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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 8 December 2011
Wales
Food Labelling
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether food and catering services in her Department plan to implement calorie labelling on menus and display boards; [85852]
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(2) what steps the food and catering services in her Department are taking to ensure the country of origin of foods are labelled on its menus and display boards. [85853]
Mr David Jones: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow North East (Mr Bain) on 8 March 2011, Official Report, column 909W.
Newport: Gwent
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2011, Official Report, column 954W, on Newport, Gwent, what the (a) purpose and (b) venue was of each visit to Newport undertaken by (i) her and (ii) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales since May 2010. [85519]
Mr David Jones: The information requested is contained in the following table.
| Purpose | Venue | Minister |
|
Attend Institute of Directors' Autumn Business Leaders' Luncheon |
||
|
Visit to an voluntary organisation and host Big Society Seminar |
Northern Ireland
Departmental Audit
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies use when deciding whether and when to hold an internal audit; and if he will make a statement. [85643]
Mr Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office internal auditors operate to Government Internal Audit Standards.
My Department does not have executive agencies.
Risk Assessment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what risk registers are held by the public bodies for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [85709]
Mr Paterson: Corporate risk registers are held by all of the non-departmental public bodies for which my Department is responsible.
Effective risk management is an integral component of the corporate governance arrangements of all of the Northern Ireland Office's sponsored bodies.
Prime Minister
Research
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Prime Minister how many times he has visited a (a) university research department or (b) commercial centre of research since May 2010. [84448]
The Prime Minister: I have meetings and discussions with a wide range of organisations at a variety of locations around the country, including research centres. For instance, I visited BT's Adastral park on 5 December 2011. A strong competitive science and research base is a crucial part of securing sustainable economic growth and creating jobs of the future.
Festivals and Special Occasions
Pete Wishart: To ask the Prime Minister whether he took part in any events in an official capacity to mark (a) St George's day, (b) St Patrick's day, (c) St David's day and (d) St Andrew's day in 2011. [84898]
The Prime Minister: The Government and their bodies support a number of events to signify the importance of these dates, including flying their flags on a number of Government buildings.
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Communities and Local Government
Council Tax
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will estimate the average level of council tax per capita for (a) Eastleigh, (b) Amber Valley, (c) North Hertfordshire, (d) Broadland, (e) Stafford, (f) Epping Forest, (g) Swale, (h) Warwick, (i) East Hertfordshire, (j) St Albans, (k) Guildford, (l) Cherwell, (m) Lancaster, (n) Dacorum, (o) Maidstone and (p) Redcar and Cleveland in each year between 2008-09 and 2011-12; [85373]
(2) if he will estimate the average level of council tax per capita for (a) Vale of White Horse, (b) Waverley, (c) Horsham, (d) South Kesteven, (e) East Devon, (f) Braintree, (g) King's Lynn and West Norfolk and (h) Tendring in each year between 2008-09 and 2011-12. [85374]
Robert Neill: Figures on average council tax per dwelling and average Band D council tax by local authority can be found at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localregional/localgovernmentfinance/statistics/counciltax/
Figures on council tax requirements by local authority can be found at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localregional/localgovernmentfinance/statistics/revenueexpenditure/
Mid-year population estimates by local authority area are published by the Office for National Statistics:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/population/population-change/population-estimates
Parliamentary Written Questions
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many parliamentary questions for (a) ordinary written answer and (b) written answer on a named day by his Department have remained unanswered for a period of two months since May 2010. [79587]
Robert Neill: 20 (0.5%) of around 3,900 written parliamentary questions answered by the Department in the House of Commons between the 2010 General Election and 31 October 2011 were answered two months or more after their due date for reply. 16 of these were ordinary written questions and four were named day questions.
The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.
Gurkhas: Finance
Mr Kevan Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2011, Official Report, column 430W, on Gurkhas: Aldershot, which local authorities will receive funding to support the integration of
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retired Gurkhas; how much each local authority will receive; and what methodology will be used to allocate the funding. [85269]
Andrew Stunell: DCLG Ministers and officials have met Gurkha charities and local authorities to understand the needs of local areas with a significant population of Gurkhas and how we might work with a small number of local authorities and Gurkha charities to support wider settlement. My officials have met Gurkha charities and the chief executive of Rushmoor borough council to discuss the impact of the settlement of Gurkhas and their families on the local community.
We have written to the chief executives of local authorities with Gurkha veterans asking for their experience and ideas. When we have received their responses, and following further conversations with Gurkha charities, we will make a decision on how to distribute available funds.
Home Department
Civil Disorder
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of the use of (a) the internet and (b) mobile telephones in (i) disseminating information about and (ii) encouraging participation in recent public disorder; and if she will make a statement; [69824]
(2) what recent discussions she (a) has had and (b) plans to have with the operators of mobile telephone companies on the provision of information to the police about individuals who (i) solicited participation and (ii) participated (A) directly and (B) indirectly in recent public disorder; and if she will make a statement; [69835]
(3) what estimate she has made of the number of offenders who (a) solicited participation and (b) participated (i) directly and (ii) indirectly in recent public disorder by use of (A) the internet and (B) mobile telephones; and if she will make a statement. [69836]
Nick Herbert: It is clear that social networking sites were used to co-ordinate some of the criminality in the disorder in August. We do not have a clear picture of how many of those committing offences made use of such services.
On 25 August, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, held a constructive meeting with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Metropolitan Police Force and representatives from the social media industry. The discussions looked at how law enforcement and the networks can build on existing relationships and co-operation to prevent the networks being used for criminal behaviour.
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to review the use of new methods of using mobile technology following the public disorder of August 2011. [70858]
Nick Herbert:
On 25 August 2011, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, held a constructive meeting with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Metropolitan Police Service and representatives from the social media industry. Companies made clear
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their commitment to removing illegal content and, when appropriate, closing accounts, whether at the request of the police or because of a report from other users. It was agreed to step up co-operation to ensure that these processes are working effectively.
ACPO is also taking forward work to develop the capability of police forces to use social media as a means of communicating and engaging with communities.
