The custodial episodes ending includes remand and sentenced episodes ending. Those remand episodes that have ended do not necessarily mean that a young person has left custody as they may be starting a custodial sentence upon the remand finishing.
The information comes from the YJB's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS) database.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of payments to farmers made as a result of meat controls; and if she will make a statement. [43554]
Mr Paice: No payments are made to farmers as a result of meat controls.
Beetles
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the size of the hazel pot beetle population in the United Kingdom. [43041]
Richard Benyon: The latest estimates suggest that that the UK population of hazel pot beetle comprises five colonies. These are located at sites in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey.
Birds
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of predation on the size of the songbird population. [44281]
Richard Benyon:
In 2009, DEFRA funded a wide-ranging research review to identify the causes of decline in wild bird populations. This included an assessment of the impact of predation. It found evidence that predation was, at least in some areas, having an impact on ground-nesting species such as seabirds or wading birds of wetland habitats (i.e. not songbirds). Predation was also identified as a potential driver of declines for nine woodland bird species including some songbirds such as bullfinch. Many bird and other animal species are known to predate songbirds. However, despite some studies showing a link to local declines in some bird populations at some individual sites, the evidence that predation is driving national declines is mixed. In addition,
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most research treats ‘predators’ as a single group and further research to better understand the role of individual predators and the known or likely impact of their control is required.
A more recent review undertaken by the RSPB, specifically on predation came to similar conclusions.
Both reports highlight one further important caveat: that there is a strong interaction with land use change—as habitats become degraded, birds are more susceptible to predation. What is clear from the research is that while predation can be important for some species in some areas, key drivers of change are habitat degradation and fragmentation, and in woodland, changes to habitat structure and so this is where our policies are focused. Improved habitat management also benefits the full range of species associated with the British countryside.
Bottle Deposit and Refund Schemes
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of the Prime Minister of 15 September 2010, Official Report, column 878, on bottle deposit and refund schemes, what progress she has made in considering the introduction of a bottle deposit refund scheme. [43369]
Richard Benyon [holding answer 2 March 2011]: This issue is being looked at as part of the Government’s review of waste policies in England, which is due to report in May. Those consulted in the course of the review had divergent views on deposit return schemes, which Ministers will need to weigh carefully before reaching a view.
Departmental Relocation
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement. [43470]
Richard Benyon: As part of the spending review, all Departments have been challenged to re-evaluate their business delivery structures, including their people and property, to drive out efficiencies wherever possible.
DEFRA is keeping its future people and property requirements under constant review. No decisions have been made in respect of future relocations to Brighton.
Corporate Britain
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) meetings, (b) correspondence and (c) other contact officials of her Department have had with officials of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on that Department’s call for evidence on a long-term focus for corporate Britain. [39592]
Mr Paice: My officials in are in regular contact with BIS officials on environmental issues relevant to a long term focus for corporate Britain.
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Dairy Farming: Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is taking to promote uptake of the grassland derogation to assist dairy farmers in preparing for implementation of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone regulations. [43995]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA has used multiple channels of communication to remind farmers of the availability of the derogation and how to apply.
The Department worked with key farming organisations before the opening of the 2011 derogation application window on 1 October 2010 so that they could alert their members and encourage them to apply. DEFRA issued an information bulletin on its website and alerted those who follow the Department on Twitter with an update on 1 October 2010. The derogation was also publicised in DEFRA's Farming Link Online newsletter.
DEFRA's Farming Online team issued email reminders to those farmers that received the derogations in 2010. Farmers and growers who met the relevant requirements could apply for the 2011 derogation online through DEFRA's Whole Farm Approach pages during the application window.
Furthermore, the Environment Agency issued a factsheet during the 2011 application period to all farmers that received 2010 derogation. A reminder of the deadline and ways to apply was also included in the October Fertiliser Advisers Certificated Training Scheme quarterly newsletter, ‘Fertiliser Matters’. A text message reminder via the Cross Compliance text messaging service was also sent to urge farmers to reapply for the derogation.
DEFRA officials worked again with the key farming organisations shortly before the deadline for applications to provide a further reminder to the farmers through their communications networks.
Dangerous Dogs
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will bring forward proposals to open the Index of Exempted Dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to owner-led applications. [43423]
Mr Paice: DEFRA is considering a number of options relating to the control of dangerous dogs and improving responsible dog ownership. An announcement will be made shortly.
Departmental Conditions of Employment
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of her Department's adherence to each of the principles of good employment practice set out in the Cabinet Office publication Principles of Good Employment Practice. [42620]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA seeks to follow good procurement practice, drawing on advice issued by Cabinet Office in the publication Principles of Good Employment Practice and professional bodies, and promoting them to suppliers and other stakeholders where appropriate.
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We have published and publicised an Ethical Procurement Policy Statement on DEFRA's website which will shortly be updated. Its key principles reflect those in the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's, “Ethical Business Practices in Purchasing and Supply Management”. It will also support other policies of the coalition Government such as delivering the big society and increasing opportunities for SMEs and civil society organisations.
We are also developing guidance to help procurement staff to better embed equality and diversity into contracts, taking account of the Equality Act 2010.
Departmental Redundancy
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the expenditure on redundancies of public bodies sponsored by her Department in each of the next four financial years. [43715]
Richard Benyon: In autumn 2010 the Department (which includes the core Department and its network of arm's length bodies) estimated that around £190 million (2% of the overall DEFRA budget for the four-year spending review period) would be required to fund voluntary exits and redundancies.
Due to changes to the terms of the compensation scheme announced by Cabinet Office in December 2010, DEFRA is confident that the original forecast of £190 million will turn out to be an overestimate.
Departmental Research
Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to assess the value for money of scientific evidence and advice provided by the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department. [42160]
Richard Benyon: Relationships between DEFRA and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are governed by memoranda of understanding. There are two types of NDPBs: executive NDPBs, which deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than Ministers, and advisory NDPBs, which advise Ministers on particular issues.
Executive NDPBs have their own chief scientists or heads of evidence and their own efficiency targets. Therefore, DEFRA does not routinely assess the value for money of evidence and advice provided by such NDPBs.
