Employment and Support Allowance
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his projections are for caseloads for employment and support allowance (a) Support Group and (b) Work Related Activity Group for each year for the next five years; and how those projections have changed since May 2010; [99521]
(2) what his projections are for benefit expenditure for employment and support allowance (a) Support Group and (b) Work Related Activity Group for each
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year for the next five years; and how those projections have changed since May 2010. [99522]
Chris Grayling: The information is in the following tables; the Budget 2010 forecasts were the last before May 2010; the autumn statement 2011 figures are the latest published.
| Employment and support allowance caseloads March 2010 Budget forecasts | ||||
| Thousand | ||||
| Assessment Phase | Support Group | Work Related Activity Group | Total | |
| Employment and support allowance caseloads out-turn and autumn statement 2011 forecasts | ||||
| Thousand | ||||
| Assessment Phase | Support Group | Work Related Activity Group | Total | |
| Employment and support allowance projected expenditure as at March 2010 Budget | ||||||||
| £ million | ||||||||
| Nominal | 2011-12 prices (1) | |||||||
| Work Related Activity Group | Assessment Phase | Support Group | Total | Work Related Activity Group | Assessment Phase | Support Group | Total | |
| (1) 2011-12 prices using GDP deflators current as at March 2010 Budget. | ||||||||
| Employment and support allowance out-turn and projected expenditure as at autumn statement 2011 | ||||||||
| £ million | ||||||||
| Nominal | 2011-12 prices (1) | |||||||
| Work Related Activity Group | Assessment Phase | Support Group | Total | Work Related Activity Group | Assessment Phase | Support Group | Total | |
| (1) 2011-12 prices using GDP deflators current as at autumn statement 2011. Notes: 1. Forecasts were only published for 2010-11 at the March 2010 Budget. 2. Further benefit expenditure and caseload information can be found on the Department for Work and Pensions website at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=medium_term Source: DWP forecasts, and statistical and accounting data | ||||||||
Employment Schemes
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many cases benefit sanctions were applied to benefit claimants relating to their conduct while participating in mandatory work activity in (a) the UK, (b) Lambeth local authority and (c) Streatham constituency. [99495]
Chris Grayling: Mandatory work activity gives extra support to a small number of jobseeker's allowance claimants who would benefit from a short period of activity. It will help them re-engage with the system, refocus their job search and gain valuable work-related disciplines, such as attending on time and regularly, carrying out specific tasks and working under supervision.
Jobcentre Plus advisers have the flexibility to use mandatory work activity, where they feel it is appropriate, as part of a wider range of support options.
Between May and November 2011, there were 24,010 initial referrals to mandatory work activity.
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The following JSA sanctions were applied to benefit claimants for Failing to Participate in Mandatory Work Activity from May 2011 to October 2011 (this includes any sanctions applied to claimants referred to the scheme who failed to start without good cause, any sanctions applied to claimants who started the scheme and then ceased to participate without good cause, and any sanctions applied to claimants relating to their conduct while participating in mandatory work activity):
(a) 1,220 in GB;
(b) 20 in Lambeth local authority; and
(c) 10 in Streatham constituency.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the average cost per participant to the public purse of (a) the Government's work experience programme and (b) mandatory work activity to date. [99496]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is as follows:
(a) Around £600,000 was paid to participants of the work experience programme in travel and child care costs between January and November 2011, with 34,200 work experience starts in the same period. The average cost per start during this period was therefore around £17.50.
(b) Current mandatory work activity contracts are worth around £8 million per year, which provides funding for up to around 19,000 places.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total expected monetary value is of mandatory work activity contracts made by his Department. [101089]
Chris Grayling: Mandatory work activity is a four-year programme with contracts worth £8 million per annum—£32 million in total.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many places on the mandatory work activity scheme his Department budgeted for when tendering for the contracts to provide it. [101090]
Chris Grayling: The mandatory work activity (MWA) Invitation to Tender specification and supporting information set out the contract value per contract package area (CPA) and the minimum number of places that providers would be expected to provide per year in each CPA. This provided for a minimum of 10,000 MWA places per year at national level. The Department for Work and Pensions sought competition based on increasing the number of placements each provider could offer against the fixed contract value for each CPA.
Employment: Disability
Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with a disability were in employment in (a) Dartford, (b) Kent and (c) England in each of the last five years. [100463]
Maria Miller: The following table shows the number of working age people aged 16 to 64 in Dartford, Kent and England, who are disabled within the Equality Act definition and in employment for each of the last five years.
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| Dartford (1) | Kent (2) | England (3) | |
| (1 )Dartford, as defined under the 'Parliamentary constituencies 2010' classification and these estimates should be treated with caution due to the small sample size. (2 )Kent, as defined under the 'Local authorities: County/Unitary' classification. (3 )England, as defined under the 'Countries' classification. Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)/Labour Force Survey, 2006 to 2011 (years ending June). | |||
Figures on people who are considered disabled within the Equality Act definition, are the summed value of the rounded categories: “DDA Disabled only” and “DDA disabled and work-limited disabled”, as published on the NOMIS website.
Jobcentre Plus: Birmingham
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been made by residents of Birmingham, Ladywood constituency about (a) Job Centre Plus, (b) the Pension Service and (c) the Child Support Agency in each of the last three years. [100066]
Chris Grayling: The information is not available in the format requested.
Maternity Pay
Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of people in receipt of statutory maternity pay were earning in excess of £40,000 in each financial year since 2008-09. [101088]
Maria Miller: The information requested is not available.
Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value was of the highest single payment of statutory maternity pay to an individual in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2008-09. [101198]
Maria Miller: The Department does not release information about a single taxpayer; as this would be highly disclosive and is not permitted under the Data Protection Act.
