Arts: Finance
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much Arts Council England spent on grants to projects in 2009-10. [45805]
Mr Vaizey: Arts Council England has supplied 2009-10 grant spend, which includes both grants to projects and to regularly funded organisations, as follows:
| Projects | £000 |
|
Net grant in aid commitments (including regular funding to organisations) |
|
Broadband: Contracts
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many local authorities have issued tender documents for contracts to provide high-speed broadband services to date. [46791]
Mr Vaizey [holding answer 15 March 2011]: In recent years a number of local authorities have issued tenders for contracts to provide high-speed broadband, which vary in scale and in some instances the procurement was for an exclusive public sector network (PSNs) and in others there was provision for wider use. Since responsibility lies with the local procuring authority there was no requirement to notify individual procurements and while Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) are aware of the major PSNs and public initiatives by local authorities there is no central record of every small scale local procurement.
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Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many local authorities in England have issued tenders for contracts for the provision of high-speed broadband. [47362]
Mr Vaizey: In recent years a number of local authorities have issued tenders for contracts to provide high-speed broadband, which vary in scale and in some instances the procurement was for an exclusive public sector network (PSNs) and in others there was provision for wider use. Since responsibility lies with the local procuring authority there was no requirement to notify individual procurements and while Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) are aware of the major PSNs and public initiatives by local authorities there is no central record of every local procurement.
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans he has for local authorities to issue tenders for contracts for the provision of high-speed broadband in England. [47363]
Mr Vaizey: Responsibility for contract tenders lies with the local procuring authorities. Guidance on the content of local broadband plans which are to form the basis of a submission to Broadband Delivery UK was issued on 7 March 2011.
Broadband: Scotland
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2011, Official Report, column 611W, on broadband: public expenditure, what assessment he has made of the effects on the pilot project in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland of restrictions on the use of BT's ducts and poles. [45951]
Mr Vaizey [holding answer 14 March 2011]: No such assessment has been made. The Highlands and Islands project will be subject to open procurement procedures which have to be technology neutral. British Telecom's (BT) ducts and poles are being made available for use by competitors. Reference offers were submitted by BT in January and these are the subject of industry consultation at the moment
Departmental Assets
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether receipts from the sale of assets owned by regional development agencies are reflected in the spending plans of his Department for (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14. [47417]
John Penrose: The Department does not benefit from any sale of assets by regional development agencies and has not made any assumption of receipts from them in its spending plans.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on (a) salaries and (b) pension entitlements for special advisers in the financial year 2010-11 to date. [46582]
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John Penrose: Special advisers’ pay bands and actual salary, where this is £58,200 or higher, are published by the Cabinet Office in accordance with the Government's transparency agenda and can be found at the following link:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/special-adviser-data-releases
Special advisers’ salaries are pensionable under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Departmental Procurement
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) how many procurement projects with a monetary value greater than (a) £10 million, (b) £50 million and (c) £100 million (i) his Department and (ii) each non-departmental public body and agency for which he is responsible was engaged upon in the latest period for which figures are available; [45553]
(2) which procurement projects engaged upon by (a) his Department and (b) each non-departmental public body and agency for which he is responsible had a designated senior responsible owner in the latest period for which figures are available; and on what date each officer was appointed in each such case. [45554]
John Penrose: The Department has not engaged upon any procurement projects with a monetary value greater than £10 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11 (to date).
The Department does not collate this information for its agency or non-departmental public bodies. Accordingly, I have asked their chief executives to write to my hon. Friend.
Copies of the replies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Departmental Public Consultation
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many public consultations his Department has conducted in each of the last 10 years; for how long each consultation was open; how many responses were received to each consultation; and what the cost to the public purse of conducting each consultation was. [46592]
John Penrose: There have been 185 Department consultations since 2000, information can be accessed on our current website and UK Government web archive:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/default.aspx
The number of responses from May 2010 are available at:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/6566.aspx
Responses before May 2010 and all costs are not held centrally and it would be at disproportionate cost to collate this information for the last 10 years.