With respect to advisory NDPBs, as part of a wider review of its arm’s length bodies, the Department has recently reviewed the role and functions of its 18 scientific and technical advisory bodies. The aim of the review was to improve transparency and accountability. The majority of the scientific and technical advisory bodies will become expert committees. They will all continue to provide independent advice but this change will allow for greater co-ordination as the scientific expert committees will work more closely with DEFRA's Science Advisory Council and the Chief Scientific Adviser.
Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) openness and (c) accessibility of scientific evidence and advice that inform her Department’s policy decisions. [42170]
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Richard Benyon: With regard to the effectiveness of evidence and advice, DEFRA recently commissioned a pilot study to assess how evidence has informed policy decision-making within four case study areas(1). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of evidence on policy making, rather than evaluate the impact—or success—of policy decisions.
DEFRA’s chief scientific adviser (CSA) provides an independent challenge to the evidence underpinning policy decisions to assure himself that policy is informed by high-quality, robust evidence. Where specific issues are brought to the CSA’s attention, or where evidence and advice is particularly complex or uncertain, the CSA will assess and give advice on them, to Ministers or senior policy colleagues.
DEFRA’s three laboratory agencies (*Fera, VLA and CEFAS) are subject to science audits about once every five years; the most recent series was completed in 2007. These audits have covered all aspects of scientific work carried out at the agencies including R and D and non-R and D to give an independent assessment of quality, balance, scope and appropriateness of the science. The timing of the next audits will depend on the outcomes of the arm’s length bodies review.
No specific assessment of the openness and accessibility of evidence and advice has been carried out recently. For core DEFRA, current practice includes publication of all R and D reports on the DEFRA website(2) and encouraging publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Statistics are produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics produced by the UK Statistics Authority(3).
DEFRA has published an ‘Information Strategy’ on how it will make its data accessible to everyone and routinely publishes large amounts of data, including statistical datasets; DEFRA will soon improve its publication channels to provide greater ease of use and further increase the number of data offerings. DEFRA is also reviewing its data holdings through HM Treasury’s Review of Government Data which, when completed, will also lead to an increase in our publication output.
The Government chief scientific adviser (GCSA), after cross-Government consultation, re-launched his “Guidelines on the Use of Scientific and Engineering Advice in Policy Making”(4) in 2010. These include good practice principles relating to openness and transparency, and DEFRA and its non-departmental public bodies are actively working on their implementation.
DEFRA’s scientific advisory committees apply the Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees(5), which has openness and transparency as a key theme. The DEFRA Science Advisory Council’s code of practice makes clear that it operates a policy of openness in line with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations. The Science Advisory Council publishes full information on its website.
* Fera—Food and Environment Research Agency, VLA—Veterinary Laboratories Agency, CEFAS—Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
(1) Note:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/docs/policy/evidence-policy-report.pdf
(2) Note:
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/
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(3) Note:
http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html
(4) Note:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/goscience/docs/g/10-669-gcsa-guidelines-scientific-engineering-advice-policy-making.pdf
(5) Note:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/goscience/docs/c/cop-scientific-advisory-committees.pdf
Dog and Cat Population
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information her Department holds on the effectiveness of (a) neutering and (b) euthanasia as a means of control of the dog and cat population. [43988]
Mr Paice: DEFRA has not conducted any formal research into the effectiveness of using neutering and euthanasia to control the dog and cat population, but I think it is fair to assume that without these methods the numbers of these animals would be much larger.
Illegal Trading: Dogs and Cats
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the monetary value of the illegal trade in dogs and cats in each of the last four financial years. [43021]
Mr Paice: The Government have made no such estimates.
Electric Shock Training Devices
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects her Department’s research into electric shock training devices to be completed; and by whom the research will be peer-reviewed. [43422]
Mr Paice: Our research into electronic training aids is due to be completed at the end of June this year. No decisions have yet been made on who will peer-review the research results before they are published.
Fish: Consumption
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on promoting consumption of (a) anchovies, (b) herring and (c) sardines. [43991]
Richard Benyon: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) informs DEFRA of its healthy eating policy and recommends consumption of at least two portions of fish a week, including one portion of oil-rich fish such as anchovy, herring, sardine and mackerel.
However, stock sustainability is an important consideration when recommending the consumption of fish species. DEFRA has commissioned work to understand the potential for encouraging increased consumption of herring and sardines as part of their ‘Fishing for the Markets’ project—an initiative to encourage domestic consumption of sustainable, under-utilised fish species. The project began last year and research is ongoing. Initial results will be available in spring 2011.
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Floods: Public Expenditure
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on trends in the number of householders with homes at risk of flooding refused buildings insurance by insurers after the publication of the comprehensive spending review. [44020]
Richard Benyon: The Government have an agreement with the insurance industry, the ‘Statement of Principles’, which helps safeguard the widespread availability of flood insurance. If cover cannot be offered on standard terms, then in almost all cases a solution may be found by householders working through specialist brokers.
Following a summit with insurers and other flood risk management partners in September 2010, three working groups have been established to consider how to ensure flood insurance remains widely available after the Statement of Principles agreement expires in 2013. The working groups are collecting data from a number of sources, including on the availability of insurance, and are due to report this summer.
Food 2030 Strategy
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to implement the Food 2030 strategy. [40839]
Mr Paice: Food 2030 usefully set the scene and described the key issues facing the food chain. The Government are now taking action to meet their objectives of supporting British farming, encouraging sustainable food production, and helping to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the whole food chain with the aim of ensuring a secure, environmentally sustainable and healthy supply of food with improved standards of animal welfare.
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Forestry Commission
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to appoint the members of the expert panel on the future of the Forestry Commission; and on what date she expects its first meeting to take place. [43019]
Mr Paice: The membership of the panel is currently under consideration. We will make an announcement on the panel’s composition as soon as possible and will expect it to meet shortly thereafter.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from representatives of the rallying sector on the future of land owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. [44017]
Mr Paice: In February the chief executive of Motor Sport Association UK wrote to Ministers about the future of the public forest estate in England.
All of the online survey responses to the closed public forest estate consultation questionnaire were anonymous. No emailed representations to the dedicated consultation mailbox were from the rallying sector.
