EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council
Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 11 December 2012, Official Report, columns 18-20WS, on Ecofin, relating to economic governance, for what reasons the Government have reiterated their position in respect of any new commitments from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism; and whether he has received any recent reports that other member states have changed their position in this respect. [137378]
Greg Clark: The “two-pack” of draft regulations—aimed at improving economic governance in the euro area—contains provisions for enhanced surveillance when euro area member states request financial assistance. It refers to possible requests from a range of financial instruments, including the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM). While there is agreement that there should be no new commitments from the EFSM now that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has been established, the EFSM is referred to in the “two-pack” because the regulation which establishes the EFSM is still in place, and EFSM programmes for Ireland and Portugal are still active.
Therefore, for the avoidance of any doubt, the Government recalled the commitment made by all member states that there should be no new commitments from the EFSM once the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) was established. The Government have not received any reports that other member states have changed their position and expect all member states to honour that commitment.
Gamma International
Caroline Lucas:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if HM Revenue and Customs is (a) planning or (b) conducting an investigation into whether (i) Bahraini pro-democracy activists received emails containing malware FinSpy distributed by Gamma International and (ii) exports by Gamma International have been appropriately licensed; if he will send directly to individuals who have
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reportedly been victims of the use of unlicensed surveillance software exported from the UK, and place a copy in the Library of a progress report of any such investigation; and if he will make a statement. [138689]
Mr Gauke: HMRC cannot comment on individual cases. HMRC considers all credible information it receives and takes action accordingly. HMRC places a high priority on enforcing UK strategic export controls.
Immigrants: Social Security Benefits
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of migrants residing in the UK who claim benefits on behalf of children living abroad, broken down by country of residence of the child. [138991]
Sajid Javid: The main purpose of child benefit and the child tax credit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the rules for these benefits generally do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who live abroad.
Nevertheless, both child benefit and the child tax credit are family benefits under EC Regulation 883/2004. This regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area (EEA), including the UK, and Switzerland when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.
Around 7.5 million families are currently claiming child benefit for around 13 million children and approximately 5.2 million families are receiving the child tax credit for almost 9.3 million children. Of that total, at 31 December 2012, there were 24,082 ongoing child benefit awards under EC Regulation 883/2004 in respect of 40,171 children living in another member state and 4,011 ongoing child tax credit awards under the regulation in respect of 6,838 children living in another member state.
The breakdown by member state is as follows:
| Child benefit | ||
| Country | Number of ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 | Number of children in ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 |
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| Child tax credit | ||
| Country | Number of ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 | Number of children in ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 |
Income Tax
Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in each of the smallest geographical units for which information is available will no longer pay income tax as a result of changes to the income tax threshold announced since May 2010, including the measures announced in the autumn statement 2012. [139854]
Mr Gauke: The number of individuals taken out of income tax due to the cumulative impact of all increases to the personal allowance made by the Government is not available beyond a regional level. This information is as follows:
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| Combined impact of all PA increases by this Government 2013-14 (excludes 65-year-olds) | |
| Thousand | |
| Region | Taken out of tax |
Infrastructure
Julian Sturdy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps he has taken to increase the levels of infrastructure investment. [139278]
Danny Alexander: This Government have increased capital expenditure compared to the previous Government's plans by £9 billion as a result of the autumn statement 2011 and autumn statement 2012 capital packages. As a result, public investment as a percentage of GDP is now higher on average in this Parliament than under the previous Government. The Government have also used their hard won fiscal credibility to support investment by making up to £40 billion of guarantees available for eligible infrastructure projects, and up to £10 billion for housing guarantees.
Listed Buildings
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of (a) the effect on the maintenance and renewal of listed buildings of changes in taxation since May 2010 and (b) the potential such effect of any future such changes that are currently under consideration. [R] [139016]
Mr Gauke: A Tax Impact and Information Note setting out the Government's assessment of the impacts of the removal of the zero rate for approved alterations to listed buildings was published on Budget day 2012. This is available on the HMRC website at the following link:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiins.htm
Since Budget 2011, Tax Impact and Information Notes for changes in taxation have been published on the HMRC website. Prior to Budget 2011, the Government published impact assessments setting out the likely costs, benefits and impacts of legislative changes. These are available on the HMRC website at the following link:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/better-regulation/ia.htm
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Multinational Companies: Taxation
Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the use of internal trademark payments by international companies to reduce their tax liabilities. [139768]
Mr Gauke: The corporation tax return does not require payments made in respect of trademarks to be recorded. This information may be submitted to HMRC as part of a company's tax computations but this information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effect of measures in his draft Finance Bill on profit-shifting. [140048]
Mr Gauke: On 11 December 2012 draft legislation for Finance Bill 2013 was published for eight weeks of technical consultation. The Government also published Tax Information and Impact Notes on each measure which set out what the legislation seeks to achieve, why the Government are undertaking the change and a summary of the excepted impacts.
