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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 20 June 2013
Business, Innovation and Skills
Genetically Modified Organisms: Crops
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the GM industry about his policy on granting approval for the planting of genetically modified crops. [160308]
Mr Willetts: Authorising the planting of GM crops is a matter for the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with scientists sceptical about the planting of genetically modified crops. [160400]
Mr Willetts: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has had no recent discussions. However, I meet scientists with a range of views on GM. I hope to meet my hon. Friend with scientists sceptical of GM on the 17 July this year.
Patents
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK patents have been granted to UK-registered companies in each of the last 10 years. [160801]
Jo Swinson: Patents having effect in the United Kingdom can be granted by the Intellectual Property Office (UK national patents) or the European Patent Office (European patents designating the United Kingdom). Information on whether an applicant is a registered UK company is not recorded as part of the granting process but this information can be estimated through analysis. On the basis of such analysis, the number of patents granted to UK-registered companies that have effect in the United Kingdom is estimated in the following table:
| Number | |||
| Calendar year | Granted UK national patents from UK-registered companies | Granted European (UK) patents from UK-registered companies | Total patents with UK effect from UK-registered companies |
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Public Bodies
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what the name is of each member of (a) the Office for Fair Access, (b) each regional development agency, (c) the Regulatory Policy Committee, (d) the Science and Technology Facilities Council, (e) the Student Loans Company, (f) the Technology Strategy Board, (g) the UK Atomic Energy Authority and (h) the UK Commission for Employment and Skills as at 1 January 2013; and what the (i) declared ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member; [160805]
(2) what the name is of each member of (a) the Film Industry Training Board, (b) the Higher Education Funding Council for England, (c) the Industrial Development Advisory Board, (d) the Insolvency Practitioners Tribunal, (e) the Land Registration Rule Committee, (f) the Low Pay Commission, (g) the Medical Research Council and (h) Natural Environment Research Council as at 1 January 2013; and what the (i) declared ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member; [160806]
(3) what the name is of each member of (a) the Competition Service, (b) the Construction Industry Training Board, (c) Consumer Focus, (d) the Copyright Tribunal, (e) the Council for Science and Technology, (f) Economic and Social Research Council, (g) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and (h) the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board as at 1 January 2013; and what the (i) declared ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member; [160807]
(4) what the name is of each member of (a) the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, (b) the Arts and Humanities Research Council, (c) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, (d) the British Hallmarking Council, (e) Capital for Enterprise Limited, (f) the Central Arbitration Committee, (g) the Competition Appeals Tribunal and (h) the Competition Commission as at 1 January 2013; and what the (i) declared ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member. [160808]
Jo Swinson: The information requested is being collated and will be sent to the right hon. Member, and placed in the Libraries of the House, shortly.
In line with Cabinet Office guidance, the ethnicity of members representing these bodies is not published, as the information is provided confidentially. The information is collected at application stage for inclusion in the
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statistics published by Cabinet Office and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) which is anonymised.
OCPA publishes anonymised ethnicity information on a yearly basis for appointments and reappointments within their remit.
The latest information can be found at:
http://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/FINAL-OCPA-Statistics-2011-12-2.pdf
Regional Planning and Development
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects on regional growth of the Government's welfare reforms. [160705]
Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills monitors sub-national economic performance through official data sources and surveys; however, this aggregate level data does not facilitate the identification of impacts specifically attributable to the Government's welfare reforms that will help more people to move into and progress in work, while supporting the most vulnerable.
Wales
Departmental Responsibilities
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the meetings listed in the most recent Quarterly Ministerial Transparency return for his Department took place (a) at the premises of the organisations listed, (b) at conferences and (c) at other locations. [160666]
Stephen Crabb: Meetings take place at a variety of locations, including Wales Office premises, at the organisations being met and at other locations.
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the visits to media outlets undertaken by Ministers in his Department and declared on the most recent Quarterly Ministerial Transparency return were for interviews. [160804]
Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff were suspended from his Department 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. [160426]
Employment: Young People
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Jobs Growth Wales in tackling youth unemployment in Wales. [160449]
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Mr David Jones: Jobs Growth Wales is a Welsh Government initiative and it is up to the Welsh Government to assess its effectiveness.
However, it is completely ineffective in tackling youth unemployment for young people being supported by the Work programme as the Welsh Government have decided that those individuals are not eligible for support from Jobs Growth Wales.
Foreign Investment in UK
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the role of the UK's membership of the European Union on the level of inward investment into Wales. [160436]
Mr David Jones: According to Ernst and Young, in 2012 Wales attracted its highest level of foreign investment for five years.
When Ernst and Young asked existing and potential inward investors whether a lower degree of integration into the EU would make the UK a more attractive place to invest, 72% of companies interviewed in north America, and 66% of companies in Asia, said a lower degree of EU integration would make the UK a more attractive location for investment.
Official Visits
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all official visits that (a) he, (b) his Ministers and (c) his officials have undertaken in the last six months, including the dates of the visit. [160437]
Stephen Crabb: Ministerial overseas visits and meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis. The most recent published figures can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk./government/publications/wales-office-quarter-4
Information for January to March 2013 will be published shortly.
Information regarding ministerial visits is also published on the Wales Office website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/wales-office
Providing the same information for officials would be at disproportionate cost.
