Renewables Obligation
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what the reasons are for the time taken in responding to the consultation on proposals for the levels of banded support for solar photovoltaics under the renewables obligation; and if he will make a statement; [134653]
(2) when he intends to publish the outcome of his Department's consultation on proposals for the levels of banded support for solar photovoltaics under the renewables obligation for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2017. [134732]
Mr Hayes:
A significant amount of new evidence on the costs and deployment potential of solar photovoltaics (PV) was received during the consultation. We have taken the time necessary to consider this evidence carefully to ensure that we get the right balance between setting subsidies at a level which supports the continued and sustainable growth of the solar PV industry in the UK while representing value for money for energy consumers. The Government Response(1) setting out the results of
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the consultation was laid in Parliament on 18 December 2012 and published on DECC’s website at the following location:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/ro_solarpv/ro_solarpv.aspx
(1) Renewables Obligation Banding Review for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2013: Government Response to further consultations on solar PV support, biomass affordability and retaining the minimum calorific value requirement in the RO. DECC, December 2012.
Senior Civil Servants
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his answer of 5 December 2012, Official Report, column 782W, on senior civil servants, whether (a) he or (b) his Department submitted a candidate for the post of permanent secretary of his Department to the Prime Minister for his approval; and on what date any such submission was made. [135052]
Gregory Barker: For Permanent Secretary appointments and new entrants to Director General roles, the Head of the Civil Service or the Cabinet Secretary seeks approval from the Prime Minister.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 76W, on senior civil servants, for what reasons the make-up of the appointment panel for the post of Permanent Secretary has changed. [135406]
Gregory Barker: Selection panels for Permanent Secretary roles are always chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner. Either the Head of the Civil Service or Cabinet Secretary also sits on the panel, as will one of the departmental non-executive directors. The re-run of the DECC Permanent Secretary appointment process was a new competition and a different selection panel was convened.
Temporary Employment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what amount his Department spent on interim staff as defined by the National Audit Office in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [135166]
Gregory Barker: The Department's expenditure on interim staff is published in its Annual Reports for 2010-11 (HC 1009) page 11 and for 2011-12 (HC 63) page 44. It is in the tables showing spend for contingent labour. For DECC, excluding its NDPBs, the relevant figures are £4,890,000 (2010-11) and £3,420,000 (2011-12).
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many temporary staff have been recruited in his Department in each month from July to December 2012. [135233]
Gregory Barker: The number of temporary staff recruited by the Department of Energy and Climate Change from July to December 2012 is shown in the following table.
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| Number recruited | |
Warm Front Scheme: South East
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to promote take-up of the Warm Home scheme in the south-east. [135060]
Gregory Barker: Around 2 million low income and vulnerable households will benefit each year as a result of the Warm Home Discount scheme, which started in April 2011. In winter 2011-12, this included over 700,000 of the poorest pensioners who received an automatic £120 discount on their electricity bills in winter 2011-12. This winter, over 1 million of the poorest pensioners will receive an increased discount of £130. Ninety per cent. of these will receive the discount without the need to apply but all eligible and potentially eligible pensioner householders are written to each year.
Regional breakdowns for these data are not available.
Wind Power: Carmarthenshire
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the cost of the grid connection infrastructure required to service the proposed wind farms in north Carmarthenshire. [134891]
Mr Hayes: The cost of grid connections is a matter for the network companies and the independent regulator, Ofgem. The Department has made no estimate of the costs of this proposed connection.
Wind Power: Wales
Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what financial contribution his Department has made to the costs incurred by the Welsh local authorities defending refusal decisions on wind farm applications over 50 megawatts in the last 12 months. [135032]
International Development
Charities
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) discussions and (b) meetings (i) ministers and (ii) officials in her Department had with UK registered charities in (A) November 2012 and (B) December 2012. [135798]
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Mr Duncan: Details of ministerial meetings are available on the website of the Department for International Development (DFID):
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/Our-organisation/Ministers/#travel
and are published every quarter in the normal way.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on which active projects her Department receives advice from UK registered charities. [135801]
Mr Duncan: UK registered charities are involved in a range of active DFID projects. A detailed list can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Developing Countries: Climate Change
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the UK representative to the Green Climate Fund will press for civil society participation in the Green Climate Fund Board at the next meeting of that body. [135106]
Lynne Featherstone: The UK fully supports the participation of civil society in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board as active observers. We were disappointed that the GCF Board was not able to reach agreement on the working practices for active observers at its most recent board meeting, in October. The UK representative is working with other board members to resolve outstanding issues ahead of the next board meeting, in March 2013, so that civil society can engage fully at that meeting.