All publications can be found on both the HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs websites.
PAYE
Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many hashes have been received by HM Revenue and Customs during the current PAYE real time information pilot; and how many such hashes were received by (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Government Gateway, or EDI channel, from employers reporting submissions directly to HM Revenue and Customs. [137693]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 17 January 2013]: The number of hashes received by HMRC from employers in the real time information (RTI) pilot was 14,043,776 at 10:48 am on 16 January 2013. All of these hashes were submitted within RTI returns accepted through the Government Gateway or EDI channels.
Press: Subscriptions
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 220W, on press subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010. [137297]
Sajid Javid: Between May 2010 and December 2012 the Department spent £109,000 on newspaper subscriptions and £29,000 on magazine and periodical subscriptions.
The following figures provide a breakdown on expenditure per year from 2009 to 2012:
| £ | ||
| Newspapers | Periodicals | |
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Redundancy Pay
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount of redundancy pay paid to civil servants in his Department was in each month from July to December 2012. [135199]
Sajid Javid: The Treasury did not incur any spending on compulsory redundancies during the period in question.
However, the Treasury has managed a small number of voluntary exits from the organisation in line with the Civil Service compensation scheme. Spending was incurred on voluntary exits amounting to £668,000 during the period comprising:
| £ | |
Revenue and Customs
Mr Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 763W, on Revenue and Customs: telephone services, and with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Core Skills at HM Revenue and Customs, HC 1595 of Session 2010-12, when he expects that the higher-level modules covering enquiries into large businesses, negotiating skills, communication and dispute resolution will be available. [138967]
Mr Gauke: HMRC no longer badges the learning for its tax professionals as 'foundation' and 'higher' but instead groups the learning under 'core', ‘tax’ and ‘powers and compliance’. Under the powers and compliance grouping a case working skills module is in the final stages of development. The final part of this module will be released by 28 February 2013
Mr Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 923W, on revenue and customs, if he will set out details of how and when the evaluation is to be carried out. [139111]
Mr Gauke: All activities for the operational delivery Profession are evaluated and the data are compiled, analysed and acted upon to facilitate continuous improvement. Best practice is shared with other Government Departments to maximise value for money.
Evaluation is done from the planning stage right through to the end of the activity. The evaluation process can take between three months and 12 months and uses a number of summative and formative processes and looks to include everyone involved in the process.
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Revenue and Customs: Training
Mr Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 764W, on Revenue and Customs: training, and with reference to paragraph 1.13 of the National Audit Office report entitled Core Skills at HM Revenue and Customs, HC 1595 of Session 2010-12, when he expects that more role-specific in-depth training for non-technical skills will be put in place. [139019]
Mr Gauke: Non-technical training includes core-skills (e.g. health and safety) and leadership and management plus specific skills required for working in the civil service. This generic learning and development offer is delivered by Civil Service Learning (CSL).
The learning and development products available from CSL are published in the CSL Common Curriculum and accessed via the CSL portal. CSL is progressively developing and releasing new products into a cross- Government offer known as the Common Curriculum. The CSL portal and latest version of the Common Curriculum are currently available to all staff on the HMRC learning website.
Core skill development is supported by locally provided coaching and mentoring. Line managers also have a role as the developer of their team. The provision and timing of this support is agreed by the individual and their line manager once the learning need has been identified and agreed.
HMRC is putting in place an improved management and leadership framework which is linked to and complements available CSL products. This will be available from 25 February 2013. Existing learning/information and support is already available through the current HMRC learning website.
Self-employed: Child Tax Credit
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people who are self-employed claimed child tax credit in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency in the last year for which figures are available; [139632]
(2) what estimate he has made of the total amount of child tax credit paid to people who are self-employed in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in the last year for which figures are available. [139633]
Sajid Javid: The following table details the number of self-employed tax credit recipients who receive some child tax credit; and the total amount of child tax credit that is paid to these recipients. This is provided specifically for Scotland, and for the UK as a whole. The figures are based on the finalised tax credits data for 2010-11.