Unemployment
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the increase in unemployment in Wales since May 2010. [160448]
Mr David Jones: Since the quarter ending May 2010, ILO unemployment in Wales has fallen by 7,000, with the unemployment rate falling by 1.0 percentage point.
Unemployment: Young People
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of trends in long-term youth unemployment in Wales since May 2010. [160434]
Mr David Jones:
This Government are committed to tackling the legacy of long-term youth unemployment
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left behind by the previous Government. Over the course of the last Parliament (May 2005 to May 2010) long-term youth unemployment in Wales increased by 659%.
Long-term youth unemployment remains stubbornly high and is currently 93% higher than in May 2010, however it is heading in the right direction with the fourth consecutive monthly fall reported in May 2013.
Scotland
Conditions of Employment
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland are employed on zero hours contracts. [160800]
Michael Moore: According to ONS data, the figures for zero hours contracts in the UK (non-seasonally adjusted) for October to December 2012 was 200,000. The ONS do not publish the below UK level data as the sample size is too small.
House of Commons Commission
Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas:
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many staff were suspended
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from the House of Commons Service 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. [160418]
John Thurso: The total number of House of Commons Service staff suspended from work in the last three financial years was three. Some of these suspensions covered parts of more than one financial year. All were suspended on full pay. The figures are:
| Staff suspended | Associated costs(1 )(£) | |
| (1) Costs of temporary staff cover. | ||
Attorney-General
Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General how many staff were suspended from the Law Officers' Departments and their 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. [160406]
The Solicitor-General: The number of staff in the Law Officers' Departments who were suspended on full pay and the associated salary costs for the periods stated are shown in the following table:
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | ||||
| Department | Number suspended | Salary cost (£) | Number suspended | Salary cost (£) | Number suspended | Salary cost (£) |
| (1) The suspension for two staff which commenced in 2010-11 continued into the 2011-12 year and have therefore been counted in both years. (2) The TSol data also covers the Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. | ||||||
Fraud: Convictions
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General for what offences people were convicted in 2012-13 as a result of Serious Fraud Office investigations; and what sentence was applied in each such case. [159753]
The Solicitor-General: The SFO records show:
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|
FSMA 2000: Contravened the general prohibition of carrying on a regulated activity without permission (contrary to s19/s23) | ||
| (1) Indicates brace. | ||
The sentences of two offenders are subject to reporting restrictions and cannot be provided. Two offenders convicted in 2012-13 have not yet been sentenced.
Human Trafficking
Stephen Phillips: To ask the Attorney-General how many victims recognised as being trafficked under the National Referral Mechanism were served with a summons and prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service for criminal offences in each of the last five years. [160670]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the number of prosecutions against victims identified by the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) as having been trafficked. To obtain this information would require a manual check of all case files which would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the CPS has issued comprehensive legal guidance to advise prosecutors of the steps they should take in cases where the police have arrested potential victims of trafficking who have committed criminal offences and referred them for charge. If information suggests that they have been trafficked, prosecutors are advised to make full inquiries and consider whether the case against them should be discontinued. However, a prosecutor can only take these steps if they have information from the police or other sources that a suspect might be a victim of trafficking.
The CPS is considering issuing new guidelines to prosecutors following recent cases in the Court of Appeal in which victims of trafficking were prosecuted and convicted, having been advised to plead guilty by their legal representative. The new guidelines will be shared in due course with law enforcement and the Law Society to ensure a joined-up approach in these cases.
David Simpson: To ask the Attorney-General what prosecutions there have been for human trafficking offences in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [160712]
The Solicitor-General: The CPS maintains a record of human trafficking prosecutions by way of a database monitoring flag. A flag is applied at the onset of a case and remains in place even if charges relating to human trafficking offences are subsequently amended or dropped. There were 139 defendant prosecutions, flagged as human trafficking prosecutions, recorded during the most recent 12 month period (April 2012 to March 2013). Details are as follows:
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| 2012-13 | ||
| Number | Rate (percentage) | |
Legal Costs
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Attorney-General what the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by the Law Officers' Departments were in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; to whom those amounts were paid; and for what reasons the legal advice was sought in each such case. [155612]
The Solicitor-General: Tables containing the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice during the past three years by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), The Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) and the past two years by Attorney-General's Office have been placed in the Library of the House. It cannot be guaranteed that the TSol/AGO data is complete, particularly in respect of the older figures. There have been historic problems with record keeping in respect of the time and disbursements incurred for the AGO and TSol's own cases (which are not billed to other Departments). This was addressed and systems are now in place to ensure accurate recording in the future.
The TSol entries between 2010 and 2012 may also cover some legal representation as well as advice. This is because the available records do not always make a clear distinction between the two areas. It is also not possible to ascertain the specific reasons why legal advice was sought for the CPS records without incurring a disproportionate cost.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) does not routinely distinguish between external legal advice and external litigation (legal representation) services when recording legal expenditure and it is therefore not possible to provide the information requested without incurring a disproportionate cost.
HMCPSI has not recorded any expenditure on external legal advice since 7 May 2010.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Horses: Animal Welfare
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent representations he has received concerning the hot branding of horses; and if he will make a statement; [159962]
(2) what recent discussions he has had with equine welfare and veterinary organisations on the hot branding of horses and ponies; and if he will make a statement. [159964]
Mr Heath:
We have received a number of representations from equine welfare organisations on hot branding. While the Government accept that there is currently a need for semi-wild moorland ponies to be hot branded,
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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.
