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14 Mar 2007 : Column 340W—continued
Seas and Oceans: Environment Protection
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to protect the marine environment; and if he will make a statement. [127356]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 13 March 2007]: The Government’s vision for the marine environment is for clean healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. To help deliver this vision we are acting internationally, at European level and at home.
Internationally we have been instrumental in setting a timetable to end destructive high seas bottom trawling. In Europe we have engaged with new initiatives from the Commission and worked hard to see an acceptable political agreement on the Marine Strategy Directive last December. Domestically we have recently announced the licensing of several offshore windfarms which, while ensuring environmental impacts are properly taken into account, together will make a major contribution to provision of renewable energy.
The forthcoming Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, and c.) Regulations 2007 will meet the UK’s obligations to transpose the Birds and Habitats Directive
in the offshore marine area. We are also preparing a new Marine Bill. This will put in place a better system for delivering sustainable development of our marine environment, addressing both the use and protection of our marine resources.
Scotland
Departments: Equal Opportunities
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department is taking to implement the gender equality duty due to come into force on 6 April 2007. [120639]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office is part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs and I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs (Ms Harman), on 19 February, Official Report, cols. 291 and 292W.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure that it and related bodies are in compliance with the gender equality duty in the Equality Act 2006 by the April 2007 deadline. [120987]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office is part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs and I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs (Ms Harman), on 19 February, Official Report, cols. 291 and 292W.
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his Department has (a) a gender strategy and (b) a gender equality action plan in place. [125503]
David Cairns [holding answer 6 March 2007]: The Scotland Office is part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs and I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies given by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs (Ms Harman), on 19 February, Official Report, cols. 291 and 292W.
Departments: Redunancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in (i) his Department and (ii) each agency of the Department in each year since 1997-98; how much is planned to be spent for 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [123868]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
The Office does not operate staff exit schemes. All staff in the Scotland Office are on loan from the Department of Constitutional Affairs or from the Scottish Executive and it is these Departments who would have operated any such schemes.
Departments: Work Permits
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many work permits were applied for by his Department in each of the last five years. [127714]
Scottish Parliament: Elections
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the use of powers in the draft Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2007. [125230]
David Cairns: The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2007 is made under sections 12 (1) and 113 of the Scotland Act 1998. The Order makes provision for the conduct of elections for, and the return of members to, the Scottish Parliament.
Both Houses agreed the provisions of the Order in their debates on the Order on 7 March.
Education and Skills
Children: Day Care
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost is of child care for (a) school aged and (b) pre-school children in each region, including London. [122957]
Beverley Hughes: The Department does not hold data on the average weekly costs of child care. However the findings of a recent survey by the Daycare Trust can be found on their website;
We are doing more than ever before to make good quality child care and early education accessible and affordable. We are providing substantial help (over £2 million a day) through the tax credit system to over 395,000 lower and middle income families. The free, early education entitlement gives 12.5 hours of free provision per week to all 3 and 4-year-olds.
London has higher child care costs than elsewhere and that is why we are contributing £11 million funding to a £33 million joint Greater London Authority, London Development Agency and DfES three year Childcare Affordability Pilot to provide 10,000 affordable child care places for lower income families.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places are provided by (a) children’s centres, (b) daycare nurseries, (c) neighbourhood nurseries, (d) wraparound schools, (e) childminders and (f) nannies. [127036]
Beverley Hughes: The available information on the number of registered child care places for children under eight is shown in the table.
| Table 1 Number ( 1,2) of registered child care places for children under eight years of age by type of care England—Position at 31 March 2006 | |
| Type of care | Number of places |
| (1) Rounded to the nearest 100 places. (2) Data Source: Ofsted | |
These figures include the number of child care places in Neighbourhood Nurseries and Children’s Centres which are not available separately.
Information on the number of child care places provider by nannies is not available. However, the Survey of Parents Demand for Childcare and Early Years Services suggests that 1 per cent. of families used nannies in the last week 2004/05.
The latest figures on registered child care provider and places are available on the following website:
Departmental Secondment
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills from which private companies staff in his Department have been seconded. [109570]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department currently has a total of 81 secondments, the vast majority of which are from across the wider public sector, for example, from local authorities, education providers and county councils. There are currently two secondments from the private sector, one from the Building Research Establishment and the other from the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the departmental publications printed since 1997 covering (a) gender, (b) disability and (c) minority personnel issues; how many pages each comprised; how many pages of the document each occupied; and if he will place copies of each in the Library. [107200]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally.
Departments: Redundancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in (i) his Department and (ii) each agency of the Department in each year since 1997-98; how much is planned to be spent for 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [123931]
Mr. Dhanda: There have been no redundancies in the Department since 1997 and we remain committed to minimise recourse to compulsory redundancies. Nonetheless, there have been voluntary early releases. From the 1997-98 financial year to the end of the 2006-07 financial year the total cost to the Department, arising from the provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, were as follows:
| Financial year | Total cost to DfES (£ million) |
For the financial year 2007-08, the Department has committed £2.591 million for voluntary early releases and there is currently nothing further planned.
The Department has had no agencies since 2001 and agency information for the financial years 1997 to 2001 is not held centrally.
Education Maintenance Allowance: West Midlands
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands have received an educational maintenance allowance; and if he will make a statement. [119583]
Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances (EMA) for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council’s Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Rob Wye, dated 2 March 2007:
I write on behalf of Mark Haysom as he is currently out of the office on annual leave. In response to your Parliamentary Question 119583 that asked; “How many people in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands have received a educational maintenance allowance”
By the end of January 2007, 3,579 young people in the Coventry Local Authority area had applied, enrolled and received one or more Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) payments during the 2006/07 academic year.
By the end of January 2007, 60,688 young people in the West Midlands had applied, enrolled and received one or more EMA payments during the 2006/07 academic year.
English Language
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what modifications he plans to make to his announced changes to English for Speakers of Other Languages provision; and if he will make a statement. [127631]
Bill Rammell: I have considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding as part of the Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA) and I am minded to consider a range of new measures in addition to those the LSC previously announced on 18 October 2007 to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for Section 4 support;
Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council’s Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
I have asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently. I will then make a statement.
Language Training
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which benefits individuals must receive in order to receive English for Speakers of Other Languages courses free of charge. [110928]
Phil Hope: Changes to funding for ESOL include the withdrawal of automatic fee remission from courses, but learners who are in receipt of JobSeekers Allowance and income related benefits, including working tax credit, will still be eligible for full fee remission. This will help us to focus public funding on those learners most in need of public help and support.
Details of the benefits which learners must be receiving to qualify for full fee remission are a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. Mark Haysom, the Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend explaining the more detailed arrangements when they have been agreed. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Rob Wye dated 2 March 2007:
I write on behalf of Mark Haysom as he is currently out of the office on annual leave, in response to your question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, regarding the benefits individuals must receive in order to receive English for Speakers of Other Languages free of charge eligibility for fee remission is set out in the published LSC booklet ‘Funding Guidance for Further Education in 2006-07’ paragraph 127. This states benefits that grant fee remission to learners and includes the following:
unemployed people in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance
those in receipt of income-based benefits, formerly known as means-tested benefits, the main income-based benefits are council tax benefit, housing benefit, income support and jobseeker's allowance (income-based)
those in receipt of working tax credit with a household income of less than £15,050
those in receipt of pension credits - guarantee credit
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