Justice

Defamation Act 2013

Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when each of the provisions of the Defamation Act 2013, not yet in force, will be enacted. [R] [162829]

Mrs Grant: We are taking forward the necessary procedural steps to enable the Act to be brought into force by the end of this year.

Human Trafficking

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each suspected victims of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in June 2013; in which (i) region, (ii) county and (iii) parliamentary constituency each of the suspected victims was found; and which agency referred each case to the scheme. [164199]

Mrs Grant: In June 2013 there were 79 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by The Salvation Army. In the interests of victim safety only the region in which the victim was encountered is provided, and not the county or parliamentary constituency. Details are provided in the following table:

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Legal Profession: Standards

Mr Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Bar Standards Board regarding the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates. [160487]

Mrs Grant: The Secretary of State for Justice has not discussed the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates with the Bar Standards Board.

Salvation Army

Mrs Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated cost of the Salvation Army's Trafficking Support Scheme will be in 2013-14; and what the cost of this scheme was in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13. [163625]

Mrs Grant: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 26 June 2013, Official Report, column 290W.

Sickness Absence

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months. [162587]

Mrs Grant: The information requested for the Ministry of Justice is available for each quarter on a rolling 12-month basis in accordance with Cabinet Office reporting guidance:

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A large proportion of staff absence is in the Prison Service and the challenges they face do not bear direct comparison with the working conditions of most civil servants. They perform a difficult, physical and sometimes dangerous job. Reducing sickness absence aligns with my Department's Smarter Government commitments and remains a workforce strategy priority within the Department.

Victim Support Schemes

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 24 June 2013, Official Report, column 25W, on victim support schemes, what plans he has to integrate victims' services with social services where vulnerable and persistently targeted victims of crime are concerned. [163097]

Mrs Grant: The Government recognise the particular needs of vulnerable and persistently targeted victims, and we are committed to finding ways in which services can work together to ensure those needs are met.

The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice is currently leading a national group on Sexual Violence against Children and Vulnerable People, which recognises the need for effective partnerships across agencies at both national and local level; in developing the way in which victims are referred to and supported by services based on identified needs. Both the consultation on “Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses” and “Improving the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime” have highlighted the importance of ensuring the needs of vulnerable and persistently targeted victims of crime are met both by the criminal justice agencies and wider services. PCCs will take on the commissioning of the majority of services for victims in 2014 and they will be well placed to work with local partners, including social services, to ensure the needs of victims are addressed.

Culture, Media and Sport

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average cost to her Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period her Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque. [162629]

Hugh Robertson: The average cost of processing the payment of an invoice during the financial year April 2012 to March 2013 was £10.65.

The Department has a general policy of making electronic payments. Cheques are only issued when required for legal services. For financial year 2012-13, the proportion of invoices paid electronically was 99.5 % and the proportion paid by cheque was 0.5%.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of all food procured for her Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available. [164761]

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the Government Equalities Office, does not procure any food.

Internet

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance her Department issues to BT Openreach on ensuring equal treatment of all parts of the UK in terms of offering adequate internet speeds. [157251]

Mr Vaizey: The Government have a target to provide 90% superfast (24Mbps or greater) broadband coverage and universal availability of standard broadband. Local authorities and the devolved administrations are also able to set their own local targets as part of their broadband projects under the Government's rural broadband programme. Under this programme a network provider, such as BT Openreach, contracts with local authorities to deliver against the target.

National Lottery: Northern Ireland

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what the value of sales of National Lottery scratchcards has been in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; [163732]

(2) what the value of national lottery ticket sales in Northern Ireland has been in each of the last five years. [163753]

Hugh Robertson: Sales figures for National Lottery games in Northern Ireland are recorded in a single Camelot sales area with Northern Scotland. National Lottery ticket and scratchcard sales are combined into a single sales figure. The most recent sales figures for the combined Northern Ireland and Northern Scotland

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region show total ticket and scratchcard sales of £395,086,321 for the year to March 31 2013. Figures for previous years are not available in a comparable format.