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether she will make board papers available to UK civil society representatives in advance of the next Green Climate Fund board meeting. [135108]
Lynne Featherstone: The UK fully supports the participation of civil society in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board as active observers. The UK representative is working with other board members to agree working practices for the active observers, ahead of the next board meeting, in March 2013. Our position is that board papers should be sent to active observers at the same time as they are sent to board members.
Developing Countries: Tuberculosis
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether she has given consideration to developing a position paper on tuberculosis. [134843]
Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development does not plan to develop a position paper specifically on tuberculosis, but will incorporate tuberculosis in wider public documents on our approach to supporting health outcomes. For example the Health Position Paper, which is due to be published in 2013.
Stephen Mosley:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether she has carried out a review of the World Health Organisation's TB
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REACH initiative; and what discussions she has held with her Canadian counterparts on their support for the project. [134933]
Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development recognises the importance of the World Health Organisation's TB REACH initiative and appreciates strong Canadian support for this initiative. The UK supports the World Health Organisation-hosted STOP TB Partnership and currently provides funding of £4.9 million over the period 2011 to 2015. Overall, the UK spent £44.2 million in the 2010-11 financial year on direct bilateral aid for tuberculosis as well as significant additional funding through the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Equality
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of staff in her Department have received training in equality and diversity and the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 in the last three years. [135351]
Mr Duncan: In the last three years 19.9% of staff in DFID received training in equality and diversity and the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
EU Aid
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness and efficiency of the EU's aid programmes. [135194]
Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) conducted a Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) in 2011 which examined the effectiveness and efficiency of the EU's aid programmes. The European Development Fund scored strongly against efficiency, flexibility and poverty focus. The EU's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, ECHO, also performed strongly in our assessment and the European Commission's budget development instruments scored satisfactorily. The review stated that EU aid programmes would be more effective if they had a stronger focus on results, including better and more systematic monitoring and evaluation of their operations. An update to the MAR will be undertaken in 2013 to review progress against the recommendations made.
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of funding provided by her Department to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has been spent on the treatment or cure of (a) Aids, (b) tuberculosis and (c) malaria in each of the last three years. [134932]
Lynne Featherstone: Donors cannot earmark funds by disease and so the share of DFID's funding directed to each of the diseases is the same as the fund's overall distribution. The distribution of the fund's portfolio for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure in each of the last three years was:
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| Percentage | |||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of the new funding model adopted by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. [134934]
Lynne Featherstone: The New Funding Model is an attempt to allow the Global Fund to invest more strategically and provide countries with greater predictability and flexibility, as well as allowing them quicker access to funds in their fight against the three diseases. The Fund's Board unanimously agreed this new approach when it met in November 2012.
Some of the detail is still to be worked out, and all aspects of the new model will be tested over the next 18 months or so, before it is rolled out in full for all countries in 2014.
Overseas Aid
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the benefits of civil society participation in the governance of multilateral funds. [135107]
Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not made any specific assessments recently of the benefits of civil society participation in the governance of multilateral funds. DFID consulted civil society organisations in the multi-lateral aid review (MAR) process and is now working closely with civil society organisations to gather country-level evidence as part of the MAR update, currently under way.
Palestinians
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which aid projects her Department has funded in Area C of the Occupied Palestinian Territories in each of the last three years. [135832]
Mr Duncan: DFID has not funded any projects exclusively for Area C during the last three years.
We funded a number of programmes which include activities in Area C over this period. We fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to deliver essential services to refugees. We also fund the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide free legal support and advice to vulnerable families and communities at risk of displacement. In addition, during the period 2009-10 the UK gave £1 million to the UN Humanitarian Relief Fund which offers emergency assistance to Palestinian communities. In addition DFID gives financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, which provides needs-based welfare payments to Palestinians living across the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
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Procurement
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) how many procurement officers are currently employed by her Department; [135675]
(2) how many civil servants in her Department regularly deal with procurement services. [135676]
Mr Duncan: The Department for International Development's central Procurement Group, (which manages the award of all large contracts over the £113,000 threshold in public procurement regulations), currently employs 34 procurement officers. The central Procurement Group works with a significant number of staff across DFID on procurement-related activities, however, to provide precise details of this would incur disproportionate cost.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many procurement officers in her Department have relevant procurement qualifications. [135677]
Mr Duncan: Of the 34 procurement officers currently employed in the Department for International Development's central Procurement Group, 19 currently hold a relevant procurement qualification and a further eight are currently studying towards one.
