Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress her Department has made on introducing a national library card. [167903]

Mr Vaizey: Arts Council England are currently testing automatic library membership for children and young people cards. There are 22 pilot projects across England and the aspiration is that it will lead to an increase in children, young people and families using their local libraries and stimulate more reading for pleasure.

Social Networking

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance her Department gives to social networking sites with headquarters in the UK on the legality of content produced by their users. [167249]

Mr Vaizey: Government do not provide guidance on the legality of content posted on the internet.

What is illegal offline is also illegal online and where illegal content is posted, law enforcement action should be, and is, taken. There will be instances where content does not cross the criminal threshold but may not meet the acceptable use policies social networking sites have in place. Where this is the case, Government expect such sites to have robust processes in place for enforcing such policies, including the removal of content and the suspension or termination of accounts as appropriate.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to (a) reduce the number of threatening messages and harassment of women on social media platforms and (b) ensure that all platforms improve the ease of reporting such abuse; and if she will make a statement. [167348]

Mr Vaizey: The Director of Public Prosecutions published guidelines on cases involving communications sent by social media in June this year. This guidance makes

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clear that in cases where communications constitute credible threats of violence or specifically target an individual or individuals should be robustly prosecuted.

Social media platforms also have a role to play in ensuring that their acceptable use policies and the processes for enforcing them, including reporting processes, the removal of content and the suspension or termination of accounts as appropriate, are robust.

Staff

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of her Department's jobs have been relocated from London to each region of the UK in each of the last 10 years. [168009]

Hugh Robertson: No jobs have been relocated from London. The Department has always been, and remains, located in London.

Young People: Suicide

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take steps to remove the option of anonymity for uses of websites associated with teenage suicides. [167445]

Mr Vaizey: The Government expect all social media to make it easy for users to choose not to receive anonymous posts, to have simple mechanisms for reporting abuse, and to take action promptly when abuse is reported. Anonymity online is an important protection for people living in oppressive regimes around the world, but we expect the industry to ensure that all parents and children have the tools and information they need to use social media safely.

Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Emissions: Business

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2013, Official Report, column 425W, on greenhouse gas emissions, what steps he is taking to encourage energy companies to limit carbon emissions in their own business activities. [167226]

Gregory Barker: The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) incentivises participants to reduce emissions, putting a price on carbon by placing a cap on total EU greenhouse gas emissions from the power and industrial sectors and enabling trading of allowances to ensure emissions reductions are delivered cost efficiently.

The UK has also introduced a carbon price floor designed to top up the EU ETS carbon price to a target minimum level for the UK electricity generation sector, which sends an early and credible signal to drive investment in low-carbon electricity generation.

The UK's CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) is designed to encourage large public and private sector organisations to reduce their emissions through energy efficiency. Energy companies have non-power generating emissions captured by the CRC.

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The CRC is intended to change corporate behaviour, by increasing corporate awareness of energy usage and improve energy management.

Energy

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the total cost to (a) consumers, (b) industry and (c) Government of energy and climate change policies in each year since 2002; and what the costs have been of each such policy. [R] [167336]

Gregory Barker: The Government publish an annual estimate of the impacts of all climate change and energy policies on energy prices and bills for households, medium-sized businesses and energy-intensive industries. The most recent report was published in March 2013¹, showing the estimated impacts on prices and bills for 2013, 2020 and 2030.

We do not have estimates of the total costs to consumers of all policies in each year since 2002. However, Table 1 provides cost information that is available for policies which place obligations into energy suppliers, who pass the costs onto consumers through their energy bills.

This is the most up-to-date information available, but for some policies this is not available on an annual basis and costs are shown over the entire lifetime of the policy. Costs are shown for calendar years or financial years depending on the policy in question.

In terms of how these costs fall on different consumers, the Government do not dictate whether and how policy costs are passed on through energy bills and it remains up to the energy supplier if and how to recover these costs. Therefore it is not possible to be definitive about how these costs have been recovered across different consumers (i.e. households and businesses) over a number of years.

Our assumption however is that companies will pass on the costs the way they are levied, typically on the basis of relevant units of energy supplied. For those policies that apply to both households and non-domestic consumers (eg the renewables obligation and feed-in-tariffs) our assumption is that, approximately one-third of the costs fall on households and two-thirds on the non-domestic sector—reflecting their respective shares of total electricity consumption.

There are also some policies (eg energy supplier obligations such as CERT) which only apply to households and are only assumed to be levied on them, while others (eg the climate change levy) only apply to non-domestic consumers. However, taken as a whole, approximately one-third of policy costs faced by energy suppliers are assumed to be passed directly onto household bills.

There are a number of policies that are funded through general taxation. These include up to £1 billion for the CCS commercialisation competition, around £200 million capital funding to support the launch of the Green Deal, the Renewable Heat Incentive (£1.9 million and £27.4 million in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively (2012-13 prices) and the renewable heat premium payment (£9.5 million and £12.7 million in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively (2012-13 prices²).

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It should be noted that the above figures do not account for the direct benefits to energy consumers from these policies and the impact they have in helping to offset costs. For example, the Government's latest estimate of the total impacts of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills⁹ finds that in 2013 households are estimated on average to save around 5% (or £65) on their energy bills compared to what they would have paid in the absence of policies. This is because the total monetary savings from policies which help households save energy more than offset the necessary cost of investing in new capacity and efficiency. By 2020 it is estimated that households will save on average 11% (£166) on their energy bills compared to what they would have paid in the absence of policies.