Pensions
Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what steps he plans to take on for charity and voluntary sector employers participating in multi-employer defined benefit pension schemes where an employment-cessation event occurs; and if he will make a statement; [100253]
(2) with reference to section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995, if he will consult on amending employer debt requirements for non-associated employers for (a) charity and voluntary sector and (b) other organisations. [100271]
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Steve Webb: Employer debt legislation provides important protection for scheme members in defined benefit pension schemes, including multi-employer schemes. It takes into account the need to balance the rights and expectations of all scheme members, the responsibilities of the employers and trustees, and the need to protect the Pension Protection Fund from undue exposure to risk.
The Government recognise that there may be circumstances where not all of a departing employer's debt needs to be paid immediately. Consequently various easements for meeting the departing employer's debt have been introduced. Although the legislation is intended to provide an overarching framework, the Government also recognise that certain employers who participate in multi-employer schemes with non-associated or unconnected employers may face difficulties despite the introduction of these easements, and this includes some employers in the charity and voluntary sector.
However, tailoring the regulations or exempting a specific sector of employers from the legislation could have the effect of reducing member protection for employees, deferred members and pensioners without there being any counter balancing measure of support. If member protection is reduced this could put additional pressure on the Pension Protection Fund.
The Government continue to keep the employer debt rules under review and my officials are engaging in discussions with employers and their advisers who have raised similar concerns to consider if there are any workable alternatives that would not reduce member protection. We do not have plans to undertake a further formal consultation on amending the employer debt rules at this stage.
Pensions: Birmingham
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people entitled to pension credit who have not claimed it in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency in the last three years. [100269]
Steve Webb: Estimates of take-up are not sufficiently robust to present below the level of Great Britain. However the latest National Statistics on Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-Up produced by the Department for Work and Pensions were released on 23 February 2012.
The Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-up report covers Great Britain for the financial year 2009-10. It provides case load and expenditure estimates of take-up for income support and employment and support allowance (income-related), pension credit, housing benefit (including local housing allowance), council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (income-based). The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 10 June 2010. The figures are available online and can be found here:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=irb
Figures for Great Britain covering the period 2007-08 to 2009-10 are presented as follows:
| Case load take-up for pension credit, Great Britain, 2007-08 to 2009-10 | ||
| Range of entitled non-recipients (thousand) | Take-up ranges (percentage) | |
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Details of the take-up methodology and a worked example of how take-up is calculated can be found in Chapter 8: Methods and Data Sources and the Appendix: Construction of take-up ranges, of the latest report.
Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment
Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that permanently blind people, whose circumstances will not change, will not be subjected to unnecessary reassessments when personal independence payments are introduced. [100198]
Maria Miller: The personal independence payment has been designed to ensure that individuals are assessed on the basis of their individual circumstances, not their impairment type. We do not believe that making blanket decisions about benefit entitlement is helpful as health conditions and disabilities can affect people in very different ways.
In a similar way, the length of awards in personal independence payment will be tailored to individual circumstances and the likelihood of their circumstances changing. We do appreciate that some individuals will have conditions that are unlikely to change, such as permanent blindness, and this will be reflected in considerations on appropriate award duration. This will ensure that individuals are not unnecessarily reviewed. Even where conditions are permanent, however, an individual's needs and barriers may still change, so we do intend to keep all awards subject to review. It is important to be clear that reviews of awards will be carried out in a sensitive and proportionate way and will not always require a face-to-face consultation. In some cases they may be based solely on information and evidence provided by the claimant and supporting professionals.
We are still developing the claims and assessment processes for personal independence payment and we will continue to work with disabled people and their organisations as we do so.
Poverty: Children
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of households with children are classified as in poverty. [100873]
Maria Miller: Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living. The publication looks at the number of children in households with equivalised incomes below certain thresholds, whereas information presented here looks at the number and proportion of households with low incomes containing children.
Statistics covering 2009-10 are the most recent available.
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| Number/percentage of households with children who were living in relative poverty Before Housing Costs (BHC) in 2009-10 in the UK | |
| Notes 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) available at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai_arc This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. Net disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax, payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes. 3. Figures have been presented on a Before Housing Cost rather than an After Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Costs, housing costs are not deducted from income, while for After Housing Costs they are. 4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 5. The reference period for these HBAI figures is the financial year. 6. Numbers of households with children have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand children. 7. Proportions of households with children have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. 8. This measure is defined as: Relative poverty: households with children with equivalised incomes below 60% of contemporary median household income Before Housing Costs (BHC). 9. The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty. Source: Households Below Average Income 1994-95 to 2009-10, DWP | |
Remploy
Mr Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in St Helens South and Whiston constituency he anticipates will be made redundant due to the announced closure of Remploy factories; and what support will be available to those affected. [100209]
Maria Miller: The Remploy factory in St Helens was closed as part of the 2008 modernisation plan by the previous Government and a number of ex-employees remain on Remploy terms and conditions. We do not have the details of the constituencies that individual employees belong to and so we are unable to offer specific figures on the number of people who may be affected in St Helens South and Whiston.
We recognise that this announcement has important implications for staff in the Remploy factories. As part of the collective consultation, the Remploy Board will consider all proposals to avoid compulsory redundancy.
A comprehensive package of personalised and individually tailored support will be in place to support every disabled member of staff who is directly affected. They will receive individualised support for up to 18 months to help with the transition from Government funded sheltered employment to mainstream employment.
The package of support will draw upon the skills of organisations such, as Remploy and Jobcentre Plus, but will also benefit from the experience of organisations such as the Employers' Forum on Disability, and that of local charities and user-led organisations.
