| 5. RAF Entrants FY 2011-12 | |
| Recruiting Location | Number |
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Cyprus: Military Bases
Mr Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to any potential consequences for the defence of the sovereign base areas in Cyprus of a disorderly departure by Greece from the eurozone; and if he will make a statement. [109265]
Nick Harvey [holding answer 24 May 2012]:The Government is undertaking contingency planning to deal with all possible outcomes in the eurozone.
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Work and Pensions
Child Maintenance
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the powers available to the Child Support Agency to investigate the validity of declared income where income is contested. [112942]
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 my hon. Friend with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the powers available to the Child Support Agency to investigate the validity of declared income where income is contested. [112942]
Child support legislation provides the Commission with wide powers to obtain information from both parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance including those decisions which relate to establishing the income of a non-resident parent. Where income is paid as wages upon which details are routinely held by employers, by the tax authorities, and others; or where income is paid as benefits upon which details are held by the relevant government departments paying the benefits, we are confident of our ability to establish income effectively in the vast majority of cases, and resolve any dispute quickly.
Where a non-resident parent can control the form in which they receive their income, through their role in running a business or acting as a company director, establishing income can be more complex and require greater use of investigative powers. There are also often more intractable disputes between parents about what constitutes a true income figure. We are confident in our ability to deal with such cases effectively, but the greater effort required to collect the information in some of these cases means it can take longer to establish the true income figure and ensure the correct amount of maintenance is flowing to the parent with care of the child.
The legislation relating to the Agency's powers to require information to be provided by certain groups is Section 14, 14A, Schedule 2 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support (Information) Regulations 2008.
The number of prosecutions under section 14A(2) of the Child Support Act 1991 relating to the misrepresentation of evidence of income (fraud) has increased steadily since 2008.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Child Support Agency takes to verify declared incomes. [112944]
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 my hon. Friend with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (“the Commission”).
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You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Child Support Agency takes to verify declared incomes. [112944]
Child support legislation provides the Commission with wide powers to obtain information from both parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance including those decisions which relate to establishing the income of a non-resident parent.
The legislation relating to the Agency's powers to require information to be provided by certain groups is Section 14, 14A, Schedule 2 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support (Information) Regulations 2008. The legislation provides that the Agency may require information to be provided from a person that has the information or could be reasonably expected to obtain it.
For issues relating to establishing the income of a non-resident parent the Child Support Agency's operational guidance indicates that the necessary information should first be sought from the non-resident parent, on whom there is an onus to provide such information and that they should be allowed sufficient time before an employer is contacted. It is a criminal offence for a non-resident parent to refuse to co-operate with, or to provide false information in response to, this request. Once it is clear that a non-resident parent may not be fully co-operating with the Child Support Agency, an employer will be contacted to allow information to be obtained relating to child maintenance decisions. Prosecution of the non-resident parent for failing to provide information will also be considered.
Should the level of income provided seem inherently improbable as a correct statement of income, or should it be challenged by the parent with care of the child, then additional evidence to verify it may be sought. Child support legislation provides that the following groups - Employers, Companies or partnerships, Accountants, and ‘Deposit Takers' - e.g. banks and building societies - amongst others, are included within those which the Child Support Agency may require information from in relation to the making of decisions relating to child support (this includes requesting verification of a person's income).
Crisis Loans: Scotland
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding he plans to provide to the Scottish Government for crisis loans payments in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15. [114210]
Steve Webb: Scotland has been allocated £4.5 million in addition to recoveries for crisis loan payments for the year 2012-13.
The discretionary Social Fund, which includes crisis loans, is being abolished from April 2013. The funding is being passed to the Governments of Scotland and Wales and local authorities in England to provide a better targeted local provision.
Scotland's share of the programme funding for the new provision from April 2013 is approximately £25 million per annum for 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Additionally, universal credit will provide a better service of payments on account, supporting many people in need of short and longer term credit facilities.
Disability
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department expects to publish the cross-Government Disability Strategy. [113027]
Maria Miller: We are taking a phased approach to publishing the Disability Strategy. This ensures we can continue to work together with disabled people to develop and deliver an effective and practical strategy which makes a real difference to the lives of disabled people.
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Phase 1: in September we will publish a summary of responses to “Fulfilling Potential”, a summary of decisions already made, actions already planned, and activities already under way. Alongside this, we will outline our next steps based upon the issues and ideas disabled people have told us about. This will include our strategic narrative, the priority areas for further action, specific next steps, and how we will continue to work with disabled people to deliver positive outcomes.
Phase 2: in the autumn we will publish an analytical document drawing on statistics and research, to explore the nature of disability in the UK today.
Phase 3: following from these, and continuing to draw on joint working with disabled people, we will publish a further strategic document and action plan in the new year.
Disability: Children
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate has been made of the number of disabled children in (a) the UK and (b) England. [113122]
Maria Miller: The estimated number of dependent children with a core disability in
(a) The UK: 800,000
(b) England: 700,000
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000.
Notes:
1. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of approximately 25,000 UK private households. Data for 2010-11, the latest year available, were collected between April 2010 and March 2011.
