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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Bovine Tuberculosis
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to eliminate bovine tuberculosis in addition to the current cull of badgers. [159446]
Mr Heath [holding answer 13 June 2013]:There is no one solution to overcoming bovine TB. The Government are committed to a comprehensive and balanced approach to tackling bovine TB using all available tools. Badger culling is one of these tools. Numerous cattle controls are already in place, including:
Routine surveillance testing of cattle herds with frequency of testing based on risk;
Pre-movement testing of cattle from higher risk herds;
Movement restrictions on animals from herds that have tested positive or inconclusive for bovine TB;
The slaughter of all cattle that have tested positive for bovine TB;
All cattle carcases inspected at slaughterhouses for evidence of TB;
Advice and support for farmers that have had cases of bovine TB in their herds about bio-security and reducing the risk of bovine TB.
In January 2013, the Government introduced further changes to the TB surveillance testing regime and cattle movement controls. Measures for controlling bovine TB in cattle will continue to form the backbone of our approach to tackling bovine TB and we will continue to look for ways to enhance them.
The Government are also funding local deployment of injectable badger vaccine and significant investment in research and development, including the development of cattle and badger vaccines.
The Government intend to publish an eradication strategy for consultation over the summer pulling all of these strands together.
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to test a tuberculosis vaccine on (a) cattle and (b) badgers; and if he will make a statement. [159447]
Mr Heath [holding answer 13 June 2013]:We hope to have successfully completed all the cattle vaccine experimental work, including studies on safety of meat and milk, during 2014. We will then be able to make an application to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for an Animal Test Certificate to begin the field trials proposed in EU Commissioner Tonio Borg's letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs dated 14 January 2013.
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An injectable badger vaccine was licensed in 2010. We are investing in the development of an oral badger vaccine but this work is still at the research stage and we cannot say with any confidence when a usable vaccine might become available.
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to work with Save Me, the Badger Trust and the RSPCA to look at alternatives to the forthcoming badger cull. [159448]
Mr Heath [holding answer 13 June 2013]:We regularly meet and correspond with a broad range of stakeholders, including wildlife and animal welfare groups, on bovine TB.
There is no one solution to overcoming bovine TB. The Government are committed to a comprehensive and balanced approach to tackling bovine TB using all available tools. Badger culling is one of these tools.
Nobody wants to cull badgers but the scientific evidence and experience of other countries clearly show that without tackling the reservoir of disease in badgers effectively we will never get on top of the disease in cattle.
Horses: Animal Welfare
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the hot branding of horses and ponies; and if he will make a statement. [159963]
Mr Heath: There are no proposals to amend the existing legislation relating to hot branding. While the Government accept that there is currently a need for semi-wild moorland ponies to be hot branded, we have asked the semi-wild moorland pony societies to prepare a code of practice on hot branding and to continue to look for suitable alternatives.
Communities and Local Government
Buildings: Energy
Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much money has been included in the local authority settlement each year under the New Burdens Doctrine for compliance activity by trading standards officers in respect of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive regulations since their introduction. [160591]
Brandon Lewis: Funding for Trading Standards is included in the Local Government Finance Settlement. Funding provided under the Local Government Finance Settlement can be used by local authorities to fund any service.
East of England Energy Group
Peter Aldous:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to facilitate the completion of outstanding and
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future payments from the European Regional Development Fund to the East of England Energy Group; and if he will make a statement. [160351]
Mr Foster: I can confirm that Officials are working to conclude post-audit contract negotiations with the East of England Energy Group in order that outstanding and future payments can be resumed as an urgent priority.
Housing: Building Alterations
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department made of the cost implications for local councils of the changes to permitted developments for householders. [160507]
Nick Boles: This assessment is set out in ‘Extending Permitted Development Rights for Homeowners and Businesses Impact Assessment’, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extending-permitted-development-rights-for-homeowners-and-businesses-impact-assessment
The Department is engaging in discussions with the Local Government Association on its assessment of the impact on local authorities. Currently no net costs are envisaged.
