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9 Sep 2010 : Column 666W—continued
Mental Illness
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made a recent estimate of the effect on life expectancy of a mental illness; and if he will take steps to seek to reduce that effect. [14493]
Mr Burstow: We have made no recent estimate of the effect on life expectancy of someone with a mental illness. However, we are aware of the body of evidence which suggests that there are increased rates in morbidity and premature mortality in those with serious mental illness. This is also true of those with common mental health disorders which coincide with increased obesity and smoking for example. We intend to address this issue in the new mental health strategy and mention of this has already been made in the new national health service outcomes framework.
Midwives: Manpower
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives were employed by the NHS in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010. [14474]
Anne Milton: The following table shows the number of midwives, both full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount, working in the hospital and community health services as at 30 September 2008 and 30 September 2009. Information for 30 September 2010 is not yet available; it is due to be published in March 2011.
| NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified midwifery staff in England as at 30 September 2008 - 09 | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | |
| Source: NHS Information Centre Non Medical Workforce Census. | ||
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many independent midwives there were in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010. [14498]
Anne Milton: The number of independent midwives is not collected or held centrally.
Motor Neurone Disease: Health Services
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the merits of establishing a national strategy for motor neurone disease; and if he will make a statement. [14091]
Mr Burstow: Motor neurone disease is a long-term neurological condition; the National Service Framework for long-term neurological conditions (NSF) was developed to address long-standing issues in neurological care, such as inequity in access to services; work force shortages and variable quality of care across the country. The NSF's quality requirements include a separate section on addressing the needs of people with rapidly progressing conditions, such as motor neurone disease, where services need to respond quickly.
We have made no assessment of the merits of establishing a national strategy for motor neurone disease.
NHS Walk-in Centres
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether proposed GP commissioning bodies will have the power to close existing NHS walk-in centres. [13698]
Mr Simon Burns: Our overarching principle is that commissioning decisions should wherever possible reflect the views of local clinicians and the local public. Under the proposals set out in our NHS White Paper: "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS", an NHS Commissioning Board will be responsible for commissioning primary care services for registered patients, while general practitioner (GP) consortia will be responsible for commissioning urgent care. The responses to the consultation on "Commissioning for Patients", as part of the wider proposed changes in the White Paper, will enable us to proceed to set out the full details of how GP-led commissioning will work. We urge anyone who has any concerns to respond to the consultation by 11 October.
NHS: Private Sector
Mr Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much income has been received from private patients using NHS hospitals and other NHS facilities since 1990. [13691]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is shown in the following table.
| £ million | ||||||
| Regional and district health authorities and special authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals( 1) | Health authorities( 2) | Primary care trusts( 3) | NHS trusts( 4) | NHS foundation trusts( 5) | Total | |
| '- 'Indicates that there were no organisations in the sector for the particular year. (1) Figures taken from the summarised account of regional and district health authorities and special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals. (2) Figures for private patient income are not separately disclosed in the summarised account of health authorities. The information is not held centrally. (3) Figures taken from the primary care trust audited summarisation schedules which are only retained for seven years. Figures for private patient income are not separately disclosed in the summarised account of primary care trusts. (4) Figures taken from the summarised account of NHS trusts. (5) Figures taken from the consolidated account of NHS foundation trusts. | ||||||
Obesity
Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of people registered with GPs who have a body mass index of (a) 40 or more and (b) 35 or more with a co-morbidity of each (i) sex and (ii) ethnic origin. [13829]
Anne Milton: The information is not available in the format requested.
The data the NHS Information Centre holds on general practitioner-recorded adult obesity relate to the Quality and Outcomes Framework. The QOF includes a register of patients who have had their body mass index (BMI) recorded as greater than or equal to 30 in the last 15 months. This register only includes patients aged 16 and over. In 2008-09, (the latest period for which data have been published) the number of such patients was 4,389,964.
Data relating to sex and ethnic origin are not available via the Quality and Outcomes Framework.
Notes:
1. The QOF is GP-recorded adult obesity status which is collected on behalf of the Department by the NHS Information Centre.
2. QOF does not record the actual BMI so it is not possible to split this figure as to those with a BMI of over 40 or over 35. Sex or ethnicity data are not available via the QOF.
3. Patients will only contribute to the figures in QOF if they are registered with a general practice participating in QOF and who visit their GP in the year in question.
