and East Devon College North Devon College 1 August 2008 Dewsbury College and Huddersfield Technical College Kirklees College 1 August 2008 Tamworth and Lichfield College, Rodbaston College and Cannock Chase Technical College South Staffordshire College 1 January 2009 Salford College, Eccles College and Pendleton Sixth Form College Salford City College 1 January 2009 Leeds College of Technology, Leeds Thomas Danby and Park Lane College Leeds City College 31 March 2009
Graduates: Unemployment
The following table gives the proportion of all Medical and Dentistry and Law first degree graduates who are employed, ILO unemployed (International Labour Organisation definition) and economically inactive respectively.
Medical and dentistry first degree graduates Law first degree graduates Proportion of working aged population who are employed 93 81 Proportion of working aged population who are ILO unemployed 1— 5 Proportion of working age population who are economically inactive 6 14 1 Indicates that the sample size is based on such a small number of respondents that it is below the publication threshold. Source: Labour Force Survey, Q4 2008 for working aged people (16 to 59-64-year-olds) in England
Focusing just on recent graduates we find that, six months after graduating 99.7 per cent. of Medical, Dentistry and Veterinary Science graduates are either in employment or further study; for Law graduates it is 96.3 per cent. These are taken from the HESA Employment Performance Indicators for the UK, available at:
http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/view/1185/141/
Higher Education: Admissions
(2) what discussions his Department had with (a) higher education institutions, (b) bodies representing higher education institutions and (c) the UK Statistics Authority prior to the methodological change made to the calculation of the higher education initial participation rate for 2007-08.
The Statistical First Release published on 31 March estimated the Higher Education Initial Participation rate using a new methodology. The new method checks that an entrant aged 18 to 30 has not had more than six months’ previous experience of higher education using data matched back over 12 years (10 years for FE colleges). As the SFR explained, 2007/08 is the first year that this has been possible using 12 years of matched data. However, in order to provide some time series comparison, and to demonstrate the impact of this change, the 2006/07 figure was also re-calculated using one fewer year of matching, as it was estimated that the missing twelfth year would make little difference to the rounded figure.
The figures published in the SFR provide a robust basis for monitoring progress in future years. Earlier years’ figures based on the old methodology were also given. Estimates for earlier years using the new methodology would be progressively less accurate, since fewer years’ data are available to check for previous experience of higher education, and so they were not included in the SFR. However, it is possible to calculate such estimates with an assessment of the possible scale of the bias. Additional estimates for earlier years, alongside information on how to interpret them and compare them to the existing published trend, will be added as an appendix to the published SFR on 15 May.
Following National Statistics procedures, the SFR release is timed to allow a minimum of time between production and release of the HEIPR, and prior access to the unpublished statistics is restricted. The change to the methodology was developed at a late stage in the publication process to resolve emerging concerns about the quality of the data. DIUS analysts consulted with HEFCE statisticians prior to release to confirm the robustness of the old and new methodologies. Given the fact that a robust alternative methodology was implementable in the time available, a decision was made by analysts to publish within the pre-announced timescale. In the interest of transparency, clear descriptions for the new methodology were shown within the SFR and figures for 2006/07 based on both the old and new methodologies were also provided.
Student Wastage: Higher Education
The latest figures derived from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Performance Indicators are shown in the following table.
Previous school type Number of young entrants Non-continuation rate (percentage) State school 206,600 6.9 Independent school 29,700 4.2 1 Non-continuation rates provide the percentage of students who enter an HEI in the academic year who are no longer in an HEI in the following academic year and have not qualified. 2 There are 24,900 students who do not continue their education and for whom it was not possible to identify a previous school type. The rate of discontinuation for these students was 12 per cent.
Students: Fees and Charges
Our position remains that the first three years of the system of variable fees introduced in 2006 will be reviewed by an independent commission. We expect that commission to begin its work later this year, following the publication of our Framework for the future development of higher education.
Training: Speech Therapy
I have been asked to reply.
Within the overall resources allocated, it is a matter for each strategic health authority (SHA) to determine their own priorities including how much is spent on pre-registration training commissions for speech and language therapists. Under the current service level agreement with SHAs each SHA is expected to provide for investment in training commissions based on long-term workforce need and local financial plans.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Broadband: Rural Areas
The Budget confirmed the Government’s plans to deliver a Universal Service for broadband up to 2 Mbps by 2012. This will allow virtually everyone to benefit from broadband services. The Budget also underlines the Government’s commitment to helping business take full advantage of the opportunities offered in this area by announcing a review of Ofcom’s powers and duties to ensure it can strike the right balance between supporting competition and encouraging investment. The Universal Service and Next Generation Access are also key aspects of the Digital Britain report, which will be published shortly.