Public Forest Estate: Sales
Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what type of land the Forestry Commission (a) owns and (b) leases in each parliamentary constituency in Northamptonshire; and what land in each such constituency she (i) proposes to offer and (ii) is considering offering for sale. [38560]
Mr Paice [holding answer 7 March 2011]: The estimated area of public forest estate in each constituency in Northamptonshire is given in the following table.
| Ownership type (2) | ||||
| Constituency (1) | Total area (Ha) | Leasehold | Freehold | Mixed |
| (1) Where an area of woodland crosses a constituency boundary the constituency with the greater proportion of the area has been deemed to contain the whole block. (2) The public forest estate is owned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and placed at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners under section (3)1 of the Forestry Act 1967. | ||||
The consultation on the future of the Public Forest Estate has been halted and all forestry clauses in the Public Bodies Bill will be removed. An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.
Public Forest Estate
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish a list of the forest sites within the 100,000 acres of land to be sold to which the current consultation process does not apply. [39033]
Mr Paice [holding answer 8 February 2011]: The consultation on the future of the public forest estate has been halted and all forestry clauses in the Public Bodies Bill will be removed. An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether the proposed independent panel to consider forestry policy in England will have access to (a) research and (b) administrative support from her Department; [43068]
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(2) whether the proposed independent panel on forestry in England will consider written submissions from the public; [43069]
(3) whether the proposed independent panel on forestry policy in England will meet in public; and whether minutes of the meetings of the panel will be published. [43070]
Mr Paice: Administrative arrangements for the panel are still under consideration.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) on what dates she met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss her policy on the disposal of land owned and managed by the Forestry Commission; [43375]
(2) whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on consequential changes in programme funding for her Department following her recent decision on the disposal of land owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. [43376]
Mr Paice: No such meetings or discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer have taken place.
Mr Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will assess the merits of using Section 16 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to dedicate routes within the public forest estate for cyclists and horse riders. [43561]
Mr Paice: An independent panel is being established to advise on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England, on the role of the Forestry Commission and on the role of the public forest estate.
It will report its finding in the autumn after which we will make an assessment of any potential changes.
Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what proportion of (a) commercial and (b) heritage woodland in each local authority area is owned (i) by the Forestry Commission and (ii) privately. [44338]
Mr Paice [holding answer 4 March 2011]:Only the public forest estate managed by the Forestry Commission in England was classified into the four broad but overlapping types of woodland (large commercial, small commercial, heritage and multi-purpose) as detailed in the consultation on the future of the public forest estate in England.
The illustrative map that was produced has been withdrawn following an announcement by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mrs Spelman) on 17 February that the consultation would end.
An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to ensure diversity of expertise in the membership of the independent panel of experts convened by her Department to examine forestry policy; and whether it will include experts on heritage and archaeology. [44726]
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Mr Paice: The panel's membership is still being considered. It will include representatives of key environmental and access organisations, alongside representatives of the forestry industry. It will draw on a broad range of expertise to inform its work.
Public Forest Estate: Access
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2011, Official Report, column 922W, what assessment she has made of potential changes in permissive access for cyclists and equestrians to forests and woodlands managed by the Forestry Commission as a result of the deliberations of her expert panel on the Forestry Commission. [43990]
Mr Paice: The independent panel being established to advise on the future direction of forestry policy in England will report with its findings this autumn after which we will make an assessment of any potential changes. The panel membership and terms of reference have not yet been finalised. It will include representatives of key environmental and access organisations alongside representatives of the forestry industry.
Public Forest Estate
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East. [43160]
Mr Paice: Since the beginning of October last year, we have received thousands of representations on the sale of the public forest estate.
We are not able to break these representations down into those that specify the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East.
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East. [43161]
Mr Paice: I have not had any recent discussions about the sale of any individual forest or wood managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East. Implementing previous sales have been the responsibility of the Forestry Commission. All new sales have been suspended as announced by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 11 February 2011.
Landfill
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the costs to the public purse arising from (a) the closure of landfill sites and (b) the opening of waste management facilities in the next 10 years. [43416]
Richard Benyon: The information is as follows:
(a) Nearly all landfill sites are operated by private waste management companies. The costs of compliance, aftercare and closure therefore fall to the operators and not the public purse, consistent with the polluter pays principle.
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(b) £2 billion of private finance initiative (PFI) credits have been allocated to 32 Waste PFI projects which have a total contract value of £30.2 billion. There are also a number of public-private partnership (PPP) and merchant facilities either built or planned which are privately financed. DEFRA does not provide funds to these projects from the public purse, and they are therefore not obliged to inform us of commercial or contractual data.
Maize: Imports
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of instances of the importation of maize without an EU import licence in each of the last four years. [43296]
Mr Gauke: I have been asked to reply.
HMRC tell me that from 1 March 2007 to 28 February 2011, where EU import licences were in operation, the number of declarations for release to free circulation for maize accepted without such a licence were as follows:
|
|
Declarations |
These declarations were accepted without a licence because they fell below the regulatory net quantity above which such a licence is required.
Members: Correspondence
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to reply to the letter reference MM/JH/14/01/2011 of 14 January 2011 from the hon. Member for Bridgend. [44654]
Richard Benyon: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my noble Friend Lord Henley, responded to the letter from the hon. Member for Bridgend on 28 February.
Nature Conservation
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with which (a) civil society and (b) other organisations in Yorkshire and the Humber the Forestry Commission in Yorkshire and the Humber has had contact in respect of (i) wildlife conservation, (ii) access or use of its woodlands, (iii) education and (iv) other issues in the last 12 months. [38693]
Mr Paice: The Forestry Commission’s managers of the public forest estate in Yorkshire and the Humber have recorded 105 contacts with civil society and 280 contacts with other organisations in the last 12 months. Some of these were for more than one reason. I have placed a list of these contacts, including the reason for contact, in the Library of the House.
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Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she made of the level of slurry storage capacity in the dairy farming sector in preparation for the implementation of the nitrate vulnerable zone rules. [43295]
Richard Benyon: Supporting paper G4 (a report written by Entec UK Ltd) to the 2007 consultation on implementation of the nitrates directive informed the making of the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008. It estimated that under the option subsequently chosen, 7,099 dairy farms would need to fulfil the slurry storage requirements.
