Hospitals
Mr Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid to consultants who have undertaken reviews of the financial position of St Helens Hospital; and if he will publish the consultants' findings. [106421]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department paid £101,267 in 2006-07 to undertake a historic due diligence and working capital review of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as part of the trust's application to become a foundation trust in that year. This work is required for all national health service trusts seeking to achieve foundation trust status.
The Department provided £220,000 to fund a review in May 2011 of the impact of private finance initiative (PFI) arrangements in 22 NHS trusts in England, with PFI schemes which might hinder their ability to achieve foundation trust status. Informed by this review, the Department announced on 3 February 2012 that six of these trusts, including St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, may be eligible for financial support from the Department to ensure their long-term financial viability subject to passing four tests. The Department plans to publish the outcome of the review in due course.
Spending on consultants by the trust to review its financial position is not held centrally.
Influenza: Vaccination
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of (a) those over 65 years, (b) pregnant women and (c) health and social care workers in Reading West constituency received a flu vaccination in each of the last five winters. [106684]
Anne Milton: Data on the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine are available for primary care trusts (PCTs) but not for constituencies. The data provided in the following tables are for the PCT that covers Reading West constituency.
| Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in those aged 65 years and over | ||
| Survey year | Primary care trust | Vaccine uptake % |
| (1) Data are provisional end of campaign data for 2011-12 | ||
| Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in pregnant women (data only available for the last two survey years) | ||
| Survey year | Primary care trust | Vaccine uptake % |
| (1) Data are provisional end of campaign data for 2011-12 Notes: 1. Data cover cumulative vaccinations administered from 1 September to end of 31 January in each survey year except 2010-11, when the data collection extended to include flu vaccinations to end of 28 February 2011. 2. Data on the uptake of influenza vaccine by pregnant women include ‘healthy pregnant Women’, i.e. those without other risk factors and those falling in a clinical at-risk group. 3. Data on the uptake of influenza vaccine by pregnant women need to be interpreted with caution. It is likely that influenza vaccine uptake by pregnant women is underestimated due to denominator inflation but it is not possible to determine the scale of the underestimation and it could vary considerably between data providers. The reasons behind the likely underestimation of uptake are described in the December 2011 issue of ‘Vaccine Update’ at: http://immunisation.dh.gov.uk/vu-185-dec-11/ 4. All figures are derived from data as extracted from records on general practitioner (GP) systems or as submitted by GP practices or PCTs. | ||
Data on the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine by health care workers (HCWs) are available by national health service trust but not by constituencies. The data provided in the following table are for the NHS trusts that cover the Reading West constituency.
| Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in HCWs | ||
| Survey year | Organisation name | Vaccine uptake % |
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| (1) Vaccine uptake for HCWs was submitted as a cumulative figure (including Reading). (2) No data were reported (3) Data are provisional end of campaign data for 2011-12. Notes: 1. Data received for 2007-08 and 2008-09 surveys were submitted by Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust for the Reading and adjoining areas. 2. Data cover cumulative vaccinations administered from 1 September to end of 31 January in each survey year except .2010-11, when the data collection extended to include flu vaccinations to end of 28 February 2011. 3. Data on the uptake of influenza vaccine by HCWs include all frontline health care workers involved in direct patient care. 4. Changes in the commissioning and provider arrangements within primary care have presented challenges to the collection of data on the vaccination of frontline health care workers in this setting. Therefore 2011-12 season data must be treated with particular caution. 5. Data validation is complete, however due to staff movement across trusts as a result of NHS reorganisation it is likely that there has been double counting and should be interpreted with care. 6. All figures are derived from data as extracted from Immform website submitted by individual trust data providers. 7. For those trusts that did not submit data the rows contain no figures. 8. Some trusts and PCTs were not enlisted in the data reports. Data for these are not recorded and cannot be included in this table for 2007-08 and 2008-09. | ||
The following notes should be considered when reviewing the data in the tables:
1. Seasonal influenza vaccine was only offered to all pregnant women from the 2010-11 influenza season.
2. Data have only been collected on the seasonal influenza vaccine uptake of frontline health care workers. Before the 2009-10 influenza season these data were collected from NHS acute trusts only.
3. Data on seasonal influenza vaccine uptake by social care workers have not been collected.
4. Influenza vaccines for GP patients are administered through PCT. Influenza vaccinations of HCW are administered by the trusts where the health care workers are working. Therefore, the data on GP patients are for PCT only, and the data for HCW cover a wider range of NHS trusts.
