Written Answers to Questions
Monday 22 June 2009
Wales
Departmental Data Protection
There have been no breaches of information security in the Wales Office in the last five years.
Northern Ireland
Antisocial Behaviour
The Northern Ireland Office had begun a review of antisocial behaviour orders in Northern Ireland but this was superseded by the 2008 Criminal Justice Inspectorate’s review of antisocial behaviour orders.
The review concluded that there has been a sensible approach to the introduction of antisocial behaviour orders in Northern Ireland. The review also highlighted that antisocial behaviour orders are used as part of a staged approach to tackling antisocial behaviour alongside other interventions such as warnings and acceptable behaviour contracts.
Departmental Billing
The following table shows the number and proportion of invoices paid by the Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland, and its agencies within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months.
Invoices % Invoices % Invoices % Invoices % Invoices % 2008 June 291 5.4 626 33.8 32 74.4 — — — — July 874 15.3 486 24.4 20 58.8 — — — — August 1,981 66.9 759 38.8 29 70.7 — — — — September 1,523 45.7 757 36.3 22 56.4 — — — — October 2,002 48.0 913 37.5 29 72.5 — — — — November 2,542 58.7 896 39.1 21 75.0 86 36.6 — — December8 2,692 82.5 1,448 80.7 30 85.7 166 46.5 679 93.7 2009 January 3,122 79.0 2,688 76.2 25 92.6 141 57.6 593 76.3 February 3,231 82.6 1,749 85.4 27 100 219 80.2 524 77.6 March 3,611 82.2 2,141 85.8 33 100 254 76.7 759 79.7 April 3,026 83.3 1,109 72.2 31 100 185 69.6 505 65.2 May 3,074 91.6 1,770 89.3 23 95.8 136 69.2 427 80.9 1 Northern Ireland Office including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland. 2 Northern Ireland Prison Service. 3 Compensation Agency. 4 Forensic Science Northern Ireland. 5 Youth Justice Agency. 6 Figures for invoices paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months for Forensic Science Northern Ireland are only available from November 2008. 7Figures for invoices paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months for Youth Justice Agency are only available from December 2008. 8 The Northern Ireland Office and it agencies revised procedures for the processing and payment of invoices following guidance issued by the Cabinet Office on 17 November 2008 relating to a target to pay invoices within 10 days with effect from 1 December 2008. Prior to December 2008 the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies sought to comply with the “The Better Payments Practice Code” for achieving good payment performance in commercial transactions. Under this Code, the policy was to pay bills in accordance with contractual conditions or, where no such conditions exist, within 30 days of receipt of goods and services or the presentation of a valid invoice, whichever is the later.
Employment Tribunals
The following table details the 10 actions brought against the Northern Ireland Office core Department in the last three financial years. Of these, one was withdrawn by the complainant and four were settled prior to hearing. The remaining five cases have not yet reached tribunal stage.
Category of action 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Total per category Sex discrimination 1 — — 1 Fair employment discrimination 3 — 1 4 Equal pay — — 4 4 Unlawful deduction of wages — 1 — 1 Total per year 4 1 5 10
Police Service of Northern Ireland
(2) how many (a) Protestant, (b) Roman Catholic and (c) non-determined appointees to the Police Service of Northern Ireland there have been since the inception of the 50/50 recruitment process.
That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Housing
There are currently no vacant residential units owned by the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The Northern Ireland Prison Service presently have 25 vacant residential units within the grounds of their training college at Millisle. These will be sold as part of the planned sale of the Millisle site upon the completion of the new public sector college at Desertcreat.
House of Commons Commission
Copyright
I expect this review to be completed by the summer recess.
Democracy Live
The Commission has not received any representations on the forthcoming BBC Democracy Live service. I understand that the Administration Committee will shortly be considering a proposal to permit the embedding of video content by end users.
Scotland
Cabinet: Glasgow
(2) what car journeys he took in attending the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009;
(3) how much expenditure was incurred by his Department in respect of the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009;
(4) what expenditure on (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) food (i) he and (ii) officials in his Department incurred in connection with the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009.
I was accompanied by one official and one special adviser and undertook one car journey when attending Cabinet in Glasgow on 16 April 2009.
For information in relation to the Cabinet and public engagement event held in Glasgow on 16 April I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 June 2009, Official Report, column 487W.
Demos
Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Departmental Data Protection
There have been no breaches of information security at the Scotland Office in the last five years.
The Office would report all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and the ICO. Information on any personal data security breaches would be published on an annual basis in the Department’s annual resource accounts as was announced in the Data Handling Review published on 25 June 2008.
Additionally, all significant control weaknesses including other significant security breaches are included in the Statement of Internal Control which is published within the annual resource accounts.
Written Questions: Government Responses
These parliamentary questions were answered today.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Bees
[holding answer 19 June 2009]: DEFRA and other funders are currently considering whether an independent expert should be invited to join the panel considering research proposals submitted to the Insect Pollinator Initiative being developed under the Living with Environmental Change programme.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
[holding answer 15 June 2009]: The cost impacts of bovine tuberculosis (TB) on farm businesses will vary, though we know that for some farmers these costs will be serious. We have made no specific estimates of the effects of the cost to the farming industry of cattle slaughtered as a result of infection with bovine TB.
The Bovine TB Eradication Group have recently discussed ideas to enable farmers affected by bovine TB to maintain their farm businesses, including enhancing trading opportunities for TB restricted herds and options for support for individual farmers.
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research: Manpower
The table provides the requested data. We have included total staff numbers to give an indication of the relative level of management effort, and CEFAS turnover figures to illustrate substantial growth in the volumes of work delivered by the agency over this period. Total staff numbers are average full year figures (as reported in the annual accounts; the detail breakdown reflects the position at financial year end).
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Total staff 523 508 520 508 522 Turnover (£ million) 37.4 40.4 43.3 47.5 57.1 Directors 7 7 8 3 3 Senior managers 8 7 6 5 5 Specialist and delivery managers 332 326 333 352 343 Executive support and admin. 120 115 112 93 65 Notes: 1. Directors are executive members of the CEFAS management board. 2. Senior managers lead operational management across the organisation, and form part of the CEFAS “Senior Management Team”. 3. Specialist and delivery managers: have an extensive proportion of their time focused on managing/delivering customer projects and are typically professionally qualified. This is an estimated figure based on staff grade. 4. Executive support and administration: provide the “corporate services” function for CEFAS.
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research: Pay
The table provides the requested data. Figures for 2008-09 have not yet been finalised.
The CEFAS “performance related pay” (PRP) scheme has varied in recent years. It comprises a “corporate bonus” payable to all eligible staff as well as an “individual PRP” for a smaller proportion. The table shows percentage corporate and values of individual PRP estimated. The current scheme allows for:
A corporate bonus for all eligible staff of 2.2 per cent. of salary, explicitly linked to achievement of agreed agency targets
A corporate “growth” bonus for all eligible staff of up to 1.3 per cent. of salary self-funded and explicitly linked to generation of additional income from sources other than DEFRA.
An “individual PRP” paid at two levels, 4 per cent. or 8 per cent., for approximately 25 and 15 per cent. of staff respectively. This is assessed on the basis of achievement of personal objectives together with consideration of how these were delivered, the latter taking account of CEFAS values.
Bonus arrangements for four senior civil servants in CEFAS, including the chief executive, form part of wider DEFRA arrangements.
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 “Corporate bonus” (percentage) 1 3 5 5 — Individual PRP (£): Directors 22,780 9,860 19,512 20,860 — Senior managers 5,680 3,180 2,833 2,447 — Specialist and delivery managers 136,483 73,502 88,184 92,462 — Executive support and admin. 42,442 28,639 29,196 21,624 —
Common Agricultural Policy
The Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) under the Common Agricultural Policy provides the system for managing direct payments to farmers (such as the Single Payment Scheme), and those rural development measures which are based on the area farmed or number of animals held by the farmer (such as agri-environment payments and Less Favoured Area payments). The Rural Payments Agency (RPA), Natural England and the Forestry Commission all administer IACS-related schemes in England.
It is not possible to provide the specific costs to these bodies of administering IACS-only schemes in the time available without incurring disproportionate costs, as they do not separately collect such figures.
The table sets out indicative costs to these organisations as follows:
(a) RPA: total running costs for administering around 60 CAP schemes and for Trader schemes payments to traders throughout the UK as well as all its non-CAP functions such as livestock tracing.
(b) Forestry Commission: administration of their ‘land-based’ IACS grant schemes, the English Woodland Grant Scheme together with the legacy Woodland Grant Scheme and Farm Woodland (Premium) Schemes.
(c) Natural England: administration of their RDPE schemes, including agri-environment schemes which are subject to IACS controls.
Financial year RPA1 Forestry Commission2 Natural England3 2004-05 249.1 4.2 n/a 2005-06 236.5 4.2 n/a 2006-07 229.8 4.2 n/a 2007-08 242.8 5.0 444 2008-09 5— 5.0 *38.8 1 Taken from the Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts. 2 Net administration costs 3 Natural England was formed in October 2006. Costs for its predecessor bodies are not available. 4 Includes direct costs incurred by Natural England of £13.6 million, and costs of using DEFRA systems (including depreciation and support/running costs). 5 Not yet available.
Dairy Farmers of Britain: Insolvency
Dairy Farmers of Britain had 1,800 members when they went into receivership on 3 June. The vast majority of those members have succeeded in finding new outlets for their milk. We were informed by the receivers (PwC) at a meeting on 17 June that 190 members have yet to find a new buyer, so PwC are collecting their milk at present.
Demos
The core-Department's financial system records expenditure in 2008-09 with Demos of £922.87 categorised as Training in People Management Skills.
Departmental Billing
[holding answer 12 June 2009]: Following the statement by the Prime Minister at PMQs on 8 October 2008, central Government Departments were asked to make payment of SME supplier invoices within 10 days. From information held centrally the 10 day payment performance for all supplier invoices from November 2008 for the core-Department and Executive agencies and NDPBs that utilise core-DEFRA’s financial system is as follows:
10 day performance 2008 2009 Organisation November December January February March April May Core DEFRA 33.5 77.1 99.8 99.8 99.4 99.7 99.9 Animal Health Agency 25.5 74.6 99.9 100.0 99.9 99.9 100.0 Natural England 99.5 99.4 99.5 99.6 99.9 99.8 99.7 Marine and Fisheries Agency 41.6 84.6 100.0 96.3 100.0 100.0 99.5 Gov. Decon. Service 35.7 67.3 100.0 99.5 100.0 — — DECC cost centres 28.1 81.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.5 100.0 Note: GDS merged into FERA from 1 April 2009.
Departmental Official Hospitality
[holding answer 3 June 2009]: From information held centrally, the core-Department's financial system records expenditure on hospitality in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 of £441,259 and £132,414 respectively.
Departmental Press
For the period October 2008 to June 2009, DEFRA Ministers had the following newspapers and periodicals delivered to their offices:
Hilary Benn
Newspapers
Financial Times
Times
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
Independent
Daily Mail
Mirror
International Herald Tribune
Evening Standard
Periodicals
Farmers Weekly
Spectator
New Statesman
Economist
New Scientist
Jane Kennedy
Newspapers
Financial Times
Times
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
Independent
Daily Mail
Periodicals
Farmers Weekly
Farmers Guardian
Fishing News
Lord Hunt
Newspapers
Guardian
Independent
Periodicals
Farmers Weekly
Farmers Guardian
Huw Irranca-Davies
Newspapers
Times
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
The Sun
Daily Mail
Mirror
Evening Standard
Periodicals
Farmers Weekly.
Newspapers were, and continue to be, only delivered Monday-Thursday, with no papers or magazines being delivered through recess periods. Costs for these publications are grouped within a single departmental invoice, so an indicative weekly cost (based on the cover price of each publication) is £109.70, with zero cost during recess periods.
Entec
The core-Department's financial system records the following expenditure categorisation and values with Entec UK in 2008-09.
Description Value (£) Environmental Protection Research and Monitoring 70,254 England Biodiversity Strategy 15,640 Flood and Coastal Defence Research Programme 222,612 Marine Environment Research Programme 7,504 Water Quality and Water Supply Regulation R and D 5,800 Sustainable Water Use and Technical Support 13,444 Air Quality Evidence Base Management 178,033 Sustainable Development Commission Policy 46,070
Floods
In line with our commitment, the Government will very shortly publish its six-monthly Pitt progress report.
Floods: Bournemouth
[holding answer 18 June 2009]: The plans to improve defences at Hengistbury Head will be based on the current policy review for the local Shoreline Management Plan (SMP). This is being led by Bournemouth borough council and is approaching a public consultation stage. The SMP will be adopted later this year and published in June 2010.
Within the SMP the Environment Agency is reviewing the coastal processes and associated risks at Hengistbury Head. Once the SMP policies are determined and published, the Environment Agency has plans to develop a programme to re-evaluate its approach to improve the coastal defences for Poole Bay, including Hengistbury Head.
Floods: Property Development
(2) what proportion of planning applications have been granted against Environment Agency advice on flood risk in each of the last five years.
[holding answers 12 and 15 June 2009]: The following table shows the proportion of local planning authorities (LPAs) who have given planning permission for a development against an Environment Agency flood risk objection.
Percentage 2003-04 29.9 2004-05 35.8 2005-06 26.1 2006-07 21.4 2007-08 23.5
The following table shows the proportion of planning applications that were approved against Environment Agency advice on flood risk.
Percentage 2003-04 11.5 2004-05 8.1 2005-06 4.7 2006-07 4.0 2007-08 3.4
Food: Prices
The principal market provisions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)—Market Price Support (MPS) and the use of tariffs—artificially raise the price of food above global agricultural market prices.
We can calculate an estimate of the UK consumer cost of the Common Agricultural Policy by comparing the difference between UK and world prices for agricultural products and applying the difference to the volume of UK consumption. On that basis our latest estimates suggest that the UK consumer cost of the CAP was approximately £3.48 billion in 2006. This works out as an additional cost per head of UK population of £57.
Great Crested Newts
People with suitable experience and skills can apply to Natural England for a licence to handle/disturb great crested newts. For the year April 2007 to March 2008, Natural England issued 1,074 great crested newt licences, permitting activities for the purpose of science and conservation. Figures cannot be broken down further to indicate how many of these licence holders were engaged in surveying land for signs of great crested newt activity.
Horses: Animal Welfare
(2) if he will undertake an assessment of the welfare of racehorses, including levels of death and injury; and if he will bring forward proposals to improve their welfare.
[holding answer given 9 June 2009]: All kept horses are protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (“the Act”) which requires owners and keepers to provide for the welfare needs of their animals.
To make owners and keepers more aware of their responsibilities under the Act, DEFRA is preparing a code of practice for the care of horses, ponies, donkeys and their hybrids. Once this is finalised it will be approved by Parliament before being published.
There are no proposals to undertake a welfare assessment of racehorses. Racehorses are protected by the Act which makes it an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal. In addition, under the Act, it is an offence to fail to provide for the welfare needs of an animal for which owners are responsible.
Anyone can take forward a prosecution under the Act if they consider they have evidence of cruelty or poor welfare, or they can report it to the appropriate authorities, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Horticulture
(2) what funding his Department has allocated to production horticulture research and development in the last five years;
(3) if he will match-fund the Horticultural Development Company levy for horticulture research and development.
DEFRA funds a significant amount of horticultural research through research programmes on Sustainable Farm Management, Agriculture and Climate Change, Resource Efficient and Resilient Food Chain and Sustainable Water Management. DEFRA plans to continue supporting the horticultural sector through these programmes with research in areas including crop protection, nutrient management, water use and crop genetic improvement for horticulture. The Horticulture LINK research programme is jointly funded with industry and so is able to translate Research & Development into a commercial reality.
DEFRA spent over £7 million on horticulture research in 2008-09. We spent £1.35 million in 2007-08 and again in 2008-09 directly on co-funded research with industry. We are likely to spend a similar amount this financial year. This exceeds the Horticulture Development Company's Research & Development expenditure.
Incinerators
[holding answer 9 June 2009]: Hazardous waste legislation requires that the bottom ash arising from municipal waste incinerators is assessed for ecotoxicity (property H14) prior to disposal. The legislation does not require operators to submit the results to the Environment Agency.
Members: Correspondence
I have been asked to reply.
As the letter concerned policy within BIS's remit I answered the right hon. Member’s letter on 20 April 2009 and will send an additional copy to his office.
Pesticides Safety Directorate: Manpower
In the last five financial years from 2004-05 to 2008-09 the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) was based in a single office in York.
Permanent staff in post expressed as full time equivalents (FTE) at 31 March in each year were:
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 (a) Directors1 4 4 4 4 4 (b) Senior Managers2 15 15 15 14 13 (c) Specialist and delivery managers3 135.9 137.3 126.4 123.2 124.8 (d) Executive support and admin staff4 43.9 42.8 36.7 33 20.3 Total 198.8 199.1 182.1 174.2 162.1 1 Defined here as staff at Senior Civil Service or Grade 6 level. 2 Defined here as staff at Grade 7 level (includes managers in policy, science, technical and administrative areas). 3 Defined here as all staff in grades Executive/Scientific Officer to Senior Executive/Scientific Officer. 4 Defined here as all staff in grades Administrative Officer and Administrative Assistant. Note: PSD transferred to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 1 April 2008, and merged with other HSE teams to form the Chemicals Regulation Directorate on 1 April 2009.
River Humber
The Environment Agency, which surveys waters in England for their eutrophic status, does not consider the Humber to be eutrophic or likely to become eutrophic in the near future.
Seas and Oceans: Pollution
The role of DEFRA and the Marine and Fisheries Agency in responding to marine pollution emergencies is described in the National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations, which is maintained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Responses to maritime incidents need to be proportionate. Regional or national responses to maritime incidents involve the establishment of an Environment Group, which advises on environmental impacts and may initiate the collection of real time environmental data. If a marine pollution incident is expected to have a significant impact on the marine environment or the shoreline, arrangements are made to monitor and assess the impact in the longer term.
On 20 January 2007, the MSC Napoli was beached in Lyme Bay. The vessel was loaded with 2,318 containers (159 of which were classified as ‘International Maritime Dangerous Goods’) and approximately 3,500 tonnes of Intermediate Fuel Oil and 152 tonnes of Marine Diesel Oil on board. It is estimated that approximately 302 tonnes of oil leaked out of the vessel and dispersant was used to disperse the oil. The proportion of containers that went overboard and the proportion of oil spilled was relatively small. The Environment Agency augmented their routine water quality monitoring programme both by adding additional stations to improve the data coverage and by implementing a screening procedure for chemicals in the water. In addition, DEFRA funded the Plymouth Marine Laboratory to undertake a survey of the waters across Lyme Bay to assess the levels of hydrocarbon contamination in subsurface waters and the surface microlayer. CEFAS and the Marine and Fisheries Agency also instigated a programme of sampling commercial shellfish (crabs, scallops and mussels). Natural England organised necropsies of a proportion of the oiled seabirds and organised two benthic surveys looking at the effect on the benthos (including the pink sea fans). Apart from the birds that died there has been no measured long term effect on the marine environment. Full details can be found at:
www.mfa.gov.uk/environment/oil/mscnapoli.htm
On 1 February 2006, the MV Ece, laden with 10,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid, sank following a collision with another vessel approximately 30 miles northwest of Guernsey. Phosphoric acid (phosphate) is an essential nutrient for phytoplankton (microscopic marine algae on which the entire marine food chain relies). Release of “additional” phosphate into the sea may intensify blooms of toxic phytoplankton species and/or lead to oxygen loss from the seawater, both of which are lethal to marine organisms. As there was the possibility of a potential spill from the vessel, a research study was carried out to evaluate the “Ferrybox” as an appropriate monitoring system for the marine environment using the wreck of the MV Ece as a test case. One of the samples taken contained a concentration higher than background levels, demonstrating that this system of monitoring was capable of identifying phosphate leakage from the wreck. Full details of the report can be found at:
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document:= ME3208_3714_FRP.pdf
On 3 September 2005, MV Anglian Sovereign (Coastguard ETV) hit rocks close to the entrance to Scalloway Harbour in Shetland. It had 84 tonnes of gas oil on board plus the usual hydraulic and lubricating oils. A good deal of oil was lost to the sea but much of the rest was recovered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency response. Monitoring was undertaken for a number of months when it was found that farmed salmon and wild shellfish in the area was contaminated.
On 29 June 2003, the Jambo, carrying 3,300 tonnes of sphalerite ore ran aground on rocks off the Summer Isles North West of Ullapool. Sphalerite is mainly composed of zinc sulphide and contains traces of other metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic. Monitoring included testing water, sediments and shellfish for zinc, toxicity testing and measuring the solubility of metallic elements in the sphalerite ore. It showed that measured levels of zinc in the water were mostly very low. Toxic impacts of zinc to water column animals are therefore considered very unlikely. Measured levels of zinc in sediments are very low except in the immediate vicinity of the wreck (-100 metres) so toxic and smothering impacts to benthic (seabed) animals are therefore expected to be similarly localised. There is no evidence to suggest that the discharged cargo from the Jambo has resulted in persistent elevated levels of zinc, cadmium or arsenic in scallop or crab tissues. It is concluded that eating shellfish from the area around the Jambo incident does not raise any food safety concerns for consumers. The final report of the Jambo Environment Group to the Secretary of State’s representative was published in July 2004 and can be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at:
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/environment_group_report-5.pdf
On 31 October 2000, the levoli Sun was abandoned and later sunk approximately 11 miles North West of Alderney. The vessel carried a mixed cargo of 4,000 tonnes styrene, 1,000 tonnes methyl ethyl ketone and 1,000 tonnes isopropyl alcohol. More than 1,000 tonnes styrene was lost to sea during the incident. Analysis of edible tissues from crabs recovered one week later from pots laid very close to the wreck prior to the incident demonstrated only low-level styrene contamination that posed no risk to humans. The remainder of the styrene and the ship’s main bunker fuel were recovered from the wreck on the seabed. Full details are provided in R.J. Law, C. Kelly, P. Matthiessen and J. Aldridge (2003) The loss of the chemical tanker levoli Sun in the English Channel, October 2000. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 46: 254-257.