Sports: Children

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of five to 16 year olds take part in at least one planned sport activity per week. [164684]

Hugh Robertson: Latest Taking Part survey data, for October 2011 to September 2012, show that 76.0% of five to 10-year-olds did sport outside school and 94.4% of 11 to 15-year-olds did sport in or outside school, in the last week. Data and commentary have been published on the DCMS website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taking-part-october-2011-to-september-2012-supplementary-child-report--2

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of five to 16 year olds taking part in at least one planned sport activity per week. [164686]

Hugh Robertson: Over £1 billion is being invested into youth and community sport—helping to ensure the lasting legacy of the London 2012 Games and providing all young people the chance to begin a lifetime's habit of playing sport. This will be complemented by the recently announced £150 million School Sport Premium, which will see funds go directly into the hands of primary school head teachers, for them to spend on improving the quality of PE and sport for all their pupils.

Sports: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on sport in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) City of York local authority area in each year since 2004-05. [163871]

Hugh Robertson: DCMS, via Sport England, has invested over the period April 1 2004 to 31 March 2013, in (a) the Yorkshire and Humber region: £185,064,813 and in (b) the York local authority: £2,995,060. The funding is invested on the basis of applications for funding and the figures do not reflect the large amount of funding channelled through our key partners, such as National Governing Bodies of Sport, to increase participation.

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Written Questions: Government Responses

Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to reply to Question 157610, tabled on 21 May 2013 for ordinary written answer on 3 June 2013. [160061]

Hugh Robertson: DCMS officials have contacted the MPs office, and have now obtained a copy of the letter, which did not come through to the Department when it was originally sent; a reply will be sent shortly.

Communities and Local Government

Business Premises: Leasehold

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress his Department has made since the publication of the Portas Review to encourage a contract of care between landlords and their commercial tenants by promoting the leasing code and supporting the use of lease structures other than upward-only rent reviews. [163010]

Mr Prisk: In February 2012, we requested the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the British Retail Consortium to do more to support and distribute the Leasing Code. In July 2012, they responded by providing a model lease for small businesses, which is Leasing Code compliant and excludes rent reviews. We have written all local authorities asking them to join the British Property Federation's Commercial Landlords Accreditation Scheme, which, requires members to abide by the Leasing Code. We have also obtained the Rightmove website's support to promote the Leasing Code in their commercial property listings.

High Street Review

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when (a) he and (b) Ministers of his Department met Mary Portas to discuss the Portas review. [161136]

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Mr Prisk: My predecessor as the Minister responsible for High Streets, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), met Mary Portas twice, and I have met her twice (September 2012 and February 2013) and I have spoken to her by phone.

Officials have also had regular contact with her team to discuss the review and the work of the Portas pilots.

Housing

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the introduction of the Single Local Growth Fund, how the New Homes Bonus will be allocated between (a) local enterprise partnerships, (b) county councils and (c) district councils, by proportion. [163194]

Mr Prisk: Local authorities have a crucial role to play in supporting housing and wider economic growth, but the local government finance system historically failed to reward housing and other growth. The coalition Government has put in place structural reforms to change the incentives for local authorities. From April 2013, local authorities in England are retaining half of the business rates that are raised locally, and the New Homes Bonus also provides funding for local authorities based on the homes that are built in their area.

The Government's response to the Heseltine review (Cm 8587, March 2013) outlined our plans to empower local enterprise partnership to drive forward locally-led growth and enterprise. It also recommended the pooling of more financial resources to strengthen incentives for local enterprise partnerships and their partners to generate growth. In the spirit of joint working and greater collaboration, we believe that there is scope for pooling of resources from central and local government.

As announced in ‘Investing in Britain's future’ (Cm 8669, June 2013), we intend that in 2015-16 £400 million from the New Homes Bonus will be pooled within local enterprise partnership areas to support strategic, locally-led housing and economic development priorities.

Councils' local plans will remain as the focus for where development should and should not go. The pooling complements the duty to co-operate and the abolition of regional strategies introduced through the Localism Act. In particular, we hope it will encourage local authorities to work together on new developments which might cross council boundaries, and to help unlock the provision of cross-local authority infrastructure. It also gives local authorities an indirect financial stake in new housing build near but outside their council boundaries; whereas before, there was no mitigation for developments which placed strains or pressures on neighbouring councils.

We will consult shortly on the mechanism to deliver the pooling arrangements.

Housing: Construction

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider introducing a requirement that at least 10% of properties in new housing developments across the UK should be wheelchair accessible or easily adaptable to wheelchair access. [162376]

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Mr Prisk: Housing standards in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the devolved Administrations. In England, accessible housing standards are being considered as part of the Housing Standards Review, on which a consultation will be published shortly.

