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Medical Equipment
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to provide additional funding for CPR equipment across public places in the UK. [144554]
Anna Soubry: The Department has no such plans. From February 2007, responsibility for sustaining the legacy of the National Defibrillator Programme was devolved to national health service ambulance trusts. Ambulance trusts install automatic external defibrillators where they are most needed.
Medical Records
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with charities supporting domestic violence survivors on online access to medical records; and if he will put safeguards in place to prevent the abuse of online access to medical records. [144743]
Anna Soubry: No recent discussions have been held by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), with charities supporting domestic violence survivors on online access to medical records though this is recognised as a key issue.
Protecting personal health information is vital to maintaining trust between patients and the staff caring for them. But what is vital for high quality care is that people's health information is able to flow around the health and care system as appropriate. The national health service does have robust processes in place to protect people's confidential information. In addition, Dame Fiona Caldicott is leading an independent review to see how best to balance the need to keep patient information secure with the need to share it among health and care professionals for legitimate reasons. The review will be reporting later in 2013.
The Department has been working with the British Computer Society to provide user-tested guidance for patients on how to protect their information when they access their medical records. The guidance, “Keeping Your Online Health and Social Care Records Safe and Secure” was published on 25 February 2013 and a copy has been placed in the Library.
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures are in place to prevent Atos Healthcare gaining access via the General Practice Extraction Service to the NHS records of individuals undertaking the work capability assessment to determine their eligibility for employment and support allowance; [145814]
(2) what safeguards he has put in place to protect patient confidentiality as part of his Department's contract with Atos Healthcare for the General Practice Extraction Service. [145822]
Anna Soubry: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) hold a contract with Atos in connection with the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES).
We understand from HSCIC that the contract for work capability assessment for the Department for Work and Pensions is held with Atos Healthcare. GPES and
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the work capability assessment programme are wholly separate and not linked in any way. Atos staff do not have access to any patient information that is extracted by GPES, unless authorised by the HSCIC.
Protecting patient confidentiality has always been central to GPES. The service has been designed with stringent access controls in place in order to ensure that no unauthorised access is granted. Extractions of data must follow the guidance set out in the GPES Information Governance Principles, which state that requests for data will be initially reviewed and refined by the HSCIC so that only the minimum necessary data are extracted and passed to customers.
The request must then be considered by an Independent Advisory Group (IAG), which includes members of the public and general practice representatives. The IAG has an advisory role and makes recommendations to the HSCIC, which is responsible for formally approving requests.
GPES will not begin to extract any data from general practitioner systems until June 2013. Copies of the GPES security policy will be published in advance of this date.
Medical Treatments
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the NHS report, “Creating change: Innovation health and wealth one year on”, published in December 2012, what estimate he has made of the number of patients that will benefit each year from the oesophageal Doppler monitoring uptake programme. [144867]
Anna Soubry: “Innovation Health and Wealth” sets out that from April 2013, compliance with six high impact innovations, including oesophageal Doppler monitoring, or similar fluid management monitoring technology, will become a pre-qualification requirement for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's costing template and report, which accompanies its medical technologies guidance on the CardioQ-ODM oesophageal Doppler monitor, states that adoption of intra-operative fluid management across the NHS in England could benefit 10% of all surgical patients. Using figures for 2009-10 this equates to 837,145 people per year. The costing template and report are available at:
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/MTG3/CostingTemplate/xls/English
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing oesophageal Doppler monitoring and other fluid management monitoring technologies. [144868]
Anna Soubry: A costing report has have been produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to provide an estimate of the financial impact to the national health service of implementing the MTG3 CardioQ-ODM (oesophageal Doppler monitor). The costing tool also allows NHS trusts to input their own populations and it provides an indication of the cost. The report is available at:
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/MTG3/CostingTemplate/xls/English
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Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of potential savings for the NHS through implementing oesophageal Doppler monitoring and other fluid management monitoring technologies. [144874]
Anna Soubry: “Innovation Health and Wealth” sets out that from April 2013, compliance with six high impact innovations, including oesophageal Doppler monitoring, or similar fluid management monitoring technology, will become a pre-qualification requirement for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence costing template and report, which accompanies its medical technologies guidance on the CardioQ-ODM oesophageal Doppler monitor, estimates the net savings to the national health service in England through implementing its guidance to be £413 million per annum. The costing template and report are available at:
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/MTG3/CostingTemplate/xls/English
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage NHS trusts and commissioners to engage with the national uptake programme for (a) oesophageal Doppler monitoring and (b) other fluid management monitoring technologies. [144882]
Anna Soubry: “Innovation Health and Wealth” sets out that from April 2013, compliance with six high impact innovations, including CardioQ Oesophageal Doppler monitoring (ODM) or similar intra-operative fluid management monitoring technology, will become a pre-qualification requirement for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN). This means that providers will need to meet agreed implementation goals for these innovations by March 2013 in order to qualify for CQUIN payments.
A comprehensive technology adoption pack has been produced by the NHS Technology Adoption Centre (NTAC) on behalf of the Department and is available at:
www.ntac.nhs.uk/web/FILES/Intra_Operative_Fluid_Management/IOFM_Adoption_pack_final_140612.pdf
Members: Correspondence
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Chesterfield of 22 November 2012 and 7 February 2013 on behalf of a constituent, Mrs Gladys Simpson. [144938]
Dr Poulter: I replied to the hon. Member's letter of 22 November 2012 on 18 December 2012 and the hon. Member's letter of 7 February 2013 on 27 February 2013.
NHS Property Services
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) by what means local accountability will be exercised over NHS Property Services; and whether health scrutiny committees will routinely receive regular reports on its operation; [144752]
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(2) (a) how many staff will be employed and (b) what total value of assets will be held by NHS Property Services in Gateshead. [144753]
Dr Poulter: It will be for local health economies and their clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to hold NHS Property Services Ltd (NHS PS) to account locally and to take decisions as to what properties and related services are provided and where they are located. It will be for NHS PS to work with the local national health service and its commissioners in deciding the need for primary or community care premises and other buildings from which NHS services are provided. If a need for premises is identified by local CCGs, it will be for NHS PS to respond and offer the necessary site or building.
