Youth Services: Finance
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department plans to allocate to youth services in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13. [60832]
Tim Loughton: Funding from central Government to local authorities for local youth services for 2011-12 and beyond is included in an Early Intervention Grant (EIG). In total £2.212 million in 2011-12 and £2.297 million in 2012-13 is being allocated to local authorities in England through the EIG.
In addition, the Department has allocated:
£110 million in 2011-12 and £24 million in 2012-12 to myplace, a national capital programme to build world class youth centres.
£15 million in each of 2011-12 and 2012-13 for youth as part of the Voluntary and Community Sector Grant programme.
£350,000 in 2011-12 and £500,000 in 2012-13 to promote and support youth participation in England both nationally and locally. This includes sustaining the activities of the UK Youth Parliament.
Deputy Prime Minister
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 6 September 2010, Official Report, column 302W, on the electoral register, whether he has commissioned any further analysis or additional research into the reasons for local and regional variations in electoral registration. [61640]
Mr Harper: The Cabinet Office is funding the Electoral Commission to carry out research to provide a robust, national measure of completeness and accuracy of the registers. The research will also provide some data on different demographic breakdowns. The study will report towards the end of 2011.
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The Commission will be conducting further research which will check the registers against the census, and this will provide more up-to-date data on detailed demographic breakdowns. This study is expected to report in 2013.
Home Department
Stillbirths
1. Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has had recent discussions with the devolved Administrations on the registration of stillbirths. [61827]
Mrs May: I have not had any recent discussions with the devolved Administrations on this matter. While the system of stillbirth registration is very similar in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, civil registration is a devolved service and a matter for each of the Administrations.
Police Numbers
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the relationship between numbers of police officers and levels of crime. [61847]
Mrs May: The Home Affairs Select Committee said in February:
“we accept that there is no simple relationship between numbers of police officers and levels of crime”.
Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of reductions in police numbers. [61850]
Nick Herbert: It is for the chief constable and the police authority of each force to determine the number of police officers that are deployed within the available resource.
Departmental CCTV
Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the use of CCTV cameras. [61835]
James Brokenshire: The Government recognise the importance of CCTV in preventing and detecting crime and supports its use by communities. The Government also acknowledge that continued use of CCTV requires the support of the public and public confidence that systems are being used appropriately.
Accordingly, we intend to introduce a Code of Practice for Surveillance Cameras and appoint a Surveillance Camera Commissioner.
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Animal Experiments
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if she will assess the potential effects on Government policy on the use of animals in scientific experiments of the planned expansion of the Marshall Biosciences beagle breeding facility in East Yorkshire; [60450]
(2) if she will estimate the maximum annual number of beagles to be bred for experimental purposes if the proposed expansion of the Marshall Biosciences beagle breeding facility in East Yorkshire were given a certificate of designation. [60452]
Lynne Featherstone: Under section 7 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, places where animals specified in schedule 2 to the Act are bred for use in regulated procedures, or are kept for supply for use in such procedures or to other designated sources, must be designated as breeding and/or supplying establishments. Applications for designation are considered on a case by case basis according to their merits. It is not Home Office policy to comment on individual applications.
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain, 2009, what types of procedures were carried out on macaques for the primary purpose of protection of man, animals or the environment. [61352]
Lynne Featherstone: There were 504 procedures started in 2009 in Great Britain using macaques. The available information from statistical returns is published in Table l of the annual publication ‘Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2009’, a copy of which is available from the Library of the House and from the Department's website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/science/research-testing-using-animals/
The full description of the primary purpose ‘protection of man, animals or the environment’ (available from Appendix B Form Notes of the annual publication available from the same website) is as follows:
“Protection of man, animals or environment by toxicological or other safety or environmental evaluation (excluding medical or veterinary products or appliances). This category is intended to cater for toxicological work which is not related either to fundamental research or to the solution of medical or veterinary problems as such. Ecological studies may be included here with the appropriate codes in ROWs 10-12: A codes for toxicological testing or B codes for other investigative studies.”
More detailed information on the purpose of the procedures is not collected as part of the annual statistical data collection.
Antisocial Behaviour: Noise
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instances of abuse by a local authority of its powers in connection with the investigation of neighbour noise complaints have been reported to her Department in the latest period for which figures are available. [61347]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office has received no such reports about instances of abuse by a local authority.
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Criminal Records: Databases
Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has assessed the merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to revise the requirement for personal records held on the Police National Computer to be retained until a person is deemed to have attained 100 years of age. [62141]
Lynne Featherstone: Criminal record and associated personal information is retained on the Police National Computer (PNC) in accordance with guidelines issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Such information is normally held until the subject reaches 100 years of age.
