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29 Mar 2010 : Column 754W—continued
Sixth Form Education: Complaints
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to whom a complaint from (a) a student and (b) an apprentice aged between 16 and 19 years and attending a (i) further education college and (ii) sixth form college will be referred if the student is dissatisfied with that college's response to their complaint after 1 April 2010; and if he will make a statement. [323297]
Mr. Iain Wright: The current policy for complaints from a student or an apprentice aged between 16 and 19 years and attending a further education college or a sixth-form college is that they can complain to the relevant regional office of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which funds the further education college or sixth-form college in question. The LSC would only consider such complaints once the college's own internal complaints procedure has been fully exhausted.
From 1 April 2010, complaints from learners aged 16-19 in a further education college will be dealt with by the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency. Complaints about sixth-form colleges will be dealt with by the relevant local authority and subsequently directed to the local government ombudsman if the complainant continues to remain dissatisfied. All complaints from apprentices will be directed to the Skills Funding Agency after exhausting the provider mechanisms. We will keep this policy under review.
Social Services: Doncaster
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether the report entitled Organisation and Management Review of Duty and Assessment and Urban CSSW Teams written by Bron Sanders for Doncaster metropolitan borough council in March 2007 was taken into account in the preparation of the full serious case review into the death of Child AO6 in Doncaster which was published in executive summary in July 2007. [316197]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 8 February 2010]: The preparation and content of serious case reviews are
the responsibility of the appropriate Local Safeguarding Children Board, in accordance with statutory guidance contained in the Government publication "Working Together To Safeguard Children". In the case mentioned, it would have been for Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board to decide what reports to take into account when undertaking the serious case review.
Teachers: Leeds
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many full-time teaching positions in maintained schools in Leeds local authority area are (a) vacant and (b) filled by part-time or temporary staff. [324586]
Mr. Coaker: In January 2009, the latest information available, there were 13 advertised vacant posts for full-time teachers in local authority maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools in Leeds local authority that were either uncovered or filled by a teacher on a contract of less than one term. In addition there were a further 65 teaching posts available to permanent full-time teachers that were being filled by teachers with a contract of more than one term but less than one year. These vacancies include posts where a permanent teacher has been appointed but was not in post and exclude posts where the incumbent is on sick, maternity or other paid leave.
Information on the number of full-time posts that are covered by part-time teachers is not collected centrally.
This information is from the "Annual Survey of Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies, (618g)". Provisional national level vacancy information for 2010 is due to be published on 26 May.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teachers in maintained schools in Leeds local authority area have left their position for reasons other than retirement in each of the last five years. [324587]
Mr. Coaker: Information on the number of teachers who have left service in the last five years is not available at local authority level because the data source is not complete enough to provide a reliable estimate.
Transport
A13: Litter
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport for what reasons (a) the Highways Agency and (b) he has not replied to a letter from Thurrock borough council on contract compliance in respect of the Connect Plus Group's obligation to collect rubbish and litter from, and to clean, the A13 highway in Thurrock; and if he will make a statement. [324228]
Chris Mole:
The Highways Agency received a letter regarding this matter on 2 February from Thurrock borough council and it was copied to the Secretary of State for Transport. An email response was sent by the Highways Agency on 4 February 2010. Subsequently, a
senior representative of the Highways Agency met with the council's Cabinet Member for Environmental Services to resolve the issues concerning litter on the A13 in Thurrock.
I am not aware of any other correspondence from Thurrock borough council regarding this matter.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 3 March 2010, Official Report, column 1192W, on automatic number plate recognition, whether a privacy impact assessment was undertaken in relation to the use of automatic number plate recognition for civil parking and civil traffic enforcement. [324836]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on 23 March 2010, Official Report, column 179W.
British Transport Police: Sweet Concepts
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010, Official Report, column 156W, on Central Office of Information: marketing, what promotional products were purchased from Sweet Concepts Ltd. on behalf of British Transport Police; and at what cost. [324406]
Chris Mole: I understand that the products concerned were predominantly promotional bags of sweets used by the British Transport Police at community engagement and rail safety events. The total cost over the three year period 2006-07 to 2008-09 was £9,630 plus VAT.
Bus Services
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the (a) number of and (b) percentage change in bus usage in (i) York and (ii) England in the last five years. [324221]
Mr. Khan: The following table shows the number of bus journeys in England over the last five years and the annual percentage increases.
| Bus passe nger journeys for England, 2004-05 to 2008- 09 | |||
| "Old" basis (million) | "New" basis (million) | Percentage change on previous year | |
| (1) There is a break in the time series of estimated passenger journeys in 2007-08 due to a change in the estimation methodology. Figures are shown on both the old and new basis for that year. The next planned release of Bus and Light Rail Statistics, due on 17 June 2010 will include figures on the 'new basis' for years prior to 2007-08. Source: PSV Survey of Bus and Coach Operators. | |||
Bus patronage data for the city of York unitary authority cannot be made available from the same source as they are commercially confidential.
