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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Wales
Business Advisory Group
Mr Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date her Business Advisory Group last met; and who attended the meeting. [86273]
Mrs Gillan: The Business Advisory Group meets on a quarterly basis. The last meeting was on 24 October 2011. The attendees of the meeting were:
Uday Chaturvedi, TATA Steel
Paul Gorin, Smart Solutions
Rob Lewis, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Colin OrrBurns, Dragon LNG
David Rosser, CBI
Graham Hillier, Toyota
Professor George Boyne, Cardiff University
Nick Main, GE Healthcare
David Williams, Chairman of Llandudno Hospitality Association
Steve Thomas, Airbus
Professor Stuart Cole, University of Glamorgan
Departmental Travel Costs
Mr Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many times (a) she, (b) Ministers and (c) officials in her Department have travelled first class on trains since May 2010. [86274]
Mr David Jones: On taking office, the Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan), confirmed that there would no longer be any first class travel paid for by the Wales Office. All tickets bought from May 2010 onwards for myself, the Secretary of State and officials have been for standard rail travel, which has resulted in a saving of £86,824 when compared to the previous year.
The Secretary of State and three officials did travel first class—at no cost to the Wales Office—as guests of First Great Western when they attempted to set a new record for the fastest journey between Cardiff and London, and on six occasions the Secretary of State and two officials have been upgraded, again at no cost to the Wales Office for operational reasons.
Official Visits
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many times she has visited (a) Cardiff, (b) Swansea and (c) Wrexham since May 2010. [85606]
Mr David Jones: Ministers from the Wales Office have visited Cardiff 86 times, Swansea four times and Wrexham 10 times.
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Parliamentary Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of questions for ordinary written answer received a substantive response within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30 and (d) more than 30 sitting days in the 2010-12 session to date. [85921]
Mr David Jones: This information is not available in the form requested.
From the start of the 2010-12 session to 30 November 2011, the Wales Office answered 433 (90%) of ordinary written parliamentary questions on time.
The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide this 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.
Official Hospitality
Mr Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average cost per night has been of hotel rooms booked by her Department for official business since May 2010. [86276]
Mr David Jones: The average cost per night for hotel rooms booked by the Wales Office since May 2010 is £98. The Wales Office is based in London and Cardiff and staff need to travel between the offices regularly in the course of their duties.
Mr Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much her Department has spent on hotel bills since May 2010. [86277]
Mr David Jones: The Wales Office has spent £40,861 on hotel bills since May 2010, a saving of over £18,000 on the previous 18-month period. The Wales Office is based in London and Cardiff and staff need to travel between the offices regularly in the course of their duties.
Hotel bookings are made through a central contract procured by the Ministry of Justice, and this ensures that all accommodation booked is within the limits set by the Department.
Northern Ireland
Assisted Areas
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the possible withdrawal of automatic assisted area status from Northern Ireland. [86293]
Mr Paterson:
I have engaged in correspondence with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), on this matter. The possible removal of automatic
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assisted area status from Northern Ireland was one of the options considered in the Government's consultation on changes to the Industrial Development Act 1982 which closed on 2 November. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is on target to publish the Government's response within three months of the close of the consultation.
Ballymurphy: Deaths
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of progress on the investigation into the deaths which occurred in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast in 1971. [86333]
Mr Paterson: I understand that the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) is currently investigating the deaths which occurred in Ballymurphy in 1971. In addition, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland recently confirmed that inquests into the deaths would be reopened. The timings and progress of these investigations and inquests are a matter for the HET and the Coroner's Service for Northern Ireland respectively.
Food Labelling
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [85834]
Mr Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office, as a small Government Department, has limited catering facilities. At present, there are no plans to implement calorie labelling on menus and display boards in either the Department or the public bodies for which I am responsible.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [85835]
Mr Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office, as a small Government Department, has limited requirements for food and catering services. At present, there are no plans for the country of origin of foods to be labelled on menus and display boards in either the Department or the public bodies for which I am responsible.
Parliamentary Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of questions for ordinary written answer received a substantive response within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30 and (d) more than 30 sitting days in the 2010-12 session to date. [85922]
Mr Paterson: This information is not available in the form requested.
From the start of the 2010-12 Session to 30 November 2011, the Northern Ireland Office answered 323 (86%) of ordinary written parliamentary questions on time.
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The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide this 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.
Rescue Services
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the implications for Northern Ireland of the planned changes to the search and rescue helicopter service. [86054]
Mr Paterson: I refer the hon. Lady to the written ministerial statement made by the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), on 28 November 2011, Official Report, column 52WS. The new arrangements will see an end of military involvement in a dedicated helicopter search and rescue service with search and rescue operations being provided by contracted civilian crews. The winning bidder will be expected to operate from 10 locations around the UK, and provide at least the same level of service as at present.
Under the new arrangements, Northern Ireland will be covered by helicopters based on the UK mainland and Scottish Islands, as at present. Incidents will continue to be responded to within the agreed national response requirements.
Home Department
Animal Experiments: EU Law
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 November 2011, Official Report, column 638W, on animal experiments: EU law, which groups will be asked for input at appropriate points on the draft legislation to transpose EU Directive 2010/63/EU. [85884]
Lynne Featherstone: We will seek input as necessary from the bioscience sector, animal welfare and protection groups, funding bodies, training accreditors and licensees and practitioners under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Regular contact has been maintained with all of these groups during the process of negotiating and subsequently transposing European Directive 2010/63/EU.
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 November 2011, Official Report, column 638W, on animal experiments: EU Law, when draft legislation to transpose EU Directive 2010/63/EU will be available for consultation. [85885]
Lynne Featherstone: Work on the preparation of draft legislation to transpose European Directive 2010/63/EU has begun. We will seek input from individuals and groups with an interest at appropriate points in the detailed drafting process.
I am not yet in a position to say when the final draft legislation will be published.
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Asylum
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many of the asylum legacy cases resolved since May 2010 an individual was (a) granted asylum and (b) deported. [85031]
Damian Green: In answering this question, I have taken deportation to mean removal. Since May 2010, it is not a national statistic, and as such, it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change, 280 individuals have been granted asylum and 400 have been removed.
Source:
Local management information provided by UKBA, North West Region Planning and MI team.
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum legacy cases are outstanding; and how many such cases have been concluded in the last 12 months. [85032]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency committed to review all older unresolved cases by summer 2011; this was achieved by March 2011. A total of 500,500 cases were reviewed as part of the programme.
