Developing Countries: Environment Protection
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in what ways her Department has held the International Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility to account for how UK contributions are being spent on the environment. [164245]
Mr Duncan: The International Climate Fund (ICF) is a Government fund operated between DFID, DECC, HMT and DEFRA. A mid-term evaluation of the ICF is being conducted this summer, which will assess progress towards the intended strategic objectives of the ICF.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) performance is monitored annually and its impact assessed in an evaluation at the end of each four-year replenishment period, conducted by the GEF's Independent Office of Evaluation. The evaluation of the current fifth replenishment (2010-14) will be complete later this year. The GEF's performance will also be reviewed through an update of the UK's Multilateral Aid Review, which will be completed this autumn.
Developing Countries: Malaria
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to leverage its financial leadership of the global malaria campaign into greater commitments by other donor countries. [164193]
Justine Greening: The UK Government are working with a wide range of civil society organisations and the Gates Foundation to increase domestic and international financing for malaria and ensure greater value for money. In countries where DFID works, the UK encourages countries to meet regional financing commitments for health sector spending, such as the Abuja target in Africa.
Mr Ivan Lewis:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Department
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for International Development: Malaria, HC 534, what steps her Department plans to take to strengthen health systems in developing countries. [164327]
Mr Duncan: To ensure that targeted services such as malaria control are effectively delivered and sustained over time, it is important that interventions take into account the local context and help strengthen the national health system. Countries with stronger health systems have been shown to have lower infant, child and maternal mortality rates. DFID's approach, supports targeted, cost-effective interventions such as bed nets and medicines and seeks to ensure the longer term development of a health system.
Developing Countries: Nutrition
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her recent commitment, at the Nutrition for Growth Summit, to increase funding for nutrition-specific interventions by eight per cent between 2013 and 2020 will include activities and programmes that focus on water, sanitation and hygiene; and if she will make a statement. [163480]
Mr Duncan: Yes, DFID is committed to seeing nutrition in a context which includes water, sanitation and hygiene and our programmes reflect this.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how the financial commitment made at the recent Nutrition for Growth Summit of increased funding of 8% between 2013 and 2020 will be broken down across her Department's programmes; and if she will make a statement. [163481]
Mr Duncan: Decisions on new programmes will be taken by DFID country offices and will be co-ordinated to meet an overall increase of 8%.
Overseas Aid
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department's budget increase for 2013 was allocated via (a) multilateral organisations and (b) bilateral programmes. [164192]
Mr Duncan: Information related to DFID's forward spending plans are contained in the Annual Report and Accounts:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2012-13
Departmental operational plans can be accessed from DFID's website at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development/series/operational-plans-2013
Vending Machines
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many vending machines in her Department's premises contain snack foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value. [164274]
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Mr Duncan: DFID has two vending machines, one for food and one for drinks, both of which are in our East Kilbride office. These are operated by our external catering contractor, and contain a range of products.
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions there were for alcohol-related illnesses in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust area and (c) England in each year since 2008-09. [163923]
Anna Soubry: The following table contains the sum of the estimated alcohol-related admissions, using attributable fractions, for York teaching hospital NHS foundation trust, North Yorkshire and York primary care trust (PCT) of treatment and England for the years 2008-09 to 2011-12.
Alcohol attributable fractions do not provide a count of episodes with an alcohol-related diagnosis or cause code but rather an estimate of the numbers based on the proportion of diseases and injuries that can be wholly or partially attributed to alcohol.
The attributable fractions are not applicable to children under 16. Therefore figures for this age group relate only to wholly attributable admissions, where the attributable fraction is one.
It should be noted that these data should not be described as a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion.
| Sum of alcohol attributable fractions(1) for hospital admissions for York teaching hospital NHS foundation trust(2), North Yorkshire and York PCT of treatment(3) and England, 2008-09 to 2011-12(4) | |||
| Activity in England NHS hospitals and England NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | |||
| York teaching hospital NHS foundation trust | North Yorkshire and York PCT of treatment | England | |
| (1)Alcohol-related admissions The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory, (NWPHO) which uses 48 indicators for alcohol-related illnesses, determining the proportion of a wide range of diseases and injuries that can be partly attributed to alcohol as well as those that are, by definition, wholly attributable to alcohol. Further information on these proportions can be found at: www.nwph.net/nwpho/publications/AlcoholAttributableFractions.pdf The application of the NWPHO methodology has recently been updated and is now available directly from Hospital Episode Statistics. As such, information about episodes estimated to be alcohol-related may be slightly different from previously published data. (2)Hospital provider A provider code is a unique code that identifies an organisation acting as a health care provider (e.g. NHS trust or PCT). Data from some independent sector providers, where the onus for arrangement of data flows is on the commissioner, may be missing. Care must be taken when using these data as the counts may be lower than true figures. (3)PCT of main provider This indicates the PCT area within which the organisation providing treatment was located. (4)Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. | |||
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Antidepressants
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 19 December 2011, Official Report, column 1037W, on anti-depressants, for what reason, in the final version of the Commissioning Guide on Addiction to Medicines, published on 28 June 2013, commissioners have been advised not to treat long-term users of anti-depressants. [164309]
Anna Soubry: The commissioning guide on addiction to medicines does not advise commissioners:
“not to treat long-term users of anti-depressants”.
National health service and local authority commissioners will want to ensure that appropriate treatment is available locally for patients after the long-term use of any medicine. The guide does exclude antidepressants from consideration by commissioners since, as it explains in appendix A:
“there is no clear evidence that these medicines can produce dependence according to internationally accepted criteria.”
Care Quality Commission
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2013, Official Report, column 702W, on Care Quality Commission: Spend on Public Affairs, how much the Care Quality Commission spent on (a) public affairs and media in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010 and (b) media in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012 and (iii) 2013. [164182]
Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England.
