Motorcycles: Driving Tests
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department provides guidance on issues relating to liability to driving examiners conducting motorcycle test manoeuvres in a live highway environment where a test candidate becomes involved in a collision while following the examiner's instructions to carry out such manoeuvres. [141914]
Stephen Hammond: The Department does not provide such guidance. The Module 1 test, which comprises the manoeuvres, is undertaken off-road.
However, as part of the current motorcycle test review, research is being undertaken to see if it is feasible and safe to carry out the Module 1 manoeuvres on the road. No guidance on legal liability is provided because the trials are conducted in a controlled environment, which has been assessed against strict safety criteria.
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Roads: East Sussex
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Bexhill to Hastings link road on (a) the natural environment and wildlife, (b) carbon emissions, (c) public amenity and (d) average journey times; what his latest estimate is of the total cost of the link road; whether a full study has been undertaken into (i) non-road alternatives and (ii) the value of the natural environment that will be lost to the scheme in terms of benefits to society and economic prosperity; if he will publish any findings of any such study; and if he will make a statement. [141321]
Norman Baker: The Department's most recent assessment of this scheme was in March 2012 and was published on our website at the following link:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121025123854/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/local-authority-major-transport-schemes/bexhill-hastings-assessment.pdf
The scheme promoter, East Sussex County Council, submitted an application to the Department for full and final funding approval and this is currently being assessed. A copy of the application is available on the Council's website at:
http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/bexhillhastingslinkroad/fundingbids.htm
Transport: Fire Hazards
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 688W, on transport: fire hazards, when he will publish the Highways Agency and Network Rail study of potential sources of fire risk from third party activities at other critical locations beneath or adjacent to retrospective networks. [141202]
Stephen Hammond: The Department intends to publish the reports on the DFT website this month.
West Coast Railway Line: Franchises
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of spare capacity within Directly Operated Railways to take over the Great Western franchise. [141770]
Mr Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport confirmed, on 31 January, that the current First Great Western (FGW) franchise had been extended by seven periods to October 2013, and that we would be negotiating with FGW for a further two year extension. It was also confirmed that we would be instructing Directly Operated Railways (DOR) to undertake the preparatory measures necessary to commence operation in the unlikely event that we are unable to conclude these negotiations successfully with FGW. This will include an assessment of any resource required, but the Government have full confidence in DOR's ability to step in should the need arise.
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Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many breaches of stand-alone antisocial behaviour orders have resulted in custodial sentences in each of the last five years; what sentences were awarded to individuals who breached stand-alone antisocial behaviour orders in each such year; and how many stand-alone antisocial behaviour orders have been breached in (a) Denton and Reddish constituency and (b) the North West in each such year. [141322]
Mr Jeremy Browne: The total number of occasions on which offenders received a custodial sentence for breaching their stand-alone antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) at all courts in England and Wales, by sentence length, in each year between 2007 and 2011 (latest currently available), is shown in Table 1.
The number of stand-alone antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) proven in court to have been breached for the first time in the north-west region, in each year between 2007 and 2011 (latest currently available) is shown in Table 2.
Centrally collected data on breaches of ASBOs are not available at parliamentary constituency area level.
| Table 1: Occasions on which an offender received a custodial sentence(1) for breaching their stand-alone(2) antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) at all courts, by sentence length, in England and Wales, 2007 to 2011 | |||||
| Length of sentence | 2007 | 2008(3) | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
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| ‘—’ = Nil (1 )Custodial sentences for breaching an ASBO may have been given concurrently with custodial sentences for other offences of which the offender was found guilty. (2) Includes all breach occasions arising from breaches 'stand-alone' ASBOs where a sentence of immediate custody was received. This type of ASBO is issued on application by magistrates courts acting in their civil capacity and county courts and are sometimes referred to as stand-alone ASBOs. Although it is a civil order, breaches are criminal offences attracting a maximum sentence of 5 years (2 years for juveniles). (3) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. Note: ASBO breach data are compiled by matching records of ASBOs issued with ASBOs breached. The nature of this matching process means that previously published ASBO breach data are subject to minor revision. 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. |
| Table 2: Stand-alone(1) antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) proven in court to have been breached for the first time(2) in the north-west region(3, 4), 2007 to 2011 | |||||
| Offenders | |||||
| Area | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| (1) Includes breaches of 'stand-alone' ASBOs where the breach was proved in court to have occurred irrespective of the type of sentence of received. This type of ASBO is issued on application by magistrates courts acting in their civil capacity and county courts and are sometimes referred to as stand-alone ASBOs. Although it is a civil order, breaches are criminal offences attracting a maximum sentence of 5 years (2 years for juveniles). (2) ASBOs may be breached more than once and in more than one year. In this table the stand-alone ASBOs are counted once only within the period when they were first breached. (3) Comprising the Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside police force areas as defined by the Office for National Statistics. (4) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table by area of breach. Note: ASBO breach data are compiled by matching records of ASBOs issued with ASBOs breached. The nature of this matching process means that previously published ASBO breach data are subject to minor revision. 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. | |||||
Asylum: Detainees
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether refugees and asylum seekers held in detention centres have access to social networking sites; [141310]
(2) whether refugees and asylum seekers held in detention centres have access to (a) the Refugee Council, (b) the UN Refugee Agency, (c) the Home Office, (d) the High Court and (e) Refugee Radio websites. [141311]
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Mr Harper [holding answer 4 February 2013]: Social networking sites are one of the prohibited categories that detainees are not allowed to access.
The websites of the Refugee Council, the UN Refugee Agency, the Home Office, the High Court and Refugee Radio do not fall into any of the prohibited categories that screening software would block out.
Crimes of Violence
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many glassing attacks have been reported to the police in each of the last five years. [141520]
Mr Jeremy Browne: The information requested is not available from the police recorded crime data collected by the Home Office.
Daniel Morgan
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will request a judicial inquiry into the death of Daniel Morgan and the subsequent police investigation. [141434]
Damian Green [holding answer 4 February 2013]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department is seriously considering all of the options available to me to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
Entry Clearances: China
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to make it easier for tourists and investors from China to obtain visas for entry to the UK. [141776]
Mr Harper [holding answer 5 February 2013]: The Government support economic growth by delivering an effective visa service which processed over 280,000 applications for visas in 2011 for China.
China is one of the UK's priority markets and our visa service is working well—97% of visas are processed within 15 days, and last year till September 2012 the number of visas issued to Chinese nationals was up by 7%.
In December 2012 the UK Border Agency announced a package of further enhancements to the UK visa service for Chinese tourists and business. These changes, which will be implemented over the next six months, include:
The introduction of shortened online application forms and streamlined requirements for Approved Destination Scheme customers (ADS).