As Jonathan Sedgwick, then acting chief executive of the UK Border Agency reported to the Home Affairs Committee on 12 September, 479,000 of the 500,500 cases in the legacy programme have been fully concluded.
During the period 1 December 2010 to 12 September 2011, 41,950 cases reached conclusion, 15,499 asylum legacy cases remain outstanding.
Source: Local Management information provided by UKBA, North West Region Planning and Ml team. It is not a national statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
Bramshill Police College
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2011, Official Report, column 795W, on Bramshill police college, when she expects the review of the Bramshill estate commissioned from the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) to report; and what consultation (a) she and (b) the NPIA will undertake with police (i) forces and (ii) authorities on the future of the estate. [84576]
Nick Herbert: The review of the Bramshill estate is due to report to the NPIA in spring 2012. It will be considered by the NPIA Board which includes representatives of the Home Office, police authorities and chief police officers. The review involves consultation with all police forces and authorities and, specifically, with the local chief constables and police authority chief executives in Thames Valley, Surrey and Hampshire.
Civil Disorder
Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department has issued to police authorities on the Riot (Damages) Act 1886; and what (a) meetings have been held and (b) other communication undertaken between officials of her Department and police authorities concerning that Act since August 2011. [84428]
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Nick Herbert: Since August 2011, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has written to all Chairs of Police Authorities with guidance on the Home Office's response to the riots, setting out amendments to the regulations under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 and details of the Home Office bureau which was set up to receive and assess claims from those with no insurance. I have also held meetings with the Chairs of affected police authorities, representatives of the Association of Police Authorities (APA) and of the insurance industry, while Home Office officials have kept in regular contact with affected police authorities through the APA.
Food Labelling
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether food and catering services in (a) her Department and (b) public bodies for which she is responsible plan to implement calorie labelling on menus and display boards. [85828]
Damian Green: The Home Office and public bodies for which it is responsible do not directly contract for food supplies but procure catering services through wider facilities management or operating service contracts. At our headquarters building, allergen and healthy choice labelling has been implemented and there are plans to increase this to include calorific values. We are also working with our contracted suppliers who deliver catering services to the UKBA, National Policing Improvement Agency and Identity and Passport Service estate to encourage them to introduce similar labelling arrangements as part of their plans for 2012.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the food and catering services in (a) her Department and (b) public bodies for which she is responsible are taking to ensure the country of origin of foods are labelled on its menus and display boards. [85829]
Damian Green: The Home Office and public bodies for which it is responsible do not directly contract for food supplies but procure catering services through wider facilities management or operating service contracts. Country of food origin information is not routinely made available to customers but in some staff restaurants it does appear on published menus on occasions or is available on request.
Departmental Manpower
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many posts have been lost in the UK Border Agency in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [80146]
Damian Green: The number of full-time equivalent posts reduced in the UK Border Agency in the last 12 months for which figures are available (2010-11), is -1,900 as it appears in rounded form in our annual report, which can be found here:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/annual-reports-accounts
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This is an actual reduction in full-time equivalent staff from 24,467 (31 March 2010) to 22,580 (31 March 2011) a reduction of -1,887.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her 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 latest financial year for which figures are available. [85446]
Damian Green: The Department does not hold information on how much was spent in each location. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure social value is included when services are commissioned by (a) her Department and (b) its public bodies; and if she will make a statement. [85659]
Damian Green: The Home Department has in place a Commercial Policies and Procedures manual that is applicable to the Home Office and its Agencies. The manual includes guidance on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in line with Government procurement policy.
In support, the Department's Service Terms and Conditions reflect CSR requirements and these are kept under review. The Home Office also invites its top suppliers to complete an accredited self-assessment tool on their CSR practices which is used to monitor compliance with our policies. The tool enables collaborative working with suppliers to drive out improved performance in the CSR arena.
Departmental Risk Assessment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what risk registers are held by the public bodies for which her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement. [85706]
Damian Green: Non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are operationally independent of the Home Office and have responsibility to own and actively manage their own risks. The Executive NDPBs which the Home Office is responsible for own and maintain a variety of registers that cover risks at a strategic and directorate level as well as registers for programmes and projects as required.
Deportation: Appeals
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals convicted in UK courts have contested deportation orders in each of the last five years; and how many such appeals have been successful and the appellant allowed to remain in the UK. [85030]
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Damian Green: Figures for the last five years are not available. However, between 2008 and the end of September 2011, 5,657 appeals have been lodged by foreign national offenders contesting deportation orders. Of those, 1,333 appeals were successful. A breakdown is detailed in the following table.
|
|
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | Total |
Drug Seizures
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much heroin and cocaine was seized by UK Border Agency staff in the airports included in her summer 2011 pilot on immigration entry during the period of the pilot; and how much was seized in the corresponding period of 2010. [82059]
Damian Green: The latest drug-seizure statistics that have been produced in accordance with the Home Office's Statement of Compliance are contained within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, ‘Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, 2010/11’ (accessed via the following link), published on 10 November 2011. These contain information for the full-year and are not broken down into individual months. The annual seizures for 2010-11 amounted to 420 kg of heroin, 1,519 kg of cocaine and 14 kg of crack-cocaine.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1711/hosb1711?view=Binary
Firearms
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received from (a) the Metropolitan police and (b) any other external organisation on a review of her Department’s definition of a gun crime; and if she will make a statement. [83848]
Nick Herbert: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has not received representations from the Metropolitan police or any other external organisation on the Department’s definition of gun crime.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to update the guidance to police on the definition of a gun crime; and whether she has asked her Department to investigate the case for doing so. [83849]
Nick Herbert: There are no plans to revise or update the guidance to police on the definition of gun crime.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has met ministerial colleagues to discuss the case for updating the definition of gun crime to include acts of criminal damage including firearms. [83862]
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Nick Herbert: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has not met ministerial colleagues to discuss the case for updating the definition of gun crime.
Firearms: Licensing
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many section five firearms licences are held by UK citizens. [79943]
Nick Herbert: Information on nationality is not collected as part of the process of applying for a section five firearms licence.
Illegal Immigrants
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to improve her Department's capacity to identify illegal immigrants and return them to their country of origin. [85752]
Damian Green: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 6 December 2011, Official Report, column 206W.