The Government will also be carrying out research on broadband ‘Not spots’ under the cross-Government paper “Delivering Digital Inclusion—An Action Plan for Consultation” with the objective of putting information into the hands of local communities to enable them to manage the risks, and realise the opportunities of Next Generation Access locally and regionally, where they identify a need and want to activate their own solutions. This will also cover the devolved Administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Business: Carbon Emissions
I have been asked to reply.
The Government provide a range of support to help small and medium businesses reduce their carbon emissions. These include:
(a) Practical support, in particular through the Government-funded Carbon Trust (CT), which provides advice via its website, specific web tools, publications, an advice line and face-to-face surveys for smaller business; and advice through Business Link (www.businesslink.gov.uk), and the regional development agencies. We are working to improve ease of access to this support via Business Link as part of the Solutions for Business programme.
(b) The Carbon Trust administers two schemes which provide financial support for small and medium-sized businesses to make energy efficient investments: an interest free loan scheme for investments in energy efficient equipment, and the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme which provides businesses that invest in designated energy efficient equipment with enhanced tax relief. The Chancellor announced an additional £100 million of investment for the loan scheme in the April 2009 Budget.
Business: Government Assistance
(2) how many businesses have received assistance from the Capital for Enterprise Fund.
The Capital for Enterprise Fund (CfEF) is targeted at small businesses who have exhausted their traditional borrowing capacity. The CfEF will provide £75 million of equity to these businesses.
As at 25 March 2009, there have been 1,013 inquires to the Capital for Enterprise Fund registration helpline with 311 businesses seriously exploring whether the fund may be of benefit to them. 253 businesses have registered their interest in the fund and out of these 51 businesses have met the eligibility criteria and have supplied all the required information (business plans and accounts) with the amount of potential funding required being £44.5 million.
Fund mangers have been appointed (Aberdeen Assets and Octopus Investments) and have shortlisted five advanced investment propositions with strong potential for deal flow using CfEF, totalling over £5 million. These are currently going through due diligence and we would expect initial investments shortly.
Capital for Enterprise Fund
The Capital for Enterprise Fund (CfEF) is targeted at small businesses who have exhausted their traditional borrowing capacity. The CfEF will provide £75 million of equity to these businesses.
As at 25 March 2009, there have been 1,013 inquires to the Capital for Enterprise Fund registration helpline with 311 businesses seriously exploring whether the fund may be of benefit to them. 253 businesses have registered their interest in the fund and out of these 51 businesses have met the eligibility criteria and have supplied all the required information (business plans and accounts) with the amount of potential funding required being £44.5 million.
Fund mangers have been appointed (Aberdeen Assets and Octopus Investments) and have shortlisted five advanced investment propositions with strong potential for deal flow using CfEF, totalling over £5 million. These are currently going through due diligence and we would expect initial investments shortly.
Civil Servants
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: Gez Sagar is a communications consultant working on a project to coordinate economic communications across Government Departments. Stephen Adams is employed on a one year fixed term contract as Strategy and Policy Adviser to the Secretary of State. Fiona Cookson has been appointed deputy head of news. Peter Power is Press Secretary to the Secretary of State seconded to the civil service on a one year fixed term from the European Commission. We do not release details of individual salaries. The EC makes good Peter Power's salary to EC level. No one else named receives payment from any other source. All have been appointed in accordance with the Civil Service (Amendment) (No 2) Order in Council 2008 which regulates recruitment into the Civil Service.
Will Parkes is not a BERR employee but is seconded into Government on a two month fixed term placement to share knowledge end expertise of the private sector.
These are all civil servant not special adviser posts.
Construction: Government Assistance
(2) whether there are any restrictions on businesses in the construction and building industries applying for assistance under the Government's loan guarantee scheme.
The enterprise finance guarantee is intended to be available to the widest range of viable small and medium sized businesses with a turnover of under £25 million as possible. No estimates were made in relation to potential effects on specific sectors.
