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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 18 March 2013
Attorney-General
Autonomy
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General whether the Serious Fraud Office has decided to investigate the sale of Autonomy or refer the case to another law enforcement agency. [148368]
The Attorney-General: Allegations have been made to the SFO about the circumstances of the sale in 2011 of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard. The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has decided to open an investigation into these allegations, with a view to using his powers of investigation to allow them to be tested.
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General on what date the Serious Fraud Office (a) opened an investigation into the sale of Autonomy, (b) became aware of a possible conflict of interest in conducting that investigation and (c) initiated internal enquiries into that possible conflict of interest. [148370]
The Attorney-General: The SFO has always been aware of the risk of conflict or perception of conflict in this case. It has, from the outset, kept the issue under careful review, and it will continue to do so as the investigation develops. The Director accepted the case for investigation on 31 January 2013.
Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what the cost to the Crown Prosecution Service was of prosecuting (a) Chris Huhne and (b) Vicky Pryce. [148286]
The Attorney-General: The cost to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of prosecuting (a) Chris Huhne and (b) Vicky Pryce was approximately £117,500. Joint proceedings were brought against Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce and, accordingly, it is not possible to quantify with certainty the cost of prosecuting either individually.
Crown Prosecution Service
John Hemming: To ask the Attorney-General what assessment he has made of the robustness and effectiveness of the present form of accountability and oversight of the Crown Prosecution Service. [147844]
The Attorney-General: It is of fundamental constitutional importance, and a legal requirement, that the prosecuting authorities act independently of Government and Parliament so that all prosecutorial decisions are made, and are seen to be made, free of any political influence, based solely on an assessment of the evidence and of the public interest.
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As Attorney-General, also in this respect acting independently of Government and Parliament, I have statutory superintendence of the Director of Public Prosecutions and, through him, the CPS. The relationship between the Attorney-General and the DPP was considered in the Constitutional Renewal programme under the last Government and resulted in a protocol between the Attorney-General and the DPP. The protocol is publicly available. My answerability in Parliament in respect of the DPP means that the Attorney-General is ready always to seek to explain to Parliament the role, the policies and the approach to decision-making of the CPS. Parliament, in turn, has always recognised that the merits of any prosecution decision, and the guilt or innocence of individuals, must be determined in the usual way by the courts rather than public debate.
In addition, the Director has himself given evidence to the Justice and Home Affairs Committees. As Accounting Officer for the CPS, he is directly accountable to Parliament for the expenditure of public funds.
John Hemming: To ask the Attorney-General how many private prosecutions have been taken over and discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service since January 2000; and if he will make a statement. [147845]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any management information centrally on the number of private prosecutions referrals it has received from January 2000 to February 2011.
Since February 2011, the CPS has maintained information for its own internal management purposes on the number of private prosecutions referrals it has received. The information should be treated with caution as it was intended for internal use only, and may not have captured every case referred to the CPS; but, it gives a good indication of the general level of referrals of private prosecutions to the CPS and what happened to the cases. The information shows the CPS has been referred 49 cases since February 2011 and 28 where at least one charge has been taken over and stopped.
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many compromise agreements have been entered into by departing Crown Prosecution Service staff since 2010; and whether any of these agreements contained gagging clauses. [148293]
The Solicitor-General: The number of compromise agreements with confidentiality clauses entered into by departing Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) staff each year since 2010 is shown in the following table:
| Number of agreements | |
Annual Leave
Priti Patel:
To ask the Attorney-General how many officials in (a) the Law Officers' Departments and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies
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qualify for privilege days; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the number of privilege days utilised each year by such officials. [147731]
The Attorney-General: All officials working in the Law Officers' Department qualify for privilege days. The current entitlement is 2.5 privilege days per year in addition to bank holidays and their annual leave entitlement. The privilege days are the Queen's birthday, a day at Christmas and a half day on Maundy Thursday. As part of the Civil Service Reform Plan the entitlement will reduce to one day during 2013-14.
The number of officials who currently qualify for privilege days and the cost for each Department is shown in the following table. The cost of the current arrangements can only be estimated by taking the total salary cost and giving an average cost for each day's pay.
| Department | Number of officials who qualify for privilege days | Estimated cost of privilege days (£) |
| (1) The data include the Attorney-General's Office and Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate | ||
Rape: Trials
Robert Flello: To ask the Attorney-General how many (a) victims and (b) witnesses in rape cases who gave evidence in courts in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 were advised by the Crown Prosecution Service not to receive counselling. [148121]
The Solicitor-General: Advice by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on the decision whether witnesses receive counselling has been available since 2001. The guidance: ‘Provision of therapy for Vulnerable or Intimidated Adult Witnesses prior to a criminal trial’ and ‘Provision of therapy for Child Witnesses prior to a criminal trial’, was endorsed by the Home Office, Department of Health and the Attorney-General's Office and is available on the CPS website at:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/#1gT
Whether a victim or witness should receive therapy before a criminal trial is not a decision for the CPS. Such decisions can only be taken by the victim or witness or his or her carer, in conjunction with the professionals from the agencies providing a service to the victim or witness or with responsibility for the victim or witness's welfare. The best interests of the victim or witness, whether an adult or child, are paramount in decisions about the provision of therapy before the criminal trial.