The data above are taken from reports available on the Department's website at:
http://immunisation.dh.gov.uk/tag/flu-vaccine-uptake/
Learning Disability
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a statutory requirement for doctors to receive training on care for patients with learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement. [106713]
Paul Burstow:
Government do not specify the content of training curricula for doctors. The content and standard of healthcare training is the responsibility of the independent regulatory body, the General Medical Council (GMC). Through their role as the custodians of quality standards in education and practice, the GMC are committed to ensuring high quality patient care delivered by high quality doctors and that doctors are equipped
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with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to deal with the problems and conditions they will encounter in practice. Medical schools design curricula for undergraduate medical education and Medical Royal Colleges for postgraduate medical training, all to meet the standards set out by the GMC.
Annual health checks are a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to overcome known health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability. One of the prerequisites for GP practices taking part in the annual health checks directed enhanced service (DES), was that practice staff should attend a multi-professional training session. Funding was made available to primary care trusts (PCTs) for those practices taking part in the DES. However, no additional funding was made available to PCTs to arrange training for practice staff. The Royal College of General Practitioners acknowledges that annual health checks, improved data on local learning disability populations and improved training are clear evidence of local areas responding to the recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman on healthcare for people with learning disabilities in their joint investigation “Six Lives”.
We have committed to work with professional regulatory bodies and educational bodies to support improvements in the training and education of healthcare staff in relation to learning disabilities. Healthcare providers and professionals have a “duty of care”, a clear moral and social responsibility to look after the people in their care effectively. This means that the wellbeing of all service users, and a commitment to treat people with dignity and respect should be central to their work. Should providers fall seriously short of the expected standards, we will expect the full range of sanctions.
Medical Treatments: Research
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on biotechnology and biomedical and clinical research. [106661]
Mr Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), has had no discussions with the Israeli Minister of Health on these subjects.
Mental Health Services
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much the NHS spent on mindfulness-based treatments in each of the last five years; [106815]
(2) if he will estimate the number of people who could benefit from mindfulness-based therapies approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE); and how many people were being treated by mindfulness-based therapies approved by NICE in the latest period for which figures are available; [106816]
(3) if he will estimate the average cost to the public purse of treating repeated episodes of depression by (a) drugs, (b) individual counselling and (c) mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available; [106817]
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(4) how many patients suffering from repeat depression were waiting for treatment based on (a) individual counselling and (b) mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available; [106818]
(5) what assessment he has made of level of access to mindfulness-based therapy; [106819]
(6) how many and what proportion of patients suffering from depression were given mindfulness-based therapies in each primary care trust area in England in the latest year for which figures are available; [106821]
(7) what assessment he has made of the propensity of GPs to prescribe mindfulness-based therapy for patients who have depression; [106822]
(8) if he will estimate the proportion of GPs who regularly prescribe mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression; [106823]
(9) what assessment he has made of any potential financial savings to the NHS of an increased take up of mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression; [106824]
(10) which conditions the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has assessed for treatment with mindfulness-based therapies; and which treatments have been taken up by the NHS; [106825]
(11) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) anti-depressants and (b) mindfulness-based treatment in (i) curing and (ii) suppressing depression. [106826]
Paul Burstow: How much was spent by the national health service on mindfulness-based therapies is not collected centrally and neither has an estimate been made of the number of people who could benefit from receiving it. With regard to how many people have been treated using mindfulness-based therapies and the cost to the public purse of treating repeated episodes of depression by drugs, individual counselling and mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 October 2011, Official Report, columns 1406-08W.
Figures showing how many patients suffering from repeat depression were waiting for treatment based on individual counselling and mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available are not collected centrally and no national assessment of access to mindfulness based therapies has been made.
With regard to how many and what proportion of patients suffering with depression were given mindfulness-based therapies in each primary care trust area in England in the latest year for which figures are available I also refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 October 2011, Official Report, columns 1406-08W.
No assessment of the propensity of general practitioners (GPs) to prescribe mindfulness-based therapies has been made. It is more usually the case that patients will receive the therapy as part of their treatment by an IAPT practitioner to whom they will have been referred by their GP. For similar reasons, no estimate has been made of the proportion of GPs who regularly prescribe mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression.
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We have not made an assessment of the potential financial savings to the NHS that may be realised by an increased take-up of mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression. However, research has shown mindfulness-based therapy to be effective in preventing relapse after a period of depression and this is why mindfulness-based therapy is increasingly being offered as part of IAPT delivered interventions.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is responsible for determining the exact scope of its guidance on individual disease areas, including the specific interventions covered. Their clinical guidelines on depression in adults, published in October 2009, and common mental health disorders, published in May 2011, include recommendations on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of anti-depressants and mindfulness-based treatment in curing and suppressing depression. It is the role for NICE to assess treatments and based on their findings make recommendations to the NHS.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the budget spent through primary care trusts was spent on mental health services in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [107240]
Paul Burstow: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 24 April 2012, Official Report, columns 865-69W. The data requested for 2011-12 are expected to be made available in autumn 2012.