2. The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to Government office region population by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
3. The Family Resources Survey defines a disabled person as having a long-standing illness, disability or impairment which causes substantial difficulty with day-to-day activities. Everyone classified as disabled under this definition would also be classified as disabled under the general definition of disability in the Equality Act (EA) which has applied since 1 October 2010. However, some individuals classified as disabled and having rights under the EA would not be captured by this definition.
4. A dependent child is defined as an individual aged under 16. A person will also be defined as a child if they are 16 to 19 years old and they are:
Not married nor in a civil partnership nor living with a partner; and
Living with parents; and
In full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training.
Source:
Family Resources Survey 2010-11
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether families with disabled children will be involved in evaluating the effects of the early roll-out of universal credit in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire areas. [113123]
Maria Miller: New claims from families with disabled children will not be involved in the universal credit pathfinder but if, when on universal credit, a change occurs which brings a disabled child into an assessment unit then these cases will remain part of the pathfinder.
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Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what modelling his Department has undertaken in relation to the effect of the introduction of universal credit on families with disabled children; and if he will publish this modelling. [113124]
Maria Miller: Section 3.1 of the equality impact assessment shows the impact of universal credit on households with disabled people. The figures include households with one or more disabled people, including children. The equality impact assessment for universal credit was published in November 2011 and is available on the Department's website at:
www.dwp.gov.uk
Employment Schemes
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness of 23 January 2012, Official Report, column 1, that he would issue guidance to Work Programme providers on publication of data on their own performance shortly, and with reference to the answer of 19 March 2012, Official Report, column 495W, on employment schemes, that he aimed to issue such guidance by the end of April 2012, when he now plans to publish such guidance; and if he will make a statement. [114258]
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Chris Grayling: The guidance discussed was intended to set out in more detail how providers could release data through the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the trade association for the welfare to work industry. However, following an internal review, it was agreed that current guidance was sufficient to allow providers to publish job entry data in this way, and that further formal guidance was not necessary. ERSA released a second tranche of figures on 21 May which can be seen in their press release:
http://www.ersa.org.uk/hub/details/682
Employment Schemes: West Midlands
Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people from (a) the West Midlands, (b) Coventry and (c) Coventry North East constituency have (i) volunteered and (ii) been required to take part in the Work programme in the last 12 months. [114108]
Chris Grayling: The number of Work programme referrals in the West Midlands region, Coventry local authority and Coventry North East parliamentary constituency by referral type, up to and including January 2012, is shown in the following table:
| Referral type | West Midlands region | Coventry local authority | Coventry North East parliamentary constituency |
| Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate (IGS) | |||
Energy
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has switched its (a) gas or (b) electricity supplier in any of the last 10 years. [113461]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions has switched its gas and electricity supplies several times during the last 10 years. Details of these supplier changes are provided in the following table. This information includes the former Department of Social Security and the former Employment Service sites until August 2006.
| Half hourly electricity | Non-half hourly electricity | Gas | |
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Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which energy supplier supplies his Department with (a) gas and (b) electricity. [113479]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions is currently supplied by British Gas Business for non-half hourly electricity and by EDF Energy Ltd for half hourly electricity. Gas is currently supplied by Corona Energy.
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on its (a) gas and (b) electricity bills in each of the last 10 years. [113500]
Chris Grayling: The following table details the Department's electricity and gas spend since 2002-03:
| Gas (£) | Electricity (£) | |
Government Procurement Card
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many procurement card holders in his Department were (a) paid off-payroll, (b) employed on a part-time basis and (c) employed as a non-permanent employee in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12. [113343]
Chris Grayling: Government procurement cards (GPC) are held by staff across the DWP to make low value purchases. Currently there are 615 DWP staff who hold a GPC.
In line with Cabinet Office guidelines, the DWP have taken action over recent years to reduce the number of GPC holders. There has been a number of changes on the number of staff holding a GPC due to staff joining/leaving the Department and those whose roles have changed. An initial check has identified 3,830 GPC holders over the last three years.
Information on GPC holders is held on the SDOL (Secure Data On-Line) database provided by the GPC supplier. This database does not hold any personal information on staff such as working pattern or status. Therefore this information would need to be cross-checked against staff records in order to provide the requested information. HR has confirmed that as the information requested is not collated centrally it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
All the 615 GPC holders are DWP staff who are paid via payroll. In 2009 there were a small number of GPC holders who were contractors. These would have been staff who were employed on the Office Services contract who had moved to the contractor under TUPE arrangements when work was outsourced. During 2009-10 the DWP revised its policy on GPC holders and all GPCs were removed from non-DWP staff. Therefore during 2010-11 and 2011-12 there have been no non-DWP GPC holders.
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on which dates his Department has published Government procurement card spending over £500 since May 2010. [113361]
Chris Grayling: In line with Cabinet Office guidance, the dates for the publication of GPC transactions over £500 for the Department for Work and Pensions are as follows:
| Data | Published by |
Housing Benefit
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who would be subject to the under-occupancy penalty if single parents with equal custody rights each rely on housing benefit. [114426]
Steve Webb:
Housing benefit only takes account of a child in a claim from the parent with the main responsibility for that child's care. Where care is shared equally the main responsibility normally follows the person who receives child benefit for that child. Any claimant who is not deemed to have main responsibility for a child will
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not have that child considered for under-occupancy purposes. This is consistent with the treatment of those living in the private rented sector.
