17 Feb 2011 : Column 887W

Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 17 February 2011

Communities and Local Government

Affordable Housing: Construction

Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable housing units he expects to have been completed in the London borough of Bexley in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [41403]

Andrew Stunell: The Department does not forecast levels of future house building, and delivery will be determined by local housing plans.

We launched the Framework for the Affordable Homes Programme on 14 February 2011. There is almost £4.5 billion investment in new affordable housing to deliver up to 150,000 new affordable homes. The actual number of homes delivered in each year will be dependent on agreements between registered providers and the Homes and Communities Agency in consultation with local authorities. Providers have until 3 May 2011 to submit delivery proposals to the agency.

Councillors

Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department issues guidance to local councils wishing to reduce the number of councillors. [41402]

Robert Neill: No. The size of principal councils is a matter for the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which is directly responsible to Parliament.

Guidance about electoral reviews, including issues about council size, is available on the Commission's website.

Departmental Domestic Visits

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the date was of each ministerial visit to each local authority area since May 2010. [38617]

Robert Neill [holding answer 7 February 2011]: Further to the answer I gave the right hon. Member on 21 December 2010, Official Report, column 1308W, since May 2010, the following ministerial visits have been made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), and his ministerial team:

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has visited:


17 Feb 2011 : Column 888W

The Minister for Housing and Local Government (Grant Shapps) has visited:

The Minister for Decentralisation (Greg Clark) has visited:

The Parliam entary Under-Secretary of State (Robert Neill) has visited:

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Andrew Stunell) has visited:


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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State ( Baroness Hanham ) has visited:

Departmental Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) women and (b) men have been appointed to public duties by his Department since May 2010. [35396]

Robert Neill: I have interpreted appointments to "public duties" to mean the same as "public appointments". I therefore refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 8 February 2011, Official Report, column 174W.

Fire Services: Cambridgeshire

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the effect on service provision of the update of the (a) regression expenditure base for the funding formula and (b) fire risk index based on a positively weighted population density indicator for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service from 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [41492]

Robert Neill: Exemplifications of the effect of particular changes to the formula for formula grant, including those referred to in (a) and (b) are contained in the 2010 summer consultation document available on the Department for Communities and Local Government's website at:

Exemplifications of the effect of updating the regression expenditure base are contained in chapters 3, 5 and 6. Exemplification of the effect of using the population density indicator in the fire risk index is contained in chapter 5.

Green Belt

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that (a) proposed neighbourhood development orders and (b) other proposed orders enabling a community right to build do not allow development other than in accordance with Planning Policy Guidance Note 2; [41539]

(2) if he will take steps to maintain the level of protection for the Green Belt provided for in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2 in any future review of planning policy and guidance. [41540]


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Robert Neill: The Localism Bill will ensure that neighbourhood development orders and Community Right to Build orders appropriately fit with national planning policy. In particular, it requires these orders to be "appropriate having regard to national policy" before they can come into force.

This would include national policy on Green Belt. In December we announced the start of work to create a National Planning Policy Framework. As part of this, we will consider how best to update Green Belt policy, currently set out in PPG2 (Planning Policy Guidance Note 2, Green Belts). Local planning authorities must have regard to PPG2 in writing development plans or deciding planning proposals affecting Green Belt. PPG2 establishes a presumption against inappropriate development on Green Belt land, and states the importance of keeping Green Belt land permanently open to prevent the sprawl of development.

The coalition agreement commits the Government to maintaining Green Belt protection. Abolition of regional strategies through the Localism Bill will also help protect the Green Belt by removing top down directives to review or weaken Green Belt protection in over 30 towns across England.

Housing: Overcrowding

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households approached each local authority for homelessness assistance on the grounds that overcrowding made it unreasonable for them to continue to occupy their property in each of the last five years; and for how many such households the main homelessness duty was accepted by each local authority in each of the last five years. [41597]

Andrew Stunell: The information requested is not held by the Department.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities award reasonable preference to overcrowded households in their allocations policy where overcrowding is based on the definition of overcrowding set out in the Housing Act 1985. [41598]

Andrew Stunell: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Private Rented Housing: Housing Benefit

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken to ensure closer working between private landlords and housing benefit administrators. [41517]

Andrew Stunell: The Government have a comprehensive programme of financial and practical support in place to help local authorities deliver the changes to the local housing allowance in 2011, including £190 million of additional funding to smooth the transition. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has provided £10 million additional homelessness grant funding. This will help local authorities in London
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to work with private landlords, for example, to encourage them to accept housing benefit tenants and offer "rent bond" schemes.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has increased discretionary housing payments by £130 million, and provided a further £50 million to support the transitional stages of change. DWP is temporarily extending local authority discretion to make direct payments of housing benefit to landlords when they agree to reduce rents to an affordable level. Detailed guidance on the application of this safeguard will be issued to local authorities shortly. More broadly, local authorities have continued to improve the time taken to decide new housing benefit claims. In the second quarter of 2010-11, new claims in Great Britain were decided in an average of 22 days, compared to 25 days in the same quarter of 2009-10.

Private Rented Housing: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps he has taken to ensure that properties in the private rented sector meet minimum health and safety standards required. [41516]

Andrew Stunell: Local authorities have extensive powers to take action against landlords who fail to maintain their properties. Under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, local authorities can assess properties against 29 different hazards. If a property is found to contain serious 'category 1' hazards, the local authority has a duty to take action, which could include enforcement action against the landlord.

The Government are satisfied that the current legislation provides an important safety net, ensuring that homes are safe and decent and achieves the right balance between the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Government have no plans to impose new regulatory requirements on private landlords. This would be likely to lead to a reduction in the numbers of properties to rent and/or force up rents, which would not help tenants or landlords.

Residents' Associations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information he holds on the number of residents' associations in each parliamentary constituency. [41235]

Andrew Stunell: This Department does not hold the information requested.

DCLG does not collect information about the number of residents' associations, though we would estimate that there are many hundreds across the country.

Social Rented Housing

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on the management of estates by social tenants. [41449]

Andrew Stunell: The Government want to see more social tenants able to take control over the management of their homes. Local authority tenants wishing to take
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over the management of their homes and estates from their landlord have a statutory right to do so under the Housing Act 1985. The Housing (Right to Manage) (England) Regulations 2008 set out the procedures to be followed. Tenants of housing associations can enter into a voluntary agreement with their landlord if they wish to manage their housing. The Minister for Housing and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), recently announced plans to make it easier for local authority tenants to exercise their right to manage, as well as an £8 million programme to empower social tenants.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence and severity of antisocial behaviour in social housing. [41457]

Andrew Stunell: The Minister for Housing and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), announced on 11 January proposals to strengthen the hand of social landlords and tenants in tackling antisocial behaviour. Those proposals include making it easier for landlords to take swift and decisive action against their most antisocial tenants by introducing a new additional mandatory ground for possession for serious housing-related antisocial behaviour; greater flexibility on the use of probationary tenancies; and new funding for an antisocial behaviour action team focused on tenant capacity building.

