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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Attorney-General
Departmental Billing
Oliver Heald: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of invoices from small and medium-sized businesses were paid by the Law Officers' Departments within five working days of receipt in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [63569]
The Solicitor-General: The Law Officers' Departments do not currently record or publish information about the size of suppliers as this does not fully reflect the number and size of businesses engaged in the supply chain for goods and services. They also do not discriminate by size of business because many small and medium enterprises can be found within larger supply chains.
The following table shows the proportion of invoices, from businesses of all sizes, paid by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) within five working days of receipt in the last 12 months for which information is available:
| Percentage of invoices paid in five days | ||
|
|
CPS | SFO |
The Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) target is to pay undisputed invoices within 30 days from receipt and the Department does not hold any data on the numbers which were paid within five working days and could obtain such information only at a disproportionate cost. Records show that around 87% of all invoices were paid within 30 days in the last 12 months.
TSol is also responsible for processing invoices for the Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and figures for both organisations are included in the TSol records.
Electoral Commission Committee
Alternative Vote: Referendums
Mr Dodds: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the cost to the public purse was of holding the referendum on the alternative vote in Northern Ireland. [63629]
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Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the Northern Ireland Office identified that a budget of £2.5 million was likely to be required by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland to conduct the referendum on the parliamentary voting system. The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland will submit a claim to the Electoral Commission for its actual costs by 5 January 2012.
In addition to the expenditure by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, public awareness expenditure by the Electoral Commission on Northern Ireland specific campaigns was £200,000.
Justice
Archway Tower
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the length is of his Department's lease on Archway Tower, N19, in respect of (a) the Office of the Public Guardian and (b) the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service; and at what annual cost; [63865]
(2) what plans he has for the future use of Archway Tower, N19. [63866]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The leases for both the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Children and Family Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) are due to expire on 24 March 2015. The annual cost for the rent and rates for each of the leases is as follows:
(1) OPG: £968,000
(2) CAFCASS: £148,000
The Ministry of Justice intends to vacate Archway Tower by the lease break date of 24 March 2012 as part of the work to rationalise its administrative estate.
Departmental Translation Services
Mr Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) the court service and (b) his Department of the translation of information from English into other languages in each of the last three financial years. [63831]
Mr Djanogly: The cost of translation of information from English into other languages in the financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10 is shown in the following table. The information for 2010-11 will be available after the departmental annual resource accounts have been completed and audited.
| £000 | ||
|
|
2008-09 | 2009-10 |
| (1) Figures for the Office of Public Guardian are an estimate of the translation component within a wider category of expenditure. (2) This figure includes translation costs as well as interpretation costs. The amounts are not separately recorded and can be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost. Additionally, the NOMS figure excludes expenditure by the National Probation Service which is held locally by 42 probation boards and trusts who use separate and different accounting systems. Information could be determined only at disproportionate cost through examination of local records. | ||
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Prisoners’ Release
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were given new identities on release from prison in each of the last 10 years. [63823]
Mr Blunt: There are a number of ways in which offenders may adopt or acquire a new identity on release from prison, ranging from the use of a pseudonym, to a change of name by deed poll to a full national identity change.
Information on the number of offenders who have been given a full national identity change on release from prison is not held centrally. To provide such information may put certain individuals at risk and would likely incur disproportionate cost.
Individuals who have been given a full national identity change are managed by the local police force for the area in which they reside. There is no distinction between those subject to national identity change on release from prison or those who are subject to it for other reasons.
A national identity change is given to some high risk individuals who are assessed as requiring management as 'protected persons'. Most of such individuals have assisted in the prosecution of others.
Where offenders adopt a pseudonym or change their name by deed poll or are given a national identity change, they continue to be managed as offenders and are required to comply with their licence conditions and other instructions given by their supervising officer.
Young Offenders
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persons aged between 18 and 21 years when convicted for (a) murder or (b) manslaughter and subsequently released on licence were recalled to custody following (i) a further offence and (ii) a breach of the licence in each of the last 10 years. [62160]
Mr Blunt: There were 19 offenders aged between 18 and 21 years when convicted for murder and subsequently released on licence who were recalled to custody following a breach of licence conditions in 2010. Of these, four had committed a further offence.
During 2010, no offenders aged between 18 and 21 years old at conviction were recalled to custody while on licence for manslaughter.
Detailed data on recalls before 2010 are not held centrally in an electronic format. A manual trawl of prisoner files would be required to obtain these data; this would incur disproportionate cost.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Home Department
Capita
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts her Department has awarded to Capita since May 2010; and what the (a) monetary value and (b) net worth was of each contract. [62722]
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Damian Green: Since May 2010 the Home Office and its Executive agencies have awarded one contract to Capita Resourcing Ltd to provide interim personnel. The value of this contract was £45,358 and this amount has now been spent.