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Social Security Benefits
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the total household income including working tax credit, child tax credit, child benefit and council tax benefit of a couple working 17 hours a week on the minimum wage living in their own home and paying £1,000 in council tax (a) currently, (b) after changes to qualifying requirements for working tax credit on 1 April 2012 and (c) including out-of-work benefits. [99402]
Chris Grayling: On the assumption that this couple has two children:
(a) Prior to April 2012, this household would be entitled to working tax credit and they would have income of around £335 per week. This includes around £18 a week in council tax benefit.
(b) In 2012-13, this household would not be entitled to receive working tax credit and would have income of around £263 per week. This includes around £19 a week in council tax benefit.
(c) If this household was out of work their income would be around £271 per week. This includes around £19 a week in council tax benefit.
The Government are reforming the welfare system through the introduction of universal credit in October 2013. Universal credit is designed to improve financial work incentives. And in this example the couple will be around £101 per week better off working 16 hours a week compared to being out of work.
Notes:
1. Part (a) is based on the tax/benefit system in 2011-12
2. Parts (b) and (c) are based on the tax/benefit system in 2012-13
3. Universal credit is based on the tax/benefit system in 2014-15
4. Income is defined as net earnings in addition to any benefits or tax credits.
5. Council tax of £1,000 a year has been equated to approximately £19 a week.
6. All numbers have been provided in 2011-12 prices and where necessary deflated by the GDP Deflator. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest £1.
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the total household income including working tax credit, child tax credit, child benefit and council tax benefit of a couple working 18 hours a week on the minimum wage living in their own home and paying £1,000 in council tax (a) currently, (b) after changes to qualifying requirements for working tax credit on 1 April 2012 and (c) including out-of-work benefits. [99403]
Chris Grayling: On the assumption that this couple has two children:
(a) Prior to April 2012, this household would be entitled to working tax credit and they would have income of around £339 per week. This includes around £16 a week in council tax benefit.
(b) In 2012-13, this household would not be entitled to receive working tax credit and would have income of around £269 per week. This includes around £19 a week in council tax benefit.
(c) If this household was out of work their income would be around £271 per week. This includes around £19 a week in council tax benefit.
The Government are reforming the welfare system through the introduction of universal credit in October 2013. Universal credit is designed to improve financial
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work incentives. And in this example the couple will be around £107 per week better off working 16 hours a week compared to being out of work.
Notes:
1. Part (a) is based on the tax/benefit system in 2011-12
2. Parts (b) and (c) are based on the tax/benefit system in 2012-13
3. Universal credit is based on the tax/benefit system in 2014-15
4. Income is defined as net earnings in addition to any benefits or tax credits.
5. Council tax of £1,000 a year has been equated to approximately £19 a week.
6. All numbers have been provided in 2011-12 prices and where necessary deflated by the GDP Deflator. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest £1.
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the total household income including working tax credit, child tax credit, child benefit and council tax benefit of a couple working 19 hours a week on the minimum wage living in their own home and paying £1,000 in council tax (a) currently, (b) after changes to qualifying requirements for working tax credit on 1 April 2012 and (c) including out-of-work benefits. [99404]
Chris Grayling: On the assumption that this couple has two children:
(a) Prior to April 2012, this household would be entitled to working tax credit and they would have income of around £344 per week. This includes around £15 a week in council tax benefit.
(b) In 2012-13, this household would not be entitled to receive working tax credit and would have income of around £275 per week. This includes around £19 a week in council tax benefit.
(c) If this household was out of work their income would be around £271 per week. This includes around £19 a week in council tax benefit.
The Government are reforming the welfare system through the introduction of Universal Credit in October 2013. Universal credit is designed to improve financial work incentives. And in this example the couple will be around £113 per week better-off working 16 hours a week compared to being out of work
Notes:
1. Part (a) is based on the tax/benefit system in 2011-12
2. Parts (b) and (c) are based on the tax/benefit system in 2012-13
3. Universal credit is based on the tax/benefit system in 2014-15
4. Income is defined as net earnings in addition to any benefits or tax credits.
5. Council tax of £1,000 a year has been equated to approximately £19 a week.
6. All numbers have been provided in 2011-12 prices and where necessary deflated by the GDP Deflator. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest £1.
Mr Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged (a) 18 to 21 and (b) 22 to 24 years claimed (i) employment and support allowance and (ii) incapacity benefit in England in the last year for which figures are available. [100059]
Chris Grayling: The information is provided for the last four quarters.
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| Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA) and employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants in England, split by age: November 2010 to August 2011. | ||||
| IB/SDA | ESA | |||
| Aged 18-21 | Aged 22-24 | Aged 18-21 | Aged 22-24 | |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance for new claims from October 2008. 3. Data include claimants receiving credits only. Source: DWP Information, Governance & Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | ||||
Mr Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the public purse was of the provision of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) incapacity benefit to people aged (i) 18 to 21 and (ii) 22 to 24 years in England in the last year for which figures are available. [100064]
Chris Grayling: The figures are in the table.
| Expenditure on employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and associated income support, 2010-11 | |||
| £ million (nominal) | |||
| Employment and support allowance | Incapacity benefit | Income support | |
| Notes: 1. Income support expenditure relates to those also in receipt of incapacity benefit, whether payments or credits. 2. DWP benefit expenditure tables can be accessed at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp Source: DWP statistical and accounting data. | |||
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider collecting further data on the (a) profiles of claimants and (b) purposes of awards made under the Flexible Support Fund for the purposes of monitoring effectiveness. [101091]
Chris Grayling: The Flexible Support Fund provides opportunities for districts to target the fund towards grants, purchasing goods and services or adviser support, i.e. travel and child care costs. In monitoring this, nationally we break the FSF spend down by customer groups and districts may further break this down if they determine this is a local priority.