The EFG sector restrictions were recently reviewed and an overview of the main restrictions has been published on the BERR website. There remain sector restrictions on the owning and dealing in real estate.
Departmental ICT
Over the last five years the Department has significantly rationalised its printer estate in parallel with reducing the number of buildings it occupies. The majority of printers are located in shared ICT bays rather than by division to ensure optimum use. All have duplex printing facilities. The number of printers in current use is 688, of which 95 have multi function facilities. Greater use of multi function printers will be considered at the next contractual refresh point under the Department's PFI agreement with Fujitsu who supply the printers.
As IT services in BERR are provided under a PFI agreement put in place before the introduction of the Buy Sustainable-Quick Win standard it is not possible to provide the information as requested. However, IT equipment provided under the contract is Energy Star, Blue Angel and WEEE compliant.
Furniture: Government Assistance
Budget 2009 announced a scheme providing up to £5 billion of additional trade credit insurance to businesses who have suffered reductions in their level of cover.
The scheme will be open to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors, including the furniture industry.
Subject to parliamentary approval, from 1 May until 31 December this year, UK businesses will be able to purchase six months' ‘top-up' insurance from the Government if credit limits on their UK customers are reduced. The qualifying window will be backdated to include any reductions since 1 April.
Further details of the scheme can be found at:
http://www.businesslink.co.uk/creditinsurance
Holiday Leave
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: In its election manifesto, the Government proposed an extension to the statutory entitlement to four weeks' paid holiday required under the EU Working Time Directive, making it additional to the number of bank holidays in England and Wales. This ensures all workers are entitlement to a minimum of 28 days holiday a year.
The extension was implemented in two phases to help small and medium businesses. The second phase extended the right from 24 to 28 days holiday a year. The cost to business of this second phase was estimated at between £1.8 and 2.4 billion. The estimated cost to business and benefit to workers comes from the Department's full impact assessment. As part of this assessment, the Department conducted a paid annual leave survey that showed the lowest paid, including part-time employees, women and those from ethnic minorities would benefit most from the increase in holiday entitlement.
LDV
We have and will continue to offer advice and support to LDV where we can. However, the primary responsibility for LDV is with its parent company, Gaz.
[holding answer 27 March 2009]: No detailed assessment has been made of the effect on dealerships should LDV go into receivership. However, dealerships are eligible for support from a range of Government programmes and details are available at:
http://www.realhelpnow.gov.uk/.
.
Members: Correspondence
[holding answer 24 April 2009]: I responded to the hon. Member on 21 April 2009. I apologise for the delay.
Mobile Phones: Minerals
[holding answer 27 March 2009]: I have no current plans to meet representatives of the mobile phone industry to discuss this issue.
Motor Vehicles: Government Assistance
(2) if he will extend eligibility for assistance under the Automotive Assistance Programme to the motorcycle industry; and if he will make a statement.
Government receive numerous requests for assistance from a wide range of sectors and have to consider a wide range of factors when deciding to act. The decision to support the automotive industry during the current difficulties through the Automotive Assistance programme (AAP) was based around a number of factors. The industry is a major employer in the UK and a major investor in research and development. Additionally, the car industry is required to achieve significant reductions in carbon dioxide (C02) emissions from 2012. Motorcycles are not covered by the CO2 from New Cars Regulation and we do not intend to extend eligibility under the AAP to the motorcycle industry.
Postal Workers
Central Government departments and the emergency services work closely with Royal Mail to ensure that effective procedures and measures are in place for managing the risk to the company's staff and operations and to members of the wider public from chemical or biological agents in the postal system. Royal Mail ensures that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite are actively involved in the development and introduction of procedures and measures in support of its response capability.
Regional Planning and Development
There are currently seven regional industrial development boards which together cover all nine English regions. They are listed, with their correspondence address, as follows. With the exception of the London and South East Industrial Development Board and the Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands Industrial Development Board, each of which is co-located with two regional development agencies, the boards are co-located with a single regional development agency.
East of England Industrial Development Board,
East of England Development Agency,
The Business Centre,
Station Road,
Histon,
Cambridge CB24 9LQ.
London and South East Industrial Development Board,
London Development Agency,
Palestra,
197 Blackfriars Road,
London SE1 8AA.
and
South East England Development Agency,
Cross Lanes,
Guildford,
Surrey GU1 1YA.