Serious Fraud Office
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General whether the Serious Fraud Office is being sued by any current or former members of staff. [148742]
The Solicitor-General: No former or current employees are suing the SFO, but there is one employment tribunal listed.
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Energy and Climate Change
Biofuels
Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to secure biomass conversion on existing sites. [148347]
Mr Hayes: The Department provides support for the conversion of existing power stations through the Renewables Obligation. Until 31 March 2013, support is available for fully converted stations at a rate of l.5 ROCs per MWh. From 1 April 2013, subject to State Aid approval, support for stations converting to biomass will be available as set out in the following table.
| Band | ROC support per MWh |
Furthermore, we published on 14 March 2013, the Government's ‘Final Investment Decision Enabling for Renewables’ programme which sets out the opportunity for an early form of Contract for Difference and will be available to biomass conversions.
The Government aim to offer investment contracts to successful applicants in the autumn, based on the draft strike prices and contract terms that will be published in the summer under the First EMR Delivery Plan.
By helping developers make final investment decisions this year, this process should allow construction to start on a number of projects sooner than otherwise would have been the case.
Decisions about the choice of scheme and whether to convert existing plants from fossil fuel to biomass will need to be taken by investors in those facilities.
Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the loss in generating capacity if his planned biomass conversion projects do not materialise. [148348]
Mr Hayes: The impact assessment accompanying the Government response to the banding review published in July 2012 estimated around 3.2 GW of renewable capacity from enhanced co-firing and biomass conversion over the banding review period (2013-14 to 2016-17).
The estimate above represents the biomass capacity of these plants, not the capacity of the entire coal plant. The commercial decision to convert to biomass is taken by individual operators, who may have a number of operating options available to them.
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on imports of a cap on subsidies on (a) current and (b) future imports of bioliquids. [148558]
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Mr Hayes: In July 2012, we published the Government response to the RO banding review consultation explaining the decisions reached on support for electricity generated from bioliquids. The Government response was accompanied by an impact assessment of the RO banding decisions.
We are introducing a 4% cap on the proportion of their renewables obligation that electricity suppliers can meet using certificates issued for electricity generated from bioliquids (with exceptions for CHP stations below 1 MW, energy from waste with CHP, advanced conversion fuels and microgenerators). The bioliquids cap equates to approximately 2 TWh of bioliquid electricity generation in 2017. The modelling for the impact assessment accompanying the Government response to the RO banding review showed that the support levels set for April 2013 onwards are not expected to bring on additional new deployment of bioliquid electricity generation, however, this is uncertain and there could be a small amount of new deployment of low cost bioliquid generation.
The impact assessment does not assess the likely source of the bioliquids. However, to date the vast majority of electricity generated through the RO from bioliquids has been wastes, and we expect most of these will have been sourced from the UK. Only electricity generated from bioliquids which meet the mandatory sustainability criteria are eligible for support, regardless of their source.
Carbon Capture and Storage: Yorkshire
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had on the implementation of carbon capture and storage projects in Yorkshire. [147698]
Mr Hayes: Yorkshire is emerging as one of the areas of the UK with a hive of CCS activity. The UK’s first carbon capture pilot was launched at Ferrybridge last year with Government funding.
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The UK CCS Research Centre’s new specialist research facilities will begin operations early next year at Beighton. We have funded several projects in the area through our £125 million research and development programme and Yorkshire is also represented in the shortlist of our £1 billion CCS competition.
Decarbonisation
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received on decarbonisation of the power sector by 2030. [147707]
Gregory Barker: The Department has received representations on the decarbonisation of the power sector by 2030 from a range of stakeholders in recent weeks, including the Committee on Climate Change, industry, and Members of Parliament.
This is a very important matter and we have made it our priority to respond in the most helpful way possible. Our view remains that we are doing the right thing by taking new powers through the Energy Bill to set a target in 2016, at the same time as setting the level of the fifth carbon budget.
Electricity Generation
Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of electricity generated was contributed by each mode of generation in the latest period for which figures are available. [148791]
Mr Hayes: The following table shows the electricity generation broken down by generation mode, for 2011 and quarter 3 2012, the latest year and quarter for which this information is available. Provisional data for quarter 4 2012 and 2012 as a whole will be available on 28 March 2013.
| 2011 generation (TWh) | 2011 percentage of total generation | Q3 2012 generation (TWh) | Q3 2012 percentage of total generation | |
| Source: Energy Trends table ET 5.1, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-section-5-energy-trends A full breakdown of renewable electricity generation can be found in table ET 6.1 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewables-section-6-energy-trends | ||||
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what measure the Government intends to use to determine whether participation of demand-side response, including embedded generation, within the capacity mechanism is successful. [148964]
Mr Hayes:
The Government are committed to ensuring that demand side-response (DSR) can participate effectively within the capacity market. This is why we have committed to putting in place transitional arrangements within the capacity market which will help develop the capacity and capability of the DSR sector. These arrangements will allow us to better understand how to get the best out of DSR within the capacity market and how the industry is developing within the GB market. The terms
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of the transitional arrangements, including the process to review success, remain under development. Further details will be published in May 2013.