Public Bodies
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the rules relating to disclosure of interest on the part of people serving on his Department's associated public bodies. [106784]
Mr Simon Burns: The rules relating to disclosure of interest on the part of people serving on the Department's associated public bodies are set out in the Cabinet Office's “Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies”.
The document has been placed in the Library. It is also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
www.bl.uk/aboutus/governance/blboard/Board%20Code%20of%20Practice%202011.pdf
Respiratory System
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether GPs and paediatricians, when presented with child patients with respiratory conditions, routinely ask the parents of the child whether they smoke around their children. [106480]
Anne Milton: The Department has made no assessment of whether general practitioners and paediatricians, when presented with child patients with respiratory conditions, routinely ask the parents of the child whether they smoke around their children.
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We know that exposure to second-hand smoke has an adverse impact on children's respiratory health through a number of conditions. For example, it increases the risk of lower respiratory infections in children, increases the risk of wheezing at all ages and also increases the risk of asthma. The vast majority of that exposure takes place in the home and family cars.
We would, therefore, expect all health care professionals coming in to contact with children presenting with respiratory illness to have appropriate discussions with their parents about the major risk factors, including parental smoking.
A national marketing campaign, including television, radio, magazines and digital media, to encourage smokers not to smoke in their homes and cars was launched on 31 March.
Sheffield Primary Care Trust
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effects on patient care of the requirement for Sheffield Primary Care Trust to hold back 2% of its budget in 2011-12 and 2012-13 to cover the costs of reorganisation. [106423]
Mr Simon Burns: The 2% requirement introduced in the 2010-11 NHS Operating Framework, published 16 December 2009, is a key part of the national health service financial strategy, and the 2012-13 NHS Operating Framework states that every primary care trust is required to commit 2% of their recurrent resources on non-recurrent expenditure. Part of this non-recurrent expenditure will be the non-recurrent costs of organisational and system change, but a significant part of the non-recurrent expenditure relates to Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention initiatives in both NHS trusts and primary care trusts, and service redesign costs not related to the new health system.
The requirement to commit a level of recurring funds that are only ever committed non-recurrently enables flexibility and mitigates financial risk. It is expected that this approach to financial risk management will continue in the future.
Smoking
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department plans to measure the effectiveness of its behaviour change campaign to reduce the number of adults smoking in cars carrying children. [106653]
Anne Milton: The Department will use a number of measures to evaluate the effectiveness of its second-hand smoke campaign, which addresses both homes and cars. This includes:
1. Pre- and post-campaign tracking, research surveys with the target audience to measure awareness of the campaign and changes in attitude and behaviour, including whether smokers have made their homes and cars smoke free and whether they have quit smoking.
2. Research with recipients of the Smokefree Kit, which is promoted within the campaign, to assess whether this product further influences changes in attitudes and behaviour change in comparison to those who have solely seen the campaign.
3. Analysis of response data such as visits to the Smokefree website, text responses to the advertising and social media activity.
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Social Services
Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities in England, with responsibility for adult social services, have a monopoly provider providing 25% or over of nursing care; and what the names are of each of these local authorities and their monopoly provider. [106635]
Paul Burstow: The information requested is not collected centrally. Local authorities are free to decide how best to provide care to meet the needs of their populations. They may do so by providing services directly or via contracting with independent providers of care.
In October 2011, the Department published a discussion paper, “Oversight of the Social Care Market”, which outlined the issues facing the social care market and possible options for strengthening oversight of the largest and most complex providers. This has provided a valuable opportunity for us to hear views on this area and reflect on the best approach.
We have considered the responses to the consultation paper, and intend to address the issue of market oversight in the forthcoming White Paper on care and support.
Speech Therapy
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance and support he plans to give to clinical commissioning consortia to ensure that they commission an appropriate range of services for people with speech, language and communication needs. [106452]
Mr Simon Burns: As commissioners, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will need to have strong relationships with a range of health partners to provide them with access to information, advice and knowledge to help them make the best possible commissioning decisions. They will be under a statutory duty to seek advice in commissioning services from a broad range of professionals, such as those who are well placed to understand the speech, language and communication needs of local populations. They will also be able to access advice from clinical senates and networks.