Counter-terrorism: Finance
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation her Department has carried out on the work of organisations supported by Prevent Strategy funding between June 2007 and June 2009. [59743]
James Brokenshire: The Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) commissioned two evaluations of Prevent funded initiatives in 2008. One was of the processes and procedures of community intervention projects. This covered financial and business management, governance, methodology and activities. It was not an evaluation of the impact or the effectiveness of interventions in preventing radicalisation but the results were used to inform decision making about the continuation of funding to projects. The second was a process evaluation of Channel, undertaken on behalf of OSCT by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) The results of this evaluation contributed to the national Channel guidance published in March 2010. For reasons of confidentiality these evaluations have not been published.
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the name is of each organisation previously provided with funding under the Prevent Strategy which will receive no further funding on the grounds that it espouses extremist views. [59744]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not intend to name organisations that will no longer receive further funding because to do so could breach confidentiality. If organisations do not support the values of democracy, human rights, equality before the law and participation in society, then we will not fund them.
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what projects were undertaken by organisations provided with funding under the Prevent Strategy between June 2007 and June 2009. [59745]
James Brokenshire: During this period funding was provided under the Prevent strategy to public sector and community organisations for a wide range of projects. These included awareness raising, training courses, the Channel scheme and interventions for individuals vulnerable to radicalisation.
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the name is of each organisation provided with funding under the Prevent Strategy between June 2007 and June 2009; where each such organisation was located; and how much each such organisation received and for what period. [59746]
James Brokenshire:
The Home Office does not intend to name or identify the location of each organisation funded under the Prevent strategy because to do so
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would breach confidentiality. Home Office total funding (including funding to the police) was £47 million in 2009-10 and £37 million in 2010-11.
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what process the views and values of organisations will be assessed in determining allocation of Prevent Strategy funding. [59753]
James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has written to local authorities, police services and other delivery partners to set out the principles they should apply so that Prevent funds do not go to extremist organisations. The detailed procedures to assess organisations are still being developed and will be provided to partners once finalised.
Deportation: Offenders
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which countries the UK has an agreement to automatically deport foreign prisoners to their country of origin once they have been released from custody. [63847]
Damian Green: The UK does not have any agreements with any countries to automatically deport foreign prisoners from the UK at the end of their custodial sentence. Individuals are considered on a case by case basis.
There are no countries to which the Government have a blanket approach of not returning foreign national prisoners.
The UK Border Agency seeks to deport from the UK foreign national offenders who meet the following criteria:
A court recommendation.
For non-European Economic Area nationals—a custodial sentence of 12 months or more either in one sentence, or as an aggregate of two or three sentences over a period of five years or a custodial sentence of any length for a drug offence (an offence other than possession only).
For EEA nationals—a custodial sentence of 12 months or more for an offence involving drugs, violent or sexual crimes or a custodial sentence of 24 months or more for other offences.
Domestic Violence
Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces provide portable alarms to domestic abuse victims; and what the cost of such provision was in the last 12 months. [63777]
Nick Herbert: The provision of portable alarms is a decision for each police force. We do not collect this information centrally.
Drugs
Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the level of co-operation between the Government and the Government of the Irish Republic in tackling web drug sales. [63403]
James Brokenshire:
Officials from the Drugs and Alcohol Unit liaise with colleagues from the Irish Republic on the issue of web drug sales, particularly regarding
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the sale of new psychoactive substances. Discussions have been held and information shared at working level meetings of the British Irish Council and at the Horizontal Drugs Group in Brussels.
Hunting Act 2004
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions, (b) fines and (c) cautions there were for breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 in each police force area in 2010. [64032]
Mr Blunt: I have been asked to reply.
The number of offenders cautioned, and the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty, sentenced and fined at all courts, by police force area in England and Wales, 2010, for offences under the Hunting Act 2004 can be viewed in the table.
| Offenders cautioned, and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty and fined at all courts, under the Hunting Act 2004, by police force area (1) , England and Wales, 2010 (2, 3) | |||||
| Force | Cautioned | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Sentenced | Of which: Fined |
| (1) Only those police force areas are shown in the table where data are given. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | |||||
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Identity and Passport Office: Liverpool
Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Liverpool Passport Office staff recruited under the Friends and Family Scheme were recruited after March 2009. [64153]
Damian Green: All 14 of the staff recruited under the Liverpool Friends and Family scheme from 2008 were appointed between 30 March 2009 and 22 March 2010.