Local Enterprise Partnerships: Arts
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has given to local enterprise partnerships to support the arts and creative industries. [159681]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 17 June 2013]: DCLG has not issued guidance on local enterprise partnerships’ role with the arts and creative industries. It is a matter for local enterprise partnerships to decide their own activities which will best support local economic growth. The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, for example, has a strong focus on the creative industries which, through its Enterprise Zone, has offered planning permission for the ‘Creative Common' project, securing arts at the heart of its plans.
http://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/blog/creative/showtime-for-creative-common/
Local Government: Audit
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities have transferred audit work from the Audit Commission to one of the big four accountancy firms to date; and if he will estimate the likely cost to the public purse. [159980]
Brandon Lewis: In total, 186 out of 353 councils are now, collectively, audited by the big four accountancy firms. Appointments to 124 of these councils were made under the audit contracts that were let in 2012, when the work of the Audit Commission's in-house audit practice was outsourced to the private sector. The outsourcing of the Commission's in-house practice led to a reduction in fees of 40%, and savings over five years of over £250 million for local public bodies.
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The outsourcing of the Audit Commission's in-house audit practice brought two new firms into the market, increasing the number of suppliers in the market from five to seven and 13 firms passed the pre-qualification questionnaire.
In developing the framework for local audit, we are working with regulatory bodies to ensure that we strike the right balance between maintaining a high quality of audit and opening up the market to new entrants.
Planning Permission
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy that a recently constructed outbuilding cannot be classified as an existing outbuilding and converted to residential accommodation without planning permission. [160592]
Nick Boles: An outbuilding can only be converted to residential accommodation without planning permission where this is ancillary to the use of the main house. This freedom allows homeowners to adapt their homes to meet changing family needs, for example by providing accommodation for an elderly parent or close relative.
Local authority planning permission is required for the creation of a separate residential unit, and this provides protection against the use of outbuildings for ‘beds in sheds'.
Rents: Arrears
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many cases of local authority housing rent arrears there have been since January 2010; and what the cost to local authorities' housing revenue accounts has been from such arrears in each month since January 2010. [160525]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 18 June 2013]: Information is not collected centrally on the number of cases in arrears. Statistics are available annually on the total value of rent arrears and the total value of the rent roll by local authority (Section H of the tables at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/73210/lahs-data-returns-for-2011-12.xls
Taking into account inflation, the figures for England show there was no substantial change between 2009-10 and 2011-12.
Sleeping Rough
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of people sleeping rough in the UK. [160198]
Mr Prisk: The autumn 2012 total of rough sleeping counts and estimates in England was 2,309, as reported in the Department's statistical release of 6 February, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2012
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Figures for the rest of the United Kingdom are a matter for each devolved Administration, although web-links to relevant information for Scotland and Wales are given on page 9 of the above statistical release.
We are investing £470 million in homelessness prevention over four years (2011-12 to 2014-15). This includes £20 million for a Homelessness Transition Fund to support the national roll out of No Second Night Out and protect vital front-line services. All local authorities have adopted the No Second Night Out approach.
The CHAIN (Combined Homeless and Information Network, which covers London and contains detailed information on London's rough sleepers over the year) bi-monthly data for March-April 2013 shows that No Second Night Out helped ensure that 80% of new rough sleepers spend just a single night on London's streets.
We have also supported the voluntary sector to develop a new service—Streetlink. The national hotline (0300 500 0914) and website:
www.streetlink.org.uk
enables the public to ensure rough sleepers are found quickly and offered the support they need to get off the streets. Over 17,600 members of the public contacted Streetlink to pass on details of people they believed were sleeping rough since the scheme launched on 11 December 2012 up to the end of April 2013. Of these, over 5,399 referrals were made to local authorities to investigate.
Transport
Airbus A380
Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of likely changes in the number of A380s flying into London airports in the next 10 years. [160559]
Mr Simon Burns: In 2012 there were nearly 6,000 movements of A380s in and out of London airports. The Department's aviation forecasting model suggests that between 2012 and 2023 there will be an additional 10,000 movements in and out of London airports by A380s.
Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he plans to take to ensure that an increase in the number of Airbus A380s landing at Heathrow airport does not affect the continued operation of runway alternation. [160561]
Mr Simon Burns: The increasing use of aircraft like the Airbus A380 at Heathrow airport, which are typically both larger and quieter than the aircraft they replace, could help the airport operator and airlines to make more effective use of the existing runway capacity at our biggest and busiest airport while reducing the noise impact on local communities.
On the issue of runway alternation, the trial of operational freedoms at Heathrow included proactive tests to better understand the relationship between alternation and the arrival of A380s in order to maintain airport operations while respecting spacing rules for protection from wake vortices. The Government intend to consult on the results of the trial in due course.
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Electric Vehicles
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what his policy is on the introduction of mandatory approaching vehicle audible systems in electric vehicles; [160544]
(2) whether he has had recent discussions with electric vehicle manufacturers regarding approaching vehicle audible systems; and if he will make a statement. [160545]
Norman Baker: I am currently considering whether to revise our negotiating approach to the introduction of a mandatory requirement for audible systems in electric vehicles. I have discussed this issue with the Guide Dogs Association and the Royal National Institute of Blind People. However, I have not yet had any discussions on this topic with electric vehicle manufacturers.
Great Western Railway Line
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with Directly Operated Railways and GW Railways Ltd regarding the Great Western franchise extension. [160548]
Mr Simon Burns: Departmental officials meet regularly with Directly Operated Railways Ltd and GW Railways Ltd to discuss the contingency work that they are undertaking in connection with the Great Western franchise. This contingency work is designed to ensure that the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), can discharge his statutory obligations under Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993 to protect the continuity of rail services should negotiations with First Great Western not be successfully concluded.
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent progress he has made on negotiations towards a short-term extension of the Great Western franchise due to commence in October 2013. [160549]
Mr Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), announced on 31 January this year that he intended to negotiate a new interim franchise agreement with First Great Western to secure continuity of train services after the end of the current franchise agreement, which terminates on 12 October 2013. These negotiations are proceeding as planned.
Heathrow Airport
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that Heathrow airport be renamed Churchill airport. [160543]
Mr Simon Burns: The Government's Aviation Policy Framework does not comment on how individual airports in the UK are named. Decisions regarding the renaming of airports are a matter for individual airports' owners.
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High Speed 2 Railway Line
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has for the interface between Cross Rail and High Speed 2 at Heathrow airport. [160694]
Mr Simon Burns: At present, detailed plans have not yet been made for how High Speed 2 will interface with Crossrail at Heathrow airport. However, an interchange between Crossrail, Great Western and High Speed 2 will be provided through a new station at Old Oak Common in West London as part of Phase One of HS2. This interchange will enable direct links to Heathrow airport.
Work on the HS2 spur to Heathrow has been paused pending the publication of the Airports Commission's work to examine the need for additional runway capacity in the UK.
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether double decker trains will be permitted to operate on the High Speed 2 line. [160697]
Mr Simon Burns: HS2 will be built to the European standard structure gauge for new lines—GC Gauge—which is the same as HS1. This gauge permits double deck trains to be operated.
Level Crossings
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps his Department has taken to increase awareness about the potential dangers of using level crossings. [160066]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department works closely with Network Rail, in its role as operator of the majority of level crossings in Great Britain, to ensure that members of the public are aware of the potential dangers.
We have supported Network Rail in developing its awareness programmes including its ongoing national
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television and radio campaign, ‘Don't Run The Risk’, holding awareness days at level crossings and working directly with schools and user groups.
We welcome Network Rail's continuous efforts to reduce risks and improve level crossing safety.
Railway Stations
Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what bids he considered for awards from the New Stations Fund; and whether the New Stations Fund will be underspent. [160453]
Mr Simon Burns: Funding from the New Stations Fund has been awarded to four stations at Newcourt in Devon, Ilkeston in Derbyshire, Lea Bridge in the London borough of Waltham Forest, and Pye Corner near Newport, totalling around £8.6 million. The strong case for a station at Kenilworth was noted, therefore we are minded to provide funding of £5 million towards this new station, subject to the new station's integration into the programme of wider improvement works in the area, which are set out in Network Rail's Strategic Business Plan published in January 2013.
