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6 Apr 2010 : Column 1336W—continued
Figures within the table include clients in receipt of direct payments as part of a personal budget, but do not include carers in receipt of direct payments or with a personal budget.
An England total for the figures is not provided as data was not provided by all CASSRs. These data are provisional, and final data, including an England total with calculated estimations for those councils that have not provided data, will be published on 28 April 2010.
Vaccination
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish guidance on the vaccination of women and girls who do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the national programme; and what estimate he has made of the number of women and girls to whom that guidance will apply. [325388]
Gillian Merron: The aim of the national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme is the prevention of cervical cancer. HPV is passed through sexual contact which means that the vaccine is most effective if given before the start of sexual activity. The HPV vaccination programme is based on advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation which considered a number of factors, including cost-effectiveness. Girls aged 12 to 13 years in school year 8 are routinely offered the vaccine and girls up to the age of 18 are being offered the vaccine in a time-limited catch up programme. General practitioners can only prescribe the HPV vaccine outside the specified cohorts in exceptional clinical circumstances.
The Immunisation website provides information about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine to girls that are 18 or over and therefore too old to be part of the national vaccination programme. The website also urges them to attend cervical screening when they are invited from the age of 25.
www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Vaccines/HPV/Having_the_ vaccination/Im_over_18_and_would_like_to_have_the_ HPV_vaccination._Can_I_get_it_done_by_my_GP
Viral Diseases
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who are infected with the xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus. [325313]
Ann Keen: We have made no estimate of the number of people infected with xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus.
Children, Schools and Families
CAFCASS
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent estimate he has made of the time taken by staff of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service to prepare for an Ofsted inspection. [307487]
Dawn Primarolo: The resources used in preparation for, and facilitation of, an Ofsted inspection were estimated as being equivalent to some 4,000 hours of staff time, comprising a combination of front-line, managerial and support staff. This estimate was made during 2009 as part of the work on an issues analysis carried out by PA Consulting for DCSF and relates to a single CAFCASS service area.
Children In Care: Missing Persons
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children went missing from care in each local authority area in each of the last five years. [320236]
Dawn Primarolo: The information has been placed in the Libraries.
Children: Abuse
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to ensure that recent reforms to child protection systems are (a) implemented and (b) resourced in full in Nottinghamshire. [322871]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department's children and learners teams in regional Government offices support and challenge local areas to improve all outcomes for children including child protection and wider safeguarding performance. Since the publication in 2009 of Lord Laming's report "The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report" we have reviewed the role of those teams in relation to safeguarding and have also recruited a new cadre of specialist safeguarding advisers. These will be in place from April 2010.
Expenditure on children's social care, which includes child protection, has increased nationwide from £2.22 billion in 1997-98 to £5.73 billion in 2008-09 in cash. This is a real terms increase of over 90 per cent., equating to an average real terms increase of 6.1 per cent. per annum. Nottinghamshire has benefited from this extra investment.
The Secretary of State announced on 17 March the publication of "The Government's Response to Lord Laming: One Year On" an update on progress made thus far on implementing the Government's Action Plan in response to Lord Laming's report. It includes a commitment of an investment of more than £200 million in 2010-11 to support the social work reform programme as well as a new Local Social Work Improvement Fund of £23 million in 2010-11.
Children: Human Trafficking
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department has taken to increase provision of accommodation for child victims of trafficking. [320235]
Dawn Primarolo: Effective matching of a child to the right carer to meet their needs is a key factor in achieving stable and secure placements for all looked after children, including unaccompanied children from abroad who may have been trafficked. Local authorities will be responsible for identifying the most suitable placement for the children they look after and each authority will have arrangements in place to secure a sufficient number of good quality placements.
The Department supports a number of initiatives designed to increase the supply of good quality placements for children in care, including children who may be victims of trafficking. For example, we are currently revising the National Minimum Standards for children's homes and fostering services to improve the focus on outcomes for children, so that all are given personalised support in line with their needs and wishes. We are also working with the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) to develop and implement foster care training, support and development standards and improve professional devolvement for children's homes staff.
These initiatives are designed to increase the number of suitably skilled foster carers and residential care staff at local level with the right skills to support all looked after children, including any child who may be a victim of trafficking.
Children: Internet
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding from the Home Access Programme has been allocated; how many families have received assistance from the scheme; and what the maximum limit is on expenditure by each family on (a) a laptop and (b) connectivity. [313473]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 26 January 2010]: We expect the total expenditure on the Home Access programme to be in the region of £300 million, with around £240 million of this released in the current spending period (to March 2011) for the pilot and specialist activities and the initial stage (key stages 2 and 3) of the national programme. 270,000 households are due to benefit from the current phase of funding, with over 30,000 already benefitting to date. Customers will be able to get a full package grant worth up to £528, or up to £400 for a device and support only or up to £180 for connectivity only.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to minimise the risks to children arising from their use of the internet. [322814]
Dawn Primarolo: Prof. Tanya Byron's report, "Safer Children in a Digital World" was published in March 2008 and its recommendations on child internet safety were accepted in full by the Government. Subsequently, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) was launched in September 2008. Chaired by DCSF and Home Office ministers, the council unites over 160 organisations from across industry, the third sector, law enforcement and the devolved administrations to deliver the recommendations of the report.
