Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 29 October 2009
Work and Pensions
Charities
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what grants her Department made to charitable organisations in each of the last five years. [292659]
Jonathan Shaw: The only grant payments made to a charitable organisation by the Department for Work and Pensions are those made to Motability, which is a charitable organisation with overall responsibility for the Motability scheme. More information about Motability can be found at:
Grant payments to Motability for the last five years are shown in the table.
| £000 | |
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria have been agreed with examining doctors for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee in coal miners and former coal miners; and what steps her Department has taken to advise examining doctors of these criteria. [295709]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 28 October 2009]: ATOS Healthcare has provided guidance to the examining doctors about the diagnosis and assessment of osteoarthritis of the knee in underground coal miners which takes account of the recommendations of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council.
Following receipt of a claim, a Jobcentre Plus decision maker will decide whether the claimant satisfies the occupational criteria for the prescribed disease. If the prescription is satisfied, a referral is made to ATOS Healthcare who will request any previous X-rays and/or any relevant hospital letters relating to the condition. All claimants are subsequently examined by a doctor working for ATOS Healthcare. The doctor will, through a combination of history and examination findings, provide advice to the decision maker as to whether the condition is diagnosed, and if it is, on the level of disablement with reference to a person of the same age and sex whose physical and mental condition is normal.
Industrial Health and Safety: Materials Handling Equipment
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make a statement on the frequency of the checks made on cranes by crane operators. [294633]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 20 October 2009]: Cranes are subject to the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; these two sets of legislation between them provide a regime requiring inspection, maintenance and thorough examination of cranes.
A thorough examination of a crane is required before first use, and thereafter at least every 12 months (six months if the crane is used for carrying people) unless alteration, damage or any other conditions make an increased frequency of examination necessary. The examination must be carried out by a competent person who is appropriately qualified and experienced. Where, during a thorough examination, a serious defect is detected, a report has to be sent by the competent person to the enforcing authority within 28 days.
Inspection and maintenance checks must also be carried out, between thorough examinations. The frequency and extent of the checks are not specified by the regulations; these will depend on the potential risks from the equipment, the crane manufacturer's recommendations and the conditions encountered on site.
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the frequency with which crane operators undertake checks on the cranes under their control; whether self-erected cranes are to be included in the register; and if she will make a statement. [294634]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 20 October 2009]: All cranes used at work are subject to the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; these two sets of legislation between them provide a regime requiring inspection, maintenance and thorough examination of cranes. Health and Safety Executive inspectors consider routinely compliance with this regime when undertaking both planned inspection and incident investigation.
A consultation document setting out proposals for a statutorily-based registration scheme for tower cranes was published on 13 July this year. The consultation closed on 16 October 2009 and the responses are being analysed. The HSE Board will consider the results of the consultation at its meeting on 25 November 2009, including whether self-erected tower cranes should be included in its scope.
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what qualifications persons carrying out pre-use checks on cranes are required to hold; and if she will make a statement. [294635]
Jonathan Shaw
[holding answer 20 October 2009]: Under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) 1998, a thorough examination of
a crane is required before first use, and thereafter at least every 12 months (six months if the crane is used for carrying people) unless alteration, damage or any other conditions make an increased frequency of examination necessary. The examination must be carried out by a competent person who is appropriately qualified and experienced.
The Approved Code of Practice under LOLER requires that the person carrying out the thorough examination has appropriate practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the lifting equipment to be thoroughly examined, but does not specify particular qualifications to be held by the competent person.
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Health and Safety Executive plans to introduce its statutory register for tower cranes; and if she will make a statement. [294636]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 20 October 2009]: The HSE is committed to having a statutorily-based scheme for tower crane registration in place by the date of common commencement in April 2010.
A consultation document setting out proposals for a statutorily-based registration scheme was published on 13 July this year. The consultation closed on 16 October and the responses are being analysed. The HSE Board will consider the results of the consultation at its meeting on 25 November.