A breakdown of self-employed child tax credit claimants by parliamentary constituency is provided in Annex A, which will be placed in the Library.
| Scotland | UK | |
|
Number of self-employed tax credit claimants receiving some child tax credit |
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|
Total amount of child tax credit paid to self-employed recipients |
Senior Civil Servants
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of officials of the three
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most senior grades in his Department have
(a)
resigned,
(b)
taken voluntary early retirement,
(c)
left the Department for alternative employment,
(d)
been dismissed,
(e)
taken long-term sick leave and
(f)
taken administrative leave since May 2010. [139227]
Sajid Javid: Please see the information requested in the following table:
| May 2010 to March 2011 | April 2011 to March2012 | April 2012 to December 2012 | |
| Note: Percentages are based on average SCS FTE for each period | |||
Shipping: Industry
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) with reference to the Oxford Economics report for Maritime UK on the economic impact of the UK maritime services sector published in December 2012, what proportion of the estimated £2.7 billion contribution to the Exchequer from the maritime services sector in 2011 was from (a) employees' earnings, (b) seafarers' earnings and (c) maritime financial service companies; [139156]
(2) what the total direct contribution to the Exchequer was of (a) maritime sector employees' earnings, (b) seafarers' earnings, (c) maritime financial service companies and (d) other maritime industry categories in each year since 2000-01; [139157]
(3) what the total contribution to gross domestic product was of (a) the maritime services sector, (b) the shipping industry and (c) maritime financial services in each year since 2000-01. [139158]
Mr Gauke: The report produced by Oxford Economics for Maritime UK, ‘The economic impact of the UK Maritime Service Sector’, estimates that in 2011 the maritime sector is directly responsible for 165,400 jobs in the UK, made a £13.8 billion direct value-added contribution to GDP and generated £2.7 billion in tax receipts.
The Treasury does not currently have access to a further breakdown of these figures or a breakdown of the data back to 2000-01.
Tax Allowances: Charities
Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions registered charities have been (a) denied tax relief and (b) subject to the recovery of tax relief in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of tax relief was in each case. [140046]
Sajid Javid: Charities may claim tax reliefs and exemptions across a number of taxes.
HM Revenue and Customs does not keep a central record of the cases in which charities have been denied a tax relief or exemption, or have been required to repay tax on a relief or exemption to which they were not entitled.
Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 323W, on charities: Israel, whether HM Revenue and Customs has taken any additional measures to satisfy itself that payments to registered charities are applied for wholly charitable purposes and that charities remain entitled to tax relief. [140070]
Sajid Javid: All charitable tax exemptions are subject to the condition that income is applied to charitable purposes. Where a charity's income and gains are not applied solely to charitable purposes, its exemption from tax may be restricted. HMRC carries out inquiries into charities using a risk-based approach and applies a range of sanctions on charities that claim exemption on income applied for not wholly charitable purposes.
Welfare Tax Credits
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people in households likely to be affected by the 1% increase in working age benefits and tax credits for the three years from 2013-14 are in work; [134948]
(2) with reference to page 56, line 19, of the autumn statement 2012, what the average cash loss in 2017-18 will be for in-work families affected by the proposal to increase working age discretionary benefits and tax credits by 1% for three years from 2013-14; [134952]
(3) with reference to page 56, line 19, of the autumn statement 2012, what estimate he has made of the number of in-work families in 2017-18 that will be affected by the proposal to increase working age discretionary benefits and tax credits by 1% for three years from 2013-14. [134953]
Sajid Javid:
The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that around 6.5 million working age households will be affected by the 1% uprating of discretionary
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working age benefits and tax credits (line 19 of table 2.1 in autumn statement of 5 December 2012,
Official Report,
columns 871-882).
Around half of these are households where no individual is in work, and around half are households where at least one individual works at least one hour a week.
Uprating policy has not been set for the years beyond 2015-16, so the impacts cannot be assessed for 2017-18.
This analysis looks at the 1% uprating of discretionary working age benefit and tax credits in isolation, and does not take account of other Government policies such as the largest ever increase to the personal allowance that will take effect in April 2013.
Numbers are rounded to nearest the 100,000.
Welfare Tax Credits: Appeals
Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of time taken to conclude tax credit appeals is; and if he will make a statement. [137999]
Sajid Javid: The year-to-date figure for the average number of days it takes for HM Revenue and Customs to settle the appeal, or where that is not possible, submit HMRC's defence of the decision under appeal to tribunal is as follows:
for appeals received against decisions made in the normal day-to-day activity of administering tax credits is 105 days; and
for appeals received against decisions made in targeted compliance activity cases is 239 days.
Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session; [139325]
(2) how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Department
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(a)
were answered after 30 days and
(b)
have not been answered in this Session. [139326]
Sajid Javid: As of 10 January 2013, Treasury Ministers had responded to 77% of the 989 named-day parliamentary questions received on the named day and 84% of the 989 ordinary written questions received within deadline during the current Session.