All decisions are assessed against established minimum criteria including value for money. Payments are encouraged on an outcome basis with local and commercial monitoring in place to determine compliance with agreements in place either through commercial contracts or grant agreements.
Overall the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus flexibility including the FSF is monitored through the Performance Management Framework to determine the success of the activities and support provided for customers.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many awards were made under the Flexible Support Fund to claimants of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance and (c) income support. [101196]
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Chris Grayling: The information requested is not fully available in the format requested for all awards made under the Flexible Support Fund. However some awards can be directly associated with a single benefit (Table A).
| Table A | |
| Claimants shown as in receipt of: | Number of awards |
The information above is based on awards recorded on the Labour Market System and covers the period 9 April 2011 to 2 March 2012.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parent and partner claimants were in receipt of in-work child care payments prior to the establishment of the Flexible Support Fund. [101197]
Chris Grayling: The two main schemes established prior to the Flexible Support Fund were Up Front Childcare payments and Childcare Subsidy payments. No information on the volume of claimants on these schemes is available.
Winter Fuel Payments: Birmingham
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency who claimed a winter fuel payment in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010 and (d) 2011. [100924]
Steve Webb: The information requested is provided in the following table:
| Number of winter fuel payment recipients in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency | |
| Winter fuel payment recipients | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. 3. Figures from 2010-11 recognise the May 2010 structural changes to the parliamentary constituencies of England and Wales. 4. The latest figures for Winter Fuel Payments are published at: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wfp Source: DWP Information Directorate | |
Work Capability Assessment
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how recordings of work capability assessments (WCAs) are provided to claimants; and what steps he is taking to increase claimants' awareness that WCAs may be recorded. [98996]
Chris Grayling: As the 1 February 2012, Official Report, columns 291-2WH states, we have not implemented universal recording for claimants going through the Work Capability Assessment.
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However, claimants can request an audio recording by contacting the Benefit Centre which administers their claim or Atos Healthcare directly. In these circumstances Atos Healthcare will, where possible, endeavour to provide the requisite audio recording equipment which will give each party a CD recording of the assessment.
A process guide is currently being agreed by Atos Healthcare and the Department for Work and Pensions to improve claimant awareness of the steps they should take if they wish to request audio recording of their assessment.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) weekly and (b) monthly targets his Department has set for work capability assessments. [99519]
Chris Grayling: The Department does not set weekly or monthly numerical targets for the number of work capability assessments Atos Healthcare are expected to clear as this depends on the number of claims received.
The current contractual agreement between DWP and Atos Healthcare does contain performance targets covering a range of features including throughput, claimant service and medical quality. These targets form part of the overall ESA customer journey of 91 days and performance on a monthly basis is measured and monitored.
Communities and Local Government
Affordable Housing
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes have been (a) begun and (b) completed in (i) Peterborough constituency and (ii) North West Cambridgeshire constituency since May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [100769]
Andrew Stunell: Data are not available at constituency level. The following table shows the number of affordable homes started and completed in Peterborough unitary authority and Huntingdonshire district council between April 2010 and September 2011, the latest period for which data are available, as reported in the Homes and Communities Agency's six monthly National Housing Statistics. These statistics only cover affordable housing that is delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency's affordable housing programmes; affordable housing delivered outside these programmes is not included. Housing starts cover new build starts only while completions include both new build and acquisitions.
| Starts | Completions | |
| Source: Homes and Communities Agency. Housing starts cover new build starts only while completions will include new build and acquisitions. | ||
Total affordable completions, including those delivered outside the Homes and Communities Agency's programmes are published annually in the Department's Affordable Housing Supply statistics available on the Department's website.
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Allotments
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans his Department has to ensure parish and town councils which wish to provide allotments for residents are able to do so. [100329]
Andrew Stunell [holding answer 19 March 2012]: The Government recognise that allotments are valuable green spaces and community assets providing people with the opportunity to grow their own produce as part of the long-term promotion of environmental sustainability, health and well-being, community cohesion and social inclusion. All councils, with the exception of inner London authorities, but including parish and town councils have a duty to provide allotments. Section 23 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 places a duty on local authorities including parish councils (except for inner London boroughs) to provide allotments where they perceive a demand for them in their area. There is however no time constraints within which to provide land.
In March 2010 DCLG published ‘A Place to Grow’ to help local authorities minimise the length of time an individual has to wait before getting an allotment plot. It also contains guidance on the better management of existing plots, for example reducing plot sizes and taking action in cases where plots are not being cultivated and is available to local authorities on the LGA website at:
http://new.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/9027597
We are working with a range of partners to promote the importance of allotments and to encourage and support local authorities to make more allotment land available. And significant progress has been made. The 2011 Survey of Allotment waiting lists in England shows that new allotment sites were brought into use by 31 councils (compared with 17 councils in the 2010 survey) with the total number of plots on these new sites being 939.
New neighbourhood planning provisions in the Localism Act also provide communities with a means to boost the number of sites with powers to protect existing allotments and identify new plots.
The Community Right to Reclaim Land will help communities to find space for food growing by making information about land owned by public bodies more easily available and help to ensure that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies and some other organisations is brought back into beneficial use.
Alongside the ‘How to’ guide that my Department published at the end of August, providing advice for communities interested in creating or cultivating community orchards:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1973439
we will be developing a similar guide for individuals and communities interested in finding and developing space for food growing.
Building Regulations
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the Localism Act 2011 on the interpretation of the building regulations. [100673]
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Andrew Stunell: The technical requirements in the Building Regulations with which buildings must comply and the requirements on enforcement of those standards by building control bodies will continue to be set through legislation applying in all of England. The Localism Act will have no effect on these and therefore no assessment is necessary.
Building Regulations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of the devolved Administrations in those jurisdictions.