Green Deal Scheme
Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to remove barriers to entry to the Green Deal from (a) energy companies, (b) Green Deal delivery providers and (c) householders. [147581]
Gregory Barker: The Green Deal framework has been designed to enable organisations of all sizes to be able to participate in the market. DECC has actively supported entry of smaller or new organisations by waiving registration and lodgement fees for the first two years as well as providing £3 million for the training of Green Deal advisers and installers of solid wall insulation.
In order to give an early boost to the Green Deal market, Government also opened a cash back scheme in January which will make cash payments—which could be £1,000 or more in some cases—to early customers of the Green Deal.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes have so far (a) registered and (b) received funding from the Green Deal scheme since its inception; and how many of these homes are located in (i) Kingston upon Hull and (ii) Kingston upon Hull North constituency. [148462]
Gregory Barker: Regarding the number of homes that have been "registered" for Green Deal, I am assuming this means those where a Green Deal Assessment has been undertaken. Up to the end of February, and for the whole of Great Britain, there were 1,803 Green Deal Assessments lodged on the central register. We intend to publish geographic breakdowns of Green Deal Assessments in the June 2013 quarterly official statistics release. On funding, the Department will also release statistics on the number of Green Deal Plans in June.
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what incentives his Department has put in place to encourage private landlords to participate in the Green Deal. [148516]
Gregory Barker: Under the Green Deal, landlords will be able to make energy efficiency improvements without having to pay all the costs upfront. Tenants will repay the cost of the measures through their energy bill savings while enjoying a more energy efficient home. This is intended to overcome the “split incentive”, and avoid landlords being unwilling to make improvements which reduce bills that they do not pay.
The Energy Act 2011 stipulates Government must regulate to help ensure the take-up of cost effective energy efficiency improvements in the Private Rented Sector.
No later than April 2016, domestic landlords will not be able to unreasonably refuse requests from their tenants for consent to energy efficiency improvements, where financial support is available, such as the Green Deal.
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No later than April 2018, all private rented properties (domestic and non-domestic) will be brought up to a minimum energy efficiency standard rating, likely to be set at EPC rating ‘E'.
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to review the Green Deal after two years. [148529]
Gregory Barker: As set out in the Energy Act 2011 at section 109 (1), the Government will publish by the end of 2014 the first annual report into the extent to which the Green Deal has contributed to the carbon budgets set under section 4(l)(b) of the Climate Change Act 2008.
Green Deal Scheme: Worcester
Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes in Worcester have applied for assessments under the Green Deal in 2013. [147835]
Gregory Barker: DECC will publish geographic breakdowns of Green Deal assessments in the June 2013 quarterly official statistics release. Up to end of February for the whole of Great Britain there were 1,803 Green Deal assessments lodged on the central register.
Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of new employment opportunities in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire as a result of the Green Deal and his Department's other energy efficiency programmes. [147837]
Gregory Barker: The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation are expected to boost the burgeoning low carbon economy, encourage innovation in the supply chain and more than double the potential for jobs growth—up to 60,000 jobs in the insulation sector alone by 2015, up from around 26,000 in 2011. The Department does not have a breakdown of these estimated job opportunities by region.
Housing: Insulation
Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of homes which require improvement of (a) loft, (b) wall cavity and (c) solid wall insulation. [147697]
Gregory Barker: There are around 27 (26.9) million homes in Great Britain; more than half do not have enough insulation.
Most easy-to-treat cavities have now been insulated, and nearly all the remaining lofts would only benefit from topping up of existing insulation. However, only around 2% of solid wall properties have so far been tackled.
Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes in Worcester have received insulation in (a) 2012, (b) 2011 and (c) 2010 under his Department's programmes. [147836]
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Gregory Barker: Information on insulation measures installed under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), which was the Government's main domestic energy efficiency policy for the period concerned, is compiled by the Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) overseen by the Energy Saving Trust. The latest published data are provided below for the Worcester local authority area. For technical reasons the HEED database tends to under report by around 10%, the actual number of installations will therefore be higher. Information on the final period of CERT, covering the period up until the end of 2012, will be published later this year.
| CERT years—commencing 2008 (1 April to 31 March) | Cavity wall insulation measures | Loft insulation measures |
Mobile Phones
Mr Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to his Department; how much is paid each year under that contract; how many individual devices are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; and when and how the contract will next be reviewed. [148260]
Gregory Barker: The company that holds the largest contract providing mobile telephony services in DECC, is Vodafone UK Ltd.
This contract, four years in length, was awarded on 1 April 2011 and expires on 1 April 2015.
For last year, 2011-12, DECC paid £168,000 including VAT.
In total, 691 individual devices are included in the contract, (which are broken down as follows);
350 BlackBerry devices,
243 3G mobile devices,
98 mobile devices.