In the year 2009-10 and 2010-11, public affairs and media were one team.
The following table shows CQC expenditure on public affairs and media for 2009-10 and 2010-11, and expenditure for the media team for 2011-12 and 2012-13.
| Spend | ||
| £ | ||
The Public Affairs team supports the CQC's accountability to Government, Parliament and national stakeholder organisations.
The Media Team is responsible for the CQC's communications with national and regional media; from 1 April 2013, the team has also included regional communications and broadly supports engagement with regional media, providers and stakeholders. Both teams sit with the Communications Directorate, which also covers provider communications, public communications, internal communications and publishing.
Expenditure for 2013-14 is not available.
Charlotte Leslie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2013, Official Report, column 701W, on Care Quality Commission,
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how many people have been employed with the Care Quality Commission at each salary grade in its media team in
(a)
2012 and
(b)
2013. [164183]
Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator for health and social care in England.
The following table shows the establishment of the media team, split by pay grade.
On 1 April 2013, regional communications was brought under the media team, with the following establishment grades not shown in the following table:
A—one post;
B—four posts; and
D—two posts.
| Salary grades used by the media team in 2012 and 2013(1) | ||
| Grade | 1 April 2012 | 1 April 2013 |
| (1 )Like-for-like equivalent. | ||
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The Media Team is responsible for the Care Quality Commission's communications with national and regional media; from 1 April 2013, the team has also included regional communications, and supports engagement with regional media, providers and stakeholders. The team sits with the Communications Directorate, which also covers public affairs, provider communications, public communications, internal communications and publishing.
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2013, Official Report, column 702W, on Care Quality Commission: Public Affairs Team, how many people the Care Quality Commission employed in (a) its public affairs and media team in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010 and (b) its media team in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012 and (iii) 2013. [164184]
Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator for health and social care in England.
In 2009 and 2010, public affairs and media were one team, so it is not possible to provide a separate figure for the public affairs and media teams for these years. From 2011 onwards they were split. The following table provides combined numbers in the public affairs and media teams on 1 April 2009 and 2010 and numbers in the media team on 1 April each year for 2011, 2012 and 2013.
| Number | ||||||
| As at 1 April each year | Establishment | Actual headcount | Actual full-time equivalent | Vacancies | Temporary/interim staff | Vacancies after temps |
| (1 )Combined Public Affairs and Media Team. (2) This includes an employee on maternity leave. | ||||||
On 1 April 2013, regional communications, not included in this table, was brought under the media team, with an establishment of seven, a headcount of six and a vacancy of one.
The Public Affairs team supports the Care Quality Commission's accountability to Government, Parliament and national stakeholder organisations. The Media Team is responsible for the Care Quality Commission's communications with national and regional media; from 1 April 2013, the team has also included regional communications, whose role supports engagement with regional media, providers and stakeholders. Both teams sit with the Communications Directorate, which also covers provider communications, public communications, internal communications and publishing.
Cystic Fibrosis
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the progress and development of the new national urgent lung allocation system for cystic fibrosis patients. [164039]
Anna Soubry: Policies for the allocation of solid organs from deceased donors are developed by NHS Blood and Transplant's (NHSBT) appropriate Solid Organ Advisory Group which consists of clinicians and other interested parties. The Cardiothoracic Organs Advisory Group is currently looking at improving the allocation of donated lungs. Once NHSBT receives this group's recommendations, they will be considered by NHSBT's Transplant Policy Review Committee. If agreed, changes will be implemented within the available resources, as soon as possible.
Drugs: Misuse
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children living with a parent who is a drug-abusing addict; and how that estimate was reached. [164325]
Anna Soubry: The most recent estimate for the number of children living with parents who are in drug treatment was published by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse in 2012. Their report on parental drug misuse ‘Parents with drug problems: how treatment helps families’ estimated that there were 104,000 children living with parents who were in drug treatment during 2011-12.
A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
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Drugs: Rehabilitation
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Drug Strategy 2010, page 18, paragraph six, what estimate he has made of the number of people in receipt of substitute prescriptions for heroin who have jobs. [164326]
Dr Poulter: Data on the number of people in receipt of substitute prescriptions for heroin who have jobs are not collected centrally.
First Aid: Curriculum
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effects of teaching first aid in schools on public health and reducing unnecessary accident and emergency admissions. [163410]
Anna Soubry: The Department has not made an assessment of the potential effects of teaching first aid in schools on public health and reducing avoidable attendances at accident and emergency (A&E) departments.
Public Health England advises of some international research that shows children (as young as nine years of age) can administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) once taught a certain level of training by an expert, however these focus on life threatening situations and do not relate to A&E attendance avoidance.
The Department for Education holds the responsibility for school's curriculum and states that the provision of emergency life-saving skills (ELS) is a matter for local determination. Teachers are free to teach ELS within the wider school curriculum and may choose to do this as part of Personal, Social Health and Economic Education.
Flour: Folic Acid
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with (a) other Government Departments, (b) industry representatives, (c) health stakeholders and (d) others on the efficacy of a future policy of fortification of flour with folic acid; and if he will make a statement. [163411]
Anna Soubry: The fortification of flour with folic acid is an area about which the Department receives considerable correspondence from industry, health and other stakeholders. We have committed to further consideration of the issue of folic acid fortification and are continuing these discussions, which includes with other Government Departments.
General Practitioners: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) GPs, (b) nurses, (c) other clinical staff and (d) staff in total were employed in GP surgeries in the City of York in each year since 2009-10. [163916]
Dr Poulter: The data are not available in the format requested.
