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6 July 2010 : Column 162W—continued
Departmental Equality
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent by his Department (a) in total and (b) on staff costs on promoting equality and diversity in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many people are employed by his Department for that purpose. [5199]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice aims to ensure equality and diversity is at the heart of all we deliver and is an integral part of the work of all our staff.
Across the various functions of the Ministry there is a range of equality and diversity work being undertaken in different ways as part of policy making, service delivery and staff support.
However, to disaggregate this annual spend, and estimate percentages devoted to the promotion of equality and diversity across the Ministry would incur disproportionate cost.
Driving Offences: Fines
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average fine levied on a person convicted of an offence under section (a) 14(3) and (b) 41D of the Road Traffic Act 1988 was in the last 12 months. [5439]
Mr Blunt: The average fine imposed at all courts in England and Wales for offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988, sections 14 and 15, for 2008 (latest available) is given in the table. It is not possible to separately identify section 14(3) from other offences in sections 14 and 15.
Section 41D gave authority to existing regulations, under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, to make certain offences endorsable. The average fine imposed at all courts for these offences are also given in the table.
Court proceedings data for 2009 are planned for publication on 21 October 2010.
Driving Offences: Mobile Phones
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions there have been of people of each sex in each age group in (a) England and Wales, (b) Essex and (c) Southend for the offence of driving while using a hand-held mobile telephone since the creation of that offence. [5438]
Mr Blunt: The information requested was previously given in an answer to the hon. Gentleman on 8 March 2010, Official Report, column 86W. The following table provides data up to 2008 (latest available). Data for 2009 are planned for publication on 21 October 2010.
Court proceedings data are not available at town or parliamentary constituency level.
Magistrates' Courts: Bradford
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to extend the operating hours at Bradford magistrates court. [5037]
Mr Djanogly: One of the purposes of the consultation on the closure of a number of courts is to improve utilisation. Currently HM Courts Service has excess capacity in magistrates when compared to the demand. As such there are no plans to extend the operating hours; the current operating hours are considered sufficient.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much unused (a) physical courtroom capacity and (b) court time there is at Bradford magistrates court; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of unused capacity at Bradford magistrates court to accommodate current levels of work at Bingley magistrates court. [5039]
Mr Djanogly: Bradford magistrates court has 10 courtrooms; Keighley magistrates court (sitting at Bingley) has four courtrooms.
Based on local HMCS management information, for the 12-month period ending 30 April 2010 the average rolling monthly courtroom utilisation rate for Bradford magistrates court was 63.7%. For the same period, the average rolling monthly courtroom utilisation rate for Keighley magistrates court was 70.8%. The utilisation percentages are arrived at by comparing actual court sitting times with the time available (five hours being the length of a court in session for a day).
In April 2010 the Bradford family proceedings court and family casework moved from the magistrates court to the Bradford combined court where a new hearing room has been created.
The assessment in light of the above is that there is sufficient capacity at Bradford magistrates court to accommodate the work of the Keighley magistrates court.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the initial incidental cost to the public purse of transferring the work of Bingley magistrates court to Bradford magistrates court. [5040]
Mr Djanogly: Following the public consultation, should the decision be made to close Keighley magistrates court (sitting at Bingley), analysis of the costs and benefits of transferring the work of the court will be included in the impact assessment to be produced after the consultation period.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the effects on the (a) cost and (b) duration of journeys between prison and court of the merging of Bradford magistrates court and Bingley magistrates court. [5041]
Mr Djanogly: Details of the impacts of any closure on prison journeys will be included in the impact assessment that will be produced following the consultation period.
It is 12 miles from HMP Leeds to Keighley magistrates court (situated in Bingley) and it would take approximately 24 minutes to travel this distance. It is eight miles from HMP Leeds to Bradford magistrates court and it would take approximately 16 minutes to travel this distance.
During the three months from March to May 2010 there were 52 prisoner journeys to Bingley. If these journeys were to Bradford rather than Bingley there would be an overall reduction of around £250.
Magistrates Courts: Greater London
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons he proposes to merge the local justice areas of Lambeth and Southwark, Croydon and Sutton. [5042]
Mr Djanogly: The reasons for the proposed local justice area (LJA) mergers in London are set out on page 9 of consultation paper HMCS CP 12/10.
