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10 Sep 2008 : Column 1847W—continued
Zimbabwe: Overseas Aid
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the administrative costs of the Protracted Relief Programme in Zimbabwe have been; how many private sector contracts have been awarded under the programme; and at what cost. [220380]
Gillian Merron: Phase 1 (2004-08) of the Zimbabwe Protracted Relief Programme (PRP) was administered by a managing consultant at a cost of £1.7 million (£1,731,548.10). This represented 4.8 per cent. of the total project expenditure of £36 million over a programme duration of just under four years. The administration costs are broken down into professional fees (£1,485,905.69) and reimbursable expenses (£245,642.56).
In addition to the cost of the managing consultant, two annual reviews were carried out by independent consultants at a total cost of £51,565.03. The annual reviews and the managing consultant contracts were the only private sector contracts awarded under the programme. All other funds were channelled to non-governmental implementing partners for programme activities.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies: Lancaster
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he last met Lancashire County Council to discuss academies in Lancaster. [223334]
Jim Knight: My answer has not changed—please refer to PQ 220578 of 1 September 2008, Official Report, column 1602W. I have not met personally with Lancashire county council to discuss their academy plans.
Children in Care: Clinical Trials
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2008, Official Report, column 559W, on clinical trials, what the certain conditions are which must be met for minors to be allowed to be entered into a trial prior to consent having been obtained from a person with parental responsibility or a legal representative. [223346]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
On 1 May 2008 the Government, following a public consultation, amended The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (‘the Clinical Trials Regulations’) to provide an exception to the general requirement that informed consent must be obtained from a minor’s (a person under 16 years) parents or legal representative prior to his/her participation in a trial. Informed consent would still be a requirement of participation in the trial; but its absence would not preclude initial entry into a trial.
The specific conditions that apply in relation to a minor’s participation in a clinical trial are set out in Part 4 of Schedule 1 of the Clinical Trials Regulations. Conditions 1 to 5 of the Clinical Trials Regulations outline requirements for obtaining informed consent prior to initial entry into a trial. Conditions 6-12 provide safeguards to ensure that the wishes of the minor are considered and there is an appropriate basis for the trial and its financial compensation. The amendments to the Clinical Trials Regulations, made in May 2008, provide an exception to the general requirement that conditions 1 to 5 are met before entry into a trial.
This exception is subject to the following: (a) treatment is being, or is about to be, provided for a subject who is a minor as a matter of urgency and, having regard to the nature of the clinical trial and of the particular circumstances of the case, (b) it is necessary to take action for the purposes of the clinical trial as a matter of urgency; but (c) it is not reasonably practicable to meet conditions (1) to (5) of the Clinical Trials Regulations and (d) the conditions specified in (a) to (c) above are carried out in accordance with a procedure approved by an ethics committee with paediatric expertise or in the case of an ethics committee opinion appeal, by an appeal panel. The exception only applies until it is reasonably practicable to obtain informed consent from a person with parental responsibility or legal representative, at which time conditions (1) to (5) must be met.
The exception is consistent with the position adopted by the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guideline on Good Clinical Practice.
Children in Care: Health
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to ensure the national indicator set for local government reflects the health and well-being of looked-after children. [223354]
Beverley Hughes:
“Care Matters: Time for Change” proposed a new indicator as part of the local government National Indicator Set focused on the emotional and behavioural health of looked after children to ensure
that their mental health is reflected in local authority performance management arrangements. From April 2008 all local authorities in England have been required to provide information on the emotional and behavioural health of the children they look after. These data will be collected by local authorities using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and a summary figure for each child (the total difficulties score) will be submitted to the Department through the SSDA903 return. The first data return for the 2008-09 financial year will be collected from 1 April 2009.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what account his Department takes of the level of energy efficiency of buildings before entering into agreements to (a) rent and (b) purchase those buildings. [221101]
Kevin Brennan: When entering into leases for, or purchasing, buildings, the DCSF takes account of the environmental impact of its actions as far as possible.
For new buildings, the minimum requirement is that they must be constructed to the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) “excellent” standard (2006). In addition, developers are encouraged to design their buildings to allow energy efficiency by:
Minimising internal areas requiring mechanical ventilation
Minimising direct solar gain, in order to avoid air conditioning,
Maximising daylight factors
Maximising the control and flexibility of the installations
Achieving an air tightness test in accordance with CIBSE test methods
Complying with the current requirements of the Building Regulations Part L2A 2006; and
Promoting renewable energy and natural resources such as daylight and passive solar energy.
For existing buildings, the criteria for the selection of a property for rent or purchase will include the potential to achieve the award of BREEAM very good rating on a cost effective basis.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff in his Department have been (a) dismissed and (b) disciplined for their conduct since the Department was established. [217413]
Kevin Brennan: The Department was created in the machinery of government changes announced on 28 June 2007. Since then, two members of staff have been dismissed and 12 have been disciplined for their conduct.