Families
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the funding allocated for the troubled families initiative will be spent in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15. [101107]
Robert Neill: The funding allocated to the cross-Government Troubled Families programme by central Government over the three years is £448 million. Expenditure is dependent on the take up and results delivered by local authorities, and at this point we would expect to spend to budget, but a breakdown of what will be spent by year is not currently available.
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he has issued to local authorities on the criteria to be used to identify families eligible for assistance as part of his Department's troubled families initiative. [101108]
Robert Neill: Further details on the arrangements for the new Troubled Families programme, including the definition of a troubled family, success measures and payment arrangements, will be distributed to local authorities and announced shortly.
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether outcome measurements will be used to determine payments to local authorities or their contractors as part of the troubled families initiative. [101118]
Robert Neill: Payments to local authorities as part of the Troubled Families programme will be determined primarily on a payment-by-results basis, distributed as a 40% contribution to the costs of actions needed. The remaining 60% will need to be found locally, from the local authority and partners (including, for example, police, health and Job Centre Plus).
Further details on the arrangements for the new Troubled Families programme, including the definition of a troubled family, success measures and payment arrangements, will be announced shortly.
Fire Services
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the number of fire fighters in each (a) region and (b) local authority area who will no longer be eligible to pay income tax following the increase in their personal allowance in April 2012. [101094]
Robert Neill: My Department does not collect information on the pay of individual firefighters.
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Housing: Offenders
Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps he is taking to house ex-offenders with mental health problems; [100429]
(2) what steps he is taking to house ex-offenders; [100430]
(3) what housing advice is offered to ex-offenders on leaving prison; [100433]
(4) what steps he is taking to house ex-offenders with substance misuse problems. [100434]
Grant Shapps: The first report of the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness included an action to identify all offenders at risk of homelessness on arrival into prison and in 2012 more comprehensive expectations and guidance for Prisons and for Probation Trusts on how to assist offenders to access stable housing will be published.
We are providing £20 million funding for local authorities in England to prevent single homelessness and help them ensure that nobody is turned away without clear and useful advice when they are most in need. We have also provided Crisis with £12.25 million to fund voluntary organisations to offer a new scheme, in which ex-offenders and other single homeless people will be given help to find and maintain a new home in the private rented sector.
The Government's drug strategy ‘Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery; Supporting People to Live a Drug Free Life’, published in December 2010, recognises the importance of housing to recovery. DCLG are supporting the production of housing and drug sector led guidance to improve understanding of how the two sectors can work together to support people to achieve full recovery. Initial material will be published later this spring.
Information Commissioner
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many appeals his Department has made to an information tribunal contesting a decision notice of the Information Commissioner in the last 12 months. [100302]
Robert Neill: My Department has made no appeals to the Information Rights tribunal against a decision notice issued by the Information Commissioner in the past 12 months.
Land: Retail Trade
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to monitor land banking by retailers. [100789]
Grant Shapps: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not monitor land banking by retailers. The issue of land banking by retailers is not a planning issue.
My hon. Friend may be interested to know that the Competition Commission concluded, following their inquiry into the groceries market in 2008, that there was no evidence that grocery retailers were creating land banks in order to impede competition.
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Mayors: Referendum
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made on plans for mayoral referendums. [99085]
Greg Clark: Following parliamentary approval, the Regulations setting out the rules for the conduct of governance referendums and the Orders requiring mayoral referendums to be held on 3 May in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield were made on 8 February and came into force on 9 February.
Should the people of these cities choose to have a directly elected mayor at the referendum then the mayoral election will take place on 15 November 2012.
McKinsey and Company
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department paid to McKinsey and Company in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [100584]
Robert Neill: My Department has made no payments to McKinsey and Company in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.
Newspaper Press: Planning Permission
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will deregulate the publication of planning permission applications in local newspapers. [100347]
Robert Neill: The hon. Member may not be aware of the fact that the last Administration produced a consultation paper on this issue, proposing to remove the statutory requirements to publish notices in newspapers (Department for Communities and Local Government, ‘Publicity for planning applications’, July 2009).
However, this was not well-received. Following that consultation, the Administration concluded:
“The Government has decided not to take forward this amendment. This means that the statutory requirement to publish certain applications in newspapers remains. It is clear from the responses that some members of the public and community groups rely on the statutory notices in newspapers to learn about planning applications in their area. The Government is not convinced that good alternative arrangements can be readily rolled out”. (Department for Communities and Local Government, ‘Publicity for planning applications: Summary of responses to consultation’, December 2009. p.14).
My Department does not have any current plans to remove the statutory requirement for certain planning applications to be advertised in newspapers. Such notices ensure that the public are informed of decisions by their local authority which may affect their quality of life, local amenity or their property. This is especially the case in relation to planning applications, where there is a limited period for local residents to make representations.
Notwithstanding, there is scope for reviewing statutory notices in general. Ministers have been clear that, in an internet age, commercial newspapers should expect over time less state advertising as more information is syndicated online by local authorities for free. The flipside is the free press should not face state unfair competition from town hall newspapers and municipal propaganda dressed up as local reporting.
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Risk Registers
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will provide a list of all the risk registers compiled by officials in his Department. [101109]
Robert Neill: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 13 December 2011, Official Report, column 735W.
Rough Sleeping
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the factors causing the reported annual rise in rough sleeping of (a) 49 per cent. in the North West and (b) 23 per cent. in England; and if he will make a statement. [99545]
Grant Shapps: The last Government's methodology ignored the true scale of the problem of rough sleeping. The coalition Government have acted decisively to introduce a more accurate assessment of rough sleeping levels so that there is clear information in all areas, to inform service provision and action to address the problem.
I recently announced additional funding to tackle and prevent rough sleeping. This includes:
£20 million—“Homelessness Transition Fund” to support the roll out of No Second Night Out and protect vital front line services.