In inner London, LJAs generally cover two London boroughs; in outer London, LJAs cover one. This constrains our deployment of judiciary and distribution of work load.
We are consulting on a proposal to reduce the number of LJAs because fewer local areas will make it possible for us to administer work more efficiently and distribute work more effectively, unconstrained by existing borough boundaries.
By being able to move work across borough boundaries more easily, to other courts where existing capacity is not fully used, we will improve courtroom utilisation and thereby make better use of courtroom capacity and, in turn, magistrates' time. The proposed mergers will also reduce the costs associated with administering the current 28 LJAs and facilitate the more efficient deployment of staff.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of adapting Camberwell Green magistrates court to accommodate work transferred from Tower Bridge magistrates court. [5043]
Mr Djanogly: While the proposed closure of Tower Bridge magistrates court forms part of the current consultation exercise, it has been under consideration for several years as part of HMCS London Region's aspiration to improve magistrates court facilities and services across central and south London. The strategy that has been developed envisages the replacement of a number of old, inefficient courthouses with three larger, more modern and operationally efficient courthouses. The first of these, the new Westminster magistrates court in Marylebone, is due to open next year.
Within this overall strategy, the plan for Camberwell Green is to redevelop the site to construct five additional courtrooms. This plan has not been designed solely to facilitate the closure of Tower Bridge magistrates court, although expansion would allow closure and disposal of the freehold courthouse. The key driver is to enable HMCS to improve and modernise the facilities available to court users and generate greater listing flexibility. The operationally-preferred option also creates further capacity for international jurisdiction work in response to significant workload growth in this area of business.
Indicative costings only exist at present; depending on the expansion option chosen, total works costs range between £9.3 million-£11.5 million. Inevitably the scheme and any consequential closure would only progress once funding becomes available. This will be determined as part of Spending Review deliberations later this year.
National Offender Management Service
Mr Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of senior managers in the National Offender Management Service have a background in (a) the probation service and (b) the prison service. [5668]
Mr Blunt: The prison and probation services operate within the framework of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Agency. For historical reasons the two services have different employment structures. Prison service staff are civil servants and are directly employed by the NOMS Agency. Probation service staff are not civil servants and are employed by a probation trust.
Information on the career histories of senior managers within NOMS does not include national probation service experience. It is therefore not possible, without individually contacting all senior managers, to determine how many have worked in the probation service. Probation service experience is provided by staff on secondment from probation trusts although the number of such staff across NOMS is not recorded.
Previous experience within prison service establishments is recorded. Of the 898 senior managers working in NOMS who are civil servants, 281 (31%) are currently based in prisons, 216 (24%) are currently based in headquarters but have previously served in prison establishments and 401 (45%) have no record of prison experience. Working in an establishment does not necessarily imply a prisoner facing role.
National Offender Management Service: Finance
Mr Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much has been spent on offender management services commissioned by each Director of Offender Management since their inception; [5658]
(2) what proportion of the expenditure on services commissioned by each Director of Offender Management since their inception was allocated to (a) voluntary sector and (b) private sector organisations. [5659]
Mr Blunt: Table 1 as follows shows the amount spent on Offender Management Services commissioned by each Director of Offender Management since their inception on 1 April 2009.
| Table 1 | |||
| Region | Prisons | Probation | Total |
Table 2 as follows shows the proportion of the expenditure of services commissioned by each Director of Offender Management allocated to the voluntary sector and private sector organisations. This will include figures contained in Table 1 for private sector prisons.
| Table 2 | |||
| Region | Voluntary sector | Private Sector | Total |
The financial data in both tables represent actual expenditure for the financial year 2009-10. The information provided is the expenditure directly commissioned by each Director of Management Services.
