Written Ministerial Statements
Thursday 12 March 2009
Children, Schools and Families
Secondary Schools Admissions
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Sarah McCarthy-Fry): The schools admissions code has transformed the admissions system. We have outlawed unfair and covert admission practices which disadvantaged low-income families and increased social segregation. We have extended the role of the independent schools adjudicator allowing him to look into any admission arrangements that parents feel are unfair or overly complicated as well as requiring him to monitor compliance and report annually to the Secretary of State.
The Information as to Provision of Education (England) Regulations 2008 require local authorities (LAs) to submit data to the Department on how many families received an offer of a place at one of their preferred secondary schools. This year on Monday 2 March, almost 547,000 families were advised at which secondary school their child was being offered a place.
Today we are publishing validated data, based on returns from 149 LAs, showing that across the country 83.2 per cent. of families received an offer at their first preference school. This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points on last year’s figures. A further 8.4 per cent. of families were offered a place at their second preference school and, in total, 94.6 per cent. were offered a place at one of their three preferred schools. I am placing a copy of these data in the Library of the House.
There is considerable variation nationally. Outside London, 86 per cent. of parents were offered a place in their first preference school. For Greater London, this figure is 66 per cent. However across London, over 93 per cent. of pupils have been offered a place at one of their chosen schools.
Parents have the right of appeal against any application that has been turned down; and over the summer, local authorities and schools will be re-allocating places where others have moved address or chosen a different education for their child.
Parents now have a fairer choice because of our action to enforce the code, and also more real choice because there has been a transformation in the quality of our state schools. More schools are judged by Ofsted as outstanding and more than 78,000 more young people are leaving school with five good GCSEs including English and mathematics than did so 10 years ago. In 1998, there were 1,600 schools where fewer than 30 per cent. of children achieved five or more good GCSEs including English and mathematics. Now there are just 440 below this minimum standard, and our national challenge programme is working to ensure that all schools reach this standard by 2011.
We are continuing to look at ways to improve the admissions system. The Secretary of State has recently asked the independent schools adjudicator to report on how admissions authorities are using random allocation.
Communities and Local Government
Regional Spatial Strategy
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr. Sadiq Khan): Today my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is publishing the East Midlands Regional Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy) (RSS) for the East Midlands which covers the period 2006-2026. Also published are the final Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment plus other supporting documents. This replaces RSS8 (issued in March 2005) with the exception of part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-regional strategy which remains extant.
The regional spatial strategy forms part of the statutory development plan for every local authority in the East Midlands and sets the framework for the production of local development frameworks and local transport plans. It provides the spatial plan for the development of the region, and the policy framework for employment, housing, transport and the environment.
The existing strategy (RSS 8), which is replaced today, was published in March 2005. The draft revision of the RSS was submitted to Government in September 2006 by the East Midlands regional assembly. It was tested by an examination in public lasting eight weeks during summer 2007 and the panel report was published in November 2007. Proposed changes were published on 22 July 2008 followed by a 12-week public consultation ending on October 17. We received 2,549 comments from 735 respondents.
We have carefully examined all the responses. The result is that we have rebased the housing figures from 2006 rather than 2001 to bring the plan more up to date. We have defined total housing provision for all authorities (apart from Northamptonshire where figures were not subject to review), setting out the total that local authorities need to plan for up to 2026. Responding to representations we have removed the five-year phasing of the housing provision which was introduced in the proposed changes and we have responded to the concerns of local authorities around Nottingham by reducing the level of increase for the city and adjusting the balance of numbers required between urban and rural areas for the suburban authorities, which reflect their concerns about land availability. Total provision in the Lincolnshire coastal districts of East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland remains limited and will be reviewed after a coastal strategy has been completed. A small adjustment to remove some double counting in the Leicestershire area has also been made.
The result is a total provision of 430,300 dwellings over the plan period, compared to 408,360 at the draft stage and 434,094 at proposed changes.
