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9 Nov 2009 : Column 81W—continued
Downing Street Budget
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the planned budget for the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Downing Street budget, in cash terms is in each of the next three years. [290155]
Tessa Jowell: The planned budget for the Cabinet Office for 2010-11 is set out in Public Expenditure Table 1 on page 119 of the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2008-09. Allocations for the individual units within the Cabinet Office have not yet been set.
Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 set the budget for the financial years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The budgets for 2011-12 and 2012-13 will be set during the next spending review.
Government Departments: Data Protection
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what areas in which improvement might be made in government information security policy her Department has identified since 1997. [288868]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 21 July 2009]: Since 1997, my Department has identified a number of significant areas of improvement made in information security policy across government. The Office of the e-Envoy was established in 1999 within the Cabinet Office and produced security policy guidance on e-government development. Sir Edmund Burton's 2001 review into information security policy provision across government recommended a central policy unit be established at the centre to lead on information security policy for government. The Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA) was duly established in 2003. CSIA published the refreshed National Information Assurance Strategy in 2007 outlining the Government's strategic approach to improve professionalism, capability, awareness and education in information security and assurance.
In June 2008 the Cabinet Secretary published the Data Handling Report (DHR) on the security of cross-government data handling procedures which identified key areas for improvement in data security and outlined specific measures that Departments must take. In addition, the Security Policy Framework (SPF) was introduced in December 2008 to replace and update the Manual of Protective Security which had been in place since 1995 and is now the sole source upon which all departmental security policy should be based. These recent measures further reinforce the Government's strong commitment to review and address information assurance concerns and to the securing of personal data held by public authorities.
Honours: Banks
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which individuals have been awarded an honour for services to banking since 1984. [297099]
Tessa Jowell: Short citations giving brief details of the reasons for awards to those receiving honours in the Queen's Birthday and New Year's Honours Lists are published in the London Gazette.
Ministers
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer from the Secretary of State for Defence of 2 November 2009, Official Report, column 576, and the answer of 28 October 2009, Official Report, columns 272-73, what the evidential basis was for the statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence that the Government had not amended the ranking of ministerial offices; and if she will make a statement. [298606]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have been asked to reply.
There has been no downgrading of the Ministry of Defence. The List of Ministerial Responsibilities, published by the Cabinet Office, is an administrative document which lists Departments in alphabetical order. The document also lists Cabinet Ministers on the basis of the date they are appointed to Cabinet.
National School of Government
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which companies purchased consultancy services from the National School of Government in 2008-09; and if she will make a statement. [287747]
Angela E. Smith: This is a matter for the National School of Government. I have asked the principal and chief executive to respond.
Letter from Rod Clark, dated 3 November 2009:
In the Written Ministerial Statement to the House on 9 January 2007 (Official Report Col 5WS), the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Pat McFadden MP) announced that the National School of Government was now a Non Ministerial Department. Consequently, the Minister for the Cabinet Office has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the National School of Government.
The National School has income from consultancy of £2,616,000 in 2008-09 out of total income of £29,368,000. (PQ 287739).
The National School does the large majority of its business with the public sector. In 2008-09 the only consultancy work we carried out for private sector companies was with Liberata UK Limited and Logica.
Copies of the table showing the full list of organisations for which we did consultancy work in the year will be placed in the house Library.
In addition I would note that the Department for International Development commissions the School to carry out international work as part of the UK aid programme and thus some of the work paid for by DfID was carried out for foreign governments. (PQ 287747).
Poverty
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the number of households in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency which have left poverty since 1997. [297144]
Helen Goodman: I have been asked to reply.
Poverty statistics, published in the households below average income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall number of people in relative poverty at Government office region level or for inner or outer London. Therefore, information for the Tees Valley, or Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency is not available.
Estimates of the number of households who have left poverty are not available, as each year different households are surveyed to produce low income statistics in the households below average series. However, I am able to provide information about the net change in the number of households with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income over the period requested for England and the north-east.
