Palliative Care
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the variation in palliative care spending among primary care trusts. [115517]
Paul Burstow: Decisions on how much money is allocated for palliative care at a local level must rest with local commissioners, who, working with patients and the public, are best placed to understand local need and to decide on the funding required by each particular service, including palliative care.
We recognise that national health service funding for palliative care services varies greatly across the country and have committed to introducing a per-patient funding system that will ensure all qualified providers of palliative care, whether they be statutory, voluntary or independent, are fairly funded. Building on the work of the independent palliative care funding review, we are currently working through a number of palliative care funding pilots to collect the data and information needed to help us develop this new system, which we aim to have in place by 2015.
Paramedics
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paramedics were employed by ambulance trusts in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date. [114336]
Mr Simon Burns: The following table contains the number of paramedics employed by ambulance trusts in the years requested.
| NHS hospital and community health services: Ambulance paramedics in England and in Ambulance Trusts as at 30 September each specified year(1) | ||||
| headcount | ||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012(1) | ||
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| (1) 2012 data is monthly data as at 31 March. Notes: 1. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components. 2. The new headcount methodology from 2010 onwards is not fully comparable with previous years data due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the census publication. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census | ||||
Primary Care Trusts
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the change in the number of full-time equivalent posts as a result of the completion of the transition from primary care trusts to clinical commissioning groups; and what he expects the likely annual savings to the NHS budget of the transition to be. [115103]
Mr Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Act set out a range of reforms that will affect primary care trust (PCT) staff—the transition from PCTs to clinical commissioning is just one component of this. The impact assessment estimated the reforms would reduce the number of full-time equivalent posts for PCT staff by 11,400.
The reforms from the Health and Social Care Act are estimated to save £1.5 billion per year by 2014-15, and £4.5 billion over the course of the Parliament.
The impact assessment has already been placed in the Library and is available at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_123583
Primary Care Trusts: Redundancy
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees left primary care trusts in the North East (a) between 1 June 2010 and 31 March 2011 and (b) in financial year 2011-12; and how many such staff were subsequently rehired elsewhere in the NHS. [115092]
Mr Simon Burns: The total number of leavers from primary care trusts (PCTs) in the north-east is not available for the periods requested. The data are extracted from the turnover tables at organisational level that are published on a quarterly basis by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. During the period from April 2010 to April 2011,1,265 staff left PCTs in the north-east.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre will publish data for the period April 2011 to April 2012 on 24 July 2012.
Information on the number of PCT staff in the north-east who left the national health service and subsequently re-employed elsewhere by NHS organisations is difficult to obtain from the Electronic Staff Record and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Public Expenditure
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the speech by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 23 April 2012 at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, (1) what progress his Department has made on identifying a proportion of its resource budget that can be reprioritised; what steps he has taken to identify such funds; and which parts of his Department's resource budget he has identified as suitable for reprioritisation; [115131]
(2) what discussions he has had with his Department's agencies and the non-departmental bodies for which he is responsible on the contribution they will make to identifying resource budget for possible reprioritisation; [115132]
(3) when he will make public the areas of his Department's resource budget he has identified for possible reprioritisation; and when he plans to report to the Health Select Committee on the outcome of this exercise. [115154]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department is working with HM Treasury to agree contingency plans as set out in “Improving Spending Control”:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/improving_spending_control.pdf
Plans and options for reprioritisation will not be published. They should be “live” plans that are reassessed and updated on an ongoing basis.
School Milk
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to increase the uptake of free nursery milk and subsidised school milk. [115377]
Anne Milton: The Nursery Milk Scheme is the only milk scheme run by the Department. It has been running since the 1940s and we believe that awareness of the scheme is high, with over 50,000 child care providers currently registered with the Nursery Milk Reimbursement Unit. The Department is currently consulting on a range of options for modernising the operation of the scheme to improve its value for money while ensuring that all under fives attending child care settings for two or more hours a day continue to receive free milk. The consultation will raise the profile of the scheme and offer an opportunity for child care providers to give their thoughts on improving the operation of the scheme.