More widely, the Government are currently consulting on proposals to streamline and improve the existing toolkit available to the police, social landlords and others to tackle antisocial behaviour. The proposals are intended to better protect victims and communities from the serious harm caused by criminal and antisocial behaviour by making the tools faster, more flexible, and more effective.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to strengthen civil law relating to trespass in order to tackle unauthorised Traveller sites on privately owned land. [41268]

Robert Neill: As outlined in the Secretary of State's press notice of 29 August 2010, unauthorised developments have created tensions between Travellers and the settled population. We want to redress the balance and put fairness back into communities. The Localism Bill includes provisions to strengthen councils' powers on planning enforcement, and we are reviewing further steps that can be taken against unauthorised encampments.

Voluntary Organisations: Finance

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support his Department provides to voluntary organisations which are facing closure or reduction in service delivery owing to reductions in funding. [39371]

Andrew Stunell [holding answer 10 February 2011]: Spending decisions are, and will continue to be, a matter for local authorities. We have a rich diversity of voluntary
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organisations, charities, faith groups, cooperatives, social enterprises and local housing trusts-all of which already make a huge contribution to local life. I do not expect local authorities to pass on disproportionate cuts to other service providers, especially the voluntary sector.

The Minister for Decentralisation, the right hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), wrote to all local authority leaders on 4 February:

We are also, through the Localism Bill, taking forward our 'Rights' agenda. The Bill, which is presently at Committee stage, includes a community right to challenge. This will enable voluntary and community bodies, as well as parish councils and local authority employees wishing to deliver the service as mutual, to express an interest in running a local authority service, which may trigger a procurement exercise for that service.

The Bill also contains provisions for a community right to buy, which will enable communities to identify and nominate assets of community value in their local areas for listing by the local authority. When these assets come up for sale, voluntary and community groups will be given extra time to prepare a business case and be ready to bid for the asset when it goes on the open market.

We intend to develop a package of support to assist voluntary and community sector groups to take up both of these rights and we are consulting on what this support might look like.

Scotland

Private Rented Housing: Fines

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the use of funds received from fines rendered against private landlords in Scotland. [41431]

Michael Moore: The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has recently written to the Scottish Ministers on this matter.

Scotland Bill

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to publish the correspondence on the Scotland Bill between his Department and the Scottish Government. [41129]

David Mundell: The UK Government have no plans to publish their correspondence with the Scottish Government. The UK Government believe it is important to continue to respect the confidentiality of inter-administration discussions.


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Health

Cancer Drugs Fund

Mr Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria strategic health authorities use to grant funding from the interim Cancer Drugs Fund. [41570]

Mr Simon Burns: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave him on 25 January 2011, Official Report, column 224W.

Carers: Grandparents

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision his Department has made to support grandparents who are the primary carers of their disabled grandchildren. [39257]

Paul Burstow: This Government recognise the valuable role played by many grandparents who care for their disabled grandchildren, in order to allow the parents of the disabled child to continue to work or to take a break from caring.

While there is no specific provision available to support grandparent carers, on 25 November 2010, the Government's updated Carers Strategy, "Recognised, valued and supported: Next steps for the Carers Strategy", set out the overarching priority areas for action over the next four years. This includes the provision of personalised support for carers and those they support, and supporting carers to remain mentally and physically well. This can include grandparents caring for their disabled grandchildren.

To back these commitments up, the Department will be investing additional funding of £400 million to the national health service over the next four years to enable more carers to take breaks from their caring responsibilities, which may include grandparents in caring roles. This money will not be ring fenced, but for 2011-12, primary care trusts should agree policies, plans and budgets to support carers with local authorities and local carers' organisations, and make them available to local people.

The Department has also made funding available for general practitioner training, to increase their awareness and understanding of all carers' health needs, including grandparents, so that they can receive appropriate support.

The Department for Education announced in December that they are providing over £800 million over the next four years for short breaks for families of disabled children as part of the new Early Intervention Grant. The Government will be providing £198 million/£202 million/£206 million/£210 million for short breaks over the next four years including the Child Trust Fund money of at least £20 million each year. The Early Intervention Grant is not ring fenced and it will be for local authorities to determine how they use that resource to best effect, including what services would be funded for families with disabled children.

Chlamydia: Screening

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirements will be placed on primary care trusts in respect of the delivery of the national Chlamydia screening programme for 2011-12. [41577]


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Anne Milton: We are committed to continuing opportunistic Chlamydia testing among 15 to 24-year-olds in some form in 2011-12, but are considering how it can be enhanced.

On 20 December 2010, we published the consultation document 'Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Transparency in Outcomes, Proposals for a Public Health Outcomes Framework'. The new framework will be in operation from April 2012. This includes a proposed indicator on reducing Chlamydia diagnoses rates among 15 to 24-year-olds. A copy of the consultation document has already been placed in the Library.

In 2011-12, the national health service will continue to lead on improvements to public health, ensuring that public health services are in the strongest possible position when responsibilities are devolved to local authorities.

NHS organisations will continue to be held to account against the existing public health indicators, which includes Chlamydia screening.

Departmental Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2011, Official Report, columns 458-60W, on departmental contracts, what services were provided under each contract funded from the public purse and awarded by single tender. [40997]

Mr Simon Burns: The information to complete the table on the date, type, supplier name and amount of every single tender contract awarded in the written answer of 27 January 2011, Official Report, columns 458-60W, is extracted from the Department's central payments database. For each payment there is also an entry under a heading 'Item description'. However, these are mostly only very brief or partial. To establish the precise details of what the payment related to would mean contacting the individual branches within the Department which commissioned the service in the first place. They would in turn have to consider exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. For these reasons the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Diabetes: Health Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the cost to the NHS of treatment of diabetes and diabetes-related conditions in each year since 2005. [41479]

Paul Burstow: Diabetes is a complex life-long condition that can affect every part of the body. There are a number of associated complications with the condition which makes it difficult to calculate the exact total cost to the national health service.

The Department of Health's programme budget figures indicate £1.43 billion of the Department's gross expenditure in England in 2009-10 was spent on diabetes. This figure does not include spending on prevention or on general medical services or primary medical services.