Four ordinary written parliamentary questions that have passed their deadline remain unanswered, with a further one for named-day written answer.
The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf
Justice
Cannabis: Wales
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many penalty notices of disorder for the offence of possession of cannabis have been issued in north Wales since 2009 to (a) adults and (b) juveniles; [139108]
(2) how many cautions for possession of cannabis have been issued in north Wales in each of the last 10 years. [139109]
Jeremy Wright: The number of penalty notices for disorder issued for possession of cannabis between 2009 and 2011 and the number of cautions issued for possession of cannabis from 2002 to 2011, in the North Wales police force area, can be viewed in the table.
Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
| Number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued and number of offenders cautioned for the offence of possession of cannabis(1), North Wales police force area, 2002-11(2) | |||||||||||
| Offence description: Possession of cannabis | |||||||||||
| Outcome | Age groups | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
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| n/a = Not applicable. (1) An offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, s.5(2) (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) PNDs were rolled out nationally on 1 April 2004. (4) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | |||||||||||
Community Orders
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has considered introducing powers for offender managers to issue fixed penalty notices if an offender fails to comply with a community order. [139147]
Jeremy Wright: In the consultation ‘Punishment and reform: Effective Community Sentences’, the Government sought views on how to promote greater compliance with community orders. The consultation paper suggested the creation of a new power for offender managers to impose a fixed penalty notice on an offender for the breach of a community order, without having to return the offender to the court. However, while many respondents welcomed the idea of increased discretion for probation staff, most argued that courts were best placed to deal with breaches and that a financial penalty for low income offenders could be counter-productive, potentially leading to further offending. As a result, the Government decided not to take forward the proposal.
The Government are considering what further action might be taken to improve compliance with community orders and on 3 December 2012 the Government implemented the power for a court to fine an offender for breach of a community order.
Confiscation Orders
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effects of the seizure of offenders' assets on public confidence in the criminal justice system. [139146]
Jeremy Wright: Courts have a range of powers to seize assets from offenders in certain circumstances. The Government have also introduced provisions in the Crime and Courts Bill to make it clear that when fixing the level of a financial penalty courts can require offenders to provide information about their assets as well as their income. In this way, courts will be able to take into account an offender's assets when setting the value of a fine. The Government have also recently consulted on a range of measures to ensure convicted criminals pay back legal aid in the Crown court, including seizing and ultimately selling the vehicles of those who do not pay their contributions.
The Government have no current plans to assess the impact of asset seizure on public confidence in the criminal justice system, but we believe that confiscation of assets sends a robust message to offenders that their actions have significant consequences.
Criminal Proceedings
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made in reviewing the criminal justice process from end to end with a view to improving services for victims and witnesses. [139906]
Mrs Grant: In our response to the “Getting it right for victims and witnesses” consultation, published last July, we set out our strategy to improve services and support for victims and witnesses across the criminal justice system. As part of this work, we are currently revising the Victims' code of practice to give victims clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and more support and guidance in how to navigate the criminal justice system.
In November last year, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), announced as one of his priorities a drive for a criminal justice and court system that works effectively and puts victims first. Work is under way to increase both the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system. It will look at the whole of the system to drive performance and tackle some of the perennial weaknesses so it is quicker, less erratic and more efficient. Giving victims a louder voice will be central to this.
Crown Courts: Greater Manchester
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to Manchester Crown court to ensure that undue delays in the conduct of trials at that court are avoided. [138737]
Mrs Grant: The allocation of resources to the Crown court, including Manchester Crown court, is made by HMCTS on the basis of workload projections. The adequacy of those resources is monitored monthly through local, regional and national assessments of the court's performance to ensure that the requirements for timely access to justice are achieved.
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Ford Prison
Mr Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the most recent report of HMP Ford's Independent Monitoring Board. [138972]
Jeremy Wright: I will be sending a full written response to the Chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Ford, addressing the concerns raised in the Board's annual report, as soon as the issues have been fully considered. I will forward you a copy of my reply in due course.
Mr Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he will take to address the finding of HMP Ford's Independent Monitoring Board that 85 per cent of Ford's prisoners are currently involved in the use of synthetic cannabinoids. [138973]
Jeremy Wright: HMP Ford is increasing drug supply reduction measures with zero tolerance for those prisoners found in possession of synthetic cannabinoids and has developed a new local strategy to address the issue. In addition it has introduced the indicative test for ‘Spice’ to be used as part of its Compact based testing programme.
NOMS has a comprehensive range of measures to tackle drugs. These include drug detection dogs, procedures to tackle visitors who seek to smuggle drugs and phones into prisons, and mobile phone detection technology.