In respect of whether NHS PS will have to report on a regular basis to Local Scrutiny Committees, health organisations must seek review by the local authority where proposals result in a service change. New regulations on local authority health scrutiny have been drawn up to ensure that any changes to local health care are more transparent, and overseen and considered locally. However, these regulations will only apply where health organisations are proposing to change health services and will not apply where the local health economy is considering changes to its estate that do not materially effect the delivery of services.
With regard to staffing, NHS PS will consist nationally of a small board of directors, with most of its staff being at a regional and local level. It has four regional directors, with teams that will work closely with the new NHS structure, with the majority of staff being locally-based and delivering services to patients, NHS staff and the public.
The precise number of staff to be employed by NHS PS, locally and nationally, is not yet known. However, it is anticipated that some 3,000 staff working in estates and facilities roles in primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities will transfer under TUPE (Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment) legislation to the company. Staff will transfer on 1 April 2013. The company is recruiting a further 72 posts to fulfil corporate roles such as in finance, information technology and human resources. This type of support has been provided to local estates teams by the PCTs that they are currently part of.
Similarly, work is ongoing with regard to the assets to be held by NHS PS, but current analysis has shown that nationally:
General practitioner surgeries will account for 30% of the assets;
Support services (e.g. administration and equipment storage)—24%;
Hospitals and land—2% each; and
Health centres—19%.
NHS: Disclosure of Information
Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons NHS Trust chief executives who have left their positions since 2005 were issued with suppression orders. [144736]
Dr Poulter: This information is not held centrally.
The Department does approve the business cases for any extra-contractual severance payments proposed by national health service organisations other than foundation
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trusts. However, it does not have sight of the compromise agreements under which the payments are being proposed and therefore does not routinely monitor the use of confidentiality clauses or the reasons for their use.
The Department does not support the use of confidentiality clauses or “suppression orders” within either a compromise agreement or contracts of employment that seek to prevent a member of staff from raising concerns in the public interest and that are covered by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
We encourage anyone who has signed a compromise agreement that includes a confidentiality clause, but who has concerns about patient safety, to seek advice and support from the whistleblowers helpline.
Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) managers and (b) doctors left NHS employment subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2005. [144851]
Dr Poulter: This information is not held centrally.
The Department does not support the use of confidentiality or “non-disclosure” clauses within either a compromise agreement or contracts of employment that seek to prevent a member of staff from raising concerns in the public interest and that are covered by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
We encourage anyone who has signed a compromise agreement that includes a confidentiality clause, but who has concerns about patient safety, to seek advice and support from the whistleblowers helpline.
NHS: Finance
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition his Department applies to the word “value” as it relates to plans for the introduction of value-based pricing; what criteria his Department will use for the introduction of value-based pricing; and if he will make a statement. [144848]
Norman Lamb: Currently, pharmaceutical companies set prices for new branded medicines within the framework of the 2009 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. Through value-based pricing, we want to enable a closer link between a medicine's price and its value to patients and society. Value-based pricing will build on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's existing technology appraisals processes for assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new technologies, but will be capable of incorporating a broader assessment of a medicine's value, taking into account factors such as burden of illness and wider societal benefits.
NHS: Redundancy Pay
Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS trusts spent on employee severance packages in each year from 2005-06 to 2011-12. [144850]
Dr Poulter: Information on severance packages actually spent by national health service trusts is not held centrally. However, the following table sets out the extra-contractual severance payments proposed by NHS Trusts and approved by HM Treasury since 2008-09.
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| Severance payments proposed by NHS Trusts and approved by HM Treasury since 2008-09 | |
| Total value of approved payments to NHS Trusts (£) | |
| Notes: 1. NHS bodies must obtain HM Treasury's explicit permission before making any staff severance payments that exceed legal or contractual obligations. The table shows the total value of those approved financial settlements for NHS trusts. 2. The table does not include the actual payments, as this information is not held by the Department. The final actual payments made can be lower than the approved amount or not made at all. 3. The Department does not hold the requested information prior to 2008-09. 4. The Department does not hold this information for foundation trusts. Source: Validated data sent from HM Treasury and held by the Department | |
Nutrition
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the healthy-eating programme “Eat Like A Champ”; and what steps it has taken to support that programme and its aims. [144635]
Anna Soubry: The Department has made no formal assessment of Danone's “Eat Like A Champ” programme, though is aware of the programme, its content and Danone's commitment to making it available to more primary schools.
We know that the food skills and knowledge, which the programme includes, are important building blocks in helping children to develop healthier food behaviours. The programme complements continuing activity through the Change4Life campaign, of which Danone is a commercial partner.
Organs: Donors
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people living in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber have received organ donations in each of the last five years. [145581]
Anna Soubry: The information requested is in the following tables.
| Number of organ transplants by organ in the Brigg and Goole Constituency from 2008-09 to 2012-13 | |||||
| Organ | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13(1) |
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| Number of organ transplants by organ in Yorkshire and the Humber from 2008-09 to 2012-13 | |||||
| Organ | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13(1) |
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| (1) 2012-13 includes figures from the start of the 2012-13 financial year until 26 February 2013. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant | |||||
Out-patients: Attendance
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of hospital appointments have been missed in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such missed appointments. [145583]
Anna Soubry: The percentage of missed out-patient appointments for Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency and Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authority (SHA) for 2007-08 to 2011-12 are shown in the following table.