Information at a local authority level is, however, available from the National Indicator Set. These data are not consistent with the DFT's published patronage estimates above and have not gone through the same reconciliation and consistency checks.
The following table shows National Indicator 177 (Local bus and light rail passenger journeys originating in the authority area) figures for the city of York.
| Bus passenger journeys for City of York, 2004-05 to 2008-09 | ||
| NI 177 (thousand) | Percentage change on previous year | |
| Source: LA National Indicator 177 | ||
Bus Services: Birmingham
Richard Burden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department has provided for concessionary bus travel in Birmingham since the inception of that scheme. [325164]
Mr. Khan: The administration of the concessionary travel scheme in Birmingham is carried out by Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. The Government provide funding for concessionary travel in Birmingham through two channels: formula grant to Birmingham city council and special grant to West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (WMITA).
Before 1 April 2008, funding for the statutory minimum bus concession was provided exclusively through the formula grant system. Formula grant is an unhypothecated block grant and as such it is not possible to identify how much formula grant has been allocated to local authorities for any particular service, such as concessionary travel for older and disabled people.
From April 2008, the Department for Transport has provided additional special grant funding to local authorities to cover the extra costs of providing England-wide travel, of which WMITA received £12,352,518 in 2008-09 and £12,643,851 in 2009-10. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) continues to provide the bulk of concessionary travel funding to local authorities through formula grant.
The Department for Transport also provided WMITA with £2,185,500 in 2007-08 for the cost of producing and issuing the new England-wide bus passes to all those eligible.
Coastal Erosion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how much he (a) has given in the last three financial years and (b) plans to give in the next three financial years to local authorities in (i) Essex and (ii) England to restore cliff slippages that threaten (A) rail and (B) road links; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement; [324391]
(2) what legislative authority he has to fund local authorities to restore cliff slippages that threaten (a) rail and (b) road links; and if he will make a statement; [324392]
(3) what recent (a) meetings he has had with and (b) representations he has received from Southend borough council on cliff slippages that threaten (i) rail and (ii) road links; what the (A) location and (B) duration was of each meeting; whether a record of each meeting was kept; who attended each meeting; and if he will make a statement; [324393]
(4) what research has been (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated by his Department on cliff slippages that threaten (i) rail and (ii) road links in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [324394]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport provided £1 million funding to Southend borough council in January 2008 for highway repairs to prevent damage occurring to rail and road links from a cliff slippage. The Department for Transport met with officials from the authority and their consultant prior to the submission of a business case by the authority seeking this funding. No record was made of the meeting which took place in Southend.
The funding for this highway maintenance scheme will be provided under Section 31 of Local Government Act 2003.
The Department for Transport has not conducted any specific research on cliff slippages that threaten rail and road links. The Highways Agency continues to monitor and provide support on research conducted on chalk cliff stability. Current research is of a localised nature-e.g. cliff monitoring initiatives being carried out in the Brighton and Hove District. The Highways Agency has identified that there may be future collaboration opportunities for research in this field available through the INTERREG programme (interested parties include Brighton and Hove City council, Brighton University, Leeds University and Chalk Rock Ltd).
Government resilience policy for events which result from incidents of instability are a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). Southend borough council have not discussed cliff stabilisation issues with CLG recently.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department provides subsidised gym facilities for its staff. [324554]
Chris Mole: Within the Department for Transport subsidised gym facilities for staff are only provided at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The DVLA provides the accommodation and covers the overheads (such as electricity), which then allows the agency to keep the cost of membership to a minimum.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has constructed smoking shelters at its London premises for the use of its staff since May 2008. [325118]
Chris Mole: No smoking shelters have been built in the Department's London headquarter premises since May 2008.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will issue guidance on his Department's policy on the relocation offshore of departmental jobs to companies bidding for contracts let by his Department. [324789]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not have a specific policy relating to offshore contracts. However, the Department conducts its procurement in accordance with UK Government's value for money policies and principles in accordance with the legal and regulatory framework, including the principles of non-discrimination, the EU procurement directives and the UK's international obligations. The Department follows these policy principles in respect of tender evaluations.
The ability to deliver the contract is always a key consideration in the tender evaluation. Any tender proposal involving the offshore relocation of services would be given the appropriate level of consideration in the context of security and any other matter relevant to the requirement.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what (a) voltage optimisers and (b) equivalent technologies are used within buildings occupied by his Department. [324969]
Chris Mole: The information requested is not centrally recorded and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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