There is a potential underspend of £6.4 million which is being held as a programme contingency until the final costs of each of the stations is confirmed. These costs will be clarified when the schemes are fully designed and developed.
Railways
Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) new national rail stations and (b) miles of new or reopened miles of passenger lines have been brought into service in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales and (iii) each region of England in each of the last 10 years. [160240]
Mr Simon Burns: The following table shows the number of new railway stations opened in Scotland, Wales and each region of England in each of the last 10 years and so far in 2013.
| New railway stations opened by region: Great Britain 2003-13 | |||||||||||
| Region | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009(1) | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013(2) |
| (1) Excludes the temporary station opened at Workington North. (2) Up to the end of May 2013. | |||||||||||
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The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of miles of new or reopened passenger lines that have been brought into service in Scotland, Wales and each region of England in each of the last 10 years. This information may be held by Network Rail. Network Rail can be contacted at the following address:
Network Rail
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1 9AG
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Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) new national rail stations and (b) miles of new or reopened miles of passenger lines have opened in (i) England outside London, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) London in each of the last 10 years. [160589]
Mr Simon Burns: The following table shows the number of new railway stations opened in Scotland, Wales, London and in England outside London in each of the last 10 years and so far in 2013.
| New railway stations opened by region: Great Britain 2003-13 | |||||||||||
| Region | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009(1) | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013(2) |
| (1) Excludes the temporary station opened at Workington North. (2) Up to the end of May 2013. | |||||||||||
The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of miles of new or reopened passenger lines that have been opened in Scotland, Wales, London and in England outside London in each of the last 10 years. This information may be held by Network Rail. Network Rail can be contacted at the following address:
Network Rail
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1 9AG
Rescue Services
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of shifts at maritime rescue co-ordination centres were staffed at below risk-assessed levels in May 2013. [160297]
Stephen Hammond: Out of the 930 watch-keeping shifts worked across all maritime rescue co-ordination centres (MRCCs) during May 2013, 175.8 individual shifts were staffed at below risk-assessed levels. These situations are mitigated by ‘MRCC pairing’ where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.
Rescue Services: Belfast
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in May 2013. [160296]
Stephen Hammond: In May 2013 the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Belfast was staffed below risk-assessed levels on 37 occasions out of 62 shifts.
These situations are mitigated by ‘MRCC pairing’ where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support. In respect of Belfast MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Stornoway MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Shetland, Aberdeen, Liverpool or Holyhead.
Rescue Services: Stornoway
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in May 2013. [160298]
Stephen Hammond: In May 2013 Stornoway Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed below risk-assessed levels on seven occasions out of 62 shifts.
These situations are mitigated by ‘MRCC pairing’ where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support. In respect of Stornoway MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Belfast MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Shetland or Aberdeen.
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings his Department has held to review the road maintenance block grant since 1 January 2010; with whom those meetings were held; and what the outcome was of those meetings. [160505]
Norman Baker: Information in respect of the Highways Maintenance Block Review Group, including representatives who sit on the group, as well as meetings that have taken place since January 2010, is available at the following web link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-capital-block-funding
The Department for Transport is currently testing a number of options in respect of a revised funding formula to be in place for 2015-16 and is expecting to hold a consultation on a number of possible funding formula options in due course.
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Traffic Lights
Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to promote the use of cycle-specific traffic lights. [160590]
Stephen Hammond: DFT officials are working closely with Transport for London on a project trialling a range of new measures, including low-level signals for cyclists. We are also working with Cambridgeshire county council, who are trialling the use of cycle filter signals.
Assuming a successful outcome, we would consider prescribing these signals in regulations or authorising on a wider basis. They would then become part of the range of cycling infrastructure measures available.
Transport: Finance
Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding his Department has already provided, or is planning to provide, over the period of the current Spending Review, to (a) Transport for London and local transport authorities outside London and (b) protect local bus fares from inflationary increases. [160574]
Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not pay money direct to local transport authorities outside London for the purpose of lowering bus fares. However, DfT does make funding available to bus operators in the form of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG), which can be used for this purpose. In 2012/13 around £350 million was paid out to operators in England in the form of BSOG.
