Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 24 June 2009
International Development
Internally Displaced Persons: Sri Lanka
The formal military conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE has now ended. The entire humanitarian caseload of 280,000 IDPs are now in camps under the control of the GoSL. The humanitarian response is moving from an emergency to a maintenance phase and basic living conditions are slowly improving. However, the lack of activity permitted such as freedom of movement remains of concern. Early return of the IDPs to their homes is vital.
Palestinian West Bank
In 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) funded two conferences aimed at encouraging investment in Palestine. UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is now working with various stakeholders on conference follow-up and will be supporting a scoping mission to the West Bank in October.
In partnership with the World Bank, we are also supporting the Palestinian private sector through the Facility for New Market Development (FNMD), which is currently helping 138 companies (115 in the West Bank) to develop new products and/or enter new markets. FNMD clients have already developed four new products and entered 13 new international markets.
Faith Organisations
During 2007-8, the Department for International Development channelled over £21 million through faith organisations to support their development efforts.
Faith organisations play a direct and vital role tackling poverty in poor countries, providing essential services and humanitarian assistance. They are able to undertake inward and outward advocacy, mobilising support and helping change attitudes and behaviour of members on issues such as HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and the role of women.
Refugee Camps: Algeria
The Department for International Development (DFID) supports Sahrawi refugees through its share of the budget of the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and its £19 million 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.
Africa: Overseas Aid
I discussed these and other matters with my G8 development Minister counterparts in Rome on 11-12 June 2009. This meeting reaffirmed G8 commitments on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and international assistance confirmed at the G8 summit last year in Japan. The G8, under the presidency of Italy, is continuing its focus on Africa. Global health, including reducing the spread of infectious diseases, also remains a priority concern.
With less than three weeks until the G8 summit in July, discussions on the G8 development agenda, including meeting our commitments, are frequent and ongoing and taking place at ministerial and official level. They will be further discussed during the G8 Sherpa preparatory meetings scheduled for next week. The UK Government remain determined to meet their commitments to Africa and to fighting infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and polio and working towards the goal of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. We are pressing our G8 colleagues to do likewise.
Rural Areas
The Department for International Development (DFID) has around 277 professional advisers posted in developing countries. The majority of our overseas staff are deliberately based in capitals, to facilitate our discussions with host governments, donors, and non-governmental organisations, including agricultural and rural sector reform. Staff regularly travel to rural areas, but we do not collate information on such visits.
Sudan: Overseas Aid
The UK Government do not transfer funds directly to the Government of National Unity (GNU) or the Government of South Sudan (GoSS). Most UK aid to Sudan is channelled through UN and World Bank managed multi-donor pooled funds, such as the Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) in support of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, to which we have contributed £74.6 million since 2005 and through non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour
I have been asked to reply.
No assessment has been carried out.
Crime
The Home Office does not centrally collect data on incidents of street drinking. You may wish to view the data on consumption within a Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) which is provided in the table.
Within a DPPO area it is not an offence to consume alcohol. The offence is committed when a person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement of a police constable to refrain from consuming alcohol (Section 12 (4) of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001).
The number of PNDs issued for failure to comply with a requirement by a constable within a Designated Public Place Order are as follows:
485 in 2004, 712 in 2005, 1,061 in 2006 and 1,544 in 2007.
Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty, and issued with a level 2 fine1 at all courts for offences relating to the Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 in England and Wales, 2003-072,3,4Fine amount5Proceeded againstFound guiltyTotal finesFines up to £200Fines over £200 and up to £5002003108947372—2004122967878—200510176636212006101735959—20071139876751 1 A ‘level 2’ fine does not specify a minimum fine amount, only the statutory maximum for the given offence; therefore all fines in the above table could be classed as ‘level 2’ fines. There are a number of factors including the defendants’ ability to pay that will affect the courts’ decision to impose a fine and fine amounts should not solely be taken as an indication of the seriousness of the offence or offender.2 These data are on the principal offence basis.3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.4 Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions:Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice & Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice & Police Act 2001 S12.Contravene a community support officers’ requirement not to consume liquor.Penalty offence under S.1 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001—alcohol consumption in designated public places.5 Following quality assurance checks, one fine amount in 2003 has been removed. This amount was greater than the maximum permissible fine. Therefore the number of fines and the fine amount totals in 2003 will not match each other.Source:OCJR—E & A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit
DNA: Databases
As the National DNA Database does not hold data on whether those with records on it have been charged or convicted, the information requested is not available.
Entry Clearances
No visa applications were forwarded by entry clearance officers in Islamabad to the visa section in Abu Dhabi for assessment before 27 October 2008. Between 27 October 2008 and 31 May 2009, 18,036 of the applications that have been forwarded from Pakistan have been refused. These include applications from both Pakistani and Afghan nationals.
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.
All entry clearance officers recruited for long-term postings undertake a mandatory three week training course from the central training team in the UK. In addition to the central training, newly recruited officers in both Pakistan and Abu Dhabi receive additional training and mentoring over a minimum three month basis from experienced officers and managers already at post. Locally engaged entry clearance officers remain on probation for this three month period. At the end of the three month period, officers are assessed against objective performance benchmarks to inform their future training and development needs.
Entry Clearances: Afghanistan
There is no visa application centre in Afghanistan, nor has there been one in the past five years.
Entry Clearances: Pakistan
All visa applications have been checked for fraud in the last five years.
Prior to 27 October 2008, Entry Clearance Officers in Pakistan conducted passport forgery checks in all cases that had been approved for issue and document verification teams augmented this by checking supporting documents. Since 27 October 2008 the passport forgery check has been extended to all applications and supporting document verification takes place in over 80 per cent. of applications.
As of 31 May 2009 there are 13 UK-based entry clearance officers working in Islamabad, all of whom are British nationals. None are locally engaged.
The number of visa applications for entry to the UK that have been lodged in Pakistan since 1 January 2004 are as follows:
Visa applications lodged in Pakistan 2004 188,855 2005 168,019 2006 204,049 2007 175,966 2008 (1 January to 26 October) 132,855 27 October 2008 to 31 May 2009 66,415
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.
Entry Clearances: United Arab Emirates
As of 31 May 2009, there are 34 entry clearance officers based in Abu Dhabi, including seasonal relief staff. There are 11 permanent UK-based entry clearance officers and 10 locally engaged entry clearance officers.
Firearms: Crime
Available data relate to offences recorded in the period 1998-99 up to and including 2007-08, and are shown in the following table. Data for the period 2003-04 to 2007-08 by police force area were published in table 2.12 of “Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2007-08”, an internet-only Home Office Statistical Bulletin available at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0209.pdf
Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person, or used as a threat.
The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Data for the years up to and including 2001-02 are not directly comparable with those for later years.
Recorded crime Number of offences Police force area 1998-992 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-023 2002-034 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 North East Region Cleveland 20 26 16 24 18 45 37 41 19 15 Durham 13 40 18 19 16 15 21 18 14 45 Northumbria 76 107 99 86 103 169 182 137 111 78 North West Region Cheshire 32 22 44 50 31 44 61 71 41 59 Cumbria 11 5 13 9 13 11 26 18 21 18 Greater Manchester 647 875 935 1,361 1,240 1,275 1,268 1,200 993 1,160 Lancashire 50 78 59 103 66 58 259 372 364 349 Merseyside 286 240 278 299 318 483 491 485 410 398 Yorkshire and the Humber Region Humberside 76 61 69 63 68 68 174 108 117 58 North Yorkshire 11 8 9 28 18 23 13 15 14 17 South Yorkshire 75 114 129 170 153 127 185 301 211 202 West Yorkshire 193 191 335 332 333 269 318 355 319 332 East Midlands Region Derbyshire 52 65 72 58 73 75 149 109 83 70 Leicestershire 98 71 58 74 174 141 123 89 109 134 Lincolnshire 16 19 24 22 37 26 90 72 45 41 Northamptonshire 54 48 40 55 107 123 113 128 159 164 Nottinghamshire 112 173 157 204 264 233 303 277 196 240 West Midlands Region Staffordshire 23 53 108 116 131 108 144 128 94 123 Warwickshire 20 14 39 53 62 102 73 80 90 107 West Mercia 38 36 41 54 48 62 151 115 58 124 West Midlands 407 664 817 1,288 1,101 1,138 959 946 979 974 East of England Region Bedfordshire 46 56 48 82 86 89 94 103 86 83 Cambridgeshire 35 43 31 49 57 34 50 34 24 30 Essex 47 61 77 98 148 145 193 280 255 260 Hertfordshire 30 36 36 69 139 138 139 114 89 112 Norfolk 34 24 20 26 36 33 23 29 34 43 Suffolk 15 18 22 15 28 45 59 58 42 38 London Region5 2,034 2,945 3,036 4,199 4,202 3,891 3,697 3,884 3,331 3,399 South East Region Hampshire 38 52 49 58 97 130 148 85 122 100 Kent 76 109 108 60 64 65 100 142 92 82 Surrey 35 42 52 40 34 88 63 87 60 70 Sussex 115 119 110 155 136 82 67 85 84 69 Thames Valley 96 107 198 267 362 421 437 401 332 322 South West Region Avon and Somerset 71 103 100 131 119 123 196 167 138 116 Devon and Cornwall 75 81 64 52 36 84 189 174 132 111 Dorset 11 12 14 34 17 45 49 27 28 21 Gloucestershire 22 21 23 89 92 108 87 77 65 43 Wiltshire 19 10 13 26 60 53 49 43 69 49 Wales Dyfed-Powys 16 13 26 26 17 37 40 21 17 25 Gwent 26 19 11 18 52 74 85 53 33 47 North Wales 26 10 6 6 18 11 60 88 98 53 South Wales 31 52 67 56 74 47 104 71 67 84 England and Wales 5,209 6,843 7,471 10,024 10,248 10,338 11,069 11,088 9,645 9,865 England and Wales (excluding London region) 3,175 3,898 4,435 5,825 6,046 6,447 7,372 7,204 6,314 6,466 1 Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. 2 There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. 3 Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. 4 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable. 5 City of London and Metropolitan police force areas.
Human Trafficking
It is not possible to break down the arrest and convictions for each of the last five years.
Figures from the UKHTC indicate that since the inception of the dedicated legislation, there have been a total of 568 arrests for human trafficking offences which have resulted in a total of 114 convictions. The figures for the number of arrests which are set out by force area below include 100 cases on which the outcome is not yet known.
Arrests Convictions Avon and Somerset 0 0 Bedfordshire 7 1 Cambridgeshire 23 0 Cheshire 2 1 Cleveland 3 0 Cumbria 1 0 Derbyshire 11 0 Devon and Cornwall 8 3 Dorset 3 1 Durham 1 1 Dyfed-Powys 2 0 Essex 11 0 Gloucestershire 7 0 Greater Manchester 63 8 Gwent 2 0 Hampshire 14 1 Hertfordshire 6 0 Humberside 1 0 Kent 7 4 Lancashire 18 6 Leicestershire 15 3 Lincolnshire 2 0 Metropolitan 129 43 City of London 0 0 Merseyside 0 0 Norfolk 5 0 Northamptonshire 11 0 Northumbria 7 1 North Wales 3 0 North Yorkshire 8 0 Nottinghamshire 17 0 South Wales 20 6 South Yorkshire 22 10 Staffordshire 4 0 Suffolk 9 0 Surrey 8 3 Sussex 27 0 Thames Valley 9 4 Warwickshire 5 5 West Mercia 9 3 West Midlands 44 5 West Yorkshire 14 5 Wiltshire 6 0 BTP 4 0
Human Trafficking: Prosecutions
Figures provided by the UK Human Trafficking Centre indicate as of 24 May there have been 16 prosecutions and seven convictions for trafficking for the purposes of forced labour.
Figures from the Crown Prosecution Service indicate a total of 267 people prosecuted under sections 57-59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
In this total there have been 106 convictions plus three for conspiracy to traffick which have arisen from sexual exploitation cases.
Parenting Contracts
I have been asked to reply.
The Department collects and publishes data on the use by local authorities in England of education-related parenting contracts for poor behaviour and attendance at school. Data is collected directly from local authorities. Since data collection began in September 2004 to 31 August 2008, 55,107 parenting contracts for attendance have been issued to parents and 7,752 contracts have been issued for behaviour. Information on the number of parenting contracts issued to parents in each local authority can be found at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/behaviourandattendance/about/data.cfm
Data in relation to parenting contracts issued to parents following their child's criminal conduct or antisocial behaviour is collected and published by the Home Office for the voluntary Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Survey. It can be found at:
http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/asbos/asbos02b.xls
Data is available by region only.
Police: Essex
These issues are a matter for the police authority in Essex, however individual chief police officers are responsible for the data held, managed and used by their respective forces. All chief officers in England and Wales are required to have regard for the statutory code of practice for the Management of Police Information, introduced in 2005, which requires forces to adopt practices for the management of information that ensure such information is used effectively for police purposes and in compliance with the law.
In addition, the Association of Chief Police Officers has a community security policy (CSP) which all forces are required to be compliant with by March 2010. This policy covers a set of wide ranging controls to ensure data is kept secure. Reporting on compliance with the CSP is managed through the Police Information Assurance Board (PIAB) and supported by the National Policing Improvement Agency.
Treasury
Banks: Regulation
Treasury Ministers and officials meet representatives of the British Bankers’ Association to discuss a wide range of issues as need arises and receive written representations on a wide variety of issues. It is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings or receive correspondence.
Capital Gains Tax
It is not possible to provide an estimate with the information available.
Child Benefit
The cost of child benefit in 2008-09 was £11,265 million.
Estimates of the proportion of expenditure allocated to families with gross incomes of over (a) £25,000, (b) £40,000 and (c) £60,000 per year are provided in the following table.
Percentage Families with gross incomes over: (a) £25,000 per year 55 (b) £40,000 per year 34 (c) £60,000 per year 16 Note: The numbers in this table are not mutually exclusive
The Family Resources Survey, on which these estimates are based, provides unreliable estimates for households with high incomes. An accurate estimate for (d) could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Corporation Tax: Business
I refer the hon. Member to Table 5 of the 2008 pre-Budget report: Tax ready reckoner and reliefs, which provides estimates of the effects of illustrative tax changes, and is available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr08_taxreadyreckoner_287.pdf
These figures exclude the behavioural impact of a reduction in the small company's rate, which is likely to lead to an increase in tax motivated incorporations.
Departmental Manpower
The Strategy Unit are not conducting any work related to the responsibilities of DECC. However, the Strategy Unit are examining questions relating to energy as part of a broader piece of work on the European Neighbourhood Policy.
PMDU have recently worked with DECC on delivery of home insulation commitments and on assessing progress of PSA 27 for which DECC are the lead Department.
Departmental Work Experience
No graduate internships have been awarded in the last six months. However, there have been a number of undergraduate placements arranged through various Government schemes this year.
Equitable Life Assurance Society
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: Sir John Chadwick has been appointed by the Government to review available information and consider a number of issues in relation to determining relative losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders, and their impact. Sir John’s work will inform the establishment of an ex-gratia payments scheme.
Last week Sir John issued a document that set out his proposed approach and issues to be addressed in his work, alongside announcing his formal appointment of actuarial support and the launch of his website. The document gives interested parties an opportunity to comment on Sir John’s proposed approach and written comments are invited to be sent to Sir John’s office by 17 July 2009.
Sir John expects to make an interim report to Government later this summer, containing a definitive statement of his approach for determining relative losses and a definitive list of the specific issues he will address.
It is intended that a statement will be made to the House updating it on Sir John’s work and the establishment of the payments scheme before it rises on 21 July 2009.
Government Departments: Standards
Since their introduction in the 1998 comprehensive spending review (CSR), public service agreements (PSAs) have played a vital role in galvanising public service delivery and driving major improvements in outcomes. Department’s performance in the previous spending review period is always taken into consideration in any new spending review. The Prime Minister’s delivery unit was established in 2001, and while delivery of PSAs is ultimately the responsibility of individual Departments PMDU and HM Treasury work closely to support Departments to ensure delivery against these challenging commitments. Currently 70 per cent. of SR02 PSAs are assessed as met, met-ongoing or partly met, while 56 per cent. of SR04 PSAs are assessed as met, ahead or on course.
Kaupthing Bank: Compensation
[holding answer 9 June 2009]: On 8 October 2008, the FSA concluded that Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Ltd. no longer met threshold conditions and was in default for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The Treasury, using an order under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008, transferred KSF’s deposit book of “Kaupthing Edge” accounts to ING Direct. The Government also committed to paying out in full FSCS eligible depositors whose accounts were not transferred.
The remainder of KSF’s business was subsequently placed into administration following due legal process. The administrators are responsible for managing the remainder of KSF’s business and loan book to maximise recovery for creditors. The administrators will continue to deal with the assets in compliance with insolvency law and the provisions of the transfer order (including those provisions of the transfer order which confer certain limited functions on the Treasury in relation to the assets of KSF). Those depositors that are ineligible for FSCS compensation will be creditors of the bank in the normal way and paid out in accordance with UK insolvency procedures.
Deposits with Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man) (KSF IoM) will be subject to the Isle of Man deposit compensation scheme. This scheme is administered by the Isle of Man authorities.
National Insurance Contributions
I refer the hon. Member to Table 5 of the 2008 pre-Budget report: Tax ready reckoner and reliefs, which provides estimates of the effects of illustrative tax changes, and is available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr08_taxreadyreckoner_287.pdf
These figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response.
Public Expenditure
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the debt interest the Government will pay in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: Projections for debt interest and annually managed expenditure (AME) for 2010-11 are shown in table C9 of the Budget 2009 document. Projections for total public sector current expenditure and public sector net investment to 2013-14 are shown in table C4 of the same document.
Total AME programmes to 2010-11 have been forecast consistent with the economic assumptions and policy decisions set out in Budget 2009.
Royal Bank of Scotland: Pay
UK Financial Investments Ltd. (UKFI) has been set up to manage the Government’s investments in financial institutions on a commercial basis and at arm’s length. As part of this work UKFI is monitoring the non-lending conditions, including remuneration, attached to recapitalisation and participation in the Asset Protection Scheme for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). HM Treasury has regular discussions with UK Financial Investments and regularly monitors UKFI’s performance against its objectives.
UKFI has worked to ensure management incentivisation based on long-term, sustainable performance and no rewards for failure, in order to protect the interest of the taxpayer as a shareholder.
RBS has announced that there will be no bonuses or pay increases made to staff associated with the major losses suffered in 2008 and that board executive directors will receive no bonus for 2008 performance and no pay increase in 2009. No discretionary cash bonuses will be paid in 2009 for performance in 2008, and only legally binding guaranteed bonuses will be paid.
Social Security Benefits: Families
Estimates of the number of child trust fund accounts opened for children born on or before 5 April 2007, in each parliamentary constituency, are available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctf/cons-stats-oct08.pdf
Latest estimates of the average number of families benefiting from tax credits, as well as the average number of in-work families benefiting from the child care element in each Government office region, local authority and parliamentary constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes, are available in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised annual awards. Geographical analyses 2006-07”. This publication is available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
HMRC do not produce these statistics separately for child tax credit and working tax credit. Information is not yet available for 2007-08 at parliamentary constituency level. Further information can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tc-delay-07-08.htm
Latest estimates of the number of families who were claiming child benefit in the areas requested are provided in the HMRC annual publication “Child Benefit geographical statistics. August 2006”, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_benefit/geog-aug06.pdf
Figures for August 2007 are not yet available.
Taxation: Telecommunications
British Telecom is assessed for business rates in the Central rating lists for England and Wales. Their rateable values are shown in the Central rating lists which are available on the Valuation Office Agency’s website at:
www.voa.gov.uk
It is not possible to disaggregate how much of the rateable value is attributable to fibre.
Fibre optic telecommunication networks are assessed for business rates, the majority, on local billing authority rating lists with a small number on the Central Lists for England and Wales. We do not hold information on the amount of rates collected by local authorities from fibre optic cable networks. The Valuation Office Agency does not collect business rates.
The Government intend to consult on the proposal for a general supplement on all fixed copper lines for a Next Generation Fund by September. The details of the Government's proposals will be set out in that consultation.