Cabinet Office
Graduates: Lancashire
Jake Berry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of unemployed graduates in (a) Lancashire and (b) Rossendale and Darwen constituency. [160844]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated June 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of unemployed graduates in (a) Lancashire and (b) Rossendale and Darwen constituency. (160844)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Whilst the APS does collect data on graduate unemployment, no reliable statistics can be produced for Lancashire or Rossendale and Darwen constituency due to small sample sizes.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
Conditions of Employment: Wales
Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what estimate he has made of the number of workers on zero hours contracts in Wales; [160702]
(2) how many 16 to 24 year olds in Wales have been on zero hours contracts in each year since 2010. [160703]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated June 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking for the number of workers on zero hours contracts in Wales (160702); and how many 16 to 24 year olds in Wales have been on zero hours contracts in each year since 2010 (160703).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS), following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Estimates of the number of zero hour contracts are not available from this source. Estimates of the number of people on zero-hours contracts are available from the Labour Force Survey, but due to sample size are not available for areas smaller than the UK.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and Claimant Count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
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Employment
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the employment rate was in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) the UK in each year since 2007. [160953]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the employment rate was in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) the UK in each year since 2007. (160953)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Statistics for the UK have been compiled on a comparable basis.
The table shows the percentage of people aged 16 to 64 resident in the requested areas who were employed, according to survey responses, in the 12 month period ending in December 2012, the latest available period, and for the 12 month periods ending in December from 2007 to 2011 from the APS.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
| Table 1: Percentage of people aged 16 to 64 in employment | |||
| Percentage | |||
| 12 months ending December: | Ashfield | Nottinghamshire | United Kingdom |
| Source: Annual Population Survey | |||
Employment: Peterborough
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the net change in the number of private sector jobs in (a) Peterborough constituency and (b) Peterborough city council area since 2010 has been in the latest period for which figures are available. [160645]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Minister for the Cabinet Office asking what the net change in the number of private sector jobs in (a) Peterborough constituency and (b) Peterborough City Council area since 2010 has been in the latest period for which figures are available. (160645)
Information regarding the number of private sector jobs in parliamentary constituencies and local authorities is not available. As an alternative, estimates relating to the number of people
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employed in the private sector have been provided. The ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics for areas below the UK following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions using the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey. The private sector estimates provided do not correspond to those derived as part of the calculation of the official Public Sector Employment estimates. These are based on a National Accounts' definition, are generally higher and are not available for areas smaller then regions.
The table shows the number of people employed in the private sector in Peterborough constituency and Peterborough City Council area and the net changes. These estimates are compiled from APS interviews held during the period January 2012 to December 2012, the latest period available, and the 12 month period ending in December 2010.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the table.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
Work and Pensions
Carer’s Allowance
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason parents in receipt of carer's allowance who take out a loan and enrol in higher education are no longer eligible for the allowance. [160797]
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Esther McVey: A carer is not entitled to carer's allowance if they are in full-time education; this is a long-standing rule and has always been the case. For carer's allowance purposes a person is treated as being in full-time education if they attend a course for 21 hours or more a week. The 21 hours is the time spent in supervised study and can include coursework and homework set by the tutor, but excludes breaks.
It is a general rule in social security that benefits are not available to students, except in very limited circumstances, because there is a system of student grants and loans to help with their support for the duration of their courses, including outside term time. The system is available to carers as it is to other students.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK were in receipt of the (i) higher and (ii) lower rate mobility component of disability living allowance in each year since that allowance's introduction. [160302]
Esther McVey: The information requested is available on the online tabtool:
http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html
Employers’ Liability
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the oversight of employer liability insurance undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive. [160831]
Mr Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive ensures that compliance with the requirement to hold employer's liability insurance remains high. This is done through the provision of guidance and enforcement action, up to and including prosecution where necessary. Indeed, an independent survey published in 2012 showed that 94% of employers required to hold this insurance said they had it.
Employment: Halifax
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of working age Halifax residents are employed in the public sector. [160360]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions asking what proportion of working age Halifax residents are employed in the public sector (160360).
ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics for areas below the UK following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions using the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey. The public sector estimates provided do not correspond to those derived as
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part of the calculation of the official Public Sector Employment estimates. These are based on a National Accounts' definition, are generally lower and are not available for areas smaller then regions.
15% of the population aged 16 to 64 resident in Halifax, were employed in the public sector, according to estimates compiled from APS interviews held during the period January 2012 to December 2012, the latest period available.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
Housing Benefit: Greater London
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in discretionary housing payments in each London borough in each of the last 12 months. [160789]
Steve Webb: The information requested is not available on a monthly basis.
The following table details the total reported expenditure on discretionary housing payments for each London authority for 2012-13.
| Authority name | Amount of discretionary housing payments awarded throughout 2012-13 (£) |
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Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much each local authority returned to his Department in unused discretionary housing payment funding in 2012-13. [160356]
Steve Webb: I will place a copy of the Discretionary Housing Payment unused allocation table for 2012-13 in the Library which shows how much of the Government contribution towards Discretionary Housing Payments in 2012-13 was unused by each local authority.
