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22 May 2007 : Column 1208W—continued
All figures are rounded and regional totals may not, therefore, be the sum of authorities in the region.
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of (a) 20-year-olds, (b) 21-year-olds, (c) 22-year-olds, (d) 23-year-olds and (e) 24-year-olds in each local education authority were not in employment, education or training in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [138362]
Bill Rammell: The information requested on (a) 20-year-olds, (b) 21-year-olds, (c) 22-year-olds, (d) 23-year-olds and (e) 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training, in each local authority area, is not available.
Data on young people not in education, employment or training collected by Connexions services is available only for young people aged 16 to 18.
Women’s Prisons: Education
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hours of education 10 to 17-year-old female offenders received on average per week in the last period for which figures are available; and who supervises the (a) delivery and (b) effectiveness of this education. [138165]
Phil Hope:
Latest figures show that women offenders in young offender institutions receive an average of 31.36 hours of learning and skills per week. Separate data for women are not collected in secure training
centres and secure children’s homes but the figures for all young offenders are that 99.4 per cent. of young offenders in secure training centres and 79.9 per cent. in secure children’s homes receive 30 hours of education, training or employment activity a week.
(a) Education delivery is supervised by the head of learning and skills in young offender institutions and by the head of education in secure children's homes and secure training centres. In young offender institutions, the Learning and Skills Council funds and commissions provision through the Offenders Learning and Skills Service. Secure training centres and secure children's homes hold contracts with the Youth Justice Board which set out the requirements for education delivery.
(b) Ofsted inspect and regulate to raise standards in education and skills. Young offender institutions are inspected by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and they invite Ofsted to inspect the education and skills provision. The Commission for Social Care Inspectorate inspects secure training centres and secure children’s homes and invites Ofsted to inspect education. Inspection occurs through a mixture of unannounced and planned inspections. The responsibility for implementing the recommendations made in the inspection reports lies with the head of learning and skills in young offender institutions and the head of education in secure training centres and secure children’s homes.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Children
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what resources the Government have allocated to support the Year of Food and Farming initiative (a) in total and (b) in relation to facilitating the access of children to farms. [136759]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA has worked closely with the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health, and other stakeholders to support the Year of Food and Farming (YFF). We have provided financial support to develop the programme, including £130,000 of funding last financial year to support the start-up phase. In addition, DEFRA has lent a member of staff to the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) to work on the initiative. However, the YFF is an industry-led campaign, and the bulk of funding and sponsorship is coming from industry partners.
DEFRA is committed to developing the understanding young people have of where and how their food is produced. To that end, we provide approximately £1 million a year in payments to farmers who provide educational visits to their farms as part of their agri-environment scheme agreements. In addition, in this financial year, DEFRA will provide £146,000 for the Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme (CEVAS), which provides training to farmers who provide educational access visits. This amounts to 50 per cent. of the scheme's funding.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Paice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) adjusted payments have been made, (b) cases are under review, (c) claimants have not received any payment and (d) claimants are awaiting their balance payment
having already received a partial payment under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme. [136339]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 8 May 2007]: Of the 25,000 cases subject to review that my right hon. Friend reported in his statement of 22 February 2007, Official Report, column 59WS, entitlements have been adjusted for 5,500 claimants and confirmed as correct for 2,500 claimants. The net number now under review is approximately 22,000.
There are 19 claimants who have not received any SPS 2005 payment and five claimants awaiting their balance payment after having received a partial payment. The majority of these 24 are probate cases.
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he expects to meet the payment deadline for the 2006 single payment scheme. [137486]
Barry Gardiner: I refer the right hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 15 May 2007, Official Report, column 29WS.
Coastal Areas: Access
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the effect on the rural economy of improving access to the coast; and if he will make a statement. [138536]
Barry Gardiner: We are currently considering Natural England's report on coastal access, and will shortly launch a public consultation document inviting views on ways of improving access. At the same time, we will also publish a partial regulatory impact assessment and information on the research study that we commissioned to examine the benefits and costs of relevant options. This research includes an assessment of the benefits to local economies.
