Diabetes: North West
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children began treatment for type 1 diabetes in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in each of the last five years. [160353]
Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested.
Information on the number of children aged up to 18 years, registered in primary and secondary care, that were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2009-10 and 2010-11 in the former (a) Blackburn with Darwen primary care trust (PCT), (b) North Lancashire Teaching PCT, (c) Blackpool PCT, (d) Central Lancashire PCT, (e) East Lancashire PCT and (f) North West strategic health authority (SHA) is shown in the following table.
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
| Notes: 1. Participation in the National Diabetes Audit (NDA), which audits diabetes registrations in primary and secondary care, is not mandatory. The NDA does not have 100% coverage or participation and therefore cannot accurately provide the information requested. 2. 2011-12 data has not yet been published. The NDA currently only holds data for 2009-10 and 2010-11. 3. Information is not available by constituency. 4. The NDA provides data on the number of children aged up to 18 years that were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which is synonymous to the number of children who began treatment. 5. To protect patient confidentiality, figures between one and five have been replaced with “—”. Source: The Information Centre for Health and Social Care—National Diabetes Audit. | ||
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Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 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. [160416]
Dr Poulter: No officials were suspended on full pay from the Department during 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively.
On the basis of the information provided by the Department's associated public bodies, the following table shows the total number of staff suspended and the costs incurred for each of the respective years.
| Number of staff suspended on full pay in the Department's associated public bodies | Total costs incurred (£) | |
Health Services: Barnsley
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many compromise agreements have been made with NHS employers in Barnsley since 2000; and what the total cost to the public purse was of those agreements. [160786]
Dr Poulter: The information requested is not held centrally. Such information as is available is as follows.
From 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2013, HM Treasury approved seven non-contractual severance payments to employees of Barnsley NHS employers (excluding foundation trusts). All seven cases were for Barnsley primary care trust. The value of the approved payments totalled £50,554 in this period.
Business cases submitted to the Department prior to seeking HM Treasury approval do not include compromise agreements and therefore the use and content of compromise agreements are not routinely monitored. We do not know if any payments were actually paid or, if so, at what cost to the public purse. HM Treasury approval is given for the maximum amount payable, in some cases payments are not made at all or can be less than the approved value.
The procedure requiring the submission of business cases to the Department was introduced from April 2008.
Hospitals: Food
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of meals served by each NHS provider were recorded as untouched in each year since 2007-08. [160803]
Dr Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available has been placed in the Library.
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The Department collects data from national health service trusts for the percentage of unserved meals, not untouched, at each NHS provider. This relates to unserved in-patient meals remaining at the end of the meal service period expressed as a percentage of the total number of meals provided and available at the commencement of the meal service period. This does not include information relating to untouched food which is food served to patients but not eaten. Data for 2007-08 were collected at site level. From 2008-09, this data was collected at organisation level.
This information has been supplied by the NHS and has not been amended centrally. The accuracy and completeness of the information is the responsibility of the provider organisation.
NHS 111
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the operation of the 111 number; and if he will make a statement. [160440]
Anna Soubry: A number of new NHS 111 launches in March did not go as smoothly as planned. Performance was of particular concern the weekend before Easter. Since Easter, NHS England has put in tighter controls to improve performance, including ensuring providers are able to answer calls in under 60 seconds.
Performance has improved during recent weeks, with the majority of areas now meeting performance targets. NHS England continues to work closely with providers and commissioners to resolve any outstanding issues.
NHS 111 is now available in over 90% of England, and it is planned that the service will be rolled out to the rest of England by October.
NHS: Apprentices
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many apprentices are employed in the NHS in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England; and what the average wage was of a full-time NHS apprentice in the latest period for which figures are available. [160787]
Dr Poulter: Data on the total number of apprentices employed in the national health service are not collected by the Department. However, data provided by NHS Employers show that the 10 strategic health authorities reported 7,894 apprenticeship starts in the NHS in England during 2012-13. This updates the answer given to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram), on 13 June 2013, Official Report, column 380W.
This figure does not include the number of apprenticeship starts within the former London Strategic Health Authority which did not provide its data for the reported period.
Data from the Yorkshire and Humber Local Education Training Board show that during 2012-13, there were 42 apprenticeship starts at Barnsley Hospitals Foundation Trust, and 230 apprenticeship starts across the whole of South Yorkshire. It should be noted that these figures represent 2012-13 apprenticeship starts and are not the total number of apprentices currently employed, which are likely to be considerably higher.
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The NHS has seen significant progress in the development of apprenticeships in recent years. Health Education England has an objective in its mandate for 2013-15 to increase the number of health care apprentices and will work with key delivery organisations such as Skills for Health to achieve this.