Identity and Passport Office: Newport
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the remaining posts at Newport Passport Office are open to applications from all staff based in Newport. [64071]
Damian Green [holding answer 5 July 2011]:The majority of staff currently employed at the Newport Passport Office will be able to apply for the remaining posts. A small number of staff based in Newport work for the Identity and Passport Service HQ team. They are not eligible for the new posts as their current roles are not at risk.
Illegal Immigrants
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants have been (a) found and (b) deported from a residence in (i) Worcestershire and (ii) Redditch in the last five years. [63238]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency arrested three individuals over the last five financial years, for all immigration offences, on enforcement visits to addresses identified as residential, located in Redditch and, separately, in Worcestershire outside Redditch. Of those one individual was removed from the UK after being resident in the same location.
Please note all data are sourced from management information tools and are not quality assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.
Illegal Immigrants: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants resident at addresses in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency were (a) identified and (b) deported in the last five years. [63886]
Damian Green: The data requested are not available as part of UK Border Agency's standard reports. Information on illegal immigrants encountered and removals is recorded on two separate databases. To obtain the requested information would require data matching between these two systems which would exceed the cost threshold.
We are however able to identify those cases encountered (i.e. served papers) with a last known address in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, who were
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subsequently removed. This does not mean they were necessarily encountered in the constituency. The information is as follows:
|
|
Served IS151A | Subsequently removed |
| (1) Data for 2011 cover 1 January to 30 June 2011. Note: All figures quoted are internal management information only and are subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. | ||
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister for Immigration plans to reply to the letter of 18 May 2011 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr T S Zivane. [63994]
Damian Green: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 5 July 2011.
National Policing Improvement Agency
Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the capacity of the Association of Chief Police Officers to assume the functions of the National Police Improvement Agency. [63774]
Nick Herbert: There are no proposals to transfer any of the National Police Improvement Agency's functions to the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Offenders: Foreign Nationals
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 28 June 2011, Official Report, columns 685-86W, on offenders: foreign nationals, how many people are on the watch list; and what the country of origin is of each such person. [63849]
Damian Green: The UK holds a watchlist of adverse information and intelligence drawn from a variety of sources, including the police. The system is used by UK Border Agency staff for the purposes of national security and the detection and prevention of crime. It is long-standing policy not to discuss either the specific data held on the watchlist or the source of the data as to do so would be counterproductive.
Organised Crime
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crime alerts were issued by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each year since 2006. [63723]
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Nick Herbert: The number of alerts issued by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) for each year was as follows:
|
|
Number |
SOCA publishes information on the number of alerts issued each year in the SOCA annual report and accounts, available at:
www.soca.gov.uk
Organised Crime: Exclusion Orders
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were excluded following a recommendation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each year since 2006. [63720]
Nick Herbert: A breakdown of individuals excluded from the UK since 2006 following a recommendation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency is as follows:
|
|
Number |
Prisoners: Foreign Nationals
Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of foreign national prisoners who did not have leave to remain in the UK prior to their imprisonment. [64038]
Damian Green: In order to answer this question the UK Border Agency would need to cross-reference individual records with the National Offender Management Service. This would incur a disproportionate cost.
Raed Salah
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the circumstances in which Raed Salah entered the UK; and if she will make a statement. [63261]
Damian Green [holding answer 4 July 2011]:Raed Salah was excluded from the United Kingdom on 23 June. He entered the United Kingdom on 25 June when he should have been stopped and refused entry. Salah was arrested on 28 June by UK Border Agency officers and is being detained while we seek to deport him.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has ordered an urgent review of procedures to ascertain how he was allowed to enter the country and to learn the lessons from this situation and seek to ensure it cannot happen again.
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Work and Pensions
Advertising
Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on placing advertisements in newspapers in England in each year since 2005. [63392]
Chris Grayling: Information is not collated centrally and can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Child Care Tax Credit
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households would receive (a) increased and (b) reduced childcare support after the full implementation of universal credit if estimated increases in take-up are removed from the calculations. [63811]
Maria Miller: The details of the child care element in universal credit are not yet finalised. The impacts of the proposed child care policy will be set out in future iterations of the universal credit impact assessment.
Child Maintenance
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many child support cases there are in (a) Wales and (b) Newport East constituency; and how many such cases involve (i) a parent with care and (ii) a non-resident parent. [64030]
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.
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 child support cases there are in (a) Wales and (b) Newport East constituency; and how many such cases involve (i) a parent with care and (ii) a non-resident parent. [64030]
The number of live and assessed cases in the quarter ending March 2011 where the parent with care lives in Wales is 71,110. The number of live and assessed cases in the same period where the parent with care lives in Newport East parliamentary constituency is 1,950.