Immigrants: Detainees
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the detention data tables Immigration Statistics April-June 2011 table dt.07.q, what the total length of stay in the UK has been of each of the 74 persons who have been detained for more than 24 months. [82102]
Damian Green: The following table sets out the total length of stay in the UK of the 74 individuals detained for more than 24 months referred to in the Immigration Statistics April to June 2011.
| Length of time (in years) in the UK based on first application raised | Number of individuals |
The following table sets out the reasons why the 74 individuals detained for more than 24 months referred to in the Immigration Statistics April to June 2011, had not been removed from the UK. As the table shows, five of the individuals have now been removed from the UK. This information is taken from Internal Management Information and is subject to change.
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| Barriers to removal | Number of individuals |
Of the 74 individuals detained for more than 24 months referred to in the Immigration Statistics April to June 2011, 53 lodged an appeal against their deportation. In addition to this:
29 individuals submitted a Judicial Review (JR) against unlawful detention.
five submitted a JR on HR grounds.
five submitted a JR against unlawful detention and on HR grounds.
To determine in which court those of the 74 individuals detained for more than 24 months referred to in the Immigration Statistics April to June 2011, have lodged an appeal against detention or removal would require the examination of individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Immigration
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether a report on the pilot scheme for border controls was sent to a Minister in her Department; [80594]
(2) how the pilot scheme for border controls in July 2011 was monitored; and to whom data obtained during the monitoring were sent. [80595]
Damian Green: I refer the hon. Member to the evidence provided by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 8 November.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she has held discussions with the Children's Commissioner for Scotland on the border access checks pilots in summer 2011; and whether those communications were (a) written and (b) oral. [80793]
Damian Green: Home Office Ministers held no discussions with the Children's Commissioner for Scotland on the level two risk-based border checks and pilot.
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress the UK Border Agency has made in clearing the backlog of historic immigration cases over five years old. [80939]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency committed to review all older unresolved cases by summer 2011, this was achieved by March 2011. A total of 500,500 cases were reviewed as part of the programme.
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As Jonathan Sedgwick, then acting chief executive of the UK Border Agency, reported to the Home Affairs Committee on 12 September, 479,000 of the 500,500 cases in the legacy programme have been fully concluded. The remaining cases are being actively managed to conclusion, this will involve removing barriers such as impending prosecutions or obtaining travel documents to facilitate removal.
Immigration Controls
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people placed on a watchlist (a) entered and (b) were prevented from entering the UK between July and November 2011. [81006]
Damian Green: We do not disclose either the specific data held on the watchlist, the source of the data, or how they are used, as to do so would not be in the interests of border and national security.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions level 2 border checks were used in the port of Hull between July and November 2011. [81090]
Damian Green: Risk-based checks under the level 2 pilot were not used in the port of Hull.
Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish all correspondence between her Department and (a) airport operators and (b) airline companies concerning border checks in the last 12 months. [81165]
Damian Green: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has ordered an investigation into the relaxation of border controls. It would be inappropriate to release this information at this stage.
Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings she has had with Government agencies on the relaxation of border controls in the last 12 months. [81347]
Damian Green: We are conducting an investigation into all the relaxation of border controls. It would be inappropriate to publish this information or comment further at this stage.
Immigration: Port of Hull
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people entered the UK through the Port of Hull between July and November 2011. [81077]
Damian Green: Passenger arrivals figures for the third quarter of 2011 (July to September) are not yet available. A subset of the latest published data for the first quarter of 2011 along with figures for 2010 showing recent levels of passenger arrivals at Hull are given in the table. These figures are numbers of journeys and include passengers in transit who do not pass through immigration controls.
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| Passenger arrivals to the United Kingdom at Hull including EEA and Swiss nationals, January 2010 to March 2011 | |||||
| Total passengers admitted | Q1 2010 | Q2 2010 | Q3 2010 | Q4 2010 | Q1 2011 |
| Notes: 1. Includes airside transfer/transit passengers of all nationalities who did not pass through immigration control. 2. Numbers are rounded to three significant figures. Source: Home Office, Migration Statistics A subset of data in table ad.01q of ‘Immigration Statistics April to June 2011’. Provisional figures. | |||||
Total passenger arrivals figures relating to the second quarter (April to June) of 2011 will be published on 24 November 2011 in the Home Office Science publication, ‘Immigration Statistics July to September 2011’ and the third quarter will be published on 23 February 2012. These data will be available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/
Metal Theft
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 in deterring metal theft. [85735]
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 in deterring metal theft. [85738]
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tackle metal theft. [85739]
Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tackle metal theft. [85740]
James Brokenshire: The Government recognise the growing problem of metal theft and are taking urgent steps to address it. The Home Office is discussing with other Government Departments what legislative changes are necessary to assist enforcement agencies and deter offenders, including a new licence regime for scrap metal dealers and prohibiting cash payments. We are also working with the Association of Chief Police Officers to establish a dedicated metal theft taskforce.
Police: Accountability
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police and crime commissioners will be designated as scheduled bodies for the purposes of membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme. [85552]
Nick Herbert:
It is the Government's intention to use the provision made within the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 to transfer the assets and liabilities of Police Authorities to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) when they assume office on 22 November 2012. In addition, steps are being taken to add PCCs to part 1 of schedule 2 of the Local Government Pension Scheme
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(Administration) Regulations 2008 (as amended), which means a PCC will be a scheduled body for Local Government Pension Scheme purposes.
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to consult police staff and their representative organisations on the transfer of police staff from police authorities to police and crime commissioners. [85671]
Nick Herbert: The Government have indicated that they expect the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector to apply to the transfer of staff from police authorities to Police and Crime Commissioners under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. Consequently, staff should not see any adverse impact on their current terms of employment as a result of the transfer. Were there to be any changes to staff terms, these would have to be negotiated at a local level as this falls outside the remit of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. To help facilitate a consistent approach, the Home Office has established a staff transition working group which brings together representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Police Authorities, the Association of Police Authority Chief Executives and the trade union side of the police staff council.
Police: Firearms
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness and efficiency of the issuing of firearm licences to the public by police authorities; and what guidance she has issued to police forces on the procedure to be followed when issuing firearm licences to the public. [85365]
Nick Herbert: Under the Firearms Act 1968 responsibility for granting and renewing firearm and shotgun certificates lies with the chief officer of police for the area in which the applicant lives. Guidance issued to the police in 2002 was intended to assist consistency of practice between police forces and makes it clear that in operating the licensing system forces should aim to provide cost-effective systems which ensure the speedy and efficient processing of applications and which take into account good practice and the need to provide best value. The guidance is currently being reviewed and will then be republished.