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he proposes that the role of carers will be recognised when an under-occupancy penalty is applied to housing benefit claimants. [114427]
Steve Webb: A bedroom will be allowed in the assessment of occupancy for a carer living in the household and for a carer who provides necessary overnight care to the claimant or their partner, as is already the case for private tenants.
As part of the under-occupation measure we have added £30 million to the discretionary housing payment fund, £25 million of which is aimed at supporting disabled claimants living in adapted properties.
Housing Benefit: East Lothian
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of under-25-year-olds in receipt of housing benefit in East Lothian constituency. [114151]
Steve Webb: Information is not readily available for housing benefit recipients aged under 25 at parliamentary constituency level, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
A one-off exercise was carried out on the January 2011 data to provide a parliamentary constituency breakdown. This exercise consisted of validating postcodes and partial postcodes, using them to allocate cases to the appropriate parliamentary constituency using the revised Office for National Statistics coding system, then resolving cases with missing or invalid postcodes. The results were published on the Department's website at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/hb_ctb_parlc_jan11.xls
Housing Benefit: Offenders
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) people managed under level 1 multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) housing allowance, (b) people formerly managed under level 2 or level 3 MAPPA and (c) category 1 MAPPA offenders who will receive the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance; and if he will make a statement. [113135]
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Steve Webb: No estimate has been made.
Industrial Health and Safety: Legionnaires’ Disease
Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve enforcement of health and safety controls for legionnaires’ disease. [112746]
Chris Grayling: Last year, HSE's Legionella Committee asked the Health and Safety Laboratory to review recent legionella outbreaks and identify any recurring causes or trends in order to inform future interventions. That work is almost complete and the committee will consider it at their next meeting on 28 June, when they will determine what further action is required to help ensure that companies meet their legal obligations to control and manage the risks in relation to legionella.
Many premises with the potential for legionella risks are regulated by local authorities and HSE will continue to work closely with them in developing and delivering future interventions.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants returned to work within (a) 13, (b) 26 and (c) 52 weeks in each Jobcentre Plus district in the latest period for which figures are available. [114256]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
Pay
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) highest, (b) median, (c) median full-time equivalent and (d) lowest full-time equivalent salary paid by (i) his Department and (ii) its public bodies was in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13. [112483]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions has 14 public bodies, four of which are advisory bodies and do not employ staff; therefore they have not been included in this table showing the salary figures. All figures relate to base salary only unless otherwise stated in the notes of the table.
| £ | ||||
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | ||
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|
Pensions Ombudsman (PO) and Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman (PPFO)(5) | ||||
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| n/a indicates that the 2012-13 salary figures are not yet available. (1) DWP In order to answer within cost constraints, DWP has not included allowances in its response. The figures are relevant as at a point in time—31 March 2011 and 31 March 2012. (2) CMEC The highest salary has been shown in a £5,000 band in line with the annual report and accounts and transparency disclosure. (3) HSE The base salary includes job based allowances for example London weighting and IMT Aberdeen allowance and detached duty allowance. (4) ILF The figures for 2010-11 and 2011-12 are based on salary information as at 31 March. The 2012-13 figures are based on salaries as at today. (5) PO and PPFO This is one combined return as these bodies work very closely together. (6) Remploy Ltd Regular payments in addition to salary have been included. For example, first aid, safety, London weighting, shift pay, leading hand, pensionable allowances, sales commission, weekly-paid shop-floor bonus, (all consolidated and pensionable), and long-term extra-duty allowances and opening/closing allowances. | ||||
Pensioners: British Nationals Abroad
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many UK state pensioners living in countries where the pension is frozen claimed a temporary pension uprating to cover the period of their visit to (a) the UK and (b) another non-frozen country in each year since 2003. [112696]
Steve Webb: There are insufficient data to provide an estimate.
Poverty: EU Internal Trade
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department made of the effect that changes in the level of trade between the UK and other EU member states since (a) 1980, (b) 1990, (c) 2000 and (d) 2005 has had on (i) household poverty, (ii) child poverty and (iii) pensioner poverty; and if he will make a statement. [114198]
Steve Webb: Statistics covering various groups in low income are published in the annual publication “Households Below Average Income” (ISBN: 978-1-78153-046-7). Latest figures cover the period 2010-11 and are available here:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai
Statistics on children can be found in chapter 4 and statistics for pensioners can be found in chapter 6.
No assessment of the impact of the level of trade between the UK and other EU member states on poverty is available.
Retirement
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to help working people prepare for retirement. [113716]
Steve Webb: Millions of people are not saving enough to meet their aspirations for retirement. To address this, the Government is introducing automatic enrolment into workplace pensions.
Starting from 2012 all employers beginning with the largest will be required to enrol all workers eligible for automatic enrolment into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and make a minimum contribution. The Department for Work and Pensions has developed communications to provide support and information to individuals to help them understand what automatic enrolment means for them.
People are normally notified of their state pension entitlement three to four months before it is due. They can, however, get an estimate of their state pension from the Department for Work and Pensions in advance of that by requesting a state pension forecast or state pension statement. The on-line state pension profiler also allows individuals to quickly self-assess the amount of basic state pension they may get, and the earliest date they may get it.
A major source of information for people is the Pensions and Retirement Planning section on the following website:
www.Directgov.co.uk
to which Department for Work and Pensions' campaigns direct people.