For a case to be classed as live and assessed they must involve both a non-resident parent and a parent with care.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Community Care Grants
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will assess the effects of his Department's proposals for the localisation of community care grants and crisis loans on (a) distribution of funding, (b) administrative costs and (c) the standard of decision-making processes; and if he will make a statement. [63485]
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Steve Webb: We are not localising community care grants and crisis loans, we are replacing them with new local welfare assistance delivered by local authorities in England and the devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales. The new provision will be better targeted and offer better value for money.
The programme funding for the new local welfare assistance will be the same as the Department for Work and Pensions allocation at the point responsibility is transferred.
The White Paper published in December 2010—“Universal Credit: welfare that works”—made clear that any new burdens would be funded.
The delivery of local assistance will mean that any decisions made at a local level are the most appropriate ones for that area.
These issues, and more, are covered in the Government's response to its call for evidence, “Local support to replace Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans for living expenses” published on 23 June. It is available in the Library and can be accessed on the Department for Work and Pensions website:
www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2011/local-support-replace-ccg-cl.shtml
Departmental Manpower
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to publish monthly information on changes in the numbers of employees of his Department's agencies, categorised by (a) seniority, (b) voluntary redundancy, (c) natural wastage and (d) involuntary redundancy. [61716]
Chris Grayling: The Government are committed to transparency and the availability of data and are currently exploring options for the more frequent publication of this type of workforce management information across the civil service.
Work force management information for the Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies will continue to be published via the annual civil service employment survey, pending the outcome of the review.
Departmental Official Cars
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department and its predecessors was of the provision of ministerial cars in each financial year between 2000-01 and 2010-11; how many (a) cars for the exclusive use of Ministers and (b) ministerial car journeys were paid for by his Department in each such year; what the average cost to his Department of a ministerial car journey was in each such year; and what steps his Department has taken to reduce the cost of ministerial cars since his appointment. [62991]
Chris Grayling: Information on the cost and number of ministerial cars for DWP is published in the annual written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses. The following details the spend for this Department:
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|
|
£ |
Details of the DWP costs for 2010-11 are being compiled and due for release in July 2011.
Information prior to 2005 is not available and would be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Information relating to individual DWP ministerial car journeys prior to September 2010 is not available as there was no requirement to collect these data.
Information relating to the number of DWP ministerial car journeys made since the introduction of the ‘on-demand' Ministerial Car Service on 6 September 2010 and up until 31 March 2011 is 293.
The Ministerial Code, published on 21 May 2010, included changes to the circumstances in which Ministers would be entitled to a car and driver. The number of Ministers with allocated cars and drivers would be kept to a minimum, taking into account security and other considerations. Other Ministers would be entitled to use cars from a Ministerial Car Pool as required.
All Ministers are encouraged to walk or use public transport wherever practicable.
Housing Benefit
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people in (a) London, (b) Birmingham, (c) Leeds, (d) Manchester and (e) Liverpool claimed shared room rent housing benefit in 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent numbers following the introduction of the 35 years old age threshold. [63334]
Steve Webb: The information requested is not available for 2010-11.
The following table presents estimates of the number of local housing allowance cases assessed at the shared accommodation rate in March 2010, together with estimates of the numbers of claimants who would be affected by the extension of the age threshold for the shared accommodation rate.
Only those who are single and aged under 25 are classed as a young person under the current regulations, but couples and claimants aged over 25 who live in shared accommodation are also assessed at the lower rate.
Only single claimants aged 25 to 34 and currently renting self-contained accommodation will be affected by the extension of the age threshold.
| Area | Claimants assessed at shared accommodation rate aged under 25 | Claimants aged over 25 but assessed at the shared accommodation rate | Claimants aged 25 to 34 affected by extension of the age threshold for the shared accommodation rate |
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| Source: Equality impact assessment of the increase to the shared accommodation rate age threshold, available on the DWP website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-hb-shared-accommodation-age-threshold.pdf | |||
Jobcentre Plus: Manpower
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many staff were appointed on permanent contracts by Jobcentre Plus in each of the last four years; [63527]
(2) how many staff appointed on permanent contracts by Jobcentre Plus were (a) upgraded from fixed-term contracts, (b) transferred from other positions in his Department and (c) transferred from outside his Department under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 in each of the last four years. [63528]
Chris Grayling: 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 questions asking how many staff were appointed on permanent contracts by Jobcentre Plus in each of the last four years; how many staff appointed on permanent contracts by Jobcentre Plus were (a) upgraded from fixed-term contracts (b) transferred from other positions in his Department and (c) transferred from outside his Department under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations in each of the last four years. These are issues that fall within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
In response to the first question, the information in the following table showing staff externally appointed on permanent contracts in each of the last four years is set out on a staff in post basis i.e. employees are counted as a single unit irrespective of the hours they work. The data covers the period April to March in each of the last four years and is the latest information available.
|
|
Permanent recruitment |
The data being reported is drawn from an internal Departmental system used to record and monitor staffing details.