Landlords: 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 introducing a public register of high street landlords. [163666]

Mr Prisk: We did not commit to this policy in the Government's response to the Portas review, as we believe that local authorities are best placed to lead on this. We made it clear when responding to the Portas review we want local authorities to compile a public register of high street landlords to help Town Teams. We are also considering further solutions to improve the information that is available.

Local Government Finance: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department allocated to City of York council for (a) local authority supported capital expenditure in housing stock and (b) major repairs allowance in 2009-10 and in each year since then. [163868]

Mr Prisk: The allocation figures for the City of York's subsidy capital financing requirement and major repairs allowance are given in the following table. housing revenue account subsidy was abolished under the Localism Act 2011 and replaced with self-financing for local housing authorities from 1 April 2012. The data shown for 2012-13 are the subsidy-equivalent figures.

Local Government: Powers

Mr Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities have utilised the general power of competence created by section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 to date; and if he will make a statement. [163834]

Brandon Lewis: The general power of competence was designed to allow local authorities—including certain parish councils—to act innovatively without being found by the courts to have acted outside the law. It gives councils confidence in their legal capacity to act both for communities and in their own financial interest to generate efficiencies and savings. The Government expect councils to use the power as their primary tool without constantly looking back to Whitehall for permission. While I regularly speak with councils who are acting innovatively, local authorities are under no obligation

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to notify the Government when they rely on the power nor does the Government monitor use of the power, so it is not possible for me to quantify how many councils are using the power.

However, I would add that councils up and down the country are using the general power of competence to hold prayers at the start of council meetings (further to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government’s written ministerial statement of 20 February 2012, Official Report, columns 61-62WS). This illustrates how it has become an everyday part of the workings of local government.

Out of Town Shopping Centres

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress he has made following the Portas Review to introduce exceptional sign off for all new out-of-town developments and require all large new developments to have an affordable shops quota. [162448]

Mr Prisk: The Government's response to the Portas review, published in March 2012, made clear that we did not endorse this particular recommendation and would not be taking it forward.

The National Planning Policy Framework asks local councils to recognise town centres as the hearts of their communities and pursue policies to support their viability and vitality. It sets out clearly that local councils should require new town centre uses to be located in existing town centres out of preference. It also sets out that where there are no suitable and viable sites in town centres for new main town centre uses, permission should be refused where a proposal outside of a town centre would have a likely significant adverse impact on existing town centres. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government already has wide discretion to call-in planning applications of sufficient significance for his determination, which would include consideration as to whether proposals conflict with our policy on town centres. Although the Government clearly support the affordability of shops, we are concerned that requiring a quota of affordable shops in all large new development would have adverse impacts on town centres.

Rough Sleepers

Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the ruling in the case of OR v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Isle of Anglesey CC [2013] UKUT 06S (AAC) on the Government's delivery of the No Second Night Out initiative. [161886]

Mr Prisk: All local authorities have introduced a No Second Night Out scheme or signed up to doing so this year.

In London, No Second Night Out is making a big difference. The latest CHAIN 2012-13 annual data shows that No Second Night Out helped ensure that 75% of new rough sleepers spend just a single night on London's streets.

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Elsewhere, in its year of operation, 683 people approached Merseyside's No Second Night Out hub for support (incorporating six local authorities) with only two returning to the streets.

We shall continue to review progress of the No Second Night Out which is offering real help to rough sleepers and reducing the time people spend on the streets.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure Gypsy and Traveller sites are not placed in (a) rural villages and (b) other inappropriate locations. [163726]

Brandon Lewis: Our “Planning Policy for Traveller Sites” makes absolutely clear that Traveller sites are inappropriate development in the Green Belt and that they should be strictly limited in the open countryside. It also requires that careful attention is given to the scale, location and design of traveller sites in order to ensure all sites are appropriate. Local planning authorities should plan to meet their objectively assessed needs for Travellers in a way which is consistent with planning policy, taking account of the views of their communities in doing so.

On 1 July 2013, Official Report, columns 24-25WS, in a statement to Parliament the Government announced that they would, for a period of six months, consider recovering more Traveller appeals in the Green Belt in order to carefully consider the extent to which Planning Policy for Traveller Sites is meeting its clear intentions. The Government have also brought forward a range of measures to assist local planning authorities in dealing swiftly and effectively with unauthorised traveller sites, including stronger powers to deal with retrospective and vexatious applications and greater freedom to take appropriate enforcement action.