Separate estimates of the compliance costs of the EU ETS can be found here:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121025080026/http://decc.gov.uk/publications/basket.aspx?filetype=4& filepath=what+we+do%2fglobal+climate+change+and+energy% 2ftackling+climate+change%2femissions+trading%2feu_ets%2 fpublications%2f895-cost-euets-uk-operators-compliance.pdf

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has of changes in the UK's gross domestic product (a) to date and (b) by 2020 as a result of climate change and energy policies initiated in response to climate change. [167485]

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Gregory Barker: Studies indicate that the long-term growth benefit from avoiding climate change will exceed the cost of co-ordinated global action to tackle climate change by helping to avoid the potentially catastrophic implications of failing to act. Most notable of these studies is the Stern review, which found that the global costs of climate change could be between 5% and 20% of GDP per annum if we fail to act, dwarfing the costs of effective international action, estimated at 1% - 2% of global per capita consumption by 2050^l. Most published analysis also suggests that current UK ambition on climate change can be achieved without large impacts on overall short-term economic output.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) does not possess an analysis of the historical impact of climate change and energy policies on the UK's gross domestic product (GDP). However, as part of the Carbon Plan, the impacts of the policies to meet the first three Carbon Budgets and illustrative measures to meet the fourth budget were modelled using the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Computable General Equilibrium model². It should be noted that there is substantial uncertainty around the results of this modelling, and this is inherent in all similar analyses.

The HMRC model estimated that the first three carbon budgets could be met at an average cost of around 0.4% of GDP over the period 2011-22 (i.e. the level of GDP is on average 0.4% lower compared to a baseline scenario without carbon budget policies), and the fourth carbon budget could be met at an average cost of around 0.6% of GDP over the period 2023-27. The actual impacts on GDP will depend on a range of factors, including fossil fuel prices and future technology costs.

As stated above, there is significant uncertainty around these estimates. Furthermore, certain potential costs and benefits were not reflected in the HMRC model at the time of the Carbon Plan. Importantly, innovation benefits and the productivity improvements from energy efficiency were not captured, nor are the benefits on future UK growth of the avoided risks from global climate change. Furthermore, it should be noted that the modelling largely assumes that the UK acts unilaterally. Potential welfare costs of resulting behaviour changes are not accounted for, or any cost or time overruns in policy delivery. Each of these excluded factors also has a high degree of uncertainty with regards to scale.

¹http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100407012453/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm

² The results of this analysis are presented in Annex B of the Carbon Plan (2011), available on DECC's website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-carbon-plan-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions--2

Energy: Meters

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many smart meters have been installed in (a) residential and (b) business properties to date. [168146]

Gregory Barker: The Government reported on the number of smart, smart-type and advanced meters installed by the larger energy suppliers in domestic and smaller non-domestic properties in the First Annual Progress Report on the Roll-out of Smart Meters, published

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on 19 December 2012. By 30 September 2012, the suppliers had installed 300 smart meters and over 622,000 smart-type meters in domestic properties and 365,000 smart and advanced meters in smaller non-domestic properties. The Government will publish the number of smart meter installations by the larger energy suppliers up to the end June 2013 on 26 September 2013.

Hinkley Point Power Stations

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations his Department has received on the radiological effect on local populations of the opening up of intermediate level radioactive waste storage vaults at Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in preparation for decommissioning the Magnox waste storage facilities. [167499]

Michael Fallon: Vaults were constructed at Hinkley Point in 1963 and 1983 to store intermediate level waste. They were not designed with long-term storage in mind. In order to aid future decommissioning, the waste needs to be retrieved, conditioned and transferred to a new facility to enable continued safe and secure interim storage pending construction of a geological disposal facility.

The NDA has recently received representations on this topic from Parents Concerned About Hinkley, which were also copied to the Department.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what stage his investigations into Ofgem's decision to class Big Lottery funding as state aid for the purposes of the Feed-in Tariff scheme have reached; and if he will make a statement. [167456]

Gregory Barker: DECC is not conducting an investigation into Ofgem's decision that National Lottery grants are “grants from public funds” for the purposes of FIT accreditation. It is the role of Ofgem and licensed suppliers to determine eligibility for FITs, based on the legislation that underpins the scheme.

Staff

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many of his Department's jobs have been relocated from London to each region of the UK in each of the last 10 years. [168012]

Gregory Barker: DECC was created in 2008. DECC has staff based in London and Aberdeen. However, since 2008, no jobs have been relocated from London.

Tidal Power

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to support tidal stream and wave technologies in the context of his proposals for electricity market reform. [167243]

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Michael Fallon: Tidal stream and wave technologies will be eligible for support under the Feed in Tariffs with Contracts for Difference (CfDs) which are being introduced as part of electricity market reform. These technologies are still at an early-stage of development accordingly, we are consulting on CfD strike prices of £305/MWh for both tidal stream and wave technologies for projects commissioning in the years 2014 to 2018-19. Further detail is set out in our EMR Delivery Plan consultation, which is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-draft-electricity-market-reform-delivery

Travel

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what guidance with regards to (a) cost and (b) carbon emissions his Department uses to decide what mode of transport is used by his departmental staff on official business. [167221]

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is committed to helping the Government achieve our goal our tackling climate change by reducing carbon emissions.

Online detailed guidance is available to staff reminding them of the necessity to keep travel for work to the minimum to achieve work goals and to always look for sustainable travel options.

With regard to cost, staff are reminded to consider, when planning any travel for work, whether it has been planned in the most cost-effective and time-efficient way.

With regard to carbon emissions, DECC has a sustainable travel policy and a business travel emissions reduction plan which strongly encourages use of more carbon efficient modes of transport and the use of video and audio conferencing. Carbon data are included in monthly management information reports.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burundi

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the government of Burundi on (a) the recent enactment of a press law in that country and (b) the restriction the provisions of that law impose on the freedom of the media. [167816]

Mark Simmonds: Our non-resident ambassador to Burundi joined other EU member states in a démarche concerning the media law before it was enacted, and he has continued to raise UK concerns about the issue and its impact on press freedom, most recently with the Ministry of the Interior on 29 August.

