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12 Oct 2009 : Column 406W—continued
Influenza
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) role and (b) remit of the Cabinet Office is in relation to resilience and civil contingency planning measures for an influenza pandemic. [287239]
Tessa Jowell: The Department of Health is the lead Department responsible for managing cross-government preparations for, and the response to, an influenza pandemic. The Cabinet Office supports this work by ensuring effective collective consideration of cross-cutting issues, as necessary. This is part of the Cabinet Office's wider remit to build resilience and make Government work better by ensuring the coherence, quality and delivery of policy and operations across Departments and the wider public sector.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Vara: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of people in each local authority area in England aged between (a) 18 and 24, (b) 25 and 30, (c) 31 and 40, (d) 41 and 50 and (e) 51 and 65 years claimed jobseeker's allowance in each of the last five years. [289296]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of people in each local authority area in England aged between (a) 18 and 24, (b) 25 and 30, (c) 31 and 40, (d) 41 and 50 and (e) 51 and 65 years claimed jobseeker's allowance in each of the last five years. (289296)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles the number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The requested age bands are not available, however figures are produced on a similar standard breakdown. Tables 1 to 5 show the number and proportion of people aged 18 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and 60 and over resident in each local authority area in England who has claimed JSA in each of the last five years. As the information provided is extensive, a copy of the tables has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
Members: Correspondence
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum entitled Summer Recess circulated to Government departments. [290499]
Ministerial Policy Advisers: Costs
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much each of the special advisers in (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) 10 Downing Street have claimed in expenses payments in the last 24 months. [290036]
Angela E. Smith: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system how much was claimed in expenses payments by special advisers in the last 24 months. This information is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Ministers: Data Protection
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will review security arrangements for Ministers' (a) mobile telephones, (b) BlackBerrys, (c) home telephones and (d) personnel internet accounts in order to identify any areas of weakness. [288869]
Tessa Jowell:
The Security Policy Framework (SPF) published in December 2008 sets out mandatory minimum requirements for physical, personal and information/data
security that Departments and their agencies must adhere to. Departments develop local security policies based on the SPF, taking account of the particular risks faced by their organisation.
Pensioners: Death
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what her most recent estimate is of the number of people over the age of 65 years who died as a result of cold weather-related illnesses in the winter of (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09. [289646]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the most recent estimate is of the number of people over the age of 65 years who died as a result of cold-weather-related illnesses in the winter of (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09. (289646)
The number of excess winter deaths in England and Wales,(1,2) of persons aged 65 years and over, for (a) 2006-07 was 22,550, and for (b) 2007-08 was 22,400(3) (the latest figures available).
It is not possible to say whether these deaths were related to cold weather. Also, there is no official definition of 'cold-weather-related illnesses', therefore deaths from all causes have been included.
(1) Estimates of excess winter deaths are based on the difference between the number of deaths during the four winter months (December to March) and the average number of deaths during the preceding four months (August to November) and the following four months (April to July).
(2) Figures are based on deaths occurring in each month.
(3) Figures for 2006-07 are final, figures for 2007-08 are provisional. Final figures are rounded to the nearest 10, provisional figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Political Parties
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what guidance has been issued to non-departmental public bodies in the last 12 months on undertaking expenditure in relation to conferences held by political parties; [290139]
(2) what guidance the Cabinet Office has given to non-departmental public bodies on attendance by staff of such bodies at conferences held by political parties. [290039]
Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office has issued guidance reminding Departments and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) of the rules and principles governing NDPB attendance and activity at party conferences. Copies have been placed in the Libraries.
Public Appointments
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of all public appointments were advertised on the www.publicappts-vacs.gov.uk website in the latest period for which figures are available; and what guidance she has given to (a) Government departments, (b) executive agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies on listing public vacancies on that site. [290038]
Tessa Jowell: The majority of public appointments are advertised on the Cabinet Office Public Appointment Vacancies website. Cabinet Office guidance is that all vacancies to posts regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments must be advertised on the site. This is also a requirement of the Commissioner's own Code of Practice. It is the responsibility of the Commissioner for Public Appointments to monitor, and report on compliance with, her Code of Practice.
Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 21 April 2009, whether the legal work in relation to the statement by the hon. Member for West Bromwich East in relation to the Red Rag website and Mr. Damian McBride was paid for from the public purse. [290041]
Public Services Forum
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2009, Official Report, column 943W, on the Public Services Forum, whether minutes are kept of the meetings of the Public Services Forum. [290171]
Tessa Jowell: Notes are kept of Public Services Forum meetings. A note of the 5 March 2009 Public Services Forum has been placed in the Library of the House and published on the internet. Each further Public Services Forum meeting will be published on the departmental website.
Tamils
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Tamils live in the United Kingdom. [291528]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Jil Matheson, dated October 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many Tamils live in the United Kingdom. (291528).
The most reliable data on the number of people identifying as Tamil come from the 2001 Censuses in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - the numbers of people identifying in more recent surveys are too small to produce reliable estimates. Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland has been provided by their respective Registrars General.
None of the 2001 UK. censuses included a 'Tamil' tick-box in their ethnic group questions although respondents had the option to give an identity of their choice in one of the write-in spaces provided, if they did not believe that any the given options was appropriate.
A total of 5,818 people in the UK used the write-in option to describe their ethnic group as 'Tamil' and a further 68,524 people wrote in that their ethnic group was 'Sri Lankan'. It is not known how many of these Sri Lankans also have a Tamil identity.
Furthermore all the UK censuses included an 'Indian' pre-designated tick-box, which some respondents may have ticked without providing further information.
Water Charges: Sewers
Nick Herbert: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of (a) all and (b) low income households spent more than 3 per cent. of their disposable income before housing costs on water and sewerage bills, in the latest period for which figures are available. [289682]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what percentage of (a) all and (b) low income households spent more than 3 per cent f their disposable income on water and sewerage bills, before housing costs, in the latest period for which figures are available. (289682)
he table below shows the percentage of UK. households with water bills greater than three per cent of disposable income in 2006/07. The table also shows the percentage of households where income is below 60 per cent of the median with water bills greater than three per cent of disposable income. For this estimate an average for the period 2004/05 to 2006/07 has been provided, due to small sample size. The information in this response is based on the Expenditure and Food Survey, which has a sample size of approximately 6,400 households in each year.
These estimates, as with any involving sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
| Percentage of households with water bills greater than 3 per cent. of disposable income( 1, )( 2 ) United Kingdom | |
| Percentage | |
| (1) Water bills include water, sewerage charges and water charges of a second home. (2) Disposable income is all income from: wages, self-employment income, occupational pensions, investment income, imputed income from benefits in kind, and state benefits after the deduction of income tax, employees' national insurance contributions and council tax. (3) 2006-07. (4) Average value for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07. Source: Office for National Statistics from Expenditure and Food Survey | |
Defence
Afghanistan: Military Aid
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will increase the strength of the Royal Military Police to meet demands to recruit and train the Afghan National Police. [291515]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Royal Military Police currently provide six teams to train Afghan National Police in Helmand; we keep the size and number of these teams under review. We have no current plans to increase the size of the Royal Military Police in order to recruit and train the Afghan National Police.
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from Northern Ireland are serving in Afghanistan. [289289]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Data on the residential location of armed forces personnel are not held centrally and it is therefore not possible to provide figures for the numbers of service personnel serving in Afghanistan by country of residence.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of other nations engaged on military operations in Afghanistan on the effect of such operations on defence budgets. [289490]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We regularly discuss with our allies the provision of resources for the ISAF mission and we continue to call on contributing nations, particularly our European partners, to share more of the burden in Afghanistan.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for changes to the number of British troops in Afghanistan in the next three months; and whether he expects the number of British troops deployed in that country to change as a result of the presidential elections in that country. [289491]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Prime Minister will be making a full statement to Parliament on Afghanistan later this week, it would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment further on plans for troop levels before then.
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopters of each type serving in Afghanistan have previously been used in operations in (a) the Falklands, (b) the First Gulf War and (c) Iraq. [289656]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The statistical information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The following table provides details on the helicopter types currently deployed in Afghanistan.
| Helicopter types used in: | |||
| Platforms currently serving in Afghanistan | (a) Falklands (1982) | (b) First Gulf War | (c) Iraq |
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