Information on the average wages of apprentices in the NHS is not collected by the Department. Wages for apprentices across the sector vary and are subject to. local pay decisions.
Tuberculosis: Immigrants
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions (a) he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department and (b) officials of his Department have had with officials of the Home Office on implementing screening of prospective UK residents who might have tuberculosis or drug-resistant tuberculosis. [159292]
Anna Soubry: There have been ongoing discussions between the Home Office, Public Health England and Department of Health officials as part of the Government's current roll-out of pre-migration tuberculosis screening for non-European Economic Area nationals applying for visas to enter the United Kingdom for more than six months. I have met the Minister for Immigration, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), to discuss the wider impact of immigration on the national health service of which pre-migration screening was discussed.
Treasury
Banks: Scotland
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the statement on page 6 of his Department's publication, Scotland Analysis: Financial Services and Banking, whether the calculation that banks have assets totalling around 1254 per cent of Scotland's GDP included the assets of RBS Group's Markets Division. [160781]
Danny Alexander: As per the answer I gave to the hon. Member in response to his question on 11 June 2013, Official Report, column 227W, firms whose headquarters or “principal places of business” are in Scotland are considered to be Scottish firms for the purpose of this analysis. The analysis was conducted on the basis of separately authorised and registered legal entities within groups, including RBS Group, rather than the group's internal governance structures.
Developing Countries: Taxation
Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to ensure that UK-linked tax havens do not enable tax avoidance in developing countries. [159890]
Mr Gauke:
We have been working very closely with the Crown dependencies and overseas territories. They have committed to play an active role in the emerging new global standard in automatic exchange of tax
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information which will be open to all countries, including developing countries. We will be working with the OECD to ensure that the relevant systems and processes are as accessible as possible to help enable all countries to access this standard. The CDs and OTs with a financial centre have in addition committed to join the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters which is also particularly accessible to developing countries. They have also committed to producing action plans on beneficial ownership, setting out concrete steps to tackle the misuse of companies and legal arrangements. The Crown dependencies published their action plans on 18 June.
Economic and Monetary Union
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reports relating to (a) the viability of a common EU currency and (b) the benefits and disbenefits of UK participation in such an exercise were commissioned or agreed by his Department (i) at the time of the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, (ii) on the launch of the euro and (iii) at any time afterwards; and if he will publish any such reports which are within the public domain. [160816]
Greg Clark: The coalition programme for government was clear that the Government will ensure:
“that Britain does not join or prepare to join the Euro in this Parliament”.
As such, no reports on the above subjects have been commissioned under the current Government. A number of reports on the viability of a common EU currency and the benefits and disbenefits of UK participation have been commissioned and published under past Governments and a comprehensive selection can be found at the following link:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080910134819/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/international_issues/the_euro/euro_index_index.cfm
Income Tax: Scotland
Margaret Curran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether ministers or officials of the Scottish Government have (a) been involved in the drafting of and (b) had access to the HM Revenue and Customs risk register for the Scottish Rate of Income Tax project. [160799]
Mr Gauke: HMRC’s risk register for the Scottish rate of income tax project is shared with project board members. The Scottish Government are represented on the board and has access to the risk register and the opportunity to contribute to it. The risk register is reviewed regularly and updated when required.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Julie Hilling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has made any assessment of the extent to which the introduction of the affordability assessment for mortgages has affected Government schemes to help couples (a) with and (b) without children to become home owners. [160504]
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Sajid Javid: The Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules, published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in October 2012, and due to be implemented in April 2014, ensure lenders carry out a robust assessment of the affordability of any mortgage for the consumer, both for interest-only and repayment mortgages.
The FSA carried out and published a cost-benefit analysis estimating the impact of the new rules. This analysis is available at:
http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/policy-statements/fsa-ps12-16.pdf
Payments: Regulation
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the progress on his Department's consultation on Opening Up UK Payments. [160798]
Sajid Javid: The consultation on Opening Up UK Payment closes on 25 June. HM Treasury will then review the consultation responses and develop legislation to create a new payments regulator. The legislation will be brought forward via Government amendment to the Banking Reform Bill.
Child Poverty
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of his Department's progress on eliminating child poverty by 2020. [160472]
Sajid Javid: The Government remain committed to eradicating child poverty. However, the Government strongly believe looking at relative income in isolation is not a helpful measure to track progress towards this.
The Government have therefore held a consultation on better measures of child poverty, which include income but also wider measures to tackle the root causes of poverty including worklessness and educational failure. The consultation has now closed and the Government will respond in due course.