VAT: Training
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
The VAT treatment of chef training is governed by the rules relating to the exemption from VAT for education. There are currently two categories of exemption: educational training supplied by an 'eligible body' and private tuition supplied by an individual (acting independently of an employer) in a subject ordinarily taught in a school or a university.
The list of eligible bodies was drawn up by the previous Government in 1994 to reflect the scope of the exemption laid down in the EU Directive, which is for supplies by public bodies and those with similar aims.
Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments
Information on the number of families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments at UK level can be found in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publications, “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards. Supplement on Payments”, for the years 2003-04 to 2007-08 available at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm
Similar Information at country, regional, local authority and constituency level, can be found in the HMRC publications, “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics; Finalised Annual Awards; Supplement on Payments and Geographical Analysis” for the years 2003-04 to 2006-07 at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
Geographical information for 2007-08 is not yet available.
More details can be found at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tc-delav-07-08.htm
Working Tax Credit
Parents and people with a disability are eligible for Working Tax Credit if they work at least 16 hours per week, while other people, who face less of a barrier to work, are eligible if they work 30 hours per week. The working tax credit has helped improve work incentives for people on low incomes to ensure that work pays. The Government believe it is important to protect these achievements, and while it keeps all aspects of tax credits under review, it currently has no plans to change the hours rules.
However, to protect people affected by the economic downturn, the Government announced in the Budget that from 31 July anyone who ceases to be eligible for Working Tax Credit because of a fall in working hours will continue to receive support for four weeks. This support, worth up to £68 per week for a couple without children and £32 per week for a single person, will help households as they adjust to their new work situation.
Written Questions: Government Responses
I have replied to the hon. Member.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
There are currently no UK military personnel embedded with Pakistani military units. As part of normal military relations, UK non-embedded military staff based at the British high commission in Islamabad provide a liaison and co-ordination function between the Pakistani military and UK and NATO operations in Afghanistan.
[holding answer 16 June 2009]: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Ministry of Defence holds statistics on the number of casualties suffered by UK forces in Afghanistan since 2001, which are published on the Ministry of Defence website at:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInAfghanistanBritishCasualties.htm
We do not comment on the casualties suffered by other nations, which are matters for the countries concerned.
The UK has commanded Regional Command (South) once, between May 2007 and February 2008, since it was established in 2006. In February 2007 the endorsed force level for British troops in Afghanistan was 7,700.
Armed Forces: Northern Ireland
The Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation produce these figures quarterly in Tri-Service Publication 10—“UK Regular Forces Stationed Location” report, which is available on the DASA website at the following address:
http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=67&pubType=0&thiscontent=1800&date=2009-05-29
Defence
No date has been set for a defence review.
Departmental Food
A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food procured by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased.
Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. The proportion of domestically produced food procured by MOD has gone up from 43 per cent. in 2006-07 to 59 per cent. in 2007-08. A third report is expected to be published at the end of 2009.
Employment Tribunals Service
The number of employment related matters involving the Ministry of Defence in the last three financial years are provided in the following table.
Financial year 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Scotland 13 14 3 Northern Ireland 7 6 4 England and Wales 99 139 111
The figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland represent the total number of cases brought against the MOD before employment tribunals or other courts in the past three financial years. The case categories for Scotland and Northern Ireland are set out in the following table.
In contrast the figures for England and Wales represent the number of cases opened by the Treasury Solicitors on behalf of the MOD in England and Wales in the financial years 2006-07 to 2008-09. Not all of the cases opened by the Treasury Solicitors have resulted in proceedings being started in an employment tribunal or other courts. To provide information on the number of cases brought to an employment tribunal in England and Wales could have been provided only at disproportionate cost. For the cases opened by Treasury Solicitors the case categories are provided as follows.
Case category Number of cases Age discrimination 21 Disability discrimination 48 Equal pay 21 Race discrimination 20 Religious discrimination 5 Sex/gender discrimination 49 Unfair/constructive dismissal 99 Breach of contract 15 Working time 4 Wages claim/unlawful deduction 12 Holiday/maternity pay claim 2 Redundancy 3 Transfer of undertakings 9 Other 41
In Scotland a total of 30 cases were brought in the financial years 2006-07 to 2008-09. 25 cases were brought to an employment tribunal, four other cases were brought in other courts or other specialist tribunals and one case was transferred to be dealt with in England and Wales. Not all of the cases brought to a tribunal or court went through the full tribunal or court procedure; several were settled or withdrawn. The case categories are set out as follows.
Case category Number of cases Age discrimination 2 Disability discrimination 3 Equal pay 1 Sex/gender discrimination 2 Breach of contract 4 Unfair/constructive dismissal 6 Wages claim/unlawful deductions 6 Reserve forces appeals tribunal 2 Other 2 Cases involving a combination of categories 2
In Northern Ireland a total of 17 cases were brought to an industrial tribunal or the Fair Employment Tribunal in the financial years 2006-07 to 2008-09. Not all of these cases would have gone through the full tribunal procedure; several were settled or withdrawn, some remain outstanding and one case was transferred to the Treasury Solicitors. The case categories are set out as follows.
Case category Number of cases Age discrimination 2 Disability discrimination 2 Equal pay 14 Race discrimination 3 Religious discrimination 2 Sex/gender discrimination 1 Unfair/constructive dismissal 3 1 This includes one part time equal pay claim which has been transferred from the Crown Solicitors Office to the Treasury Solicitors and which covers a total of 1,053 claimants.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Within Baghdad, the Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General Multi-National Forces-Iraq is under operational command of the UK's Chief of Joint Operations, working within the US command chain to fulfil the duties implicit in his coalition appointment. The Senior British Military Representative-Iraq has operational control of all UK staff officers embedded in the Multi-National Force-Iraq structure and delegate's tactical command of these individuals as appropriate.
A number of UK forces in Baghdad are assigned to the NATO Training Mission -Iraq, where fully embedded UK staff officers are under operational command of NATO and a UK infantry platoon providing force protection at the Iraqi Military Academy is under the operational control of the Senior British Military Representative Iraq and tactical command of NATO. All UK staff assigned to the NATO Training Mission are under administrative control of NATO for routine life support.
Within southern Iraq the UK currently has command of Coalition Task Force Iraqi Maritime which overseas the protection of the Iraqi offshore oil platforms and maintenance of the security of Iraqi Territorial Waters.
UK forces who remain on the Contingency Operating Base in Basra are under the operational control of the UK's Joint Force Logistics Commander, for the purposes of withdrawal. While no formal command and control relationships exist between these individuals and hosting US Forces, the US are responsible for their security and life support.
The Prime Minister set out our future plans for Iraq in the House on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 22. Permissions for UK operational and training activities in Iraq expired on 31 May and we have paused in our support to the Iraqi military.
Nuclear Weapons
The 33rd meeting of the UK/US Stocktake was held in the Ministry of Defence, Main Building, Whitehall, London on Tuesday 9 June. The programme comprised discussions on nuclear threat reduction, warhead, and platform issues, together with a consideration of potential future exchanges.
I am withholding a copy of the programme for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
Nuclear Weapons: Public Opinion
[holding answer 22 June 2009]: Questions on the retention of the UK’s nuclear deterrent were included in the public poll on perceptions of the Ministry of Defence and UK armed forces conducted in December 2003.
The following figures were collated for the public opinion poll on whether the UK should keep its nuclear weapons:
8 per cent. strongly agreed
35 per cent. tended to agree
25 per cent. tended to disagree
9 per cent. strongly disagreed
Nuclear Weapons: Transport
The Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines element of the nuclear weapon convoy security escort provides specific capabilities to counter a no-notice terrorist attack.
Transport
A303
The Highways Agency carries out safety inspections every 28 days on trunk roads and the last one at this location was on 2 June 2009. No safety critical defects were identified in this inspection.
We are aware of minor defects to the road surface that do not pose an immediate danger to the travelling public, and overnight repairs are planned for the week commencing 22 June 2009 to deal with the most significant of these.
In a five year period the Countess Roundabout has had a recorded 32 accidents across all arms of the roundabout and the circulatory carriageway. None of the accidents had a poor or defective road surface listed as a contributing factor.
Annual Safety Statements concerning road safety are compiled by the Highways Agency across the entire trunk road network including Countess Roundabout. The most recent statement for this location was issued in October 2008.
Airports
“The Future of Air Transport” White Paper, which set out the strategic framework for the development of airport capacity in the United Kingdom to 2030, identified 30 major airports in the UK. The following table lists, in the right hand column, the major airports and in the left hand column the constituency or constituencies within which each airport is situated:
Constituency Airport England Blackpool, South Blackpool International Fylde Brigg and Goole Cleethorpes Humberside International Christchurch Bournemouth International Crawley London Gatwick Don Valley Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield East Ham London City Poplar and Canning Town Eastleigh Southampton Southampton, Itchen Hayes and Harlington London Heathrow Leeds, North-West Leeds Bradford International Pudsey Liverpool, Garston Liverpool John Lennon Luton, South London Luton Meriden Birmingham International Mid Norfolk Norwich International Norwich, North Newcastle upon Tyne, North Newcastle International North Cornwall Newquay, Cornwall North West Leicestershire East Midlands Plymouth, Devonport Plymouth City Saffron Walden London Stansted Sedgefield Durham Tees Valley Stockton, South Tatton Manchester Wythenshawe and Sale, East Tiverton and Honiton Exeter Woodspring Bristol International Northern Ireland Belfast, East Belfast City South Antrim Belfast International Scotland Central Ayrshire Glasgow Prestwick Edinburgh, West Edinburgh Gordon Aberdeen Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Inverness Paisley and Renfrewshire, North Glasgow Wales Vale of Glamorgan Cardiff International
Aviation: Fees and Charges
The Department for Transport has received some 130 letters about the carriage of oxygen. European Regulation 1107/2006 on the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air does not impose specific obligations on airlines to carry or provide oxygen in the cabin. Where air carriers do supply medical oxygen to passengers on request, it is possible to make a charge for this service. However, many airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet and Flybe allow passengers to use their own oxygen and their own Portable Oxygen Concentrator free of charge. It is important that passengers know airlines' charging policies before choosing which carrier to fly with.
Aviation: Noise
(2) what recent discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on its policy on the fitting of silencers to light aircraft; and if he will make a statement.
Aerodromes are expected to consider the environmental impact of their operations and apply measures designed to minimise the noise impact on the local population. To assist aerodromes in this task, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published best practice guidance on noise considerations at general aviation aerodromes which is available on their website. This guidance also serves to provide members of the public with an explanation of the constraints and factors that must be considered by aerodrome operators when deciding on the noise mitigation measures that could be adopted.
In the UK, aircraft are required to comply with the Aircraft Noise standards recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and published in annex 16 to the Chicago Convention (annex 16, volume 1). The certification requirements place a maximum decibel limit on the noise level that an aircraft may produce, and are specific to the aircraft type concerned. The requirements do not specify how those noise limits should be met, e.g. through the use of silencers.
The Department for Transport has not had any recent discussions with the CAA about the fitting of silencers to light aircraft. The effective management of aircraft noise includes a number of elements, including action to address noise at source. While it is possible to fit silencers to some light aircraft, this can have an effect on engine power and consequently aircraft performance. The CAA must take these factors into account on a case by case basis when considering whether the installation of silencers on different types of light aircraft.
Birmingham Airport: Air Pollution
The Department for Transport only produces noise contours for the three London noise designated airports—Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Elsewhere the monitoring of aircraft noise falls to the local airport operator.
However in line with the EU Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EU (transposed by the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations (2006)), Birmingham International Airport—in common with other airports with 50,000 movements and above—is required to commence formal consultation on a Noise Action Plan by 1 July. These draft plans, which have been prepared in response to noise mapping contours produced in 2007, are required to be developed in consultation with the local community.
Bus Services: Concessions
The Department for Transport is not responsible for issuing passes and so do not maintain records of how many passes individual authorities have issued.
Chorley and Lancashire are part of the NoWcard scheme. The last information held by the Department is that; as of April 2008 the NoWcard scheme had received 280,200 applications from older and disabled people.
Departmental Conditions of Employment
The Department for Transport is considering standardisation of human resource processes and detailed work on initial key areas, such as developing e-recruitment, is under way.
The specific issues identified by the National Audit Office as needing addressing in the medium-term, including the approach to travel and subsistence claims and annual performance appraisals, are not yet planned in detail. Specific timetables to address these have not yet been scheduled.
Departmental Data Protection
Data on breaches of information security for the last five years for the Department for Transport and its agencies is not held centrally.
The Department and its agencies report all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information on personal data security breaches are 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.
Departmental Electricity
The Department for Transport reports its electricity derived from renewable sources figures through the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report. The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are as follows:
Renewable Electricity kWh Percentage of total electricity 2006-07 32,203,331 62.5 2007-08 29,713,276 55.3
The figures have fallen due to an increased use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and the over estimation of consumption in 2006-07, but the Department for Transport’s target to use electricity of which more than 10 per cent. has been derived from renewable sources has been exceeded.
Departmental Food
A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased and shows that the proportion of domestically produced food procured by the Department for Transport in 2007-08 was 71 per cent.
A third report is expected to be published at the end of 2009.
Departmental Plants
The Department for Transport spent £87,401 on pot plants and £3,419 on cut flowers in 2008-09. This excludes spend incurred at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency as the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Spend on pot plants includes provision, maintenance and replacement of plants.
All expenditure was incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Disability Discrimination Act
The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 require all buses and coaches both old and new to comply with the provisions of Disability Discrimination Act 1995, from 2015 through to 2017 for buses, and from 2020 for coaches. Buses used on local services have been steadily becoming more accessible. In 2008 (the latest statistics available), around 62 per cent. of the bus fleet meet low floor and accessibility requirements.
Almost 5000 rail vehicles (including 42 per cent. of the national train fleet) are in service, having been built to modern access standards. Furthermore, almost all older rail vehicles have featured increased accessibility as they have undergone refurbishment.
Exhaust Emissions: Essex
The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block funding to local transport authorities for capital investment in transport. Funding provided by the Department to local authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, such as the development of low-carbon transportation. The following table shows funding support the Department provided for Essex from 2004-05 to 2008-09.
£ million 2008-09 12.932 2007-08 12.518 2006-07 13.327 2005-06 13.800 2004-05 14.250
Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's Formula Grant.
The Department has funded sustainable travel projects such as the 'Walking to School Initiative Grant scheme'—in 2008-09 Essex schools received £20,500. It has provided Essex county council with £10,000 for cycle training grants in 2008-09. The Department has also made the following funding available to Essex county council in the last five years for Rural Bus Subsidy and cycling ‘Links to School’:
Rural Bus Subsidy Links to School 2008-09 1.893 0.195 2007-08 1.847 0.076 2006-07 1.804 0.277 2005-06 1.761 0.235 2004-05 1.694 —
Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) has been reformed to link better with Government objectives, particularly on climate change. The previous link between BSOG and fuel duty has now been broken and only those bus operators who achieve a 6 per cent. improvement in their fuel efficiency compared with the previous one or two years will receive an increase of 3 per cent. in their BSOG from April 2010. In addition, operators will receive an additional 6p per kilometre on routes operated by low carbon emission buses from 1 April 2009.
Detailed policies and proposals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions will be published in the Department’s Carbon Reduction Strategy this summer.
Fishing Vessels
Further to my answer of 16 June 2009, Official Report, column 172W, concerning the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) research into the stability criteria for small fishing vessels; the MCA plan to meet with research consultants during July to review their conclusions before the fishing industry Fishing Vessel Stability Working Group meets in August 2009. Following the working group meeting they plan to provide simple and practical guidance about stability of small fishing boats.
Humber Bridge: Tolls
We have now received and are considering the Inspector's report following the public inquiry on the Humber Bridge Board's toll review application. A decision will be made as soon as possible.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Pay
The information is not available in the format requested; however the amounts paid in bonuses by grade in each of the last five years is shown in the following table:
Total Grade 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 AA (Admin) 5,536 5,902 5,829 6,471 6,187 AA (Operational) 40,399 43,070 42,540 47,224 45,150 AO (Admin) 50,352 53,681 53,020 58,859 56,273 AO (Operational) 45,707 48,728 48,129 53,429 51,082 EO (Admin) 43,443 46,315 45,745 50,782 48,551 EO (Operational) 56,355 60,081 59,342 65,876 62,982 HEO (Admin) 40,668 43,356 42,822 47,538 45,450 HEO (Operational) 16,493 17,583 17,367 19,279 18,432 SEO (Admin) 38,023 40,536 40,038 44,446 42,494 SEO (Operational) 66,990 71,419 70,540 78,307 74,868 Grade 7 57,522 61,324 60,570 67,239 64,286 Grade 6 16,279 17,355 17,141 19,029 18,193 SCS Grade 5 3,183 3,394 3,352 3,721 3,558 SCS Grade 3 7,944 8,469 8,365 9,286 8,878 Grand Total 488,895 521,212 514,801 571,486 546,383
Public Transport: Hampshire
The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities for capital investment in transport. Funding provided by the Department to local authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, such as the provision of public transport. Figures are not available at constituency level. The following table shows funding support for Hampshire and Southampton in 2009-10.
2009-10 (£ million) Hampshire 32.019 Southampton 4.408
Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Formula Grant.
In 2008-09 and 2009-10 special grant funding is being provided by the Department for Transport to meet the additional cost of the new, England-wide concessionary bus travel. The allocations made for this purpose to Test Valley and Southampton for 2009-10 are shown in the following table.
2009-10 (£ million) Southampton 1.084 Test Valley 0.231
Public Transport: Peterborough
The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block funding to local transport authorities for capital investment in transport. Funding provided by the Department to local authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, such as the provision of public transport. The Department provided £2.289 million to Peterborough in 2009-10.
Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant.
The Department allocates money for rail projects in England but funding information is not available on the basis of local authority boundaries. The same applies for bus service operators grant, which is given direct to bus operators.
In 2008-09 and 2009-10 special grant funding is being provided by the Department for Transport to meet the additional cost of the new, England-wide concessionary bus travel—Peterborough's allocation in 2009-10 was £0.733 million. Peterborough has also been allocated £0.181 million in rural bus subsidy grant for 2009-10.
Royal Family: Travel
Decisions on air and rail travel arrangements for members of the royal family are taken by the royal travel office with regard to agreed criteria, including the need to achieve value for money and minimise the environmental impact.
The royal household seeks to contract in the most economic and efficient way for the supply of air and rail services, consistent with the safety and security of members of the royal family and other key requirements of royal travel. The royal household ensures it takes financial considerations fully into account when framing, reaching, or giving effect to decisions which bear upon the royal travel grant in aid budget.
Southern: Railway Stations
Overall the bidder proposes to spend at least £5.1 million on a deep clean and minor fault rectification package on stations within the Greater London Authority boundary and a further £2.7 million on a similar package outside London. This package of works however will generate additional revenues through enhanced station environments, and as such the net cost to Department for Transport of the package will be significantly below this.
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: Consultants
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency has spent the following amount on external consultants in each of the last five years:
£ million 2004-05 3.4 2005-06 1.4 2006-07 3.0 2007-08 3.7 2008-09 11.8 1 Figures for 2008-09 are draft as they are not yet audited and published.
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: Manpower
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency employed the following number of staff in the categories requested:
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 (a) Directors 8 9 10 10 7 (b) Senior Managers 129 141 140 152 158 (c) Specialist/Del. Managers 311 318 325 341 371 (d) Exec/Admin Support 1,003 946 789 757 752
Figures as at 31 March of each year.
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: Pay
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has paid the following amount in bonuses:
(a) Directors1 (b) Senior managers (c) Specialist and delivery managers (d) Ex and admin support 2004-05 5,000 4,410 4,750 5,565 2005-06 41,700 7,950 5,275 24,445 2006-07 30,900 6,150 4,900 18,345 2007-08 51,700 20,300 19,370 10,715 2008-092 37,100 8,800 5,200 4,000 Grand total 166,400 47,610 39,495 63,070 1 Directors’ bonuses include senior civil servants performance bonuses that are set centrally within the Department for Transport. 2 VOSA’s 2008 pay award has not been implemented yet. Note: Figures are based on special performance bonuses. To establish performance related pay (PRP) figures in the manner requested would result in disproportionate cost being incurred.
