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17 Mar 2008 : Column 784W—continued
Local Government Finance: Newcastle-under-Lyme
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for North Tyneside of 3 March 2008, Official Report, columns 2139-40W, what progress is being made in the recovery of the money wrongly paid to Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council. [194591]
John Healey: My officials are discussing options for repayment of the mis-allocated funding with Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council, with a view to reaching a swift conclusion.
Local Government Services: Assessments
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with what frequency each local authority will be assessed under the new comprehensive area assessment; and what effect (a) the previous inspection rating of the authority and (b) the type of authority will have on the frequency of assessment. [193861]
John Healey: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member directly.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 17 March 2008:
Your Parliamentary Question which asks with what frequency each local authority will be assessed under the new comprehensive area assessment and how those frequencies will vary according to (a) the previous inspection rating of the authority and (b) the type of authority has been passed to me to reply.
The Audit Commission is working in partnership with Ofsted, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Healthcare Commission, HMI Constabulary, HMI Probation and HMI Prisons to develop the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) framework. The first CAA reports are planned for the autumn of 2009.
Outline proposals for the CAA framework were set out by the inspectorates in our joint consultation paper of November 2007. This explained that the three-yearly rolling programmes of corporate assessments of all single tier and county councils and joint area reviews of children’s services would both end in 2008/09. The annual service assessments of adult social care, children and young people, housing, environment, culture and benefits will also end with the final set of Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) scores in 2008/09. The CPA framework for district councils, which does not involve annual service assessments or a rolling programme of corporate assessments, will also end in 2008/09.
In place of CPA, CAA will require fewer major inspection events and will shift the focus of the inspectorates from detailed service management issues to the outcomes being achieved in partnership by the public bodies in each area. Greater reliance will be placed on self assessment and the improvement activity of local authorities themselves, and the volume of inspection will reduce significantly.
The government’s policy priorities for CAA were set out in a joint ministerial commissioning letter to the inspectorates in April 2007. That letter stated that:
The CAA will comprise:
annual publication of the performance of all areas against all the measures in the single set of around 200 national indicators;
an Annual Risk Assessment for every area—to be delivered jointly by the Audit Commission working with other inspectorates;
an annual scored Direction of Travel judgement for every local authority which assesses the effectiveness of each local authority in driving continuous improvement; and
an annual scored Use of Resources judgement for all local authorities, Primary Care Trusts, Fire & Rescue Authorities and Police Authorities by the Audit Commission, building on the current such judgements to provide public, independent assurance about the organisational effectiveness of these key local partners.
The November joint inspectorate consultation document set out a proposed approach to delivering these elements of CAA. Although each element is proposed to be reported annually, the inspection work required will be heavily influenced by the performance of the local authority and, where relevant, its partners and the inspectorates’ assessment of risk. In this way, high performing local authorities and partnerships will experience significantly less inspection activity than their lower performing peers, and the total volume of inspection activity will be significantly less than at present.
The inspectorates are currently evaluating the 327 responses to the November consultation, which closed on 15 February 2008, and will be considering changes to the proposed CAA framework both in the light of those responses and their early field testing of different elements. Any proposed changes will be subject to thorough discussion with all stakeholders, including local and central government, other local public services and the third sector.
A further joint consultation paper due in July 2008 will present the revised proposals and will include a more detailed explanation of how the inspectorates will ensure that the CAA framework reduces the burden of assessment on local authorities, and their partners, and reflects a proportionate approach to risk and performance. After a further round of pilots in the summer and autumn, the final CAA framework will be published in December 2008.
I trust that this reply is helpful and I would be happy to provide further details or meet to discuss the development of CAA at any time.
The text of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
National Brownfield Forum
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria will be used to determine the stakeholder membership of the National Brownfield Forum; and when she expects the forum to be established. [194962]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The National Brownfield Forum will oversee the implementation of the National Brownfield Strategy and will report annually on progress. The Forum will aim to improve co-ordination between Government, the regulators and practitioners and to encourage the exchange of best practice and knowledge.
The main criteria used to determine the membership of the group will be to secure the most effective representation across the range of stakeholders involved in brownfield issues including Government Departments, Government Agencies, Devolved Administrations, private sector network representation, NGOs and professional institutions. The aim is to hold about four meetings a year with the first taking place in early summer 2008.
Public Lavatories
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research the Audit Commission has undertaken on the provision of public conveniences since May 1997; and what advice it has issued to local authorities based on such research. [193997]
John Healey: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member directly.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 17 March 2008:
Your Parliamentary Question on what research the Audit Commission has undertaken on the provision of public conveniences since May 1997; and what advice it has issued to local authorities based on such research has been passed to me to reply.
The Audit Commission has not carried out research into the provision of public conveniences, nor do we plan to do so. Consequently the Commission has not issued any advice to local authorities.