We are unable to provide the information requested in the second question in relation to each of the three points you are raising without disproportionate cost.
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Maternity Pay
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department will bring forward amendments to the guidance on statutory maternity pay and stillbirths to align it with the legal definition of stillbirth of 24 completed weeks of pregnancy. [63918]
Maria Miller: The current guidance on statutory maternity pay and stillbirths is fully aligned to the legal definition of stillbirth. The DWP and Directgov websites state that:
“If your baby is stillborn after the start of the 25th week of your pregnancy you are entitled to the same Maternity Allowance or Statutory Maternity Pay you would have received if your child was born alive”.
This applies to births occurring in the 25th week of a pregnancy or later, or to put it another way after 24 full weeks of pregnancy have been completed.
Poverty: Children
Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children were living in poverty in a household which included a couple in (a) each year since 1997 and (b) each of the last four quarters for which figures are available. [63716]
Maria Miller: Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household (rather than family) income adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living.
The following table shows the number and proportion of children living in couple families in households with income below 60% of contemporary median income before housing costs (BHC). Data are provided for each year between 1997-98 and 2009-10. This information is not available on a quarterly basis.
| Table: Numbers and proportions of children in couple families in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of contemporary median income before housing costs (BHC) | ||
|
|
Number (million) | Proportion (%) |
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| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on households below average income (HBAI) data available at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk-asd-index.php?paqe=hbai_arc 2. Data are sourced from the Family Resources survey and cover Great Britain up to 1997-98 and the United Kingdom from 1998-99, with estimates for Northern Ireland imputed for the years 1998-99 through 2001-02. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years. 3. Disposable household income is adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 5. Numbers of people in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000, while proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. 6. Figures have been presented on a before housing cost (BHC) basis. For BHC figures, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, buildings insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income. 7. The household level poverty threshold is defined as the 60% of contemporary median equivalised disposable household income. |
Social Security Benefits
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment-related benefit claimants and job seekers live more than 10 miles from their nearest Jobcentre Plus. [63311]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effects of regulation 3 of the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2011 on the level of state pension of retired people resident overseas; and what consideration he has given to reviewing that regulation. [64202]
Steve Webb: The UK State Pension is payable world-wide but is only up-rated abroad where there is a legal requirement or reciprocal agreement to do so. A well known court case challenging the UK's position was heard by the European Court of Human Rights' Grand Chamber in September 2009 and the court's judgment of March 2010 was in the UK's favour. We continue to take our obligations under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights seriously and are satisfied that we are complying. We therefore have no plans to make any changes to the current arrangements that allow for the exportability and up-rating of UK State Pensions.
State Retirement Pensions: Females
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason he has not accepted the recommendations contained in the Turner Report on Pensions for a 10 year notice period for women retiring at 66 years from 2018; and if he will make a statement. [62687]
Steve Webb:
We need to act quickly to reduce the increasing costs imposed on the state pension system by the increases in longevity. Since the 2004 based projections which the Pensions Commission used life expectancy
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projections for people reaching 65 have been revised upwards by a year and a half.
It has not been possible to give a notice period similar to those given for previous increases in state pension age. Under the new timetable in the Pensions Bill, the increase from 63 to 65 in women's state pension age will not start until April 2016 and no one will have a state pension age of 66 until 2020.
If we were to give at least 15 years' notice as recommended by the Pensions Commission in their second report, “A New Pension Settlement for the Twenty-First Century”, this would mean not changing the state pension age until 2025.
Unemployment Benefits
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of people claiming out-of-work benefit lost their entitlement in each local authority area in each of the last 18 months. [61662]
Chris Grayling: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State for Work and for Pensions has asked me to reply to your question regarding how many and what proportion of people claiming out-of-work benefit lost their entitlement in each local authority area in each of the last 18 months. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The information on the numbers and proportions of people who have lost their entitlement to Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) for each local authority covering the period from August 2009 to January 2011 is available. This has been placed in the Library.
The source of the JSA information is DWP Information Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database. Figures are published at:
http://83.244.183.180/sanction/sanction/LIVE/tabtool.html
The Tabulation Tool and instructions on how to use it can be found on the Departmental website here:
http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html
I also provide data below for the numbers and proportions of people claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA) who have been found fit for work. The latest data available covers the period from October 2008 to August 2010. I am only able to provide this data at a national level due to the disproportionate cost of obtaining the data for each local authority.
| Fit for work | ||
| Month of claim start | Number | Percentage |
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| Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding method used. | ||
The source of the ESA table is Table 1 of the publication “Employment And Support Allowance: Work Capability Assessment by Health Condition and Functional Impairment: Official Statistics”, and presents initial assessment results for claims to August 2010.
