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6 Mar 2009 : Column 1882W—continued
Tribunals
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many appeal cases have been brought before (a) social security appeal tribunals and (b) disability appeal tribunals in each of the last eight years; [261073]
(2) how much (a) social security appeal tribunals and (b) disability appeal tribunals cost in each of the last eight years. [261074]
Bridget Prentice: The information requested in not readily available. The Tribunals Service will need to collate information from 40 different benefit types. The Tribunals Service is unable to break down the costs for each jurisdiction; however it can provide information on running costs for SSCSA for 2006-07 and 2007-08 and annual accounts for the Appeals Service prior to 2006-07.
I will write to the hon. Member very soon and place a copy in the Libraries of the House.
Home Department
Asylum
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refugees have been resettled in the UK under the Gateway programme in each year since it was introduced. [260092]
Meg Hillier: Figures for those resettled under the Gateway Protection Scheme since its inception are published annually in the Asylum Statistics bulletin. The bulletin can be found by following this link:
The required information can be found on page 87, paragraph 37. I will arrange for a copy of this report to be placed in the Library.
Criminal Records Bureau
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedure is followed to transfer Criminal Records Bureau clearance when an employee who has obtained a clearance moves to another post. [243609]
Meg Hillier: Disclosures are primarily designed to be used by an employer at the point of recruitment for a particular position. Ultimately it is for each employer, and not the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), to decide whether a new disclosure should be applied for, bearing in mind their legal and other responsibilities and subject to any statutory requirements.
There are a number of reasons why an employer may not wish to accept a disclosure that has been processed for a previous employment position, including:
The disclosure may not be at the right level (there are two different levels of CRB check; standard and enhanced);
Information revealed through a CRB check reflects the information that was available at the time of its issue—a person may have committed a crime in the intervening period;
The disclosure process may also include a search to establish whether an individual is subject to a direction under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002, or a check against the Protection of Children Act and Protection of Vulnerable Adults PoCA and PoVA) lists.
The CRB does not hold data to show the number of people who are required to apply for a further clearance after changing jobs.
Identity Cards: Interviews
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the duration of the leases on the interview centres leased by her Department for the purposes of the identity cards pilot is. [258110]
Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service has yet to decide the location of the initial enrolment facilities and is working closely with Manchester and London City airports to determine the best locations at or near the airports.
Passports: Interviews
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many interviews at passport centres had resulted in the refusal of a passport as at 31 January 2009. [255914]
Meg Hillier: The interview is one part of the process of confirming the identity of first time adult passport applicants and one of the main purposes of the process is to deter anyone from making a false application for a passport. At 31 January 2009, the Identity and Passport Service had closed 87 cases without issuing a passport after the applicant had failed an identity interview. At present 107 other cases are being investigated following failure to establish identity at interview.
Communities and Local Government
Community Relations: Religion
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009, Official Report, columns 1041-42W, on community relations: religion, what guidance her Department issued in 2008 on the amount available in round one of the Faiths in Action programme administered by the Community Development Fund; what mechanisms her Department used to make funding allocations in accordance with guidance; how the funding originally announced has been allocated; and if she will make a statement. [260947]
Mr. Khan: The guidance issued by the Community Development Foundation and my Department in July 2008 confirmed the total amount available for the Faiths in Action programme (£4 million) and the maximum grant size for Round One—£12,000, to be spent over two years. This has not changed. A total of £2.4 million is available in Round One: £600,000 in 2009-10 and £1.8 million in 2010-11. We are currently considering Round One applications with the fund administrator and expect to announce the successful projects in the spring.
Departmental Training
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department has provided voice coaching to any of its employees in the last 12 months. [260638]
Mr. Khan: Department for Communities and Local Government does not centrally hold information on voice coaching provided for employees. There would be a disproportionate cost in trying to obtain such information.
Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1227W, on Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund, what groups, causes or organisations the Community Development Foundation has funded using public funds other than those allocated to the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund programme rounds; and how much was given to each. [261563]
Mr. Khan: The information requested has been deposited in the Library.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1227W, on Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund, which other groups, causes or organisations were funded in each round of the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund programme; and how much was given to each. [261564]
Mr. Khan: The information requested has been deposited in the Library.
Fire Prevention
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate was made of the cost of implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 before it was introduced; and what the cost of implementation has been. [260841]
Mr. Khan: The regulatory impact assessment for the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 estimated the overall cost to business of obtaining the guidance and becoming familiar with it to be within the range of £66 million to £88.8 million.
