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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Health
Departmental Data Protection
Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) data loss and (b) breaches of confidentiality occurred in his Department in 2011. [94252]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department requires staff to report losses of personal or business sensitive data, and breaches of personal confidentiality.
No data losses or breaches of confidentiality have been recorded for 2011.
Food Procurement
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of food purchased by his Department was produced in the UK in each of the last five years. [93715]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department has a contract with Quadrant Catering Ltd to provide services to the Department's staff restaurants and for hospitality services. Quadrant Catering is part of Compass Group UK and Ireland.
Data are only available for the last two years, which show the proportion of food sourced from United Kingdom producers is:
2010-11: 20%
2011-12 to date: 38%.
With regards to the sourcing from UK producers, our catering suppliers have provided the following information:
“We have defined British as guaranteed British provenance which can be fully traced back to the source, i.e. food that has been grown and harvested or born, bred and slaughtered in the UK. Where the product is of mixed origin we have not defined this as sourced from the UK.”
Where it is possible, our catering supplier will use local produce and can confirm that:
100% of their fresh beef is British;
100% of their fresh pork joints is British;
100% of their fresh milk is British;
100% of shell eggs are UK sourced and Lion marked; and
all of their fresh potatoes and root vegetables are sourced from UK when in season.
Departmental Training
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many away days his Department has held since May 2010; what the location was of each such away day; how many staff attended; and what the cost was of each such event. [93845]
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Mr Simon Burns: The Department and its agencies are strongly committed to developing their staff and equipping them with the skills, knowledge and expertise they need to carry out their work roles effectively. Away days and team building events make a significant contribution to such development.
Away days and team building activities are typically arranged by individual teams. No central records of these events are kept so extracting the requested data would incur disproportionate costs.
Diabetes
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of progress in implementing the National Service Framework for diabetes; and if he will make a statement; [94012]
(2) what progress he has made on the National Service Framework for diabetes; and if he will make a statement. [94077]
Paul Burstow: “Six years on: delivering the Diabetes National Service Framework”, the last review of the National Services Framework (NSF) was published in 2010—a copy has been placed in the Library. Predictably, there have been developments in the evidence for optimal care for people with diabetes since the publication of the NSF for Diabetes in 2001 and, with this in mind, further reviews will be dependent on other influences such as the Quality Standard for Diabetes (2011). Our intention is to wait for the National Audit Office to publish its report on the management of adult diabetes services in the national health service before considering next steps.
Drugs: Counterfeit Manufacturing
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to prevent the sale of counterfeit medicine. [93329]
Mr Simon Burns: Counterfeit medicines rarely reach patients through the regulated supply chain and are more commonly available to consumers via unregulated websites. Although no fatalities have been attributed to counterfeit medicine in the United Kingdom, it is acknowledged that all counterfeit medicines are dangerous and pose a risk to patient health.
In response, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an executive agency of the Department of Health with responsibility for regulation of medicines for human use and medical devices, has developed and implemented a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting strategy to combat the threat posed by the infiltration of counterfeit medicines and devices into the UK market.
A number of public awareness campaigns have been delivered, both by MHRA and also by MHRA in conjunction with other stakeholders such as the General Pharmaceutical Council and patient groups.
The MHRA monitors the internet for websites operating within the UK supplying medicines illegally, makes test purchases from these sites and, as a result, has successfully prosecuted a number of individuals. All referrals involving suspected counterfeit medicines are investigated thoroughly and necessary action is taken to protect public health.
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Enforcement activity is closely co-ordinated with other enforcement authorities around the world and MHRA regularly engages in international initiatives to tackle this issue.
The MHRA also chairs an anti-counterfeit stakeholders group, with representatives from, among others, UK police forces, regulators and industry, where intelligence concerning counterfeit medicines is regularly reviewed and assessed.
New requirements for wholesalers and distributors of medicines will be introduced by the falsified medicines directive in January 2013. Further proposals affecting the pharmaceutical industry are being considered as part of the UK supply chain review.
Gynaecology: Medical Treatments
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that women with symptomatic fibroids have access to a range of treatments, including Uterine Artery Embolisation. [94082]
Anne Milton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published guidelines on Uterine Artery Embolisation for fibroids in November 2010. It is for the national health service to take account of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines when determining treatment options.
www.nhs.uk
includes detailed information for patients on fibroids, treatment options and where treatment is available. Information for patients with fibroids can be found at:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/fibroids/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Health Services: Greater London
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS North West London has budgeted for (a) establishing the eight clinical commissioning groups, (b) staff redundancies at primary care trusts and (c) hospital or other NHS service merger or closure proposals in North West London in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [93763]
Mr Simon Burns: This information is not centrally held. The hon. Member may wish to approach the relevant local national health service organisations.
Hinchingbrooke Hospital: Food
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Hinchingbrooke hospital is required to comply with Government buying standards for food and catering services. [94092]
Mr Simon Burns: Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust is required to comply with the same laws, regulations and standards that all other national health service trusts are required to follow.
NHS trusts are encouraged to adopt the Government buying standards for food and catering services through the 2011-12 NHS operating framework.
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Hospitals: Greater London
Dame Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times were for (a) private and (b) NHS patients for diagnosis and treatment of (i) cancer, (ii) orthopaedic and (iii) cardiovascular conditions at (A) Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and (B) King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in the latest period for which figures are available. [92657]
Mr Simon Burns: Statistics covering waiting times for privately commissioned services are not held centrally.