The establishment of a business network with dedicated embassy staff to assist businesses and investors with their UK visa requirements.
A service for business travellers and ADS tourists which allows customers to keep their passport while their visa is being processed. This means that they can travel or apply for another visa if they need to thus reducing the time it takes to obtain two visas.
A mobile biometric service which will be available for applicants who wish to have their biometric information taken at a location more convenient to them, rather than visiting a visa application centre.
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Priority visa eligibility which has been expanded to include Tier 4 students and those who have previously travelled within Schengen.
Improved application processes which are improvements to the online application process including the introduction of translated application forms.
An enhanced select business scheme which removes the onerous reporting requirements that made it cumbersome and bureaucratic for many companies.
Illegal Immigrants: Lancashire
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many business establishments in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire have been fined for employing illegal foreign national workers in each year since 2008. [138703]
Mr Harper: The information requested is in the following table. The figures are based on the number of civil penalties served at visited business addresses. Information is not available broken down by county as the data are recorded by regional split only and therefore figures for the North West region combine Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cumbria, Cheshire and Lancashire.
| Calendar year | Pendle constituency | North West region |
| Note: The figures provided are sourced from a UK Border Agency management information system. It is provisional and is subject to change. | ||
The decrease in the number of businesses served with civil penalties from 2010 can be explained as follows: employers' increased awareness of the regime together with improved guidance on the UK Border Agency website, providing clear advice on how to conduct document checks to verify a person's right to work, has led to an increase in employer compliance. The Agency's work in summer 2012 under Operation Mayapple targeted enforcement activity on overstayers, including students whose leave had been curtailed. This activity drives up compliance across the board. Robust debt recovery processes have been implemented with employers becoming increasingly aware that where penalties are not paid debt recovery enforcement action will commence against them.
Immigration: Appeals
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost to her Department is of an appeal to the upper tribunal in relation to immigration cases. [141213]
Mr Harper: Appeals are managed by the UK Border Agency (the Agency).
Information about the Agency's overall litigation expenditure is contained in its annual published Resource Accounts.
The Agency is unable to answer the specific question posed, due to management information regarding appeal costs not being separated by First-tier and Upper Tribunal types.
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Appeal costs for the Agency can range from approximately £150 in lower cost appeal types such as Visit Visa appeals to over £800 in more complex appeal types.
This range is based on UKBA costs. It includes staff, administrative and overhead costs covering the entire appeals process, from receipt of the appeal to case conclusion. Individual appeals may cost more or less than the range given. The range given includes costs elements related to cases which progress to the Upper Tribunal.
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last met the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. [140624]
Mr Harper: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Individual Support Orders
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individual support orders have been introduced in England and Wales between 2003 and May 2010; and how many individual support orders have been issued in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [141120]
Mr Jeremy Browne [holding answer 1 February 2013]: The number of individual support orders (ISOs) issued at all magistrates courts in England and Wales during the time periods specified is shown in Table 1. ISOs became available from 1 May 2004.
Data on ISOs issued in 2012 is scheduled for publication in May 2013.
| Table 1: Individual support orders (ISOs)(1) issued at all magistrates courts, in addition to an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO), as reported to the Ministry of Justice(2) by the Court Service, 2004-11(3) England and Wales | |
| Period | Individual support orders attached to ASBOs |
| (1) Individual support orders are court orders only available for 10-17 year olds which can be attached to ASBOs made on application. ISOs impose positive conditions on the young person to address the underlying causes of the behaviour that led to their ASBO being issued. ISOs are available at magistrates courts only for juveniles (aged 10-17) with ASBOs issued on application. Commencement date 1 May 2004. (2 )Prior to the creation of the Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007, numbers of ASBOs issued were reported to Home Office by the Court Service. (3) 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. 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. | |
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Industrial Disputes: Shrewsbury
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with (a) West Mercia police and (b) Staffordshire police on the case of the Shrewsbury 24; and if she will make a statement. [140685]
Damian Green: Home Office Ministers have not had any discussions with these police forces on this matter.
National Crime Agency: Northern Ireland
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive on the role of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement. [141787]
Mr Jeremy Browne [holding answer 5 February 2013]: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, Home Office Ministers and officials have had a number of meetings and discussions with David Ford, the Northern Ireland Justice Minister and his officials to support his discussions on the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland and legislative consent. We remain committed to delivering a UK-wide crime fighting agency focused on tackling serious, organised and complex crime.
Overseas Students: Employment
Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to reduce the length of time taken to process applications for employment registration certificates made by Bulgarian and Romanian students. [141796]
Mr Harper [holding answer 5 February 2013]: For Bulgarians and Romanians applying under the student arrangements, the UK Border Agency is considering applications within five months.
In the second half of 2012, the UK Border Agency did not meet its published service standard of deciding 99% of postal applications from Bulgarian and Romanian applicants within six months. This was due to unexpectedly high application volumes across a number of immigration routes.
Extra staff were allocated to process these applications and by 7 January 2013, all applications made prior to 30 June 2012 had been decided except for a small number that required further information from customers.
Parenting Orders
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting orders were issued between their introduction and May 2010; and how many parenting orders were issued in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [141118]
Mr Jeremy Browne [holding answer 1 February 2013]: This information is not available in the format requested.
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Police: Recruitment
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what recent steps she has taken to encourage the police to make its workforce more representative of the communities they serve; [138990]
(2) what directives she has issued to the police on the use of provisions in the Equality Act 2010 to encourage minority and under-represented communities to apply for suitable vacancies when they arise; [138989]
(3) what steps she is taking to encourage police forces to use provisions under the Equality Act 2010 to encourage the recruitment of black and minority ethnic candidates. [138988]
Damian Green: Police forces must be responsive to the needs of the communities they serve. This is a key area of building trust and confidence in local communities and police forces themselves must take ownership of these issues. The newly formed College of Policing will provide an equality strategy for the police shortly. The College's programme of work will also include a national positive action programme for senior black and minority ethnic officers to support their career progression.
Slavery
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to improve data collection about victims of slavery. [142061]
Mr Harper: The report of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) on Human Trafficking, published on 18 October 2012, highlighted data collection as one of three areas the Government wishes to strengthen in its response to this crime. The Home Office is working with a range of partners and progress on this area will be set out in the next IDMG report.
Tickets
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the merits of recent advice given by Operation Podium on ticket fraud and the secondary ticketing market; and what steps she will undertake as a result of that advice. [140856]
Mr Jeremy Browne: The report produced by Operation Podium has made a considerable contribution to the understanding of ticketing crime. Operation Podium worked closely with Action Fraud during the Olympic period to tackle ticketing fraud. The Government are currently considering the success of this work and its potential to further strengthen the work on tackling ticket fraud.