South Asia
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work her Department is doing to support gender equality and empowerment of women in South Asia. [134597]
Lynne Featherstone: DFID has a strong commitment to gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in South Asia. DFID's programmes in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are delivering results across all the priority areas of DFID's Strategic Vision for Women and Girls.
Some examples of this include:
Reproductive and maternal health: in Nepal, 70,000 births will be attended by a skilled birth attendant, and 108,000 unwanted pregnancies will be averted by 2015.
Women economic empowerment: in Bangladesh, 341,268 women will receive economic support; and in India, 2.2 million poor women will be helped to access credit, savings and insurance.
Violence Against Women and Girls: in South Asia, all DFID country offices in South Asia have programmes to address this.
Political participation of women: in Afghanistan, DFID supports several programmes to increase the number of women voters and MPs elected. DFID's programme in Pakistan will aim to get 2 million more women voters in the next general election.
UN Women
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department gives to UN Women. [134598]
Mr Duncan:
DFID provides a voluntary core contribution of £10 million a year to UN Women. It has provided just under £1 million in transitional funding to UN Women to assist with its creation from the four
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agencies which were merged. In addition, DFID provides a voluntary non-core contribution of £3.25 million over three years to a UN Women project on women, peace and security.
DFID has also seconded a senior DFID member of staff to work for UN Women for two years. We provide further support as an executive board member and on discussions regarding results and value for money. DFID was critical in creating UN Women and is supporting the agency to be successful in improving the impact of the UN system's collective efforts to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment.
Zambia
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department has given to the Zambian HIV/AIDS programme; and what consideration she has given to the future funding of the National Aids Council. [134844]
Lynne Featherstone: DFID has supported the HIV response in Zambia for more than a decade. This has included direct funding to the National AIDS Council (NAC) to support its coordination role, as well as funding for civil society, research and cash transfers for households affected by HIV. Our support to scaling up anti-retroviral treatment is channelled through the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria.
Under strong leadership, the NAC is becoming a more focused and less donor-dependent organisation. Our direct support to the NAC will come to an end in March 2013 but we are planning to more than double our funding for HIV prevention in Zambia between 2013 to 2016. We will continue to work closely with the NAC in its efforts to strengthen HIV prevention, promote a more efficient use of available resources, and by participating in the mid-term review of the National AIDS Strategy in 2013.
Justice
Bill of Rights Commission
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse has been of the Commission on a Bill of Rights to date; and what the nature of such costs has been. [134136]
Damian Green: As stated in its final report, the cost of the Commission on a Bill of Rights from its establishment in March 2011 to date is approximately £700,000. This figure includes all of its costs such as staff costs and consultations.
Final figures for the total cost of the Commission will be available when the Commission has finished its work.
Courts: Interpreters
Sadiq Khan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court cases have collapsed as a result of an absence of a suitable interpreter or translator since the
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beginning of his Department's contract with Applied Language Solutions. [134628]
Mrs Grant: The reasons for court case adjournments are not recorded as a matter of course. It is not possible to identify which adjournments are due to a lack of an interpreter.
Ineffective trials in magistrates and Crown courts do record the reason for being ineffective, although this does not mean that the case collapses as it will be re-listed. Ineffective trials are those that do not start on the due date and require rescheduling.
The contract on language services has been operational since 30 January 2012. Data on ineffective trials were included in the court statistics for the first and second quarters of 2012. There were 345 magistrates court and 17 Crown court trials which were ineffective due to interpreter availability, out of over 100,000 listed trials across England and Wales.
Crime: Victims
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of local services for victims of violent crime; and if he will make a statement. [135582]
Mrs Grant:
Last year, the Government carried out a consultation on how the criminal justice system could
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best deliver victims’ services, which recognised the importance of support for victims of violent crime.
In future, police and crime commissioners will commission the bulk of local victims' services based on local need and priorities, and the Ministry of Justice will commission some services nationally, including for victims of rape and domestic and sexual violence, human trafficking, and for those bereaved by homicide.
The Government have made available long-term funding for specialist victim services, and have made clear our commitment to raise up to an additional £50 million from offenders to further support victims of crime.
Criminal Proceedings: Lancashire
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many proceedings for criminal offences there were in each magistrates court in Lancashire in each year since 1997. [134594]
Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, for local justice areas within Lancashire, for the years 1997 to 2011 (the latest available) are provided in the tables.