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NOMS is also increasing the number of drug-free wings in prisons, rolling out a networked IT intelligence system and providing prisons with short range mobile phone blockers that will help prisons prevent prisoners using mobile phones, which is often associated with drug supply.
NOMS is working closely with the Department of Health and service providers to create integrated, recovery orientated and outcome focused substance misuse services.
Legal Aid Scheme
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2012, Official Report, columns 56-7W, on the legal aid scheme, how many and what proportion of the total number of legal aid claimants received financial assistance for each type of case in each of the last five years. [139185]
Jeremy Wright: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not record the number of individuals receiving legal aid; instead it records the number of acts of assistance. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
The number of acts of assistance provided in each of the last five years within categories of law together with the proportion of the total number of acts of assistance is provided in the following tables:
| Number of acts of assistance in controlled work (legal help) by category of law | Acts of assistance in controlled work (legal help) by category of law as a proportion of the total number of acts of assistance in all schemes (percentage) | |||||||||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | |
| Number of acts of assistance in licence work (where a legal aid certificate has been granted in more complicated and serious civil cases) by category of law | Acts of assistance in licence work( where a legal aid certificate has been granted in more complicated and serious civil cases) by category of law as a proportion of the total number of acts of assistance in all schemes (percentage) | |||||||||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | |
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|
Crime Lower (Police Station advice and magistrates court representation) | ||||||||||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | |
| (1) The total number of acts of assistance in 2007-08 differs from what is recorded in the LSC's annual report which reported 2,502,000. This was due to a change in the way acts of assistance are counted. | |||||
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have received assistance through the legal aid programme (a) once, (b) twice and (c) three or more times in each of the last five years. [139186]
Jeremy Wright: There is no unique identifier to identify the total number of named individuals to have received legal aid; instead the Legal Services Commission (LSC) records the number of acts of assistance. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
The total number of acts of assistance for each of the last five years is provided in the following table:
| Total acts of assistance | |
| (1) The total number of acts of assistance in 2007-08 differs from what is recorded in the LSC's annual report which reported 2,502,000. This was due to a change in the way acts of assistance are counted. | |
Personal Injury: Compensation
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what plans he has to meet representatives of the insurance industry to discuss his proposals to reduce the recoverable fixed fee in personal injury cases; [139117]
(2) what plans he has to meet representatives of the claimant industry to discuss his proposals to reduce the recoverable fixed fee in personal injury cases; [139118]
(3) what meetings he had with (a) the insurance industry and (b) claimant representatives ahead of the call for evidence on the extension of the road traffic accident personal injury scheme: proposals on fixed fees; [139119]
(4) what discussions he plans to have with (a) the insurance industry and (b) claimant representatives before a final recoverable fixed fee in personal injury cases is set; [139120]
(5) what plans his Department has to conduct an assessment of the low-value road traffic accident process for personal injury claims. [139121]
Mrs Grant: The information is as follows:
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Neither the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), nor I had any specific meetings with either the insurance industry or claimant representatives immediately prior to the publication of this Department's proposals for the reduction of fixed recoverable fees in relation to the extended Road Traffic Accident Personal Injury scheme.
At present, there are no plans for us to meet, or have discussions with, either insurance or claimant representatives about these proposals before final rates are set. The Department has, however, received over 750 responses to the recent consultation on the proposals. These are currently being analysed and the views of both insurance and claimant respondents will be fully considered before final decisions are made.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) on 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 370W.
Prisoners: British Nationals Abroad
Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of time is between an agreement by the National Offender Management Service and the repatriation of UK citizens jailed in the US. [139349]
Jeremy Wright: The transfer of prisoners between the United Kingdom and the United States is governed by the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons. Each case is considered on its individual merits and the length of time taken to determine each case may vary. In 2012, 11 prisoners were transferred from the US to England and Wales. In these cases the shortest period of time between NOMS consenting to the transfer and the prisoner being repatriated was 110 days. The longest period was 191 days. The average period for all 11 cases was 138 days.
The consent of the British authorities to transfer does not mark the conclusion of a case. Once our consent is given it still requires the US authorities to determine whether or not they wish to proceed with the transfer. This decision will be based on information provided by the British authorities, together with its consent, on the administration of the sentence following transfer. Should the US authorities agree to transfer, the prisoner is then required to give his consent. This takes place at a consent verification hearing before a US magistrate. Only once this hearing has taken place can arrangements be made for the return of the prisoner to the UK.
The transfer of prisoners from United States of America to Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister.
Prisons: Merseyside
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to build prisons in Sefton in the next five years. [139529]
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Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is currently undertaking feasibility work which will include an examination of operating and funding arrangements and determining in more detail the most appropriate location, role and size of a prison.