Firearms: Crime
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of public opinion on what constitutes a gun crime; and whether her Department's definition of a gun crime accords with that opinion. [85492]
Nick Herbert: The Home Office makes regular assessments of the threat posed by gun crime including issues relating to the definition of this category of offence.
Metropolitan Police: Finance
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department holds on the budget of the SO14 Royalty Protection Unit of the Metropolitan Police for the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [83819]
Damian Green
[holding answer 29 November 2011]: We are unable to provide detailed information on the budget provided to SO14 Royalty Protection Unit of
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the Metropolitan Police. To do so would compromise the integrity of the security arrangements in place for members of the Royal Family.
We can provide details of the aggregate Home Office Dedicated Security Post (DSP) Grant which provides funding for police officers and staff who carry out protection duties. These duties relate to the protection of members of the Royal Family and their residences; and the protection of public figures, and their official and private residences. In 2010-11, £128 million was spent under the DSP Grant.
Police: Wales
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) special constables and (b) police community support officers (i) were assigned to duties in Dyfed Powys in (A) 2009 and (B) 2010 and (ii) have been assigned to duties in that area in 2011; [85609]
(2) how many police officers there were in Dyfed Powys police in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011. [85610]
Nick Herbert: The latest available information, which is set out in the following table, shows the number of police officers, special constables and police community support officers in Dyfed Powys police force between 2009 and 2011. Police officers and police community support officer figures are full-time equivalent which have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Special constables figures are given as headcount measures.
| Number of police officers, special constables and police community support officers in Dyfed Powys police force between 2009 and 2011 | |||
| As at 31March each year | Police officers (1) | Special constables (2) | Police community support officers (1) |
| (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Special constable figures are given as headcount measures. | |||
UK Border Agency: Correspondence
Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will ask the UK Border Agency to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 2 November 2011 regarding a constituent, ref: M1309525 and CTS ref: B28057/11. [85513]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Member on 6 December 2011.
Work and Pensions
Employment and Support Allowance
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 12 October 2011, Official Report, columns 426-7W, on employment and support allowance, if he will estimate the level of the disregard for (a) personal and (b) occupational pensions in employment and support allowance calculations if the level had been uprated by the consumers price index since 2001; and if he will estimate the financial effect of such uprating on an individual with £110 personal pension and no other income. [85088]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is in the following table. Based on the information in the table a person on contributory employment and support allowance with an occupational pension of £110.00 a week would have their benefit reduced by £3.95 a week.
| Consumer prices index date | Consumer prices index rate of increase (percentage) | Benefit year | Threshold (£) |
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| Note: Benefit rates are normally increased from April each year. The rate of increase is based on the previous September's inflation rate. Contributory employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit for new claims from October 2008. Incapacity benefit and employment support allowance have the same threshold for occupational and personal pension income of £85.00 a week. | |||
Employment Schemes
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the introduction of universal credit, what definition of (a) in employment and (b) off benefit his Department will use for the Work programme. [85599]
Chris Grayling: From the introduction of universal credit in 2013, we will continue to reward our Work programme contractors for getting claimants into work and keeping them there, in the same way that we do now.
We will be working in partnership with our contractors to develop an equivalent Work programme outcome definition which aligns current contracts with universal credit.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish details of the penalties for early termination of contracts under the (a) Flexible New Deal and (b) Pathways to Work programmes. [85600]
Chris Grayling: Discussions to agree settlements in closing Flexible New Deal contracts are currently in train. Information on settlement costs will be published once agreements have been reached with all contractors. No penalties were incurred in respect of the Pathways to Work programme.
Employment Schemes: Apprentices
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he intends to publish data on the number of job outcomes under the Work programme that result from placement of an apprenticeship. [85601]
Chris Grayling: As a minimum, DWP currently expects to publish referral figures from spring 2012 and job outcome figures from autumn 2012. DWP expects to make these publicly available by various breakdowns including age; gender; ethnicity; disability; provider; local authority; parliamentary constituency; and contract package area. However, this is dependant on the availability and quality of data from the administrative systems.
Presently, we do not plan to publish data on the number of job outcomes that result from placement of an apprenticeship. The exact details of what Work programme Official Statistics we will publish will be available once we have developed more detailed requirements and are confident that the data are of sufficient quality to publish.
An information note detailing the Work programme Official Statistics release strategy can be found at the following website:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page= statistical_summaries
Included in the note is an invitation for feedback on the type of statistics users would like to see made available for the Work programme.
As soon as we are confident we have reliable data we will pre-announce an exact release date via this website and on the UK Statistics Authority publication hub. Statistics will be published in the DWP quarterly statistical summary and via an internet based tabulation tool offering users bespoke breakdowns of the headline statistics.
Housing Benefit
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people receive local housing allowance in respect of (a) a shared room, (b) one bedroom, (c) two bedrooms, (d) three bedrooms, (e) four bedrooms and (f) five bedrooms in each local authority in Wales. [85650]
Steve Webb: Estimates of the numbers of local housing allowance (LHA) recipients on each rate, by local authority area, are published on the Department for Work and Pensions website (Annex 2, Table 5):
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-hb-shared-accommodation-age-threshold.pdf
Housing Benefit: Brent
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much discretionary housing payment was allocated to the London borough of Brent in the last five years; and what proportion of the funding was used in each year. [84041]
Steve Webb: The following table shows how much Government contribution towards discretionary housing payments was allocated to the London borough of Brent, how much of the Government contribution they claimed, how much they spent in excess of the Government contribution and how much they spent on discretionary housing payments as a percentage of the Government contribution for each of the last five years.