Police: Freedom of Information
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) vexatious and (b) repeated requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 were received by each police force in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of dealing with such requests. [85874]
Damian Green: The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Police: Manpower
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Cabinet Office guidelines on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector: Statement of Practice will apply to the transfer of police staff from police authorities to police and crime commissioners. [85387]
Nick Herbert: The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act provides for the abolition of police authorities and the creation of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). Under the Act, staff transfers can properly be regarded as an administrative reorganisation of public functions and authorities. As such, we expect the principles set out in the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector to be applied.
Police: Pensions
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether she proposes that HM Treasury's guidance entitled A Fair Deal for Staff Pensions will apply to the transfer of police staff from police authorities to police and crime commissioners; [85385]
(2) whether the Cabinet Office guidelines on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector: Statement of Practice and HM Treasury's guidance entitled A Fair Deal for Staff Pensions will be incorporated into the statutory transfer order which will transfer responsibility for police staff from police authorities to police and crime commissioners. [85386]
Nick Herbert: The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act provides for the abolition of police authorities and the creation of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). Steps are being taken to permit a PCC to become the new employer in the Local Government Pension Scheme so that there will be pension continuity for former non-uniformed police authority staff. Consequently, HM Treasury's Fair Deal requirements would be fully complied with as the member would have no detriment as far as pension provision would be concerned. Furthermore, under the Act, staff transfers can properly be regarded as an administrative reorganisation of public functions and authorities. As such, we expect the principles set out in the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector to be applied.
Police: Training
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to publish her response to the consultation on the review of police leadership and training. [80144]
Nick Herbert: We will respond in due course.
Repatriation
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people who have applied and been refused the right to remain within the UK who have left the jurisdiction voluntarily in each of the last five years. [85209]
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Damian Green: The number of individuals who have applied and been refused the right to remain within the UK, who have subsequently left voluntarily in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
|
|
Voluntary departures (number) |
| (1) Figures for 2011 are from January to September 2011. Notes: 1. Figures include removals via the Assisted Voluntary Return programme, notified voluntary departures, those identified via data matching and those identified at embarkation. 2. Figures were produced on 2 December 2011. 3. Figures are based on individuals’ removal date, not their application or refusal date. 4. All figures quoted are management information which has been subject to internal quality checks. | |
Smuggling: Tobacco
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much illegal tobacco was seized in each of the last five years. [85626]
Damian Green: HM Revenue and Customs holds the policy on tackling tobacco smuggling, although HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency jointly deliver the operational enforcement of the strategy. A refreshed strategy for HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency, "Tackling Tobacco Smuggling—building on our success", was published in April 2011. This document gives details of cigarettes and tobacco seized and can be viewed via the following link.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/tackling-tobacco.htm
In the last five years, the total tobacco seized by both HMRC and UKBA is detailed in the following table.
|
|
Tobacco seized (tonnes) |
UK Border Agency
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) job title, (b) pay band and (c) period of training is for each member of staff of the UK Border Force who has any involvement in the checking of passports and visas. [80423]
Damian Green: Border force officers, who are equivalent to the executive officer grade pay band, generally conduct passport and visa checks on arriving passengers.
Nationwide, border force officers are supervised by higher border force officers (equivalent to higher executive officer grade/pay band) and supported by assistant border force officers (equivalent to administrative officer grade/pay band).
Border force officers receive induction training to perform the full range of immigration functions. Officers who have been trained to carry out customs activities
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are provided with further training, to enable them to conduct some immigration functions.
In the event of a critical incident, volunteer officers who have attended an additional training course, complemented by mentoring and online learning, may be deployed to check UK and other European Economic Area travel documents.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff were stationed in (a) Hull, (b) Grimsby and (c) Immingham in each year between 2000 and 2010. [81091]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency was established in 2008, therefore, we do not have any staffing figures prior to this. Staffing figures for the component parts of the UK Border Agency, the former Borders and Immigration Agency and the customs functions of HM Revenue and Customs, were maintained separately until they were merged on Home Office systems in April 2010. Therefore, the only accurate staffing figures we can provide are from April 2010, as follows. There were: 140 staff stationed in (a) Hull; no staff stationed in (b) Grimsby; and 71 staff based in (c) Immingham.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff are stationed in (a) Hull, (b) Immingham and (c) Grimsby. [81092]
Damian Green: There are 133 staff UK Border Agency stationed at (a) Hull, no staff stationed at (b) Grimsby and 73 staff stationed at (c) Immingham.
Security Vetting
Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to improve the operation of the criminal record status checks regime. [85729]
Lynne Featherstone: The Government have brought forward new provisions in the Protection of Freedoms Bill to allow an employer, with an applicant's consent, to check online whether a criminal record certificate contains all recent information.
This addresses a key recommendation from Mrs Sunita Mason's Review of the Criminal Records Regime and is a significant enhancement to the service provided by the Criminal Record Bureau, which will greatly assist the portability of certificates and reduce repeat applications.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
British Waterways: Pay
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average percentage change in basic salary was for (a) directors, (b) the lowest paid member of staff and (c) the median salaried member of staff at British Waterways in the latest period for which figures are available. [86170]
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Richard Benyon: In May 2011, the British Waterways annual pay review resulted in the following changes to basic salary over 2010-11:
(a) for directors: 0%;
(b) for those earning £21,000 and below: £250 consolidated into salary; and
(c) median salaried staff (i.e. those other than at (a) or (b)): 0%.
Food Labelling
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken on the labelling of cheese to inform people of the risks to health associated with unpasteurised cheeses. [85956]
Anne Milton: I have been asked to reply.
We are advised by the Food Standards Agency, which has responsibility for food safety and hygiene matters, that Regulation (EC) 853/2004 which lays down hygiene rules on foods of animal origin, requires that products made with raw milk must be clearly labelled with the words 'made with raw milk'. This includes labelling on the packaging, document, label, ring or collar accompanying or referring to the product. This point is expanded on in guidance which states that the labelling information concerning products made from raw milk applies up to the point of sale
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice her Department provides to the public on the consumption of unpasteurised cheeses. [85957]
Anne Milton: I have been asked to reply.