The NHS Commissioning Board will have a duty to publish commissioning guidance to which CCGs must have regard. In addition, CCGs will work with local authorities to develop a comprehensive analysis of health and social care needs in each local area, and to translate these into action through the joint health and wellbeing strategy and their own commissioning plans.
Justice
Magistrates: Teesside
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates there were in Teesside (a) on the latest date for which figures are available, (b) in 2011, (c) in 2010, (d) in 2009 and (e) in 2008. [106432]
Mr Djanogly: HMCTS figures for the number of magistrates in Teesside for the requested years are as follows:
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| Magistrates | |
The fall in the number of magistrates recruited in Teesside reflects the national picture. This is due to the reduced workload in the magistrates courts. There are currently 264 active magistrates on the Teesside Bench and the local Advisory Committee will be recruiting 10 new magistrates this year for Teesside to replace those magistrates who have retired.
Asylum and Immigration Tribunal
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many companies appealed to the first tier tribunals service tax chamber relating to cases involving PAYE, VAT or national insurance contributions in financial years (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; and what proportion of those appeals were successful. [106492]
Mr Djanogly: HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not hold centrally any of the information sought. It could only be collated by trawling individual tribunal files manually. Accordingly, it could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. In addition any figures would be misleading as many of the files will have been destroyed under the retention policy guidance.
Statistical data are published annually and quarterly, including data on the volumes of appeals from any source received and disposed of for the financial years (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 and the latest figures year to date for (c) 2011-12 are shown in the following table:
| First Tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) | |||||
| 2011-12 (1) | |||||
| Volumes | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | Quarter 1: April to June | Quarter 2 : July to September | Quarter 3 : October to December |
| (1) The latest published data are for Quarter 3 2011-12. Official Statistics for Quarter 4 (January to March) 2011-12 and annual statistics for 2011-12 will be published on 28 June 2012. | |||||
This information is available from the following sources;
Annual Statistics for the Tribunals Service 2009-10:
http://www.tribunals.gov.uk/Tribunals/Documents/Publications/TS_AnnualStatisticsReport0910.pdf
Annual Tribunals Statistics, 2010-11:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/tribs-stats/annual-tribunals-statistics-2010-11.pdf
Quarterly Statistics for the Tribunals Quarters 1, 2 and 3 2011-12:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/tribunals/quarterly
Alex Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to initiate a consultation on the proposed statutory instrument bringing first tier tribunals on a point of law back into the scope of legal aid; whether such consultation will include
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representatives of advice agencies and the tribunal judiciary; and whether he proposes that the decision as to whether a tribunal comes into scope will be left to the discretion of a tribunal judge either on their own cognisance or by a direction made by a claimant or claimant's representative. [106645]
Mr Djanogly: We have undertaken to explore whether we can find a way whereby someone, other than the claimant or their lawyer, certifies that a welfare benefits appeal in the first-tier tribunal involves a point of law. There is still much work to do to determine how and in what circumstances this might be done. Although we have no current plans to consult we may seek views from and engage with interested parties where we consider it appropriate to do so.
Human Trafficking
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there were for offences related to human trafficking in each year since 2004. [106691]
Mr Blunt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 612W.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication 24 May 2012.
Legal Aid Scheme
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether welfare benefits will be included in the mandatory legal aid telephone gateway. [106646]
Mr Djanogly: Welfare benefits will not be subject to the initial phase of the mandatory gateway. The initial areas of law covered by the mandatory gateway will be debt (in so far as it remains in scope), special educational needs and discrimination (claims relating to a contravention of the Equality Act 2010).
The Government will review the implementation and operation of the gateway and publish the report of the review within two years of the introduction of the gateway, and before any decision is taken about any possible extension of the gateway to other areas of law such as welfare benefits.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of existing legal aid funding he expects citizens advice bureaux and law centres to retain in respect of work related to (a) debt, (b) housing, (c) welfare benefits and (d) employment. [106647]
Mr Djanogly: Once implemented, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will reduce the number and types of cases for which legal aid will be available, including some matters currently handled by not-for-profit providers. However, not-for-profit providers, alongside all other providers, will continue to be able to bid for the contracts that will be available to deliver legal aid for the areas that remain in scope. The changes to the scope of legal aid will not take effect until April 2013, giving the not-for-profit sector time to adjust to changes in their funding.
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Manpower
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many jobs formerly in his Department and its agencies and non-departmental bodies were transferred to the private sector in 2010-11. [106997]
Mr Blunt: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply given on 6 February 2012, Official Report, column 21W, by the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Mr Djanogly). I can also advise the right hon. Gentleman that for the following year (2011-12), a total of 639 staff, representing 608 full-time equivalent staff, transferred from HMP Birmingham to the private sector.