Skilled Workers
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's budget was for all skills-related activities in each of the last five years. [114213]
Chris Grayling: Skills training for benefit claimants is predominantly funded by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), a partner organisation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. There is no specific budget for skills-related activities in DWP. Currently, DWP Delivery (Jobcentre Plus) has the flexibility to supplement SFA funding for skills training and associated costs (for example, travel and child care costs) using the Flexible Support Fund.
Social Fund
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much it will cost his Department to run the social fund in each of the next three years. [114087]
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Steve Webb: This information is still being assessed as part of the wider welfare reform changes that the Department is working through.
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the scope local councils will be given to decide how the social fund is spent. [114089]
Steve Webb: It will be for local authorities to design and deliver their services in line with our policy of freeing local councils to deliver for the public not central Government, giving them capacity to do what's right for their area. Their local knowledge, broad responsibilities and experience of benefits administration put them in an ideal position to design and deliver the new support in a way that best fits local circumstances and needs and aligns with existing welfare services in a cost-effective manner.
However, the funding will be accompanied by a settlement letter which will make clear that it is to be used to concentrate resources on those facing greatest difficulty in managing their income, and to enable a more flexible response to unavoidable need.
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department plans to publish data on (a) the spending on crisis loans in 2005-06 and (b) community care grants in 2010-11. [114090]
Steve Webb: The crisis loan spend data were published on 6 November 2006 in the 2005-06 Social Fund Accounts, and the community care grant spend data were published on 11 July 2011 in the 2010-11 Social Fund Accounts.
The published data from these reports are as follows:
| £ million | ||
| Crisis loans 2005-06 | Community care grants 2010-11 | |
| Source: Receipts and Payments Accounts | ||
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much it cost his Department to set up the social fund. [114119]
Steve Webb: The introduction of the social fund was one of many wide ranging changes made to social security provision and which was enacted within the Social Security Act 1986.
It is not possible therefore to specifically identify the net cost to the Department for setting up social fund provision in 1987, that is regulated funeral and maternity payments, and in 1988 discretionary grants, loans and regulated cold weather payments.
Universal Credit
Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what means recipients of universal credit will be informed of their receipts. [112954]
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Chris Grayling: My Department is currently considering the best way to notify claimants of their universal credit payments. Current thinking is that the award notice that a claimant receives following their claim will inform them of which day of the month they will receive subsequent universal credit payments. Details of payments made to them will be available to view through their online account.
Work Capability Assessment
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the audio recording of work capability assessments. [114028]
Chris Grayling: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) on 19 June 2012, Official Report, column 930W.
Education
Children's Centres: Birmingham
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding he has allocated to Sure Start children's centres in (a) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency and (b) Birmingham City Council area for (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14; and whether this funding is ring-fenced. [108732]
Sarah Teather: Until March 2011, funding for Sure Start Children's Centres was included in the Sure Start Early Years and Childcare Grant (SSEYCG). From April 2011, the Early Intervention Grant replaced a number of previous funding streams including the SSEYCG.
The Early Intervention Grant is unringfenced and unhypothecated to allow local authorities to make funding decisions according to local needs. Since funding decisions are devolved to local authorities, it is not possible for us to provide a breakdown of funding by constituency. Birmingham City Council's Early Intervention Grant allocation was £64,771,476 in 2012-13. Funding levels for 2013-14 have not yet been announced.
Under the proposed Local Government Finance Bill 2012, the Early Intervention Grant—along with a number of other central Government grants—will become part of the new local government funding scheme in 2013-14. These changes are set out in a Department for Communities and Local Government paper published on 17 May 2012 entitled “Business rates retention scheme: The central and local shares of business rates—A Statement of Intent”. This reform will change the way local government receives the grant. It does not alter the existing distribution of the grant in 2013-14, nor the fact that it is unringfenced and unhypothecated.
The Department for Communities and Local Government will be consulting on the technical detail of the new funding arrangements in the summer.
Class Sizes
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will issue guidance to teachers on the importance of a good standard of turnout when teaching. [113294]
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Mr Gibb: [holding answer 25 June 2012]: It is not for the Government to issue guidance to teachers on standards of dress. This is a matter for individual schools to decide for themselves.
First Aid: Training
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many (a) teachers and (b) childminders in (i) Swindon and (ii) England are first aid trained; [113155]
(2) if he will make it his policy to make it compulsory for teachers to be first aid trained. [113157]
Mr Gibb: Information on the number of first aid trained teachers is not collected centrally. For child minders it is a condition of registration with Ofsted that they have completed an appropriate paediatric first aid course.
The Health and Safety at Work Act etc. Act 1974 places responsibilities on the employer for making sure that a school has a health and safety policy which should include arrangements for first aid. For community, voluntary controlled, community special, and maintained nursery schools, the employer is the local authority. For foundation schools, foundation special schools, voluntary aided schools, academies and free schools, the employer is the Governing Body (or academy trust). The proprietor is the employer in independent schools.
It is the employer's responsibility to make sure that the statutory requirements for provision of first aiders are met, that appropriate training is provided and that correct procedures are followed. The employer must ensure that there are enough trained staff to meet the statutory requirements and assessed needs, allowing for staff on annual/sick leave or off-site.