As a one-off arrangement agreed by Treasury local authorities were allowed to carry-forward unspent Discretionary Housing Payment funding from 2011-12 to 2012-13, in total £7.9 million was carried forward.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether there is any provision in the arrangements for the under-occupancy penalty for parents whose children are in care but where it is hoped that they will join their parents in the future; and if he will make a statement. [160788]
Steve Webb: Existing housing benefit regulations do not allow for children who are being looked after by (or in Scotland is in the care of) a local authority, to be treated as a member of the household for housing benefit purposes.
Consequently the removal of the spare room subsidy will apply where children are in care in both the social and private rented sector.
Claimants in these circumstances may apply for support from the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme.
Industrial Health and Safety
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has provided to local authorities for the purposes of enforcing occupational health and safety requirements in each of the last five years; how this amount was determined; and what proportion of such funding provided local authorities used for this purpose. [160830]
Mr Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not provide funding to local authorities (LAs) for the purposes of enforcing occupational health and safety requirements. LAs are under a legal duty to ensure they make adequate arrangements for enforcement within their area. HSE provides statutory guidance to assist LAs to target their resources effectively.
Innovation Fund
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2013, Official Report, column 350W, on the Innovation Fund: Scotland, whether he has made a decision on whether it is feasible to publish statistics relating to the Innovation Fund. [160791]
Mr Hoban: We published an official statistics ad-hoc release on 5 June 2013 which reports progress on starts and outcomes on the Innovation Fund pilot. The release can be found at:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/youth_unemploy_if_pilot.pdf
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Low Incomes
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families in work with children were earning less than the average national weekly income in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement. [160451]
Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Table 1: Number of families with children with incomes below average income(1) by economic status, Before Housing Costs, United Kingdom | |||
| Million | |||
| Number of families with children with incomes below various measures of average income(1), Before Housing Costs, United Kingdom | |||
| Below median income | |||
| Number of families with children whose family type is: | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
| (1) Average income is defined as the median equivalised net household income, where median income divides the population of families, when ranked by income, into two equal sized groups. Equivalisation is the process that makes adjustments to incomes, so that the standard of living of households with different compositions can be compared. Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. Figures have been presented on an Before Housing Cost basis. Housing costs consist of (rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, buildings insurance payments and ground rent and service charges). 3. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 4. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year. 5. Numbers of families with children have been rounded to the nearest 100,000, and may not sum due to rounding. Source: FRS | |||
Families with children are defined as a single adult or a couple living together with dependent children.
The number of working families with children who have a household income of less than the national weekly median is calculated on the basis of household income for all families. Therefore, the median income divides the population of all families, when ranked by income, into two equal sized groups.
The statistics published in the Households Below Average Income publication are based on the number of people below various thresholds of median household income for all individuals, and are therefore produced on a different basis to the figures provided in Table 1.
Further information can be found in the Household Below Average Income series published at
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai
The Households Below Average Income figures show that the proportion of children in working families has risen, this is because the overall proportion of children in workless households has fallen as more families have moved into work. However, work remains the best route
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out of poverty, children in workless households are around three times more likely to be in poverty than those in working families.
The evidence consistently shows that the best routes out of poverty are through parents being in work and through a child's educational achievement which can stop a poor child becoming a poor adult. Income matters but it is also about addressing barriers to employment and ensuring that every family has the skills and opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty.
We are introducing the universal credit which will reduce child poverty through making work pay and providing an effective route out of poverty. Universal credit will improve work incentives by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work, and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits when they increase their earnings. Universal credit will also reduce child poverty by re-focusing of entitlements on lower income in-work households and having a simpler system that should lead to a considerable increase in the take-up compared to the current complex system of benefits and tax credits.
We want to develop better measures of child poverty which include, but go beyond income to provide a more accurate picture of the reality of child poverty. Our consultation on how best to measure child poverty closed on 15 February. The complexity of the issue means that we need to take time to ensure we have the best option for measuring child poverty, so that we can ensure we properly tackle the causes. We will publish our response as soon as we can.
Redundancy: Halifax
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) public sector and (b) private sector jobs have been lost in Halifax since May 2010. [160454]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions asking how many (a) public sector and (b) private sector jobs have been lost in Halifax since May 2010. (160454)
Information regarding the number of jobs lost is not available. As an alternative, estimates relating to the number of people employed have been provided. ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics for areas below the UK following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions using the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey. The public sector estimates provided do not correspond to those derived as part of the calculation of the official Public Sector Employment estimates. These are based on a National Accounts' definition, are generally lower and are not available for areas smaller then regions.
The table shows the number of people employed in the public and private sector in Halifax and net changes. These estimates are compiled from APS interviews held during the period January
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2012 to December 2012, the latest period available, and the 12 month periods ending in December in each year since 2010, which includes May 2010.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the table.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
Social Rented Housing: Edinburgh
Mr Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the amount of available single roomed accommodation owned by (a) housing associations and (b) the City of Edinburgh Council within the City of Edinburgh; and what estimate he has made of the number of outstanding applications for such accommodation. [160199]
Steve Webb: The Department does not hold data on available single-roomed accommodation or applications for social housing.
Information on local authority housing lists for each local authority in Scotland is available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0040/00400707.xls
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Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Mr Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance has been issued to Jobcentre Plus offices in relation to the time taken to implement decisions of tribunals where they relate to successful appeals by individuals. [160200]
Esther McVey: Appeal outcomes are treated as a change of circumstances for processing purposes. This means that once the outcome has been received (by e-mail), the decision checked for correctness and the Decision Making and Appeals Case Recording (DMACR) system updated, it will be passed by the decision-maker to the benefit processor for action. The Department's Code of Appeals Procedures, which is available on DWP website, includes guidance that the tribunal's decision should be put into effect as soon as possible.