A more detailed list of measures we have taken is outlined in my answer of 25 April 2013, Official Report, columns 1132-33W.

Urban Areas: Empty Property

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what progress has been made on the Portas Review recommendation to encourage banks with empty high street properties to either administer or sell such assets; [163045]

(2) what progress has been made on the Portas Review recommendation to empower local authorities to step in when landlords are negligent with new empty shop management orders; [163046]

(3) what progress has been made on the Portas Review recommendation to persuade local authorities to use compulsory purchase orders to encourage the redevelopment of key high street retail space. [163047]

Mr Prisk: In the Government's response to the Portas review in March 2012, we recognised the importance of these recommendations and set out our position.

Empty properties can visibly bring down the attractiveness and prosperity of a high street but may reflect the changing nature of the high street. A property may be empty on account of various issues, not least

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lack of interest from a suitable tenant. Punitive measures to force landlords to lease their properties would not be effective in creating a sustainable high street and would risk interfering with fundamental private property rights.

We remain of the view that local authorities have sufficient powers to act to get property back into use. In addition to their compulsory purchase powers, local authorities can use section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act to take action to require land to be cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of an area.

The Government have also committed £235 million of direct funding, to help local authorities, housing associations and community groups tackle the most problematic empty properties, which would not otherwise come back into use. The last funding round had a particular emphasis on refurbishing former commercial and high street properties.

The Future High Streets Forum was established in March 2013, and brings together leaders across retail, property and business to better understand the competition faced by town centres across the country and drive forward new ideas and policies.

An industry-led taskforce has been established to explore distressed commercial property and its causes. This is due to publish its report in the autumn.

Urban Areas: Regeneration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken following the Portas review to urge developers to make financial contributions to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system. [163982]

Nick Boles: The Government are committed to enabling individuals and community groups to have a greater say over every aspect of their area, including their high streets.

Neighbourhood planning is enabling communities to come together and decide for themselves where new houses, businesses and shops should go. In areas with a Neighbourhood Plan in place, local communities will receive 25% of local Community Infrastructure Levy receipts. In other areas it will be a still highly significant 15%. Communities can spend this money on any infrastructure and associated services they want, to address the demands that development places on the area. At end of June, more than 550 Neighbourhood Plans are being developed.

In addition, local authorities now benefit from new development—the New Homes Bonus recognises increases in housing stock, and local government now keeps half their business rates, and the growth in that share. In turn, councils can spend these funds as they see fit—from community benefits, to supporting frontline services to keeping council tax down.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a list of all the onshore wind planning

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appeals in England that have been

(a)

recovered and

(b)

not recovered by his Department for decision in each year since 2010. [162914]

Mr Prisk [holding answer 2 July 2013]: Each decision to recover a planning appeal for the Secretary of State’s own decision is treated on its individual merits in line with the published criteria.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/ministerial-statement.pdf

The number of appeals involving wind turbines that have been recovered in the period in question are as follows:

I have placed a list of recovered appeals in the Library of the House.

The Planning Inspectorate records all types of renewable energy schemes received per annum, of which only some are for wind turbines. Numbers vary for each year and for the three full years there were 113, 165 and 286 renewable energy schemes received. It would be disproportionate to set out each appeal as requested by the hon. Member.

Education

Early Intervention Grant

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the value of the early intervention grant will be in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16. [163968]

Brandon Lewis: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Details of local authority funding will be set out in due course in the Local Government Finance settlements for 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Education: Fees and Charges

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) further education colleges, (b) sixth form colleges, (c) secondary schools, (d) primary schools, (e) nursery schools and (f) schools covering more than one of these types (i) charge fees and (ii) do not charge fees; and whether such fees vary on the basis of the child's home country. [164378]

Mr Laws: Only independent schools are permitted to charge fees for education services for their pupils. Information on the reasons for variability in fee rates (such as country of birth) is not collected centrally.

The Education Funding Agency holds data on the institutions that it funds but not private further education colleges. In 2012/13, the Education Funding Agency funded 94 sixth form colleges and 241 further education colleges. Learners who meet the criteria set out in The

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Education (Fees and Awards) (England) Regulations 2007 are eligible for funding. Colleges are not allowed to charge fees to UK and EU students aged 16 to 19 who are undertaking a course of further education, but can charge fees to older students, those undertaking a higher education programme of study and non-UK/EU students.