The Department for Transport made an additional £136m available to Transport for London (TfL) in 2012 and £96m in 2013 to enable the Mayor to hold down the planned fare rises to RPI+1% for the remainder of the current Spending Review period. This funding covers all modes, including bus, Tube, DLR, tram and Overground rail. It is not possible to disaggregate how much of this was spent on bus fares. Responsibility for setting fares rests with the Mayor and TfL.
Work and Pensions
Disability Living Allowance
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of disability living allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have been interviewed and had their benefits reassessed since May 2010; and how many such assessments (i) resulted in award of a lower level of benefit, (ii) led to the removal of all the allowance and (iii) were successful on appeal. [160303]
Mr Hoban: The information requested is not available centrally. We estimate that gathering this information would incur disproportionate costs.
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Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were suspended from his Department and its associated public bodies on full pay in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and what costs were incurred as a result of such suspensions. [160427]
Mr Hoban: An employee would be suspended from duty in exceptional circumstances and in line with the Civil Service Management Code. This would usually be after an allegation of serious or gross misconduct has been made against an employee and it is necessary to remove them from work, for example to ensure the integrity of the subsequent investigation or to prevent a repeat offence. The cost involved relates specifically to the continued payment of salary.
The number of staff suspended from the ministerial Department and the costs incurred are provided in the following table.
| Year end headcount | Number of staff suspended | Suspensions as percentage of headcount | Costs incurred (£000) | |
The number of staff suspended on full pay within each of the Department's NDPB's and public bodies, who have been able to respond, is between one and four individuals. As the numbers are low individuals may be identified. For this reason these figures have not been disclosed.
Employment and Support Allowance: Mental Illness
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy that people with mental health problems should not be relied on to gather themselves all the medical evidence relevant to their application for employment and support allowance. [160587]
Mr Hoban: People with mental health problems are not always relied on to gather all medical evidence relevant to their application for employment and support allowance (ESA) themselves. Existing guidelines for Atos health care professionals allow them in defined circumstances to request further medical evidence to confirm that the limited capability for work or work related activity criteria would be met and so avoid those face-to-face assessments which are clearly unnecessary.
There is also an existing safeguard in the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process for people with mental health problems whereby their claim is not ended if they fail to complete and return their ESA50, and they are instead called for a face-to-face assessment.
A recent judgment in a judicial review against the WCA found that claimants with a mental health problem suffer a substantial disadvantage or experience an unreasonably adverse experience going through the WCA process, but importantly it:
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“rejected the... primary case that it would be reasonable for FME (further medical evidence) always be sought at an early stage in the process of the assessment of the entitlement to ESA of claimants with MHPs (mental health problems)”.
DWP has been asked to provide further evidence to help determine whether there are any reasonable adjustments that could be made to the process.
We disagree with the judicial review judgment and have lodged our application for leave to appeal it with the Court of Appeal.
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was allocated in discretionary housing payment funding to (a) each local authority, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in 2012-13. [160359]
Steve Webb: The total discretionary housing payment allocation for Great Britain in 2012-13 was £67.9 million. This comprised £60 million annual allocation and £7.9 million of unspent funding from 2011-12 which local authorities were exceptionally allowed to keep.
A detailed breakdown of the allocations for 2012-13 by nation and local authority has been placed in the Library.
Pension Protection Fund
Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he is making with his planned reforms to the compensation cap on the Pension Protection Fund. [160295]
Steve Webb: The Department has carried out a review and we hope to make an announcement shortly.
Property
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) location and (b) value is of any property his Department owns in Scotland. [160288]
Mr Hoban: In 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions sold its interest in the estate it occupied under the Private Sector Resource Initiative for Management of the Estate (PRIME) and now leases back fully serviced accommodation in a 20 year PFI deal with Telereal Trillium.
Therefore the Department for Work and Pensions does not own any properties in Scotland.
Social Exclusion
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to tackle social exclusion. [160384]
Esther McVey: We published our ‘Social Justice: transforming lives’ strategy in March 2012. A copy can be found in the Library.