National health service patients referred urgently with a suspicion of cancer by their general practitioner should, if diagnosed, expect to begin their first definitive treatment within two months of referral unless it is clinically inappropriate or the patient elects to delay their care. In the most recent period for which statistics are available (Quarter 2, 2011-12) achievement against this requirement was as follows:
| Number of patients urgently referred and subsequently treated for cancer | |||
| Organisation | Number of patients, urgently referred and subsequently treated for cancer | Number treated within two months (62 days) | Percentage treated within two months (62 days) |
Such information as is collected for referral to treatment (RTT) times for the trusts requested are as follows:
| Admitted pathways (patients who started treatment during November as an admission to hospital) | ||||
| Provider name | Treatment function | Average (median) waiting time (in weeks) | 95th percentile waiting time (in weeks) | Percentage within 18 weeks |
| Non admitted pathways (patients who started treatment during November not involving an admission to hospital) | ||||
| Provider name | Treatment function | Average (median) waiting time (in weeks) | 95th percentile waiting time (in weeks) | Percentage within 18 weeks |
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| Incomplete Pathways (patients waiting to start treatment at the end of November) | ||||
| Provider name | Treatment function | Average (median) waiting time (in weeks) | 95th percentile waiting time (in weeks) | Percentage within 18 weeks |
| (1 )No pathways for this treatment function. (2 )Median and 95th Percentile waiting times cannot be accurately estimated with less then 50 pathways in the month. Note: Median and 95th percentile times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits. Source: Unify2 data collection—RTT (provider) Published: 19 January 2012 | ||||
In Vitro Fertilisation
Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of IVF treatment. [94299]
Anne Milton: The Department does not collect this information. However, the Department is aware that a small number of primary care trusts have been taking steps to bring their historical financial problems in order, including temporary reductions to some non-urgent health services, such as infertility services. We very much regret the impact these decisions may have had on the people who rely on these services.
Primary care trusts are well aware of their statutory commissioning responsibilities and the need to base commissioning decisions on clinical evidence and discussions with local general practitioner commissioners, secondary care clinicians and providers. The national health service deputy chief executive, David Flory, wrote
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to primary care trust commissioners last year to highlight to those involved in commissioning fertility services the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence fertility guidelines, including the recommendation that up to three cycles of in vitro fertilisation are offered to eligible couples where the woman is aged between 23 and 39.
Influenza: Vaccination
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on each major cost area in the seasonal influenza immunisation programme in 2012. [94556]
Anne Milton: The total cost of the seasonal flu vaccination programme is approximately £180 million each year.
Mental Illness: Drugs
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts on the procurement of drugs for the treatment of mental health disorders. [94309]
Paul Burstow: The Department has not issued guidance to primary care trusts specifically on the procurement of drugs for the treatment of mental health conditions.
The Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention Medicines Use and Procurement workstream aims to influence clinicians and managers to work together to improve the productivity and quality of prescribing in the national health service. Under this workstream, the Department has produced a provider checklist of 50 efficiency measures to help strategic health authorities and primary care trusts deliver safer, more cost-effective prescribing. The schemes are real life examples taken from many NHS organisations in England. Three of the 50 schemes, relate specifically to mental health. They advise that primary care prescribing costs may be reduced if local NHS organisations draw up guidelines to support the lowest acquisition cost of antidepressant/antipsychotic medicines. The guidance is clear that this must not impact on individual patient choice and should be in line with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance. None relate specifically to procurement.
Much of the NICE'S guidance on mental health will include something on the most appropriate drugs to use in clinical practice. NICE has produced commissioning guides for some of its mental health clinical guidelines. However, this cannot be interpreted as guidance on procurement.
NHS: Reconfiguration
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many pieces of guidance his Department has issued to the National Health Service on the Health and Social Care Bill; and how much was spent on issuing such guidance; [93662]
(2) how many pieces of guidance his Department has issued to the National Health Service since May 2010 on NHS modernisation; and how much was spent on issuing such guidance. [93663]
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Mr Simon Burns: The requirements for national health service organisations are set out in an annual NHS operating framework, three of which have been produced since May 2010: “Revision to the Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2010-11” was published in June 2010, “The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2011-12” was published in December 2010 and “The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2012-13” was published in November 2011. Each of those documents set out what was required around modernisation in each year and they have been supplemented by routine correspondence during the year.
NHS operating frameworks are communicated to NHS organisations through electronic means and as such the costs of issuing them is minimal. A copy of each has already been placed in the Library.
NHS: Private Sector
Dame Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Secretary of State has any plans to issue a revised version of A Code of Conduct for Private Practice: Recommended Standards of Practice for NHS Consultants, published in January 2004. [92687]
Mr Simon Burns: We have no such plans. The latest version of this Code was published on 23 March 2009, amended to reflect the Department's guidance on patients paying for additional private care.
NHS: Standards
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of Best Practice Tariffs on improving quality and spreading best practice in the NHS. [94080]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department of Health Payment by Results team have commissioned an evaluation of Best Practice Tariffs introduced in 2010-11.
The evaluation will provide structured qualitative and quantitative information regarding the impact of Best Practice Tariffs in order to evaluate the effectiveness of using the national tariff as a lever to improve, clinical quality.
The outcomes and recommendations of the evaluation are currently subject to peer review and we anticipate that these will be published in spring 2012.
In advance of the publication, we can confirm that we are receiving positive feedback relating to how the best practice tariffs are helping to change existing practice and engage clinicians and managers.
An example of this would be the ‘National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) National Report 2011’, which indicates that “the implementation of BPT in England has served to promote interest, better resourcing, service improvement, and better outcomes in hip fracture care” (page 57). A copy of the report has been placed in the Library and is available from the NHFD website:
www.nhfd.co.uk/
NHS: Training
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to enable clinical commissioners to (a) undertake formal training and (b) obtain qualifications in commissioning. [93768]
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Mr Simon Burns: Healthcare commissioning has generic and specialist elements and is multidisciplinary in nature. Individuals are recruited to ensure that commissioning can benefit from a number of professional and specialist skills, for example, healthcare professionals from a range of disciplines, public health communications specialists as well as those with finance, accountancy, procurement, statistical and informatics skills. The requirement for individuals to have formal qualifications will be set out in job descriptions and reflected both in the recruitment processes for individuals and in terms of ongoing development for individuals.
All emerging clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will receive a broad range of development support from their primary care trust and strategic health authority.
This includes financial support as well as assigning key personnel to them who have expert skills, such as senior finance managers and people with commissioning expertise and experience. A pathfinder learning network has been established to support the development of emerging CCGs and to facilitate shared learning during the transition.
The NHS Leadership Academy is working with clinical commissioning stakeholder organisations, regional commissioning directors and others to develop and build clinical leadership and clinical commissioning capacity.