In February 1996 the Sea Empress ran aground in the entrance to Milford Haven releasing more than 72,000 tonnes of oil. Monitoring of affected wildlife began almost immediately and was mostly completed by 19981. Some studies continued in subsequent years and a number of reports and scientific papers have been published in the 10 years following the spill. The long term effects of the spill were evaluated in a report published in 20062. In addition, a review of the ecological effects of the clean up following the spill was published in 20063. The studies found that almost all known impacts to marine wildlife and marine and coastal habitats from the Sea Empress oil spill had disappeared within five years.
On 5 January 1993, MV Braer, an oil tanker, ran aground at the southern tip of Shetland, releasing around 85,000 tonnes of oil. Monitoring began immediately and monitoring for some direct effects continued for around a year. Background monitoring that could be used to assess some effects started in the 1970s and have continued to the present. In general, very few effects other than immediate ones were found, probably due to light and easily dispersible nature of the oil spilled4,5. It took one species of seabird one to five years to recover to pre-spill levels6, and others may have taken longer.
1 SEEEC, 1998. The Environmental Impact of the Sea Empress Oil Spill. Final Report of the Sea Empress Environmental Evaluation Committee. London: The Stationery Office. ISBN: 0 11 702156 3.
http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/seeec/impact/seaemp.htm
2 Moore, J.J. 2006. State of the Marine Environment in South West Wales, 10 years after the Sea Empress Oil Spill. A report to the Countryside Council for Wales from Coastal Assessment, Liaison and Monitoring, Cosheston, Pembrokeshire. CCW Monitoring report No 21. 30pp.
3 Little, A.E., Moore, J.J. and Dyrynda P.E.J. 2006. Ecological Impacts of Shoreline Clean-up during the Sea Empress Oil Spill. A Report to the Countryside Council for Wales by Cordah Ltd. 131pp.
4 Ritchie, W. And O’Sullivan, M (eds.) 1994. The Environmental impact of the wreck of the Braer. Scottish Office, Edinburgh. 207pp.
5 Davies, J.M. and Topping, G. (eds) 1997. The impact of an oil spill in turbulent waters: the Braer. Scottish Office, Edinburgh.
6 Heubeck, M. 2000. Population trends of kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, black guillemot Cepphus grylle and common guillemot Uria aalge. Atlantic Seabirds 1: 43-47.
Waste Disposal: Newcastle upon Tyne
DEFRA Ministers have had no such discussions. The choice of waste management technology for Newcastle is a matter for the city council.
Transport
Air Passenger Duty
A sensitivity test for the proposed new Air Passenger Duty (APD) bands and rates was included in the Department for Transport's “UK Air Passenger Demand and C02 Forecasts” report, published in January 2009. The report is available at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/atf/co2forecasts09/
Table 2.12 (page 48) reports the effect of this sensitivity test (rounded to the nearest five million passengers).
The breakdown of the change in 2030 demand from moving to the new APD bands and rates is shown in the following table.
New APD band Passengers (million) Band A -1.4 Band B 0.0 Band C 0.0 Band D 0.0 APD exempt -0.1 Total -1.5 Notes: Results are rounded to nearest 0.1 million passengers. Difference in total impact from that reported in “UK Air Passenger Demand and C02 Forecasts” January 2009, is due to differences in rounding.
As explained in “UK Air Passenger Demand and C02 Forecasts”, January 2009, paragraphs 2.28 to 2.29 (page 21), the Department's central demand forecasts assume that aviation will meet its climate change costs. It is assumed these will be met by APD, plus an additional cost equal to the difference between APD and aviation's climate change costs per passenger journey (if positive). This assumption reduces the impact of changes to APD on the demand forecasts.
No assessment of the impact of the proposed new APD bands and rates without this assumption is available.
Aviation
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bus Services
The Department for Transport (DfT) has recently commissioned a number of research projects on buses which are relevant to the supply and demand of local bus services.
A recently commissioned project on the determinants of bus patronage focuses on the importance of softer factors in influencing patronage growth and modal shift. We are expecting this work to be published by autumn 2009.
On concessionary travel, the Department has commissioned research which focuses on the impact of concessionary travel on demand for local bus services and costs, though the work will also cover general bus demand and bus costs. We are expecting this work to be published by the end of 2009.
On bus modelling, the Department has commissioned the development of a bus model which is able to forecast bus patronage changes and bus service levels for different types of interventions. A completed bus model is expected by autumn 2009.
It is intended that DfT's most recent regional and local research strategy is published this summer, which will provide details on local and regional transport research.
Demos
The Department for Transport has no contracts with Demos.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
The Department for Transport reports its carbon dioxide emissions from offices figures through the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report. The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are as follows:
Tonnes Total Per FTE1 2006-07 24,326 1.239 2007-08 26,098 1.395 1 FTE stands for ‘full time equivalent’ (member of staff).
Departmental Data Protection
The Department for Transport is comprised of the central Department, a Shared Service Centre and seven Executive agencies. The information available regarding identity cards or passes reported lost or stolen since July 2008 is as follows:
For the central Department the number of staff passes reported as replaced is 431. The records available do not distinguish between passes replaced due to loss or theft and those replaced for other reasons. Lost or stolen passes are estimated to account for approximately 45 per cent. of all replacement passes issued.
For the Department's Shared Service centre the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen is five.
For the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen is 70.
For the Highways Agency the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen is 35.
The Government Car and Despatch Agency have no record of passes reported as lost or stolen.
The Vehicle Certification Agency have reported three staff passes as lost.
The Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA) reported seven warrant cards as lost or stolen. In addition it reported that two headquarters building passes were reported lost and two were replaced but the reason was not recorded. VOSA does not centrally record staff building passes reported lost or stolen as each building manager handles requests for replacements on an individual basis. The number for passes lost or stolen for the whole agency could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
The Driving Standards Agency has had 13 permanent staff passes reported as lost or stolen. In the same period, two driving examiner warrant cards were reported as lost or stolen.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency do not centrally record the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen as cases are dealt with individually and not recorded in an aggregated form. This information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Energy
The Department for Transport gas and electricity consumption figures are as follows:
Area 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Electricity Central Department 8,073,203 9,189,266 8,039,848 7,522,567 Driving Standards Agency 3,397,953 3,967,843 4,337,092 3,555,589 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 14,698,167 14,106,404 15,658,681 16,460,063 Government Car and Despatch Agency — 757,036 831,151 821,805 Highways Agency 4,092,816 3,615,533 3,602,937 4,393,721 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 5,708,513 6,901,183 6,831,677 5,813,369 Vehicle Certification Agency 65,069 153,608 136,804 200,423 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 7,194,512 6,640,513 6,914,649 6,992,162 Total 43,230,233 45,331,386 46,352,839 45,759,699 Gas Area 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Central Department 1,183,339 1,743,451 893,005 970,130 Driving Standards Agency 2,836,153 7,135,920 3,942,059 3,095,886 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 14,665,348 28,442,576 26,254,520 31,470,328 Government Car and Despatch Agency — 733,428 638,352 1,909,513 Highways Agency 2,418,204 2,170,079 1,769,332 2,049,947 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 3,283,979 4,308,427 3,508,140 2,796,924 Vehicle Certification Agency 119,626 130,536 109,035 90,245 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 6,850,996 5,427,891 5,652,612 6,882,232 Total 31,357,645 50,092,308 42,767,055 49,265,205
There are no figures reported for the Government Car and Despatch Agency for 2004-05 as they did not become part of the Department for Transport until 2005-06.
The figures for 2008-09 are not yet available as they are currently being collated for the latest Sustainable Development in Government report.
It is not possible to provide spend data on energy efficiency measures undertaken by the Department for Transport as the majority of these works were part of larger building projects and were not costed separately. The following is a list of some of the energy efficiency measures that have been carried out at various sites across the Department for Transport estate:
Carbon Management Energy Efficiency Report;
Installation of Savawatt controllers;
Improved lighting control systems;
Installation of double glazing;
Reducing the operating temperatures of heating and cooling systems;
“Switch off” campaigns;
Installation of thermal blinds;
Smart metering and sub-metering programmes;
Upgrades to Building management Systems to reduce energy consumption;
Replacement of boilers with improved energy efficiency ratings;
Improvements to air handling units to improve efficiency;
Automatic PC shutdown at designated time.
The Department reports its energy figures annually as part of the Sustainable Development in Government report and monitors its sustainability data quarterly. As part of the Carbon Management Energy Efficiency report mentioned above the Department reports periodically to the Carbon Trust the savings, in terms of emissions and cost that have been achieved as a result of the measures implemented from the report.
Energy efficiency measures for the future include:
Benchmarking of some sites to determine where efficiencies are required and to allow assessment of the effectiveness of energy efficiency installations;
Further installation of Smart meters and sub-metering;
Installation of new more energy efficient lifts;
Implementation of a “thin client” IT solution;
Participation in the Carbon reduction Commitment;
Achievement of the Carbon Trust Standard;
Adoption of BREEAM Excellent or Very Good ratings for all new build and major refurbishments;
Working towards achievement of an accredited EMS in all departmental organisations;
Full utilisation of a second CHP plant at our Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency site at Morrison.
The Department for Transport has, in addition to the central Department, seven executive agencies that report performance under the Sustainable Operation on the Government Estate targets. Those agencies account for in excess of 85 per cent. of the entire departmental estate. The chief executive of each agency is therefore responsible for the energy efficiency of their estate, while Richard Hatfield, Director General of International Networks and Environment, is the Board level champion whose role includes the promotion of sustainability across the entire Department for Transport family.
The Department for Transport reports its energy consumption figures through the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report. The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are as follows:
kWh Total Per FTE1 2006-07 100,104,264 5,098 2007-08 99,082,036 5,297 1 FTE stands for ‘full time equivalent’ (member of staff).
Departmental Public Consultation
Details of the Department for Transport's consultations carried out since July 2007 have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Information about the cost of each consultation is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Waste
The Department for Transport reports its waste arisings figures through the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report. The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are as follows:
Tonnes Total Per FTE1 2006-07 3,878 0.197 2007-08 3,711 0.198 1 FTE stands for ‘full time equivalent’ (member of staff).
Departmental Water
The Department for Transport reports its water consumption figures through the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report. The scope for water consumption changed from offices only in 2005-06 to the entire estate in 2006-07. As a result of this change in scope, the Department reset its baseline for water consumption. Therefore the water consumption figures for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are now as follows:
Total m3 m3 per FTE1 2005-06 174,921 10.1 2006-07 205,091 10.4 1 Full-time equivalent (member of staff).
The above figures represent the whole estate. To break these figures down to office and non-office data would incur disproportionate costs.
M25
The number of jobs which would be created for these two projects has not been assessed because the schemes have yet to be designed in enough detail to determine the resources required.
Motor Vehicles: Foreigners
[holding answer 19 June 2009]: The Department for Transport operates a strategy of education, warning and direct enforcement to help compliance with the requirement to re-register foreign vehicles after six months using UK roads. Education activities have involved presentations to community leaders, articles in the media, the issue of information leaflets and warning notices placed on vehicle windscreens. At the point a warning is delivered the vehicle details will be recorded. This allows the length of time a vehicle is likely to have been circulating in the UK to be calculated. If a foreign registered vehicle is believed to have been in the UK for more than six months, the police or local authorities with devolved authority or NSL Ltd. have the power to wheel clamp and impound unlicensed vehicles.
Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance
The cost of preparatory work for uncompleted conventional widening projects on (a) the M1 is £47 million (b) the M6 is £10 million, and (c) M62 is £1.6 million.
This includes consultant costs for preliminary design, traffic modelling, aerial surveys, hard shoulder surveys, environmental assessment, air quality measurements and production of model, public exhibitions and consultation with key stakeholders.
Information gathered from a number of these activities remains pertinent to the project irrespective of its mode of delivery and will be utilised wherever possible.
In relation to the M1 this covers three schemes of approximately 104 miles length in total, dating back to July 2003.
Parking: Disabled
[holding answer 19 June 2009]: The Department for Transport's "Inclusive Mobility" document provides guidance on established best practice on access for disabled people to the pedestrian and transport environment. Section 5 covers car parking and recommends the following spaces for disabled motorists:
(i)For car parks associated with existing employment premises: 2 per cent. of the total car park capacity, with a minimum of one space.
Spaces for disabled employees must be additional to those recommended above; reservations could be ensured, for example, by marking a space with a registration number.
(ii) For car parks associated with new employment premises: 5 per cent. of the total parking capacity should be designated (to include both employees and visitors).
(iii) For car parks associated with shopping areas, leisure or recreational facilities, and places open to the general public: A minimum of one space for each employee who is a disabled motorist, plus 6 per cent. of the total capacity for visiting disabled motorists.
The numbers of designated spaces may need to be greater at hotels and sports stadiums that specialize in accommodating groups of disabled people.
Railways
The Department for Transport does not set such targets, but it is Government policy to encourage the development of sustainable passenger and freight transport.
The Department is taking full account of the potential for freight modal shift from road to rail in its ongoing work to consider future investment and other priorities for key national network corridors. It is also an important consideration in the development of the Department's Carbon Reduction Strategy.
Railways: Electrification
Rail currently emits about 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide directly from diesel consumption and is indirectly responsible for about 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide produced by the electricity generating sector. Electrifying the rail network would remove carbon emissions associated with diesel consumption, but increase emissions from power stations. The net effect would be a reduction in rail related emissions of about 0.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Railways: Finance
Government spending on the railway for the year ending 31 March 2009 is currently being audited. Subsidy paid along with premiums received from Train Operating Companies for the year 2007-08 is published in National Rail Trends (NRT) which also sets out the amount of subsidy per passenger kilometre. The next National Rail Trends yearbook will be published by the Office of Rail Regulation later in the year and will include the data requested. Copies of the latest version are available in the Libraries of the House.
Railways: Franchises
All franchise agreements let from 2003 onwards have revenue support/revenue share clauses in Schedule 8 of the National Rail Franchise Terms. The Train Operating Companies with these provisions are:
Cross Country
East Midland Trains
First Capital Connect
First Great Western
London Midland
London Southeastern Railway
National Express East Anglia
National Express East Coast
Northern Rail
Virgin West Coast.
This list will include the new Southern Franchise when it begins on 20 September 2009.
Full details of revenue support/revenue share can be found on the Department for Transport's website's Public Register of Franchise Agreements:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/publicregister/
Reading Station: Repairs and Maintenance
[holding answer 8 June 2009]: The Reading scheme is a five-year project, with a total value of some £800 million, increasing capacity and improving performance at a key railway junction on the Great Western Main Line.
The whole project is still being finalised by Network Rail and the detailed specification is likely to be agreed with that company in the near future.
Network Rail is aware of the outputs required by Government, in terms of additional capacity and sustained performance, but importantly the need to deliver these within the financial resources determined by the Office of Rail Regulation. The Department for Transport is also working with the railway industry to minimise any adverse impact on the operational railway during the construction phases and the need to make compensation payments to operating companies.
Roads
The Department for Transport published forecasts of traffic and associated congestion, journey times and emissions for the English road network in December 2008. The report is available at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/economics/ntm/roadtransport forcasts08/
and copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Roads in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved Administrations.
Roads: Construction
The Highways Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport is currently carrying out research on the acoustic performance of quieter surfaces over time. A section of the trunk road network with whisper concrete is included as part of this research. The results of the research and the conclusions are expected to be finalised by early 2010. There is no plan at present for the reintroduction of whisper concrete on the trunk road network.
Shipping
(2) on how many occasions (a) court actions and (b) fines have resulted from incidents where (i) chemicals and (ii) radioactive material have been lost overboard in (A) UK waters and (B) elsewhere from UK-registered ships since 1985; and what (1) type of conviction and (2) level of fine there was in each case in respect of which legal proceedings have been completed.
Details of incidences of hazardous material (including chemicals) being released from ships in the UK pollution control zone are given in annual reports produced by the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea. Recent reports are available on the website of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
There have been no reported incidences of radioactive material being lost overboard since 1985.
Since 1989 the Department for Transport has sponsored reports on events involving the transport of radioactive material in the UK. These reports will include details of any known incidents where radioactive material was lost during transport by sea. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries and more recent ones are available via the DFT website at the following address:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freiqht/dgt1/road/quidance/guidance/guidance7class/theradiologicalimpactofthetr1178
Southern: Railway Stations
Within the London area, the station deep clean specification was agreed by the Department for Transport and Transport for London before the franchise specification was published in November 2008. Bidders were obliged to meet these minimum standards as part of their bid which will be assessed via a Mystery Shopping Exercise to be conducted by Transport for London. The specification covers all areas of the station that are under the control of the train operator. This specification will be published alongside the other various franchise documents once commercial elements of the agreement have been discussed with the train operator.
Outside London, the bidder offered a station deep clean package, which was not a requirement of our specification. The exact specification of this programme will be agreed between the Department and GoVia, the winning bidder in the next few months.
Southern: Standards
The High Level Output Specification specifies increased levels of demand that must be accommodated on the network. In the case of South Central this relates to London Victoria and London Bridge. The South Central invitation to tender set out a minimum increase in vehicle arrivals at the London terminals (morning peak) and departures (evening peak) that make use of the lengthened platforms that Network Rail will provide.
Overall the invitation to tender required a 10 per cent. increase in morning peak capacity. The winning bidder exceeds this requirement, with a 14 per cent. increase in morning peak capacity by December 2013.
Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned a long-term process and impact evaluation of the Local Transport Plan policy following its introduction in the 1998 Transport White Paper. The research project ran from December 2001 to April 2007—the final report is available at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pqr/reqional/ltp/research/
The research identified that the Government's approach to local transport planning and delivery since the White Paper had been successful and represented value for money in terms of the investment made.
The Department commissions a wide range of other research to help improve transport services and infrastructure at a local and regional level. Examples include research recently commissioned on programme and risk management for local authorities; research on the importance of “soft factors” in delivering bus passenger growth and modal shift from cars, and a study on how local authorities access information on best practice. It is intended that DfT's most recent regional and local research strategy is published this summer, which will provide details on local and regional transport research.
Transport: Devon
The requested information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Justice
Probation : Manpower
This will be undertaken using existing resources both within London probation and the London director of offender management's team.
Crimes of Violence: Reoffenders
Further to my answer of 11 June 2009, the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2007, published on 30 October 2008 record that, for 2006-7, 74 offenders who were under the supervision of the Probation Service were convicted of murder, and for 2007-8, 47. These figures, together with those provided in my earlier answer, show that, at the time OMCS 2007 was published, murder convictions as a proportion of serious further offence notifications for murder were 57 per cent. for 2006-7 and 4 per cent. for 2007-8. However, at the time of publication, not all cases had gone to trial.
The Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2008, which are scheduled for publication on 31 July 2009, will contain serious further offence convictions and other outcomes for 2008-9 and updated figures for 2007-8.
Crimes of Violence: Sentencing
The data provided in the following table show the average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for offenders in the Essex police area force, for grievous bodily harm and violent disorder. Data are not available for Castle Point. The data are for the offences of grievous bodily harm or violent disorder where such an offence was the principal offence for which the offender was sentenced. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.
Number/months Number of immediate custodial sentences—grievous bodily harm2 73 Average custodial sentence length 27.0 Number of immediate custodial sentences—violent disorder3 0 Average custodial sentence length 4— 1 Excludes indeterminate and life sentences. 2 Offences of: wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm; causing explosion or casting corrosive fluids with intent to do grievous bodily harm; malicious wounding; racially aggravated malicious wounding or GBH; religiously aggravated wounding or GBH, racially or religiously aggravated wounding or GBH. 3 Public Order Act 1986. 4 Not applicable. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.
Debt Collection: Fees and Charges
The current fee system for enforcement agents is complex, each enforcement power bringing with it a different fee structure. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act (the Act) 2007 will introduce a unified fee regime, which will ensure that bailiffs are adequately and fairly remunerated for the work they actually do. We are assessing the current level of costs for all the different debt types to inform the new fee structure which includes the courts and local authorities.
Departmental Buildings
The amount spent by the Ministry of Justice in the last 12 months on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers is £279,235.00.
Of this amount £104,656.00 related to interior works (including partition work, ceilings, doors, ironmongery, redecorations, floor finishes and mechanical); £128,868.00 related to associated electrical work; £1,445.00 for other minor adjustments and £44,266.00 related to fees.
The incremental costs include works directly attributable to the formation of the Ministry of Justice. Specifically, the appointment of a fifth junior Minister and the creation of an appropriate secure environment for the Secretary of State and his security advisers.
The timing of these decisions required the works to be undertaken subsequent to the initial planned building refurbishment.
Departmental Electricity
The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007, this answer gives the figure for 2007-08. The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide the percentage of electricity derived from renewable sources for 2006-07 without incurring disproportionate costs.
The estimate made of the percentage of electricity derived from renewable sources used by the Ministry of Justice in 2007-08 was 8 per cent.
Departmental Energy
The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007, this answer gives the figure for 2007-08. The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide the energy consumed for 2006-07 without incurring disproportionate costs.
The energy consumed per full-time equivalent member of staff in 2007-08 was 17,996 kWh based upon total energy consumption of 1,680,602,541 kWh and 93,385 FTEs (includes MoJ core estate plus executive agencies). Please note that the total energy consumption figure includes energy consumed by prisoners within HM Prison Service and visitors within HM Courts Service.
Departmental ICT
Details of significant expenditure incurred on upgrading IT in the 2008-09 financial year are as follows:
The Criminal Justice System Exchange infrastructure—expenditure for 2008-09 was £6.7 million.
The NOMIS Programme to upgrade IT across the National Offender Management Service is providing Her Majesty's Prison Service and national probation service staff with improved access to information to support end-to-end offender management processes. Expenditure for 2008-09 was £91 million, which included the main costs of developing and implementing new applications, infrastructure costs and supporting the live services.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice's other main IT services are provided through contracts with external suppliers. These contracts include provision for regular maintenance and upgrade of the infrastructures and applications to keep systems up to date and to improve business efficiency. The costs of upgrades are included in the overall contract expenditure and could not be identified separately without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
The information requested is as follows.
Staff on core Ministry of Justice terms and conditions (including HMCS, Tribunals Service and MoJ HQ)
Payments of non-consolidated performance pay are paid to high performing staff to reflect their individual contribution during the previous performance year. In the Ministry of Justice, the performance year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Therefore, 2007-08 was the relevant performance year for the payments made during the financial year 2008-09
For grades below the SCS, non-consolidated performance pay is paid to those staff who have been judged to have consistently exceeded their objectives throughout the performance year under the Ministry's performance management system.