As the area eventually designated was 62%, rather than the 70% on which the estimates were based, the actual impact is likely to have been less than this.
This was an estimate for England only, as this is the extent of the coverage of the regulations.
Pet Advertising Advisory Group
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the next meeting of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group to take place. [43022]
Mr Paice: The Government are not responsible for the Pet Advertising Advisory Group, although officials have attended meetings. We understand that the group has decided that it has served its purposes and has not arranged any further meetings. DEFRA is grateful for the work of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group took place in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010; and how many such meetings have taken place in 2011 to date. [43023]
Mr Paice: DEFRA is not a formal member of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group, although officials have attended some of the group's meetings. DEFRA, therefore, is not in a position to provide details as to the precise number of meetings held by the group.
Rural Areas: Rallying
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the contribution of rallying to the rural economy in each of the last four years. [44150]
Richard Benyon: The Government recognise the local economic benefits that sports, including rallying, can generate for rural areas. However, no assessment has been carried out of the specific contribution of car rallying to the overall rural economy.
Salmon: Exports
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much farmed salmon was exported from the UK to the People's Republic of China in each of the last four years. [43046]
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Richard Benyon: DEFRA does not hold this information centrally.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs does make available data that include salmon exports, available at:
www.uktradeinfo.com
but a breakdown of exports of farmed salmon is not available.
Salmon: Scotland
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment she has made of the effects of levels of production of farmed salmon in Scotland on levels of sea lice; [43047]
(2) what assessment she has made of the effects of sea lice on farmed salmon stocks in Scotland in each of the last four years; [43048]
(3) if she will assess the potential effects on the welfare of wild salmon of an increase in the levels of production of farmed salmon in Scotland. [44010]
Richard Benyon: The Scottish Government, through Marine Scotland Science, has in place a research programme assessing the potential impacts of salmon farming on wild salmonids.
Escapes of farmed salmon in 2010 were the lowest since public reporting began, while the Scottish Minister for Environment and Climate Change indicated recently a desire to consult on recommendations from an expert group, which would lead to further improvement in the control of sea-lice on salmon farms.
Sewers
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of sewers which are not adopted by a water authority. [43717]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA’s 2008 impact assessment of proposals for the transfer of private sewers and lateral drains into the ownership of water and sewerage companies estimated that there are approximately 184,000 km of sewers and 36,000 km of lateral drains that connect to and affect the public sewerage system, but which have not been adopted by water and sewerage companies and are not their responsibility. In addition, some 208,000 km of sewers and lateral drains do not connect to the public sewerage system at all and remain the responsibility of their respective owners.
Supermarkets: Procurement
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will examine the effects on the supply of food of contracts with supermarkets which require food that is fit for human consumption to be destroyed; and if she will make a statement. [44475]
Mr Paice: Government and industry are working to prevent food waste wherever possible throughout manufacturing and supply and in the home. For example, the Courtauld Commitment includes ambitious waste prevention targets and many industry members are partners in the Love Food Hate Waste campaign.
There are no legal provisions which would require retailers to destroy unsold food that is fit for human consumption. We encourage industry to work with
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charities such as FareShare to ensure that good food does not go to waste. However, for reasons of safety, food which has passed its ‘use by’ date is considered unfit for human consumption.
Voluntary Work and Charitable Donations
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department has a policy to encourage its employees to (a) volunteer and (b) donate via payroll giving. [43237]
Richard Benyon: Community volunteering and payroll giving form part of the Department’s wellbeing and corporate social responsibility strategy that its management board implemented at the end of 2007.
DEFRA offers all its employees one day paid special leave a year for volunteering, either individually or as part of a team. It publicises details in various ways, in accordance with local practice. These include the staff handbook and dedicated Intranet web pages that provide comprehensive information on how to volunteer, its benefits and case study examples. In addition there are many voluntary public service appointments that attract paid special leave, with specified annual limits, such as justice of the peace and school governor.
The Department also publishes information and guidance on payroll giving through the staff handbook and the intranet. This encourages employees to take part in the Give as you Earn scheme, explains the process involved and provides access to details of over 4,000 charities that are registered on the Payroll Giving database.
Whales: Conservation
Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking ahead of the meeting of the International Whaling Commission in July 2011 to ensure maximum international opposition to commercial whaling. [44375]
Richard Benyon: Ahead of this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, I plan to discuss our support for the moratorium on commercial whaling with a range of environmental and other organisations, and with anti-whaling countries.
DEFRA officials will be meeting the 25 EU IWC contracting Governments and other anti-whaling countries in the build-up to the 63rd IWC annual meeting (IWC63).
We will also be working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to raise the issue with key IWC members prior to IWC63, encouraging support for the moratorium and for the UK's position to ensure the long-term conservation and protection of whales.
Cabinet Office
Asylum
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his most recent estimate is of the number of stateless people residing in the UK. [44818]
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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 March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the most recent estimate is of the number of stateless people residing in the UK (44818).
The Office for National Statistics does not have the information necessary to make an estimate of the number of stateless people in the UK.
Big Society Bank
Hazel Blears: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to inform holders of potential dormant accounts prior to funds being redistributed by the Big Society bank. [39848]
Mr Hurd: A distribution of funds to the Big Society Bank will not affect the rights or ability of dormant account holders to reclaim their money.
The British Bankers Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA) and National Savings and Investment (NS&I) provide a free service for customers to trace lost accounts at:
www.mylostaccount.org.uk
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what representations he has received on the legality of using funds from dormant bank accounts to fund the proposed Big Society Bank. [40336]
Mr Hurd: The Treasury Solicitor's department has been instructed to provide legal advice.
Any spending direction to the Big Lottery Fund to distribute money from dormant accounts to the Big Society Bank will be made using the provisions of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, and the Transfer of Functions (Dormant Accounts) Order 2010.
Census
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps the Office for National Statistics has taken to engage with community media to promote the 2011 Census; and what budget has been assigned for publicising the Census through local and community media. [43253]
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 March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what steps ONS has taken to engage with community media to promote the 2011 Census; and what budget has been assigned for publicising the census through local and community media (43253).