Justice
Arson: Greater London
The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences relating to arson in the Metropolitan and City of London police force areas for 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
It is not possible to break down further the data to individual borough level, thus police force area data for Metropolitan and City of London police force areas have been provided in lieu.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Statute Offence description Metropolitan police force area City of London police force area Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec.1(2) and (3) Arson endangering life 35 0 Criminal Damage Act 1971 Sec.1(1) and (3) Arson not endangering life 64 0 Total 99 0 1 The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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 it 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. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by 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, Ministry of Justice.
Community Legal Advice: Telephone Services
(2) how many calls have been made to the Community Legal Advice telephone service in each year since 2004.
The Community Legal Advice telephone service was launched on 14 July 2004. The total cost of expenditure on the Community Legal Advice telephone service in each year since 2004 is shown in the following table. All figures are inclusive of VAT.
Since 2006 all calls are routed through an initial triage service. The triage service diagnoses problems, assesses eligibility for legal aid and refers people onto alternative sources of help. This service costs approximately £6 per call. Only those eligible for legal aid are then passed through to specialist advisors. These providers won competitive tenders to carry out telephone work and their average hourly rate is approximately £46.
The service started from scratch in 2004 and has evolved since then (for example, family calls were dealt with for the first time in 2008). It is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between the cost per case in 2004 and that in 2009.
Total cost (£ million) 2004-05 3.5 2005-06 5.0 2006-07 8.5 2007-08 13.0 2008-09 14.5
The number of calls made to the Community Legal Advice telephone service since its inception is shown in the following table.
Number of calls made 2004-05 204,893 2005-06 273,157 2006-07 387,977 2007-08 411,954 2008-09 566,085
Departmental Energy
The tables show the quantity of electricity and gas used in the financial year April 2007 to March 2008, although the Ministry of Justice was created on 9 May 2007 and therefore the figures for the core estate provided include the energy consumption of the Department for Constitutional Affairs’ core estate between 1 April and 9 May. Similarly, the figures for the National Offender Management Service’s (NOMS) custodial property include the period from 1 April to 9 May when NOMS was part of the Home Office’s estate.
The Ministry of Justice is in the process of collating data for 2008-09. This will be made available in the Sustainable Development in Government Report later this year.
Energy type Annual consumption kWh Electricity 20179413 Natural Gas 7417634
Energy type Annual consumption kWh Electricity 143502717 Natural Gas 142798412
Energy type Annual consumption kWh Electricity 7487197 Natural Gas 741894
Energy type Annual consumption kWh Electricity 316055628 Natural Gas 810129566
Energy Type Annual consumption kWh Electricity 12477836 Natural Gas 7773972
Energy type Annual consumption kWh Electricity 20687222 Natural Gas 21252152
Departmental Land
(2) what the latest valuation is of each site of surplus land owned by his Department and its agencies.
The following table identifies surplus land and corresponding valuations within the Ministry of Justice for each year since its establishment in 2007.
Site Valuation (£) Her Majesty’s Prison Service 2007-08 Onley Sewage 185,000 Frankley Farm 1100,000 Stocken Farm Land Sale 120,000 Tudworth Lindlhome 11,020,000 Aldington 1105,000 Exeter Sale 1211,000 Miscellaneous Plots 18,000 Ley Hill,Gloucestershire 21,500,000 Portland, Dorset 2175,000 2008-09 Guys Marsh Sewage 15,000 Channings Wood 156,000 Shrewsbury 16,000 Full Sutton 110,000 Huntercombe 115,000 Gringley 15,300,000 Hindley 138,000 Wymot 275,000 Miscellaneous Plots 110,000 Ley Hill, Gloucestershire 21,500,000 Portland, Dorset 2175,000 Her Majesty’s Courts Service 2007-09 Ebbw Vale, Gwent 2255,000 New Mills, Derbyshire 2145,000 1 Sold for this amount. 2 Valued at this amount. Note: Both HMCS sites have been surplus since HMCS’s inception in 2005.
Driving Under Influence
(2) how many and what percentage of drivers have had at least one ban from driving due to drink-driving;
(3) what the average length of a driving ban for drink-driving was in (a) 1997 and (b) 2007.
The total number of driving licence holders in England, Wales, and Scotland, 1997 to 2007 can be viewed in table 1. From data held by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) it is not possible to separately identify of those holding Driving Licences those that were from either England, Wales, or Scotland
The total disqualifications imposed at all courts for ‘Driving etc., after consuming alcohol or taking drugs’, in England and Wales, 1997 to 2007 can be viewed in table 2.
The total number of driving disqualifications imposed and the period of disqualification imposed at all Courts in England and Wales, 1997 to 2007 (latest available) in England and Wales can be viewed in table 3.
From the information available to the Ministry of Justice it is not possible to identify those drivers who have received more than one driving disqualification during the period 1997 to 2007.
The average length of disqualification is not available as the court proceedings database held by the Ministry of Justice does not contain the exact length of disqualification for the requested offences.
Information on court proceedings in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Executive.
2008 Ministry of Justice data will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Driving licence holders1 1997 37,285,116 1998 37,644,178 1999 38,071,154 2000 38,437,308 2001 38,508,972 2002 39,214,224 2003 39,791,629 2004 40,389,130 2005 41,077,900 2006 41,681,116 2007 42,345,445 1 Data provided by the DVLA. 2 From data held by the DVLA, it is not possible to separately identify of those holding driving licences those that were from either England, Wales, or Scotland. Source: DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency)
Total disqualifications imposed 1997 92,962 1998 86,191 1999 83,117 2000 80,285 2001 79,274 2002 84,887 2003 87,013 2004 90,308 2005 86,867 2006 87,190 2007 84,007 1 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 E and A (Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit), Ministry of Justice
Period of disqualification Total disqualifications imposed Until driving test passed Under 6 months 6 months Over 6 months and under 1 year 1 year Over 1 year and under 2 years 2 years and under 3 years 3 years Over 3 years and under 4 years 4 years and under 5 years 5 years and under 10 years 10 years and over. Less than life Life 1997 92,962 85 234 345 132 35,136 21,073 11,461 20,389 221 1,512 2,168 191 15 1998 86,191 160 291 291 120 30,709 19,001 13,494 18,372 235 1,275 2,024 188 31 1999 83,117 178 244 304 101 29,402 18,694 13,159 17,597 189 1,243 1,840 146 20 2000 80,285 135 246 279 79 27,272 18,708 14,002 16,578 146 1,247 1,481 103 9 2001 79,274 90 285 284 77 25,068 17,842 16,015 16,351 219 1,405 1,533 98 7 2002 84,887 88 330 304 75 26,185 19,500 17,129 17,644 206 1,656 1,623 137 10 2003 87,013 85 288 264 123 26,611 19,623 18,145 18,220 199 1,578 1,741 125 11 2004 90,308 123 327 304 134 27,133 26,391 13,371 18,793 230 1,716 1,670 103 13 2005 86,867 127 380 336 113 26,027 27,323 12,240 16,947 283 1,548 1,461 72 10 2006 87,190 130 408 301 91 25,311 28,261 13,009 16,497 242 1,433 1,417 85 5 2007 84,007 114 408 284 103 23,695 27,397 12,877 16,014 321 1,435 1,294 56 9 1 Included in “Total disqualifications imposed”. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their Inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: OCJR E and A (Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit), Ministry of Justice
Electorate
Figures in relation to the number of people eligible to vote in the (a) 2009 elections to the European Parliament and (b) 2005 general election are not available. This is because the Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not hold data for the population eligible to vote in parliamentary elections, which includes British citizens resident overseas and excludes foreign citizens (from outside the British Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland) resident within England and Wales. Indeed, there is no central database that holds this information.
The ONS state that the closest available approximation to the number of people registered to vote in the 2009 European election is 45,226,650. This figure refers to the number of people who were registered in the UK to vote in the European election on 1 December 2008 and is based on a qualifying date of 15 October 2008. That was the most recent date for which data on the electorate are collated. The cut off date for registration, as enacted by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 is 11 days before the poll, so the actual number of people registered to vote in the 2009 European election may be different from this figure.
ONS figures show that the number of people who were registered to vote in the UK parliamentary elections for Westminster on 1 December 2004 was 44,180,464. This figure is based on a qualifying date of 15 October 2004 and is the closest available approximation to the number of people who were registered to vote in the 2005 general election when registration closed some six to eight weeks before the poll.
National Offender Management Information System
The cost of the C-NOMIS project from inception to December 2007 was £160.7 million (which excludes depreciation and cost of capital). On 8 January 2008, the C-NOMIS project was revised and became part of the new NOMIS Programme, which is delivering five projects. Expenditure on the NOMIS Programme to 31 March 2009 was £75 million. This sum includes costs incurred in financial year 2008-09 which are still subject to audit.
Prison Service: Pay
Information on the amount paid in Special Bonuses and non-consolidated performance payments to the staff specified is provided in the following tables.
Special Bonuses Recorded Grade 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Directors (Senior Civil Service) 16,750 5,000 — 321,998 279,900 Senior Managers (A-D) 137,868 158,546 110,962 296,449 483,141 Specialist / Delivery Managers (Managers E-G) 214,282 282,713 234,667 482,388 875,545 Executive / Admin (AA, AO, EO) 98,340 108,899 86,197 110,937 203,956 Total 467,555,158 555,158 431,826 1,121,772 1,842,542
Non-consolidated performance payments Grade 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Directors (Senior Civil Service) Data not available 202,483 160,648 231,000 273,162 Senior and Delivery managers1 As above 633,145 404,699 450,605 625,565 Executive Support/Admin As above 357,813 450,656 487,540 630,265 Total 1,193,444 1,016,003 1,169,145 1,428,992 1 It is not possible to separate payments to Senior Managers and Specialist and Delivery Managers without incurring disproportionate cost.
The two tables above are derived from different sources and the data for table 2 cannot be disaggregated. Special Bonuses are reported on Oracle HR and the Non-Consolidated Performance Payments information comes from payroll.
Non-consolidated performance payments and special bonuses Grade 2004-052 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Directors (Senior Civil Service) 16,750,000 207,483 160,648 462,998 553,062 Senior and Delivery managers1 352,150,00 1,074,404 750,328 1,229,442 1,984,251 Executive Support/Admin 98,340,00 466,715 536,853 598,477 734,221 Total 467,240 1,748,602 1,447,829 2,290,917 3,271,534 1 Information on non-consolidated performance payments not available for 2004-05
Prisoners
The number of prisoners aged 70 and over in each prison establishment in England and Wales as at the end of April 2009 can be found in the following table:
70+ population Acklington 16 Albany 25 Altcourse 5 Ashfield 0 Ashwell 1 Askham Grange 0 Aylesbury 0 Bedford 2 Belmarsh 3 Birmingham 5 Blantyre House 2 Blundeston 1 Brinsford 0 Bristol 3 Brixton 2 Bronzefield 0 Buckley Hall 0 Bullingdon 6 Bullwood Hall 0 Camp Hill 1 Canterbury 1 Cardiff 2 Castington 0 Channings Wood 7 Chelmsford 3 Coldingley 0 Cookham Wood 0 Dartmoor 17 Deerbolt 0 Doncaster 5 Dorchester 1 Dovegate 6 Dover 0 Downview 1 Drake Hall 1 Durham 3 East Sutton Park 0 Eastwood Park 0 Edmunds Hill 1 Elmley 5 Erlestoke 3 Everthorpe 1 Exeter 6 Featherstone 1 Feltham 0 Ford 4 Forest Bank 3 Foston Hall 0 Frankland 8 Full Sutton 13 Garth 4 Gartree 3 Glen Parva 0 Gloucester 3 Grendon/Spring Hill 2 Guys Marsh 2 Haslar 0 Haverigg 1 Hewell 3 High Down 4 Highpoint 2 Hindley 0 Hollesley Bay 1 Holloway 1 Holme House 2 Hull 20 Huntercombe 0 Kennet 0 Kingston (Portsmouth) 4 Kirkham 0 Kirklevington Grange 0 Lancaster Castle 1 Lancaster Farms 0 Latchmere House 2 Leeds 7 Leicester 1 Lewes 3 Leyhill 13 Lincoln 5 Lindholme 1 Littlehey 32 Liverpool 4 Long Lartin 1 Low Newton 0 Lowdham Grange 0 Maidstone 14 Manchester 16 Moorland Closed 0 Moorland Open 0 Morton Hall 1 New Hall 0 North Sea Camp 1 Northallerton 0 Norwich 17 Nottingham 3 Onley 0 Pare 6 Parkhurst 8 Pentonville 0 Peterborough 7 Portland 0 Preston 2 Ranby 0 Reading 0 Risley 7 Rochester 0 Rye Hill 2 Send 1 Shepton Mallet 4 Shrewsbury 2 Stafford 5 Standford Hill 2 Stocken 0 Stoke Heath 0 Styal 0 Sudbury 1 Swaleside 3 Swansea 1 Swinfen Hall 0 The Mount 1 The Verne 0 The Wolds 0 Thom Cross 0 Usk/Prescoed 11 Wakefield 19 Wandsworth 20 Warren Hill 0 Warrington 0 Wayland 3 Wealstun 0 Wellingborough 2 Wetherby 0 Whatton 44 Whitemoor 1 Winchester 5 Woodhill 2 Wormwood Scrubs 7 Wymott 21 Total 525
The following table gives the number of sentenced prisoners aged 70 and over in prison establishments in England and Wales by offence group, as at 30 April 2009:
Number Violence against the person 84 Sexual offences 346 Robbery 4 Theft and handling 3 Fraud and forgery 7 Drug offences 22 Motoring offences 1 Other offences 23 All offences 489
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
The requested information is shown in the following table.
Offence type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2008 2007 Violence against the person 8 5 10 11 8 11 10 7 7 7 10 Sexual Offences 49 64 43 62 72 67 60 82 85 88 81 Burglary 2 1 3 2 1 0 3 0 0 2 1 Robbery 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 Theft and handling stolen goods 9 8 11 8 15 4 10 7 10 6 4 Fraud and forgery 2 4 5 5 5 6 6 4 4 4 7 Criminal Damage 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 3 Drug Offences 5 5 2 8 3 4 3 6 3 9 7 Other (excluding motoring offences) 3 5 4 7 2 5 6 12 12 8 6 Indictable Motoring 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Summary non-motoring 12 12 4 5 6 6 12 14 9 14 13 Summary motoring 3 14 7 18 5 7 11 8 10 11 12 Total 94 119 89 126 118 112 122 141 141 161 147 Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 2. 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
The data shows the number of offenders aged 70 and over sentenced to immediate custody for each offence type, in the last 10 years. This data is presented on the principal offence basis, 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.
Prisoners Release: Reoffenders
I apologise to the hon. Member that the audit process has taken longer than anticipated. The data will be available before summer recess, when I will write to the hon. Member, placing a copy of the reply in the Library.
Prisoners: Offender Assessment System
(2) how many prisoners aged over 70 held in closed prisons have been assessed as suitable for open prison conditions.
During the period 1 April 2008 until 31 March 2009, 42 prisoners aged over 70 were assessed as presenting a high or very high risk of serious harm. The assessment of risk of serious harm was made through the Offender Assessment System (OASys). The OASys data are drawn from administrative IT systems and are subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale assessment and recording system.
The information regarding suitability for open prisons could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as it would involve contacting every prison which would then have to consult the records of individual prisoners. There has been no relaxation of security categorisation standards and public protection remains paramount when undertaking the categorisation process.
Prisons: West Lancashire
In early 2008, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) commissioned site search agents to identify potential sites for “Titan” prisons in various parts of the country, including the North West.
Among the sites identified in the North-West was a 200 acre golf course at Southport Road, Scarisbrick, L40 8HB. This site was identified on 13 May 2008 by our site search agents but was considered unsuitable by them, an assessment that was subsequently endorsed by NOMS on 16 May 2008. The reason for this was that a golf course in a rural location did not meet the specific requirement for a site close to an urban conurbation with good transport links.
We do not hold information on the current owners of the site as it was rejected at a very early stage of the assessment process.
Probation
The total caseload of offenders supervised by the Probation Service in each region of England and Wales as at 31 December in each of the last three years was as follows:
2006 2007 2008 North East 12,906 13,872 14,122 North West 39,361 39,657 37,907 Yorkshire and Humberside 24,208 24,698 25,262 East Midlands 17,422 17,787 17,829 West Midlands 28,361 29,255 27,844 Eastern 18,833 19,967 20,194 London 41,338 41,998 43,811 South East 28,041 27,145 27,291 South West 13,919 14,536 14,839 Wales 13,169 13,807 14,335
The 2008 figures are provisional and were published on 30 April 2009 in the Ministry of Justice statistics bulletin Probation statistics quarterly brief October to December 2008, England and Wales.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
The total number of full time equivalent staff employed by the Probation Service as at 31 March from 2005 to 2007 (latest figures available) are shown in the following table:
2005 2006 2007 North West 3,213.91 3,347.94 3,248.13 North East 1,295.39 1,274.82 1,298.12 Yorkshire and Humberside 2,364.80 2,383.72 2,386.52 East Midlands 1,765.08 1,886.72 1,896.72 Wales 1,184.35 1,300.77 1,336.53 West Midlands 2,253.68 2,397.66 2,409.70 East of England 1,549.66 1,675.65 1,690.03 South West 1,507.73 1,626.15 1,628.38 South East 2,243.49 2,408.70 2,440.76 London 2,377.27 2,759.33 2,868.77 Total 19,755.36 21,061.45 21,203.66 Notes: 1. Figures provided are full time equivalent (FTE) and are as at 31 March for each year. 2. Information for 2008 is currently unavailable.
Probation
I am aware of the proposed merger of the Staffordshire and West Midlands probation areas. A first application is anticipated in July for Trust status, subject to further endorsement by the two separate boards.
I have made it clear that any proposals on future trust configurations should come from local areas and not be prescribed either regionally or nationally. Already within the West Midlands region, and on a national basis, areas with smaller budgets than West Mercia have applied for and achieved Trust status.
The West Mercia Probation Trust is a first wave trust but it is required to be reassessed in accordance with the new national requirements. It has made one unsuccessful application under the new arrangements and is intending to resubmit in November 2009. Once all areas in the West Midlands region have achieved trust status, whether in their present or merger form, they will be expected to work collaboratively as required to achieve best value in the delivery of their statutory duties.
The Director of Offender Management's office in the West Midlands is currently supporting the efforts of West Mercia Probation Trust to assist them in achieving re-alignment with second wave Trust status.
Probation: Databases
The Ministry of Justice’s Offender Management and Sentencing Analytical Service has indicated that, on average, the breakdown between types of case management systems is 112,000 (40 per cent.) of offender records held in Delius, 98,000 (35 per cent.) held in CRAMS and 70,000 (25 per cent.) held in other systems (ICMS, In Case and IIMS).
Probation: North Yorkshire
The number of persons found guilty at all courts for all
offences in the North Yorkshire Police Force Area, for the years 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is given in table 1.
These data are on the principal offence basis. 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.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Found guilty 2003 13,652 2004 14,933 2005 14,572 2006 12,764 2007 14,974 1 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. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it Is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken Into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice
Number 2004 2,099 2005 2,296 2006 2,311 2007 2,211 2008 2,274
Number 2006 4,355 2007 4,124 2008 4,053
Before 2006, the number of court reports written in North Yorkshire is not centrally available.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Probation: South Yorkshire
The resource budget allocations for the South Yorkshire probation area since 2001 are given in the table.
As a result of changes to the budget allocation methodology, plus Machinery of Government changes and accounting methodology changes, it is difficult to compare figures over a long period.
Area: South Yorkshire Revenue (£000) 2008-09 25,511 2007-08 24,282 2006-07 24,058 2005-06 23,041 2004-05 20,858 2003-04 20,381 2002-03 18,191 2001-02 16,153
The combined rate of all types of absence is not collected however the rate of absence resulting from ill-health (i.e. sickness absence) for South Yorkshire Probation Service staff in 2008-09 was 14.3 days per person. The total cost of sickness absence for South Yorkshire Probation Service, including on costs, for 2008-09 was £1,026,760. In order to address this South Yorkshire Probation Service have launched a sickness absence action plan which has made a significant impact on the incidence of sickness absence. Current levels of sickness absence are 8.2 days per employee.