During 2008-09 1,676 staff were paid £2,011,200 in non-consolidated performance pay.
Staff employed in the NOMS Agency (including Public Sector Prisons)
In the HMPS, the performance year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Therefore, 2007-08 was the relevant performance year for the payments made during the financial year 2008-09
For grades below the SCS end of year end performance bonuses are paid to staff who have consistently exceeded their objectives throughout the performance year.
During 2008-09 5,332 staff were paid £1,325,952 in non-consolidated performance pay.
We are unable to ascertain performance payments made for Probation HQ staff who now fall within NOMS (but were within the Home Office during the reporting period) as figures for this group were not separated from the Home Office total.
Senior Civil Service
For Senior Civil Servants in the Ministry of Justice and agencies (whose pay terms are set by the Ministry of Justice) end of year payments of non consolidated performance pay are allocated by the Departmental Pay Committee in accordance with guidelines issued by Cabinet Office each year following the Senior Salaries Review Body recommendations.
During 2008-09, 159 members of the Senior Civil Service were awarded end of year performance pay. The amount paid was £1,648,000.
(2) how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in 2008-09; and what the cost was of such bonuses.
In year payments of non-consolidated performance pay may be made to recognise one off contributions made by individuals or teams. Information regarding the number and cost of bonus payments is set out as follows.
Staff on core Ministry of Justice terms and conditions (Including HMCS, Tribunals Service, and MoJ HQ)
Payment of non-consolidated performance pay to staff below the SCS may be either ‘end of year’ payments or ‘in year’.
‘End of year’ payments of non-consolidated performance pay are made as part of the annual pay award to staff to staff who have performed at a level beyond that which would normally be expected throughout the performance year.
1,676 staff received non-consolidated performance pay during 2008-09 and the amount paid was £2,011,200 (excluding employer’s national insurance contributions). This represented approximately 0.4 per cent. of the overall paybill.
‘In year’ payments of non-consolidated performance pay are ‘one off’ payments made to recognise outstanding individual performance on specific occasions during the year.
4,094 staff were awarded ‘in year’ non-consolidated performance pay for the 2008-09 financial year and the amount paid was £2,105,719 representing 0.4 per cent. of the paybill.
The NOMS Agency
Payment of non-consolidated performance pay to staff below the SCS may be either ‘end of year’ payments or ‘in year’. End of year performance pay is paid to staff who have consistently exceeded their objectives throughout the performance year.
In HMPS, the performance year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Therefore, 2007-08 was the relevant performance year for end of year payments made during the financial year 2008-09.
During 2008-09, 5,332 HMPS staff below SCS were paid £1,325,952 in ‘end of year’ non-consolidated performance pay (excluding employer’s national insurance contributions). This represented 0.3 per cent. of the relevant paybill.
We are unable to ascertain performance payments made for Probation HQ staff who now fall within NOMS (but were within the Home Office during the reporting period).
6,198 HMPS staff received ‘in-year’ non-consolidated performance pay, amounting to £2,855,812. (Excluding employer’s national insurance contributions). This represented approximately 0.22 per cent. of the paybill.
Six payments of ‘in-year’ non-consolidated performance pay were made to chief executives of the Probation Trusts. The amount paid was £26,477. (excluding employer’s national insurance contributions).
The Senior Civil Service
For senior civil servants in the Ministry of Justice and agencies including the NOMS Agency whose pay terms are set by the Ministry of Justice end of year payments of non-consolidated performance pay are allocated by the Departmental Pay Committee in accordance with guidelines issued by Cabinet Office each year following the Senior Salaries Review Body recommendations.
During 2008-09, 159 members of the senior civil service were awarded ‘end of year’ performance pay. The amount paid was £1,648,000. (excluding employer’s national insurance contributions). This represents 8.4 per cent. of the overall paybill for these staff.
As described above, we will have comprehensive details of ‘in year’ payments of non-consolidated performance pay for the 2008-09 financial year in early June and will write to you with these details.
Departmental Recycling
The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007, this answer gives the amount of waste recycled for the year 2007-08. The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide the volume and percentage of waste recycled for 2006-07 without incurring disproportionate costs.
The volume of waste the Ministry of Justice recycled in 2007-08 was 15,635.6 tonnes and the percentage recycled was 22 per cent. This information was published in the seventh annual “Sustainable Development in Government Report (SDiG)”:
http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/sdig2008/
Departmental Training
The expenditure on Health and Safety Training by the Ministry is stated as follows:
£ 2008-09 Ministry of Justice HQ 47,366 HM Courts Service 286,805 Tribunals Service 21,523 Office of the Public Guardian 500 Total 356,194 2007-08 Ministry of Justice HQ 60,441 HM Courts Service 293,552 Tribunals Service 19,810 Office of the Public Guardian 500 Total 374,303
The expenditure incurred is for external training courses, conducted by approved Health and Safety training consultants.
To supplement these external courses, internal Health and Safety training is provided across the Ministry by in-house staff. To obtain an accurate figure for this would incur disproportionate cost.
The National Offender Management Service employs over 50,000 staff in more than 140 locations. At present, there is no single central point for management information relating to health and safety training for staff. To obtain the information requested would involve identifying and contacting sources of information in many different locations and would thus incur disproportionate costs.
Departmental Waste
The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007, this answer gives the figure for 2007-08. The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide the estimate of waste arising in 2006-07 without incurring disproportionate costs.
The estimate made of total waste arising from the Ministry of Justice in 2007-08 was 71,060 tonnes. The amount per full-time equivalent member of staff in 2007-08 was 0.76 tonnes based upon 93,385 full-time equivalent members of staff (Ministry of Justice core estate plus executive agencies). This includes waste generated by prisoners within HM Prison Service and visitors within HM Courts Service.
Departmental Water
The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007. The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide the information on water consumption for 2005-06 and 2006-07 without incurring disproportionate costs.
Drugs: Misuse
Of 157 staff currently in post in the National Offender Management Service's Interventions and Substance Misuse Group 10 are probation staff.
Prior to the NOMS Agency being formed in 2008, the Prison Service tended to manage interventions centrally whereas the probation service managed interventions regionally. Hence ISMG, being a central headquarters function, has largely been formed from existing groups that were previously part of HM Prison Service.
Homicide: Sentencing
The requested information is shown in the following table. The data show the number of persons sentenced in the last five years, for attempted murder or soliciting or conspiracy to murder and the average custodial sentence length (ACSL). ACSL excludes the growing number of indeterminate sentences.
These are given to the most serious offenders and may cause ACSL to appear lower in recent years.
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Attempted murder Total number sentenced 94 96 66 79 87 Total indeterminate sentences 14 14 9 37 44 ACSL (years) 11.3 11.3 11.8 11.8 13.4 Soliciting or conspiracy to murder Total number sentenced 29 10 13 13 21 Total indeterminate sentences 9 0 0 5 10 ACSL (years) 10.4 10.8 8.6 12.0 6.6 1 Excludes life/indeterminate sentences 2 Common law 3 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 S.4 Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice
These data are based on the principal offence. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence, the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences, the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.
Information showing the number of persons cautioned, proceeded against, found guilty, and sentenced (broken down by outcome) for attempted murder and conspiracy to murder for 2007 (latest available) is shown in the table. 2008 data will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Outcome of sentence Offence Cautioned Proceeded against Found guilty Sentenced Fine Community sentence Suspended sentence Immediate custody Other disposals Attempted murder — 333 87 87 — 1 2 74 10 Conspiracy to commit murder 3 33 21 21 — — — 21 — 1 From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. 2 Includes Attempted Murder, under Common Law. 3 Includes Conspiracy or soliciting etc; to commit murder under Common Law. 4 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. 5 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. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
Legal Aid
The Legal Services Commission is unable to identify the amount of legal aid granted solely to parents for contact applications from its case management system, as these applications can also be made by wider family members, such as grandparents or older siblings. These proceedings can also include other issues as well as contact, such as residence, parental responsibility and specific issue orders, and these costs will be included in the certificate costs.
In the past five financial years the following amounts have been paid in closed certificates that involve contact issues.
Financial year £ million 2004-05 78 2005-06 86 2006-07 92 2007-08 103 2008-09 124
A small proportion of the increase in 2008-09 is due to the Legal Services Commission undertaking an exercise to close dormant certificates.
The figures do not include the costs of initial legal advice on contact provided under the controlled Family Help Scheme, as this information is not recorded.
The question cannot be answered in the format requested since amounts spent on actual attendance cannot be separately identified. Information is available for 2004-05 to 2007-08 only.
The following table gives the proportions of total legal aid expenditure for police stations, magistrates courts and the Crown court for attendance related work and includes work done in preparation for attendance. Work which is clearly not related to attendance such as police station telephone advice has been excluded. Expenditure not related to police stations, magistrates courts and the Crown court, such as representation for prisoners at prison disciplinary hearings has also been excluded.
Overall legal aid expenditure is made up of criminal and civil legal aid. The Legal Services Commission's annual reports show the spend each year between the two schemes.
Percentage 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Police stations 8.1 8.7 9.7 8.2 Magistrates courts 14.4 14.7 15.4 12.1 Crown court 33.5 34.2 32.5 34.2
Prisons: Mental Health Services
The Ministry of Justice and Department of Health have worked together to establish a range of pilot services for dangerous offenders with severe personality disorder in prisons, high and medium secure national health service (NHS) facilities and the community. The programme was announced in 2001 as a commitment to provide at least an extra 300 places for offenders who fell into the dangerous and severe personality disorder category.
The total capital investment for the programme has been £128 million. This expenditure resulted in three high secure units (two in hospitals and one in a prison), three medium secure units and two NHS hostels. It is estimated that across the NHS and the National Offender Management Service in each year between 2003-04 and 2005-06 the revenue expenditure incurred was £40 million and since 2006-07, £60 million, reflecting the increase in the available places over that period. The costs include the provision of assessment and treatment, a research and evaluation programme, and for the central team responsible for the development and management of the programme.
Probation: Finance
London Probation is already required to complete and submit recall breach reports within the national target of 24 hours. The intention is that existing processes will be improved to ensure compliance with the target and that this work will be undertaken within existing resources. London Probation is committed to working closely with its partner agencies, the Metropolitan police and the National Offender Management Service Public Protection Casework Section, to improve the efficiency of the recall process from the initiating of recall by London Probation through to the arrest by the police. This work is being monitored by the London Criminal Justice Board and the London Director of Offender Management.
The resource budget allocations to individual probation areas from 2001-02 are given in the table. Prior to 2001-02 probation services were delivered through local probation committees which were partly funded by local authorities and were organised on a slightly different basis.
The budget figures shown for 2009-10 may be subject to further change.
Since 2001-02 there have been changes to the budget allocation methodology, plus machinery of government changes and accounting methodology changes that make it difficult to compare figures over a long period.
£000 Revenue Areas 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 Avon and Somerset 20,300 20,727 20,661 19,771 18,273 16,851 15,612 14,891 15,856 Bedfordshire 9,556 9,571 8,863 8,499 8,180 7,182 6,517 6,196 5,526 Cambridgeshire 10,092 10,341 9,727 9,273 8,895 7,375 6,835 6,168 6,365 Cheshire 15,133 15,571 14,715 15,688 15,393 13,427 11,692 10,012 8,984 Cumbria 8,626 8,376 8,217 7,897 7,466 6,241 6,279 5,710 5,288 Derbyshire 14,042 15,168 13,490 12,891 12,166 11,088 10,335 9,516 8,534 Devon and Cornwall 20,306 21,037 20,225 19,638 18,184 15,646 15,667 13,967 12,740 Dorset 9,067 9,408 8,522 8,277 7,989 7,338 7,307 6,876 5,761 Durham 10,615 11,148 10,720 10,245 9,513 8,697 7,820 7,431 5,975 Essex 19,325 20,319 19,977 18,922 17,839 16,220 14,849 14,502 13,700 Gloucestershire 7,677 7,858 7,379 6,959 6,524 5,975 5,874 5,102 4,943 Hampshire 24,868 25,614 24,338 23,057 21,872 20,026 18,427 18,079 13,841 Hertfordshire 11,468 11,750 11,265 10,569 9,618 8,691 8,409 8,654 7,034 Humberside 17,377 18,380 17,187 16,130 14,964 13,010 12,422 11,090 9,414 Kent 21,449 21,798 20,993 20,340 19,052 16,760 16,322 15,116 13,673 Lancashire 24,516 24,406 22,979 21,394 20,251 18,837 18,600 16,859 14,307 Leicestershire 15,237 15,668 14,402 13,805 13,071 11,778 11,086 9,911 8,774 Lincolnshire 9,436 9,794 9,292 9,038 8,446 7,469 7,134 6,127 5,606 Norfolk 11,582 11,980 11,168 10,608 10,205 8,477 7,927 7,171 6,543 Northamptonshire 9,389 9,673 9,116 8,816 8,149 7,158 6,920 6,018 5,131 North Yorkshire 9,827 10,350 10,236 9,478 8,998 7,937 7,486 6,877 5,701 Nottinghamshire 19,303 19,686 19,057 18,117 17,190 14,861 14,232 13,220 11,658 Staffordshire 16,885 17,260 16,393 15,913 14,361 12,319 11,769 10,930 9,586 Suffolk 10,018 10,243 9,643 9,445 8,771 7,583 7,361 6,889 6,268 Surrey 10,249 10,953 10,396 10,081 9,421 7,779 7,784 7,523 6,881 Sussex 18,074 18,388 17,373 16,991 15,677 14,033 12,789 11,367 10,396 Teesside 13,408 13,715 13,606 13,052 12,178 10,954 10,613 9,523 9,805 Thames Valley 25,776 26,614 25,405 24,373 23,421 20,795 19,787 18,463 20,831 Warwickshire 7,177 7,538 6,937 6,743 6,492 5,698 5,452 4,749 4,368 West Mercia 15,217 15,692 15,445 13,642 13,197 11,774 11,188 10,057 9,251 Wiltshire 8,064 8,214 7,874 7,720 7,224 5,964 5,510 4,874 4,606 Greater Manchester 51,577 52,798 48,309 47,532 45,645 40,985 38,521 34,479 31,731 Merseyside 31,729 32,756 29,263 28,820 28,643 25,798 24,621 22,410 23,062 Northumbria 29,109 29,801 27,646 26,964 26,005 22,999 22,113 18,459 16,641 South Yorkshire 24,977 25,511 24,282 24,058 23,041 20,858 20,381 18,191 16,153 West Midlands 56,913 59,331 55,055 53,377 50,140 44,076 41,932 38,581 37,865 West Yorkshire 41,080 42,982 40,036 38,193 36,226 33,366 30,986 28,062 26,931 London 150,384 153,617 143,404 137,416 132,637 107,888 110,390 106,612 94,328 Dyfed Powys 8,417 8,960 8,295 8,058 7,541 6,478 5,784 5,162 4,579 Gwent 11,172 11,404 11,252 10,930 10,018 8,938 8,029 7,197 5,215 North Wales 12,244 12,530 11,786 11,696 11,027 10,067 9,044 8,223 6,774 South Wales 24,624 25,566 25,226 24,402 23,098 20,917 19,328 18,104 17,062 Total 886,285 912,496 860,172 828,817 786,995 690,312 661,130 609,348 557,686
Probation: Sick Leave
London Probation has put in place a number of measures to tackle the levels of sickness in the whole area as well as in Lewisham and Greenwich. These include pro-active measures such as close monitoring by managers and return to work interviews, as well as a range of preventative measures such as health screens and stress management.
Probation: Training
There will be no additional funding provided for London Probation by National Offender Management Service. London Probation will fund this work from within their existing budget.
Rape: Convictions
The number of defendants found guilty for rape (of a female and male) at all courts, by age group, England and Wales 2006 to 2007 can be viewed in the table.
The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one 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.
Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
2006 2007 Age group Found guilty Percentage of total convictions Found guilty Percentage of total convictions 10 to 15 years 31 4 34 4 16 to 18 years 63 8 57 7 19 to 25 years 142 19 148 19 26 to 30 years 72 10 82 11 Over 30 years 446 59 456 59 Total 754 100 777 100 1 Includes rape of a female and rape of a male offences, but not attempted rape of a male or female. 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. Source: OCJR - Evidence and Analysis Unit
Sentencing
Sentencing guidelines are issued to the courts by the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council, not by the Government. In April 2007, the Sentencing Guidelines Council published a definitive guideline on the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and in February 2008, they published a definitive guideline on the Overarching Principles: Assaults on Children and Cruelty to a Child.
These and all other published guidelines can be viewed at:
www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
Sexual Offences: Reoffenders
(2) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of violent crimes who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available;
(3) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of burglary who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available;
(4) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of robbery who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available;
(5) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of theft who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available.
Tables 1 and 2 show the one-year adult reoffending rates for offenders in England and Wales released from custody or commencing a court order in the first quarter (1 January to 31 March) of 2007, for offenders convicted of sex offences (with sexual offences against children as a separate group), violent crimes, burglary (with domestic and non-domestic as separate groups), robbery and theft. The tables also show the proportion of offenders who committed at least one further offence and the frequency of offences per 100 offenders. It is important to note that a reoffence does not mean the offence is in the same category as the index offence. So an offender whose index offence was sexual who committed a number of reoffences, may have committed no more sexual offences.
Offence group/disposal Number of offenders Actual reoffending rate Number of offences per 100 offenders Court orders1 Violence 10,301 28.8 75.4 Sexual 294 22.1 51.7 Sexual (child) 209 12.0 32.1 Domestic burglary 842 50.8 162.2 Other burglary 1,082 57.6 207.1 Robbery 144 36.1 94.4 Theft 5,627 59.1 251.6 Custody Violence 2,922 40.8 155.4 Sexual 213 28.2 128.6 Sexual (child) 377 6.9 16.2 Domestic burglary 778 49.6 198.5 Other burglary 504 67.9 318.7 Robbery 672 35.6 123.7 Theft 2,001 75.6 468.2 1 Court orders include pre-CJA 2003 community sentences, new community orders and suspended sentence orders.
Offence group/disposal Number of offenders Actual reoffending rate Number of offences per 100 offenders Less than 12months Violence 1,772 52.8 212.0 Sexual 90 45.6 225.6 Sexual (child) 53 3.8 1— Domestic burglary 180 62.2 300.6 Other burglary 367 75.7 372.2 Robbery 236 266.7 2236.1 Theft 1,868 79.5 495.2 12 months to less than 2 years Violence 482 25.3 76.1 Sexual 237 232.4 2151.4 Sexual (child) 78 11.5 235.9 Domestic burglary 227 50.2 181.1 Other burglary 89 56.2 188.8 Robbery 120 45.0 164.2 Theft 86 26.7 112.8 2 years to less than 4 years Violence 383 23.5 62.9 Sexual 241 27.3 1— Sexual (child) 113 5.3 29.7 Domestic burglary 301 44.5 165.8 Other burglary 243 230.2 2155.8 Robbery 299 32.8 112.7 Theft 238 210.5 234.2 4 years and over Violence 285 16.1 61.8 Sexual 245 28.9 226.7 Sexual (child) 133 6.8 214.3 Domestic burglary 70 37.1 132.9 Other burglary 1— 1— 1— Robbery 217 29.0 97.7 Theft 1— 1— 1— 1 Data removed as extremely low numbers (less than or equal to 10 offenders or 10 offences) make the data unreliable for interpretation. 2 Greater than 10 and less than 50 offenders or offences—treat the data with caution.
Further information on the one-year rates of reoffending can be found at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/reoffendingofadults.htm
Young Offenders: Education
Funding was not allocated in 1999-2000, as 2000-01 was the first year in which the Government provided funding to the Youth Justice Board for expenditure on education.
The following table therefore shows for each year from 2000-01 to 2008-09, (A) the total funding which the YJB has allocated for expenditure on education from its Ministry of Justice (and previously Home Office) grant; and, (B) the amount of DCSF (previously DFES and DFEE) funding allocated to the YJB for education expenditure.
Financial year MoJ/HO funding allocated for expenditure on education by the YJB DCSF/DFES/DFEE funding allocated to the YJB for expenditure on education 2000-01 12 5 2001-02 14 10 2002-03 16 10 2003-04 18 12 2004-05 18 15 2005-06 21 19 2006-07 22 22 2007-08 24 22 2008-09 26 23
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
The publication date for the antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) 2007 data has yet to be confirmed.
Bail
The information requested is not held centrally.
Departmental Contracts
The tables, based on centrally held management information, provide the (a) purpose and (b) cost of research contracts let by the Research, Development and Statistics group within the Home Office, awarded to organisations and bodies not funded by the higher education funding councils in 2007-08 and 2008-09. This includes contracts awarded to individuals who, whilst employed by an institute supported by the higher education funding councils, undertake work in a private capacity. The purpose is taken from the project title held centrally. The values of contracts are classified in the year the contracts were let; some of the costs for the contract would be for future years, as in the case of the largest contract listed—the £15 million for the British Crime Survey of which the majority of costs will be spread over three years. The costs of each contract represent the estimated cost at the time the contract was let and not on the actual costs incurred.