As part of the overall census communication and engagement programme, nearly 200 census area managers and community advisors are contacting community and local media to raise awareness of the 2011 Census. Many media organisations have responded positively, recognising the importance of encouraging their audience to participate, and covering the census in news and editorial features.
There is no specific budget for local and community media as the budget is defined by the audience that the advertising reaches.
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Charities
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will bring forward proposals to strengthen the relationship between charities and the state. [42145]
Mr Hurd: The Cabinet Office is currently considering applications to its Strategic Partners Transition programme. This will help ensure that key national representative organisations can efficiently and effectively represent the ‘voice’ of the VCSE sector to Government, and provide Government with a conduit to speak to the sector.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2010, Official Report, column 88W, on charities: public expenditure, what progress has been made in examining the exposure of the third sector to public spending reductions and ways of mitigating potential impacts. [42201]
Mr Hurd: The Government are committed to supporting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to move forward at this difficult time, and continue to work closely with partners in the sector to understand and mitigate the impacts of any spending reductions. This includes measures to:
Deliver transparency and accountability, so that, for the first time, the sector has clear and timely information on Government funding.
Support best practice, to ensure local funding decisions are made wisely, and in conjunction with the sector and local communities.
Open up public services, incorporating consultation with sector organisations and commissioners on Modernising Commissioning.
Support the sector through the transition, by investing £100 million in the Transition Fund to create breathing space for public service providers.
Develop the Big Society Bank to help sector organisations access much needed additional resources and investment.
Community Development
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will assess the basis for any link between habitual television watching and civic disengagement. [42125]
Mr Hurd: The Department has no current plans to conduct an assessment of the link between habitual television watching and civic disengagement. The Giving Green Paper, published in December 2010, compared the average amount of time devoted to volunteering and watching television on a weekly basis. However, the paper did not seek to establish a relationship between these two activities.
Mortality Rates: Income Deaths
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate has been made of age-adjusted mortality rate for each income decile. [44095]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
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Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate has been made of age-adjusted mortality rate for each income decile (44095).
The tables attached provide the age-standardised mortality rate per 100,000 population, for each income deprivation decile, in England (Table 1) and in Wales (Table 2), for 2009 (the latest year available).
Income deprivation deciles are based on an estimate of the proportion of people with low income in the area of usual residence of the deceased rather than on the individual’s own actual income, which is not recorded at death registration. Income scores for areas in England and Wales are available as part of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008 respectively. The scores for lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) were ranked and divided into deciles, ranging from the least deprived tenth of areas to the most deprived tenth of areas.
| Table 1: Age-standardised mortality rates (1) with 95% confidence limits (2) , for each income deprivation decile (3) in England (4) , 2009 (5) | |||
| 95% confidence limits | |||
| Decile | Rate per 100,000 | Lower limit | Upper limit |
| (1) Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. (3) Based on the income domain of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007. (4) Figures for England exclude deaths of non-residents. (5) Figures are based on deaths registered in 2009. | |||
| Table 2: Age-standardised mortality rates (1) with 95% confidence limits (2) , for each income deprivation decile (3) in Wales (4) , 2009 (5) | |||
| 95% confidence limits | |||
| Decile | Rate per 100,000 | Lower limit | Upper limit |
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| (1) Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. (3) Based on the income domain of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008. (4) Figures for Wales exclude deaths of non-residents. (5) Figures are based on deaths registered in 2009. | |||
Notes:
1. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 is the official measure of deprivation for small areas in England. It was commissioned by Communities and Local Government (CLG) and developed by the Social Disadvantage Research Centre at the university of Oxford. It consists of seven domains: income; employment; health and disability; education skills and training; barriers to housing and services; living environment; and crime. More information about the index can be found at the following link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/indiciesdeprivation07
2. The IMD 2010 is due to be released on 24 March 2011.
3. The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008 is the official measure of deprivation for small areas in Wales. It was developed for the Welsh Assembly Government by the Assembly’s Statistical Directorate and the Local Government Data Unit (Wales). It consists of eight domains: income; employment; health; education; housing; access to services; environment; and community safety. More information about the index can be found at the following link:
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/theme/wimd/2008/?lang=en
4. There are 32,482 lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) in England and 1,896 in Wales. The number of LSOAs in each income deprivation decile is detailed in table 3 below.
| Table 3: Number of lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) in each income deprivation decile, Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008 | ||
| Decile | IMD 2007 | WIMD 2008 |
5. Data are extracted from the SOPHIE database using the latest boundaries for consistency. This means that figures for past time periods can sometimes differ from those previously published by ONS for those periods, where boundaries have changed over time.
Deaths: Children
John Hemming: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many children have died where child (a) abuse and (b) neglect was recorded as a contributory factor in each year since 1990. [44779]
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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 March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many children have died where child (a) abuse and (b) neglect was recorded as a contributory factor in each year since 1990 [44779].
The information collected at death registration provides statistics on deaths which were caused by specific conditions or injuries. It is not possible to obtain from these mortality statistics the contributory factors of child abuse or neglect.
Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires only those conditions that contributed directly to the death to be recorded on the death certificate. Medical practitioners and coroners are not supposed to record all of the diseases or conditions present at or before death, and whether a condition contributed is a matter for their clinical judgement.
When a death has been investigated by a coroner further information may be available to ONS in the form of coroner's inquest text but this information cannot be extracted without disproportionate costs.
Further information on child mortality statistics is published on the Office for National Statistics website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product. asp?vlnk=15362
Population: Yemen
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the amount of remittances from British Yemenis to Yemen in each of the last five years. [44259]
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 March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister of the Cabinet Office what estimate
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has been made of the amount of remittances from British Yemenis to Yemen in each of the last five years. [44259]
The UK Balance of Payments (Pink Book, table 5.1, p79) includes statistics for ‘other payment by households’, which includes data on remittances. However, ONS does not publish estimates analysed by country because they are not considered to be of sufficient quality and so, figures for Yemen are not available.
Suicide
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of suicide rates in each socio-economic group. [44807]
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 March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about suicide rates in each socioeconomic group (44807).
The table attached provides age-standardised mortality rates by the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) where suicide was the underlying cause of death, for men aged 25-64 in England and Wales, for 2001-03.