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The number of general practitioners (GPs) in the former North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) area in each year since 2009-10 (years ending 30 September) is shown in the following table:
| GPs | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2013 |
| Source: The Information Centre for Health and Social Care—General and Personal Medical Services Statistics | ||||
The number of practice staff in the former North Yorkshire and York PCT area in each year since 2009-10 (years ending 30 September) is shown in the following table:
| Practice staff | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2013 |
| Notes: 1. GP work force statistics are not available at constituency level. Figures are provided for the former North Yorkshire and York PCT, which serviced the City of York. 2. The new headcount methodology for GPs from 2010 onwards means these data are not fully comparable with previous years, due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components. 3. 2009 practice staff information was collected at PCT level. The information for the former North Yorkshire and York PCT is estimated based on previous censuses as no data were supplied. 4. In 2010-12 practice staff information was collected at practice level with estimates being calculated (based on registered patient numbers) for those practices with missing information. In 2010 information was estimated for 100% of North Yorkshire and York PCTs practices as no data were supplied, in 2011 it was estimated for 30% of practices and in 2012 it was estimated for 8% of practices. 5. ‘—’ denotes not available. 2009 data were not supplied and only practice nurse and total staff were estimated for the headcount data. 6. The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The Information Centre for Health and Social Care—General and Personal Medical Services Statistics | ||||
Genetically Modified Organisms: Maize
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what safety assessment he has made of recent research by Professor Seralini at the University of Caen on the toxic effect of the consumption of Monsanto's Roundup-resistant NK103 maize on animal and human health. [163735]
Anna Soubry:
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has carried out a detailed review of the research carried out by Professor Seralini and has stated that the authors' conclusions are not supported by the data in the published paper. The EFSA is the principal risk assessment body for food and feed safety within the European Union and it is tasked with providing independent
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scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks. The UK Food Standards Agency agrees with the EFSA's conclusion.
Health Services: North Yorkshire
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent NHS (a) hospital doctors, (b) GPs, (c) dentists, (d) nurses and midwives, (e) other clinical staff and (f) staff in total were employed in (i) York and (ii) North Yorkshire in each year since 1996-97; and what the staff costs in each category were in each year since 2009-10 (1) in cash terms and (2) at current prices. [163915]
Dr Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested.
Full-time equivalent data for all doctors, dentists and non-medical staff for the York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust have been placed in the Library.
Information on the cost of staff permanently employed, by the national health service, and non-NHS staff (agency staff) from 2009-10 to 2011-12, for North Yorkshire and York PCT and Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is shown in the following tables.
| North Yorkshire and York PCT Staff Costs | |||
| £000 | |||
| Category | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
| Source: 2009-10 to 2011-12 PCT Financial Returns | |||
| Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust Staff Costs | |||
| £000 | |||
| Category | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
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| Notes: 1. York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was authorised as a foundation trust on 1 April 2007. The Department does not collect data from NHS foundation trusts. Therefore, figures for 2007-08 and beyond are not collected centrally. 2. The collection of Financial Returns (FR) data in 2012-13 has been abolished for PCTs and is under review for NHS trusts. Therefore, FR data for 2012-13 are not available. 3. Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust serves across Yorkshire. It is not possible to separately identify costs relating specifically to North Yorkshire and York from the information held. Source: 2005-06 to 2011-12 NHS Trusts Financial Returns | |||
NHS Foundation Trusts
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he is giving to the timetable for applications for NHS Foundation Trust status by existing applicants; and if he will make a statement. [164267]
Anna Soubry: The 2014 deadline for reaching foundation trust status has done much to galvanise the national health service trust sector and drive improvement. However, in light of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry report, we have allowed the NHS Trust Development Authority to agree trajectories for NHS trusts to reach foundation trust status that go beyond 2014 on a case-by-case basis. In so doing, we will ensure that the primary focus of the NHS Trust Development Authority and of NHS trusts themselves is on improving the quality and sustainability of services for patients.
NHS: Pay
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the annual pay settlement for doctors and consultants was between 1997 and 2010; [164047]
(2) what the annual pay settlement in the NHS was between 1997 and 2010. [164048]
Dr Poulter: The information requested is provided in the following table.
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Nurses: Pay
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average gross earnings of a full-time equivalent NHS nurse was in (a) cash and (b) real terms in (i) England and (ii) York in each year since 2009-10; [163917]
(2) what the starting salary of a full-time equivalent NHS nurse in York was in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1996-97. [163918]
Dr Poulter: The data are not available in the format requested.
The annual basic pay per full-time employee for qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in England, the former North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) and York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust each year since 2009 (years ending 31 March) is shown in the following table:
| £ | |||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| Notes: 1. Starting salaries data in cash and real terms are not available, instead the table shows average annual earnings estimates for all nurses. Figures have been provided for annual basic pay per full- time equivalent (FTE) which is the mean amount of basic pay per one FTE post in a 12-month period. Typically, a newly qualified nurse should start at the bottom of Agenda for Change Band 5. Figures are based on staff with contracted hours more than zero. Bank and locum staff that typically have no contracted hours are not included in these figures. 2. The new estimated earnings methodology is not fully comparable with data for years prior to April 2008. Data are therefore provided for the years 2009 to 2013 only. Further information on the new methodology can be found in the NHS Staff Earnings Estimates publication, which is available on the HSCIC website. 3. For the purposes of this query, York includes York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the former North Yorkshire and York PCT. In 2012, as a consequence of Transforming Community Services (TCS) the former provider arm of some PCTs may have transferred into local acute trusts. 4. The HSCIC seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Source: The Information Centre for Health and Social Care (HSCICJ—NHS Staff Earnings Estimates | |||||
Opiates
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each local authority area have been receiving a prescribing intervention for their opioid dependency for (a) less than 12 months, (b) one year, (c) two years, (d) three years, (e) four years, (f) five years, (g) six years, (h) seven years, (i) eight years, (j) nine years, (k) 10 years and (l) more than 10 years in each year since 2009. [164324]
Dr Poulter: The Information has been placed in the Library. The table shows the numbers of people receiving a prescribing intervention for their opioid dependency for the time periods requested.
