Terrorism: British Nationals Abroad
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost to the public purse of introducing the victims of overseas terrorism compensation scheme in each year of the comprehensive spending review period; [46933]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of claimants that would be eligible under the victims of overseas terrorism compensation scheme during the comprehensive spending review period. [46934]
Mr Blunt: Previous proposals for compensating victims of terrorism overseas are being considered alongside a review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) and wider victims’ services.
We are working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to establish estimates of the numbers of individuals who may be eligible for any ex-gratia scheme.
Young Offenders: Reoffenders
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persistent young offenders are registered; and how many and what proportion of total offences were attributable to persistent young offenders in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [47003]
Mr Blunt: There is no register of persistent young offenders and centrally available data do not provide the information requested.
Youth Justice
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Youth Rehabilitation Orders; [46763]
(2) how many Youth Rehabilitation Orders have been issued in (a) the London borough of Bexley, (b) London and (c) England since their creation. [46765]
Mr Blunt: The Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) was introduced for offences committed from 30 November 2009 and an evaluation has not yet been undertaken.
Information on the number of YROs issued from this date, including the type of requirement attached to the order, age, gender and ethnicity of the offender was published in January 2011 as part of the Youth Justice Board's 2009-10 Youth Justice Statistics. These are available online on the Ministry of Justice website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/youth-justice-statistics.htm
Information on the number and type of YROs in the 2010-11 Youth Justice Statistics is planned to be published in January 2012.
A breakdown of YROs issued to date as requested is provided in the following table.
| Number of youth rehabilitation orders issued in London borough of Bexley, London and England between 30 November 2009 and 31 March 2010 | |
|
|
Number |
| Note: These figures have been drawn from Youth Offending Team administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time. | |
Work and Pensions
Child Maintenance
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) non-resident parents and (b) parents with care called the Child Maintenance Options Service in the last 12 months. [46064]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 11 March 2011:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
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You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) non-resident parents and (b) parents with care called the Child Maintenance Options Service in the last 12 months. [46064]
The service is confidential and provision of personal information is voluntary. As such, not all callers provide information to create a client record and not all information is complete on every record.
In the 12 months to December 2010, around 57,100 inbound calls were from parents with care and 14,300 were from non-resident parents. 94,500 outbound calls were to parents with care and 1,100 were to non-resident parents. These figures are based on an extrapolation of the 60% of client records where the role of the caller was captured.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals were made by the Child Maintenance Options Service to its face-to-face service in the last 12 months; what the criteria for referral were; and how many face-to-face interviews took place. [46065]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 11 March 2011:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You; asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many referrals were made by the Child Maintenance Options Service to its face-to-face service in the last 12 months; what the criteria for referral were; and how many face-to-face interviews took place. [46065]
In the last 12 months to February 2011 a total of 4,357 requests were made for a face to face visit, of which 3,300 have been completed. The criteria for referral are shown in the list below.
Circumstances where a visit is always offered
Caller is 17 years or younger
Those that have; recently separated
Circumstances where visits can be offered
Low skills
Lives at home with parents
Disabilities
Emotional/Distressed
Mentions a key worker
Hard of hearing—If caller is finding it difficult to understand information
No friends or family nearby
Concerns alongside maintenance and requires help in prioritising actions
Foreign language calls
The remit of the Child Maintenance Options face-to-face consultants has recently been expanded to include community outreach. Consultants are visiting children’s centres, Jobcentre Plus offices, Citizens Advice Bureaux and other key organisations and professionals who come into contact with separated and separating parents to promote awareness of the benefits of child maintenance to families and children.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Ms Buck:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what proportion of Child Support Agency cases which have a positive maintenance liability is the
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weekly maintenance liability
(a)
less than £5,
(b)
between £5 and £10,
(c)
between £10 and £20,
(d)
between £20 and £30,
(e)
between £30 and £40,
(f)
between £40 and £50 and
(g)
£50 or above. [46066]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 11 March 2011:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary Of State for Work and Pensions, in what percentage of Child Support Agency cases which have a positive maintenance liability is the weekly maintenance liability (a) less than £5, (b) between £5 and £10, (c) between £10 and £20, (d) between £20 and £30, (e) between £30 and £40,;(f) between £40 and £50 and (g) £50 or above. [46066]
The table below shows the percentage of cases with a current positive maintenance liability in each of the requested ongoing weekly maintenance bands in the quarter to December 2010. This includes cases administered both on and off system where an ongoing maintenance liability exists.
| Assessment amount | Percentage |
| Note: Arrears only cases are not included | |
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of maintenance direct cases dealt with by the Child Support Agency (CSA) in 2009-10 reverted to the CSA's normal collection service during the course of the year at the request of the parent with care. [46067]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 10 March 2011:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of maintenance direct cases dealt with by the Child Support Agency (CSA) in 2009-10 reverted to the CSA's normal collection service during the course of the year at the request of the parent with care. [46067]
In the quarter to March 2009, there were 165,300 maintenance direct cases. 10,400 (6%) of these had a liability to pay maintenance via the CSA collection service at least once in quarters ending
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June 2009, September 2009, December 2009 or March 2010. The CSA does not record the reason why these cases reverted to the collection service.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Crisis Loans
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Social Fund crisis loan scheme cost to operate in each of the last five years. [45528]
Steve Webb: The administration of Social Fund crisis loans is carried out by Jobcentre Plus. The following table provides data back to 2006-07. This is the earliest time for which data are available for Social Fund activity. Data have been included up to and including 2009-10, the latest year for which audited Jobcentre Plus annual report and accounts are available.
| Social Fund crisis loan direct staff administration costs | |
|
|
£ million |
| Notes: 1. The costs shown represent the direct staff costs within Jobcentre Plus associated with Social Fund crisis loan activity. The basis for allocating management, support costs and head office costs has changed over this period and it would be disproportionately costly to attempt to include all of these costs on a comparable basis. 2. The increase in costs over the period above reflects an increase in the volumes of crisis loans. Volumes have increased as the Department has improved public awareness of the availability of crisis loans. 3. In 2009-10 face to face interviews were introduced where an individual made a third or subsequent request for a crisis loan within a rolling 12-month period. The aim of these interviews is to: Help ensure that the fund is not being mis-used. Evidence suggests that on being invited to interview, significant numbers of applicants either terminate the telephone call or fail to attend the appointment. Help sign-post genuine needy customers for independent money advice so that they can receive help with matters such as budgeting. Source: Jobcentre Plus Activity Based Management System | |
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the number of social fund crisis loans available to an individual in a 12-month period is to be set at three; and whether any discretion is to be available in respect of people facing hardship. [45607]
Steve Webb: As outlined in my written ministerial statement of 3 March 2011, Official Report, columns 45-46WS, we are taking urgent action to ensure that we are able to meet the needs of those in genuine crisis while controlling continued growth in demand from a cash limited budget.