UK Border Agency
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the salary is of each member of the UK Border Agency Executive Board. [140623]
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Mr Harper: In line with the Government's transparency agenda, the salary details for Home Office staff SCS PayBand 2 level, including those on the UK Border Agency Board, can be found on the Home Office website via the following link:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/corporate-publications/structure-salaries/ukba-structure-salary-2012/
Communities and Local Government
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141493]
Brandon Lewis: The Department currently publishes all spend data above a £250 threshold. HM Treasury guidance on the publication of spend data provided to all Government Departments states the following:
“2.10. Spend is to be published one month in arrears, i.e. by the last working day of the month following the month to which the data relates. If the data is available before the end of the month, it should be published as soon as the department has cleared it for release. This data is to be published in individual monthly files.”
DCLG's Communications team publishes spend data on
www.gov.uk
and as part of the monthly process, DCLG's Finance Shared Services team issues an internal timetable for the checking, approval and publication of data. The publication commitment is published on DCLG's intranet. The Government Procurement Card and core spend data are issued to the same process/timetable.
In October 2010, DCLG's arm’s length bodies were issued with consolidated spending controls guidance, which required publication of spend of over £500 by 29 October, and thereafter, monthly on the 15th working day in each month. In July 2012, they were instructed to publish Government Procurement Card spend of over £250, with the expectation is that DCLG's arm’s length bodies would reflect this change in their data publications in September 2012, (so relating to August spend data).
In addition to the routine £250 publication, we have also frequently published full details of all past and present departmental spending on Government Procurement Cards (all transactions, with no spending threshold) to inform Parliament and increase public scrutiny of how taxpayers' money is spent.
Housing and Regeneration Act 2008
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to amend section 303 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. [141680]
Mr Prisk: The Government have no current plans to amend section 303 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 ("the 2008 Act").
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Section 303 (and schedule 12) of the 2008 Act would amend measures in sections 152 and 156 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”). These measures, which relate to the provision of service charge information and to designated accounts, have not as yet been brought into effect.
The Government are aware of concerns in the leasehold sector, and is keeping a watching brief on a range of issues, but are not convinced of the case for further regulation at this stage.
We are aware that the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW) published in 2011 some "Guidance on Accounting and Reporting in relation to Service Charge Accounts" covering much the same ground as regulations under section 152 of the 2002 Act would cover.
Housing: Construction
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which new taxes on developments his Department introduced through local government in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012; how many councils have introduced such taxes to date; and what level of tax each such council has set for single dwelling developments. [138658]
Nick Boles: My Department has cut taxes on people's homes. We have:
Worked with councils to freeze council tax, cutting council tax by an average of 4.4% in real terms over the last two years. A further freeze offer is available to councils this year.
Repealed the last Government's legislation and plans to impose new bin taxes on family homes.
Cancelled the last Administration's plans for an intrusive and expensive council tax revaluation, which would have forced up bills on millions of homes and taxed home improvements.
Stopped the imposition of business rates on family homes with ‘rent a roof’ solar panels (a ‘sun tax’).
As outlined in my answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 583W, the Community Infrastructure Levy was a measure introduced under the last Administration, although we are taking a series of steps to improve and reform it, including reviewing the potential impact on self-build. There is no requirement on councils to adopt the levy. So far 10 authorities have chosen to introduce the levy. The Department is not collecting detailed information on individual authorities’ levy rates.
We have also been consulting on making it easier to build extensions and small-scale home improvements without paying for unnecessary planning fees. Our Section 106 reforms are also seeking to tackle unrealistic and unreasonable planning gain demands.
Olympic Games 2012
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in pursuit of which of his Department's strategic objectives the Government issued tickets to Ministers in his Department to attend events at the London 2012 Olympics; whether any cost-benefit analysis of such attendance was undertaken; how many such tickets were issued to Ministers in his Department; and in respect of how many such tickets transport was paid for from public funds. [140715]
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Brandon Lewis [holding answer 31 January 2013]: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement of 18 January 2013, Official Report, column 47WS, on the publication of the register of names in receipt of-tickets purchased by the Government to the Olympics and Paralympics games.
The London 2012 Ambassador programme was established in May 2012 by the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt). The Government Ambassador programme was aligned with criteria agreed to govern the distribution of tickets purchased by the Government for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games, namely: encouraging growth, encouraging health and sports participation and encouraging community engagement and volunteering. The Government Ambassador programme was official Government business, and the travel arrangements reflected this.
As reflected in the list of guests which Ministers hosted, our department had a particular emphasis on encouraging growth—as reflected by guests from Local Enterprise Partnerships, manufacturing, infrastructure and foreign investors. Such engagement is part of my Department's wider goal of seeking to support local economic growth.
Retail Trade
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to producing a best practice approach for retailers in town centres to help them combat the growth of out-of-town shopping. [141525]
Mr Prisk: The Government recognise that a vibrant town centre is vital for communities and economic growth. The Government have established 27 Portas Pilots, and over 330 Town Team Partners across England, to develop and share best practice. This will identify what works best in a wide variety of communities and comes on top of our 'town centre first' planning policy which guides new town centre uses to existing town centres in England. I would strongly encourage the hon. Member to consider a similar pilot programme in Northern Ireland.
I refer the hon. Member to the 'The Portas Review: an independent review into the future of our high streets' and the Government's Response to the Portas Review, copies are available in the Library of the House.
Scotland
Conditions of Employment
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of people on zero-hours contracts in Scotland. [141714]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
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Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for the estimate of the number of people on zero-hours contracts in Scotland. 141714
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of people on zero-hours contracts; these people are not contracted to work a set number of hours, and are only paid for the number of hours that they actually work.
For the period April-June 2012 it is estimated that 13,000 people in Scotland were on zero-hours contracts.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. It is estimated that the true value is likely to lie between 6,000 and 20,000.
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in his Department in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012. [141465]
David Mundell: The mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card per member of staff in the Scotland Office in 2010-11 was £524.96, and in 2011-12 the figure was £337.78.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141505]
David Mundell: Scotland Office and Boundary Commission for Scotland officials have been instructed to follow the practice of other Departments and arm’s length bodies in publishing on its website data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.
Overtime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date. [141485]
David Mundell: The average cost per member of staff and the total cost of overtime payments are shown in the following table:
| £ | |||
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13(1) | |
| (1) April to December | |||
No overtime costs were incurred between 2010-11 and the present date in the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the Scotland Office's only arm’s length body.