Since the contract is not up for renewal until 2015, we have not yet considered the contract review.
North Sea Oil
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that North sea oil continues to make a contribution to national energy supplies. [148425]
Mr Hayes: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on 14 March 2013, Official Report, column 463.
Pay
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in his Department in the last year for which figures are available. [147759]
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Gregory Barker: The Department uses non-consolidated performance-related payments to help drive high performance as they:
encourage continuous high attainment because the payments are dependent upon continuing strong performance;
prevent a permanent rise in salary and an increase in pension on the basis of one off performances while still allowing good performance to be rewarded;
have no long-term costs, in particular it does not increase future pension payments;
focus the work of employees more directly on the priority goals of the organisation;
motivate employees by linking an element of compensation to the achievement of objectives rather than offering payment for time served;
target money at those who make the biggest contribution.
End-year non-consolidated performance awards are used to reward the Department’s highest performers as assessed in their end of year appraisal reports.
The Department paid (a) £789,075 in year-end non-consolidated awards and (b) £233,111 as in-year non-consolidated awards for the 2011-12 performance year.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid to officials in (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in bonuses and other payments in addition to salary in each of the last five years; how many officials received such payments; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest payments made in each year. [148024]
Gregory Barker: Details of bonus payments made to officials of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, column 676-777W, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. DECC was formed in October 2008 and as such does not hold the information for the 2008-09 financial year or any year prior to this.
The details of bonus and other payments made in addition to salary by the Department of Energy and Climate Change for 2011-12 are shown in the following table:
| Description | 2011-12 |
The details of bonus payments made to officials in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are set out in the following table:
| Total amount paid in bonus (£) | Total number of employees who received payment | Monetary value of 20 largest payments (£) | |
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| (1) No data yet available | |||
Details of other payments made in addition to salary to other members of staff is held by an outsourced shared service contractor. To gather that information would incur disproportionate costs.
Details of bonus payments made to officials of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. Data for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are set out in the following table:
| Description | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
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The details of all other payments paid in addition to salary to officials of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are as follows:
| £ | |
The details of bonus payments made to officials of the Committee on Climate Change are set out in the following table:
| Description | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
There are no other payments, apart from salary, made to officials at the Committee on Climate Change.
Details of bonus payments made to officials of the Coal Authority for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. The data for 2011-12 are not currently available. A copy of these data will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as they are available.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what allowances and subsidies in addition to salary were available to officials in (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value was of such payments and allowances in each such year. [148043]
Gregory Barker: The allowances available to civil servants in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are unchanged from that provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library except for the monetary value of offshore allowances. These have increased with effect from 1 August 2012 as set out as follows.
| Period | Rate (£) |
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There are no subsidies available to civil servants in DECC.
Details of payments made to senior members of staff within the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is available in their annual resource and accounts via their internet website. Links to these documents are given in the following table.
Details of allowance payments made to other members of staff is held by an outsourced shared service contractor. To gather that information would incur disproportionate costs.
There no allowances or subsidies available to officials in the Committee on Climate Change.
The total cost of allowances paid by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are shown in the following table.
| £ | ||||
| Allowance | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 (10 months) |
Details of allowance payments made by the Coal Authority for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published in on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. The data for 2011-12 are not currently available. A copy of the data will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as the data are available.
Recruitment
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials were recruited to (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [147967]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008 to bring together energy policy (previously with BERR, which is now BIS—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and climate change mitigation policy (previously with DEFRA—the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Therefore no data exist prior to that date.
The number of civil servants who have joined DECC is shown in the following table.
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| Number joining | |
The number of officials who have joined the Coal Authority is shown in the following table.
| Number joining | |
The number of officials who have joined the Civil Nuclear Police Authority is shown in the following table.
| Number joining | |
The number of officials who have joined the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is shown in the following table.
| Number joining | |
The number of officials who have joined the Committee on Climate Change is shown in the following table.
| Number joining | |
| (1) The Committee on Climate Change was created on 26 November 2008. | |
Redundancy Pay
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid by his Department in redundancy payments in each of the last two years; and how many officials received such payments. [148483]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change's expenditure on redundancy and the number of officials receiving such payments in each of the last two years are published in its annual report and accounts as follows:
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2011-12 report (HC 63) page 118:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48452/5718-decc-annual-report-and-accounts-201112-.pdf
Sickness Absence
Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many days (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies has
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lost to staff sickness in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absence in each year. [147986]
Gregory Barker: The following tables show the number of days of sickness absence recorded for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and for each of the non-departmental public bodies for which it is responsible.
| DECC | ||
| Number of days of sickness absence | Estimated cost of absence(1 )(£) | |
| (1 )The estimated cost of the absences have been calculated on 2012 average salary costs as civil servants have been subject to a pay freeze for the past two years. | ||
Prior to 2010 the Shared Service provision for DECC was delivered by our predecessor departments. Data prior to that date are not held centrally and to gather it would incur disproportionate costs.