Primary Education: Admissions
Stephen Twigg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many additional primary school places were created in the academic year 2010-11 through (a)
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the Free Schools programme and
(b)
Basic Need funding in (i) Barking and Dagenham, (ii) Milton Keynes, (iii) Bracknell Forest, (iv) Bournemouth, (v) Hounslow, (vi) City of Bristol, (vii) Brent, (viii) Slough, (ix) Merton, (x) Waltham Forest, (xi) Lewisham, (xii) Manchester, (xiii) Wokingham, (xiv) Nottingham, (xv) Hammersmith and Fulham, (xvi) York, (xvii) Ealing, (xviii) Newham, (xix) Wandsworth, (xx) Leeds, (xxi) Southampton, (xxii) Greenwich, (xxiii) Salford, (xxiv) Thurrock and (xxv) Hillingdon local authority area; and how many such places he estimates will be created through each such scheme in each such area in each academic year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. [113037]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 21 June 2012]: The Department collects information from each local authority on school capacity in maintained primary and secondary schools through an annual survey. The number of school places relates to the position as at 1 May.
The survey results show if any additional school places have been created since the previous academic year, but we do not have information from authorities on how the places have been created, either by basic need funding or Free Schools.
The following table shows the number of available primary school places at May 2010 and at May 2011 in each of the authorities listed above. The first 24 Free Schools did not open until September 2011 so are not included in the number of primary places available in the academic year 2010/11. Over 9,000 new school places will be available when the schools are at capacity. As to Free Schools opening this September, we are still working with groups to open these schools. Statistics on these schools will be available in due course.
We can only estimate the level of demand for school places, it cannot be determined by pupil forecasts alone as other local factors do have an influence, for example, changes to school capacity and spare school places. The survey data indicate that there will be a need for an additional 260,000 primary places nationally by 2014/15. The Department is currently modelling potential additional basic need beyond this date.
| LA | Number of primary places 2010(1) | Number of primary places 2011(1) | Increase/decrease in number of places(1) |
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| (1 )Includes community, VA, VC, foundation primary schools and academies; excludes special schools. Source: School Capacity Collection. | |||
Recruitment
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what selection criteria his Department used in its recruitment of (a) Alexandra Gowlland, (b) Elena Narozanski and (c) James Frayne. [113373]
Tim Loughton: The DFE is committed to ensuring that individuals are appointed through fair and open competition on the basis of merit. Candidates are required to show that they have the appropriate level of professional skills and breadth of experience for the post and are measured against the Professional Skills for Government (PSG).
PSG is a common set of skill requirements across Government which include behavioural indicators and which set out the skills that staff in the civil service need to do their job well, at all grades, no matter where they work.
The criteria for the post are advertised in the job specification in addition to details of the assessment being used (if applicable).
The selection criteria that Alexandra Gowlland and Elena Narozanski were assessed against are as follows:
Professional skills and experience
You will need to be able to demonstrate excellent written skills and be able to analyse evidence and get to the bottom of issues quickly.
You will need strong organisational skills and to be able to manage several conflicting priorities at once. Tight deadlines are part and parcel of this job.
You will also need to show very strong oral communication skills and you are able to deal with Ministers and senior officials effectively.
You will need a good understanding of speeches and how they fit into communications plans.
You will be able to demonstrate how you apply your communications expertise to achieve results and improve practices.
You will show you are aware of the pros and cons of using different communications tools and understand how they fit together to form coherent communications strategies.
You will be able to demonstrate how you use your professional and specialist expertise and knowledge to engage, influence and persuade others.
You will need excellent people management skills. You will be a real team player and be able to build highly effective working relationships with Ministers, advisers and senior colleagues.
You will be able to demonstrate excellent line management skills, with the potential to manage one (or more) junior member(s) of staff.
You will need to be a strategic and creative thinker, able to come up with fresh ideas and strategically to make the most of speaking opportunities.
You will need to show you understand multi-disciplinary communications teams and help to shape long-term policy and communication strategies and plans.
Ideally, the candidate will have worked as a speechwriter, or senior communications role, previously and have a broad understanding of working with the unique challenges and pressures present in a fast-moving Whitehall communications department.
Those candidates who are shortlisted for interview were required to undertake a written test (drafting a speech based on public information that was provided) prior to interview. Style and tone were assessed in line with the competencies for the role.
Additionally at interview candidates were required to deliver a short presentation to the interview panel, the topic of which was provided in their interview letter.
The selection criteria for James Frayne are as follows:
Professional skills and experience
Experience of developing communications strategy at a senior level in a large, complex organisation with many different audience groups and in a media sensitive environment.
Understanding of the policy objectives and aims of the Department and its key policy directorates.
Experience of issue management and stakeholder relationship management.
Experience and proven track record of at least two, preferably more, specialist communications areas, such as media handling, marketing, internal communications, employee engagement, customer insight or digital communications.
Command the respect and attention of senior people and work effectively and credibly with Government Ministers and their offices as well as a wide range of officials, advisers and stakeholders.
A team player, working with colleagues to deliver the Communications Strategy and continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Communications Group.
Demonstrable success in leading the development of communications strategy. Able to think strategically and communicate strategies effectively and persuasively.
The ability to lead and motivate senior communication specialists who can deliver for their individual customers within the directorates as well as addressing the broader needs of the external customers of the department.