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Diabetes expenditure (£ billion) Department of Health gross expenditure (£ billion) Diabetes as a proportion of gross expenditure (percentage)

2004-05

0.69

71.92

1.0

2005-06

0.87

80.19

1.1

2006-07

1.04

84.19

1.2

2007-08

1.15

93.18

1.2

2008-09

1.26

96.81

1.3

2009-10

1.43

103.97

1.4


In 2009-10, 35.5 million items were prescribed for diabetes at a net ingredient cost (NIC) of £649.2 million. This represents 7.7% of the total cost of prescribing in primary care in England in 2009-10, compared to £458.6 million (5.8%) in 2004-05.

The NIC is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.

Further expenditure will have taken place throughout the NHS system that is not possible to identify.

General Practitioners

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to issue guidance to GP consortia on the commissioning of fracture prevention services. [41281]

Paul Burstow: One of the NHS Commissioning Board's five main functions, set out in "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS", is

This will include setting commissioning guidelines on the basis of clinically approval quality standards developed with the advice of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE has been commissioned to develop a Quality Standard on Hip fractures, and a Quality Standard on Fractures excluding head and hip is planned, subject to further work on the feasibility and scope.

Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, currently before Parliament, the NHS Commissioning Board will have responsibility for supporting general practitioner consortia in their commissioning role. It will be for the Board to decide what, if any, guidance to issue on the commissioning of fracture prevention services.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate (a) the number of fragility fractures which would be prevented and (b) the net cost savings to the NHS that would be achieved in an average GP consortia patient population through the introduction of a commissioned falls and fracture care pathway. [41282]

Paul Burstow: The most recent estimate of the extent to which fragility fractures could be prevented for a certain population through the introduction of a falls and fracture care pathway (also known as a fracture liaison service), and the consequent savings to the national health service, is set out in "Fracture prevention services:
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An economic evaluation", which was published by the Department in 2009. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Health Services: Prices

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence his Department has evaluated on the effect of variable price competition on the health care market. [40655]

Mr Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Bill will not introduce variable price competition into the market for national health service-funded services. The Government's view on the evidence relating to this issue is set out in the Impact Assessment published alongside the Health and Social Care Bill on 19 January and available on the Department's website at:

Horse Meat

Mr Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many horses were slaughtered for food in each of the last five years. [40847]

Mr Paice: I have been asked to reply.

The Food Standards Agency has reported that the total number of horses slaughtered at the three abattoirs operating in Great Britain that are licensed to slaughter horses for human consumption in each of the last five years was as follows:

Number of horses slaughtered

2006

3,809

2007

3,859

2008

3,812

2009

5,147

2010

7,933


Mr Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many horses slaughtered for food (a) were thoroughbreds and (b) had horse passports in each of the last five years. [40909]

Mr Paice: I have been asked to reply.

Records relating to slaughtered horses are not held on a breed basis.

All horses slaughtered for human consumption must be accompanied by either a passport, or, for horses over 12 months of age and covered by the derogation applying to Dartmoor, Exmoor and the New Forest, a passport application form and a correctly completed rump sticker. (Foals moving from those derogated areas require only a rump sticker.)

Mental Health Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the number of people with a personality disorder; and how many of those were in receipt of forensic mental health services at the latest date for which figures are available. [41525]


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Paul Burstow: Personality disorders are common conditions, with differing levels of severity. The Department does not routinely collect information about personality disorders but estimates suggest between 2 and 5 million people in the United Kingdom have or are at risk of developing personality disorder. Information about the diagnostic classification of users of mental health services is not collected centrally.

The national health service and national offender management service plan to reconfigure existing services to manage high risk, sexual or violent offenders whose offending is linked to severe forms of personality disorder. The implementation plan for these changes is subject to a consultation by the Department and the Ministry of Justice. Details can be found at:

NHS Foundation Trusts: Debts

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent a foundation trust from selling its property to offset short-term financial deficits. [41205]

Mr Simon Burns: The Government intend to liberate foundation trusts so they can be free to focus on improving outcomes, be more responsive to patients and innovate. Under proposals in the Health Bill, the disposal of property would primarily be an issue for the foundation trust itself. As the representatives of the public and staff, foundation trust governors would have the final say in all transactions defined as significant in the foundation trust's constitution. The governors' role would be to represent the interests of members and the public and to hold the non-executive directors to account for the performance of the board.

We intend to establish an operationally independent banking function to manage the taxpayers' investment in foundation trusts. It would set conditions on a foundation trust's debt, that could include restrictions on the disposal of property to maintain the value of the taxpayers' investment.

The new legislation would also place Monitor under a duty, in its proposed role as economic regulator, to support commissioners in ensuring the continuity of national health service services designated by commissioners for additional regulation. These services and related assets would be protected. Monitor would be able to veto a sale of property if it were not satisfied that the purchaser could continue to provide the designated services.

NHS: Managers

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many managerial staff were employed in the NHS in England at the end of each financial year since 1997-98. [41136]

Mr Simon Burns: The Annual Workforce Census collects the numbers of staff at 30 September each year. The numbers of managers and senior managers working in the national health service since 1998 are shown in the following table.


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The figures collected on 30 September 2010 will be published by the NHS Information Centre on 22 March 2011.

NHS hospital and community health service: NHS infrastructure support, 1998 to 2009, as at 30 September each year, England
Full-time equivalent

Manager Senior manager

1998

14,112

7,741

1999

14,786

8,592

2000

15,664

8,589

2001

16,911

9,374

2002

19,494

11,420

2003

22,195

11,614

2004

24,642

11,365

2005

26,568

10,981

2006

24,782

10,258

2007

24,873

10,082

2008

26,854

11,083

2009

29,924

12,585

Source: The NHS Information Centre.

NHS: Pensions

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons closed direction pensions transfers were introduced for social enterprises and not for other providers of public services. [41025]

Mr Simon Burns: Closed directions were introduced for staff transferring to "Right to Request" social enterprises as a result of the Command Paper, 'High Quality Care for All: NHS Next Stage Review Final Report'. Closed directions have been available for many years to not for profit providers of national health service funded services, principally to allow staff transferred from the NHS to remain in the pension scheme. Social enterprises therefore already qualified under the existing policy.

NHS: Private Sector

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely treatment under EU state aid rules of a foundation trust hospital which receives over 50% of its income from private funding under his legislation proposals for NHS reform. [41114]

Mr Simon Burns: On our proposals for national health service reform, we are assessing where European Union law will have an impact and what the position will be with respect to a health system that will remain funded by the taxpayer and providing universal coverage, free at the point of need.