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Cabinet Office
Booktrust
Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office prior to the decision being made by the Secretary of State for Education with regard to funding for Booktrust, whether submissions were made from any other Government departments by or on behalf of other Ministers. [141860]
Mr Hurd: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 377W.
Digital Technology
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many assisted digital service providers there are; and where such providers are based; [141919]
(2) what resources are offered to assisted digital service providers by his Office or other Government Departments. [141920]
Mr Hurd: The Government currently do not contract with any assisted digital service providers however departments have started market engagement to seek providers. They will work closely with the private sector, wider public sector and the voluntary sectors to enable a network of assisted digital providers.
Health
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which departmental or cross-departmental policies have been influenced by the measurement of and research into well-being conducted by the Office for National Statistics. [141417]
Mr Letwin: The Office for National Statistics has made significant progress since 2010 on measuring national wellbeing and published the first Life in the UK report in November 2012. The published well-being statistics are experimental and are helping to build up the evidential foundations in order to inform future policy.
Progress is being made: the cross-government Social Impacts Task Force is sharing wellbeing research and practice across Whitehall, and a cross-Whitehall Wellbeing Steering Group has recently been established to consider policy uses. As an example, well-being measures have been incorporated into the evaluation of the National Citizen Service.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many meetings have been held by Ministers in his Department with the Office for National Statistics to discuss ways to measure well-being. [141681]
Mr Letwin: We have no record of Cabinet Office Ministers meeting formally with ONS on wellbeing measurement. Cabinet Office officials have been fully engaged in the well-being measurement programme and meet regularly including participating in various well-being governance boards.
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Intelligence Services
Dr Huppert: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what discussions he has had with the US administration on personal data of UK citizens not being accessed as foreign intelligence information under the terms of (a) section 1881a of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendment Act 2008 (FISA 702) and (b) the US Patriot Act 2001. [141429]
Mr Maude [holding answer 4 February 2013]: Information relating to discussions with overseas Governments is not normally disclosed.
Procurement
Meg Hillier: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he has taken to remove barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises participating in Government procurement. [141663]
Miss Chloe Smith: It is this Government's policy to dismantle the barriers facing small companies, charities and voluntary organisations to ensure they can compete for Government contracts on a level playing field.
We aspire to place 25% of central Government procurement spend with SMEs by the end of this Parliament, directly and in the supply chain; and we have therefore required all Departments to put in place plans to deliver an increase in their spend with SMEs.
Public Sector: Mutual Societies
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which public bodies are currently participating in the mutual support programme. [141633]
Mr Hurd: This information is available on our Mutuals Information Service website at:
http://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Beef: Horsemeat
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the role of (a) the Food Standards Agency and (b) his Department is in (i) policing food safety, (ii) tracing the provenance of meat going into frozen and processed foods and (iii) labelling the content of the individual products. [138976]
Mr Heath: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the central competent authority for food safety and has a statutory function to protect public health and consumers' other interests in relation to food and drink. The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the UK who carry out checks of all food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety, traceability and labelling requirements. The FSA has support mechanisms in place to help local authorities deliver the controls and carries out monitoring and audit of their controls of business in their area.
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The FSA is directly responsible for leading on food safety incidents, including misleading labelling and food fraud with possible food safety implications.
DEFRA has overall responsibility for food labelling policy in England and negotiations on behalf of the UK on labelling in the European Union. DEFRA has policy responsibility for labelling where this does not relate to food safety or nutrition, including the food authenticity programme. DEFRA spends £450,000 annually on food authenticity research.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the possible public health implications of the use on horses of (a) the anti-inflammatory Flunixin, (b) the steroid Clenbuterol, (c) the dewormer Ivermectin, (d) the anti-bleeding drug Furosemide, (e) snake venom for deadening nerves and (f) other drugs if meat products from horses treated with those substances were to enter the human food chain. [139056]
Mr Heath: Flunixin, clenbuterol, ivermectin and furosemide are substances approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use as veterinary medicines for horses that may enter the food chain. EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) assesses the safety of these substances.
DEFRA's Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) agency has responsibility for the authorisation of new veterinary medicinal products in the UK and provides UK representation on the CVMP. It receives advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on food safety.
Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) are set for approved substances. Withdrawal periods are set for individual products based on the MRL and must be observed before livestock enter the food chain. MRLs for approved substances, or those confirmed as not requiring such a limit, and the species they apply to are listed in table 1 of Commission Regulation 37/2010.
http://ec.europa.eu/health/files/eudralex/vol-5/reg_2010_37/reg_2010_37_en.pdf
There are no authorised uses in the UK for snake venom in veterinary medicines. Use of any product that contains an active substance which is not contained in table 1 of Commission Regulation 37/2010 or is not contained on the list of Essential Substances:
http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:367:0033:0045:EN:PDF
automatically means that the horse must be permanently excluded from the food chain.
The VMD operates the National Residues Control Plan (NRCP) in accordance with EU legislation to ensure that authorised veterinary medicinal products are being used correctly and that unauthorised substances are not present in produce entering the food chain. Non-compliant results are reported to the VMD and the FSA. Follow-up investigations are undertaken on non-compliant results on behalf of the VMD. NRCP results and a summary of follow-up investigations are reported to the independent Veterinary Residues Committee, which advises the VMD and FSA on surveillance issues. These can be viewed on the VRC website at:
www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/vrc/
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Chelsea Flower Show
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) purpose and (b) expected cost is of his Department's themed garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2013. [140805]
Richard Benyon: The Food and Environment Research Agency's garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 is entitled ‘Stop the Spread’. It will deliver strong messages to the public on the scope for behaviour change to make a significant impact on the prevention and identification of pests and pathogens that could affect our trees, including the threat from non-native species.
This is just one element of a campaign of public and stakeholder communication regarding tree health and plant biosecurity which also includes films on phytophthora, the OPAL Tree Health survey, new biosecurity protocols and posters, forest health days and ‘Train the Trainer’ events. Many of these are cost-neutral or co-funded with various partners across industry, non-governmental organisations and UK national governments.
All of these activities are aimed at addressing threats which have huge potential to change how our landscape looks, severely damage our biodiversity and wildlife, and can have significant impacts on the British economy.
The expected cost for the design and build is £95,000 largely funded by DEFRA with contributions from Forestry Commission, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and the Timber and Pallet Federation.
Circuses: Animal Welfare
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Governments on the establishment of a UK-wide ban on the use of wild animals in circuses; and what effect the development of UK-wide legislation will have on the proposed timetable for implementation of a ban in England. [141393]
Mr Heath: It is our firm intention to publish a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny this session. The draft Bill will set out a ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses in England. There are discussions with the devolved Administrations, at both ministerial and official level, on a range of animal welfare issues. There has been no assessment yet as to whether any extension of the territorial scope would have an impact on the timetable for the introduction of any Bill produced following pre-legislative scrutiny.