We are advised by the Food Standards Agency, which has responsibility for food safety and hygiene matters, that the Government advise vulnerable groups (pregnant women, children under five, elderly and immune-compromised) to avoid eating unpasteurised cheeses.
Coastal Areas
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the economic benefits of the coastal path. [86615]
Richard Benyon: An Impact Assessment of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 was published in March 2010. Annex 4 of the Impact Assessment included an assessment of the provisions on coastal access under Part 9 of that Act.
Departmental Audit
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria (a) her Department and (b) its public bodies use when deciding whether and when to hold an internal audit; and if she will make a statement. [85637]
Richard Benyon:
The internal audit programme is proposed on an annual basis by the organisation’s head of internal audit (HIA) and approved by its Audit and Risk Committee. It should cover the key systems of
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governance, risk management and internal control. Programmes of internal audit work are developed in accordance with Government Internal Audit Standards (GIAS) (based on International Internal Audit Standards), taking into account guidance on internal audit planning issued by HM Treasury. The key criteria established by these standards for deciding what to audit is risk to corporate/strategic objectives.
In the course of any year, the decision on whether to proceed with an audit will depend on the changing risk profile of the organisation. In addition, the HIA may decide to rely on available alternative sources of assurance rather than conduct an audit themselves.
DEFRA Executive agencies’ internal audit programmes comprise a mix of risk-based, process/systems, legislative and European Union compliance audits. Each organisation’s annual programme of work may or may not include indicative timings for audit work. The decision on when to hold an audit will take account of a number of factors including:
the nature of the risk;
the timing of previous and related assurances over the risk;
resource availability; and
the requirements of third parties who rely on internal audit work (e.g. the NAO and the EC).
Departmental Buildings
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) building and (b) refurbishment projects her Department plans in (i) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13; and what the cost of each such project will be. [74350]
Richard Benyon: The current significant projects for the core department which have been approved for 2011-12 are shown as follows. This consolidates both buildings and refurbishment projects as the two are often inseparable.
At present, no plans have been approved for 2012-13.
Departmental Civil Proceedings
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which organisations that have received funding from her Department have brought legal proceedings against her Department in the last five years; which such organisations were not successful in their actions; and whether her Department (a) applied and (b) was paid for costs in respect of such cases. [83887]
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Richard Benyon: None of the Department's arm's length bodies that are sponsored by, and receive funding from the Department have brought legal proceedings against the Department in the last five years.
Official Hospitality
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what receptions and events have been hosted by her Department since May 2010, including those sponsored by third parties. [84204]
Richard Benyon: There is no central record of all receptions and events the Department has hosted, and the Department will not be able to accurately collate this information without incurring disproportionate cost.
Procurement
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which services her Department has outsourced in each of the last five years. [84228]
Richard Benyon: The core Department outsourced its facilities services in April 2009, and the Information Technology services contract which was put in place in October 2004 was reviewed in 2009 and extended in February 2010. There were no other transfers of functions from the core Department to the private sector in the past five years.
Internships
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many unpaid and expenses-only internships there have been in (a) her Department and (b) public bodies for which she is responsible in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [78748]
Richard Benyon: For the period 1 November 2010 to 31 October 2011, there were two unpaid and expense-only internships, both in the Environment Agency, a non-departmental public body.
Parliamentary Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day received a substantive answer within five working days in each of the last six months. [85054]
Richard Benyon: The following table sets out details of written questions for answer on a named day that received a substantive answer within five working days.
|
|
Number of named day PQs received | Number answered on time | Proportion answered on time (percentage) |
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Eggs: Imports
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish any legal advice she received on the potential for the Government to implement a unilateral ban on the import of eggs from EU member states that have not complied with Directive 1999/74/EC. [86578]
Mr Paice: The Government's legal advice is protected by legal professional privilege. The Government's position is not ordinarily to waive the legal privilege attaching to any legal advice received.
Environmental Stewardship Scheme
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will consider awarding points under the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme for allowing permissive recreational access as an incentive to land managers. [86557]
Richard Benyon: Unlike Entry Level Stewardship, Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) is not based on a points system, but comprises individual multi-objective agreements in highly targeted areas and situations where maximum environmental outcomes can be achieved. It is not therefore possible to introduce points for provision of permissive access.
Flood Control: Finance
Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding her Department has allocated to flood prevention in each of the last three financial years. [85430]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA is due to spend £550 million in the current financial year on managing the risk of flooding and coastal erosion across England. This compares with £628 million in 2009-10, and £664 million in 2010-11. Over the four years of the 2010 spending review period, DEFRA expects to spend a total of £2.17 billion managing flood and coastal erosion risks in comparison with £2.32 billion during the previous four years. This is a reduction of 6%.
Floods: North-east England
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what flood and coastal environmental risk management schemes she plans for the north-east in the next 10 years. [85349]
Richard Benyon:
In May, the Government announced reforms to the national funding system. The new partnership approach to funding flood and coastal resilience means that money is potentially available to pay a share of the costs of any worthwhile scheme. The amount each
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scheme can receive depends on the number of households protected, the damages prevented, and any other benefits a scheme will bring. Where full funding cannot be justified, the shortfall can be made up through cost savings or by contributions from other sources. This will mean that, over time, local ambitions in terms of protection no longer need be constrained by issues of national budgetary affordability.
Decisions on flood and coastal erosion risk schemes to be delivered in the north-east are made by the Northumbria Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, with advice from the Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency has proposed the following 18 indicative schemes within the committee's area for 2012-13, at a combined cost of £26,575,000:
The schemes include those promoted directly by the Environment Agency as well as schemes being promoted directly by local authorities. The final programme for 2012-13 will be announced in February 2012. 12 of these schemes are being made possible by local contributions under the new partnership funding arrangements.
The Environment Agency also proposes to spend £2,149,000 in 2012-13 on the maintenance of existing schemes, improvements to flood forecasting, mapping and warning and on studies for future schemes. It is working with local stakeholders on a programme of further flood and coastal environmental risk schemes it hopes will be implemented over the next 10 years.