Proceeds of Crime
Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been (a) levied and (b) collected through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. [106566]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 14 May 2012]: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
The total value of all orders (cash forfeitures, confiscation, civil recovery and taxation) obtained from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2011 is £1,931,444,000.
The total value of all orders enforced during the same period is £955,200,000. Confiscation orders are not always paid in the year in which they are made. The enforcement value does not include compensation paid to victims or receiver's fees.
Robbery
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the highest number was of previous convictions for robbery for an individual convicted of an offence of robbery without being sent to prison in each of the last three years; and how many offences they had committed in total at the point of sentence for this offence. [106655]
Mr Blunt: Table 1 shows the highest number of previous convictions for the offence of robbery for an individual convicted of this offence in each year between 2008 to 2010 who received a sentence other than immediate custody. It also shows the offender's total number of previous offences for any offence at the point of sentence and the number of previous immediate custodial sentences for any offence.
These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large-scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
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|
Number of previous immediate custodial sentences for any offence |
|||
| Source: Police National Computer, MOJ JSAS | |||
Translation Services
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of hearings or trials requiring interpreters have been delayed due to Applied Language Solutions not providing an interpreter in the last year. [106736]
Mr Blunt: Full implementation of the contract with Applied Language Solutions commenced on 30 January 2012. There were an unacceptable number of problems in the first weeks of full implementation of the contract, but the Government took swift action to require improvements and performance has now improved significantly.
Information on the number of hearings or trials delayed due to problems with the new interpretation and translation contract is not available. The Chief Statistician for the Ministry of Justice has already announced plans to publish statistics on the use of interpreters in courts on 24 May 2012.
Unpaid Fines
John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fines levied by courts were not paid in full in the required period in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date; and what estimate he has made of the total monetary value of such fines in each such year. [107519]
Mr Djanogly: My Department has been able to calculate the total amount imposed and the total amount paid for financial penalties but was not able to track centrally individual accounts until April 2011. The following table shows the data for April to December 2011, the latest data currently available:
| Financial impositions in England and Wales—April to December 2011 | |
| (1 )Rounded to nearest £million. (2 )Accounts closed will include those paid in full and any legally or administratively cancelled. (3) Total collected includes payments made against fines imposed prior to April 2011. (4 )Rounded to the nearest thousand. | |
Financial penalties include amounts for fines, costs, prosecution costs, legal aid, victim surcharge, compensation and unpaid fixed penalties and penalty notices for disorder that are transferred to HMCTS for enforcement. Accounts still open include fines that are being collected by instalments, those with deductions from benefit and those which have been given time to pay.
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Victim Support Schemes
Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made in implementing his proposals for reform of services for victims and witnesses. [106588]
Mr Blunt: Our consultation “Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses” closed on 22 April. We are considering the responses we have received and will publish the Government's response in the summer.
Young Offenders: Rochdale
Simon Danczuk:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young adult offenders aged 18 to 20 years from the metropolitan borough of Rochdale have been held in (a) young offender institutions, (b) local
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prisons,
(c)
women's prisons and
(d)
other parts of the secure estate in each month since May 2009. [107076]
Mr Blunt: All young offenders serving sentences of DYOI are held in appropriately designated young offender institution (YOI) accommodation within the prison estate. The majority of this accommodation is in dedicated YOIs, although some establishments in the estate have a dual designation (designated both as a prison and a YOI) and hold both adult prisoners and young offenders.
The following table shows the number of offenders aged 18 to 20-years-old from the metropolitan borough of Rochdale on a set day in each month where data are available since May 2009. The data have only been recorded centrally since May 2009 and from September 2010 are available on a bi-monthly basis.
| Number | |||||||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | ||||||||
| Prison function | May | Sept | Nov | Jan | Mar | May | July | Sept | Nov | Jan | Mar |
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Information on offenders' residences is provided by offenders on reception into prison and recorded on a central IT system. Addresses can include a home address, an address to which offenders intend to return on discharge or next of kin address and these figures are provided in the table above.
If no address is given, an offender's committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. These figures are also included in the table above. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 3% of all offenders, these figures are excluded from the table above.
Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many juvenile offenders from the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) young offender institution in each month since May 2005. [107077]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of juvenile offenders (aged 10 to 17) either sentenced or remanded in custody attached to Rochdale YOT who have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) under 18 young offender institution in each month since May 2005 to March 2012.
These data have been provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB). The YJB only holds data at the YOT area level. YOT area data may cover more than one metropolitan borough or local authority area; however, in this case the YOT and the metropolitan borough cover the same geographical area.
This is based upon monthly snapshot data. Therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody may be shown in more than one month in the table.