Unemployment: Young People
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the effect of school careers advice on levels of youth unemployment; and if he will make a statement. [160832]
Mr Hoban: There have been no recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the effect of schools careers service on levels of youth unemployment.
Departmental officials continue to work closely with the Department for Education in setting up a strategy to improving opportunities for young people, so they can succeed in education and training and gain the skills they need to secure employment or gain an apprenticeship. The strategy sets out how radical reforms to schools, vocational education, skills and welfare provision will all make a significant difference to young people's opportunities and support.
In addition to this, I continue to meet with the Minister of Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), to work on ways to reduce youth unemployment.
Communities and Local Government
Architecture: Planning
Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of the National Planning Policy Framework on the quality of design in the built environment; [159965]
(2) what measures he is taking to deliver upon the commitment outlined in A Housing Strategy for England, Chapter 7, to improve standards of design for new houses in England. [160130]
Mr Foster: The Government attach great importance to the design of the built environment. The National Planning Policy Framework contains a strong set of policies on designs enshrining good design as a core planning principle and sending a clear message to councils to reject development of poor design.
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Local authorities and organisations, including the Royal Institute for British Architects, have welcomed the framework stating that a clear message has been sent to developers, planning officers and committees that poor-quality development will no longer be accepted.
The policies on design in the framework must be taken into account in the preparation of local and neighbourhood plans. It is through the local and neighbourhood plan process that design policies that will influence development locally, are tested and adopted. We have made good progress on local plans, with seven out of 10 councils now having a published local plan, compared to three out of 10 in May 2010. As of April 2013 over 500 communities are taking up the right to make a legally binding neighbourhood plan for their area.
To meet Housing Strategy commitments we have also provided funding to Design Council that has enabled it to work with partners to establish ways of delivering design support to communities, councils and developers and encouraged industry to innovate, for example through the annual Housing Design Awards.
Empty Property
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty properties have been brought back into use, by local authority, since May 2010. [159973]
Mr Foster: Annual statistics on total numbers of vacant dwellings and those vacant longer than six months in each local authority district in England are published in the Department's live table 615, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
Comparison of the figures over successive years shows the net change in numbers vacant. The net figures result from the balance of properties being brought back into use and those falling vacant over the year.
The number of long-term empty homes has already fallen by 20,000 between 2011 and 2012 and by over 40,800 since 2010. Ministers will keep the House updated with progress.
Evictions
Dr McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each constituent part of the UK have been evicted in the last five years; and what proportion of such evictees have had children. [160104]
Mr Prisk: The Department collects information for England only. Statistics on evictions from local authority housing but not family composition are available from Local Authority Housing Statistics:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/local-authority-housing-data
Statistics on evictions from private registered providers (housing associations) are also limited to total numbers:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120419011320/http://www.tenantservicesauthority.org/upload/pdf/Statistical_release_August 2011r.pdf
The Department does not collect statistics on evictions from owner occupied or private rental housing.
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Housing: Construction
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) housing starts and (b) housing completions there have been for (i) all properties, (ii) properties for social rent, (iii) properties for affordable rent and (iv) all properties classed as affordable housing since 2007-08. [160235]
Mr Prisk: Statistics on house building starts and completions by tenure in each local authority are published in the Department's live tables 253 (annual) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building
Taken together, the housing association and local authority tenures provide estimates of total social housing starts and completions, but these figures mostly understate total affordable supply. This is because the house building figures are categorised by the type of developer rather than the intended final tenure, leading to under recording of affordable housing, and a corresponding over recording of private enterprise figures.
More comprehensive statistics on affordable housing starts and completions funded by the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London Authority since 2009-10 by tenure are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/affordable-housing-starts-and-completions-funded-by-the-hca-and-the-gla-2012-to-2013
These statistics include both newly built housing and acquisitions but exclude delivery of affordable housing not funded by the Homes and Communities Agency and Greater London Authority programmes that are reported in local authority returns to the Department. A fuller picture of all affordable housing completions (but not starts) is published in the Department's live tables 1000, 1006, 1007 and 1008, which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
Property
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) location and (b) value is of any property his Department owns in Scotland. [160275]
Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not own any properties in Scotland.
Home Department
Asylum
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many settlement applications were made by asylum seekers between 1 October and 31 December 2012; and how many such applications were outstanding on 31 December 2012. [160684]
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Mr Harper: Between 1 October and 31 December 2012, a total of 2,277 applications for settlement were received by individuals who have been granted asylum. Of these 2,221 applications were pending on 31 December 2012.
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 asylum main applicants.
3. Figures relate to applications made for settlement by individuals that have made an application for asylum.
Borders: Personal Records
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial provision her Department has made to cover the (a) ongoing legal costs of and (b) costs of a potential settlement resulting from the binding arbitration process brought by Raytheon Systems Ltd. [160168]
Mr Harper: The Department, based on legal advice, has not set aside any funds to cover potential costs or liabilities. Within the Department's accounts, the latest position with respect to the ongoing dispute is disclosed as a contingent liability.
Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were suspended from her 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. [160417]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 18 June 2013]: This information is not held in our central records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Immigrants: Tuberculosis
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what screening for (a) tuberculosis and (b) drug-resistant tuberculosis is undertaken on people seeking to become resident in the UK (i) in general and (ii) from countries with populations suffering from higher levels of infection. [159293]
Mr Harper: The Home Office has had in place the requirement for pre-screening for tuberculosis in 15 countries since 2005 as part of the UK visa application process. We are in the process of implementing the requirement for TB pre-screening in a further 67 high incidence countries (as defined by the World Health Organisation).This will be completed by the end of 2013. We do not require screening for TB in low incidence countries. Pre- screening for TB is required by an individual who is travelling to the UK from one of the designated countries for more than six months.
Legal Opinion: Treaties
Nick de Bois:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2013, Official Report, column 1230W, on legal opinion:
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treaties, what the cost to the public purse has been of responding to requests made under mutual legal assistance treaties by the US; and if she will make a statement. [160466]
Mr Harper [holding answer 19 June 2013]: We do not hold information on the cost of receiving, acceding to, and executing mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests from the United States of America.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2013, Official Report, column 1230W, on legal opinion: treaties, how many requests have been made under mutual legal assistance treaties with the US since that measure's inception; and if she will make a statement. [160467]
Mr Harper [holding answer 19 June 2013]: Between 1 February 2010 and 31 May 2013 the UK Central Authority (UKCA) in the Home Office (the central authority for all mutual legal assistance requests for England and Wales and Northern Ireland) sent 337 requests to the US. In the same period the UKCA received 141 requests from the US.
Note:
The information has been provided from local management information and has not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such it should be treated as provisional.
Rangers Football Club
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made by the Police Service of Scotland and the Procurator Fiscal West of Scotland in their investigation into alleged leaks of confidential information relating to Glasgow Rangers FC's tax details. [157322]
Damian Green: An investigation into alleged leaks of confidential information relating to the tax details of Murray International Holdings Ltd, the former majority shareholder in Rangers Football Club, and its owner and former Chairman of the Club, Sir David Murray, is being carried out jointly by the Economic Crime Unit of the Police Service of Scotland and HM Revenue and Customs. The Procurator Fiscal for the West of Scotland is liaising closely with law enforcement about the progress of the investigation. As the investigation is ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment.
Sean Lopes
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of how the US fugitive, Sean Lopes was able to (a) enter the UK and (b) live and work here while being pursued by US authorities for a violent crime. [156326]
Mr Harper [holding answer 20 May 2013]: The Home Office cannot comment on individual cases.
Stun Guns
Dr Huppert:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 73W, on
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Freedom of Information, for what reason Taser statistics since March 2010 have not yet been published; and when she plans to publish such statistics. [160704]
Damian Green: The original database used to store the Police Use of Taser statistics was created in 2003 to cater for the operational trial. This version of the database became increasingly outdated and was operating outside of its original design specification. A decision was taken to develop a new database in 2011 which would automatically enter the data from the Taser data forms. We have experienced significant issues with the migration to this new version of the database.
We have resolved these problems and are in the final stages of a thorough data validation exercise. We will publish this information when we have finished this exercise.
Transport
A338
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) which body is responsible for maintenance of the A338; and what plans are in place to complete the road widening project on that road; [160695]
(2) what plans are in place for improvements to road access to Bournemouth International Airport. [160696]
Norman Baker: Maintenance of the A338 or any plans to upgrade it, are in the first instance the responsibility of a number of local highway authorities rather than the Department for Transport.
Conditions of Employment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were retained on zero-hour contracts by (a) his Department and (b) the executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [160776]
Norman Baker: The table below shows the number of staff employed in the Vehicle Certification Agency on zero-hour contracts during 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. All were qualified type approval engineers.
| Number | |
There were no staff retained on zero-hours contract in the central Department, the remaining executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 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. [160424]
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Norman Baker: The Department for Transport, its six Executive Agencies and 13 of its Arm's Length Bodies are included in the table below.
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Trinity House cannot provide any data for this request as they do not hold the relevant information centrally.
| 2010-2011 | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | |
Driving Instruction
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure young drivers are given adequate training for driving on rural roads. [160067]
Stephen Hammond: All learner drivers are encouraged to obtain a wide range of pre-test driving experience; the voluntary Pass Plus scheme includes a module about driving on rural roads and the theory test contains questions about rural driving. The Department is publishing a Green Paper later this year which will look at a range of options for ensuring young drivers have the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe on the roads. This could include a minimum learning period and a requirement for learner drivers to gain experience on rural roads before taking their practical driving test.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many new drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 years took the Pass Plus training course in each of the last five years; [160068]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Pass Plus in helping to prevent accidents among new drivers; [160069]
(3) what steps his Department is taking to encourage drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 to take Pass Plus after passing their driving tests. [160143]
Stephen Hammond: The following table shows the volume of Pass Plus certificates issued by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) in the last five years.
| Number of certificates issued | |
| (1) Year to date. | |
DSA does not collect data about the age of drivers who complete a Pass Plus course, though it is reasonable to assume the majority would be between 17 and 25 years old.
A report by the Association of British Insurers, published in 2006, showed that drivers who participated in the Pass Plus scheme had a marginally lower accident rate than drivers who did not. We continue to explore with
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the insurance industry options for improving market confidence so that we can maximise the incentives and take-up of post-test training initiatives. The Department will publish a Green Paper later this year looking at a range of options for ensuring young drivers have the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe on the roads. This could include a minimum learning period to encourage learner drivers to obtain a wider range of driving experience before the practical driving test.