Previous approaches to tackling poverty have focused on increasing income levels to bring people above the poverty line. The social justice strategy goes much further,
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exploring how tackling the root causes of problems can make real and sustained changes to the lives of those who face social exclusion.
On 24 April 2013, we published ‘Social Justice: transforming lives—one year on’, which highlights the progress made since the publication of the strategy and against seven social justice indicators ‘yardsticks’, of or success for the strategy. A copy can be found in the Library.
We will publish a second report by November 2014.
Social Security Benefits
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the amount no longer spent by his Department on people in (a) North-East Lincolnshire and (b) Henley-on-Thames as a result of all changes made to the welfare system since May 2010. [160304]
Mr Hoban: The information is not available, and could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-working age households currently have benefit income, excluding housing benefit, above the level of the benefit cap; and, of those, how many he estimates will have benefit income above the cap level after the cap is in place. [160586]
Mr Hoban: Non-working age households are not within the scope of the benefit cap policy. As such the information is not readily available.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy that, for non-working households whose benefit income other than housing benefit exceeds the level of the benefit cap, their benefit income will not be reduced to the level of the cap; and if he will make a statement. [160593]
Mr Hoban: The majority of households who currently receive benefits in excess of the cap level will be in receipt of housing benefit and they will have the cap applied from April 2013 in line with the Department's announced time-table for its phased rollout. We are aware that there may be a small number of households whose income from benefits other than housing benefit exceeds the level of the cap and these will continue to receive benefits over the cap level until their claims migrate to universal credit.
Universal Credit: East Ham
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the first date on which residents of East Ham constituency will be able to apply for universal credit. [160580]
Mr Hoban: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne), on 3 June 2013, Official Report, column 1052W.
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Universal credit will progressively roll out in a carefully managed and controlled way from October 2013 with all those who are entitled to UC claiming the new benefit by 2017.
Work Capability Assessment
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome have been classified as Fit for Work under the Atos Back to Work assessments; [160204]
(2) how many individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome have been successful in appealing against a Fit for Work judgement under the Atos Fit for Work assessments. [160205]
Mr Hoban: Information on chronic fatigue syndrome is not held, however we do hold information classified in two broader categories by the World Health Organisation International Categorisation of Diseases 2010. Note that the totals are likely to over-estimate the actual numbers with CFS, as these categories include unrelated conditions.
Of those that have had an initial work capability assessment on a new claim for employment and support allowance starting between October 2008 and August 2012, 9,900 had a primary condition in the broader categories which include CFS and were found fit for work. Of those starting their claim between October 2008 and February 2012, 2,100 had their Fit for Work decision overturned at appeal.
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what comparative assessment he has made of the number of complaints made against Atos and any other firm carrying out work capability assessments. [160217]
Mr Hoban: Atos Healthcare is the only organisation conducting work capability assessments at this time and therefore a comparison is not possible.
Work Capability Assessment: Appeals
Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on legal representation in appeals against decisions on benefits entitlement made following work capability assessments in 2011-12. [160562]
Mr Hoban: Between April 2011 and April 2012, the Department for Work and Pensions handled 350,295 benefit appeals at First Tier Tribunal level, not all of which were related to the work capability assessment. Each invoice for 2011 and 2012 would therefore need to be analysed on an individual basis and this would incur disproportionate cost.
Work Programme
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many participants in the Work programme have been successful in finding employment since its inception; [160201]
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(2) how many individuals have participated in the Work programme since its inception. [160202]
Mr Hoban: The information as requested on the number of people who have been placed into employment from the Work programme is not available.
The information we do have shows the number of Work programme referrals and job outcomes and this can be found in the Employment Programmes section at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
Guidance for users is available at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
Statistics covering Work programme referrals, attachments and job outcomes to March 2013 will be published on 27 June 2013.
Work Programme: Wales
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Work programme in tackling unemployment in Wales. [160435]
Mr Hoban: The Department publishes regular official job outcome statistics for the Work programme, broken down by contract package area and provider. The next figures will be published on 27 June and on a quarterly basis thereafter. In addition, we have commissioned independent research to evaluate delivery and performance of the programme, involving research in England, Scotland and Wales. A final report will be published in 2015.