The ability to think, plan and operate both in response to immediate needs, and from a strategic perspective, identifying and working towards longer-term outcomes.
A proven problem solver with a reputation for delivering solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
Ability to formulate and drive forward change while relentlessly focusing on improving service delivery and reducing cost.
Experience of successful operational, project and programme, financial and people management.
Ideally the candidate will have worked as a professional communicator previously at senior management level and have a broad understanding of working with the unique challenges and pressures present in a fast-moving Whitehall communications department.
Each candidate met with an occupational psychologist, experienced in assessing people for SCS posts, who provided the panel with a report on each candidate.
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Each candidate was asked to prepare for their interview a five minute presentation entitled ‘As Director of Communications for DFE, what do you think are likely to be the key opportunities, risks and challenges of the role and how would you deal with them’.
The Head of the Government Communications profession was a panel member to test each candidate's technical ability.
Schools: Defibrillators
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to require schools to have defibrillators on their premises and to ensure that staff are trained to use them. [113005]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 21 June 2012]: There is currently no requirement on schools to have a defibrillator on school premises. It remains a matter for individual school determination as to whether they choose to have a defibrillator and to arrange for suitable training of the school work force in its use.
Sixth Form Education
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish success rates for each school sixth form in England; and if he will make a statement. [112737]
Mr Gibb: The Young People's Learning Agency published headline (provider level) success rates for each school sixth form in England for 2009/10 following a data-checking exercise.
The Education Funding Agency is currently carrying out a data-checking exercise with schools and academies to review the quality of success rate data for the 2010/11 academic year. Once this has been completed the EFA will assess the validity of the data. This is due to take place in autumn 2012. If the data are of sufficient quality, I will make appropriate plans to publish them.
Sixth Form Education: Finance
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent steps he has taken to ensure fair funding of 16 to 19 education provision between schools and sixth form colleges by 2015. [113007]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 21 June 2012]: Historically there has been a funding disparity between schools and sixth form colleges and other further education establishments, with schools having been funded on a higher basic funding rate. We committed in the White Paper, “The Importance of Teaching”, published in November 2010, to end the disparity in post-16 funding so that, by 2015, schools and colleges will be funded at the same level as one another. In 2011/12 schools were moved onto the same base rate of funding as colleges. We introduced transitional protection for four years to give institutions sufficient time to adjust to the new base rate of funding and to the other funding changes announced in the December 2010 “16-19 Funding Statement”. Transitional protection will be removed completely in 2015/16.
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Sixth Form Education: GCE A Level
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) school sixth forms and (b) sixth form colleges do not offer A Levels in (i) English language, (ii) English literature, (iii) French, (iv) German, (v) Spanish, (vi) geography, (vii) history, (viii) mathematics, (ix) further mathematics, (x) physics, (xi) chemistry, (xii) biology and (xiii) music. [112735]
Mr Gibb: We are not able to provide information on A level subjects offered by schools and sixth form colleges as it is not held by the Department. The information provided is based on A level examination entries in selected subjects by each institution type. The selected subjects are taken from the data used to compile the key stage 5 performance tables.
| Number of institutions published in KS5 performance tables with no GCE A level examination entries in selected subjects by type of institution. Year: 2010/11. Coverage: England | ||
| Number of institutions by type with no entries in subject | ||
| Subject | School sixth form | Sixth form college |
| Notes: 1. School sixth forms have been identified as the following institution types. There are 2,029 schools with sixth forms: Academy Sponsored academy City technology college Community school Community special school Foundation school Foundation special school Voluntary aided school Voluntary controlled school 2. Sixth form colleges have been identified as the following institution types. There are 96 sixth form colleges: Sixth form college Ministry of Defence funded college (i.e. Welbeck Sixth Form Defence College) Source: Key Stage 5 performance tables | ||
Students: Statistics
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when his Department expects to achieve its objective to have consistent data available for the judgement of performance of post-16 students by Ofsted and others so that young people, parents and the community are given consistent information that is easy for them to understand and make use of. [113245]
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Mr Gibb [holding answer 25 June 2012]: We remain committed to introducing comparable measures of performance for all 16-19 providers of education. We are considering what these measures should be in order to ensure that comparisons are made on the right basis by Ofsted, parents and students.
Cabinet Office
Charities
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new charities were established (a) nationally and (b) in Swindon in the last year. [114592]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission's chief executive to reply.
Letter from Sam Younger CBE, dated 27 June 2012:
I have been asked to reply to your Written Parliamentary Question on how many new charities were established (a) nationally and (b) in Swindon in the last year [114592].
The Charity Commission holds the Register of Charities for England and Wales. Charities that have been established and which have an annual income of £5,000 or above are required to register with us.
6,401 charities were registered in England and Wales in the last 12 months. 11 charities were registered in Swindon in the last 12 months.
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what regulations his Department introduced between 1 February and 31 May 2012; and at what cost to the public purse. [114097]
Mr Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 June 2012, Official Report, column 764W.
Health
Ambulance Services
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure that ambulance trusts not meeting their response targets are brought up to the national minimum standard. [113968]
Mr Simon Burns: Ambulance trust performance for response times is published monthly and monitored through regular discussions between the Department and strategic health authorities and against the NHS performance framework.