Organisation Title of project Cost (£) Analytica Analysis of IPCC and Biometrics Registration Code of Practice Consultations 59,000 BMRB British Crime Survey 15 million Dr. F. MacDonald Fish Welfare (Animal Procedures Committee) <10,000 Dr. Ronald Clarke I-phones—research on he impact that the launch of the i-phone on crime levels and patterns in the USA <10,000 Eurasylum The use and effectiveness of automated passenger border entry and exit systems: learning from experiences in other countries to inform BIA’s automated clearance strategy 90,000 Evidence Led Solutions Neighbourhood Policing—BCU Process Evaluation; and, A worked anonymised example of a strategic assessment <10,000 Garry Robbins Quality Assurance of the Missing Data <10,000 Geoff Berry Associates Neighbourhood Policing—BCU Process Evaluation <10,000 HVR Consulting Quality Assure the Crime Reduction Modelling Methodology 15,000 ICPR, Kings College Evaluation of the Licensing Act 2003 <10,000 Independent Social Research Evaluation of neighbourhood policing: the experience of black and minority ethnic residents in the first year of implementation 11,000 Institute for Employment Studies Understanding the perspective of potential sponsors on Points Based System (PBS) sponsorship arrangement 21,000 Ipsos MORI Exploration of Regional Variation in Uptake of Powers used to Tackle Anti-Social Behaviour 40,000 Mark Underhill Consultancy Services to Home Office Forensic Science Regulation Unit 80,000 Matrix Protective Service Evaluation (2 projects); and, Routes of Trafficking 489,000 Morgan Harris Burrows Neighbourhood Policing—BCU Process Evaluation <10,000 MVA Consultancy Analysis of IPCC and Biometrics Registration Code of Practice Consultations 90,000 NatCen Extension of Use of FIP System; and, Evaluation of Intensive Family Intervention Projects 47,000 ORC International Home Office Staff Survey 67,000 Perpetuity Research and Consultancy TGAP—research on a variety of projects and interventions to tackle gangs and gang related crime. 50,000 Professor Anthony Culyer Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor C. Dustmann Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor C. Godfrey Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor C. Hale Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor Clive Smee Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor M. Waterson Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor R. Vickerman Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor S. Machin Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 Professor S. Pudney Economic Strategy Panel <10,000 RED Scientific Big Picture Plant—Whole System Modelling 20,000 Risk Solutions An Evaluation of Alcohol Arrest Referral Schemes 150,000 Robert Bramley Expert advisor to the Forensic Science Regulator Unit 13,000 Transparency Research Ltd. Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP): a process and impact assessment 70,000 York Consulting A review of theoretical and practical issues in the conceptualisation and measurement of labour shortages, skill shortages and skills gaps 15,000
Organisation Purpose (title of project) Cost (£) Alex Hirschfield Regional Team Advisors to the Regional Research and Analysis Team <10,000 Evidence Led Solutions Regional Team Advisors to the Regional Research and Analysis Team (RRAP) and Senior Advisor Extension <10,000 Geoff Berry Regional Team Advisors to the Regional Research and Analysis Team <10,000 Ipsos MORI Neighbourhood Policing—Phase 2 (2 projects); The migrant survey: a feasibility study; and, Business Crime Survey scoping exercise: Methodological work to consider the scope and feasibility of developing a new survey to measure commercial victimisation. 229,000 Julia Wickson Regional Team Advisors to the Regional Research and Analysis Team <10,000 Mike Maguire Regional Team Advisors to the Regional Research and Analysis Team <10,000 Morgan Harris Burrows Regional Team Advisors to the Regional Research and Analysis Team <10,000 ORC International 2007 Staff Survey (Amendment 2) 64,000 UCL Consultants Senior Advisor Extension <10,000
Energy Supply: Security
The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) is the Government authority that provides protective security advice to owners and operators across the national infrastructure.
CPNI works closely with the national infrastructure organisations within the energy sector, in conjunction with the sector sponsor department, in order to identify vulnerabilities and help improve protection against national security threats. This includes delivery of an extensive programme of security enhancements at critical energy sites working with operators such as National Grid.
For reasons of national security it would not be appropriate to disclose details of work carried out on such programmes.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
We are aware that allegations have been made against a British resident of involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The investigation and prosecution of such allegations are operational matters for, respectively, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Offenders: Deportation
We are targeting the most harmful first. We have met the Prime Minister’s commitment to remove those that come to the UK and use guns or sell drugs. All Foreign Nationals who are sentenced to 12 months or more for offences relating to violence, sex or drugs are considered for deportation by UKBA. Foreign criminals from outside the EEA found guilty of serious drug and gun offences who receive a custodial sentence will also now be considered for deportation, regardless of length of sentence. Non-EEA nationals sentenced to 12 months or more will now be automatically considered for deportation.
Police: Greater Manchester
It is for individual police forces and authorities to drive implementation of the Policing Pledge and assess its benefits for the public in their area. The Government will hold forces to account for progress through the single top-down targets we have set them to improve public confidence that crime and antisocial behaviour issues are being tackled locally, and in the light of inspection work by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
HMIC are currently assessing the progress that each police force in England and Wales is making on delivering the Policing Pledge. They published a report on their early findings from an initial scoping of seven forces on 9 June. The more detailed inspections of the Pledge commenced on 14 April and will conclude by 31 October 2009.
Terrorism
The police National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) advise that over 900 Project Argus events have been held since January 2007 with attendance at each event falling in the range 20 to 120. NaCTSO estimate that the cost of developing the various versions of Project Argus to date is about £380,000. Project Argus events are generally hosted by the business which requested it, and are delivered by police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs) who also perform other protective security functions.
United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre
As at the end of April there have been a total of 35 referrals to the competent authorities based in UKHTC and UKBA. Of these 27 were female with nine referrals being of people under the age of 18.
Vetting
(2) what criteria are used by police forces in deciding whether to (a) include and (b) exclude information in relation to a Criminal Records Bureau disclosure.
Section 114 B (4) of Part V of the Police Act 1997 requires that in addition to criminal record information from the Police National Computer (PNC), Enhanced Disclosures should include any other information which a chief police officer considers might be relevant to the job application in question.
This is usually non-conviction information deriving from local force records and is referred to as ‘approved information'; chief officers are obliged to provide such information for Enhanced Disclosures under the Act. Where disclosed, information of this nature is considered by the police to represent a factual record of previous events that an employer in the most sensitive type of occupation should be aware of in making an employment decision affecting the most vulnerable groups of people.
Factors that would be taken into consideration when making decisions to disclose would include, but not be restricted to, the position the individual is currently applying for, the age of the information, whether the information might be directly relevant to the assessment of the person's suitability to work with children and whether it is reasonable to disclose the information, bearing in mind the human rights of the individuals concerned.
In making such assessments, the chief officers follow guidelines including, Home Office circular 5 / 2005— “Criminal Records Bureau: Local Checks by Police Forces for the Purpose of Enhanced Disclosure” and this has been augmented by a process known as the Quality Assurance Framework. The circular makes clear that consideration has been given to a person's right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In this regard there is a section in the circular which details what factors should be considered in determining relevancy.
The Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) is a standardised approach to processing local intelligence information relating to a Disclosure application held by Police Force Disclosure Units. QAF provides a step-by-step process framework that ensures that information is considered consistently and in the same way every time. searches performed on local systems using the QAF Framework and document set produce an audit trail that can be used for quality assurance and to assure QAF compliance.
(2) how many Criminal Records Bureau disclosures were issued in each police force area in each of the last 10 years.
Since it's inception in 2002, the CRB has issued over 19 million disclosures and the following table shows this broken down by disclosures issued in each financial year.
Number 2002-03 1,437,094 2003-04 2,284,688 2004-05 2,430,937 2005-06 2,770,265 2006-07 3,277,957 2007-08 3,323,334 2008-09 3,853,686
Of these, the following table shows the number of disclosure applications submitted in each financial year since inception that requested:
checks against the Protection of Children Act (PoCA) list and List 99;
checks against the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (PoVA) list for those individuals working within the care sector;
checks against all lists.
PoCA checks PoVA checks All lists 2002-03 1,209 6 61 2003-04 1,557,904 29 7 2004-05 1,338,278 369,149 527,856 2005-06 1,215,074 516,062 924,627 2006-07 1,401,528 483,961 1,124,745 2007-08 1,390,153 487,441 1,312,159
The CRB is unable to provide this information based on employment sectors or broken down by each police force area because the information is not collated in this manner.
These figures do not constitute part of national statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under national statistics protocols, should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic games including athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympic Stadium.
The budget announced at the end of 2007 for the Olympic Stadium was £496 million. This was increased to £504 million to include £8 million of structural enhancements to the roof in relation to loading requirements for the opening and closing ceremonies. Potential cost pressures arising from possible scope requirements and design development had been further estimated at an additional £43 million. Those cost pressures have now reduced to £34 million and are included currently in the Anticipated Final Cost published in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games—Quarterly Economic Report May 2009.
The direct costs associated with staging the events at the stadium including the opening and closing ceremonies come from LOCOG's revenues which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse.
There will be attributable costs to the public purse from London 2012 venues, including the Olympic Stadium and Park. However, these costs such as in security and transport systems have not yet been identified separately for individual events and will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts
[holding answer 18 June 2009]: The University of the Arts London together with four secondary schools and two further education colleges in the London borough of Newham are currently carrying out a three-year pilot to establish how a 14-25 hub may work.
The evaluation and review of the first year of the Newham Creative Hub will be published in December 2009 and disseminated via the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, the National Arts Learning Network and the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design networks, to the higher education sector.
My Department will work with the member organisations to produce this report and will consider its findings.
[holding answer 18 June 2009]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) to my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Durham (Hilary Armstrong) on 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1264W.
Since the Publication of Creative Britain, 400 apprenticeships have started on frameworks associated with the creative industries. These include the Creative Apprenticeships and the Quality Assurance Games Testing.
This figure does not include apprentices working in the creative industries on non-creative apprenticeships. The National Apprenticeship Service will be able to calculate this information from September.
BBC
Enhanced network production targets are the responsibility of the BBC Trust, who determine their targets independently of Government. However, the Government look to the BBC Trust to encourage the BBC to seek to exceed its targets in network production.
Broadcasting: Wales
The White Paper sets out various proposals in respect of public service broadcasting, including Independently Funded News Consortia. The total amount of funding made available to the news pilot in Wales is contingent on the consultation on a contained contestable element within the licence fee.
Coastal Areas: Regeneration
[holding answer 18 June 2009]: To date, Bournemouth has been allocated £455,000 through the Sea Change Programme. Bournemouth would be eligible to apply for funding from the current round of the programme but, as yet, we are not aware of any project being put forward.
Digital Broadcasting
[holding answer 19 June 2009]: In February, the sample size used for research in the Ulster region was too small to give a reasonable indication of take-up. However, since then the sample size for Ulster has been increased as the programme moved forward, and the DigitalUK tracker now estimates current take up at 74 per cent.
Digital Technology: Mass Media
Funding for piloted news consortia will be determined following the consultation outlined in the Digital Britain Report and an examination of the scope of commercial revenue that could be achieved. The current cost of broadcast regional news in the nations ranges from £4 million to £7 million per nation per annum.
Pilots are expected to commence in 2010 and run until the end of 2012. This timetable will be subject to review.
Our intention is to begin the pilots in 2010. The process for tender and award is currently being developed.
The process for tender and award is currently being developed.
Film: Israel
(2) what recent discussions his Department has had with the Government of Israel on collaboration between the UK and Israeli film industries.
We have completed the substantive negotiations with Israel on a film co-production agreement. There are some minor elements to be finalised, but we expect to be able to announce arrangements for the signing of this treaty in the summer.
Mass Media: Wales
The Government do not propose centrally to fund a new media commission for Wales as the costs have to be set against the other options and priorities for Government, especially as replicating media commissions in each of the UK's nations would substantially increase the overall costs. The Government are proposing to fund a piloted English language news provision in Wales.
Swimming
To date, my Department has recorded 112 written representations on the estimated local authority costs of operating the free swimming programme.
UK School Games: Finance
[holding answer 15 June 2009]: Since the inaugural UK School Games took place in 2006, funding for the annual event has come from a mixture of Exchequer, lottery, private sponsorship and host city money. The UK School Games runs until the end of the current spending period 2011, and we envisage that this funding arrangement will continue until then. Plans for the Games beyond 2011 have not been considered.
Energy and Climate Change
Climate Change: International Cooperation
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have been discussing the development of international finance mechanisms for mitigation and adaptation with our EU colleagues ahead of the EU Councils this year, as part of preparing the EU position in advance of Copenhagen. In particular, the UK is attracted to the Norwegian proposal (a market-based approach based on auctioning arrangements generating automatic revenues) as part of the solution. Spring Council conclusions directed future discussions towards such an approach among others. The UK is also attracted to the Mexican proposal which is based on all countries except the poorest contributing on the basis of an agreed scale. The latest ECOFIN conclusions endorsed this idea, with burden sharing based on the ability to pay and the responsibility for emissions. At Spring Council and again in ECOFIN the EU reaffirmed its commitment to contribute its fair share of international support in the context of a global and comprehensive agreement.
Earth Hour
[holding answer 26 March 2009]: I apologise for the delay in this response. The Government are committed to achieving a successful outcome to the negotiations in Copenhagen later in the year, and campaigns such as Earth Hour play an important part in sending a strong message to world leaders that firm public support for positive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions comes from all parts of the globe. To show support for the campaign the lights were turned off in several Government buildings including the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Energy: Meters
The Government published a consultation on smart metering on 11 May 2009 with an accompanying Impact Assessment (both documents are available from the Open Consultations section of the DECC website). The Impact Assessment contains estimates of smart meter installation costs.
The estimated asset costs are £43 for a smart electricity meter and £56 for a smart gas meter. Installation costs are estimated at £29 for a smart electricity meter and £49 for a smart gas meter, or £68 for a dual fuel smart meter installation (where both gas and electricity smart meters are installed simultaneously). The cost for the communications link from the meters is estimated at £15 per household. In addition, the Government's expectation is that a standalone display—to provide customers with consumption information from smart meters—will be provided for each household. The cost of the display is estimated at £15.
Fuel Poverty: Greater Manchester
The Government have a wide range of policies and programmes to tackle fuel poverty. The combination of Warm Front, CERT, Decent Homes and local programmes delivered through local government partnerships are all important in tackling fuel poverty in each local area.
The Warm Front Scheme continues to be the Government's main tool for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England. Since 2005 Warm Front has assisted over 2,600 vulnerable Denton and Reddish households, spending approximately £5 million on a range of energy efficiency measures. It also worth noting that Warm Front has carried out nearly 500 benefit entitlement checks in the area, increasing the income of 200 Denton and Reddish constituents by a weekly average of £29.
The scheme aims to assist many more homes, both in this area and across the country, with the current budget set at £959 million nationally for this spending round (to 2011).
Warm Front Scheme
The Department has not previously recorded the total number of complaints in this respect, though procedures have now been put in place to do so.
Presently, data are only available for April 2009, during which time the Department handled 21 complaints about excess charges. The Department will continue to monitor all complaints received.
In view of the difficulties that many applicants were facing in funding their excess payments I announced that the Warm Front grant levels would increase from £2,700 and £4,000 (where an oil system is recommended) to £3,500 and £6,000 (where an oil or new low carbon technology is recommended). This will remove the need for the vast majority of households to make a contribution to the cost of work.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
The numbers of troops in contact events (regardless of the instigator) involving the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and insurgents in Helmand province recorded by Task Force Helmand for each complete month from May 2008 to April 2009 are shown in the following table.
Number of contacts1 May 2008 60 June 2008 80 July 2008 110 August 2008 200 September 2008 180 October 2008 170 November 2008 200 December 2008 220 January 2009 180 February 2009 180 March 2009 250 April 2009 150 1 Rounded to 10
ISAF forces operating in Helmand come from a number of different nations, which often operate closely alongside each other and alongside Afghan Army and Police units. The environment in which forces are operating makes it extremely difficult precisely to distinguish between incidents initiated by insurgent forces and those initiated by ISAF.
These data are based on information derived from a number of sources and can only be an estimate, not least because of the difficulties in ensuring a consistent interpretation of the basis for collating statistics in a complex fast-moving multinational operational environment. The Ministry of Defence has completed a review of the data required to answer questions such as this, and has revised the manner in which we classify and present data to ensure consistency.
Air Force
As the Nation's specialists in the delivery of Air and Space Power, the strategic purpose of the RAF is to safeguard the UK and its interests through the expert delivery of its core roles of control of the air, mobility and lift, attack, and intelligence and situational awareness.
Aircraft Carriers
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) on 17 December 2008, Official Report, column 766W.
The Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers will be base ported at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth and project costs for tailoring the facilities there have yet to be fully determined. It is departmental policy not to publish such costs until they have been approved in the Main Gate Business Case which we currently expect to be around 2012 for infrastructure modification.
There are no plans to upgrade facilities at the other naval bases at Devonport or Faslane for the Queen Elizabeth Class.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Figures for the number of service personnel stationed overseas can be found in Table 1.1 of Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 10: UK Regular Forces stationed location. TSP 10 is published quarterly and is available in the Library of the House. The most recent publication shows figures at 1 April 2009 and can be found at the following link.
http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/apps/publications/pubViewFile.php?content=1800.1&date=2009-05-29&type=html&PublishTime=09:30:00
The information on tour intervals is not held in the format requested.
The latest available data, as at December 2006, recorded separated service guideline breaches at an average of 10.3 per cent. across the Army. It is hoped that more detailed separated service data will, in future, be provided by the Joint Personnel Administration System.
Armed Forces: Foreigners
The Government have not received any representation from other governments on the employment of their citizens in the UK armed forces since 1997.
Armed Forces: Housing
The Department takes all complaints from service families regarding their accommodation very seriously and has a robust process in place for dealing with them.
This information is not held in the format requested as it is not possible to separately identify those complaints from the families of personnel on operations abroad and how many of these resulted in families being moved.
Armed Forces: Schools
Data regarding requests for visits by Royal Navy and Army school presentation teams are not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Data denoting requests made to the RAF Presentation Team and Inspectorate of Recruiting Youth Outreach Teams are provided in the following table:
Requests 2005-06 137 2006-07 125 2007-08 119 2008-09 139
Combined Cadet Force (CCF) expansion will be achieved on a regional basis where resources allow.
The Ministry of Defence is investigating how we can increase the number of young people who have the opportunity to benefit from the Cadet experience. The Cadet experience is delivered by the four Cadet Forces (the Combined Cadet Force, the Sea Cadet Corps, the Army Cadet Force, and the Air Training Corps). The experience is not just delivered in school-based units, which are mainly CCFs, but also in community based units.
The Ministry of Defence has identified three principles to take forward the development of sustainable Cadet Forces. These are: the need for a coherent, coordinated and sustainable expansion; working within current resources with investigation into additional sources for further funding and; to attract, retain and equip Cadet Force Adult Volunteers to build the Cadet Forces of the future.
As part of this work, the Air Cadet Organisation has already announced plans to increase its cadet numbers by 10,000 by 2018.
The Ministry of Defence is working with Department for Children, Schools and Families, devolved Administrations and others to seek additional funding to further expand cadet activities.
Atomic Weapons Establishment
As part of its Corporate Technical Outreach programme, AWE plc has strategic alliances with the following four universities: Heriot-Watt, Cranfield, Cambridge and Imperial College. AWE plc does not have strategic alliances with other institutions.
As part of its Corporate Technical Outreach programme, AWE plc has a number of commercial research contracts with various universities and institutions. These contracts are bound by commercial confidentiality agreements comparable with other commercial arrangements and are between AWE plc and its suppliers, not the Ministry of Defence. I am withholding this information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
The document in question, entitled “AWE Strategic Plan 2008” is an internal AWE plc document. I am therefore unable to place a copy of this document in the Library of the House.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
The Ministry of Defence provides carbon dioxide emissions data for the whole estate and does not differentiate between offices and other buildings.
The total emissions and emissions per full-time equivalent member of staff are provided in the table.
Financial year Total CO2 emissions Emissions per full-time equivalent member of staff 2006-07 1,834,645 6.11 2007-08 1,895,879 6.82
The increase in emissions in 2007-08 is explained by the inclusion of the Chief of Joint Operations estate which was not previously taken into account.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from all business administrative road travel conducted by MOD employees in cars owned or hired by the Department, as reported in the Sustainable Development in Government reports for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 are provided in the following table.
Total emissions Per FTE 2006-07 44,363 0.15 2007-08 43,700 0.157
This does not include emissions from MOD officials using their own car for business purposes. This will be included for the areas of the Department where it is available in the 2009 Sustainable Development in Government report.
The Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions from all business administrative air travel conducted by MOD employees for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08, as reported in the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) Reports is provided in the following table.
Total emissions (t CO2) Per FTE (t CO2) 2006-07 9,137 0.030 2007-08 38,700 0.139
The increase in figures between years is due to improvements in data coverage.
Departmental Electricity
The information requested for 2006-07 is published in the Sustainable Development in Government (SDG) Annual Report 2007, which can be found on the Sustainable Development Commission website at the following link:
www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/sdig_report_2007.pdf
Information for 2007-08 is published in the SDG Assessment 2008, which can be found at the following link:
www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/renewable_chp.pdf
Departmental Energy
The Department’s total energy consumption and consumption per full-time equivalent member of staff is provided in the table.
Financial year Total energy consumption Consumption per full-time member of staff 2006-07 6,313,429,656 21,039 2007-08 6,222,357,786 22,410
Departmental Recycling
Data on the waste recycled by the Department for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 are provided in the following table.
Total weight of waste arising recycled (tonnes) Percentage of the Department’s total waste arisings recycled 2006-07 58,827 37.4 2007-08 94,220 33.9
The Department collects data on the amount of waste arisings recycled by weight (metric tonnes) and not in volume (m3) and thus we can only provide a figure for the percentage of waste recycled and not the volume recycled.
The percentage figure for recycling has fallen slightly between the two years, but this is a reflection of improvements in the quality and coverage of our data rather than a real decline in the amount of waste being recycled.
Departmental Responsibilities
The responsibilities of each Defence Minister are published on the MOD website at the following link:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/People/Ministers/
Departmental Waste
Data on the Department’s waste arisings for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 are provided in the following table.
Total waste arisings (tonnes) Per FTE1 (tonnes/person) 2006-07 157,229 0.52 2007-08 278,100 1.0 1 2006-07 = 300,070) 2007-08 = 277,660
The increase in reported waste arising between 2006-07 and 2007-08 is due to an improvement in the coverage of the reporting of waste arisings across the Department’s activities and an improvement in the quality of waste data. Many of our waste streams are not driven by the number of people we employ e.g. equipment waste, and therefore comparisons on a per capita basis may not be helpful.
Departmental Water
It will take more time to collate and verify the information required to answer the question. I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Gurkhas: Pensions
Whether or not Gurkhas had been stationed for a period of time in the United Kingdom prior to 1 July 1997 had no bearing on their pension entitlement. Gurkhas who were serving on or after 1 July 1997, when the Brigade became based in the United Kingdom, were given the opportunity to transfer to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, and the majority did so. Gurkhas who left the Army prior to 1 July 1997 were not included in the offer to transfer and remain on the Gurkha Pension Scheme.
A small number of officers who were commissioned from the Brigade through the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst served in the wider British Army on full British terms and conditions of service. These officers receive a pension from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.