I hope this is helpful.
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax: Exemptions
George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the merits of extending the maximum period for council tax exemptions for properties that are uninhabitable due to ongoing renovation. [63885]
Robert Neill: The Government have no plans to extend the council tax statutory exemption period for properties that are uninhabitable due to ongoing renovation.
Local authorities already have powers to give local council tax discounts.
Departmental Allowances
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what expenses were claimed by (a) paid and (b) unpaid special advisers working in his Department in the last 12 months. [62079]
Robert Neill: From May 2010 to May 2011, special advisers claimed £509.88 in expenses. This compares with £1,953 in 2007-08, £4,407 in 2008-09 and £1,328 in 2009-10 claimed by special advisers under the last Administration. DCLG has no unpaid special advisers.
Departmental Billing
Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of invoices from small and medium-sized businesses were paid by his Department within five working days of receipt of invoice in the last 12 months for which information is available. [63567]
Robert Neill:
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not currently record and publish information about the size of suppliers as this does not
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fully reflect the number and size of businesses engaged in supplying goods and services. We do not discriminate by size of business because many small and medium-sized enterprises can be found within larger supply chains.
The following table sets out the Department's overall performance against the five working day target during the last 12 months:
|
|
Number of invoices paid on time (within five days of receipt) | Percentage paid on time | Number of invoices paid late (after five days of receipt) | Percentage paid late |
It should be noted that the new five-day target is more demanding than the previous 10-day target. We are taking steps to improve our performance on meeting these new targets.
Departmental Procurement
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress his Department has made in encouraging small businesses to bid for Government contracts. [60188]
Robert Neill: The Department has an action plan to help open up departmental contracts to small and medium sized enterprises. This has been published on our website:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/jobscontracts/procurement/smallmediumenterprises/
Although referring to organisations as small and medium enterprises, the scope of the packages announced includes voluntary/community organisations and social enterprises within its remit.
Please note that 26% of the Department's contracts were with small and medium sized enterprises in 2010-11.
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what provisions in respect of behavioural standards have been included in procurement contracts issued by his Department since May 2010. [61682]
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Robert Neill: The Department's Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract contain clauses requiring adherence to specific legislative standards such as equality, environmental and health and safety. Each individual contract may set out further behavioural standards dependent upon the nature of the requirement (e.g. the departmental standard terms have separate optional sections relating to the procurement of goods, services and consultancy).
Empty Property
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty dwellings there were in each local authority area in each of the last five years; and what proportion of all dwellings this represented in each case. [64126]
Robert Neill: I have today placed in the Library of the House, a table showing the number of empty dwellings in each local authority area in England in each of the last five years; and what proportion of all dwellings this represented in each case. The data are as reported by local authorities and are a snapshot taken in the autumn each year.
In this answer, empty dwellings includes both long-term and short-term empty dwellings.
Enterprise Zones
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a Barnett consequential has been made to the devolved Administrations as a result of the policy to create enterprise zones. [60642]
Robert Neill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 28 June 2011, Official Report, column 689W.
Fire Services: Finance
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will ensure that his Department provides information to prospective new fire authorities on future grant funding, including support on grant implications, to facilitate the creation of merged fire authorities. [63973]
Robert Neill: We are currently undertaking the local government resource review and we do not know how decisions on that might affect distribution from 2013-14 onwards. Even if there was no change in the current system, we would expect to update data sets used in the formula, to use different control totals and for there to be changes brought about from floor damping levels. These alone could create large variance in the figures. We cannot therefore provide information to prospective new fire authorities on future grant funding.
Green Belt
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what priority he gives to the preservation of green belt boundaries; and if he will make a statement. [64014]
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Greg Clark: The coalition agreement explicitly states that we will maintain green belt protection. The green belt has a valuable role in stopping urban sprawl and providing a green lung around towns and cities.
Indeed, our proposed abolition of the unpopular regional strategies through the Localism Bill will stop the top-down pressure to remove the green belt in 30 areas across England.
Homes and Communities Agency: Procurement
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) date of purchase, (b) amount, (c) supplier and (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction entry was of each transaction undertaken by the Homes and Communities Agency using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [61804]
Andrew Stunell [holding answer 23 June 2011]: A table providing a breakdown of expenditure by the Homes and Communities Agency using Government Procurement Cards for 2008-09 and 2009-10 has been placed in the Library of the House. This includes (a) date of purchase, (b) amount, and (c) supplier, (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction details are not held centrally. Each transaction does have an expenditure type which is a broad description of the type of goods purchased.