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what regulations his Department (a) introduced between 4 February and 28 February 2011 and (b) repealed between 2 February and 28 February 2011. [45978]
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John Penrose: The following instruments sponsored by the Department have been made between 2 February and 28 February 2011:
1. The Films Co-Production Agreements (Amendment) Order 2011 (SI 2011/236); and
2. The Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Act 2004 (Commencement No.4) Order 2011 (SI 2011/462 (C.17)).
During the same period the following instrument was revoked:
1. The Films Co-Production Agreements (Amendment) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/3009).
Departmental Written Questions
Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between 27 May 2010 and 9 March 2011. [46555]
John Penrose: The Department received 271 named day questions for answer during the period between 27 May 2010 and 9 March 2011. Of these 56 (20.66%) did not receive a substantive answer on the named day. The Department is very aware of the importance of answering parliamentary questions on time and we endeavour to answer all named day parliamentary questions on the day specified but if this is not possible then we aim to send out a substantive reply as soon as is practicable.
"The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to Written Parliamentary Question performance on a sessional basis. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2009/10 session were recently provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website."
Gambling
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when he plans to respond to his Department's consultation on remote gambling; and if he will make a statement. [47280]
John Penrose: I continue to speak to key stakeholders about the issues raised in the Department's consultation and hope to make an announcement in due course.
Holiday Accommodation: Standards
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, what assessment he has made of the likely future availability across the UK of accurate information relating to the facilities and performance of self-catering holiday properties under his proposals for accommodation quality rating schemes; [46657]
(2) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, what assessment he has made of the (a) market penetration, (b) accuracy and (c) reliability of information relating to self-catering accommodation posted on visitor accommodation websites with user-generated content; [46658]
(3) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, whether he has assessed the potential vulnerability to malware of hotel review websites with user-generated content; [46659]
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(4) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, what mechanisms he plans to use to set benchmarks for (a) improvements in standards of visitor accommodation and (b) quality comparisons between the UK and its constituent parts and overseas; [46660]
(5) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, what assessment he has made of the contribution of Hospitality Assured accreditation to the objectives of National Tourist Boards in respect of the visitor economy; [46662]
(6) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, what the quantitative evidential basis is for the assessment that consumer-led websites offer significant potential to drive up standards; and what measures he plans to use to measure consequent trends in hotel standards. [46665]
John Penrose: Pursuant to my answer of 2 February 2011, Official Report, column 819W, and the Westminster Hall debate on 15 February 2011, tourism is a devolved matter and the operation of the quality schemes in each of the home countries is a matter for their respective Governments. As made clear in the Government’s Tourism Policy published on 4 March, we do not intend to abolish the rating schemes in England, but given the number of participants in the schemes in recent years, particularly in the guest accommodation sector, the Government believe a different approach needs to be considered in order to help drive up quality. We strongly believe that both the tourism industry and consumers should take more responsibility for quality assessment. This includes tracking changes in trends in quality, if the information is commercially useful to them or to their customers; if it isn't then there's no point in Government doing it instead.
The wide and growing popularity of websites offering feedback from customers is clear from industry figures on their usage. Their content is not regulated any more closely than any other part of the web, and we have no plans to do so. Web users make their own judgments about the quality and accuracy of any information they find, and rapidly switch to alternative sites if they offer something better.
The Government will continue to give encouragement to any rating schemes or customer websites which improve the quality of information which visitors can use.
Irish Language
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what progress he has made in his Department’s responsibilities for language maintenance and development under the European Charter for Minority or Indigenous Languages in respect of the Irish language. [47174]
Mr Vaizey [holding answer 16 March 2011]: The Communications Act (2003) and the BBC’s Charter and Agreement contain requirements to cater for cultural interests throughout the UK.
The 1998 Belfast/Good Friday agreement contained the obligation to extend the Irish language channel TG4 to audiences in Northern Ireland. In February 2010, the UK and Irish Government signed a memorandum of understanding designed to ensure co-operation over
17 Mar 2011 : Column 527W
digital switchover and the provision of Irish language services in Northern Ireland in a digital form. Since then considerable progress has been made in making arrangements with the Irish authorities for the broadcasting of TG4, an Irish language television service, in digital form in Northern Ireland to coincide with digital switchover in the latter part of 2012.
Members: Correspondence
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Bridgend of 23 November 2010, reference MM/JH/22/11/2010. [46275]
John Penrose: The Department has conducted a thorough check and has no record of receiving this letter. If the hon. Member could submit a copy of her letter I will ensure a timely response is sent.