We have made some minor amendments to the text to clarify the position on climate change measures for local authorities who do not have an up to date development plan document. We believe this clarification will reduce the risk of confusion.
We have also made some changes to the pitch requirement figures for gypsies, travellers and showpeople, which clarify the timescales and remove some errors in the use of gypsy and traveller accommodation assessments.
Other minor changes and updating have also been done.
Copies of relevant documents have been placed in the Library of the House and will be provided to the region’s MPs and MEPs, local authorities, the East Midlands regional assembly and the East Midlands development agency. The Regional Plan and all related documents are also available to download from the website of the Government office for the East Midlands: www.gos.gov.uk/goem/planning/regional-planning/.
Defence
Chemical Weapons Convention
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): The UK’s chemical protection programme is designed to protect against the use of chemical weapons. Such a programme is permitted by the chemical weapons convention, with which the United Kingdom is fully compliant. Under the terms of the convention, we are required to provide information annually to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In accordance with the Government’s commitment to openness, I am placing in the House of Commons Library a copy of the summary that has been provided to the organisation outlining the UK’s chemical protection programme in 2008.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Reduction Commitment
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Joan Ruddock): Today I am publishing the third consultation on the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC).
The Climate Change Act, which received Royal Assent in November last year, set legally binding targets for the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. by 2050.
To meet this target, the Climate Change Act provided powers to create emissions trading schemes. The CRC will be the first scheme created under these powers. We have worked closely with the devolved Administrations in developing a scheme that will work across the UK. We believe the CRC will be the world’s first mandatory carbon dioxide emissions trading scheme to auction all allowances. It will cover large non-energy intensive organisations from both the public and private sector such as all British central government departments, supermarkets, banks, local authorities, the National Health Service and universities. The sectors of the economy covered by the CRC account for approximately 10 per cent. of the UK’s emissions. The CRC will start in 2010 and after a three year introductory phase we will introduce a declining cap on the amount of carbon this sector of the economy can emit. Government will take the views of the independent Committee on Climate Change into account when setting the cap to ensure that
the environmental goals of the scheme will be met. The CRC is expected to deliver emissions savings of at least 4 million tonnes of C0(2) per year by 2020.
By harnessing financial and reputational drivers, the CRC will encourage participating organisations to use energy more efficiently, thereby reducing their energy costs and saving up to £1 billion by 2020. We expect that the market for energy efficient technology and energy services to grow in response to the CRC, spurring innovation and helping to lay the foundations for new, low carbon economic growth.
We have worked closely with stakeholders in business and the public sector to develop the scheme, and have consulted twice on the scheme design and implementation. The CRC will capture a diverse range of organisations, and so we have listened to the perspectives and experiences expressed - and these have been critical to the development of the scheme. I therefore believe that the CRC will successfully drive improvements in energy efficiency in a large sector of the economy.
I have today placed in the Libraries of the House, and published on the Department of Energy and Climate Change website, a consultation package on the draft CRC Order, which will form the statutory basis of the scheme. This includes the CRC consultation document, the CRC Draft Order, the CRC User Guide and a Regulatory Impact Assessment.
describes CRC policy as determined over the course of the two previous consultations;
details the changes in policy since the last consultation;
seeks views on the Draft Order and in particular if it results in unintended consequences; and
seeks views on certain policy details.
I have also launched today a review of Climate Change Agreements (CCAs). The current scheme ends in 2013 and, subject to state aid approval, the scheme will be extended to 2017. CCAs have been highly successful in reducing emissions in the energy intensive sector. In 2006, the latest period for which information is available, sectors saved 16.4 million tonnes of C0(2) and an estimated £1.5 billion in energy costs, when measured against baselines. This review provides an opportunity to simplify the agreements for the benefit of business and Government, and to ensure coherence with other climate change policy.
The proposals in these consultation documents will help us reduce the carbon emissions from these sectors of the economy in the most cost-effective way possible. They will bring us one step closer to our goal of creating a thriving low carbon economy.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Environment Council
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn): I and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change represented the UK at the Environment Council in Brussels on 2 March.