£20 million—“Single Homelessness Prevention Fund” to help ensure single homeless people get access to good housing advice.
£5 million boost to the “Homelessness Change Programme” (bringing the total investment to £42.5 million) to deliver improved hostel provision and provide over 1,500 new and improved bed spaces.
£5 million—“Social Impact Bond”—using a payment by results model to help persistent rough sleepers in London. This is the first Social Impact Bond set up to tackle homelessness in the world.
This comes on top of the existing £400 million homelessness grant this Government have protected over the next four years.
A list of funding allocations in England for the Homelessness Transition Fund and the Homelessness Change Programme can be obtained from the following weblinks:
http://homeless.org.uk/transition-fund/news
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/homelessness-change
The London CHAIN report for 2010-11 highlights that over half of London's rough sleepers are non-UK citizens. We are working with the Passage Day centre in London to develop a campaign in the key Eastern European countries to highlight the problems faced by destitute economic migrants. We are also working closely with the Mayor's team and the relevant embassies to reconnect migrant rough sleepers to their home country.
Education
Academies
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many state-maintained schools in Coventry have not expressed interest in or applied for academy status. [100351]
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Mr Gibb: As of 1 March 2012, 94 state-funded schools in Coventry have not expressed an interest or applied to convert to academy status.
Children: Day Care
Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the cost was of non-inspection related visits to childminders in the most recent year for which figures are available. [99975]
Sarah Teather [holding answer 14 March 2012]:This information is held by Ofsted. The chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
Letter from Michael Wilshaw, dated 14 March 2012:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's, Chief Inspector, for response.
The Information you have requested is set out in the table below. All costs relate to the most recent full year, 2010-11, and include direct and indirect costs plus overheads less income. It should be noted that overall costs in Ofsted have reduced since 2010-11 and are planned to reduce in total by 30% by the end of the Comprehensive Spending Review period in 2014-15.
| £ million | |
| 2010-11 Full cost of inspection | 2010-11 Direct and indirect costs plus overheads less income |
The table above shows the cost of the main non-inspection activity related to visits to child-minders. In most cases the visit is to vary conditions of registration, for example where the child-minder moves house. The cost of following up complaints is not included as this is not calculated separately for child-minders.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Sarah Teather MP, Minister of State for Children and Families, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
Early Intervention Foundation
Mr Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what date he expects the tender document for the Early Intervention Foundation to be available on his Department's website. [100862]
Sarah Teather: The Department is aiming to publish the Early Intervention Foundation advertisement and a downloadable invitation to tender before the end of March 2012. They will be made available at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/policiesandprocedures/procurement
Entry Clearances: Children
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what support is available for children who have travelled to the UK on a medical visa for long term treatment who wish to attend school. [98711]
Mr Gibb: The School Admissions Code 2012 sets out a statutory national framework which ensures that entry to all state-funded school places are awarded openly and fairly. While it does not specifically mention children entering the country on a medical visa it does require all admission authorities to treat applications for children coming from overseas in accordance with European Union law or Home Office rules for non-European economic area nationals.
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The provisions of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 govern the right of admission for nationals of the European economic area (EEA) to the United Kingdom (UK). Where these provisions are satisfied, EEA nationals and their children of any age, who come to the UK lawfully to work or for certain other economic purposes, have a right to reside in the UK and enjoy the same rights to education as British citizens. This also applies to unaccompanied EEA national children who come to study in the UK.
Non-EEA children unaccompanied by their parents do not have this right, but can apply on their own for leave to enter or remain in the UK to study at independent fee-paying schools. They must satisfy requirements at paragraph 245ZZ of the Home Office Immigration Rules, which can be viewed at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/immigrationlaw/immigrationrules/part6a/
In addition, schools and local authorities also have responsibilities and duties under the Education Act 1996 to identify, assess and make suitable provision to meet children's special educational needs. This would apply also to those children who are eligible to enter the country on a medical visa.
Freedom of Information
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many appeals his Department has made to an information tribunal contesting a decision notice of the Information Commissioner in the last 12 months. [100303]
GCE A-level
Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students have passed A-levels in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in each of the last 10 years; and how many such passes were achieved in (a) state and (b) independent schools. [99658]
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Mr Gibb [holding answer 13 March 2012]: The Department for Education releases national statistics on the achievements of pupils in GCE A-levels by subject annually, most recently in the publication ‘GCE/Applied GCE A/AS and Equivalent Examination Results in England, 2010/11 (Revised)’. A time series of achievements by subject (including A*-E pass rates and entries) from the 1995/96 academic year onwards from this publication is available on the DfE website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001055/sfr01-2012t13t14.xls
This publication has also provided attainment in GCE A-level subjects for maintained schools, independent schools and further education colleges for the last three years which are available on the DfE website as follows:
2011:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001055/sfr01-2012t16abc.xls
2010:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000986/sfr02-2011t15.xls
2009:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000906/sfr02-2010t18.xls
Similar tables for 2006 to 2008 have been placed in the House Libraries; information for earlier years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
GCSE: West Midlands
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many school pupils in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE by Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index decile in each of the last three years. [100352]
Mr Gibb: The information requested can be found in the following table for pupils resident in Coventry local authority district, the West Midlands and England. Information on GCSE achievement by deprivation for the UK as a whole is not held and therefore has been provided for England.