Ofcom: Legal Costs
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport with reference to Ofcom’s supplementary written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on expenditure 2009-10, with which companies the (a) £0.8 million expenditure on legal non-policy and (b) £0.6 million on legal policy was spent; and what services were provided to Ofcom as a result of such expenditure. [45773]
Mr Vaizey [holding answer 14 March 2011]:Ofcom have advised that the companies involved in expenditure of this nature are set out in the table:
| Supplier | Total (£) | Note |
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| Supplier | Total (£) | Note |
| (1) The legal policy expenditure comprises: External counsel to assist Ofcom’s internal legal team in preparing for and defending appeals against Ofcom’s public policy decisions and to appear as representatives for Ofcom in courts; A lesser amount is spend on securing a second opinion to that of Ofcom’s internal legal team and general counsel on particularly complex questions of statutory interpretation. | ||
Ofcom: Official Hospitality
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport with reference to Ofcom's supplementary written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on expenditure 2009-10, with which companies the £1.8 million expenditure on outsourcing special events was spent; and what services were provided to Ofcom as a result of such expenditure. [45770]
Mr Vaizey [holding answer 14 March 2011]: Under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994, Ofcom has put in place an agreement with JFMG Ltd for the provision of spectrum licensing services in respect of Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE). The Contracting Out (Functions relating to Wireless Telegraphy) Order 1996 (SI 1996 no. 2290) enables this arrangement. License fees collected by JFMG Ltd under the Wireless Telegraphy Act are passed to the Consolidated Fund. Ofcom are invoiced by JFMC Ltd for this activity in line with the terms of the agreement. Ofcom paid £1.8 million (including VAT) to JFMC Ltd during the course of 2009-10 under this agreement.
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Sports: Dartford
Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether his Department is taking steps to support grassroots and community sport in Dartford constituency. [46419]
Hugh Robertson: Sport England is the arm’s length body with responsibility for community sport. Its aim is to increase and sustain levels of participation in sport.
National Governing Bodies of sport are responsible for the strategy, delivering through their networks of community clubs, coaches and volunteers, across all parts of the country. Sport England is investing £480 million through 46 governing bodies over the next four years and has agreed ‘grow’ and ‘sustain’ targets with each one. Each sport has developed a whole sport plan to achieve these targets.
Additionally, the £135 million Mass Participation Olympic Legacy—Places People Play—was launched in November 2010 and will benefit residents of Dartford and the country more widely. This programme will be funded by lottery money and has been developed in partnership with Sport England, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the British Olympic Association, and the British Paralympic Association.
As part of their Iconic Facilities programme, Sport England has invested £1 million towards the development of a 43 hectare sports park to offer a comprehensive range of cycle sport disciplines and other related sports. The Kent county council led project will be of direct benefit to the Dartford constituents, located close to the A2 to the south of Gravesend.
In addition, since 2001, the Dartford constituency has seen a total of £861,370 of Exchequer funding and £102,503 of lottery funding invested through Sport England.
Tourism: Public Holidays
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) with reference to the Government Tourism Policy of March 2011, whether he has undertaken an assessment of the potential asymmetrical effects on tourism businesses in different parts of the UK of moving the May day bank holiday to October; [46663]
(2) what steps he plans to take to measure the (a) visitor preference and (b) projected revenue for the visitor economy associated with the proposed move of the May day bank holiday to October; and whether he plans to market-test the popularity of the proposal and the proposed designations for the October holiday in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland; [46664]
(3) whether he plans to take account of the traditional pattern of school holidays in the autumn in Scotland when assessing the (a) merits and (b) likely effect on tourism businesses of moving the May day bank holiday to October. [46666]
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John Penrose: The Government recognise that the May day bank holiday is important to many, which is why we are planning to consult with all sectors of industry as well as with voluntary and community sector organisations, to assess any potential benefits of moving it. The Government also understand the need to ensure that public holiday dates reflect the priorities and preferences of the whole of the UK. Consequently, we will consult with the devolved Administrations to ensure that changes to public holidays are made only if they are likely to enjoy widespread public support.
Tourism: Publications
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport for what reason the Government Tourism Policy published on 4 March 2011 was unavailable on his Department's website on the day of launch; and for what reason his Department has not supplied copies to the Vote Office for distribution to hon. Members. [46661]
John Penrose: Private sector publishing software failed outside the hours of technical support and nothing could be published to the website for a period of time. The problem could not be fixed by the Information and Communications Technology service managers and had to be referred to the software supplier. The strategy was published and available on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's website from approximately 11am on 4 March 2011, which was as soon as the fix had been applied for the problem diagnosed.
For reasons of cost savings and efficiency, the document was produced solely in digital form and no copies of the Government's Tourism Policy were therefore supplied to the Vote Office. The document may now be downloaded from the departmental website.