No estimate has been made centrally of the cost to the national health service of missed out-patient appointments.
| Brigg and Goole constituency | Yorkshire and Humber SHA residence | |||||
| Did not attend | Total appointments | Percentage missed | Did not attend | Total appointments | Percentage missed | |
| Notes: 1. Information regarding parliamentary constituency is only available from 2009-10 onwards. 2. The appointment count is the number of planned/booked appointments for out-patients. The HES database contains one row per appointment that was made, whether it was attended or not. Appointments may be missed (did not attend), cancelled or attended. It should be noted that not all providers submit information about missed appointments and so data around “did not attends” should be interpreted with caution. 3. The SHA or primary care trust (PCT) of residence is that containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment. A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the PCT or SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current PCT and SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In order to improve data completeness, if the postcode was unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence were populated from the PCT/SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown. 4. HES out-patients figures are available from 2003-04 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. 5. HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 6. Activity included is from English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre | ||||||
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether monies raised from prescription charges are ring-fenced for NHS expenditure. [144847]
Anna Soubry: In England, charges paid by national health service patients for prescriptions are retained by dispensing organisations, which include hospitals, community pharmacies, dispensing general practitioners and appliance contractors. When prescriptions are dispensed in settings other than hospitals the retained charge is then offset against the payment made from primary care trust budgets to the dispensing organisation (administered by the NHS Business Services Authority). Therefore, while not technically ring-fenced, the income raised from prescription charges is administered in a way that means that it remains within the NHS.
Prostate Cancer
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans his Department has to raise awareness of prostate cancer amongst (a) all men and (b) black African-Caribbean men; [144960]
(2) what plans his Department has to raise awareness of the incidence of prostate cancer in black African-Caribbean men among (a) clinical commissioning groups, (b) general practitioners and (c) local authorities; [144961]
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(3) what steps his Department plans to take to improve outcomes for black African-Caribbean men with prostate cancer. [144964]
Anna Soubry: Prostate cancer awareness activity is currently managed through the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP). Since 2002, the PCRMP has been in place to ensure that men over 50 without symptoms of prostate cancer can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test free on the national health service after careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of PSA testing and after a discussion with a general practitioner (GP). The patient information sheets on PSA testing in the PCRMP packs make it clear that the risk of prostate cancer is greater for men with a familial history of prostate cancer and black-African and black-Caribbean men.
To ensure that GPs remain aware of the programme and its objectives, the Department's Prostate Cancer Advisory Group developed “Five Key Points Every GP Should Know About Prostate Cancer in 2011”. The five key points were published on the website of the Prostate Action charity in December 2011, with a link from NHS Choices.. The key points were also published in Prostate Action's newsletter, which went out to 4,000 GPs.
In 2011, the Department, the National Cancer Action Team and Prostate Cancer UK worked with NHS Newham and Barts Health Care Trust to pilot the Newham Prostate Health Drop-in Clinic at the Newham African-Caribbean Resource Centre. The clinic won the “Helping people live longer award” at the Quality in Care Programme Excellence in Oncology Awards 2012.
A formal evaluation of the clinic undertaken by researchers at King's College London concluded that further community-based prostate clinics could be introduced and evaluated to determine service models and locations, to reach men reluctant to use traditional primary care services. The learning gained from the pilot is being shared widely with stakeholders within London and across England.
Cancer indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcomes Framework will help us to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for everyone, including black African-Caribbean men with prostate cancer.
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the development of prostate cancer treatment guidelines and quality standards; and what consideration will be given to the incidence of prostate cancer in black African-Caribbean men in those guidelines and standards. [144962]
Anna Soubry: We have asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a quality standard on prostate cancer, as part of a library of approximately 180 NHS quality standards. NICE is preparing this quality standard alongside an update of its existing clinical guideline on prostate cancer, which was published in 2008.
The detail of the guideline and quality standard will be a matter for NICE in consultation with relevant stakeholders to ensure that these define what high quality care should look like for all men with prostate cancer, including black Afro-Caribbean men.
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NICE currently expects to complete the update of its prostate cancer guideline in late 2013 with the quality standard being published shortly after.
Radioactive Waste: Fife
Mr Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will receive a report from the Health Protection Agency on the incidence of radioactive substances and their effect on residents in Dalgety Bay, Fife. [144896]
Anna Soubry: The Department has not requested a report from the Health Protection Agency on the incidence of radioactive substances and their effect on residents in Dalgety Bay, Fife. However, the Department is aware that the Scottish Government have requested such a report from the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment but the Department is not aware of the time scales for this report.
School Milk
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much was claimed by the UK in EU subsidies provided for nursery milk in each year since 2005; [144858]
(2) how much the UK is entitled to claim annually in European Union subsidies provided for nursery milk. [144859]
Dr Poulter: The European Union school milk subsidy may be claimed for the actual quantity supplied to pupils up to a maximum of 250ml per pupil per day in nurseries. Whilst there is no specific limit to the total annual amount of EU subsidy that may be claimed, it may be paid only to approved claimants who operate and make claims in compliance with all the EU School Milk scheme requirements.
Prior to 2008 the Department of Health could not claim the EU milk subsidy for nursery milk. In 2008 when the EU rules were extended to cover early years settings, the Department submitted EU milk subsidy claims on behalf of childcare providers claiming under the Nursery Milk scheme (a United Kingdom-wide scheme). From October 2008 to April 2010, the Department claimed a total of £2,641,271.08 on childcare settings behalf. However some childcare settings were found to be non-compliant and therefore the Department was asked to return this money. No further claims were made after this date because the EU raised concerns that as the Department cannot guarantee that the childcare settings will be complying with the EU milk subsidy claim requirements, it should not make claims on their behalf.
Northern Ireland runs a separate Nursery Milk scheme. We are unable to provide information on the level of EU subsidy claimed for the nursery milk in Northern Ireland since 2005.
Smoking
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on its smoke-free homes and cars campaign in spring 2012. [144852]
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Anna Soubry: The Department spent £2.3 million on advertising for the Smokefree Homes and Cars campaign in spring 2012.
This is departmental advertising spend only. Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs and VAT). All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000. Figures provided are provisional.
Speech Therapy: Children
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the implications for child welfare of the withdrawal of speech therapy support for children with autism aged six years old or over by Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group; and if he will make a statement; [145721]
(2) if he will make an assessment of the conformity of the policy of Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group on the provision of speech therapy for children with autism aged six years old or over with national guidelines; and if he will make a statement. [145724]
Anna Soubry: We have made no such assessment. Clinical commissioning groups must commission health services to meet the reasonable requirements of the persons for whom it has responsibility (unless the NHS Commissioning Board is under a duty to do so). Local clinicians are best placed to make decisions on how to address local health needs, including the provision of speech and language therapy.