Land: Sustainable Development
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department plans to maintain national sustainable development indicator (a) 25 on land recycling and (b) 26 on dwelling density; and if she will make a statement. [85362]
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Richard Benyon: The Government are committed to publishing a revised set of sustainable development indicators. DEFRA officials are discussing individual indicators with the relevant Government Departments, in this case the Department for Communities and Local Government. No decisions have yet been made on which measures will continue as sustainable development indicators but, in the new year, we shall be undertaking a public consultation on proposals. In the interests of making the sustainable development indicators more effective at highlighting priorities and challenges, the number of indicators may be reduced, but in most cases measures that are no longer included in the set will nevertheless continue to be reported in their own right by the relevant Department.
Waste Disposal: Lighting
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consideration she has given to providing advice to consumers on dealing with broken energy-saving light bulbs; and if she will make a statement. [82467]
Richard Benyon: Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) contain a small amount of mercury in order to operate. Since 1 September 2010, it has been a legal obligation under EU Regulation 244/2009 for anyone placing lamps containing mercury on the market to provide instructions on free-access websites that explain how to clean up lamp debris in case of accidental lamp breakage.
In addition, the Health Protection Agency provides advice on how to clean up broken CFLs on its website.
Nature Conservation: EU Law
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which special areas of conservation are covered by the European Habitats Directive; and which special protection areas are covered by the European Birds Directive. [84838]
Richard Benyon: All special areas of conservation (SAC) are designated under articles 3 and 4 of the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). All special protection areas (SPA) are designated under article 4 of the EU Wild Birds Directive (2009/147/EC—codified version).
European protected site information can be found on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website.
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish an environmental impact assessment of the proposal to review implementation of the European Habitats and Wild Birds Directive. [85272]
Richard Benyon: The review of implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives will take full account of the need to maintain the integrity of the purpose of the directives. If any proposals arising from the review require impact assessments these will be carried out at the appropriate time.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason her Department plans to conduct a review of how well the EU Habitats and Wild Birds Directives are being applied in England. [85366]
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Richard Benyon: As announced in the Autumn Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), DEFRA will conduct an in-depth review of how the EU Habitats and Birds Directives are currently being implemented in England, working with stakeholders and other Government Departments.
The vast majority of development cases successfully meet the directives' requirements without undue delays, but a small number raise particularly complex issues which can give rise to delays. The review will look at the reasons behind this and seek to identify solutions, engaging interested parties in its work, while maintaining the integrity of the purpose of the directives.
Noise: National Policy Statements
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to update the Noise Policy Statement for England. [86167]
Richard Benyon: There are currently no plans to update the Noise Policy Statement for England 2010. However, as we stated in the 2011 Natural Environment White Paper, the Government are committed to delivering the Noise Policy Statement for England with its long-term vision of promoting good health and good quality of life. This will be achieved through the effective management of noise in the context of the Government's policy on sustainable development.
Pollution: EU Law
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) for what reason her Department plans to conduct a review of the implementation of the EU ambient air quality directive; [85367]
(2) for what reason she plans to review the implementation of the EU national emissions ceiling directive; [85368]
Richard Benyon: In March, the European Commission published their Staff Working Paper on the implementation of EU air quality policy and preparations for their comprehensive review. The paper makes clear that proposals to revise ambient air quality and national emission ceilings legislation are expected in 2013. Existing legislation includes provisions for such reviews.
Postcodes
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department uses postcodes for purposes other than the postage of mail. [84203]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA uses postcodes to identify particular areas on mapping databases and in analysis of spatial data to support a range of departmental activities; for example: analysis of rural statistics and animal disease control.
Rights of Way
Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to improve the ease with which incorrectly identified rights of way can be corrected. [85799]
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Richard Benyon: In the Government White Paper: “The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature”, DEFRA announced that it will consult on simplifying and streamlining the processes for recording and making changes to public rights of way, based on proposals made by Natural England's working group on unrecorded rights of way. I am currently considering the options for this consultation and expect to make an announcement in due course.
Rural Areas: Renewable Energy
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to launch her proposed Rural Community Renewable Energy Fund. [85483]
Richard Benyon: Further details about the Government's Rural Community Renewable Energy Fund, including its funding, management and operation, will be published in the new year.
Waste Management: Exports
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of waste were exported from the UK for treatment abroad in each of the last five years; and what proportion of the UK’s waste this represented. [84288]
Richard Benyon: The following table details the tonnage of waste exported from England and Wales for the last five years under the system of pre-notification to the Environment Agency under the EU waste shipments regulation. These permitted shipments are mainly hazardous wastes shipped to EU member states and members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
| Exports of waste from England and Wales | |||
| Tonnes | |||
|
|
Disposal | Recovery | Total |
In addition to this notified waste, DEFRA estimates that approximately 15 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste is exported each year for recovery including recycling, which represents around 5% of the UK’s waste. As this waste may be exported without pre-notification and under commercial controls, the Environment Agency does not collect data about these shipments.
Water Supply
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the options for (a) water supply and (b) billing of those receiving water via resale; and if she will make a statement. [86207]
Richard Benyon:
Water resale commonly occurs in mobile home parks, flats, apartments and other rented or leasehold accommodation. Under section 150 of the
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Water Industry Act 1991, Ofwat have the power to make an order fixing the maximum resale price for water or sewerage services, either by specifying the maximum amount of the charge or by specifying how the maximum price should be calculated.
Ofwat have said in their forward programme for 2011-12 to 2013-14 that they will review the water resale order in 2012 to ensure it remains appropriate.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to answer questions (a) 74350, (b) 74351, (c) 74352 and (d) 74353 tabled by the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan on 12 October 2011. [83837]
Richard Benyon: I apologise to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan. My answers on (a) 74350 and (b) 74351 will be published shortly. My answer on (c) 74352, was published on 23 November 2011, Official Report, 424W and (d) 74353, was published on 30 November 2011, Official Report, 942W.
Scotland
Broadband
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on increasing the take-up of new high speed broadband in Scotland. [86203]
David Mundell: Scotland Office Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on a range of issues including broadband. I attended the Ministerial Group on Broadband, most recently on 10 October 2011.
Food Labelling
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) whether food and catering services in his Department plan to implement calorie labelling on menus and display boards; [85850]
(2) what steps the food and catering services in his Department are taking to ensure the country of origin of foods are labelled on its menus and display boards. [85851]
David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not have food and catering services.
Departmental Secondment
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what secondments there have been to his Department from (a) industry and (b) the third sector since May 2010; what the (i) purpose and (ii) duration is of each secondment; and whether each secondment was to a policy development role. [86145]
David Mundell: There have been no secondments to the Scotland Office from (a) industry and (b) the third sector since May 2010.