Home Department
Counter-terrorism
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects her Department’s review of the Contest programme indicated in its business plan to begin. [45461]
Mrs May [holding answer 10 March 2011]:Work to revise the Contest counter-terrorism strategy (action 6.4 of the Home Office business plan) started in November 2010.
Departmental Assets
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether receipts from the sale of assets owned by regional development agencies are reflected in the spending plans of her Department for (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14. [47408]
Damian Green: The Home Office does not have any sales of assets owned by regional development agencies factored into its spending plans.
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Departmental Public Consultation
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public consultations her Department has conducted in each of the last 10 years; for how long each consultation was open; how many responses were received to each consultation; and what the cost to the public purse was of conducting each consultation. [46591]
Damian Green: According to the Home Office website:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100418065544/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/haveyoursay/index.html
the following number of Home Office consultation papers have been selected for preservation by the National Archives:
|
|
Number |
The website shows a snapshot of records taken on 5 March 2010 and in each case the consultation is listed according the calendar year in which the consultation closed rather than its date of publication. Figures for 2010 and 2011 are not centrally available.
The Department does not keep a central record of how long each consultation was open, how many responses were received and the cost to the public purse. To attempt to calculate these for each of the 203 documents listed above would entail disproportionate costs.
Domestic Violence
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to support victims of domestic violence. [47430]
Lynne Featherstone: The Government are committed to tackling domestic violence. On 8 March 2011 we published a detailed action plan supporting our “Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” narrative published on 25 November 2010.
Some of the key actions we are taking forward in relation to domestic violence include:
Providing over £28 million of stable Home Office funding for specialist services to support victims of domestic and sexual abuse over the next four years. This includes areas to support independent domestic violence adviser (IDVA) posts, and the role of multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) co-ordinators.
We will make over £900,000 available per year over the next four years to support national helplines including the National Domestic Violence Helpline, the Men’s Advice Line and Broken Rainbow.
A 12-month pilot of Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) and Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs).
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Support for victims of domestic violence who are on migrant spouse’s visas and are forced to flee their home while their immigration claims are dealt with.
Full details of the action plan can be found at:
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/vawg
Firearms
Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department between what dates the sodium rhodizonate test was used by the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory to detect firearms discharge residue. [46963]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 15 March 2011]:Sodium rhodizonate testing remains in use as a forensic technique. The Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory merged with the Forensic Science Service in 1996 and would have been using this test until that point. Information on the date that this test was introduced is not held by the Home Office. I have asked the Forensic Science Service to check their historical records and write to my hon. Friend with the date when this test was introduced.
Human Trafficking
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to implement Article 6 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in relation to the incorporation of study of human trafficking in statutory schooling. [47130]
Damian Green: The UK has an obligation under the Council of Europe Convention to provide educational programmes for young people during their schooling, emphasising the unacceptable nature of discrimination based on gender, the consequences thereof, gender equality and the dignity and integrity of every human being.
The non-statutory framework for Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) at Key Stages 3 and 4 provide opportunities for young people to explore such issues as:
the similarities, differences and diversity among people of different race, culture, ability, disability, gender, age and sexual orientation;
the impact of prejudice, bullying discrimination and racism on individuals and communities;
characteristics of positive relationships, and awareness of exploitation in relationships and of statutory and voluntary organisations that support relationships in crisis; and,
the need to take the initiative in challenging this and other offensive behaviours and in giving support to victims of abuse.
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to take steps in accordance with the requirements of Article 5 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in the next 12 months. [47131]
Damian Green: We keep our compliance with the Council of Europe convention under review.
Prevention of human trafficking will be a central part of the new strategy which will be published in the spring.
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Imitation Firearms
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations her Department has received from (a) police organisations, (b) medical professionals and (c) others on legislation on the sale, ownership and use of BB guns. [45940]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 14 March 2011]:The term ‘BB gun’ is commonly used to refer to airsoft guns. The Home Office has received no recent formal representations on their sale, ownership and use. They are subject to the provisions of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 to the extent they are imitation firearms.
Northumbria Police: Overtime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overtime hours were paid to (a) warranted officers and (b) civilian staff of Northumbria Police Force in each of the last three years; and what the total cost to the public purse was of such overtime in each such year. [46537]
Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not hold information about the number of overtime hours worked by police officers and police staff. Data on the total amount of overtime paid to police officers and staff are published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The data for Northumbria police in each of the three most recent financial years are shown in the following table:
| £000 | ||
| Financial year | Officer overtime spend | Staff overtime spend |
| (1) Checked with Northumbria police. Source: CIPFA Actuals | ||
Passport Office: Closures
Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the compliance of her Department’s consultation on the closure of Newport Passport Office with the Government’s code of practice on consultation. [47400]
Damian Green: The Identity and Passport Service is conducting a collective consultation with staff and trade unions on the proposed closure of the application processing centre at Newport. The consultation period ends on 18 March 2011 and has been carried out under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1995. The consultation has followed the guidance issued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on conducting a collective consultation.