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In addition, the Department provides guidance on its website explaining the way in which the scheme is currently administered. Information about the scheme is also available on the Nursery Milk Reimbursement Unit's website at:
www.nurserymilk.co.uk
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many settings claiming for the cost of milk through the nursery milk scheme claimed more than (a) 60, (b) 70, (c) 80 and (d) 90 pence per pint in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [115383]
Anne Milton: The following table provides figures for the number of child care settings claiming for the free nursery milk at a cost ranging from 60 pence to 90 pence per pint in the month of June 2012:
| Cost claimed by the child care settings in providing free nursery milk in the month of June 2012 | |
| Number of child care settings | |
The Department is currently consulting on a range of options for modernising the operation of the Nursery Milk Scheme to improve its value for money while ensuring that all under fives attending child care settings for two or more hours a day continue to receive free milk.
Transplant Surgery
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to replace the post of National Clinical Director for Transplantation; and if he will make a statement. [115050]
Anne Milton: Chris Rudge, the former National Clinical Director for Transplantation, has been appointed to chair a Transitional Steering Group (TSG) to help maintain the momentum to achieve the target of a 50%, increase in organ donation rates by 2013. We are taking action in a number of areas to strengthen the donation and transplant programme, with donor rates now around 35%, higher than 2007-08 and continuing to rise.
NHS Blood and Transplant are also developing a strategy post March 2013, building on the Organ Donation Taskforce recommendations, which will establish them as the national organisation for organ donation and transplantation. The new strategy will build on what has been achieved so far and identify new ways to make sure that as many people as possible in the UK receive the transplant they need, with added emphasis on the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the average length of an apprenticeship. [114991]
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Mr Hayes: In 2010/11, the latest year for which final data are available, the adjusted average length of an apprenticeship was 13 months.
Care should be taken when interpreting the average length of apprenticeships as it is dependent on the mix of apprenticeship levels and frameworks, and the prior attainment of learners (some will already have completed parts of the apprenticeship). The adjusted measure is intended to exclude those apprentices with some prior attainment. Additionally, the average length of an apprenticeship programme does not necessarily reflect the guided learning hours or the actual length of time in learning. For these reasons the average length should be seen as contributory information to any broader assessment of the apprenticeship experience and quality.
From August 2012 Ministers have decided that an apprenticeship must last at least 12 months for under 19s, and for adults unless prior learning is recorded and funding reduced accordingly, in order to ensure that every apprenticeship involves sufficient new learning and opportunity to embed new skills.
Information on apprenticeship starts and achievements are published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 28 June 2012:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
Information on apprenticeship achievements by duration is published within the 'Other Statistics' section of the SFR website:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_other_statistics
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many apprenticeship starts there were by people aged 16 to 18 in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) London, (h) the South East and (i) the South West in the first three quarters of 2011-2; [115522]
(2) how many apprenticeship starts there were by people aged 19 to 24 in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) London, (h) the South East and (i) the South West in the first three quarters of 2011-2; [115523]
(3) how many apprenticeship starts there were by people aged 25 and over in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) London, (h) the South East and (i) the South West in the first three quarters of 2011-12. [115524]
Mr Hayes: Table 1 shows the provisional number of Apprenticeship programme starts by learners aged under 19, 19 to 24 and 25 and above and region for the first nine months of 2011/12.
Provisional data for the first nine months of the 2011/12 academic year (August 2011 to April 2012) provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. Figures for 2011/12 will be updated in the October 2012 Statistical First Release.
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| Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts by age and region, 2011/12 (provisional) | ||||
| Region | 16-18 | 19-24 | 25+ | Total |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 except for totals which are rounded to the nearest 100. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 2. Age is calculated based on age at start of the programme. 3. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner. Geographic information is based on boundaries of regions as of May 2010. 4. Provisional data for 2011/12 should not be compared with data for earlier academic years. Source: Individualised Learner Record | ||||
Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts by age is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR and supplementary tables were published on 28th June 2012:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
Further breakdowns including age and geography are available as a supplementary table:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current/
Apprentices: South East
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of apprentices in the south-east are (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 years old. [115040]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 3 July 2012]: The following table shows the number and percentage of apprenticeship programme starts in the south-east region by learners aged 16, 17 and 18 in 2010/11; the latest year for which final data are available.
| Apprenticeship programme starts by age in the south-east region, 2010-11 | ||
| South-east region | Apprenticeship starts | Percentage of all age apprenticeship starts |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 2. Percentages are calculated based on unrounded figures and are presented to the nearest percentage point. 3. Age is calculated based on age at start of the programme. 4. Figures presented for 16-year-olds include a small number of under 16-year-olds. 5. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner. Geographic information is based on boundaries of regions as of May 2010. Source: Individualised Learner Record | ||
Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by age is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR and supplementary tables were published on 28 June 2012:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/
Apprentices: Training
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether it is a requirement that apprenticeship trainers hold relevant teaching and professional qualifications and have passed Criminal Records Bureau checks before they are allowed to train apprentices; and if he will make a statement. [115185]
Mr Hayes: The Further Education Teachers Qualifications Regulations 2007 require those who teach in further education (FE) colleges to hold appropriate teaching qualifications. This applies to all teaching employees of colleges, not just those who may be training apprentices. The regulations do not apply to non-college trainers in FE.