Tuberculosis
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he has given to developing a strategy to tackle rising rates of tuberculosis. [144533]
Anna Soubry: The Department recognises the public health importance of tuberculosis (TB). The national health service and public health system reforms will provide opportunities for more integrated commissioning and provision of services driven by health and well-being boards, in partnership with clinical commissioning groups, the NHS Commissioning Board, Public Health England and service providers.
We are currently exploring the effectiveness of a cross-health sector approach for a national strategy for TB, which will ensure the level of consistency needed in delivering TB services based on local need.
Vitamin B12
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the NHS's efficacy in detecting and properly treating those suffering from a vitamin B12 deficiency. [144707]
Norman Lamb: All general practitioners (GPs) should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of anaemia and with the methods for diagnosing and treating its common causes, including vitamin B12 deficiency. Guidance is available from sources commonly consulted by GPs, including “Clinical Knowledge Summaries” and patient.co.uk.
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Business, Innovation and Skills
Arms Trade: Madagascar
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department made of the suitability of Madagascar as a market for arms export. [145660]
Michael Fallon: All export licence applications for the export of arms to Madagascar are assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated European Union and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria depending on the end-use and circumstances prevailing at the time of application.
Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are mandatory considerations for all export licence applications. The Government will not issue licences where there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression.
Construction: Yorkshire and the Humber
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the economic value of the construction sector in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber. [145582]
Michael Fallon: Region level is the lowest level for which figures are available.
Construction output in Yorkshire and the Humber fell by 7.1% in Q3 2012 compared with the same quarter a year earlier.(1)
In 2011, orders for new construction work in Yorkshire and the Humber amounted to £3.1 billion. Latest figures show that in the first half of 2012, new orders totalled £2.4 billion.(2)
(1) Source—ONS Output in The Construction Industry December 2012, non-seasonally adjusted, current prices.
(2) Source—ONS New Orders in The Construction Industry 2012Q2, Additional Half-Yearly Tables.
Credit: Interest Rates
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many payday loan companies operated in the UK (a) in each constituency and (b) on the internet in each of the last 30 years. [144605]
Jo Swinson: Government do not keep any data on the number of payday loan companies operating in the UK (a) in each constituency and (b) on the internet in each of the last 30 years and are not aware of any such data.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) set out in the interim report of its ongoing compliance review of payday lenders, published on 20 November 2012, that it was aware of around 240 payday lenders. Some of these lenders operate exclusively online and, of the remainder, I expect that some will be sole traders and some will be multiple traders. It is also worth noting that online payday lending was only facilitated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Electronic Communications) Order 2004, which permits consumer credit contracts to be signed online.
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We are of course concerned about evidence that consumers are experiencing problems with payday lending across constituency boundaries and online. Government are therefore taking co-ordinated action to tackle detriment in this market, including working with industry to ensure the effective implementation of the voluntary codes of practice agreed last year and the OFT's compliance review which is due to publish its final report shortly. We are also strengthening OFT enforcement powers with a new power to suspend a business's credit licence with immediate effect, or on a date specified by the OFT. This will be used by the OFT where considers it is urgently necessary in order to protect the interests of consumers and prevent serious actual or potential consumer detriment. This power came into effect last month.
Further, we have announced our intention to transfer the regulation of consumer credit from the OFT to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014 subject to the design of a proportionate regime. The FCA will have a diverse range of regulatory powers to address problems across all consumer credit markets, including being able to ban products or specific product features, levy fines and determine consumer redress.
The Government are currently considering whether other action may be needed in the high cost credit sector, including payday lending. In coming to a conclusion, we will be informed by the evidence gathered by the university of Bristol's Personal Finance Research Centre who have been undertaking an in-depth study into the likely effects of capping the cost of credit. This report is due to be published shortly.
Employment Schemes
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many young unemployed people his Department has taken on through the Youth Contract. [144943]
Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has taken on four young apprentices in the last 12 months as part of the Youth Contract.
We are about to embark on developing a programme of work experience for young people under the Youth Contract, in consultation with Job Centre Plus.
EU Grants and Loans
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the allocation of EU structural funds to (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland as a result of the agreement reached by the European Council on the Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2014 to 2020. [145235]
Michael Fallon: The Government will be in a position to decide on allocations of EU structural funds within the UK only after there is a final agreement between the European Parliament and member states on the EU budget for 2014-20 and following further discussions with the devolved Administrations.
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the allocation of EU structural funds. [145236]
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Michael Fallon: An initial conversation has taken place between myself, UK Minister responsible for structural funds, and Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister for Scotland, on the outcome of the recent EU budget agreement by Heads of State and Government. The Government will be in a position to decide on allocations of EU structural funds within the UK only after there is a final agreement between the European Parliament on the EU budget for 2014-20 and member states and following further discussion with the devolved Administrations.
Food
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider bringing forward proposals to extend the remit of the Regulated Industries Unit to include (a) consumer interests in tackling obesity and (b) the food industry. [145309]
Jo Swinson: From April 2014 the Regulated Industries Unit (RIU) will focus on consumer issues and advocacy in the regulated gas, electricity and postal services markets, plus water in Scotland. The unit will also consider cross-cutting issues across other regulated markets and feed into other consumer bodies and regulators as appropriate.
Responsibility for consumer advocacy in other areas, including food, will be the responsibility of the Citizens Advice service, who will be able to investigate areas of concern on behalf of consumers.
We expect the RIU to transfer to the Citizens Advice service in 2014, giving them the responsibility and resources to act as the consumer advocate across the whole range of consumer issues. We do not expect to explicitly include these areas in the unit's remit.
Graduates: Unemployment
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the rate of graduate unemployment was in each of the last 30 years. [144976]
Mr Willetts: Information on employment outcomes six months after graduation is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the higher education performance indicators. Statistics are available for the academic years 2002/03 to 2010/11 and are based on information collected via the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.