Figures are provided at local justice area level, as data collated centrally by the Ministry of Justice do not allow the separate identification of defendants proceeded against at individual magistrates courts.
| Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, for local justice areas within Lancashire, 1997 to 2011(1,2) | ||||||||
| Number of defendants | ||||||||
| Local justice area | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Number of defendants | |||||||
| Local justice area | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
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| ‘—’ = Nil (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. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | |||||||
Electronic Tagging
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many parents have requested the imposition of an electronic tag on their children since May 2010; [135145]
(2) how many people of each age group under the age of 18 years in each region of the UK who have been placed on an electronic tag have had their curfew conditions altered since May 2010; and for what reasons each such modification occurred. [135148]
Jeremy Wright: The information is as follows:
(1) Juveniles can be electronically monitored on bail as a court-ordered community sentence or on release from prison. Parents do not have formal input into sentencing decisions made by the courts or release decisions made by custodial institutions.
There may be occasions where a parent has suggested informally to their child's solicitor or youth offending manager that electronic monitoring might be a good sentencing option but this is not possible to quantify.
(2) The data are not collected centrally at this level of detail and it is not possible to provide this information except at disproportionate cost. The information is held within administrative databases by the two electronic monitoring contractors; however, extracting the data is complex as their databases are not designed to handle requests of this nature.
Negotiations are currently under way with bidders for the next generation of electronic monitoring contracts; these include proposals for improved provision of management information. The new contracts are due to commence in April 2013.
Equality
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of staff in his Department have received training in equality and diversity and the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 in the last three years. [135352]
Mrs Grant: A range of training courses and learning opportunities on equality and diversity issues, including the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, have been provided to departmental staff over the last three years. Training methods have included e-learning, workshops, and information and guidance.
The Department does not hold central data on the proportion of staff who completed this training.
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on promoting and offering services giving advice and practical help on human rights. [134255]
Damian Green: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) carried out a review of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC) provision of equality information, advice and support to inform the Spending Review 2010. The review found that EHRC's helpline and legal grants programme neither represented value for money nor supported the EHRC in carrying out its functions.
The Government announced in March 2011 that they would cease funding these activities when they came to a natural end, and commission a new Great Britain-wide service, providing expert information, advice and support on discrimination and human rights.
This is the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) which began on l October 2012.
Fines: Surcharges
Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what amount was paid in victim surcharge in each of the last five years; and if he will estimate the amount likely to be paid in victim surcharge in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; [135140]
(2) pursuant to the oral answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 699, on restorative justice, what financial support his Department has made available for restorative justice from the victims' surcharge in each of the last five years; what amount has been allocated from the victims' surcharge to restorative justice in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; what organisations received such funding; and what amount each such organisation received. [135432]
Mrs Grant: In the last five years, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has collected a total of £41,857,000 from the victim surcharge as follows:
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| Financial year | £ |
In our response to the consultation ‘Getting it right for victims and witnesses’ in July 2012, we set out a package of reforms to increase and extend the use of the victim surcharge. On 1 October 2012 we implemented the first tranche of these reforms to increase the surcharge ordered on fines, and to extend the surcharge to a wider range of in-court disposals including community and custodial sentences.
For 2012-13 and 2013-14 we expect that the total amount collected in victim surcharge will reflect the impact of these recent reforms. Once the full package of reforms to the surcharge is implemented it is estimated that it will bring in up to an additional £20 million.
The revenue from the victim surcharge is included within the total funding granted by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to organisations which support victims and witnesses, including organisations that may support restorative justice as part of a wide range of support services. The organisations listed are specifically funded to support restorative justice:
Human Trafficking: Victim Support Schemes
Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many victims of human trafficking have been referred by the Salvation Army to shelters throughout the UK for a reflection period in the last 12 months; [134845]
(2) how many of the victims of human trafficking who were referred through the National Referral Mechanism to the Salvation Army for a reflection period in the last 12 months were from (a) within and (b) outside the EU; [134846]
(3) how many of the victims of human trafficking who were referred through the National Referral Mechanism to the Salvation Army for a reflection period in the last 12 months were (a) male and (b) female. [134847]
Mrs Grant:
The Salvation Army is responsible for delivering the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales. The specialist support programme overseas and
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co-ordinates access to confidential client-based, tailored support services, including access to secure accommodation if the victim requires it. Between 1 December 2011 and 30 November 2012 439 potential victims of human trafficking were referred through the National Referral Mechanism to The Salvation Army. 271 were female and 168 were male.
227 of those referred were from within the EU. 211 were from outside the EU. In addition, there was one victim whose country of origin could not be established.
348 victims were provided with accommodation. 191 were female and 157 male.