Officials have also raised the issue with the Second Vice President of Burundi. Officials continue to meet journalists and members of civil society in Burundi regularly to discuss the new laws and how their impact could be mitigated. The UK will continue to raise its concerns, and encourage other like-minded states to do so.

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Chemicals: Exports

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 2 September 2013, Official Report, column 19, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the reasons for consideration that sodium fluoride and potassium fluoride could be precursors in some other application not being given before the licences were issued; and if he will make a statement. [167925]

Alistair Burt: No such discussions were held. The two standard individual export licences for sodium fluoride and potassium fluoride were revoked in July 2012—before any of the goods had been exported—as a direct result of an expansion of the EU sanctions regime for Syria. The consideration of the licence applications against the Consolidated Criteria included an assessment of the risk that they would be diverted to be used as precursor chemicals in the manufacture of chemical weapons. But there was no evidence that these exports would be so diverted, and the quantities concerned were consistent with their stated end use for commercial purposes. No subsequent evidence has arisen to cast doubt on the assessment made at the time.

Colombia

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Colombian counterpart on the detention of Mr Huber Ballesteros; and if he will make a statement. [167907]

Mr Swire: We are aware of the detention of Mr Ballesteros. Our ambassador to Colombia has written to the Colombian Prosecutor-General highlighting our interest in the case and requesting information on the charges. Staff at our embassy in Bogota are seeking permission to visit Mr Ballesteros in jail. While the UK cannot interfere in Colombia's judicial process, we will continue to monitor Mr Ballesteros's case and raise any concerns regarding due process with the Colombian authorities.

Israel

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what estimate he has made of the number of Palestinian children currently held in Israeli prisons; [167756]

(2) what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners held in Israeli prisons who are Israeli; [167757]

(3) what estimate he has made of how many Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons have been released since 29 July 2013; how many such prisoners have since been re-arrested; and how many new Palestinian prisoners have entered Israeli prisons since that date. [167758]

(4) what information his Department holds on how many Palestinian children (a) held in Israeli prisons have been released and (b) have been arrested by Israeli police and security forces since 29 July 2013. [167783]

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Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made no estimate of the number of prisoners, either Palestinian or Israeli, being held in Israeli prisons. I would encourage the hon. Member to seek this information from the Israeli embassy or from the Israeli Prison Service directly.

Kashmir

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Kashmir. [167882]

Mr Swire: UK officials in Islamabad and Delhi regularly discuss the situation in Kashmir with both governments. The long-standing position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, one which takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to mediate in finding one. We encourage India and Pakistan to take further steps to strengthen their relationship, but recognise that the pace and scope of this is for them to determine.

Kidnapping

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the United Nations Human Rights Council on human rights and terrorist hostage taking. [167775]

Alistair Burt: The UK participated in discussions on human rights and terrorist hostage taking at official level at the 21st session of the Human Rights Council in September 2012, at which a resolution was adopted. Officials continue to engage with members of the Council, and will do so at the next session in September 2013.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of positive steps towards peace taken by the (a) Israeli Government and (b) Palestinian Authority since 29 July 2013. [167742]

Alistair Burt: We warmly welcome the resumption of direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington on 30 July and the resumption of formal negotiations on 14 August, with a view to resolving all final status issues. The resumption of talks has been possible because of the courageous leadership already shown by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas, as well as the commitment of negotiators on both sides.

The UK has consistently urged both sides to avoid steps that undermine US efforts and to take measures to build trust. In this regard, we also welcome the bold and forward-looking decision taken by Israel to release 26 Palestinian prisoners in advance of talks.

Rwanda

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Rwanda and (b) Democratic Republic of Congo about the alleged shelling of Rwandan territory. [168095]

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Mark Simmonds: Since the outbreak of the recent fighting in eastern DRC, I have spoken to both the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the UN Special Envoy, to express the UK's full support for the UN and MONUSCO and to de-escalate the situation.

In close co-ordination with the UN, I have also spoken to both the DRC Prime Minister and the Rwandan Foreign Minister to get their perspective on the recent violence in DRC. I have urged both parties to exercise restraint, seek a political solution to the conflict, and engage constructively with the UN.

Health

Dental Services: Veterans

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether veterans of the armed services receive priority dental care. [167890]

Dr Poulter: The Armed Forces Covenant makes clear that veterans should receive priority treatment from the national health service where it relates to a condition which results from their service in the armed forces, subject to clinical need. This includes NHS dental care.

Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date he expects NHS England to ratify the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group recommendation for the use of eculizumab made on 12 July 2013. [167905]

Dr Poulter: We understand that NHS England intends to publish its decision on the Clinical Priorities Advisory group's recommendations on eculizumab in the near future on its website:

www.england.nhs.uk

Mental Capacity Act 2005

Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what body or individual is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in hospitals. [167701]

Norman Lamb: Hospitals are responsible for ensuring that the care they provide complies with the provisions of the Act. Clinical Commissioning Groups have a role in ensuring that hospitals from whom they commission care comply with legislative requirements.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for inspecting hospitals against their registration requirements, one of which refers to gaining consent under the Act. The CQC also considers compliance with the provisions of the Act during its thematic reviews. The CQC has a specific duty to monitor practice under the Deprivation of Liberty safeguards and is required to report annually on its findings.