Organs: Donors
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received regarding the potential for an opt-out organ donation system in the UK as a whole. [163717]
Anna Soubry: No recent representations have been received and there are no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals for an opt-out system for organ donation in England. We will monitor progress in Wales very closely to analyse the impact on donation rates in Wales and across the United Kingdom as a whole.
We have made considerable progress over the last five years with a 50% improvement in organ donor rates and a 30% improvement in transplant rates. This is due to the successful implementation of the 14 recommendations made by the Organ Donation Taskforce in 2008. We wish to see this progress maintained.
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with Organización Nacional de Trasplantes regarding organ donation rates in Spain. [163734]
Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) regularly reviews international best practice, including the Spanish system, to inform the operation of organ donation services within the national health service. In this regard, NHSBT regularly works with Organizatión Nacional de Trasplantes. Both organisations are currently participating in the ACCORD (Achieving Comprehensive Coordination in Organ Donation) project—a European- wide collaboration to increase organ donation and transplantation. Within this, NHSBT is leading a study of variations in clinical decisions to help optimise the potential for deceased organ donation across a number of European Union member states.
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) assessment he has made and (b) reports he has received on the effect of dedicated transplant co-ordinators situated in hospitals on the rate of organ donation. [163738]
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Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) employs around 250 specialist nurses for organ donation based in national health service hospitals. They perform a vital role, working closely with intensive care and emergency department staff to identify potential donors, as well as supporting bereaved families through the organ donation process. NHSBT figures show that families are 30% more likely to support organ donation with this specialist support. In 2012-13, in cases where a specialist nurse was involved, 65.8% of families approached about organ donation gave consent/authorisation compared to 36.7% of families where no specialist nurse was involved.
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the intensive care units exist to (a) receive, (b) maintain and (c) make full use of all organs donated by organ donors. [163742]
Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) will shortly be publishing its strategy “Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020”. The strategy builds on the Organ Donation Taskforce recommendations and identifies new ways to make sure that as many people as possible in the United Kingdom receive the transplant they need. Within this strategy, actions are identified for NHSBT, the national health service and commissioners to ensure that better support systems and processes are in place to optimise organ donations and transplantation. This includes ensuring that transplant centres have capacity and surgical expertise and other clinical skills to meet the demands for transplantation as donor numbers increase.
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in organ donation rates in England since the Organ Donation Taskforce reported. [163743]
Anna Soubry: Since the publication of the Organ Donation Taskforce's report in 2008, a great deal of work has taken place across the national health service to increase the number of organs available for patients. A number of recommendations which have been implemented are specifically aimed at ensuring hospitals have the appropriate infrastructure in place to maximise the number of potential donors. These include an increase in the number of highly trained specialist nurses for organ donation; the appointment of clinical leads for organ donation; and the establishment of organ donation committees.
In April 2013, NHSBT had increased the level of organ donation in the United Kingdom by 50% from 809 donors in 2007-08 to 1,212 donors in 2012-13.
Transplantations increased by 30% from 2,385 in 2007-08 to 3,112 in 2012-13.
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average age of an organ donor was in each year from 2000. [163837]
Anna Soubry: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Table: Mean donor age of deceased organ donors in the United Kingdom 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2013, by financial year | ||
| Financial year | Number of organ donors | Mean age |
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| Source: NHS Blood and Transplant. | ||
Public Health England
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women are (a) on the board of Public Health England and (b) directors of Public Health England; how many such women (i) applied for these posts and (ii) were shortlisted for posts; and how many of the selection panel for these posts were women. [164185]
Anna Soubry: There are currently five non-executive appointments on Public Health England's Advisory Board, comprising the chairman and four members. None is a women.
For the role of chairman of Public Health England's Advisory Board:
one application was received from a woman out of a total of 11 applications;
four candidates were shortlisted for interview including the application from a woman; and
the selection panel included two women (a woman chaired the panel).
For Public Health England's Advisory Board non-executive members:
37 applications were received from women out of a total of 107 applications;
11 candidates were shortlisted for interview including three applications from women; and
the selection panel included two women (a woman chaired the panel).
There are currently six female directors on the Public Health England National Executive. Of the 16 directors of the Public Health England National Executive, six directors transferred into Public Health England and two directors are on secondment from the NHS. Details of the recruitment process for the eight director posts recruited are:
24 applications were received from women out of a total of 82 applications;
seven applications from women were shortlisted; and
every selection panel included at least one woman.
Diana Johnson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the ability of Public Health England to fulfil its gender equality obligations under the Equality Act 2010; what
9 July 2013 : Column 181W
assessment he has made of the representation of women on the board of Public Health England; and if he will make a statement. [164186]
Anna Soubry: The Department of Health conducted an initial equality assessment on the changes to the public health system, which informed the approach to embedding equality considerations in the transition programme.
The “Combined Equality Analyses for the Health and Social Care Bill 2011” has already been placed in the Library. It is available by searching for “Combined Equality Analyses for the Health and Social Care Bill 2011” at:
www.gov.uk
Public Health England will publish information annually demonstrating how it has met its duties under the Equality Act 2010.
The recruitment campaign to Public Health England's advisory board was managed in a way that complied with the principles of the Commissioner for Public Appointment's Code of Practice—it was open, transparent and appointments were made on merit.
We will shortly be advertising for further candidates to enhance the expertise available to Public Health England's Advisory Board and recognise the need to encourage applications from people from all walks of life, including from groups traditionally underrepresented at board level.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish Public Health England's equality strategy. [164187]
Anna Soubry: Public Health England (PHE) was established on 1 April 2013.