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|
|
Government contribution towards discretionary housing payments (£) | Amount claimed against the Government contribution (£) | Amount spent in excess of the Government contribution (£) | % of the Government contribution spent |
Housing Benefit: Females
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents in Wales receive housing benefit; and what proportion of such claimants are female. [85520]
Steve Webb: The information requested on lone parents in Wales receiving housing benefit and the percentage that are female is provided in the following table:
| Lone parents | ||
|
|
Caseload | Percentage who are female |
| Notes: 1. The figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Percentage has been rounded to the nearest decimal place. 3. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. An extended payment is a payment that may be received for a further four weeks when they start working full time, work more hours or earn more money. 4. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. 5. The data is available monthly from November 2008 and August 2011 is the latest available. 6. For this analysis lone parents are those who are single with child dependant(s). 7. Caseload figure includes less than 1% of cases where gender is not recorded/missing. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) August 2011. | ||
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the effect on housing benefit claimants of the introduction of a size criteria in the social rented sector in each local authority in Wales. [85696]
Steve Webb: The information is not available.
The estimated impact of changes to housing benefit for tenants living in the social rented sector is based upon information collected in the Department's Family Resources Survey. Because the survey collects information from only a sample of households, we cannot produce reliable estimates for the number of claimants likely to be affected by the size criteria in each local authority area.
In February 2011 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) produced an impact assessment entitled “Under-occupation of social housing”, coinciding with the publication of the Welfare Reform Bill.
The impact assessment included regional estimates for the number of housing benefit claimants living in the social rented sector who were likely to be affected by the introduction of the size criteria. This included an estimate of the likely impact on Welsh housing benefit claimants.
The impact assessment can be found at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
Housing Benefit: Wales
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in (a) Wales and (b) each local authority in Wales will be worse off following the introduction of the housing benefit cap. [85691]
Chris Grayling: Estimates of the numbers affected in each local authority area by the introduction of caps on local housing allowance (LHA) rates and restricting LHA levels to the four bedroom rate are published on the Department for Work and Pensions website:
(Table 22)
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/impacts-of-hb-proposals.pdf
New Deal Schemes
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of referrals were dealt with by voluntary sector providers in each year of the Flexible new deal programme. [85603]
Chris Grayling: DWP held 24 contracts with 14 prime providers for Flexible new deal and none of those providers were from the voluntary sector.
Each prime provider had a supply chain of sub-contracts in place which included organisations from the voluntary sector. Data on the onward referral of claimants from prime providers to sub-contracted providers is not something that was recorded for Flexible new deal.
Pay
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate has been made of the value of benefits in addition to annual salary given to the top one per cent. of earners in (a) 1981 and (b) 2011. [84461]
Mr Gauke: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available either for benefits in kind or for state benefits.
Related information on amounts of taxable benefits in kind and expenses by income for years 2002-03 to years 2007-08 are published in table 4.2 on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/taxable_benefits/menu.htm
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Related information on the receipt of state support by equivalised income quintile for working-age individuals for 2009-10 are published in Table 5.3 of the Households Below Average Income publication at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2010/index.php?page=contents
Social Justice Directorate
Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of his Department's budget allocated to the Social Justice Directorate in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15. [85296]
Chris Grayling: The Department's planned allocation set aside for the Social Justice Directorate across these years cannot be separately identified because priorities and allocations are continuously reviewed.
Social Security Benefits
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on support to fund additional work for people who left benefit and meet the Work programme's definition of in work but who will not receive working tax credit from April 2012 as a result of changes to the hours rule. [85602]
Chris Grayling: Work programme providers are paid for supporting people into work and helping them to stay there, for up to two years depending on the participants' circumstances. We have not specified what support the providers should give to participants once they find work—we expect them to innovate and find the most effective way of supporting them, reflecting their individual circumstances.
Unemployment
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with Work programme providers since the publication of the Office for Budget Responsibility's new unemployment forecasts. [85549]
Chris Grayling: The DWP officials managing Work programme contracts will be responsible for communications with providers concerning the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts.
Unemployment: Ex-servicemen
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the (a) employability and (b) employment retention of veterans. [85694]
Maria Miller: All new claimants for jobseekers allowance are assessed by Jobcentre Plus staff to ensure the most appropriate help is in place throughout their claim to support their employability.
The Department for Work and Pensions does not routinely record whether benefit claimants are former armed forces personnel. Also, the Labour Force Survey does not record whether respondents are former armed forces personnel.
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We are looking into ways of improving knowledge on the employment and benefit outcomes of ex-service personnel.
Deputy Prime Minister
Electoral Register: Fraud
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many successful prosecutions for electoral registration fraud there were in each region in each of the last five years. [85263]
Mr Harper: Electoral Commission figures show that the number of convictions for electoral registration fraud across the United Kingdom over the last three years was as follows:
|
|
Convictions |
The Government do not collect or hold this data, but these statistics can be found in the Electoral Commission's ‘Analysis of cases of alleged electoral malpractice' accessible through the following internet links:
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/109012/Integrity-report-FINAL-no-embargo.pdf
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/83702/063-Allegations-Report-final.pdf
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/74588/Allegations-of-Electoral-Malpractice-Web-Final.pdf
The data has only been collected in this format since 2008.
Cabinet Office
Advisory Services
Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when his Department's review of free advice services will conclude; and when he expects to report the outcome of the review to the House. [85649]
Mr Hurd: The review of the free advice service sector announced on 21 November 2011 has now started and will conclude early next year. An appropriate announcement will be made at the relevant time.
Air Pollution: Cabinet Committees
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many meetings of the (a) Home Affairs and (b) Economic Affairs Cabinet Sub-Committees have considered the effects of government policy on (i) air quality and (ii) the natural environment since May 2010; [84029]
(2) which Cabinet Sub-Committees have discussed plans for meeting EU air quality limit values under the Ambient Air Quality Directive. [84034]
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Richard Benyon: I have been asked to reply.
In line with the constitutional convention of collective decision-making, and section 2 of the Ministerial Code, the Government do not disclose details of the internal process through which decisions are taken.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is responsible for air quality (with the Secretary of State for Transport and the natural environment, and sits on the Economic Affairs and Home Affairs Cabinet Committees, where a wide range of issues are discussed.