Compost
Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints his Department and its agencies have received in regards to odours released by windrow composting sites in the last three years. [141871]
Richard Benyon: In the last three years DEFRA has received 20 written complaints specifically about odour from composting, out of approximately 40 items of correspondence about composting facilities.
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The Environment Agency is the principal regulator of waste management operations and has recorded 1,629 substantiated complaints about composting facilities, including about odour, over the same period.
Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2012, Official Report, column 551W, on compost, what the name is of the project funded by his Department into bioaerosol and windrow composting sites; and when this project intends to publish its findings. [141897]
Richard Benyon: The name of the project funded by DEFRA is "Monitoring bioaerosols and odour emissions from composting facilities". The results of this project are expected this spring and the findings will be published shortly thereafter.
Employment Agencies
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the total spending on recruitment agencies by his Department was in each month from July to December 2012; [135228]
(2) how many temporary staff have been recruited in his Department in each month from July to December 2012. [135227]
Richard Benyon: The total amount spent by core DEFRA on recruitment agencies each month from July to December 2012 was as follows:
| £ | |
Temporary staff are people supplied by employment and recruitment agencies and who are not on the DEFRA payroll. The following table shows the number of temporary staff employed by core DEFRA on the last day of each month.
| Number | |
The number of temporary staff recruited each month is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Flood Control
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 591W, on floods: Elmbridge, when the allocations for flood and coastal erosion risk management in 2013-14 will be announced. [141794]
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Richard Benyon: The allocations for flood and coastal erosion risk management in 2013-14 will be announced on 7 February 2013.
Floods: Insurance
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government regarding flood prevention insurance. [141716]
Richard Benyon: Insurance plays an important role in helping people manage the financial consequences of their property being flooded.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and I meet regularly with our counterparts in the Scottish Government to discuss a range of issues of common importance. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such meetings.
Genetically Modified Organisms
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will assess the risks of the horizontal transfer of antibiotic-resistant genes from genetically-modified plants to bacteria; and what steps he is taking to reduce such risks. [140851]
Mr Heath: The commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops is subject to regulatory approval at European Union (EU) level. Proposed crops have to undergo a robust, science-based safety assessment, overseen by the independent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The UK's input to this process is based on the expert scientific advice that Ministers receive from the independent Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE).
The potential impact of antibiotic resistance marker (ARM) genes has received considerable attention in EU deliberations on the risk assessment of GM crops. EFSA published a key scientific opinion on this matter in 2009, available at:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/1108.pdf
It focuses on two ARM genes that are present in certain GM crops which have been evaluated for possible EU approval. EFSA has concluded that both of these genes are unlikely to have an adverse effect on human health and the environment as a result of GM cultivation. ACRE has agreed with this conclusion, noting that bacteria with resistance to the relevant antibiotics are already widespread in the environment, and that the likelihood of a functional gene being transferred from plants, to bacteria is extremely low.
Livestock: Exports
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on the number of animals that have died through the trade of exporting livestock in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [140599]
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Mr Heath: There are no comprehensive figures available on the number of deaths that may have been caused through the trade of exporting livestock. However, in relation to the trade in live animals currently being exported through Ramsgate port, Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency records show that during 2012 (up to the end of October) its inspectors identified 45 animals that were not fit to continue with their journey and required them to be euthanized. This represents 0.1% of the total number of animals (36,850) exported through the port over the same period.
Phytophthora Ramorum
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the criteria used to authorise and approve the use of Subdue as a chemical treatment against Phytophthora in the Olympic Park. [140795]
Mr Heath: The fungicide Subdue was authorised in accordance with the requirements of EU Regulation 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market. The specific use in question is an Extension of Authorisation for Minor Use (EAMU).
The authorisation notices for Subdue, the regulatory requirements of Regulation 1107/2009, and the EAMU procedures are all published on the website of the Health and Safety Executive's Chemicals Regulation Directorate at:
www.pesticides.gov.uk
Polar Bears
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government intends to support a ban on the international trade of polar bears. [141524]
Richard Benyon: The UK supports a ban on international trade in polar bear pelts and other body parts as we believe this will help to safeguard the species. DEFRA officials have been working closely with EU counterparts through meetings and electronic communication to develop a common EU position on the proposed ban on international trade in polar bears and their products.
Press: Subscriptions
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 233W, on press subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010. [137295]
Richard Benyon: Pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 233W, the core DEFRA Library service spent £185,288.99 on press subscriptions i.e. magazines, newspapers and journals, including electronic journals between May 2010 and 18 January 2013.
Ramblers
Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he intends to answer the letter to his Department from the Ramblers of 11 September 2012. [141802]
6 Feb 2013 : Column 266W
Richard Benyon: DEFRA officials met the Ramblers on 22 October 2012. As events had moved on, a reply was not deemed necessary at that time. Nevertheless, I propose to write to the Ramblers shortly.
Travel and Subsistence Payments
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many senior officials in his Department (a) have and (b) have had during 2012-13 terms of employment that specify that their main place of employment is their home address and that they are entitled to claim travel and subsistence expenses for visiting departmental offices. [141145]
Richard Benyon: No officials in core DEFRA have or have had such terms of employment during 2012-13.
Treasury
Bank Notes
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has given consideration to re-issuing Treasury Bradbury notes. [141514]
Sajid Javid: The Treasury is not considering issuing Treasury Bradbury notes.
Bingo Association
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met representatives of the Bingo Association; and when he next plans to meet the Bingo Association. [141911]
Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm
Conditions of Employment
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in his Department are employed on zero hours contracts. [141876]
Sajid Javid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott) on 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 616W.
Deloitte
John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department paid to Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [135992]
Sajid Javid:
In line with the Government's ‘Transparency’ agenda, since January 2011 HM Treasury has published details of all new contracts it has awarded with an
6 Feb 2013 : Column 267W
expected value of over £10,000 (excluding VAT) on Contracts Finder. Details of these contracts awarded since January 2011, are available here:
https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
Since 2010 the Department has restricted the use of consultants which, together with lower banking interventions related spending, has led to overall spending on consultants falling from £69 million in 2009-10 to £29 million in 2010-11 and £15 million in 2011-12.
Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when he expects to make an announcement on the outcomes of the Alcohol Fraud consultation and proposed steps; [141739]
(2) when he expects a new excise duty protection system for beer to be operational. [141740]
Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs is currently completing its analysis of the responses to the formal consultation on potential new legislation to tackle alcohol duty fraud. The Government expect to publish a summary of responses and make an announcement on next steps, including the timing of any new legislation, during the spring.