A PHE equality analysis was published on 17 May 2013 and can be accessed online. It describes how equalities considerations have informed the design and transition of PHE, and how equalities work can be embedded into its future work.
PHE's equality analysis can be viewed by clicking on the Publications tab at the bottom and entering ‘Equality analysis: Public Health England’ in the search box at:
www.gov.uk
PHE will establish a set of clearly defined organisational equalities objectives which will be published in the autumn.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure greater representation of women on the board of Public Health England. [164188]
Anna Soubry: In April 2013 we appointed four non-executive members to Public Health England's advisory board. They each bring to this role a great range of experience.
We will shortly advertise for further candidates to enhance the expertise available to Public Health England. We aim to ensure that, as far as possible, the advisory board provides an appropriate gender balance and representation from ethnic minority and disability backgrounds.
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Departmental recruitment campaigns follow a fair, open and transparent process, with appointments made on merit.
Social Services
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 26 June 2013, Official Report, column 313, on the Spending Review, what the evidential basis is for the statement on the number of bed days saved due to changes in social care. [164181]
Norman Lamb: Delays in transferring patients between health and social care services lead to people staying in hospital beds longer than they should. This costs the national health service money and is harmful to patients.
Reducing delayed transfers of care has been a priority for the Government, and in particular for the social care system, and we have included delayed transfers as a measure in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF).
To ensure that social care services can deliver these improvements, we have provided significant extra resources over this spending review period. In particular, by 2014-15, the NHS will be providing £1.1 billion a year to support social care services that have a health benefit. A significant proportion of this funding has been spent on reablement, intermediate care and early supported discharge services, which have a direct impact on delayed transfers of care.
Statistics on the number of delayed days, and whether the delays are because of the NHS or social care services, are published on NHS England's website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/delayed-transfers-of-care/
These statistics show that in 2012-13, around 45,500 fewer bed days were lost to the NHS because of delayed transfers of care for patients waiting for adult social care services to make arrangements than in 2011-12.
Surgery
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2013, Official Report, column 731W, on surgery, what assessment he has made of the implications for that policy of the ability of surgeons to refuse to publish their performance data under the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will make a statement; [163002]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effects of surgeons' performance data being excluded from the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [163003]
Anna Soubry: Consultant performance data are personal data and subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. This does not prevent them from being used appropriately and legal advice has confirmed that it would be lawful to publish consultant performance data without the consent of the individual surgeons concerned. However, the Government believe that it is good practice to seek the agreement of the consultants concerned and to publish the names of those who feel that they are unable to agree along with the reasons why.
To date, around 99% of consultants have agreed or not objected to information regarding their practice being published. Consultants and their reasons for opting out of publication will be listed on the NHS Choices website.
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York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long on average people waited in accident and emergency at York Hospital before being treated in each year since 1996-97. [163921]
Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the mean and median waiting time to treatment(1) at accident and emergency A&E in York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust(2), 2007-08 to 2011-12.(3)
| York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | ||
| Mean | Median | |
| (1 )Average duration to treatment The mean and median time (minutes) between the patient's arrival and their treatment in A&E. NB: Waiting time statistics in A&E are often based on the time between the patient's arrival and the time of their departure from A&E. (2 )Hospital provider A provider code is a unique code that identifies an organisation acting as a health care provider (e.g. NHS trust or PCT). Data from some independent sector providers, where the onus for arrangement of dataflows is on the commissioner, may be missing. Care must be taken when using these data as the counts may be lower than true figures. (3 )Assessing growth through time (A&E) Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note: Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. | ||
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were waiting for a first outpatient appointment at York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 1 April and 1 October in each year since 1996. [163919]
Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested. The number of patients waiting for a first out-patient appointment at York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 1 April and 1 October in each year since 2004 when data were first published are shown in the following table:
| Month ending | Number waiting at period end |
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| Notes: 1. Out-patient waiting times are measured from general practitioner referral to first out-patient appointment. 2. Figures first published June 2004 and last published March 2010. Source: Department of Health QM08, monthly monitoring return. | |
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were waiting for elective admission at York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 1 April in each year since 1996. [163920]
Anna Soubry: The number of patients waiting for elective admission at York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for each year since March 1996 to March 2010 are shown in the following table:
| Month ending | Number waiting at period end |
| Note: Data on in-patient waiting lists not collected after March 2010. Source: Department of Health KH07, Monthly monitoring return. | |
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of capital expenditure his Department provided for York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in each year since 1996-97. [163914]
Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested.
The Capital Resource Limit (CRL) and charge against the CRL for the then York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for 2005-06 and 2006-07 is shown in the following table.
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| £000 | ||
| Charge against the CRL | Capital resource limit | |
| Notes: 1. The Department only holds accounting data at organisation level for seven years, and therefore figures prior to 2005-06 are not available. 2. York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust was authorised as a foundation trust (FT) on 1 April 2007. The Department does not collect data from NHS FTs. Therefore, figures for 2007-08 and beyond are not collected centrally. FTs receive their income from running services and make decisions themselves about capital expenditure. 3. In 2005-06 and 2006-07, the Department allocated capital to the national health service by setting a CRL for each organisation. The CRL represents the total amount of capital expenditure that can be incurred in the financial year. It does not amount to the actual capital expenditure incurred. 4. The charge against the CRL represents gross capital expenditure, less asset disposals, capital grants and donations towards the acquisition of fixed assets. 5. In 2006-07, the charge against CRL and CRL itself are negative due to the value of asset disposals exceeding the value of asset additions. Source: Department of Health audited summarisation schedules | ||
Communities and Local Government
Affordable Housing
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of how many affordable homes (a) have been provided under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2012-13 and (b) will be provided under that section in each financial year from 2013-14 to 2017-18. [163040]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 2 July 2013]: It is estimated for 2010-11 29,580 affordable homes were provided funding partly or entirely through section 106. This figure is not available for more recent years.