Judicial Review
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claims for judicial review were launched (a) up to 30 days, (b) over 30 days but up to six weeks, (c) over six weeks but up to three months and (d) over three months after the grounds to make the claim first arose in each year from 1997 to 2011. [134875]
Mrs Grant: The Government are seeking views on a package of options designed to tackle the impact of the huge number of ill-founded judicial review applications which clog up our court system and slow down progress. The purpose of those options for reform is not to deny, or restrict, access to justice, but to provide for a more balanced and practicable approach.
Management information is not centrally collected on time lapse from the time at which the grounds to make a judicial review claim first arose. This information is only on the claim form and grounds in the paper file, and as such the only way to collate the information requested would be to look through every single paper file. The Administrative Court Office file retention policy means that there would only be about three years’ worth of files to look through, but even that would be a disproportionate use of resources given the annual intake; the last three years of cases equates to approximately 40,000 files.
Prisoners: Marriage
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what arrangements are in place for parties to a marriage to visit each other when both parties are serving a prison sentence; [135144]
(2) what arrangements are in place for parties to a civil partnership to visit each other where both parties are serving a prison sentence. [135262]
Jeremy Wright: Visits may be allowed, on application, between close relatives when both parties are prisoners at separate establishments and these are normally referred to as inter-prison visits. Within the definition of close relative is a spouse/partner or civil partner. Where a request is made for an inter-prison visit involving two prisoners, including those who would not normally be held in the same type of establishment due to gender or age, governors should make reasonable efforts to accommodate the visit subject to security considerations. The National Offender Management Service policy for this can be found in Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 16/2011, entitled 'Providing Visits and Services to Visitors', a copy of which can be found at
www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/psis
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Remand in Custody: Death
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many deaths in custody occurred in the (a) secure youth estate, (b) adult male estate and (c) adult female estate since May 2005; what the cause of death was for such deaths in custody; and if he will give a breakdown of recorded causes of those deaths in each of the above situations. [135008]
Jeremy Wright:
Central deaths in custody records do not specifically include those who die in the 'youth secure estate' or 'adult estate.' However, we can provide
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information based on the offenders' ages at the time of death. As the adult prison estate can be defined as either those aged 18 and above or those aged 21 and above we have included figures for 15 to 17, 18 to 20 and 21 and over. Table 1 shows the number of deaths in custody in these age groups and by gender.
Table 2 shows aggregate numbers of deaths by apparent cause for young adults (aged 18 to 20 years) and adults (aged 21 years and over). The National Offender Management Service makes a provisional classification of death based on apparent cause. It is the responsibility of coroners to determine the cause of death and figures may change following inquest.
| Table 1: Deaths in custody by gender and category | ||||||||
| Gender | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Table 2: Deaths in custody by apparent cause by age and gender | ||||||||
| Deaths by cause | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
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Roads: Accidents
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons and using what evidential basis his Department decided to reduce fixed recoverable costs in the road traffic accident portal to (a) £500 for cases up to £10,000 and (b) £800 for cases between £10,000 and £25,000. [135388]
Mrs Grant: These proposals were advanced in a consultation exercise which closed on 4 January and, together with wider civil law reforms, are intended to make lawyers' costs proportionate, and create an environment where insurers can pass on savings to their customers through lower premiums. Evidence for the proposals was gathered through a call for evidence conducted in early 2012; ongoing stakeholder engagement at ministerial and official level; and further consultations on specific aspects of the planned changes. The consultation responses will be analysed and a decision made in due course.
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed reduction in fixed recoverable costs in the road traffic accident portal on (a) equality of arms in court cases and (b) access to justice; and if he will place the findings of any such assessment in the Library. [135389]
Mrs Grant: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) on 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 370W.
Young Offenders
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children under the age of 12 years are currently held in secure institutions. [135149]
Jeremy Wright: As at 2 November 2012, there were no children under the age of 12 years held in secure institutions either on remand or serving a custodial sentence. The last occasion where a child under the age of 12 years was held in a secure institution who was remanded or serving a custodial sentence was November 2010.
The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide details of young people who may be held in secure institutions on other grounds, for example secure welfare placements.
These figures have been provided by the Youth Justice Board and are provisional. 2012-13 figures will be finalised in the 2012-13 Youth Justice statistics which are planned to be published in January 2014.
