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21 Nov 2007 : Column 910W—continued
The PSNI contributes to the cost of calls made to this number and receives no revenue as a consequence of the use of this number.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of people deterred from calling the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s non-emergency telephone number on account of the cost of calls. [165137]
Paul Goggins: It is important to make a distinction between emergency and non-emergency calls in order for incidents to be prioritised properly. There has been good uptake of the 0845 600 8000 non-emergency telephone number line; for example last month 16,632 members of the public used the service.
The levels of usage do not indicate that people are being deterred from making calls.
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Vetting
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how long the Police Service of Northern Ireland took on average to carry out a criminal records check in each of the last 12 months; and how many requests for such were submitted in each such month. [165141]
Paul Goggins: The PSNI has advised that they are currently unable to provide accurate figures for vetting requests received prior to February 2007, due to technical difficulties. The PSNI is working to rectify this.
Once this is completed, I will write to the hon. Lady with a full response to her question.
Prisoners
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of (a) the likely prison population in Northern Ireland in each year until 2012 and (b) the number of places needed to accommodate it. [164390]
Paul Goggins: The current estimate for prisoner population used by the Northern Ireland Prison Service is based on a 5 per cent. increase up to 2009-10 and 4 per cent. thereafter and is shown in the following table.
| Projected average population | |
The Service currently has 1595 cells and plans to add a minimum of 180 additional places by end 2008-09.
On 21 February this year I asked the Prison Service to carry out an options appraisal on the development of the estate for holding adult male prisoners. I intend to make an announcement before the end of the year on the Service's plans to meet the accommodation needs of the updated projected population.
Culture, Media and Sport
Cumbria
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department plans to move any of its offices to Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency. [166569]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There are no plans to move any of the offices of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in his Department (a) were disciplined and (b) had their employment terminated as a result of a poor sickness record in each of the last five years. [163705]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold central records of staff disciplined. The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Responsibility for managing sickness absence (including ensuring the effective monitoring of sickness absence levels) rests with line managers. They are supported with a robust sickness absence policy and that includes return to work interviews. The number of staff who had their employment terminated as a result of poor sick records are shown in the table:
| Number | |
Gambling: Internet
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which remote gaming operators in respect of whom no legal proceedings are under way have been prosecuted for breach of section 42(1)(c) of the Gaming Act 1968. [163713]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There have been no prosecutions for breaches of section 42(1)(c) of the Gaming Act 1968.
Languages
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many French speakers his Department employs. [166185]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on which DCMS staff are French speakers is not held centrally. Providing accurate information on this would incur disproportionate cost.
Olympic Games 2012: Tourism
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms are open to Faversham to advertise itself as a tourist destination in connection with the London 2012 Olympics. [165642]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 19 November 2007]: Local areas, such as those within Faversham and Mid Kent, which wish to market themselves as a tourism destination are advised to work with their Regional Development Agency and its regional tourism partners (in this case, the South East of England Regional Development Agency (SEEDA); Tourism South East; and Kent county council, working with the Kent Tourism Alliance). SEEDA, in collaboration with its partners, has developed a strategy for maximising the benefits of the Olympics in the region, “Compete, Create, Collaborate for a World Class Performance”. This strategy focuses, for example, on the role of the region as a gateway to the UK and as a ‘festival region’ (thus taking full advantage of the Cultural Olympiad as well as existing festivals). Additionally, SEEDA and Tourism South East, with input from their sub-regional partners, including the Kent Tourism Alliance, will continue to work with VisitBritain by providing detailed content for its themed marketing campaigns and website. VisitBritain is currently developing its marketing and branding plans for 2012.
Religious Buildings: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many places of worship were restored for public use in each of the last three years. [164240]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 14 November 2007]: Comprehensive figures are not available for the number of places of worship restored for public use.
In England, Government funding for places of worship is targeted on the repair of those that are listed buildings. Such funding is disbursed via the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, and English Heritage’s Grants for Cathedrals Scheme. The Repair Grants for Places of Worship Scheme is funded jointly by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. A further contribution is made by other award streams operated by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The numbers of buildings in England assisted by each scheme are in the table. Some buildings will have received funding under more than one scheme or in more than one year.
Sports: Facilities
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the proportion of the population which is within 20 minutes of a multi-sport facility. [166736]
Mr. Sutcliffe: For the purposes of this commitment the Government have defined ‘multi-sport’ as access to at least two different sports facilities that are most in demand. In relation to ‘good quality’ there is no single nationally recognised measure that can be applied to all sports facilities. However, the Active Places sports facilities database (the main tool for measuring the commitment), holds information about the age of facilities and length of time since last refurbishment. We are using these figures as the measure of quality.
Using the Active Places database Sport England are undertaking strategic mapping of the Nation’s sports facilities and we know that over 90 per cent. of people in England are within 20 minutes travel time of at least two different sports facilities that are most in demand by the public (swimming pools, playing fields, synthetic turf pitches, health and fitness centres, sports halls and golf courses). We know that, of the built sports facilities listed on Active Places: pools, halls, health and fitness and synthetic turf pitches, 65 per cent. have been built or refurbished in the last 10 years. We expect to see these positive figures maintained in future years.
The Government take the view that those in urban areas should be within 20 minutes walking distance of a multi-sport environment, while those in rural areas should be within 20 minutes driving distance by car. Urban and rural areas are defined using the “Rural and Urban Area Classification 2004: Introductory Guide”, which was jointly published by The Countryside Agency, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Office for National Statistics, and the Welsh Assembly Government. The rural road travel times are based on the average road speeds derived from the Integrated Transport Network produced by Ordnance Survey. The urban walking catchments are based on a straightline 1.34km distance.
Television: Advertising
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the new restrictions published by Ofcom in February on television advertising of food and drink products to children. [166691]
James Purnell
[holding answer 20 November 2007]: We welcome the steps Ofcom have taken to strengthen the regulation in this area, with further restrictions on food advertising in programmes of appeal to children
under 16 due to come into effect in 2008. Ofcom will be conducting its own review of the effectiveness and scope of these new rules in autumn 2008. The Government will shortly publish a stocktake report of the changes in the nature and balance of food advertising across all media since 2003. In addition, the Government will continue to work with Ofcom and other key stakeholders to ensure that restrictions are effective and appropriate.
Work and Pensions
Children
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) households and (b) lone parent households with dependent children in each year since 1997. [166515]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the number of households and lone parent households with dependent children in England for each year since 1997.
| Thousand | ||
| All households | Lone parent households with dependent children | |
The household figures for England are derived by the 2004-based household projection and estimation model using mid-year population figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The estimates predate ONS revisions to the populations released in August 2007.
Lone parent households contain a lone parent living with one or more dependent child, but no married or cohabiting couples. A dependent child is one aged 0-15; or aged 16-18, never married and in full time education.
Jobcentre Plus: ICT
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in improvements to Jobcentre Plus IT systems; and if he will make a statement. [163588]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 21 November 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what progress has been made in improvements to Jobcentre Plus IT systems. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Over the last 2 years, since introducing the Customer Management System (CMS) to improve the service provided to customers, Jobcentre Plus has listened hard to its staff and customers and put in place a number of measures (surveys,
performance monitoring and focus groups) to understand the shortcomings of its IT systems and facilities. We have worked with our IT suppliers using this feedback together with hard evidence on IT performance to instigate improvement programmes.
As a result we have:
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