Nutrition
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to make any further investment in his Supermeals campaign. [94055]
Anne Milton: The recent Supermeals campaign was part of the ongoing Change4Life programme aimed at encouraging and supporting people to make small but significant lifestyle changes to improve their health. Consumer insights told us that people sometimes think eating healthier is more expensive and difficult and also that people who plan their shopping and their meals are more likely to make healthier choices. A full evaluation of the campaign is now under way and a decision on any future campaign will be subject to a complete analysis of the results as well as subject to Efficiency and Reform Group approval.
Obesity: Leicestershire
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much and what proportion of its budget Leicester City Primary Care Trust has spent on bariatric surgery since January 2011. [94128]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is not available. The National Health Service Information Centre for health and social care provides a count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)(1) where bariatric surgery was a main or secondary procedure(2). Data for Leicester City Primary Care Trust for January to March 2011, and provisional data(3) for April to September 2011, are given in the following table:
| FCEs | |
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| (1) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. (2) The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and four prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. For example, patients under going a 'cataract operation' would tend to have at least two procedures—removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one—counted in a single episode. (3) These data are provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made. Counts produced from provisional data are likely to be lower than those generated for the same period in the final dataset. This shortfall will be most pronounced in the final month of the latest period, ie November from the (month nine) April to November extract. It is also probable that clinical data are not complete, which may in particular affect the last two months of any given period. There may also be errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. | |
Cyberknife Treatment
Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many patients from Northern Ireland have been refused referral for cyberknife treatment in England; [94118]
(2) what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on the referral of cyberknife treatment for patients in Northern Ireland; [94242]
(3) how many patients from health trusts outside the Greater London area have been referred for cyberknife treatment; [94243]
(4) what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on the criteria for referring a patient in Northern Ireland for cyberknife treatment in another part of the UK; [94244]
(5) what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on the procedure for transferring a patient in need of cyberknife treatment for treatment in another part of the UK; [94245]
(6) how many patients from Northern Ireland have been successfully referred for cyberknife treatment in England. [94246]
Paul Burstow: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), has held no discussions about cyberknife with his counterpart in Northern Ireland and the Department holds no information concerning the referral of patients from Northern Ireland for cyberknife treatment in England.
Cyberknife is the manufacturer's name for a machine. The treatment it delivers is stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (previously known as stereotactic body radiotherapy). There are a number of different machines capable of delivering this treatment in use around the country that offer greater functionality.
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Hospital episode statistics (HES) data available to the Department identify the treatments that the national health service provides but do not record the brand of equipment used. In addition to this, on the vast majority of cases, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy cannot be identified from other forms of radiotherapy treatment using HES data.
Social Services
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered social workers were employed by local authorities in England in adult services in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011. [94147]
Paul Burstow: The number of registered social workers employed by local authorities is not centrally collected.
However, the Health and Social Care Information Centre collects and publishes data relating to the number of social workers who are directly employed by social services departments within councils with social services responsibilities in England. It is not known whether these social workers are registered.
The following table shows the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) social workers employed by councils in England during the period 2009 to 2010 as at 30 September 2010.
Data for 2011 are expected to be published on 29 March 2012. These data will be sourced from the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care and so will not be comparable with previous years.
| Number of WTE social workers employed by councils in England, as at 30 September | |
| WTE social workers | |
UNUM
Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions officials in his Department have met representatives from UNUM; and on how many occasions representatives from UNUM have met members of advisory committees and working groups for his Department. [93958]
Mr Simon Burns: We are not aware of any meetings between officials and UNUM. However, Dame Carol Black, expert adviser on health and work to the Department, met them on three occasions in January 2012 to discuss the positive relationship between work and health.
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the types of discounts on council tax payment are that he proposes local authorities will be able to extinguish under the provisions of the Local Government Finance Bill; [93949]
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(2) what the current exemptions from council tax liability are; and what exemptions he proposes local authorities will be able to amend under the provisions of the Local Government Finance Bill. [93950]
Robert Neill [holding answer 6 February 2012]:The current exemptions from liability for council tax are listed as follows. In their consultation, “Technical Reforms for Council Tax”, the Government proposed to allow local authorities to charge full council tax on second homes and to abolish class A and C exemptions, and instead allow authorities to set a discount of between 0 and 100%. In addition, we proposed to abolish class L exemption and instead make Mortgagees in possession liable for council tax. In order to meet the time constraints of the legislative programme, it was necessary to include clauses within the Local Government Finance Bill. The consultation has now ended and responses are being analysed. We will bring forward Government amendments to the Bill to make any changes that we consider appropriate in the light of the consultation.
These reforms could allow councils to make up to a £20 reduction in the bill for a typical band D property in England. Getting empty homes back into use will increase housing supply and tackle properties that can attract squatters and vandalism and blight communities.
There are no plans to change the rules on council tax relief currently available for homes left empty because a person has moved into a hospital or care home, or has died, or has moved to provide care to another. Councils will be encouraged to use their existing powers to apply discretionary discounts in cases where homes are empty due to other justifiable circumstances—for example, hardship, fire or flooding.
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Departmental Redundancy Pay
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much redundancy pay was paid to civil servants in his Department in each month between September and November 2011. [87967]
Robert Neill: The following table shows the total costs of voluntary and compulsory redundancy payments made to staff in each month between September and November 2011. In some cases these include the whole cost of actuarial buy out of pension which is a feature of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. This means the amounts include elements which are paid to staff over time.
| £ | |
As part of the spending review settlement, the DCLG Group is making a collective 33% real terms saving against its running costs by 2014-15. This equates to savings of over £200 million by 2014-15. In addition, the Department will save a further £190 million from the closure of the Government offices for the regions, taking overall savings on administrative running costs to 42% across the DCLG Group by 2014-15.
These savings reflect the coalition Government's agenda of decentralisation, ending the micromanagement of local government, the abolition of regional government, and the broader need to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration.
Exit costs are higher (by historic standards) in 2010-11 due to the closure of the Government office for the regions and measures taken to reduce running costs across the departmental family.
Departmental Travel Costs
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010. [92840]
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Robert Neill: The Department has no contracts with taxi companies.
Housing Benefit
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have made representations to his Department on the potential effects of reductions to local housing allowances since September 2010. [93934]
Grant Shapps: Ministers and officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government are in regular contact with local authorities across a range of issues.