Palliative Care: Finance
Mr Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the use of (a) patient-reported outcome measures, (b) care plans and (c) bereaved relative surveys in developing his Department's policy on end of life care. [13582]
Mr Burstow: The Department is currently consulting on an Outcomes Framework as part of the programme to implement the White Paper "Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS". The Outcomes Framework will include patient-reported outcome measures and end of life care is covered in the consultation document (ref. "Transparency in outcomes-a framework for the NHS", Department of Health, 19 July 2010). A copy of the consultation document has already been placed in the Library.
The End of Life Care Strategy highlights the importance of ensuring patients approaching the end of life and their carers have care plans. End of life care is one of the work streams in the Department Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention programme. This is focussing on accelerating progression on the first steps on the end of life care pathway-identifying people who are approaching the end of life and then planning for their care, including Advance Care Planning.
The End of Life Care Strategy made a commitment to pilot, and then roll out, a survey of bereaved informal carers, which can be used as a proxy measure for the
quality of care provided to the deceased, as well as measuring the care provided to the carers themselves. This commitment is being met through the Views of Informal Carers-Evaluation of Services (VOICES) questionnaire. This has been revised to reflect the recommendations in the Strategy and a pilot is currently under way to test out how the VOICES questionnaire could be most effectively utilised in a national survey. The pilot will run to January 2011. The results from such surveys will inform local policy development.
Social Services: Finance
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of people using (a) direct payments and (b) personal budgets to fund their care who had engaged the services of agency care staff who (i) did not have relevant skills qualifications, (ii) were not subject to regulation and (iii) had not received clearance from the Criminal Records Bureau in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [14466]
Mr Burstow: The Department does not hold this information.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of apprenticeships to the economy (a) nationally and (b) in the North East. [13693]
Mr Hayes: A report commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills in 2007 estimated that the net present value (NPV) of completing an apprenticeship is around £105,000 at Level 3, and £73,000 at Level 2. NPV captures the surplus of lifetime benefits, in terms of higher wages and employment likelihoods, over the costs of undertaking the learning, including both the resource costs to the state and the employer, as well as the value of output foregone during learning.
The full report-"A Cost Benefit Analysis of Apprenticeships and Other Vocational Qualifications"-can be accessed at:
A report commissioned by the Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network in 2008 found that employers recouped the cost of their investment in apprenticeship training within two to three years in the majority of cases. Employers also identified a number of longer term benefits from the training, outlined in the report.
The full report-"'The Net Benefit to Employer Investment in Apprenticeship Training"-can be accessed at:
In neither report is the analysis broken down according to region.
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships were available (a) nationally and (b) in the North East on the most recent date for which figures are available. [13694]
Mr Hayes: Apprenticeships are jointly funded by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education. In 2008/09, the latest full year for which data are available, there were 240,000 apprenticeship starts in England and 17,200 in the north east. Final full year data for 2009/10 will be available in January 2011. In the 2010/11 academic year 131,000 16 to 18-year-old and 167,000 adult apprenticeship starts are planned. The Government's decision to redeploy £150 million of our savings in 2010-11, creating an additional 50,000 adult places, demonstrates our commitment to high-quality employer owned apprenticeships. We fund apprenticeships on a national basis through the Skills Funding Agency-there are no regional or sectoral allocations.
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of persons seeking an apprenticeship (a) nationally and (b) in the North East. [13695]
Mr Hayes: Information on the total number of young people and adults seeking an apprenticeship is not collected centrally. People may start an apprenticeship through a variety of routes, including using apprenticeships vacancies, the national on-line system for advertising and applying for apprenticeship vacancies. Alternatively people may apply directly to a training provider or to an employer offering an apprenticeship programme, or may already be employed and undertake an apprenticeship. However, from this academic year (2010/11) training providers are required to submit all apprenticeship vacancies through the national apprenticeships vacancies system. This does not apply where it is proposed that the apprenticeship opportunity will be offered to a learner already employed. In the last academic year (August 2009 to July 2010) 354,000 candidates had registered to use apprenticeship vacancies and 75,000 candidates made at least one application. A regional breakdown is not available.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many higher level apprenticeship courses will be available in each constituency in the 2010-11 academic year. [13944]
Mr Hayes: Data on the number of higher (level 4) apprenticeships by constituency are not currently available. Aggregate information about the total number of higher apprentice starts is also not separately available at present because of the historically small number of starts at this level. Higher apprenticeships are currently included with advanced (level 3) apprenticeships and data are available through the Department for Business Innovation and Skills Statistical First Releases (SFR) by parliamentary constituency. The supplementary tables through the following link include these data:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirst release/sfr_supplementary_tables/
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people commenced an apprenticeship in (a) 1997 and (b) May 2010. [13960]
Mr Hayes: The number of apprenticeships in 1996/97 was 75,000 last published in the Statistical First Release on the 24 Oct 2002, but these data were calculated on a different basis and therefore may not be directly comparable with later years.
Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts for England from 2003/04 to 2008/09. 2003/04 is the earliest year for which comparable data are available and 2008/09 is the latest year for which full year data are available.
| Table 1: Apprenticeship Programme Starts, 2003/04 to 2008/09 | |
| Academic Year | Apprenticeships |
| Note: 1 All figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Source: Individualised Learner Record | |
Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 24 June 2010
Apprentices: Disability
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what steps his Department is taking to (a) encourage take-up of apprenticeships by and (b) broaden access to apprenticeships for people with disabilities; [14017]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to promote (a) gender and (b) racial equality in the take-up of apprenticeships in all trades. [14018]
Mr Hayes: Both my Department and the Department for Education are responsible for the promotion of equality of access to apprenticeships. The National Apprenticeships Service (NAS), as the body responsible for promoting apprenticeships to employers and to potential apprentices, manages its systems to ensure equal access to information about the programme and to apprenticeship vacancies. Enhanced support includes additional funding available for training providers to support learners with a learning difficulty and/or disability. A priority for NAS is to address stereotyping and under-representation across apprenticeships including gender, race and disability. NAS and the Skills Funding Agency fund apprenticeships through a wide range of training providers including specialist providers that support disadvantaged learners. NAS also works with employers to help them understand and be more responsive to the needs of under-represented groups.
This Department regularly publishes starts, completion and success rate data for all these groups and Ofsted assess training providers on their equality and diversity support for apprentices.
Apprentices: Finance
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) the total administrative cost and (b) the (i) absolute and (ii) percentage administrative cost per apprentice of the National Apprenticeship Scheme was in 2009-10. [13398]
Mr Hayes: In 2009-10, the total expenditure on participation in apprenticeship training was £1,072 million, including the Department for Education's expenditure on apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds. Additionally, a total of £33 million was spent on activities supporting the expansion of the Apprenticeships Programme, such as maintaining the Apprenticeship vacancies IT system, marketing and communications and piloting new delivery models.
It is not possible to provide a meaningful average cost to the public purse of an apprenticeship. The public cost of delivering an apprenticeship varies significantly depending on the industry in which the apprenticeship framework is being delivered; length of stay on the programme; whether the framework is at Level 2 or 3; and whether the participant is in the 16 to 18, 19 to 25 or 25+ age group. For example, the Skills Funding Agency estimates that the cost of delivering a Level 2 adult apprenticeship in business and administration is around £2,700 and is £16,300 for an advanced apprenticeship (Level 3) in engineering for a 16 to 18-year-old.
The Apprenticeship programme is administered by the National Apprenticeship Service, which was housed within the LSC during 2009-10. The total administrative cost of the LSC in 2009-10 was £247 million. Information on the proportion of this expenditure that relates to the administration of apprenticeships is not available.
Business Links
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to ensure the continuation of business advice services provided to small and medium-sized enterprises through Business Link. [14168]
Mr Prisk: This Department is committed to modernising how support, information and advice are provided to businesses. With the proposed abolition of the regional development agencies who manage the Business Link service in the regions, we are currently considering how best to deliver support to business in the future.
Our aim is to establish a better, simpler, more cost effective system of business support delivering:
reduced spend in light of the pressures on public finances;
a clear focus on growth to drive recovery;
support targeted on the businesses which would most benefit;
more local involvement;
best use of technology to ensure a fully modernised and cost effective approach to publicly funded business support, drawing in and complementing more extensive private sector provision.
Whatever the final shape of the business support system, we will work with all delivery partners to ensure an orderly transition and will ensure that any changes to relevant functions and responsibilities are managed as smoothly as possible.
Departmental ICT
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which IT contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the monetary value of each such contract was. [12711]
Mr Davey: Since the coalition Government was formed on 11 May, the Department has not yet terminated, or been informed by its agencies, NDPBs and other partner organisations of the termination of any legally binding IT contracts with a lifetime value over £100,000. A process is currently under way to review ICT projects in line with the coalition Government's ICT moratorium guidance.
