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13 Oct 2009 : Column 856W—continued
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed in (a) Vale of York constituency, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) England in (i) 1997, (ii) 2006, (iii) 2007, (iv) 2008 and (v) 2009. [292369]
Mr. Hanson: Officer strength figures for North Yorkshire, the Yorkshire and Humber Government office region and England are all available within the annual Police Service Strength England and Wales, Statistical Bulletin. Figures as at 31 March are published every July.
Police personnel statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency. Figures at basic command unit level are available in the supplementary tables to the statistical bulletin.
Recent editions of the bulletin are available on the Home Office website and previous editions are available in the House of Commons Library at:
Police: Pay
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employees of police services received more than £64,000 in salary in the latest year for which figures are available. [292000]
Mr. Hanson: This information is not held centrally.
Police: Rural Areas
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the maximum acceptable response time is for a police force to respond to a report of a crime in a rural area. [292366]
Mr. Hanson: The Policing Pledge, introduced in the Green Paper 2008, sets out the police service's offer to citizens for delivery of service.
The pledge includes specific elements that encompass how the service aims to respond to reports of crimes. That response will depend on the grading applied in accordance with National Call gradings. There is no maximum acceptable response time, but in the case of an emergency in a rural area, most police forces aim to respond within 20 minutes.
In other cases, the response will be determined in accordance with the caller's needs and the provisions within the pledge.
Surveillance
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests were (a) made and (b) granted to use powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 by (i) each local authority and (ii) each NHS trust in England in (A) 2003-04 and (B) 2007-08. [291737]
Mr. Hanson: The Government do not have figures for individual public authorities. The total number of requests for each covert investigative technique is available in the published, independent annual reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Chief Surveillance Commissioner. These give the following:
| Table on covert investigatory powers authorised | ||
| Interception | 2003 | 2007 |
| (1) Not given Note: Figures taken from annual reports from the relevant oversight Commissioner | ||
The figures are not broken down further. Copies of the Commissioners' reports are in the House Library.
Terrorism
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people convicted of terrorism offences in the UK since 2001 are foreign nationals. [290102]
Mr. Woolas: Details of the nationality of individuals who have been convicted of terrorism offences since 2001 are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Terrorism: Deportation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people convicted of terrorism offences in the UK since 2001 have been deported. [290114]
Mr. Woolas: Details of the number of people who have been convicted of terrorism offences and who have subsequently been deported since 2001 are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Terrorism: Illegal Immigrants
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people convicted of terrorism offences in the UK since 2001 were illegal immigrants. [290115]
Mr. Woolas: Details of the number of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of terrorism offences since 2001 are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Work Permits: Bulgaria/Romania
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK work permits have been issued to (a) Romanian and (b) Bulgarian nationals since the accession of those countries to the EU. [291067]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 September 2009]: The number of work permits issued between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008 to Romanian nationals is 1,690 and to Bulgarian nationals is 3,240.
Figures are rounded to nearest 5.
The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
The figures equate to the number of individual nationals who were granted a work permit. Not all those who were granted a work permit took up the job and some may have been refused entry clearance or further leave to remain.
Children, Schools and Families
Building Schools for the Future Programme: Sixth Form Colleges
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 636W, on the Building Schools for the Future programme: sixth form colleges, how sixth form colleges located within local authority areas which have already received Building Schools for the Future funding will access funds to renew their buildings; and what assessments he made in
relation to the sixth form college estate in deciding which local authorities will be included in the next wave of the Building Schools for the Future programme. [289403]
Mr. Coaker: Pursuant to the answer of 21 July 2009, Official Report, column 1403W, I restate that we have made our intention clear to bring sixth form colleges within the scope of the Building Schools for the Future programme. That remains our position. We will make the details clear as soon as we are able.