| Committee on climate change | ||
| Number of days of sickness absence | Estimated cost of absence(1)(£) | |
| (1 )The Committee on Climate Change was formed on 26 November 2008. | ||
| Nuclear Decommissioning Authority | ||
| Number of days of sickness absence | Estimated cost of absence | |
| (1 )The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has made no estimate of the cost of such absences as these were significantly lower than the national average days lost. To calculate these costs would incur disproportionate costs. | ||
| Coal Authority | ||
| Number of days of sickness absence | Estimated cost of absence (£) | |
The Civil Nuclear Police Authority have not been able to supply data for this response. Their response will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as it is available.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies have had (i) fewer than five days, (ii) five to 10 days, (iii) 10 to 15 days, (iv) 15 to 20 days, (v) 20 to 25 days, (vi) 25 to 50 days, (vii) 50 to 75 days, (viii) 75 to 100 days, (ix) 100 to 150 days, (x) 150 to 200 days, (xi) more than 200 days, (xii) more than three months, (xiii) more than six months and (xiv) more than one year on paid sick leave (A) consecutively and (B) in total in each of the last five years. [148005]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) regularly records, collates and analyses its recorded sickness absence in a common format as requested by the Cabinet Office. The following analysis shows absences as either short term (less than 21 days) or long term (21 days or more). To carry out any further analysis would incur disproportionate costs.
| DECC | |||
| Number of people with short term absences | Number of people with long term absences | Total number of people with absences | |
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Prior to 2010 the Shared Service provision for DECC was delivered by our predecessor departments. Data prior to that date are not held centrally and to gather them would incur disproportionate costs.
| Committee on Climate Change | |
| Number of days of sickness absence | |
| (1 )The Committee on Climate Change was formed on 26 November 2008 | |
The Committee on Climate Change records sickness absence on a manual system, with only our Shared Service provider maintaining historic records. Any further analysis apart from the total number of days per year, as provided in question 147986, would incur disproportionate costs.
| Coal Authority | |||
| No of people with short term absences | No of people with long term absences | Total number of people with absences | |
The Coal Authority regularly records, collates and analyses its recorded sickness absence. The analysis above shows absences as either short term (less than 21 days) or long term (21 days or more). To carry out any further analysis would incur disproportionate costs.
| Nuclear Decommissioning Authority | ||
| Number of periods of sickness absence | Total number of people with absences | |
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority regularly records, collates and analyses its recorded sickness absence. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has made no estimate of the cost of sickness absence as these were significantly lower than the national average days lost. To carry out any further analysis would incur disproportionate costs.
The Civil Nuclear Police Authority have not been able to supply the data for this response. Their response will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as it is available.
Telephone Services
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) 0800, (b) 0808, (c) 0844, (d) 0845 and (e) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) the agencies for which he is responsible. [147817]
Gregory Barker: At the Department of Energy and Climate Change there is one 0800 number in use by the Central Department for 'Energy Saving Scotland'.
One Agency—The Coal Authority—also uses one 0845 number.'
There are no other numbers used by the Department or its Agencies for the public.
Temporary Employment
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department paid in agency fees for temporary staff in each of the last two years; and how many individuals received such payments. [148482]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change spend on temporary staff is published in its annual report and accounts 2010-11 (HC 1009 page 11):
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48141/2212-decc-annual-report-20102011.pdf
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https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48452/5718-decc-annual-report-and-accounts-201112-.pdf
We are unable to identify the proportion of the expenditure that relates to agency fees because, generally, the agency invoices do not separate their fee from the underlying cost of the temporary staff member. The number of individuals in receipt of payments cannot be determined without incurring disproportionate costs.
Termination of Employment
Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public
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bodies have left that body due to (i) resignation, (ii) retirement, (iii) redundancy, (iv) transferral to another public sector post and (v) another reason in each of the last five years. [147948]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008, to bring together energy policy (previously with BERR, which is now BIS—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), and climate change mitigation policy (previously with DEFRA—the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Therefore no data exist prior to that date.
The number of civil servants who have left DECC is shown in the following table.
| Resignation | Retirement | Redundancy | Transfer to other Government Departments | Other | Total | |
The number of officials who have left the Coal Authority are shown in the following table.
| Resignation | Retirement | Redundancy | Transfer to other public sector post | Other | Total | |
The number of officials who have left the Committee on Climate Change are shown in the following table.
| Resignation | Retirement | Redundancy | Transfer to other public sector post | Other | Total | |
| (1 )The Committee on Climate Change was formed on 26 November 2008. | ||||||
The number of officials who have left the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are shown in the following table.
| Resignation | Retirement | Redundancy | Transfer to other police sector body | Other | Total | |
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The number of officials who have left the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is shown in the following table.
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| Redundancy | Retirement | Resignation | Transfer to other public sector post | Other | Total | |
Utilities: Meters
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with his counterpart at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the roll-out of smart meters for (a) electricity and (b) water. [148989]
Mr Hayes: Ministers have not had such discussions. DECC and DEFRA officials routinely engage on water metering developments and progress on the supplier mandated roll out of smart metering for electricity and gas meters.