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the likely cost to the Exchequer of fraud on beer excise duty in each of the next five financial years. [141741]
Sajid Javid: HMRC does not produce forecasts of the likely level of beer duty fraud.
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141507]
Sajid Javid: Guidance in relation to the publication of data for payments over £25,000 and payments over £500.00 on a Government Procurement Card is issued by the Cabinet Office.
The current guidance is for Departments to publish all spend over £25,000 monthly in arrears and payments over £500.00 via Government Procurement Card two months in arrears.
Data relating to arm’s length bodies is currently incorporated into the regular HM Treasury publications. Apart from the Office of Budget of Responsibility who publish their data every six months as they have a very small number of transactions.
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the route of High Speed 2 on the western branch north of Birmingham. [141856]
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Danny Alexander: The route published by the Government in January 2013 represents the Government's initial preferred route, station and depot options for phase two linking Birmingham with Manchester, the east Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds.
Government Ministers have routine discussions as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
Infrastructure UK
John Healey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2013, Official Report, column 306W, on Infrastructure UK, what the income was of Infrastructure UK in each category of income and for each source of income in each financial year in this Parliament. [141054]
Danny Alexander: Infrastructure UK income, split by category, in each financial year this Parliament was:
| 2010-11 | ||
| £ | ||
| 2011-12 | ||
| £ | ||
| 2012-13 to end December 2012 | ||
| £ | ||
International Monetary Fund
Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will hold discussions with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on using a red card sanction against the Government of Argentina in respect of the decision not to pay back debt, and its refusal to allow court judgements; and if he will make a statement. [141554]
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Greg Clark: The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, hold regular discussions on a range of topics.
Meetings
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish the list of ministerial meetings with external organisations for the third and fourth quarter of 2012 on his Department's website. [141913]
Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials engage with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organizations. This is available online at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm
The list for the third quarter of 2012 will be published shortly. The list for the fourth quarter of 2012 will be published in due course.
Personal Income: Scotland
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of single-earner families in (a) Scotland and (b) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency will experience a net loss in income by 2015-16 as a result of measures announced in the Autumn Statement 2012. [141710]
Sajid Javid: There will be no losers in 2015-16 in cash terms as a result of the measures announced at autumn statement. This Government publish our assessment of the overall distributional impact on households of policy decisions across all fiscal events. This was most recently published at autumn statement 2012.
Revenue and Customs
Jim Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reports he has received that the instructions contained in HM Revenue and Customs' leaflet SA342 entitled, “Why not try our online direct debit service”, do not work; and what steps he plans to take to remedy that matter. [141587]
Mr Gauke: HMRC is aware of, and regrets, the difficulties which its customers experienced in matching the guidance given in the SA342 leaflet to using the HMRC online direct debit service.
The SA342 leaflet has now been withdrawn, and HMRC is working to improve the online direct debit customer experience. The first improvements will be changes to the online guidance, and HMRC expects to have these in place during April 2013.
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 924W, on Revenue and Customs, how many staff he expects to be employed in each area of HM Revenue and Customs' activity on 31 March (a) 2013 and (b) 2014. [141899]
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Mr Gauke: The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff expected to be employed in each area of HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) activity on 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014 is shown in the following table. HMRC publishes figures for staffing projections as the equivalent number of full-time posts rather than as headcount.
| Planned permanent FTE at 31 March | ||
| Line of business | 2013 | 2014 |
Tax Avoidance
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2013, Official Report, column 102W, on tax avoidance, what assessment he has made of the level of tax avoided by the participants in tax avoidance schemes who were contacted by HM Revenue and Customs regarding the settlement opportunity announced on 3 December 2012. [141900]
Mr Gauke: To date 5,792 letters have been issued to scheme users in respect of the settlement opportunity, HMRC does not have an accurate breakdown of the level of tax avoided by this group as a whole because their individual personal circumstances vary significantly.
Taxation: Gambling
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to his Budget Statement 2012, when he intends to bring forward legislative proposals to give effect to his announced changes to the taxation regime for remote gambling. [141859]
Sajid Javid: Implementation of the Government's reform to remote gambling taxation is planned for 1 December 2014. The Government will legislate for the reform in a future finance Bill.
Taxation: Whisky
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to meet Ministers in the Scottish Government to discuss the potential implications of a per bottle production tax on Scottish whisky. [141743]
Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials continue to have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
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Culture, Media and Sport
Broadband
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) when the Government plans to publish an assessment of the likelihood of the UK meeting its target on the proportion of premises to be covered by superfast broadband by 2015; [142055]
(2) what recent progress her Department has made on improving access to broadband throughout the UK; and if she will make a statement. [142093]
Mr Vaizey: Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) plans to publish data on a quarterly basis, setting out progress with the Government’s broadband programmes.
Ofcom reported a 69% increase in average broadband speeds over the last year. In July 2012, 89.9% of connections had speeds of at least 2 Mbps (up from 86% in 2011), and 65% of premises had access to superfast broadband (up from 58% in 2011).
The UK’s rural broadband programme is progressing at pace. Having achieved umbrella State aid clearance in November, 11 projects have now signed supplier contracts, and are now either in the delivery phase, or are about to commence. The remainder of the local projects will be entering procurements at an overall rate of one per week, and on current timetables, all procurements should have completed by the end of the summer.
Broadband: Greater Manchester
Mr Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the ability of (a) Bury Metropolitan Borough Council and (b) greater Manchester Combined Authority to provide funding to match that provided by her Department through Broadband Delivery UK to improve broadband access speeds in the rural areas of Greater Manchester. [141857]
Mr Vaizey: The local authorities in Greater Manchester have committed to match BDUK's £990,000 fund under the rural broadband programme, but it is a matter for the 10 Manchester local authorities to collectively agree on the contribution of each authority.
Direct Selling
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research her Department has undertaken or commissioned on the public's perception of cold-calling. [139750]
Mr Vaizey: The Department has not undertaken or commissioned research on this issue. However, public perception may be gauged by the fact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) received 96,876 reported concerns about unwanted marketing communications since 9 March 2012, of which 20,811 were about live unwanted marketing calls. The Department is pressing for improvements in the enforcement of nuisance calls that are regulated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and Ofcom. Steps have been taken to improve the clarity of information for consumers as well the issuing of fines totalling more than £1.2 million since January 2012.