Pupils: Absenteeism
I have been asked to reply
The Department has policy responsibility for school attendance. However, the Ministry of Justice collects and publishes data for England and Wales on prosecutions brought against parents under the Education Act 1996 for the offence under s444(1) of failing to secure their child's regular attendance at school; and for prosecutions under s444(1A), the aggravated offence of knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly. It is possible, because of the way courts record data, that some section 444 data is also collected under the more general heading of various offences under the Education Act 1996.
The Ministry of Justice collects prosecution data on the basis of police force areas only and not constituency area. Information on the number of parents prosecuted in Essex for failing to secure their children's regular school attendance between 2006 to 2007 (latest available data) is detailed in the table below. Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Number 2006 86 2007 74 1 Includes the following: (a) Failure to secure regular attendance at school. (Education Act 1996 S.444 (1)(8)). (b) Parent knows that their child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school. (Education Act 1996 S.444(8)(1a)(8a) added by Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.72). 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: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice
Remand in Custody: Children
The decision whether to grant bail or to remand a young person to the care of a local authority or to custody is a matter for the courts, which apply the statutory framework principally set out in the Bail Act 1976. The data in the tables have been supplied by the Youth Justice Board from administrative computer systems. Table A shows the number of remands to (prison) custody in each of the last five years and table B shows the number of remands to local authority care with a security requirement in each of the last five years. Statistics are available only by Youth Offending Team (YOT) area. Where the YOT covers more than one local authority area (as in Wessex, for example) it is not possible to indicate the young person’s home local authority.
Youth offending team 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Barking and Dagenham 41 30 46 23 31 Barnet 30 19 34 37 27 Barnsley 28 23 16 16 11 Bath and North East Somerset 12 9 11 12 11 Bedfordshire 36 32 17 23 32 Bexley 11 8 10 15 10 Birmingham 249 215 244 176 144 Blackburn with Darwen 24 17 14 16 13 Blackpool 21 20 21 26 30 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 17 8 31 9 9 Bolton 32 45 36 34 37 Bournemouth and Poole 24 28 16 13 8 Bracknell Forest 3 7 9 10 12 Bradford 63 58 52 68 76 Brent 30 33 42 44 58 Bridgend 15 15 11 13 12 Brighton and Hove 16 15 18 26 13 Bristol 53 35 55 61 76 Bromley 10 13 21 26 12 Buckinghamshire 15 7 12 5 10 Bury 13 8 15 15 9 Calderdale 26 19 7 24 24 Cambridgeshire 24 28 24 14 20 Camden 12 21 27 20 21 Cardiff 71 78 56 65 45 Carmarthenshire 10 14 23 13 18 Ceredigion1 n/a n/a 4 7 1 Cheshire 44 32 41 47 51 Conwy and Denbighshire 16 11 23 18 21 Cornwall 8 17 20 29 17 Coventry 65 64 48 38 32 Croydon 48 47 51 57 51 Cumbria 36 21 40 42 41 Darlington 13 8 9 8 4 Derby 38 47 29 33 39 Derbyshire 30 41 29 17 23 Devon 18 21 26 15 16 Doncaster 26 36 38 38 24 Dorset 6 15 4 10 5 Dudley 47 23 21 21 14 Durham 29 34 18 19 23 Ealing 17 21 50 68 58 East Riding of Yorkshire 2 5 12 9 9 East Sussex 18 25 18 28 22 Enfield 20 41 53 55 37 Essex 53 57 57 60 36 Flintshire 20 9 15 7 3 Gateshead 17 12 15 18 12 Gloucestershire 34 44 45 31 31 Greenwich 33 31 33 30 48 Gwynedd Mon 18 18 10 9 12 Hackney 51 57 57 75 69 Halton and Warrington 23 31 22 23 17 Hammersmith and Fulham 15 36 31 35 20 Haringey 57 50 55 58 50 Harrow 4 9 24 17 12 Hartlepool 4 6 11 8 16 Havering 1 7 20 20 24 Hertfordshire 63 47 56 36 41 Hillingdon 27 26 20 34 23 Hounslow 40 23 30 20 34 Islington 31 38 40 50 49 Kensington and Chelsea 22 10 10 21 19 Kent 72 71 85 51 80 Kingston-upon-Hull 61 65 68 83 49 Kingston-upon-Thames 1 6 12 8 11 Kirklees 42 42 34 25 25 Knowsley 29 17 16 20 18 Lambeth 42 56 79 77 83 Lancashire 74 97 91 89 68 Leeds 177 119 120 89 87 Leicester City 64 64 47 40 34 Leicestershire 48 28 31 22 24 Lewisham 46 45 55 36 45 Lincolnshire 32 17 26 26 14 Liverpool 96 89 71 65 64 Luton 35 27 22 15 15 Manchester 186 182 186 140 130 Medway 15 13 12 24 29 Merthyr Tydfil 7 10 17 14 8 Merton 12 16 18 15 16 Milton Keynes 9 23 21 20 17 Miscellaneous2 15 5 4 5 1 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 4 8 3 8 1 Neath Port Talbot 8 18 19 13 6 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 37 40 30 35 30 Newham 86 62 58 76 74 Newport 30 44 23 14 12 Norfolk 31 26 17 23 19 North East Lincolnshire 31 33 25 16 24 North Lincolnshire 22 12 27 20 18 North Somerset 10 4 2 3 9 North Tyneside 37 18 18 30 18 North Yorkshire 13 18 16 21 19 Northamptonshire 59 47 34 64 37 Northumberland 28 22 24 34 22 Nottingham 97 63 101 72 82 Nottinghamshire 33 29 31 31 22 Oldham 31 24 46 37 32 Oxfordshire 30 37 33 36 34 Pembrokeshire 1 2 6 2 11 Peterborough 31 25 20 28 26 Plymouth 23 16 19 34 17 Powys1 1 2 4 2 1 Reading3 23 24 22 14 20 Redbridge 28 24 40 41 27 Rhondda Cynon Taff 25 22 15 7 22 Richmond-upon-Thames 5 5 3 4 2 Rochdale 38 38 25 19 34 Rotherham 25 31 22 19 20 Salford 49 65 48 47 35 Sandwell 73 70 49 40 24 Sefton 9 18 30 15 29 Sheffield 59 45 50 61 76 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 15 14 14 14 21 Slough 9 10 15 19 15 Solihull 14 19 12 11 15 Somerset 19 22 16 15 17 South Gloucestershire 3 9 8 5 5 South Tees 38 38 43 29 35 South Tyneside 38 19 11 14 14 Southend-on-Sea 12 10 14 15 9 Southwark 48 61 65 61 68 St. Helens 17 11 7 4 6 Staffordshire 34 38 27 14 20 Stockport 23 22 29 15 16 Stockton-on-Tees 10 9 14 8 8 Stoke-on-Trent 36 38 34 28 23 Suffolk 31 37 18 19 30 Sunderland 35 36 26 36 14 Surrey 27 31 37 32 19 Sutton 11 18 11 8 13 Swansea 34 29 27 15 17 Swindon 14 17 8 10 9 Tameside 30 29 45 27 25 Thurrock 23 6 22 19 25 Torbay 4 3 3 9 5 Tower Hamlets and City of London 18 36 46 45 44 Trafford 36 39 31 31 23 Vale of Glamorgan 9 14 5 6 8 Wakefield 29 36 19 27 21 Walsall 23 30 29 27 21 Waltham Forest 30 32 38 38 32 Wandsworth 19 26 33 62 41 Warwickshire 18 24 31 28 10 Wessex 135 104 120 128 151 West Berkshire 1 5 7 4 5 West Sussex 50 55 43 52 53 Westminster 24 23 17 23 21 Wigan 29 23 28 18 19 Wiltshire 17 18 12 6 8 Windsor and Maidenhead 10 7 1 2 3 Wirral 44 26 17 33 17 Wokingham3 n/a n/a 0 4 6 Wolverhampton 33 36 30 24 16 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 70 55 34 23 30 Wrexham 0 0 2 17 18 York 25 26 24 22 32 Total 5,065 4,850 4,901 4,692 4,402
Youth offending team 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Barking and Dagenham 6 3 2 4 2 Barnet 3 3 7 2 2 Barnsley 1 0 2 1 1 Bath and North East Somerset 0 0 1 2 1 Bedfordshire 1 2 0 1 0 Bexley 2 6 1 0 1 Birmingham 34 29 28 26 16 Blackburn with Darwen 4 0 2 2 2 Blackpool 2 3 0 5 4 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 1 2 1 5 1 Bolton 3 9 5 8 3 Bournemouth and Poole 3 4 1 1 0 Bracknell Forest 0 0 2 0 0 Bradford 6 9 4 12 4 Brent 7 1 5 5 12 Bridgend 1 1 0 0 2 Brighton and Hove 3 3 2 5 6 Bristol 5 7 10 12 8 Bromley 3 5 5 0 6 Buckinghamshire 2 0 0 0 1 Bury 0 0 4 0 2 Calderdale 3 3 5 0 1 Cambridgeshire 0 0 2 1 1 Camden 3 2 1 7 2 Cardiff 7 3 5 10 1 Carmarthenshire 3 1 0 1 0 Ceredigion1 n/a n/a 0 0 0 Cheshire 8 9 5 4 2 Conwy and Denbighshire 1 5 3 2 0 Cornwall 1 3 0 0 1 Coventry 7 7 5 1 3 Croydon 2 4 8 6 3 Cumbria 6 4 2 5 4 Darlington 0 0 0 1 0 Derby 12 9 7 2 8 Derbyshire 2 6 4 3 1 Devon 2 3 4 0 4 Doncaster 3 5 6 2 0 Dorset 0 0 0 0 0 Dudley 5 3 3 1 0 Durham 3 4 2 2 4 Ealing 2 2 5 10 4 East Riding of Yorkshire 0 0 2 2 0 East Sussex 4 4 12 5 0 Enfield 3 4 6 1 3 Essex 4 3 10 7 3 Flintshire 0 0 0 0 0 Gateshead 3 3 5 5 6 Gloucestershire 8 10 7 0 2 Greenwich 7 6 1 5 7 Gwynedd Mon 0 1 0 1 0 Hackney 6 6 3 6 9 Halton and Warrington 2 1 4 2 4 Hammersmith and Fulham 4 1 3 13 5 Haringey 5 1 6 5 6 Harrow 1 4 3 4 2 Hartlepool 0 1 1 2 2 Havering 2 2 0 3 0 Hertfordshire 1 5 7 5 8 Hillingdon 0 4 2 3 5 Hounslow 3 3 1 1 3 Islington 3 2 8 9 10 Kensington and Chelsea 1 1 3 1 1 Kent 9 2 8 5 12 Kingston-upon-Hull 11 8 8 9 9 Kinston-upon-Thames 1 0 0 0 2 Kirklees 11 2 0 0 4 Knowsley 0 1 3 1 1 Lambeth 7 10 13 10 8 Lancashire 10 9 7 7 10 Leeds 36 7 5 12 11 Leicester City 10 4 3 3 5 Leicestershire 3 1 3 2 2 Lewisham 4 8 7 5 12 Lincolnshire 2 2 0 2 0 Liverpool 7 14 3 7 11 Luton 2 2 0 0 1 Manchester 24 33 42 40 16 Medway 2 3 2 3 3 Merthyr Tydfil 2 1 1 0 2 Merton 2 1 0 0 4 Milton Keynes 0 1 0 0 4 Miscellaneous2 0 0 0 0 0 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 1 1 1 1 1 Neath Port Talbot 2 1 0 5 4 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 0 10 5 5 5 Newham 9 11 11 11 10 Newport 3 3 4 0 2 Norfolk 1 1 3 2 5 North East Lincolnshire 8 5 4 5 5 North Lincolnshire 10 3 14 4 3 North Somerset 0 1 1 1 2 North Tyneside 2 11 2 3 2 North Yorkshire 0 4 0 0 2 Northamptonshire 11 4 4 7 11 Northumberland 3 3 4 1 1 Nottingham 14 8 18 14 12 Nottinghamshire 1 2 3 4 9 Oldham 2 4 9 7 7 Oxfordshire 5 7 7 9 8 Pembrokeshire 0 0 0 0 0 Peterborough 2 9 6 5 0 Plymouth 3 2 1 7 3 Powys1 0 0 0 0 0 Reading3 1 0 0 0 6 Redbridge 3 8 7 2 3 Rhondda Cynon Taff 2 0 0 3 0 Richmond-upon-Thames 2 2 1 1 1 Rochdale 3 4 3 5 9 Rotherham 2 0 0 0 3 Salford 10 13 6 4 6 Sandwell 14 5 10 3 1 Sefton 0 2 2 3 0 Sheffield 9 12 17 11 17 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 3 1 0 0 1 Slough 0 1 1 0 0 Solihull 0 2 4 0 6 Somerset 1 4 3 0 2 South Gloucestershire 0 1 0 0 2 South Tees 1 5 4 6 9 South Tyneside 6 2 3 3 0 Southend-on-Sea 1 1 3 2 3 Southwark 4 2 11 6 14 St. Helens 1 0 0 1 3 Staffordshire 4 4 1 0 0 Stockport 4 2 4 2 1 Stockton-on-Tees 0 1 2 0 1 Stoke-on-Trent 6 6 11 5 6 Suffolk 1 7 2 0 3 Sunderland 1 4 3 3 3 Surrey 1 6 0 1 4 Sutton 0 1 1 0 3 Swansea 1 2 1 4 3 Swindon 0 1 2 1 2 Tameside 5 10 5 2 0 Thurrock 1 1 0 0 1 Torbay 0 0 2 0 1 Tower Hamlets and City of London 6 1 3 1 6 Trafford 7 10 15 11 7 Vale of Glamorgan 0 0 0 1 3 Wakefield 1 5 1 6 2 Walsall 0 1 2 4 0 Waltham Forest 6 2 4 5 7 Wandsworth 9 4 5 5 7 Warwickshire 2 7 1 4 5 Wessex 15 10 10 19 28 West Berkshire 1 0 0 3 0 West Sussex 4 8 6 5 2 Westminster 0 3 1 0 4 Wigan 0 6 0 1 1 Wiltshire 1 0 1 1 0 Windsor and Maidenhead 0 0 0 0 0 Wirral 6 5 5 13 7 Wokingham3 n/a n/a 0 2 2 Wolverhampton 3 5 2 0 7 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 3 5 4 2 6 Wrexham 0 0 0 1 3 York 3 1 6 0 1 Total 588 604 610 578 610 1 Powys and Ceredigion was a combined YOT prior to April 2005. Earlier figures under “Powys” refer to Powys and Ceredigion. 2 Young people whose YOT has not been identified. 3 Reading and Wokingham was a combined YOT prior to April 2007. Earlier figures under “Reading” refer to Reading and Wokingham.
The Government believe that young people should only be sent to custody as a last resort. Young people aged 12-16 may be remanded to the care of a local authority with a requirement that they be accommodated in secure conditions. Boys aged 15 and 16 may be remanded to (prison) custody (in practice, a young offender institution) in certain circumstances. Young people aged 17 are treated, in legal terms, as adults, and may not be remanded to local authority care. (Again, they would be placed in an under-18 young offender institution.) Between 1 May 2008 and 30 April 2009, the average length of a remand in custody episode was 40 days and the average length of a remand to the care of a local authority with a security requirement was 47 days.
The information in the following tables covers the period 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. It has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board from administrative systems. Section 23 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 empowers a court to remand a young person aged 12 to 16 to the care of a local authority, with a requirement that he or she is kept in secure accommodation. In certain circumstances, 15 and 16-year-old boys may be remanded to prison custody. In legal terms, 17-year-olds are treated as adults for remand purposes, but would be accommodated in an under-18 young offender institution. 18-year-olds are accommodated in the young adult estate: the Youth Justice Board does not collect data in respect of them.
The data in the tables cover each remand “episode”; some young people may have been remanded more than once during the period.
Age Number 12 13 13 75 14 251 15 158 16 141 Total 638
Age Number of remand episodes 15 488 16 1,075 17 2,688 Total 4,251
Young Offenders
The information for each youth offending team is not collected centrally. Youth offending teams oversee young offenders who receive an out-of-court disposal, such as a Final Warning from the police (but, not usually those who receive a police reprimand); appear in court; receive a community sentence; and come out of custody.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Bees: Research
DEFRA commissioned approximately £200,000 of research from The Food and Environment Agency's National Bee Unit (NBU) in 2008-09. DEFRA is contributing £2.5 million over the next five years to the insect pollinator initiative announced on 21 April under which up to £10 million will be available from a number of different funders. The initiative is being developed under the Living with Environmental Change programme and the NBU will be eligible to bid for funds. Decisions on what projects will be funded will be made by the Initiative's funders on the basis of whether they fulfil the eligibility criteria, address the issues outlined in the research call and on the basis of their quality. There is also a limited budget available to fund projects at the NBU to address urgent bee health needs.
Bovine TB Eradication Group
The Bovine TB Eradication Group for England has had 13 meetings since it was established in November 2008. The group’s highlight notes are published shortly after every meeting and these are available on the DEFRA website.
The group has considered representations from a number of organisations or individuals and, where appropriate, invited them to a meeting to discuss further. The group will continue to invite other experts to contribute to its work as necessary. In addition DEFRA has set up a mailbox so that members of the public, industry bodies and wider interest groups can make enquiries and put forward views.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
The Badger Vaccine Deployment areas have been chosen based on specific criteria, which included a historically high incidence of bovine TB in cattle, and in liaison with the Bovine TB Eradication Group for England and other key industry and stakeholder groups.
Six catchment areas of 300 km2 were identified, drawn from the worst affected areas of Staffordshire (Eccleshall area), Herefordshire and Worcestershire border (North of Bromyard, East of Tenbury Wells), Gloucestershire (Cotswolds, North-east of Cheltenham and North West of Stroud, towards the Severn Valley) and Devon (East and West of Tiverton).
Meetings are being held with key regional representatives and, separately, veterinary practices in each area and DEFRA, with Fera, will be working with local people and looking for participants within these regions to define up to 100 km2 to be vaccinated. Regional meetings will be held with farmers in the autumn, with participants sign-up shortly thereafter.
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science: Consultants
CEFAS expenditure on management consultancy is outlined in the following table:
£ 2004-05 5,549 2005-06 38,251 2006-07 161,738 2007-08 57,803 2008-09 72,422
This expenditure covers specialist external consultancy for the primary purpose of providing advice to CEFAS management. Examples include:
£132,000 spread across 2005-06 and 2006-07 in supporting a response to the DEFRA Laboratory Strategy Programme
Typically £50,000 specialist support for major procurement exercises each year from 2006/07 onwards
£30,000 to date for developing our safety and quality management systems.
The table excludes temporary staff and contractors providing specialised skills and experience under our supervision and guidance. It also excludes technical and scientific consultancy that CEFAS draws on to augment its in-house expertise.
CEFAS also forms part of a public sector partnership with local authorities to develop new office and laboratory facilities, for completion in 2011. CEFAS has committed costs within the partnership of : 2006-07 £549,658, 2007-08 £983,668 and 2008-09 £305,829 to cover design and development of this scheme.
Dairy Farming
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: This is a commercial issue, and we have not specifically asked supermarkets to assist with the consequences of the closure of dairy farmers of Britain.
We have asked banks and others directly involved to be sympathetic in their dealings with those farms and businesses affected by the collapse.
Departmental Research
[holding answer 15 June 2009]: DEFRA spent the following amounts on research and development:
£ million 2002-03 131 2003-04 147 2004-05 153 2005-06 156 2006-07 146 2007-08 138 2008-09 130 2009-10 130 2010-11 1130 1 Planned expenditure Notes: 1. These figures were taken from data available through DEFRA's Science Information DEFRA was formed in 2001 through the merging of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) with part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). Consequently, comparable figures are only available from 2002 onwards. 2. From 2008, responsibility for work on mitigating climate change was transferred to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Figures from 2008-9 onwards reflect this change. 3. These figures relate to Research and Development directly managed by DEFRA. Other Government Departments and publicly funded bodies, such as the Research Councils, also fund research which has policy relevance to DEFRA. For instance DEFRA is a leading participant in the Living With Environmental Change programme which aims to fund £1 billion of research between 2007-12 to provide the UK's decision makers with the best information to manage and protect vital ecosystem services in the most effective and practical ways.
Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007
With the aim of fulfilling the appeal court’s judgment in the OSS case, the Environment Agency carried out a public consultation on an end-of-waste protocol for:
“the production and use of processed fuel oil from waste lubricating oil”.
On conclusion of the Agency’s consideration of the responses to that consultation, DEFRA will submit a post-consultation draft of the protocol to the European Commission, and other member states, in compliance with the Technical Standards Directive (98/34/EC). However, DEFRA has no plans to amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 in the light of the court’s judgment in the OSS case.
This threshold was contained in predecessor Regulations dating back to the last decade. No assessment of its impact specifically on the exports of used cooking oil has been carried out. DEFRA has no plans to change the threshold.
Food
Estimates of the percentage of beef and veal, pig meat and mutton and lamb consumed which were produced domestically in each year since 1997 are provided in the table. Figures for 2009 are not yet available. The figures provided are based on volumes of production and trade. The figures are affected by market conditions in the UK and abroad. Factors affecting market conditions include exchange rates, animal disease and consumer demand. When interpreting the figures it is important to look at the trends over time, rather than concentrating on figures for individual years.
For beef and veal and mutton and lamb the percentage has been relatively stable over the whole period. For pig meat the percentage declined from over 60 per cent. in 1997 to just over 40 per cent. in 2003 due to declining domestic production and increased imports, but has also been fairly stable since then.
Percentage Beef and veal Pig meat Mutton and lamb 1997 76 63 58 1998 82 63 63 1999 78 61 65 2000 78 53 66 2001 71 55 67 2002 70 50 66 2003 69 43 62 2004 69 41 62 2005 72 40 65 2006 75 39 63 2007 74 40 65 2008 72 41 63 Source: Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2008, DEFRA
Genetically Modified Organisms: Crops
We receive advice on applications for European Union (EU) approval to cultivate GM crops from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE). Its advice on the safety of two types of GM maize for which EU decisions are due, known as Bt11 and 1507 respectively, is available on the DEFRA website at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/acre/pdf/advice/acre-advice-Bt11-maize.pdf
and
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/acre/pdf/advice/acre-advice-gm-maize-es-01-01.pdf
ACRE and the European Food Safety Authority have both said that Bt11 and 1507 do not pose any greater risk for human health and the environment than conventional maize. It is therefore not expected that any issues should arise in relation to possible liability for environmental harm. Moreover, neither Bt11 nor 1507 maize are expected to be grown in the UK, because they are not suitable for our growing conditions and would not offer any benefit to our farmers.
Landfill
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: The principal objective of waste legislation is to ensure that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health or the environment. Any establishment or undertaking carrying out waste recovery or disposal in England and Wales is required to obtain a permit from the Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency is required to exercise its functions for the purpose of ensuring the principal objective is met and may not grant a permit where it considers there to be an unacceptable risk to the environment or human health. The Agency may only grant a permit where relevant planning permission is in place and may impose requirements in permits that relate to the preparation, operation, monitoring and control procedures as well as the closure and after-care of a landfill. The Environment Agency has a duty to take action to reduce any negative impacts that are a direct result of a permitted activity. The Environment Agency's criteria apply both inside and outside the site.
Oil: Waste Disposal
The relevant thresholds are given in schedule 1, part 2, of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 and are as follows:
(a) Diesel
Section 1.1 part A(1) (a) 50 MW.
(b) Used cooking oil that has been classified as non-waste
Section 1.1 part A(1) (a) 50 MW.
Section 1.1 part A(1) (b) 3-50 MW.
The relevant section will be dependent upon the specific type of material being burnt.
The question of whether any particular waste has been fully recovered and has ceased to be waste must be determined on the facts of the case and taking into account relevant case law on the definition of waste. The environment agency is responsible for the implementation of waste management controls in England and Wales. Schedule 1, part 2, section 1.1 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 applies to fuel manufactured from waste regardless of whether the waste from which it has been manufactured has been fully recovered and has ceased to be waste. DEFRA has not issued guidance specifically advising on the question of whether fuel manufactured from used cooking oil requires a permit under this provision.
The Arco Chemie case is discussed in the "Interpretative Communication on waste and by-products" published by the European Commission on 21 February 2007. DEFRA has no plans to amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 in the light of this judgment.
Recycling: Hampshire
The following table shows the percentage of municipal waste sent to be recycled, composted or reused by each authority in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in the financial years 2003-04 through to 2007-08.
Some data for 2004-05 are unavailable due to authorities not providing complete data returns.
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Southampton City Council 12.69 — 24.75 25.50 26.77 Portsmouth City Council 18.22 20.92 23.33 24.84 26.40 Winchester City Council 17.08 18.43 19.50 21.35 31.32 Test Valley Borough Council 14.76 — 21.71 27.42 35.47 Rushmoor Borough Council 16.89 22.01 21.67 22.72 26.13 New Forest District Council 26.09 26.16 25.13 28.25 32.61 Havant Borough Council 18.65 — 23.28 30.11 31.99 Hart District Council 17.65 24.18 22.57 30.28 39.07 Gosport Borough Council 15.37 — 23.62 24.08 25.83 Fareham Borough Council 25.63 — — 38.49 39.79 Eastleigh Borough Council 31.19 — — 36.80 37.44 East Hampshire District Council 33.51 — 33.50 35.19 38.36 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council 16.15 16.63 16.43 19.12 22.06 Hampshire County Council 15.51 — 34.39 38.26 41.49 Isle of Wight Council 26.17 24.88 28.82 30.35 33.49 Source: DEFRA municipal waste management survey and WasteDataFlow.
Recycling: Peterborough
The following table shows the percentage of municipal waste sent to be recycled, composted or reused in Peterborough city council in the financial years 2003-04 through to 2007-08.
Percentage of municipal waste sent for recycling, composting or reuse 2003-04 28.19 2004-05 27.87 2005-06 32.11 2006-07 40.09 2007-08 43.17 Source: DEFRA municipal waste management survey and WasteDataFlow
Renewable Energy: Waste
(2) if he will increase the level of rated thermal input allowed by a Part 1A permit required under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 for fuel manufactured from waste which has attained an end-of-waste certificate.
I assume both these questions refer to a provision in Part A(1) of Section 1.1 of Annex I of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2007. This provision refers to burning waste oil, recovered oil or any fuel manufactured from, or comprising, any other waste. If such material is burnt in an appliance with a rated thermal input of more than 3 megawatts, that activity will require a permit from the Environment Agency which embodies integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) requirements.
The 3 megawatt threshold was contained in predecessor Regulations dating back to the last decade. No assessment of its impact specifically on the renewable energy sector has been carried out. DEFRA has no plans to change the threshold.
School Milk
We do not hold figures on the number of schools that provide milk as part of the EU School Milk Scheme.
However, there are currently 171 organisations claiming under the scheme in Great Britain:
155 local authorities;
six schools;
one parish council;
three town councils; and
six other organisations.
Veterinary Laboratories Agency: Consultants
The Veterinary Laboratories Agency has spent the following on consultants in each of the last five years:
£ 2004-05 978,427 2005-06 996,799 2006-07 854,874 2007-08 793,702 2008-09 480,418
Income in 2008-09 was £106 million with expenditure on ‘consultancy’ of £480,418. This includes just under £300,000 for specialist scientific IT consultancy; £100,000 on management and financial consultancy; with the remaining expenditure on specialist scientific/veterinary consultancy.
The overall spend for the first two categories is similar for previous years, with a decline from 2004-05 through to 2008-09 in specialist scientific/veterinary consultancy as these specialist skills have been developed in house.
Waste Disposal: EC Countries
No such research has been undertaken by DEFRA. However, Article 6 of the revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD) (2008/98/EC) enables the European Commission to adopt end-of-waste criteria for specified waste. With a view to the adoption of such criteria, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has carried out preparatory work and has published reports entitled “Study on the selection of waste streams for end-of-waste assessment” and “End-of-waste criteria, methodology and case studies”. DEFRA participated in the JRC-chaired discussions that preceded the publication of these reports.
Article 6 of the revised WFD also provides that, where end-of-waste criteria have not been set by the Commission:
“Member states may decide case by case whether certain waste has ceased to be waste taking into account applicable case law.”
Member states must notify the Commission of such decisions in accordance with the Technical Standards Directive (98/34/EC).
Olympics
Departmental Energy
My ministerial portfolio requires my Office to operate across the estates of the Cabinet Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The costs for (a) electricity and (b) gas will be included in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith) and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
My ministerial portfolio requires my Office to operate across the estates of the Cabinet Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Energy efficiency measures, assessment of the effectiveness of these measures and future plans for energy efficiency measures will be included in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith) and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
My ministerial portfolio requires my Office to operate across the estates of the Cabinet Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The responsibility for energy efficiency will be included in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith) and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Departmental Lost Property
Since my Office was established in July 2007 no laptops have been lost or stolen from my private office.
Olympic Delivery Authority: Manpower
As of 31 May 2009, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) employed 245 members of staff. This consists of permanent staff, fixed term contract staff, and secondments. Staff are broken into pay bands across the ODA as set out in the following table. The table also provides the breakdown of staff as at 31 March 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Band Role 31 May 2009 31 March 2008 31 March 2007 6 CEO 1 1 1 5 Directors 7 7 7 4 Heads of Function 28 27 18 3 Managers/Technical Professionals 89 74 44 2 Executives/Officers 58 37 17 1 Administrative Support 62 46 29 Total 245 192 116
The ODA expect overall staffing levels within the organisation to reduce over time as construction progresses on the big five venues for the London 2012 Games although in the transportation area staffing levels will increase as we move closer to Games operations.
Olympic Games 2012: Facilities
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The direct costs associated with staging the road cycling event in Regent’s Park, which is a publicly owned venue, 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, for example in respect of the security, transport and other functions associated with the venue. However, these costs have not yet been identified separately for Regent’s Park, but they will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.
Olympic Games 2012: Gun Sports
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for the staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) constructing the major venues.
The direct costs associated with staging the events come from LOCOG’s revenues, which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse. The ODA is funding some costs at the Royal Artillery Barracks, but project budgets cannot be disclosed owing to reasons of commercial sensitivity, as the contract is yet to be awarded.
There will be other attributable costs to the public purse, for example in respect of the security and transport functions associated with the venue. However, these costs have not yet been identified separately for individual venues, but they will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.
Olympic Games 2012: Tourism
Using the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG)’s London 2012 Ticket Allocation Model, the Oxford Economics study, ‘The Value of the London 2012 Games and Paralympic Games to UK Tourism’, published in September 2007 and commissioned by VisitBritain and Visit London, estimated that there will be approximately 900,000 attendees at events related to the 2012 Games.
However, this will contribute only a small part of the estimated £2.1 billion tourism gains for the UK as a whole that will result from the Games during the period 2007-17. The study has also estimated that there will be in excess of 32 million UK-wide extra nights stayed by visitors as a result of the Games, of which nearly 22 million will be in London. No other London or regional breakdown is currently available.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Data Protection
There have been 10 breaches of information security since 1 January 2004.
The Northern Ireland Office and its agencies report all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and the ICO. Information on personal data security breaches are 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.
Departmental Location
The Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and NDPBs, has had no expenditure on resettlement costs for new members of staff in each of the last three years.
Prisoners Release: Northern Ireland
Between July 2006 and May 2009 releases were as shown in the following table and include immigration detainees who have served a sentence and were held on immigration warrants:
July 2006 to June 2007 July 2007 to April 2008 May 2008 to May 2009 Released time served 72 101 165 Released on bail 96 72 102 Discharged by the court 25 18 73 Released fine paid 11 8 14 Released by hospital order 1 2 3 Transferred to UK prison — — 1 Released, charges withdrawn — — 8 Released into IND/UKBA custody for consideration of removal/deportation 21 41 53 Total 226 242 419
Prior to July 2006 statistics are available only on those foreign national prisoners released from Northern Ireland prisons who were serving a sentence of 12 months or more. Between January 2004 and June 2006, 16 such foreign national prisoners were released, seven of whom into the custody of the Immigration and Nationality Department (IND).
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Data Protection
My Department has had nine security incidents over the past five years. Royal Parks, our one agency, has had nine security incidents in the same period.
Departmental Energy
The Director of Corporate Services is responsible for energy efficiency for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s estate.
Departmental Finance
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold this data. To provide this information would incur disproportionate costs. However, a report by the National Audit Office entitled “Making grants efficiently in the culture, media and sports sector” was published in May 2008. Please see the following link.
http://www.nao.org.uk/our_work_by_sector/culture_media_and_leisure/making_grants_efficiently.aspx
Departmental Food
The Department procures the following percentage of domestic produce:
(a) Meat: 96 per cent.
(b) Fruit: 70 per cent.
(c) Vegetables: 86 per cent.
Departmental Press: Subscriptions
The information in the following table represents expenditure incurred by the Department on subscriptions for hard copy and online magazines, newspapers, books and other publications, access to specific research databases, the Stationery Office and other parliamentary information sources as well as legal online and hard copy updating services.
£ 2006-07 160,368 2007-08 175,666 2008-09 200,707 Notes: 1. All figures given to nearest whole figure. 2. The 2008-09 figures have yet to be audited and are therefore subject to change.
The way our financial information has been recorded does not allow us to disaggregate newspapers, magazines and journals from the overall expenditure. To provide a list of individual titles to which the Department subscribes would incur a disproportionate cost in excess of £750.
Gambling: Internet
Licensed betting operators are required by the Gambling Commission to provide information in relation to bets they suspect may relate to an offence under the Act. The Commission is working with all licensed betting operators to ensure the identification and prevention of fraud in relation to sports betting is effective.
In addition, the expert panel on sports integrity I am establishing will look at, consider and report on, a range of issues including the identification and prevention of online fraud in relation to betting integrity.
The UK Government have submitted comments to the European Commission under the technical notification procedure on the French legislative proposals in relation to online gambling. We are concerned that some of the measures contained in the notification may constitute restrictions to trade and our comments have emphasised the need for any restrictions to be justified by imperative reasons in the general interest; to be suitable for achieving the objectives in question; to be necessary and proportionate; and to be applied in a non-discriminatory manner, as interpreted by decisions of the European Court of Justice.
I have no plans to conduct formal discussions with the Government of Malta over this matter although my officials found the detailed opinions submitted by the Government of Malta and the European Commission helpful when considering this issue.
Officials from the Department recently met with representatives from the remote gambling industry to discuss the French legislative proposals on online gambling. During that meeting, the industry set out their concerns over the impact some of the proposals might have on UK gambling businesses, including in respect of the provisions relating to a sports rights levy.
Licensed Premises: Gambling
[holding answer 22 June 2009]: The Consultation on Casino Premises Licence Regulations under section 172(6) of the Gambling Act 2005 closed on 15 May 2009. I am considering all responses and will make an announcement shortly.
Olympic Games 2012
I have been asked to reply.
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are a key priority across Government. The Government Olympic Executive (GOE) was set up within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to oversee the delivery of Government objectives for the Games.
As of 15 June, the GOE consisted of 93.7 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff. Of this total, no members of staff are working in roles defined as project management roles, 21.5 are working in roles mainly relating to legacy planning, 14 on roles mainly relating to project oversight, and six on roles mainly relating to financial control/oversight. The remainder of staff work mainly on programme assurance and risk management, staging, strategic communications and parliamentary matters.
In terms of further specific posts relating to Olympic projects within DCMS, 7.5 FTE staff are employed on Olympic Programme Management, the Cultural Olympiad and in the Press Office. Of these, approximately 3.4 FTE are in roles relating to project management and approximately 1.1 FTE in roles relating to project oversight. The purpose of these posts is to manage the wider DCMS interests in relation to staging the Games such as elite sport, sport participation, tourism and culture. The remaining three FTE staff are full time press officers.
As of 31 May 2009, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) employed 245 members of staff. This consists of permanent staff, fixed term contract staff, and secondments. Contained within the fixed term contract staff category there are a number of graduates that have been recruited for a 10 month placement as part of the ODA’s graduate placement scheme.
Of the 245 members of staff employed by the ODA, 136 are currently working in project management roles across a number of ODA teams.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown of those staff that are exclusively working on legacy planning roles as every project within the programme is considered with legacy in mind ensuring that legacy requirements are incorporated into design briefs, specifications and business plans. This approach is designed to ensure that the London 2012 Games will be the catalyst for the regeneration of one of the most underdeveloped areas of the UK.
The ODA currently has nine members of staff with overall project oversight responsibilities, and 19 employees who work closely with its Delivery Partner on the financial oversight of the programme. In addition the ODA has engaged Ernst and Young to provide an Internal Audit service.
The ODA expect overall staffing levels within the organisation to reduce over time as construction progresses on the big five venues for the London 2012 Games although in the transportation area staffing levels will increase as we move closer to Games operations.
Information relating to DCMS’s other non-departmental public bodies who are working on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympics could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Future staffing levels in the GOE will remain under review, within the overall budgetary settlement agreed with HM Treasury.
Playing Fields
Sport England have advised that local authorities are encouraged to develop strategies for the provision of playing fields in their area under Planning Policy Guidance Note 17(2002). Sport England provides further advice on how to do this in its document—Towards a Level Playing Field.
This clearly states that local authorities should ensure that they have an adequate supply of pitches to meet current and future needs within their area. The Department for Communities and Local Government are committed to updating Planning Policy Guidance Note 17(2002) in the near future.
Sport: Norwich
The Department allocated Sport England over £480 million of Exchequer funding in the last five years, to invest in community sport both through National Governing Bodies and more specific local initiatives.
In addition, in 2009-10, the Department has allocated Sport England £135.7 million of Exchequer funding. Sport England has targets to get one million people doing more sport by 2012-13, and to make a major contribution to the delivery of the five hour sports offer for children and young people. Norwich will benefit, alongside every area of England, from Exchequer and lottery investment by Sport England in 2009-10 in support of these targets.
Specifically, Sport England have advised that the following initiatives have received funding to support participation in sport in Norwich in each of the last financial years.
Financial year Parliamentary constituency Recipient Project description Total award (£) 2004-05 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Community sports coach scheme 30,333 Total 30,333 2005-06 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Community sports coach scheme 95,460 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL and coaching taskforce 10,000 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL and coaching taskforce 9,100 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL and coaching taskforce 43,775 Norwich, North Broadland District Council Community sports co-ordinator 3,000 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Norfolk consumer support network 3,000 Total 164,335 2006-07 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Community sports coach scheme 140,878 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL and coaching taskforce 3,750 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL and coaching taskforce 20,000 Total 164,628 2007-08 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Community sports coach scheme 130,053 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL (PESSYP from January 2008) and coaching taskforce 20,000 Total 150,053 2008-09 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Community sports coach scheme 36,766 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Community sports coach scheme 71,187 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council PESSCL (PESSYP from January 2008) and coaching taskforce 22,000 Norwich, North Hellesdon High School New facility build 65,000 Norwich, South Active Norfolk County Sports Partnership Active Lloyds Norfolk 16,713 Norwich, South Norfolk Lawn Tennis Association Norfolk lawn tennis association 24,999 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Active Norfolk extending activity capacity funding 26,000 Norwich, South Norfolk County Council Active Norfolk extending activity delivery funding 225,600 Norwich, South Norwich City Football in the Community Norwich City FC football in the community 6,000 Total 494,265 Grand total 1,003,614
Sports: Finance
The Department has allocated Sport England over £480 million of Exchequer funding in the last five years to invest in community sport both through National Governing Bodies and more specific local initiatives.
In addition, in 2009-10, the Department has allocated Sport England £135.7 million of Exchequer funding. Sport England has targets to get 1 million people doing more sport by 2012-13, and to make a major contribution to the delivery of the five hour sports offer for children and young people. Test Valley and Southampton will benefit, alongside every area of England, from Exchequer and Lottery investment by Sport England in 2009-10 in support of these targets.
Specifically, Sport England have advised that the following initiatives have received funding to support participation in sport in Test Valley and Southampton.