Statistics on the percentage of full-time first degree graduates from UK higher education institutions who were in employment or further study six months after graduating from their course are provided in the table. Graduate destinations surveys existed prior to the DLHE survey, but it is not possible to provide employment rates from these, except at disproportionate cost.
| Full-time first degree graduates in employment or further study six months after graduating UK Higher Education Institutions—Academic years 2002/03 to 2010/11 | |
| Academic year | Percentage in employment and/or further study |
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| Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) | |
More details on the higher education performance indicators can be found at the following link:
http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2071<emid=141
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publishes statistics on graduate employment rates in its statistical bulletin “Graduates in the Labour Market”. Estimates included in the bulletin are based on data collected by the Labour Force survey (LFS). The latest bulletin, published in March 2012, gives the employment and unemployment rates of recent graduates (those graduating in the last six years), and time series are included as far back as Q2 1992. The bulletin, including links to the underpinning data, is available at the following link:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_259049.pdf
Internet
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons information regarding Ministers' meetings with external organisations on the data.gov.uk website is not available for the last two quarters of 2012; and when such information will be made available. [145745]
Jo Swinson: I can confirm that details of the Department's Ministers' meetings with external organisations for the quarter July-September 2012 are all now signposted on data.gov.uk. Detail of Ministers' meetings with external organisations for the period October-December 2012 is now being collated across all Government Departments and will be published as soon as possible.
Members: Correspondence
Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he intends to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 16 October 2012 and 20 December 2012, and the email from the same source of 23 January 2013 regarding Councillor Phil Turner. [145717]
Mr Willetts: My hon. Friend wrote in similar terms to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and a reply addressing the matters raised was sent to my hon. Friend.
A reply explaining the handling of the correspondence sent to this Department will be sent to my hon. Friend shortly.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to respond to the letters of 5 December 2012 and 12 February 2013 from the hon. Member for Harrow West regarding Mr Dhirenda Vadera. [145746]
Jo Swinson: The letter of 5 December was not received by this Department. A reply to the letter of 12 February was sent on the 28 February.
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Merseyside
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much and what the breakdown is of money which has been (a) committed to and (b) spent by his Department in the Merseyside region in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date. [144724]
Jo Swinson: The Department has not collated or published details of funding that has been committed or spent at a sub-regional level and unfortunately the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what procedures are in place within his Department to deal with breaches of the code of conduct for special advisers. [145655]
Jo Swinson: Matters relating to special advisers are handled in accordance with the Ministerial Code, the model contract and code of conduct for special advisers.
New Businesses
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff from his Department have been allocated to the Start-up Spaces scheme and its delivery; and how many staff hours have been worked by such staff since the inception of the scheme. [145734]
Michael Fallon: Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Government Property Unit have worked together with other Departments on this initiative.
BIS has contributed 1.5 full-time equivalent staff to this initiative; we have not collated information on the number hours worked as some of this work has been integrated into the day to day activities of the staff involved in the project and cannot be disaggregated except at disproportionate cost.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects the first premises to be available under the Start-up Spaces scheme. [145735]
Michael Fallon: We expect the first start-up space to be available before the end of March. The Department that controls this space is finalising legal agreements with the bidder who will run and manage this space on its behalf. In parallel some small scale works are taking place to make the space ready for occupation.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total cost has been of the Start-up Spaces scheme since its inception. [145736]
Michael Fallon: Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Government Property Unit are working together with other Departments on this initiative.
Across a number of grades BIS and GPU have each contributed 1.5 full-time equivalent staff to this initiative. A figure for the total cost of the pilot phase of this scheme has not been collated. The work done by individual
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Departments on individual spaces has been integrated into the day to day activities of estates teams: It is not possible to disaggregate these costs except at disproportionate cost.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many premises are under active consideration under the Start-up Spaces scheme; if he will list the location of each such premises; when he expects assessment of such premises to be complete and such premises to be made available to firms under the scheme; and what deadlines his Department has set for such assessments. [145737]
Michael Fallon: Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Government Property Unit (GPU) are working together with other Departments on this initiative.
Contract negotiations are taking place between Departments and preferred bidders to agree and finalise contracts and prepare the first of four pilot spaces for start-ups. We anticipate our first space will open to businesses before the end of March with more space becoming available later in the year.
Issues such as locations and the date by which firms will be able to access premises under the scheme are dependent on the mutually satisfactory conclusion of negotiations and work to prepare the spaces. The work continues to be commercially sensitive and I can not provide more detailed information at this stage.
In the meantime the GPU continue to review Government's portfolio of buildings to identify suitable space which can be set aside for start-ups.
New Businesses: Young People
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) initial enquiries and (b) expressions of interest from potential applicants have been received who have not gone on to make an application for a start-up loan to date under the Start-up Loans scheme since its inception. [145738]
Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 636-8W. We do not hold data on applicants who have approached a delivery partner directly and not gone on to make a loan application.
Parental Leave
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to bring forward proposals for flexible parental leave. [145254]
Jo Swinson: The legislative measures on shared parental leave are being brought forward in the Children and Families Bill. The Bill was introduced on the 4 February 2013 and successfully passed Second Reading on the 25 February 2013.
Alongside this I published the consultation on the detailed administration of shared parental leave on the 25 February 2013. This consultation will run until the 17 May 2013 and we will be seeking views from a broad range of stakeholders to inform how shared parental leave will work in practice.
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It remains our intention to introduce shared parental leave in 2015, in line with the coalition agreement commitment.
Paternity Leave
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 2 July 2012, Official Report, column 504W, on paternity leave, how many fathers and partners have taken additional paternity leave since its commencement in 2011. [144929]
Jo Swinson: In the financial year 2011/12, which is the only year we currently have figures for, 1,650 people claimed additional statutory paternity pay for a total of £1.16 million. We have no figures on the number of people taking additional paternity leave, because employers are not required to notify Government when individuals take leave.
Post Offices: Photographs
Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to ensure that post offices that do not have Cogent digital camera equipment installed for the renewal of driving licences do not lose the check-and-send business they have previously had. [144844]
Jo Swinson: Under the new contract with DVLA the digital photographic service will be available in 753 post office branches replacing the photocard licence check- and-send service offered in 749 post office branches. These arrangements do not affect the motor vehicle licensing service available in some 4,600 branches or the passport check-and-send service available in around 2,500 branches.
Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of installing Cogent digital camera equipment in post offices. [144845]
Jo Swinson: The decision to install Cogent digital camera equipment in post offices was a commercial and operational matter for Post Office Ltd, in conjunction with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
Postgraduate Education
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of domestic postgraduate students are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [145728]
Mr Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on student enrolments at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Information on the number of UK domiciled postgraduate enrolments by ethnicity at UK HEIs for the academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 is provided in the table.
Information for the 2012/13 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
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| UK domiciled(1) postgraduate enrolments(2) by ethnic background—UK higher education institutions. Academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 | ||
| Ethnicity | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
| (1 )This field of the HESA Student Record records the country of the student's permanent or home address prior to entry to the course. (2) Covers students in all years of study. Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record. | ||
Science: Females
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage women into science and engineering professions. [145255]
Mr Willetts: I have asked the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society to lead a diversity programme for the STEM community. This UK-wide programme aims to identify and tackle the barriers faced by women and all minority groups as well as those who are economically disadvantaged.
As part of the BIS funded diversity programme the Royal Academy of Engineering has commissioned the Women's Engineering Society to deliver a piece of research on “The Voice of Women Engineering Students”. The research will give unique contemporary insights into the thoughts and aspirations of 1,200 women engineering students and include specific reflections on ethnicity and socio-economic background. This research will be presented as part of the programme of activities which the Royal Academy of Engineering is running for International Women's Day on 8 March 2013.
Many of this Department's other STEM partners are contributing directly to the equality and diversity agenda. A broad mix of STEM activities and wider societal programmes are funded from the science and research budget and these have a major impact on diversity in the UK STEM work force.
Our work on the STEM pipeline has strands which seek to encourage more girls to study science at school and university, through the UK-wide STEM Ambassadors programme. STEMNET actively seeks to ensure that the profile of the Ambassadors they recruit adequately represent the local community in which the Ambassadors volunteer. At present, around 40% of the 25,000 STEM Ambassadors are women.
Within the Royal Society fellowship schemes, the Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships are specifically aimed at UK researchers who require a flexible working pattern and women are particularly encouraged to apply.
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Student Finance England
Mr Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to commission the next independent health check Review of Student Finance England. [144742]
Mr Willetts: I do not consider it necessary at this time to commission an independent health check of the Student Loans Company's (SLC's) Student Finance England (SFE) service. Following the service delivery problems in 2009, the Department commissioned an independent health check to consider SLC's preparedness to deliver the academic year (AY) 2010/11 student finance application cycle. SLC's performance has since shown marked improvement with three consecutive student finance application cycles delivered successfully.
The Government are committed to ensuring that students and their families get the student finance service they rightly expect. I regularly meet the SLC Chair and Chief Executive to review SLC's overall performance and discuss how the Department can better support its efforts to improve the student finance service. Officials work with the SLC to review performance throughout the year and monitor the student support application cycle closely.
I am satisfied with the level of assurance that this oversight provides.
Students: Debts
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average level of student debt was in each of the last 30 years; and what estimate he has made of future levels of student debt over the next 10 years. [144975]
Mr Willetts: The average debt accumulated by Income Contingent repayment borrowers as they enter repayment in the April after they leave their courses is shown in the table. These figures come from table 3(iii) of the Official Statistics: Income Contingent repayments by repayment cohort and tax year 2000/01 to 2010/11 inclusive (provisional) available on the Student Loans Company (SLC) website at:
http://www.slc.co.uk/media/333186/slcosp022012.pdf
| Average amount owed by Income Contingent Repayment student loan borrowers with outstanding debt as they entered repayment, 2000 to2012: English domiciled students studying in higher education in the UK and EU students studying in HE in England | |
| Repayment cohort(1) | Average amount of debt outstanding of students who had just entered repayment (£) |
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| (1) Borrowers are grouped into repayment cohorts based on the year in which their liability to repay began; this means for example that students who graduated in 2010 are included in the repayment cohort 2011. (2) The 2000 repayment cohort is atypical as it represents a higher proportion of borrowers who withdrew from their course and or who were on one year course of study. (3) The uplift in figures for 2010 reflects the first significant group of borrowers who came into repayment who were subject to variable tuition fees and the availability of tuition fee loans. These were mainly entrants in 2006/07 on three year courses. | |
The latest forecast of the average debt for English students and EU students studying in England due to start making repayments in April 2013 is £17,500, to the nearest £500. This figure is subject to change due to interest being added, early repayments being made and borrowers who are currently counted in later repayment cohorts withdrawing from their courses before April 2013.
Student loans issued to students who entered higher education in academic year 1998/99 onwards were issued under the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) scheme.
Student loans are dissimilar to other debt in that they do not need to be repaid until the student has completed their studies, and is earning above the repayment threshold (currently £15,795 and rising to £16,365 in April 2013). Monthly repayments are income contingent and will be suspended where income falls below the relevant repayment threshold. Loans will be cancelled if the borrower dies or receives a disability related benefit and because of the disability is permanently unfit for work.
They will be cancelled on age grounds—at age 65 years for pre-2006/07 entrants; or after 25 years for new entrants between 2006/07 and 2011/12.
It is not possible to provide data for the older mortgage style loans issued between 1990 and 1999, except at disproportionate cost.
Students: Per Capita Costs
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent per student by the (a) Government and (b) student on university education in each of the last 30 years; and what estimate he has made of future trends in such expenditure in each of the next 10 years. [145020]
Mr Willetts: The average spending by Government per higher education student is published routinely as it is one of the Department's performance indicators. Estimates of the spending per student in the financial years 2007-08 to 2011-12 were published in October 2012 and are available at the following link. Figures for earlier years can be found in the annual reports of our former Departments.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/82952/Funding_per_student_in_higher_education.pdf
Students have made a contribution towards the cost of their higher education via tuition fees, which were
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introduced for new students in the 1998/99 academic year. Tuition fee arrangements for full-time students since 1998/99 are set out in the following table:
| Academic year | Maximum tuition fee charged to new entrants (£) | Student support available towards fees |
| (1) Tuition fees had to be paid upfront, though means-tested fee grants were available to students from lower income households (2) Tuition fee loan available | ||
Further information on the anticipated balance of contributions between Government and students is included in the Higher Education Council for England's (HEFCE) annual grant letter. The latest grant letter, referring to the financial year 2013-14 is published at the following link:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2013/name,76313,en.html
Tax Avoidance
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what legislative proposals he intends to introduce to increase the transparency of the payments made by UK-based companies to the Governments of developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [145813]
Jo Swinson: I am committed to increased transparency of payments made by UK companies to Governments. This includes requiring large companies in the extractives and forestry sectors incorporated anywhere in the EU or listed on a recognised EU exchange to disclose the payments they make to Governments. These reporting requirements will be implemented in the UK through secondary legislation.
