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5 Feb 2009 : Column 1393W—continued

Local Government: Suffolk

Mr. Yeo: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what representations from local authorities in Suffolk concerning its inquiry into the future structure of local government in Suffolk the Boundary Committee for England has received; and if he will make a statement. [252002]

Sir Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the Boundary Committee received representations from the county council and all seven district councils in Suffolk. All submissions received are available on the Boundary Committee’s website:

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution: Crime

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions there have been in each of the last five calendar years for offences under Part III of the Clean Air Act 1993. [252146]

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA does not maintain or publish details of prosecutions under the Clean Air Act 1993. Information provided by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the Court Proceedings Database does not separately identify offences under parts of the Clean Air Act 1993. The following table shows the total number of defendants prosecuted under the Act (excluding offences under section 33) at magistrates courts in England and Wales for the last five years available.


5 Feb 2009 : Column 1394W
Number of defendants p roceeded against at magistrates courts in England and Wales for offences under the Clean Air Act 1993( 1,2,3 ) 2002- 06

 Persons( 4) Other( 5) Total

England( 1)

2002

7

5

12

2003

14

7

21

2004

12

4

16

2005

9

10

19

2006

17

5

22

Wales( 2)

2002

1

—

1

2003

1

1

2

2004

1

4

5

2005

2

1

3

2006

1

2

3

England and Wales( 3)

2002

8

5

13

2003

15

8

23

2004

13

8

21

2005

11

11

22

2006

18

7

25

(1) Excludes section 33 (cable burning).
(2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(3) 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 courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(4 )Persons data given are for males and females.
(5) Other data refer to companies, public bodies, etc.
Source:
Court proceedings database—Criminal Justice Evidence and Analysis—Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Joint Waste Authorities

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department has issued on whether members of a joint waste authority are entitled to responsibility allowances and salaries; and whether members will be eligible to join the local government pension scheme. [252322]

Jane Kennedy: No guidance on these issues has been published.

Origin Marking

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to improve country of origin labelling. [253937]

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.

The framework European Commission legislation governing general food labelling is currently being revised in Brussels. This includes a consideration of the tightening of criteria around voluntary country of origin declarations. The Government support this move and are actively involved in these negotiations.

In order to help industry meet consumer interest in this issue, the Food Standards Agency has had in place since 2002, best practice guidance. This advises, for example, that bacon products from imported pork should be clearly labelled as such. Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Ministers are holding a series of meetings with industry to promote uptake of the guidance.


5 Feb 2009 : Column 1395W

Waste Disposal: Fees and Charges

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local authorities levy charges for the provision of bags for the collection of household waste. [252440]

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA does not hold this information.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to his Department’s consultation on revised waste exemptions from environmental permitting, whether municipal allotments will be charged to have permit or exemption in order to have a compost heap. [252638]

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) on Compost: Licensing, on 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 46W.

Treasury

Child Trust Fund: County Londonderry

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Child Trust Fund take-up rates in each ward in East Londonderry constituency were in the most recent period for which figures are available. [254047]

Ian Pearson [holding answer 3 February 2009): Information broken down by ward would be available only at a disproportionate cost.

However, constituency-level data, including the number of vouchers issued and parental account opening figures, on Child Trust Fund accounts were published on 6 November 2008 and can be viewed on the HM Revenue and Customs’ website at:

Departmental Correspondence

Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many responses to letters received in his Department from hon. Members were outstanding in each month since September 2008. [253812]

Angela Eagle: This information is not held on a monthly basis. However, the Cabinet Office annually publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members correspondence, which is available in the Library of the House.

Economic Situation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions his Department has had with outside organisations to discuss policy to reduce the impact of the recession on matters within his Department’s responsibility. [254065]


5 Feb 2009 : Column 1396W

Angela Eagle: HM Treasury has regular engagements with outside organisations, including relevant Government Departments, on a range of issues relating to the economy.

Foreign Workers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many non-UK born individuals have been in (a) public and (b) private sector employment in each year since 1978; and how many such individuals were in employment in each year. [253923]

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 2009:


5 Feb 2009 : Column 1397W
Non-UK born people aged 16 and over in employment by public and private sector, three month period ending September, 1995 to 2008, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted
Thousand

 Private sector( 1,)( )( 3) Public sector( 1,)( )( 2) Total( 4)

1995

1,348

449

1,818

1996

1,393

446

1,864

1997

1,539

437

1,991

1998

1,594

464

2,065

1999

1,636

471

2,114

2000

1,738

489

2,237

2001

1,810

506

2.327

2002

1,941

546

2,499

2003

1,996

577

2,591

2004

2,083

628

2,728

2005

2,250

671

2.935

2006

2,561

679

3,254

2007

2,820

706

3,549

2008(5)

*2,985

*723

*3,727
(1) It should be noted that public and private sector estimates:
are based on survey respondents' views about the organisation for which they work;
do not correspond to the National Accounts definition used for Public Sector Employment estimates.
(2) Includes nationalised industry or state corporation, central government, civil service, local government or council (including police, fire services and local authority controlled schools or colleges), university or other grant-funded educational establishment, health authority or NHS trust and armed forces.
(3) Includes self-employed and unpaid family workers.
(4) Includes those whose type of employer was not known.
(5) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described below:
Guide to Quality:
The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.
Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical robustness
* 0 = CV <5 Estimates are considered precise.
** 5 = CV <10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise.
*** 10 = CV < 20 Estimates are considered acceptable.
**** CV = 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes.
It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.)
Source:
Labour Force Survey
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