National Offender Management Service: Manpower
Mr Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many senior managers of grades A to D in the prison service are employed by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS); and of these how many are based (a) at NOMS headquarters and (b) elsewhere. [5669]
Mr Blunt: On 31 March 2010 there are 898 senior managers employed within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Of these 281 are based in establishments and 617 are based in NOMS headquarters, which includes offices across the nine English regions and Wales and the National Shared Service Centre.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the address is of the head office of each non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible. [5713]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice is responsible for over 30 distinct non-department public bodies. I have placed details of the office addresses of each non- departmental body for which the Ministry is responsible in the Libraries of both Houses.
Offenders: Rehabilitation
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has spent on (a) imprisonment and (b) rehabilitation of offenders under the age of 18 years in each of the last five years. [6500]
Mr Blunt: The cost of custody for under-18s reflects the intensive, rehabilitative regime in the under 18 estate-including the delivery of specific rehabilitation activity, for example education and substance misuse programmes.
The figures in the following table taken from published Youth Justice Board annual reports show the cost of purchasing places and regimes for children and young people in the secure estate.
| Cost (£ million) | |
All services commissioned or delivered by Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to young people within the criminal justice system are intended to rehabilitate them and address the causes of their offending behaviour.
The figures in the following table taken from published YJB annual reports show that it allocated the following funding to YOTs for the delivery of such services to 10 to 17-year-olds within the criminal justice system.
| Allocated funding (£ million) | |
The Youth Offending Teams also receive financial contributions from local police, probation and health services; from the local authority; and from the Welsh Assembly Government where appropriate.
Prison Sentences
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people given custodial sentences of less than 12 months in each of the last two years were convicted of each type of offence. [5364]
Mr Blunt: The requested information is provided in the following tables. The data show the total number of immediate custody of less than 12 months for each offence type and suspended custodial sentences for each offence type.
| Number of immediate custodial sentences of less than 12 months, by offence type, 2007-08 | ||
| Immediate custody | 2007 | 2008 |
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people who were given custodial sentences of up to six months in the latest year for which figures are available were convicted of each offence. [6084]
Mr Blunt: The requested information is available in the following table.
Prison Service: Contracts
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many suppliers were contracted to supply fresh produce to the prison service in each year since 2004; and how many of those suppliers were located in the prison service area they were contracted to supply; [5357]
(2) what the cost to the public purse was of purchasing fresh produce for the Prison Service in each year since 2004. [5358]
Mr Blunt: The number of suppliers contracted to supply fresh produce to prisons between 2004 and 2007 was 18. Suppliers determined the list of prisons they preferred to supply during the tender process which was evaluated against predetermined criteria. Subsequently, contracts were awarded to suppliers on a regional and/or national basis dependant on their location and capability to fulfil our requirements to ensure the most cost effective and best value for money option achieved. All prisons had a minimum of two local suppliers to choose from on a weekly basis to purchase their requirements. The full list of suppliers is shown as follows.
A David & Co. Ltd
Augro Fresh Ltd
Bristol Fruit Sales
F W Gedney
G W Price Ltd
Greenvale AP plc
Histon Produce Co. Ltd
Hopelake Food Group
John Palin Ltd
M J Morris & Son Ltd
Minor Weir & Willis Ltd
Peachey Catering Services Ltd
R S Cockerill Ltd
Redbridge Produce and Flowers Ltd
S T Holmes
Swithenbank Foods
Thomas Baty Ltd
Tom Mitchell Ltd
In 2007, a national framework contract was awarded to 3663 First for Foodservice, which includes the provision of fresh fruit and vegetables. 3663 fulfil this requirement of national supply through 13 regional depots. This contract is in place until May 2011.
The cost to the public purse for the provision of fresh produce in prisons in each year from 2004 is detailed as follows.
| Financial year (April-March) | Spend (£) |
| n/a = Not available (1) Spend from April-June 2010 | |
Prior to the introduction of our electronic purchasing system in 2007, spend data from suppliers were held regionally and relied on suppliers submitting information on a regular basis. Consistent information was centrally collated from the start of the 2005 financial year and therefore spend information for the 2004 financial year in not available from our central office.
Prison Service: Retirement
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on raising the retirement age for prison officers. [5639]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not have any current plans to increase the retirement age for prison officers. A new retirement policy was implemented in March 2010 in response to Permanent Secretaries' decision to reduce the use of mandatory retirement ages in the civil service.