Prior to 11 May, the information requested was not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Education: Qualifications
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what assessment he has made of the consultation undertaken with further education colleges by Summit Skills when developing new qualifications under the Qualifications and Credit Framework; [13688]
(2) what steps he takes to ensure that sector skills councils represent the views of small and medium-sized businesses when developing qualifications under the Qualifications and Credit Framework. [13689]
Mr Hayes: Sector Skills Councils consult with a wide range of employers and other interested parties when developing National Occupational Standards, Sector Qualifications Strategies and Action Plans; all of which allow them to decide on the vocational qualifications that then need to be developed for the Qualifications and Credit Framework in their sector.
Sector Qualifications Strategies outline the learning and qualifications needs of employers in their sector and action plans specify where changes and new vocational qualifications are needed. Consultation is built into this process; for example, Summit Skills regularly attends further education conferences to listen to colleges' views. Awarding organisations then develop vocational qualifications and SSCs approve these before they are accredited onto the QCF to ensure that they meet the sectors' skills needs.
National Occupational Standards underpin vocational qualifications and SSCs have specific targets for consulting with small and medium-sized enterprises when developing these standards.
Employment Agency
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. [13704]
Mr Davey: There are no current plans to make any changes to the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate (EAS). EAS will continue to investigate Complaints from workers and enforce the Conduct Regulations using a risk based approach.
EU Grants and Loans
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which body will be responsible for administering European Regional Development Funding in circumstances where that funding is relevant to multi-agency and cross-local authority boundary work, and where the requirement for the funding lies clearly out with any potential local enterprise partnership boundary following the abolition of regional development agencies; and if he will make a statement. [14032]
Robert Neill: I have been asked to reply.
My Department will continue to be the managing authority for ERDF programmes in England. We are currently considering the future arrangements for managing the programmes across England, following the abolition of regional development agencies. This will cover the management of all ERDF projects, including those which involve multi-agency work and cross-local authority boundaries.
EU Grants and Loans: Blackpool
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on Blackpool of the decision to freeze further allocations of North West Development Agency funding under the current European Regional Development Fund programme. [14012]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 8 September 2010]: Funding for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme is still available. We have frozen any further matched funding from the RDA Single Pot, given the in-year budget cuts and the need to manage down RDA commitments during their wind down.
However, ERDF funding is available where it is matched by private sector or other public sector funding, and we would not expect this decision to have any adverse effect on Blackpool.
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the status is of funding allocated by the North West Development Agency to ongoing regeneration projects in Blackpool backed by funding allocated from the European Regional Development Fund. [14013]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 8 September 2010]: NWDA have confirmed that they will continue to fund those projects that are already contractually committed. However they will not be able to fund any project which is not yet contracted. This may affect some of the ongoing regeneration projects in Blackpool.
Graduates
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of people in (a) Liverpool Wavertree constituency and (b) England have graduate or higher level qualifications. [13752]
Mr Hayes: The following table shows the number and percentage of working age adults (men aged 19 to 64 and women aged 19 to 59) in Liverpool local authority and England that hold qualifications equivalent to NGF level 4 or above. These estimates are from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and cover the period from January to December 2009, the latest year for which data are available.
| Table 1: Number and percentage of people aged 19-59/64 holding qualifications at NQF Level 4 or above. 2009 | ||
| England | Liverpool LA | |
While local authority level estimates can be calculated from the Annual Population Survey, the sample is not large enough to provide estimates for smaller geographies such as parliamentary constituencies. Furthermore, estimates for local authorities are subject to large sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with their Confidence Intervals(1) (CIs), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. For example, a 95% CI of +1-2.6 percentage points (pp) means that the true value for the Liverpool estimate shown above is between 24.5% and 29.7% for 95% of cases.
(1 )Those given are 95% confidence intervals
It is important to note that the estimates provided here will not be comparable with estimates from the Labour Force Survey, which BIS uses to report headline measures of qualifications held within the population at national level in England. As well as being based on different time periods, the estimates from the two data sets are compiled using different methodologies. The method used to calculate the headline Labour Force Survey measure allows for known issues arising in capturing data on attainment through social surveys, but this method cannot be applied to the Annual Population Survey data. As a result, the estimates provided above potentially underestimate attainment within the population.
Minimum Wage: Work Experience
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what guidance his Department provides to businesses on their legal obligations under national minimum wage legislation in respect of unpaid interns. [13809]
Mr Davey: The Department provides guidance for businesses on national minimum wage requirements in respect of internships on the businesslink.gov website. This guidance can be found at
Public Sector: Procurement
Pat Glass:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to ensure that small and medium-sized construction development firms in the North East have the opportunity to
compete for public sector procurement contracts on an equal basis with large, national and centralised companies. [11780]
Mr Maude: I have been asked to reply.