Smoking

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average lifespan was of (a) male and (b) female smokers, and of (i) male and (ii) female non-smokers in each year since 1983 for which data are available; [167872]

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(2) what estimate he has made of the number of working days lost due to smoking-related illness in each year since 1983 for which data are available; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of those lost days. [167888]

Anna Soubry: The information requested is not held by the Department.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people died of smoking-related illness in each year since 1983 for which data are available; and what estimate he has made of the number of people who will die of smoking-related illness in each of the next three years. [167884]

Anna Soubry: Information on how many people aged 35 and over died of smoking-related illness in England is only available since 2004. Data from 2004 to 2011, with the exception of 2006, for which data are not available, inclusive is shown in the following table.

Information for 2012 is expected to be published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on 8 October 2013.

The Government have made no estimate of the number of people who will die of smoking-related illness in each of the next three years.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of how many 11 to 15-year-olds started smoking in each year since 1983. [167885]

Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested.

We do not hold information on how many 11 to 15-year-olds start smoking each year. We do, however, hold information on the proportions of pupils within that age range who have ever smoked or who regularly smoke.

Information on the prevalence of smoking among 11 to 15-year-olds from 1982 to 2012 is shown in tables 2.1a and 2.1b of “Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2012”.

This publication has been placed in the Library.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of smoking on the developing foetus. [167886]

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Anna Soubry: The Department is aware of evidence that shows that maternal smoking during pregnancy and passive exposure of the mother-to-be to second-hand smoke can have serious negative health consequences for the foetus, the baby post-partum and the mother-to-be.

According to the Royal College of Physicians' 2010 report, Passive Smoking and Children, active maternal smoking causes up to about 5,000 miscarriages, 300 perinatal deaths, and 2,200 premature singleton births in the United Kingdom each year. Exposure of the foetus to active maternal smoking also impairs foetal growth and development, increasing the risk of being small for gestational age and reducing birth weight by about 250g, and probably increases the risk of congenital abnormalities of the heart, limbs, and face. Active maternal smoking causes around 19,000 babies to be born with low birth weight in the UK each year.

The report also describes how maternal passive smoking is likely to have similar adverse effects on foetal and reproductive health, but of smaller magnitude.

A copy of Passive Smoking and Children is available at:

www.rcplondon.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/passive-smoking-and-children.pdf

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of pregnant teenagers who smoked in each year since 1983.[167887]

Anna Soubry: The official source of data on smoking during pregnancy (measured at the time of giving birth) is the “Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery” publication (SaTOD). SaTOD, however, does not collect data by age.

Therefore, we have provided information from the Infant Feeding Survey, which collects information on smoking before and during pregnancy from mothers after birth. This survey is carried out at five-yearly intervals.

Information on smoking before or during pregnancy for mothers aged under 20 for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010 is shown in the following table.

A copy of the Infant Feeding Survey 2005 chapter 10 and Infant Feeding Survey 2010 chapter 11 has been placed in the Library.

Tobacco: Packaging

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on the introduction of standardised packaging for cigarettes and tobacco products; and if he will make statement. [168000]

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Anna Soubry: The Government set out the current position on standardised tobacco packaging in a written ministerial statement on 12 July 2013, Official Report, columns 53-54WS. The Government have decided to wait before making a decision on standardised packaging. This allows time to benefit from the experience of Australia, where they introduced standardised packaging in December 2012. This remains the Government's position.

Treasury

Child Benefit Office and Child Support Agency

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to implement an automatic link for the Child Benefit Office to notify the Child Support Agency of its decisions; [167192]

(2) what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to improve the sharing of information between the Child Benefit Office and the Child Support Agency; [167193]

(3) what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the sharing of information between the Child Benefit Office and the Child Support Agency; [167194]

(4) what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to reduce the time taken by the Child Benefit Office to carry out investigations. [167223]

Sajid Javid: As some child benefit decisions may impact on decisions made by the Child Support Agency, the agency has automated access to the child benefit system to check whether child benefit is or is not in payment for a child or young person. The information accessed is limited to that which is proportionate and relevant for the purposes of the agency's functions. As not all child benefit decisions are relevant to the agency, it would be disproportionate and not relevant for the agency's functions to receive notifications of all child benefit decisions.

HM Revenue and Customs has recently reviewed and improved the process and priority given to investigating allegations made by third parties that a claimant may be continuing to receive child benefit for a young person who is no longer in full-time non-advanced education.

Coastal Communities Fund: Northern Ireland

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much funding has been allocated to the Coastal Communities Fund in Northern Ireland in each of the next three years. [167268]

Danny Alexander: Funding for the Coastal Communities Fund is equal to 50% of the revenues generated by the Crown Estate's marine assets.

Northern Ireland will receive £0.5 million in 2013-14, £0.6 million in 2014-15 and the 2015-16 allocation is yet to be determined. This determination is dependent on the Crown Estate's Marine 2013-14 Revenues in Northern Ireland.

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Funding for future years will be determined in line with this formula and will be reviewed as part of future spending rounds. We will also review the size of the Fund should revenue rise or fall significantly in any given year.

Council Tax: Rebates

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a council tax rebate for homes participating in the Green Deal in addition to the Green Deal Launch cash-back scheme. [167342]

Sajid Javid: Following the Chancellor's announcement of £200 million additional capital to encourage uptake of Green Deal in the 2011 autumn statement, the Government is using £125 million of this to fund a generous Cashback scheme to be claimed by those who take up Green' Deal from January 2013.

Other uses of the additional capital include £12 million of funding that has been allocated to seven cities across England to help pilot Green Deal in their regions.

The Government do not have any plans to introduce a council tax rebate for homes participating in the Green Deal.

Crown Lands and Estates: Minerals

Mr Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of royalty income from Crown-owned mineral rights attached to land in the UK in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; [167853]

(2) how much the Exchequer received in royalty income from Crown-owned mineral rights on land in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [167854]

Sajid Javid: Under the Crown Estate Act 1961, 50% of the Crown Estate's net income received from land based minerals goes to the Exchequer with the remaining 50% going into the Crown Estate's capital accounts for reinvestment in the portfolio.