North East Industrial Development Board,
One North East,
Stella House,
Goldcrest Way,
Newburn Riverside,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
NEI5 8NY.
North West Industrial Development Board,
Northwest Regional Development Agency,
PO Box 37,
Renaissance House,
Centre Park,
Warrington,
Cheshire WAI 1XB.
Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands Industrial Development Board,
Yorkshire Forward,
Victoria House,
2 Victoria Place,
Leeds LS11 5AE.
and
East Midlands Development Agency,
Apex Court,
City Link,
Nottingham NG2 4LA
South West Industrial Development Board,
South West of England Regional Development Agency,
North Quay House,
Sutton Harbour,
Plymouth PL4 0RA
West Midlands Industrial Development Board,
Advantage West Midlands,
3 Priestley Wharf,
Holt Street,
Aston Science Park,
Birmingham B7 4BN.
Union Modernisation Fund
The records of decisions taken by the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board will not be placed in the Libraries of the House because they contain commercially-sensitive information about unsuccessful bids. The results of successful bidders are published on the BERR website at:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/trade-union-rights/modernisation/page16097.html
Children, Schools and Families
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
I have been asked to reply.
The total estimated cost to the Department was £2,279.97. This comprised £1,423.03 to cover additional travel and accommodation expenses, and £856.94 in discretionary payments to officials who attended the session.
Children in Care
We do not collect data centrally on these discrete groups. However, research commissioned by the Department within the Quality Matters Research Initiative, suggests that on a range of measures—health, education, emotional and behavioural—children in family and friends foster care tend to achieve similar outcomes compared to those in stranger foster care. An overview report of the Initiative will be published on 30 April. The findings from this Initiative will be disseminated to those working in the field and used to inform guidance.
Many of the arrangements for children in family and friends care that is not foster care are private in nature, where no services have been requested from the local authority, so we do not have information about long term outcomes.
The Adoption Research Initiative is exploring outcomes for children who have been placed for adoption or who are in other permanent placements, and will complete during 2010. The findings from this initiative will also be disseminated to those working in the field and used to inform guidance.
Long-term outcomes for looked after children are improving. For example, between 2004 and 2008, the percentage of such children now aged 19 years who were in education other than higher education increased from 18 per cent. to 28 per cent. But we recognise that more needs to be done. Our “Care Matters” programme of reform is designed to ensure continued improvement in outcomes for looked after children.
Family and friends caring for children who are not looked after by the state are a very broad group. Some will be caring for the child as a private family arrangement with the child's parents, where state intervention will not necessarily be appropriate, and the child and their carers may not be known to the local authority.
Where a child being cared for by their relative or friend is not a looked after child, but is assessed as being in need, the local authority has the discretion to provide support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to support their upbringing by their family. The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 made it easier for local authorities to provide financial support under section 17 where that is appropriate. The number of families being supported in this way is not collected centrally.
Where the local authority places a child with a relative or friend, so they are a looked after child, the family or friend must become approved as a foster carer and the fostering service provider must provide them with support on the same basis as for any other foster carer. Fostering service providers differ in the amount of support they provide. However, all providers should be paying their foster carers at least the national minimum allowance.
Where a child, who is not a looked after child, is being cared for by a relative or friend, the local authority has the discretion to provide support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to support their upbringing by their family. The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 made it easier for local authorities to provide financial under section 17 where that is appropriate. The number of families being supported in this way is not collected centrally.
Where the local authority places a child with a relative or friend, so they are a looked after child, the family or friend must become approved as a foster carer and the fostering service provider must provide them with support on the same basis as for any other foster carer. The amount of financial support provided to family and friends foster carers is not collected centrally.
Fostering service providers differ in the amount of support they provide, however, all providers should be paying their foster carers at least the national minimum allowance.
Children in Care: Drugs
This information is not collected centrally by the Department.
However, the regulations governing children’s homes require them to promote and protect the health of the children accommodated. Children’s homes do not prescribe medicines—this is done by the GP or specialist mental health services. Children’s homes must ensure that each child is registered with a GP and that any medicine prescribed to a child is administered as directed to the child for whom it is prescribed. A written record must be kept of the administration of any medication.
The regulations and standards which apply to the children’s homes also require measures of control and discipline to be based on methods which establish positive relationships with children and which are designed to help the child.