Home Department
Animal Welfare
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings (a) she and (b) her ministerial colleagues have held with representatives from the animal welfare sector between 1 January 2013 and 13 June 2013. [160500]
James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quarterly-reports-of-ministers-meetings-with-outside-interest-groups
Asylum
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the (a) performance of G4S in delivering its COMPASS contract for asylum seekers and (b) capacity of G4S to make provision for vulnerable asylum seekers under that contract. [159779]
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Mr Harper: In July 2009, the UK Border Agency announced the launch of the Commercial and Operational Managers Procuring Asylum Support Services (COMPASS) Project to procure accommodation, transport and related services for asylum applicants. In 2012 G4S was awarded COMPASS contracts in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber Region and the Midlands and East of England Region. The COMPASS procurement project was conducted in line with EU Procurement Regulations. Following extensive market engagement, options analysis and appraisal a range of potential suppliers were identified as being capable of delivering the services against a range of criteria including financial strength, experience in delivering services to Government, quality, cost, risks and benefits. The potential suppliers were invited to submit proposals. The proposals were extensively evaluated by a team of operational, financial and commercial experts who were aware of the statutory obligations of the Home Office and the complexities of providing these services. The evaluation and subsequent due diligence testing of the proposals confirmed G4S to be a fit and proper organisation with the capacity and expertise to deliver integrated accommodation, transport and related services to asylum applicants.
COMPASS contracts define the required performance standards expected of all providers and also contain prescribed performance and governance regimes.
Since mobilisation of COMPASS contracts in June 2012 G4S have attended monthly contract board meetings where they report on their performance. Every three months they have attended a strategic review to discuss past performance and future activity.
G4S performance is satisfactory. Where shortfalls in performance have been identified the performance regime has been applied and improvement plans developed and implemented.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers returned to their country of origin have since returned to the UK and have been accepted as victims of persecution in the last five years. [159894]
Mr Harper: The data requested are shown in the following table:
| Table 1: Asylum grants following previous removal 2008-12 | |
| Grants | |
| Notes: 1. The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Figures relate to main applicants only. 3. Figures relate to grants of asylum between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012 where the decision followed a removal linked to a previous asylum application. 4. Removals may include voluntary and third country removals. 5. Figures round to nearest five and may not come to total because of independent rounding. | |
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Asylum: Children
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children seeking asylum in the UK have been subject to the use of physical force in the last six months. [159899]
Mr Harper: There have been no reports during the last six months of the use of physical force against a person seeking asylum in the UK who is under the age of 18.
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children seeking asylum in the UK have been strip-searched in the last six months. [159902]
Mr Harper: The Department is not aware of any instances where a person under the age of 18 has been strip-searched in the course of Immigration or Border Force activity in the last six months, including those seeking asylum.
As a matter of policy, the Department and its agents do not strip-search persons under the age of 18 in the course of Immigration or Border Force activity.
The Home Office has a duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 to carry out its immigration, asylum, nationality and customs functions having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK.
Asylum: Finance
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last assessed the performance of the Azure card. [160161]
Mr Harper: The card is provided to destitute failed asylum seekers who require support because they are temporarily unable to leave the United Kingdom and the performance of it is reviewed regularly. The Government are satisfied that the card is an effective way of ensuring the individuals are able to buy food and other items to cover their essential living needs.
Borders: Personal Records
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on reaching a settlement with Raytheon Systems Ltd on the e-Borders programme; and when the arbitration progress is scheduled to be completed. [160166]
Mr Harper: The dispute with Raytheon Systems Ltd is the subject of a confidential binding arbitration. We have recently entered the decision phase and we anticipate, in view of the complexity of the case, that this may take many months.
Capita
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department currently spends on contracts with Capita; and how much was spent in each year since 2008. [158468]
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James Brokenshire: For the last full financial year, 2012-13, the Home Department's total expenditure on contracts with Capita was £76 million.