| Number and percentage of pupils (1) at the end of Key Stage 4 achieving 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE and equivalent by Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) decile (2, 3) of pupil residence for pupils in Coventry local authority district, West Midlands and England. Years: 2008/09 to 2010/11 (revised) (4, 5) . Coverage: England (6) , maintained schools (including academies and CTCs) | ||||||
| 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | ||||
| Number of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Number of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Number of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades | |
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20 Mar 2012 : Column 658W
| (1) Pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in each academic year. (2) Income Deprivation Affecting Children Indices. Each Super Output Area (similar sized groups of households across the country with a minimum population of 1,000) in England is given a score which ranks it between 1 and 32,482, 1 being the most deprived. (3) The IDACI bands used for 2010/11 are based on 2010 IDACI scores, and the IDACI bands used for 2008/09 and 2009/10 are based on 2007 IDACI scores. Therefore care should be taken when comparing to IDACI band breakdowns for 2008/09 and 2009/10 with 2010/11. (4) Figures for 2008/09 and 2009/10 are based on final data, 2010/11 figures are based on revised data. (5) From 2009/10 iGCSEs, accredited at time of publication, have been counted as GCSE equivalents and also as English and mathematics GCSEs. (6) Only includes pupils who are resident in England. The residency of 1,901 children in 2008/09, 1,755 in 2009/10 and 2,061 in 2010/11 is unknown due to missing or invalid postcode information. These children are excluded from the figures in the table. Source: National Pupil Database | ||||||
McKinsey and Company
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department paid to McKinsey and Company in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [100585]
Tim Loughton: The Department does not hold any contract information for this company on its central database. The Department's financial records show that the Department has not made any payments to McKinsey in either period.
PreVenture Programme
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will commission an assessment of the effectiveness of the PreVenture programme. [99553]
Sarah Teather: The Drug Strategy, published in December 2010, recognised that all young people need high quality drug and alcohol education so they have a thorough knowledge of their effects and harms and the skills and the confidence to choose not to use drugs and alcohol. The Addictions Department at Kings College London has been invited to submit an existing evaluation of the PreVenture programme to the Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions (CAYT), one of the Department's three new research centres:
http://www.ifs.org.uk/centres/cayt
CAYT will build a repository of good practice based on independently validated evaluations of programmes. This will provide those that commission and deliver drug and alcohol education with a reliable source of high quality evidence-based programmes and materials and evidence of what really works to improve outcomes.
Pupil Exclusions
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance he provides to schools on when to (a) temporarily and (b) permanently exclude pupils. [100432]
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Mr Gibb: The Department publishes statutory guidance to head teachers and governing bodies on the use of fixed period and permanent exclusion. The current guidance can be downloaded at the following link:
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/exclusion/a0076478/exclusion-guidance
The Department will shortly be issuing revised statutory guidance on exclusion which will apply to all exclusions occurring from 1 September 2012.
Pupil Referral Units
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the report, Improving Alternative Provision by Charlie Taylor. [100130]
Mr Gibb: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), accepted all of Charlie Taylor, the Government's expert adviser on behaviour's report on alternative provision. We are now taking steps to implement the recommendations and Charlie Taylor will report back to Secretary of State in June 2012.
Sixth Form Education
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether a sixth form college requires his permission to (a) change its name and (b) dissolve itself in order to merge with another education institution; and if he will make a statement. [100073]
Mr Gibb: The current regulations permit a sixth form college corporation to change its name with the approval of the Secretary of State; there is nothing in the Education Act 2011 that changes this requirement. The Education Act did however legislate to transfer sole power to dissolve from the Secretary of State to the sixth form college corporation itself (with the Secretary of State maintaining a backstop power to direct a corporation under his intervention power); therefore, subject to parliamentary process, the regulations for the dissolution of a sixth form college corporation will be revised to this effect.
Third Sector
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding his Department gave to (a) the Stephen Lawrence Trust, (b) Magic Breakfast, (c) Barnardo’s and (d) the Children's Society in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [100541]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 19 March 2012]: The voluntary and community sector is key to the development and delivery of services for children, young people and families. This Department funds a number of voluntary sector organisations, both directly and indirectly through local authorities and schools.
Based on the information available in the Department's finance system the funding made available to the named organisations in financial year 2010-11 is given in the following table, together with the estimate of funding for financial year 2011-12.
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| £ | ||
| Funding in financial year 2010-11 | Estimated funding 2011-12 | |
Work Experience
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 5 May 2011, Official Report, column 917W, on departmental work experience, how many people (a) worked as an intern, (b) undertook a work experience placement and (c) worked as a volunteer in his Department in accordance with the hiring criteria set out in that answer in the last 12 months for which data are available; and how many such people were employed other than according to those criteria. [100737]
Tim Loughton: In 2011 the Department took on five paid interns as part of the Cabinet Office summer diversity internship programme and three unpaid expenses-only interns as part of a pilot for the Cabinet Office's new social mobility internships.
The Department does not fund any other unpaid, expenses-only internships, but each year it does offer a number of unpaid summer internship placements to graduates that are part of the Teach First Programme. In 2011 there were 12 placements under this scheme.
The number of work experience placements undertaken via the local education business partnerships was 29 in 2011. We estimate that another 40 work experience placements will have been offered via less formal route e.g. friends and family. In line with the Deputy Prime Minister's view that informal placements are advertised openly and Civil Service Employee Policy (CSEP) guidance the Department is currently revising its approach to work experience placements.
Apart from the details given above the Department does not offer voluntary positions. The Department does encourage its staff to undertake volunteering opportunities and is aware of at least 190 staff who undertook some form of volunteering during 2011.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Pricing
Mr Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the potential financial effects of introducing a minimum price for alcohol on low-income consumers of alcohol aged over 18 years; and if she will make a statement. [100554]
James Brokenshire: The Government conduct impact assessments and public consultations prior to introducing any new alcohol legislation.
The Government will set out their wide range of action to tackle excessive alcohol consumption in its forthcoming Alcohol Strategy.