Internal Security Operations
The Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) and the Service Warfare Centres have conducted over 20 studies incorporating counterinsurgency since 2003 and a list of the main publications is available on the MOD website found at the following link:
www.mod.uk/doctrine
One of the key studies currently being produced by DCDC is Joint Doctrine Publication (JDP) 3-40, ‘Doctrine for the Military Contribution to Security and Stabilisation in a Changing World'. The aim of JDP 3-40 is to provide authoritative guidance about the military contribution to the provision of security and stabilisation. This is one of the most comprehensive studies conducted to date and will become a principal guide for conducting joint operations within failing states.
Iraq and Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
For Iraq, work is ongoing to ascertain the final impairment costs of fighting equipment deployed in Iraq, but our previous estimates of the cost of recuperation of assets lost, damaged or prematurely worn out in operations in Iraq is around £300 million. The figure will remain under review and excludes the costs of replenishing munitions.
We are not in a position to accurately predict the forward level of recuperation necessary for the ongoing operation in Afghanistan. These will be dependent on a number of factors, including the size and type of the force in theatre and the operational tempo at the time. In Afghanistan recuperation for equipment and assets is carried out through a program of rolling-recuperation, for financial year 2008-09 costs were in the order of £150 million.
Korean War: Anniversaries
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 7W.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
The numbers and types of helicopters used by the Army Air Corps, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force which are in service, in the forward fleet and considered fit for purpose are detailed in the following table. "In service" has been taken to mean the effective fleet which covers all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal. Aircraft in the "forward fleet" are those that are available to the front line command for operational and training purposes, including those that are classed as "short-term unserviceable": aircraft undergoing scheduled depth maintenance, or planned routine fleet maintenance are excluded. Fit for purpose aircraft are those in the forward fleet considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date.
The following figures represent averages taken for May 2009.
Helicopter Type/Mark Departmental fleet Effective fleet In-Service Forward fleet Fit for purpose Fit for purpose Royal Navy Lynx Mk3/Mk8 68 61 90 26 26 100 Sea King Mk5 15 15 100 7 7 100 Sea King Mk7 13 13 100 6 6 100 Sea King Mk4/6 42 42 100 129 16 55 Merlin Mk1 42 42 100 20 14 70 Army Air Corps Augusta 109 4 4 100 2 3 150 Apache 67 67 100 44 16 36 Gazelle 91 42 46 22 20 91 Lynx Mk7/9 108 94 87 53 31 58 Royal Air Force Merlin Mk3/Mk3a 28 28 100 19 11 58 Puma 43 34 79 25 17 68 Chinook Mk2/2a 40 40 100 29 18 62 Sea King Mk3/3a 25 25 100 117 10 59
Military Bases: Northern Ireland
A study is in progress to determine how best to meet the garrison's future training requirements. It is unlikely that any decision will be taken on specific establishments before 2010. Formal consultation with the trades unions will then follow as appropriate but some informal discussions have already taken place. Depending on the outcome of the review other suitable consultation will be arranged.
Piracy
The Royal Navy will always seek to interdict any vessel they suspect as being directly involved in carrying out or planning acts of piracy, however, every incident will differ. The decision on whether or not to detain suspected pirates is the responsibility of the UK Maritime Component Commander, based on legal advice given to him in theatre.
If it is considered that there is sufficient evidence on which to charge suspected pirates they will be detained and subsequently transferred to a regional state for prosecution. If, after thorough investigation, there is insufficient evidence on which to charge suspected pirates, they will be released. Any piracy equipment, such as ladders and weapons, which are found will be seized.
The Royal Navy can take robust action to come to the aid of a victim vessel under attack by pirates in international waters. This can range from deterring and disrupting the attack to the use of reasonable force to defend the victims.
RAF Brize Norton
It is not standard practice to inform Ministers of routine technical issues that affect RAF aircraft. In this case the Tristar had a problem with its undercarriage which required it to be towed off the runway. As the runway was occupied the Vulcan could not land immediately and instead chose to land at RAF Lyneham.
In taking the decision to co-locate the Air Transport and Air-to-Air Refuelling fleets at RAF Brize Norton, it was assessed that these fleets could operate satisfactorily from a single base. In the event of the runway at RAF Brize Norton being unavailable for any reason, aircraft would be diverted to and operate from other RAF bases or, where appropriate, civilian airports.
Territorial Army
The Consultation Document given to the chain of command and the Trades Unions on 1 June states that:
“Territorial Army [TA] personnel from a unit/sub-unit that are not to be absorbed into the new order of battle are to be regarded as surplus to establishment and are to be subject to the following provisos:
(a) TA volunteers will not be surplus to the overall TA manning liability and every effort will be made to find alternative employment and arrange for voluntary transfers.
(b) Where candidates for transfer exceed demand, open competition will be conducted by a review board with some limited opportunities for overbearing.
(c) Candidates who are not selected for transfer or for whom there is no suitable alternative employment, are to be offered the opportunity to transfer to the 'Un-posted List'.”
No final decisions have been taken on which individual units will be affected by the changes. However, we are committed to supporting all our personnel through this restructuring, which is to be completed by 31 March 2010.
Trident
It is not normal for Parliament to be involved in Initial Gate decisions for procurement projects. I do however propose to update Parliament on progress after Initial Gate. The main investment decision point, and the point at which we would issue the main contracts to industry for the construction of the new submarines, is still several years away.
Warships
The following figures are approximate because records held centrally do not always distinguish precisely between routine maintenance and other time spent alongside, since the two activities are often intermixed.
2006 2007 2008 Months Percentage Months Percentage Months Percentage Vessel OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN Superb 4 6 30 47 1 8 10 64 2 5 17 21 Sceptre 1 7 6 60 7 2 55 13 1 10 5 73 Trafalgar 6 5 45 42 0 10 0 81 7 2 52 11 Turbulent 5 3 42 24 2 7 12 57 0 10 0 73 Tireless 2 6 14 45 5 4 41 29 3 8 25 64 Torbay 7 2 60 13 0 11 0 92 3 4 21 35 Trenchant 0 12 0 100 5 3 39 26 7 2 50 14 Talent 0 10 0 78 5 3 39 22 7 2 52 14 Triumph 0 12 0 100 0 12 0 100 0 12 0 100
2006 2007 2008 Months Percentage Months Percentage Months Percentage Vessel OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN Edinburgh 7 2 58 17 6 3 50 25 8 2 67 17 Gloucester 6 2 50 17 1 9 8 75 6 2 50 17 Manchester 0 7 0 58 7 4 58 33 8 1 67 8 York 8 3 67 25 4 2 33 17 0 12 0 100 Liverpool 7 3 58 25 1 7 8 58 9 1 75 8 Exeter 4 3 33 25 4 1 33 8 4 1 33 8 Nottingham 8 3 67 25 5 4 42 33 4 0 33 0 Southampton 7 3 58 25 7 2 58 17 2 2 17 17
2006 2007 2008 Months Percentage Months Percentage Months Percentage Vessel OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN OP MAIN Illustrious 5 5 37 15 5 3 42 25 6 4 50 33 Ark Royal 0 9 0 66 3 1 25 8 7 4 58 33
HMS Invincible is at low readiness.
Time not accounted for under operations and maintenance include periods of basic sea training, post refit trials, periods of extended leave and other duties such as conducting ammunitioning and storing whilst in port.
Most Royal Navy warships possess an anti-submarine capability, which will often be enhanced with an embarked helicopter. In addition, eight of the Type 23 frigates currently in service are equipped to provide a specialist anti-submarine warfare capability and they will continue to do so until replaced by the Future Surface Combatant (FSC). The precise dates of the progressive replacement of Type 23s by the FSC have not yet been determined.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Detainees
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office received notification from the Governor of Bermuda on 11 June 2009 that the Government of Bermuda had been in discussion with the US on the transfer of four former detainees from Guantanamo Bay. The Government of Bermuda acted outside their competence.
The four former detainees arrived in Bermuda early on 11 June 2009. The Government of Bermuda notified the Governor a few hours earlier that some Muslim Uighur refugees were on their way, without mention of the United States or Guantanamo Bay.
We are working with the Government of Bermuda and the US to ensure that the security assessment will be completed as soon as possible.
The Government of Bermuda began discussions with the US Administration on or about 20 May 2009.
We are not reviewing the Bermuda constitution, but in light of the of this case we are reviewing the operation of the General Entrustment which is the agreement that delegates to the Government of Bermuda the authority to conduct external negotiations in specified areas. We expect to complete this by the end of July 2009.
Discussions are ongoing between the Governor, the Government of Bermuda and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over the transfer of four former detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Bermuda. We are considering next steps with all interested parties.
There were no discussions between my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and his US counterpart on the transfer of four detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Bermuda before the transfer took place.
Departmental Press
The following information is for the month of May 2009, the latest period for which figures are available, and relates to the ministerial team in place at the time.
The Foreign Secretary's private office received the following papers and periodicals Monday to Friday, or when published, at a cost of £589:
Daily Mail x 3
Daily Mirror x 3
Daily Telegraph x 4
Financial Times x 3
Guardian x 4
Independent x 3
International Herald Tribune x 2
Le Monde x 1
The Sun x 4
The Times x 4
Evening Standard (1st Edition) x 3
Evening Standard (West End Final) x 3
The Economist
New Statesman
Spectator
Private Eye.
Lord Malloch-Brown's private office received one copy of each of the following papers and periodicals Monday to Friday, or when published, at a cost of £198.90:
Daily Mirror
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
Independent
International Herald Tribune
The Sun
Times
Economist x 2
New Statesman
Private Eye
Spectator.
Bill Rammell MP's private office received one copy of each of the following papers Monday to Thursday at a cost of £105.00:
Financial Times
The Times
The Independent
The Telegraph
The Sun
Daily Mirror
Daily Mail.
Caroline Flint MP's private office received the following papers and periodicals Monday to Friday, or when published, at a cost of £326.70:
Financial Times x 2
The Daily Telegraph x 2
The Times x 2
The Independent x 2
Daily Mail x 2
Daily Express x 2
Daily Mirror x 2
The Sun x 2
The Guardian x 2
Evening Standard (1st Edition) x 2
Evening Standard (West End Final) x 2
Economist
New Statesman.
Gillian Merron MP's private office received one copy of each of the following papers Monday to Thursday, at a cost of £46.08:
Daily Mirror
Financial Times
Guardian.
Lord Davies's private office received one copy of each of the following papers and periodicals Monday to Friday, or when published, at a cost of £100.70:
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
Times
Economist
New Statesman
Spectator
The Week
Fortune
Private Eye.
Costs for Lord Davies's private office were met by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Departmental Training
One special adviser attended the Home Security course which is standard upon entry to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), at no additional cost to the FCO. No other courses have been attended by special advisers in the last 12 months.
EU Institutions
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has regular contact with his EU counterparts on a variety of issues.
The Lisbon treaty will improve the democratic accountability of the EU Institutions by giving national Parliaments a direct say in EU law making for the first time.
In the context of annual Budget negotiations and the discharge process it is the Government’s priority to bear down on administration costs and promote sound financial management in EU institutions.
European Union
The UK has never been subject to infraction proceedings by the European Commission, and no fines were levied against the UK in 2008.
Iran: British Nationality
Our embassies and high commissions use a number of channels to communicate information to British nationals. These include travel advice, wardens networks, LOCATE—an online registering facility, the internet and local media.
All of our embassies and high commissions are required to hold a post emergency plan and, where deemed necessary, a civil contingency plan. Our embassy in Tehran holds both. These plans are designed to help our diplomatic missions respond to any crisis they may face, including dealing with consular emergencies, civil unrest or in some cases assisting the departure of British Nationals from a country. All plans are reviewed regularly and tested at least annually and more often if the circumstances in country warrant it. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Consular Crisis Group oversees the review process of these plans.
Languages: EU Action
The UK's Fourth Periodical Report is due to be submitted to the Council of Europe for publication in May 2012.
The submission of the UK's Third Report on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was delayed as the Northern Ireland Executive was not in a position to issue its input in relation to matters that had been devolved to the Executive.
Sri Lanka: Human Rights
We are aware of two British nationals in the camps for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised the issue with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 5 June 2009. The Foreign Secretary was assured that the Government of Sri Lanka was addressing the issue. We very much hope they will be able to return to their families in the UK as soon as possible.
USA and Canada: Diplomatic Service
The number of full-time equivalent staff carrying out consular activities in Washington is 33.6 and Ottawa is 1.5.
International Development
Departmental Carbon Emissions
The weather-corrected carbon dioxide emissions from the Department for International Development's (DFID) UK estate, as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission, for the years in question are:
Carbon dioxide (tonnes) Per full-time equivalent member of staff 2006-07 4,632 2.7 2007-08 4,387 2.5
The carbon dioxide emissions as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission are set out in the following table. The figures include travel arranged by overseas offices, and United Kingdom- based and local staff in these offices.
Carbon dioxide (tonnes) Per full-time equivalent member of staff 2006-07 17,874 6.9 2007-08 18,094 7.1
Departmental Energy
The following is the weather-corrected total amount of gas and electricity used on the Department for International Development UK estate from 2004 to 2009, as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission. We have no Executive agencies.
Electricity Gas 2004-05 6,491,979 4,857,635 2005-06 7,099,472 4,750,842 2006-07 7,035,022 5,121,072 2007-08 6,642,910 4,936,358 2008-09 6,093,814 4,067,082 Total 33,363,197 23,722,989
Precise figures are not available for energy efficiency measures and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost. We would estimate that our expenditure in the last two years, and this year to date, were as follows:
£ 2007 3,000 2008 167,000 2009 (to date) 60,000
Pre assessments of expenditure gains (payback periods) and energy savings are estimated before the energy saving initiative has been approved and implemented. Such energy saving initiatives contribute to the Department for International Developments (DFID’s) progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) targets. In 2008-09 we achieved a 12 per cent. reduction in our energy used and savings of £72,000 in energy costs compared with 2007-08.
DFID is continuing to look for ways to achieve further energy savings and are currently evaluating the possibility of a Tri-Generation system, the installation of variable speed devices for Air Conditioning and installing a Biomass boiler and Wind Turbine at our office in East Kilbride.
The head of office services department manages the Department for International Development’s environment management team and leads on the energy efficiency agenda.
Departmental Internet
During the period June 2008 to May 2009, the Research4Development website received the following hits:
Unique visitors Page views 2008 June 20,438 224,161 July 27,453 268,410 August 20,576 423,137 September 21,831 200,907 October 20,586 160,843 November 26,765 198,895 December 19,895 214,005 2009 January 24,635 225,110 February 26,608 248,223 March 31,051 240,409 April 31,577 516,029 May 34,978 590,852 Total 306,393 3,510,981
During the same period Developments website received the following hits:
Unique visitors Page views 2008 June 6,807 18,535 July 6,650 27,959 August 5,300 19,678 September 7,475 21,447 October 10,178 31,224 November 9,327 25,358 December 6,774 17,014 2009 January 9,257 23,393 February 9,587 23,841 March 10,810 26,669 April 9,203 20,998 May 9,412 22,468 Total 100,780 278,584
Departmental Location
The requested information could not be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
Western Sahara: Overseas Aid
The Department for International Development (DFID) supports Sahrawi refugees through its 17 per cent. share of the budget of the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and its £19 million core contributions to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for its work with refugees across the world. In 2008, ECHO committed to provide €10 million to support Sahrawi refugees, while UNHCR spent $3.1 million in their support.
DFID does not provide any bilateral aid to the Government of Morocco or Algeria.
Communities and Local Government
Building Regulations: Energy
The Department has ongoing plans to undertake research into levels of compliance with building regulations relating to energy efficiency. We recently completed a joint project with the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes (EEPfH) looking at compliance levels for new homes built to 2006 Part L standards. The report has been published at the EEPfH website at:
www.eeph.org.uk
We have also studied compliance levels for non-domestic buildings and for work to existing buildings. A consultation document published on 18 June outlines our proposals to strengthen Part L standards by 25 per cent. in 2010 including measures to further improve compliance and a strategy for further research. The document can be viewed at:
www.communities.gov.uk/consultations
Council Housing
As at April 2009 Choice Based Lettings housing allocations schemes were being operated in the following local authorities in England:
Adur
Amber Valley
Arun
Ashford
Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Barnsley
Basildon
Bassetlaw
Bath and North East Somerset
Birmingham
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Bolton
Boston
Bournemouth
Bradford
Braintree
Brent
Brentwood
Brighton and Hove
Bristol
Broadland
Bromley
Bromsgrove
Broxbourne
Bury
Calderdale
Cambridge
Camden
Canterbury
Carlisle
Chelmsford
Cherwell
Cheshire West and Chester
Chesterfield
Chichester
City of London
Colchester
Cornwall
Cotswold
Coventry
Crawley
Croydon
Dacorum
Dartford
Derby
Derbyshire Dales
Doncaster
Dover
Dudley
Durham
Ealing
East Cambridgeshire
East Devon
East Dorset
East Hampshire
East Hertfordshire
East Northamptonshire
East Staffordshire
Eastbourne
Eastleigh
Enfield
Epping Forest
Epsom and Ewell
Erewash
Exeter
Fareham
Fenland
Forest Heath
Fylde
Gateshead
Gosport
Gravesham
Great Yarmouth
Greenwich
Guildford
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Harborough
Haringey
Harlow
Harrow
Hart
Hastings
Havant
Havering
Herefordshire, County of
Hertsmere
High Peak
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Huntingdonshire
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Kettering
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
Kingston upon Hull, City of
Kingston upon Thames
Lambeth
Leeds
Lewes
Lewisham
Lichfield
Lincoln
Liverpool
Maidstone
Malvern Hills
Manchester
Mansfield
Medway
Mendip
Merton
Mid Devon
Middlesbrough
Mole Valley
New Forest
Newark and Sherwood
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newham
North East Derbyshire
North Somerset
Northampton
Northumberland
Norwich
Nottingham
Oldham
Oxford
Peterborough
Plymouth
Poole
Preston
Purbeck
Reading
Redbridge
Redditch
Reigate and Banstead
Rochdale
Rother
Rotherham
Rushmoor
Salford
Sandwell
Sedgemoor
Sefton
Sevenoaks
Sheffield
Shepway
Shropshire
Solihull
South Cambridgeshire
South Derbyshire
South Gloucestershire
South Norfolk
South Oxfordshire
South Ribble
South Somerset
South Staffordshire
South Tyneside
Southampton
Southend-on-Sea
Southwark
St. Edmundsbury
St. Helens
Stevenage
Stockport
Stoke-on-Trent
Stratford-on-Avon
Sunderland
Surrey Heath
Sutton
Swale
Swindon
Tameside
Tandridge
Taunton Deane
Telford and Wrekin
Test Valley
Thanet
Three Rivers
Thurrock
Tonbridge and Malling
Torbay
Tower Hamlets
Trafford
Tunbridge Wells
Uttlesford
Vale of White Horse
Wakefield
Walsall
Waltham Forest
Warrington
Warwick
Waveney
Waverley
Wealden
West Berkshire
West Devon
West Somerset
Westminster
Weymouth and Portland
Wigan
Wiltshire
Winchester
Wirral
Woking
Worcester
Wychavon
Wyre
Wyre Forest
York
(2) on what dates the external research for the review of council housing finance was commissioned.
The information requested is in the following table.
Research Date commissioned Researcher Cost (£) Purpose of research Evaluation of Management and Maintenance costs 2 July 2008 Housing Quality Network 44,330 To determine the costs of running the day to day landlord service (including redistribution analysis and housemark data provision) Review of the Major Repairs Allowance 1 September 2008 Building Research Establishment 50,835 Analysis of the need to spend on major repairs of the housing stock in order to maintain the Decent Homes standard Tenant Focus Groups 9 September 2008 GFK-NOP 28,898 Analysis of tenant attitudes towards council housing finance and rents policy Rents Analysis 2 October 2008 Professor Steve Wilcox, University of York 18,500 A set of briefings and analysis on rents and related topics to inform the HRA review Processing of Tenant Questionnaires 28 October 2008 Sharp Research 8,550 — Debt Analysis 19 November 2008 Tribal 16,400 Analysis of the options for dealing with debt in local authority housing.
Other research expense included ongoing advice from the CLG expert panel and use of the Housing Corporation residents panels through the second half of 2008 totalling around £30,000.
Council Housing: Castle Point
This information is not currently available.
Council Housing: Finance
(2) how much has been spent on the Review of Council Housing Finance on (a) salaries, (b) bonuses and (c) expenses for (i) civil servants and (ii) local authority secondees;
(3) which local authority provided a secondee to the review; and what the terms of the secondment are;
(4) what costs related to the Review of Council Housing Finance have been incurred in each of the last three months;
(5) if he will provide a breakdown of the £186,000 spent by the Review of Council Housing Finance on activity other than external research.
The pay bands for civil servants from my Department working on the Review are Grade 5 (Deputy Director), Grade 6, Grade 7, Senior Executive Officer (SEO), Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Executive Officer. The civil servants from HM Treasury are Range E (which is equivalent to Grades 6 and 7) and Range D (which is equivalent to SEO and HEO). All civil servants are employed and remunerated on standard departmental terms and conditions.
The local authority secondee is on secondment from Sheffield city council. The council is continuing to pay his wages and expenses, which are reimbursed by my Department in respect of time spent working on the review. The secondment is on standard departmental terms and conditions.
The £186,000 that was spent on other activity includes the reimbursement of the secondee's wages and expenses to Sheffield city council. It cannot be broken down without identifying these payments, which would breach data protection principles in respect of the secondee.
The answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 383W, included details of review expenditure to the end of March 2009. Details of costs incurred by the review since then cannot be provided without breaching data protection principles in respect of the secondee from Sheffield city council.