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Police
Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is her policy that after May 2012 chief constables should be able to enter into significant contracts without the prior authority of police commissioners. [40245]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 11 February2011]:This is not the Government’s intention. We are considering further the proposed arrangements for chief constables’ ability to enter into contracts, in the light of debate on the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, and representations on the issue.
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish each response to her Department’s consultation on Policing in the 21(st) Century. [46790]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 15 Mach 2011]: The Home Office has an obligation to those who responded to the consultation to review all responses and ensure any disclosure of information protects individuals’ interests under the Data Protection Act 1998. As nearly 900 responses were received, it was estimated that the cost of analysing them in line with these obligations would be prohibitive. The Government published a consultation response, which summarised the responses and the Government’s position on them. This is available on the Home Office website.
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force hold the rank of sergeant. [46795]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 15 March 2011]: The latest available data are provided in the table which shows the number of police officers in each police force who hold the rank of sergeant as at 30 September 2010 (full-time equivalents).
| The number of police officers in each police force who hold the rank of sergeant as at 30 September 2010 (full-time equivalents) | |
|
|
Sergeant |
17 Mar 2011 : Column 535W
| Note: This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. | |
Police: Firearms
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force had received up-to-date training in the use of firearms on the most recent date for which figures are available. [46796]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 15 March 2011]: The number of fully trained police authorised firearms officers by force in England and Wales are published annually. The latest publication for 2008-09 can be found at:
http://tna.europarchive.org/20100419081706/http:// www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Police-firearms-2008-09.html
Police: Surveillance
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 February 2011, Official Report, columns 519-20W, on police: investigations, (1) what procedural and interpretational advice and guidance the Office of Surveillance Commissioners has given regarding the type of organisations that should be subject to covert surveillance by undercover police officers; and if she will make a statement; [47036]
(2) if she will review her Department’s codes of practice in relation to the types of organisations which should be subject to undercover police operations; and if she will make a statement; [47037]
(3) when she expects HM Inspectorate of Constabulary to complete its review of operational accountability of undercover work by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit; and if she will make a statement. [47038]
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Nick Herbert: The Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) is an independent body established by the Police Act 1996 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to keep under review the authorisation of certain covert techniques regulated by those Acts. The OSC does not issue general guidance. Any specific guidance it gives to a particular public authority is confidential between it and that public authority.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary expects to complete its review into the operational accountability of undercover work by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit within the next three to six months. The Home Office will consider what appropriate action to take, including the appropriateness of reviewing codes of practice, following the conclusion of the review.
Police: Training
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force have current specialist traffic and vehicle training. [46793]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 15 March 2011]: This information is not collected centrally.
Police: Bureaucracy
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to reduce the amount of duplication in the forms police officers are required to complete when responding to incidents. [45510]
Nick Herbert: The Government are looking at reducing duplication in police forms as part of their work to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in policing. The police service must also play its part in cutting duplication within police forces.
The Government have already scrapped the national reporting requirements for stop and account and reduced the reporting requirements for stop and search, which will save up to 800,000 man hours per year. We will continue to look at reducing duplication as part of our work to reduce bureaucracy in all areas of policing.
Refugees: Finance
Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effect of proposed reductions in refugee integration funding on (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory services for refugees provided by (i) other Government departments, (ii) non-departmental public bodies and (iii) local authorities. [47328]
Damian Green: Individuals granted refugee status have full entitlement to access public funds and services. The impact of the reduction in funding on statutory and non statutory services provided by other Government Departments, non-departmental public bodies and local authorities will therefore be minimal. UK Border Agency officials will be co-chairing a working group with the voluntary sector to identify practical cost neutral solutions to address the integration needs of refugees. The membership will include representatives from other Government Departments.
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UK Border Agency: Sick Leave
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days on average employees of the UK Border Agency have taken in sick leave in each year since its inception. [46522]
Damian Green: The rolling year average number of sick leave days per employee as at March 2010 was 9.16 days.
The rolling year average number of sick leave days per employee as at December 2010 was 7.97 days
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Figures taken from the Home Office sick absence time series data for the Home Department.