From 4 April, individuals will be limited to no more than three crisis loan awards in a rolling 12-month period. I believe that this restriction strikes the right level between effective help to customers in genuine crisis while preventing misuse of the system by others in attempts to gain further access to the limited funds available.
In exceptional circumstances, a decision maker can make a fourth or subsequent crisis loan award where the need is as the result of an emergency deemed not to be the result of an act or omission on the part of the applicant or partner and unavoidable.
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Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he plans to provide to individuals who have exceeded the social fund crisis loan cap on accessing alternative sources of emergency financial assistance. [45646]
Steve Webb: Customers declined assistance from the Social Fund on the grounds that they have reached the limit of three awards in a 12-month period will have already been required to attend a face-to-face interview at which they are signposted to national and local organisations for independent financial and debt advice.
Additionally, Jobcentres maintain lists of local sources of assistance and will signpost customers as appropriate.
Exceptionally, those who are otherwise subject to the three awards in 12-months restriction can still access support from the Social Fund in certain circumstances. These include rent in advance, charges for board and lodging accommodation and for hostels. The restriction also does not apply to applicants whose applications, in the opinion of the decision maker, have arisen from a disaster or emergency.
Crisis Loans: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many (a) men and (b) women resident in (i) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (ii) the London Borough of Bexley applied for a Social Fund crisis loan in the last five years for which figures are available; and in how many such cases a Social Fund crisis loan was granted; [45954]
(2) how much was paid in total to (a) men and (b) women resident in (i) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (ii) the London Borough of Bexley in Social Fund crisis loans in the last five years for which figures are available; and what the average payment was in each such case. [45957]
Steve Webb: The information requested is available only by Government office region or Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget area, not at constituency or local authority level. However that information cannot be split by gender.
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women resident in (i) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (ii) the London Borough of Bexley defaulted on Social Fund crisis loan repayments in the last five years for which figures are available; and what the total monetary value of such defaults was. [45956]
Steve Webb: The following information relates to the national position for crisis loan write-offs in the last five full financial years. The further detail by gender and location is not available/held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
|
|
Total amount of crisis loans written off (£) | Total volume of crisis loans written off |
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Departmental Land
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will takes steps to reduce the size of his Department's estate; and if he will make a statement. [45890]
Chris Grayling: The Department aims to have an estate that: supports service needs; provides the right working environment for staff; and provides value for money for the taxpayer.
DWP now owns no estate assets of our own. Under a private finance initiative (known as PRIME), all market risks sit with Telereal Trillium at rent review and lease renewal and they use their prominent position in the market to ensure they obtain optimal outcomes.
We will need fewer sites as our core staffing numbers reduce following the spending review 2010. DWP is still developing the detail on the size and scale of universal credit and, therefore, our estate reductions need to be made in the light of that context. We will ensure that the reduction of estate capacity is measured and prudent, and will not add to delivery risks.
Departmental Procurement
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 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. [45690]
Chris Grayling: The information is as follows:
(a) The Department has let three contracts and the Health and Safety Executive, an Executive agency of the Department, has let one with a value in excess of £10 million and less than £50 million in the period from 1 April 2010 to 14 March 2011. No contracts with a monetary value of greater than £10 million have been let by a non-departmental public body.
(b) No contracts were let in the period with a value of between £50 million to £100 million by the Department or one of its non-departmental public bodies.
(c) No contracts with a value in excess of £100 million were let in the period by one of the Departments non-departmental public bodies.
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what regulations his Department revoked between 8 February 2011 and 28 February 2011. [45983]
Chris Grayling: No regulations have been revoked by DWP between 8 February and 28 February 2011.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria for receiving the (a) higher and (b) lower rate of disability living allowance (i) are and (ii) were in each of the last five years; what changes to such criteria are planned; and if he will make a statement. [45515]
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Maria Miller: The current criteria for receipt of disability living allowance broadly rely on a disabled individual having prescribed levels of care or mobility needs. Entitlement to the three rates of the care component is established by an individual having care needs at a prescribed level. For example, someone who has care needs on a frequent or prolonged basis both day and night may be entitled to the highest rate care component. Entitlement to the mobility component does not work on a similar basis: the lower rate is available to people who require guidance or supervision when out of doors in unfamiliar places; and entitlement to the higher rate is, with some exceptions, available to people who, by virtue of a physical disability, are unable or virtually unable to walk. These entitlement criteria have remained unchanged over the last five years. Further details on the entitlement criteria are available on the Directgov website
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DisabilityLivingAllowance/index.htm
From April entitlement to the higher rate mobility component will extended to people who have been certified as blind or severely visually impaired by an ophthalmologist and have a prescribed degree of visual impairment.
Awards of disability living allowance can currently be decided on the basis of self-reporting of need, and although medical evidence is sought for certain awards, it is not mandatory. The current system lacks consistency in the way it supports disabled people with similar needs; and decision making on awarding the benefit can be subjective. That is why from 2013 we will replace disability living allowance for people of working age with personal independence payment, a new, more transparent benefit with an objective assessment of individual need. Support through personal independence payment will be focussed on those who have the most barriers to overcome to live independently. The detailed criteria that will be used in the new assessment to determine eligibility are currently being developed and are being informed by the consultation which closed on 18 February. The Government are considering the feedback from this consultation exercise and will publish their response shortly.
Disability Living Allowance: Autism
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to amend the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill which require people diagnosed with autism and in receipt of disability living allowance to undergo a face-to-face interview. [45975]
Maria Miller:
We are considering the most appropriate delivery model for the personal independence payment assessment and no decisions have yet been taken on the detail of its operation, including how it will apply to existing DLA recipients. We believe that advice from a suitably trained and approved individual, for example a health care professional, will be an important part of ensuring that the assessment is more objective and consistent. In most cases, we expect this to involve a face-to-face consultation to enable an in-depth look at an individual's circumstances. Both I and departmental officials have met with the National Autistic Society to discuss our reform proposals and to seek their views on
17 Mar 2011 : Column 571W
how the new benefit can best support those with autism. We agree with many of the points raised in the National Autistic Society's recent report on DLA reform, ‘Who benefits?’, and we are looking closely at how these recommendations can be incorporated into its design. To ensure that we get this reform right, we are keen to continue to work with disabled people and their organisations as the detail of the assessment criteria and its operation is developed and tested.