Free Swimming
Southampton Unitary Authority has opted in to the Under 16 and Over 60 Free Swimming Programme and has received £173,211. The local authorities that have opted to offer the scheme to both age groups have also received a share of a £10 million capital fund to spend on modernising or improving pool provision. Southampton has received £69,290 in this regard.
Sportsmatch
There have been two awards in the Test Valley area totalling £13,580 under the Sportsmatch scheme which aims to support the development of grassroots sport in England.
Southampton Amateur Rowing Club
Two payments in the last five years totalling £179,487 have been made for renovation and refurbishment work.
Southampton Amateur Gym Club
Three payments in the last five years totalling £258,414 have been made for renovation and refurbishment work.
Tourism: Economic Situation
[holding answer 16 June 2009]: Tourism is the United Kingdom’s fifth largest industry. It contributes over £86 billion a year to the national economy and supports, both directly and indirectly, over 2.7 million jobs.
However, the number of overseas visitors to these shores has fallen this year compared with previous ones. But outbound visits by UK residents have also fallen, and these were 6 per cent. lower in January to February 2009 than they were in the same period last year. This offers a potentially good prospect for domestic tourism at a time when current projections show employment in the tourism and hospitality industry will grow by almost 10 per cent. by 2017, creating over 200,000 additional jobs.
Other opportunities the industry is well placed to exploit include: favourable currency exchange rates; the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; the unprecedented number of high level sports events in the UK in the decade between 2009 and 2019; the Cultural Olympiad and, potentially, the UK City of Culture Competition.
These opportunities, combined with the UK’s enviable heritage and attractions, mean that the contribution that the tourism industry would make to the UK’s economic recovery could be considerable.
Communities and Local Government
Asylum
The Department for Communities and Local Government has made no formal assessment of the court judgments. Refused asylum seekers are the responsibility of the UK Border Agency.
Council Housing
I have placed in the Library of the House the available information for the last 10 years on (a) rents collected in respect of dwellings held in each local authority’s housing revenue account and (b) receipts.
Information on receipts arising from the sale of dwellings under right to buy is available from the Department’s website on:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/table-648.xls
Council Housing: Finance
The Review of Council Housing Finance will report to Ministers soon. We do not intend to publish the report but will hold a public consultation on our proposals later in the year.
Demos
The Department has no contracts for supplies or services with the think-tank Demos.
Departmental Correspondence
The following proportion of MP correspondence cases were answered within 30 working days:
Percentage 2008 Q1 83 Q2 85 Q3 90 Q4 88 2009 Q1 82
Departmental Energy
The Department for Communities and Local Government, its predecessors and its Executive agencies used the following quantities of electricity and gas each year from 2004-05:
CLG estate Executive agencies 2004-05 10,744,962 15,311,717 2005-06 12,642,144 12,700,819 2006-07 13,018,289 12,889,192 2007-08 10,850,743 11,751,470 2008-09 n/k n/k
CLG estate Executive agencies 2004-05 9,273,713 20,434,155 2005-06 9,339,992 20,740,911 2006-07 8,769,886 12,889,192 2007-08 6,329,978 18,084,384 2008-09 n/k n/k
Data collation for 2008-09 is still in progress. The Department expects to complete and verify this process by September 2009.
The official responsible for the energy efficiency of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s estate is Andy Mills, Deputy Director Working Environment Division.
Home Information Packs
(2) what steps his Department has taken to monitor the level of enforcement action taken by trading standards officers in each local authority in relation to the accuracy and completeness of personal search information contained in home information packs.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 10 November 2008, Official Report, column 860W.
Housing
I have placed in the Library of the House a table giving details of the total number of dwellings, and the number of dwellings registered as second homes for council tax purposes, in each billing authority in England.
Housing: Construction
The HCA loan would be repayable to the HCA after senior debt is repaid.
Information on the total number of unsold new build properties is not held centrally.
Where the Homes and Communities Agency has allocated grant for the purchase of unsold stock through its Affordable Housing Programme these figures have been provided to the hon. Member on 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1115W.
There has been no estimate made of the number of housing developments in England on which construction has not started or is not progressing.
Housing: Low Incomes
If a social tenant buys a share in their home under Social HomeBuy, he or she is generally responsible for all the costs of maintaining it. The extent of their liability for maintenance and for service charges will be set out in their shared ownership lease prior to completion of the sale, and local authority and housing association landlords may decide to share the costs of maintaining properties sold under Social HomeBuy.
The table shows the number of affordable homes by local authority in the South West for which allocations of grant were given by the Homes and Communities Agency to registered social landlords to purchase unsold developer stock in 2008-09:
Sponsor local authority Number of units Bath and North East Somerset 5 Bournemouth 36 Bristol 301 Caradon 24 Carrick 18 East Dorset 13 Gloucester 40 Kennet 52 Kerrier 20 Mendip 54 Mid Devon 27 North Cornwall 18 North Devon 40 North Somerset 150 North Wiltshire 188 Plymouth 64 Purbeck 6 Restormel 76 Sedgemoor 18 South Gloucestershire 132 South Hams 18 South Somerset 7 Stroud 43 Swindon 75 Taunton Deane 15 Teignbridge 7 Tewkesbury 10 Torbay 14 Torridge 71 West Devon 79 West Dorset 46 West Somerset 16 West Wiltshire 82 Weymouth and Portland 4 Grand total 1,769
Local Government Finance: South West
Financial information in this form is only available by financial year (April to March). Estimates of expenditure from the public purse incurred by local authorities in the South West can be extrapolated from local authority returns. Total budgeted revenue expenditure for 2008-09 is estimated to be £8,517 million. For the same period, provisional outturn capital expenditure was reported to be £1,376 million. For other public sector organisations for which this Department is responsible the best estimate of expenditure from the public purse in the South West is £523 million.
Local Government: Public Relations
The Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, to which statute requires all local authorities to have regard, contains specific advice on the costs of local authority publicity, reminding local authorities that they are accountable to the public for their expenditure and should aim to achieve the greatest possible cost-effectiveness.
Local Government: Young People
My Department is facilitating a series of programmes to increase levels of involvement of young people in the work of local authorities and other public bodies.
Communities and Local Government (CLG) established ‘young advisors’ in 2005, with the aim of creating a pool of young people aged 15 to 21 to help local authorities and public bodies in their policy making and delivery of services. There are now 41 schemes operating across the country at a local level with around 400 trained young advisors.
We have also announced £2 million for a pilot programme to look at the way that young mayors can empower young people to take part in the local democratic process.
Finally, Communities and Local Government is supporting a programme of internships with local councillors. This programme will take place over a two year period and will provide young people with 25 hours of shadowing opportunities to help develop their understanding of local democracy.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
The aim of Homeowners Mortgage Support is to prevent repossessions, where households suffer a temporary income shock. After taking money advice, homeowners apply to their lenders to join the scheme, which allows them to defer up to 70 per cent. of the interest due. The Government have published an impact assessment, which estimates how many borrowers, at UK level, could be eligible. Official figures on the number of households entering the scheme will be published later this year.
Homeowners Mortgage Support is only one form of help available to householders facing repossessions. Government have taken other steps to support households including:
the enhanced Support for Mortgage Interest scheme to help out of work householders with interest payments;
the Mortgage Rescue Scheme, where local authorities step in to help vulnerable households stay in their homes;
expanding free legal advice service by increasing court desk coverage;
new pre-action protocol in place on lenders;
£20 million funding for local authorities to provide direct support to householder and;
over £18 million additional funding for debt advice services.
Non-domestic Rates: Ports
The Secretary of State has received recent correspondence as set out in the table from some port businesses and their representatives on the issue of retrospective business rates.
Date received Correspondent 6 May 2009 John MacIntyre, Frank Armitt and Son 20 May 2009 Louise Ellman MP, re Mersey Maritime 27 May 2009 Norman Hawkes, Leafe and Hawkes 29 May 2009 Graham Mansbridge, P & O Ferries 1 June 2009 Andy Dixon, Freshney Cargo 5 June 2009 Austin Mitchell MP re Freshney Cargo 10 June 2009 Louise Ellman MP 16 June 2009 Austin Mitchell MP 16 June 2009 Simon Leafe, Leafe and Hawkes 18 June 2009 Andy Dixon, Freshney Cargo
Social Rented Housing
The requested estimates are provided in the following table. These estimates are based on data from the 2007-08 Survey of English Housing.
Number of bedrooms 1 2 3 4 or more Total Number of people in household 1 962 443 231 15 1,651 2 188 473 386 15 1,062 3 19 223 288 16 546 4 or more 8 159 449 90 705 All 1,178 1,297 1,354 135 3,964 Source: Communities and Local Government, Survey of English Housing
Social Rented Housing: Construction
None. We expect to receive the first bids in early July.
Temporary Accommodation: Costs
This information is not collected centrally.
Temporary Accommodation: Peterborough
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 23 June 2009, Official Report, column 843W.
Thurrock Thameside Urban Development Corporation
I was appointed Minister for the Thames Gateway and Olympics legacy on 9 June 2009. I visited Thurrock on 16 June 2009, to mark the start of works on the new Royal Opera House production park facility in Purfleet. During my visit, I met members and officers of the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation, members and officers of the council and people from the local community, as well as my hon. Friend.
My predecessors have met members and officers of the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation informally at a range of meetings including the Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership.
Urban Areas: Regeneration
The Government are committed to helping local authorities and the retail sector encourage innovative town centre redevelopment through planning, town centre partnerships, town centre management and other town centre initiatives. These all help to provide solid foundations on which to build strong and attractive town centres.
We have put in place strong policies in Planning Policy Statement 6: “Planning for Town Centres” (PPS6) (published 2005), to allow local authorities to sustain and enhance their town centres. PPS6 asks local planning authorities to plan positively and proactively for their town centres with growth focused in existing centres in order to strengthen them and, where appropriate, regenerate them.
On 14 April 2009 we published “Looking after our town centres”, a document setting out the range of powers, guidance and approaches that can help local authorities and their partners promote the vitality and viability of town centres, and explains additional steps that the Government are taking to enable further positive action to be taken, particularly through the temporary use of empty shops.
On 5 May 2009 we also published a consultation draft Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS4): “Planning for Prosperous Economies” which will replace PPS6. This maintains a strong town centres first policy. Draft PPS4 reinforces the existing policy requirement for local authorities to plan proactively for their areas in partnership with business and local communities. We want authorities to identify suitable opportunities for new development, expand town centres where necessary, and address the needs of deprived areas.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Detainees
The former detainees arrived in Bermuda early on 11 June 2009. The US Administration notified our embassy in Washington of the transfer a few hours earlier.
China: British Nationality
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not able to record the total number of British nationals resident in China. Based on figures held by the Public Security Bureaux in China where resident British nationals need to register, we estimate there are approximately 15,000 British nationals living in mainland China and 265,000 in Hong Kong.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
In 2006-07 total carbon emissions from air travel originating in the UK by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff were 14,727 tonnes of CO2 emissions (CO2e) equating to 3.8 tonnes of CO2e per full-time equivalent (FTE) member of staff. In 2007-08 emissions from air travel originating in the UK by FCO staff were 12,874 tonnes CO2e equating to 3.4 tonnes per FTE.
Departmental Cleaning Services
Over the last three years cleaning services have been provided to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by the following contractors at the indicated cost.
Contractor £ 2006-07 Emprise 1,324,684.40 2007-08 Emprise 1,416,941.20 2008-09 Emprise (to 31 November 2008) 1,033,477.50 Interserve FM (from 1 December 2008) 504,539.00
Departmental Electricity
In 2006-07 the percentage of electricity derived from renewable sources for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office UK Estate, including Wilton Park, was 32.7 per cent. In 2007-08 this figure was 30 per cent.
Departmental Resignations
The number of UK civil servants employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and FCO Services (FCOS) who resigned in each of the last five years was:
FCO FCOS 2004-05 69 20 2005-06 94 3 2006-07 100 1 2007-08 93 10 2008-09 77 2
We do not hold records of resignations before 2004.
These figures do not include staff who took early retirement (with compensation) as a result of restructuring programmes.
Departmental Work Experience
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) takes part in the Cabinet Office run Summer Development Programme and Summer Placement Scheme for undergraduates and graduates. In 2009 we awarded 10 paid placements to candidates from ethnic minority and disabled backgrounds. There are currently no centrally organised, unpaid, graduate internship programmes in the FCO.
Diplomatic Service: Gifts and Endowments
Part-time special envoys appointed by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister offer their services and expertise on a voluntary basis. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not employ them or offer contractual terms to them. We reimburse relevant expenses when envoys undertake visits or engagements at our request.
Political appointments made by the Prime Minister to high commissioner posts are subject to the civil service code, like all FCO members of staff. As such they may not accept benefits of any kind from a third party, which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgement or integrity. We insist that staff observe the highest standards of propriety, avoid any perceived conflict of interest and refuse all gifts, unless they are of insignificant value.
Eritrea: Human Rights
The UK raises human rights issues with the Eritrean Government both in Asmara and with the Eritrean Ambassador to London on a regular basis, highlighting the amount of public and parliamentary interest we receive. My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, raised human rights with the Eritrean Ambassador at the end of last year.
We also discuss human rights as part of the EU via the Article 8 Political Dialogue. EU Heads of Mission produced a human rights report at the end of January to discuss with the Government of Eritrea. Unfortunately, since initial discussions earlier this year the Government of Eritrea has twice refused to have human rights included on the Article 8 Dialogue agenda for discussion. We will raise our disappointment, as part of EU Heads of Mission, at the Eritrean Government’s reluctance to return to human rights issues as part of the planned Article 8 Political Dialogue when EU Heads of Mission and representatives of the Eritrean Government next meet on 23 June 2009.
We will continue to press to get human rights discussions back on the Article 8 Dialogue agenda.
European Anti-Fraud Office
Information on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)’s operations can be found in its annual reports.
OLAF’s most recent operations report states that
‘A total of 67 actions corresponding to 20 decisions were undertaken for the protection of the EC’s financial interests. A significant proportion of these actions resulted in imprisonments (24). The three other most frequent actions were financial penalties (19), suspended sentences (18) and damages (5). No suspects were acquitted in 2007’
OLAF will also have referred cases to national prosecutors that national authorities may then have taken action on independently.
The full report can be found on OLAF’s website at:
http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/reports/olaf/2007/en.pdf
Reports for previous years’ operations can also be found on the OLAF website at:
http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/reports/olaf_en.html
European Commission
European Commissioners are required to be:
“independent in the performance of their duties”
not taking:
“instructions from any Government or other institution, body, office or entity”.
Any Commissioner put forward can have no given mandate from the UK.
HMS Poseidon
[holding answer 22 June 2009]: We are aware of reports that the submarine HMS Poseidon was salvaged in 1972. We have sought clarification from the Chinese authorities, and await their reply.
International Renewable Energy Agency
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) with the German, Austrian or Danish Foreign Ministers. He has discussed the issue with the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates and the German Environment Minister. He stressed with both that, as the UK was not a member of IRENA and so had no voting rights, the UK would not take a formal position on where the headquarters should be situated.
[holding answer 23 June 2009]: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with counterparts in these countries concerning the International Renewable Energy Agency.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has lead responsibility for our policy towards renewable energy. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was set up by the German Government in January 2009 and now has around 100 member governments. Mandated by these governments worldwide, IRENA aspires to become the main driving force for promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale. The UK (DECC) have now confirmed that they will sign-up to IRENA; this should happen this week.
Laos: Prisoners
Our embassy in Bangkok, which is accredited to Laos, asked the Lao authorities on 15 May 2009 and again on 21 May 2009 for an update on the current situation of these prisoners. The Lao authorities have however responded saying that they are unable to provide any additional information to that supplied in 2008 concerning these men.
We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant Lao authorities whenever the opportunity arises.
Pakistan: Ethnic Groups
The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron), visited Pakistan in February 2009 and met the Pakistani Minister for Human Rights, Mumtaz Gilani and the Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti. During these meetings, she pressed for more action to protect the rights of minorities in Pakistan. My hon. Friend also called for a review of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which are frequently abused and lead to significant discrimination against minorities.
Bilaterally and with our EU partners we continue to call upon the Government of Pakistan to promote the concept of freedom of religion and belief and to initiate early reform of the discriminatory blasphemy legislation.
In the course of their duties, officials at our high commission in Islamabad regularly meet with members of the Government of Pakistan to discuss the human rights situation in Pakistan.
Royal Visits
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not pay clothing costs for members of the Royal Family on official overseas travel.
Somalia: Piracy
Working Group 1 met informally on 10 June 2009 in the margins of the Seoul High-Level Meeting on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. It discussed regional capability development priorities with the representatives of regional countries and other international partners. The next formal meeting is planned to take place in London on 10 July 2009. The meeting is likely again to focus predominantly on regional capability development needs and priorities, although an agenda is yet to be finalised.
Sudan: Peace Negotiations
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is the foundation for future peace and stability across Sudan. With only two years before the end of the interim period, we remain concerned at the number of outstanding CPA issues, including preparations for elections and referenda. We welcome the CPA conference in Washington on 23 June 2009 which will bring together both North and South and the international community to tackle these issues.
We welcome the National Election Commission’s plans for elections in February 2010, although we are concerned that preparations are behind schedule. There are major challenges which must be addressed, including ensuring necessary legislation, such as the security and press acts, is appropriate. The UK will be providing significant assistance and we are working with the Sudanese and the international community to ensure peaceful and credible elections are held.
The UK remains completely committed to fair and credible referenda on self-determination, both for Abyei and the South, as defined in the CPA. The referendum bill is currently being discussed in the Sudanese parliament. We urge both sides to reach agreement quickly on the bill to allow preparations for the referenda to begin.
Turks and Caicos Islands
I hope to make a statement to the House on the Commission of Inquiry’s final report shortly, explaining when the Governor intends to publish the report and the action necessary.
Uganda: Armed Conflict
The Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) agreed a peace settlement, the Final Peace Agreement (FPA), in April 2008 after almost two years of negotiations mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan. The leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, refused to sign the FPA, most recently in November 2008, in the absence of a guarantee of immunity from prosecution at the International Criminal Court. LRA activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Southern Sudan, including abductions and attacks on civilians, have continued in the interim.
The Governments of Uganda, the DRC and the Government of Southern Sudan began joint military action against the LRA in December 2008. The Government of Uganda has stated that it remains committed to the FPA but is not prepared to re-open negotiation of the terms of the agreement with the LRA. There are no negotiations currently in train.
Zimbabwe
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last discussed Zimbabwe with his then South African counterpart, Mrs. Dlamini-Zuma, at a meeting in London on 6 March 2009. My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown is in regular contact with Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries on Zimbabwe, most recently in the margins of the World Economic Forum meeting in Cape Town on 11 June 2009.
SADC, as a guarantor of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) conducted as the Inclusive Government was formed, has a key role to play in ensuring compliance with its provisions. How to respond to any specific appeal that it may have received from the Movement for Democratic Change is clearly a matter for SADC itself, though we would hope that it would do so resolutely.
Electoral Commission Committee
Postal Votes
The Electoral Commission informs me that it is currently developing a set of UK-wide standards on the accessibility, design and usability of ballot papers and associated stationery including postal voting materials. The Commission will publish its standards in autumn 2009.
Postal Votes: Lancashire
The Electoral Commission informs me that it is not possible to provide information about the proportion of postal votes which are spoiled, because ballot papers which have been returned by post are mixed with ballot papers from polling stations before they are counted.
The table provides information on the proportion of ballot papers counted in each division of Lancashire county council at the 2009 elections which were deemed to have been spoiled. Returning officers are not required to report information about the proportion of returned postal votes which were rejected because of a missing or incomplete postal voting statement until 25 days after polling day. The Commission will include an analysis of rejected postal votes in its report on the June 2009 elections in October 2009.
