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1 Sept 2004 : Column 764W—continued
Unsolicited Faxes/Telephone Calls
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where money received from fines for making unsolicited telephone calls and faxes is paid. [186236]
Mr. Timms:
If a company or individual were to contravene an enforcement notice issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and were to be successfully prosecuted in a magistrates court and
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subjected to a fine, the fine would be paid to the local Magistrates Court Committee (MCC) and would then be forwarded to HM Treasury.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what costs to (a) industry and (b) consumers she estimates to have been incurred each year since 1999 as a result of unsolicited (i) telephone calls and (ii) faxes. [186237]
Mr. Timms: The Government do not have an estimate of the cost to industry and consumers of receiving unsolicited telephone calls and faxes. The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scheme for consumers started as an industry-led voluntary scheme until EU regulations required that member states introduce a statutory provision for consumer registration.
In deciding to extend the right of consumers to register with the TPS to corporate subscribers at the end of 2003, the Government produced a regulatory impact assessment, which concluded that the benefits of having the option to register outweighed the additional cost to marketing businesses for cleaning up their telephone lists.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the maximum penalty is for (a) sending unsolicited faxes and (b) making unsolicited telephone calls; and how many times it has been incurred in each year since 1999. [186238]
Mr. Timms: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has responsibility for enforcing the rules on unsolicited marketing including the sending of unsolicited marketing faxes to numbers registered on the Fax Preference Service (FPS) and making unsolicited marketing calls to numbers registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). The ICO has issued formal enforcement notices against more than a dozen companies and individuals in respect of unsolicited marketing faxes.
A company or individual that contravenes an enforcement notice commits a criminal offence and, upon successful prosecution, could be subject to a fine of up to £5,000 in a magistrates court. As the ICO has no evidence that the companies and individuals against whom notices have been issued warrant prosecution, to date no fines have been imposed in respect of contravention of these rules.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many prosecutions there have been in each year since 1999 for (a) sending unsolicited faxes and (b) making unsolicited telephone calls; [186239]
(2) how much money has been raised in each year since 1999 from fines resulting from prosecution of persons making unsolicited telephone and fax calls. [186248]
Mr. Timms:
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has responsibility for enforcing the rules on unsolicited marketing including the sending of unsolicited marketing faxes to numbers registered on the Fax Preference Service (FPS) and making unsolicited marketing calls to numbers registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). The ICO has issued formal enforcement notices against more than a dozen companies and individuals in respect of unsolicited marketing faxes.
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A company or individual that contravenes an enforcement notice commits a criminal offence and, upon successful prosecution, could be subject to a fine of up to £5,000 in a magistrates court. As the ICO has no evidence that the companies and individuals against whom notices have been issued warrant prosecution, to date no fines have been imposed in respect of contravention of these rules.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) individual and (b) business numbers have been registered under (i) the telephone and (ii) fax preference schemes in each year since they have each been operational. [186242]
Mr. Timms: The table shows the total number of telephone numbers registered under the TPS since 2001. Corporate registration to the TPS began on 25 June 2004, since when there have been 48,183 corporate registrations.
| Number registered | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 1,737,028 |
| 2002 | 2,535,094 |
| 2003 | 3,908,440 |
| 2004 | 5,214,737 |
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Adoption Cases
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consideration is being given in the review of children's cases in the area of the (a) Cumbria County Council, (b) Durham County Council, (c) Northumberland County Council, (d) Sunderland City Council, (e) South Tyneside Council, (f) North Tyneside Council, (g) North Yorkshire County Council, (h) Newcastle City Council, (i) Hartlepool Council, (j) York City Council, (k) Gateshead Borough Council, (l) Darlington Unitary Authority, (m) Middlesbrough Borough Council, (n) Stockton Council and (o) Redcar and Cleveland Council following the judgement in R v Cannings to what a child should be told about why it was removed from its birth parents, in cases where (i) evidence about Munchhausen's syndrome by proxy, (ii) evidence about factitious disorder by proxy and (iii) other evidence from (A) Professor Meadow and (B) Dr Southall may have played a role in the child's removal but the authority's judgment is that the best interests of the child are in the status quo. [179921]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Information about individual cases in the named local authority areas is not held centrally.
"Every young person needs to develop a secure sense of identity and all those with parental or caring responsibilities have a duty to offer encouragement and support in this task. All children—whether living at home or not—are entitled to expect information about their personal and family history and need to understand their past as well as their present situation."
Obviously in practice the imparting of information of this nature is difficult and anyone undertaking this task, for example adopters, foster carers, birth parents or indeed professionals, may need support to be able to help the child to understand their life history in a way that is appropriate to their age and understanding.
Advertising
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the salary costs to the Department were for employees working in public relations and publicity in each year since 1997. [183846]
Mr. Miliband: Financial data for 1997 salary details could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Annual Report
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many copies of his Department's and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the (a) publication cost and (b) sales revenue were. [183879]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The following were the number of copies issued by TSO (The Stationery Office Ltd.) for the years 1998–2004. The number of copies supplied to DfES/DfEE for their own use is also provided for your information—please note these are in addition to the copies TSO have issued.
| Edition | Copies issued by TSO | Copies supplied to DfES/DfEE |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 894 | 2,110 |
| 1999 | 669 | 2,189 |
| 2000 | 632 | 2,516 |
| 2001 | 641 | 1,004 |
| 2002 | 514 | 765 |
| 2003 | 471 | 654 |
| 2004 | 336 | 650 |
Costs of printing and publication are met directly by the publisher, TSO and do not fall to government.
In return the publisher retains the revenues which they earn from sales and which are aimed at ensuring recovery of their costs.
Bullying
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action the Department is taking to reduce incidences of bullying in Staffordshire schools. [185830]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
We attach a high priority to helping schools prevent and combat bullying: it is a serious problem which puts the emotional well-being and
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educational achievement of pupils at risk. Our guidance pack "Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence", the anti-bullying Charter for Action and the anti-bullying website www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying offer detailed advice on preventing and addressing bullying.
In November 2003 I launched our anti-bullying Charter for schools, which schools are now signing. It is accompanied by a summary of effective practice to help schools review and enhance their anti-bullying policies. The Charter was launched at the first of the Make The Difference series of regional conferences. The programme of conferences began in November 2003 and culminated with a final event on 14 June. These conferences, the West Midlands one of which was well attended by Staffordshire head teachers, offered an opportunity for schools and other partners to share good practice on this issue and to learn at first hand about what has worked elsewhere. Details of the conferences can be accessed online at www.teachernet.gov.uk/antibullying. Our new public information film, 'Tell Someone', also encourages children and young people to tell someone if they are being bullied.
Last week, we announced funding of £570,000 for the Anti Bullying Alliance; an umbrella group of over 50 voluntary sector organisations, professional associations and leading local authorities. The Alliance will work to support schools in addressing bullying behaviour and lead on preparations for the first national anti-bullying week in November. Schools in Staffordshire will have access to an anti-bullying coordinator based in the West Midlands region, and working with the National Strategies, who can provide practical help, advice and support in tackling all forms of bullying in schools.
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