Warm Front Scheme: Kingston upon Hull
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes in (a) Kingston upon Hull and (b) Kingston upon Hull North constituency participated in the Warm Front scheme in each year since the inception of the scheme. [148463]
Gregory Barker: The number of households assisted each year through the Warm Front scheme in (a) Kingston upon Hull and (b) Kingston upon Hull North are presented in the following table:
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | Total | |
| (1) Data are not available prior to 2005-06 | |||||||||
Wind Power
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of onshore and offshore wind turbines on the tourism industry; and what recent discussions he has had with Powys county council on this issue. [146461]
Mr Hayes: I am aware of concerns about the impact of wind turbines on the tourist industry, but overall there is no definitive evidence to date of actual negative effects on tourism.
A recent report for DECC and RenewableUK by BiGGAR Economics(1) estimated the increase in the turnover of businesses local to onshore wind farm developments. This is available at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/meeting-energy-demand/wind/5229-onshore-wind-direct--wider-economic-impacts.pdf
I have had no discussions with Powys county council on the effects of wind turbines on the tourist industry. Impacts on tourism will be considered at the public inquiry into five wind farm proposals in Powys commencing in June 2013.
(1) The findings of the report are based on 18 case studies of experience on the ground, and set out the gross impacts of commercial onshore wind development.
Culture, Media and Sport
Broadband
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with Ofcom about lowering the cost and improving the performance of mobile networks through regulated access to BT's ducts and poles on the same price and terms that are already available to fixed line operators. [147201]
Mr Vaizey: Ministers within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport meet with Ofcom to discuss a range of matters. Ofcom is responsible for regulating access to BT's network, including the network of ducts and poles, and considers this as part of the regular reviews it carries out to assess the different markets, in particular the Wholesale Local Access Review and the Business Connectivity Market Review.
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what assessment she has made of the effect that a lack of regulated access to BT's poles and ducts for mobile network operators will have on the data speed of the 4G mobile network; [147204]
(2) what assessment she has made of the effect that a lack of regulated access to BT's poles and ducts for mobile network operators will have on the price consumers will pay for 4G mobile network services. [147203]
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Mr Vaizey: I have not made any assessment of the effect of there not being regulated access to BT's ducts and poles for mobile operators. Ofcom is responsible for regulating access to BT's network, including the network of ducts and poles, which includes determining whether the price charged for access is fair and proportionate.
Broadband: Rural Areas
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2013, Official Report, column 234W, on broadband: rural areas, what the timetable is for rolling out the broadband infrastructure improvements support package in rural areas. [142336]
Mr Vaizey: DCMS expects to deliver the package of measures to support the roll-out of superfast broadband by the summer of 2013, with the exception of the reforms to the Electronic Communications Code, which require primary legislation. Delivery of the main package by the summer will support commercial broadband deployment and local broadband projects under the Broadband Delivery UK framework.
Digital Technology
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2012, Official Report, column 615W, on digital technology, what discussions she has had in the last six months with (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) key stakeholders about the challenges posed by digital exclusion. [148362]
Mr Vaizey: No meetings have been held specifically on digital inclusion as Cabinet Office leads on this policy area. However, DCMS does lead on e-accessibility that seeks to ensure that people with disabilities are able to have access to telecommunications services. As part of this work, I recently met the Under-Secretary of State for Work an Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey), who has responsibility for disabled people, to discuss how both our Departments can work better together on joining up the work of my Department’s eAccessibility Forum and the Office for Disability Issues development of the cross-government Fulfilling Potential, disability strategy. As part of our wider departmental discussions around the digital inclusion agenda we also discussed the accessibility of telecommunication services, in particular relay services in the UK for disabled and older people, as well as access to recruitment websites for disabled people looking for work.
I have also held several round table meetings with Ofcom and key stakeholders from the telecommunications industry and businesses with public facing customer service functions, to highlight the need for them to have accessible contact strategies that use a mix of email, SMS, text, and video relay services to facilitate engagement with disabled customers.
Gambling
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to restrict the amount of online gambling advertisements on television. [148477]
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Hugh Robertson: The Government are not aware of evidence that the current advertising arrangements are jeopardising the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act 2005, but if new compelling evidence emerged which clearly highlighted the need to look again at the restrictions in place it would, in the first instance, be for the appropriate regulators to consider and take action under their existing codes and regulations.
Gaming Machines
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many B2 gaming machines are present in each local authority area in England and Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available. [120407]
Hugh Robertson: The Gambling Commission's Industry Statistics 2008-11 published at
http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gh-about_us/annual_report_and_accounts.aspx
show that, as at 30 September 2011, 33,982 category B2 gaming machines were available for use in Great Britain. This included machines that offered B2 and B3 content. The figure, however, cannot be broken down into local authority areas.
