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20 Mar 2009 : Column 1351W—continued
Performing Arts
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has engaged any (a) actors, (b) musicians and (c) other performers to support its initiatives over the last five years. [264052]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department and its agencies have engaged actors, musicians or other performers from time to time, however details of any such engagements are not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Duchy of Lancaster
Christmas
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) whether it is the Cabinet Office's policy to offer staff (a) additional leave entitlement for Christmas shopping and (b) Christmas bonus payments; [262802]
(2) whether it is the policy of the Prime Minister's Office to offer staff (a) additional leave entitlement for Christmas shopping and (b) Christmas bonus payments. [262819]
Crime Prevention: Internet
James Brokenshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what assessment he has made of levels of public awareness of the Get Safe On-line website; what assessment he has made of the website’s effectiveness in reducing levels of online crime; and how much he plans to spend on promoting awareness of the website in 2009-10; [264032]
(2) if he will make potential threat information received from the National Fraud Reporting Centre available on the Get Safe On-line website. [264033]
Mr. Watson: Get Safe Online is a joint public and private sector initiative to raise awareness of internet safety. Its work includes not only a website but community events, educational publicity campaigns, roundtable discussions and conferences as well as general PR and marketing activity to reach a broad audience and help inform general internet users of how to go online safely and with confidence. Research carried out in November 2008 showed that 22 per cent. of people were spontaneously aware of Get Safe Online. www.getsafeonline.org currently has over 291,000 links on the Internet compared to its US counterpart http://www.staysafeonline.org/ which has 11,000 links. The research also highlights an improvement in steps people are taking to prevent themselves falling victim to online crime such as a decrease in the number of people opening e-mail attachments from unknown sources and an increase in those updating their software, although it is difficult to directly attribute this to the campaign activity.
The Cabinet Office has sponsored Get Safe Online for the past four financial years. Budgets for 2009-10 are yet to be determined in relation to my Department’s sponsorship of Get Safe Online. Get Safe Online has agreed to promote relevant internet fraud alerts from the National Fraud Reporting Centre.
Death
Anne Milton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many death certificates included the words (a) smoking, (b) knife injuries, (c) obesity, (d) anorexia, (e) bulimia and (f) influenza in the cause of death section in each of the last five years; [264116]
(2) how many death certificates included the words (a) legionnaires' disease, (b) self-harm, (c) cataract, (d) tuberculosis, (e) measles, (f) mumps and (g) rubella in the cause of death section in each of the last five years. [264117]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking:
1) How many death certificates included (a) smoking, (b) knife, (c) overweight, (d) anorexia, (e) bulimia and (f) influenza in the cause of death section in each of the last five years. (264116)
2) How many death certificates included (a) Legionnaires' disease, (b) self-harm, (c) cataract, (d) tuberculosis, (e) measles, (f) mumps and (g) rubella in the cause of death section m each of the last five years. (264117)
The accurate reporting of deaths by specific causes depends on the complete recording of all relevant causes of death by medical practitioners and coroners. Medical practitioners are required to complete the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) to the best of their knowledge and belief. Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires only those conditions that contributed directly to death to be recorded, and medical practitioners and coroners are not supposed to record all of the diseases or conditions present at or before death. Whether a condition contributed is a matter for their clinical judgment. The MCCD is not designed to collect information on risk factors or exposures related to the development of disease, such as smoking behaviour.
The tables attached provide the number of deaths where:
1) (a) Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of tobacco (b) contact with sharp object, (c) obesity, (d) anorexia nervosa, (e) bulimia nervosa, (f) influenza, or
2) (a) Legionnaires' disease, (b) intentional self-harm, (c) cataract, (d) tuberculosis, (e) measles, (f) mumps and (g) rubella were mentioned on the death certificate, in England and Wales, for 2003 to 2007 (the latest year available).
The number of deaths due to (1) (a) mental and behavioural disorders due to use of tobacco is not the same as the number of deaths attributable to smoking. The cause of death recorded in the great majority of cases where smoking was a causal factor would be the specific disease, such as lung cancer or ischaemic heart disease, which led to death.
Although there are codes for contact, assault and intentional self-harm by sharp object, there are no specific codes for 'knife1, so these figures are likely to exceed the actual number of deaths involving (1) (b) knives.
Figures for (2) (b) self-harm are likely to be an underestimate, as they exclude any deaths where intent could not be ascertained. These figures do not correspond directly to the statistics published by ONS on suicides.
| Table 1. Deaths where certain named causes were mentioned on the death certificate( 1) , England and Wales( 2) , 2003-07( 3) | |||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The specific causes of death categorised in Table 1, and their corresponding ICD-10 codes, are shown in the box below. Deaths were included where one of these causes was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate. (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | |||||
| Box 1. Causes of death codes used—International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) | |
| Cause of death | ICD-10 code(s) |
Departmental Internet
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many members of staff (a) employed by the Cabinet Office and (b) seconded from other departments have responsibility for the Real Help Now website. [259747]
Mr. Byrne: The Real Help Now website brings together information about the range of support available during the economic downturn and makes it easier for people and businesses to access that support.
The development work on the website took less than two weeks and was overseen by the existing Cabinet Office website team, supported by one member of staff on part-time secondment from another government department. One member of the Cabinet Office web team has ongoing responsibility for updates to the website as part of their existing duties.
Departmental Reorganisation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what change there will be as a result of the restructuring of the Cabinet Office Communications Directorate in (a) the number of the directorate’s staff and (b) the directorate’s aggregate staff wage bill. [258712]
Mr. Watson: The overall staff costs are not anticipated to increase due to changes in the grading of staff. The reorganisation will deliver substantial efficiency savings and will reduce the overall cost of the unit by approximately £500,000.
The current funded number of staff is 41 full time equivalents, which include four staff provided by the Central Office of Information on a repayment basis. The current plans for restructuring Cabinet Office Communications will see the overall number rise to 45.5 FTE.
The restructuring of Cabinet Office Communications is intended to better align staff resources with the Department’s objectives.
Electoral Register: Northern Ireland
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what proportion of people were registered to vote in each local authority area in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [264186]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking how many and what proportion of people were registered to vote in each local authority area in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. (264186)
Table 1 shows the number of people who were registered to vote in Local Government elections for each District in Northern
Ireland for 1998 to 2007. Table 2 shows the number of people who were registered to vote as a proportion of the resident population aged 18 and over for the same years. The latest year for which estimates of the usually resident population are available by Local Authority is mid-2007.
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