Of these 29,580 dwellings there were 3,490 new affordable homes provided entirely through section 106 in 2010-11. This means no grant was required in addition to the developer contribution. 4,120 dwelling were provided entirely through section 106 in 2011-12.
Statistics on additional affordable homes are published in Table 1000 on the Department's website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/attachment_data/file/10798/2247574.xls
The Department does not publish specific forecasts of affordable housing building. However, we announced in the recent spending review that construction is planned to start on 165,000 affordable homes between 2015-16 and 2017-18. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of how many will be provided, either partly or entirely through section 106, because it is contingent on the outcome of the competitive bidding process.
Betting Shops
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress he has made following the Portas review into high streets to classify betting shops under a separate use class. [162371]
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Mr Prisk: The Government response to the Portas review did not commit to creating a separate use class, but outlined local councils' powers to address localised problems.
Councils have powers under the Gambling Act to licence betting shops and address problems by individual premises. In addition, councils have a range of planning powers to protect local amenity; for example, the London borough of Barking and Dagenham has been consulting on an Article 4 Direction and associated supplementary planning guidance to address the proliferation of betting shops in the local area.
Building Regulations
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to extend Part M regulations to extensions to buildings; and if he will make a statement. [164229]
Mr Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 October 2012, Official Report, column 300W, which sets out that the Government have no plans at present to change the limits of application of Part M of the building regulations.
Children: Day Care
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he has issued to local authorities on granting educational relief for business rates to private, voluntary and independent Early Years child care providers. [163972]
Brandon Lewis: Business rates reliefs are either mandatory—and therefore must be granted if the eligibility criteria are met—or at the discretion of the relevant local authority. Charitable child care providers may benefit from 80% charity relief. Any child care provider that meets the eligibility criteria may benefit from Small Business Rate Relief, which the Government have doubled until April 2014. We estimate that half a million businesses are benefiting from that doubling, with a third of a million paying no rates at all. In addition, we have given authorities the powers to provide local discounts which can be used to provide relief as councils see fit. Where they do so, central Government meet 50% of the costs.
Disabled Facilities Grants
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) whether his Department has conducted any studies into variations in the fees charged by local authorities and utility companies in relation to disabled facilities grants; [163573]
(2) what work his Department has done to assess value for money in relation to disabled facilities grants; [163575]
(3) what guidance his Department provided to local authorities on the disabled facilities grant regime; and whether he plans to review such guidance. [163576]
Mr Prisk: The Department for Communities and Local Government has not conducted any studies into variations in the fees charged by local authorities and utility companies in relation to the disabled facilities grant.
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The Department has not undertaken work to assess value for money in relation to disabled facilities grants.
Non-statutory guidance on disabled facilities grant guidance was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2004 and 2006. The Department has been consulted on an updated version of the guidance which is being drafted by the Homes Adaptations Consortium, which will also publish the new guidance.
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many disabled facilities grants were approved in the last five years in England and Wales. [163574]
Mr Prisk: The Department for Communities and Local Government funds the disabled facilities grant, which is administered by local authorities in England and provides adaptations to the homes of disabled people to help them to live as independently as possible in their own home.
The Government secured £725 million for the grant in the 2010 spending review for the period 2011-12 to 2014-15 and over the last two years the Government have invested a further £60 million in the disabled facilities grant, bringing the total grant in 2011-12 to £200 million and in 2012-13 to £220 million. In the 2015-16 spending round announcement, a further £220 million has been allocated to the disabled facilities grant.
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect data on the number of grants approved annually, but the Department does collect data on the number of grants completed in England and this information for the years 2009-10 to 2011-12 is provided in the following table. Data for 2007-08 and 2008-09 are not held by the Department. Data for 2012-13 will be available in August 2013.
| Number of disabled facilities grants completed | |
Fire Services: Bedfordshire
Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the retained duty fire fighting system in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency. [164050]
Brandon Lewis: Employee working systems are the sole responsibility of individual fire and rescue authorities. I have made no assessment of the retained duty fire fighting system in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
My Department recognises and is grateful for the contribution of the retained duty system to this country. It represents not only a flexible and economic service, but one which helps bind many communities together.
In his recently published review into efficiency and operations of fire and rescue authorities in England, Sir Ken Knight commented that retained duty staff are the backbone of provision across the country. He also identified significant costs savings which would arise through a modest increase in retained duty provision.
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Fire Services: Cleveland
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations his Department has received from (a) Cleveland Fire Authority and (b) the Chief Fire Officer of Cleveland Fire Brigade on pre-consultation on potential mutualisation in the fire sector; and if he will make a statement. [164124]
Brandon Lewis: My Department received a response from Cleveland fire brigade on 14 December 2012 in reply to our pre-consultation letter on fire mutuals. We are not planning to publish this response at present since it contains commercially sensitive information. More broadly, I refer the hon. Member to my speech in the Adjournment Debate, which he attended, of 13 May 2013. Official Report, column 470 onwards.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the basis was for the statement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to the Communities and Local Government Committee on 15 May 2013, uncorrected transcript, HC 105-i, Q19, that Cleveland Fire Authority was not progressing with mutualisation at the moment. [164221]
Brandon Lewis: I was seeking to clarify the Government's position on supporting locally-led mutuals in the fire and rescue service, and that we are not opening the door to wholesale privatisation. Any decision on mutualisation will be a matter for Cleveland Fire and Rescue Authority and its elected members.
Fire Services: Pensions
Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to prevent reductions in the pensions of retained system firefighters. [164049]
Brandon Lewis: Retained firefighters are eligible to be members of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2006. A new reformed firefighters' pension scheme will be implemented for regular and retained firefighters from 2015. The 2015 scheme will be a good quality pension scheme and the pension benefits received by a new retained firefighter will be as good as the ones available to a retained firefighter starting work today.