Local housing allowance rates in some areas are too high and give some Housing benefit customers access to properties that even people with above average incomes could not afford. This was not fair to the taxpayer and could not be sustained, we therefore had to make changes to local housing allowance by introducing housing benefit caps and moving to the 30th percentile of local market rents. We want people to continue to have access to decent housing but the support provided needs to be founded on principles of fairness, affordability and making work pay.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of correspondence received by his Department from local authorities on the potential effects of reductions in local housing allowance on (a) homelessness and (b) local authority budgets. [93935]
Grant Shapps: The Department for Communities and Local Governments receives a large amount of correspondence from local authorities regarding a range of issues.
Local housing allowance rates in some areas are too high and give some housing benefit customers access to properties that even people with above average incomes could not afford. This was not fair to the taxpayer and could not be sustained. We therefore had to make changes to local housing allowance by introducing housing benefit caps and moving to the 30th( )percentile of local market rents. We want people to continue to have access to decent housing but the support provided needs to be founded on principles of fairness, affordability and making work pay.
These changes mean some people may have to move but up to 30% of properties should be affordable in every area and the homelessness safety net remains in place for those who need it.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what correspondence he has received from (a) individuals and (b) institutions on the potential effect of (i) reductions in local housing allowance and (ii) the proposed household benefit cap. [93965]
Grant Shapps:
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), receives numerous correspondence from individuals and institutions covering a wide range of policies. Local housing allowance rates
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in some areas are too high and give some housing benefit customers access to properties that even people with above average incomes could not afford. This was not fair to the taxpayer and could not be sustained. We therefore had to make changes to local housing allowance by introducing housing benefit caps and moving to the 30th percentile of local market rents. We want people to continue to have access to decent housing but the support provided needs to be founded on principles of fairness, affordability and making work pay.
The benefit cap supports the Government's plans to make work pay. We want to create a welfare system that encourages people to work and that is based on the principles of fairness and responsibility. We have announced that we will work intensively with those likely to be affected by the cap, giving them immediate support from the Work programme, a nine-month grace period for those who have been in work for the previous 12 months and we will provide up to £130 million for short-term, temporary relief to families who may face a variety of challenges.
Local Government Finance Bill
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to publish draft regulations relating to the Local Government Finance Bill; and whether they will be available prior to report stage of the Bill. [93946]
Robert Neill [holding answer 6 February 2012]: My Department is working closely with the local government sector and other interested parties. We will be using these discussions to develop regulations relating to the Local Government Finance Bill and intend to publish these for consultation as and when they become ready. It is our intention to publish either draft regulations or a statement of intent for key regulations pertaining to the Bill prior to Commons Report stage.
Energy and Climate Change
Climate Change Convention: Canada
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations he has made to the Canadian government on its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. [93815]
Gregory Barker: We have made clear to Peter Kent, the Canadian Minister of the Environment, the UK's particular regret at the decision by the Canadian Government to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. Officials continue to engage with Canada on the need for emissions reductions and to make further progress in the UN negotiations following the positive outcome at Durban.
Climate Change: International Co-operation
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress he has made on identifying a successor to the Kyoto Protocol since the Durban conference. [93816]
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Gregory Barker: At COP 17 in Durban, countries agreed that a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol should begin on 1 January 2013 and that they would also negotiate a new legally binding instrument applicable to all countries that would be adopted by 2015 and come into effect from 2020. The UK stands ready to enter a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol at COP 18 in Doha as part of a transition towards this new legally binding agreement.
Combined Heat and Power
Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the lifetime levelised costs of combined heat and power plants. [93774]
Gregory Barker: The Department regularly publishes energy and emissions projections for the UK, including estimates of combined heat and power (CHP) capacity. This modelling uses a methodology based on levelised costs but the model is not configured to produce these costs. The latest projections were published in October 2011(1).
In addition, detailed modelling assessing the effects of the renewables obligation and the renewable heat incentive on CHP potential was published in January 2010(2).
(1) Updated Energy and Emissions Projections 2011; October 2011:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about-us/economics-social-research/3134-updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-october.pdf
(2) Interaction between different incentives to support renewable energy and their effect on CHP: Renewable Obligation and Renewable Heat Incentive; AEA; January 2010:
http://www.rhincentive.co.uk/library/regulation/100201CHP_modelling.pdf
Energy: Billing
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to oblige energy companies to give domestic customers the option of paying their bills by post. [93192]
Charles Hendry: Ofgem is responsible for the rules governing payment methods. Although suppliers are obliged under the terms of the supply licence to offer a wide range of methods for their customers to pay, only payment by cash and in advance through a prepayment meters are the only compulsory methods they are required to offer. All other payment methods, including paying by post, are a commercial decision for the company itself.
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to oblige energy companies to disclose to domestic customers the estimated meter readings on which estimated bills are based. [93193]
Charles Hendry:
Ofgem is responsible for the rules governing meter readings. Gas and electricity suppliers are obliged, under the terms of their supply licence, to
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ensure that customers' meters are physically read and inspected once every two years.
When an estimated meter reading is used to calculate a customer's energy usage the reading appears on the bill with the letter ‘e’ next to it. If the customer disagrees with the estimated amount, they may provide their own meter reading. The supplier will either accept the reading and issue a revised bill, or, can contact the customer to obtain a new meter reading or arrange to read the meter itself.
Energy: Business
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to assist businesses to reduce their energy bills. [93408]
Gregory Barker: The coalition Government are doing much to support business in this area.
The Green Deal, available from autumn this year, will enable businesses to install energy efficiency measures at no upfront investment, and to access advice to help them better manage their energy consumption.
Energy Intensive Industries that commit to delivering energy efficiency or carbon reduction targets, set out in Climate Change Agreements with the Government, can obtain, from April 2013, up to 90% discount on their Climate Change Levy payments for electricity and a 65% discount on other fuels used.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme incentivises companies to improve their energy efficiency and thereby reduce their energy bills. And the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme for energy saving equipment allows businesses to claim 100% first year capital allowance on the purchase of qualifying plant or machinery.