The corresponding rates for women are not shown as the analysis by NS-SEC focuses only on major causes of death, both because of resource limitations and because of the reduced reliability of rates based on small numbers. Suicide is a large enough cause of death for men to have come within the scope of the analysis quoted, but not a large enough cause for women.
More recent estimates are not available because it is not possible to obtain sufficiently reliable population denominators by NS-SEC class (in addition to age and sex) for analysis by individual causes of death, except at the time of the decennial Census. The figures attached were based on deaths registered in 2001-03, the 2001 Census, and ONS population estimates for England and Wales for the years 2001-03.
These figures were published in Health Statistics Quarterly (volume 38, page 27) in 2008. Details can be found at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ38_Final_WEB_file.pdf
| Age standardised (1) mortality rates from suicide and events of undetermined intent (2) , by NS-SEC class, men aged 25-64, England and Wales | ||||
| Rate per million | ||||
|
|
NS-SEC analytic class | Rate | Lower 95% confidence interval | Upper 95% confidence interval |
| (1) Age standardised mortality rates per million population. Standardised rates allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34 (excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner’s verdict was pending). | ||||
Third Sector: Finance
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what funding his Department provided to strengthen charities and civil societies in each year since 1997. [42072]
Mr Hurd:
The Office of the Third Sector (now the Office for Civil Society) was established in the Cabinet
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Office in May 2006. Since then, expenditure by the Cabinet Office on programmes to support civil society organisations has been reported separately in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. Each year, note 11 of the accounts breaks down this expenditure by programme.
Unemployment: Airdrie
Pamela Nash: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of workless households in Airdrie and Shotts constituency. [44804]
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 March 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate has been made of the number of workless households in Airdrie and Shotts constituency (44804).
The figures requested come from the Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets. The latest data currently available are for 2009. The attached table shows estimates for Airdrie and Shotts constituency.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This is captured in a confidence interval, defined by lower and upper bounds, such that the interval formed between the bounds would contain the true value for 95% of all possible samples.
| Number of workless households (1) in Airdrie and Shott constituency | |||
| Thousand | |||
|
|
Estimate | Lower bound (2) | Upper bound (2) |
| (1) Households containing at least one person aged 16-64, where all individuals aged 16 or over are not in employment. (2) 95% confidence interval. Source: APS household dataset | |||
Voluntary Work
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on establishing a Big Society day. [41812]
Mr Hurd: The Government have been working to build a culture of social action. As part of this, a “Giving” Green Paper was published in December 2010 containing a range of ideas to encourage the giving of time and money, and these ideas will be developed in a White Paper to be published in due course. The civil service recently committed to a new volunteering initiative that will encourage hundreds of thousands of professionals to volunteer for at least one day each year. The Government are working with external organisations to encourage this culture of giving outside the civil service and take forward the idea of a Big Society day.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will develop and publicise a national scheme to monitor corporate giving. [41983]
Mr Hurd:
The Cabinet Office has no plans to publicise a national scheme to monitor corporate giving. The
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recently published ‘Giving’ Green Paper seeks to increase levels of giving and mutual support in all sectors of our society, catalysing a culture shift that makes social action a social norm. This consultation period for the Green Paper will close on 9 March and the Government will publish a White Paper on Giving after this.
Transition Fund
Stella Creasy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what factors he took into account in setting the deadline for applications to the Transition Fund by voluntary organisations; and whether he discussed such factors with representatives of (a) the voluntary sector and (b) local government. [44037]
Mr Hurd: The Transition Fund was open to applications on 30 November 2010 with a deadline of 21 January 2011. When setting this timetable, the Government were particularly mindful to balance the urgent need to support organisations facing financial hardship with requiring some evidence of the cuts they face. Big Fund, the delivery partner, held a consultation event on 11 November 2010 to seek views about the implementation of the Transition Fund. A wide range of organisations attended the consultation event including frontline civil society organisations, infrastructure organisations, national umbrella bodies representing civil society, representatives from the Local Government Association and central Government.
Voluntary Work
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of barriers to volunteering. [38838]
Mr Hurd: In 2008-09 the Governments Citizenship Survey showed that the main barriers to volunteering were, work commitments (cited by 55% of those that did not volunteer), family responsibilities (30%), lack of spare time (26%) and not hearing about opportunities to help (20%).
Encouraging social action, including volunteering is one of the three aims of the Governments vision for a big society. To support this aim, in December 2010 the Government published the Giving Green paper. The Green Paper sought to start a debate on how we can make social action a norm and encourage more people to give their time, including removing barriers to volunteering.
The Government are also committed to reducing bureaucracy for charities, social enterprises and community organisations. To achieve this the Cabinet Office and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have set up a joint taskforce to investigate how to reduce the bureaucratic burdens on civil society organisations, particularly small organisations. The taskforce is chaired by Lord Hodgson and will report to Ministers in spring 2011.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect of volunteering on the (i) well-being and (ii) employability of (A) newly unemployed and (B) long-term unemployed people. [41039]
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Mr Hurd: The Cabinet Office has not directly commissioned and evaluated research related to the effect of volunteering on unemployed people. However, we have confidence that volunteering offers volunteers a range of benefits that would have a positive impact on unemployed people.
This is supported by the Department for Work and Pension's report ‘Evaluation of the six month offer: A report of quantitative findings’, published in October 2010. This found that of those Jobseeker’s allowance customers who took up a volunteering placement under the six month offer initiative:
67% felt they were more motivated to find work;
74% felt better about themselves as a result;
79% were more enthusiastic about taking on further voluntary opportunities in future; and
60% said they felt they had a better chance of finding a job as a result.
