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12 Mar 2008 : Column 397W—continued
(a) A pass will be suspended if the Serjeant at Arms or her Deputy has reason to believe that a pass-holder who is not a Member has been convicted of a criminal offence or has engaged in behaviour or associations which create an expectation that the pass-holder’s access to the parliamentary estate could be detrimental to the security or reputation of the House of Commons.
(b) A pass may be revoked if, following consultation with appropriate authorities or individuals, the expectation referred to in paragraph (a) is confirmed or, in the balance of probabilities, is considered to be likely.
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many (a) males and (b) females, broken down by age group, were (i) arrested, (ii) prosecuted and (iii) convicted of trespass in the Palace of Westminster in each of the last three years for which information is available. [192617]
Nick Harvey: The Palace of Westminster became a designated site relating to Trespass under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 on 1 June 2007.
The only persons arrested for trespass have been the demonstrators on the roof on 27 February 2008. Five persons were arrested: female aged 20; female aged 23; male aged 27; male aged 34 and male aged 31.
Visitor Management
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what progress has been made in introducing an improved visitor management system; and if he will make a statement. [192542]
Nick Harvey: The new visitor management system is being trialled at the Derby Gate entrance to the estate. The system will be installed at two further entry points (1 Parliament Street and Black Rod’s Garden) during March, with the full programme of installation due for completion by July 2008.
Communities and Local Government
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of her Department's expenditure was on advertising in each year since establishment. [182989]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government was established in May 2006. The advertising spend in the financial year 2006-07 was 0.12 per cent. of the Department's programme spend. The information for 2007-08 is not yet available.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether consideration has been given to applying gender responsive budgeting to her Department's budget. [192112]
Mr. Dhanda: The UK Government are supportive of efforts to achieve gender equality and continue to work very closely with both the Women's National Commission and the Women's Budget Group on promoting gender equality within the UK.
In 2004, HM Treasury undertook a pilot project on gender analysis of expenditure with the Women's Budget Group. The project demonstrated the value of gender analysis in some areas and identified what tools and expertise were necessary within government to
carry out gender analysis, but that further work was needed before gender responsive budgeting could be implemented.
In 2008, HM Treasury will be conducting further work that will determine whether it is prudent and feasible to disaggregate departmental expenditure statistics by gender.
English Partnerships: Vacant Land
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of land owned by English Partnerships is unused; and if she will make a statement. [193012]
Mr. Iain Wright: At English Partnerships’ (EP) last annual valuation in April 2007, EP owned 8,500 hectares of land. EP plans to dispose of around 400 hectares for development during the 2007-08 financial year, mostly through market competition, as well as 565 hectares that have no potential for housing or commercial use, as amenity land.
English Partnerships brings forward its land for development in the usual way through the statutory planning regime, working with local authorities and other partners in both public and private sectors to support high quality sustainable growth in England by creating well-served mixed communities. EP also has a programme which purchases and sells Surplus Public Sector Land, including redundant hospital sites. This is in line with last year’s Housing Green Paper, making a contribution towards the Government’s ambition to see three million new homes built by 2020.
Health and Safety Executive
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008, Official Report, column 778W, on the Health and Safety Executive, for what reasons the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister did not communicate the warnings of the Health and Safety Executive in relation to certain water heaters to social landlords and private householders following the 2002 fatality. [178623]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received information about the 2002 fatality following an approach by its officials to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This information comprised a copy of the HSE factual report into the accident and a covering letter.
HSE has made it clear that at the time of the fatality, it considered the circumstances which led up to the accident to be very rare. The information passed to ODPM was taken into account in our work with relevant trade and industry bodies to develop minimum standards of competence for the Building Regulations Competent Persons Schemes and in our preparations for a planned review of part g of the building regulations to fully consider all aspects of hot water safety.
Neither HSE nor CLG took any further action to disseminate the information from the report of the 2002 accident more widely.
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008, Official Report, column 788W, on the Health and Safety Executive, if she will issue guidance to social landlords on the risks arising from the type of water heater involved in the death of Rhianna Hardie. [178624]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Health and Safety Executive issued a safety alert in July 2007 detailing the causes of the accident and the typical warning signs to watch out for. This alert was sent to a wide range of stakeholders including housing associations, local government and local authority housing departments. We are working with HSE and others to ensure that any gaps there may be in awareness of this particular risk are closed. In particular we intend to formally ask the Housing Corporation to bring the HSE alert and advice to the attention of housing associations and are working with HSE to re-issue the HOUSE advice and alert to all local authorities both in their capacity as an enforcement authority and as a landlord.
Housing: Disabled
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by Tamworth Borough Council on improving homes for disabled people in each of the last three years. [193602]
Mr. Iain Wright: Over the last 3 years, Tamworth borough council spent the following amounts on improving homes for disabled people:
2005-06: £203,871.30;
2006-07: £186,872.73; and
2007-08: £125,162.51 has been spent so far this year, with a further £131,987.00 committed, giving a total of £257,149.51.
Housing: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 17 December 2007, Official Report, columns 1140-1W, on housing: finance, for what reasons her Department's capital investment in (a) council-owned housing stock and (b) home ownership schemes in relation to housing associations was less in 2006-07 than in each of the previous three years. [182177]
Mr. Iain Wright: The overall investment in housing has increased year on year up to and including 2006-07. There are a number of reasons why there was a reduction in the level of capital investment in council owned stock in 2006-07: reduced stock numbers; a separation of monies for private sector renewal from the funding stream that previously combined this funding with that for council housing stock; and the recommendations of regional assemblies on the allocation of available resources for new build affordable housing (including low cost home ownership schemes) and investment in existing stock.