Education: Worcestershire

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which capital projects his Department has supported with what level of funding for academies, schools and colleges in (a) Worcester constituency and (b) Worcestershire since May 2010. [164161]

Mr Laws: The Department for Education allocates a significant amount of capital funding to local authorities so that they have the freedom to decide upon their school investment needs according to local priorities. The Department does not collect information on how these funds have been used.

The capital support allocated to Worcestershire, and its schools, since the financial, year 2010-11 is given in the following table:

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Pupils: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding was provided per pupil in state (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in (A) York Local Authority and (B) Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 1995-96 (1) in cash terms and (2) at 2013 prices. [163926]

Mr Laws: York only became a local authority in 1996-97, as a result of local government reorganisation, so comparable funding data are only available from this date.

Average per pupil revenue funding figures, from the Department to local authorities, for pupils aged 3-10 (primary) and 11-15 (secondary) for York alone, and the Yorkshire and Humber region on average, for years 1997-98 to 2005-06, are as follows. These figures are in cash terms:

These figures are in real terms:

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The total revenue funding per pupil shown in the following table are for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). They are not comparable with those for the years 1997-98 to 2005-06 because the introduction of the DSG in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how local authorities are funded.

The 1997-98 to 2005-06 figures are based on education formula spending (EFS) which formed the education part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. The DSG is based largely on an authority's previous spending. In addition, the DSG has a different coverage to EFS. EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG's Local Government Finance Settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. Consequently, there is a break in the Department's time series as the two sets of data are not comparable.

To provide a comparison for 2006-07 DSG, the Department has isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06; as described above this does not represent the totality of ‘education' funding in that year.

The total and per pupil revenue funding figures for years 2005-06 to 2010-11 for York are provided in the following table. The following figures are for all funded pupils aged 3-15 and are in cash terms:

These figures are in real terms:

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The DSG plus grants figures up to 2010-11 do not include funding from the Learning and Skills Council to ensure that figures are on the basis of funding for pupils aged 3 to 15 and are comparable with 2011-12 and 2012-13 figures.

In 2013-14, the DSG was reformed to allocate funding to LAs in three blocks (Schools, Early Years and High Needs) and so figures are not comparable to previous years. For information, the Schools Block unit of funding for York is £4,209 (£4,114 at 2012-13 prices) and for the Yorkshire and Humberside region an average unit of funding of £4,534 (£4,432 at 2012-13 prices).

Since 2011-12 schools have received the pupil premium which targets funding at pupils from the most deprived backgrounds to help them achieve their full potential. In 2011-12, the premium was allocated for each pupil known to be eligible for free school meals, looked-after children and children of parents in the armed services. In 2012-13 coverage was expanded to include pupils known to have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. The amounts per pupil amounts for each type of pupil are shown in following table in cash terms:

Total pupil premium allocations for York local authority and the Yorkshire and Humberside region for each year are shown in the following table in cash terms:

These figures are in real terms:

The following table shows capital funding for the financial years that are available. The data are in cash terms as allocations are phased across more than one year making real terms calculations meaningless. Complete information on the split of capital between phases of education is not held centrally.

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School Meals

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the changes in total public spending in England on school meals in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year from 2010; and if he will make a statement. [164153]

Mr Laws: The Department does not collect data on schools' spending on school meals, so we do not have an estimate of the total public spending on school meals. Schools do not receive specified funding for the costs of meals from the Government.

Schools must provide free school meals to eligible children. The cost of free school meals is met by schools from their overall schools budget. Local authorities and schools determine how much is allocated for free school meals based on the circumstances in their area. We estimate the cost of free school meals to be around £460 million per year.

Schools: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what capital funding was allocated by his Department to schools in the City of York in each year since 1995-96. [163925]

Mr Laws: The following table shows capital allocations to City of York council and its schools for the financial years since 1996-97. Comparable information for 1995-96 and earlier is not centrally available.

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Teachers: Pay

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the change was in the average salary of a (a) primary school teacher, (b) primary school head teacher, (c) secondary school teacher and (d) secondary school head teacher in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement. [164156]

Mr Laws: The following table provides the gross average salary of full-time regular qualified classroom teachers, head teachers and all teachers in service in publicly funded primary and secondary schools in cash terms and real terms in England, from the School Workforce Censuses in November 2010 to November 2012.

