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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 9 October 2013
Cabinet Office
Electoral Register
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the total additional cost borne by local authorities as a result of the shift to individual voter registration; and if he will make a statement. [168956]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government made a comprehensive assessment of the cost of IER, including its cost impact on local authorities, in the impact assessment laid with the Bill available here:
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm81/8109/8109.pdf
We are currently working with practitioners from local authorities to ensure that the indicative IER funding allocations, to be announced in October, are appropriate.
Electronic Government: Petitions
Mr Crausby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his Department's policy is on answering Government online petitions which reach over 10,000 signatures. [169366]
Mr Lansley: I have been asked to reply as Leader of the House of Commons.
As I explained in my written ministerial statement of 13 September 2012, Official Report, column 16WS, e-petitions that receive more than 10,000 signatures will receive a written response from Government.
Emergency Planning College
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he will next visit the Emergency Planning College; and if he will make a statement. [169144]
Mr Maude: I enjoyed my visit, with my hon. Friend, to the Emergency Planning College on 12 July this year. I have no plans for a visit in the near future.
Employment: Wales
Ian Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of recent trends in female employment in (a) Wrexham constituency and (b) Wales. [169799]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated October 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the
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Minister for the Cabinet Office asking what assessment he has made of recent trends in female employment in (a) Wrexham constituency and (b) Wales. (169799)
ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics for areas below the UK following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions using the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Table 1 shows the number of women aged 16 and over in the requested geographies who were in employment in the week prior to interview for the 12 month period July 2012 to June 2013, the latest available period, and for the 12 month period July 2011 to June 2012, along with the change in the number between the two periods.
Table 2 shows the employment rate in the requested geographies for women aged 16 to 64 in the week prior to interview for the 12 month period July 2012 to June 2013, the latest available period, and for the 12 month period July 2011 to June 2012, along with the change in the number between the two periods.
A wide range of other labour market data for parliamentary constituencies and local authorities is also published on the Office for National Statistics' Nomis website:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
| Table 1: Employment level for women aged 16 and over | |||
| Thousand | |||
| 12 months ending | |||
| June 2012 | June 20131 | Change between 12 month periods ending June 2012 and June 2013 | |
| 1 Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality following. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 = CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 = CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 = CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV = 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Population Survey | |||
| Table 2: Employment rate for women aged 16 to 64 | |||
| Percentage | |||
| 12 months ending | |||
| June 2012 | June 2013 | Change between 12 month periods ending June 2012 and June 2013 | |
| Source: Annual Population Survey | |||
Procurement
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment his Department makes of the (a) payment of minimum wage, (b) payment of living wage and (c) use of zero hours contracts when tendering for public procurement contracts. [169313]
Mr Hurd: This Government award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer. We encourage contractors to commit to paying a living wage and insist that employers pay at least the national minimum wage.
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The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is undertaking a review of zero hours policy and practice, and in the light of this work, Cabinet Office will determine whether any changes need to be made to government procurement policy.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Doron Almog
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he was made aware of the relevance of the judicial arrest warrant for Mr Almog when granting the application for Mr Almog's special mission. [169090]
Hugh Robertson: When the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), decided on the application for special mission status for the visit of Mr Doron Almog, he was aware that an arrest warrant had been issued on 10 September 2005 in relation to an application for a private prosecution against Mr Almog and that it had been cancelled on 16 September 2005.
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the purpose of Mr Almog's special mission to the UK was; which official engagements he attended during his mission; in which capacity he visited the UK; and if he will make a statement. [169092]
Hugh Robertson: I refer my hon. Member to the answer given by the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), on 12 July 2013, Official Report, column 429W.
Syria
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress he has made on co-operation with his European counterparts in Syria; and if he will make a statement. [169036]
Hugh Robertson: The UK has been at the forefront of securing a strong EU response to the crisis in Syria. For example, we played a leading role in securing EU condemnation of 21 August chemical weapons attack in Syria. And, thanks to the work of the UK and our European partners, the EU continues to amend sanctions on Syria that support our two key aims: putting pressure on the Assad regime, and providing support to the legitimate, moderate Syrian opposition.
We continue to push hard to ensure EU funding continues to be used to help alleviate the awful humanitarian suffering caused by the conflict. This has been successful, most recently at the UN General Assembly where the EU and its member states pledged an additional €307 million for the UN humanitarian appeals.
Since the end of 2011 the commission has provided €515 million in humanitarian assistance for Syria and its neighbours. And a further €328 million has been provided for education, support to host communities and local societies. EU member states have provided a further €493 million in humanitarian aid. This brings the overall total EU contribution to more than €1.7 billion.