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what role behavioural science has played in his
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Department's development of its policy on
(a)
giving,
(b)
volunteering and
(c)
the Big Society. [41834]
Mr Hurd: The Behavioural Science Team was consulted in relation to the proposals in the recent Green Paper on giving of time and money. One of the discussion essays published alongside the Green Paper was authored by the Head of the Behavioural Insight team, David Halpern. Access to the Behavioural Insight Team is available to staff in the Office of Civil Society.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether he has made an assessment of geographical variation in (a) levels of volunteering and (b) the number of charities; and if he will make a statement. [41890]
Mr Hurd: Data from the 2009-10 Citizenship Survey, conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government, show a regional variation in volunteering as follows:
| Percentage | ||||
| Region | Formal volunteering | Informal volunteering | ||
|
|
Once a month | Once a year | Once a month | Once a year |
Data from The UK Civil Society Almanac 2010 published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations show regional variations in the number of general charities as follows:
| Region | Number of organisations — 2007-08 |
Encouraging social action, including volunteering, is one of the three aims of the Government’s vision for a Big Society. To support this aim, in December 2010 the Government published the Giving Green paper. The Green Paper sought to start a debate on how we can make social action a norm and encourage more people to give their time, including removing barriers to volunteering.
In addition, the Cutting Red Tape taskforce, led by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbots, is considering the red tape that affects civil society organisations and will recommend how to reduce its impact. This will contribute to the Government's aim of making it easier to run a charity, social enterprise or voluntary organisation.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what use his Department has made of time-use studies in establishing volunteering patterns across (a) socio-economic, (b) age, (c) gender and (d) race groups. [41977]
Mr Hurd: The Department has not made use of time use studies to establish volunteering patterns across socio economic, age, gender and race groups. This information is collected through the Citizenship Survey, as conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The information is in the public domain and available in the 2008-09 Citizenship Survey Volunteering and Charitable Giving Topic Report:
www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1547056.pdf
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2011, Official Report, columns 453-4W, on voluntary work, what the evidential basis is for his Department's expectation that levels of volunteering will increase over the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [42200]
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Mr Hurd: The Giving Green Paper, published in December 2010, contained a preliminary analysis of existing research. It showed that people are held back from volunteering due to a range of barriers, these include: too much bureaucracy, the lack of time or not having the right information. The Green Paper also outlined the Government's initial ideas for catalysing a culture shift towards a more giving society, including: the creation of an £80 million Volunteering Fund, which comprises a volunteering match fund and a volunteer infrastructure programme. These programmes will both provide support to organisations to take on more volunteers, and encourage individuals to take up these new opportunities.
A public consultation on the Green Paper will run until 9 March 2011 and will feed into a White Paper to be published in spring 2011. This White Paper will set out a number of policy proposals aimed at increasing all forms of giving, however we cannot anticipate details in advance of its publication.
Working Hours
Mr Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what was the average number of hours worked by (a) adults aged 18 to 65 and (b) employed adults aged 18 to 65 in each year since 1981. [44521]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the average number of hours worked by a) adults aged 18 to 65 and b) employed adults aged 18 to 65 is in each year since 1981. (44521).
The table provided shows average actual weekly hours derived from the Labour Force Survey. Estimates are for quarter four of each year from 1992 to 2010. Estimates prior to 1992 are not available.
| Average actual weekly hours of work, people aged 18 to 65 Quarter 4 each year, 1992 to 2010—United Kingdom | ||
| Hours per week | ||
|
|
Population (1) | In employment (2) |
| (1) Average actual weekly hours worked by people in main and second job including paid and unpaid overtime for the population as a whole. (2) Average actual weekly hours worked by people in main and second job including paid and unpaid overtime for people in employment. Source: Labour Force Survey. | ||
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Treasury
Carbon Emissions
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the contribution of fiscal measures to reduce levels of waste to landfill to the Government's carbon emission reduction targets. [44001]
Justine Greening: The landfill tax and the landfill allowance trading schemes aim to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill. The annual volume of waste sent to landfill has reduced from 95.8 million tonnes to 43.9 million tonnes since landfill tax was introduced in 1996.
As a result, direct emissions from waste in 2011 are projected to be 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent lower than if the level of waste sent to landfill had not changed.
Fiscal Policy: Food
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made on the effects on fiscal policy of rising global food and commodity prices. [43993]
Justine Greening: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) produced its latest forecast for the public finances in its November Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2010, available here:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/econ-fiscal-outlook.html
The OBR will publish an updated assessment of the public finances at the Budget on 23 March 2011, which will include any effects from changing food and commodity prices.
Green Investment Bank
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings he has had with (a) the Deputy Prime Minister and (b) other Ministerial colleagues on capitalisation and accounting practices for the proposed Green Investment Bank. [43266]
Justine Greening [holding answer 2 March 2011]: Treasury Ministers have frequent meetings with their ministerial colleagues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. It is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund
George Freeman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has for the future use of revenues raised through the aggregates levy following the closure of the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund; [43658]
(2) what plans he has for the future funding of environmental projects following the closure of the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. [43657]
Justine Greening: Responsibility for the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) lies with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Following the spending review settlement in October 2010 DEFRA has decided to discontinue the ALSF programme of work from 1 April 2011, after careful consideration across its priorities.
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Value for money and significant environment projects will continue to be funded where it is affordable for the Department to do so, in the context of tighter budget allocations. However, DEFRA is funding a project to help ensure that the findings from money already invested in ALSF research and development are accessible to those who can put them into practice and achieve the potential improvements in environmental performance.
Revenue from the aggregates levy will go into the Consolidated Fund and help support general public spending. £0.3 billion is forecast to be raised in 2010-11.
In the spending review the Government committed to increase central Government environmental spending by 21% between 2010-11 and 2014-15, including:
Up to 1 billion of investment to create one of the world's first commercial scale carbon capture and storage demonstration plants;
£2 billion investment in flood defences better protecting 145,000 households by 2014-15;
Over £200 million for the development of low carbon technologies including offshore wind technology and manufacturing at port sites; and
£2.9 billion of international climate finance to help developing countries pursue low carbon growth and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
In addition the Government have committed to setting up a UK-wide Green Investment Bank, initially capitalised with £1 billion of Government funding together with additional significant proceeds from the sale of Government owned assets. The new institution will make a radical new contribution to financing green infrastructure through having an explicit mandate to tackle risk that the market cannot currently adequately finance.
Arch Cru
David T. C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Financial Services Authority is taking to investigate the collapse of the Arch Cru fund. [44334]
Mr Hoban: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is investigating the issues surrounding the suspension and winding-up of the Arch Cru funds, but is prevented under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 from disclosing details of its supervision of individual firms, for reasons of confidentiality. Where the FSA takes enforcement action against an authorised firm, it makes the details of this action public.