The Skills Funding Agency contractually requires its providers to ensure that competent and appropriately qualified staff deliver and assess learning. The provider is responsible for the professional development and training of its staff for meeting any minimum requirements which may be required by Ofsted or other regulatory authority.
There is no statutory requirement upon those training apprentices aged 16 to 17 to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) disclosure.
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Conditions of Employment
Mr McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the timetable is for kitemarking good employers, including public sector suppliers, who invest in skills and apprenticeships in their workforce. [114985]
Mr Hayes: The proposal is to use Investors in People as a badge of quality that would indicate whether the employer had good skills and training systems in place and advertise this through a searchable website run by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
This work is in development and on current plans looks likely to be delivered in November this year. We also have the Apprenticeships Roll of Honour which is in operation through the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website and showcases businesses committed to apprenticeships as they recognise the business benefits they gain from employing apprentices.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2012, Official Report, column 238W, on conditions of employment, on what date each of Mr Beecroft's meetings with Government officials took place; and from which Department the officials were from on each such occasion. [115121]
Norman Lamb [holding answer 3 July 2012]: The information requested is as follows:
14 July 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
20 July 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
1 August 2011: Home Office; Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Department for Work and Pensions
3 August 2011: Home Office; Health and Safety Executive
4 August 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
5 August 2011: Department for Work and Pensions
8 August 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; HM Courts and Tribunals Service
9 August 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Department for Education
17 August 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Home Office; Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
31 August 2011: HM Treasury
5 September 2011: HM Revenue and Customs; Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
6 September 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
8 September 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
10 October 2011: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Executives: Pay
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what powers shareholders will have in cases where payments have been made to directors outside of a company's existing remuneration policy following implementation of his proposals on executive pay. [114121]
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Norman Lamb: The result of the vote on policy will have a lasting and legally binding impact. For the first time, a company will only be able to make payments within the limits that have been approved by a majority of shareholders. If a payment contravenes approved policy then there will be sanctions in line with existing provisions elsewhere in the Companies Act: the payment will have to be repaid and the directors responsible for agreeing it will be liable for any costs.
Shareholders will have, as now, an annual advisory vote on how the approved policy is being implemented, including actual sums paid in the previous year. If a company fails the advisory vote they will need to put the pay policy back to shareholders the following year for re-approval in a binding vote.
Shareholders can choose not to re-elect directors that ignore policy,
Higher Education: Innovation
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage UK businesses to exploit innovation and creativity through universities. [115459]
Mr Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills supports a range of programmes to encourage and incentivise the application and commercialisation of research generated by the UK research base. These programmes are supported both directly by BIS, and also through organisations that it funds and sponsors, such as the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board.
Such programmes run by the Technology Strategy Board include the Collaborative R&D projects, the Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme, and the establishment of an elite network of Catapult Centres in which the Government is investing over £200 million.
The Government is committed to accelerating the commercialisation of research, following announcements in the autumn statement, and the subsequent publication of the ‘Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth and the Strategy for UK Life Sciences’.
Office of Fair Trading: Competition Commission
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many full-time equivalent staff were employed in the (a) Office of Fair Trading and (b) Competition Commission in the last month in which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the likely number of full-time equivalent staff to be employed in the proposed Competition Markets Authority. [113069]
Norman Lamb
[holding answer 21 June 2012]: As at 31 May 2012, the Office of Fair Trading employed 542 full-time equivalent staff and 70 agency, interim or specialist contractor non-payroll staff. As at 31 May 2012, the Competition Commission employed 130 full-time equivalent staff and 15 agency, interim or specialist contractor non-payroll staff. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), expects to appoint the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
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Chair-designate in summer 2012. The Chair-designate will oversee the process of designing the organisational structure of the CMA, in consultation with Government, the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission so that the CMA is ready to take on its full functions, staff and new cases in April 2014. This process will take account of the need to retain the professional skills and expertise of staff at the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission.