Between 2009 and 2013 the amount returned to the Exchequer from the Crown Estate's onshore mineral interests was:

Figures for 2013-14 will be available at financial year end in 2014.

Entertainments: Tickets

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the annual revenue forgone to HM Revenue and Customs as a result of the operation of the secondary ticketing market. [167591]

Mr Gauke: Secondary ticket sellers carrying on a trade are liable to pay tax on their profits in the same way as primary ticket sellers are. Self-employed sellers

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will be subject to income tax and companies will be subject to corporation tax. VAT will also apply if their turnover exceeds the legal threshold.

HMRC does not hold information on the amount of tax collected from the ticketing market, or on the tax foregone through ticket re-sales in the hidden economy.

Excise Duties: Tobacco

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to implement Article 4 of Council Decision 2010/12/EU; and if he will make a statement. [167557]

Sajid Javid: The Government are currently assessing the implications of applying quantitative restrictions provided for by Article 4 of Council Directive 2010/12. Article 4 allows members states to apply quantitative restrictions on the personal importations of cigarettes from other member states with excise duty rates below the permitted minimum rates, following the increase to the EU minimum excise duty rate from 1 January 2014.

Fracking: Scotland

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what oral and written representations he has received from the Scottish Government regarding the proposed fiscal regime for shale gas to date. [167383]

Sajid Javid [holding answer 4 September 2013]:The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not received any oral or written representations from the Scottish Government regarding the proposed fiscal regime for shale gas.

Gift Aid

Toby Perkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will introduce (a) a central database of Gift Aid donors and (b) a campaign to make more people aware of Gift Aid; [167536]

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that unclaimed gift aid is claimed by charities. [167537]

Sajid Javid: The Government launched a consultation in July on the future of Gift Aid, in particular how Gift Aid works with new forms of digital donations. This consultation runs until 20 September and asks for views on a database of universal Gift Aid declarations, which could be populated with details of donors who have made Gift Aid declarations.

The consultation also seeks views on the promotion of Gift Aid, to raise awareness and to increase its take up on more donations that are eligible for a Gift Aid repayment.

To operate Gift Aid as a tax relief, the donor must knowingly give permission for the tax they pay on their donation to be repaid under Gift Aid. The Government do not collect information about the donations on which Gift Aid could be, but has not been, claimed. Not all donors can donate under Gift Aid, and some that can choose not to.

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Toby Perkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many charities have made successful gift aid declarations in three out of the previous seven tax years; and how many charities have made successful gift aid declarations in two out of the previous four tax years; [167549]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the Small Charitable Donations Act 2012 on the ability of small charities to claim gift aid. [167550]

Sajid Javid: The Small Charitable Donations Act 2012 introduced the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS), which enables charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs to claim Gift Aid-style payments on small cash donations. The GASDS was introduced at the beginning of this tax year for donations received from 6 April 2013 onwards, so it is too early to assess its impact. The Government committed to reviewing the GASDS after three years of the scheme becoming operational.

From December 2013 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will be publishing national statistics on the amounts paid out under the GASDS.

HMRC publishes national statistics on the number of charities that claim Gift Aid each year here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/charity/table10-4.pdf

Historic Buildings: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on the refurbishment of Frogmore House; [167546]

(2) what recent representations his Department has received on the refurbishment of Frogmore House. [167547]

Sajid Javid: The refurbishment of Frogmore House is the responsibility of the royal household, which has considerable flexibility over its use of the sovereign grant. There have therefore been no discussions.

Housing Benefit: Fraud

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated level of housing benefit fraud in England was in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [167182]

Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

The figures for England only are not available. The estimated levels of housing benefit fraud in Great Britain are as follows: (a) £250 million (1.2% of spend) in 2009-10, (b) £300 million (1.4% of spend) in 2010-11 and (c) £350 million (1.5% of spend) in 2011-12.

The information is derived from the 2012-13 preliminary estimates of benefit fraud and error. Further information can be found by accessing the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/203097/nsfr-final-090513.pdf

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many prosecutions for housing benefit fraud were recorded in each local authority area in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [167183]

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Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

DWP publishes a range of Housing Benefit Recovery and Fraud statistics at Local Authority level. These can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/housing-benefit-recoveries-and-fraud-data

Specifically, the number of successful prosecutions is included in table 2.10 of the documents linked as follows:

2011-12 tables

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223303/hbrf_1012.xls

2010-11 tables

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223304/hbrf_1011.xls

2009-10 tables

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223305/hbrf_0910.xls

Jobseeker's Allowance

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the proposal in the 2013 Spending Round to make jobseeker's allowance claimants wait seven days before becoming eligible for financial support will apply to those moving directly to the benefit from (a) employment and support allowance and (b) incapacity benefit. [166409]

Mr Hoban: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

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The detail of the new policy is still to be decided. However, under current rules, people are exempt from waiting days if they claim jobseeker's allowance within 12 weeks of entitlement to employment and support allowance or incapacity benefit coming to an end.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for annual PAYE status have been received since the introduction of real time information; and how many such applications have been granted. [167877]

Mr Gauke: Employers must satisfy HMRC that they meet the criteria to have an annual PAYE status applied to their record. HMRC does not record the number of requests for annual status received or granted.