The Health and Social Care Bill ensures that the principal legal purpose of a foundation trust would remain to provide goods and services for the NHS in England. Foundation trusts would also be required to keep separate accounts for their private income and NHS income through directions on their accounts made by the Secretary of State for Health with the approval of HM Treasury to ensure this is transparent.


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Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to require foundation trust hospitals to share (a) operating theatres and (b) brain scanners with private health providers under his legislative proposals for NHS reform. [41115]

Mr Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Bill would empower Monitor to impose special licence conditions on a provider of national health service services 'licence holder' requiring that licence holder to provide another licence holder with access to particular services under terms that Monitor may specify. Decisions on the exercise of these powers would be a matter for Monitor.

Prostate Gland: Medical Treatments

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the best practice tariff will maintain equity between the (a) transurethral resection of the prostate and (b) holmium laser enucleation of the prostate treatments for prostate conditions. [41459]

Mr Simon Burns: The characteristic of best practice that the best practice tariff is intended to incentivise is a higher day case rate. The best practice tariff does not discriminate between Transurethral Resection of the Prostate and Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate treatments for prostate conditions, other than whether these procedures are undertaken as day cases.

The 2011-12 best practice tariffs for treatment of the enlarged prostate have been developed with the support of clinicians, including the President of the British Association of Urological Surgeons.

The draft 2011-12 tariffs were shared for 'sense check' in October 2010, and changes were subsequently made to the levels of the proposed tariff for resection of prostate by laser to reflect concerns that a day case rate target of 90% was overly ambitious for delivery in one year. A revised target of 30% was therefore agreed, and the draft 2011-12 tariff prices were increased accordingly.

The 2011-12 tariff prices were published for 'road test' on 22 December, since when it has been brought to the Department's attention that the published best practice tariff price for resection of prostate by laser contained a typographical error. The October 2010 'sense check' prices for this procedure had been inadvertently included, rather than the revised prices that were agreed for 'road test'.

The agreed prices for resection of prostate by laser will appear in the final tariff package for 2011-12 when it is published shortly.

Transition Programme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2011, Official Report, column 736W, on transition programme, for what reason the information on the (a) membership and (b) frequency of meetings of the Commissioning Development Board was not placed in the Library; and if he will place that information in the Library. [41505]

Mr Simon Burns: I regret that the information was not placed in the Library due to an administrative error. The information was placed in the Library on 15 February.


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John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2011, Official Report, column 736W, on transition programme, what the (a) names of, (b) leaders of and (c) participants in each primary workstream outlined in the Provider Development Delivery Strategy were. [41506]

Mr Simon Burns: Ian Dalton CBE is the managing director for the provider development programme. Within this programme of work, there are two directors and the following primary workstreams:

In addition there are two cross-cutting workstreams that are the responsibility of Bob Ricketts and Matthew Kershaw. These are:

The Provider Development Board (PDB) provides the formal governance for the delivery of the provider development programme, providing scrutiny of issues on behalf of the NHS management board (and taking provider development specific decisions within their remit). The PDB will agree the formal programme of work up to April 2012 for consideration by the NHS management board. The membership and the terms of reference of the PDB have already been placed in the Library.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2011, Official Report, column 736W, on transition programme (1) if he will make it his policy to place in the Library copies of (a) agendas, (b) minutes and (c) board papers for future meetings of each of the constituent bodies of the transition programme within one week of such meetings taking place; [41537]

(2) if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) agendas, (b) minutes and (c) board papers for meetings of each of the constituent bodies of the transition programme. [41538]

Mr Simon Burns: The Department has made a commitment to publish summary minutes on the Department's website relating to meetings of each of the bodies outlined in the answer of 18 January 2011, Official Report, column 736W, on transition programme (Departmental Board, DH Executive Board, Transition Programme Board, Commissioning Development Board and the Provider Development Board).

We have no plans to routinely publish in the Library copies of the agendas, full minutes, and board papers for future meetings.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2011, Official Report, column 736W, on transition programme, if he will publish a list of all meetings or events which have taken place since 1 May 2010 between individuals named as members of the constituent bodies of the transition programme or officials working on their behalf and any employees, representatives or intermediaries of (a) United
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Health, (b) KPMG and (c) Tribal Group, including for each such meeting (i) the names of those attending, (ii) the date on which each meeting took place, (iii) the location of each meeting or event, (iv) the purpose of each meeting, (v) topics discussed, (vi) the titles of any presentations or other documents produced for or at each meeting and (vii) the authors and main presenters of such presentations or other documents. [41585]

Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not routinely collect this information and therefore the information requested could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Justice

Corruption: Business

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on corruption in international business. [41331]

Mr Djanogly: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) on 14 February 2011, Official Report, column 581W.

Corston Review

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment he has made of the continuing operational viability in 2011-12 of each of the projects arising from the recommendations of the Corston Review; [41543]

(2) what funding his Department has provided for projects arising from the recommendations of the Corston Review in 2010-11. [41574]

Mr Blunt: The Ministry of Justice established a programme of work to divert from custody vulnerable women, who do not pose a risk to the public. Over £10 million has been provided by the Ministry of Justice in the period up to March 2011 to fund women's community based services. Plans for sustainable funding in 2011-12 are progressing. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has considered each of the projects on the basis of:

NOMS has also made a commitment from 2012-13 onwards to commission services that demonstrate their effectiveness in diverting women from custody. A full announcement will be made shortly.

Death Certificates: Fees and Charges

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the likely average fee to be charged for death certificates under the proposed new death certification process. [41147]

Anne Milton: I have been asked to reply.


17 Feb 2011 : Column 903W

The Government's preferred option for funding the improved process of death certification, when introduced, is a single fee for certification of all deaths-irrespective of whether death is followed by burial, cremation or other form of disposal. The level of fee, which will be set on the basis of full cost recovery, has yet to be determined. However, the fee is likely to be lower than current cremation certification fees, which it will replace. As cremation accounts for 73% of all disposals, the Government expect that most bereaved families will pay less under the new arrangements.

Harassment: Restraining Order

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many persons were found guilty under Section 5(5) of the Protection from Harassment Act
17 Feb 2011 : Column 904W
1997 of breaching a restraining order and given (a) a term of imprisonment, (b) a fine and (c) a term of imprisonment and a fine in each year since 1998; [40422]

(2) how many persons in England and Wales were made the subject of a restraining order under section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in each year since 1998. [40423]

Mr Blunt: The number of persons found guilty at all courts, sentenced to a fine, immediate custody, immediate custody and issued with a fine, or given a restraining order under section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in England and Wales, 1998 to 2009 (latest available) can be viewed in tables 1 and 2.