The data from April 2011 onwards are provisional and will be finalised when the 2011-12 Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
| Table 1: Young people in custody attached to Rochdale YOT by establishment type in each month since May 2005 | |||
| Secure children's homes | Secure training centres | Young offender institutions | |
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| Notes: 1. YJB data referring to secure training centres (STCs), secure children's homes (SCHs), and under-18 young offender institutions (YOIs). These are based upon monthly snapshot data therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody will be shown in more than one month in the table. The figures from April 2011 onwards are provisional. Data from April 2011 onwards will be finalised when the 2011-12 Annual Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013. 2. The data come from the Youth Justice Board's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS). These figures have been drawn from administrative FT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time. | |||
Cabinet Office
Advisory Services
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of the additional funding allocated to the devolved Administrations as consequential funding for not-for-profit free advice services in the Budget was made available to the (a) Welsh Government, (b) Scottish Government and (c) Northern Ireland Executive. [107232]
Mr Hurd: The Government will make £20 million available in 2013-14, and again in 2014-15, to support the not-for-profit advice sector as it adapts to changes in the way it is funded.
England's share will be £16.791 million, Scotland will receive £1.679 million, Wales £0.967 million and Northern Ireland £0.563 million.
Average Earnings
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average income was of (a) full-time male, (b) full-time female, (c) part-time male and (d) part-time female workers in (i) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (ii) Birmingham local authority area and (iii) West Midlands region in the last 12 months. [106940]
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Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 14 May 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average income was of (a) full-time male, (b) full-time female, (c) part-time male and (d) part-time female workers in (i) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (ii) Birmingham local authority area and (iii) West Midlands region in the last 12 months. (106940).
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It is not possible to provide average income estimates for the breakdowns requested but average earnings estimates are available.
Average levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom.
The following table shows median gross weekly earnings in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, Birmingham local authority and the West Midlands in 2011.
| Median gross weekly earnings (a) for full-time male, full-time female, part-time male and part time female employee jobs: (i) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (ii) Birmingham local authority, (iii) West Midlands for April 2011 | |||
| £ | |||
| Gross weekly earnings | Birmingham, Ladywood (b) | Birmingham (c) | West Midlands (d) |
| Notes: (a) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. (b) ( )Parliamentary constituency. (c) Local authority. (d) UK region. Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of 200 with a CV of 5%, we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220. Key: CV <= 5% * CV > 5% and <= 10% ** CV > 10% and <= 20% X unreliable. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics. | |||
Business
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses have been created in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the north-east and (iv) nationally in the last five years. [106468]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 14 May 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many new (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses have been created in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) nationally in the last five years. [106468]
Annual statistics on the number of enterprise births are available from 2002 onwards in the ONS release on Business Demography at
www.statistics.gov.uk
The following table contains the latest statistics, which show the number of enterprise births by employment size band in the constituency of Jarrow, district of South Tyneside, North East region and the UK from 2006 to 2010.
| Count of enterprise births by employment size band in the constituency of Jarrow, district of South Tyneside, North East region and the UK from 2006 to 2010 | ||||||||
| Jarrow | South Tyneside | North East | United Kingdom | |||||
| Small 0-49 | Medium 50-249 | Small 0-49 | Medium 50-249 | Small 0-49 | Medium 50-249 | Small 0-49 | Medium 50-249 | |
| Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest five to avoid disclosure. | ||||||||
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were employed in the (a) small and (b) medium-sized business sector in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the north-east and (iv) nationally in the last five years. [106469]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 15 May 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people were employed in the (a) small and (b)
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medium-sized business sector in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) nationally in the last five years. [106469]
Annual statistics on the number of employees are available from the ONS release Business Register Employment Survey (BRES) at
www.statistics.gov.uk
However, it is not possible to derive a breakdown by employment size band from BRES. The following table contains the latest statistics available, which show the number of employees in Jarrow Constituency, South Tyneside, the North East and Great Britain between 2006 and 2010.
| Area | 2006 | 2007 | 2003 | 2009 | 2010 |
| (1) These figures exclude farm agriculture (SIC class 0100). | |||||
Please note, the above employee estimates are taken from both the Annual Business Inquiry part 1 (ABI/1) and BRES. The ABI estimates relate to the periods 2006 and 2007. The BRES estimates relate to the period 2008-2010. UK based estimates are only available from 2009 onwards.