It is essential to retain certain personal records on the PNC to assist the police and other agencies in protecting the public. There are currently no plans to legislate to change the existing position. However, the Government's Independent Advisor for Criminality Information Management, Mrs Sunita Mason, is continuing with her review of the criminal records regime and I understand she will be submitting her final report shortly. Further consideration will be given to this issue of retention in developing the Government's response to that report.
Domestic Violence: Females
Mrs Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to protect women from domestic and sexual violence. [61851]
Lynne Featherstone: In March this year we published a detailed Action Plan on tackling Violence Against Women and Girls. We have already delivered in several areas including a commitment to provide more than £28 million of Home Office funding over four years for local specialist services to support victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Drugs
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment her Department has made of the relative (a) toxicity and (b) addictivity of (i) heroin, (ii) cocaine, (iii) cannabis, (iv) ecstasy and (v) amphetamines; [61296]
(2) what assessment her Department has made of the relative (a) toxicity and (b) addictivity of cannabis when it is (i) smoked and (ii) inhaled through a vaporizer. [61297]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not undertake research of the nature which the hon. Member is asking. These matters predominantly lie within health policy.
However, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) provides advice to Government on both the health and social harms of drugs, based on all available evidence. Its advice is published on the ACMD’s web pages at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/acmd/reports-research/
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Drugs: Misuse
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the criminalisation of salvia divinorum. [61737]
James Brokenshire: Salvia divinorum is not subject to control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) continue to keep salvia divinorum under review, as part of its work on new psychoactive substances.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' recommendation that foil be exempted from Section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. [61740]
James Brokenshire: The Department received a submission from the Cross-Party Group on Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Harm Reduction supporting the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' recommendation that foil be exempted from Section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 last December.
The issues raised in the Advisory Council's recommendation relate more widely to the policy on patient health and harm reduction which the Department of Health leads on. My officials are working closely with Department of Health officials to ensure that our joint interests are recognised in the Government's response to the recommendation which will be published soon.
EU Law
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what European directives in force on 1 April 2010 her Department is responsible; and what European directives for which her Department is responsible have come into force since 1 April 2010. [60695]
James Brokenshire: The following EU directives, for which the Home Office is responsible, were in force on 1 April 2010:
Council Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons and Directive 2008/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 amending Council Directive 91/477/EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons;
Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin;
Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;
Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between member states in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof;
Council Directive 2001/40/EC of 28 May 2001 on the mutual recognition of decisions on the expulsion of third country nationals;
Council Directive 2001/51/EC of 28 June 2001 supplementing the provisions of Article 26 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985;
Council Directive 2002/90/EC of 28 November 2002 defining the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence;
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Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers;
Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents;
Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification;
Commission Directive 2003/101/EC of 3 November 2003 amending Council Directive 92/109/EEC on the manufacture and placing on the market of certain substances used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and Council Directive 92/109/EEC on the manufacture and placing on the market of certain substances used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
Council Directive 2003/110/EC of 25 November 2003 on assistance in cases of transit for the purposes of removal by air;
Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC;
Council Directive 2004/81/EC of 29 April 2004 on the residence permit issued to third-country nationals who are victims of trafficking in human beings or who have been the subject of an action to facilitate illegal immigration, who cooperate with the competent authorities;
Council Directive 2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004 on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, pupil exchange, unremunerated training or voluntary service;
Council Directive 2004/82/EC of 29 April 2004 on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger data;
Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted;
Directive 2004/113/EC of 13 December 2004 implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services;
Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status;
Council Directive 2005/71/EC of 12 October 2005 on a specific procedure for admitting third-country nationals for the purposes of scientific research;
Directive 2006/54/EC of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast);
Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and amending Directive 2002/58/EC;
Council Directive 2008/114/EC of 8 December 2008 on the identification and designation of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection;
Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in member states for returning illegally staying third-country nationals;
Council Directive 2009/50/EC of 25 May 2009 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment; and
Directive 2009/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 providing for minimum standards on sanctions and measures against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals.
Two EU directives, for which the Home Office has responsibility, have entered into force since 1 April 2010:
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Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes; and
Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA.
The UK does not participate in all of these directives.
Harassment
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training police officers receive on dealing with and processing allegations of stalking and harassment. [61770]
Lynne Featherstone: The National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) provides support to the Police Service with regard to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by including relevant training within the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP), ensuring that all new officers have the appropriate skills, knowledge and understanding.
The NPIA is currently working with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for stalking and harassment to develop a short module of learning, in consultation with victims, service providers and policy makers. This module will be available over the coming months and will replace or supplement existing content in initial training as well as providing a stand-alone element for all officers and existing staff.