The cost of implementing the provisions of the order will vary according to the outcome of individual fire safety risk assessments carried out by responsible persons. This information is not collected centrally.
Geographical Information Systems
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to develop her Department's policy on geospatial information following the publication of its Location Strategy. [260425]
Mr. Khan: Following publication of the Location Strategy, responsibility for its delivery passed to DEFRA, who have established the UK Location Council to oversee implementation of the strategy. The Department is a member of the Location Council and is working closely with DEFRA to agree how best to contribute to the implementation of the strategy.
Joint Economic Commissions
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to Lord Greaves of 23 February 2009, Official Report, House of Lords, column 26WA, on the
Joint Economic Commission, in which other Government Office regions in England joint economic commissions have been established. [261837]
Mr. Khan: Economic Commissions have been established in all 9 regions, East Midlands Regional Economic Cabinet, Yorkshire and the Humber Economic Delivery Group West Midlands Regional Task Force, East of England Regional Economic Forum, South East Economic Delivery Council, North East Public Sector Economy Forum, South West Regional Economic Task Group, London High Level Group on London Economy and the North West Joint Economic Commission.
Local Government Services: Religion
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to her speech to the Evangelical Alliance of 5 February 2009, what her policy is on permitting faith organisations delivering public services to (a) discriminate in employing service providers, (b) discriminate against service users and (c) proselytise. [261481]
Mr. Khan: Any bodies in receipt of public funding in order to provide a service should provide that service in accordance with all relevant equality legislation.
In order to help faith-based organisations demonstrate that they will fulfil this requirement, and will not use public funds for the purpose of worship or proselytisation, we have said that we intend to work with faith communities to create a Charter of Excellence which faith-based organisations will be able to sign in order to give assurance to funding providers. The current legislative position is covered by part 2 of the Equality Act 2006, and while we do not intend to bring forward any new legislative proposals, the main provisions of the 2006 Act are to be replicated in the forthcoming Equality Bill.
Wales
Departmental Absenteeism
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff of his Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on (a) 2 February 2009 and (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate he has made of the (i) cost to his Department and (ii) number of working hours lost as a result of such absence; and what guidance his Department issued to staff in respect of absence on those days. [260570]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The following number of Wales Office staff were absent from work for non-medical reasons:
(a) 24
(b) 9
While there was clearly a cost to the Department, no estimate as to the exact cost has been made, however based on a standard working day, if reckoned in full, this would have amounted to 238 working hours. The Department was not closed and the majority of staff managed to attend. A number of others were able to work remotely.
Staff were advised to attempt to attend if at all possible, but not to take unnecessary risks or put themselves in danger.
Departmental Public Appointments
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information his Department holds on the number of persons appointed to executive positions in bodies for which his Department has responsibility in the last five years who previously had careers in the banking industry. [261226]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office is not responsible for any non-departmental bodies or agencies.
Departmental Training
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether his Department has provided voice coaching to any of its employees in the last 12 months. [260646]
Mr. Paul Murphy: No voice coaching has been provided to any Wales Office employees in the last 12 months.
Energy and Climate Change
Heating: Housing
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average cost of heating a property with gas boilers over the winter of 2008-09. [260700]
Joan Ruddock: DECC publishes information on the average annual gas bill for households. The latest data, published in “Quarterly Energy Prices”, suggests that customers paying on receipt of bill (standard credit) with standard annual gas consumption of 18,000 kWh paid on average £570 in 2008.
Data on average annual gas bills are available in section 2 of “Quarterly Energy Prices”, the latest edition was published in December 2008 and is available online at:
Office for Renewable Energy Deployment
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) full-time equivalent and (b) other staff are employed by the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment. [260587]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 4 March 2009]: The ORED has not yet been established and therefore there are currently no staff employed in it.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the budget of the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment is in 2008-09, broken down by budget heading. [260588]
Mr. Mike O'Brien
[holding answer 4 March 2009]: As the ORED will be established as the Renewable Energy Strategy (RES) and finalised in the spring, it
does not have a budget for 2008-09. The ORED’s budget for 2009-10 is currently subject to the business planning round process in the Department.
Treasury
Annuities: Hemel Hempstead
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many letters he has received from residents in the Hemel Hempstead constituency regarding annuities in each year since 1997. [261260]
Angela Eagle: The information is not kept and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
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