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate has been made of the number of (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses operating in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) nationally. [106470]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 14 May 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what recent estimate has been made of the number of (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses operating in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) nationally. [106470]
Annual statistics on the number of enterprise actives are available from 2002 onwards in the ONS release on Business Demography at
www.statistics.gov.uk
The following table contains the latest statistics, which show the number of active enterprises by employment size band in the constituency of Jarrow, district of South Tyneside, North East region and the UK for 2010.
| Count of active enterprises by employment size band in the constituency of Jarrow, district of South Tyneside. North East region and the UK for 2010 | ||
| Small 0-49 | Medium 50-249 | |
| Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest five, to avoid disclosure. | ||
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Charity Commission
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he plans to advertise for a new chair of the Charity Commission; and if he will make a statement. [107000]
Mr Hurd: I plan to advertise for a new chair of the Charity Commission later this month, once I have received comments from the Public Administration Select Committee on the draft person specification and job description for the post. As a public appointment, the recruitment process will be conducted in line with the Code of Practice for ministerial appointments to public bodies.
Legal Aid Scheme
Anna Soubry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions he has had on the allocation of the £20 million funding that his Department has provided to not-for-profit law and advice centres in 2013-14. [106590]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The Government have allocated £20 million in 2013-14, and again in 2014-15, to support the not-for-profit advice sector. Of those funds, England's share of £16.8 million each year will be used to support recommendations that arise from the Government's forthcoming review of advice services. This will be published later this year
The Government would like to work collaboratively with the not-for-profit advice sector and I recently discussed options for allocating the funding with the sector at an event organised by Justice for All on 1 May 2012.
Public Sector
Karen Lumley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of employees in (a) Redditch and (b) the West Midlands were employed in the public sector in each of the last five years. [106951]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 14 May 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of employees in (a) Redditch and (b) the West Midlands were employed in the public sector in each of the last five years. (106951)
Public sector employment statistics for local areas can be calculated from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey.
Table 1 shows the percentage of employees who were employed in the public sector in the West Midlands Region and Redditch Parliamentary Constituency. Estimates have been provided for October 2010 to September 2011, the latest period for which data is available, and October to September of the previous four years.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
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National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk.
| Table 1 Percentage of all employees who were employed in the public sector | ||
| Percentage | ||
| 12 months ending: | West Midlands | Redditch |
| Source: Annual Population Survey | ||
Voluntary Organisations
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many voluntary groups there were operating in the Ashfield constituency in each of the last three years. [107439]
Mr Hurd: The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the number of organisations by constituency.
Education
GCSE: Mathematics
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the review of mathematics education by Carol Vorderman published in August 2011, what plans he has to reform GCSE mathematics. [107140]
Mr Gibb: We need to ensure we have world-class qualifications which are challenging, rigorous and command confidence. We have already acted to put the focus back on sound subject teaching in GCSEs by ensuring that all exams are taken at the end of the course. We will reform all GCSEs, including mathematics, alongside our review of the national curriculum, and will consider the findings from Carol Vorderman's report alongside other evidence submitted to the review.
Work and Pensions
Child Maintenance
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what shared care arrangements will apply to the new gross income child maintenance scheme; and whether they will apply similarly to those on the pre-2003 and post-2003 schemes. [106914]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what shared care arrangements will apply to the new gross income child maintenance scheme; and whether they will apply similarly to those on the pre-2003 and post-2003 schemes. [106914]
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The new child maintenance scheme will continue to take account of shared care so that a non-resident parent who has overnight care of their child for at least 52 nights per year will usually pay less maintenance. The shared care rules applying to the existing schemes (1991 and 2003) will remain unchanged.
To improve the decision making process in shared care cases on the new scheme we propose to introduce two changes. These will not apply to the existing schemes:
Firstly, an assumption of shared care in cases where parents agree in principle that there is overnight care but where there is insufficient evidence to confirm the amount of care. This includes where there is no court order or evidence of any previous pattern of care.
The absence of firm evidence often causes difficulties for caseworkers. In such situations, the Commission will assume an amount of shared care equivalent to one night per week, resulting for most cases in a reduction of one-seventh in the maintenance due. The assumption will continue until the parents reach agreement or, if they are involved in family proceedings, an order is made by a court.
Secondly, there will be no statutory maintenance liability where the overall care of a qualifying child is found to be shared exactly equally. This reflects our view that parents who have made an agreement about sharing care equally will often be more able to make their own family-based arrangement.
Child Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of children (a) living in poverty in each of the last 15 years and (b) projected to be living in poverty in each of the next three years. [106425]
Maria Miller: The information requested is as follows:
(a) 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 latest year for which data are available is 2009-10. The following table shows the number and proportion of children with income below 60% of contemporary median income, Before Housing Costs (BHC) in each of the last 15 years for which data are available.
| Table 1: Number and proportion of children falling below 60% of contemporary median income, Before Housing Costs (BHC) | ||
| Publication | Period | Number of children in millions (and %) |
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(b) The Government have not produced projections of the proportion of children to be living in income poverty in each of the next three years. The new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission will provide an assessment of child poverty using a wide range of measures, including income.