Disability: Children
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for the future of the disability benefits system for children aged under 16. [45848]
Maria Miller: Personal independence payment will replace disability living allowance for working-age (16-64) adults from 2013 and the new objective assessment is being designed to gather information about adult needs. We want to build on the experience of developing an assessment and applying it to new and existing claimants of working-age to inform our decisions about the arrangements for children. Therefore we will not consider extending the personal independence payment to new claims from children or to children already receiving DLA, until we have had an opportunity to consider the effectiveness of the new arrangements for working age people.
In developing the arrangements for children on DLA we also want to take account of ongoing work across Government. The Department for Education’s Green Paper “Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability”, published on 10 March, sets out the Government’s aspiration to move towards a single assessment process for a child’s social care, health and special educational needs. The Department for Education plan to test the approach starting this year and we will look at the findings of the pathfinders to explore whether the single assessment process might also be used to support claims for the disability living allowance and personal independence payment.
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Employment and Support Allowance
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many and what proportion of claimants in the (i) assessment phase and (ii) work-related activity group of employment and support allowance whose claim was of a duration of up to three months moved into (A) employment and (B) employment of 16 hours a week or more in each quarter for which figures are available; [39748]
(2) how many and what proportion of claimants in the (i) assessment phase and (ii) work-related activity group of employment and support allowance whose claim was of a duration of three to six months moved into (A) employment and (B) employment of 16 hours a week or more in each quarter for which figures are available; [39749]
(3) how many and what proportion of claimants in the (i) assessment phase and (ii) work-related activity group of employment and support allowance whose claim was of a duration of between six and 12 months moved into (A) employment and (B) employment of 16 hours a week or more in each quarter for which figures are available; [39750]
(4) how many and what proportion of claimants in the (i) assessment phase and (ii) work-related activity group of employment and support allowance whose claim was of a duration of between one and two years moved into (A) employment and (B) employment of 16 hours a week or more in each quarter for which figures are available. [39751]
Chris Grayling: The information requested on those leaving employment support allowance (ESA) and moving into work is not available.
Claimants leaving ESA are not required to inform the Department of their destinations or future intentions and hence the information that is collected on this group is incomplete.
For information, the following table breaks down the ESA caseload as at May 2010 by claim duration and phase of ESA in payment. These data are published on the DWP website.
| Case load (thousand) | |||||
| ESA claim duration (May 2010) | |||||
|
|
Up to 3 months | 3 months up to 6 months | 6 months up to 1 year | 1 year and up to 2 years | Total |
| Note: Phase/stage of ESA claim is only available from February 2010 onwards. The phase is derived from payment details held on the source system. Where the claimant is not in receipt of any benefit payment then the stage of benefit is shown as unknown. | |||||
Employment and Support Allowance: Mental Illness
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that those with variable mental health conditions are not penalised for missing a work-focussed interview. [47275]
Maria Miller: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking about the steps taken to ensure that those with variable mental health conditions are not penalised for missing a Work-Focussed Interview (WFI).
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This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
We have in place a range of safeguards to ensure that vulnerable customers (including those with a mental health condition) are fully aware of the requirement to participate in a WFI. In particular, safeguard procedures for customers claiming Employment and Support Allowance include:
advising the customer at the point of claim about the requirement to undergo, and the purpose of, the work-focussed interview;
notifying the customer (in writing) of the date, time and place of the work-focused interview and asking them to get in touch if they cannot make it;
contacting the customer (by telephone) before each work-focused interview to remind them that it is due;
considering the context of each work-focused interview whether the interview should be waived or deferred;
offering them a more convenient location or a home visit where appropriate, and encouraging advocacy support if needed;
identifying any relevant issues from medical evidence where available, that might impact on attendance;
visiting those customers with whom there has been no verbal contact prior to the work-focused interview; and
visiting every customer, with a representative if appropriate, where it is known that the customer has a stated mental health condition or learning disability before a sanction is imposed.
By following the steps above, we ensure that we will contact the customer by telephone two days before the interview is scheduled to take place, to make sure that the appointment is appropriate. If it becomes clear from the customer or their advocate, at this point or during the WFI itself, that the agreed timing of the WFI is inappropriate for the customer's particular circumstances at that time, the WFI may be postponed to a later date. If it is clear that the presence of a carer is important, we would seek to arrange the WFI around the carer's availability.
For lone parents claiming income support, where there is evidence to believe that the customer falls into a vulnerable group, a home visit is always considered before a formal decision is made that they have failed to attend the work-focused interview.
Before sanctions are considered (for any benefit) the customer will be invited to show good cause, and there is a right of appeal against the decision to apply a sanction. Factors considered by the Decision Maker in establishing whether the customer had good cause include whether the person may have misunderstood the requirement to take part in an interview because of their varying mental health condition, and whether the person was suffering from a disability that made it impracticable for them to attend.
If a customer has failed to attend an appointment, or has committed another act or omission that warrants a sanction, then the Jobcentre Plus Decision Maker will consider all the available evidence before applying a sanction. This can of course include, but is not limited to, whether the failure was caused by a fluctuation in their health condition.
Employment Schemes
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he is taking steps to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises can compete for contracts under the Work programme. [47276]
Chris Grayling: Throughout the Work programme competition the Department has emphasised the importance of and the expectation that bidding organisations will work with a broad range of sub-contractors and delivery partners to reflect the needs of the local customers and economies.
In total 30 organisations have bid to be work programme prime contractors.
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As part of their bids, organisations have confirmed their intention to partner with a number of organisations of various sizes from all sectors who will be regular delivery partners during the lifetime of the work programme contracts.
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has made an estimate of the proportion of Work programme contracts which will awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises. [47277]
Chris Grayling: DWP has encouraged representation from small and medium enterprises in all its commercial competitions.
