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30 Jun 2003 : Column 15W—continued
Public Sector Workers (Protection from Assault)
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to improve the protection of public sector workers against violence in their workplace. [120648]
Mr. Browne: I have been asked to reply
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) is committed to tackling the problem of work-related violence. In March 2000 HSC embarked on a three year programme to help employers, including those in the public sector, to tackle this problem, with the aim of reducing the number of incidents of violence at work. So far the programme has resulted in the publication of
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new guidance specifically aimed at small businesses; the development of new National Occupational Standards on work-related violence; a programme of inspections in the health care sector; and new research to establish good practice for lone workers, including those in the public sector.
HSE officials are now evaluating this programme and will be submitting written proposals to the HSC on the next stage (2003–06) in due course.
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's Regulatory Impact Assessment procedure; and how many RIAs have been reviewed in respect of the Department over the last year. [120838]
Mr. Blunkett: A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) must be completed for all policy proposals that have a potential impact on businesses, charities or the voluntary sector. It includes details of the arrangements for monitoring and evaluating policy proposals.
Information on the number of RIAs that have been reviewed in respect of the Department in the last year is not held.
From this year the National Audit Office (NAO) has a new role in independently evaluating a selection of RIAs. In their annual report, published in February 2003, the Better Regulation Task Force put forward suggestions of RIAs for the NAO to review. The NAO intend to review one Home Office RIA.
The NAO review will focus on the quality of analysis in the RIAs and the thoroughness with which the RIAs have been undertaken. The findings and recommendations of best practice will be fed back to departments. It will play a valuable part in driving up standards of RIAs.
Sewel Motions
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list Sewel motions passed by the Scottish Parliament since May 1999 that apply to his Department's responsibilities and Government Bills he has sponsored. [120697]
Mr. Blunkett: Of the Bills sponsored by my Department the following were the subject of a Sewel motion in the Scottish Parliament on the date indicated.
| Bill | Date of Sewel motion |
|---|---|
| Representation of the People | 13 January 2000 |
| Sexual Offences (Amendment) | 19 January 2000 |
| Political Parties, Elections and Referendums | 9 March 2000and 6 July 2000 |
| Regulation of Investigatory Powers | 6 April 2000 |
| Race Relations (Amendment) | 25 May 2000 |
| Criminal Justice and Courts Service | 5 October 2000 |
| Criminal Justice and Police | 7 February 2001 |
| Proceeds of Crime | 24 October 2001 |
| Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security | 15 November 2001 |
| Police Reform | 30 January 2002and 27 June 2002 |
| Criminal Justice | 5 December 2002 |
| Sexual Offences | 20 March 2003 |
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Sustainable Development
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what remit relating to sustainable development is required by his Department's (a) executive agencies, (b) advisory non-departmental bodies, (c) executive non-departmental bodies, (d) tribunals, (e) public corporations and (f) other bodies. [116679]
Mr. Blunkett: Only one of the Home Office sponsored bodies, the Security Industry Authority, has a specific reference to sustainable development built into the Board's Code of Practice. However, the remits of most of the other bodies do make a positive contribution towards the social progress element of sustainable development. Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) are also required to either follow the Department's Greening Operations Policy or to develop their own.
Terrorism (European Framework Law)
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on a European framework law to govern the prosecution of terrorism. [121404]
Mr. Blunkett: The EU Framework Decision on Combating Terrorism, which was agreed by the Justice and Home Affairs Council of December 2001, requires all member states to introduce rigorous common terrorist offences and penalties. As a result, specific anti-terrorism legislation has to be introduced in those EU member states that did not have such measures in place. The United Kingdom, which already has specific strong counter-terrorism legislation, fully supported the framework decision. We believe it is vital to ensure that the EU has a co-ordinated, robust response to terrorism.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Careers Services
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to improve continuity of service between Connexions and higher education career services. [120588]
Margaret Hodge: Higher Education careers services are key partners on local adult information, advice and guidance (IAG) partnerships, with which Connexions Partnerships have close links, including representation on each others' Partnership Boards. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC)—which funds local adult IAG partnerships—and the Connexions Service National Unit (CSNU) have recently issued joint guidance to
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local LSC and Connexions Partnerships on managing the transition to relevant adult IAG services for young people who are approaching age 20. This aims to ensure a seamless transition for those who continue to need support on choosing learning and career options including those entering higher education.
Child Care
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many childcare places have been created in (a) Bury S. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Cambridgeshire and (e) Essex in each year since 1999. [120429]
Margaret Hodge: The table shows the number of new child care places created each year in these areas.
| 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bury St. Edmunds constituency(2) | 128 | 148 | 301 | 206 |
| Suffolk | 1,044 | 1,009 | 1,427 | 2,846 |
| Norfolk | 647 | 1,529 | 1,628 | 2,579 |
| Cambridgeshire | 2,492 | 2,208 | 1,807 | 2,802 |
| Essex | 3,544 | 3,461 | 2,983 | 2,776 |
(2) Figures for the Bury St. Edmunds constituency exclude places with childminders, for whom data cannot be broken down within local authority areas. Within Suffolk, there were 282 new places with childminders in 1999–2000, 347 such places in 2000–01, 593 in 2001–02 and 1,040 in 2002–03.
All figures are from local authorities' quarterly childcare monitoring returns.
Criminal Records Bureau
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 18 June 2003, Official Report, column 303W, on the Criminal Records Bureau, how his Department calculated the figure to be contributed. [121745]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 26 June 2003]: The level of contribution was determined in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Health having regard to the proportion of applicants for CRB Disclosures from the education sector.
Faith Schools
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many faith schools exist in each London borough authority. [120526]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is shown in the tables.
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| Secondary schools(3) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2003 (Provisional) | No religious character | Church of England | Roman Catholic | Methodist | Other Christian Faith(4) | Jewish | Muslim | Sikh | Other | Total |
| London | 302 | 29 | 69 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 407 |
| Inner London | 89 | 14 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 133 |
| City of London | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Camden | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Hackney | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Haringey | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Islington | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Lambeth | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Lewisham | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Newham | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Southwark | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Tower Hamlets | 11 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Wandsworth | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Westminster | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Outer London | 213 | 15 | 41 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 274 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Barnet | 14 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Bexley | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Brent | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Bromley | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Croydon | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Ealing | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Enfield | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Greenwich | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Harrow | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Havering | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Hillingdon | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Hounslow | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Merton | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Redbridge | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Sutton | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Waltham Forest | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
(3) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(4) Includes schools of mixed denomination or other Christian beliefs.
Source:
Annual Schools' Census and EduBase
30 Jun 2003 : Column 21W
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