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22 Apr 2009 : Column 670W—continued
Members: Correspondence
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to respond to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 25 November 2008 on the downturn in the construction industry. [268708]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 20 April 2009]: I responded to the hon. Member on 20 April.
Children, Schools and Families
Care Proceedings
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have been subject to (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10 and (k) more than 10 care orders. [258650]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not collected centrally by the Department.
We collect information on the number of children that are subject to a care order. However we do not collect information on the number of care orders granted for each child.
Children in Care
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much on average it cost for a child under the age of five years to be looked after by (a) a local authority and (b) foster parents in the latest period for which figures are available. [267653]
Beverley Hughes: The Department of Health's Information Centre published the latest figures on costs per child for looked after children. However information is not broken down by age therefore we cannot provide a complete response.
General costs per child for looked after children can be found in the publication 'Personal Social Services Expenditure (PSSEX1 return) and Unit Costs: England 2007-08', which can be accessed via the link below.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have been in local authority care homes in (a) Leeds West constituency, (b) Leeds Metropolitan District and (c) England in each year from 1997. [267829]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of children who were in local authority care homes in (a) Leeds, West constituency and (b) Leeds metropolitan district is not collected centrally. The number of children who were placed in children’s homes by Leeds local authority and (c) by all local authorities in England, in each year since 2000, are shown in the table.
In 2000, a new coding system was introduced. For years 1997 to 1999 it was found that the results of the analysis carried out could not accurately identify the number of children who were looked after exclusively in children’s homes.
| Children looked after at 31 March who were placed in children’s homes( 1,2,3,4) . Years ending 31 March 2000 to 2008 . Coverage: England and Leeds local authority | ||
| Number | ||
| England | Leeds | |
| (1) Source: SSDA903 return on children looked after. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements. (3) Figures account for children’s homes only and exclude residential settings not subject to Children’s Homes regulations. (4 )Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. | ||
Children: Databases
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which private companies have been contracted to work on the (a) development and (b) implementation of the ContactPoint database in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [268066]
Beverley Hughes: Since 2005 the Department has contracted with Capgemini UK plc for the design, and subsequently for the build and test, and hosting and support of the ContactPoint database; and with Capita Learning and Development to deliver training and deployment services associated with the implementation of ContactPoint to users.
The Department has also contracted with PA Consulting and WS Atkins as prime contractors to provide client-side consultancy services to support the development and implementation of the ContactPoint project.
Furthermore, the Department has contracted with a number of other suppliers for specialist consultancy and other ancillary services to support the set up and operation of ContactPoint system and project.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of the most recent penetration test of the ContactPoint database; and if he will make a statement. [268422]
Beverley Hughes: It would be inappropriate and against the very stringent security measures we have established to make public the results of penetration tests of ContactPoint.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether practitioners will be able to access the ContactPoint database remotely; and if he will make a statement. [268455]
Beverley Hughes: Practitioners will be able to access ContactPoint remotely (i.e. from locations other than local authority, health service or national partner organisations premises) only via secure remote access solutions authorised and provided by those organisations and compliant with the ContactPoint security policy. Technical security measures prevent access from unsecured wireless broadband or public locations such as internet cafes and wireless “hotspots”.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps have been taken to ensure that users of ContactPoint will not be able to save information from the database onto a portable storage device or laptop computer; and if he will make a statement. [268696]
Beverley Hughes: ContactPoint has been purposely designed so that users are not able to download information from the database onto removable media such a portable storage device or a laptop computer.
Children: Protection
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many serious case reviews have been received by his Department in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority; and if he will make a statement. [247814]
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what serious case reviews received by his Department had been sent by each local authority since 1 January 2007; and on what date each was received. [258652]
Beverley Hughes: Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) are asked to provide an anonymised copy of each full Serious Case Review (SCR) to the Department for Children, Schools and Families as soon as possible after the publication of the executive summary. This is to inform biennial overview reports which analyse the key findings from SCRs taken as a whole and identify the implications for policy and practice. Officials follow up any outstanding SCRs to ensure that biennial overview reports are based on as full a set of SCRs as possible.
The latest published biennial overview report for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2005 notes that 161 Serious Case Reviews were included in that study.