NOMS currently operates a normal retirement age of 65 for all prison officer grades. Staff subject to a normal retirement age are entitled to request an extension of service beyond this age, and to a right of appeal where a request is declined.
Prisons: Drugs
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to improve drug treatment facilities in prisons. [5645]
Mr Blunt: This Government recognise that drug treatment is essential if we are to tackle the social and health costs caused by drugs. However, more needs to be done to help drug misusers to recover from their addiction and get into steady housing and employment. We believe the balance of treatment currently has tipped too far towards maintaining drug users' addictions.
A comprehensive framework of drug treatment is in place in prisons to address the drug needs of all offenders. This comprises clinical services, psychosocial interventions, case management and through care services.
Through a phased introduction that began in 2006, the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) is bringing improvements to the quality of prison treatment. Department of Health funding has risen to around £45 million in 2010-11, with IDTS due to be rolled out to all English adult prisons by March 2011.
We will explore the best ways to help more offenders get off drugs for good and into a position where they can stop offending and make a proper contribution to society. We will consider all viable options in the context of a full review of sentencing and rehabilitation policy.
Probation
Mr Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on probation services commissioned by each probation trust in the latest year for which information is available; and what proportion of that funding was allocated to (a) the national probation service, (b) the voluntary sector and (c) the private sector. [5671]
Mr Blunt: The following table provides the expenditure for probation services commissioned by the 8 probation trusts that were in existence in 2009-10 financial year.
| Trust | Delivered internally | Voluntary sector | Private sector | Local authorities | Total |
The figures for the response to proportion allocated to (a) the national probation service have been provided as allocated for services delivered internally. For the sake of clarity the table also shows where individual trusts commission services from local authorities.
Young Offenders
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its predecessor spent on preventive measures to tackle youth offending in the last five years. [6417]
Mr Blunt: The figures in the following table are taken from published Youth Justice Board annual reports show the incurred expenditure on specific prevention programmes for the last five years. This does not include significant investment on prevention from the Home Office and Department for Education, or local investment in prevention programmes:
| Incurred expenditure (£ million) | |
The YJB annual accounts for 2009-10 will be published later this month.
Young Offenders: Special Educational Needs
Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young offenders with (a) statemented and (b) non-statemented special educational needs have been placed in young offender institutions in each of the last 10 years. [5446]
Mr Blunt: These data are not collected centrally. In the research for Evaluation of Asset, carried out by Oxford University for the Youth Justice Board in 2002, 25% of the sample of young offenders had special needs identified, and just over 60% of those had a statement of special educational needs (SEN).
Health
Arthritis: Health Services
Mr Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will include the care of rheumatoid arthritis as a priority in the next iteration of his Department's world class commissioning assurance framework. [5275]
Mr Burstow: There are no plans for a further iteration of the commissioning assurance framework.
The 'Coalition: our programme for government' document confirms this Government's intention to strengthen the power of GPs as patients' expert guides through the health system by enabling them to commission care on their behalf. We will bring forward more detailed proposals in due course.
Complementary Medicine: Expenditure
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an estimate of the expenditure by each NHS primary care trust on commissioning (a) homeopathic and (b) chiropractic therapies in each of the last 10 years. [4389]
Anne Milton: Data on spending in these areas are not routinely collected by the Department. Decisions on the commissioning and funding of any treatment are the responsibility of local national health service organisations. Issues such as safety, clinical and cost effectiveness, and the availability of suitably qualified/regulated practitioners need to be taken into account when making such decisions.
Food: Fat and Salt
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) food manufacturers, (b) caterers and (c) food producers to reduce the amount of saturated fat in food products; [5187]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) food producers and (b) caterers continue to reduce the salt content of commonly consumed foods. [5189]
Mr Burstow: The Government recognise the extensive work already carried out to encourage the food industry to reduce levels of salt and saturated fat in food, and the significant achievements that have been made by all sectors of the food industry.
We are committed to improving public health, and we will continue to engage with the food industry on areas such as product reformulation.