Public Sector Debt

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the proportion of tax revenue required to service interest payments on the national debt in each of the next 10 years. [167300]

Sajid Javid: The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing the official economic and fiscal forecasts in the UK. In the latest March 2013 Economic and Fiscal outlook, debt interest payments for each fiscal year in the forecast period can be found in Table 4.29, as follows:

Public sector current receipts (PSCR) for each fiscal year in the forecast period can be found in Table 4.7, as follows:

The proportion of PSCR required to service debt interest payments for each fiscal year in the forecast period in the following table:

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6 Sep 2013 : Column 584W

The Government remain committed to reducing the deficit and addressing the permanent structural deterioration in the public finances caused by the lasting impact of the financial crisis. Implementation of the fiscal consolidation plans is well under way. As a result, the Government have made significant progress in reversing the unprecedented rise in borrowing between 2007-08 and 2009-10. Public sector net borrowing has fallen by over a third, from 11.2% of GDP in 2009-10 to 7.0% in 2012-13. Cumulative debt interest payments from 2010-11 to 2015-16 are forecast to be £31 billion lower than expected at the June Budget 2010.

Tax Allowances: Cultural Heritage

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) monetary value of heritage assets exempt from estate duty which are (i) land, buildings and their contents, (ii) works of art and (iii) collections of art. [167634]

Mr Gauke: The estate duty exemption only applies to chattels. It does not apply to land and buildings or to collections of art. The number and value of exempt assets which are land and buildings is therefore nil. The total number of exempt items, which includes contents, works of art and collections, is approximately 44,700, with an estimated value of about £250 million.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to the public purse of offering an exemption from estate duty for heritage assets. [167636]

Mr Gauke: Exemptions from estate duty are not currently offered and have not been offered since 1975 when estate duty was replaced. The annual cost of the estate duty exemption is therefore nil.

In terms of the cost of existing exemptions, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 June 2013, Official Report, column 339W,[161863].

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the terms of the regime for exemption from estate duty of heritage assets were last reviewed. [167637]

Mr Gauke: Estate duty was replaced in 1975. Prior to that, the terms of the estate duty exemption were last amended on 25 July 1969 by section 39 of Finance Act 1969.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what requirements are placed on owners of heritage assets which are exempt from estate duty. [167638]

Mr Gauke: The requirements for the exemption from estate duty depend on the date when the event which gave rise to the tax charge occurred. For events up to 28 July 1950, the only obligation is that the objects are not sold. For events after that date, there are additional requirements that the objects are kept in the UK and, in certain cases, that they are preserved and made available for inspection by authorised persons for preservation or research purposes.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the exemption from estate duty of heritage assets as a contribution to public enjoyment of heritage assets. [167639]

Mr Gauke: The estate duty exemption preserves and protects almost 45,000 heritage items which may have otherwise been sold or taken out of the UK.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what records his Department maintains of the number of visits by members of the public to each heritage asset in respect of which exemption from estate duty has been granted. [167640]

Mr Gauke: No records of visits by members of the public to these assets are kept by HM Revenue and Customs.

Taxation: Developing Countries

Pauline Latham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs has spent on supporting tax administrations in developing countries in each of the last five years. [167852]

Mr Gauke: HMRC is fully committed to supporting tax administrations in developing countries.

However, all of the associated costs in relation to this work over the last five years are nil, as they are covered by the Department for International Development (DFID) and international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD).

VAT: Imports

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for certification have been made for simplified import VAT accounting in each of the last five years; and how many such applications were (a) approved and (b) rejected. [167958]

Mr Gauke: The number of applications for simplified import VAT (SIVA) certification in each of the last five years is as follows:

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1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013: 733 (527 of which were approved and 181 rejected)

1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012: 783 (543 of which were approved and 163 rejected)

1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011: 840 (608 of which were approved and 149 rejected)

1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010: 757 (560 of which were approved and 105 rejected)

1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009: 1000 (732 of which were approved and 189 rejected).

There is a discrepancy, per annum, between the number of applications received and the total of applications approved and rejected. The remaining applicants did not supply sufficient information to HMRC for a decision to approve or reject the application.

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who has made applications for simplified import VAT accounting certificates in each of the last five years; and which applications were approved. [167959]

Mr Gauke: HMRC is unable to provide the taxpayer specific information requested as it falls outside boundaries of data which can legally be made available. Specifically the confidentiality clause under s18 of Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA) restricts the disclosure of this type of information.

Work and Pensions

Atos Healthcare

Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appointments for ATOS face-to-face assessments in England were cancelled in the last 12 months because a healthcare professional was not available for the appointment; and for what reason such appointments were cancelled. [167290]

Mr Hoban: 13,795 face-to-face work capability assessments for employment and support allowance and incapacity benefit reassessments were cancelled because a health care professional was not available for the appointment for the period August 2012 to July 2013. 779,305 were successfully completed for the same period.

The reasons for cancellation were:

Number of clients attended exceeded the medical capacity

Health care professional was unavailable

Health care professional did not attend for the session.

Digital Technology

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding his Department is making available for digital inclusion (a) directly and (b) through partner bodies. [167630]

Mr Hoban: We are investing in improved access to digital services across Jobcentre Plus and 6,000 new computers will be installed across the country to help claimants who are digitally excluded make online transactions.

The universal credit programme is also investing in local authority-led pilots to test how we support claimants and digital inclusion is one of the approaches being tested. The Universal Credit Local Support Services Framework sets out the basic principles for helping

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people who might need support with the new demands of universal credit, such as help with getting online.

The Department will continue to work with local authorities and service providers, including charities and social landlords, in order to develop local partnerships to provide the additional support for digital inclusion. We have provided some funding to the Tinder foundation (formerly Online Centres Foundation) and invested in the Digital Deal challenge fund for social landlord led projects to support their digitally excluded tenants.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals placed in the Work-Related Activity Group received a prognosis statement that they are unlikely to return to work in the last six months. [167857]

Mr Hoban: The information requested is shown in the following table:

Occupational Pensions

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department gives to employers regarding automatic enrolment options for pensions. [167761]

Steve Webb: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for communicating with employers about the reforms and has an extensive programme of engagement in place. This includes holding face to face meetings with the largest employers and writing to all employers ahead of their staging date.