For the Work programme, only those organisations that are on DWP’s the Employment Related Support Services Framework were able to bid, details of these organisations are published on the Supplying DWP website.
Until the commercial competition for the Work programme is complete we will not know which bidders have been successful or the size and type of organisations that will make up their supply chains.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of compatibility with regulations on the national minimum wage of the requirement for jobseekers to undertake work experience placements under the Work programme. [47351]
Chris Grayling: Once a jobseeker’s allowance claimant is selected or volunteers, our intention is that participation in the Work programme will be required using powers in regulations made under section 17A of the Jobseeker’s Act 1995. We plan to lay these regulations before Parliament shortly.
Where a Work programme provider requires a participant to complete work experience under these regulations, the activity concerned will be mandated and there will be no express or implied contract. Therefore the claimant will not fall within the definition of ‘worker’ and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 will not apply.
Industrial Health and Safety: Inspections
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many workplaces registered an (a) accident or (b) incident with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in each year since 2000; and on what date prior to each incident and accident an unannounced inspection had been carried out by HSE officials in those workplaces for which such information is available. [45973]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent (a) submissions and (b) representations he has received which propose an alternative workplace inspection model to the unannounced inspection model used by the Health and Safety Executive; and if he will make a statement. [45974]
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Chris Grayling: The Secretary of State has the principal responsibility to Parliament for the Health and Safety Executive and routinely receives submissions and representations on their work. Recent submissions are concerned with a range of matters relating to the formulation and delivery of health and safety policy.
Pensions
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had on the levels of annuities offered by private pension providers. [42697]
Mr Hoban: I have been asked to reply.
Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
Personal Independence Payment: Autism
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will put in place support for people with autism who lose eligibility for a personal independence payment or disability living allowance to take into account the challenges of adults with autism trying to access social care services. [45977]
Maria Miller: From 2013 we will replace disability living allowance for people of working age with personal independence payment, a new, more transparent and sustainable benefit with an objective assessment of individual need. Support through personal independence payment will be focused on those with the most need. The detailed design of the new assessment is currently being undertaken with the support of a group of independent specialists in health, social care and disability, including disabled people. This design will also be, informed by feedback from the public consultation which closed on 18 February 2011. I am, therefore, unable at this time to comment on the details of how the new assessment will impact on people with specific health conditions or impairments. We are committed to ensuring that it reflects the needs of all individuals effectively. We recognise that the current assessment criteria for disability living allowance can favour physical impairments and our proposals are that personal independence payment needs to improve the support provided to disabled people with mental, intellectual, cognitive and development impairments, including autistic spectrum disorders.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many investigations of individuals suspected of benefit fraud have taken more than nine months in the latest period for which figures are available. [46045]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available, as to collate these data would incur a disproportionate cost.
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Third Sector
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account he has taken of the compact between the Government and Civil Society in policy development. [42603]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions takes the compact with the civil society very seriously and has worked closely with local communities, voluntary sector organisations and others to embed the principles into our commissioning policies.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to support the Big Society initiative. [42644]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions has several programmes aimed at achieving the Big Society goals of catalysing social action, decentralising power and opening up public services. In October 2010 the Department introduced two new initiatives, Work Clubs and Work Together, which form part of a new range of back-to-work support being made available to jobseekers to get Britain working. Work Clubs are designed to be locally led and delivered, moving away from centrally-determined support, while Work Together seeks to promote the benefits of volunteering and raise customer awareness of local opportunities. Both initiatives fit with the Government's Big Society concept in that they encourage people to play an active role within their communities and support unemployed people in the locality.
With respect to benefits, the Government are introducing universal credit from 2013 to replace six separate benefits. This will reduce bureaucracy and make the system easier to navigate, but also place a greater emphasis on personal responsibility for finding employment. In addition, a number of Right to Control trailblazers across England are testing how disabled people can be given more choice and control over the funding they are eligible for, including funding to help them move into work. These trailblazers will help develop ways to create a more personalised service, pushing decision-making down to the lowest level. To replace Social Fund community care grants and crisis loans for general living expenses, locally-delivered systems of support will be provided. This will be delivered by local authorities in England and the devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales. The new assistance will provide more relevant and better targeted support which can be aligned with existing provision at a local level.
As part of its Big Society ambition for older people, the Department is working in partnership with the Community Development Foundation to provide £1 million to fund ‘Active at 60’, a project that will help older people who are most at risk of loneliness and social isolation. Each local community organisation within the selected areas will recruit at least one Active at 60 Community Agent who will volunteer their time to help motivate, encourage and organise people within their own communities to become more active, physically, socially and mentally.
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The Department is also working to develop older people's democratic involvement in their communities. These local networks will be linked through the English Forums on Ageing to the UK Advisory Forum on Ageing. The English Forums on Ageing also provide a channel of influence for older people on local delivery decisions and the aim is to build on these relationships to enable older people to take up the opportunities introduced in the Localism Bill.
More generally, the Government's local agenda is leading Jobcentre Plus to look for ways to better utilise the expertise of front-line staff, who will be given more freedom to tailor and coordinate services in ways that best meet the needs of their community. The Department is committed to ensure that staff have the flexibility to work in real partnerships at the local level; and to respond to local and customers' needs, including looking at the scope for closer working with partners in the co-ordination, location and design of services. This approach to worklessness balances a national benefit system with a range of other support delivered through different channels—the Government's own delivery organisations, private providers, other public sector organisations and the voluntary and community sector.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department are participating in volunteering activities as part of his Department's involvement in the Big Society initiative. [42664]
Chris Grayling: Lord Freud is a sponsor and board member of the charity ‘Grand Mentors’. This is a charity where mainly older retired people mentor and tutor young individuals.
Steve Webb volunteers at a local Sunday school every week.
Iain Duncan-Smith is involved in the Big Society agenda via his work for the Centre of Social Justice.
The Department has introduced a number-of programmes aimed at achieving the Government's Big Society goals. These include the following initiatives; Work Clubs and Work Together for jobseekers, Active at 60 for older people and the Right to Control for disabled people.
Deputy Prime Minister
Public Bills: Internet
Natascha Engel: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the dedicated website for public reading stages of Bills will inter-operate with the Your Freedom website. [41658]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The ‘Your Freedom’ website was open to the public from 1 July-10 September 2010, after which time it became part of the National Archives online. The site has therefore closed, meaning that there is no opportunity for it to inter-operate with live websites. The technical aspects of the Public Reading Stage website will be evaluated by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons.