For 2011-12, all ambulance trusts met the response time standards. The Category A8 performance measure of 75%, for the proportion of Category A calls resulting in an emergency response arriving within eight minutes was 76.1%. The Category Al9 performance measure of 95%, for the proportion of calls to receive an ambulance vehicle capable of transporting the patient within 19 minutes of the request for transport being made was 96.8%.
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Buildings
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department's buildings in each year since 1997-98. [113887]
Mr Simon Burns: The following was spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in the Department:
| £ | |
Detailed data are is not readily available for periods earlier than 2007.
Community Nurses
Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2012, Official Report, column 144W, on cancer: drugs, which professional organisations his Department is working with to scope a renewed model of community nursing; when they will publish details of the programme of a renewed model of community nursing; and whether he plans to hold a formal consultation on his proposals for such a model. [113985]
Anne Milton: The Department is working with community nurses and professional organisations as part of a development programme to scope a renewed model for community nursing, focusing on district nursing services. The professional organisations involved include the Queens Nursing Institute, Royal College of Nursing, Macmillan Nursing, Hospice UK, various practitioners, primary care trusts and service users.
We will consult with the profession, key stakeholders and service users as part of the development programme. The aim is for the initial scoping to be published early 2013.
Dental Services
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of dentists in England have exceeded their NHS quota for work in each of the last two years. [113843]
Mr Simon Burns: This information is not held centrally. NHS Dental contracts are commissioned and managed by primary care trusts.
Home Visits
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many families have been visited by a (a) family nurse partnership and (b) family intervention project in (i) the last three years and (ii) the latest period for which figures are available. [114287]
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Anne Milton: Since its inception in 2007 up until the end of March 2012, 9,207 families have been enrolled on the Family Nurse Partnership programme in England.
Family nurses visit families from early in pregnancy until their infant reaches two years of age and in 2011-12, 6,651 families were visited by a family nurse. In 2010-11 family nurses visited 5,608 families and in 2009-10, 3,854 families.
Family intervention projects are a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Meals On Wheels
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people receive meals delivered to their homes and arranged through the local authority. [114212]
Paul Burstow: Data on the number of adults aged 18 and over in receipt of meals as a community-based service, funded wholly or partly by councils with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs), are collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care each year as part of the annual Social Services Activity Report. The most recent report, for the financial year 2010-11, was published on 28 March 2012. It is available on the Information Centre website at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/social-care/adult-social-care-information
We are informed by the Information Centre that, during 2010-11, 81,460 adults were in receipt of meals as a community-based service funded wholly or partly by CASSRs.
Procurement
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts issued by his Department were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises in 2011-12; what proportion that figure represents of all contracts let; and what the monetary value was of such contracts. [113963]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department provides monthly reports about procurement expenditure with small and. medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the Cabinet Office. For 2011-12, the cumulative value of this expenditure, excluding Connecting for Health, with SMEs was £81.9 million, which represents 18.3%, as a proportion of the equivalent expenditure on goods and services with third parties of £446.2 million.
The number and total value of contracts issued by the Department relating to this spend information is not available. To provide that information would incur a disproportionate cost.
To provide the same information on spend, the number and total value of contracts with SMEs by Connecting for Health would incur a disproportionate cost due to the nature of their procurement system.
South London Healthcare NHS Trust
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the financial performance of South London Healthcare NHS Trust; [113892]
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(2) what recent representations he has received regarding the future structure of South London Healthcare NHS Trust following the planned departure of its chief executive. [113893]
Mr Simon Burns: The latest financial position of national health service trusts is provided in the NHS chief executive's annual report “The Year 2011/12: including the Quarter, Quarter 4 2011/12”, which was published on 21 June 2012. A copy has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/health/files/2012/06/the-year-and-quarter-4-210612-gw-17802-PDF-2.33MB.pdf
The financial performance of South London Healthcare NHS Trust is being monitored and reviewed by NHS London, the trust's strategic health authority, and the Department.
The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), has received representations from local hon. Members in relation to the future structure of South London Healthcare NHS Trust. On Monday 25 June, the Secretary of State wrote to South London Healthcare NHS Trust and local NHS partners to inform them that he is considering using the Trust Special Administrator's regime to support development of a long-term solution for the trust. No final decisions have been taken.
Thalidomide
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people affected by thalidomide were alive in (a) the UK, (b) East Sussex and (c) Hastings and Rye constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; [114326]
(2) what the average age was of people affected by thalidomide in the most recent period for which figures are available. [114327]
Paul Burstow: We understand that the Thalidomide Trust supports 435 people in the United Kingdom whose health has been affected by Thalidomide. This breaks down per country as follows:
| UK beneficiaries by country | |
| Country | Number |
We do not have data on the number of those affected by Thalidomide at county or constituency level.
As Thalidomide was licensed for use in the UK in April 1958 and withdrawn from the UK market on 2 December 1961, the age-range of anyone affected would be between 51 and 54.
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Business, Innovation and Skills
Adult Education
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department allocated to adult skills in the last year. [114593]
Mr Hayes: ‘Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth' published in November 2010 set out that the overall investment in adult Further Education (FE) and skills would be £3.9 billion in the 2011-12 financial year. Within this overall investment, £3.7 billion would be invested in delivery of FE and skills provision for post-19 learners, supporting capacity for over 3 million training places in the 2011/12 academic year.
