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23 Nov 2006 : Column 182Wcontinued
24. Hugh Bayley: To ask the Solicitor-General what consideration the Government have given to changing its policy on sentences for manslaughter following cases the Law Officers have referred to the Court of Appeal for review. [102280]
The Solicitor-General:
The Law Officers regularly ask the Court of Appeal to intervene to increase sentences for manslaughter where we regard the sentence to be unduly lenient and we have recently
referred cases. Sentencing is matter for the courts, but we are concerned to ensure that sentences in manslaughter cases properly reflect the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused and the risk that they might pose to society. In addition, we have asked the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council to consider manslaughter sentencing and the Council has agreed that it would be beneficial to do so.
25. John Robertson: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps he is taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office co-operate with international agencies in criminal cases with international dimensions; and if he will make a statement. [102281]
The Solicitor-General: Both the CPS and SFO are already cooperating with international agencies in dealing with transnational crime. The areas that they are active in include mutual legal assistance, asset recovery, extradition and the provision of training and legal reform advice to EU and non-EU jurisdictions.
26. Dr. Cable: To ask the Solicitor-General what account the Crown Prosecution Service takes of the views of the victims of crime when pursuing prosecutions; and if he will make a statement. [102282]
The Solicitor-General: The prosecutors pledge makes a series of specific commitments about the way in which prosecutors communicate with victims of crime throughout the life of a case. This includes through victims witness statements and victim personal statements, ensuring that the preferred charge reflects the criminality of the offence.
All prosecutors have a responsibility to keep the victim informed of progress, and when considering any lesser plea offered to the offence charged, a prosecutor should always take into account the views of the victim or bereaved relative where possible.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Solicitor-General what the (a) terms of reference, (b) membership and (c) timetable are of the Attorney-Generals inquiry into the criticisms made by Mr. Justice Girvan of the Northern Ireland Office and of Northern Ireland departments; if the Attorney-General will publish the inquirys report; and if he will make a statement. [102379]
The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General has not yet appointed a person to carry out this review and the Terms of Reference will be agreed with that individual before they are made public. It is envisaged that a single person will carry out the review, who will be given whatever support is considered necessary to allow the reviewer to report as expeditiously as is consistent with the thorough review required.
In principle, it is the Attorney-Generals intention that the report should be published. However, he recognises that issues may arise that might limit or
delay that; for example, if for any reason it were to lead to disciplinary or other proceedings following from it.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Solicitor-General how many suspicious activity reports from (a) banks and (b) accountants have led to prosecution. [102878]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a record of how many prosecutions have arisen as a result of suspicious activity reports. To collate this information would require an examination of all case files and could only be achieved at disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, Part 2, Clause 9).
14. Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what resources are being made available to local education authorities in (a) England and (b) Northamptonshire to teach immigrant children whose first language is not English. [102297]
Jim Knight: £435 million of the £24.6 billion Schools Formula Spending Share for 2005-06 was distributed on the basis of numbers of children from underachieving ethnic minority groups and for those pupils for whom English is an additional language. Northamptonshires 2005-06 SFSS was £312.4 million, of which £2.5 million was distributed on the basis of these two groups.
The Dedicated Schools Grant allocations for 2007-08 will depend on January 2007 school census data.
The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant provides additional support for these two groups. The total for 2007-08 is £179 million and Northamptonshire will receive £619,488.
15. Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures his Department is taking to promote science in schools. [102298]
Jim Knight: The Science and Innovation Next Steps document, published in March, sets out the Governments strategy to promote science in schools.
Measures include: piloting 250 Key Stage 3 science and engineering after school clubs; increasing numbers of pupils reaching level 6 and above at Key Stage 3; increasing access to the three separate sciences at GCSE; expanding the Science and Engineering Ambassadors Scheme; and encouraging schools to participate in international student assessments.
17. Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to improve further education. [102300]
Phil Hope: We have invested heavily in further education and our reforms are already delivering significant improvements in performance. The next stage of reform was set out in our White Paper: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, published in March this year. We are putting in place strategies to drive up standards and eliminate inadequate and underperforming provision, increase choice and flexibility and create a demand-led system driven by employer and learner needs. Our FE Bill introduced this week will provide the legislation necessary to implement the reforms.
18. John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the Building Schools for the Future Programme. [102302]
Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Building Schools for the Future Programme. [102301]
Jim Knight: Building Schools for the Future aims to renew all secondary schools in England in 15 waves of investment starting last year. It is still in its early stages. An initial three-year contract to evaluate the impact on educational achievement of this leading strategic programme has been placed with PricewaterhouseCoopers, following an Official Journal of the European Union procurement. It also aims to learn early lessons from the programme to inform its development.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in developing vocational catering qualifications for school canteen staff; and if he will make a statement. [102293]
Mr. Dhanda: In September 2005 we introduced a new vocationally related qualification at level 1 Providing a Healthier School Meals service for school caterers. We have added units at level 2 and 3 to the Support Work in School qualification which school catering staff can opt to take. In addition, a £2 million network of regional training schools for school catering staff are being set up to act as Centres of Excellence.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many complaints from graduates about repayment errors have been received by the Student Loans Company in the past 12 months. [102294]
Bill Rammell: In the year to October 2006, the Student Loans Company received 679 new complaints about repayment issues. This means that less than 0.04 per cent. of borrowers registered a complaint about repayment during that year.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on higher education institutions of planned changes to NHS commissioning of training for nurses, midwives and other health professionals. [102299]
Bill Rammell: I am very well aware of the problems which many higher education institutions have been facing this year over reductions in the level of commissions from strategic health authorities for education and training of health professionals. My Department is working closely with the Department of Health to review current systems and to identify ways in which they could be improved for the future.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what method local authorities will use to gather data on the public service agreement targets set out in Every Child Matters. [101836]
Beverley Hughes: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 25 July 2006, Official Report, column 1440W.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what representations his Department has received from the Information Commissioner on the information sharing index; [102804]
(2) whether the information sharing index database will be (a) linked and (b) enabled to share data with police records and databases; [102805]
(3) the staff of which voluntary and community sector organisations will be able to have access to the proposed information sharing index; [102810]
(4) which organisations will audit the use of the information sharing index. [102811]
Beverley Hughes: In relation to question 102804, the Information Commissioner has responded to two previous related consultations: on the Every Child Matters Green Paper (2003), and on recording practitioner details for potentially sensitive services and recording concern (2004-05). We are currently consulting on draft regulations that will bring the index into operation.