Origin Marking
Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to raise the awareness of the difference between country of origin and country of manufacture. [114585]
Norman Lamb [holding answer 4 July 2012]: We have not taken steps to raise awareness of the difference between country of origin and country of manufacture.
Parliamentary Private Secretaries: Visits Abroad
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will list the occasions since May 2010 on which his parliamentary private secretary has travelled overseas with him or on his behalf. [115456]
Norman Lamb: There have been none.
Public Expenditure
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the speech by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 23 April 2012 at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, (1) what progress his Department has made on identifying a proportion of its resource budget that can be reprioritised; what steps he has taken to identify such funds; and which parts of his Department's resource budget he has identified as suitable for reprioritisation; [115139]
(2) what discussions he has had with his Department's agencies and the non-departmental bodies for which he is responsible on the contribution they will make to identifying resource budget for possible reprioritisation; [115140]
(3) when he will make public the areas of his Department's resource budget he has identified for possible reprioritisation; and when he plans to report to the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee on the outcome of this exercise. [115145]
Norman Lamb: The Department is working with the Treasury to agree contingency plans as set out in “Improving Spending Control”
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/improving_spending_control.pdf
Plans and options for reprioritisation will not be published. They should be “live” plans that are reassessed and updated on an ongoing basis.
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Retail Trade: Newspaper Press
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of trends in the size of the independent retail newsagent sector in the last five years; and what steps he is taking to address the causes of closures in the sector. [115785]
Mr Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 300-1W.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make an assessment of the (a) level of supply within the wholesale distribution sector of the news and magazine market, (b) terms upon which services are supplied to retailers in the market and (c) level of charges levied upon newsagents; and if he will make an assessment of the level of redress for poor provision of services to retailers. [115788]
Mr Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 June 2012, Official Report, column reference 299-300W.
Culture, Media and Sport
Parliamentary Private Secretaries: Visits Abroad
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will list the occasions since May 2010 on which his parliamentary private secretary has travelled overseas with him or on his behalf. [115454]
Mr Jeremy Hunt: Since May 2010, my parliamentary private secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Reading East (Mr Wilson), has not accompanied me on any overseas trips or travelled overseas on my behalf.
International Development
Atos
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2012, Official Report, column 774W, on Atos, what the total value per year was of each contract between his Department and Atos in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012. [115284]
Mr Duncan: DFID has centrally let six contracts with Atos since 2009. Details of the value per year of each contract are provided in the following table.
Total monetary value is the total value across the lifetime of the contract. Two of the contracts include funds and grants to be managed by Atos.
Two of the six contracts are framework agreements. Mini-competitions are run among all of the suppliers on the framework to award contracts for specific requirements. The framework agreement itself therefore has a nil value commitment and no guarantee of the value of business which may be awarded.
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Developing Countries: Primary Education
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of progress on the millennium development goal on universal primary education; and if he will make a statement. [115027]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: The international community has made significant progress on the millennium development goal (MDG) of universal primary education. The number of children out-of-school has fallen from 105 million in 1990 to 61 million today. Typically, it is the marginalised, poor and remote rural populations, and those affected by conflict and discrimination, who are still denied access to schooling. The UK is playing its part to make sure that we help to achieve MDG 2 and we are consistently encouraging our partners to do the same.
DFID's 2012 annual report shows that the UK is supporting 5.3 million children in primary education and 600,000 in lower secondary in developing countries. The UK has also helped to train 90,000 teachers to improve the quality of education and assist children's learning. Over the comprehensive spending review period the UK has pledged to support 9 million children in primary school, over half of whom will be girls and 2 million in lower secondary.
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on programmes to provide education in developing countries in the last three years. [115031]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: DFID spent over £543 million in financial year 2008-09, £458 million in 2009-10 and £727 million in 2010-11 on programmes to help provide good quality basic education to children in our partner countries.
DFID's 2012 annual report shows that these investments are supporting 5.3 million children in primary education and 600,000 in lower secondary in developing countries. The UK has also helped to train 90,000 teachers to improve the quality of education and assist children's learning. Over the comprehensive spending review period the UK has pledged to support 9 million children in primary school, over half of whom will be girls, and 2 million in lower secondary.