The text of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Home Department
Armed Forces: Peterborough
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received by Cambridgeshire police of abuse of service personnel in Peterborough in the last six months. [194859]
Mr. McNulty: This information is not collected by the Home Office.
Arrests
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were made in London by the Metropolitan police in each of the last 10 years. [189307]
Mr. McNulty: The arrests collection undertaken by the Ministry of Justice provides data on persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only. The number of arrests made by the Metropolitan police is given in the table from 1999-2000 (previous years data are unreliable) to 2005-06 (latest available). From aggregated data collected centrally we are not able to identify the location of an arrest.
| Persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by the Metropolitan police force 1999-2000 to 2005-06—England and Wales | |
| Number | |
| (1) Figures amended since publication of 2004/05 Bulletin. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used. | |
Borders: Police
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 11 March 2008, Official Report, columns 11-12WS, on policing (UK borders), (1) what percentage of the costs of deploying special branch officers was met by the dedicated security post grants in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by constabulary; [194699]
(2) to which police forces and agencies each of those police permanently based at UK borders belong; how many are (a) warranted constables, (b) police community support officers and (c) civilian staff; what powers local chief constables have to redeploy police based at UK borders; and whether ministerial approval is required for such redeployments. [194700]
Mr. McNulty: The Government allocate funding to the relevant local police force for Special Branch officers through the dedicated security post grants, as a contribution towards their costs. The percentage breakdown requested is not held centrally.
The Home Office works closely with the ACPO National Co-ordinator of Ports Policing to determine the distribution of the DSP grant between force areas. The outcome of the 2008-09 allocation of the DSP grant reflected a national reassessment of the priorities for Special Branch presence at ports across the UK. This resulted in a decision to increase the overall presence by the 39 additional officers referred to in the
written ministerial statement of 11 March 2008. It would prejudice the operational effectiveness of Special Branch work at ports to disclose how the distribution of officers was broken down by port or force area.
The deployment of police officers, police community support officers and civilian staff at the UK border is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers. Ministerial approval is not required for those deployments, and the breakdown requested is not held centrally.
Case Reference B3416/7 (H423624)
Kate Hoey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps she is taking to find the file relating to the constituent of the hon. Member
for Vauxhall, case reference B3416/7 (H423624); and when she expects the case to be resolved; [180305]
(2) when she expects to answer question 180305 tabled by the hon. Member for Vauxhall on 25 January, on finding the file regarding a constituent of the hon. Member for Vauxhall, case reference B34164/7 (H423624). [191807]
Mr. Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 10 March 2008.
Citizenship
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) participation in the activities of political parties and (b) preaching of religion by migrants holding probationary citizenship will count as active citizenship, as outlined in her Department's Green Paper, A Pathway to Citizenship. [190181]
Mr. Byrne: We are proposing that migrants who have demonstrated their commitment to the UK and contribute in a positive way to British society should be allowed to complete the journey to citizenship more quickly than those who have chosen not to. The Green Paper sets out a list of activities already in existence which we believe could constitute a good list for would be citizens to consider. This list does not include either participation in the activities of political parties or preaching of religion by migrants. We are inviting views on the type of activities that should be taken into account. We will finalise our proposals—ensuring that only those activities which contribute in a positive way are taken into account—following the consultation period which ends on 14 May.
Criminal Investigation: Portugal
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work was carried out by those UK police officers who assisted in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeline McCann in Portugal; and if she will make a statement . [193285]
Mr. McNulty: A number of UK law enforcement agencies have provided operational assistance to the Portuguese authorities in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress her Department has made in its zero-based budget review under the comprehensive spending review. [191488]
Mr. Byrne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Annex pertaining to the Home Office, (Annex D7) in "Meeting the aspirations of the British people: the 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review" (Cm 7227). Further detail on our plans to deliver value for money across the comprehensive spending review period can be found in my Department's Value for Money Delivery Agreement, published on the Home Office website on 5 December 2007.
Departmental Equality
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conclusions her Department has reached in fulfilment of the duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. [190675]
Mr. Byrne: We plan to publish the Race, Disability and Gender Equality Scheme progress report later this spring 2008.
The evidence received to date shows that Home Office has been working with other Government Departments to combat disability blue badge theft, fraud and misuse. Much work has been undertaken to involve a wide range of organisations, such as Mencap, Voice UK, The Anne Craft Trust, and Age Concern, whilst developing the Crime Strategy. The Home Office has also achieved the RNIB “See it Right with UseAbility” accreditation. The Interview Office Network premises have all undergone rigorous consultation with focus groups to ensure that all premises meet Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements.
Reasonable adjustments are made for staff under the Home Office Access to Work scheme. Guidance on the scheme is made available to all staff to ensure that the necessary adjustments are made.
Departmental ICT
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many attempted hacking or suspected cyber attacks or other malicious computer security breaches were committed against her Department's computer systems in each of the last three years for which information is available; and if she will make a statement. [167973]
Mr. Byrne: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.
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