Charitable Donations: Fraud
Mr Marcus Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent progress he has made in steps to tackle charity bag doorstep collection fraud. [85508]
Mr Hurd: These crimes are unacceptable and risk undermining the confidence of the generous donating public. I continue to encourage and support collaborative work between the charity sector, commercial recyclers, licensing and enforcement agencies, and government. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has made good progress in building intelligence and working with police forces to tackle the criminal gangs that are behind much of this crime. I also know that the Fund Raising Standards Board (FRSB), in collaboration with other stakeholders, has just launched a new public awareness campaign to tackle bogus charity collections and encourage the public to give with care. The FRSB has written to Members of this House inviting support for the campaign.
Government Departments: Databases
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the autumn statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 29 November 2011, Official Report, columns 799-810, and the paper Further Detail on Open Data Measures in the Autumn Statement 2011, what discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics on each of the measures listed in the paper prior to their announcement; what the outcome was of the discussions on each such measure; and if he will make a statement. [85597]
Mr Maude: Comprehensive stakeholder engagement was undertaken in developing open data measures which were announced in the Chancellor's autumn statement, including meeting with data users and the Office for National Statistics. The ONS will continue to be a key stakeholder for the Cabinet Office Transparency Team given their particular position providing national statistics.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he expects to reply to the letter of 19 July 2011 from the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed on a claim under the Civil Injury Benefit Scheme. [83162]
Mr Maude: The Cabinet Office has no record of receiving a letter from the right hon. Member dated 19 July 2011. I have responded to his subsequent letter on the same topic today.
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Public Sector: Part-time Employment
Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the proportion of public sector workers who work part-time in Wales; and what proportion of such part-time workers are women. [85390]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated December 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate he has made of the proportion of public sector workers who work part-time in Wales; and what proportion of such part-time workers are women. 85390
For the period July-September 2011 the estimated proportion of public sector workers in Wales who work part-time was 27 per cent. The proportion of these workers who were women was 87 per cent. The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and are not seasonally adjusted. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
In the LFS the distinction between public and private sector is based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. The public sector estimates provided do not correspond to official Public Sector Employment estimates. Those are derived directly from employers and are based on National Accounts definitions, but do not include a gender breakdown.
Culture, Media and Sport
Food Labelling
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) whether food and catering services in (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible plan to implement calorie labelling on menus and display boards; [85836]
(2) what steps the food and catering services in (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible are taking to ensure the country of origin of foods are labelled on its menus and display boards. [85837]
John Penrose: The Department does not source food as part of its day to day business, following the closure of the staff canteen in December 2009. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold the information requested for its public bodies.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) how much his Department spent in (a) Birmingham, (b) Newcastle, (c) Wakefield, (d) Manchester, (e) Leeds, (f) Liverpool, (g) Coventry, (h) Bristol, (i) Sheffield, (j) Bradford, (k) Leicester and (l) Nottingham in the last financial year for which figures are available; [85447]
(2) how much funding his Department has allocated to Birmingham in (a) ring-fenced and (b) non-ring fenced funding grants for each of the next three years. [85448]
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John Penrose: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport analyses funding on a regional basis and not by individual cities across the country. To identify funding by geographical location could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Parliamentary Written Questions
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many and what proportion of questions for ordinary written answer received a
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substantive response within
(a)
10,
(b)
20,
(c)
30 and
(d)
more than 30 sitting days in the 2010-12 session to date. [85919]
John Penrose: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport received 1,973 ordinary written parliamentary questions for answer from the start of this parliamentary Session to 30 November 2011. The following table shows the proportion of questions which received substantive replies within the timescale specified.
| Number which received a substantive reply in: | ||||
| Ordinary written PQs tabled this Session | 10 sitting days | 20 sitting days | 30 sitting days | 30+ sitting days |
The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.
Gambling: Licensing
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what timetable he has set for the introduction of a secondary gaming licence for overseas gambling operators. [85506]
John Penrose: We are committed to taking forward this legislation and will introduce it at the earliest opportunity. The Government have a very full legislative programme, however, and we are pursuing all options.
Horse Racing: Betting
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport with reference to the Gambling Act 2005, when he expects the full agreement between the racecourse bookmakers and (a) Arena Leisure and (b) Jockey Club Racing to be announced. [86037]
John Penrose: We understand that an agreement between the racecourse bookmakers and Arena Leisure has been reached. The discussions with Jockey Club Racing, although progressing, are yet to be fully completed. Departmental officials are in close and regular contact with the Federation of Racecourse Bookmakers Ltd (FRB) and the Racecourse Association (RCA) over the discussions. I strongly encourage both sides to find a way to reach agreement before the end of the year.
Mass Media: Young People
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what discussions his Department has had on the negative portrayal of teenagers, including teenage mothers, in the media. [84908]
Mr Vaizey: We are committed to a media free from Government intervention. However, while respecting this independence, we continue to look to all media to deal responsibly and sensitively to public concerns about the portrayal of women and young people.
The UK's media regulatory system is one of the most robust in the world, aiming to strike the right balance between freedom of expression while ensuring media content is acceptable. Under this system, the various bodies which regulate the media have set out a range of controls in relation to discriminatory treatment and the portrayal of women.
The role the media can play in presenting positive portrayals of women is widely recognised by Government, regulators and media organisations. As part of our consideration of these issues the Violence Against Women and Girls Inter-Ministerial Group recently held a forum, organised with DCMS and chaired by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to discuss a range of concerns about the representation of women in the media.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Air Pollution
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will consider publishing an air quality risk assessment for the purposes of identifying the risks to the UK population of poor air quality and priority areas for action. [84127]
Richard Benyon: Under the ambient air quality directive (2008/50/EC) and the fourth daughter directive (2004/107/EC), in September each year the UK publishes a compliance assessment for the previous calendar year. This identifies those parts of the UK where further action is needed to improve air quality. It is available on the library section of the UK-Air website:
http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of poor air quality on different socio-economic groups. [84142]
Richard Benyon: The Government have published reports analysing air quality and social deprivation, which are publicly available on the UK-Air website:
8 Dec 2011 : Column 403W
http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/
The most recent report, 'Air Quality and Social Deprivation in the UK: an environmental inequalities analysis' is from 2006. This highlights the complex relationship between the distribution of pollutant concentrations and areas of social deprivation, which depends on the pollutant in question and differs in the UK's various cities and regions.