Work remains the best and most immediate way out of poverty and the Budget took action to support families and make the tax and welfare system fairer: including further increasing the income tax personal allowance to take 2.7 million people on low incomes out of tax altogether.
Revenue and Customs: Portsmouth
Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people used the Portsmouth HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centre in each of the last five years; how many people in each year were repeat users; and how many of each type of enquiry were discussed in each such year. [159881]
Mr Gauke: Some of the information requested is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However the number of customers who used HMRC's Inquiry Centre at Lynx House for each of the last five financial years is:
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| Number | |
Royal Bank of Scotland
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the location of the headquarters of the re-privatised Royal Bank of Scotland. [160490]
Greg Clark: Treasury Ministers and officials engage with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) continues to be responsible for managing the Government's shareholding in RBS on a commercial and arm's length basis, and for advising on a strategy for disposing of the investment in an orderly and active way.
Tobacco: Smuggling
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the reasons the tobacco smuggling strategy of HM Revenue and Customs did not meet its operational targets in 2012-13. [160404]
Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force set very stretching internal targets under the ‘Tackling Tobacco Smuggling’ strategy in order to continue to drive up operational performance.
HMRC exceeded internal operational targets in 2011-12 and performance outputs improved further in 2012-13, but fell short of more stretching targets.
HMRC and Border Force assess the overall impact of the strategy on smuggling through our estimates of the UK illicit market. Latest estimates indicate the illicit cigarette market has more than halved since 2000-01—dropping from 21% to 9% in 2010-11, and the hand-rolling tobacco illicit market has reduced from 61% to 38%.
Welfare Tax Credits
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to improve the support given to claimants of tax credits by HM Revenue and Customs (a) in writing and (b) through its helpline. [160785]
Mr Gauke: The Government note the recommendation in the recent report of the Committee of Public Accounts (HMRC: tax credits error and fraud (HC 135)) that HMRC should systematically review the guidance and support it provides to tax credits claimants in order to identify and address areas where improvements are required. The Government are currently considering the committee's report and will respond formally in due course.
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Members Estimate Committee
Former Members
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the Members Estimate Committee, how many former hon. and right hon. Members who lost their seats or did not stand at the 2010 general election and have subsequently been appointed to the House of Lords have paid back any winding-up allowance on leaving the House. [160809]
John Thurso: The winding-up expenditure allowance was designed to meet the cost of completing the outstanding parliamentary duties, and to meet outstanding contractual obligations, of a person who ceased to be a Member of Parliament.
222 Members stood down or lost their seat at the 2010 general election, and total expenditure was just over £7 million. The large majority of this was in respect of contractual payments to employees, such as redundancy pay and pay in lieu of notice. Other expenditure included costs associated with closing down constituency offices, outstanding utility bills and destruction of confidential waste. 97% of winding-up expenditure was paid directly to employees or suppliers of goods and services: The remaining 3%—approximately £230,000—was paid to former Members for costs they had met from personal resources and for which they were entitled to reimbursement.
No Member has paid back any of the sums paid.
International Development
Overseas Aid
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of her Department's bilateral aid programmes was spent through (a) the EU, (b) the World Bank, (c) the UN, (d) regional development banks and (e) other multilateral agencies in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and how much is planned to be spent in this fashion in 2013-14. [160795]
Justine Greening: DFID provides core funding to multilateral organisations as well as additional non-core funding to deliver particular objectives either in specific sectors or countries. The Department publishes in Statistics in International Development the total amount of the bilateral aid programme spent through multilateral organisations. This is available online at:
http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-on-international-development
Information for 2012-13 will be published in autumn 2013, and information for 2014-15 will be published in autumn 2014.
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of her Department's multilateral aid programme was disbursed as central or core funding to (a) the EU, (b) the World Bank, (c) the UN, (d) regional development banks and (e) other multilateral agencies in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and how much is expected to be disbursed in this fashion in 2013-14. [160796]
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Justine Greening: Details of DFID multilateral expenditure are published in Table 18 of the 'Statistics on International Development' 2012 which is available online at:
http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-on-international-development
Information for 2012-13 will be published in autumn 2013, and information for 2014-15 will be published in autumn 2014.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Accountancy
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department are currently seconded to any of the four largest accountancy firms; and what the (a) job title and (b) pay grade is of each such secondee. [160115]
Alistair Burt: According to our records, none of our staff are currently on outward secondment to the big four accountancy firms. We have interpreted ‘the four largest accountancy firms’ to mean staff seconded to KPMG, Ernst and Young, Deloitte and Price WaterhouseCooper.