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Parliamentary Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what proportion of questions for ordinary written answer received a substantive response within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30 and (d) more than 30 sitting days in the 2010-12 session to date. [85920]
David Mundell: This information is not available in the form requested.
From the start of the 2010-12 Session to 30 November 2011, the Scotland Office answered 444 (90%) of ordinary written parliamentary questions on time.
The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide this 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.
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last had a discussion with the Scottish Government on the extension of the proposed High Speed 2 line to the Scottish border. [86360]
David Mundell: My officials and I are in regular contact with counterparts in the Scottish Government in regard to the High Speed 2 project. We look forward to having more detailed discussions if and when the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), approves proposals for the initial phases of the project, for construction of a line from London to the West Midlands, and north to Manchester and Leeds.
Housing Benefit: Carers
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has (a) held discussions and (b) corresponded with (i) the Scottish Government, (ii) the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and (iii) children’s charities in Scotland on the effect of the planned introduction of an under-occupancy limit for housing benefit on foster carers of working age in Scotland. [86205]
David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore), and officials from the Scotland Office are in contact with these organisations on a range of issues concerning the Government’s reform of the welfare and benefits system.
Public Houses
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions officials in his Department have had with their counterparts in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on their response to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee's inquiry into pub companies insofar as it relates to Scotland. [86397]
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David Mundell: Officials in BIS have been in contact with their counterparts in the Scotland Office and in the Office of the Advocate-General in respect of this inquiry. Following investigation, the OFT found no evidence of competition problems in the pub industry having a significant impact on consumers. It was concluded that legally binding self-regulation of pub companies, or 'pubcos', could be introduced far more quickly than any statutory solution. Officials in OAG confirmed that the code of practice can be made legally binding under Scots law by contract or incorporation into, or variation of, leases; the legal principles are similar to those in England and Wales.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to ensure social value is included when services are commissioned by (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies; and if he will make a statement. [85653]
John Penrose: This Department and its Executive agency, the Royal Parks, try to commission services that encompass economic, social and environmental aspects. Usually this is included within the statement of requirements. Other centralised contracts are commissioned by Cabinet Office directly.
Education
Capita
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many contracts his Department has awarded to Capita since May 2010; and what the (a) purpose, (b) monetary value and (c) net worth was of each such contract. [84746]
Tim Loughton: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt) on 5 July 2011, Official Report, column 1138W.
Child Protection Review
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made on implementation of the recommendations of the Munro report into child protection. [86572]
Tim Loughton: Good progress is being made across the full range of commitments in the Government response published in July.
We are reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for the front line to use their professional judgment through revisions to “Working Together to Safeguard Children” and the “Framework of Assessment for Children in Need and their Families”. There will be a formal consultation from early 2012 and we will publish revised statutory guidance by July 2012. A multi-disciplinary professional advisory group is advising us on this work.
Government, Ofsted and the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) have come together with a range of other partners to develop and agree local
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child safeguarding performance information that puts professional expertise, rather than process, at the heart of local quality assurance. This is now published on the Department's website and we will be consulting in the new year on national performance information.
Over the summer, Ofsted consulted on local authority child protection inspection arrangements that are more child centred. These new arrangements will begin in May 2012. All relevant inspectorates have also now agreed in principle to Professor Munro's proposed model of joint inspection to ensure that the contribution of all local services to safeguarding is examined. The inspectorates are working through what such a model will look like and when it will begin, and will give a progress update by end March 2012.
On 31 October we published a co-produced work programme, “Safeguarding Children in the reformed NHS”. Phase one is under way, led by the Chief Nursing Officer. Stakeholders will be consulted on the draft Accountabilities Framework in January 2012.
We have been working with partners to consider the best route to secure Professor Munro's vision of a transparent and co-ordinated offer of early help for children and families. We have engaged with partners in ADCS, health, police and education and have concluded that we do not need a new statutory duty to deliver early help and that there is sufficient existing legislation to realise Professor Munro's recommendation. We will continue to work with partners to clarify existing legislation to emphasise the importance of early help. In the meantime we encourage local areas to continue to work to provide early help for the compelling arguments that Professor Munro articulated.
We are working with eight local authorities to trial more flexible approaches to assessment. The evidence from these trials is being evaluated now. The emerging findings are encouraging and suggest that both removing the distinction between the initial and core assessments and replacing nationally prescribed time scales for assessment with timely, professional judgments can have the positive impact on practice envisaged by Professor Munro. Some of these trials have been running for only a few months and we need to explore further the impact of these changes, especially for children and young people. For this reason we have extended the trials to run until 31 March 2012 and will be consulting on flexibilities as part of the “Working Together” consultation next year.
After consultation, and a market sounding exercise, we have taken the decision to decommission the National electronic Common Assessment Framework system (National eCAF). This is consistent with Professor Munro's view that we should remove constraints to local innovation and professional judgment that are created by prescribing approaches such as national IT systems. We will work with the current users of the system over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition. As part of the decommissioning process we will consider the options to secure value out of the Government owned assets.
Our reforms of child protection are underpinned by workforce reform, in particular reform of the social work profession which is being led by the Social Work Reform Board and the College of Social Work.
The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and the College of Social Work are supporting
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local authorities in designating a Principal Child and Family Social Worker in every local area. These roles will play a key part in redesigning child and family social work. The Department for Education and the Department of Health have been making preparations for the appointment of a Chief Social Worker to advise Government on social work practice and the effectiveness of help being provided to children, families and adults. We are confident that the Chief Social Worker will be in post in 2012, ahead of the timeline envisaged in the Government's response.
We are clarifying and strengthening accountabilities in the system and taking action to improve learning from Serious Case Reviews.
We are currently consulting on new guidance for DCSs and Lead Members so that we have real clarity about their roles. My officials and I have also held discussions with groups of Local Safeguarding Children Boards Chairs to consider what might be done to strengthen their central role in challenging and monitoring the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements and we will be exploring options with stakeholders over coming weeks. This will build on our reforms around learning, early help, inspection and performance information which emphasise the importance of LSCBs.