Division Proportion (percentage) Accrington North 2.6 Accrington South 0.5 Accrington West 3.1 Amounderness 1.1 Bamber Bridge and Walton-le-Dale 1.7 Brierfield and Nelson North 1.8 Burnley Central East 0.7 Burnley Central West 0.6 Burnley North East 0.5 Burnley Rural 0.7 Burnley South West 2.3 Chorley East 0.5 Chorley North 0.5 Chorley Rural East 1.3 Chorley Rural North 1.2 Chorley Rural West 2.6 Chorley South 1.7 Chorley West 3.5 Clitheroe 1.8 Farington 1.3 Fleetwood East 0.5 Fleetwood West 0.6 Fylde East 0.6 Fylde South 0.5 Fylde West 0.3 Garstang 0.5 Great Harwood 0.9 Heysham 0.7 Lancaster Central 0.4 Lancaster East 1.0 Lancaster Rural East 0.6 Lancaster Rural North 0.6 Lancaster South East 0.4 Leyland Central 1.2 Leyland South West 1.5 Longridge with Bowland 1.1 Lytham 0.5 Morecambe North 1.3 Morecambe South 0.9 Morecambe West 1.1 Nelson South 0.4 Ormskirk West 0.0 Oswaldtwistle 3.3 Padiham and Burnley West 0.7 Pendle Central 0.5 Pendle East 0.2 Pendle West 0.5 Penwortham North 0.6 Penwortham South 2.2 Poulton-le-Fylde 0.6 Preston Central North 0.4 Preston Central South 0.8 Preston City 0.8 Preston East 0.7 Preston North 1.0 Preston North East 0.7 Preston North West 1.6 Preston Rural 0.6 Preston South East 1.2 Preston West 1.0 Ribble Valley North East 0.8 Ribble Valley South West 0.6 Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors 2.4 Rossendale East 0.4 Rossendale North 0.6 Rossendale South 1.9 Rossendale West 0.6 Skelmersdale Central 0.7 Skelmersdale East 1.2 Skelmersdale West 0.6 Skerton 0.6 South Ribble Rural East 1.8 South Ribble Rural West 0.4 St. Annes North 0.4 St. Annes South 0.4 Thornton Cleveleys Central 0.6 Thornton Cleveleys North 0.7 West Craven 0.5 West Lancashire East 0.9 West Lancashire North 0.9 West Lancashire South 1.1 West Lancashire West 0.3 Whitworth 0.8 Wyreside 0.9
Cabinet Office
Cancer
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many cases of cancer have been diagnosed in (a) England and (b) each ward of Henley constituency in each year since 2000 [281174].
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2006. Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of cancer for the years 2000 to 2006 for (a) England and for (b) each ward of Henley constituency are in Table 1.
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 England 229,339 232,575 230,208 234,434 239,273 241,974 242,184 Henley constituency 434 469 450 458 458 480 466 Wards of Henley constituency Aston Rowant 13 11 5 11 13 10 12 Benson 26 22 25 25 18 24 22 Berinsfield 13 30 21 28 35 26 38 Chalgrove 11 13 12 15 14 5 12 Chiltem Woods 19 15 17 11 20 17 10 Chinnor 35 30 23 29 30 32 26 Crowmarsh 12 7 6 15 17 6 13 Forest Hill and Holton 13 19 15 17 10 25 10 Garsington 21 19 12 16 6 12 20 Goring 30 39 35 40 24 51 36 Great Milton 12 25 14 22 13 11 12 Henley North 37 26 35 35 37 41 22 Henley South 30 32 32 31 36 34 36 Sanford 9 23 17 7 13 13 22 Shiplake 29 24 30 25 37 16 26 Sonning Common 22 31 34 26 21 33 27 Thame North 19 23 13 19 26 21 24 Thame South 21 16 22 22 28 25 30 Watlington 27 24 34 26 20 24 29 Wheatly 25 29 36 25 29 37 29 Woodcote 10 11 12 13 11 17 10 1 All cancers, coded to C00-C97 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (C44). 2 Both the parliamentary constituency and the wards are based on boundaries as of 2008. Source: Office for National Statistics.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Since 2002-03, the Government have published information about the numbers and cost of special advisers, including the cost of severance payments. The total cost of severance payments to special advisers in each year from 2002-03 to 2006-07 is set out as follows.
£ 2002-03 92,686 2003-04 85,329 2004-05 78,624 2005-06 955,895 2006-07 171,521
As has been the practice of successive administrations, severance payments to special advisers are made in line with the contractual provisions set out in the “Model Contract for Special Advisers”.
Departmental Security
It is Cabinet Office policy not to provide information which risks identifying individual members of staff.
Government Departments: ICT
The information requested is not held centrally and could not be collected without disproportionate cost.
Non-Departmental Public Bodies
Information on non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is published in the annual Cabinet Office “Public Bodies” report. Copies are available from the Libraries of the House. “Public Bodies” 2008 reports that the total number of NDPBs fell by around 8 per cent. since 1997—from 857 to 790 in 2008.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices
This Department and the Department for Children, Schools and Families currently fund Apprenticeships for adults and young people in a number of occupations in the automotive industry in England. Apprenticeships will play a key role in our response to the current economic downturn. Earlier in the year my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a £140 million package to provide an extra 35,000 Apprenticeship places over the coming year in both the public and private sectors to help boost the country’s competitiveness.
Last month we announced that businesses across the country with a proven track record of delivering Apprenticeships would share £11 million to create 3,000 new places by employing apprentices over and above the number they already employ. This will help these businesses support smaller companies in their supply chains. Companies benefiting from this funding include: Scania; Daf Trucks; Ford; BMW; Mercedes Benz; and Jaguar Land Rover.
Looking to the future, we have set ambitious targets for the growth of the Apprenticeships programme. Apprenticeships provisions are being taken forward as part of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, including provisions to ensure that an Apprenticeship place is available for all suitably qualified young people by 2013.
All apprentices must be entitled to work in the UK in order to take up an apprenticeship and, as with any employment, it is the employer’s responsibility to check all prospective employees’ entitlement to work in the UK, or they risk breaking the law.
Neither this Department nor the UK Border Agency collect information of this nature, therefore no figures are available.
Apprentices: Essex
Table 1 shows the number of Level 2 apprenticeship starts in both Essex local authority and Castle Point parliamentary constituency for each of the last five academic years.
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Castle Point 220 220 220 210 250 Essex 3,200 3,000 2,900 3,100 3,600 Notes: 1. Area is based on learner's home postcode. 2. Figures for parliamentary constituency have been rounded to the nearest 10, figures for local authority have been rounded to the nearest 100. Source: Work-Based Learning ILR
Apprentices: Local Government
We do not hold centrally data on the number of apprentices employed by each local authority. The Government are committed to developing and expanding apprenticeships in the public sector and earlier this year Cabinet colleagues announced plans for the expansion of the apprenticeships scheme across the public sector. We announced a £140 million package to deliver 35,000 extra places this year of which 21,000 would be in the public sector.
Apprentices: Public Sector
We do not hold centrally data on the number of apprentices employed by each local authority. The Government are committed to developing and expanding apprenticeships in the public sector and earlier this year Cabinet colleagues announced plans for the expansion of the apprenticeships scheme across the public sector. We announced a £140 million package to deliver 35,000 extra places this year of which 21,000 would be in the public sector.
Building Colleges for the Future Programme
[holding answer 17 June 2009]: As set out by the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) acting chief executive, Geoff Russell, in his letter of 2 June, many more colleges have put forward a case for their projects to be considered as shovel ready than expected, and so unfortunately the LSC was not in a position to ask its June Council to approve individual projects.
Mr. Russell has, however, stated that an announcement will be made by the end of this month as to which projects will go through to the next stage of the prioritisation process.
In line with Sir Andrew Foster’s recommendations, the Learning and Skills Council consulted on the best approach to prioritise projects.
The first stage of prioritisation will be ‘readiness’. Projects which pass through the readiness gateway will then be assessed against the other following prioritisation criteria:
Education and skills impact
Contribution to local economic and regeneration priorities
Co-dependency with 3rd parties
Condition of estate
Value for money
We expect to announce which projects will be taken forward during this spending review period in the summer.
Education: Procurement
As part of our drive to ensure value for money, we have worked through our key delivery partners to support higher education institutions and further education colleges in delivering greater efficiencies. That includes using consortia at local, regional and national level to procure goods and services collaboratively. This has already been successful over a number of years. Further Education Colleges have already made savings of over £70 million and Higher Education Institutions delivered efficiencies of over £100 million as a result of improvements in procurement. We will continue to promote the benefits of collaborative procurement, while respecting the independence of individual institutions.
Further Education: North Yorkshire
Students in North Yorkshire and elsewhere have already benefited from the increase in investment for further education of 53 per cent. in real terms since 1997. Recent changes which will affect LSC budgets were announced in Budget 2009. The Budget made available an additional £300 million of further education capital spending and £122 million to support extra training in England for young people who have been unemployed for 12 months. As part of DCSF-funded activity, there will be £655 million to support over 54,000 more young people to take up a guaranteed place at school or college. As part of Budget 2009, the Government committed to delivering an additional £5 billion of efficiency savings in 2010-11. The then Secretary of State for DIUS wrote to the LSC on 7 May setting out expectations on the contribution to those efficiencies from post-19 further education provision. Taking into account these changes, the LSC will see an estimated overall increase in resources for frontline teaching, learning and learner support services for post-19 learners of around £140 million between 2009-10 and 2010-11. We expect learners in North Yorkshire to benefit from these changes. Funding allocations for 2009-10 post-19 provision are currently being finalised and will be completed later this month.
Gambling: Competition
This Department has not received any such recent representations from the UK leisure and gaming businesses.
Higher Education: Cambridgeshire
The latest available information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is shown in the following table. Figures for the 2008/09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
Academic year North West Cambridgeshire enrolments 1998/99 2,250 1999/2000 2,380 2000/01 2,390 2001/02 2,515 2002/03 2,510 2003/04 2,850 2004/05 2,965 2005/06 2,985 2006/07 2,740 2007/08 2,930 1 Covers undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. 2 Parliamentary constituency is defined by full and valid home postcodes recorded on the HESA student record. Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Higher Education: Peterborough
The latest available 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.
Academic year Peterborough enrolments 1998/99 2,015 1999/2000 2,090 2000/01 2,120 2001/02 2,130 2002/03 2,080 2003/04 2,255 2004/05 2,350 2005/06 2,290 2006/07 2,195 2007/08 2,310 1 Covers undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. 2 Parliamentary constituency is defined by full and valid home postcodes recorded on the HESA student record. Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
Jaguar Land Rover
The Department is actively pursuing this issue with Jaguar Land Rover’s parent Tata Motors as a priority with a view to reaching a conclusion as soon as possible.
Learning and Skills Council: Consultants
The Department does not hold this level of information. The Learning and Skills Council makes decisions about the employment of consultants based upon its own business needs. Geoff Russell, the Council’s acting chief executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with further information. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Learning and Skills Council: Finance
Where local authorities are providers in their own right, they will receive a funding allocation from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to deliver provision in line with funding allocated to all other providers.
Funding allocations for adult learner responsive (ALR) and employer responsive (ER) provision are calculated according to a national funding formula. This formula calculates funding using the volume of learning that the provider delivers at an agreed national funding rate. The formula also takes account of factors specific to the provider—such as the curriculum that it offers, and the proportion of students coming from areas of disadvantage.
Local authorities deliver the majority of the £210 million that is safeguarded annually for informal adult learning. This learning is not formula-funded, but is commissioned through a negotiated process with each local authority. It is a block grant to deliver an agreed volume of provision. The LSC uses final outturn data returns for previous years and in-year estimate data in order to agree learner numbers to be funded for the following year.
(2) how much funding has been allocated to local authorities through the Learning and Skills Council for (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) allocates funding to learning providers—including school sixth forms, FE colleges, independent providers and local authorities—where those providers are approved to deliver publicly-funded further education and skills for learners aged 16 or over. Funding is allocated in respect of an academic year, but the actual amounts paid will depend on demand from individuals and employers.
Funding allocations data for all LSC-funded providers are available on the LSC website:
www.lsc.gov.uk/providers/funding-policy/allocations
These data show that in 2007/08 academic year, over £410 million was allocated to local authorities; the allocation in 2008/09 was over £370 million. Allocations for 2009/10 are still being finalised.
The majority of the £210 million that is safeguarded annually for informal adult learning is delivered through local authorities, and therefore comprises a significant proportion of their funding allocations (around £200 million a year over 2007/08 and 2008/09 academic years). The rest of the funding they receive supports adult learner responsive provision as well as training in the workplace (Train to Gain and apprenticeships) for both adults and young people.
Learning and Skills Council: Manpower
The Department does not hold this level of information. Geoff Russell, the Learning and Skills Council acting chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with the information he has requested. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Local Press
Following its review of the local media merger regime, the OFT submitted a summary of its findings and recommendations to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for it to consider as part of the Digital Britain report. These findings and recommendations, and the OFT's full report, will be published alongside the final Digital Britain report shortly.
Overseas Students: Fees and Charges
[holding answer 19 June 2009]: The latest estimates, taken from the “Global Value” report published by the British Council in September 2007, are that international students in further and higher education were estimated to contribute £2.2 billion in tuition fees and £3.1 billion in other spending in 2003-04. Tuition and other spending in relation to students on English language courses was estimated at £1.1 billion.
Personal Care Services: Training
Funding for further education and skills is administered by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold a comprehensive database of learning aims that are eligible for LSC funding; this falls within the remit of the LSC. Beauty therapy is one of the learning aims that are eligible for LSC funding, and a variety of courses fall within the beauty therapy framework.
The LSC agrees indicative budgets with colleges and providers prior to the start of the academic year based on the expected delivery of an overall volume of learning. The actual funding paid will depend on the choice of learning area made by employers and learners. As funding is not allocated at an individual course level, details of the amount made available to support specific qualifications in this sector are not held centrally in the Department.
Steel: Prices
Due a significant fall in demand, steel prices have dropped sharply from the peaks seen in the summer of 2008. Changes in prices are the natural consequence of market forces and as such it would not be right for the Government to interfere in the market in any way. However, if there was firm evidence that anti-competitive or unfair trade practices were the cause then we would press the European Commission to take action.
Since the start of the year the Government have introduced a range of measures to help increase liquidity and ease credit conditions for small businesses. This is real help that is focused and funded. It is help that has only been made possible due to the fiscal stimulus offered by the Government in the PBR. We have recapitalised the banks, agreed to underwrite more than £20 billion worth of credit lines and lending and tailored a package of bank measures—including a new £50 billion Bank of England facility for purchasing high quality assets—to get bad assets out into the daylight and help lending flow again.
Students: Finance
Students in Essex and elsewhere have already benefited from the increase in investment for further education of 53 per cent. in real terms since 1997. Recent changes which will affect LSC budgets were announced in Budget 2009. The Budget made available an additional £300 million of further education capital spending and £122 million to support extra training in England for young people who have been unemployed for 12 months. As part of DCSF-funded activity, there will be £655 million to support over 54,000 more young people to take up a guaranteed place at school or college. As part of Budget 2009, the Government committed to delivering an additional £5 billion of efficiency savings in 2010-11. The then Secretary of State for DIUS wrote to the LSC on 7 May setting out expectations on the contribution to those efficiencies from post-19 further education provision. Taking into account these changes, the LSC will see an estimated overall increase in resources for frontline teaching, learning and learner support services for post-19 learners of around £140 million between 2009-10 and 2010-11. We expect students in Essex and the Castle Point area to benefit from this increase. Funding allocations for 2009/10 post-19 provision are currently being finalised and will be completed later this month.
Students: Loans
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) administer Career Development Loans (CDLs) on behalf of the Department. Details of the number of loans awarded for approved driver instructor and teacher training courses for the last five years are set out in the following tables. Information on the number of loans applied for is not collected.
Courses undertaken using a CDL are the personal choice of the individual taking out the loan. Changes in annual numbers undertaking any particular type of course, such as driving instruction, are a reflection of changing trends in individual career aspirations of those applying for loans.
Number 2007-08 327 2006-07 759 2005-06 1,756 2004-05 2,327 2003-04 3,242
Number 2007-08 0 2006-07 5 2005-06 5 2004-05 11 2003-04 4
Children, Schools and Families
Absenteeism: Peterborough
The Ministry of Justice collects and publishes data for England and Wales on prosecutions brought against parents under the Education Act 1996 for the offence under s444(1) of failing to secure their child's regular attendance at school; and for prosecutions under s444(1A), the aggravated offence of knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly. It is possible, because of the way courts record data, that some section 444 data is also collected under the more general heading of various offences under the Education Act 1996.
The Ministry of Justice collects prosecution data on the basis of police force areas only and not local authority area. Cambridgeshire police force area covers Peterborough and the number of parents prosecuted for failing to secure their children's regular school attendance between 2006 to 2007 (latest available data) is detailed in the following table. Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Number 2006 40 2007 44 1 Includes the following; (a) Failure to secure regular attendance at school. (Education Act 1996 S.444 (1 )(8)). (b) Parent knows that their child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school. (Education Act 1996 S.444(8)(1a)(8a) added by Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.72). 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: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice
Apprentices: Essex
Apprenticeships for young people are normally full-time and the hours that each individual spends on their framework each week are a matter for the apprentice and their employer. Some apprentices work part-time. Information about the number of hours that apprentices work and train each week is not collected centrally. We have recently consulted on a Specification for Apprenticeship Standards in England including a proposal to set a minimum number of guided learning hours per year for all apprentices. Following consideration of the responses, we expect to publish the Specification for Apprenticeship Standards in England in August.
Building Schools for the Future Programme
A total of 44 school projects (of which three were primary schools procured through the Newcastle local education partnership) were completed in the calendar year 2008, each benefiting from investment as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme. The table shows the level of capital funding provided to each school project. Local authorities may have supplemented this with additional funding from other sources. Commercially sensitive actual cost data is held on the Partnerships for Schools cost benchmarking database, but release of project-level data may prejudice future public sector negotiations with the private sector.
Local authority School Capital funding (including ICT) (£ million) New build/refurb Notes Lambeth Park Campus 6.2 New build — Newcastle Kenton School 2.8 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Solihull Park Hall School 24.4 New build PFI scheme Sheffield Yewlands Technology College 16.8 Refurb (two phases) — Solihull Archbishop Grimshaw Catholic School 24.5 New build — Derby City Sinfin Community School 16.5 New build BSF One School Pathfinder Cornwall Penryn College 22.8 New build BSF One School Pathfinder South Tyneside and Gateshead Kings Meadow School 1.3 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Leeds Cockburn College of Arts 17.0 New build — Bradford Titus Salt School 25.0 New build PFI scheme Bradford Tong High School 24.8 New build PFI scheme Bradford Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College 27.9 New build PFI scheme Bristol Brislington Enterprise College 32.9 New build PFI scheme Lancashire Thomas Whitham Sixth Form, Burnley Campus 15.4 New build PFI scheme Lancashire Pendle Vale College, Pendle Vale Campus 8.4 New build PFI scheme Lancashire Pendle Community High School, Pendle Vale Campus 19.0 New build PFI scheme Lancashire Shuttleworth College 18.9 New build PFI scheme Leeds Allerton High School 21.5 New build PFI scheme Leeds Pudsey Grangefield School 21.1 New build PFI scheme Leeds Rodillian School 23.2 New build PFI scheme Leeds Temple Moor High School 13.6 New build — Manchester Newall Green High School 15.9 New build and refurb — Manchester Cedar Mount High School, Gorton Education Village 16.4 New build and refurb — Manchester Melland High School, Gorton Education Village 9.7 New build — Manchester St. Paul’s School 15.7 New build and refurb — Newcastle Benfield School (phase 1 of refurb) 16.8 Refurb — Newcastle Walbottle Campus Technology College 31.0 New build PFI scheme Solihull Lanchester School 7.3 New build PFI scheme Waltham Forest Frederick Bremer School 18.9 New build PFI scheme Waltham Forest Kelmscott School 12.4 New build and refurb — South Tyneside and Gateshead Boldon School 1.5 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only South Tyneside and Gateshead Lord Lawson Of Beamish School 2.1 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Newcastle Thomas Bewick School 0.6 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Bristol Bristol Metropolitan College 26.6 New build PFI scheme Kent Ifield School 7.8 New build — Lambeth The Michael Tippett School 11.9 New build — Stoke Sandon High School 16.2 New build Lewisham New Woodlands School 0.2 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Lewisham Greenvale School 0.2 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Lewisham Forest Hill School 1.0 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only Lewisham Prendergast—Ladywell Fields College 0.9 ICT only BSF funding for ICT only
In addition three primary schools were procured through the Newcastle BSF local education partnership.