Children: Prisoners
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assistance is made available to children with one or both parents in prison (a) to maintain contact with their parents where appropriate, (b) to prevent unequal treatment of them and (c) for other purposes. [291852]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department recognises that many children of offenders are vulnerable and is working closely with the Ministry of Justice and National Offender Management Service to meet their needs.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice will jointly publish a cross-Government framework later this year setting out recommended practice by local agencies and offenders services in identifying and supporting these children. The Department has also funded a range of innovative voluntary sector projects supporting families of offenders through the Children, Young People and Families (CYPF) grant programme.
In addition to this many prison establishments hold regular family days for visitors-enabling children to spend a longer period of time with their parent who is in custody. This will often involve opportunities for participation in family learning and play and sports activities, enabling offenders to interact with their children on a one to one basis. The Assisted Prison Visits Scheme operated by the National Offender Management Service also helps children maintain contact with their parent while they are in prison by meeting travel expenses where the child's parent has a low income.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what support is given to children with one or more parents in prison, with particular reference to (a) maintaining contact with the parent or parents, unless this is deemed contrary to the child's best interests and (b) preventing stigmatisation of and discrimination against them. [292526]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department recognises that many children of offenders are vulnerable and is working closely with the Ministry of Justice and National Offender Management Service to meet their needs.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice will jointly publish a cross- government Framework later this year setting out recommended practice by local agencies and offenders services in identifying and supporting these children. The Department has also funded a range of innovative
voluntary sectors projects supporting families of offenders through the Children, Young People and Families (CYPF) grant programme.
In addition to this many prison establishments hold regular family days for visitors-enabling children to spend a longer period of time with their parent who is in custody. This will often involve opportunities for participation in family learning and play and sports activities, enabling offenders to interact with their children on a one-to-one basis. The Assisted Prison Visits Scheme operated by the National Offender Management Service also helps children maintain contact with their parent while they are in prison by meeting travel expenses where the child's parent has a low income.
Children: Social Services
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he has taken to ensure social workers and directors of children's services are aware of the provisions of section 53 of the Children Act 2004; and whether his Department plans to issue good practice guidance on taking the views of children into account in decision-making. [291771]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government's statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2006), supplementary guidance associated with Working Together and the "Statutory guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 11 of the Children Act 2004" (2007) all set out the responsibilities of directors of children's services and social workers in relation to section 53 of the Children Act 2004. The training materials "Safeguarding Children-a shared responsibility" (2007), commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to assist staff at all levels fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities, also explain these provisions and advise on how to implement them in appropriate ways. The updated Working Together, being revised following Lord Laming's recommendations, will make even clearer the responsibilities of those concerned to ascertain the wishes and feelings of children.
Children's Trusts
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what roles schools have in providing information to parents on Children's Trusts; and if he will make a statement. [289697]
Dawn Primarolo: Subject to the passage of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill 2009 currently before Parliament, maintained schools will become 'relevant partners' of the Children's Trust, and statutory members of the Children's Trust Board. Subject to consultation, statutory guidance will make clear that each Children's Trust Board should ensure that systems are in place to provide accessible and comprehensive information about what services are available locally to parents and young people.
GCSE
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of maintained mainstream schools did not enter any pupils for (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) biology and (d) history GCSE in 2008. [286404]
Mr. Coaker: Of the 3,159 maintained mainstream schools published in the 2008 Achievement and Attainment Tables,
1,810 (57.3 per cent.) entered no pupils for physics,
1,802 (57.0 per cent.) entered no pupils for chemistry,
1,737 (54.8 per cent.) entered no pupils for biology and
131 (4.1 per cent.) entered no pupil for history.
National Curriculum Tests: Disadvantaged
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils who failed to achieve a Level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics in their Key Stage 2 tests in the latest period for which figures are available were eligible to receive free school meals. [286715]
Mr. Coaker: The requested information is shown as follows:
| Pupils achieving Level 3 or below in reading, writing and maths( 1) | ||
| Free school meal eligibility | Number | Percentage |
| (1) Includes pupils working below the level of the test (Level B); pupils who took the test but failed to registered a level (Level N), Level 2 (maths only); Level 3. (2) Includes pupils for whom FSM information was not sought or for which information was refused. | ||
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