The Coalition Programme for Government signals the Government's commitment to small and medium-sized businesses succeeding in the public sector. The Government have set an aspiration that 25% of Government contracts should be awarded to SMEs, and has committed to publishing Government tenders in full, online and free of charge.
To make it easier for SMEs to win public sector business, the Government are also taking steps to simplify and streamline the procurement process, which we will update Parliament on in due course.
Government procurement policy requires that contracts be awarded through fair and open competition, in compliance with EU Treaty principles and UK regulations implementing the EU Procurement Directives. Such competitions are open to all companies regardless of size.
Unemployment: Young People
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many persons aged under 25 years are not in education, employment or training (a) nationally and (b) in the North East. [13696]
Mr Hayes: Estimates of the number and proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England are published quarterly by the Department for Education.
The latest publication is available at:
The supplementary table giving a regional breakdown of 16 to 24-year-olds NEET, and the England total, is available at:
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships funded from the public purse have been taken up in each financial year since the publication of the Leitch Review of Skills in 2004. [13697]
Mr Hayes: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts for England from 2004/05. 2008/09 is the latest year for which full year data are available.
| Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts, 2004/05 to 2008/09 | |
| Academic year | Apprenticeships |
| Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. '-' indicates a base figure of less than 50. Source: Individualised Learner Record | |
Information on the number of apprenticeship starts is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 24 June 2010:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirst release/sfr_current
Cabinet Office
Public Sector: Pay
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the proportion of public sector workers in Scotland who earn (a) less than £21,000 per annum and (b) £21,000 or more per annum. [14342]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated September 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the proportion of public sector workers in Scotland who earn (a) less than £21,000 per annum and (b) £21,000 per annum and over. (14342)
Annual levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay, who have been in the same job for more than a year. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
I attach a table showing the proportion of public sector employees in Scotland who earn (a) less than £21,000 per annum and (b) £21,000 per annum and over in 2009, the latest period for which figures are available. Figures arc provided for all employees and full-time employees.
| Proportion of all and full time public sector employees( 1) earning < £21,000 per annum and > £21,000 per annum (£)-Scotland 2009 | ||
| Percentage | ||
| <£21,000 | >£21,000 | |
| (1) Employees on adult rates who have been in the same job for more than a year. As at April 2009. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics | ||
Treasury
Academies: Finance
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether enactment of the Academies Bill would have Barnett consequentials for (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland. [12186]
Danny Alexander: Funding for the Department of Education in England will be determined in the spending review in the autumn. As education is devolved to the Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and Northern Ireland Executive, any Barnett consequentials will be determined in the spending review in the usual way.
Banks: Loans
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will establish an inquiry into the effectiveness of banks' lending practices in supporting economic recovery. [13692]
Mr Hoban: On 26 July, the Government published a Green Paper on business finance to help inform and take forward its agenda on credit and other sources of finance for businesses.
The Government are inviting views from businesses and the financial community to suggest approaches for enhancing access to finance, including suggestions for the improvement of banks' current lending practices. The Green Paper and information about providing responses are available here:
The deadline for responses is 20 September 2010.
Departmental Travel
Graham Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his (a) Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies has spent on travel for its employees in each year since 1997. [7416]
Justine Greening: The available information on travel spending for the organisations requested is shown in the following table. Data for HM Treasury and the Debt Management Office are only available from 2002-03 due to the introduction of a new accounting system in that year. The Asset Protection Agency was created in 2009-10. The figure quoted for the Royal Mint Advisory Committee includes subsistence. Data for prior years are not available.
| £000 | ||||
| HM Treasury | Debt Management Office | Asset Protection Agency | Royal Mint Advisory Committee | |
EU Budget
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the monetary value was of the last bi-monthly payment from the UK to the EU budget. [11302]
Justine Greening: The latest UK payment to the EU Budget was made on 1 September 2010 and was £804,367,165.72.
The Government have been leading efforts to bear down on the 2011 EU Budget. We believe that it is only fair that the EU Budget plays its part in the difficult fiscal consolidation faced by many EU member states.
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer told a recent meeting of EU Finance Ministers, a freeze in EU spending levels should be considered.
The Government are also taking steps to contain the cost of the EU Budget and when negotiations of the 2014-20 budget envelope begin (expected in the first half of 2011), the Government will strongly defend the UK's national interests and ensure that spending is focused on those areas where the EU adds value.