The Food Standards Agency has a programme in place to reduce salt intakes in the United Kingdom from levels of around 9.5g (in 2000-01) to no more than 6g/day for adults, and lower levels for children. To achieve this objective, work has been undertaken with the UK food industry, including caterers, to reduce levels of salt in food; a public awareness campaign has been run to inform consumers of why a high salt intake is bad for health and what they can do to reduce their intakes; and signpost labelling is provided to consumers on food labels to help them make informed choices.
Health Hazards: Radon Gas
Mr Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice is available to householders on the dangers of radon gas; and if he will make a statement. [5481]
Mr Simon Burns: The Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Radiation Protection Division provides advice on risks from all types of radiation including radon gas. The HPA has recently created a new website:
which also hosts the new radon map developed in collaboration with the British Geological Survey. HPA specifically targets high risk areas with roadshows and campaigns and provides free measurements to householders in these areas; and mitigates houses that are found to have extremely high readings.
Health Services
David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of treatments available through the NHS his Department classifies as fully evidence-based. [6380]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not hold a central list of treatments available through the national health service.
Health Services: Standards
David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that patient satisfaction outcomes are considered in the commissioning of NHS services. [6379]
Mr Simon Burns: This Government are committed to putting patients at the heart of the national health service, and focusing the NHS on delivering better outcomes for patients. This focus on outcomes will include improving the experience of patients. We will be bringing forward proposals on this area in due course.
Homeopathy: Expenditure
David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the total NHS budget was spent on homeopathic services in the last 10 years. [6377]
Anne Milton: Data on spending on homeopathic services as a whole are not routinely collected by the Department.
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has employed in each of the last five years. [6174]
Mr Simon Burns: The following table shows headcount for qualified nurses, midwifery and health visiting staff at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as at 30 September each year.
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Notes: 1. This shows qualified nursing staff totalled and split by qualified nursing substantive staff and qualified bank nursing staff. 2. Banking nursing staff are employees of a trust or wider national health service (e.g. through NHS Professionals) who work on an ad-hoc basis. This could include staff working only as Bank staff, or substantive employees who also work some additional time through the bank system. Source: Information Centre for health and social care. | |||||
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cardiology operations at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been cancelled in the last 12 months. [6175]
Mr Simon Burns: We are advised that the James Paget Hospital University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust does not undertake any cardiology operations.
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time in the accident and emergency department at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was in each of the last five years. [6176]
Mr Simon Burns: Information is not collected in the format requested.
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) accident and emergency (A&E) data are only available from 2007-08. The following table sets out the mean and median
duration to departure times in minutes for James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for 2007-08 and 2008-09.
| Mean duration to departure (minutes) | Median duration to departure (minutes) | Number of attendances recorded | |
| Notes: 1. The table shows average A&E duration to departure times in minutes for James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from 2007-08 to 2008-09. 2. Duration to Departure: The time (expressed as a whole number of minutes) between the patient's arrival and the time the A&E attendance has concluded and the department is no longer responsible for the care of the patient. 3. Number of attendances recorded: An attendance is a record for every patient that attends an A&E department, including a major A&E department, single specialty A&E departments, walk-in centres and minor injuries units. Any one patient can have multiple attendances, which may be in the same or different time periods, for the same or different condition. 4. A&E Data Quality:HES are compiled from data sent by a number of national health service providers across England. The NHS Information centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. The A&E HES publications address some of the key data quality and coverage issues. These are available on HES online at: www.hesonline.nhs.uk Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |||
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many avoidable deaths occurred at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each of the last five years; [6177]
(2) how many deaths resulting from complications during surgery there have been at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each of the last five years. [6178]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is a matter for James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to John Hemming, chair of James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of my hon. Friend's enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been prosecuted for attacks on staff at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the last 12 months. [6179]
Mr Simon Burns: The James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has reported no prosecutions for attacks on staff in the last 12 months.
Muscular Dystrophy: Social Services
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that muscular dystrophy care advisors are appointed in each region. [6245]
Mr Burstow: The national health service in England has agreed to create further care co-ordinator roles, as well as taking over the funding of those posts currently funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. This will bring the complement of care- co-ordinator posts in England to 16.