Between 1997-98 and 2007-08, the number of households with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income in England rose by 100,000 before housing costs and fell by 400,000 after housing costs. Over the same period, the total number of households in England rose by 1.4 million.
For the north-east, three years of data have had to be combined due to survey volatility. Between 1997-98 to 1999-2000 and 2005-06 to 2007-08, the number of households with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income in the north-east stayed at the same level before housing costs, but fell by 100,000 after housing costs. Over the same period, the total number of households in the north-east stayed at the same level.
Notes:
1. These statistics are based on households below average income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey. The Family Resources Survey is available in the Library.
2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.
3. The reference period for households below average income figures are single financial years. For the north-east, three years of data have had to be combined due to survey volatility.
4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.
5. For the households below average income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) equivalisation factors.
6. Change in numbers of households in low income and overall have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.
Vacancies
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the latest estimate is of the number of job vacancies in the UK; and if she will make a statement. [298267]
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 November 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the latest estimate is of the number of job vacancies in the UK. (298267)
The Office for National Statistics estimates the number of vacancies from the Vacancy Survey for the United Kingdom.
The latest, seasonally adjusted estimate is that there were 434,000 vacancies in the United Kingdom over the 3 month period from July to September 2009.
Teenage Fathers
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what information the Office of National Statistics holds on the number of teenage fathers in each of the last five years. [297959]
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 November 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your request on what information the Office for National Statistics holds on the number of teenage fathers in each of the last five years. (297959)
The Office for National Statistics publishes figures compiled from data collected at birth registration. Figures on the number of births registered to teenage fathers in England and Wales each year can be found in the annual publication FMl Birth Statistics:
Volumes covering the five years up to 2007 are currently available and the 2008 volume is provisionally due for release in December 2009.
Table 3.4 in each volume of FMl Birth Statistics shows the number of live births by age of father (single years of age) for births within marriage and births jointly registered by both parents. In 2007, for example, there were 590 live births registered within marriage to fathers aged under 20 in England and Wales and 12,994 live births outside marriage jointly registered to fathers under 20.
Please note that information on father's age is not available for births registered solely by the mother. Therefore the number of births registered to fathers aged under 20 (within marriage and jointly registered outside marriage) does not represent the total number of births to teenage fathers in England and Wales.
Work and Pensions
Social Fund: Working Tax Credit
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make it her policy to extend access to the social fund to those on working tax credit; and if she will make a statement. [296861]
Helen Goodman: There are no plans at present to extend access to the discretionary social fund to those in receipt of working tax credit. However, people in receipt of working tax credit have access to crisis loans if they have insufficient resources to meet their immediate short-term needs.
People in receipt of working tax credit that includes a disability element or who are also in receipt of the highest rate of child tax credit are eligible to apply for funeral payments and sure start maternity grants available through the regulated social fund.
Attendance Allowance: St Albans
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in attendance allowance to residents of St Albans constituency in each of the last five years. [297534]
Jonathan Shaw: The available information is in the table.
| Attendance all owance expenditure in St Alban s parliamentary constituency | ||
| Cash | 2009-10 prices | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are in £ million and rounded to the nearest £100,000. 2. Tables containing benefit expenditure by benefit, departmental strategic objective, local authority and parliamentary constituency can be found at the following link and a copy has been placed in the Library: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/medium_term.asp Source: DWP Statistical and Accounting Data. | ||
Carer's Allowance
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans her Department has for the future of the carer's allowance; and if she will make a statement. [298188]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz) on 28 October 2009, Official Report, columns 355-56W.
Children: Maintenance
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much (a) the Child Support Agency and (b) the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission have outstanding in child support payments; and by how many people these sums are owed. [292508]
Helen Goodman: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much (a) the Child Support Agency and (b) the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission have outstanding in child support payments; and by how many people these sums are owed. [292508]
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