The Home Department's expenditure on contracts with Capita since financial year 2008-09 is detailed in the following table. Spend figures for the current financial year 2013-14 are not yet available.
| Financial year | £ million |
| (1) FY 2008-09 and 2009-10 does not include Her Majesty's Passport Office spend. | |
Criminal Investigation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of police investigations were dropped before a charge was brought against the accused in the latest period for which figures are available. [159985]
Damian Green [holding answer 17 June 2013]: The information requested is not collected centrally by the Home Office. The Home Office collects information on the number of persons arrested. However, these data are not linked with details of any subsequent outcome.
Cybercrime
Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tighten control over illegal internet sites. [160358]
James Brokenshire: Working in partnership with law enforcement, industry and charities, we have taken significant steps to remove illegal child sexual abuse content from the internet, block access to such material, and take action against those responsible for it. The UK has a clear process by which criminal images of child sexual abuse can be reported and for websites containing such images to be blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), invited the major ISPs, mobile operators and others to a summit on 18 June to discuss what more could be done to minimise internet harm, which the Policing Minister attended.
The internet continues to be used as a central platform by Al Qaida and other terrorists and extremists. Extremist material online can contribute to an individual becoming radicalised. The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit is taking down and filtering more and more unlawful content online. To date, this unit has removed 5,700 pieces of online terrorist content and blocked around 1,000.
Deportation: Children
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been deported by the UK Border Agency in each of the last three years. [160197]
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Mr Harper: The following table provides the total number of enforced removals of children under 18 in each of the last three years from the UK.
| Total enforced removals of children under 18 from the UK(1, 2, 3) 2010 to 2012 | |||
| 2010 | 2011(4) | 2012(4) | |
| (1) Enforced removals are where it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and has no valid leave to remain within the United Kingdom. UKBA/Home Office enforces their departure to ensure they leave the UK. (2) Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (3) Age recorded at the time of departure from the UK. (4) Provisional figures. Figures may under record due to data cleansing that take place after the extracts are taken. | |||
Deportations are included in published enforced removals statistics which are either following a criminal conviction (foreign national offenders) or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good; the deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or who departed voluntarily from the UK within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by type, age at departure date and sex are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: January-March 2013, table rv_02 (volume 1) web pages at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
and are also available from the Library of the House.
Domestic Violence
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the scale of under-reporting of domestic abuse. [160471]
Mr Jeremy Browne: The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (Focus on: Violent Crime and Sexual Offences, 2011-12) indicate that there is an under-reporting of domestic violence and abuse. For example, only 5% of respondents who reported being victims of domestic violence and abuse in the self-completion module of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) had reported that they were victims of domestic violence and abuse in face-to-face interviews in the same survey, reflecting the sensitivity and complexity of this topic. The under-reporting of crime to the police is known to be particularly acute for intimate violence.
We recognise this under-reporting and are working with the College of Policing and the voluntary sector to ensure that victims of domestic and sexual violence feel able to come forward and report these crimes.
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We also have a comprehensive programme to tackle domestic and sexual violence. This is set out in the Government's Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan.
Firearms: Licensing
David Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many gun licences were issued
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by each police force in
(a)
2009-10,
(b)
2010-11,
(c)
2011-12 and
(d)
2012-13. [160164]
Damian Green: The following tables provide the number of firearms and shotgun certificates issued in each police force area in England and Wales, for each of the years 2009-10 to 2011-12. These data are published annually in the Home Office statistical release ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales’.
| Table 1: Firearm certificates: new applications, renewal applications and variation of applications granted, by police force area, 2009-10 to 2011-12 | ||||||
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |||||
| New applications granted | Renewal applications granted | Variation of applications granted certificate | New applications granted | Renewal applications granted | Variation of applications granted certificate | |
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| 2011-12 | |||
| New applications granted | Renewal applications granted | Variation of applications granted certificate | |
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| ‘—’ denotes nil Source: Home Office | |||
| Table 2: Shotgun certificates: new applications and renewal applications granted, by police force area, 2009-10 to 2011-12 | ||||||
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | ||||
| New applications granted | Renewal applications granted | New applications granted | Renewal applications granted | New applications granted | Renewal applications granted | |
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