Air Pollution: EU Law
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the minutes of each meeting her Department has had with the European Commission to discuss plans for meeting EU air quality limit values under the ambient air quality directive. [84051]
Richard Benyon: In September DEFRA submitted air quality plans to the European Commission setting out how the limit values for nitrogen dioxide are to be met in the shortest possible time. The Commission has up to nine months to assess these plans. DEFRA has had no bilateral meetings with the Commission to discuss them.
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department has completed an equalities impact assessment in respect of its air quality plans for the achievement of EU air quality limit values for nitrogen dioxide. [84052]
Richard Benyon: The air quality plans that were submitted to the European Commission in September 2011 assessed the impact that relevant current and planned policies, and local air quality plans, were likely to have on concentrations of nitrogen dioxide.
The need for an equalities impact assessment is considered when decisions about new policies are being made.
Biofuels: Pollution
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to measure (a) black carbon and (b) arsenic emissions from biomass generating plants. [84138]
Richard Benyon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 22 November 2011, Official Report, column 302W.
Carbon Emissions
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Transport on the introduction of a national framework for low emission zones; [84049]
(2) what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of achieving EU air quality limit values for nitrogen dioxide by 1 January 2015; [84050]
(3) what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of a National Framework for Low Emission Zones to improving air quality. [84144]
8 Dec 2011 : Column 404W
Richard Benyon: DEFRA is working closely with the Department for Transport to investigate further measures to reduce pollution from heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and buses, including the feasibility of a national framework for low emission zones. A report on the feasibility of developing a certification scheme for technology retrofitted to HGVs to abate nitrogen oxides emissions was published in November and is available on the UK-Air website:
http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/
An assessment of technical measures needed to achieve compliance with EU air quality limit values was undertaken, which informed an impact assessment of a low emissions zone framework for inclusion in the time extension notification for compliance with the EU limit value for nitrogen dioxide. This impact assessment was published in June 2011 and is available on DEFRA's website.
An assessment of the potential contribution of a national framework for low emission zones to improving air quality was included in our air quality plans for nitrogen dioxide. These plans were submitted to the European Commission in September. The air quality plans are available on the library section of the UK-Air website.
Coastal Areas: Access
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress her Department has made on a timetable for the creation of coastal access pathways in England; and when such a timetable will be published. [85311]
Richard Benyon: We will introduce the new right of coastal access on a 30 km stretch of the English coast between Portland and Lulworth Cove in Dorset in time for the Olympic and Paralympic sailing events, which begin in July 2012. We are now at the stage of considering the “appointed person's” report and recommendations into the objections that were made to Natural England's proposals.
Natural England is also currently working on proposals to implement coastal access in a further five areas around the coast. When proposals for the coastal route have been prepared in each of the five areas, Natural England will start a period of local consultation.
DEFRA is working closely with Natural England to look at how we move forward after Weymouth and the five other stretches. It is important that we have the opportunity to look at the lessons learnt from the current projects that are being implemented to make sure that coastal access is delivered as cost effectively as possible.
Debt Recovery
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of invoices from suppliers her Department paid within 10 days of receipt in July and August 2010. [74351]
Richard Benyon: During July and August 2010, 8,819 out of 8,892 valid invoices were paid by the Department within 10 days of receipt which equates to 99.18%.
8 Dec 2011 : Column 405W
Departmental Buildings
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on refurbishing and redecorating ministerial offices in her Department since May 2010. [80269]
Richard Benyon: There has been no expenditure incurred refurbishing and redecorating ministerial offices in DEFRA since May 2010.
Scientific Advice
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on requiring her Department's (a) agencies and non-departmental public bodies and (b) contractors to have a written code of practice or protocol relating to the provision, conduct and quality assurance of scientific evidence and advice. [72470]
Richard Benyon: The information requested is as follows:
(a) DEFRA's agencies and arm's length bodies are expected to adopt good practice in the provision, conduct and quality assurance of scientific evidence and advice. A number have adopted internationally recognised or certified schemes, such as those provided by ISO or the OECD standard for Good Laboratory Practice, and have written codes or procedures as required by those schemes, or follow national codes such as the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Others have their own codes or procedures in place, tailored to reflect their own circumstances, and consistent with guidelines issued by the Government chief scientific adviser on the use of scientific and engineering advice in policy-making where these guidelines are relevant. DEFRA's Science Advisory Council operates in line with the Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees (currently being updated) and the Principles for Scientific Advice to Government. The guidelines, code of practice and principles referred to above are all available on the BIS website.
Given that DEFRA has different relationships and governance structures with its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and agencies—for example some NDPBs have a statutory purpose to provide evidence and advice—DEFRA has not prescribed any central policies regarding the provision, conduct and quality assurance of evidence and advice for its arm’s length bodies.
(b) DEFRA is a co-signatory to the Joint Code of Practice for Research (JCoPR—available on the BBSRC website), which sets out principles for the quality of science and quality of the research process that research contractors sponsored by DEFRA must follow (if the JCoPR is not relevant to the proposed project, e.g. social research or economics, suppliers are required to describe what quality assurance measures they have in place). A number of DEFRA's arm’s length bodies are in the process of adopting the JCoPR.
Nitrogen Dioxide
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to ensure that nitrogen dioxide levels are within legal limits in all of the UK's zones and agglomerations by 1 January 2015. [84143]
Richard Benyon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 186W.
Barry Gardiner:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many
8 Dec 2011 : Column 406W
days each of the UK's zones and agglomerations exceeded the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide in
(a)
2010 and
(b)
between 1 January 2011 and 31 October 2011; [84145]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of days each of the UK's zones and agglomerations will exceed the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide in (a) each of the next three years and (b) 2020. [84146]
Richard Benyon: The legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have been set for both one-hour and annual-average time periods, but not for periods of a day. The one-hour limit value is exceeded if more than 18 hours exceed the limit at a monitoring site in a single year. A count of days does not directly demonstrate whether or not the one-hour or annual limit values have been exceeded in a year and does not form part of any compliance assessment for nitrogen dioxide legal limits.