Data for 2010 are planned for publication in the spring of 2011.

Table 1: The number of persons found guilty at all courts and the number of persons issued with a fine, given a custodial sentence or given a custodial sentence and issued with a fine, under section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in England and Wales, 1998 to 2009( 1,2,3)
Offence description 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008( 4) 2009

Breach of a restraining order

Found guilty

274

461

557

539

604

687

766

880

873

738

821

1,463

Sentenced(5)

273

471

561

534

597

689

760

876

861

784

748

1,328

of which:

Fine

53

89

86

93

101

119

112

114

87

55

77

141

Immediate custody

123

206

226

193

206

226

282

289

308

269

260

456

Immediate custody and a fine(6)

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

(8)-

Other sentences(7)

97

176

249

248

290

344

366

473

466

460

411

731

(1)The following statutes were used for the corresponding offence:
Breach of a Restraining Order
Protection from Harassment Act 1997, s.5
(2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008.
(5) The sentenced column may exceed those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year.
(6) Where immediate custody was the principal disposal and the fine was a secondary disposal.
Includes: absolute/conditional discharge, community sentence, suspended sentence and otherwise dealt with.
(8) = Nil
Source:
Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice

Table 2: The number of persons given a restraining order at all courts under section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in England and Wales, 1998 to 2009( 1,2,3)
Offence description -Breach of a restraining order 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008( 4) 2009

Restraining order

11

18

22

22

33

58

46

73

81

76

33

102

(1) The following statute and corresponding offence description were used:
Offence code 831: Breach of a Restraining Order
Protection from Harassment Act 1997, s.5
(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom this sentence was the principal disposal, but also where it was given a secondary or other disposal.
(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008.
Source:
Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice

17 Feb 2011 : Column 905W

Lancaster Prison

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which body will have responsibility for the maintenance of HM Prison Lancaster following its closure. [41112]

Mr Blunt: It was announced on 13 January 2011 that the prison at Lancaster Castle will close. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) leases the castle from the Duchy of Lancaster. The lease with the Duchy of Lancaster provides for a three-year period of notice. Responsibility for maintenance during any period of notice remains with the MoJ.

Legal Aid Scheme

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the effects of the implementation of his proposed changes to the legal aid scheme on the number of litigants in person involved in court proceedings; and what assessment he has made of the effects of any change in the number of such litigants on the costs of HM Courts Service. [41380]

Mr Djanogly: We are currently reviewing the existing data and research into the impact of litigants in person on the courts. This will contribute to the analysis in the final impact assessments due to be published alongside the legal aid consultation response in spring 2011. There will also be a post-implementation review of any reforms.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of legal aid recipients were (a) women, (b) black, (c) Asian and (d) minority ethnic in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [41489]

Mr Djanogly: Available information on the gender and ethnicity of legal aid recipients is set out in the following tables.

Civil legal aid
Percentage

Legal help Civil representation All civil legal aid

Female

54

58

55

Black

12

5

11

Asian

7

4

7

BAME

29

14

27


Criminal legal aid

Percentage

Female

13

Unknown/prefer not to say

13

Black

5

Asian

4

Minority Ethnicity

9

Unknown/prefer not to say

21


Police station figures are not included in the above as a grant of legal aid is not required.


17 Feb 2011 : Column 906W

Legal Aid: Landlord and Tenant

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people received legal aid in respect of a tenant's right to live in quiet enjoyment in the latest 12 months for which figures are available. [41385]

Mr Djanogly: The LSC does not record the number of people who receive legal aid. Instead it records the number of 'acts of assistance' for which funding was granted. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person. During the financial year 2009-10, there were 2,393 claims made under legal help and 390 civil representation cases closed relating to housing harassment, which includes wrongful or unlawful eviction.

Legal Aid: Repossession

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many repossession cases were (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully contested by the defendant in the most recent 12 month for which figures are available; and how many and what proportion of these defendants had legal representation. [41454]

Mr Djanogly: During 2010 there were 210,392 landlord and mortgage repossession claims issued in the county courts of England and Wales. However, the Ministry of Justice does not hold figures centrally on how many of these were contested by the defendant.

While the administrative computer systems used in the county courts contain the incidence of claims issued and orders made in repossession cases, they do not specifically hold information about whether the cases were contested by the defendant. It may be possible to obtain this information through the examination of individual case files but this would incur disproportionate cost.

Legal Aid: Social Security Benefits

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many welfare claimants received legal aid in respect of a benefit claim in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available. [41456]

Mr Djanogly: The LSC does not record the number of people who receive legal aid. Instead it records the number of 'acts of assistance' for which funding was granted. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.

During the financial year 2009-10, there were 110,164 claims made under legal help and 27 civil representation cases closed under the welfare benefits category of law.

National Offender Management Service: Qualifications

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many senior managers employed in the head office at the National Offender Management Service have (a) experience of and (b) a qualification in probation work. [41071]


17 Feb 2011 : Column 907W

Mr Blunt: Information about the qualifications and experience of individual members of staff is not held centrally. To obtain the information requested would involve identifying and contacting sources of information in many different locations and would thus incur disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on the effectiveness of the rehabilitation of foreign national prisoners convicted in courts in England and Wales who served custodial sentences in (a) England and Wales and (b) their country of origin. [41631]

Mr Blunt: The Ministry of Justice does not collate specific information on the effectiveness of the rehabilitation of foreign national prisoners. Research studies to date have not separately assessed effectiveness for this group of prisoners, and due to the comparatively small numbers involved, the production of meaningful data would also be problematic.

Social Security Benefits: Tribunals

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of welfare benefit tribunal cases were (a) won and (b) lost by the claimant in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available; and in how many cases in each category did the claimant have legal representation. [41455]

Mr Djanogly: The following tables provide information on the number and proportion of social security and child support cases heard and their outcomes between October 2009 and September 2010 and for the same period the number of cases where the appellant had legal representation. This is the most recent 12 month period for which statistics have been published.

All outcomes
October 2009 to September 2010

Number Percentage

Cleared at hearing

238,700

-

Decision in favour of the appellant

87,500

37

Decision of 1st tier Agency upheld

149,000

62


Outcome-with representative( 1)
October 2009 to September 2010

Number Percentage

Cleared at hearing

87,800

-

Decision in favour of the appellant

47,300

54

Decision of 1st tier Agency upheld

39,200

45

(1 )Figures with representatives show appellants who had a representative; however, this does not necessarily confirm the representative was in attendance on the day of hearing.