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John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the number of companies operating in the UK which engage in cold-calling. [139752]
Mr Vaizey: According to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is an independent regulator and considers complaints about unsolicited marketing calls, the number of companies engaged in making such calls is difficult to assess as in many cases the companies do not provide their names to the consumers. Therefore, they are unable to provide an estimate, although the ICO publishes on its website the names of organisations under investigation.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with companies based in the UK on cold-calling practices. [139753]
Mr Vaizey: This is a matter for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), with whom I met last week to discuss precisely this matter. The ICO is an independent regulator, which considers complaints about unsolicited marketing calls and it has regular discussions with companies on good calling practice, both as part of its enforcement and educational activities. The ICO is currently meeting the most complained about organisations to secure their future compliance.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of the extent of cold-calling in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK. [139754]
Mr Vaizey: No recent assessment of this nature has been undertaken, as enforcement issues is a matter for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is the independent regulator. The ICO considers complaints about unsolicited marketing calls, regardless of where they may be made from within the UK. In some cases ICO may be able to distinguish a particular region from which calls originate, but not always. ICO considers complaints from consumers regardless of location and therefore calls in Scotland would not differ from those made in another part of the UK. In 2012 there were 78,085 complaints in relation to unsolicited marketing calls.
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with industry on persistent silent telephone calls from marketing companies. [141037]
Mr Vaizey: No such discussions have been held. Silent calls are not permitted by the Office of Communications (Ofcom). They have strict rules on abandoned calls, where a call centre's automated calling system generates more calls than can be answered by call centre staff, resulting in an abandoned call. Ofcom is engaged in ongoing enforcement action in this area and can levy penalties of up to £2 million on those found to be in breach of the rules. In the past year, Ofcom has fined companies a total of £810,000.
Ofcom is also working with Government and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to tackle the wider issue of nuisance calls and the harm they cause to
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consumers. Additionally, Ofcom is taking a number of steps to address silent calls, including consumer and market research and work with industry to trace silent calls.
Multinational Companies
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the multinational companies with which Ministers in her Department are buddied in the strategic relations initiative announced in July 2011; and how many times each Minister has met her allotted company. [141449]
Hugh Robertson: The Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), who has responsibility for communications and the creative industries, is the contact Minister for Google, Facebook, Telefonica (O2) and Everything Everywhere (EE).
The Department publishes details of all ministerial meetings with external organisations, since May 2010, on its transparency website at the following link:
http://www.transparency.culture.gov.uk/category/other/meetings/
Procurement
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the monetary value was of contracts awarded by her Department to (a) management consultancies and (b) IT companies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement. [135161]
Hugh Robertson: My Department has made great efforts to reduce spending in this area, as illustrated by the following table which sets out the monetary value of the contracts awarded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for management consultancies and IT companies in recent years.
| £ | ||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | |
Sports: Clubs
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for High Peak of 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 53W, on sports: schools, how much of the £48.5 million her Department plans to invest in the creation of new satellite clubs to schools and community sports clubs will be invested in (a) the West Midlands, (b) the Dudley metropolitan borough area and (c) Dudley North constituency. [138482]
Hugh Robertson: Sport England will be investing £990,000 into six County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) in the west midlands to create Club Link Makers, and £180,000 into the Black Country CSP which covers Dudley. The Club Link Makers will play a key role in supporting satellite club delivery by linking national governing bodies' clubs to schools.
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All 489 secondary schools and further education colleges in the west midlands will be offered the opportunity to host a satellite club, including the 23 schools and colleges in Dudley and the six in the Dudley North constituency.
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for High Peak of 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 53W, on sports: schools, how much of the £48.5 million her Department plans to invest in the creation of new satellite clubs to schools and community sports clubs will be invested in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West. [141221]
Hugh Robertson: Sport England will be investing £930,000 into five County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) in the North West to create Club Link Makers, and £210,000 into the Lancashire CSP which covers Pendle. The Club Link Makers will play a key role in supporting satellite club delivery by linking National Governing Bodies' clubs to schools.
All 508 secondary schools and further education colleges in the North West will be offered the opportunity to host a satellite club, including the eight Secondary schools and colleges in the Pendle constituency. We are committed to providing a multi-sport satellite club in every secondary school in England.
Telephone Preference Service
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the number of people registered with the Telephone Preference Service. [139749]
Mr Vaizey: According to the Telephone Preference Service Ltd (TPSL), which runs the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) on behalf of the Office of Communications (Ofcom), 18.5 million landline numbers are currently registered with them.
Telephone Preference Service: Scotland
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of people in Scotland registered with the Telephone Preference Service. [141709]
Mr Vaizey: No such estimate has been made as the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registers individual numbers rather than specific people, and does not differentiate between those registered in Scotland and the rest of the UK. According to the Telephone Preference Service Ltd (TPSL), which runs the TPS on behalf of the Office of Communications (Ofcom), 18.5 million landline numbers are currently registered with them.
Television: Licensing
Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps Ofcom is taking to ensure that services covered by local television licences meet high production standards. [141510]
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Mr Vaizey: Ofcom has included the programming commitments—submitted as part of the application process—of each individual Local TV broadcaster as a basis and condition of licence award, and will judge the ongoing service of each licence holder against these commitments once broadcasting commences.
Ofcom will not set minimum production standards for broadcasting content, but will ensure that content meets Broadcasting Code standards and that it complies with Ofcom's code on Television Access Services (subtitling, audio description and sign language).
Business, Innovation and Skills
Construction: Billing
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of specialist contractors in the construction sector who have been engaged in work paid for by public funds; how many such contractors have suffered from (a) late payments and (b) retentions in breach of the Prompt Payment Code; and if he will make a statement. [141209]
Michael Fallon: We do not collect data on what proportion of work under public sector construction contracts goes to specialist contractors.
We recognise that late payment to sub-contractors is a particular problem in the construction industry. Cabinet Office is working with other parts of the public sector to pioneer the use of project bank accounts (PBAs), from which payments are made directly and simultaneously by a client to the supply chain. Where PBAs are not used, the requirement for contractors to pay their sub-contractors within 30 days is specified in contract terms. If a sub contractor on a public contract feels they have not been treated fairly they are encouraged to report the issue to the Mystery Shopper Scheme, run by the Cabinet Office, which investigates issues relating to public procurement, including payment within public sector projects.
In July 2011 the Scheme was extended specifically to include subcontractors' concerns and since then there have been seven cases raised about payment. Cabinet Office periodically publishes reports of all Mystery Shopper cases on its website.
The Government have written to FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies, which include a number of major construction companies, urging them to sign up to the Prompt Payment Code. The use of retentions, where the customer retains a small percentage of the contract fee over a period as a guarantee against defective work, is not a breach of the Prompt Payment Code.