TPR has published detailed guidance for employers, and their intermediaries, on how to comply with the new duties and to help them select an appropriate workplace pension for their workers. It is designed to demonstrate to employers what a good scheme looks like and sets out the key factors an employer should consider when choosing a scheme.

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Many employers will already have a pension scheme in place before their automatic enrolment staging date. Providing that their existing scheme meets minimum quality requirements and is suitable for automatic enrolment they can continue to use existing scheme(s). All they have to do is certify that their scheme meets the required standard. The Department for Work and Pensions has produced supporting guidance on certification of Defined Contribution, Defined Benefit and Hybrid pensions as qualifying schemes.

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount of resources devoted to publicising (a) NEST as an automatic enrolment option and (b) other alternatives to NEST as automatic enrolment options in the last year. [167764]

Steve Webb: It is the Government's strategy to promote automatic enrolment awareness rather than any particular scheme.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) provides support for employers via their website to help them comply with their new duties; as part of this TPR has issued comprehensive guidance to assist employers in selecting an appropriate pension scheme for their workers. It is designed to demonstrate to employers what a good scheme looks like and sets out the key factors an employer should consider when choosing a scheme.

As part of their duty for supporting automatic enrolment the Regulator has a responsibility to remind employers that NEST is one qualifying scheme they can choose to use and that NEST has public service objective to accept any employer who wishes to use it.

Personal Independence Payments: Appeals

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of personal independence payments that will be successfully appealed in the next 12 months. [167849]

Esther McVey: PIP replaced DLA for people of working age in April this year in parts of the North of England, alongside other reforms which require individuals to seek a reconsideration of the decision from DWP before they can lodge an appeal direct with Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. It was extended nationally in June.

To date only a small number of mandatory reconsiderations have been received and it is too early to form a reliable estimate of the proportion of decisions which will be successfully appealed.

The timetable for release of PIP statistics is provided in the publication strategy.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-release-strategy

Population

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department is undertaking research on the effects of population growth in the UK on the Department's services. [167714]

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Mr Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions routinely takes account of population projections in planning its business.

Social Security Benefits: Glasgow

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount that has been (a) overpaid and (b) underpaid in benefits in each of the last five years in (i) Glasgow North West constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK. [167712]

Steve Webb: Constituency, Glasgow-wide and Scotland fraud and error estimates are not available.

The estimated amount of money overpaid and underpaid through benefit fraud and error in Great Britain can be found on the DWP National Statistics Fraud and Error in the Benefit System webpage:

http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/index.php?page=fraud_error

For the last five years the estimated level of benefit fraud and error was as follows:

Northern Ireland fraud and error estimates, which are comparable to the above Great Britain statistics, can be found at:

http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/publications/annual_reports/publications-ssa-annual-reports.htm

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that all those entitled to and in need of benefits in Glasgow North West constituency claim all relevant benefits. [167711]

Mr Hoban: District and Regional Partnership Teams hold regular meetings with partner organisations and update them on benefit-related topics. Scotland's DWP staff hold meetings with Scottish Customer Representative Groups three times a year, at which new benefits, changes to benefits and all other relevant information is provided to groups who represent our customers. One to one meetings also take place with these partner organisations, on an as and when basis.

We direct claimants to the Gov.uk website:

www.gov.uk

which includes a section on how to claim benefits and incorporates a Benefits Adviser Tool where potential claimants can find out what benefits they could be entitled to, anonymously.

National campaigns are occasionally run to notify the general public of new benefits or to try and increase the take-up of existing ones.

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If staff identify vulnerable customers who might need additional help in claiming all they are entitled to, a referral may be made to DWP's visiting staff.

General benefit advice is provided to employees faced with a large scale redundancy situation.

In Scotland, Benefit Directorate participate in benefit information sessions for the Scottish Refugee Council for new arrivals to the country.

I have no specific examples in relation to Glasgow North West.

Social Security Benefits: Brighton

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of applications for employment and support allowance made by residents of Brighton and Hove unitary authority area were rejected on the basis of the findings of a work capability assessment in (a) the latest period for which figures are available and (b) the preceding period; and what proportion of such decisions were (i) reversed and (ii) upheld on appeal; [167276]

(2) what proportion of incapacity benefit reassessment applications made by residents of Brighton and Hove unitary authority area were rejected on the basis of the findings of a work capability assessment in (a) the latest period for which figures are available and (b) the preceding period; and what proportion of such decisions were (i) reversed and (ii) upheld on appeal. [167277]

Mr Hoban: Statistics on what proportion of applications for employment and support allowance made by residents of Brighton and Hove unitary authority area that were rejected on the basis of the findings of a work capability assessment and what proportion of such decisions were (i) reversed and (ii) upheld on appeal from 27 October 2008 to 31 May 2012 have been placed in the Library.

Statistics on what proportion of incapacity benefit reassessment applications made by residents of Brighton and Hove unitary authority area that were rejected on the basis of the findings of a work capability assessment from 27 October 2008 to 31 May 2012 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/employment-and-support-allowance-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessment

Information on what proportion of such decisions were (i) reversed and (ii) upheld on appeal is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Unemployment: Young People

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what change there has been in the level of youth unemployment in the last three years; and what steps he plans to take to reduce youth unemployment in the next two years. [167855]

Mr Hoban: Youth unemployment is at a similar level now to when the coalition took office, having risen by nearly 250,000 in the two years leading up to the 2010 general election.