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many people have been required to leave their homes in the north of England since the introduction of the under- occupancy penalty; [163599]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people required to leave their homes and move into private rented accommodation as a result of the introduction of the under-occupancy penalty in the north of England. [163604]
Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
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No assessment has yet been made about the number of people who have moved as a result of the removal of the spare room subsidy. This measure is not about forcing people to move, but as with people not in receipt of benefits, it is reasonable to expect claimants to make a contribution towards rent where they have additional rooms in a property.
A consortium has been commissioned to monitor the effects of the policy in a selection of local authorities over the next two years. The research will include claimants' responses to the policy measure.
Initial findings will be available in 2014 and the final report is due in late 2015.
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes containing two or more bedrooms under local authority or housing association control were lying empty in the north of England immediately prior to the introduction of the under-occupancy penalty tax. [163603]
Mr Prisk: DCLG does not hold information centrally on the number of vacant local authority or private registered provider (housing association) properties with two or more bedrooms.
Housing: Construction
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of houses for which planning permission has been granted but which are not yet built in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire. [161127]
Nick Boles: The latest figures (provided by Glenigan, based on sites of 10 units or over) show that, as of 3 June 2013, there were 60,500 residential units that were classed as on hold or shelved. A further 189,900 units were estimated to be progressing toward a start. There were a further 10,500 units which were in the process of being sold or where information is unavailable. Information is not publicly available at smaller geographical scales.
It has been suggested in recent weeks that there are 400,000 homes that could have been built which have not been built because of land hoarding, with firms sitting on land waiting for it to accumulate in value and not building on it. For the record, this assertion is incorrect and misleading.
The notional 400,000 figure stems from a report commissioned by the Local Government Association undertaken by Glenigan using data sourced in December 2011. It notes that in 2011 there were 399,816 residential units with planning permission which were "unimplemented". However, the report clearly distinguishes between sites under construction and sites which were unstarted.
Of that 400,000 units figure, 191,000 was private housing already under construction. A further 83,000 units were unimplemented provisions for social housing (and therefore, in no sense private sector developers ‘hoarding land'). The report also notes that the amount of unimplemented schemes has fallen by a third from 2008 to 2011, and the number of private, unstarted units has fallen from 206,000 in March 2008 to 127,000 in December 2011.
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Indeed, the Office of Fair Trading examined the suggestion of land banking in 2008. They reported:
“We have not found any evidence to support the view that, at the national level, homebuilders are hoarding a large amount of land with implementable planning permission on which they have not started construction” (para 5.89)
“Having a stock of land helps a homebuilder cope with fluctuations in the housing market and also helps to reduce its exposure to risk resulting from the planning system. We have not found any evidence that homebuilders have the ability to anti-competitively hoard land or own a large amount of land with planning permission on which they have not started to build. Apart from the homebuilding firms, the available information suggests that the largest ‘landbank’ may be that held by the public sector. If the Government and devolved Administrations wish to ease this constraint going forward then one potential way of doing this would be to make more public sector land, which is suitable for development, more readily available to homebuilders” (OFT, Homebuilding in the UK: A market study, September 2008, para 1.8).
This Government have introduced a wide ranging package to support stalled house building. These include making £570 million available through the Get Britain Building investment fund aiming to unlock new homes on stalled sites, and a £474 million investment fund in local infrastructure for stalled locally-supported, large- scale housing sites and commercial development. Our investments to date are helping to bring forward new homes, boosting the construction industry and stimulating economic growth.
In addition, the Growth and Infrastructure Act enables developers with any Section 106 agreement, irrespective of the date of signature, to apply for a review of the affordable housing component to ensure development is not being made unviable by unrealistic requirements. Such unrealistic Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: a sensible review can result in more housing and more affordable housing.
We also have a comprehensive programme to sell surplus and redundant public sector land and property, freeing up taxpayers' money and providing land for new homes.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local plans have been rejected by his Department's inspectors on the basis of providing insufficient housing numbers since May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [164225]
Nick Boles: No plans have been subject to a formal recommendation of unsoundness, based on insufficient housing numbers, since May 2010.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria and evidence his Department's inspectors use when assessing the appropriate housing provision for an area when considering local plans which have been submitted for approval; and if he will make a statement. [164226]
Nick Boles:
The starting point for Planning Inspectors when assessing the appropriate housing provision for an area is the requirement of the National Planning Policy Framework for councils to plan to meet the
9 July 2013 : Column 191W
objectively assessed needs for housing. While there is no standard methodology, councils' assessments should be demonstrably objective.
The housing requirement figure must be justified by the evidence submitted by councils, in particular an up- to-date Strategic Housing Market Assessment, covering the housing market area. The Strategic Housing Market Assessment Practice Guidance August 2007 can still be used to identify future housing requirements where relevant to the National Planning Policy Framework.
The existing guidance on Strategic Housing Market Assessment is included in the review of Government planning practice guidance. We propose to publish significantly reduced planning guidance by this summer, providing much needed simplicity and clarity.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he has recently issued on building on the flood plain. [164349]
Nick Boles: The National Planning Policy Framework, together with supporting Technical Guidance on flood risk, was issued on 27 March 2012. The Framework is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided. Local planning authorities should direct development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains, but where development is necessary, it must be demonstrated that it is safe and will not increase flood risk elsewhere. The supporting guidance explains how key aspects of the policy should be implemented.
Housing: Disability
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are better able to access wheelchair-accessible housing stock in neighbouring areas and more efficiently utilise the national wheelchair accessible housing stock. [161878]
Mr Prisk: The Department for Communities and Local Government has not issued any guidance on keeping a register of wheelchair-accessible housing and has no plans to do so. It is incumbent on housing authorities to effectively manage their housing stock, including closer working with neighbouring authorities where practical.