Overseas Aid
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of aid provided by his Department was allocated to (a) private sector bodies, (b) non-governmental not-for-profit organisations and (c) governments in each year since 2010. [115054]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: DFID publish full information on expenditure across its bilateral and multilateral programme annually through its Statistics on International Development publication:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/Aid-Statistics/Statistics-on-International-Development-2011/
Table 3 breaks down bilateral and multilateral expenditure by the main funding channels. In 2010-11, the latest year for which information is available, DFID spent £4.25 billion through its bilateral programme (representing 55% of total spend). 14.7% of DFID's bilateral programme was spent through non-governmental organisations, with 15.1% spent through recipient governments. Information on spend channelled through the private sector is not held centrally.
In 2010-11, DFID spent £3.22 billion through its multilateral programme (42%) with the remaining 3% on administration costs.
West Africa
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what drought prevention projects his Department funds in West Africa. [115197]
Mr Duncan: Although it is not possible to prevent drought as it is essentially a recurring climactic event, it is possible to build resilience against its worst effects.
We are supporting the people of West Africa in several ways. Firstly, we are working through multilateral partners—the World Bank, United Nations and the European Community—to ensure that their investments in the region support the development and expansion of social safety net programmes. Secondly, the UK is
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funding the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development programme (CAADP), which is promoting agricultural-led economic growth to reduce poverty. A number of Sahelian countries have prepared investment plans for this programme. Thirdly, the UK is a major funder of the Pilot programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which includes Niger as one of its priority countries. PPCR, which is managed by the World Bank, is supporting a $63 million programme in Niger to improve the resilience of the local populations and production systems to climate change and variability, which should improve food security.
Justice
Atos
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2012, Official Report, column 672W, on Atos, what the value was of each contract between his Department and Atos in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012. [115115]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The value of each contract between this Department and Atos is between 2009 and 2012 is as follows:
| £ million (excluding VAT) | ||||
| Contract value: | ||||
| Contract | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| (1) The £15 million OH contract value is inclusive of the initial two-year contract period and the two year extension option. The Department took up an option to extend the contract by another 15 months in March 2012. Note: Contract values are recorded in the year that the contract or contract extension was signed. | ||||
Community Orders
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent progress he has made in his pilot projects for the delivery of intensive community sentences by payment-by-results arrangements. [115195]
Mr Blunt: We are working with Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust, and with Wales Probation Trust, to develop proposals for two pilots of payment by results for offenders on community sentences. We expect the pilots to start in the spring of 2013.
County Courts
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many county court counters have been closed in England and Wales within the past 18 months; and how many will be closed in each year until 2015; [114871]
(2) how many staff will be (a) relocated and (b) made redundant due to counter closures in county courts in England and Wales; [114872]
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(3) whether services provided by counters in county courts will be transferred to an online service before the end of this Parliament; [114873]
(4) whether members of the public who do not have access to the internet will receive paper applications from county courts where counters have been closed. [114874]
Mr Djanogly: A statement on 14 December 2010, Official Report, columns 816-18, announced the closure of 142 courts; of these 49 were county courts. In the past 18 months, 45 county courts have been closed. A further county court will be closed in September 2012, another in March 2013 and two in April 2013.
These closures resulted in no staff being made redundant and 250 staff being relocated to other parts of HMCTS or other Government Departments.
A written ministerial statement of 17 May 2011, Official Report, column 11WS, explained that Her Majesty's Court and Tribunal Service was exploring the potential to modernise the way in which it provided face to face services in the civil and family courts.
As that statement made clear, such exploration is in the context of the 2008 document ‘Framework for the provision of front office services in civil courts’ and subject to local consultations. Local consultations have recently taken place on potential changes to these services and are currently being analysed. The outcome of these regional consultations will be published later this month.
HMCTS already provide some services through online channels and we continue to explore how further services can be transacted in this way.
In line with the 2008 Framework HMCTS would ensure that any changes would still enable users to deal with courts through paper applications if they need to do so.
Dangerous Driving
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will meet the hon. Member for Dudley North and other interested parties to discuss the system of justice in cases of death and injury by careless or dangerous driving. [114755]
Mr Blunt: The Ministry of Justice has received a letter from British Cycling of 1 June 2012 relating to a review of the criminal justice system to better protect road users, including the outcomes of cases where death and injury are caused by careless or dangerous driving. We will consult with colleagues across Government on the issues raised in the letter before we respond and consider whether a meeting would be helpful.