Housing: Local Government Finance
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether all funding from local authorities for redistribution under the Housing Revenue Account programme is ring-fenced for housing projects led by her Department; and if she will make a statement. [192795]
Mr. Iain Wright: Currently, all assumed surpluses that are captured by the housing revenue account subsidy system are redistributed to authorities with assumed deficits and paid into individual authorities’ housing revenue accounts. The housing revenue account is ring-fenced and authorities can only use these resources for the upkeep of their own housing stock. In the current year Government are forecast to make a net contribution to the overall subsidy system.
Housing: Low Incomes
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2008, Official Report, column 583W, and 1 February 2008, Official Report, column 690-91W, on housing: low incomes, what types of home improvement the householder cannot request be excluded from any equity uplift share with the mortgage lender and Homebuyer Agent; [189237]
(2) what types of home improvement require prior permission from the mortgage lender in order to be excluded from the mortgage lender and Homebuy Agent sharing in the equity uplift. [189238]
Mr. Iain Wright: All home improvements such as building an extension or altering the layout of the home require the prior agreement of the HomeBuy Agent and lender.
Local Government: Reorganisation
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the results of the consultation on local government reorganisation in Cheshire; and how many and what proportion of responses indicated a broad cross-section of support for two unitary councils. [193213]
John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today.
Local Government: Standards
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government further to the publication by her Department of National Indicators for Local Authorities and Local Authority Partnerships: Update on publication of the final definitions for the national indicator set, which best value performance indicators and other old performance measures which are not included in the national indicator set will continue to be collected as data returns from local authorities by central government after 1st April 2008. [193862]
John Healey: All best value and other performance indicators which are not included in the national indicator set will cease as performance indicators from 1 April 2008. We are working with other Government Departments to identify those data collections which are to be discontinued, in line with the commitment made in the Local Government White Paper to limit data collection to that which is necessary for reasons such as financial management and policy development, and to meet the 30 per cent. target for reduction in data burdens announced on 9 October 2007 as part of the comprehensive spending review.
Unitary Councils: Cheshire
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which respondents to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Cheshire expressed support for two unitary councils. [192470]
John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to my statement to the House on 26 February 2008, Official Report, column 1050, and the publication, ‘Proposals for Future Unitary Structures: Stakeholder Consultation—Summary of Reponses’, published by my Department on 19 November 2007.
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Day Care
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the quality of childcare and early years education in (a) deprived areas and (b) affluent areas; and if he will make a statement. [187146]
Beverley Hughes: The 2006-07 Ofsted Schools Inspection(1) Annual Report presents information on the quality of childcare and nursery education settings. Of the 27,236 settings inspected, overall childcare quality was outstanding in 3 per cent. of settings, good in 54 per cent., satisfactory in 39 per cent. and inadequate in 4 per cent. The standard of early education in 6,343 settings was rated as outstanding (5 per cent.), good (55 per cent.), satisfactory (37 per cent.) and inadequate (2 per cent.). The report also found that of 16,512 childminders overall childcare quality was of an outstanding quality for 3 per cent. of providers, 54 per cent. were of good quality, 39 per cent. were of satisfactory quality and 3 per cent. were of inadequate quality.
These findings are supported by this Department’s evaluation of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative (NNI), published in March 2007, which provides information on the quality of childcare and early years education in disadvantaged areas. The study found that 93 per cent. of settings were rated as at least of adequate quality and 70 per cent. were providing provision quality that was of an adequate but just below a good standard of care, 23 per cent. were offering a good to excellent standard of provision. Settings were most successful at providing children with pleasant and appropriate staff-child interactions that were warm and respectful. Although there is no comparable data on settings in more affluent areas, the study found that families from very different
backgrounds and with different needs were being offered comparable quality of provision. Nurseries providing for high proportions of disadvantaged families offered comparable quality services to settings serving less disadvantaged families.
(1)( )For inspection purposes, provision quality in UK childcare and early years settings is explored through professional judgements captured through the recently developed Ofsted Inspection Framework. The framework is used to assess whether settings meet the minimum standards of providing quality provision. The framework measures quality based on the effective delivery of the Every Child Matters Outcomes, for children: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving and making a positive contribution. Settings are rated on a four point grading scale, where 1 = outstanding, 2 = good, 3 = satisfactory, 4 = inadequate.
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department and its agencies have spent on Christmas (a) cards, (b) parties and (c) decorations in each of the last five years. [171434]
Kevin Brennan: The Department spent £2,653 on Christmas cards and £460 on a Christmas tree at the headquarters building. The Department does not fund Christmas parties. Records are not kept centrally for its non-departmental public bodies’ spend on Christmas cards or decorations.
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of his Department's expenditure was on advertising in each year since establishment. [182990]
Kevin Brennan: Promotional campaigns, including those using advertising, are funded from the Department's central advertising and publicity budget and from individual programme budgets held by policy directorates.
Spend on advertising for 2007-08 is not yet available. However, advertising spend constitutes approximately 20 per cent. of the total Departmental budget for marketing and communications for the 2007-08 financial year.
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what requirements his Department places on contractors in relation to audit of personal data and IT equipment. [176629]
Kevin Brennan: The Department's contract templates include clauses for use where a contractor is required to process information on individuals in any way, either electronically or on paper, that ensures data protection, confidentiality and prevent the loss of data.
Where a contractor's employees are required to have access to, or knowledge or custody of, Government assets such as documents, IT equipment and the Department's premises, the contractor must meet the
Government-wide personnel security standard, which requires employee checks on identity, employment history, nationality and immigration status and the declaration of unspent criminal records.
Contractors are also bound by the requirements of the Data Protection Act and will operate in accordance with their corporate governance, security and audit arrangements.
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