We have consulted the Information Commissioner throughout the development of the information sharing index and we continue to value this important relationship. We look forward to receiving the Information Commissioners response to the draft regulations, and to engaging with him further on the draft statutory guidance for the index that will cover issues such as subject access requests and securing explicit consent in handling sensitive services.
In relation to question 102805, the index will receive initial data and regular updates from existing databases including, where appropriate, those of the police, to help establish and maintain accurate and up-to-date records. There will be no facility to link the index to
police records, nor to feed data back into police databases. Information may only be disclosed from the index for the purposes set out in sections 10 and 11 of the Children Act 2004 and section 175 of the Education Act 2002.
In relation to question 102810, access to the index will be granted according to the role of the practitioner. Draft regulations specify the types of practitioners whose role would make it appropriate for them to have access to the index, including authorised staff employed by a number of national and local voluntary and community sector organisations. The draft regulations provide that decisions on the practitioners who will be granted access may be made by a local authority, by a body designated by a local authority or by a body designated by the Secretary of State. All authorised users must have undergone an enhanced CRB check and have received training in the correct use of the index and the importance of security and good security practice.
In relation to question 102811, it is intended that the DfES will, in time, contract out the running of the central functions of the index once it is operational. This body will be responsible for national statistical reporting and monitoring local authority operation of the index. Both national and local index operation will be subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission.
All index user access will be continuously recorded and reviewed for suspicious patterns of access. Where suspected misuse is detected, it will be the responsibility of the agency where the practitioner works to investigate and, where appropriate, take action under their disciplinary and performance management arrangements. Misuse of the index may lead to a penalty or imprisonment.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid his Department is giving to refugees affected by the flooding in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia; and if he will make a statement. [103144]
Hilary Benn: The current flooding in the Horn of Africa is exceptionally bad and is having serious humanitarian consequences. We have contributed a total of £6 million so far over the past few weeks to the international relief effort. The UN has also agreed to contribute US$15.1 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), for which the UK is the leading contributor.
DFID has been among the earliest and most substantial donors to the relief effort. In Ethiopia, where flooding had been causing devastation since July, we made an initial contribution in August of £1 million to the UN Humanitarian Response Fund. This was followed in October by a further contribution of £1 million to address the epidemic of acute watery diarrhoea that has claimed 416 lives across the country so far, and is closely linked to the flooding.
In Somalia, DFID has committed £2 million to Save the Children, the UN Humanitarian Response Fund, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for their relief efforts. We have also agreed with World Vision that funds available under an existing grant can be utilised for the relief response, while this is the humanitarian priority.
In Kenya, we have committed a further £2 million to be divided between the Kenya Red Cross via the International Federation of Red Cross Societies and, because some of the hardest hit communities are the Somali refugees in camps in eastern Kenya, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
On 17 November the Central Emergency Response Fund of the UN (CERF) announced contributions of $3.3 million for Somalia, and $11.8 million for Kenya. This is in addition to grants of $3 million made in October for flood relief in Ethiopia. The UK is the largest contributor to the CERF and was instrumental in its establishment. These latest contributions are an encouraging sign that it is beginning to improve UN emergency response.
We continue to monitor the situation closely and are prepared to provide further assistance if necessary.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his assessment is of the recent flooding in the Horn of Africa; and what assistance the United Kingdom is providing to assist the victims. [102513]
Hilary Benn: We agree with the current assessments made by Government bodies, UN agencies, Red Cross organisations and NGOs that the current flooding in the Horn of Africa is exceptional, and that it is having serious humanitarian consequences. We have contributed a total of £6 million so far over the past few weeks to the international relief effort. The UN has also agreed to contribute US$15.1 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), for which the UK is the leading contributor.
DFID has been among the earliest and most substantial donors to the relief effort. In Ethiopia, where flooding had been causing devastation since July, we made an initial contribution in August of £1 million to the UN Humanitarian Response Fund. This was followed in October by a further contribution of £1 million to address the epidemic of Acute Watery Diarrhoea that has claimed 416 lives across the country so far, and is closely linked to the flooding.
In Somalia, DFID has committed £2 million to Save the Children, the UN Humanitarian Response Fund, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for their relief efforts. We have also agreed with World Vision that funds available under an existing grant can be utilised for the relief response, while this is the humanitarian priority.
In Kenya, we have committed a further £2 million to be divided between the Kenya Red Cross via the International Federation of Red Cross Societies and, because some of the hardest hit communities are the Somali refugees in camps in eastern Kenya, the UN High Commission for refugees (UNHCR).
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