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Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions: Housing
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2011, Official Report, column 935W, on carbon emissions: biofuels, (1) which other energy generation technologies he defines as (a) zero-carbon technologies and (b) technologies which if used in domestic buildings would contribute nothing to their carbon emissions if it met the criterion of a minimum greenhouse gas emission saving of 60% over the use of a fossil fuel; [47183]
(2) whether he defines biomass as a technology which, if used in domestic buildings, would contribute nothing to their carbon emissions if it met the criterion of a minimum greenhouse gas emission saving of 60% over the use of a fossil fuel. [47187]
Gregory Barker: For practical purposes the Government regards technologies contributing to zero or low carbon policies as those which qualify for promotion under the provisions of the 2009 renewable energy directive. These include photovoltaics, sustainably-sourced biomass technologies (such as biomass combined heat and power, or energy from waste), hydro and wind. Other low carbon technologies include efficient ground and air sourced heat pumps.
Developers may use biomass technologies to comply with the requirements of part L of the building regulations which are being developed to implement the Government’s zero carbon homes policy. Emissions associated with the production and transport of the fuel are taken into account in other sectors.
Carbon Sequestration
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department's carbon capture and storage (CCS) competition will take into account the creation of a CCS infrastructure to support industry as well as power generation. [47679]
Gregory Barker: As set out in the information note “UK Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Commercial Scale Demonstration Programme: Delivering Projects 2-4 (Further Information)” available from:
www.decc.gov.uk
published by my Department in December, applicants to the demonstration programme may propose projects that involve oversized CCS infrastructure capable of capturing, transporting or storing CO2 exceeding the capacities required for the demonstration project. This could allow for future use by industrial CO2 emitters.
We would expect that the additional cost of such oversizing of infrastructure be supported entirely by the applicant or other private sector investors without reimbursement by DECC and that it would not increase the overall risk to delivery of the demonstration project.
Climate Change: International Co-operation
Zac Goldsmith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2010, Official Report, column 866W, on
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aviation: carbon emissions, if he will take steps to include the issue of global aviation emissions in the EU position for the Durban climate change conference. [47151]
Gregory Barker: The Government are committed to addressing emissions from international aviation and will continue to push actively for an ambitious global agreement on emissions reduction targets for both international aviation and maritime transport. At the EU Environment Council meeting on 14 March, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and other EU Ministers reiterated, in Conclusions adopted by the Council on the follow-up to the Cancun climate conference, the need to address these emissions. We will continue to work through the EU to press for progress to be made at the meeting later this year in Durban.
Committee on Climate Change
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an assessment of the diversity of the range of scientific opinion on climate change that is represented on the Committee on Climate Change. [46870]
Gregory Barker: The Climate Change Act 2008 sets out a list of desirable expertise (including climate science, and other branches of environmental science), which is intended to broadly mirror the range of factors which the CCC is required to take into account in considering its advice. Taking this into account the membership of the CCC is kept under regular review with specific attention given to whether their work programme calls for additional expertise at either board level or by consulting outside when required.
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I believe the current membership of the CCC contains a good mix of the relevant expertise (including scientific), and creates a committee which is focused and dynamic.
Electricity Generation
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to ensure that studies of the cost of power generation technologies commissioned by his Department estimate separately the (a) generation and (b) carbon costs associated with such technologies. [46869]
Gregory Barker: DECC already ensures that estimates of power generation costs commissioned by the Department estimate carbon costs and generation costs separately. The following information is an example of cost information from the last such study, by Mott MacDonald. DECC is currently undertaking an update of these cost estimates which will include the same level of detail.
The following table is taken from Mott MacDonald (2010) and gives levelised cost estimates (average generation cost per megawatt-hour) for new build plants in the main large-scale electricity generation technologies in the UK, including both fossil fuel and low carbon plant, at current engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract prices. This demonstrates how the cost estimates are separated into component parts. The report and data sets that DECC hold break this down further still.
It should be noted that for the purposes of presentation, the table only gives either ‘FOAK’ (first-of-a-kind) prices or ‘NOAK’ (nth-of-a-kind) prices for each technology. The full report can be accessed via this link:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/statistics/projections/71-uk-electricity-generation-costs-update-.pdf
| Table 1: 10% discount rate, 2009 project start at today's EPC prices, with mixed FOAK/NOAK | ||||||||||
| Levelised cost | Gas CCGT | Gas CCGT with CCS (FOAK) | ASC coal | ASC coal with CCS (FOAK ) | Coal IGCC (FOAK) | Coal IGCC with CCS (FOAK) | Onshore wind | Offshore wind (FOAK) | Offshore wind R3 (FOAK) | Nuclear PWR (FOAK) |
| Source: Mott Macdonald (2010), UK Electricity Generation Costs Update | ||||||||||
It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. Meaning that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates.
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the cost per megawatt hour, excluding the cost of carbon, of electricity generated from (a) coal, (b) biomass and (c) oil in the latest period for which figures are available. [46872]
Charles Hendry:
The table is taken from Mott MacDonald (2010) and gives levelised cost estimates (average generation cost per megawatt-hour) for new build coal and biomass plants. The Mott MacDonald report gives the cost estimates for the main large-scale electricity generation technologies in the UK, including
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both fossil fuel and low carbon plant, at current engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract prices. The Department does not have estimates for the cost of new oil plant.
It should be noted that for the purposes of presentation, the table only gives either ‘FOAK’ (first-of-a-kind) prices or ‘NOAK’ (nth-of-a-kind) prices for each technology.
The full report can be accessed via the following link:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/statistics/projections/71-uk-electricity-generation-costs-update-.pdf
| Table 1: 10% discount rate, 2009 project start at today’s EPC prices, with mixed FOAK/NOAK | ||
| Levelised cost | ASC Coal | Large Biomass (FOAK) |
| Source: Mott Macdonald (2010), UK Electricity Generation Costs Update | ||
It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers, meaning that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates.