EU Internal Trade: Fraud
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to reduce missing trader intra-community fraud. [14136]
Mr Gauke: The Government have in place a comprehensive strategy to combat VAT missing trader intra-community fraud. This comprises a wide range of different activities, carried out by staff across HMRC and the United Kingdom Border Force.
As a result, the estimate of attempted fraud has fallen from its peak of between £4 billion and £6 billion in 2005-06 to between £1.0 billion and £2.5 billion in 2008-09. The impact on VAT receipts has also substantially reduced from £2.5-£4.5 billion in 2005-06 to £1,0-£2.5 billion in 2008-09.
Members: Correspondence
Mr Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 30 June, (reference 7/21100/2010), transferred to him from the Department for Work and Pensions. [14336]
Mr Hoban: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Minimum Wage: Enforcement
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to improve enforcement of legislation governing the national minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs. [13701]
Mr Davey: I have been asked to reply.
Effective enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) plays a crucial role in driving up compliance levels. Officials are working with HMRC to deliver a compliance strategy that ensures that enforcement is targeted on the areas where there is the greatest risk of non-compliance. To achieve this, HMRC will be testing new ways of working to focus on the most 'at risk' employers and the most 'at risk' workers. This will include piloting a triage approach to investigating complaints and making greater use of the contribution that community bodies, unions, trade associations in the low pay sectors and other interested parties can make to promoting the NMW and raising the profile of enforcement. We will also be encouraging more NMW inspection activity co-ordinated with the work of other bodies, including the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate. This will build on the joint working agreements put in place following the launch of the single Pay and Work Rights helpline last year.
Central to our compliance strategy is the proposition that a 'one size fits all approach' is not the most effective. We will therefore continue to use a variety of tools and techniques to reach different audiences, ranging from ensuring that up-to-date, practical and accessible guidance is available, through to prosecution of the worst employers. This tailored approach to NMW compliance ensures that employers who want to comply have access to information and tools to enable them to do so and those employers who would otherwise be tempted to operate outside of the law are deterred from doing so.
NHS: Finance
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely financial effect on Barnett consequentials to (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland of proposed changes to health spending in England. [12185]
Danny Alexander: Funding for the NHS in England will be determined in the spending review in the autumn. As health policy is devolved to the Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and Northern Ireland Executive, any Barnett consequentials will be determined in the spending review in the usual way.
Public Sector: Pay
Natascha Engel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the public sector pay freeze for those earning over £21,000 per year will include local government craft workers whose rates of pay are governed by agreements of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Local Authority Craft and Associated Employees; and whether the £250 annual payment for public sector workers earning under £21,000 per year will be paid to such workers. [13992]
Robert Neill: I have been asked to reply.
The pay of local government craft workers is determined by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) for Local Authority Craft and Associated Employees, made up of the employers' side and the trade union side. Central Government have no role in respect of the JNC.
Tax Avoidance
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken by his Department to reduce levels of tax avoidance; and how much additional tax revenue he estimates will accrue from such steps. [13235]
Mr Gauke: This Government are committed to tackling avoidance and intend to build in sustainable defences against avoidance opportunities when undertaking policy reform and to review areas of the tax system in which repeated changes have been necessary to close loopholes.
HMRC's anti-avoidance strategy is based on stopping avoidance at source as far as possible, through robust legislation, early detection of avoidance schemes and engaging with taxpayers to deter them from engaging in tax avoidance.
The disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regime forms a key part of this. It provides early information about schemes and informs efforts to prevent avoidance through legislation and operational intervention. Where avoidance
is identified, HMRC responds quickly by advising the Government on legislative changes to close loopholes and by challenging avoidance schemes vigorously, including, where necessary, through litigation.
As the emphasis of HMRC's strategy is on prevention, it is difficult to provide estimates of the total amount of tax that is protected. However, HMRC estimate that the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regime has already helped to prevent over £12 billion in avoidance opportunities since 2004. Changes announced in the Budget will further strengthen the regime to provide HMRC with better information and make it harder for those who do not comply.
Taxation: Business
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which accountancy firms have been approved by HM Revenue and Customs to conduct independent business reviews of companies seeking to defer their tax payments; and what mechanism his Department used to select these firms. [13337]
Mr Gauke: In a document published on its website on 8 March 2010, HMRC invited expressions of interest from industry experts who wanted to be included on the Independent Business Review Panel. The details of this invitation can be found at:
Following the expression of interest exercise a full list of the successful applicants was published on HMRC's website on the 22 April 2010:
Trade Unions
Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (1) civil servants in his Department spent the equivalent of (a) five days or fewer, (b) five to 10 days, (c) 10 to 15 days, (d) 15 to 20 days, (e) 20 to 25 days and (f) 25 days or more on trade union-related activities or duties while being paid salaries from the public purse in each year since 1997; [11678]
(2) paid manpower hours civil servants in his Department spent on trade union-related duties and activities in each year since 1997. [11677]
Justine Greening: HM Treasury has one member of staff, Grade 7, who spends 0.60 (FTE) of time working as a trade union official.