Notes:
1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS 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. FRS figures are for Great Britain up to 1997/98, and for the United Kingdom from 1998-99, with estimates for Northern Ireland imputed for the years 1998-99 through 2001-02. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years.
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.
10. These statistics are publicly available in the Households Below Average Income Report on the DWP website:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai
Crisis Loans
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes to the eligibility criteria for crisis loans there have been since 2010. [107026]
Steve Webb: Since 2010 the basic eligibility criteria for crisis loans have not changed. A person satisfies the conditions if they are aged 16 or over and are without sufficient resources to meet the immediate short-term needs of themselves or their family.
Changes have however been made that affect the general conditions for an award. These are as follows:
From 4 April 2011 awards for general living expenses, emergency travel expenses and emergency fuel meter credit were restricted to three awards in a rolling 12-month period. This rule does not apply to living expenses given for alignment to benefit purposes, or to rent in advance.
From 4 April 2011 crisis loan awards for household items such as cookers and beds can only be made as a consequence of a disaster such as a fire or flood.
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From 4 July 2011 the period in which a decision maker may refuse to consider a repeat application that is made in exactly the same circumstances as a previous application was extended from 28 days to 12 months.
Employment and Support Allowance: Scotland
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Scotland, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Edinburgh East constituency have been receiving the assessment phase rate of employment and support allowance for (i) more than 12 months, (ii) more than 10 months, (iii) more than eight months, (iv) more than six months, (v) more than four months and (vi) more than two months. [107074]
Steve Webb: The information requested is given in the following table.
The assessment phase of employment and support allowance is the period in which a claim is decided using the work capability assessment (WCA). This assessment phase normally lasts for three months. If it takes longer arrears of benefit will be paid where claimants are found to have limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity. There are a variety of reasons why people may be in the assessment phase for longer than three months, for example where the WCA cannot be completed because additional evidence is being sought, or where a claimant is appealing.
| Claimants in the assessment phase of employment and support allowance in Scotland, Edinburgh city local authority and Edinburgh East parliamentary constituency by duration of claim—August 2011 | |||
| Scotland | City of Edinburgh local authority | Edinburgh East parliamentary constituency | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Durations figures include overlaps and therefore will not sum to the overall total. 3. Employment and support allowance (ESA) replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008. 4. Phase of ESA claim is derived from payment details held on the source system. The three phases are assessment phase, work related activity phase and support group phase. 5. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster)—these constituencies are used for the Westminster Parliament. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data. | |||
Employment Schemes
Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals were subcontracted by each Work programme prime contractor to (a) charities, third sector or other voluntary and
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community organisations and
(b)
private sector subcontractors (i) in total and (ii) in each month since the programme's inception; and if he will make a statement. [107002]
Steve Webb: The data requested on referrals to the Work programme that have been subcontracted are not available
Administrative data are only held against prime providers; hence Work programme statistics are only reported against the prime contracts.
To understand the flows of referrals within supply chains particularly to voluntary and community sector organisations (VCS) within the Work programme information was collected from each prime provider in a short one-off exercise.
The results of this exercise are published in a document entitled “Information on Voluntary and Community Sector organisations” at:
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http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2011/vsc_org_within_wp.pdf
Official statistics on referrals and attachments to the Work programme were released for the first time on 21 February 2011 and are available at the following website:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wp
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals were handled by each Work programme prime contractor (a) in total and (b) in each month since the programme's inception; and if he will make a statement. [107003]
Steve Webb: Official statistics on Work programme referrals and attachments are available up to the end of January 2012 and were published on 9 May 2012.
The information requested can be found via the Tabulation Tool which is published on the Department's website:
http://83.244.183.180/WorkProg/tabtool.html
| Number of Work programme referrals by contract package area and contract: June 2011 to January 2012 | ||||||||||
| Referral month | ||||||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | |||||||||
| Contract package area | Contract | Total | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan |
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| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Figures are refreshed each quarter and are subject to change. Months are calendar months. 2. Referrals shown are ‘net’ referrals which do not include rejections or cancellations. 3.Contract and contract package area: The Prime Provider and their contract area where they are responsible for delivering the Work programme. Prime Providers can be responsible for delivering a number of contracts across Great Britain. 4. Figures are published on the tabulation tool: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate (IGS) | ||||||||||