Compliance assessments for 2010 for both the annual and one-hour NO2 limit values are available on the library section of the UK-Air website:
http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/
Where applicable, projections of compliance with the one-hour and annual NO2 limit values for 2015 and 2020 were published as part of updated air quality plans submitted to the Commission in September 2011. These are also available on the UK-Air website.
Public Sector Employee Bids
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps she is taking to put in place a right to provide for public sector workers to take over the running of services; and if she will make a statement; [74779]
(2) what steps her Department has taken to encourage the development of public service mutuals in its area of responsibility; and if she will make a statement. [74827]
Richard Benyon: The “right to provide” was drawn to the attention of all staff when the Open Public Services White Paper was published. A process for consideration of employee-led mutual candidates is now being established.
World War II: Medals
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) Women's Land Army and (b) Women's Timber Corps lapel badges were awarded in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2010 and (iv) 2011 to date. [85371]
Mr Paice: As at 1 December 2011 a total of 35,509 badges had been issued to former members of the Women's Land Army (WLA) and Women's Timber Corps (WTC). No distinction is made between those who served in WLA and the WTC. The number of badges issued in each year was as follows:
|
|
Badges issued |
8 Dec 2011 : Column 407W
Treasury
Capital Allowances: North-east England
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the extension of 100 per cent. capital allowances in the North East region. [85351]
Mr Gauke: The provision of 100% first year capital allowances for qualifying expenditure in Enterprise Zones in the North East Region is estimated to cost approximately £40 million over the next five years.
Credit Cards: Fees and Charges
John Thurso: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to tackle excessive surcharges following the Office of Fair Trading's recommendations on card payment charges. [84851]
Mr Hoban: The Government are currently considering the Office of Fair Trading's recommendations and will update the House in due course.
Excise Duties: Fuels
Simon Hart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending the fuel duty discount pilot scheme to rural areas of Wales. [85607]
Miss Chloe Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 December 2011, Official Report, column 69W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith).
National Savings and Investments: Post Offices
Mr Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer over what period he expects National Savings and Investments to withdraw its products from the Post Office network. [85155]
Miss Chloe Smith: The majority of NS&I's products are already managed by customers directly with NS&I. At the end of the final phase of NS&I's modernisation programme, in 2013, NS&I's range of savings and investments will only be available direct from NS&I, apart from Premium Bonds which NS&I intends to continue to offer through the Post Office.
Renewable Energy: North-east England
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) enhanced cap allowances and (b) public spending support to the Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering at (i) Tees and (ii) Tyne. [85348]
Miss Chloe Smith:
The provision of 100% first year capital allowances for qualifying expenditure in the Tees Valley and North East Enterprise Zones is estimated to cost approximately £40 million over the next five years. Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering
8 Dec 2011 : Column 408W
(COREs) are the beginning of a strengthened partnership between central Government and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to build on UK strengths in offshore wind. There is no spending commitment directly attached to COREs.
Stamp Duties
Mr Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of houses sold for over £1 million on which stamp duty land tax was paid at the full rate in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement. [85199]
Miss Chloe Smith: Information on residential property transactions priced at over £1 million for 2008, 2009 and 2010 can be found in National Statistics table T16.1 on the HMRC website
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/survey_of_prop/table16-1.pdf
The corresponding figures for 2007 show a total of 1,613,000 residential property transactions in the UK, with 16,000 of those priced at over £1 million.
HMRC holds no data on residential property sales where a land transaction return is not made.
Stamp Duties: Tax Evasion
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the level of tax evasion on stamp duty; and what steps he is taking to reduce the level of such stamp duty evasion. [85268]
Miss Chloe Smith: Stamp duty (as opposed to stamp duty land tax) applies to transfers of stock and marketable securities via a stock transfer form.
There is no liable person for stamp duty and no statutory compulsion to present a document for stamping. So it is not appropriate to refer to "evasion" in this context.
The sanctions against leaving a document unstamped are that it cannot then be used as evidence in UK court proceedings (other than criminal proceedings) and that penalties and interest are charged for late stamping.
Taxation: Gambling
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made in its plans to tax remote gambling companies by making the taxable location the point of sale to the customer. [85507]
Miss Chloe Smith: On 18 July 2011, the Government announced their intention to review the taxation regime for remote gambling, looking at the case for taxing operators on the basis of customer location.
The initial review closed on 30 November 2011. All responses received are now being analysed. No decisions have been taken on whether to proceed with reform.
8 Dec 2011 : Column 409W
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many emergency readmissions there have been in each NHS primary care trust in each year since 1997; [85143]
(2) what the emergency readmission rate within 28 days of discharge was for each acute trust in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010. [85249]
Mr Simon Burns: Information is not available in the precise form or for the periods requested. The available information will be collated and placed in the Library as soon as possible.
Community Nurses
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average case load for district nurses (a) in each primary care trust area and (b) nationally in the latest period for which figures are available. [85165]
Anne Milton: No estimate has been made centrally. It is for local national health service organisations to commission district nursing services and to determine their case loads taking into account local needs and resources.
Management Consultants
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has paid to (a) management consultants and (b) private health companies since May 2010; and what services were paid for. [85246]
Mr Simon Burns: The figures for expenditure on external management consultants for the Department of Health (this includes the core Department and Connecting for Health) for the last financial year 2010-11 are:
From April 2010-11—£14.77 million. (Figures can only be provided for the full financial year).
From April 2011-12 (The current financial year, to date)—£5.48 million.
The figure for expenditure on private health companies providing services for national health service patients through the independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) since May 2010 is £282,179,000.
A full breakdown of the information by cost, supplier and description for core Department of Health expenditure for 2010-11 entitled ‘Core Department of Health external consultancy expenditure for financial year 2010-11’ has been placed in the Library.
Expenditure on management consultancies and private health companies since April 2010, and the value and supplier for each transaction (excluding core Department of Health expenditure for 2010-11) is shown in the following tables.