Energy: Manpower
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of jobs supported by the energy efficiency sector in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available. [93406]
Gregory Barker: The energy efficiency market is estimated to support around 75,000 manufacturing jobs(1), the majority of which are in the manufacture of glass and double glazed windows and doors. For the installation market, it is more difficult to assess the number of jobs supported because many energy efficiency measures may be installed as part of larger renovation or extension projects. Estimates suggest around 3,600 installers(2) were employed in the insulation market in 2009-10, which covers loft and wall insulation.
(1) Source—Assessment of the Size of the UK Household Energy Efficiency Market; Element Energy Ltd and Quantum Strategy and Technology Ltd; November 2008.
(2) Source—Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services: Report for 2009-10; K-Matrix; 2011.
Energy: Meters
Mr Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress his Department has made in ensuring that those with prepayment meters for energy supplies are not overcharged. [94011]
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Gregory Barker: Ofgem is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, including matters related to prepayment meters. New rules introduced by Ofgem in 2009 to prevent unfair price differentials, such as those between different payment methods, mean that prepayment meter customers now pay, on average, £20 less than standard credit customers for their gas and electricity.
Energy: Prices
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy to ensure that all people over 75 years old are automatically placed on the cheapest tariff by their gas and electricity supplier. [93202]
Gregory Barker: The Warm Home Discount scheme has been introduced to provide targeted support for low income and vulnerable households through direct financial assistance with energy costs. The type of support offered and eligibility criteria for the scheme were consulted on and the final scheme has been designed to provide targeted support to those who need it most. This includes specific support for the poorest pensioners—this year alone, over 600,000 pensioners in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit only will receive the £120 core group discount. In total the scheme will assist around two million low income and vulnerable households each year.
In addition, all pensioner households already receive the winter fuel payment and are among those eligible for the cold weather payment.
Fuel Poverty
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in the (a) private rented, (b) social and (c) owner-occupied sector in (i) England, (ii) Rossendale and (iii) Darwen are classed as being in fuel poverty. [93819]
Gregory Barker: The latest data relate to 2009, and show that around 6,500 households (23% of such households) in Rossendale and 13,000 households (24%) in Blackburn with Darwen were in fuel poverty. The tenure breakdown cannot be calculated for small areas due to low sample sizes, but for England this is as follows:
| Households in England in fuel poverty, 2009 | ||
| Number (million) | Percentage | |
Green Deal Scheme
Dr Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2012, Official Report, columns 133-4W, on Green Deal scheme, what steps he plans to take to determine the inclusion of technologies included in the Standard Assessment Procedure in the Green Deal. [94138]
Gregory Barker:
Under the Government's proposals published in the recent Green Deal consultation document, new technologies will be able to be added to the list of
8 Feb 2012 : Column 270W
Green Deal qualifying measures provided their energy saving performance has been independently verified. DECC proposes to use the existing process for modelling savings in the Standard Assessment Procedure, called Appendix Q.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has discussed with the Behavioural Insight Team the use of his recently announced additional funding to encourage take-up of the Green Deal. [94279]
Gregory Barker: DECC officials have been in contact with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to discuss the additional funding to incentivise the Green Deal take-up.
DECC and BIT are currently undertaking a number of joint trials with businesses, the findings of which will add to the evidence base regarding the way these funds should be used.
Homesun Holdings
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 26 January 2012, Official Report, column 15, on Homesun Holdings, whether his Department has sought any external legal advice in respect of the judicial review. [93252]
Gregory Barker: Yes. The Department is being represented in the judicial review by counsel.
London Olympics 2012
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many invitations to attend events at the London 2012 Olympics (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department and (c) senior officials in his Department have accepted; and if he will make a statement. [93642]
Details of hospitality received by Ministers and special advisers and the most senior officials are published on a quarterly basis and will be available for July-September 2012 in due course.
Marine Energy Park
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to establish a Marine Energy Park in the (a) Severn Estuary and (b) Pentland Firth. [93409]
Charles Hendry: During my recent visit to Bristol on 23 January I launched the UK's first Marine Energy Park which will stretch from Bristol through to Cornwall and as far as the Isles of Scilly. It aims to create a collaborative partnership between national and local government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, the regional Universities and industry including Cornwall's Wave Hub, thereby accelerating marine power development.
The Government support the work being led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise to create the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Energy Park. My officials have been working closely with regional
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stakeholders from both Caithness and Orkney on their plans which will drive investment in the region by building on the existing work to develop marine energy.
Photovoltaics
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 26 January 2012, Official Report, column 391, on photovoltaics, what evidence his Department used to calculate the cost of the feed-in tariff to consumers. [93248]
Gregory Barker: Our latest impact assessment accompanying the phase I comprehensive review consultation on feed-in tariffs for solar PV provided projections of costs to consumers. This document available at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/fits-comp-review-p1/3416-fits-IA-solar-pv-draft.pdf
sets out the methodology used to estimate both uptake of solar PV under various tariff scenarios and the corresponding costs to consumers.
Projections of PV uptake were carried out by combining actual uptake data from the central FITs register and the MCS installation database with projections from the DECC FITs model. The latter was informed by evidence collated by consultants Cambridge Economic Policy Associates and Parsons Brinkerhoff. Further information can be found in their report “Updates to the feed-in tariffs model: Documentation of changes for solar PV consultation, October 2011”, available at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/fits-comp-review-p1/3365-updates-to-fits-model-doc.pdf
Modelled uptake projections are then combined with tariff levels to produce estimates of the potential impacts of tariff proposals on costs to consumers.
Renewable Energy: Heating
Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the prospects for an underspend in the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme; and whether he plans to reallocate any such underspend to support domestic renewable heating technologies. [94079]
Gregory Barker: We are likely have an underspend in 2011-12 for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme against the sums indicated as being available for this scheme. The Government have already reallocated funding this financial year from the part of the scheme which provides vouchers to householders to the part supporting projects for renewable heating in social housing.
Where Government have been authorised to spend monies for a particular purpose in a particular year, all spending has to be shown to have been used for that purpose in that year in line with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, as amended. This means underspends in any one financial year cannot be reallocated to a different financial year.
Renewable Energy: Manpower
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the renewable energy industry. [93204]
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Charles Hendry: DECC estimates that there were over 500,000 people employed in the renewable energy sector in 2009-10. This information is taken from estimates by K-Matrix (2011) for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills(1) (please see following table) and includes the supply chain(2).