HM Treasury follow the ACAS Code of Practice "Time off for Trades Union Duties and Activities" when allowing other staff time off for trade union activities available at:
VAT
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the sums to accrue to the Exchequer if zero rating for value added tax were removed from (a) domestic passenger transport, (b) newspapers and magazines and (c) water and sewerage in (i) 2010, (ii) 2012 and (iii) 2015; [12942]
(2) if he will estimate the sum to accrue to the Exchequer if the exemption from value added tax of betting, gaming and the National Lottery were removed in (a) 2010, (b) 2012 and (c) 2015; [12944]
(3) if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer if residential property (a) conversions and (b) renovations were exempt from value added tax in (i) 2010, (ii) 2012 and (iii) 2015. [12957]
Mr Gauke: The estimated costs of VAT zero rates and exemptions are published in table 1.5 'Estimated costs of the principal tax expenditure and structural reliefs' on the HMRC website at
This shows the broad estimated costs of the VAT zero rates on
domestic passenger transport,
books, newspapers and magazines, and
water and sewerage services.
and the VAT exemption from betting, gaming and lottery duties.
As they are based on the current reliefs, they do not include behavioural effects were they to be removed.
No estimates are available of the cost of exempting residential property on conversions and renovations from value added tax.
The specific set of estimates requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Justice
Prisoners: Compensation
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much compensation has been paid to prisoners in each of the last eight years; and on what grounds each payment was made. [12391]
Mr Blunt: The following table details the total amount of compensation paid to prisoners over the last five financial years as a result of civil claims, by way of out of court settlement, or by court award. The figures exclude private establishments. Compensation figures prior to 2004-05 were not collated centrally. The grounds on which individual claims were concluded would entail the checking of more than a thousand files and would entail disproportionate cost.
Community Orders: Public Expenditure
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse was of community sentences in each of the last three years. [12373]
Mr Blunt: It is not currently possible to separate the cost of supervising offenders on community sentences as probation case loads also include significant numbers of offenders who have been released from a custodial sentence or released temporarily into the community. Work is in hand in the National Offender Management Service to ensure that all offender services delivered in custody and in the community are properly specified and costed so that commissioners can ensure resources are targeted effectively to protect the public and reduce reoffending.
Our future plans for, and the balance of expenditure between, custodial and community provision will need to be considered in the light of the assessment of sentencing and work on new approaches to rehabilitation.
Departmental Consultants
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in each year since 2005. [12484]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) came into existence in May 2007, merging the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and part of the Home Office. This means comprehensive and comparable data are only available for 2007 onwards.
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) collates data annually on consultancy expenditure as part of its Consultancy Value Programme which assists Departments in getting best value from Government's use of consultants. Expenditure is reported as a single total for those parts of the Department using central departmental procurement services, namely MOJ headquarters, Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS), the Tribunals Service, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Judicial Appointments Commission. The total was £50 million in 2008-09 and £56 million in 2007-08. A data collection exercise is currently under way for the expenditure on consultants in 2009-10. Figures for the Ministry of Justice family will be published in October 2010.
It is not possible to reliably distinguish consultancy costs from adviser costs, except at a disproportionate cost.
Expenditure on consultants and advisors are detailed in the below table.
Departmental Motor Vehicles
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the annual expenditure on vehicles of (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in each English region was in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is in each case for 2010-11. [12485]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice uses vehicles for a wide range of front-line services, including the transportation of prisoners and defendants. The Ministry's accounting systems do not record information on a regional basis and it would incur disproportionate costs to determine a regional breakdown.