Electricity Interconnectors: Iceland
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2011, Official Report, column 438W, on energy: EU action, what discussions he has had with his Icelandic counterpart on proposals for an electricity cable between Iceland and Great Britain. [47146]
Charles Hendry: I have not met the Icelandic Minister but my officials have had discussions with Icelandic power companies about the possibility of building an electricity interconnector between Iceland and Great Britain. At the Prime Minister's UK-Nordic-Baltic summit in January this year, which was attended by the Icelandic Prime Minister, it was agreed that the countries concerned should co-operate in areas of mutual interest, including ways of accelerating the low-carbon transition. This is an example of a project which could be of benefit to both the UK and Iceland. However, there are a number of regulatory, technical, legal and commercial issues which would need to be explored before any decision can be made by any potential developers on the viability of such a project. We will be taking forward any legal and regulatory issues which fall to Government with the appropriate Icelandic parties.
Fuel Poverty: Rural Areas
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the likely level of fuel poverty in rural areas in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) the UK. [46871]
Gregory Barker: In 2008, there were around 847,000 rural households in England that were fuel poor (equivalent to around 20% of all rural households).
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In Wales in 2008, there were around 152,000 rural households that were fuel poor (around 34% of all rural households in Wales).
Combining most recent available data from each country of the UK leads to an estimate of around 1.275 million rural households in fuel poverty, around 24% of all rural households.
Dr Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the level of fuel poverty in rural areas in (a) Totnes constituency, (b) South Devon, (c) the South West and (d) England. [47572]
Gregory Barker: The following table shows the number of households and the number of rural households in fuel poverty in 2008, the latest year for which this information is available.
| Thousand | ||
| Geographical area | Number of households in fuel poverty | Number of rural households in fuel poverty |
| (1 )South Devon here comprises the following local authorities: Plymouth, South Hams and Torbay. | ||
The number of rural fuel poor households is not available for geographical areas smaller than Government office region.
Fuel: Prices
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of speculation on oil prices. [47308]
Charles Hendry: Given the complex nature of the market, it is extremely difficult to distinguish financial players from physical players. Furthermore, not all financial market activity is speculative. For example, through their active participation in the market, hedgers can provide market liquidity and reduce price risk.
We recognise that non-commercial activity in financial oil markets can have a transitory impact on prices. The Government have not yet seen clear, robust evidence that this type of activity can have a long-term price impact.
Hinkley Point C Power Station
Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to provide support for communities adversely affected by the proposed Hinkley C connection project. [45483]
Charles Hendry:
Support for communities affected by major infrastructure projects can be provided in a number of ways. Within the planning system, planning obligations and the Community Infrastructure Levy can be used to provide for site-specific mitigation and for general infrastructure contributions. Developers may
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also work with communities outside these mechanisms to review benefits for the local area. An example is the recent community benefit protocol published by RenewableUK.
In addition, the Government are creating a framework of incentives for local authorities to deliver sustainable economic development. This includes consideration of proposals to deliver better incentives, through the business rates system, for local authorities to promote growth. The Local Government Resource Review will deliver proposals on this by July this summer.
Nuclear Power Stations
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the safety of nuclear power plants in the UK. [47230]
Charles Hendry: In the light of the events in Japan, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne), has called on the chief nuclear inspector, Dr Mike Weightman for a thorough report on the implications of the situation in Japan and the lessons to be learned. This will be prepared in close co-operation internationally with other nuclear regulators, with an interim report in May and a final report within six months.
It is essential that we understand the full facts and their implications, both for existing nuclear reactors and any new programme, as safety is always our number one concern.
Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs
Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to the potential effect on the UK’s reputation as an investment destination of potential changes to the qualification criteria for projects already initiated arising from this review of feed-in tariffs. [46862]
Gregory Barker: We have always stated that the feed-in tariffs (FITs) scheme would be subjected to periodic reviews, including early reviews to consider any significant changes to the fundamentals affecting the operation of the scheme.
We have been clear that there are no intentions to act retrospectively. Any changes implemented as a result of the review will only affect new entrants into the scheme.
Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what projection he has made of the level of take-up of solar photovoltaics for the feed-in tariff scheme in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [45858]
Gregory Barker: Modelling for projected take-up of feed-in tariffs (FITs) scheme was undertaken by the previous Administration prior to the implementation of the scheme. The projected uptake for new solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2010-11 was 20,309 and 34,544 for 2011-12.
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A copy of the projections can be found in the Libraries of the House.
Squatting
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many buildings on his Department’s estate were occupied by squatters in each year between 2006 and 2010; and on how many occasions his Department sought interim possession orders to remove squatters from such buildings in each of those years. [47615]
Gregory Barker: Since its formation in October 2008, no buildings on the DECC estate have been occupied by squatters. Therefore no interim possession orders have been sought in that period.
Wind Power
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the Mott MacDonald report, “UK Electricity Generating Costs update”, in determining the commercial viability of offshore wind. [46868]
Charles Hendry: DECC commissioned Mott MacDonald consultants to provide an updated assessment of electricity generation costs. The generation costs data provided by Mott MacDonald were used in the power market modelling by Redpoint consultants of options for electricity market reform(1). In modelling the generation and capacity mix under different scenarios, the Redpoint model looks at the commercial incentives to invest in different generation technologies.
As part of the RO banding review, we are also reviewing the level of support for all renewables technologies accredited under the renewables obligation (RO) from 2013-14 to 2016-17, and will consult on any changes to RO bands this summer. As part of that process, we have asked our consultants Arup and Ernst and Young to provide updated assumptions on potential deployment and costs for each renewable electricity technology.
(1) Details of the consultation on electricity market reform are available at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/emr/emr.aspx
Wind Power: Planning Permission
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what timetable he has set for taking decisions on consent on Round 2 offshore wind farm applications which have not yet been approved. [46268]
Charles Hendry: There are four remaining Round 2 offshore wind farms consent applications which are with the Department for consideration. These are large schemes which have the potential to impact (both on their own and in combination with other projects) on environmental resources and on the interests of organisations and people and so have to be given careful consideration. We are waiting for information from each of the developers involved in the projects but will determine the applications as soon as possible once all the issues raised have been thoroughly assessed.
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In the Major Infrastructure Planning Reform Workplan published in December, Ministers undertook to determine the pre-Planning Act schemes at the earliest opportunity. We are working to enable the cases to be determined at the earliest opportunity.