The data cover the periods 1 December 2008 (when the Homes and Communities Agency commenced business) to 31 March 2009; and 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
Housing: Water Supply
Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to promote water efficiency in the building of new homes; and if he will make a statement. [63940]
Andrew Stunell: Part G of the Building Regulations already sets water efficiency standards for new homes which require that, on average, their water consumption is no more than 125 litres per person per day (average national use is approximately 150 litres per person per day). The voluntary Code for Sustainable Homes promotes higher water efficiency standards. Homes funded by the Homes and Communities Agency are required to reach level three of the code which includes a water efficiency requirement of 105 litres per person per day.
Local Authorities: Older People
Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to monitor (a) new charges and (b) changes in the level of charges for older people's services by local authorities. [62957]
Robert Neill: Local authorities are democratically elected and, as such, they are independent from central Government and are responsible for their own finances. It is for individual councils in consultation with their communities to decide on what services they provide for older people.
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Notwithstanding that, Ministers believe that councils should not be looking to increasing charges simply to deliver essential frontline services, or as an alternative to cutting out waste.
Local Enterprise Partnerships
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps he has taken to ensure that the Government's guidance to local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) on equality in LEP board nominations is given consideration by LEPs; [63951]
(2) what mechanisms he has put in place to ensure that the nominations process for local enterprise partnerships boards is open, fair and transparent; [63952]
(3) whether he is taking steps to ensure that local enterprise partnerships boards are representative of their communities. [63953]
Greg Clark: The Government expect that local areas are fair and transparent in developing their boards, and give due consideration to issues of representation, so as to result in a well-balanced board which suits the needs of the local area.
The Government have asked that all local enterprise partnerships provide formal confirmation of their board selection to Ministers.
Local Government Finance
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been allocated to each local authority through the local services support grant in 2011-12. [62672]
Robert Neill: Local Services Support Grant is unhypothecated funding to local authorities, for them to use it to meet locally identified priorities. A table giving total allocations to each council for 2011-12 has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department uses resource equalisation as part of the methodology to determine the allocation of local government grants. [63997]
Robert Neill: The distribution of formula grant takes into account the relative costs of providing services between areas (largely based on its socio-economic and demographic characteristics) together with its relative ability to raise funding locally (based on the number of band-D council tax equivalent properties within an authority's area). We then guarantee that every authority will receive at least a minimum percentage change (the ‘floor’) in its formula grant year on year on a like for like basis. In order to pay for this we scale back changes above the floor for other authorities.
No other grants to local government take into account an authority's relative ability to raise funding locally.
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Local Government Finance: Voluntary Organisations
Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to monitor changes in the level of financial support by local authorities to the voluntary sector through (a) grants and (b) contracts. [62961]
Andrew Stunell: The Department is not formally monitoring changes in the financial support by local authorities to the voluntary and community sector.
Local authorities are expected to publish all expenditure over £500. The new Code of Recommended Practice for local authorities on data transparency will set out minimum expectations of what data should be published. Spend data over £500, including payment to the voluntary and community sector, will be part of that minimum expectation.
We want to encourage authorities and civil society to collaborate more, including greater involvement for voluntary groups in the running of public services. In that context, we recently consulted on a single page of new best value statutory guidance that set out reasonable expectations on how best value authorities should work with voluntary and community groups when facing difficult funding decisions. Authorities have to have regard to this guidance and can be challenged to show that they have done so. The consultation closed on 14 June and we will publish final guidance as early as possible this summer.
Scotland
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of contracts issued by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which he is responsible were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises in (i) Scotland, (ii) South Lanarkshire and (iii) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in the latest period for which figures are available. [60203]
Robert Neill: To answer this question in full would entail disproportionate cost as it would involve examining all purchases. However from our central record of contracts greater than £20,000 we have identified one contract in Scotland with a small and medium sized company based near Glasgow. This was 1%, as a proportion of the total number of such contracts issued in the last financial year.
As part of my Department's transparency initiative, all spending to suppliers over £500 is published online; this information may also assist the hon. Member.
Trade Unions
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether any staff of his Department are entitled to work full-time on trade union activities while receiving a departmental salary. [60253]
Robert Neill: The Department pays the salary and related costs (travel and subsistence etc.) for a number of DCLG staff undertaking trade unions activities in this Department on a full and part-time basis. These are arrangements that the current Government have inherited from the last Administration.