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Mr Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had on alcohol minimum pricing with (i) members of the beverage alcohol manufacturing industry, (ii) supermarkets, (iii) pubs and other members of the on-trade and (iv) members of health and other alcohol NGOs since September 2011. [100566]
James Brokenshire: Home Office ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Crime
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to Article 3 of EU Council Framework Decision 2002/187/JHA of 28 February 2002, on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years Eurojust has assisted (a) an investigation and (b) a prosecution involving a crime committed in the United Kingdom. [100185]
Damian Green [holding answer 15 March 2012]: The information requested is not held centrally. However, UK competent authorities sought assistance from Eurojust in 644 criminal cases between 2001 and 2011. The majority of these cases involved conduct in the UK, although some involved conduct in other member states where the UK had a direct interest either in the suspect or the impact of the activity. The UK national desk has also dealt with 1,344 requests opened by other member states. A proportion of those cases will also have involved criminality in the UK.
Cybercrime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment her Department has made of the level of understanding of cybercrime across police forces; [100752]
(2) what assessment she has made of the responsibility of individual police officers in tackling cybercrime. [100753]
James Brokenshire: [holding answer 19 March 2012]: The Government are committed to mainstreaming the capacity to tackle cybercrime across the police service. We said in the Cyber Security Strategy that we would ensure the development of new training, giving local forces more capability to understand, investigate and disrupt cyber crime. The Police Central eCrime Unit has launched three regional hubs to support forces and take forward the development of a national response to cybercrime. The national response will be improved further by the creation of the National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency. This will act as a centre of expertise to support the enhancement of law enforcement capacity.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mr Ellwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to question 99136 on accrediting English language
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schools, which agencies provide the accreditation for language schools for courses
(a)
longer and
(b)
shorter than 11 months. [100504]
Damian Green [holding answer 19 March 2012]: For courses longer than 11 months, international students must be sponsored through Tier 4 of the points-based system by an education provider which is licensed by the UK Border Agency and holds a valid and satisfactory full institutional inspection, review or audit by one of the following bodies:
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education;
Ofsted;
Education Scotland;
Estyn;
Education and Training Inspectorate;
Independent Schools Inspectorate;
Bridge Schools Inspectorate; or
School Inspection Service.
For English language courses shorter than 11 months students can use the extended student visitor visa, where the education provider must be:
1. inspected, reviewed or audited by one of the bodies listed at (a) above; or
2. the holder of valid accreditation from a UK Border Agency approved accreditation body, namely:
i. Accreditation UK;
ii. the British Accreditation Council;
iii the Accreditation Body for Language Services; or
iv. the Accreditation Service for International Colleges.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many international students who enrolled on courses of longer than four years duration have been granted visas in each of the last five years. [101095]
Damian Green: Figures on the duration of courses for those granted entry clearance visas to the UK for the purposes of study could only be supplied by examining the individual records at a disproportionate cost.
Data relating to entry clearance visas issued for study are published in table 'be.04' of the Home Office statistical release 'Immigration Statistics'. Figures show that the number of these visas issued were: 236,961 in 2011; 253,788 in 2010; 273,211 in 2009; 207,775 in 2008 and 193,775 in 2007 (excluding student visitors and dependants).
The latest published figures for entry clearance visas appear in Immigration Statistics October to December 2011, which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/
EU Justice and Home Affairs
Mr Raab:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisation serves as the UK's Financial Intelligence Unit as mandated by EU Council Decision 2000/642/JHA of 17 October 2000; and on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years it has (a) requested information from another EU member state's financial intelligence unit regarding financial transactions related to money laundering or
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(b)
been requested by another EU member state's financial intelligence unit to provide such information, in accordance with Article 1 of the EU Council Decision. [99914]
James Brokenshire: The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) serves as the UK's Financial Intelligence Unit, a role it inherited from the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS).
Prior to 2009, this data was not collated for publication. Information since 2009, which is published in the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) annual report, is as follows:
Incoming requests from EU FIUs
2009: 687
2010: 506
Up to 30 September 2011: 419.
Outgoing requests from SOCA to EU FIUs
2009: 575
2010: 639
Up to 30 September 2011: 534.
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK has enacted the provisions of EU Council Framework Decision 2002/946/JHA of 28 November 2002. [100822]
Damian Green [holding answer 19 March 2012]: The purpose of the Framework Decision is to create a penal regime to prevent the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence. Section 143 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 amended the Immigration Act 1971 to set out a penal regime for the following offences: assisting unlawful immigration to a member state (section 25); helping an asylum seeker to enter the United Kingdom (section 25A); and assisting entry to the United Kingdom in breach of deportation or exclusion order (section 25C).
Human Trafficking
Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people her Department estimates were (a) trafficked and (b) prosecuted for trafficking last year in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Glasgow. [100756]
Damian Green [holding answer 19 March 2012]: No estimate has been made in 2011 of the number of people who were trafficked in the UK, Scotland or Glasgow.
The most recent prosecutions data held for human trafficking offences shows that in 2010-11 there were 177 prosecutions in England and Wales and, in 2011, four prosecutions in Glasgow, Scotland. The Home Office does not hold specific data for Northern Ireland.
Human Trafficking: Scotland
Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when officials in her Department spoke to their Scottish counterparts regarding human trafficking in each of the last five years. [100757]
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Damian Green [holding answer 19 March 2012]: Home Office officials are, and have been, in regular contact with their Scottish counterparts on human trafficking during the last five years.
Immigration
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the situation whereby academics apply for indefinite leave to remain under the 10-year residency rule, despite having had to spend significant periods of time abroad as required by their jobs. [100993]
Damian Green: A person would not qualify on the basis of 10 years' long residence if he or she had absences from the United Kingdom amounting to over 18 months in total during that period. The Home Office has not made any specific assessment of academics who seek to qualify under this requirement.