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The UK has also been central in securing the EU's calls to put pressure on all parties for a swift political solution to the Syria crisis, and increased humanitarian access in Syria.
International Development
Afghanistan
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has spent on training Afghan nationals in relation to the Bost Airfield and Agricultural Business Park Programme; and how many such Afghan nationals were sent abroad for training. [169242]
Justine Greening: As part of a programme approved under the previous Government in 2009, £200,000 was spent improving local capacity, including training costs. Five Afghan nationals attended training workshops abroad. The exact costs of this training are not available.
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress her Department has made on the Bost Airfield and Agricultural Business Park programme. [169500]
Justine Greening: This programme was approved under the previous Government in 2009. At that time, Ministers did not sign off business cases for below £40 million and so the programme was approved by officials.
Since 2010, Ministers have assessed that this programme did not represent value for taxpayers’ money and work on the Agricultural Business Park programme has therefore been discontinued.
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which Minister in her Department had overall responsibility for the Bost Airfield and Agricultural Business Park projects. [169501]
Justine Greening: This programme was approved under the previous Government in 2009. At that time, Ministers did not sign off business cases for below £40 million and the programme was approved by officials.
Buildings
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many square metres of office space her Department (a) owns and (b) rents in London; and what the value is of that property. [169425]
Mr Duncan: DFID owns one property in London, namely 22-26 Whitehall, SW1, which comprises 8,678 square metres, and is valued at £44,145,000. DFID currently holds the lease for one other property, at 1 Palace street, London, SW1 but this will be surrendered in December 2013 as the final part of our London HQ relocation to Whitehall. Palace street is 15,274 square metres.
Somalia
Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when (a) she and (b) officials of her Department last met representatives of Puntland and Jubaland. [169005]
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Justine Greening: I attended the conference on a New Deal for Somalia in Brussels on 16 September along with representatives of Puntland and Jubaland. My officials met representatives of Puntland in Garowe on 1-3 October and representatives of Jubaland in Nairobi on 27 September.
Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when (a) she and (b) officials of her Department next plan to meet with representatives of Puntland and Jubaland. [169006]
Justine Greening: Ministerial travel to Somalia depends on security considerations. My officials are meeting with representatives of Puntland in Garowe in early October and they plan to meet with representatives of Jubaland in Nairobi in November.
Communities and Local Government
Retail Trade
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the (a) number of retail outlets which have closed since 2007 and (b) value of the revenue from non-domestic rates which has been foregone as a result of those closures. [169634]
Brandon Lewis [holding answer 8 October 2013]: This information is not centrally held by my Department.
Defence
Gurkhas
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what comparative assessment he has made of the treatment of, and support given to, (a) retired Gurkha soldiers and (b) other UK soldiers. [169204]
Anna Soubry: Retired Gurkhas in the United Kingdom are supported in the same way as any other ex-service personnel and have access to all the service charities. All retired Gurkhas with more than four years service have been able to apply to settle in the United Kingdom.
Those retired Gurkhas still resident in Nepal are supported by the Gurkha Welfare Trust. The Gurkha Welfare Trust receives an annual grant in aid from the Ministry of Defence of over £1 million to assist with administrative costs in Nepal. This allows the Trust to use the charitable donations it receives to support those retired Gurkhas in need.
Military Decorations: World War II
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many full-time members of staff of (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies were engaged on the processing of applications for (i) Arctic Stars and (ii) the Bomber Command Clasp in each calendar month since the first application for each medal was made. [169371]
Mr Francois: The total number of full-time staff engaged on the processing of applications for both the Arctic Star and the Bomber Command Clasp per calendar month is shown in the following table:
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| 2013 | Total |
Veterans: Mental Health Services
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to assist war veterans with mental health issues. [169052]
Anna Soubry: The provision of health care for veterans in England is the responsibility of individual GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups in the national health service (NHS). The comprehensive services they provide reflect local priorities and the aspirations of the Armed Forces Covenant. The NHS in England has developed services that have increased the availability of mental health professionals to meet the needs of veterans and Department of Health and NHS England are supporting the transfer of these to GP commissioned services.
In general, mental health in serving personnel and veterans is as good as, and in most cases better than, the civilian population. Significant effort is put into preventing the onset of mental health problems and providing effective support and treatment when required. In recent years the provision of mental health support for veterans has increased and the NHS has made a clear commitment to support the armed forces community.
The Ministry of Defence provides war pensions and compensation for mental health problems caused by service and complements NHS services by providing a Veterans and Reserves mental health programme, offering a full mental health assessment by military specialists for Reservists who have deployed on operations since 2003 and veterans with operational service since 1982.