World War II: Medals
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 3 February 2011, Official Report, column 938, on World War Two, what progress he has made in recognising the contribution of World War Two munitions workers; and if he will meet the APPG on the Recognition of Munitions Workers on this matter. [145723]
Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, columns 483-84W.
I am grateful for his work along with the chairman (the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies))
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and other members of the APPG on the Recognition of Munitions Workers group. I would be pleased to meet to discuss the group's progress and have asked my office to contact the hon. Member to make arrangements.
Education
Children: Day Care
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the level of provision of formal childcare during school holidays in each of the last three years. [144798]
Elizabeth Truss [holding 27 February 2013]: The Department's Childcare and Early Years Provider survey is the main source of information on this topic. Table 1 provides estimates of the number of holiday clubs in England in 2011, 2010 and 2009. The survey was not conducted in 2012.
| Table 1: Number of holiday clubs in England 2011, 2010 and 2009 | |
| Holiday clubs | |
| Notes: Changes to the way in which Ofsted classifies providers, and changes to the available data sources, meant that the 2010 survey had to employ a different sampling method to that which had been used previously. The changes that were made in 2010 may potentially have affected trends between 2010 and the earlier waves of the survey. Comparisons should take this into account. Source: Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2011 | |
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the average cost to each household of childcare in each of the last 30 years. [145019]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department conducts two child care surveys (one of parents and one of child care providers) that indicate how child care costs have changed in recent years. However, official statistics on child care costs do not go further back than the mid-2000s.
The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey gives data on the fees that providers charge parents. It contains information on the average fees charged to parents for different types of childcare. The following table shows how average hourly fees have changed since data collection began in 2006.
| Average hourly fee | ||||
| £ | ||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2010 | |
| n/a = Not available Source: Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 | ||||
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In 2010, for all types of child care, average hourly fees were lower in the 30% most deprived areas than they were in the 70% least deprived areas. Average hourly fees were highest in London, followed by the South East and East of England.
The DFE Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents provides information on the weekly and hourly average payment for childcare as reported by parents. These figures relate to the average total amount paid by parents for the child care they use and therefore do not take account of the number of hours of child care used, the number of different providers that parents use, or the ages of children provided for. The following table shows the mean weekly child care payment made by parents since 2007.
| £ | ||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Source: Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 | ||||
The following table shows for 2011 the average weekly payment made by parents using different types of child care.
| Average weekly payment for child care in 2011 | |
| £ | |
Children's Centres
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has plans to collect information on the number of people who have used Sure Start children's centres (a) in England and (b) by parliamentary constituency. [144787]
Elizabeth Truss [holding answer 27 February 2013]: The Department has no plans to collect information on the number of people who have used Sure Start Children's Centres. It is for local authorities to be satisfied that they have sufficient children's centres to meet local need.
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Sure Start children's centres are in operation in (a) Yorkshire and (b) England. [144957]
Elizabeth Truss: Information supplied by local authorities on the Sure Start-On Database shows that on 31 January 2013 there were 3,209 Sure Start Children's Centres in England. Of these, 361 are located in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
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Correspondence
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many official letters were received by his Department in 2012; and how many such letters were answered late. [142107]
Elizabeth Truss [holding answer 7 February 2013]: In 2012, the Department for Education received 70,386 items of correspondence. The Whitehall target to reply to correspondence is 20 working days. The Department operates a more stringent target of responding to correspondence within 15 working days. The following table shows the Department's performance in meeting that target.
| Treat official and ministerial correspondence 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012 | |
| Total | |
|
Number of replies (where reply required) within departmental target | |
If using the Whitehall target of 20 working days for the same period, the Department would reply within target with 51734 final replies issued—47850 (92%) within 20 days.
Free Schools: Cumbria
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have applied for free-school status in (a) Copeland constituency and (b) West Cumbria in the last 12 months. [143548]
Elizabeth Truss [holding answer 25 February 2013]: No applications for free schools have been received from Copeland or West Cumbria in the last 12 months.
GCSE
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils in alternative provision and pupil referral units achieved (a) A* to C grades in GCSE English, (b) A* to C grades in GCSE mathematics and (c) A* to C grades in English and mathematics by (i) local authority, (ii) ward, (iii) alternative provision setting, (iv) ethnicity, (v) sex, (vi) whether the child was in care, (vii) eligibility for free school meals and (viii) whether the child had a statement of special educational needs. [142570]
Elizabeth Truss [holding answer 11 February 2013]: The Statistical First Release “GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2011/12” contains statistics relating to the KS4 achievements of pupils in alternative provision, including pupil referral units; and can be found using the following link:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001109/index.shtml
Information by local authority is not available for the subjects listed above. However, you may find the two tables contained within the link above (Table P1 and P2) useful.
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Table P1 provides a breakdown by local authority of the percentage of pupils in alternative provision at the end of key stage 4 achieving 5+ A*-C including English and mathematics GCSEs.
Table P2 provides national GCSE full course results of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in alternative provision including pupil referral units, by subject and grade.
It is not possible to provide the information requested at ward level without incurring disproportionate costs. This is due to the time it would take to produce statistics for the indicators requested and the amount of suppression required in order to protect pupils' identity when providing statistics for lower level geographies.
Attainment data by characteristics and by alternative provision setting are not available for pupils in alternative provision including pupil referral units. The time taken to match the data and quality-assure the statistics would incur disproportionate costs.