Social tenants wishing to move home are able to use HomeSwap Direct, the national home swap scheme, to search for adapted properties. HomeSwap Direct increases opportunities for all social tenants who wish to find a new home by allowing tenants looking for a swap to see details of every possible property nationwide, no matter which mutual exchange website their landlord has chosen to subscribe to. Most mutual exchange providers enable the identification of disabled access or adaptations to a property when searching for a swap.
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of demand for wheelchair-accessible properties in the UK. [161883]
Mr Prisk: DCLG does not hold information on the overall demand for wheelchair-accessible properties in the UK.
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While DCLG's English Housing Survey does ask respondents whether their current accommodation requires adaptations given their disability or long standing illness, these questions do not ask specifically about wheelchair accessibility. It is therefore not possible to estimate demand for wheelchair-accessible properties in England using this data source.
Estimates, using DCLG's English Housing Survey, show there to be around 1.1 million wheelchair-accessible homes in England, equating to 5% of the dwelling stock. Data reported by social landlords, in England, show that around 1% (2,700 of 240,000 general needs lettings) of tenants taking up a social letting in 2011-12 identified their household as needing wheelchair-accessible housing.(1)
(1)Source:
The Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales of Social Housing in England
Housing: South Yorkshire
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new homes in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) Barnsley and (c) South Yorkshire have qualified for the New Homes Bonus (NHB) to date; how much funding has been given to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council under the NHB to date; and what estimate he has made of the number of new houses built in (i) Barnsley Central constituency, (ii) Barnsley and (iii) South Yorkshire as a result of the NHB. [163963]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 8 July 2013]: New Homes Bonus funding is calculated and awarded by local authority area. It is not therefore possible to identify delivery and funding relating to the Barnsley Central parliamentary constituency.
It is not possible to identify which housing delivery has occurred as a direct result of the New Homes Bonus. The New Homes Bonus is one part of a package of Government interventions aimed at increasing housing supply. It is not possible to identify the impact of these policies in isolation.
The requested figures for Barnsley are in the following table:
| Barnsley | ||||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Total | |
| * Funding is cumulative, i.e. total funding for 2013-14 comprises the third instalment of year 1 funding, plus the second instalment for year 2, and the first instalment of year 3. | ||||
The other requested figures are given in the following tables:
| Doncaster | ||||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Total | |
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| Rotherham | ||||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Total | |
| Sheffield | ||||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Total | |
| * Funding is cumulative, i.e. total funding for 2013-14 comprises the third instalment of year 1 funding, plus the second instalment for year 2, and the first instalment of year 3. | ||||
Where a negative figure is shown in relation to empty homes, this means that the number of long-term empty properties increased, thereby reducing the amount of New Homes Bonus funding earnt.
Land Use: Agriculture
Dr Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will produce further planning guidance on protecting the best and most versatile agricultural land from development. [162454]
Nick Boles: The Government's policy on protecting the best and most versatile agricultural land is laid out in the National Planning Policy Framework. Additionally, the framework underlines that planning decisions should recognise the character and beauty of the countryside.
We have been clear that councils should use their Local Plans to help shape where development should and should not take place and to help prevent unsustainable development. In this context, it is for local planning authorities to take the lead, rather than waiting for further Whitehall guidance.
Local Government: Pay
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the annual pay settlement for local government workers was between 1997 and 2010. [164045]
Brandon Lewis:
Local government pay is a devolved matter. The Local Government Association, which represents local authorities in England, has provided
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data setting out national pay settlements since 1997 for local government workers in England by group. This information has been placed in the Library of the House.
Planning Permission: Urban Areas
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress he has made following the Portas Review on promoting the inclusion of the high street in neighbourhood plans. [163664]
Mr Prisk: Neighbourhood planning is gathering momentum. As of the beginning of July, over 550 communities have started a neighbourhood plan for their area, and more are joining them each week. The first neighbourhood plan is now in force in Upper Eden, Cumbria, where 90% of those voting said yes to the plan. Exeter St James and Thame both said a resounding yes to their plans at referendums in May.
Many neighbourhood plans specifically address issues around high streets. Of the 34 neighbourhood plans which have now been published for pre-submission consultation, around two thirds include specific policies to support employment and retail in their town or village centres.
A £9.5 million, two-year support programme delivered by Locality and Planning Aid England supports neighbourhood plans, including those addressing high streets. Details of all support available and case studies are available at:
www.mycommunityrights.org.uk
Regional Resilience Forums
Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which bodies are responsible for carrying out the work previously done by regional resilience forums. [163745]
Brandon Lewis: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answers given on 13 September 2012, Official Report, column 311W and 15 October, Official Report, column 227W, on regional resilience forums. Officials in my Department wrote to local resilience forums and responders in March 2011 to explain that the Government supported a flexible, localist and risk-based approach to cross-boundary working, rather than prescribing arrangements based on arbitrary regional boundaries.
Rents: Arrears
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of trends in social housing rent arrears since April 2013. [161661]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 25 June 2013]: Statistics are published annually on the total value of local authority social housing rent arrears, and are published on my Department's website here for 2011-12:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/73210/lahs-data-returns-for-2011-12.xls
Data for 2012-13 will be available at the end of this year.
In relation to housing associations, I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1074W.
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Social Networking
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will list all Twitter accounts for which officials of his Department (a) have had and (b) currently have responsibility for (i) monitoring and (ii) updating. [163546]
Brandon Lewis: Officials monitor and update the following twitter accounts:
DCLG @communitiesuk
Enterprise Zones @EntZonesGov
Fire Kills @Fire_Kills
Right To Buy @righttobuy
Tenant Power @tenantpower
InfoforLocal @infoforlocal
Private Rented Sector Taskforce @PRSTaskforce