Defamation
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what meetings he has had on including a public interest defence against libel lawsuits in the Defamation Bill; [115109]
(2) what meetings he has had on measures to restrict corporations from using libel actions or the threat of libel action to deter publications in the Defamation Bill. [115110]
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Mr Djanogly: In developing the provisions in the Defamation Bill we have met a range of stakeholders including members of the legal profession, non-governmental organisations, internet organisations, media representatives and members of the scientific community. These meetings covered a range of issues including the defence of responsible publication on matters of public interest and whether to include proposals to restrict the ability of corporations to bring defamation actions.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received from website operators on including protection from liability for libel for users' words in the Defamation Bill 2012. [115111]
Mr Djanogly: A wide range of views was submitted on the issue of responsibility for publication on the internet as part of public consultation on the Draft Defamation Bill, including from a number of internet organisations. In addition, in developing the provisions in the Defamation Bill we have met the Internet Service Providers Association and representatives of Yahoo!, Google, AOL, Facebook, Mumsnet, Twitter and BT.
Designated Public Places Orders
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many designated public place orders have been issued in (a) England and Wales, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) Ashfield constituency in the last three years. [114848]
James Brokenshire: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
There have been in total 824 designated public place orders (DPPO) issued nationally since their introduction in 2001. Within the last three years 65 designated public place orders have been issued nationally. Within the last three years local authorities within Nottinghamshire have applied for and been issued by magistrates three designated public place orders. One of these was issued
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within Ashfield, in April of this year. Ashfield was issued with a DPPO covering certain specific locations within the town.
Domestic Violence: Sentencing
Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will publish details of the numbers and lengths of sentences for crimes involving domestic violence in each of the last five years for which figures are available; [115444]
(2) if he will publish details of the number of repeat offenders convicted for crimes involving domestic violence and the sentences they received in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [115445]
Mr Blunt: Data held centrally on the Court Proceedings Database do not include information about all the circumstances behind each case other than which may be identified from a statute. It is not possible to specifically identify offences of domestic violence from other offences of assault.
The Police National Computer (PNC) does not include information about the circumstances behind each case and it is not possible to identify which convictions for repeat offenders for violence against the person were specifically for domestic violence offences.
Driving Offences: Custodial Treatment
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions for (a) drink driving and (b) each other motoring offence resulted in a custodial sentence in (i) Enfield North constituency, (ii) London and (iii) England in each of the last five years. [115099]
Mr Blunt: Findings of guilt and sentences of immediate custody at all courts for drink driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs and other motoring offences in Greater London and England, from 2007 to 2011, can be viewed in Tables 1 and 2.
Information centrally held by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) does not allow a breakdown of cases by parliamentary constituency.
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Driving Offences: Sentencing
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the change in the total immediate custodial sentences for (a) causing death by careless driving, (b) causing death by dangerous driving, (c) causing injury by careless driving and (d) causing injury by dangerous driving since the offence of death by careless driving was introduced in 2008; [114752]
(2) what estimate he has made of the change in the average custodial sentence length for (a) causing death by careless driving, (b) causing death by dangerous driving, (c) causing injury by careless driving and (d) causing injury by dangerous driving since the offence of death by careless driving was introduced in 2008; [114753]
(3) what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in conviction rates for offences of death or injury by careless or dangerous driving since 2008; [114754]
(4) what estimate he has made of the average length of custodial sentence for the offences of (a) causing death by dangerous driving, (b) involuntary manslaughter and (c) causing grievous bodily harm in each of the last five years. [114796]
Mr Blunt: Other than where specified in a statute, information held centrally does not include all the circumstances of each case, it is not possible to identify from offences of careless or dangerous driving those cases which resulted from injury to the victim. From proceedings for offences of manslaughter it is not possible to identify those specifically identified as 'involuntary'.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, and found guilty (including conviction ratio) and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts, with the average custodial sentence length, for selected driving offences, manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm, in England and Wales, from 2007 to 2011, can be viewed in the table.
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| * = Not applicable. (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of defendants found guilty in a particular year may exceed the number proceeded against as the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in an earlier year and the defendants were found guilty at the Crown court in the following year; or the defendants were found guilty of a different offence to that for which they were originally proceeded against. (4) The conviction ratio is based on the number of defendants found guilty in a particular year as a proportion of the number proceeded against in the same year. (5) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (6 )Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. (7) Includes offences of: failing to comply with an order to stop a moving vehicle; using a hand held mobile phone while driving; breach of requirements as to control of a vehicle; and other miscellaneous careless driving offences. (8) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | ||||||