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012. [141450]
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Jo Swinson: For the Department, in 2011 the average spend per member of staff, who held a Government Procurement Card (GPC), was £7,553 for the entire year. In 2012 the figure was £7,967.
By way of comparison, the average size of an individual GPC transaction was £139 in 2011 and £122 in 2012.
The Department is committed to reducing costs, and has made substantial reductions in its year on year admin spend. Last year (2012), the National Audit Office published a report which showed that BIS has reduced its admin spend by 18% compared with the last financial year, the second best Department across Government.
The GPC is not a credit card. It is a payment charge card that, when used in a well managed way allows BIS to pay for low value items in a controlled, secure and efficient way typically removing 95% of administrative effort.
GPC is a convenient, cost-effective and valuable contributor to efficiency targets. When used effectively GPC saves BIS money.
I have approached the chief executives of the Department's Executive agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
Letter from Tim Moss, dated 1 February 2013:
I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 30 January 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UIN 141450.
The mean average spend for Companies House using a Government Procurement Card per member of staff in 2011 and 2012 was i) in 2010/11 £508.90 and ii) 2011/12 584.05.
Letter from Peter Mason, dated 31 January 2013:
I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 31 January 2013, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the mean average spend of using a Government Procurement Card (GPC) was per member of staff in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.
In 2011, the mean average spend was £1,807.70 per member of staff and in 2012, the figure was £1,505.85 per member of staff. These figures are based on the GPC statements which have been received by our Finance Team to date.
A significant proportion of the spend is on the purchases of goods which are used for testing to ensure that they comply with the laws regarding hazardous substances in electrical products and batteries, energy use and energy labelling.
Letter from David Parker, dated February 2013:
Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012. (141450)
The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card per member of staff in (i) 2011 was £2833 and (ii) £8144 in 2012.
Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 31 January 2013:
I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 30th January 2013, to the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
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The mean average spend per member of staff within the Intellectual Property Office in 2011/12 was £441. To the end of December, the mean average for 2012/13 is £351.
Letter from John Hirst, dated 1 February 2013:
I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 30 January 2013, UIN 141450 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card per member of staff at the Met Office was £880 in 2010-11 and £1399 in 2011-12.
I hope this helps.
Letter from Vanessa Lawrence, dated 1 February 2013:
As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to reply to you in response to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills "what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (it) 2012"?
In 2011, the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card per member of staff at Ordnance Survey was £1,975. The equivalent figure for 2012 was £1,915.
I hope this information is of use.
Letter from Heather Foster, dated 1 February 2013:
I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 141450 tabled on 30 January 2013 which asked the following:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.
In 2011, total expenditure via GPC within Land Registry was £1,148,193.63. 165 staff held a GPC giving an average spend of £6,958.75 per cardholder.
In 2012, GPC spend within Land Registry was £740,712.77. 175 staff held a GPC giving an average spend of £4,232.64 per cardholder.
Average GPC spend was lower in 2012 as much of our facilities-related costs (particularly local office expenses which would previously have been paid for on GPC) by then came within our third party supplier contract, which was awarded in April 2011.
I hope you find this information useful.
Letter from Richard Judge, dated 1 February 2013:
The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.
The information requested in respect of The Insolvency Service executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is:
2010/11: Total spend £945,687 with 7,239 transactions and a mean average of £130.62
2011/12: Total spend £485,723 with 4,102 transactions and a mean average of £118.41
Letter from Kim Thorneywork, dated 5 February 2013:
Thank you for your question to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. I have been asked to reply as the Chief Executive of Skills Funding.
You asked what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.(141450)
On behalf of the Skills Funding Agency the answers to the questions asked are 2011—£449 and 2012—£806. Please see the illustration as follows.
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| Skills Funding Agency Average Spend on GPC | |||||
| Average cards in year | Average Employees in year(1) | GPC Spend in year (£) | Average spend per employee (£) | Average spend per card (£) | |
| (1 )Average Employee figures taken from our annual report relating to financial years. | |||||
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141490]
Jo Swinson: The Department has a dedicated “Transparency” intranet section (accessible to all staff) which details information on our commitment to the transparency agenda. In addition, we have an appointed transparency lead and an established BIS Transparency Board. Information on the use of Government Procurement Cards and the data that is published is available to staff.
We have also written to our partner organisations to set out the requirements expected of them under the Government's transparency agenda.
I have approached the chief executives of the Department's Executive Agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
Letter from Tim Moss, dated 1 February 2013:
I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 30 January 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UIN 141490.
Companies House uses the guidance issued by our parent department, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), for the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over i) £25,000 and ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. This can be found on the BIS intranet website, which all staff have access to.
Companies House publishes all such information on a monthly basis on both the data.gov.uk website and on our own website.
Letter from Peter Mason, dated 1 February 2013:
I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 30/01/2013, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) about guidance or instructions issued to staff on the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over £25,000 and £500 using the Government Procurement Card.
The NMO is an Executive Agency of BIS and follows instructions issued by BIS about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. Detailed guidance from HM Treasury is followed, and this is available on their website.
Letter from David Parker, dated February 2013:
Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. (141490)
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The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and guidance about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card is in line with the parent department and can be found on the BIS Intranet which all Agency staff have access to. Guidance is also issued when staff members receive their Government Procurement Card.
Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 4 February 2013:
I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 30th January 2013, to the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The Intellectual Property Office publishes all its spend data and our Finance and Web teams have standing instructions to have completed this process by the 15th of each month.
Letter from John Hirst, dated 1 February 2013:
I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 30 January 2013, UIN 141490 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The Met Office complies with HM Treasury guidance for arm's length bodies concerning the publication of spend data
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/guidance_albs_2012.pdf
All data is published monthly, in arrears as per paragraph 2.10 of this document.
I hope this helps.
Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, dated 1 February 2013:
As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to reply to you in response to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills “what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card”?
Ordnance Survey complies with HM Treasury Guidance for arm's length bodies with regards to the publication of spend data
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/guidance_albs_2012.pdf
All data is published monthly in arrears, as per paragraph 2.10 of this document.
I hope this information is of use.
Letter from Heather Foster, dated 1 February 2013:
I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 141490 tabled on 30 January 2013 which asked the following:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.
Land Registry publishes data relating to spend over £25,000 on a monthly basis and has been required to do so since November 2010 (based on guidance issued by HM Treasury in June 2010). GPC expenditure above £500 is also published on a monthly basis, and this has been a requirement since September 2011. Latest guidance received by Land Registry on the frequency of publication of this data was from Jo Swinson/BIS in October 2012.
I hope you find this information useful.
Letter from Dr Richard Judge, dated 31 January 2013:
The Secretary of State for Business innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.