17 Feb 2011 : Column 908W
Outcome-no representative
October 2009 to September 2010

Number Percentage

Cleared at hearing

151,000

-

Decision in favour of the appellant

40,200

27

Decision of 1st tier Agency upheld

109,900

72


Culture, Media and Sport

BSkyB: News Corporation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2011, Official Report, column 879W, on News Corporation, if he will ensure that the information he plans to publish on the process surrounding the proposed News Corporation takeover of BSkyB includes all (a) telephone calls, (b) letters, (c) meetings and (d) other communications between Ministers and officials of his Department and News Corporation and BSkyB. [41589]

Mr Jeremy Hunt: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made to the House on 25 January 2011, Official Report, column 3WS, setting out what I have published so far. So far as possible, I will release all relevant further information relating to this merger which has not already been published on or shortly after the time the final decision is taken.

In addition information about Ministers' meetings with external organisations is published on the DCMS website on a quarterly basis.

Digital Economy Act 2010

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effects on the digital economy of implementation of sections 3 to 16 of the Digital Economy Act 2010; and if he will make a statement. [41332]

Mr Vaizey: The initial obligations under the Digital Economy Act (DEA) are aimed at reducing the volume of online copyright infringement on networks. We expect that the successful implementation of these measures will bring about a reduction in unlawful file-sharing activity and, in turn, bring about an increase in revenues generated by content owners and consequent investment in content creation.

Alongside the DEA measures to reduce the unlawful use of content online, industry will need to develop strong, legitimate content offerings in order to deliver all the benefits that the digital economy has to offer. This will benefit consumers by giving them greater choice of lawful content services, delivered in the way they want and at a price that is fair and reasonable for all parties.

Licensing

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) for how long he anticipates the contract with Arqiva for licensing spectrum to the programme making and special events sector to run; and if he will make a statement; [41173]


17 Feb 2011 : Column 909W

(2) when interested parties will be informed of the arrangements for the next tender process to provide spectrum licensing to the programme making and special events sector; and if he will make a statement; [41174]

(3) when he expects the terms of the contract with Arqiva to provide spectrum licensing to the programme making and special events sector to be confirmed; and if he will make a statement; [41175]

(4) when he expects the contract for licensing spectrum to the programme making and special events sector to next be put out to tender; and if he will make a statement. [41176]

Mr Vaizey: Ofcom recently concluded a tender process for the contract to provide licensing and spectrum management services to the programme-making and special events sector. The contract has been awarded to Arqiva Ltd, and Ofcom is in the process of finalising the contract, subject to terms and conditions. The contract will run for five years from when it enters into force, subject to Ofcom's rights of early termination.

Ofcom does not have any plans to re-tender in the near future. Should Ofcom decide to commence another award process for the provision of spectrum licensing for programme-making and special events, interested parties would be informed as appropriate.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 9 December 2010 with regard to Ms J Vickers. [41274]

John Penrose: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 January 2011, Official Report, column 148W.

Where possible all correspondence sent from the Department is done so by e-mail. The answer in question was e-mailed directly to the parliamentary office of the right hon. Member on 23 December 2010, and again in response to the parliamentary question referred to above.

I will ensure a third copy of the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport's response is sent to the right hon. Member. If he still does not receive it, he should send a member of his parliamentary staff to my office and my officials will be happy to hand over a paper copy of the reply personally.

Mobile Phones: Harassment

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will discuss with mobile phone operators the introduction of a protocol to handle instances of menacing or harassing calls received from mobile phones in circumstances where the caller has withheld the number. [40652]

Mr Vaizey: All UK mobile network operators already provide extensive guidance on their websites on the handling of nuisance phone calls as well as supplementary advice being available on the Ofcom website.


17 Feb 2011 : Column 910W

Newspaper Press

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many local newspapers have closed in each region in each of the last 20 years. [41246]

Mr Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not keep records on the number of closures, or start-ups, of newspapers.

Tourism: Marketing

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport which (a) companies and (b) other organisations have pledged a contribution to the tourism marketing fund; and how much has been pledged to date. [39656]

John Penrose: Further to the answer I gave my hon. Friend on 25 January 2011, Official Report, column 149W, VisitBritain are continuing their discussions with companies concerning potential offers. This is a four-year programme, and VisitBritain do not expect to have contracted the full amount for year one until March. These are commercially sensitive negotiations and further details will not be available until then.

Energy and Climate Change

Energy: Business

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will assess the merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require third party energy intermediaries to sign up to a code of conduct for the purposes of reducing the mis-selling of energy contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises. [41170]

Charles Hendry: The Government support Ofgem's recommendation that suppliers and customers should always consider a third party intermediary's practices prior to entering into a business arrangement. Bodies such as the Utilities Intermediaries Association (UIA) operate voluntary industry codes of practice for their members, and promote appropriate standards of behaviour. The Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards Services have a joint duty to enforce the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations (BPRs), which prohibit businesses from advertising products in a way that misleads traders and set out conditions under which comparative advertising, to both consumers and business, is permitted.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will bring forward proposals to require energy suppliers to be responsible for the sales methods used by third party intermediaries selling contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises. [41576]

Charles Hendry: Currently we have no plans to bring forward the proposals my hon. Friend asks about. The Government support Ofgem's recommendation that
17 Feb 2011 : Column 911W
suppliers and customers should always consider a third party intermediary's practices prior to entering into a business arrangement.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will direct Ofgem to review its procedure for complaints against third party intermediaries by small and medium-sized enterprises to retain recordings of all telephone calls made during a complaint. [41583]

Charles Hendry: Brokering contracts between energy suppliers and customers is not a licensable activity and therefore is not directly regulated by Ofgem. Complaints from business customers about the marketing activities used by third party intermediaries can be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading and local authority Trading Standards Service, who have the powers in this area. I have asked Ofgem, in the context of carrying out its Retail Market Review, to consider if any additional measures would be appropriate in respect of the relationship suppliers have with third party intermediaries.

Energy: EU Action

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2011, Official Report, columns 910-11W, on energy, if he will work with his European counterparts to ensure that the indicative EU-wide target to reduce primary energy use by 20 per cent. by 2020 through improvements in energy efficiency is made legally binding as part of the European Commission's review of the EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan. [41590]

Gregory Barker: In common with other member states, the Government do not believe that making the EU target legally binding is appropriate or necessary to deliver improvements in energy efficiency. We believe that the Commission should instead focus their forthcoming review of the EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan on facilitating practical action to deliver real energy savings.