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of the preferred route of the High Speed 2 train line is (a) currently and (b) expected to be serviced by (i) mobile telephone, (ii) 3G data and (iii) 4G data signal coverage. [147185]
Mr Vaizey: We have not assessed current mobile service coverage over the preferred HS2 route. The potential for improved mobile phone and data coverage for passengers on HS2 trains will be considered by the Department for Transport as part of the development of the railway. It is too early to make detailed decisions now about the communications technology that will be needed in the late 2020s and beyond.
Internet
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the proportion of people able to use the internet in each (a) socio-economic group, (b) local authority area and (c) age group. [147540]
Mr Hurd [holding answer 12 March 2013]: 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.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport asking what assessment she has made of the proportion of people able to use the internet in each (a) socio-economic group, (b) local authority area and (c) age group. [147540]
Quarterly statistics on Internet access are available from the ONS release; Internet Access Quarterly Update, Q4 2012 at:
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http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit2/internet-access-quarterly-update/2012-q4/stb-ia-2012-q4.html
These estimates relate to the question on Internet use asked on the Labour Force Survey. An age breakdown is given in Table 1B and a geographical location breakdown is presented in Table 3B. The breakdown on Table 3B is at NUTS3, the lowest level of geography for robust estimates.
The latest statistics on the percentage of people aged 16 and over who have used the Internet in the past broken down by socio-economic group have also been provided in the accompanying table. The estimates are based on the question asked only to people aged 16 and over on the Annual Population Survey (i.e. the Annual Labour Force Survey).
Mobile Phones
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on the unlocking of mobile telephones. [148369]
Mr Vaizey: My officials have spoken to Ofcom, the independent regulator for communications, who have advised that:
In order to use a contract mobile phone across different networks it will usually need to be 'unlocked' from the existing network. Mobile operators 'lock' mobile phones to tie consumers to their networks during the minimum term of a contract where the handset is part of the deal and will usually have been heavily subsidised. The handset can usually be unlocked, once the minimum contract has ended.
There are no rules preventing providers from doing this and it enables operators to offer cheap or free handsets to people when they sign up to a contract. However, unlocking handsets enables people to take advantage of promotional deals, such as free SIMs, and switch to a new provider if they like their handset, but do not have a good deal. Ofcom continues to keep the rules in this area under review to ensure that the process is working for consumers.
Public Libraries
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will consider adopting the Scottish Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix for libraries in England. [148568]
Mr Vaizey: Public Library Service Standards in England were withdrawn by the previous Administration in a move towards increased local autonomy. Local authorities remain best placed to determine how to provide a library service to their local community and the Government are not considering adopting the Scottish Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix for libraries in England.
Social Networking
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent on promoting tweets via its Twitter feed in the last year. [148390]
Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not spent any money on promoting tweets via its Twitter feed in the last year.
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Telecommunications
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when her Department expects to publish the Communications White Paper. [148391]
Mr Vaizey: The Communications Paper is due to be published in the spring.
Telephone Services
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with (a) utility providers, (b) banks and building societies and (c) other companies about (i) providing and (ii) advertising to their customers a contact telephone number that is a UK landline number beginning 01, 02 or 03. [148396]
Mr Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has had no discussions on this issue with utility providers, banks and building societies and other companies, as telephone numbering is an operational issue for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Organisations operate in a competitive commercial market and therefore have the freedom to use contact telephone numbers, which meets both their needs and those of customers. However, under General Condition 14, Ofcom requires communications providers to publish transparent pricing information for non-geographic calls (these are non-local numbers such as 0845 and 0871) and such information should also be included in their advertising and promotional material. Also, providers must ensure that these charges are given the same prominence as other call charge information. Ofcom recognises that the current system around non-geographic numbers is unclear for consumers, with confusion around call pricing in particular. Therefore, Ofcom is proposing to make changes to simplify non-geographic numbers. The main proposals are as follows and more detailed information will be made available by Ofcom in due course:
Freephone, 080 and 116 numbers, to be free from all telephones, landline and mobile.
Revenue sharing ranges, 084,087,09 and 118 numbers, where a portion of the retail charge is passed back to the receiver of the call, are to have a common simplified structure.
Theatre: Young People
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what measures she has put in place to ensure that children and young people are able to attend the theatre; and if she will make a statement. [121118]
Mr Vaizey: Responsibility for increasing the accessibility of the arts in England lies with Arts Council England (ACE). In 2011-12 ACE provided £98,497,097 of funding to regularly funded organisations who identified their art form as theatre. In 2011-12 ACE also awarded £17,085,761 in grants for the arts to organisations and projects identified as theatre. In 2010-11, the last year that figures are available, regularly funded theatres that responded to ACE's survey reported that they provided 6,637 performances for schools, with 765,000 school children attending with a ticket and an estimated 90,000 more attending on a more informal basis.
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In the hon. Member's area, the Dukes theatre in Lancaster has an extensive creative learning department, including a separate dedicated venue and activity space for young people. The theatre offers a variety of participatory theatre programmes for young people, which includes 12 youth theatres, one of which is based at the Hot House in Morecambe. In 2011-12 Dukes delivered over 150 separate engagement projects for young people in community and school settings which resulted in over 19,000 participations in individual sessions.