Iran
Mrs Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the official policy of the Iranian Government to deny employment to citizens if they identify themselves as members of the Baha'i faith community; and if he will make a statement. [160488]
Alistair Burt: I am aware of reports from the Baha'i Community in the UK and the UN Special Rapporteur, Dr Ahmed Shaheed about the Iranian regime's persecution of the Baha'i, as well as a United Nations report from 1993 which refers to a 'secret' Iranian memorandum on blocking the 'progress' and 'development' of the Baha'i and denying them positions of influence, access to higher education and employment. The British Government have repeatedly and publicly expressed its serious concern at the persecution of the Baha'i's and I call again on Iran to cease this; and for Iran to respect all its citizens' rights to freedom of religion and belief.
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy that the Iranian Government be allowed to reopen its embassy in London. [160564]
Alistair Burt:
We were forced to close the British embassy in Tehran following the invasion of our diplomatic compounds, which was against every provision of the Vienna Convention and every principle of civilised behaviour regarding the treatment of diplomats. In response, we reduced our diplomatic relations with Iran to the lowest level possible, short of severing ties. The embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in London is currently
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looking after Iran's interests here in the UK and the Swedish embassy in Tehran looks after the UK's interests in Iran.
In order to consider reopening the Iranian embassy in London or the British embassy in Tehran, we would have to be very confident of a change in the Iranian Government's approach, most importantly to the safety and security of our staff.
Turkey
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on protests and violence in that country. [159976]
Mr Hague: I discussed the recent developments in Turkey with Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister on 11 June and encouraged a peaceful resolution. The Minister for Europe, made the same points to the Turkish EU Affairs Minister, Egemen Bagis on 13 June. We will continue to follow events closely.
Freedom of expression and assembly are important rights in any democracy. We welcome statements from the Turkish Government recognising that some of the concerns raised by the protestors are legitimate.
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requests for assistance UK embassies and consulates in Turkey have received from British nationals in that country. [159977]
Mr Hague: Our embassy and consulates around Turkey have so far received three requests from British nationals requesting consular assistance since the beginning of the recent demonstrations and disturbances in Turkey. Two related to an arrest or fear of being arrested and one asking for assistance travelling from their hotel to the airport. None required intervention by consular staff.
We continue to advise anyone wishing to travel to Turkey to read the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice.
Defence
Armed Forces
Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many individual education and resettlement officers there have been in each of the last three years; [159517]
(2) how much his Department spent on individual education and resettlement officers in each of the last three years; and how much funding he plans to allocate in each of the next five years. [159519]
Mr Francois:
The Army has 26 Individual Education and Resettlement Officer (IERO) posts. Aside from recruiting gaps, this number has been constant for the past three years. In order to cover the additional volume of service leavers under the compulsory redundancy scheme, a further seven IEROs were recruited on a temporary basis to cover Tranche 2 in 2012. These
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seven were augmented by an additional seven in 2013 to cover Tranche 3 of the redundancy programme. The temporary posts will not last beyond June 2015.
Based on current capitation rates, the steady state cost for the 26 established posts is some £1.03 million per annum. For financial year (FY) 2012-13 this figure increased by some £275,000 to accommodate the uplift in IEROs for Tranche 2 of the Compulsory Redundancy Programme, and by some £550,000 in FY 2013-14 for Tranche 3. Spending will remain at this level for FY 2014-15 and will then reduce once the redundancy programme has been completed.
Steady state funding from 2015 onwards will remain at approximately £1 million per annum, though this may reduce as the number of IEROs is adjusted to reflect the Army 2020 structure.
Armed Forces: Qualifications
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average length of service before attaining level 2 qualifications was in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in the most recent period for which figures are available. [160792]
Mr Francois: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Armed Forces, on 21 May 2013, Official Report, column 717W.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he and his ministerial colleagues have held regarding the possible privatisation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the last year. [160187]
Mr Francois [holding answer 17 June 2013]: There have been no discussions concerning the possible privatisation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Conditions of Employment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 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. [160765]
Mr Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 January 2013, Official Report, column 802W, to the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott). The Ministry of Defence has never employed staff on this form of contract.
Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 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. [160410]
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Mr Francois: The number of civilian staff who have spent some part of the financial year (FY) suspended on full pay is set out in the following table:
| Financial year | Number of staff suspended |
The costs requested are not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Military Attaches
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the name is of each diplomatic post to which the UK assigned a defence attaché in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012. [160794]
Dr Murrison: The following table shows, for January each year, the Defence attaché posts resident in each country. It does not include any non-resident accreditations held by these posts. Support staff are not included.
| Diplomatic posts which the UK has assigned a DA January 2008 to January 2012 | |||||
| Appointment | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|
Austria—Vienna—UK Delegation to Organisation for Security Cooperation in Europe | |||||
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| (1) Defence section closed. (2) Post disestablished. (3) Closed March 2012. (4) Defence section closed and post merged with DA2 Austria. (5) Temp closed from April 2012. Key: DA: Defence Attaché ADA: Acting Defence Attaché DDA: Deputy Defence Attaché NA: Naval Attaché MA: Military Advisor AA: Air Attaché A Adv: Air Advisor ANA: Assistant Naval Attaché AMA: Assistant Military Attaché AAA: Assistant Air Attaché SMA: Senior Military Attaché BDLS: British Defence Liaison Staff BLO: British Liaison Officer RNLO: Royal Navy Liaison Officer | |||||
Nuclear Weapons
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment he has made of recent reports of problems encountered during Exercise Senator 2011; [160810]
(2) from where nuclear experts are dispatched in case of a major nuclear incident involving the transportation of nuclear warheads; [160811]
(3) what the target time is for the arrival of nuclear experts from Abbey Wood to the scene of a major incident involving the transportation of nuclear warheads. [160812]
Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) carries out regular nuclear safety exercises with other agencies to test robustly emergency plans and to identify areas for improvement. The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator's assessment was clear that during Exercise Senator 2011 the MOD demonstrated its ability to cope in the highly unlikely event of an emergency. I have accepted this assessment and work is ongoing to address its findings.
Each convoy is commanded by a senior MOD Police Officer who would therefore be on the scene to direct events in the unlikely event of an accident. In that event he would become the MOD Incident Commander. Appropriately qualified MOD personnel from DE&S headquarters in Bristol would be dispatched to the accident location by helicopter. Experts from other organisations would also provide support, including the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Institute of Naval Medicine and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.
The aim of appropriately qualified MOD personnel is to arrive on the scene as soon as possible. Due to the range of possible locations involved, the target of four hours applies to the time within which they should be ready to deploy from Bristol. This was achieved in Exercise Senator 2011.
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Reviews
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when each review currently undertaken by his Department will (a) conclude and (b) publish. [160253]
Mr Francois [holding answer 17 June 2013]: We are delivering one of the most ambitious transformation programmes undertaken. Progress is reported to Parliament through the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts, the Prime Minister's annual report on implementation of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, and Lord Levene's annual report to the Secretary of State for Defence on progress implementing the recommendations of his Defence Reform Review. We also publish a monthly update on progress against our Business Plan objectives on the No 10 website:
http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/
under this Government's initiative to increase transparency.
In line with the new Defence Operating Model much of the wide-ranging work to transform defence is being taken forward locally by the relevant delegated authorities.
Justice
Courts: Children
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children in Essex were required to testify against a defendant in court in the last 12 months. [159984]
The Solicitor-General: I have been asked to reply.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a record of the number of child witnesses through the CPS Witness Management System (WMS). The WMS is a purpose built electronic system designed to enable Witness Care Unit (WCU) staff to identify cases involving children and other vulnerable witnesses and hence enable the proper management of issues arising in these cases. WMS is not intended to provide a definitive record of the number of victims and witnesses falling into these categories.
In the period April 2012 to March 2013, CPS Essex recorded 757 witnesses under 18 years of age and, of these, 207 were required to attend court. It should be noted that the CPS does not record in WMS whether a witness who attended court actually gave evidence or not.
Electronic Tagging
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what criteria he uses to calculate fines for non-delivery by private sector providers on each electronic monitoring contract; [160080]
(2) what fines have been ordered against each company in relation to each electronic monitoring contract in each of the last five years. [160081]
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Jeremy Wright: The electronic monitoring contracts held by G4S and Serco in England and Wales have provisions for the authority to seek remedy through:
(a) service credits if the Service Provider fails to provide the Services in accordance with the Service Levels of the contract
(b) recovery of sums due under the agreement resulting from issues linked to non-delivery.
Both contractors are currently being audited and while this is ongoing it would be inappropriate to disclose this.
Members: Correspondence
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice will reply to the letter from the hon. Members for Houghton and Sunderland South and for Sunderland Central of 20 March 2013. [160194][Official Report, 3 July 2013, Vol. 565, c. 9MC.]
Jeremy Wright: I can confirm that a response was sent to the hon. Member in response to her letter dated 20 March 2013. The response was dated 22 April 2013 and a copy of the letter was sent to her office based in the House of Commons.