Young Offenders: Reoffenders
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the 12-month reconviction rate was of those held within the secure youth estate in each year since 1994; [134917]
(2) what the average number of reconvictions per offender was of those held within the secure youth estate in each year since 1994; [134959]
(3) what the 12-month reconviction rate was for each type of sentence for those held within the secure youth estate in each year since 1994; [134958]
(4) how many people after serving a sentence in the secure youth estate went on to commit (a) no more crimes, (b) between one and five crimes, (c) between six and 10 crimes, (d) between 11 and 20 crimes and (e) more than 20 crimes in each year since 1994. [134956]
Jeremy Wright: These questions have been answered using the Ministry of Justice's published proven reoffending statistics for England and Wales. These statistics are published on a quarterly basis and the latest bulletin, for the period January to December 2010, was published on 25 October 2012.
2000 is the earliest year for which proven reoffending data exist on a comparable basis and data are not available for 2001 due to a problem with archived data on court orders. Data for 2011 will be published on 31 October 2013.
Table 1 shows the number of juvenile offenders in England and Wales who were released from custody in each of the years 2000, 2002 to 2010; the proportion that committed a proven reoffence within a one-year follow-up period; and the average number of reoffences per offender.
Table 2 shows the number of juvenile offenders in England and Wales released from custody in 2010, by custodial sentence length; and the proportion that committed a proven reoffence within a one-year follow-up period. Data for years prior to 2010 are currently unavailable, but the Ministry intends to publish the data in 2013.
Table 3 shows the number of juvenile offenders in England and Wales released from custody in 2000, 2002 to 2010 divided into bands based on the number of proven reoffences committed within a one-year follow-up period.
A proven reoffence is defined as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one-year follow-up. Following this one-year period, a further six-month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.
Please note that proven reoffending statistics are available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
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| Table 1: Proven reoffending data for juvenile offenders released from custody in each of the years 2000, 2002 to 2010, England and Wales(1) | ||||||||||
| 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| (1) Data are not available for 2001 due to a problem with archived data. (2) This does not represent all offenders—offenders who were released from custody are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders that cannot be matched are excluded from the offender cohort. | ||||||||||
| Table 2: Proven reoffending data for juvenile offenders released from custody in 2010, by custodial sentence length, England and Wales(1) | |||||
| Custodial sentence length | |||||
| All | Less than or equal to 6 months | More than 6 months to less than 12 months | 12 months to less than 4 years | 4 years or more | |
| (1) A custodial sentence length breakdown is currently available only for 2010. (2) This does not represent all offenders—offenders who were released from custody are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders that cannot be matched are excluded from the offender cohort. (3) Data based on less than 30 offenders are removed as they make data unreliable for interpretation. (4) Less than 30 offenders—treat data with caution. | |||||
| Table 3: Proven reoffending data for juvenile offenders released from custody in each of the years 2000, 2002 to 2010, by reoffence band, England and Wales | ||||||
| Number of offenders in the cohort(1) | No reoffence | Between 1 and 5 reoffences | Between 6 and 10 reoffences | Between 11 and 20 reoffences | More than 20 reoffences | |
| (1) This does not represent all offenders—offenders who were released from custody are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders that cannot be matched are excluded from the offender cohort. Note: Data are not available for 2001 due to a problem with archived data. | ||||||
Young Offenders: Sentencing
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people within the secure youth estate received a sentence of (a) up to and including one month, (b) over one month but less than six months, (c) over six months but less than a year, (d) between one and two years, (e) between two and five years and (f) over five years in the latest period for which figures are available. [134957]
Jeremy Wright: Table 1 shows the number of young people aged under 18 serving determinate sentences of (a) up to and including one month, (b) greater than one month but less than six months, (c) greater than or equal to six months but less than a year, (d) greater than or equal to one year but less than two years, (e) greater than or equal to two years but less than five years and (f) greater than or equal to five years as at the end of October for each of the last five years. This represents a snapshot of the population in the youth secure estate at the end of October in each year. It does not represent the total number of young people sentenced to custody within each year.
Data for October 2011 and October 2012 are provisional. Data for October 2011 will be finalised when the 2011-12 Annual Youth Justice Statistics are published in January 2013. Data for October 2012 will be finalised when the 2012-13 Annual Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2014. Data for October 2008 may not match published data due to different extraction times.
Data from October 2008 to October 2011 were drawn from the Youth Justice Board's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS). Data for October 2012 were drawn from the Youth Justice Board's e-Asset system.
These figures have been provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
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Work and Pensions
Carers
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of registered carers in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK. [134492]
Norman Lamb: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department of Health.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for carrying out the census in England and Wales on the characteristics of the population, which includes data on the number of people who identify themselves as carers. Simultaneous but separate censuses occur in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These are run by the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency respectively.
Data from the 2011 Census for Scotland will not be available until March 2013, but the 2001 census showed 657,000 people identifying themselves as unpaid carers.