Children: Internet
The Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety has established four working groups to take forward the recommendations of the Byron Review. The groups are:
1. Industry
2. Better Education
3. Public Awareness
4. Video Games
The Industry group will look to develop best practice and common standards across industry such as the recommendations for codes of practice for user generated content.
The current members of the Industry group are as follows:
Member Organisation Wincie Knight Nickelodeon UK Emma Ascroft Yahoo! UK and Ireland Hamish MacLeod Mobile Broadband Group Juliet Kramer T-Mobile Shereen Meharg Fox Interactive Media Anthony Langan* Samaritans Mark Gracey THUS, a Cable and Wireless business Robin Blake Ofcom Richard Murray Jagex Ltd. Will Gardner Childnet International David Fatscher BSI British Standards Julian Coles BBC Alan Dykes* Ubisoft Dave Simpson Sky Keren Mallinson Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) Adam Hildreth Crisp Thinking Trish Church Orange UK Alex Green Virgin Media Neil Scoresby BT plc. Donna Whitehead Microsoft Simon Sauntson* ELSPA Pamela Learmonth Broadband Stakeholder Group William Gore Press Complaints Commission Andrea Millwood Hargrave Millwood Hargrave Ltd./University of Oxford Elizabeth Kanter Research in Motion Richard Sargeant Google Peter Johnson British Board of Film Classification Zoe Hilton NSPCC Annie Mullins Vodafone Group Malcolm Hutty LINX Paul Kelly PAPYRUS Roy Edmonds Nickelodeon UK Mike Rawlinson ELSPA Alex Nagle CEOP Alan Penton RM Susan Daley Symantec Paul Massey Independent Consultant Sarah Dyer Beatbullying Ian Clarke ISPA
Children: Protection
[holding answer 23 April 2009]: The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) held a total of 10 regional events during October and November 2008. 88 per cent. of all local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) were represented at these events. Feedback from the events was positive and each LSCB was invited to commit to an ongoing action plan on safeguarding children online to be monitored by BECTA.
A survey by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services on LSCBs carried out in January 2009 showed that, for example, of the 61 per cent. of LSCBs who responded, 96 per cent. included safeguarding children online in their business plan (87 LSCBs) and 93 per cent. had a specific sub-group or working group with safeguarding online as a key remit (85 LSCBs).
Pre-school Education: Finance
The nursery education grant (NEG) no longer exists. All funding for early years provision for both schools and (private voluntary independent) PVI providers is allocated through the dedicated schools grant (DSG). The DSG is distributed by giving every local authority a pre-determined amount per pupil each year, which is a combination of an uplift of their 2005-06 education spend, plus top-ups for ministerial priorities. Every local authority has had indicative budgets for 2008-11, in order to enable them to plan. We consulted on this methodology in 2007 and around two thirds of respondents were in favour of it for 2008-11.
This gives each local authority an entire amount for their schools budget, which they then allocate across the education system including for the free entitlement to early years provision according to local priorities. From 2010, all local authorities will use a single locally-determined funding formula to distribute funding to all early years settings, including nursery classes in schools.
Schools: Finance
The Government’s plans for capital investment in schools over the current spending period total £22.9 billion, including £1 billion carried forward from 2007-08. This is currently profiled as £6.2 billion in 2008-09, £8.9 billion in 2009-10 and £7.8 billion in 2010-11. These profiles include £1.3 billion of PFI credits in each year and reflect £0.9 billion brought forward from 2010-11 to 2009-10 as part of the fiscal stimulus plans. Available resources for 2011-12 onwards will be determined as part of the Government’s next Spending Review.
Secondary Education: Admissions
The School Admissions Code makes clear that schools and local authorities should be pragmatic in trying to keep families together, especially those with younger children. Most recognise the value of this and give priority to siblings of children attending the school, which must be clearly explained in admission arrangements.
The Secretary of State recently asked the schools adjudicator to report on the admissions of twins to the same school, and to recommend any changes he thinks are needed. This report is due on 1 September 2009.
Sixth Form Education: Admissions
The Department does not collect information on the number of sixth form places allocated.
Special Educational Needs: Disadvantaged
In January 2008 there were no maintained primary or state-funded secondary schools with more than 50 per cent. of pupils eligible for free school meals and more than 4 per cent. of children in care and more than 20 per cent. of pupils with a statement of special educational need. The requested information on special schools is shown in the following table.