It is difficult to use the figures requested to estimate pay increases for teachers. The size of average year on year pay changes will be obscured by the inflow and outflow of teachers. For example, new entrants to the work force (mostly classroom teachers) will generally be paid much less than those people leaving, especially retiring leadership group teachers.

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Teachers: Training

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that all curriculum subjects have provision for bursaries for teacher training. [164367]

Mr Laws: Bursary levels for post-graduate fee-based initial teacher training (ITT) courses are set each year in response to recruitment performance and Government priorities. An announcement on bursary levels for post-graduate fee-based ITT courses beginning in 2014/15 will be made in due course.

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that all subjects designated as part of the core curriculum have resources made available for the continuing professional development of their teachers. [164368]

Mr Laws: The Government believe that schools are best placed to decide what resources are needed for the continuing professional development of their teachers and secure them accordingly. This includes their ability to deliver the core curriculum.

Many schools will share priorities around the core subjects, so we are working with subject experts, publishers, educational suppliers and others to identify what further support schools may need.

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We are also ensuring that existing opportunities funded by the Government meet the needs of the new national curriculum. For example, the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) has recently released free video training materials focused on calculation. We have also extended match funding of £3,000 per school for phonics materials and training until October 2013.

Teachers: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the gross average salary of a full-time teacher in local authority schools in the City of York was in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1995-96. [163897]

Mr Laws: The following table provides the gross average salary of full-time regular qualified teachers in service in local authority maintained schools in cash terms and real terms for York local authority, in each March, 1997 to 2009 and November 2010 to November 2011.

The cash terms decrease between 2010 and 2011 will have been impacted by a reduction in the number of secondary local authority maintained schools and an increase in the number of academies. This increases the proportion of primary teachers in the local authority maintained sector, who have tower average salaries.

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Treasury

Bank Cards: Fees and Charges

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the financial effects of proposed European Commission regulations of interchange fees on (a) debit cardholders, (b) credit cardholders and (c) small businesses. [164034]

Sajid Javid: The European Commission is expected to publish a legislative proposal by summer 2013 to regulate multilateral interchange fees on card payments. The proposal will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

The Government will make their own assessment of the legislative proposal once the proposal is published.

Barclays

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has discussed the proposed suspension of money transfer services by Barclays bank with the CEO or directors of Barclays. [164366]

Mr Gauke: The Government are committed to supporting a healthy and legitimate remittance sector, and ensuring that UK citizens are able to continue to remit funds safely to family abroad. As such, work has been under way for some time on addressing and reducing risk in this area.

In light of decisions taken by banks, both nationally and internationally (including the recent decision by Barclays), to withdraw banking services from many of the smaller firms in this sector, Ministers and officials are continuing to engage with relevant stakeholders, including banks, trade associations and Money Service Businesses on this issue.

This includes working to seek to manage the impact this will have on businesses and communities in the UK, as well as exploring with these firms any viable alternatives for those individuals in the UK, and in developing countries, who rely on remittances services.

British Transport Police

Alok Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse in 2015-16 of restoring spending on the Transport Police to the level it would have been without the decisions made in the 2010 Spending Review and 2013 Spending Round. [164412]

Danny Alexander: The Treasury has not made an estimate of this cost.

Broadband

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse would be of extending the broadband network to cover 100 per cent of premises in the UK by 2015-16. [164439]

Danny Alexander: The current rural superfast broadband programme contains a commitment for universal service provision of at least 2 megabits per second broadband. No assessment has yet been made of the costs of extending the superfast broadband network to 100% of

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UK premises. Government committed at spending round 2013 to working with industry to develop options by the end of 2013 to deliver fixed, wireless and mobile broadband to at least 99% of premises by 2018.

Civil Servants: Pay

Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the annual pay settlement in the Civil Service was between 1997 and 2010. [164046]

Danny Alexander: The annual civil service pay guidance sets out the process to be followed by all bodies covered by the pay-remit process (main and non-ministerial departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies), when planning annual pay awards to their staff and preparing their pay remits.

The following table shows, where available, the amount of the annual pay increase expected to be implemented by civil service Departments and their arm’s length bodies, falling within the scope of the guidance between 2000-01 and 2010-11:

Health and Social Care Act 2012

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the (a) resource and (b) capital costs to the public purse of repealing the Health and Social Care Act in the fiscal year 2015-16, broken down by resource spending and capital spending. [164438]

Danny Alexander: No such estimate has been made.