Council Housing: Rents
The authorities which have applied for and accepted additional subsidy support to reduce rent increases are listed as follows:
Adur
Arun
Ashfield
Ashford
Babergh
Barking
Barnet
Barnsley
Barrow
Basildon
Bassetlaw
Birmingham
Blaby
Blackpool
Bolsover
Bolton
Bournemouth
Bracknell
Braintree
Brent
Brentwood
Brighton and Hove
Bristol
Broxtowe
Bury
Cambridge
Camden
Cannock Chase
Canterbury
Castle Point
Central Bedfordshire
Charnwood
Cheltenham
Cheshire West and Chester
Chesterfield
City of London
City of York
Colchester
Corby
Cornwall
Crawley
Croydon
Dacorum
Darlington
Dartford
Daventry
Derby
Doncaster
Dover
Dudley
Durham
Ealing
East Devon
East Riding
Eastbourne
Enfield
Epping Forest
Exeter
Fareham
Fenland
Gateshead
Gedling
Gloucester
Gosport
Gravesham
Great Yarmouth
Greenwich
Guildford
Hackney
Hammersmith
Harborough
Haringey
Harrogate
Harrow
Havering
High Peak
Hillingdon
Hinckley
Hounslow
Ipswich
Isles of Scilly
Islington
Kensington
Kettering
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Thames
Kirklees
Lambeth
Lancaster
Leeds
Leicester
Lewes
Lewisham
Lincoln
Liverpool
Luton
Manchester
Mansfield
Medway Towns
Melton
Merton
Mid Devon
Mid Suffolk
Milton Keynes
Mole Valley
NE Derbyshire
New Forest
Newark
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newham
North Kesteven
North Tyneside
North Warwick
Northampton
Northumberland
Norwich
Nottingham
Nuneaton
NW Leicester
Oadby and Wigston
Oldham
Oxford City
Plymouth
Poole
Portsmouth
Reading
Redbridge
Redditch
Ribble Valley
Richmondshire
Rochdale
Rochford
Rotherham
Rugby
Runnymede
Rutland
Salford
Sandwell
Sedgemoor
Selby
Sheffield
Shepway
Shropshire
Slough
Solihull
South Cambridge
South Derby
South Holland
South Kesteven
South Lakeland
South Norfolk
South Northants
South Tyneside
Southampton
Southend-on-Sea
Southwark
St. Albans
Stevenage
Stockport
Stockton
Stoke-on-Trent
Stroud
Sutton
Swindon
Tamworth
Tandridge
Taunton Deane
Tendring
Thanet
Three Rivers
Thurrock
Torridge
Tower Hamlets
Uttlesford
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth
Warrington
Warwick
Waveney
Waverley
Wealden
Wellingborough
Welwyn Hatfield
West Lancashire
Westminster
Wigan
Wiltshire
Winchester
Woking
Wokingham
Wolverhampton
Wycombe
Derelict Land
[holding answer 22 June 2009]: The Tenant Services Authority (TSA), the independent regulator of the Registered Social Landlord (RSL) sector, does not monitor all RSL land banks on a comprehensive basis. The TSA does not register land banks held by RSLs. However, they do collect information on such holdings of undeveloped land for the larger developing RSLs.
The TSA has been monitoring this type of activity, on a quarterly basis, since January 2009.
Their latest figures, from April 2009, show that 100 associations have land yet to be developed with an overall value of £1.2 billion. They do not hold information on the amount of this land that is expected to be developed in the next six months.
With regard to local authority land, this Department does not hold this information centrally. However, we are working with the Homes and Communities Agency to develop a robust system of data collection so that we can identify and record what housing development is taking place on public sector sites. The Homes and Communities Agency is seeking the help of local authorities in establishing this database.
Disabled Facilities Grants
(2) what the average length of time between receipt of an application for a disabled facilities grant and the completion of the home improvements funded by the grant was in the latest period for which figures are available.
The information requested is not held centrally, day to day management of the disabled facilities grant programme is the responsibility of local authorities. Collection of the information requested is therefore a local matter.
The introduction of the disabled facilities grant has enabled many disabled people to continue to live independently in their own homes through the provision of adaptations. The programme helps about 38,000 households a year with a variety of adaptations to ease mobility in their homes. An independent review of the programme was carried out in 2004 and a consultation to modernise the programme followed in 2007. The Government announced their response to the consultation early in 2008-09 with a package of changes to improve the programme. This can be viewed on the following link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/modernisationchangespackage
Following a review of the disabled facilities grant scheme published in 2007 a number of changes were implemented to the programme. Data collected from local authorities will give an indication as to the effect of the wider changes made to the programme such as the relaxation of the grant conditions. The effect of the removal of the grant ring fence is currently being piloted in nine local authorities; a full evaluation of the impact of the removal of the ring fence will be carried out before any decision is taken on removing the ring fence nationally.
Further work is currently being carried out to improve the delivery of the programme with an overhaul of the means test and application form. Data on the time it takes an authority to deliver a disabled facilities grant are not collected centrally as circumstances will vary from case to case.
Flood Control
The sequential test set out in Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25), “Development and Flood Risk”, is a decision-making tool which aims to steer new development to areas at the lowest probability of flooding. It is the responsibility of the local planning authority to apply the sequential test when allocating land for development in development plan documents. The local planning authority is also responsible for applying the sequential test to applications made to them for development on land which has not been allocated, or which has not been sequentially tested, in a development plan document. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the evidence for their application to allow the planning authority to carry out the sequential test.
Housing: Regeneration
Financial information regarding HMR funding is not collected centrally for local authority areas. However, Copeland DC is a partner authority of the West Cumbria Area of Wider Low Demand which was awarded £1.8 million of HMR funding for 2009-10.
Housing: Rural Areas
In 2006 we published Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (PPS3), which requires local authorities and regions to take a positive and active approach to setting housing provision figures for local planning authorities and housing market areas, and adopting targets for the delivery of affordable housing. PPS3 also confirms that local authorities in rural areas can use the Rural Exception Site policy to deliver solely affordable housing on sites which would not normally be used for housing, and for that housing to be kept as affordable in perpetuity.
In September 2007 the Prime Minister asked Matthew Taylor to conduct a review of the rural economy and affordable housing. Matthew’s report (‘Living Working Countryside’) was published in July 2008. This included a number of recommendations on the delivery of rural housing. The Government published their response on 25 March 2009, broadly accepting almost all of the recommendations. We are now implementing those recommendations.
As part of our current £8.4 billion investment from 2008-11 for affordable housing, we have set the Homes and Communities Agency a target of the completion of 10,300 homes in smaller rural communities of under 3,000 people. This represents a real step up in comparison with previous delivery. To date there are forecast completions of over 6,600 units for this period. However, given current conditions, it is too early to predict outputs with certainty over this time period.
Housing: Standards
The decent homes programme was launched in 2001. The figures in the table represent the estimated expenditure maintaining the condition of social housing stock, including the decent homes standard, since 1997 from statistical returns submitted by local authorities and registered social landlords.
Total investment LA RSL 1997-98 1.97 1.56 0.41 1998-99 2.18 1.66 0.52 1999-2000 1.86 1.57 0.29 2000-01 2.19 1.81 0.38 2001-02 2.66 2.12 0.54 2002-03 3.08 2.35 0.73 2003-04 3.31 2.64 0.67 2004-05 3.69 3.18 0.51 2005-06 4.10 3.38 0.72 2006-07 4.19 3.31 0.88 2007-08 4.15 3.21 0.94 Total 33.38 26.79 6.59
Housing: Waiting Lists
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 17W.
Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government
The Improvement and Development Agency receives Revenue Support Grant (RSG) funding from my Department to provide core services for local government improvement. Additionally we give additional money for specific projects. During the period 2006-11 has/will receive the following amounts:
£ 2010-11 1— 2009-10 32,670,000 2008-09 28,730,000 2007-08 30,688,000 2006-07 36,924,000 1 Still subject to consultation and will be announced later this year.
The Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) works for local government so councils can serve people and places better mainly focusing on partnership working, place shaping and tackling cross cutting issues. The IDeA produces annual reports which highlight their work with councils including local authority housing professionals which can be found at:
http://www.idea.gov.uk
LLM Communications
(2) what the (a) title, (b) location and (c) branding of each regional housing debate was; and what consideration was given to undertaking this work in-house;
(3) if he will place in the Library a copy of the terms of reference given to LLM Communications by his Department.
The Department for Communities and Local Government provided financial support to the Campaign for More and Better Homes which was a pre-existing cross-sector housing alliance. Campaign for More and Better Homes commissioned LLM Communications as their PR agency to deliver regional housing debates to help raise public awareness of the need for and benefits of housing growth.
Local Government: Urban Areas
(2) whether he plans to propose the introduction of formal city regional governance in conurbations outside London.
Part 6 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, which is currently being considered by the House, provides the legislative basis for economic prosperity boards and combined authorities. These bodies will provide a means for local authorities to pool functions and manage joint activity on economic development and regeneration as well as, in the case of combined authorities, transport issues. They will be entirely voluntary for local authorities and each council will have to give its express consent before it becomes part of one of these bodies.
Local authorities that are considering setting up an economic prosperity board or combined authority will be expected to consult widely when drawing up their scheme for submission to the Secretary of State.
Multiple Occupation
The Department is currently consulting on houses in multiple occupation and possible planning responses. The consultation period closes on 7 August, we will then consider the responses and determine a way forward.
It would be for local planning authorities to determine what changes are needed in their local planning policies in the event of a change to the Use Classes Order.
Planning Permission
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 14 May 2009, Official Report, column 1006W, on this issue in relation to local development frameworks.
Planning Permission: Wildlife
No estimate has been made of the cost to the construction industry of compliance with conditions attached to planning permissions in respect of great crested newts or bats.
Planning: Retail Trade
The headline indicator of the success of our planning policies has been the proportion of new retail floor space developed within and on the edge of town centres. CLG planning statistics published in November 2008 show that our town centre policies have shown real signs of success. In 1994 only a quarter of new retail floor space was developed within or on the edge of our town centres. By 2006 this proportion increased to 42 per cent.
It is evident from these data that our town centre policies have halted and partially reversed a long-term trend towards retail development outside town centres.
Planning: Urban Areas
In the last five years, we and our predecessor Department (The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) have published the following national planning policy and guidance on town centre development:
Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6): Planning for Town Centres (published 21 March 2005)
Planning for Town Centres—Guidance on Design and Implementation Tools (published 21 March 2005)
Looking After Our Town Centres (published 14 April 2009).
On 5 May 2009 we published a consultation draft Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS4): “Planning for Prosperous Economies.” This new PPS incorporates draft PPS 4: “Planning for Sustainable Economic Development”; PPG 5: “Simplified Planning Zones”; PPS 6: “Planning for Town Centres”; and the economic development policies in PPS 7: “Sustainable Development in Rural Areas”. The consultation documentation for the draft PPS and further details about how to respond are available on the Department's website at:
http://wwwcommunities.gov.uk/publications/planning andbuilding/consultationeconomicpps
The consultation period ends on 28 July 2009.
Private Rented Housing: Standards
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. It was introduced under the Housing Act 2004 and came into effect on 6 April 2006. It applies to residential properties in England.
The HHSRS assesses 29 categories of housing hazard, each hazard has a weighting which will help determine whether the property is rated as having Category 1 (serious) or Category 2 (other) hazards. For the purposes of the decent homes standard, homes posing a category 1 risk are non-decent on its criterion that a home must meet the statutory minimum requirements.
Local authorities are responsible for the local implementation and enforcement of the HHSRS. If a property is found to contain serious hazards the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action in relation to the hazard.
Regional Planning and Development: East of England
We are currently considering the court's oral judgment. We are awaiting the formal judgment before deciding on whether or not to appeal.
Social Rented Housing: Waiting Lists
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 17W.
Supporting People Programme
Supporting People expenditure data are collected from local authorities annually via the Supporting People Local System (SPLS) used to report data to CLG. The information is provided by local authorities at service level and is aggregated by CLG to produce an analysis of spend for the financial year by authority, region and nationally. Information published is shown by primary client group; for example, by older people with support needs, mentally disordered offenders and service type, for example, accommodation based service, or Home Improvement Agencies. The information by all client groups and service type is available on the spkweb.
Additional information is also available by secondary client group, accommodation type, provider organisation type, service duration and charging type but does not form part of the published analysis.
In addition to the data provided via the SPLS local authorities were previously required under the Supporting People Grant Conditions to provide audited and commissioning body-approved expenditure figures via CLG web-based data collection and payments processing system logasnet (Local Grants and Subsidy.net).
The data collected via the Supporting People Local System (SPLS) does not specifically identify expenditure on wardens. However, all of the 150 top tier local authorities have reported expenditure against ‘sheltered’ and ‘very sheltered’ accommodation based services which may include warden services.
£1.693 million, £1.686 million and £1.666 million was paid to local authorities in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively.
A detailed breakdown of Supporting People funding allocated to each individual local authority is provided in the table.
£ Grant allocation ONS name 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Barking and Dagenham 5,061,217 5,415,502 5,650,993 Barnet 7,497,667 7,803,452 7,803,452 Barnsley 5,673,232 5,673,232 5,673,232 Bath and North East Somerset 4,011,947 4,011,947 3,977,838 Bedfordshire 7,118,216 7,118,216 7,118,216 Bexley 2,984,688 3,193,616 3,417,169 Birmingham 51,912,681 51,912,681 51,912,681 Blackburn with Darwen 6,031,664 5,946,909 5,649,563 Blackpool 6,138,533 6,568,230 6,821,148 Bolton 9,101,572 9,101,572 9,101,572 Bournemouth 11,152,392 10,594,772 10,065,034 Bracknell Forest 2,016,121 1,964,461 1,866,238 Bradford 19,219,872 19,219,872 19,219,872 Brent 12,806,959 12,806,959 12,806,959 Brighton and Hove 12,659,223 12,464,495 11,841,270 Bristol, City of 27,812,095 27,714,131 27,009,329 Bromley 5,428,129 5,428,129 5,428,129 Buckinghamshire 5,587,753 5,587,753 5,587,753 Bury 6,653,044 6,610,689 6,360,443 Calderdale 5,674,656 5,674,656 5,674,656 Cambridgeshire 12,168,459 11,965,723 11,367,437 Camden 35,723,266 33,937,103 32,240,248 Cheshire 20,537,745 20,019,592 19,018,613 City of London 698,534 694,413 681,913 Cornwall 14,204,036 14,204,036 14,204,036 Coventry 15,490,980 14,890,394 14,145,875 Croydon 8,951,651 8,951,651 8,951,651 Cumbria 9,443,164 10,104,185 10,104,185 Darlington 3,825,855 3,820,097 3,737,103 Derby 10,556,336 10,556,336 10,556,336 Derbyshire 17,260,646 17,260,646 17,260,646 Devon 19,337,068 19,337,068 19,337,068 Doncaster 11,064,106 11,064,106 11,064,106 Dorset 9,665,842 9,665,842 9,665,842 Dudley 6,439,067 6,484,018 6,484,018 Durham 14,588,081 14,588,081 14,588,081 Ealing 11,125,397 11,125,397 11,125,397 East Riding of Yorkshire 4,937,622 5,283,256 5,625,040 East Sussex 11,561,210 11,561,210 11,561,210 Enfield 11,055,312 11,055,312 11,055,312 Essex 29,622,839 29,622,839 29,622,839 Gateshead 5,987,723 6,406,864 6,664,235 Gloucestershire 24,633,207 23,401,547 22,231,469 Greenwich 9,302,736 9,953,928 9,953,928 Hackney 22,221,917 22,221,917 22,221,917 Halton 7,803,714 7,602,565 7,222,437 Hammersmith and Fulham 12,826,145 12,668,832 12,035,390 Hampshire 31,109,951 31,009,951 31,009,951 Haringey 21,330,020 20,682,294 19,648,179 Harrow 3,582,678 3,833,438 3,833,438 Hartlepool 3,984,694 3,984,694 3,984,694 Havering 2,578,536 2,759,034 2,952,166 Herefordshire County of 6,523,367 6,197,199 5,887,339 Hertfordshire 21,000,881 21,000,881 21,000,881 Hillingdon 5,954,047 5,954,047 5,954,047 Hounslow 5,525,734 5,912,535 6,060,344 Isle of Wight 6,379,804 6,142,762 5,835,624 Isles of Scilly 1,846 1,835 1,802 Islington 15,934,504 15,934,504 15,934,504 Kensington and Chelsea 11,170,507 10,669,620 10,136,139 Kent 32,024,915 32,024,915 32,024,915 Kingston upon Hull, City of 11,059,567 11,059,567 11,059,567 Kingston upon Thames 4,405,694 4,405,694 4,405,694 Kirklees 10,593,700 10,593,700 10,593,700 Knowsley 7,381,274 7,381,274 7,381,274 Lambeth 20,792,197 20,792,197 20,792,197 Lancashire 29,052,873 29,052,873 29,052,873 Leeds 32,986,531 32,986,531 32,986,531 Leicester 15,529,446 15,398,432 14,688,725 Leicestershire 7,012,300 7,098,383 7,126,208 Lewisham 17,219,829 17,219,829 17,219,829 Lincolnshire 21,373,288 20,798,681 19,758,747 Liverpool 41,900,943 41,124,873 39,068,629 Luton 4,520,292 4,520,292 4,520,292 Manchester 38,557,790 38,416,502 37,395,659 Medway 5,840,889 5,840,889 5,840,889 Merton 3,385,278 3,385,278 3,385,278 Middlesbrough 5,982,841 5,982,841 5,982,841 Milton Keynes 5,241,687 5,241,687 5,241,687 Newcastle upon Tyne 18,817,689 18,121,540 17,215,463 Newham 11,068,502 11,843,297 12,458,291 Norfolk 16,336,572 16,336,572 16,336,572 North East Lincolnshire 6,145,522 6,145,522 6,145,522 North Lincolnshire 3,454,079 3,695,865 3,866,848 North Somerset 5,874,185 5,874,185 5,874,185 North Tyneside 8,623,570 8,623,570 8,623,570 North Yorkshire 15,180,220 15,072,880 14,734,962 Northamptonshire 14,256,621 14,256,621 14,256,621 Northumberland 7,054,329 7,054,329 7,054,329 Nottingham 26,052,630 24,749,999 23,512,499 Nottinghamshire 25,705,789 24,969,520 23,721,044 Oldham 8,227,686 8,227,686 8,227,686 Oxfordshire 18,856,965 17,914,117 17,018,411 Peterborough 4,607,583 4,930,114 5,020,820 Plymouth 8,213,292 8,213,292 8,213,292 Poole 4,944,078 4,696,874 4,462,030 Portsmouth 8,921,250 8,497,857 8,072,964 Reading 4,935,083 4,856,519 4,613,693 Redbridge 4,467,863 4,780,613 5,115,256 Redcar and Cleveland 2,410,460 2,579,192 2,759,736 Richmond upon Thames 2,847,584 2,847,584 2,847,584 Rochdale 15,076,659 15,076,659 15,076,659 Rotherham 7,567,131 7,567,131 7,567,131 Rutland 730,810 726,498 713,421 Salford 13,191,145 13,191,145 13,191,145 Sandwell 10,580,319 10,580,319 10,580,319 Sefton 6,746,556 6,746,556 6,746,556 Sheffield 25,227,224 25,227,224 25,227,224 Shropshire 6,345,391 6,345,391 6,345,391 Slough 4,325,790 4,215,339 4,004,572 Solihull 2,778,479 2,972,973 3,181,081 Somerset 19,063,308 18,258,051 17,345,148 South Gloucestershire 4,674,886 4,674,886 4,674,886 South Tyneside 4,947,095 4,947,095 4,947,095 Southampton 10,559,245 10,145,230 9,637,969 Southend-on-Sea 4,908,331 4,908,331 4,908,331 Southwark 18,765,619 18,765,619 18,765,619 St. Helens 10,218,473 10,174,734 9,878,592 Staffordshire 11,971,701 12,809,720 13,494,999 Stockport 8,022,591 8,022,591 8,022,591 Stockton-on-Tees 2,950,823 3,157,381 3,378,397 Stoke-on-Trent 5,479,678 5,863,255 6,273,683 Suffolk 18,734,394 18,444,845 17,522,603 Sunderland 11,263,297 11,263,297 11,263,297 Surrey 18,509,347 18,509,347 18,509,347 Sutton 3,667,041 3,667,041 3,667,041 Swindon 5,397,250 5,387,575 5,292,578 Tameside 7,217,707 7,217,707 7,217,707 Telford and Wrekin 3,917,442 3,917,442 3,917,442 Thurrock 2,375,440 2,541,721 2,604,713 Torbay 5,708,189 5,600,245 5,320,233 Tower Hamlets 15,384,899 15,384,899 15,384,899 Trafford 5,431,885 5,431,885 5,431,885 Wakefield 6,967,057 7,007,331 7,007,331 Walsall 7,067,337 7,067,337 7,067,337 Waltham Forest 7,882,823 8,434,621 8,859,269 Wandsworth 11,177,258 11,177,258 11,177,258 Warrington 7,611,086 7,373,419 7,004,748 Warwickshire 10,146,789 10,146,789 10,146,789 West Berkshire 5,408,772 5,138,333 4,881,417 West Sussex 15,049,327 15,049,327 15,049,327 Westminster 17,051,638 17,051,638 17,051,638 Wigan 7,626,132 8,159,961 8,731,159 Wiltshire 8,174,934 8,174,934 8,174,934 Windsor and Maidenhead 1,723,056 1,723,056 1,723,056 Wirral 10,341,400 10,341,400 10,341,400 Wokingham 1,609,880 1,609,880 1,609,880 Wolverhampton 7,997,826 7,997,826 7,997,826 Worcestershire 14,984,323 14,984,323 14,984,323 York 8,268,239 7,854,827 7,462,086 Total 1,693,339,796 1,685,987,604 1,665,990,230 Note: Information taken from published and internal sources
The Supporting People programme is administered at the local level by the relevant administering authority. It is for the authority to decide which services to fund, informed by the local needs and priorities identified in their five year Supporting People Strategies.
The following table sets out how much local authorities spent from their Support People allocation, on Home Improvement Agencies, to deliver services including handypersons services at the local level.
£ million 2006-07 15.414 2007-08 17.832
A 2008 Survey of funding sources for HIA handyperson services by their national body, Foundations, estimated that the Supporting People contribution for Handyperson services only to be approximately £900,000.
Tenant Services Authority: Complaints
The TSA has a three-stage complaints procedure. The first two stages are internal, following which the applicant may request an independent review with the Independent Complaints Reviewer1 (stage 3).
The following table shows the number of cases that have been considered under the TSA's formal complaints procedures. The table shows the concluded cases in each month from December to May. This includes the number of individual complainants who may have raised more than one complaint.