Pensioners: Social security benefits
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 21 July 2009, Official Report, column 1321W, on pensioners: social security benefits, if she will update her estimate based upon the rate of capital disregard to be introduced in November 2009. [296540]
Angela Eagle: The following table shows the estimated cost of assuming different illustrative Bank of England rates of around 0.5 per cent. and 5 per cent. (averaged over a year), with and without the £10,000 capital disregard for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
| Estimated annual cost of tariff income set at approximately 1 per cent. higher than Bank of England base rate for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit (20 09- 10 prices) | |||
| Illustrative BoE rate (percentage) | Rate applied to income above the disregard (percentage) | (i) Cost keeping current disregard (£ million) | (ii) Cost removing current disregard (£ million) |
| Notes: 1. These estimates have been calculated using the Policy Simulation Model (PSM) which uses data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). Estimates are subject to sampling and modelling uncertainty. 2. Estimates are given for two possible average rates to illustrate their sensitivity to actual Bank of England base rates. 3. Income taken into account is rounded up to the next £1. 4. In column (i) the interest rate is applied to capital above the capital disregard. 5. Estimates do not include the cost of applying the rules to those in care/nursing homes. 6. Costs have been rounded to the nearest £10 million. | |||
Prime Minister
Devolution
Rob Marris: To ask the Prime Minister how many times he met in a formal capacity the (a) First Minister of Scotland, (b) First Minister of Wales, (c) First Minister of Northern Ireland and (d) Leader of the West Midlands Regional Assembly in (i) 2004-05, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2006-07, (iv) 2007-08 and (v) 2008-09; and how many times he has so met the Minister for the West Midlands since his appointment. [293897]
The Prime Minister: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others.
Employment: EC Law
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what discussions he has had with representatives of trade unions on implementing the EU Agency Workers Directive in the UK in 2011; [295056]
(2) what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and (b) the Minister for Employment Relations on implementing the EU Agency Workers Directive in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011; [295057]
(3) what discussions he has had with (a) members and (b) representatives of (i) the CBI, (ii) the EEF and (iii) British Chambers of Commerce on implementing the EU Agency Workers Directive in the UK in 2011. [295058]
The Prime Minister: I have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and a variety of organisations, representing employees and employers, to discuss a wide range of matters, including employment issues. I have made clear my commitment to legislate on the implementation of the agency workers directive.
Solicitor-General
Animal Welfare: Prosecutions
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions for offences of cruelty to animals were brought by (a) the Crown Prosecution Service and (b) the Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the last five years. [296531]
The Solicitor-General: The figures at Table 1 show the number of offences of cruelty to animals in respect of which a prosecution was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in each of the last five years.
Also, at Table 2, are figures showing the number of defendants (not offences) prosecuted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) over the same period. RSPCA prosecutions are broken down to show the number and the proportion resulting in conviction and in dismissal, but no comparable analysis is available for the figures recorded by the CPS.
| Table 1: Crown Prosecution Service-Offences of Cruelty to Animals in which a prosecution commenced | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (1) Source: CPS Management Information System | |||||
| Table 2: Royal Society for the Pre vention of Cruelty to Animals- Defendant prosecuted for Cruelty to Animals | ||||||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | ||||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| (1) Source: RSPCA | ||||||||||
Domestic Violence
Dr. Cable: To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) arrests, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions of (i) men and (ii) women for acts of domestic violence there were in (A) Twickenham constituency, (B) Richmond-upon-Thames and (C) London in each of the last five years. [296233]
The Solicitor-General: The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery. From these centrally reported data it is not possible to identify specific offences from within the main offence groups.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) data in London are only available at borough level and cannot be broken down further. We are therefore unable to provide the data for the Twickenham constituency as requested, as this would incur disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, part 2, clause 9).
In the London borough of Richmond there were 15 domestic violence prosecutions in 2005-6, 74 prosecutions in 2006-7, 92 prosecutions in 2007-8, 101 prosecutions in 2008-9 and in the first 6 months of 2009-10 there have been 82 prosecutions for domestic violence.
During the course of these last five years, there have been 364 cases prosecuted. Of these, only 13 cases have involved female defendants; 350 have involved male defendants; and in one case the gender was not recorded. There were 226 successful prosecutions out of the 364 cases prosecuted.
In the CPS London Area in 2005-6 there were 4,968 prosecutions for domestic violence, in 2006-7 there were 6,292, in 2007-8 there were 6,688, in 2008-9 there were 7193 and in the first six months of 2009-10 there have been 4,035 prosecutions for domestic violence.
Of these 29,176 prosecutions, 1,320 relate to female defendants; 27,847 relate to male defendants; and in nine cases the gender was not recorded. There were 16,753 successful prosecutions out of the 29,176 cases prosecuted.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |