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4 Jun 2009 : Column 616W—continued
These figures represent the number of new suspensions in each month; there is no cumulative element to the totals.
The National Offender Management Service does not hold the requested information centrally, and to obtain the information now would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the names and addresses were of each organisation that supplied goods and services to his Department in 2008-09, based on the purchase order data held in the Department's financial database. [276413]
Mr. Straw:
The information requested will be placed in the Libraries of the House. The data provided have been sourced from two Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, one from the system covering the Courts,
Tribunals, Former Department for Constitutional Affairs, and the other from the National Offender Management Service System. It is a complete list of suppliers against whom a purchase order was raised in the 2008-09 financial year across each system.
Monarchy: Succession
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice to which Commonwealth governments the Government have indicated a wish to discuss reform of male-preference primogeniture for the line of succession for the Crown; and if he will make a statement. [273805]
Mr. Straw: Any changes to the rules of succession would have to be agreed to by all Commonwealth countries of which the Queen is head of state. Discussions have started and are continuing but it would be inappropriate to release details at this stage.
Restorative Justice
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the rate of reoffending among those who have completed high-visibility community payback schemes. [278102]
Mr. Hanson: Reoffending rates for those who have completed high-visibility community payback schemes are unavailable as the data source used to produce reoffending rates does not differentiate between those on the scheme, and those who are not.
Reoffending rates are available for those who serve both community and suspended sentence orders with an unpaid work requirement; however the latest available data are for those who commenced such a sentence between 1 January and 31 March 2007. The high-visibility community payback scheme did not commence until December 2008, therefore reoffending rates for the period covered by the scheme will not be available until data for the 2009 cohort are published in 2011.
Culture, Media and Sport
Brass Bands: Finance
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Big Lottery Fund awarded to brass bands in each of the last five years. [275822]
Barbara Follett: The Big Lottery Fund has been able to supply the following figures for the value of relevant grants across the UK in the last five years, including grants made under the Awards for All joint scheme:
| Total value of grants (£) | |
Football: Drugs
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the National Anti-Doping Organisation expects the governing authorities for football to have introduced anti-doping procedures compliant with its requirements; and if he will make a statement. [277268]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 June 2009]: UK Sport, the UK’s National Anti-doping Organisation, is currently working with the Football Association (FA) to ensure that their anti-doping rules and procedures are compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code (WADA) and accompanying international standards.
We understand that the FA Council will be considering this when it meets over the summer to agree their rules for the 2009-10 season. Government expect the FA to ensure that their anti-doping rules and procedures are fully compliant with WADA’s code and standards.
National Anti-Doping Organisation
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of progress towards a fully independent National Anti-Doping Organisation; and if he will make a statement. [277270]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 June 2009]: I met recently with UK Sport, who are leading on the project to establish the new stand alone National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), UK Anti-Doping.
At this meeting, UK Sport reported that work to establish UK Anti-Doping is progressing well, with the project on-schedule to meet vesting, as proposed, by the end of the year.
National Anti-Doping Organisation: Finance
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what budget has been allocated to the National Anti-Doping Organisation in each year to 2012. [277269]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 June 2009]: For 2009-10, the budget for the National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), currently delivered by UK Sport, is approximately £7 million, including £1.8 million that has been budgeted for transition costs toward the establishment of the new stand alone NADO, named UK Anti-Doping.
The budget for 2010-11, the first full year of operation for UK Anti-Doping, is approximately £7.2 million.
Funding for subsequent years will be finalised in light of the Department’s forthcoming comprehensive spending review settlement.
Sports: Finance
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the £36 million allocated to the Sport Unlimited scheme has been spent; and how many of the 4,000 planned taster sessions have taken place. [277134]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England has advised that in the first year of the three year Sport Unlimited scheme, £10,487,000 has been spent from the year 1 funding allocation of £10,500,000.
The Sport Unlimited scheme will enable 900,000 more 11 to 19-year-olds to become involved in a range of sports. Sport England will publish end of year results on year 1 of Sport Unlimited later on this month, which will include information about the number of individuals participating in the scheme against year 1 targets. Sport England has undertaken to write to the hon. Member with a copy of their report.
The number of taster sessions that have taken place is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Aung San Suu Kyi
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Japanese counterpart on the arrest and trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. [277407]
Bill Rammell: The Japanese Government released a statement on 15 May 2009 expressing their deep concern at the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Japanese Foreign Minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, raised Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention with his Burmese counterpart on 25 May 2009. We have raised her current trial and ongoing detention with the Japanese at official level. Japan, like the UK, is a major contributor of humanitarian aid to Burma and we remain in regular contact concerning the current situation both at the UN Security Council and via the UN Secretary-General’s Group of Friends of Burma.
Most recently, I spoke with the Japanese Foreign Minister on 25 May 2009 in Vietnam. I also discussed Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest and the situation in Burma with Asian and European Ministers at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Hanoi on 25-26 May 2009 and at the EU-ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh on 27-28 May 2009.
Employment Conditions Abroad
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has paid Employment Conditions Abroad in each year since the inception of the contract; and what the future monetary value of any outstanding contracts is. [275460]
Gillian Merron: We do not hold figures for spending on this contract before 2004. To recalculate them would incur disproportionate cost. The cost of the contract to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office each year since then has been:
| Cost (£) | |
Our contract with Employment Conditions Abroad is ongoing. We anticipate the cost of the contract and their services to be approximately £84,525 in 2009. Prices have been frozen at 2008’s rates.
Occupied Territories: Housing
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the expansion of settlements in the West Bank; and if he will make a statement. [277207]
David Miliband: Settlement expansion is a major obstacle to peace. We receive regular reports, including from the Israeli non-governmental organisation Peace Now. During 2008, Peace Now reported that the West Bank settler population increased 15,000 to 285,000. They report that there are plans for at least 73,300 additional housing units in the West Bank.
We are also deeply concerned about any changes to the character of East Jerusalem.
I raised this issue during my meeting with Foreign Minister Lieberman and in my statement to the UN Security Council on 11 May 2009. We will continue to press the Israeli Government to freeze all such activity.
Work and Pensions
Children: Maintenance
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission has (a) deducted maintenance payments or arrears from bank accounts without going through a court, (b) issued a liability order under section 32M of the Child Support Act 1991, (c) applied to a court for (i) a disqualification from holding or obtaining a passport and (ii) a curfew and (d) recovered arrears from a deceased person’s estate. [277682]
Kitty Ussher: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the child maintenance commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner. The Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission has (a) deducted maintenance payments or arrears from bank accounts without going through a court, (b) issued a Liability Order under section 32M of the Child Support Act 1991, (c) applied to a court for (i) a disqualification from holding or obtaining a passport and (ii) a curfew and (d) recovered arrears from a deceased person’s estate. [277682]
The new enforcement powers required to allow the Commission to take the actions noted in your question are provided by the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 and are yet to be commenced. It is therefore not possible to provide the requested information at this time.
The Commission plans to commence the deduction order powers later this year to administratively remove funds from bank accounts, either periodically or in a lump sum, without going to
court. A Deduction Order can be used in cases where a Deduction from Earnings Order cannot, for example, where the non-resident parent is self-employed.
No dates have yet been set to for implementation of Administrative Liability Orders, application to court for passport disqualification / curfew, or recovery of maintenance arrears from a deceased person’s estate.
I am sorry on this occasion I can not be more helpful.
Cold Weather Payments: Hendon
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Hendon constituency received cold weather payments in 2008-09; and what the average amount received by such individuals was. [272299]
Kitty Ussher: Information on the number of pensioners in Hendon who received Cold Weather Payments in 2008-09 is not available. Hendon constituency is linked to Heathrow weather station which triggered once in 2008-09.
The amount received by eligible pensioners was £25 for each week that the cold weather payment was triggered in their area.
Jobcentre Plus: Manpower
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1980W, on Jobcentre Plus: manpower, if he will provide a description of each job in Jobcentre Plus in each pay grade. [249409]
Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
*The full answer and the information requested appear at XXXX
Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons jobseeker’s allowance customers are required to ring 0845 telephone numbers to apply for jobs on Jobseeker Direct; what free alternatives there are to this service; and if he will make a statement. [271324]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 27 April 2009]: The cost of calling 0845 numbers remains lower than many alternatives and, where it is possible, using BT landlines to call 0845 numbers is usually the lowest cost option. Research was carried out in 2008 to estimate the additional telephony charges DWP would incur by switching all existing 0845 services to 0800. We do not have a precise amount, but it is estimated that the switch would cost £10 million a year. In addition, there would be one-off transition costs of changing literature and raising awareness with staff, estimated at £1 million.
BT account for two-thirds of landline provision and our recent research shows that over 80 per cent. of our customers contact us using landlines. We believe that 0845 numbers offer the best solution for the majority of our customers, including those wishing to apply for jobs with Jobseeker Direct. We understand that not everyone has access to a BT landline and if that is the case, we will always call back if asked to do so, so that we absorb the cost of the call.
If customers are unable to call Jobseeker Direct on the 0845 number, Jobcentre Plus offices have touch screen Jobpoint terminals installed for customers to use to access the same full range of vacancies available through Jobseeker Direct. In addition, all vacancies can be accessed online via the Directgov Jobseekers website and there are normally places available locally, such as libraries, which offer free internet access to jobseekers who are unable to get to a jobcentre or unable to access the internet in any other way.
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