This Government have made clear our commitment to cultural education, including theatre, through commissioning the Henley Review of Cultural Education, and in its response to the review. These publications can be found on the following page of the Department's website:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/publications/8875.aspx
Tourism
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the contribution of tourism to the UK economy. [138603]
Hugh Robertson: DCMS estimates the direct economic contribution of the tourism sector through the Tourism Satellite Account. DCMS also draws on other sources, such as the Annual Business Survey (ABS) and estimates and research from its arm's length bodies for data on the economic impact of its sectors.
The Tourism Satellite Account estimates that tourism contributed £44.6 billion to the economy and employed 1,723,000 people in 2009.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has estimated that UK Heritage tourism directly accounts for £4.3 billion of GDP and creates employment for 113,000 people.
Tourism: VAT
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what representations she has received on the application of a reduced rate of value added tax to visitor attractions, catering and accommodation; and whether she has discussed that matter with HM Revenue and Customs. [120268]
Hugh Robertson: The Department frequently receives representations from the British Hospitality Association and other organisations proposing a reduced rate of VAT on hospitality and visitor attractions. These representations have also been made to HM Treasury, which is responsible for VAT. The Secretary of State has not discussed the matter with HM Revenue and Customs.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animal Welfare: Sports
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that animals used in racing or sport are not abandoned or killed when their use in that sport is over. [147887]
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Mr Heath: It is already an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to either abandon an animal or kill an animal in a manner that causes it unnecessary suffering. This applies to owners and keepers of all animals, including racing and retired greyhounds as well as former racehorses.
There are organisations that offer re-homing services for as many former race dogs and horses as possible.
Animals: Tagging
Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 15WS, on tackling irresponsible dog ownership, when his Department plans to introduce the necessary regulations to amend the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to allow for the introduction of compulsory microchipping. [144241]
Mr Heath: The regulations, which will be made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and which will require all dogs to be microchipped from April 2016, are planned to come into force next year.
Badgers
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which (a) non-governmental, (b) charitable or (c) academic bodies or institutions he has consulted about the recently published estimates of badger populations in the two pilot cull areas. [147379]
Mr Heath: The methodology for estimating the badger population in the two pilot cull areas has been subject to peer review by independent experts based at academic research institutions. The use of the data to generate the population estimates was assessed by an independent auditor. For security reasons, DEFRA is unable to disclose the identities of the peer reviewers or the independent auditor, or the names of the institutions at which they work.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what basis and methodology has been used in his Department's estimates of badger numbers in the two badger pilot cull areas. [147380]
Mr Heath: The methodology used to estimate the badger numbers in the two pilot cull areas is publicly available on the DEFRA website at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/files/population-badger-pilot-areas.pdf
and will also be placed in the Library of the House.
Beef
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the EU Commission regarding what tests can be carried out by the EU Food and Veterinary Office on processed and frozen beef in EU member states; and if he will make a statement. [143529]
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Mr Heath: In his written ministerial statement of 14 February 2013, Official Report, column 60WS, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs updated the House on discussions held on 13 February with agriculture Ministers from a number of other member states together with the Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner in Brussels. In this statement he reported that we reached agreement on a number of key issues in order to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again.
In a further statement of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 27WS, the Secretary of State updated the House on further discussions at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. At this meeting member states endorsed EU-wide action to address the issue through the testing programme and the rapid sharing of information on any illegal activity.
Beef: Horsemeat
Mr Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the tests for horsemeat being conducted by retailers, how many product lines members of the British Meat Processors Association will test; and whether he expects tests being conducted by retailers to be completed by 15 February 2013. [143694]
Mr Heath: In his written ministerial statement of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 54WS, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out the number of tests that have been completed across the food supply chain. A total of 5,430 test results of the most vulnerable processed beef products had been reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) by 1 March. This figure represents 95% of affected retail lines and 90% of caterer and wholesaler product lines. The tests continue to show that over 99% of processed beef products contain those ingredients which are stated on the label.
Members of the British Meat Processors Association (BPMA) are of course included in this programme, as well as in the sampling being carried out by the FSA. We do not have an exact number of how many product lines BMPA members will be testing but they have received the same request as industry.
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which members of the British Hospitality Association and British Retail Consortium have withdrawn products as a precaution in case they contain horsemeat; which products they have withdrawn; and whether any such suppliers supply schools and hospitals. [143732]
Mr Heath: Products that have tested positive for horse DNA at 1% or above have been included in the results published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 1 March,
http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/meat-test-130301.pdf
The FSA's website will be updated to include any further products that test positive. For products withdrawn
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on a precautionary basis by food companies and retailers it would be advisable to refer to the retailers' and producers' websites.
We have reminded public bodies (schools, prisons, hospitals, armed forces) that they are responsible for their own food contracts. We expect them to have rigorous procurement procedures in place with reputable suppliers. Public institutions are included in the UK-wide authenticity sampling programme being organised by the Food Standards Agency, and suppliers to public institutions are part of the FSA's extensive food industry testing regime.