1 The Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) investigates complaints made by members of the public, businesses, professional advisers and others. Find further information at:
http://www.icrev.org.uk/icr_about.shtml
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 December 1 1 0 January 1 1 0 February 2 0 0 March 3 2 0 April 0 3 0 May 0 3 0
Tenant Services Authority: Pay
For 2009-10, the staffing budget for the Tenant Services Authority is £15.3 million.
Treasury
Banks: Finance
In the 2009 Budget, the Government announced that the asset-backed securities guarantee scheme is available for banks and building societies to use alongside the existing credit guarantee scheme, to support their lending to the economy:
http://budget.treasury.gov.uk
The Government will keep the operation of the scheme under review, though it is too early to assess its impact.
Banks: Government Securities
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Mr. Meale) on 17 June 2009, Official Report, column 323W.
Bradford and Bingley
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor) on 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 365W.
Child Benefit
The estimated annual costs of child benefit payments restricted to annual household income up to £58,000 and £50,000 are £10.40 billion and £9.91 billion in 2009-10, respectively.
Coastal Change Fund
The Coastal Change Fund is being funded from within existing DEFRA provision on which the devolved Administrations have already received Barnett consequentials in the CSR.
Council Tax
The Government have no current plans to assess the cost of replacing council tax with a local income tax.
Council Tax: Valuation
The Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) council tax banding support tool was developed with assistance from CapGemini, SAS and Cole Layer Trumble/Tyler Technologies and delivered within budget, at £995,000. It was first made available within the VOA on 27 March 2008. After this date, it was brought into use on a phased basis, following appropriate training.
Debt Collection: Private Sector
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is currently undertaking a small scale six month pilot exercise involving the use of private sector debt collection agencies at some stages in the pursuit and recovery of some debts. The contracts in place for the trial are being closely monitored. They require the debt collection agencies to maintain the same standards as HMRC with provision for the Department to audit and assure this.
Debts: NHS
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister of State for Health on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 118W.
Departmental Cleaning Services
Soft services are provided in 1 Horse Guards Road as part of a PFI contract with Exchequer Partnership (EP). OCS delivers the cleaning element of those services.
The soft services are currently being market tested by EP and it would be inappropriate to disclose details of pay rates at this time.
In Norwich, cleaning services are undertaken by Mitie Facilities Services Ltd. Cleaning cost for the past three years were:
£ 2006-07 124,546.32 2007-08 128,282.71 2008-09 132,131.19
Departmental Energy
(2) what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff;
(3) what estimate he has made of the energy consumed per full-time equivalent member of staff in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08;
(4) what estimate he has made of the percentage of electricity used by his Department which was derived from renewable sources in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.
(5) what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff;
(6) what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport used for administrative operations by his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff;
(7) what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.
HM Treasury is committed to improving its environmental performance in the use of resources and to reducing its energy use year on year.
Detailed information on the Treasury Group’s sustainable performance by building for the years in question were published in HM Treasury’s departmental report for 2007-08 (Cm 7408). Updates on progress will be provided annually.
Departmental Internet
Figures for unique visitors and page impressions for each website maintained by the Department in each of the last 12 months are given in the following tables. Statistics for some of the sites are unavailable due to the migration of sites to centrally hosted servers in October 2008.
Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 266,462 7,306,670 236,654 6,134,432 222,414 6,075,907 www.isb.gov.uk 5,136 1— 5,395 1— 6249 1— www.ges.gov.uk 5,505 17787 5,380 18,437 4,805 14,573 www.qsr.gov.uk 17,065 59,931 25,158 90,451 27,236 90,843 www.euro.gov — — — — — — www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk — — — — — — www.financial-reporting.gov.uk — — — — — — http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk — — — — 2,003 8,296
Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 212,796 5,967,453 164,583 6,205,519 126,319 5,675,683 www.isb.gov.uk 6,369 1— 4,574 1— 3,796 1— www.ges.gov.uk 4,786 14,005 4,183 18,398 3,829 18,727 www.qsr.gov.uk 23,082 89,163 20,547 94,688 17,065 88,250 www.euro.gov — — — — — — www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk — — — — — — www.financial-reporting.gov.uk — — — — — — http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk 822 8,672 684 9,063 1,596 8,485
Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 80,548 6,139,875 465,585 3,002,734 245,986 1,420,116 www.isb.gov.uk 2,092 1— 4,235 1— 4,506 1— www.ges.gov.uk 6,182 21,403 9,060 32,635 6,208 20,211 www.qsr.gov.uk 12,119 62,9461 9,583 151,681 9,269 119,145 www.euro.gov — — 17,541 127,867 16,301 89,206 www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk — — 985 24,367 353 9,254 www.financial-reporting.gov.uk — — 4,463 61,631 4,634 41,227 http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk 1,882 8,750 2,067 9,292 2,361 9,999
Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 142,120 708,403 173,607 891,939 152,542 871,393 www.isb.gov.uk 3,413 1— 3,800 1— 3,973 1— www.ges.gov.uk 4,860 15,645 7,854 24,154 7,801 25,505 www.qsr.gov.uk 8,324 123,970 9379 143,996 8,851 147,642 www.euro.gov 17,032 88,416 20,906 109,079 15,472 97,093 www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk 1,022 9,727 1,173 17,868 1,156 20,779 www.financial-reporting.gov.uk 3,439 37,378 3,709 53,637 2,879 53,590 http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk 1,375 6,922 1,898 8,996 1,750 8,167
Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions Visitors Impressions www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 188,040 971,767 281,589 1,427,205 161,022 72,2752 — www.isb.gov.uk 5,669 1— 4,738 1— 5,320 1— — www.ges.gov.uk 5,940 20,044 5,263 16,974 4,249 13,822 — www.qsr.gov.uk 10,778 162,877 — — — — See note 2 www.euro.gov 17,044 98,978 14,322 76,499 9,057 41,144 See note 3 www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk 1,407 16,957 1,031 14,736 1,155 14,016 As above www.financial-reporting.gov.uk 3,174 55,191 2,775 47,909 2,732 47,255 As above http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk 2,696 11,568 2,330 9,807 77 281 — 1 Unavailable. Notes: 2 GSR website migrated to the Civil Service website on 1 April 2009 3 Statistics only available from October 2008
Departmental Lost Property
The number of laptop computers belonging to the Treasury and its agencies that have been lost or stolen in the last five years is as follows:
Dept/Agency 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 HM Treasury 4 3 2 5 0 0 OGC1 — — — 0 0 1 DMO 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Data for OGC prior to 2007 is no longer available
The encryption of laptops used by the Treasury and its agencies since 2008 has significantly reduced the risk of data/information loss.
Departmental Surveys
HM Treasury last undertook a staff satisfaction survey in December 2008. A summary of the results from this survey has been placed in the Library.
A copy of the February 2009 OGC staff survey has been placed in the Library.
The UK Debt Management Office has not run a staff satisfaction survey since November 2003.
The latest engagement survey for HMRC took place in February 2009. The results were published on the HMRC website on the 20 May 2009 and can be accessed via:
www.hmrc.gov.uk
Equitable Life
The Government responded to the Committee’s report on 19 May.
The Government regret that the parliamentary ombudsman felt it was necessary to lay her further report but stands by the response to her main report it made on 15 January 2009. The Government are now working to deliver the ex gratia payments scheme it has announced as quickly as possible.
It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on junior officials’ employment details.
All secondments involving Treasury staff are carried out in accordance with the civil service code.
Financial Ombudsman Service
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is operationally independent of Government. The steps taken by the FOS to deal with the demands it faces are detailed in its corporate plan and budget 2009-10 published in March 2009. The Financial Services authority (FSA) approves the budget of the FOS and has a duty to ensure that the FOS is at all times capable of exercising its functions.
Government Departments: ICT
The Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement (CESP) guidance on environmental criteria for Government ICT procurement is outlined in the ‘Quick Win' product specifications, which can be found on the DEFRA website:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/what/priority/consumptionproduction/quickWins/index.htm
The guidance is based on the Greening Government ICT Strategy published in July 2008:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/cio/greening_government_ict
Health Service Ombudsman
The additional funding required by the Ombudsman in 2009-10 has been sanctioned.
Lord Paul
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Members: Correspondence
I have replied to the hon. Member.
A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 2 March 2009.
Private Finance Initiative
The Government believe it is vital to get infrastructure projects under way as swiftly as possible—to support jobs and the economy this year as well as delivering important public services. Switching to alternative procurement methods or conventional funding for these projects at this late stage would incur significant additional delays or risk projects failing. For these reasons we have decided that providing additional debt finance is the most effective way to get construction underway swiftly and support jobs now.
Private Finance Initiative: Derbyshire
All local authority PFI projects seeking PFI credits are subject to an assessment by the Projects Review Group (PRG), which is chaired by HM Treasury.
Minutes of the PRG meetings held in 2008 and 2009 can be found on the HM Treasury website at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ppp_projectreview group.htm
A list of all signed PFI projects can be found on the HM Treasury website at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ppp_pfi_stats.htm
Sri Lanka: International Assistance
The International Monetary Fund has not yet presented a programme for Sri Lanka and the UK has not been asked to vote on a programme yet.
Once a programme is presented, it will be assessed on its merits and the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka to decide whether it will help the people of Sri Lanka.
Tax Credit: Peterborough
The latest information on the number of recipient families benefiting from tax credits, by each parliamentary constituency, is given in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) snapshot publication, “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical Analyses. April 2009”.
Information on average annual entitlements by each parliamentary constituency, based on incomes and final family circumstances in 2006-07, is produced in the HMRC publication, “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards. Geographical Analyses. 2006-07”. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
Information for 2007-08 is not yet available at parliamentary constituency level. Further information can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tc-delay-07-08.htm
Tax Evasion
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) staff use whatever parts of the tax code are relevant to help people and businesses pay the right amount of tax and, where necessary, to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and fraud. HMRC is unable to provide information regarding the specific number of resources deployed on the separate elements of that work.
Tax Evasion: ICT
The intermediaries legislation also known as IR35 is not targeted at any particular occupation or business sector. It is anti avoidance legislation which prevents workers, who are providing their services under what would otherwise be considered employment terms, being able to pay less income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) by providing their services through intermediaries, most commonly limited companies.
The legislation seeks to ensure that what is properly employment income is subject to income tax and NICs as such.
Taxation: Members
The vast majority of self-assessment (SA) taxpayers can take advantage of HM Revenue and Customs' online services to file their tax return via the internet. However, a small proportion of SA taxpayers (including Members of Parliament) need to complete special dedicated pages. These forms are not available online since it would be disproportionately costly to develop the links to departmental computer systems.
VAT: Repairs and Maintenance
VAT is a broad-based tax upon consumption and although the Government continue to keep the impact of VAT on all building work under review, it only applies reduced VAT rates where it believes these would provide well-targeted and cost-effective support for its policy objectives.
Welfare Tax Credits
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Dundee, West (Mr. McGovern), on 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 422W.
Welfare Tax Credits: Islington
The latest information on the number of recipient families benefiting from tax credits, by each parliamentary constituency, is available in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) snapshot publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical Analyses. April 2009”.
For the average amount paid, information on average annual entitlements by each parliamentary constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes in 2006-07, is produced in the HMRC publications “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards. Geographical Analyses. 2006-07”. All of these publications are available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
Information for 2007-08 is not yet available at parliamentary constituency level. More information can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tc-delay-07-08.htm
Written Questions: Government Responses
(2) when he plans to answer question 279981, tabled on 10 June 2009, on public sector contracting.
The former Exchequer Secretary replied to the hon. Members within the parliamentary deadline.
The Economic Secretary replied to the hon. Member within the parliamentary deadline.
Children, Schools and Families
Departmental Electricity
The Department for Children, Schools and Families makes an annual report to the Sustainable Development Commission on electricity sourced from renewables as part of its returns for the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report.
From the 2007 and 2008 SDiG Reports—available in full under “Publications” at:
http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/
—electricity sourced from renewables for the office estate was reported as (a) 8.9 per cent. in 2006-07 and (b) 16.4 per cent. in 2007-08.
Departmental Energy
The Department for Children, Schools and Families makes an annual report to the Sustainable Development Commission on energy consumed per full-time equivalent as part of their returns for the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report.
From the 2007 and 2008 SDiG Reports (available in full under “Publications” at:
http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/
—energy consumed per full-time equivalent for the office estate was (a) 5,187 kWh in 2006-07 and (b) 4,255 kWh in 2007-08.
Departmental Lost Property
The number of laptop computers reported as lost or stolen in the last five years are as follows:
Number lost or stolen 2008-09 6 2007-08 13 2006-07 9 2005-06 19 2004-05 37
Departmental Water
The Department for Children, Schools and Families makes an annual report to the Sustainable Development Commission on water consumption as part of their returns for the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report.
From the 2006 and 2007 SDiG Reports—available in full under “Publications” at:
http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/
—water consumption for the office estate was reported as (a) 61,569 m3 in 2005-06 and (b) 66,145 m3 in 2006-07 which equated to (a)(ii) 10.2m3 per full-time equivalent and (b)(ii) 10.9 m3 per full-time equivalent.
Extracurricular Activities: Essex
The information requested is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data were collected at local authority level only. Table 1 shows the number of out-of-school clubs in Essex in each of the last five years for which data were collected. The last year that Ofsted collected this information was 2008. Information on the number of holiday play schemes is not available as Ofsted do not collect these data.
Essex local authority area 2004 200 2005 200 2006 200 2007 200 2008 200 1 Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. 2 Data Source: Ofsted.
Ofsted has collected information on the number of registered child care places available to children aged eight and under on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Their latest figures were published in their report “Registered Childcare Providers and Places, March 2009”, which is available on their website:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Registered-childcare-providers-and-places-in-England-December-2008-onwards
School Meals
The School Food Trust has conducted research to examine school meal provision (including nutritional standards) in England and other Western European Countries—Harper and Wells, 2007, School meal provision in England and other Western European Countries: a review:
http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/UploadDocs/Library/Documents/sft_school_meals_review.pdf
The report revealed that England has the most comprehensive school food standards when compared with leading countries in Europe, as well as the US, Canada and Australia.
Schools: Admissions
The School Admissions Code requires admission authorities to explain clearly in their admission arrangements how the distance between the school and the child's home will be measured.
It is for schools or local authorities to determine the method of calculating such distances, although the system used must be
“reliable and reasonable system which parents can easily understand”.
Science: GCSE
In 2008, of the pupils at the end of key stage 4 who achieved a GCSE in both Core Science and Additional Applied Science, 47,767 (99.5 per cent.) were educated in the maintained mainstream sector and 185 (0.4 per cent. were educated in the independent sector.
Core Science and Additional Applied Sciences GCSEs were first introduced for teaching in 2006. There were no entries for students taking both qualifications in 2007.
Social Services: Haringey
The Department does not intend to place the letter in the Library—the letter itself is already in the public domain. It was, however, received by the Department in strict confidence and that confidence remains binding on the Department. The letter covered a statement of case relating to an employment tribunal hearing. This contains personal data relating to a number of individuals, and it would not be appropriate for the Department to make it available.
Work and Pensions
Climate Change
All Departments are actively involved in the cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change 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. Further details about the programme’s work can be found at
www.defra.gov/adaptation.
In April 2007 DWP commissioned the Met Office to undertake an initial, high level review of the potential impacts of climate change on the policies and operations of the Department. This report was delivered in January 2008, and concluded that there were a number of areas—such as increases in hot weather, and extreme weather events—which could impact on DWP services.
A more detailed review building on this report will be commissioned once the 2009 UK Climate Projections have been published by the UK Climate Impacts Programme later this summer. This will then give DWP policy makers and planners greater clarity of the potential impacts of climate change, covering opportunities as well as negative consequences, and allow them to build adaptations fully into future plans.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
The following table gives details of carbon emissions from offices in total, and per member of staff.
CO2 (offices) (Kg) Staffing CO2 per head (Kg) 2006-07 245,423,298 120,277 2,040 2007-08 216,519,724 110,490 1,959
As there is no requirement within the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate to report carbon per full-time equivalent member of staff, we have used for consistency the same staffing figures as used to calculate the water reduction targets. These include an agreed allowance for on site contractors/visitors.
Departmental Data Protection
Information is a key asset and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of the Government. The Department for Work and Pensions adheres to the Security Policy Framework and the Data Handling Report produced by the Cabinet Office. These provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place measures to ensure tight security.
Information on the number of people disciplined and dismissed for breaches of data protection requirements and inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data are not available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department records cases under the broad heading of disclosure of information but this is not broken down further. The information provided in the table records the number of staff disciplined under the broad heading of disclosure of information in the last 12 months.
Disciplined Jobcentre Plus 16 The Pension Disability and Carers Service 25 Corporate Centre 1— 1 The Department’s policy is not to publish data where five or fewer individuals are concerned because it might be possible to identify those employees.
If staff are found to have been responsible for a breach of data security procedures disciplinary action will be taken for serious or gross misconduct. Depending on the circumstances of the case deliberate unauthorised access to information is classified as serious misconduct which normally carries a penalty of a final written warning. If it is classified as gross misconduct it could lead to termination of employment. Persistent unauthorised access to or use of information is classified as gross misconduct which normally carries a penalty of dismissal.
Departmental Energy
DWP receives fully serviced accommodation from its estates partner Telereal Trillium under a PFI arrangement. DWP does not, therefore, have direct responsibility for investing in energy saving measures. However, there is an agreed shared savings mechanism which provides Telereal Trillium with an incentive to invest in such measures.
The amounts invested by our PFI partner, in projects such as water-less urinals, tea-boiler timers, increased insulation, savawatt plugs and lighting improvements, are as follows:
£ 2004-05 298,511 2005-06 416,705 2006-07 713,404 2007-08 491,000 Note:The figure for 2008-09 is estimated at £467,000.
The measures are piloted to validate the business case for their implementation before being introduced more widely. Their effectiveness is then further assessed on a financial basis, a year in arrears. DWP is involved in, and agrees, both of these processes.
Future plans involve the continued roll-out of automated meter reading (AMR) and the piloting of voltage optimisation equipment.
The DWP finance director general acts as senior responsible office for sustainable development within DWP. Improving energy efficiency features within the targets for sustainable operations on the Government estate, and as such responsibility for day-to-day delivery rests with the commercial director.
The following table gives details of energy consumption in offices in total, and per member of staff.
Energy consumption (kWh) Staffing Energy consumption/head (kWh) 2006-07 720,001,384 120,277 5,986 2007-08 620,037,275 110,490 5,611
As there is no requirement within the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate to report energy consumption per full-time equivalent member of staff, we have used for consistency the same staffing figures as used to calculate the water reduction targets. These include an agreed allowance for on-site contractors/visitors.
Departmental Manpower
The number of people employed in each of the Department’s business areas in the boroughs of Wyre, Blackpool and the City of Preston at 31 March of each year from 2005 to 2009 is shown in the following table:
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Borough of Wyre Jobcentre Plus 76 65 59 51 40 Pensions, Disability and Carers Service1 919 854 644 559 381 Child Support Agency2 0 3 1 2 0 Corporate and Shared Services 1,265 1,061 936 793 979 Total 2,260 1,983 1,640 1,405 1,400 Borough of Blackpool Jobcentre Plus 444 470 346 376 435 Pensions, Disability and Carers Service1 2,678 2,893 2,803 2,588 2,527 Child Support Agency2 2 0 144 168 0 Corporate and Shared Services 88 3 1 1 5 Total 3,212 3,366 3,294 3,133 2,967 City of Preston Jobcentre Plus 448 523 584 556 527 Pensions, Disability and Carers Service1 1,279 1,196 1,163 998 918 Child Support Agency2 2 2 1 1 0 Corporate and Shared Services 148 98 50 62 96 Total 1,877 1,819 1,798 1,617 1,541 1 The Pensions Disability and Carers Service was formed in 2008 by the merger of The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service. For consistency the figures have been combined for earlier years also. 2 The Child Support Agency transferred to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission on 1 November 2008. Note: Figures shown are on the basis of headcount i.e. the number of individual staff employed.
Departmental Waste
The following table gives details of waste arisings from offices in total, and per member of staff.
Waste arisings (metric tonnes) Staffing Waste per head (metric tonnes) 2006-07 22,365 120,277 0.186 2007-08 21,133 110,490 0.191
As there is no requirement within the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate to report waste arisings per full-time equivalent member of staff, we have used for consistency the same staffing figures as used to calculate the water reduction targets. These include an agreed allowance for on-site contractors/visitors.
Departmental Water
The following table gives details of water consumption within DWP:
Total consumption (m3) Staff figures Consumption per head (m3) 2005-06 1,179,739 126,600 9.3 2006-07 1,137,368 120,277 9.4
Please note that the staffing figure, in line with the reporting requirements of the Sustainable Development in Government Report, is based on the number of full-time equivalents including an agreed allowance for on site contractors/visitors.
Consumption further reduced in 2007-08 to 8.3m3.
Digitial Technology: Disadvantaged
[holding answer 21 April 2009]: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 11 June 2009, Official Report, column 974W.
Disability Living Allowance: Overseas Residence
(2) what estimate her Department has made of the cost of meeting in full all outstanding expatriate claims for disability living allowance, carers allowance and associated benefits;
(3) what steps her Department plans to take to comply with the ruling of the European Court of Justice on the payment of exportable benefits.
The Department is already complying with the European Court of Justice ruling on the payment of exportable disability benefits.
Approximately 2,100 people who are living in the European Economic Area or Switzerland have contacted the Department in relation to making a new claim or to request reinstatement of an award of disability living allowance, attendance allowance or carer's allowance that had been previously disallowed because they had moved abroad. The Exportability Teams have made decisions on around 1,100 of these cases and are continuing to process the remaining requests, of which there are around 1,000.
We estimate the cost of paying all people who are likely to satisfy the eligibility criteria for payment of the UK disability benefits within the European Economic Area and Switzerland to be in the region of £50 million per year by 2010-11.
Employment Services: Disabled
(2) what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of people with impaired speech who require effective text or other telephone relay services in order to obtain or retain employment; and if she will make a statement.
No such estimate has been made by this Department of the number of deaf and hard of hearing people or those with impaired speech who require text or other telephone relay services in order to obtain or retain employment.
However, through Access to Work, the Department supports employers to ensure that effective text and other telephone relay services are provided where this is the most suitable means of support.