The Government are implementing all of the recommendations in ‘Fighting Fit’, the report written by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison). These measures include an increase in the number of mental health care professionals; a dedicated 24-hour helpline in partnership with Combat Stress; an online mental health support and advice website provided by the Big White Wall; structured mental health assessment as part of routine and discharge medicals; and the Veterans Information Service to make contact with recent service leavers to make them aware of mental health and other support available in the community.
As part of our ongoing commitment, over £5 million from the LIBOR fines has been awarded to programmes supporting mental health in the service community.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to answer question number 162512 tabled on 26 June 2013 for answer on 1 July 2013. [169094]
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Anna Soubry: I will respond to the hon. Member shortly. I am sorry for the delay. It has taken longer than expected to verify the figures in what is a complex expenditure area.
Deputy Prime Minister
Legal Costs
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his office spent on external lawyers' fees in the last year for which figures are available. [169696]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The Deputy Prime Minister’s office has spent nothing on external lawyers’ fees since 1 April 2013.
Justice
Child: Abuse
John Healey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions there have been for cruelty to
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or neglect of children in each English police force area in each year since 1995. [168476]
Damian Green: Protecting children from harm is a Government priority and all children should be able to grow up in a safe, happy environment. The focus must be on early intervention as we know that the earlier that help and support is given to vulnerable children and families, the more chance there is of turning their lives around, protecting children from harm and aiming to prevent problems escalating into child cruelty.
However in order to deal with situations where that is not possible it is important that we have legislation in place to punish offenders for this intolerable behaviour. This is why we have an offence of child cruelty (which includes neglect) at section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for cruelty to or neglect of children, by police force area in England, from 1995 to 2012 (latest available), can be viewed in the tables.
| Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for cruelty and neglect of children1, by police force area, England, 1995 to 20122, 3 | |||||||||
| Offence and Police force area | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
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| Offence and Police force area | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| 1 An offence under Children and Young Persons Act 1933, S.1 2 The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | |||||||||
Legal Aid Scheme: Prisoners
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison law cases funded by legal aid concerned (a) prison conditions, (b) treatment by staff, (c) discrimination, (d) communications and visits, (e) mother and baby issues, (f) compassionate release, (g) behaviour courses and (h) other treatment issues since May 2008; and what proportion of such cases were successful. [169527]
Jeremy Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally) in the other place on 6 June 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, columns WA205-06.
Life Imprisonment
Greg Mulholland:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that prison
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sentences without the possibility of release undermine a prisoner's human rights. [169081]
Jeremy Wright: The Government are deeply disappointed with the judgment delivered on 9 July by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights about whole life tariffs. The judgment does not mean that prisoners currently serving a whole life order must now be released, nor that they must all immediately come before the Parole Board for consideration of release. There is no prospect of imminent release for the three applicants in the case.
We strongly believe that whole life tariffs are appropriate for the most heinous crimes and this judgment does not
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say that whole life tariffs may not be imposed. We are considering the implications of the judgment, and we will set out our response in due course.
Offences against Children
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions there have been for cases of sexual activity with a child under 16 in each English police force area in each year since 1995. [168535]
Damian Green: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for sexual activity with a child under 16 (including sexual offences against children under 13, separately identified in the legislation), by police force area in England, from 1995 to 2012 (latest available), is shown in the following tables.
| Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for sexual activity with a child under 161, by police force area, England, 1995 to 20122, 3 | |||||||||
| Offence and police force area | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
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| Offence and police force area | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| 1 An offence under Sexual Offences Act 2003, S.4 (1) to (4), S.4 (1) to (3) and (5), S.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (2), S.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (2), S.12 (1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (2), SS.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (2) and 13, SS.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (2) and 13, SS.11(1)(a), (b) and (d)(i) and (2) and 13, SS.12(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (2) and 13, S.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (3), S.9 (1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (3), S.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (3), SS.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (3) and 13, SS.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (3) and 13, S.8(1) and (2), S.8(1) and (3), S.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (2), S.10(1)(a), (b) and(c)(ii) and (2), S.11(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d)(ii) and (2), S.12(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (2), SS.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (2) and 13, SS.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (2) and 13, S.11(1) (a), (b), (c) and (d)(ii) and (2), SS.12(1)(a), (b), (c)(ii) and (2) and 13, S.9(1)(a), (b), (c)(ii) and (3), S.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (3), SS.9(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (3) and 13, SS.10(1)(a), (b) and (c)(ii) and (3) and 13 2 The figures given in the tables on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice. | |||||||||