8 Dec 2011 : Column 410W
| Connecting for Health (CfH) expenditure on management consultants for the financial year 2010-11 | ||
| Supplier name | Requirement description | 2010-11 total (£) |
| CfH expenditure on management consultants for the current financial year 2011-12 (to October) | ||
| Supplier name | Requirement description | 2011-12 total (£) |
8 Dec 2011 : Column 411W
8 Dec 2011 : Column 412W
Departmental Public Appointments
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which public appointees to senior positions in (a) his Department, (b) its executive agencies, (c) official reviews and (d) commissions of enquiry have declared membership of the Conservative party in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [85266]
Mr Simon Burns: Information about the membership of political parties of appointees to senior positions in the Department and its public bodies is neither held nor collected centrally.
The Department complies with the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This requires that departments ask appointees to public bodies for information which is already in the public domain, and stipulates that they should not seek personal or private information such as membership of political parties.
Diabetes
Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people with diabetes in (a) the UK, (b) Kent and (c) Dartford constituency in each of the last five years. [85194]
Paul Burstow: The full data set to be able to answer this question accurately are not available.
The following table shows the number of diabetes registrations in National Diabetes Audit (NDA) data for England and Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) diabetes registrations for England for the last five years.
|
|
2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
| (1 )The NDA contains people with diabetes (all types) of all ages, however it is not mandatory, and does not have 100% coverage or participation. (2) QOF data only contain patients aged 17 years and over with diabetes mellitus. | |||||
The following table shows the NDA data for each of the Kent primary care trusts (PCTs) for the last four years. Growth in numbers of registrations in NDA needs to be assessed in the context of the growth in coverage for the audit. QOF data are an aggregate return so do not contain the detail required to respond at this level.
| PCT | 2009-10 | 2008-09 | 2007-08 | 2006-07 |
| Data are not held at a constituency level. | ||||
Doctors: Vacancies
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies for junior doctors there were in each month since May 2010. [85241]
Anne Milton: We do not hold this information centrally.
Eating Disorders
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with (a) women's groups and (b) men's groups on treatment and support available to (i) adults and (ii) children with eating disorders; and if he will make a statement. [85144]
Paul Burstow:
We are committed to improving mental health among the whole population. That is why we are providing around £400 million over the next four years
8 Dec 2011 : Column 413W
to expand psychological therapies, with an annual £8 million investment to expand access to psychological therapies to children and young people.
Early intervention is essential for those with eating disorders and we have been clear that general practitioners are expected to use National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence guidance when choosing the most appropriate treatments, from physical and psychological treatments to medicines. Access to high-quality mental health care, based on the best available evidence and delivered by staff with an appropriate range of skills and competencies, is critical to meeting the specific needs of this group of people.
The Government Equalities Office have begun a campaign which aims to reduce the burdens that popular culture places on an individual's well-being and self-esteem.
The Government have convened a group of experts to identify non-legislative solutions to tackling low levels of body confidence. This includes representatives from health care, fashion, beauty, media, advertising, and the voluntary sector.
Health
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to launch a revised public health responsibility deal. [85595]
Anne Milton: There are no plans to launch a revised Public Health Responsibility Deal. The networks continue to develop the next tranche of pledges that we expect will go much further and demand even greater commitment and action on the part of industry.
Health Services: Ex-servicemen
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms his Department has put in place to assess the level of access to health services by war veterans. [85242]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department is currently working on a number of physical and mental health care improvement programmes for veterans, and their families. These include, veteran-specific mental health services coming out of the implementation of the recommendations of Dr Andrew Murrison's ‘Fighting Fit report’; and the development of enhanced rehabilitation and prosthetics services across England and the devolved Administrations in response to his latest report ‘A Better Deal for Military Amputees'. The Department has committed significant sums of money to this work: £7.2 million in respect of Fighting Fit, and £15 million for the prosthetic care improvements.
It should also be noted that the Department has taken steps towards ensuring that more general practitioner (GPs) are made aware of the specific health care needs of service personnel. These include, the setup of armed forces networks in the 10 existing strategic health authority areas, through which national health service staff and forces representatives can plan the care of their local military and veterans' populations; and the launch of an e-learning package in conjunction with the Royal College of General Practitioners, to raise GPs awareness of the types of health care needs veterans with which veterans are likely to present.
8 Dec 2011 : Column 414W
Through the improvement of veteran-specific services and awareness raising among health professionals, the Department hopes to ensure that veterans will get a much better deal from their health services.
Health Visitors
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he plans to publish an annual report on the health visitor implementation plan, 2011-15; [85577]
(2) when he expects to publish his first quarterly progress report on the health visitor workforce. [85578]
Anne Milton: The Department will publish its first annual report on the “Health Visitor Implementation Plan—A Call To Action 2011-15” by the end of this calendar year.
The first quarterly report on progress relating to the Government's commitment on health visiting, “A Call to Action Health Visitor Implementation Plan Summary Progress Report”, was published on the Department's website on 31 October 2011, and is available at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_130856
A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
Health Visitors: Manpower
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health visitors have returned to work in the NHS in each of the last five years. [85576]
Anne Milton: This information is not collected by the Department, however from January 2012, as part of the Health Visiting Minimum Data Set, the NHS Information Centre will be collecting the number of health visitors who return to practice.
Health Visitors: Training
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health visitors were in training in each of the last five years. [85574]
Anne Milton: The following table shows the number of health visitors in training in each of the last five years:
| Health visitor training commissions 2006-07 to 2010-11 | |
|
|
Actual commissions |
| Source: Quarterly strategic health authority financial management returns | |
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for changes to the content of health visitor higher education programmes. [85575]
8 Dec 2011 : Column 415W
Anne Milton: In order to achieve the best outcomes in health visitor education for both staff and patients alike, the Department is working closely with education commissioners and the higher education sector to review the content of health visitor educational programmes.