The Ministry of Justice will work with the relevant parties in the three priority locations—the north west, north Wales and London—as part of the feasibility work, which will include the search for a suitable site.
Probation: Social Security Benefits
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of individuals being supervised in the community by the Probation Service in England and Wales are in receipt of state benefits. [139149]
Jeremy Wright: It is estimated that around 60% of offenders given a community order or suspended sentence are in receipt of benefits during the month before their sentence.
This is the latest information available and is taken from the Ministry of Justice's data-share with the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which includes offenders' benefit and P45 employment status between 2000 to 2010. The estimate relates to offenders who are included in the data share (86% of all offenders) and who were sentenced in the 12 months to 30 November 2010.
Benefits include all out-of-work benefits (jobseeker's allowance, employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, permanent injury benefit and income support) and most other DWP benefits; however it excludes housing benefit, council tax benefit, child benefit and tax credits.
This figure has been drawn from several administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Further information on the proportion of offenders receiving DWP benefits (jobseeker's allowance, incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance and income support etc.), is available in the publication titled “Offending, employment and benefits—emerging findings from the data linkage project”, at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/mojstats/offending-employment-benefits-emerging-findings-1111.pdf
Reparation by Offenders
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what evidence his Department has evaluated on the effects of restorative justice models on (a) costs, (b) reoffending, (c) victim satisfaction and (d) community satisfaction. [139150]
Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice commissioned an evaluation of a number of restorative justice pilot schemes.
The evaluation looked at victim satisfaction(1) and the results were published in June 2007 on the Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/resource/ministry_of_justice_evaluation_restorative_justice_the_ views_of_victims_and_offenders/
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The evaluation also looked at reoffending rates, and costs and benefits across the pilot schemes(2). The results were published in June 2008 and can be found on the Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/resource/ministry_of _justice_evaluation_does_restorative_justice_affect_ reconviction_the_fourth_report_from_the_evaluation_of_ three_schemes/
The evaluation did not look at community satisfaction.
(1 )Shapland, J., Atkinson, A., Atkinson, H., Chapman, B., Dignan, J., Howes, ivi., Johnstone, J., Robinson, G., and Sorsby, A. (2007) Restorative justice: the views of victims and offenders. The third report from an evaluation of three schemes. Ministry of Justice Research Series 3/07.
(2 )Shapland, J., Atkinson, A., Atkinson, H., Dignan, J., Edwards, L., Hibbert, J., Howes, M, Johnstone, J., Robinson, G. and Sorsby, A. (2008) Does restorative justice affect reconviction? The fourth report from the evaluation of three schemes. Ministry of Justice Research Series 10/08.
Senior Civil Servants
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010. [139222]
Jeremy Wright: The three most senior grades in the Ministry of Justice (HQ, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian and National Offender Management Service) are Permanent Secretary, Director General/Chief Executive and Director.
The number and proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in the Ministry of Justice that have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d)been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010 is shown in the following table:
| Number of staff | Proportion (%) | |
| (1) This figure is exclusive of those officials who have either resigned or have taken voluntary early retirement. Data are only held on transfers to other Government Departments. It does not include those who have taken alternative employment outside of the civil service. The figure also excludes loans and secondments as the Department remains the employer. | ||
Staff
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (a) HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (b) the Probation Service in London in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [139273]
Mrs Grant: The information is as follows:
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(a) The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff that were employed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service both nationally and in London in each of the three years is set out in the table:
| Full-time equivalent | ||
| National | London | |
| (1 )As at 31 March 2011. (2) As at 31 March 2012. (3) As at 31 December 2012. | ||
HM Courts and Tribunals Service was established in 2011-12. Therefore for the 2010-11 year, the number of full-time equivalent staff is the combined figure for the former Access to Justice business group, HM Courts Service and the Tribunals Service which were amalgamated to form HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
(b) The number of full-time equivalent staff that were employed by the Probation Service in London in each of the three years is in the following table:
| London Probation (Full-time equivalent) | |
| (1) As at 31 March 2011. (2) As at 31 March 2012. (3) As at 30 September 2012. | |
The most recent published figures available for the London Probation Service is at 30 September 2012 for 2012-13.
Terrorism
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he has put in place for the monitoring of people held in prison for offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 or Terrorism Act 2006. [139343]
Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has in place established systems to manage and monitor all prisoners and, where appropriate, heightened measures for the monitoring of high-risk prisoners, including those held in prison under the Terrorism Acts. NOMS manages and monitors prisoners commensurate to the risk they pose, in terms of national security, public protection and/or re-offending.