Departments: Internet
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to have the web links on his ministerial blog updated; and how much he estimates this will cost. [138220]
Barry Gardiner: Links to websites or blogs are reviewed from time to time as part of the day to day administration of the Secretary of State's blog. The cost of updating links is included within the overall costs identified in my reply to James Paice on 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1070W.
Environmental Stewardship Scheme
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for the Higher Level Stewardship scheme were (a) made and (b) granted (i) in the south-west, (ii) in Torridge and west Devon and (iii) nationally in the scheme years (A) 2005-06 and (B) 2006-07. [136843]
Barry Gardiner: In 2005-06 there were 235 Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) applications received in the south-west. 180 were granted. In the same period there were 927 HLS applications received nationally. 773 were granted.
In 2006-07 there were 385 HLS applications received in the south-west. 122 were granted. In the same period there were 1724 HLS applications received nationally. 816 were granted.
Natural England are currently unable to provide this data at a parliamentary constituency level, but they are looking into the feasibility of enhancing their reporting systems with a view to doing so for the future.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) highest, (b) lowest and (c) average value of award made under the Higher Level Stewardship scheme was (i) in the south-west, (ii) in Torridge and west Devon and (iii) nationally in the scheme years (A) 2005-06 and (B) 2006-07. [136844]
Barry Gardiner: The highest, lowest and average values of annual payments made under Higher Level Stewardship, nationally and in the south-west for the given years are set out in the following table.
Natural England are currently unable to provide these data at a parliamentary constituency level, but they are looking into the feasibility of enhancing their reporting systems with a view to doing so for the future.
| £ | |||
| Highest | Lowest | Average | |
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is possible for applicants whose applications to the Higher Level Stewardship scheme have been refused to reapply in the following year. [136845]
Barry Gardiner: Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) applications which are rejected may be re-submitted by the applicant during the next quarterly application window or beyond.
Natural England encourages applicants to discuss their HLS proposals with them so that a realistic initial assessment can be made of the application before further effort is expended.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether all those who met the original criteria for payment from the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme are receiving the sums originally expected. [136891]
Barry Gardiner: Once accepted into Higher Level Stewardship, agreement holders receive a payment every six months for the duration of their agreement. The payment rates set out in an HLS agreement apply for the first five years of that agreement. If any changes are made to payments rates following a payment review, they will apply for the remaining period of the agreement.
Greyhounds
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will introduce a tax on greyhound racing bookmakers to help pay for the welfare of greyhounds when they retire. [138476]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 21 May 2007]: The Government have no plans to introduce a tax on greyhound racing bookmakers to help pay for the welfare of greyhounds when they retire.
Milk: Prices
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with supermarkets on prices paid to dairy farmers. [136958]
Barry Gardiner: Price negotiations are a private commercial matter in which the Government cannot get involved, as long as competition rules are respected. However, we believe it is in the long-term interest of buyers to establish fair and sustainable arrangements for dealing with their suppliers.
We welcome the Competition Commission's announcement on 23 January2007 that, in taking forward its inquiry into the groceries market, it intends to look further at the impact of supermarket buyer power on primary producers in the dairy sectors.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in farm gate milk prices in (a) Lancashire and (b) England in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [137640]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 17 May 2007]: DEFRA holds data on milk prices covering the United Kingdom (UK) as a whole, but not for counties within the UK.
The following table shows average monthly farm-gate prices for the UK calculated from separate monthly surveys on the value of milk. The surveys were conducted by DEFRA in England and Wales, the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department in Scotland, and the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland. The prices represent the average price per litre of milk received by producers each month, net of delivery charges. No deduction has been made for superlevy and no adjustment has been made for butterfat or protein content. The prices are shown both excluding and including any retrospective bonus payments made to date by milk purchasers.
| UK average farm gate milk prices | ||||||||
| Pence per litre | ||||||||
| Excluding bonus payments | Including retrospective bonus payments | |||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06( 1) | 2006-07( 1) | 2003-04 | 2004-05( 1) | 2005-06( 1) | 2006-07( 1) | |
| (1) Data are provisional. Sources: DEFRA, SEERAD, DARD NI | ||||||||
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