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17 Oct 2007 : Column 1080W—continued
Children: Poverty
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which Secretary of State has the lead role in delivering the 2010 child poverty target; and if he will make a statement. [157600]
Beverley Hughes: As stated in ‘PSA Delivery Agreement 9: Halve the number of children in poverty by 2010-11, on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020’,
“The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will be responsible for child poverty, and in addition the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the lead Minister for this PSA.”
I refer the hon. Member to the reply of 18 July 2007, Official Repor t, column 92W.
Foster Care
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will introduce a compulsory registration scheme for private fostering. [158256]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 15 October 2007]: The Government have agreed that at a suitable point we will publish a report on the impact of the enhanced notification scheme introduced by the Children Act 2004, and it is on that basis that we will announce whether or not we are minded to move towards a registration scheme.
Parents: Disadvantaged
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what support his Department provides to parents in areas with high levels of gang and gun-related crime to help ensure that children do not become involved in criminal activity. [154095]
Beverley Hughes: We are providing extra funding this year to areas where gun, knife and gang crime is most prevalent to accelerate the roll-out of extended schools. Parenting support is an important part of the extended schools core offer of services. There are currently over 7,000 schools providing access to the core offer of services and by 2010 all schools will be offering these services.
In addition, DCSF is leading a number of wider activities that will provide parents with support to help them steer their children away from trouble. These include launching the £34 million Parent Know How programme; establishing the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners; investing £4 million to employ Respect parenting practitioners, targeted at helping parents whose children are most at risk of engaging in antisocial behaviour; we have established a national network of 53 Family Intervention Projects supporting families facing the most problems; and we have set up, in 18 local authorities, Parenting Early Intervention Pathfinders for parents of younger children who are at risk of negative outcomes.
Play: Facilities
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of publicly run play areas for children available in (a) 1997 and (b) 2007. [154787]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not collected centrally. We recognise fully the benefits of play for children and we continue to take steps to support and promote the provision of opportunities for play. For example, between 2008-09 and 2010-11, we are providing over £1.1 billion for schools so that every school will be offering access to extended services by 2010. Through this, children and families will be able to access breakfast and after-school clubs, a range of activities and community services, with areas for play an important element of the provision.
In addition, the Government are supporting improvements to the quality of parks and green spaces in all our towns and cities, especially the most deprived areas, so that everyone has access to good quality spaces close to where they live. The quality of parks and green spaces is being driven up by the Government-supported Green Flag Award Scheme; knowledge, capacity and skills within local authorities have been enhanced through the How To programme and the work of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, and many communities have improved their local spaces through support Groundwork, the Living Spaces programme and the Liveability Fund.
Video Games: Violence
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what process is to be followed by the online review into the effect of violent video games; [158561]
(2) which groups and organisations have been approached to take part in the review into the effect of violent video games; [158562]
(3) when he expects the review into the effect of violent video games will be complete; and when the results will be published; [158563]
(4) whether there are any other data collection methods the review into violent video games will use other than the online questionnaire. [158564]
Beverley Hughes: The review being carried out by Dr. Tanya Byron will consider the evidence on the risks to children and young people from inappropriate or harmful content in video games and the internet and assess the effectiveness and adequacy of existing measures to protect them and support parents.
An open call for evidence was published by Dr. Byron on 9 October 2007, running until 30 November 2007. It asks respondents to respond online via the Department’s website or to email or post responses to the questions posed in the call for evidence document.
A children and young people’s call for evidence is due out in week commencing 22 October 2007 and will be promoted through a wide range of media platforms (including social networking sites and online debates).
In addition to considering responses to these two open calls for evidence, the Byron Review will draw upon a wide range of existing evidence, including published commentary and research literature, and will undertake some further research in areas where gaps in the literature have been identified.
Since the review was announced on 8 September 2007, the review has met with groups, organisations and individuals representing parents; children and young people; those involved in the welfare, education and safety of children; the academic and research community; the video gaming industry; gamers; the internet industry (including producers, content aggregators, web hosts, internet service providers, search and navigation providers, consumer device manufacturers and retailers); advertising and retail bodies; government agencies; other statutory and non-statutory public bodies and third sector organisations. Dr. Byron and her team will continue to meet with key stakeholders throughout the period of the review, and they welcome input from any interested person or organisation.
The final report (due to be published in March 2008) will make recommendations to the Secretaries of State for Children’s Schools and Families and Culture Media and Sport. This will include a list of individuals and groups that have contributed to the Review.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Alisher Usmanov
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish reports received from British embassies relating to Alisher Usmanov. [158765]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Such information would constitute personal data. A request for personal information brings into play the relevant legislative provisions on data release by the Government and would require the consent of the individual concerned.
Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Ministers from his Department attended the Defence Systems and Equipment International exhibition in September. [158779]
Dr. Howells: I can confirm to my hon. Friend that no Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers attended the Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) event in September to which he refers.
However, the FCO did jointly sponsor a seminar at the DSEi event with the Defence Manufacturers Association. The seminar aimed to raise awareness and build support for an International Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) among the defence and military equipment industry. John Duncan, UK ambassador for Multilateral and Disarmament Affairs in Geneva, gave a speech about the UK’s approach to an ATT and responded to questions on the subject.
Departments: Recruitment
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Department paid in fees to recruitment agencies for (a) temporary and (b) permanent staff in each year since 1997. [151664]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The recorded expenditure for agency staff for each financial year since 1997 is as follows:
| £ | |
Expenditure in respect of temporary and permanent agency staff is not recorded separately. The increase in expenditure in 2006-07 arose from the need to recruit temporary staff to assist Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Services to move to Trading Fund status, and to enable the FCO’s account to be signed off earlier than in previous years.
Gaza: Travel Restrictions
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Israeli authorities in the case of Khaled Mudallel on his return from Gaza to his business studies course at Bradford university. [158826]
Dr. Howells: We raised this issue with the Israeli embassy in London on 15 October. The embassy told us that Mr. Mudallel has been advised that he can leave Gaza via the Nitzana Border Terminal.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of British residency permit holders unable to leave Gaza due to official action. [158827]
Dr. Howells: We have made no formal estimate. However, we are currently discussing the problem with our EU colleagues. We continue to raise concerns about movement and access with the Government for Israel.
Indian Sub-Continent: Entry Clearances
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visa offices are operated by his Department in (a) Bangladesh, (b) India and (c) Pakistan; and how many staff are employed in each of those offices to process visa applications. [158287]
Dr. Howells: UKvisas has one Visa Section in Bangladesh, located at our high commission in Dhaka. There are four Visa Sections in India, located at our high commission in New Delhi and our deputy high commissions in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. There are two Visa Sections in Pakistan, located at our high commission in Islamabad and our deputy high commission in Karachi.
The following table displays the total number of staff employed at each of these Visa Sections to process visa applications. The figures include entry clearance managers, officers, assistants, local support staff and those on short-term contracts.
| Staff employed at UK Visa Sections in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan | |
| Number | |
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visa applications were processed by his Department in (a) Bangladesh, (b) India and (c) Pakistan in each (i) year and (ii) month since 2001. [158288]
Dr. Howells: The following table displays the total number of UK visa applications processed by our visa sections in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in each year and month since April 2001.
| Number of UK visa applications processed by our visa sections in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan | ||||||
| April | May | June | July | August | September | |
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