Improving learning from serious incidents is critical to driving improvements in practice in child protection. Following Professor Munro's recommendation to use systems methodologies for Serious Case Reviews (SCR), we are considering how the Social Care Institute for Excellence's (SCIE) “Learning Together” model can be developed further for use in SCRs. I announced last month that Coventry LSCB would pilot the SCIE model and we have now agreed that Lancashire LSCB will also carry out a pilot. While the pilots are in progress, my officials are also exploring, learning from sectors such as aviation and health, other ways of ensuring effective, sustained learning from serious incidents embedded in everyday practice, with greater transparency and accountability. We will consult formally on new arrangements for SCRs next year.
We have been working with Ofsted to develop transitional arrangements in response to Professor Munro's recommendation to end Ofsted's evaluation of SCRs. From January 2012, Ofsted evaluations of SCRs will be more streamlined with a greater focus on identifying and embedding learning in order to support improvements in professional practice.
Implementing the Munro recommendations requires a shift in mindset. The Government response was not intended to be seen as a one-off set of recommended solutions to be imposed from the centre, but a joint venture between central Government, local agencies, local authorities and professionals. Our reforms are designed to shift the focus of the child protection system on to the things that matter most: the views and experiences of children and young people.
Children in Care
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will expand the destination codes in the SSDA903 return to identify when a child runs away from care or is abducted or trafficked. [82417]
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Tim Loughton: The Department has no plans to expand the codes under which local authorities provide statistical returns on children missing from care, as this will lead to an unnecessary increase in reporting requirements. It is the responsibility of local authorities to safeguard and promote the well-being of children in care, and they will hold more detailed information on each child who has gone missing from their care.
Mr Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to encourage local authorities to share good practice and reduce poor performance in providing services for looked-after children. [85254]
Tim Loughton: We have made clear that we want to see rapid improvements in the quality of support given to looked-after children, and in the volume and timeliness of adoption where this is in the child's best interest. It is therefore essential to bring all authorities up to the standards of the best. The new Children in Care and Adoption Performance Tables, published on 31 October and being updated this month, show the extent of the variations in performance between different authorities, and where improvements need to be made.
Local authorities need to ensure that they draw on best practice and make full use of evidence based interventions such as Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care. We will continue to support them in doing this, and to help maximise the impact of well-informed local support and challenge from independent reviewing officers, virtual school heads, children in care councils and voluntary sector networks.
A full set of streamlined, more coherent regulations and guidance came into force in April, and revised national minimum standards have also been published. The Foster Carers' Charter now sets out clear principles for how foster carers should be supported and our programme of improvement for children's homes includes support for the sharing of good practice and identifying and tackling weaknesses.
Children in Care: Finance
Mr Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the appropriate level for the leaving care grant set by local authorities; and whether he is taking steps to ensure that variability between local authorities in setting such grants is reduced. [85255]
Tim Loughton: The Department does not collect information on the level of setting up home allowances, sometimes known as leaving care grants, determined by individual local authorities. Statutory guidance on the Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010 emphasises how important it is for local authorities to provide transparent and accessible information about the leaving care support they offer, including through the payment of setting up home allowances. The guidance explains that local authorities should consult young people, particularly through Children in Care Councils, in deciding the right level of allowance.
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Children: Autism
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many students with autism are enrolled in mainstream schools in (a) Greater London, (b) the London borough of Havering and (c) Romford; [83141]
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(2) how many students with autism are enrolled in specialist schools in (a) Greater London, (b) the London borough of Havering and (c) Romford. [83142]
Sarah Teather: The requested information is shown in the following table:
| State-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools (1,2,3,4) : Number and percentage of pupils with autistic spectrum disorder (5,6) —January 2011, England, Greater London, Havering local authority and Romford parliamentary constituency | ||||||||
| Pupils with statements of SEN or at School Action Plus with autistic spectrum disorder (5,6) | ||||||||
| State-funded primary schools (1,2) | State-funded secondary schools (1,3) | Special schools (4) | Total (1,2,3,4) | |||||
|
|
No. | % (7) | No. | % (7) | No. | % (7) | No. | % (7) |
| n/a = Not applicable. No schools of this type. (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies. (3) Includes city technology and secondary academies. (4) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (5) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. (6) Information on primary need, and if appropriate, secondary need, is collected for pupils at School Action Plus and those pupils with a statement of SEN. Information on primary need only is given here. (7) Number of pupils with autistic spectrum disorder expressed as a percentage of the corresponding population of pupils at School Action Plus or with a statement of SEN in the same geographical cohort. (8) National and regional totals have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: School Census | ||||||||
Information on type of special educational need at local authority level is available in the ‘Special Educational Needs in England: January 2011’ Statistical First Release (Tables 23 to 25) which can be found at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001007/index.shtml
Children: Day Care
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will estimate the total funding from the public purse for child care (a) in total and (b) per capita for (i) Birmingham, (ii) Newcastle, (iii) Wakefield, (iv) Manchester, (v) Leeds, (vi) Liverpool, (vii) Coventry, (viii) Bristol, (ix) Sheffield, (x) Bradford, (xi) Leicester and (xii) Nottingham in each of the next five years. [82765]
Sarah Teather: The Department funds local authorities to provide free early education places (of 15 hours per week for 38 weeks a year) for all three and four-year-olds and some disadvantaged two-year-olds. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), announced in his autumn statement on 29 November 2011, Official Report, columns 799-810, that the commitment to give free early education to disadvantaged two-year-olds will now be extended from 20% to 40% of two-year-olds by 2014-15. This will mean additional funding of £73 million in 2012-13, £203 million in 2013-14 and £380 million in 2014-15, bringing the total funding for two-year-old places to £296 million, £534 million and £760 million in these years.
Funding for places for three and four-year-olds is provided through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) which funds education for all children aged three to 16. Funding for places for disadvantaged two-year-olds is provided through the early intervention grant (EIG) which also funds a range of other children’s services. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how much of the DSG, EIG or other local authority funds to allocate for free early education places.
Local authorities report their planned funding allocations through the annual section 251 financial return. From this information, an estimate of the funding allocated in 2011-12 for free early education places for two, three and four-year-olds and other early years spend in each of the named local authorities is provided in the following table. However, this may not represent the full spend on early years and child care services by the local authority. Further information on local authority allocations is available at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/financeandfunding/section251/b00197958/s251-workbooks-budget-2011-12
| £ | |||
| Early years | |||
| Local authority | EIG or other | DSG | Total |
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The Department does not hold information on the funding per capita for child care or on funding projections for the next five years in each local authority area. The Government also provide financial support towards the cost of child care, for working parents, through the child care element of working tax credit and through tax relief on employer supported child care.