Chemistry: GCE A-level
Of the 187 maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for an A-level in chemistry in 2006/07, 22 (12 per cent.) entered at least one candidate for a single or double award A-level in applied science in the same year.
Children In Care: Missing Persons
(2) what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of children who go missing from care homes.
Following a consultation, the Government plan to publish revised statutory guidance about children missing from home or care shortly. This will set out the steps that must be followed whenever any child in care goes missing. This includes the local authority working with partner agencies such as the police, so that there is a systematic response whenever a child in care goes missing from their care placement.
The National Minimum Standards for Children’s Homes and Fostering Services require that all homes and fostering services should have explicit procedures to follow when children in their care may be missing or absent. We will be strengthening these Standards later this year and will include more specific guidance on action which should be taken when a child goes missing from a residential or foster home.
The Government have also launched the Young Runaways Action Plan. This brings together cross- Government action on children who run away from home or care and places particular emphasis on vulnerable children such as those who have been trafficked. More generally, a national indicator on young runaways, introduced in April this year, now requires LAs to have in place protocols for the inter-agency response to run-aways and missing children, including preventative measures.
The requested information on the number of children who have gone missing from care who have not been found is not held centrally by the Department. It is not possible to derive the number of children missing from care who have never been found, because we can only account for the situation at the end of the last completed data collection year. Children missing at the end of the data year may subsequently return into care. Information on looked after children can be found in “Statistical First Release Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008”, which is available on the Department’s website via the following link:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/index.shtml
Table A3 shows the number looked after at 31 March each year by their placement type at 31 March, which includes a category to show those looked after who were absent from their agreed placement at that time. At 31 March 2008, the number absent from their agreed placement was 150.
Children: Databases
[holding answer 27 March 2009]: Expenditure on the ContactPoint Project from 2005-06 to 31 March 2009 is forecast to be £167.2 million, including £2.2 million of pre-project costs.
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: Data feed from national systems will re-commence once all local authority ContactPoint management teams have been given access to ContactPoint.
Children: Protection
This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, 15 June 2009:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for a response.
A total of 329 nine calls have been made to Ofsted's safeguarding children whistleblower hotline since its inception on 1 April 2009. The majority of these were queries about childcare registration issues. However, 11 of these calls qualified under the Whistleblower procedures and have been handled accordingly. Three calls were received in April, five in May and a further three between 1 and 12 June 2009.
Any which relate to the safeguarding of individual children are forwarded to our Compliance, Investigation and Enforcement section (CIE), who will take action to ensure that the safety of the child concerned is secured.
A copy of this reply has been sent to right hon. Dawn Primarolo MP, Minister for State for Children, Young People and Families, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Class Sizes
The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
The table supplied shows the numbers of pupils in classes of 31 or more, where the class is taught by one teacher for primary and secondary schools combined. Latest figures for classes taught by more than one teacher can be found on the departmental website at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/LATablesWeb.xls
(tables B12 and B14).
Family Courts: Personnel
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) has not refused any contract extensions for employees over the age of 65 years in the last 12 months.
Further Education: Essex
The information requested is shown in the table for Essex local education authority(LEA). This information is not available below LEA level.
Percentage End 1997 End 2007 Full-time further education Age 16 71 75 Age 17 57 62 All aged 16 and 17 64 69 All education and Work Based Learning Age 16 80 83 Age 17 69 72 All aged 16 and 17 74 78 1 The age of a learner is measured at the beginning of the academic year, 31 August. Source: Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year Olds in England http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/index.shtml
GCE A-Level
The information is given in the following table:
Number of maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for a GCE A level in English Percentage of maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for a GCE A level in English 2005 38 2.2 2006 31 1.8 2007 32 1.8 2008 22 1.3 Note: Only schools published in the AATs have been included. Source: School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables (AAT) data.
GCSE
(2) what proportion of pupils achieved five GCSEs at grade A* to B in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.
The information is given in the following table:
Percentage 1996/97 25.6 1997/98 24.9 1998/99 26.1 1999/00 26.9 2000/01 27.0 2001/02 27.6 2002/03 27.5 2003/04 27.7 2004/05 29.1 2005/06 29.6 2006/07 30.0 2007/08 32.7 Note: Figures include achievements in full GCSEs and vocational GCSEs. Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables data.
Figures prior to 2004/05 relate to 15-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in all schools. Figures for 2004/05 onwards relate to pupils at the end of Key Stage 4.
Of all the mainstream maintained schools, 133 (4.3 per cent.) did not enter any pupils for GCSE geography in 2008.
Of all the mainstream maintained schools, 96 (3.1 per cent.) did not enter any pupils for GCSE history in 2008.
Data relate to pupils at the end of KS4 and include GCSE only.
(2) in how many and what proportion of mainstream maintained schools no pupil has achieved a grade of C or above in GCSE history in each year since 1997.
[holding answer 17 June 2009]: The information for 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008 is given in the tables. Figures for other years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
In order to protect confidentiality, it is usual and accepted practice to only give achievement and attainment performance information for schools with more than 10 pupils in the particular category (in this case, more than 10 pupils entered for GCSE history). However, as no schools are named, it is possible to simply give a count of the number of schools. It would not be possible to name schools with fewer that 10 pupils in the particular category.
All schools Number of schools with more than 10 pupils attempting GCSE history Number of schools with 10 or fewer pupils attempting GCSE history Number Percentage 2008 3 139 142 4.9 2006 7 113 120 4.0 2003 10 102 112 3.8 2000 12 94 106 3.6 1997 23 114 137 4.6
All schools Number of schools with more than 10 pupils attempting GCSE history Number of schools with 10 or fewer pupils attempting GCSE history Number Percentage 2008 0 134 134 4.6 2006 0 108 108 3.6 2003 0 99 99 3.3 2000 0 87 87 3.0 1997 0 103 103 3.4 Note: 1.These figures are derived from the Achievement and Attainment Tables data. 2. Figures for 2006 and 2008 relate to the achievements of pupils at the end of KS4. Figures for 1997, 2000 and 2003 relate to 15 year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August). 3. Only open schools published in the Achievement and Attainment Tables have been included.
Grammar Schools
The requested information is shown in the table:
Number of pupils attending grammar schools Number of pupils attending secondary schools Percentage of pupils attending grammar schools3 2007 156,800 3,321,530 4.7 2008 157,410 3,289,000 4.8 2009 (provisional) 158,610 3,256,120 4.9 1 Includes middle schools as deemed, and CTCs and academies. 2 Solely registered pupils only. 3 Expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils attending all secondary schools. Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census
Pre-school Education: Per Capita Costs
All local authorities in England have a duty to secure sufficient childcare places to meet the requirements of parents in their area in order to enable them to work or undertake education or training leading to work. They must also secure free early years provision for pre-school children of a prescribed age.
The Department publishes information on the part-time equivalent number of free early education places filled by three and four year-olds. This is derived by counting children taking up 12 and a half hours per week as one place, 10 hours per week as 0.8 places, seven and a half hours per week as 0.6 places, five hours per week as 0.4 places and two and a half hours per week as 0.2 places.
The latest information on the number of free early education places filled by three and four year-olds can be found in Table 5 of the Statistical First Release Provision for Children Under Five Years of Age in England: January 2009. The latest figures can be found at the following link:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000848/index.shtml
Information on nursery school places per head of population has not been included. This is because children can access their free entitlement across different local authority areas and therefore part time equivalent places are not on an equivalent basis with the local authority population figures. Population figures at this level of disaggregation are also not as reliable as at the national level.
Pre-school Education: Standards
These are matters for Ofsted. The Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
Pupils: Obesity
The PE and sport professional development programme is raising the quality of teaching and learning in PE and sport in schools. As part of the programme, schools are supported in carrying out an audit of their professional development needs in PE and sport. Schools can then choose, free of charge, from a menu of professional development resources designed to address these needs. The programme includes resources aimed specifically at getting young people more active, whatever their circumstances. The recent Ofsted report - Physical Education in Schools, 2005/08 praised the Professional Development programme for the way it was improving the quality of teaching and learning in PE and sport in schools.
As announced in Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On, the Government are currently exploring the development of a further focus within the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People which specifically helps overweight and obese children to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) guaranteed per pupil unit of funding (GUF) for 2009-10 for Northamptonshire local authority and England are shown in the following table. There is funding from the Learning and Skills Council and other grants that support the schools budget whose allocations have not yet been finalised for 2009-10. Separate figures are not available for secondary schools as funding is not allocated by phase. The figures are for all funded pupils aged three to 15 and are in cash terms.
2009-10 DSG GUF Northamptonshire 3,923 England 4,218
The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) guaranteed per pupil unit of funding (GUF) for 2009-10 for Essex local authority is £4,067. This is for all funded pupils aged three to 15 and is in cash terms. There is funding from the Learning and Skills Council and other grants that support the schools budget whose allocations have not yet been finalised for 2009-10. Separate figures are not available for secondary schools as funding is not allocated by phase.
Schools: Buildings
Asset management data were supplied to the Department by local education authorities, most recently in 2005. The data showed 18 per cent. and 8 per cent. of floor area in pre-1919 buildings for primary schools and secondary schools respectively. With the unprecedented levels of central Government capital support for investment in schools, updated information could be expected to show lower percentages.
The data included information on the amount of accommodation in temporary buildings. However, checks indicated that the completeness and quality of this information was not good enough for accurate analysis.
Temporary accommodation is appropriate where there is too little time to construct permanent accommodation, or where the need is likely to be short term. In such circumstances, modern, high-quality temporary buildings provide a good environment for teaching and learning. Where they are new or relocated, they are required to meet building environmental standards similar to those which apply to permanent buildings.
Data on school temporary buildings were supplied to the Department by local education authorities, most recently in 2005. However, the data did not show numbers of pupils taught in those buildings. Furthermore, checks indicated that the completeness and quality of the data was not good enough for accurate analysis.
Temporary accommodation is appropriate where there is too little time to construct permanent accommodation, or where the need is likely to be short term. In such circumstances, modern, high-quality temporary buildings provide a good environment for teaching and learning. Where they are new or relocated, they are required to meet building environmental standards similar to those which apply to permanent buildings.
Schools: Knives
Reasons for exclusion were collected for the first time in 2003-04. There is no category specifically on ‘carrying a knife'. There are categories for verbal abuse/threatening behaviour and for physical assault.
The latest data available are for 2006-07; information on exclusions for 2007-08 is scheduled to be published in the summer.
Information on reasons for exclusions is published as follows:
2006-07
Tables 9 and 10
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000793/index.shtml
2005-06
Table 8
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgatewav/DB/SFR/s000733/index.shtml
2004-05
Table 11
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000662/index.shtml
2003-04
Table 11
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000582/index.shtml
Schools: Standards
[holding answer 15 June 2009]: We do not have information on each individual adviser, or their cost, and to collect this information would involve disproportionate cost and contravene data protection rules.
The figure of around £90 million, given in the answer of 2 June, is an estimate of the total cost of field forces which provide support and challenge to local authorities and children's trusts across the full range of children's outcomes. The largest field force supporting school standards is the national strategies and the cost of their national and regional field force in 2008-09 was around £30 million. However, this includes work on other areas such as early years and school behaviour.
Science: GCSE
Of the pupils at the end of Key Stage 4, educated in maintained mainstream schools, 79443 (13.5 per cent.) achieved a GCSE in core science and no other1 science qualification in 2008.
1 The other sciences that were considered were Double Award Science and Applied Science, Applied Science, Additional Applied Science, Additional Science, Environmental Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Special Educational Needs
The information requested is as follows:
(a) There were 2,542 maintained mainstream schools at which between one and nine pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 had statements of special educational needs in 2008.
(b) There were 234 maintained mainstream schools at which 10 or more pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 had statements of special educational needs in 2008.
The source of this data is the National Pupil Database.
Specialist Schools: Science
Of all 433 schools with a specialism in sciences, 311 (71.8 per cent.) entered at least one pupil for GCSE1 chemistry in 2008.
The source for this answer is the Achievement and Attainment Tables database.
1 Only full GCSEs have been counted.
Teachers: Complaints
The number of complaints against teachers that have been investigated upheld and rejected by the General Teaching Council for England in each year since 2005 are set out in the table.
Investigated Rejected Upheld at a hearing 2005 373 244 56 2006 360 267 98 2007 445 311 124 2008 419 315 125 Note: Cases are not always concluded in the year in which they are investigated.
(2) how many investigations by the General Teaching Council following a complaint against a teacher took more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) 12 months and (d) 18 months to complete in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.
When considering complaints about teachers the General Teaching Council for England has two distinct processes; an investigation process and a hearing process. The investigation process concludes either with a referral to the hearing process or with a decision that there is no case to answer.
The average time taken for cases to be concluded in each of these processes is provided in the following table.
Weeks Financial year Cases concluded at investigation stage (i.e. no case to answer) Cases concluded following a hearing 2006/07 13 78 2007/08 12 67 2008/09 12 59
The timescales for considering complaints at each of these stages is set out in the following tables.
Months 0 to 3 3 to 6 6 to 12 12 to 18 Over 18 2006/07 171 62 16 1 2 2007/08 224 59 13 4 0 2008/09 222 84 11 2 3
Months 0 to 3 3 to 6 6 to 12 12 to 18 Over 18 2006/07 0 0 11 68 44 2007/08 0 2 57 38 40 2008/09 0 1 75 51 24 Note: Data are unavailable for the financial year 2005/06.
The number of prohibition orders preventing teachers from practising as a registered teacher issued by the General Teaching Council for England in each year since 2001 is set out in the table.
Number of prohibition orders issued 2001 0 2002 2 2003 6 2004 5 2005 13 2006 24 2007 31 2008 25
Teachers: Essex
The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers and teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in the former Essex local authority area and Castle Point parliamentary constituency, January 1997 and 2008.
Coverage: Essex local authority and Castle Point parliamentary constituency 2008 1997 Essex Former Essex LA areas Castle Point3 Southend Thurrock Essex (post 1 April 1998) Castle Point3 Teachers1 12,580 710 1,740 1,200 11,150 730 Teaching assistants2,3 1,720 80 610 590 4,410 280 1 Qualified and unqualified teachers. 2 Teaching assistants include teaching assistants, special needs support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff. 2008 figures also include higher level teaching assistants. 3 School Census and the Annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies,618g (Essex teacher numbers). Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Teachers: Males
(2) pursuant to his letter of correction of 4 December 2008 to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham, Deposited Paper DEP2008-2997, to the answer of 28 October 2008, Official Report, column 596W, on teachers: males, how many primary schools with no qualified male teachers there were in each ward in 2008.
A table that provides the names of Census Area Statistic (CAS) wards that have nursery or primary schools without any full or part-time male qualified teacher and the number of schools in each of these to which this applies has been placed in the House Libraries. The information is for January 2008.
Teachers: Training
The Department sets the number of places for recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) at sector level. ITT providers are allocated training places based on a bidding process carried out by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) and providers are encouraged to set aspirational recruitment targets for themselves. A table showing the number of allocated places and new entrants to ITT courses in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 has been placed in the House Libraries.
Teaching Assistants: Qualifications
[holding answer 4 June 2009]: The information has been placed in the House Libraries. It provides the number of higher level teaching assistants in each local authority maintained nursery/primary and secondary school in England, as collected by the January 2008 School Census, the latest information available.
Young People: Greater London
The Government Office for London (GOL) commissioned an independent stocktake of Young London Matters (YLM) in February 2009. The purpose of the stocktake was to review Young London Matters’ focus and impact and enable GOL to make informed decisions about its direction for the coming year. Stakeholders were surveyed in March and April 2009 and asked to comment on what YLM had done well, where it could have improved and what its focus in the coming year should be. We are aiming to publish this in due course.
Youth Services
We have allocated £240 million to 62 projects to date. A full list showing funding allocations for each of these projects is shown in Annex 1.
£ Pegasus Theatre—Building the Future Oxfordshire 1,800,000.00 Minehead EYE Somerset 3,155,856.00 Sutton Life Centre Wandsworth 4,074,688.00 Shoeburyness Youth Centre Southend-on-Sea 2,988,362.00 New Life Centre Hartlepool 4,516,000.00 New Horizon Youth Centre Camden 1,500,000.00 Bradley Youth Hub Lancashire 1,335,533.00 PRIMETIME Bournemouth 1,300,000.00 Blackburn Youth Zone Blackburn with Darwen 5,000,000.00 My Place Chesterfield Derbyshire 3,108,226.00 Carlisle Youth Zone Cumbria 4,980,234.00 The Hub Kent 2,200,000.00 Dawlish Youth Centre Devon 1,700,000.00 The Hub Durham 4,951,830.00 TAB Centre Plus Enfield 2,168,228.00 OPEN Central Norfolk 1,256,571.00 Green Rivers Centre Walsall 1,287,183.00 The Young Persons Village Stoke on Trent 4,800,000.00 Access all Areas Somerset 3,922,000.00 Chesterton’s Vision Staffordshire 4,389,474.00 Tuned In Redcar and Cleveland 4,946,280.00 Southpoint—the Blackpool Youth Hub Centre Blackpool 3,996,049.00 The XCHANGE Project Suffolk 4,750,500.00 Trafford Youth Village Trafford 4,999,951.00 Middlesbrough Myplace at the Custom House Middlesbrough 4,262,062.00 ExtremeConnexions' Hertfordshire 4,999,684.00 Toxteth Youth and Sports Centre Liverpool 2,300,000.00 The HUT—One Hut, Five Towns, Many Talents Wakefield 5,000,000.00 Leicester City Youth Hub Leicester 5,000,000.00 Manchester Youth Zone (Harpurhey) Manchester 5,000,000.00 The Phoenix Centre West Sussex 1,500,000.00 Dream Street Havering 4,704,492.00 TeenSpace Shrewsbury and TeenSpace Oswestry Shropshire 3,900,000.00 Thamesmead Youth Leisure Zone Bexley 5,000,000.00 The Y—Stoke Aldermoor Inspiration Centre Coventry 2,177,748.00 Hastings Youth Hub East Sussex 4,246,275.00 Culture Fusion Bradford 5,000,000.00 MYplace in Solihull Solihull 4,990,000.00 The Showrooom Lincolnshire 4,842,500.00 The Peoples’ Place Sheffield 2,144,595.00 The Pitch—A Place to Go Harrow 4,198,000.00 Integrating Youth Project Birmingham 4,999,802.00 ICE Centre Stockton-on-Tees (Inspiration, Creativity and Entertainment) Stockton-on-Tees 4,995,250.00 MyPlace Bristol Bristol 5,000,000.00 Parkfield Torbay 4,875,000.00 The NGY Nottingham 4,906,000.00 Southside Regeneration Youth Project Bath and North East Somerset 2,036,473.00 OurPlace ‘Where there will be more young people than adults’ Knowsley 4,999,274.00 The Buzz Halton 2,500,000.00 Myplace@Vine Lane (MP@V) Newcastle-upon-Tyne 4,924,422.00 The Roundwood Centre—A Beacon for Young People in Brent Brent 4,997,151.00 Plashet Young Peoples Hub Newham 4,980,000.00 Myplace in Doncaster Doncaster 5,000,000.00 Oldham Youth Zone Oldham 4,994,577.00 The Big Hub Leeds 4,979,376.00 Hinckley Club for Young People Leicestershire 4,505,415.00 The Salmon Youth Centre Phase 2 Southwark 1,118,679.00 Myplace at Westfield Folk House Young Peoples Centre Nottinghamshire 5,000,000.00 Hornsey Road Baths Youth Centre London Borough of Islington 3,547,720.00 Rotherham myplace (RMP—working title) Rotherham 3,356,750.00 Hackney’s Youth Hubbz Hackney 4,990,902.00 Youth Centerprise Birmingham 4,998,500.00 Total — 240,097,612.00
A further £31.6 million is expected to be allocated to additional projects in December 2009.
MyPlace is a capital programme and therefore includes no running cost funding. It is a programme that local authorities, third, private and public sector partners and young people work together to plan, deliver and operate financially sustainable projects. As part of the MyPlace assessment process, projects were asked to provide robust plans and commitments for financing ongoing running costs and to ensure long term sustainability. Information on estimated running costs for each MyPlace facility is not currently held centrally.