(1) Extracted from Table 7, K Matrix, 2011, Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services Report 2009-10, available at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-sectors/low-carbon-business-opportunities/market-intelligence/market-data
(2) K-Matrix's bottom-up methodology reveals more low carbon and environmental activity than SIC coding, and other previous estimates. K-Matrix compare their numbers to validated and verified data sources to mitigate the risk of double counting.
| K-Matrix data on employment in renewable energy industries | |
| K-Matrix heading | Numbers employed 2009-10 |
Warm Front Scheme
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 11 January 2012, Official Report, column 324W, on Warm Front scheme, how many households in each parliamentary constituency have received assistance under the Warm Front scheme in (a) each of the last five years and (b) in 2011-12 to date; and what the average level of grant provided under the scheme was in each such period. [93253]
Gregory Barker: A table detailing the number of households assisted in each parliamentary constituency under the Warm Front scheme, in (a) each of the last five years and (b) to date in 2011-12, will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
The average level of grant provided under the scheme for (a) each of the last five years and (b) to date in 2011-12 are as follows:
| Scheme year | Average grant (claims) |
| (1) Figures up to 31 January 2012 | |
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in (a) West Ham constituency and (b) the London borough of Newham received funding through Warm Front in each of the last 10 years; and how much funding was provided in each of those years. [93501]
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Gregory Barker:
The number of households assisted and the amount of funding provided under the Warm Front scheme in (a) West Ham constituency and (b)
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the London borough of Newham in each of the last seven years
(1)are as follows:
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-2010 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 (2) | |
| (1) ( )This information is only available post 2005 (2) Up to 31 January 2012 | |||||||
Wind Power: Expenditure
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what individual constraint payments were made to wind farm companies outside the balancing mechanism. [93823]
Charles Hendry: Forward energy trades guarantee that power is provided for a certain period to help balance electricity supply and demand, which keeps the system secure. National Grid routinely makes forward energy trades through the market with generators of all types. These trades take place outside the balancing mechanism, but are classed as constraint payments when they are undertaken to help manage transmission constraints. Forward energy trades can, on occasions, be more cost effective than taking actions in the balancing mechanism.
National Grid has advised that individual trades are commercially confidential, and cannot therefore be published. Commercial confidentiality is a requirement of the protocol which regulates trading practices in the UK power market.
Aggregate data on trades is available, however. In 2011, for example, trades on wind totalled £12.7 million at an average of £138 megawatt hour (MW/h) compared to equivalent actions on wind under the balancing mechanism which were £12.1 million at an average of £222 MW/h. Less than 10% of all constraint payments were made to wind farms. National Grid is incentivised by Ofgem to select the most cost effective way of balancing supply and demand.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding her Department plans to allocate to its proposed antisocial behaviour toolkit for the retraining of (a) police officers, (b) local authorities, (c) housing associations and (d) other related organisations. [93581]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 6 February 2012]: The Government's proposed reforms will give the police, local authorities, housing providers and others faster, more effective powers to tackle antisocial behaviour and protect victims. Since the Home Office consultation closed, we have been discussing the practical details of the reforms informally with a number of those organisations, and we will publish our proposals shortly.
Civil Disorder: Lancashire Constabulary
Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate the cost of sending officers from Lancashire Constabulary to assist the Metropolitan Police with public disorder in London in August 2011; and how much financial assistance Lancashire Constabulary will receive from her Department towards these costs. [93523]
Nick Herbert: This information is not available centrally. The Government have stated that they are ready to support the police with the costs of the riots, and have given an assurance that 85% of police operational costs will be refunded. The arrangements for the provision of mutual aid, and the amount of the charges, is a matter for the two relevant forces. The Metropolitan police will make the payment directly to Lancashire constabulary and will seek reimbursement for all of its mutual aid costs from the Home Office.
Departmental Procurement
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on procuring products and services by each police authority in 2010-11. [93493]
Nick Herbert: This information is not collected centrally, but data on overall police force expenditure is available on the website of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants:
www.cipfastats.net
Although decisions on the allocation of available resources are for chief constables and their police authorities, the Government have put in place the first regulations to join up police procurement by requiring the police to buy certain equipment through national frameworks, and is consulting on further regulations to cover additional categories of equipment and some services. The use of these frameworks is expected to help the police service achieve procurement savings of £200 million a year by 2014-15.
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Mobile Phones
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to prevent the misuse of devices provided under the Mobile Information Programme. [93102]
Nick Herbert: The Mobile Information Programme has issued guidance to forces covering secure handling of mobile devices including accounting for devices, auditing usage and protective monitoring of systems to identify unauthorised access to police information. Forces are responsible for including mobile devices in their existing local policies and procedures.
National Policing Improvement Agency
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 15 December 2011, Official Report, columns 125-7WS, on the National Policing Improvement Agency, on what date she expects the new information and communications technology (ICT) company to be established; how many police authorities had agreed to participate in the new company as at 1 February 2012; who the members of the shadow ICT board are; how many times the shadow board has met; and if she will make a statement. [93737]
Nick Herbert: The new police ICT company programme is making good progress towards the establishment of the company. The programme team is currently working with police authorities (and other stakeholders) to determine the ownership and governance structures and business model for the company. A prospectus outlining the detail of ownership structures and governance will be published shortly.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national criminals imprisoned in the west midlands were removed from the UK in 2011. [93346]
Damian Green: Establishing how many foreign national offenders were imprisoned in the west midlands and who were removed from the UK in 2011 would require cross referencing a large volume of electronic records and would incur disproportionate cost.
Organised Crime: Greater London
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many incidents of gang-related violence were recorded by the Metropolitan police in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement; [94215]
(2) how many incidents of gang-related violence were recorded by the Metropolitan police in each month from April 2011; and if she will make a statement. [94216]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 7 February 2012]: The information requested is not available centrally.
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Organised Crime: West Midlands
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many gangs have been identified in each west midlands local authority area. [94061]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not keep records of the number of gangs identified in each police force area. This is a matter for the relevant local police force. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) are currently undertaking a mapping exercise using the Government's new definition of street gangs to help understand the scale and nature of the street gang problem.