Energy: Housing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in what proportion of privately-rented properties in the constituency of Brighton, Pavilion his Department expects energy efficiency measures to be installed through the Green Deal. [41592]

Gregory Barker: We expect the Green Deal to be taken up widely across all building sectors and tenures, including privately rented properties in the constituency of Brighton, Pavilion. It will offer private landlords a real opportunity to invest in the energy efficiency of their properties at no up-front cost to themselves.

We are also creating powers in the Energy Bill, which will require landlords to make reasonable energy efficiency improvements.

We intend to use these powers from 2015 if we do not see voluntary improvement in energy efficiency under the Green Deal.


17 Feb 2011 : Column 912W

Energy: National Policy Statements

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to discuss with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the findings of the Report by the Energy and Climate Change Committee on the revised draft national policy statements on energy on the Holford Rules in formulating the Government's response to that report. [41244]

Charles Hendry: My officials will consult with DEFRA officials and those of other Government Departments before the Government's response to the Energy and Climate Change Committee report on the energy National Policy Statements is published.

International Climate Fund

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what contribution his Department plans to make to the international climate finance fund over the period of the comprehensive spending review; and if he will make a statement. [41683]

Gregory Barker: The spending review provides a total of £2.9 billion of international climate finance-called the international climate fund (ICF)-over the spending review period. The fund will be managed collectively by the relevant Departments. From DECC's budget, we will contribute £l billion of the total.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the proportion of solar photovoltaic projects supported through the feed-in tariff scheme that were defined as large-scale since the scheme's inception. [41242]

Gregory Barker: Data provided by Ofgem shows a total of three large-scale (over 50kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) schemes accredited for Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) since the scheme started in April 2010. All of these schemes have a total installed capacity of between 50kW and l00kW, however there is a considerably larger number of such schemes currently in the planning system or awaiting accreditation.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the inclusion of solar photovoltaic projects in his review of feed-in tariffs on (a) the solar photovoltaic industry and (b) levels of employment in that industry. [41542]

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) announced the Feed-in tariffs (FITs) review including fast-track consideration for large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) on 7 February 2010. Detailed proposals on the fast track review are being worked up and will be published for consultation next month. We will use the review to gather evidence
17 Feb 2011 : Column 913W
on the likely impact of our proposals. We want to deliver an outcome that provides a sustainable future for industry.

Warm Front Scheme: Enfield

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people in Enfield North constituency have participated in the Warm Front scheme in each of the last five years. [41609]

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the number of households assisted under the Warm Front scheme in the constituency of Enfield North in each of the last five years.

Enfield North constituency
Scheme year Number of assisted households

2005-06

196

2006-07

270

2007-08

462

2008-09

399

2009-10

331

2010-11(1)

140

(1) Up to 31 December 2010

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many submissions were made to his Department's Warm Home Discount consultation; how many such submissions called for terminally ill people to be included in the core group to receive the Warm Home Discount automatically; and when his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation. [41957]

Gregory Barker: DECC received 1,847 responses to the consultation on Warm Home Discount. 1,800 of these were emails calling for terminally ill people to be included in the core group. A response will be published in due course.

Defence

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contacts between UK forces and the Taliban there have been in Helmand province in each month since April 2009. [35526]

Nick Harvey [holding answer 24 January 2011]: The numbers of troops in contact events involving the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and insurgents in the Task Force Helmand area of operations in Helmand Province for each complete month from April 2009 for which verified data are available are shown in the following table:


17 Feb 2011 : Column 914W
Month Number of contacts( 1)

2009

April

160

May

230

June

460

July

450

August

430

September

450

October

360

November

430

December

490

2010

January

560

February

470

March

520

April

220

May

540

June

740

July

910

August

990

September

800

October

790

November

160

December

370

(1) Rounded to the nearest 10

ISAF forces operating in Task Force Helmand's area of operations come from a number of different nations, which often operate closely alongside each other and alongside Afghan Army and police units. Without undertaking a detailed assessment of each engagement, it is not possible to define precisely in every case whether a contact involved UK forces, our ISAF partners, or Afghan units. Data are therefore collected on the number of incidents involving ISAF forces in Task Force Helmand's area of operations without attempting to identify the nationality of the forces involved in the contact.

These data are based on information derived from a number of sources and can only be an estimate, not least because of the difficulties in ensuring a consistent interpretation of the basis for collating statistics in a complex fast-moving multinational operational environment. The data are subject to change as more information becomes available.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ISAF-trained Afghan National Army personnel worked in partnership with UK forces between (a) 18 May 2009 and 4 October 2009, (b) 5 October 2009 and 21 February 2010, (c) 22 February 2010 and 11 July 2010 and (d) 12 July 2010 and 28 November 2010. [40822]

Nick Harvey: The information is not held in the format requested. However, the number of ISAF-trained Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel "present for duty", or available to conduct tasks in the Task Force Helmand (TFH) area of operations, is shown in the following table:


17 Feb 2011 : Column 915W

17 Feb 2011 : Column 916W
Period Total number of ANA in Task Force Helmand area of operations Reductions in Task Force Helmand area of operations

18 May 2009 to 4 October 2009

2,351

-

5 October 2009 to 21 February 2010

2,312

-

22 February 2010 to 11 July 2010

2,260

March 2010: Musa Qaleh transferred to US area of operations.

June 2010: Kajaki transferred to US area of operations.

12 July 2010 to 28 November 2010

2,102

October 2010: Sangin transferred to US area of operations


During the periods of time requested, the TFH area of operations was decreasing in size. Consequently, while the number of ANA personnel in the table appears to be decreasing overall, in fact there has been an improvement in the number of ANA in the TFH area of operations and in Helmand as a whole.

These figures are based on monthly averages and we are unable to ascertain daily figures. These data are based on information derived from a number of sources and can only be an estimate, not least because of the difficulties in ensuring a consistent interpretation of the basis for collating statistics in a complex fast-moving multinational operational environment. The data are subject to change as more information becomes available.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will consider the merits of making regular reports to Parliament on the deployed number of (a) ISAF-trained Afghan National Army personnel, (b) ISAF-trained Afghan National Army personnel working in partnership with UK forces and (c) ISAF-in-training Afghan National Army personnel. [40823]

Nick Harvey: The development of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is a key element in delivering our national security objectives in Afghanistan. For this reason we ensure that the regular written reports we provide to the House on Afghanistan include updates on the growth and development of the ANSF, including in the UK area of operations.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, gave the latest of our quarterly oral updates to the House on 14 February 2010, Official Report, columns 732-46), as the latest Quarterly Report as part of the Government's commitment to keep Parliament informed on progress made in Afghanistan.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many fatalities there were in Afghanistan among ISAF-trained Afghan National Army personnel (1) working in Afghanistan in partnership with (a) UK forces, (b) US forces and (c) Canadian forces between (i) 18 May 2009 and 4 October 2009, (ii) 5 October 2009 and 21 February 2010, (iii) 22 February 2010 and 11 July 2010 and (iv) 12 July 2010 and 28 November 2010; [40824]