Bank Services
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to prevent banks from offsetting losses incurred since autumn 2008 against their tax liabilities. [44012]
Mr Hoban: The Government keep all taxes under review.
Banks: Pay
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2011, Official Report, column 494W, on banks: pay, for what reasons the release of the document would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs; and if he will make a statement. [41599]
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Mr Hoban: Policy advice, recommendations, suggested options, and opinions are generally withheld from publication, so that:
decision-making is based on the best advice available and a full consideration of all the options;
advice can be broadly based—there may be a deterrent effect on experts or stakeholders who might be reluctant to provide advice because it might be disclosed;
the impartiality of the civil service is protected—it might be undermined if advice was routinely made public as there is a risk that officials could come under political or public pressure not to challenge ideas in the formulation of policy, thus leading to poorer decision-making;
Ministers and officials can conduct rigorous and candid risk assessments of their policies and programmes including considerations of the pros and cons without there being premature disclosure which might close off discussion and the development of better options;
there is a free space in which it is possible to “think the unthinkable” and use imagination, without the fear that policy proposals will be held up to ridicule or public criticism; and
the collective responsibility of the Government is not undermined by disclosure of interdepartmental consideration and views of other Ministers (which may reveal disagreement).
The document referred to has been withheld for these reasons.
Banks: Regulation
Mr Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what sanctions will apply if Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group or RBS do not meet their commitments on pay disclosure as part of the Project Merlin agreement; [42277]
(2) what sanctions will apply if the remuneration committees of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group or RBS do not confirm to the Financial Services Authority that their pay deals conform with the commitments given in relation to pay as part of the Project Merlin agreement. [42278]
Mr Hoban: [holding answer 1 March 2011]: As a result of the Government's discussions, the four largest UK banks have committed that the total remuneration paid in 2010 will be lower than it was in 2009 and lower than it would have been otherwise. The Remuneration Committee Chair of each bank will write to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to confirm that this commitment has been met. These banks have also committed to world-leading pay disclosure arrangements which when taken together with the FSA's sector-wide regime make the UK's disclosure arrangements the toughest of any major financial centre. The Government expect that these commitments will be met. Going forward, the Government will consult on extending the disclosure requirements to other large banks in the UK.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 1.3.4 Project Merlin—Banks’ Statement, (1) what steps he plans to take to determine whether sufficient demand for lending among UK businesses has materialised; [44750]
(2) who will determine whether sufficient demand for lending to businesses has materialised; [44857]
(3) what process will be used to determine whether sufficient demand for lending to businesses materialises. [44858]
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Mr Hoban: The Bank of England will report, on a quarterly basis, the banks’ total new lending to all businesses (and within that, to SMEs) under the definitions used for Project Merlin.
In addition, the Business Finance Taskforce, led by the British Bankers’ Association, has agreed to 17 new commitments in order to improve the banks’ relationship with their business customers. The banks will provide a new Lending Code and a transparent appeals procedure for declined loan applications, among other actions. These commitments will be evaluated by a regular survey of small businesses and their experience of access to finance, which will be published by the British Bankers’ Association.
Child Benefit: Fraud
Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps his Department has taken to prevent child benefit fraud. [44270]
Justine Greening: HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) approach to tackling child benefit error and fraud is two-fold; to prevent fraud from entering the child benefit system and, where it already exists, to remove it.
HMRC requires each customer to provide documentary evidence of each child being claimed for, such as an original birth or adoption certificate. Those documents are subject to strict verification before a claim is paid.
HMRC deploys a specialist compliance team to tackle error and fraud already in the system. The team undertake a range of interventions targeting non-compliant customers, challenging information they provide and stopping claims where appropriate.
Corporation Tax
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the (a) corporation tax and (b) proportion of gross profits paid in corporation tax by the banking sector in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10. [44014]
Mr Hoban: HM Revenue and Customs(HMRC) do not currently publish statistics on corporation tax (CT) paid by the banking sector, or gross profits. HMRC does publish historical financial services sector CT receipts which will include the banking sector. This information is regularly updated and published in table 11.1, on the HMRC National Statistics website. The latest update is available here:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/table11_1.pdf
Departmental Manpower
Mr Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many (a) actual and (b) full-time equivalent staff have left his Department's employment since May 2010; [42308]
(2) how many (a) actual and (b) full-time equivalent staff his Department employed on the latest date for which figures are available; [42389]
(3) how many (a) actual and (b) full-time equivalent staff were employed by his Department in May 2010. [42405]
7 Mar 2011 : Column 790W
Justine Greening: The following table gives the number of civil servants employed by HM Treasury on 31 May 2010 and 31 December 2010 (the latest complete month for which figures are currently available) and the number of staff who have left or joined the Department between those two dates.
| HM Treasury employees | ||
| Date | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
Economic Growth: EU Action
Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK of implementing the EU’s 2020 Strategy for economic growth; how many (a) directives and (b) regulations he expects to emanate from the 2020 Strategy; and whether he expects there to be any transfer of powers from the UK to the EU as a result of any instrument arising from the 2020 Strategy. [44415]
Mr Hoban: The Europe 2020 Strategy sets out an overarching policy framework for promoting growth across the EU including seven “flagship initiatives” in key areas such as innovation and employment and a series of policy initiatives in areas such as trade policy and the Single Market.
The Government supports the broad aims of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and considers that it is essential for the EU-level reform agenda to focus narrowly on a few key issues which will have the greatest impact on growth, such as the Single Market and trade policy, reducing regulatory burdens for business and driving innovation in the EU.
While the Commission has published consultation documents or proposals in a number of areas, it has not yet come forward with draft legislation in many areas. As a result, at this time, it is not possible to provide a meaningful or accurate estimate of the cost of implementing the Europe 2020 Strategy, or the number of directives or regulations emanating from it.
The Government have been clear that the strategy must respect member states’ competence as defined by the Treaties, and that any future changes that move a power or an area of policy from the UK to the EU, will be subject to a referendum. The June European Council conclusions state that any policy recommendations addressed to member states:
“shall be fully in line with relevant Treaty provisions and EU rules and respect member states’ competences in areas such as education”.