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police officers are required to conduct a risk assessment in respect of individuals who complain about stalking and harassment of a (a) non-online and (b) online form. [61773]
Lynne Featherstone: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Council accredited the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour Based Violence (DASH) Risk Identification, Assessment and Management Model to be implemented across all police services in the UK from March 2009 as part of the police response to domestic abuse. Although the use of the DASH model is currently discretionary, the Home Office is actively working with ACPO to encourage all forces to use it.
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were recorded under each section of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in 2010. [61774]
Lynne Featherstone: It is not possible to separately identify crimes relating to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 from the data that the police send to Home Office Statistics Unit. Offences relating to this Act have been grouped together in Home Office classification 8L ‘harassment’. There were 53,029 offences recorded in this classification for 2009-10, the latest year for which data are published. This classification also includes a small number of summary offences of harassment of a person in his home under the Section 42A Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 as added to by Section 126 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
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National Crime Agency: Human Trafficking
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role the UK Human Trafficking Centre will have in her plans for a National Crime Agency. [62300]
Mrs May: The UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) is a core part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). The National Crime Agency will bring together the specialist capabilities of SOCA, including the UKHTC and other agencies, into a single body that will drive an effective national response to all forms of organised crime.
Offences against Children
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been (a) arrested and (b) charged for offences relating to child sexual exploitation including grooming in each police authority area in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [61435]
James Brokenshire: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down by offence group only (e.g. sexual offences). From these centrally reported categories, it is not possible to identify specific offences.
The collection does not contain information on subsequent outcomes of arrests.
Police: Accountability
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the name is of each person or organisation who has responded to the Government's consultation on its proposals for elected police and crime commissioners. [61786]
Mrs May [holding answer 23 June 2011]: “Policing in the 21st century: reconnecting police and the people, Summary of consultation responses and next steps”, published in December 2010, listed all respondents to proposals for directly elected police and crime commissioners. A copy is in the Library of the House.
Police: Manpower
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police officers there were in (a) England, (b) the North West, (c) Cumbria and (d) South Lakeland district in each of the last 10 years; [61759]
(2) how many police community support officers there were in South Lakeland district in each of the last five years. [61760]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 23 June 2011]: Available data are provided in tables A and B.
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| Table A: Police officer strength in England, north-west region (1) , Cumbria and Barrow and Kendal BCU, as at 31 March, 2001 to 2010 and 30 September 2010 | |||||||||||
| Full-time equivalent (1) | |||||||||||
|
|
2001 (2) | 2002 (2) | 2003 (1) | 2004 (1) | 2005 (1) | 2006 (1) | 2007 (1) | 2008 (1) | 2009 (1) | 2010 (1) | Sept 2010 |
| (1) Full-time equivalent figures on a comparable strength basis (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short-term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison. (2) These are full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. They include all officers less staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures). (3) Barrow and Kendal basic command unit (BCU) comprises of the South Lakeland and Barrow-in-Furness Community Safety Partnership (CSPs). (4) Basic command unit (BCU) data were not collected centrally by the Home Office prior to 2003. (5) Basic command unit (BCU) figures are not available centrally for September 2010. Police officer breakdown by BCU for 31 March 2011 should be available when 2010-11 statistics are published in July. | |||||||||||
| Table B: Police community support officer strength (1) , Barrow and Kendal basic command unit | |||||
| Full-time equivalent (1) | |||||
|
|
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| (1) These are full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. They include officers on career break or maternity/paternity leave. (2) Barrow and Kendal basic command unit (BCU) comprises of the South Lakeland and Barrow-in-Furness Community Safety Partnership (CSPs). (3) Information is not available centrally. Basic command unit data for police community support officers were not collected centrally by the Home Office prior to 2007. | |||||
Police Powers
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances police officers may search and seize the electronic equipment of persons charged with an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 or related legislation. [61929]
Lynne Featherstone: The offences set out in sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 are indictable offences, for which police have powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to search for and seize electronic equipment as evidence of those offences.
The police can seek a search warrant under section 8 of the 1984 Act by satisfying a magistrate of the conditions set out in section 8(1) of that Act. Where the material sought by the police falls under the definition of ‘special procedure material’ set out in section 14 of the 1984 Act, a warrant must be obtained from a circuit judge in accordance with the provisions of schedule 1 of that Act.
Police also have the powers to enter and search premises without a search warrant which are subject to the conditions set out in sections 18 and 32 of the 1984 Act.