It also highlighted that Government funding would be focussed where its impact is maximised, towards the young, the low skilled and the unemployed.
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people are enrolled in adult skills sessions (a) nationally and (b) in Swindon. [114594]
Mr Hayes: In England, 3,163,200 adult learners (aged 19 or over) participated in Further Education and Skills during the 2010/11 academic year (the most recent year for which full data is available).
In Swindon, 12,750 adult learners participated in Further Education and Skills during the 2010/11 academic year. This figure is based on the home postcode of the learner.
These figures are derived from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Further information relating to participation in Further Education and Skills broken down by geography is published in the Supplementary Tables of the Department's Post-16 Education Statistical First Release (SFR). These can be found at the following link:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/further_education_skills/
Bank Cards: Fees and Charges
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to publish the consultation on implementing Article 19 of the Consumer Rights Directive on excessive card surcharges. [113305]
Norman Lamb [holding answer 25 June 2012]: The Government shares consumers' concerns about the high level of payment surcharges imposed by some businesses. On 23 December 2011 we announced our intention to consult on implementing the payment surcharges provision of the Consumer Rights Directive ahead of the June 2014 deadline. We intend to issue a full 12-week consultation in the summer to seek views on the timing of implementation and other details on how the provision should be applied. Responses to the consultation will inform our decision on timing and our guidance to businesses.
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Banks
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider the recommendation by the British Chambers of Commerce to create a state-backed business bank to improve access to finance and to invest more in trade promotion. [114126]
Mr Prisk: The Government already has strong support in place to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access debt and equity finance, which are available through their existing banks and other finance providers. This includes the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme and the National Loan Guarantee scheme.
The scale of the financial crisis—with banks repairing balance sheets under the spectre of the Euro crisis—means that it is right to explore all options to ensure businesses continue to have access to finance. This is why the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the new Funding for Lending scheme, as well as an extension of the National Loan Guarantee scheme to make businesses with a turnover of up to £250 million eligible.
The Government is also committed to trade promotion. The UK has an award-winning trade promotion body in UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). UKTI offers a range of tailored services aimed at helping companies new to exporting and those seeking to break into new markets. UKTI currently supports around 25,000 companies each year. Additional funding made available in the last autumn statement, along with new partnerships with business intermediaries such as banks, legal firms and accountants, will help to double the number of companies supported over the next three years.
In addition, UK Export Finance has recently expanded its product range to provide further help for UK exporters, especially SMEs. These products address risk of non-payment, contract bonds, working capital and foreign exchange risk.
Companies
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will request the Financial Reporting Council to publish an annual report on the operation of the UK Stewardship Code. [114120]
Norman Lamb: The Financial Reporting Council has already undertaken to produce an annual report on the operation of the UK Stewardship Code.
Executives: Pay
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the update of the Financial Reporting Council's Corporate Governance Code to codify current best practice, what constitutes a significant minority of shareholders voting against a pay resolution in an advisory vote. [114146]
Norman Lamb: The Financial Reporting Council will consult on this proposal once the Government's legislative reforms to directors' remuneration has been finalised.
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Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his proposals on executive pay, what the criteria will be for a change in company remuneration policy; and whether a company's board or shareholders will be the arbiter of whether a change in remuneration policy has occurred that would trigger a binding vote. [114147]
Norman Lamb: Companies will only be able to make remuneration payments which are consistent with the last directors' remuneration policy to have been approved by shareholders. Therefore any revisions to policy will need to be put to a binding vote of shareholders before they can form part of the legally recognised and approved remuneration policy.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that companies do not draft director pay policies broadly to avoid annual binding votes on directors' pay as part of his proposals on executive pay. [114148]
Norman Lamb: The Government has published revised regulations which determine what must be included in the directors' remuneration report. For the first time, companies will be required to set out for every element of pay that a director could be entitled to how it supports the achievement of strategic objectives of the company, the maximum value that could be awarded, and performance measures that will be applied.
The binding vote on policy gives shareholders new powers to challenge companies that are not providing sufficient detail in their policy.
Companies will not be able to make payments outside the scope of the approved policy. It is therefore in companies' interests to be clear about their pay policy so that they can ensure they have proper shareholder approval for future payments.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his oral statement of 20 June 2012, Official Report, column 867, on executive pay, for what reasons he has proposed a 50 per cent threshold for shareholders' advisory votes. [114149]
Norman Lamb: Earlier this year a small number of investors suggested that the voting threshold for remuneration resolutions should be increased, but when the Government consulted on this most businesses and investors were not in favour. In particular they were concerned about the potentially disruptive effect of a large minority shareholder.
We have listened to these concerns and all remuneration resolutions will require a simple majority to pass. Recent shareholder activism has shown that shareholders can muster a 50% vote against where they have major concerns.
The Government also welcomes the Confederation of British Industries' call for companies to respond formally when a significant number of shareholders vote against a pay resolution—even where the vote is passed—and for this to be enshrined in the Corporate Governance Code.
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Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what information companies will be required to publish on consultation with employees over director pay policy following implementation of his proposals on executive pay. [114150]
Norman Lamb: The Government has published, for comment, draft regulations which determine what companies must report on directors' pay. These draft regulations include the proposal that the report includes a statement on whether and if so how a company sought employee views on the remuneration policy.