Vandalism
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of vandalism were reported in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [47792]
James Brokenshire: The available information relates to offences of criminal damage recorded by the police and is given in the following table.
| Offences of criminal damage recorded by the police in England and Wales | |||||
| Number of offences | |||||
|
|
1997 | 1998- 99 (1) | 1999-20 00 | 2000/01 | 2001- 02 |
| Number of offences | ||||||||
|
|
2002- 03 (2) | 2003- 04 | 2004- 05 | 2005- 06 | 2006- 07 | 2007- 08 | 2008- 09 | 2009- 10 |
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17 Mar 2011 : Column 540W
| (1) The coverage was expanded and counting rules changed in 1998-99. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. (2) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in 2002-03. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. (3) Includes the British Transport police from 2002-03. | ||||||||
Vetting
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish (a) the minutes of meetings her Department has had with and (b) written submissions her Department has received from (i) the NSPCC, (ii) Barnardos, (iii) Sir Roger Singleton and (iv) the Children’s Commissioner during preparation of the Protection of Freedoms Bill. [46819]
Lynne Featherstone: A number of consultation meetings with interested parties have taken place during the Vetting and Barring Scheme and criminal records reviews and other aspects of the Protection of Freedoms Bill. We would not normally publish material submitted by third parties without their express consent to do so.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal records checks have been received and processed by her Department in each year since 2005. [47371]
Lynne Featherstone: The figures for the number of criminal records checks that have been received and processed by the Criminal Records Bureau in each year since 2005 can be found in the following table:
|
|
Applications received | Certificates despatched |
17 Mar 2011 : Column 541W
The figures for despatched volumes may include carry- over from previous years, e.g. applications received in December 2009 may have been despatched in January 2010.
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority Committee
Budget Limits
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, on what date the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority expects to publish budget limits for 2011-12. [46885]
Mr Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
Letter from Scott Woolveridge, dated March 2011:
As acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the date the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority expects to publish budget limits for 2011-12.
IPSA will outline MPs’ budget limits for 2011-12 when it publishes the revised MPs’ Expenses Scheme on 25 March 2011.
Justice
Contact Orders
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many contact orders under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 issued to fathers in respect of their children were issued in response to the breach of an existing contact order in each year since 2000; [47358]
(2) how many contact orders under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 were issued to fathers in respect of their children in each year since 2000; [47359]
(3) how many (a) parents and (b) fathers applied to court in respect of (i) one breach and (ii) three or more breaches of a contact order issued under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 in each year since 2000; [47360]
(4) how many contact orders under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 were issued in response to the breach of an existing contact order in each year since 2000. [47361]
Mr Djanogly: Information about contact applications in respect of breaches of a contact order, contact orders issued in response to the breach of an existing contact order, or about to which party contact orders are issued is not held centrally. This information can be obtained only through the inspection of individual files at disproportionate cost.
However, information on the total number of applications for a contact order made by fathers in the county courts and High Court is available centrally, and figures for 2005 to 2009 are provided in the following table.
17 Mar 2011 : Column 542W
| Applications for Section 8 Contact Orders in Children Act (Private Law) cases in the county courts and High Court of England and Wales, by applicant relationship to child, 2005 - 09 | |||||
| Applicant relationship to child | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Notes: 1. Data are taken from HM Court Service's FamilyMan system. 2. The figures reflect the number of applications made, counted by child. This means that where an application was made for contact with two children the case will be counted twice. 3. In the applicant relationship to child categories “father” may be an adoptive parent or a natural parent, and “other” includes any relationship (e.g. mother, aunt or uncle) and “unknown” reflects cases where no relationship was specified or where the relationship was unclear because there was more than one relationship specified for the case. 4. The figures exclude applications made in Family Proceedings Courts (FPCs). This is because, during the period considered, not all FPCs were using FamilyMan and information on applicant relationships to children was not available for all FPCs. In 2009 FPCs represented about 26% of private law contact order applications. 5. The figures also exclude section 8 contact order applications made in public law (child protection) cases. 6. The overall totals for each year may differ slightly from previously published figures as FamilyMan is a live system and the data used to produce these figures was a more recent extract than that used to produce the earlier published figures. This means that the figures will take into account changes made to data held on FamilyMan since previously published statistics was extracted. | |||||
Provisional statistics for private law applications in 2010 are due to be published in the October to December edition of the report Court Statistics Quarterly, which will be published on 31 March and available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/courtstatisticsquarterly.htm