UKCCIS published its first strategy on 9 December 2009, the first of its kind in the world, which laid out the steps that will be taken to help keep children safe online. These include: a £2 million public awareness campaign, launched in February this year, to help parents keep their children safe online; a range of guidance for internet companies, as a further step towards effective self regulation for the industry; and the planned introduction of e-safety to the National Curriculum for Primary Schools in England from September 2010. The UKCCIS strategy can be found at:
The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families asked Prof. Tanya Byron to report on the progress made on improving children's digital safety following her original review in 2008. Prof. Byron's findings are due to reported shortly.
Children: Social Services
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the standard of services for vulnerable children in Calderdale; and what steps his Department plans to take to ensure the protection of children. [320121]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 3 March 2010]: Ofsted published a report of an inspection of safeguarding and looked after children's services on 26 February which judged Calderdale metropolitan borough council's safeguarding services to be "inadequate". After meeting with representatives of the council I have decided that the council should be issued with an improvement notice; that an external chair should be appointed to the Improvement Board established by the council; and, to offer some additional support to ensure that these services improve quickly and sustainably.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on how many occasions each Government Office of the Regions agreed to extend a deadline for the publication of a serious case review in the most recent year for which figures are available. [323263]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 22 March 2010]: Government offices do not have a role in granting extensions for the publication of SCRs. However, paragraph 8.15 of the statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2006) (as amended), which has now been superseded, said that
"there should be a discussion with the Government Office for the region to agree a timescale for completion of SCRs"
The revised "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2010) is clear that, where it emerges that a SCR cannot be completed within the six-month time scale, the LSCB is responsible for revising its timetable and immediately consulting with the relevant Government office. Where a LSCB decides an extension is necessary, it should provide the Government office with a revised project plan and an update on progress, which includes action already taken and an explanation for the extension. The role of the Government office includes providing advice, support and challenge to LSCBs.
The following table gives details of SCRs that were in progress at the time where one or more extensions were granted between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009. The SCRs in the table were not necessarily commissioned within the same period.
| Number of serious case reviews (SCRs) for which one or more deadline extensions were granted between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 | |
| Region | Number |
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average number of pages was in a (a) report on and (b) summary of a serious case review in the most recent period for which figures are available. [323490]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 22 March 2010]: The figures requested are not recorded centrally.
The statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2010) sets out the requirements for SCR overview reports and executive summaries. Their length will vary according to the different features and levels of complexity of individual cases. "Working Together" does, however, include a template for overview reports and for executive summaries. The latter was added to the guidance in March 2010 to help ensure that each executive summary provides a full, thorough account of the SCR and includes the actions to be taken.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many smoking shelters have been built for his Department's staff in the last five years; and at what cost. [324363]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children Schools and Families have erected two smoking shelters in the last five years at a cost of £7,146.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department provides subsidised gym facilities for its staff. [324567]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families does operate a subsidised gym facility at its Sanctuary Buildings headquarters. The subsidy to the managing contractor amounts to £62,500 per annum which is offset by the annual aggregate of membership charges which is £57,516. So far the total cost to the Department from the opening of the gym to the present time is £20,609.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what (a) voltage optimisers and (b) equivalent technologies are used within buildings occupied by his Department. [324982]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families has three voltage optimisers in its London HQ building which cover all incoming supplies.
Departmental Food
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what account his Department's food procurement policy takes of animal welfare. [325534]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The internal food catering contract is predicated on the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PFSPI) that supports the Government's "Strategy for Sustainable Farming in Food-Facing the Future". In addition, the supplier is encouraged to meet Food Assurance Standards through accredited bodies such as Red Tractor, Marine Stewardship Council and the RSPCA Freedom Food Schemes.
Departmental Higher Civil Servants
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many grade 2 civil servants are employed in his Department. [324955]
Ms Diana R. Johnson [holding answer 29 March 2010]: Grade 2 as a description of staff level is no longer in general use. Senior civil servants in similar sized roles are now referred to as being in Pay Band 3 and usually have the job title of Director General. The Department has four full time equivalents at this level.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) communications and (b) press officers were in post in his Department on the latest date for which information is available. [320793]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department employs 26 press officers.
The Department's human resources systems holds information on individuals by their generalist civil service grade and therefore it is not possible to identify everybody engaged in communications work in the department, and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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