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The Department does not specify the number of full-time or part-time trade union representative roles within the organisation. Rather, it sets a maximum level of facility time which is available for trade union activities and a maximum number of full-time and part-time roles which are permitted within that allocation. Currently, the maximum departmental limit within the overall facility time allocation is for two full time roles and four part time roles. These are fully utilised. Against that backdrop, the position is set out in the following table.
|
|
Department for Communities and Local Government |
Travellers: Caravan Sites
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to (a) ensure regional co-operation between local authorities in planning for Gypsy and Traveller caravan sites and (b) reinstate the obligation on local authorities to provide such sites. [62755]
Robert Neill: We are introducing a duty to co-operate through the Localism Bill to ensure that local authorities continue to work together after regional strategies are abolished. This will require local planning authorities, county councils and other public bodies to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis in the planning process.
The majority of new Traveller sites are small private ones provided by Travellers themselves. This meets community aspirations on tenure and their small size can aid integration with the settled community. Delivery of such sites is most appropriately managed through planning system. The Government published their proposed new planning policy for Traveller sites for consultation on 13 April. Members are welcome to submit their views.
Transport
Bus Services: Finance
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans any further changes to the Bus Service Operators Grant between 2012 and 2015. [58767]
Norman Baker: In its business plan, the Department for Transport has committed to review the future distribution of Bus Service Operators Grant by March 2012. The Department is working with bus operators and local government to look at smarter ways of delivering bus subsidy, and is keen to see what can be developed by consensus between local authorities and operators. An announcement will be made in due course.
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Departmental Official Cars
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to his Department and its predecessors was of the provision of ministerial cars in each financial year between 2000-01 and 2010-11; how many (a) cars for the exclusive use of Ministers and (b) ministerial car journeys were paid for by his Department in each such year; what the average cost to his Department of a ministerial car journey was in each such year; and what steps his Department has taken to reduce the cost of ministerial cars since his appointment. [62996]
Mike Penning: Information on the cost and number of ministerial cars is published in the annual written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070726/wmstext/70726m0004.htm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070726/wmstext/70726m0004.htm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080722/wmstext/80722m0008.htm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090716/wmstext/90716m0009.htm
http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/hammond20101028a
Details of the costs for 2010-11 are being compiled and are due for release in July 2011.
East Coast Railway Line
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he has met representatives of East Coast Trains to discuss the transfer of the East Coast Trains call centre from Newcastle to India; and if he will make a statement. [62667]
Norman Baker [holding answer 28 June 2011]:Ministers and officials from the Department for Transport were made aware of the decision by East Coast Main Line Ltd to retender its contract for the supply of call centre services to the company. However all contractual issues in relation to the provision of those services are operational matters for East Coast Main Line Ltd and Directly Operated Railways Ltd and Ministers were not involved in any decisions.
East Coast Railway Line: Legal Advice
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) legal advice he received and (b) consultation he undertook on the transfer of the East Coast Trains call centre from Newcastle to India. [62617]
Norman Baker [holding answer 28 June 2011]: The Department for Transport has not sought any legal advice or undertaken any consultations into this matter. Decisions on the contractual arrangements for the provision of call centre services to East Coast Main Line Ltd are operational matters for the company.
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Parking: Fines
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether car rental companies will be able to transfer liability for parking fines from the registered keeper to the driver of a vehicle following implementation of the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Bill; [58928]
(2) what representations he has received on proposals to allow an exemption for the car rental industry from provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Bill that will make rental companies liable for paying parking fines incurred by their customers on private land; and if he will make a statement. [58929]
Norman Baker: The Department for Transport has received a number of representations from one car rental company.
Currently, if a vehicle has been parked on private land, and a contract has been created, that contract is between the driver at the time and the landowner (or their agent). The proposed provisions in the Protection of Freedoms Bill mean that the vehicle keeper should pay the parking-related charge if they were the driver at the time. If they were not the driver at the time they may give the name and address of the driver to the landowner or their agent for them to pursue payment from the driver. This would apply equally to any vehicle keeper, whether a car rental company or private owner.
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Alternatively, and subject to the terms of the contract between the hirer and the vehicle owner, the parties may agree that any penalty charges incurred will be debited by the vehicle owner to the credit card account of the hirer.
Pedestrian Crossings: Greater London
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many school crossing patrol officers were employed in each London borough in each year since 1988. [64177]
Mike Penning: The Department for Transport does not hold figures for the numbers of school crossing patrol officers employed in each London borough in each year. The employment of school crossing patrol officers is a matter for local authorities.
Roads: Accidents
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents involving children there have been in each London borough in each year since 1988. [64178]
Mike Penning: The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving children (aged 0 to 15 years) in each London borough in each year since 1988 is shown in Tables 1 and 2.
| Table 1: Number of reported personal injury road accidents involving children (1) , Greater London: 1988-99 | ||||||||||||
| Number of reported personal injury accidents | ||||||||||||
| London borough | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
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