NHS: Standards
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Care Quality Commission to publish the outcomes of its next set of annual health checks for health providers and commissioners. [5230]
Mr Simon Burns: In October, for benchmarking purposes the Care Quality Commission intends to publish 2009-10 performance by national health service organisations against each of the indicators set out in the NHS Operating Framework.
Patient Choice Schemes
David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Choose and Book system in widening patient choice. [6378]
Mr Simon Burns: The February 2010 'National Patient Choice Survey', published on 30 June, shows that of those patients offered a choice of hospital, 73% booked their appointment through Choose and Book. The choice of date and time varied by method of booking, with 26% of those who booked when the hospital contacted them being offered a choice of date and time, compared with 41% of those booked through Choose and Book in the surgery, 56% of those calling an appointments line and 85% of those booking via Choose and Book on the internet.
Primary Care Trusts: Finance
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to announce his decision on the allocation of funding to primary care trusts in financial years (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14. [5744]
Mr Simon Burns: The coalition agreement commits to increases in health spending in real terms in each year of the Parliament. Final departmental spending plans will be announced in the Spending Review in the autumn. Then the NHS operating framework for 2011-12 will set out the detail of both revenue and capital allocations in this revised funding context.
Strategic Health Authorities: Translation Services
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each (a) strategic health authority and (b) primary care trust spent on translation services in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [6673]
Mr Burstow: When planning such services, national health service bodies should take due account of their legal duties, the composition of the communities they serve, and the needs and circumstances of their patients, service users and local populations.
NHS bodies are not required to report their planned or actual spending on interpretation and translation services to the Department.
Strokes: Health Services
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss with voluntary sector providers the effect on stroke survivors and carers of ending ring-fenced funding for the National Stroke Strategy. [5888]
Mr Simon Burns: Arrangements are being made for me to meet representatives of the Stroke Association where a range of issues will be discussed.
Strokes: Health Services and Education
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funding he plans to allocate to strategic health authorities for stroke service development in the next financial year; [5290]
(2) what funding he plans to allocate to raising public and professional awareness of stroke in the next financial year. [5291]
Mr Simon Burns: Funding allocations from 2011-12 to 2014-15 will be subject to the spending review, which will be announced in October.
Treasury
Banks: Finance
Mr Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects each contribution from the Exchequer to banks in which UK Financial Investments Ltd has a stake to be repaid; and if he will make a statement. [6140]
Mr Hoban: UK Financial Investments Ltd. (UKFI) was set up by the Government to manage its investments in financial institutions at arm's length and on a commercial basis. UKFI's strategy for managing and ultimately divesting the investments over time is available at:
Business: Insolvency
Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of businesses were entered into insolvency by HM Revenue and Customs in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and in how many such cases HM Revenue and Customs was the sole creditor. [6491]
Mr Gauke: The number of bankruptcy and company winding up orders granted to HMRC in England and Wales from April 2009 to March 2010 was around 6,150 which equates to around 8% of those granted overall.
The other information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Child Benefit
Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) mothers receive child benefit and (b) children trigger payments of child benefit in Makerfield constituency. [6195]
Barbara Keeley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) mothers receive child benefit and (b) children trigger payments in Worsley and Eccles South constituency. [6078]
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many mothers receive child benefit in Stretford and Urmston constituency; and how many children trigger child benefit payments in that constituency. [5843]
Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) mothers receive child benefit and (b) children trigger child benefit payments in (i) Glasgow North and (ii) Ealing Central and Acton constituency. [6183]
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) mothers receive child benefit and (b) children trigger payments of child benefit in (i) Slough, (ii) Salisbury and (iii) Scarborough and Whitby constituency. [6008]
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many mothers receive child benefit in Houghton and Sunderland South constituency; and how many children trigger child benefit payments in that constituency. [5894]
Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many mothers in Kingston upon Hull North constituency are in receipt of child benefit; and how many children trigger such payments. [6522]
Mr Gauke: The latest information on the number of families receiving child benefit, by each parliamentary constituency, local authority and region is available in the HMRC snapshot publication "Child Benefit Statistics Geographical Analysis, August 2009". This can be found at:
Child Care Tax Credit
Ian Lavery: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in (a) Wansbeck constituency and (b) the UK are in receipt of the childcare element of tax credits. [6089]
Mr Frank Roy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Motherwell and Wishaw constituency are in receipt of child tax credits. [6530]
Mr Gauke: The latest information on the number of families with children benefiting from the childcare element of tax credits, by each parliamentary constituency and region, is available in the HMRC snapshot publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical Analyses. April 2010". This can be found at:
Departmental Lost Property
Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what property has been recorded as (a) lost and (b) stolen from the Department in the last 12 months; and what estimate has been made of the cost of the replacement of that property. [5962]
Justine Greening: The following items of HM Treasury property were reported lost or stolen during the 12 months ending December 2009:
| Property lost or stolen in 2009 | |
| Description | |
|
2 BlackBerry mobile devices, 1 remote access unit, 1 laptop case, 1 PC mouse, 1 filing cabinet key | |
The total cost of replacement is estimated at £2,100.