Police
Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures her Department has ceased requiring the police to undertake since May 2010. [91924]
Nick Herbert: The Government have announced a package of reforms that will cut police red tape, saving up to 3.3 million police hours per year—the equivalent of over 1,500 police officers. These include scrapping the last Government's target on public confidence and removing excessive central performance management. We have also removed the national requirement for the Stop and Account form and reduced the burden of the Stop and Search procedures.
Police and Crime Commissioners
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means potential candidates for police and crime commissioners will be vetted to ensure they are not disbarred by virtue of (a) bankruptcy, (b) custodial sentence, (c) details disclosed on a Criminal Records Bureau form and (d) disciplinary procedures following employment by a police force; and if she will make a statement. [94108]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 7 February 2012]: Candidates will need to declare that they are eligible to stand when they formally declare their candidacy, which includes that they have not been sentenced to an imprisonable offence or are bankrupt. It will be a criminal offence to declare their candidacy if they are disqualified. This is standard procedures for all elections.
It would be entirely inappropriate in a democracy for either the Government or the police to vet a candidate for suitability before they are permitted to stand in an election. Political parties may undertake such checks on their own candidates as they deem appropriate.
Police: Accountability
Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate the cost of holding elections for police commissioners in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire in 2011; and what additional funding will be provided to (i) Preston city council and (ii) other local authorities in Lancashire in respect of such costs in 2012-13. [93521]
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Nick Herbert: It is not currently possible to estimate the cost of elections in specific areas as we are collating the relevant information and, as is standard practice, will publish this is in the summer of 2012 before the elections in November 2012. The Home Office will meet the full cost of elections in 2012.
Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the costs of elected police commissioners in financial year (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15; and from which budgets this funding will be drawn. [93528]
Nick Herbert: In 2012-13 the first elections of police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will cost £75 million. Running costs, in all years, should be no more than the current cost of police authorities, up to £78 million per year. Running costs will continue to come from a mixture of central Government funding and local precept, as is the case currently for police authorities. Elections costs will be borne by the Home Office, and will not come from money that would otherwise have gone to policing.
Police: Expenditure
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of expenditure (a) overall and (b) per head of population on police and community support officers in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [92904]
Nick Herbert: This information is not collected centrally. Spending decisions are made locally by chief constables and police authorities. Data on overall police force expenditure is available on the website of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants:
www.cipfastats.net
Police: Information and Communications Technology
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has prepared a risk register in relation to the establishment of the new police information and communications technology company. [93733]
Nick Herbert: In accordance with standard programme management procedures the police ICT company programme has prepared and actively manages a risk register.
Police: Pay
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she considers herself bound by the recent decision of the Police Arbitration Tribunal on pay and conditions for the police. [90784]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 19 January 2012]: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), on 30 January 2011, Official Report, columns 31-33WS.
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Safer Neighbourhood Teams
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to support existing safer neighbourhood campaigns. [93821]
James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not fund or co-ordinate national or local safer neighbourhood campaigns. However, we welcome local partners coming together to design and deliver their local safer neighbourhood campaigns.
West Midlands Police
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions in the funding of West Midlands police on (a) road safety and (b) the purchase of new (i) fixed and (ii) mobile traffic safety cameras by the West Midlands Road Safety Camera Partnership in (A) the West Midlands, (B) Dudley borough and (C) Dudley North. [93334]
Nick Herbert: Reductions in police funding over the spending review period are challenging but manageable. How available funding is spent is a matter for police authorities and chief officers of police. Deployment of cameras is an operational matter for the police and West Midlands Road Safety Camera Partnership.
Work and Pensions
Departmental Billing
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of his Department's invoices from its private sector suppliers were paid (a) within 14 days, (b) between 15 and 30 days, (c) between 31 and 60 days, (d) between 61 and 90 days and (e) more than 90 days after receipt in the last 12 months. [93445]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions became a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code in March 2009 and set targets to pay 100% of correct invoices within 30 days, 90% within 10 days and 80% within five days of receipt.
Separate figures detailing payments for (a) within 14 days, (b) between 15 and 30 days, (c) between 31 and 60 days, (d) between 61 and 90 days and (e) more than 90 days are not collated and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
DWP payment terms are calculated from the receipt of a valid invoice rather than the date of invoice.
The following information details the number of invoices received January 2011-December 2011 and the percentage of invoices paid with in 30 days, 10 days and five days.
Number of invoices received January 2011 to December 2011—665,829
The percentage of supplier payments made within 30 days—99.59%
The percentage of supplier payments made within 10 days—98.41%
The percentage of supplier payments made within five days—85.26%
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Disability Living Allowance
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to the lower rate of disability living allowance on the social care budgets of local authorities. [93331]
Maria Miller: No such changes to disability living allowance are proposed.
Personal independence payment will replace disability living allowance for working-age (16-64) adults from 2013-14. Eligibility for local authority social care provision is determined by each individual local authority who are best placed to understand the needs of their community. Our intention is that the new benefit is more closely targeted on those who face the greatest barriers to leading full, active and independent lives.
We are still developing the assessment and published details on the entitlement thresholds and revised assessment criteria on 16 January and started a formal 15 week consultation. We are engaging with Department of Health and will continue to work closely with them, the Local Government Association and the Convention of Scottish
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Local Authorities as we complete further estimates of the impact of the assessment on people receiving personal independence payment.