No breakdown of the number of deaf and hard of hearing people having access to captioned telephony relay services through the Access to Work scheme is collected by this Department.
However, through Access to Work, the Department supports employers to ensure that captioned telephone relay services are provided where this is the most suitable means of support.
No breakdown of the number of sign language users having access to video relay services through the Access to Work scheme is collected by this Department.
However, through Access to Work, the Department supports employers to ensure that access to video relay services are provided where this is the most suitable means of support.
Foreign Workers
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 3 November 2008, Official Report, column 5W.
Future Jobs Fund
The hon. Member's question was answered on 16 June 2009, Official Report, column 163W.
Future Jobs Fund: Culture
[holding answer 18 June 2009]: The Future Jobs Fund is an important new initiative announced in the Budget 2009 worth £1 billion to create 150,000 new jobs both for young people and individuals living in unemployment hotspots. We are inviting bids from a wide range of organisations and partnerships including those from the culture and creative industries to create valuable jobs that bring real benefits to individuals and their communities.
The fund will be allocated following a competitive bidding process that opened on 13 May 2009. Initial bids from organisations and partnerships wanting to create jobs from October onwards should be submitted by 30 June 2009. After this date, bids will be assessed on a rolling basis with funding allocated around eight weeks before jobs are due to commence. We are unable to make any formal assessment at this stage given that we are yet to allocate any funding to potential employers.
It is important that we help young people and those struggling to find work to move into jobs in growth sectors to prepare them to be a part of the economic recovery. The culture and creative industries will be vital to the United Kingdom's economic recovery and so we are keen that they play an important role in delivering jobs through the Future Jobs Fund. Officials from both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have been working closely with representative bodies from these sectors to help them put together a strong bid to the fund.
Olympic Games 2012
The information is as follows:
Work area FTE Project Management 0.1 Legacy Planning 0.5 Project Oversight 0.5 Financial Oversight 0
DWP has recruited 0.6 FTE to support legacy planning and project oversight and has no plans to increase staffing levels in this area for the year 2009-10.
Work area FTE Project Management 3.2 Legacy Planning 1.2 Project Oversight 0.6 Financial Oversight 0
Current work-force plans for Jobcentre Plus extend to March 2010 over which period there is no increase expected.
Work area FTE Project Management — Legacy Planning — Project Oversight 3.5 Financial Oversight —
Inspection of the Olympic construction activities will be undertaken as an integral part of Construction Division’s workload.
Office for Disability Issues
The Office for Disability Issues has on a number of occasions provided advice and expertise to Ministers, other Government Departments and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games on disability issues relating to London 2012. It is not however, possible to quantify this in terms of staff numbers.
Pensioners: Economic Situation
The Government are continuing to support pensioners appropriately through the economic downturn. A £60 payment went to pensioners in early 2009, which took the total value of the Christmas bonus this year to £70.
An additional payment alongside the winter fuel payment for winters 2008-09 and 2009-10 of £50 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over. This means the winter fuel payments will be £250 and £400 respectively which provides a significant contribution towards an older person's winter fuel bill.
From April 2009 the pensioners on the lowest incomes saw the biggest increase to the pension credit standard minimum guarantee since it was introduced, taking the standard minimum guarantee to £130 a week for single people and £198.45 for couples.
In order to help those pensioners who receive income from savings and who may have been affected by lower interest rates, the Government will be increasing the threshold in pension credit (and housing and council tax benefit for those who have attained the qualifying age for pension credit) from £6,000 to £10,000 from November 2009, so that pensioners can have up to £10,000 without it affecting their benefits.
The Government have committed to maintain the standard interest rate used to calculate support for mortgage interest at 6.08 per cent. for a further six months until the end of December 2009, to provide continued support for homeowners on pension credit who receive help with their mortgage.
The Government are also launching a tax back awareness campaign in autumn 2009 contacting all those in receipt of pension credit to encourage them to claim back tax they may have overpaid on their savings income and, where possible, register to receive interest on their savings tax-free in future.
Social Security Benefits: Disabled
Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. To qualify for incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance, claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work which is called the personal capability assessment. Therefore, the medical condition recorded on the incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claim form does not itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefits. For example, the decision for a customer claiming incapacity benefit on the grounds of alcohol related conditions would be based on their ability to carry out the range of activities in the personal capability assessment.
The information for disability living allowance is not collated centrally.
The available information for incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance is in the table.
All alcohol related Aged under 18 Over pension age 1999 33,760 20 40 2000 36,750 20 20 2001 39,390 10 20 2002 41,910 20 20 2003 44,210 20 20 2004 46,660 20 20 2005 48,390 30 20 2006 49,870 30 20 2007 52,090 20 20 2008 53,980 20 30 Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Data are at August in each year. 3. State pension age is defined as age 60 or over for women and age 65 or over for men. 4. For the purposes of incapacity benefit only one diagnosis is recorded but an individual may have other conditions that contribute to their overall level of functional impairment. Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
Of the 60 complaints received under the heading “claimants’ experiences”, 41 involved Health Care Professionals. The term Health Care Professional covers both registered doctors and registered nurses who conduct medical examinations on behalf of the Department.
Vibration White Finger
The requested information is not available.
Woolworths: Redundancy
(2) how many former Woolworths employees are claiming jobseeker's allowance in each parliamentary constituency.
[holding answer 11 June 2009]: The information requested is not available. Details of previous employers are not collated centrally.
Written Questions: Government Responses
[holding answer 4 June 2009]: The hon. Member’s question was answered on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 49W.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices
The table shows the number of 16 to 18-year-olds starting an apprenticeship in North West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency, Cambridgeshire local authority, the East of England region and England for 2003/04 onwards, the earliest year for which we have comparable data.
2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 NW Cambridgeshire 230 230 170 210 200 Cambridgeshire 900 1,100 900 1,000 1,000 East of England 9,500 10,100 8,500 9,100 9,800 England 107,500 112,600 99,000 105,100 107,000 Notes: 1. Area is based on home postcode of learner. 2. Figures for parliamentary constituency have been rounded to the nearest 10. All other figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 3. Figures for England include those learners with missing postcodes, and home postcodes outside of England. Source: WBL ILR
The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08.
Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeship—up from 37 per cent. in 2004/05.
Apprentices: Merseyside
Table 1 shows the number of Level 2 apprenticeship starts in Crosby parliamentary constituency, and the five local authorities (including Sefton), which make up the metropolitan county of Merseyside.
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Crosby 190 210 160 200 180 Knowsley 700 800 600 600 700 Liverpool 1,600 1,800 1,500 1,800 2,000 Sefton 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,100 1,000 St. Helens 600 700 500 500 600 Wirral 1,300 1,500 1,200 1,100 1,300 Merseyside 5,200 5,700 4,700 5,100 5,700 Notes: 1. Parliamentary constituency volumes are rounded to the nearest ten and local authority figures to the nearest hundred. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. Local authority and parliamentary constituency are based upon the home postcode of the learner. 3. Programme-led apprenticeships recorded in WBL ILR returns are included in the above figures. Source: WBL ILR.
The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007-08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeship—up from 37 per cent. in 2004-05.
Basic Skills: Coventry
[holding answer 30 April 2009]: Numeracy and literacy courses are available across the country. Information on the number of different courses funded in a given year is not collected. FE colleges and providers are given indicative budgets based on the expected delivery of an overall volume of learning. The actual numbers and types of courses delivered by a college or provider will depend on demand.
Literacy and numeracy courses are available in Coventry at different times and venues across the city. This includes embedded provision, whereby learners can develop their literacy and numeracy as part of vocational courses. Learners achieve nationally recognised Skills for Life qualifications in literacy and numeracy and all levels of need are accommodated. Progression to the next level of qualification and to employment where appropriate is supported at all stages.
Bespoke courses for particular groups of learners are delivered by the organisations detailed as follows, including those specifically for; adults seeking employability skills, adults with learning difficulties, offenders on community provision, and family learning opportunities.
City College Coventry—offers embedded delivery across many vocational areas, including; Skills for Life for Construction, ICT, Food Hygiene, Health and Safety, and retail.
Coventry City Council—Adult and Community Learning—Delivery across many outreach centres throughout the City, with a particular focus on Offenders and Family learning opportunities.
Henley College Coventry—delivers embedded courses across a wide vocational spectrum, with a particular focus on Hospitality and ICT.
JHP Coventry—Offers a choice of embedded delivery in vocational areas, and assists unemployed adults to gain employment via the Employability Skills Programme.
The Statistical First Release (SFR) “Post-16 Education: Learner Participation, Outcomes and Level of Highest Qualification Held” (March 2009) provides information on the number of LSC-funded learners participating on Skills for Life Courses; the SFR can be found at the following link:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrmar09
Table 1 following shows the number of learners participating on Skills for Life literacy and numeracy courses by age group in Coventry local authority in 2007/08.
16 to 18 19+ Total Literacy 2,700 3,800 6,500 Numeracy 2,800 3,300 6,100 Notes: 1. Volumes are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. These figures include FE (including learndirect), WBL (including apprenticeships, Train to Gain and Entry to Employment) and Safeguarded Adult Learning. 3. This table uses learner volumes as a measure for comparative purposes. Learners participating in more than one type of course will be counted for each course type they are participating in e.g. a learner participating in literacy and numeracy courses in an FE college will be counted in both of these figures. However, learners that are included in different data collections e.g. FE and TtG, whether that relates to different years or different funding streams, will be counted once for each data collection. 4. Age is calculated based on age as at 31 August of the academic year. 5. Local authority has been based upon learner’s home postcode.
Building Colleges for the Future Programme
Capital funding for further education colleges is administered by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). As the information requested is with regard to an operational matter for the council, I have asked Geoffrey Russell, the acting LSC chief executive, to write to the hon. Member with the further information requested. A copy of his letter will be placed in the House Libraries.
Capital funding for further education colleges is administered by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). As the information requested pertains to records held by the council, I have asked Geoffrey Russell, the acting LSC chief executive, to write to my hon. Member with the further information requested. A copy of his letter will be placed in both the Libraries of the House.
Business Growth
The Department works closely with Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department of Work and Pensions, regional development agencies (RDAs) and with local authorities and others to stimulate business growth in local areas with relatively high levels of deprivation.
HMT, BIS and CLG jointly sponsor, and CLG manages, the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI). LEGI has been allocated £296 million over the 2008/09 to 2010/11 spending period, for targeted enterprise growth in deprived parts of 26 local authority areas. Local LEGI programmes can target very small local areas experiencing high deprivation.
Jointly with DWP, CLG sponsors the Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF), which provides £1.5 billion investment over the 2008/09 to 2010/11 period to tackle worklessness in deprived areas. One of the uses of WNF is encouragement of enterprise growth to benefit people in deprived areas.
CLG works closely with RDAs and with Business Link to help ensure that the needs of deprived areas are addressed in their work. Business Link offers a suite of business support products under the ‘Solutions for Business’ portfolio.
Departmental Data Protection
Departmental Reorganisation
The allocation of responsibilities to Ministers and officials is complete. Administrative changes will be completed as soon as practicable.
Further Education
On the 16 January, my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further Education wrote to 105 Members—listed as follows. The letter was targeted at those Members who had colleges in their constituencies that we were aware were affected by the position of the Further Education capital programme. The letter included an offer to meet with any Members who had concerns regarding further education colleges in their own constituencies.
Prior to 4 March and the Learning and Skills Council national Council meeting, my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further Education had been in correspondence with 58 Members regarding the position of the Further Education capital programme. On 6 March, following the national Council meeting, my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further Education wrote to each of the Members, updating them on the latest capital funding position, and again offering to meet with Members who had concerns regarding their own colleges.
A list of those 58 Members will be placed in the House Libraries.
MPs
16 January distribution list
David Heyes
Eric Illsley
John Mann
Frank Field
Gordon Marsden
Dr. Brian Iddon
Mark Simmonds
Marsha Singh
Ann Keen
David Lepper
Eric Martlew
Martin Harwood
Andrew Tyrie
Christine Russell
Roberta Blackman-Woods
Bob Russell
Richard Ottaway
Alan Milburn
Michael Mates
Stephen O'Brien
Ben Bradshaw
Austin Mitchell
Sylvia Heal
Iain Wright
David Willetts
Andrew Stunell
John Howell
Mark Prisk
Peter Atkinson
Jonathan Djanogly
Andrew Turner
Philip Hollobone
Ben Wallace
Jane Kennedy
Ian McCartney
Alan Meale
Dr. Julian Lewis
Norman Lamb
Henry Bellingham
Sally Keeble
Charles Clarke
Alan Simpson
Dr. Evan Harris
Stewart Jackson
Mike Hancock
Mark Hendrick
Nigel Evans
Susan Kramer
Philip Hammond
Lorely Burt
Stephen Ladyman
Dr. John Pugh
Shaun Woodward
Ms Dari Taylor
Mark Fisher
Lynda Waltho
John Maples
Andrew Mitchell
Jeremy Browne
Mark Pritchard
Sir John Stanley
Adrian Sanders
Dr. Vincent Cable
David Clelland
Mary Creagh
Denis Murphy
John Spellar
David Heathcoat-Amory
Rosie Cooper
Tim Farron
Dr. Richard Taylor
Ian Cawsey
Nadine Dorries
Ian Gibson
Bob Spink
Ian Stewart
Graham Stringer
Desmond Turner
Rob Wilson
Derek Wyatt
Meg Munn
Dr. Hywel Francis
Judy Mallaber
Damian Green
Tim Loughton
Doug Henderson
Paul Holmes
Michael Foster
Khalid Mahmood
Angela C. Smith
Janet Dean
Joan Walley
Tim Boswell
Alistair Burt
Laurence Robertson
John Penrose
Annette Brooke
Dawn Butler
Douglas Carwell
John Heppell
Sharon Hodgson
Paul Holmes
Andy Slaughter
Edward Timpson
Graham Allen
Total: 105
6 March distribution list:
Tony Lloyd MP
Stephen Hepburn MP
Stephen Haughton MP
Shona McIsaac MP
Sahid Malik MP
Rt. Hon. Jack Straw MP
Rt. Hon. George Howarth MP
Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP
Robert Key MP
Phil Hope MP
Paul Rowan MP
Mike Hall MP
Michael Foster MP
Michael Clapham MP
Mary Creagh MP
Mark Hoban MP
Jonathan Djanogly MP
John Mann MP
John Hayes MP
Jim Dobbin MP
Jeff Ennis MP
Janet Anderson MP
Ian Cawsey MP
Ian Austin MP
Gordon Marsden MP
Frank Dobson MP
Eric Illsley MP
Dr. Richard Taylor MP
Dr. Howard Stoate MP
Don Foster MP
Derek Twigg MP
Denis MacShane MP
Dawn Butler MP
David Wright MP
David Kidney MP
Dave Watts MP
Christine Russell MP
Celia Barlow MP
Ben Chapman MP
Ben Bradshaw MP
Barry Sheerman MP
Austin Mitchell MP
Anne Snelgrove MP
Alison Seabeck MP
Adrian Sanders MP
Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP
Nick Harvey MP
Mark Field MP
Malcolm Moss MP
Eric Martlew MP
Eleanor Laing MP
David Borrow MP
Dari Taylor MP
Austin Mitchell MP
Dr. Tony Wright MP
Rt. Hon. Andrew Smith MP
Joan Humble MP
Alan Keen MP
Total: 58
Higher Education: Admissions
University applicants are not required to provide details of their household income. However, if undergraduate students apply for means-tested student finance they are required to submit household income details. Complete information on household incomes is not held because some apply for non means-tested support, and household income details are not required for such products.
The latest information on the number of young undergraduate entrants from Tameside and Stockport local authorities is shown in the table. Figures for the 2008/09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
Academic year Stockport Tameside 1998/99 1,300 570 1999/00 1,370 660 2000/01 1,285 675 2001/02 1,380 695 2002/03 1,450 735 2003/04 1,385 760 2004/05 1,475 765 2005/06 1,580 865 2006/07 1,495 790 2007/08 1,480 785 1 “Young” refers to entrants aged under 21. 2 Covers entrants to both full-time and part-time courses. 3 Local authority is derived from postcode as recorded on the HESA student record. Those with missing or invalid postcodes will be coded as missing. 4 Excludes the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series. Notes: 1. Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December to provide consistency across the time series. 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
It is not possible to calculate what proportion of young people from Tameside and Stockport local authorities began an undergraduate course at a UK higher education institution in recent years. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) published “Young participation in higher education” in January 2005, which is available from the HEFCE website at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/
The HEFCE report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19 disaggregated by local education authority (LEA) for the years 1997 to 2000.
At national level, the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) covers English-domiciled 17 to 30-year-old first-time entrants to higher education courses, at UK higher education institutions and English, Scottish and Welsh further education colleges, who remain on their course for at least six months. The latest available figure is 43.3 per cent. in 2007/08. For young people (aged 17-20), the figure is 34.2 per cent.
Higher Education: Coventry
HEFCE block grant research funding allocations for 2009-10 for the university of Coventry and university of Warwick are shown in the tables that follow. These show allocations of funding awarded in relation to each unit of assessment submitted at the last Research Assessment Exercise. Once calculated, the funding is awarded as a block grant and Higher Education Institutions have the freedom to choose where to invest this funding—and need not spend it in the disciplines that “earned” it.
In addition, BIS funds research through the research councils. These largely fund on the basis of competitively selecting projects through peer review.
Unit of assessment HEFCE research funding for 2009-10 (£) 4 Other Hospital Based Clinical Subjects 1,087,016 7 Health Services Research 1,206,826 14 Biological Sciences 2,683,369 16 Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science 1,569,670 18 Chemistry 1,858,866 19 Physics 2,187,013 20 Pure Mathematics 1,324,095 21 Applied Mathematics 1,220,972 22 Statistics and Operational Research 996,912 23 Computer Science and Informatics 978,352 25 General Engineering and Mineral and Mining Engineering 3,348,681 34 Economics and Econometrics 1,546,661 36 Business and Management Studies 3,176,974 38 Law 718,560 39 Politics and International Studies 734,216 40 Social Work and Social Policy and Administration 542,639 41 Sociology 870,509 44 Psychology 489,549 45 Education 938,453 52 French 291,060 53 German, Dutch and Scandinavian Languages 128,388 54 Italian 174,491 57 English Language and Literature 936,679 59 Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 324,185 60 Philosophy 452,787 62 History 1,068,101 64 History of Art, Architecture and Design 201,491 65 Drama, Dance and Performing Arts 952,815 Total QR attributable to subjects 32,009,330 QR business research element 623,853 QR for national research libraries 0 Total research funding 32,633,183
Unit of assessment HEFCE research funding for 2009-10 (£) 12 Allied Health Professions and Studies 258,657 21 Applied Mathematics 113,827 23 Computer Science and Informatics 203,036 24 Electrical and Electronic Engineering 104,555 28 Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering 138,541 29 Metallurgy and Materials 141,732 31 Town and Country Planning 75,516 36 Business and Management Studies 56,097 37 Library and Information Management 68,229 38 Law 27,627 39 Politics and International Studies 95,390 40 Social Work and Social Policy and Administration 57,473 44 Psychology 7,462 45 Education 94,441 46 Sports-Related Studies 67,440 63 Art and Design 512,620 Total QR attributable to subjects 2,022,643 QR business research element 83,634 QR for national research libraries 0 Total research funding 2,106,277
Higher Education: Essex
The Government do not collect data on the number of adults resident in a particular area who are not in higher education, so it is not possible to calculate the proportion of 18 to 25-year-olds from Essex local authority and Castle Point constituency who were in higher education in 1997 and the latest date for which information is available.
The numbers of 18 to 25-year-old students from Essex and Castle Point who were enrolled in higher education are shown as an alternative in the table. Figures for the 2008-09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
1997-98 2007-08 Essex 16,040 21,290 Castle Point 840 1,100 1 Covers undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. 2 Local authority and parliamentary constituency are defined by full and valid home postcodes recorded on the HESA student record. Notes: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
Members: Correspondence
[holding answer 12 June 2009]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding, this is unacceptable and the hon. Member will receive a response shortly.
[holding answer 12 June 2009]: My colleague the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Broadcasting and Technology responded to the hon. Member on 11 June. I apologise for the delay which was caused by the current high volumes of correspondence.
[holding answer 12 June 2009]: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Economic Competitiveness, Small Business and Enterprise apologises for the delay in responding. This is unacceptable and the hon. Member will receive a response shortly
[holding answer 15 June 2009]: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding. This is unacceptable and we will respond shortly.
[holding answer 16 June 2009]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding. My hon. Friend the Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform will respond shortly.
Minimum Wage: Telephone Services
The helpline service—known as the Pay and Work Rights line—was procured using the COI’s Framework Agreement for Direct and Relationship Marketing Services. COI issued the invitation to tender to run the service to selected companies on its roster of pre-qualified helpline providers. The COI regards the tender documentation as commercially confidential.
Overseas Students: Russia
The latest information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is shown in the table. Figures for the 2008/09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
Level of study English HEIs Of which: London HEIs Postgraduate 1,235 530 Undergraduate 2,265 1,015 Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
Research Councils: Finance
[holding answer 12 June 2009]: The CSR 2007 allocations to the Research Councils’ out of the science and research budget were published in December 2007. Since then there have been additions to the Research Councils’ allocations as set out as follows.
Total (£000) 2008-09 21,061 2009-10 50,800
Total (£000) 2008-09 26,200 2009-10 19,900 Note: The loans were made on the condition that they are repaid by the end of CSR 2007.
Total (£000) 2008-09 52,555 2009-10 89,360
Vocational Training
(2) how many under 25-year-olds will receive (a) jobs and (b) training under the scheme announced in the Budget 2009.
I have been asked to reply.
Under the scheme announced in the Budget, every young person will be offered up to six months work, training or work experience.
We anticipate creating up to 150,000 new jobs through the Future Jobs Fund, providing at least 100,000 jobs for young people and a significant proportion in areas of high unemployment.
As well as the Jobs Fund, Jobcentre Plus will work with growth sectors to help up to 100,000 long-term unemployed young people access existing jobs in key employment sectors.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Learning and Skills Council will be able to offer more than 80,000 training places for young adults who have been unemployed for more than 12 months. We are not yet in a position to be able to predict which sectors jobs and training will be in.