Primates: Imports
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has assessed the merits made of extending the current ban on the import of wild-caught primates to include the first generation offspring of wild-caught primates. [62122]
Lynne Featherstone: Article 10 of European directive 2010/63 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes requires that from dates set out in annex II to the directive, member states shall ensure that all non-human primates listed in that annex may only be used in procedures where they are the offspring of animals bred in captivity or sourced from self-sustaining colonies. Under article 10, the European Commission must carry out a feasibility study by 10 November 2017 to confirm or amend the dates in annex II. The United Kingdom contribution to the feasibility study will be considered at the appropriate time when consulted by the Commission. Directive 2010/63/EU must be implemented by member states from 1 January 2013.
Article 10 also requires that animals of all species of non-human primates used in scientific procedures must be purpose bred unless there is justification for the use of wild caught animals. The United Kingdom has operated a similar policy since 1995 and has not authorised the first time use of wild caught primates for more than 10 years.
Sexual Offences
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sexual assaults (a) were reported to the police and (b) resulted in a conviction in (i) England, (ii) the North West, (iii) Cumbria and (iv) South Lakeland district in each of the last 10 years. [61634]
Lynne Featherstone [holding answer 23 June 2011]: Data on police recorded offences of sexual assault are collected by the Home Office. Due to recording changes, the data are not comparable across the period requested.
The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002 and data are not comparable before and after this date. Additionally, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was introduced in May 2004 and this altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences. The data are shown separately for 2000-01 to 2001-02 and for 2002-03 to 2009-10 in Tables A and B respectively.
Data on reported sexual assaults which resulted in convictions are not available as it is not possible to track individual offences through to their outcome at court. These data are published on a calendar year basis and
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are counts of persons classified by their principal offence. As such, convictions data cannot be directly compared to police recorded crime data.
Convictions data are based on the number of offenders and have been provided by the Ministry of Justice in Table C. Data are provided for the number of defendants found guilty of sexual assault in England, the north-west and Cumbria police force area for 2000 to 2010. Information on convictions is not collated below police force area centrally by the Ministry of Justice. The data are a further breakdown of those published in the Criminal
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Statistics, Supplementary Volumes for England and Wales for the years 2000 to 2010. Court proceedings data for 2011 will be available in the spring of 2012.
The Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. These data include information on the age of the defendant, their gender, the police force area and the court where the proceedings took place as well as the offence and statute for the offence.
| Table A: Rape and sexual assault offences recorded in England, 2000-01 to 2001-02 | ||
|
|
2000-01 | 2001-02 (1) |
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| (1 )The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002, although some forces adopted NCRS practices before the standard was formally introduced. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. The introduction of NCRS led to a rise in recording in 2002/03 and, particularly for violent crime, in the following years as forces continued to improve compliance with the new standard. | ||
| Table B: Sexual assault offences recorded in England and Wales, 2002-03 to 2009-10 | ||||||||
|
|
2002-03 (1) | 2003-04 | 2004-05 (2) | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 (3) |
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| (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002, although some forces adopted NCRS practices before the standard was formally introduced. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. The introduction of NCRS led to a rise in recording in 2002-03 and, particularly for violent crime, in the following years as forces continued to improve compliance with the new standard. (2) The Sexual Offences Act 2003, introduced in May 2004, altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences. (3) Prior to 2009-10, a small number of offences continued to be recorded relating to offences repealed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. While these may have been legitimately recorded for offences committed prior to May 2004 it is also possible that some may have been recorded in these old categories in error, so any changes based on small numbers should be interpreted with caution. | ||||||||
| Table C: Defendants found guilty of sexual assault (1,2) and rape (1,3) at all courts by region, 2000-10 | |||||||||||
|
|
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 (4) | 2009 (5) | 2010 |
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Sexual assault includes indecent assault from offences prior to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which introduced a large number of new offences which resulted in changes in the coverage of many of the offence classes shown in this table. As a result many of the figures for 2004 onwards are not comparable with those before. (3) Rape includes attempted rape. (4) Excludes convictions data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (5) Revisions have been made to 2009 figures to account for the late receipt of a small number of court records. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | |||||||||||
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Work and Pensions
A New Approach to Child Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to paragraph 1.10 of his Department's publication A New Approach to Child Poverty, how many children in each (a) region and (b) constituency live in workless households. [60438]
Maria Miller: The information is as follows:
(a) Data on the number of children living in workless households by region from the Office for National Statistics' “Work and Worklessness among Households 2010” Statistical Bulletin are available here:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=14977
Please refer to Table 3(iii). This information is sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey and is available for the April-June quarter only each year from 1997 to 2010.
(b) This information has been placed in the Library.
This information is sourced from the Annual Population Survey, January-December 2009.