Government Departments: Procurement
Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to recoup any shortfall in his predicted savings from renegotiations of contracts with suppliers of goods and services to Government Departments. [4692]
Mr Maude: I have been asked to reply.
Work being carried out across Government to renegotiate contracts within individual Departments is being augmented by a centrally led programme of work to engage in commercial negotiations on a pan Government basis. This is one strand that the Efficiency and Reform Group is taking forward to enable savings centrally.
Other strands include centralising procurement, driving down the cost of the Government estate and reducing unnecessary spend on consultancy and advertising. The Government will be driving each strand aggressively to deliver the maximum benefit across the planned initiatives and ensure that as much money as possible can be directed towards our priorities.
Housing: Rents
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the (a) 50th percentile rent for (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three, (iv) four and (v) five-bedroom properties in 2010-11 and (b) 30th percentile rent for each type of property in (A) Bishop Auckland and (B) Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency. [5182]
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the level of (a) 50th percentile rents in 2010-11 and (b) 30th percentile rents in 2011-12 for (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three, (iv) four and (v) five bedroom properties in West Lancashire constituency. [5629]
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the level of (a) 50th percentile and (b) 30th percentile rents in 2011-12 for (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three, (iv) four and (v) five-bedroom properties in Stretford and Urmston constituency. [5855]
Mr Gauke: The 50th percentile rents for each category is the local housing allowance (LHA) median rate which is published each month. These rates are available at:
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has published the indicative 30(th) percentile rates in each bedroom category for Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMA) in England on its website:
This information is based on data used to produce the June 2010 LHA rates. LHA rates are produced for BRMAs which do not equate to constituency areas.
Pregnant Women: Grants
Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many health in pregnancy grants were made in Makerfield constituency in 2009-10; [6194]
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many health in pregnancy grants were made in Stretford and Urmston constituency in 2009-10; [5851]
Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many health in pregnancy grants were made in (a) Glasgow North and (b) the area covered by Ealing Central and Acton constituency in 2009-10; [5996]
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many health in pregnancy grants were made to people in (a) Slough, (b) Salisbury and (c) Scarborough and Whitby constituency in 2009-10. [6014]
Mr Gauke: Geographical analysis of the number of people benefiting from the Health in Pregnancy grant has not previously been undertaken and therefore this information is only available at disproportionate cost.
Revenue and Customs: Telephone Numbers
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements are in place for the payment of charges for calls to the 0845 numbers used by HM Revenue and Customs. [5363]
Mr Gauke: HMRC does not receive any revenue directly through the use of 0845 numbers.
HMRC's Contact Centre telephony is provided through a commercial arrangement called the Telephony Managed Service. This takes account of the in-payments HMRC's telephony service provider receives from licensed operators carrying 0845 calls. The arrangement ensures that the Telephony Managed Service is provided at the lowest cost while remaining flexible enough to adapt to business and customer needs.
HMRC is aware that the cost of calling its 0845 helplines can be an issue for some of its customers. HMRC is in the process of carrying out an in depth review of its telephone numbering strategy, looking at ways to reduce the costs to customers while balancing the costs to HMRC and the performance of its Contact Centre network.
VAT: Audio Recordings
Dr Huppert: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much value added tax was paid on the sale of audio books in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [6244]
Mr Gauke: This information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT raised from sales of this type of goods.
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