Employment and Support Allowance: Preston
Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful appeals there were against refusal to grant (a) employment and support allowance and (b) disability living allowance in Preston constituency in 2011. [93522]
Chris Grayling: The Department does not hold the information in the format requested. However, HM Courts and Tribunals Service have provided the following table which shows the number of employment and support allowance (ESA) and disability living allowance (DLA) appeals heard in the Preston tribunal venue from January 2011 to October 2011 (the latest period for which statistics have been published). The Preston tribunal venue hears appeals made by applicants living in the Preston constituency as well as other nearby locations. The tribunal does not record the issue under appeal and therefore cannot isolate data relating to appeals on the basis of a claim for benefit having been refused. These figures therefore also include appeals made against decisions on the level of entitlement.
| Outcomes of ESA and DLA appeals at Preston tribunal venue January-October 2011 | |||||||
| Number of cases cleared at hearing | Number of DWP decisions upheld | Percentage upheld | Number decided in favour of appellant | Percentage in favour | Other | Percentage other | |
| Notes: 1. Data taken from HM Courts and Tribunals Service management information; 2. 'Other' refers to cases that have been, for example, withdrawn, superseded or struck out. | |||||||
Housing Benefit
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the public purse of housing benefit or local housing allowance within the private rented sector was in (a) London and (b) Manchester in each of the last 10 years. [92971]
Steve Webb: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the policy of paying housing benefit directly to tenants; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that housing benefit paid directly to tenants is used for its intended purpose. [93033]
Steve Webb: The Department has commissioned an independent consortium of leading research organisations to evaluate the effects of recent local housing allowance changes. The evaluation team is led by Ian Cole of Sheffield Hallam University, includes Peter Kemp (Oxford University) and members from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Ipsos Mori.
Safeguards exist within the housing benefit regulations where a landlord must be paid directly if the tenant is in eight weeks or more rent arrears.
Private sector landlords can also be paid directly if the council considers the tenant will either have difficulty managing his or her finances, or it is improbable the tenant will pay his or her rent.
In April 2010 we introduced a temporary additional measure where the council can pay a private sector landlord directly if it would help the tenant secure a new tenancy or remain in their current home at a reduced rent.
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many cases local authorities paid housing benefit directly to landlords due to rent arrears of (a) less and (b) more than eight weeks in each of the last five years. [93053]
Steve Webb: The information requested is only available for claimants subject to the local housing allowance whose benefit was paid to their landlord due to arrears of more than eight weeks over the last two years.
| As at October each year | Claims paid to landlord due to more than eight weeks of arrears | Total local housing allowance caseload |
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| Notes: 1. Figures refer to benefit units which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten thousand. 3. Where a claim is paid to the landlord, and the reason given is unknown, or appears not to be valid for a local housing allowance claim, it has been assumed that payment to the landlord is not due to arrears in excess of eight weeks. Approaching 10% of cases had missing or incorrect reason codes in each period. 4. These data reflect the methodology for allocating claimants between local housing allowance (LHA) deregulated tenancies and non-LHA deregulated tenancies as revised in January 2012. This change caused an approximate 6% fall in LHA tenancies and a corresponding 30% rise in non-LHA tenancies. 5. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces the quarterly aggregate clerical returns, and is available from November 2008. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics, as the information supplied is quality assured. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) |
Housing Benefit: Bedford
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of housing benefit there were in (a) Bedford constituency, (b) the east of England and (c) the UK in each of the last five years; and in how many such cases the benefit was paid directly to the tenant. [93052]
Steve Webb: The following table shows the number of housing benefit recipients in Great Britain and the east of England in the last five years.
| Table 1: Housing benefit recipients in Great Britain and east of England, August 2007 to October 2011 | ||
| Date | Great Britain | East of England |
| Notes: 1. Figures for August 2007 are taken from quarterly housing benefit and council tax benefit management information, and exclude any extended payment cases. 2. The figures refer to benefit units which may be a single person or a couple. 3. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 4. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics, as the information supplied is quality assured. Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information, and Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) | ||
Housing benefit caseload figures at the constituency level are only available for January 2011. The following table shows the number of housing benefit recipients in the Bedford parliamentary constituency and Great Britain.
| Table 2: Housing benefit recipients in Great Britain and Bedford parliamentary constituency, January 2011 | ||
| Date | Great Britain | Bedford |
| Notes: 1. Parliamentary constituency is based on the address of the housing benefit recipient. Note that local authority level data are based on the authority administering the benefit claim. It is possible for the recipient to reside in a different local authority to the one administering the benefit claim. Therefore if may not always be possible to make direct comparisons between parliamentary constituency and local authority data. 2. Also see notes for table 1. Source: SHBE | ||
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The information requested on payment of housing benefit to claimants is available only for Great Britain and the East of England and for the last two years.
| Table 2a: Payment of housing benefit to claimants in Great Britain, October 2010 and October 2011 | ||||
| Payment to claimant | ||||
| October 2010 | October 2011 | |||
| Tenancy type | Caseload | Percentage | Caseload | Percentage |
| Source: SHBE | ||||
| Table 2b: Payment of housing benefit to claimants in the East of England, October 2010 and October 2011 | ||||
| Payment to claimant | ||||
| October 2010 | October 2011 | |||
| Caseload | Percentage | Caseload | Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole percentage. 2. Local authority tenants with unknown payment destination are assumed to have payment made to the landlord. All other cases with unknown payment destination are excluded from the analysis. This affects only a small proportion of cases. 3. These data reflect the methodology for allocating claimants between local housing allowance (LHA) deregulated tenancies and non-LHA deregulated tenancies as revised in January 2012. This change caused an approximate 6% fall in LHA tenancies and a corresponding 30% rise in non-LHA tenancies. 4. Also see notes for table 1. Source: SHBE | ||||
Jobcentre Plus
Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average ratio is of personal advisers to clients at Jobcentre Plus offices in London. [93457]
Chris Grayling: As at November 2011, the ratio of personal advisers to clients at Jobcentre Plus offices in London and home counties was 1:141. In this case, we are interpreting clients as being jobseekers allowance claimants. That is information we have access to via DWP IT systems. To ensure consistency with your related question about Barking and Dagenham, the information provided here relates to jobseekers allowance claimants only. There are other personal advisers who deal with different client groups such as people claiming employment and support allowance and income support.
Following a rationalisation of the DWP Operations network, DWP regional boundaries now cover London
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and the home counties. Therefore the information provided is wider than that requested due to the reporting systems being configured to the new group organisation.
Jobcentre Plus: Barking and Dagenham
Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio is of personal advisers to clients at Jobcentre Plus offices in Barking and Dagenham. [93456]
Chris Grayling: As at November 2011, the ratio of personal advisers to clients at the Barking office was 1:98. The position for Dagenham was 1:159. Clients in this case are those people claiming jobseekers allowance. That is information we have access to via DWP IT systems. Those systems cannot provide details for these geographic areas for transactions other personal advisers will have with different Jobcentre Plus client groups such as people claiming employment and support allowance and income support.