(2) between (a) 18 May 2009 and 4 October 2009, (b) 5 October 2009 and 21 February 2010, (c) 22 February 2010 and 11 July 2010 and (d) 12 July 2010 and 28 November 2010. [40825]

Nick Harvey: This is a matter for the Government of Afghanistan. We do not hold information on the number of Afghan National Security Forces fatalities.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the pension entitlement will be of a member of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme who retires after 30 years' full-time service on a salary of (a) £10,000, (b) £15,000, (c) £20,000, (d) £25,000, (e) £30,000, (f) £40,000 and (e) £50,000 if the pension is uprated in line with (i) the retail prices index and (ii) the consumer prices index. [40366]

Mr Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Minister for International Security Strategy, my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Mr Howarth), gave on 17 January 2011, Official Report, columns 587-589W, to the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Gemma Doyle) and hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones).

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely savings to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme of the proposed indexation according to the consumer prices index (a) in 2010-11 and (b) in the next (i) 10, (ii) 20, (iii) 25 and (iv) 30 years. [40383]

Mr Robathan: The change in indexation from retail prices index (RPI) to consumer prices index (CPI) will not come into effect until April 2011. No assessment of the kind requested can be made as future movements of the RPI and CPI rates are not known.

Christmas Island: Radioactive Waste

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the location is of the (a) toxic and (b) radiologically-contaminated waste recovered as a result of the remediation programme conducted on Christmas Island following the nuclear tests conducted in the 1950s; what site licences cover the disposals; and what the cost to the public purse was of the clean-up and remediation programme. [40668]

Mr Robathan: The majority of waste recovered was inert and largely comprised of metal.

Toxic or otherwise hazardous waste, including radioactive materials were transported back to the UK for disposal.

Lead, asbestos and 'exempt' radioactive radium wastes were consigned to landfill in Middlesbrough, at a facility suitably licensed to receive this material. Some 18.7 tonnes of uncontaminated lead was recycled at South Darley. Low level radioactive radium waste was sent via Winfrith, an organisation licensed to handle such material, to the UK low level waste repository in Drigg, Cumbria,
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which is licensed to accept such waste. The radioactive waste largely consisted of luminised dials from abandoned vehicles.

The cost of the clean-up and remediation programme was £9.1 million. The cost has risen from that previously given in answers to parliamentary questions due to the resolution of outstanding contractual issues.

Defence: Procurement

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the (a) names, (b) job titles and (c) dates of office were of the senior responsible owners for the Typhoon project; [36375]

(2) pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2010, Official Report, columns 221-2W, on defence: procurement, who the senior responsible officers (SROs) were for the (a) Nimrod MRA4, (b) future integrated soldier technology, (c) Queen Elizabeth class carrier and (d) future rapid effect system project; and between what dates each served as SRO. [36579]

Peter Luff [holding answer 27 January 2011]: Further to the answer given by the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan) on 4 February 2011, Official Report, column 990W, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence has written to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee providing the
17 Feb 2011 : Column 918W
information requested. A copy of the Permanent Secretary's letter to the Committee will be placed in the Library of the House.

Defence: Sales

Andrew Rosindell: [33749]To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what serviceable (a) aircraft, (b) vessels and (c) weapons systems his Department has sold since 1997; and how much it received from each such sale. [33749]

Mr Gerald Howarth: I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Substantive answer from Gerald Howarth to Andrew Rosindell:


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17 Feb 2011 : Column 920W
Sales of defence equipment to other governments since 1997

Equipment Purchaser Revenue (£ million)

Aircraft

1997

6 x Wessex helicopters

Uruguay

Information no longer held

1999

2 x Hercules

Sri Lanka

64.0 (combined)

2003

3 x Hercules

Austria

34.0 (combined)

2005

1 x Hercules

Netherlands

Information no longer held

Vessels (surface warships and submarines)

1997

HMS Plover (Patrol vessel)

Philippines

7.5 (combined)

HMS Peacock (Patrol Vessel)

HMS Starling (Patrol Vessel)

1998

HMS Upholder (Submarine)

Canada

227.4 (combined)

HMS Unicorn (Submarine)

HMS Ursula (Submarine)

HMS Unseen (Submarine)

2000

HMS Bicester (Mine Countermeasure)

Greece

10.0 (combined)

HMS Berkely (Mine Countermeasure)

HMS Orkney (Patrol Vessel)

Trinidad and Tobago

1.5

2001

HMS Orwell (Patrol Vessel)

Guyana

1.5

2002

HMS London (Type 22 Frigate)

Romania

116.0 (combined)

HMS Coventry (Type 22 Frigate)

2003

HMS Shetland (Patrol Vessel)

Bangladesh

8.0 (combined)

HMS Alderney (Patrol Vessel)

HMS Anglesey (Patrol Vessel)

HMS Lindisfarne (Patrol Vessel)

HMS Guernsey (Patrol Vessel)

2003

HMS Sheffield (Type 22 Frigate)

Chile

27.0

2005

HMS Marlborough (Type 23 Frigate)

Chile

134.0 (combined)

HMS Norfolk (Type 23 Frigate)

HMS Grafton (Type 23 Frigate)

2007

HMS Sandown (Minehunter)

Estonia

32.0 (combined)

HMS Bridport (Minehunter)

HMS Inverness (Minehunter)

RFA Sir Galahad (Landing Ship Logistics)

Brazil

5.2

2008

RFA Sir Bedivere ((Landing Ship Logistics)

Brazil

10.0

HMS Cottesmore (Mine Countermeasure)

Lithuania

€155.0 (this sale was concluded in euros rather than sterling)

HMS Dulverton (Mine Countermeasure)

2010

HMS Dumbarton Castle (Patrol Vessel)

Bangladesh

2.4 (combined)

HMS Leeds Castle (Patrol Vessel)

Weapons s ystems

2001

20 x Rapier Cascade Missile System

Australia

0.68

Notes: 1. Sales agreements are negotiated on an individual basis and they are never "like-for-like". For example, some sales may include onboard systems, training and spare equipment support while others will exclude these elements. Comparisons between the sales of similar equipment should not, therefore, be made. 2. The costs provided represent the total combined revenue for the MOD and its industrial partners who, for example, carry out the work to regenerate the equipment.

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