The arrangements for prisoner monitoring centre on;
the appropriate categorisation of prisoners, which determines the level of security and supervision prisoners will be subject to;
the appropriate use of legislation to enable monitoring of communications and provide surveillance coverage of prison sites;
the collection, analysis and actioning of security information through the NOMS Security Information Reporting (SIR) system to maintain safety and security.
NOMS provides operational support and liaison function to prisons managing high-risk prisoners. This provides for national coverage of the prison estate, but has particular emphasis in the high-security estate, where the majority of those held for Terrorism Acts offences are located.
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NOMS works closely with law enforcement agencies to ensure that information is shared effectively, to enable joint-working in key operational areas and to manage and monitor high-risk individuals both while in custody and following release into the community.
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners being held for offences under the (a) Terrorism Act 2000 or (b) Terrorism Act 2006 are (i) currently in custody and (ii) due to be released in 2013. [139344]
Jeremy Wright: As of 18 January 2013, those held in custody under these specific Terrorism Acts were as follows;
24 in custody of whom nine are due to be released in 2013.
29 in custody of whom three are due to be released in 2013.
Both Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006
10 in custody, none due for release in 2013.
One or more prisoners may have a Parole Board hearing in 2013 to determine whether or not they are suitable for release. This is at the discretion of the Parole Board, and figures have not been included as these are not fixed custodial release date (CRD) releases.
Trials: Greater London
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on reducing delays in trials in magistrates courts and Crown courts in London; and if he will make a statement. [139466]
Mrs Grant: HMCTS works closely with the London Criminal Justice partnership to drive up effective trials, and is working with the judiciary, Crown Prosecution Service, Probation Service and police to introduce the Early Guilty Plea Scheme across the Crown court and the “Stop Delaying Justice” initiative across magistrates courts. Implementation of Schedule 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will abolish the committal for trial process in the magistrates court, enhancing timeliness further across the criminal courts.
Victims Commissioner
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the victims' commissioner will take up her role. [139705]
Mrs Grant: We expect the new victims commissioner to take up her post shortly.
Work and Pensions
Enterprise Allowance: Business Mentors
15. Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) England and (b) Stafford constituency have been supported towards self-employment by a business mentor through the new enterprise allowance to date. [139398]
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Mr Hoban: In England, there were 15,480 new enterprise allowance mentor starts for the period April 2011 up to and including May 2012. In Stafford, there were 30 new enterprise allowance mentor starts over the same period.
Housing Benefit: Foster Carers
16. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on foster carers of changes to housing benefit; and if he will make a statement. [139399]
Esther McVey: The introduction of the social sector size criteria in April will affect around 5,000 foster carers. It is vital that this group are adequately protected.
An additional £5 million of discretionary housing payments has been allocated to those affected, and we are revising guidance for local authorities to ensure foster carers have ready access to this funding.
Business Start-ups: Government Support
22. Dr Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to support people who want to start their own business. [139407]
Mr Hoban: We believe that for many people self-employment is the best route out of unemployment. That is why we have introduced the New Enterprise Allowance and Enterprise Clubs which have proved effective in helping people back into work.
Child Maintenance
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that any arrears are carried forward into the new child maintenance system. [139393]
Steve Webb: The general presumption is that the new child maintenance service will, over the longer term, be responsible for collecting arrears of child maintenance that have accumulated on existing Child Support Agency cases.
Furthermore, I am pleased to inform the House that the Government will shortly publish a strategy for the collection of child maintenance arrears, outlining how we will manage that collection process.
Youth Contract
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to make businesses aware of the Youth Contract. [139405]
Mr Hoban: We are working with business organisations' trade bodies through Jobcentre Plus to promote the Youth Contract, including the wage incentive which is worth £2,275 to an employer who keeps a young person who has been out of work for six months in work for six months.
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Atos Healthcare
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place a copy of the contracts signed by his Department with Atos in the Library. [138428]
Mr Hoban: The following Atos contracts will be placed in the Library at the earliest opportunity following the redaction of commercially sensitive items:
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service—Lot 1
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service—Lot 3
Mandatory Work Activity
Occupational Health
enGage.
A redacted copy of the Medical Services Contract between the Department and Atos Healthcare is already available in the Library.
Child Benefit and Child Maintenance
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission took prior to December 2012 to publicise the altered age range eligibility for child benefit and child maintenance requirements, (i) generally and (ii) to (A) non-resident parents and (B) parents with care. [139172]
Steve Webb: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, whose responsibilities have now formally transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions, normally only undertakes targeted communications where there is a change that means clients have to take action, or make a choice.