Bread: Asthma
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2011, Official Report, column 91W, on bread: asthma, what the statistical data, other than the Surveillance of Work-Related Occupational Respiratory Disease scheme and the Occupational Physicians Reporting Activity scheme, are to which the answer refers. [61047]
Chris Grayling: The other statistical data sources to which the earlier answer refers are:
1. The Self-Reported Work-Related Illness (SWI) survey—a series of questions about occupational injury and disease included annually within the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Based on the most recent SWI survey the number of new cases of “breathing and lung problems” caused or made worse by work during 2009-10 was estimated to be between 9,000 and 23,000 and a proportion of these cases are likely to be consistent with symptoms of occupational asthma.
2. The Health and Occupation Reporting Network General Practitioner scheme (THOR GP) scheme—in which a sample of GPs record all new cases of occupational disease they see. The estimated annual incidence of work-related respiratory disease according to THOR was approximately 10,000 new cases per year during 2007-09. Information about the disease types suggests a substantial proportion of these will relate to occupational asthma.
The data on respiratory disease provided by SWI and THOR GP enable the overall scale of these diseases to be estimated. It is not possible for the data to be broken down into detailed occupation or industry group because of the small number of actual cases reported by these data sources. Therefore, any estimates by industry group would be unreliable.
Carers
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to undertake an equality impact assessment on the effect on carers of the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill. [61500]
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Maria Miller: The proposals in the Bill impact on a wide variety of groups in different ways. Where a policy has a particular impact on carers the impacts of this will be considered as part of the assessment for that policy.
Child Maintenance
Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the capability of (a) children's centre workers, (b) GPs, (c) teachers and (d) Jobcentre Plus staff to provide support services to help parents make maintenance arrangements on separation; and if he will make a statement. [60758]
Maria Miller: A central part of the vision set out in the Green Paper "Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance" is to make it easier for parents to access the support already available to deal with the effects of separation in a way that recognises their ongoing responsibilities as parents.
During the Green Paper consultation, we have been talking to experts in the voluntary and community sector (VCS) who understand families' needs, including among others the Centre for Separated Families, Relate, and Gingerbread, and they tell us that local support itself could be delivered in a more integrated fashion. We will continue to work with the sector to understand how best to facilitate more joined-up services.
We know from our discussions with VCS organisations that when families encounter problems it is often trusted professionals that parents turn to first. VCS have cited examples such as Sure Start children's centre workers and GPs, though of course the range of professionals who parents may approach first could be wider.
We want to make it easier for the professionals that separating parents first approach to know what support is available and direct parents to that support. We will continue to work with colleagues in the Department for Education and other Government Departments to understand how this would work in practice, recognising the need to avoid placing undue burdens on professionals who are already working hard to support families in a range of different ways.
We need to get this right for the long-term, to take forward the reform of the child maintenance system begun by the previous Government, following the recommendations of Sir David Henshaw, and set the system in the context of the range of support parents may need when they separate.
We aim to publish the Government's response to the consultation shortly.
Employment Law
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with (a) officials in his Department, (b) the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and (c) outside organisations on the potential effects of changes arising from the review of employment law on matters within his Department's responsibilities. [60711]
Chris Grayling: The review of employment-related laws being co-ordinated by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a cross-Government initiative.
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All Departments with a responsibility for employment-related law are engaged in the process, and relevant Ministers and officials are in contact with BIS on a regular basis in taking forward the review.
Departments are engaging with their stakeholders on issues relating to the employment-law review in accordance with their standard procedures for consulting formally and informally on policy development.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with (a) companies contracted to deliver the Work Programme and (b) trade unions representing affected staff on the application of the provisions of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations to staff transferring from his Department to employment by such companies. [62468]
Chris Grayling: No staff from the Department for Work and Pensions are transferring to Work Programme contractors as there has been no transfer of any undertaking from the Department to the Work Programme, so there is no question of TUPE regulations applying.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the transition to the Work Programme on disabled staff previously employed on welfare to work programmes in his Department. [62473]
Chris Grayling: The Department expects contractors delivering welfare to work programmes to fulfil their statutory obligations, including equal treatment under TUPE (the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006) and practical support for disabled employees, for example specialist equipment and reasonable adjustments. Therefore the Department does not anticipate that there will be a differential impact on disabled staff.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons the provisions of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations are not to be applied to staff of his Department transferring from the Pathways to Work programme to Work programme contractors. [62474]
Chris Grayling: There has been no transfer of any undertaking from the Department for Work and Pensions to the Work programme and no staff are transferring to Work programme contractors, so there is no question of TUPE regulations applying.