The next biennial overview report, covering the period 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2007 and to be published this spring, will draw on around 190 Serious Case Reviews. A further 118 Serious Case Reviews have been received more recently and will be taken into account in future research as appropriate.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) of 22 April 2008, Official Report, columns 2030-31W, on departmental carbon emissions, if he will make it his policy for his Department to adopt the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management programme. [269284]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Carbon Trust completed a review of our headquarters estate in 2006 as part of an energy management assessment programme. Their findings have been adopted within our carbon management action plans and we report back to the Carbon Trust annually on progress.
The decision not to adopt the Carbon Trust's carbon management programme has been reconsidered. The Carbon Trust carbon management programme would duplicate systems and programmes already in place within our Sustainable Operations Environmental Management System.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many laptop computers have been provided to (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department and its predecessor in each year since 2005; and at what cost. [268272]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information as requested is not held centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). To respond fully would involve an information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
Departmental Energy
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps have been taken by his Department to improve the thermal efficiency of its buildings in the last 12 months. [266751]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families commissioned a report from the Carbon Trust to investigate the thermal efficiency of its buildings. This established that, in our current estate, steps to address thermal efficiency were not economically viable and other energy efficiency investments represented far better value for money to the Treasury. We do however re-visit this recommendation annually to reassess its viability and include thermal efficiency in any major estate projects.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the amount his Department paid to Sir Roger Singleton for his services as chief adviser on the safety of children in respect of the financial year 2008-09. [269797]
Beverley Hughes: Sir Roger Singleton’s appointment to the role of Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children took effect from 1 April 2009. He received no remuneration for his services as Chief Adviser in the financial year 2008-09.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been spent on (a) the purchase of and (b) bills for (i) BlackBerrys and (ii) other mobile telephones for (A) Ministers, (B) special advisers and (C) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [268255]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information as requested is not held centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). To respond fully would involve an extensive information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) BlackBerrys and (b) other mobile telephones have been provided to (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [268297]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information as requested is not held centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). To respond fully would involve an extensive information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
Family Nurse Partnership Programme
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how the £30 million allocated to the future expansion of the Family Nurse Partnership under the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 will be allocated to each area; whether the evaluation of the Family Nurse Partnership pilots has been completed; in which areas the pilots are being held; and to which other areas he plans to extend the pilot scheme. [269532]
Ann Keen: I have been asked to reply.
The £30 million allocated to the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) under the comprehensive spending review 2007 will contribute to local costs in up to 70 primary care trust and local authority test sites. It also supports extensive evaluation, the provision of family nurse training, licensed programme materials and implementation advice and guidance. In addition, it is funding a number of development projects to support adaptation of the programme to the English context.
The FNP is currently being tested in 30 areas and a further 20 test sites will start operation in 2009-10, bringing the total to 50(1). The Child Health Strategy “Healthy lives, brighter futures”, published on 12 February 2009, set out plans for further expansion of the FNP, to 70 test sites by 2011, with a view to rolling out this support to the most vulnerable first time young mothers across England over the next decade, if research findings are positive. A copy of the strategy has already been placed in the Library.
An evaluation of the first 10 test sites is being conducted by the university of London, Birkbeck. A first year report was published in July 2008, with promising early findings. A copy has been placed in the Library. We hope to publish a report of the second year by this summer. In addition, a randomised controlled trial is starting this month in 18 sites, to test the impact of FNP compared with usual services.
(1) 10 FNP sites started delivery in 2007-08: Barnsley, Derby City, County Durham and Darlington, Manchester, Berkshire East, Southwark, South East Sussex, Somerset, Tower Hamlets, Walsall. 20 sites started in 2008-09: Blackpool, Calderdale, Hastings and Rother, Islington, Milton Keynes, Nottingham City, Plymouth, Southampton, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham South, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Coventry, Cumbria, Hull, Lambeth, Leeds, Liverpool, Northamptonshire and Sunderland.
20 further sites will start operation in 2009-10: Doncaster, Ealing, Kirklees, Medway, Sandwell, Sheffield, Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Birmingham East and North, Bradford and Airedale, Cambridgeshire, Gateshead Tyne and Wear, Knowsley, Lewisham, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Wirral, Dudley, Waltham Forest and Hammersmith and Fulham.
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