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10 Sep 2008 : Column 1862W—continued
Training and Development Agency for Schools: Finance
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the percentage change has been in the cost of administration at the Training and Development Agency for Schools since 2003-04. [223404]
Jim Knight: The Training and Development Agency’s (TDA) administration grant in aid increased by 92 per cent. between 2003-04 and 2007-08 as shown.
| Total administration expenditure trend | ||
| £ million | Percentage | |
| (1)( )year-on-year increase | ||
The increase is as a result of the Education Act 2005 which created the TDA from the former Teacher Training Agency, increasing the Agency’s remit to the whole school workforce in England. During the period TDA’s programme expenditure increased from £501 million to £772 million, an increase of 54 per cent.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much of the £4.09 million of efficiency savings made by the Training and Development Agency for Schools between 2005-06 and 2007-08 was cashable. [223405]
Jim Knight: The total Training and Development Agency SR04 efficiency savings are cashable.
Training and Development Agency for Schools: Manpower
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average cost of each employee of the Training and Development Agency for Schools, including pension and social security costs, has been in each year since it was established. [223402]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the Training and Development Agency’s (TDA) staff costs per employee; basic pay, national insurance and superannuation contributions for the period 1994-95, when the agency was established, to 2007-08 (31 March 2008).
| Average cost per staff | |
| £000 | |
| (1) Net of staff cost related receipts. | |
The employee cost of £15,000 in 1994-95 is lower because it represents seven months of the financial year. The increase in costs seen in 2005-06 is due to the merger of two organisations where one had higher pay bands.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of the staffing costs of the Training and Development Agency for Schools were spent on temporary staff in 2007-08. [223403]
Jim Knight: As shown on page 53, note 6(b) of the 2007-08 accounts, the TDA staff numbers in 2007-08 totalled 334 (2006-07 = 308), of whom 45 were temporary employees (2006-07 = 22). The total permanent employed and temporary staff costs for the year were:
| Temporary staff cost percentage | ||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
The increase in the number of temporary staff in 2007-08 compared to 2006-07 is due to a large number of new programmes that started in year.
Home Department
Administration of Justice: Translation Services
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward amendments to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to implement the national agreement on arrangements for the use of interpreters, translators and language service professionals in investigations and proceedings within the Criminal Justice System, as revised in 2007; and if she will make a statement. [219875]
Mr. McNulty: The review of PACE has highlighted the need to consider revising PACE Code C on interpreters. We are currently working with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Interpreters Working Group on determining how best to ensure that access to interpreting and translating services can be achieved at the police station. We hope to publish proposals by the end of 2008.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many working hours were lost in her Department due to sick leave in each year since 1997; and what information she holds on the number of working hours lost in the police service in that period. [199487]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office is unable to provide sickness data in hours of its staff due to the way sickness is recorded on the personnel information management system. To provide data especially for the shift-working staff will require identifying shift patterns and manually counting sickness hours which would be disproportionate cost.
Essex Constabulary
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what national police responsibilities are tasked to Essex Constabulary for 2008-09; and if she will make a statement. [217740]
Mr. McNulty: In common with all other police forces in England and Wales, Essex Constabulary has a duty to consider the Home Secretary's strategic policing priorities and to have developed policing plans with its police authority which include plans for delivering protective services.
Essex Police Authority: Data Protection
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to ensure that information kept by Essex Police Authority is (a) accurate and up-to-date and (b) kept securely; what recent discussions she has had with Essex Police Authority on this; and if she will make a statement. [218499]
Mr. McNulty: Such issues are a matter for the Police Authority in Essex.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of each grade employed by her Department have (a) partial and (b) full access to data held by Essex Police Authority; what guidance her Department issues to persons seeking access to this data; and if she will make a statement. [218501]
Mr. McNulty:
Staff in the Home Office Policing Statistics Group responsible for statistical data analysis have partial access to data held by the Essex police force rather than the Essex Police Authority as part of their responsibilities. Every police force in England and Wales is required to routinely submit statistical returns on a
variety of subject areas for which the Home Office Policing Statistics Group has, among other things, responsibility for quality assurance, producing statistical analysis and statistical outputs including police recorded crime. The Policing Statistics Group responsible for this statistical analysis is staffed as follows:
| Number | |
The data from Essex police are transferred electronically to the Home Office Policing Statistics Collection Section which is headed by a Senior Executive Officer. In addition there is one Higher Executive Officer, one Executive Officer and four Administrative Officers involved in the data transfer and the initial quality assurance process.
All of these staff report ultimately to the Home Office Chief Statistician.
With the exception of data on homicides, all of the returns received involve aggregated data and no details of individuals are known. All published data are in aggregated form. In addition, staff within the Policing Statistics Group work to statistical disclosure procedures in accordance with the National Statistics guidance.
All of the datasets managed are password controlled. Staff new to the Policing Statistics Group are given instruction on how data should be handled and all of the staff involved are subject to the provisions laid out in the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Forensic Science
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces in England conduct preliminary forensic testing in-house. [201458]
Mr. McNulty: No police forces in England conduct preliminary forensic testing relating to DNA in-house.
Genetics: Databases
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contingency plans she has in place in the event of large-scale losses of data from the DNA database. [201580]
Meg Hillier: The operation of the national DNA database is overseen by the custodian, who manages it both through his own staff and through a contract awarded to the Forensic Science Service (FSS), for operation and management of the NDNAD and its IT systems. The FSS is required to demonstrate compliance with specified security requirements, and the NDNAD system is subject to independent security accreditation.
Under business continuity planning arrangements for the NDNAD, the data held on it are backed up and could be recovered in the event of loss of data from the database.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there have been where the guilt of the person was determined by reference to samples held on the national DNA database, broken down by category of offence. [201979]
Meg Hillier: Information on the number of convictions obtained by reference to DNA is not collected, as convictions are obtained by integrated criminal investigation not by forensic science alone. However, data have been collected since 1998 on detections in which a DNA match was available and/or played a part in solving the crime. It is estimated that over the period April 1998 to March 2008, there have been over 272,000 detections. A breakdown of this figure by year is given in table 1. A breakdown of detections in 2007-08 by crime type is given in table 2.
| Table 1: Number of detections in which a DNA match was available or played a part, April 1998 to March 2008, England and Wales | |||
| Detected crimes in which a DNA match was available | Additional detections arising from DNA match( 1) | Total detected crimes in which a DNA match was available or played a part | |
| n/a = Not available. (1) Additional detections may result from the original crime with the DNA match due to the identification of further offences through forensic linkage or through admission by the offender. | |||
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