Departmental Inquiries
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what independent inquiries have been commissioned by his Department in the last five years; what the (a) purpose and (b) cost was of each; and what steps were taken following each. [211123]
Kevin Brennan: The DCSF has been in existence since 28 June 2007, and since that time has commissioned two independent inquiries. Both of these are currently underway and it is not possible to fully cost these until they complete.
(1) The Lamb Inquiry: Special educational needs and parental confidence
The Lamb Inquiry was established as part of the Government’s response to the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee Report “Special Educational Needs: Assessment and Funding”. The Lamb Inquiry, under the chairmanship of Brian Lamb, the Chair of the Special Educational Consortium, will investigate a range of ways in which parental confidence in the SEN assessment process might be improved. The inquiry started its work in March 2008 and Brian Lamb will report in September 2009.
(2) The Sutherland Inquiry—Inquiry into 2008 national curriculum test delivery
The Sutherland Inquiry has been established because of problems that have arisen in the delivery of Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 national curriculum tests in 2008, leading to a delay in the release of results to schools. The inquiry will be led by Stewart Sutherland (Lord Sutherland of Houndwood), who will investigate what went wrong, the reasons for the problems experienced and what should be done to avoid a recurrence in future years. The inquiry was announced in July 2008 and Lord Sutherland will report to me and Ofqual in the Autumn of 2008.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which projects his Department has commissioned from (a) think tanks and (b) charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what the aim of each project was; which think tank or charity was commissioned; and how much was paid. [221604]
Ed Balls: My Department's accounting records do not record information to this level of detail. To provide a response would be at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Secondment
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what procedures his Department uses to ensure equal opportunities in relation to staff secondments to the Department. [214665]
Kevin Brennan: The Department aims to ensure that its diversity policies enable equal opportunities for inward secondment by following the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Code which is available at:
Departmental Sick Leave
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility who gave (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders as the reason for their absence was in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [216140]
Kevin Brennan: The average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by staff in (a) the Department is 27 days due to stress and 35 days due to mental and behavioural disorders. The Department was set up as part of the machinery of government changes on 28 June 2007, so the figures apply from 1 July to 31 March 2008 only (the latest information available). Different recording systems were used in the predecessor Departments, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) over the past 10 years, so it is not possible to provide direct comparisons.
These figures do not include (b) non-departmental public bodies as the information for them is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department is committed to providing a safe working environment and has a range of measures in place to support managers and employees on health and well-being issues.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [216142]
Kevin Brennan: The average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by staff in (a) the Department is 6.4 days. The Department was set up as part of the machinery of government changes on 28 June 2007, so the figures apply from 1 July to 31 March 2008 only (the latest information available). Different recording systems were used in the predecessor Departments, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) over the past 10 years, so it is not possible to provide direct comparisons.
These figures do not include (b) non-departmental public bodies as the information for them is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department is committed to providing a safe working environment and has a range of measures in place to support managers and employees on health and well-being issues.
Departmental Sick Pay
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff in (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility have received sick pay for sick leave due to (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what the average length of time was for which sick pay was paid in these cases; and if he will make a statement. [216146]
Kevin Brennan:
The Department was set up as part of the Machinery of Government (MoG) changes on 28 June 2007, so the figures apply from 1 July to 31 March 2008 (the latest information available). In the Department
(a) 72 staff were absent due to stress, representing 2.7 per cent., of all staff. 66 were absent due to other mental disorders, representing 2.4 per cent., of all staff at 31 March 2008.
These figures do not include non-departmental public bodies (c) as the information for them is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department has no agencies.
The Department is committed to providing a safe working environment and has a range of measures in place to support managers and employees on health and well-being issues.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the performance of Liberata in administration of the education maintenance allowance. [223194]
Jim Knight: The Learning and Skills Council have operational responsibility for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and have contracted with Liberata to carry out the helpline, assessment and payment function for EMA.
There have been some unacceptable delays in notifying learners that they are eligible for EMA this year. My officials are receiving daily updates from the LSC and I am monitoring the situation very closely. My priority is to ensure that young people receive their EMA as soon as possible.
The LSC have assured me that they are working very closely with Liberata to ensure that the backlog is cleared quickly. All eligible learners who apply within 28 days of the start of their course will get all the payments for which they are eligible, even if the processing of their application form is delayed.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many education maintenance allowance payments have not been made on time in 2008; and what the average length of delay in those payments has been. [223195]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), who have operational responsibility for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and hold the information about applications, payments and expenditure made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC’s Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
Education Maintenance Allowance: South Gloucestershire
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many applications for education maintenance allowances have been made by South Gloucestershire pupils for the 2008-09 academic year; how many such allowances (a) have been paid and (b) are outstanding; and if he will make a statement. [223393]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), who have operational responsibility for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and hold the information about applications, payments and expenditure made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC’s Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
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