Information on pupils eligible for free school meals includes dually registered pupils. Information on pupils with a statement of special educational needs excludes dually registered pupils. Information on children in care is usually sourced from the looked after children database but this cannot be used to answer this question as it does not identify the school each child attends. However, data on pupils in care are also collected via the School Census.
This census shows that there were 34,390 pupils aged five to 19 attending primary, secondary and special schools classed as being in care as at January 2008. Data published by the Department as SFR 23/2008: Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008, show 47,600 children aged between five and 19 as being looked after as at 31 March 2008. However the School Census does not cover all looked after children; information is not collected for pupils in alternative provision, including pupil referral units, FE colleges, voluntary provision and those not in education or training. These differences in coverage will explain the different counts to an extent, but it is possible that the School Census undercounts the number of looked after children in primary, secondary and special schools.
The Department is working on a project to match the looked after children database to the national pupil database. If successful this would enable us to produce analysis for looked after children on a range of attainment indicators and characteristics, including information on free school meals and special educational needs. We are hoping to report on the findings including on the robustness of the matching exercise by the end of 2009.
Local authority School Birmingham Springfield House Community Special School Birmingham Skilts School Birmingham Hamilton School Birmingham Victoria School Birmingham Mayfield School Blackburn with Darwen Fernhurst Secondary SEBD School Blackburn with Darwen Crosshill Special School Bolton Lever Park School Bromley Burwood School Camden Chalcot School Cheshire Capenhurst Grange School City of Bristol Notton House School City of Bristol Bristol Gateway School City of Bristol Woodstock School City of Nottingham Woodlands School Croydon Beckmead School Derbyshire Holly House Special School Dudley Rosewood School Durham The Meadows School Durham Elemore Hall School Durham Windlestone School Durham Walworth School Gateshead Eslington Primary School Greenwich Waterside School Greenwich Moatbridge School Hackney Stormont House School Hackney Downsview School Hackney Horizon School Hammersmith and Fulham Gibbs Green School Hammersmith and Fulham Cambridge School Hampshire Lakeside School Haringey Moselle School Hillingdon The Willows School Hounslow The Cedars Primary School Kensington and Chelsea Parkwood Hall School Kent NCH Westwood School Kent Meadows School Kent Portal House School Kent Furness School Kingston upon Hull Teskey King School Knowsley Knowsley Central Primary Support Centre Knowsley Highfield School Knowsley Alt Bridge Secondary Support Centre Lambeth The Michael Tippett School Lancashire The Rose School Leicester Keyham Lodge School Liverpool Lower Lee School Liverpool Hope School Liverpool Ernest Cookson School Liverpool Redbridge High School Liverpool Bank View High School Liverpool Clifford Holroyde Centre of Expertise Liverpool Palmerston School Manchester Southern Cross School Manchester Camberwell Park Community Special School Manchester Melland High School Manchester The Birches School Manchester Meade Hill School Medway Rivermead School Middlesbrough Priory Woods School Middlesbrough Holmwood School Middlesbrough Tollesby School Newcastle Trinity School Norfolk Fred Nicholson School Northumberland Atkinson House School Oxfordshire Bessels Leigh School Reading The Holy Brook School Redcar and Cleveland Pathways Special School Rochdale Brownhill School Salford New Park High School Sandwell Shenstone Lodge School Sefton Newfield School Sheffield Holgate Meadows Community Special School Solihull Lanchester School South Tyneside The Galsworthy Centre Southampton Vermont School Southampton The Polygon School Southend-on-Sea Priory School St. Helens Penkford School Stockton on Tees King Edwin School Stockton on Tees Westlands School Sunderland Springwell Dene School Surrey Wey House School Sutton Wandle Valley School Tower Hamlets The Cherry Trees School Tower Hamlets Bowden House School Trafford Egerton High School Walsall Phoenix Schools Walsall Elmwood School Wandsworth Elsley School Warrington Chaigeley School Wirral Gilbrook School Wirral Kilgarth School Wirral Clare Mount School Wirral Foxfield School Wirral Solar School Wolverhampton Westcroft School and Sports College 1 Includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils. 2 Includes solely and dually registered pupils aged five to 19 classed as being in care. Number of pupils recorded as being in care on the day of the School Census. We know from comparing data from the School Census with data from the DCSF's two main statistical collections on looked after children that there may be a degree of under-reporting in the School Census return of pupils who are looked after. 3 Excludes dually registered pupils.