The following table shows the amount spent on the purchase, hire and maintenance of vehicles for Ministry of Justice headquarters, executive agencies and executive non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) where total annual expenditure exceeds £500:
| Nearest £000 | ||||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11( 1) | |
Departmental Pensions
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of pension contributions incurred by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2010-11. [12483]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: Details of planned expenditure for pension contributions for the Ministry of Justice, its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies for 2010-11 are shown in the following table.
| Planned expenditure for 2010-11 | |
| £ | |
| (1) It has not been possible to obtain planned expenditure for 2010-11 without incurring disproportional costs, information for year-to-date spend (i.e. April to July) expenditure are included in the table above. (2 )Legal Service Commission (LSC) pensions cost for 2009-10 are awaiting audit confirmation. LSC has used available funds in prior years to make prepayments to ease cash spend for future years and plan to make zero contribution in 2010-11. | |
The information on planned pension contributions for 2010-11 will be published in the relevant Department's/NDPB's Annual Report or Resource Accounts in due course. Estimates provided have not been audited and are therefore subject to change.
Information on planned pension contributions for 2010-11 covering National Offender Management Service Agency is not accessible at this time. My officials will provide the planned costs as soon as they are available.
Details of pension contributions made by the Ministry of Justice, its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies for each of the last three financial years are shown in the following table.
It has not been possible to provide this information broken down according to contributions for (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland without incurring disproportional costs.
Judiciary: Public Expenditure
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the public purse was of a (a) district judge and (b) bench of magistrates in the latest period for which figures are available. [12367]
Mr Djanogly: The average 2010-11 costs of regional and London district judges (magistrates) will be £147,320 and £153,050 respectively.
The average 2009-10 cost of a bench of magistrates was £1,945.
Prisoners: Computers
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been provided laptop computers in each of the last five years. [12414]
Mr Blunt: The number of laptop computers issued to prisoners is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by asking each prison to analyse records held locally.
There are two main reasons for the issue of laptop computers to prisoners:
(1) education-higher education/Open University-type course work, usually used under supervision in a classroom environment, although computers are also issued on a personal basis to a small number of risk-assessed prisoners for use in cell where this is considered appropriate; and
(2) access to justice-to assist in the preparation of defence, appeal, or related legal work in those cases where it is satisfactorily demonstrated that the refusal to grant such facilities would raise a genuine risk of prejudicing the legal proceedings.
In addition to the risk assessment process, any computer that prisoners have access to is subject to strict security controls. Any laptop computer issued for in-cell use will be restricted to specific applications with no unauthorised access to external programs, including the internet.
Trilateral Working
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what organisational arrangements he has made to ensure the effectiveness of trilateral working between his Department, the Home Office and the Attorney-General's Office on matters relating to the operation of (a) the criminal justice system and (b) the criminal law. [12161]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: There is joint working at all levels between the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Attorney-General's Office on the operation of the criminal justice system and criminal law. The importance of a joined-up approach is reflected in the Prime Minister's appointment of my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel & South Downs (Nick Herbert), as Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice, reporting to both me as Secretary of State for Justice and the Home Secretary.
These arrangements are underpinned by trilateral governance structures, including a Crime and Criminal Justice Strategy Board and a CJS Operational Board, which brings together heads of the criminal justice agencies and the Senior Presiding Judge.
In relation to matters pertaining to the criminal law, these are commonly discussed during the regular ministerial meetings which are held between me the Secretary of State for Justice, the Home Secretary and the Attorney-General. In addition, any proposals for new legislation are now required to be brought to my attention (the Secretary of State for Justice) as a gatekeeping measure. This function ensures both that only strictly necessary
legislation is introduced and confirms that joint working is taking place between relevant departments when considering the impact of legislation.
Unpaid Fines
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect on the level of unpaid fines of his Department's plan to increase the use of fines. [12397]
Mr Blunt: The national payment rate for financial penalties at the end of the 2008-09 financial year was 85% and 71% excluding the value of administrative cancellations. The payment rate covers fines, compensation, victims surcharge, and unpaid fixed penalty notices. Her Majesty's Courts Service has in place a strategy to increase the success of compliance with court orders particularly with regard to financial penalties-the Criminal Compliance and Enforcement Services Blueprint. This was launched in July 2008 and is being implemented across HMCS. The blueprint sets out HMCS's strategic objective for enforcement which is for a cheaper, faster and more proportionate system that primarily focuses on 'first time' compliance while continuing to apply the principles of rigorous enforcement to the hard core of defaulters. The blueprint implementation ensures greater use of the sanctions available under the Courts Act 2003 and extended methods of payment. In the 2009-10 financial year HMCS collected £259,241,082 which was £12.5 million (5%) more cash against financial penalties than in the 2008-09 year.
The use of fines is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Justice as part of a full assessment of sentencing. We will publish sentencing proposals for consultation in a Green Paper in the autumn. Any proposals made in relation to fines will take into account the issue of enforcement.
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