On 11 December, ONS published regional data from the 2011 census for England and Wales. This showed that overall, 5.8 million (10%) residents in England and Wales provided unpaid care for someone with an illness or disability.
Disability Living Allowance
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who receive disability living allowance will be assessed for eligibility for the personal independence payment (PIP) by October 2015; and how many such people he estimates will receive (a) no payment, (b) a reduced payment, (c) the same payment and (d) an increased payment through PIP. [135121]
Esther McVey: The available information on the number of people who receive disability living allowance (DLA) who will be assessed for eligibility for personal independence payment (PIP) was published on 13 December 2012 in the Reassessments and Impacts briefing note. This can be found on the Department's website at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf
Table 2 shows the total number of DLA cases that will be reassessed for PIP by October 2015 and the likely outcomes for these reassessed cases.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who receive disability living allowance and have been assessed for the personal independence payment (PIP) will receive (a) no payment, (b) a reduced payment, (c) the same payment and (d) an increased payment through PIP. [135122]
Esther McVey:
The available information on the number of people who receive disability living allowance (DLA) who will be assessed for eligibility for personal independence
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payment (PIP) was published on 13 December 2012 in the Reassessments and Impacts briefing note. This can be found on the Department's website at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf
Table 6 shows the total number of DLA cases that will be reassessed for PIP and the likely outcomes for these reassessed cases.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his projected cash savings from reforming disability living allowance are in each year from 2013 to 2018. [135518]
Esther McVey: The estimated savings resulting from reforming disability living allowance for each year from 2013-14 to 2017-18 are shown in the following table:
| £ million | |||
| 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | |
| Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest £10 million. | |||
Benefit expenditure forecasts have been taken from here:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/budget_2012_211212.xls#'Table_1b'!A1
Projected savings estimates for 2016-17 and 2017-18 are subject to further validation and will be updated when this is complete.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the likely (a) annual and (b) quarterly caseload for (i) disability living allowance and (ii) the personal independence payment in each year from 2013 to 2018. [135520]
Esther McVey: The available information on disability living allowance (DLA) and personal independence payment (PIP) caseloads are published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Forecasts. These can be found on the Department's website at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/budget_2012_211212.xls
Table 1c provides information on forecast annual caseloads for DLA and PIP. Quarterly caseload forecasts are not available.
Emergencies
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his letter to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West of 30 November 2012, what steps he has taken to communicate procedures for staff with regard to emergencies on departmental premises. [135373]
Mr Hoban: Following the original parliamentary question, a decision was taken to cascade a message via the Health and Safety Business Partners nationally. A written communication to Jobcentre managers will be issued within the next seven days.
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European Social Fund
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider the case for targeting the next European Social Fund seven-year cycle on boosting employment among parents. [135813]
Mr Hoban: We will be developing proposals for the European Social Fund in England in 2014-20 alongside other EU “Common Strategic Framework” funds that can be used to promote growth and employment. As part of this process, we will ask local partners to consider how the European Social Fund could provide additional support to improve the employment and skills of people in their areas. This could include, for example, building on current European Social Fund provision to tackle barriers to work faced by individuals in troubled families, including parents.
Housing Benefit
Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 319W, on housing benefit: Wales, what meetings he has had on housing benefit reform; who attended such meetings; what was discussed; and what steps he took after each such meeting. [132350]
Mr Hoban: The Secretary of State has not met with Welsh Ministers to discuss housing benefit reform recently. However, Lord Freud has met with Ministers several times to discuss universal credit and housing reform.
Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households that receive housing benefit have (a) one child, (b) two children, (c) three children, (d) four children, (e) five children, (f) six children, (g) seven children and (h) eight or more children. [134603]
Steve Webb: This information has previously been requested and the answer has been published in Hansard at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121206/text/121206w0001.htm
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government about the application of the new burdens doctrine to the requirement that housing support should be paid direct to tenants instead of landlords. [135033]
Steve Webb: In line with the Government's new burdens doctrine, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government have agreed the process for assessing new administrative burdens on local authorities arising from our welfare reforms, including any that might arise from the extension of direct payment of housing support.
Officials in the Department for Work and Pensions have been working closely with the new burdens team in DCLG and HMT to develop the assessments.
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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government on the application of the new burdens doctrine to the introduction of the social housing under-occupancy penalty. [135034]
Steve Webb: In line with the Government's new burdens doctrine, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government have agreed the process for assessing new administrative burdens on local authorities arising from our welfare reforms, including any that might arise from the introduction of the social sector size criteria.