Home Education
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures are taken by local authorities to assess the quality of home schooling. [143388]
Elizabeth Truss: Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children receive a suitable education. Parents and local authorities should recognise each other's rights and responsibilities, and work together. Local authorities have no statutory duties in relation to monitoring the quality of home education on a routine basis, and the Department does not collect information on local practice. An authority which is satisfied that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving suitable full-time education must serve a school attendance order on the child's parents.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Personal, Social and Health Education draft programme of study will be announced. [145298]
Elizabeth Truss: The internal review of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education was extended to take account of the outcomes of the wider National Curriculum Review.
The National Curriculum programmes of study have recently been released for consultation and we will announce the outcomes of the PSHE Review in due course.
Reading: Teaching Methods
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how much funding the year one phonics screening check received from his Department; [144925]
(2) how many meetings he had with teaching unions about the introduction of the year one phonics screening check before its introduction; [144926]
(3) what assessment his Department has made on the effectiveness of the year one phonics screening check. [144927]
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Elizabeth Truss: The costs of developing and piloting the phonics screening check in 2011 were £300,000. The independent evaluation of the pilot cost an additional £75,000. Delivering the national rollout of the phonics screening check in June 2012 cost £600,000. We have committed a further £280,000 for a three year, independent evaluation of the national rollout.
Ministers and officials have consulted with teacher unions, notably NAHT, on many occasions during the design and implementation of the check, including at Education Forum meetings where the phonics check is raised regularly.
The check was piloted with 300 schools in 2011, and an independent evaluation was carried out by Sheffield Hallam university. Following national rollout in 2012, the Department has commissioned NFER to evaluate the check over a period of three years. NFER will be looking at the administration of the check, and its effect on the teaching of phonics and wider literacy in schools.
Schools: Immigration
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has set aside any funding for any increase in school pupil numbers as a result of inward migration from Romania and Bulgaria. [144763]
Mr Laws [holding answer 27 February 2013]: The Department for Education does not hold back any capital funding for school places. To date, in the current spending review period, we have allocated £2.7 billion to local authorities in order to support them in providing additional pupil places. This funding is allocated using data on the forecast demand for places provided by local authorities, who will factor in a range of demographic considerations to their forecasts, including inward migration. We will announce future allocations shortly.
Over the whole spending review period we will spend more than £5 billion on school places—compared to only £1.9 billion in the previous spending review period (2007-11).
Schools: Transport
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department provides to (a) free schools, (b) academies, (c) comprehensives, (d) local authorities and (e) bus operators on the provision of school transport for 17 and 18-year-olds. [144856]
Mr Laws: The responsibility for post-16 transport support lies with local authorities. The authorities have a legal duty to set out in a transport statement the arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people to attend post-16 education. The Department provides statutory guidance to local authorities on how they should fulfil this duty. The guidance explains that local authorities are required to consider local circumstances and the needs of students in their area when developing their policies and to consult education and training providers among others. It is available at:
http://tinyurl.com/acn5cxt
The Department does not provide guidance to bus operators but Ministers and officials at the Department
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for Transport are liaising with the industry to encourage it to improve concessionary fare deals for young people.
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport of the transport needs of those over 16 years old after the increases in the school leaving age in (a) 2013 and (b) 2015; and if he will make a statement. [144857]
Mr Laws: The responsibility for post-16 transport support lies with local authorities. The authorities have a legal duty to set out in a transport statement the arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people to attend post-16 education. The Government recognise that some students find it difficult to pay for education-related costs, and this is one of the reasons why they introduced the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Local authorities and providers are encouraged to work together to ensure that post-16 transport support and the 16-19 Bursary fund are used effectively together to help meet transport costs. The Department for Education has commissioned an independent three-year evaluation of the 16-19 Bursary Fund, which will conclude at the end of 2014.
Raising the participation age does not mean young people have to remain in school. They will have a range of options for fulfilling their duty to participate including through an apprenticeship, full-time education or work with part-time training alongside. The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not discussed this directly with the Secretary of State for Transport, the right hon. Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), but discussions have taken place between other members of the ministerial team and between officials in both Departments.
Secondment
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) who pays the salaries of any civil servants seconded to (a) businesses and (b) other organisations which sponsor academies; [144870]
(2) how many civil servants have been seconded from his Department to (a) businesses and (b) other organisations which sponsor academies. [144871]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department has four members of staff on secondment to organisations which sponsor academies. In each case their salaries are reimbursed to the Department.
Training
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department spent on training and education for civil servants in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [144084]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department spent the following amounts on learning and development for staff:
| £ | |
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Vocational Education: Qualifications
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many and what proportion of key stage 4 examination entries (a) in total, (b) in each non-academy school, (c) in each converter academy, (d) in each sponsor-led academy and (e) for all academies, were for vocational qualifications judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSEs in 2011-12; and how many and what proportion in each such category were eligible for free school meals; [141003]
(2) how many and what proportion of key stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSEs were entered from (a) a non-academy school, (b) a converter academy, (c) a sponsor-led academy or (d) any academy; and how many and what proportion in each such category were eligible for free school meals; [141004]
(3) how many key stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications were judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSE (a) in total, (b) in each non-academy school, (c) in each converter academy, (d) in each sponsor-led academy and (e) for all academies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; [141009]
(4) how many 2010-11 key stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications were judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSE (a) in total, (b) in each non-academy school, (c) in each converter academy, (d) in each sponsor-led academy and (e) for all academies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; [141010]
(5) how many key stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications were judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSEs in each subject in 2011-12; and how many and what proportion taking each subject were eligible for free school meals. [141011]
Elizabeth Truss: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Work and Pensions
Disability: Access
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to require organisers of public events to consider the need of disabled people in wheelchairs to be located with people other than their designated carer. [145524]
Esther McVey: Provisions in the Equality Act 2010, which prohibit disability discrimination, require providers of services to the public to make a reasonable adjustment where, otherwise, a disabled person would be placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people.
The need to be located with people other than a designated carer is a factor that should be considered as part of this process.
Employment and Support Allowance
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the support group, (b) the work-related activity group and (c) overall will be affected by the social sector under-occupancy penalty. [145702]
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Steve Webb: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.