Member states adopted Council conclusions on the further development of the EU position on a comprehensive post-2012 climate agreement as a contribution to spring Council. These covered mitigation, the role of the carbon market, adaptation to the effects of inevitable climate change, financial support, technology co-operation and capacity building, and international climate change governance.
On genetically modified organisms (GMOs) the Commission’s proposals were rejected and the Austrian and Hungarian safeguards on GM maize lines MON810 and T25 were endorsed.
Member states also discussed the proposed industrial emissions directive (which consolidates and amends several pieces of industrial emissions legislation, including the integrated pollution prevention control (IPPC) directive). The UK broadly welcomed the Commission proposal, but had concerns about the large combustion plant provisions, seeking necessary flexibilities. The UK raised concerns about setting widespread “minimum requirements” and extending the scope to smaller combustion plants and to additional poultry installations.
The Council also adopted a Council decision on whaling ahead of the next three-annual and inter-sessional meetings of the International Whaling Convention (IWC). The decision sets out the EU’s position with regard to proposals for amendments to the International Convention on Regulation of Whaling and its schedule to be taken at the next three annual meetings of the IWC.
Finally, ministers adopted Council conclusions on the contribution to spring Council (non-climate change). The conclusions cover the European economic recovery plan, sustainable consumption and production, environmental technologies, natural resources, biodiversity, beyond GDP and better regulation.
Under “any other business” member states exchanged views on the fall in demand for recyclate materials, underlining the importance of maintaining public confidence in recycling and flagging the need for further Commission monitoring, analysis and, if necessary, action.
Health
Prescriptions
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Dawn Primarolo): I regret that the written answer given to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on 10 July 2008, Official Report, column 1800W, and the written answer given to the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) on 11 November 2008, Official Report, column 1044W, were incorrect. They should not have been based on monthly data on prescribing from December 2007 onwards. The NHS Business Services Authority processes for pricing prescriptions changed in mid-December 2007 and I have been advised that they cannot reliably estimate the prescribing of specific therapeutic groups for a specific age exemption category on a monthly basis from that time.
The correct reply for the written answer given to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) is that the information requested is not available.
The correct reply for the written answer given to the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) is that the Department does not hold information on the
number of people aged 65 and over who have depression or have been diagnosed with depression. However, estimates derived from the Business Services Authority’s exemption category estimates and national prescribing data indicate that between October 2006 and September 2007, the proportion of prescriptions for antidepressants dispensed to those aged 60 and over was 41.5 per cent. of items.
NHS Next Stage Review
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. Ben Bradshaw): We are today laying before Parliament the Government response (Cm 7558) to the Health Committee report NHS Next Stage Review, which was published on 13 January.
“High Quality Care for All”, the final report of the NHS Next Stage Review published in June 2008, set out a vision of an NHS that gives patients and the public more information and choice, works in partnership and has quality of care at its heart.
“High Quality Care for All” set out the national framework that will enable and support the delivery of the ambitious visions for local health and health care published by strategic health authorities in May and June of 2008. It is these visions, based on the work of local clinicians and unprecedented engagement with patients, staff and the public, that are at the heart of the NHS Next Stage Review.
The Committee’s report concluded that there was much to commend in the review, welcoming in particular the open and consultative way in which it had been conducted and it’s emphasis on quality and leadership within the NHS.
The Committee was concerned that weaknesses in primary care trust (PCT) commissioning meant that its implementation might be slower and more uneven than hoped. While welcoming the provision of additional primary care services that the Next Stage Review commits to, the Committee emphasised that this needs careful management and evaluation of its impact locally.
The Government response welcomes the Committee’s report and sets out the measures that the Government have taken to improve PCT commissioning through the ambitious world class commissioning programme. It sets out the Government’s commitment to growing and strengthening primary care and explains that delivery of the additional services the review commits to is a response to patient demand. Their delivery will be locally led and evidence-based.
Today’s publication is in the Library of the House and copies are available to hon. Members from the Vote Office.
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