Officials in the Department for Work and Pensions have been working closely with the new burdens team in DCLG and Her Majesty’s Treasury to develop the assessments.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of housing benefit have moved from addresses in London to addresses outside London in each of the last 24 months. [135380]
Steve Webb: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
For housing benefit recipients in the private rented sector affected by the changes to local housing allowance, the Department has commissioned a consortium of academics and research organisations led by Ian Cole, professor of housing studies at Sheffield Hallam university to undertake an independent review of the impact of the changes.
The research will include a spatial analysis of the effects of the changes that will examine movement from one local authority to another.
The Department published a report of early findings on 14 June 2012 and a copy of the report has been lodged in the House Library.
Housing Benefit: Greater London
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the level of the cap on housing benefit in each London borough in (a) April and (b) October 2013. [135828]
Steve Webb: Rates of local housing allowance (LHA) by property size entitlement are set for each Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA). LHA rates for 2013-14, and covering London, have been published at the following website address:
http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/RentOfficers/LHARates/april2013lha.html
BRMAs do not fit neatly to local authority boundaries.
Personal Independence Payment
Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals set out in the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 on deaf people, including those aged between 16 and 19; [135134]
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(2) what estimate he has made of the number of deaf people who will see their disability living allowance cut or removed when that benefit is replaced by the personal independence payment. [135135]
Esther McVey: The PIP assessment has been designed to focus on the impact that a health condition or impairment has on a person's ability to live an independent life, based on their own personal circumstances. As such it is not possible to model the likely impact that PIP will have on any particular group of people with specific impairments. We are, however, clear that priority in the benefit should go to those who face the greatest barriers to participating in society and we believe that the assessment for PIP will enable support to be focused on those who need it most.
Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what consideration his Department gave to deaf people who will rely on lipreading with regards to assessing communication support to understand basic verbal information under the draft Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013; [135136]
(2) whether the definition of communication support includes formal communication support from family members under the draft Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. [135137]
Esther McVey: In order to identify where individuals are likely to face the greatest barriers to participating in society, the PIP assessment looks at individuals’ ability to carry out a range of key everyday activities. It takes into account whether they need to use aids and appliances and if they require help from other people to carry out the activities. One of the activities assessed is whether people can communicate verbally with others. Points are awarded where people need aids and appliances to speak or hear; where they need communication support to express or understand verbal information; and where they cannot express or understand verbal information at all. This represents an improvement on the previous provisions; communication was not something that was previously considered under DLA.
The definition of communication support used in the assessment is broad, encompassing individuals who are trained or experienced in helping individuals with specific communication needs. This includes people who are experienced in supporting the individual claimant, such as a family member or friend who can often play an important role in helping them to communicate.
Individuals who are able to both reliably lipread and express information to others without the use of an aid or appliance or communication support are unlikely to score any points on the “Communicating verbally activity”. This reflects the likely additional costs and barriers faced by individuals who need this support. They may, however, score on other areas of the assessment depending on other needs they may have.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the level of personal independence payments in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15. [135138]
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Esther McVey: Personal independence payment is being introduced from 8 April 2013. The levels which personal independence payment will be paid at on introduction were published in the regulations laid in draft in Parliament on 13 December 2012:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2013/9780111532072/contents
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has committed to raising the level of disability and carer benefits in line with inflation over the next two years.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the savings which will accrue to the Exchequer as a consequence of having moved from disability living allowance to personal independence payments in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15. [135139]
Esther McVey: Personal independence payment (PIP) will be introduced to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for 16 to 64-year-olds from April 2013. This means there will be no savings accruing to the Exchequer in 2012-13. The estimated savings figures from reforming DLA for 2013-14 and 2014-15 are shown in the following table:
| £ million | ||
| 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |
| Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest £10 million. | ||
Benefit expenditure forecasts have been taken from here:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/budget_2012_211212.xls#'Table_1b'IA1
Private Rented Housing: Greater London
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the average payment of housing benefit to private sector tenants in each London borough; and what the level of rent charged to the tenants paying occupation rent was since April 2012. [135826]
Steve Webb: The information on average payment of housing benefit to private rented sector tenants in each London borough is provided in the following table. Information on the rent charged to the tenants paying occupation rent is not available.
| Average payment of housing benefit to private rented sector tenants, August 2012 | |
| £ per week | |
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| Notes: 1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest pence. 3. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 4. Age groups are based on the age on the count date (second Thursday in the month), of either: (a) the recipient if they are single, or (b) the elder of the recipient or partner if claiming as a couple. 5. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data are available monthly from November 2008, and August 2012 is the most recent available. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE). | |