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the time taken by his Department was to process each application for consent for Round 2 offshore wind developments which have so far been approved. [46269]
Charles Hendry: The time taken to process applications for those Round 2 offshore wind farm developments which have been approved are as follows:
|
|
|
Months |
The time scales reflect the large scale of the Round 2 projects that have been dealt with (ranging from 64 MW with 18 turbines to 1,000 MW with up to 341 turbines) and the need for developers to consider and address a number of potentially complex issues raised during consultation, particularly the impacts of developments on navigation, civil and military aviation and birds. Satisfactory resolution of any such issues, which on occasion can take the developers some considerable time, is required before the Department can take decisions on the specific applications.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Battery Cages
16. Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on the introduction of a prohibition on battery cages for laying hens. [47211]
Mrs Spelman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier to questions 6 and 7.
Dairy Farming
18. Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the practice of intensive dairy farming; and if she will make a statement. [47214]
Mr Paice: All dairy farming is covered by the Animal Welfare Act and the Farm Animal Welfare Regulations. These will apply equally to all livestock farms, regardless of scale.
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As long as these standards are met, the Government recognise that the UK market has a place for “sustainable intensification” and more traditional production and added-value production, to enable the industry to be competitive in UK, EU and global markets.
Fish Discards
20. Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on reductions in fishing discards; and if she will make a statement. [47216]
Richard Benyon: I was delighted to participate in a recent high-level meeting on discards with the EU Commission and other member states, who agreed with the UK that tackling discards must be a priority for common fisheries policy reform and that action must be taken now.
There was a constructive and positive debate about measures needed as part of reform. The UK is clear that these must be practical, effective and developed in co-operation with industry.
Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals she has to reduce the incidence of fish discards. [47212]
Richard Benyon: The UK is working to eliminate discards through targeting the principal reasons for discarding. We continue to take action domestically—working with our fishing industry to increase the selectivity of fishing gears and improve the utilisation of unavoidable catches. We are also trialling a system of catch quotas to reduce discards and better control fishing mortality.
The UK sees the reform of the common fisheries policy as key to solving this problem and will work hard to influence and shape the policy.
Animal Welfare
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding her Department allocated to research and development on (a) sustainable farming and food and (b) animal health and welfare in each of the last five years; and how much such funding she plans to allocate in each of the next four financial years. [34262]
Mr Paice: Table 1 shows DEFRA's expenditure on farming and food and animal health and welfare research and development over the last five financial years.
| Table 1 | |||
| £ million | |||
|
|
DEFRA research and development spend on farming and food science | DEFRA research and development spend on animal health and welfare | Total DEFRA agricultural research and development spending |
| Source: Data taken from the Science and Information System | |||
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DEFRA now allocates budgets on the basis of evidence, rather than research and development.
Evidence is defined as reliable and accurate information that DEFRA can use to support sound decisions in developing, shaping, and evaluating policy. It includes research and development, monitoring and surveillance,
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economic and statistical analysis and modelling, secondary analysis and synthesis, and analysis of stakeholder views.
Evidence allocations have been made for 2011-12 and are shown in Table 2 with the equivalent figures for 2010-11.
| Table 2 | ||
| £ million | ||
|
|
Evidence budget allocations for farming and food | Evidence budget allocations for animal health and welfare |
Final allocations for individual policy areas for subsequent years have not yet been determined as a proportion of the total available has been retained as a reserve. Flexibility in the evidence allocation process for 2012-13 onwards is essential so that we can adjust our investment in evidence to respond to developing challenges.
Across all DEFRA policy areas, a total of £43 million evidence savings will be found by 2014-15 against a core DEFRA evidence baseline of approximately £210 million in 2010-11; this is in proportion to the overall cuts in DEFRA's programme spend. For comparison, the budget for evidence in 2009-10 was £213 million, of which £125 million was classified as research.
Animals: Crime
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding she has allocated over the period of the comprehensive spending review to reduce the level of illegal trade in animals and animal products. [47205]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA provides funding for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Total funding levels for the next four years have yet to be agreed. The National Wildlife Crime Unit will be funded for the next two years.
DEFRA provides no funding to delivery agents but continues to provide policy and risk advice to the UK Border Agency which has enforcement responsibility for illegal imports of animal products.
Common Agricultural Policy
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on reform of the common agricultural policy; and if she will make a statement. [47203]
John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on reform of the common agricultural policy; and if she will make a statement. [47213]
Mrs Spelman: Lord Henley attended Agriculture Council to represent the UK. I spent two days this week in Brussels where the Environment Council discussed CAP reform and met Members of the European Parliament, including the officers and rapporteur of the Agriculture Committee, to discuss CAP reform as.-the European Parliament has the power of co-decision.
Cotton: EU Action
Mr David: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions she has raised the issue of cotton subsidies in the EU Council of Ministers; and if she will make a statement. [46181]
Mr Paice: The UK has consistently argued in Brussels in favour of decoupling and against harmful export subsidies, although the specific subject of cotton subsidies has not been raised at the Agriculture Council itself in the period since May 2010.
The forthcoming Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform negotiations will provide a major opportunity for the UK to raise this issue and seek an end to all coupled payments, including those to the cotton sector.
Dairy Farming: Animal Welfare
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects on animal welfare of zero-grazed dairy herds; and if she will make a statement. [47198]
Mr Paice: Research ending in 2003 concluded that zero grazing systems were associated with higher than average lameness compared with other dairy farms. However, the level of stockmanship and housing were found to be better in zero grazing systems, as practised in the UK. Overall, the welfare of cows in zero grazing systems is equivalent to other dairy systems.
We are currently funding another project to investigate the management and welfare of continuously housed cows.
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations her Department revoked between 3 February and 28 February 2011. [45980]
Mr Paice: The Department revoked the following two statutory instruments between 3 February and 28 February 2011:
The Seed Marketing Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2605)
The Poultry Meat (Water Content) Regulations 1984 (SI 1984/1145).
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Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations her Department introduced between 9 and 28 February 2011. [47047]
Richard Benyon: The Department made the following 11 statutory instruments between 9 and 28 February 2011:
1. Marine Licensing (Application Fees) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/564)
2. Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (Commencement No 5, Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Order 2011 (SI 2011/556)
3. Seed Marketing Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/463)
4. Reporting of Prices of Milk Products (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/456)
5. Bovine Semen (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/454)
6. Poultrymeat (England) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/452)
7. Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/451)
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8. Marine Licensing (Register of Licensing Information) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/424)
9. Petroleum Act 1998 (Specified Pipelines) Order 2011 (SI 2011/423)
10. Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 2011 > PART 3 (SI 2011/409)
11. Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/405).