However, as part of a range of communications activity that has taken place in the run-up to the introduction of the 2012 scheme, the Department has informed Members of Parliament and interested groups of the changes to the age limit of a qualifying child to 20 years of age. This activity includes:
Regional briefing sessions for MPs and their caseworkers in September 2012.
A briefing session in the House of Commons on 17 December 2012.
Four references to the change in the MP leaflet “An MP's guide to child maintenance” published in October 2012. This leaflet is available on the website:
www.W4MP.org
The House of Commons Library was updated in December 2012.
Changes to website content and training materials for those organisations, including National Family Mediation, Women's Aid and Citizens Advice, which provide information to the public on child maintenance matters.
Additionally, the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, which included the powers to make this change, were widely consulted upon and debated in Parliament, and all of the relevant information, including the 2006 White Paper “A new system of child maintenance” which led to the legislation taking its current form is publicly available.
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Cold Weather Payments
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK were allocated cold weather payments in (i) November and (ii) December 2012. [139101]
Steve Webb: The cold weather payment scheme is administered at weather station area level. Information on the number of people qualifying for cold weather payments is only available for the area covered by each weather station and is not available at parliamentary constituency or local authority level. As Glasgow and its constituencies are covered by Bishopton weather station, the volumes of recipients for this weather station are given as the lowest relevant geography available.
Table 1 gives the estimated volume of recipients of cold weather payments in November and December 2012 in the area covered by the Bishopton weather station, Scotland and Great Britain.
| Table 1: Volume of recipients of cold weather payments in November and December 2012 | ||
| Area | November 2012 | December 2012 |
| Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics. 2. The figures for Scotland only include payments made in respect of weather stations whose coverage areas lie entirely within Scotland. There are some weather station areas whose coverage crosses the England/Scotland border; as we do not know which country these recipients are in, they are excluded from the figures for Scotland. 3. Information regarding annual expenditure for Social Fund schemes in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland office and is not included in the above figures. 4. Cold weather payments are made to benefit units rather than to households or individuals. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children. The recipient volumes given are based on the number of eligible benefit units on 31 October 2012. 5. A cold weather payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. 6. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. | ||
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK will be allocated cold weather payments in (i) January, (ii) February and (iii) March 2013. [139102]
Steve Webb: Cold weather payments are paid when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. Due to the unpredictability of the weather, it is not possible to say in advance how many people will receive a cold weather payment in a given area over a set period. We can give information on the estimated eligible number of recipients; that is, the volume of recipients who would receive a payment if the weather station covering their postcode triggers.
The cold weather payment scheme is administered at weather station area level. Information on the number of people qualifying for cold weather payments is only
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available for the area covered by each weather station and is not available at parliamentary constituency or local authority level. As Glasgow and its constituencies are covered by Bishopton weather station, the volume of recipients for this weather station are given as the lowest relevant geography available.
(a) The estimated volume of eligible recipients of cold weather payments in the area covered by the Bishopton weather station, Scotland and Great Britain.
(b) The estimated volume of eligible recipients who have received at least one cold weather payment between 1 January 2013 and 22 January 2013. These volumes may increase if more triggers are recorded in January.
| Table 1: Volume of estimated eligible cold weather payment recipients in 2012-13 and the estimated volume who have received at least one payment between 1 January 2013 and 22 January 2013 | ||
| Area | Total eligible recipients | Recipients in January 2013(1) |
| (1)As at 22 January. Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official / National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics. 2. The figures for Scotland only include payments made in respect of weather stations whose coverage areas lie entirely within Scotland. There are some weather station areas whose coverage crosses the England/Scotland border; as we do not know which country these recipients are in, they are excluded from the figures for Scotland. 3. Information regarding annual expenditure for social fund schemes in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office and is not included in the above figures. 4. Cold weather payments are made to benefit units rather than to households or individuals. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children. The recipient volumes given are estimates based on the number of eligible benefit units on the 31 October 2012. 5. A cold weather payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. 6. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. | ||
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on cold weather payments in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [139103]
Steve Webb: Table 1 shows the amount spent on cold weather payments in each of the calendar years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The cold weather payment season runs from 1 November to 31 March and figures are usually presented by season. The calendar year expenditure given in Table 1 consists of payments made in the period January to March and November to December of the relevant year and therefore contain payments made during two cold weather payment seasons.
In particular, the 2012 figure only includes payments made up to 31 December 2012 during the current season.
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| Table 1: Estimated cold weather payments expenditure by calendar year 2010-12 | |
| Calendar year | Expenditure (£) |
| Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data. For example, the annual expenditure for cold weather payments is estimated based on the number of eligible recipients on the 31 October at the start of the relevant winter season. 2. A cold weather payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. 3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. | |