Driving Under Influence
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of television campaigns in preventing (a) drink driving and (b) drug driving. [160064]
Stephen Hammond: We evaluate all campaigns we run to ensure they are effective, that we continually improve performance; and that we ultimately deliver a return on investment and value for money for the taxpayer. We set key performance indicators prior to each campaign and measure these before and immediately after the campaign runs.
Not all of our campaigns involve TV, instead we focus spend on the channels that are most efficient in reaching our target audience and most likely to change behaviour.
The Department has run drink drive campaigns for over 30 years. During this time our campaigns have helped to change attitudes and make drink-driving socially unacceptable. For example, since our current personal consequences campaign launched in 2007, the percentage of young men agreeing that it is extremely unacceptable to drive after two pints has increased from 51% to 61%. We have also increased consideration of the personal consequences of a drink-driving conviction—agreement that being caught drink-driving would change my life dramatically has increased from 73% to 91%.
Over the last 30 years drink drive casualties have fallen significantly. It is difficult to separate out the impact of drink drive campaigns from other factors such as enforcement, but econometric modelling the Department commissioned estimates that 30 years of drink drive campaigns has saved 2,000 lives, prevented over 10,000 serious injuries and created a value to society of £3 billion.
Drug drive campaigns have run less frequently. The last campaign ran in 2009 and included TV advertising. Following the campaign, we saw positive shifts in some key performance indicators. For example, the percentage of the target audience who agreed the police could detect a drug driver if stopped increased from 78% to 83%.
Our THINK! communication campaigns are only one part of our road safety work. We're introducing a new drug driving offence through the Crime and Courts Bill. It will be an offence to drive a motor vehicle if you have certain controlled drugs in your body in excess of the limits set for them.
The new drug-driving offence will improve the law available for tackling the problem of drug-driving and we plan to support this when it's introduced with a further communications campaign.
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Driving: Licensing
Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met the Postal Affairs Minister to discuss the installation of Cogent digital camera equipment in post offices to process driving licence applications and the effect this has had on the rural post office network. [160355]
Stephen Hammond: There has been no meeting between Ministers at the Department of Transport and the Minister with responsibility for the Post Office to discuss the installation of Cogent digital camera equipment in post offices to process driving license applications.
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Mrs Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the report from the Office of the Rail Regulator showing a decline in usage across all rail sectors over the last 12 months and the effect of this report on the economic evaluation of High Speed 2; and if he will make a statement. [160665]
Mr Simon Burns: Provisional statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation on usage of the rail network indicate that annual franchised passenger kilometres travelled on the rail network increased from 56.9 billion in 2011-12 to 58 billion in 2012-13. This represents an increase of 46% since 2002-03. Growing usage of the rail network is an important driver of the case for HS2. Network Rail estimates suggest that the West Coast Main Line will be overwhelmed by the mid 2020s if we do nothing.
Motor Vehicles: Insurance
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of car insurance companies offering lower premiums to drivers who use telematics technology. [160428]
Stephen Hammond: I am aware of 17 insurance companies who provide telematics products for drivers. Depending on driving behaviour, lower insurance premiums may be awarded to drivers for using these products.
Roads: Safety
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on campaigns promoting road safety in each of the last three years. [160065]
Stephen Hammond: The Department's road safety publicity programme expenditure for the last three years was:
| £ | |
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Shipping
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 119W, on shipping: training, whether maritime policy issues related to training of UK seafarers were discussed at the maritime round table meeting held in March 2013; and what (a) outcomes and (b) actions in this area were agreed. [160731]
Stephen Hammond: Maritime training was discussed in the wider context of growth and promotion of the maritime sector as a whole. The sector is an important contributor to the UK economy and highly trained and qualified seafarers are instrumental in supporting the UK maritime sector.
There was no specific outcome or action relating to maritime training but there was agreement to joint working across Government and with industry on growth and promotion of the maritime sector, of which maritime training is part.
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 119W, on shipping: training, whether maritime policy issues related to employment of (a) UK and (b) non-UK seafarers were discussed at the maritime round table meeting held in March 2013; and what (i) outcomes and (ii) actions in this area were agreed. [160732]
Stephen Hammond: There was no discussion on policy issues relating to the employment of UK and non-UK seafarers.
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 119W, on shipping: training, what the name was of each attendee at the maritime round table meeting in March 2013; what policy issues were discussed; and what maritime policy items are proposed for the agenda for the meeting scheduled for July 2013. [160733]
Stephen Hammond: Attendees at the maritime round table held in March included:
Stephen Hammond, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
Michael Fallon, Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Richard Sadler, CEO Lloyd’s Register
Jim Stewart, Chairman, Maritime UK and CEO of Poole Harbour Commissioners
Lars Olsson, General Manager of Stena Line
Jeremy Penn, Chief Executive, The Baltic Exchange
Mark Brownrigg—UK Chamber of Shipping
Sir Alan Massey, Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss:
i. Improved joint working across government and with industry on maritime affairs;
ii. Growth and promotion of the maritime sector within the context of the growth agenda;
iii. Cross-government and industry support for London International Shipping Week.
The agenda for the next meeting is still under consideration.
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Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 119W, on shipping: training, if he will invite representatives of the maritime trade unions to attend (a) the maritime round table scheduled for July 2013 and (b) all future meetings of the maritime round table. [160734]
Stephen Hammond: We value the important work of the maritime trade unions and are keen to continue ongoing dialogue with them. The invite list for the maritime round tables has been kept small to enable a strategically focused dialogue on the maritime sector's contribution to the growth agenda and how the sector is best promoted at a national and international level. The maritime trade unions will of course have a role to play in this and I look forward to hearing their views at forthcoming meetings with me in the near future. I am also aware that the maritime trade unions are in dialogue with Department for Transport officials and therefore have the opportunity to feed their views in through officials also.
No meetings have been arranged beyond July.
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 119W, on shipping: training, if he will publish the (a) minutes and (b) outcomes of the maritime round table meeting held in March 2013. [160735]
Stephen Hammond: There are no minutes from the March round table meeting.
Outcomes of the meeting included:
1. Agreement to joint working across Government and with industry on growth and promotion of the maritime sector which includes shipping, ports, marine and business services.
2. Support for London International Shipping Week which will take place from 9-13 September. This was seen as an excellent opportunity to showcase what the UK has to offer and Government, with Maritime UK, is hosting a Welcome Reception in Lancaster House as part of the week.
Transport: Finance
Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of (a) integrated transport authorities' and (b) passenger transport executives' (i) spending and (ii) budgets is funded from (A) local funding sources and (B) central Government allocations and grants. [160575]
Norman Baker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Angela Smith) to question 159417 of 17 June 2013, Official Report, column 530W. This sets out the funding given by the Department for Transport to ITAs/PTEs following the 2010 Spending Review.
As levying bodies, set up by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and subsequent regulations, Integrated Transport Authorities are able to set the amount of funding they wish to raise from their constituent authorities. It is therefore ultimately up to them and their constituent councils as to what the proportions are between local and central Government sources.
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Passenger Transport Executives are the executive bodies of integrated transport authorities and, as such, draw their funding from their associated integrated transport authority.
Travel
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on encouraging the use of alternative methods of transportation other than the car when travelling short distances. [160141]
Norman Baker: Ministers and officials in the Department for Transport regularly discuss a variety of matters with their opposite numbers at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, but there have been no recent discussions with that Department specifically on encouraging the use of alternative methods of transportation other than the car when travelling short distances.
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many invitations to visit hospital accident and emergency and emergency departments he and his Ministers have received since their appointments; and for what dates. [160802]
Dr Poulter: A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified over 4,000 ministerial invitations received since September 2012. It is not possible to identify which of these were invitations to visit national health service trusts or accident and emergency departments without incurring disproportionate cost.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 6 June 2013, Official Report, column 1268W, which lists visits made by the ministerial team to accident and emergency units since their respective dates of appointment.
Cancer
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to develop a new national cancer strategy; [160572]
(2) what plans his Department and NHS England have for the development of new indicators for the measurement of cancer patient experience. [160573]
Anna Soubry: NHS England has responsibility for cancer services.
The latest cancer strategy, Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer, was published in January 2011 and contains the Department's ambition to 'save 5,000 lives' per year by 2014-15. This equates to bringing cancer survival rates up to the European average.
At present, NHS England has no plans to develop a further national cancer strategy.
The Mandate to NHS England requires it to deliver continued improvements in relation to patients' experience of care, including cancer care. This improvement area corresponds to Domain 4 of the NHS Outcomes
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Framework (NHS OF) 'Ensuring that people have a positive experience of care', and NHS England will need to demonstrate progress in improving patients' experience against the specific outcome indicators in the domain. Although there are no disease specific indicators in this domain, those that are included cover a range of national health service care settings which will be relevant to the experiences of cancer patients across all the Domains of the NHS OF. There are currently no plans to develop an indicator specific to cancer patient experience in the NHS OF.
‘Ensuring that people have a positive experience of care’ is also Domain 4 of the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG OIS). The CCG OIS indicators in this domain, many of which are shared with the NHS OF, will enable clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to benchmark themselves on these matters and to inform the setting of local priorities.
NHS England is committed to encouraging and supporting improvement in cancer patient experience and is therefore considering how best to build the capacity of CCGs and ensure they are held to account. NHS England is considering the role that metrics for patient experience might play in the CCG OIS.
Carers
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of people in the care sector employed on zero-hours contracts in each English region. [160783]
Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect this information centrally.
Skills for Care, the Sector Skills Council for social care, has provided the following estimates from the National Minimum Dataset for Social Care (NMDS-SC):
| Estimated number of adult social care workers on zero-hours contracts, by each English region | |
| Region | Estimated number of workers on zero-hours contracts |
| Source: Skills for Care workforce estimates 2011, NMDS-SC May 2013 | |
Diabetes: Children
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged up to 18 years in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England were diagnosed with diabetes in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012. [160782]
Anna Soubry:
Information is not collected in the format requested. The table shows the number of children up to 18 years (registered in primary and secondary
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care) newly diagnosed with diabetes in the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield primary care trust (PCT) areas and in England in the latest two years for which data is available.
| NDA audit year | ||
| Geographical area | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| Note: The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), which audits diabetes registrations in primary and secondary care, is not mandatory. (NDA does not have 100% coverage or participation and therefore cannot accurately provide the information required). Source: National Diabetes Audit (NDA). | ||