Oil: Accidents
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many oil spills at (a) residential and (b) commercial properties in each region were reported in each of the last five years. [46193]
Richard Benyon: The numbers of oil spills at residential and commercial premises are set out in the following tables. These figures are from the Environment Agency’s National Incident Recording System and are split into Environment Agency regions.
| Oil pollution incidents—commercial | |||||
|
|
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Oil pollution incidents—residential | |||||
|
|
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
Communities and Local Government
Community Development
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage citizen participation in local democracy. [46865]
Grant Shapps: The Government are taking forward a range of action to encourage participation in local democracy.
On 7 December we launched a call for talented community champions to consider standing as local councillors in the upcoming local elections. We highlighted by a press notice on 13 February that there were just 50 days left for people to sign up as candidates in the elections. And throughout the year Government have supported the Local Government Leadership's website, where details about becoming a councillor can be found:
www.beacouncillor.org.uk/
To enable the public to act as “armchair auditors”, we are increasing the transparency of council spending, including by publishing on 7 February a draft Code of Recommended Practice for local authorities on data transparency.
On 23 February we wrote to principal local authorities to emphasise the importance of their giving citizens the opportunity to access and experience their local democracy using modern communication methods, so they can blog, tweet and film during proceedings and disseminate their recordings or comments via social media networks.
Our Localism Bill, which completed its Committee stage on 10 March, includes provisions that will give residents the power to instigate local referendums on any local issue, and to approve or veto in a referendum excessive council tax increases, and establishes a Neighbourhood Planning regime giving the whole neighbourhood a say, through a referendum, on whether proposals are acceptable.
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We have recently approved a further year's funding for the Participatory Budgeting Unit, a third sector organisation, to provide advice and guidance on Participatory Budgeting, which gives people a direct say over how part of a local budget is spent.
We have continued to support Take Part, an active citizenship and leadership learning programme aimed at increasing the skills, knowledge and confidence of individuals to have more of a say in their local area. The Take Part website was. launched in February 2011 and can be viewed at:
www.takepart.org
We have continued the Empowerment Fund up until March 2012, supporting voluntary and community sector organisations to help people play a greater part in civic life.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps his Department has taken to improve facilities for local community use. [46867]
Andrew Stunell: The Department’s goal is to put individuals and groups in the driving seat in their communities, with Government playing an enabling role in building a big society.
A key plank of this strategy will be delivered through the Localism Bill, which will introduce new Community Rights. The Community Right to Buy will give community organisations a better chance to bid to take over assets and facilities that are important to them to save them for community use.
The Community Right to Challenge will hand the initiative to voluntary and community bodies with good ideas about how services could be run better or more cost effectively, ensure these ideas get a. fair hearing, and give them the time they need to organise themselves and develop their ideas to be able to bid to run the service.
Local authorities will be required to maintain a list of public and private assets of community value. When the owner of a listed asset wants to sell it, a window of opportunity will come into effect to give communities more time to develop a bid and raise the necessary capital. They will then be in a better position to bid to buy the asset when it comes on the market at the end of the window of opportunity.
The new provision will help local communities to save important community assets, tackle social need and build up resources and employment in their neighbourhood in more innovative, enterprising and cost-effective ways. In particular, it will give communities the chance to save facilities threatened with closure that are important to them.
The Department has also extended funding for the Asset Transfer Unit enabling it to continue to offer practical support to communities who want to take on community assets such as youth centres, libraries, museums and former town halls for the benefit of local people.
We will provide support to help community organisations take advantage of their new rights. We are currently consulting on the detail of both rights—including the support which would be most helpful. These consultation documents can be viewed on the DCLG website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/decentralisation/localismbill/communityrights/
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Community Relations
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps his Department has taken to improve community relations between different populations. [46866]
Andrew Stunell: Integration and positive relations between different populations are integral parts of the big society. As the Prime Minister set out in his recent speech in Munich, integration is fostered by meaningful and active participation in society, which is achieved by shifting the balance of power away from the state and towards the people, and by initiatives such as the National Citizen Service. DCLG also recently awarded the Church Urban Fund £5 million to promote interaction in local communities between people of different faiths, through a new programme called Near Neighbours. DCLG are considering what additional, specific activities are needed to improve integration and overcome divisions in communities. We are working to develop a cross-government approach by May 2011.
Departmental Land
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to reduce the size of his Department’s estate; and if he will make a statement. [46220]
Robert Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government’s Estate Strategy focuses on reducing the size and cost of its estate through the surrender of facilities at appropriate lease break/end opportunities, through the consolidation and collocation of business operations and by maximising space efficiency by further implementing flexible working practices.
An example of our Strategy in action is where we are working to reduce the cost and size of the Government Offices for the Regions estate, in advance of their abolition on 31 March 2011. This work will reduce the size of that estate from 14 buildings currently to 10 buildings by the end of 2011-12 and down to seven by the end of the spending review period. The retained buildings will be used by a range of Government Departments.
The Government announced in spending review 2010 that as a first step to introducing a more co-ordinated approach to property management in the central civil office estate they would set up, through the Government Property Unit, Property Vehicles for the Central London and Bristol office estates from 2011-12.
Property Vehicles will be responsible for managing a more co-ordinated government-wide approach to property. They will manage the estate strategically, achieving more efficient use of the property assets, as well as working with Departments to reduce their estates and maximise the commercial potential of their property portfolios.
Furthermore the Government announced this month a new system of National Property Controls across the central civil estate. These controls require Departments to adopt a common, disciplined commercial approach to the use of the estate. These build on the success of the Lease Moratorium introduced in May 2010, which to date has reduced property costs by around £50 million.
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The Department is co-operating fully with both these Government Property Unit-led initiatives in order to drive down the size of the Department’s estate.
Departmental Location
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement. [43472]
Robert Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not propose to relocate staff and/or offices to Brighton. This is due to the leasehold agreement signed by the last Administration on the Department's building at Eland house, Victoria.
Departmental Procurement
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 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. [45551]
Robert Neill: No contracts with a monetary value of greater than £10 million have been awarded in the last financial year, 2009-10 or the current one, 2010-11.
Information on costs incurred by public bodies sponsored by the Department is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 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. [45552]
Robert Neill: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
All contract awards over £20,000 would have a senior responsible officer. Identifying them and ascertaining when they were appointed could be established only at disproportionate cost.