There have been periods of both rising and falling youth unemployment since 2010 but recent figures have been encouraging, with the number of unemployed

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16 to 24-year-olds (excluding those who are full-time students) down 37,000 in the year to April to June 2013, to 676,000. The number of young people claiming jobseeker's allowance also fell by 72,100 in the year to July 2013, to 381,300.

Although improving, youth unemployment remains too high. That is why we have modernised our services by giving Jobcentre Plus advisers access to a comprehensive menu of help tailored to support the individual at the most appropriate point in their claim.

We introduced the Youth Contract which will provide nearly half a million new opportunities for young people—including wage incentives, incentives to take on apprentices, and extra work experience placements. Extra funding is being made available to support the most vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training into learning, an apprenticeship or job with training.

Young people also have access to the Work programme which provides tailored support for those claimants furthest from the labour market. Young claimants are referred to a provider after 9 months of seeking work and those with more challenging barriers to work can be referred at three months. Providers are paid on the results they achieve, and are paid more for supporting the harder to help into work.

Universal Credit

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2013, Official Report, column 707W on free school meals, for what reasons free school meals were not included in universal credit pathfinders from the outset. [167280]

Mr Hoban: As outlined in the answer on 19 June 2013, free school meals were included in universal credit from the outset.

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of universal credit in incentivising work. [167710]

Mr Hoban: Universal credit will lead to an increase in employment due to improved financial incentives, simpler and more transparent system, and changes to the requirements placed on claimants. Overall, this could lead to the equivalent of up to 300,000 additional people in work. We published our assessment of the likely impact of universal credit in December last year. This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-impact-assessment

We will monitor and evaluate the effects of universal credit as the programme rolls out. Details of our evaluation framework are at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-evaluation-framework

Vacancies

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the most recent statistics on vacancies by constituency will be published. [167848]

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Mr Hoban: DWP is working with Monster Worldwide Limited, the Universal Jobmatch supplier, on a timetable for prioritising and implementing improvements to the available Universal Jobmatch Ml, including breakdowns by parliamentary constituency, subject to funding, and so it has no current plans to publish statistics on vacancies by constituency.

Any snapshot of unfilled vacancies at a point in time will miss the regular turnover of new vacancies that are notified as existing opportunities are filled. It will also miss jobs coming up through other recruitment channels or filled by direct approaches to employers or word of mouth.

Vacancies: Fraud

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to tackle sham job advertisements. [167551]

Mr Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) takes approximately 4 million job vacancies from about 330,000 employers every year. During the period January 2013 to August 2013, 312 employer accounts were identified as inappropriate and closed. Although a relatively small percentage of the total number of vacancies handled, the Department regards any infiltration of its services as a serious matter and takes immediate steps to minimise adverse impact to jobseekers.

Since 19 November 2012 DWP has operated Universal Jobmatch, an online self service job posting and matching service for both employer/recruiters and jobseekers. Before using the service all employers must confirm that the jobs they advertise are genuine.

The service proactively identifies potentially inappropriate job advertisements by checking for known IP addresses (through specific computer recognition) and email domains that are linked to this activity. Searches are also undertaken to identify particular words/phrases to eliminate potentially improper access.

Where it is known that Universal Jobmatch has been directly targeted, the offending job advert is removed immediately. In cases where DWP establish evidence that jobseekers have been matched to potentially spurious jobs, immediate action is taken to alert the Jobseeker not to proceed further with the job application. DWP has also worked with police authorities to support the pursuit of criminal proceedings.

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are taken to ensure the authenticity of businesses placing job advertising in Jobcentre Plus premises. [167552]

Mr Hoban: Registration for Universal Jobmatch is through the Government Gateway. Employers are obliged to sign up to detailed terms and conditions, agreeing that the jobs they advertise on the Universal Jobmatch service are available to jobseekers on an open and fair basis; and that all vacancies comply with employment related legislation including the Equality Act 2010, Health and Safety legislation and working time regulations.

Built into the service are monitoring tools and vacancy checks, which help to detect, deter and remedy inappropriate use of the site. The service is designed to block known

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bogus/fraudulent employers from accessing the service. Checks are also made to identify inappropriate, fraudulent and bogus jobs in order to block them from being posted. Additionally, a ‘Contact Us’ facility is provided so users can quickly highlight any employers that users may have concerns about, which are then fully investigated.

Work Capability Assessment

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's announcement of 22 July 2013 on improving the Work Capability Assessment, if he will publish his Department's audit which identified an unacceptable reduction in the quality of written reports produced following assessments. [167846]

Mr Hoban: I intend to provide Parliament with a full update on this matter in the autumn and will publish our audit findings alongside this.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to publish the Evidence Based Review of the Work Capability Assessment. [167858]

Mr Hoban: Our original intention was to publish the final report for the Evidence Based Review of the Work Capability Assessment in the spring/summer of 2013; however, in order to ensure a robust examination of the evidence collected, we will now we publishing later than expected, with the final report produced by the end of the year.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people returned to Job Centre Plus after completing two years on the Work Programme in (a) June, (b) July and (c) August 2013. [167859]

Mr Hoban: The next release of Work programme Official Statistics on the 26 September 2013 will include figures for the first time on those who complete the Work programme at 104 weeks.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to ensure that organisations participating in the Work programme deliver in accordance with their contracts. [167875]

Mr Hoban: Providers delivering the Work programme are required to at least meet minimum performance levels set out in contracts. Those not meeting minimum levels will be issued with formal notices requiring them to improve, with the prospect of losing contracts if they fail to do so.

Providers are also required to deliver at least the minimum standard of service they promise for each participant. To ensure promised service standards are being delivered, the Department conducts a monthly review of a sample of participants from each contract, requiring providers to rectify any shortcomings identified. This is backed up by an accessible and independently backed complaints process that enables participants to raise concerns they might have with the support they receive.