The purpose of this collaborative working is to ensure that curricula and practice are aligned with the service vision set out in ‘The Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-15, A Call to Action’. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
Health: Salt
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to revise the targets for salt reduction contained in the public health responsibility deal. [85596]
Anne Milton: The Government have no plans currently to revise the Responsibility Deal salt targets; partners who have signed up to the salt reduction pledge have until 2012 to meet the targets.
Salt reduction is a key priority of the Public Health Responsibility Deal. As part of its work programme for 2012-13, the High Level Steering Group of the Food Network will consider what further actions are necessary to ensure continued progress towards the public health goal to reduce people's average salt consumption to no more than 6 grams of salt/person/day for adults and less for children.
Herbal Medicine: EU Law
Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions officials in his Department have had with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on enforcement of the EU Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products (Directive 2004/24/EC); when such discussions took place; and if he will make a statement; [85172]
(2) how many companies have been investigated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for selling herbal medicinal products as food supplements in the last 12 months; when he expects each investigation to reach a conclusion; whether the product investigated will be removed from sale immediately if they are found to have breached the regulations; and if he will make a statement. [85173]
Mr Simon Burns:
There have been no discussions between Ministers or officials with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) specifically about the enforcement of Directive 2004/24/EC. It is possible that the subject has been discussed in the context of how the end of the section 12(2) exemption in the Medicines Act 1968 would impact on herbal practitioners but such discussions would have been incidental to the main issue of practitioner regulation. The classification of products as medicines is made on a case-by-case basis by the MHRA. The MHRA does not hold information on how many herbal medicines have been presented as food supplements. Action taken by the MHRA will depend on the nature of the breach of regulation and any danger to public health posed by the product; this can include requiring the product to be removed immediately from the market. The MHRA is currently considering how effective, proportionate
8 Dec 2011 : Column 416W
enforcement action can best ensure that the intended benefits of the legislation for consumers and for companies compliant with the legislation are achieved.
HIV Infection
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he took to mark World AIDS day 2011. [85453]
Anne Milton: World AIDS day provides the opportunity for people to unite to show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. To mark World AIDS day I spoke at a reception held by the Terrence Higgins Trust and hosted by my noble Friend, Lord Fowler, on 29 November.
The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister both recorded a video message for World AIDS day.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce HIV infection rates; and what steps he plans to take to enable people who are most at risk of contracting HIV to participate in a comprehensive testing and education regime. [85555]
Anne Milton: The Department continues to fund targeted programmes of work on prevention for the groups most at risk of HIV in the United Kingdom and these highlight the importance of HIV testing. Additionally, in February 2011, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence published its recommendations on increasing the offer of HIV testing to men who-have-sex-with-men and black African communities which we welcome.
Increasing the offer and uptake of HIV testing in a variety of health care settings, both primary and secondary, is important to reduce undiagnosed HIV. We are considering the findings of the Time to Test report, which was published by the Health Protection Agency in September this year which assessed the feasibility and acceptability of routinely offering HIV testing in eight pilot projects that were funded by the Department. We are also funding a three year project by the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health to produce an interactive tool to support general practitioners and primary care staff in offering HIV testing.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) young adults and (b) people were diagnosed with HIV in each of the last five years. [85614]
Anne Milton: The number of new HIV diagnoses reported in England in young adults, aged 15 to 24 and people of all ages, in each of the last five years, are shown in the following table:
| Age group | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Note: Diagnoses are from reports received to end June 2011. | |||||
8 Dec 2011 : Column 417W
Injuries: Dogs
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under 16 years were admitted to hospital because of injuries received from a dog in England and Wales in (a) 2011 and (b) 2010. [85571]
Mr Simon Burns: In 2010-11, there were 1,481 finished admission episodes(1) (FAEs) for children under 16 in England with a cause code(2 )of bitten or struck by dog. In 2009-10, there were 1,382 FAEs for children under 16 in England with a cause code of bitten or struck by dog.
The Department does not collect information on the devolved Administrations.
Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have been working closely with Government and non-government organisations to prepare a package of measures to encourage more responsible dog ownership and reduce dog attacks. This work is nearing completion and an announcement will be made by that Department shortly.
(1) A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
(2) A supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. Only the first external cause code which is coded within the episode is counted in Hospital Episode Statistics. Cause code used: W54—Bitten or struck by dog.
Lee Communications and Public Affairs
Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings Ministers in his Department had with (a) Kevin Lee and (b) representatives of Lee Communications Public Affairs Limited between July 2009 and May 2010; and what the (i) date, (ii) names of those attending and (iii) subject of each meeting was. [85515]
Mr Simon Burns: Details of all ministerial meetings with external parties are published quarterly in arrears on the Department's website. Data from 1 January 2010 up to the end of March 2011 can be found at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/MinistersandDepartmentLeaders/Departmentdirectors/DH_110759
No data are held prior to this date.
Mass Media
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on media monitoring since May 2010. [85195]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department spend on media monitoring since May 2010 is provided in the following table:
|
|
Spend since May 2010 (1 ) (£) |
| (1) Exclusive of VAT | |
8 Dec 2011 : Column 418W
Medical Treatments: Lasers
Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the provision of specialist training for the use of class four laser treatment in the private therapy sector; and if he will make a statement. [85695]
Mr Simon Burns: Following deregulation of providers of class 3B and class 4 lasers lights in 2010, the Department supported creation of an industry led, assurance scheme whose objectives include publication of a set of accepted essential standards and a model training programme for educators to use. Work to develop these standards is being co-ordinated by the Independent Healthcare Advisory Service.
Meningitis: Vaccination
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 September 2011, Official Report, column 580W, on meningitis: vaccination, whether his Department has received the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's recommendation on meningococcal B vaccination. [85024]
Anne Milton: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is continuing to assess carefully the impact and cost effectiveness of a potential vaccination programme against meningococcal B bacteria. The conclusions of JCVI's assessment are not expected until early 2013 at the very earliest.
Mental Health Services
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2011, Official Report, columns 961-2W, on mental health services, when he expects the National Liaison and Diversion Programme to complete its mapping exercise of mental health service provision in England. [85193]
Paul Burstow: The National Liaison and Diversion Programme is expected to complete the mapping exercise by April 2012.