Armed Forces: Discharges

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army recruits who left before the end of their Phase 2 training enlisted at (a) age 16 and (b) age 17, in the five most recent full financial years for which figures are available. [170527]

Anna Soubry: The information held relates to those aged 16 and 17 on entry leaving service from the untrained strength, and is shown in the following table:

Figures are for untrained Regular Army outflow for other ranks only and therefore exclude officers, Gurkhas, full-time Reserve service, mobilised Reserves, TA and all other Reserves. Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not be the sum of their parts.

Armed Forces: Qualifications

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department intends to make GCSE English and mathematics at grades A*-C a compulsory component of Phase 1 training for recruits at AFC Harrogate; what estimate his Department has made of the cost of doing so; and if he will make a statement. [170524]

Anna Soubry: Recruits at Army Foundation College Harrogate access Functional Skills English and Maths support as required, to achieve a minimum of Level 1 (equivalent to GCSE D-G). Where appropriate, recruits work towards Level 2 qualifications. GCSE provision is not offered as a matter of course at AFC Harrogate. Functional skills English and Maths are regarded as effective stepping stones for progressing towards GCSE A*-C in these subjects.

There are no current plans to replace functional skills awards as the measure of literacy and numeracy attainment or to mandate a GCSE English and Maths requirement for Army personnel, including those at AFC Harrogate.

The Army has not carried out an estimate of the cost of a wholesale adoption of GCSE English and Maths at AFC Harrogate.

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Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of army recruits who dropped out of training before the end of Phase 2 had GCSEs at grades D-G in (a) English and (b) mathematics in the five most recent full financial years for which figures are available. [170525]

Anna Soubry: The proportion of those discharged from service for any reason prior to completion of Phase 2 training who had GCSE at grades D-G in English and Mathematics is shown in the following table:

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of army recruits who dropped out of training before the end of Phase 2 had GCSEs at Grades A*-C in (a) English and (b) mathematics in the five most recent full financial years for which figures are available. [170526]

Anna Soubry: The proportion of those discharged from service for any reason prior to completion of Phase 2 training who had GCSE at grades A*-C in English and Mathematics is shown in the following table:

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2013, Official Report, column 27W, on armed forces: sexual offences, for what reasons UK defence contractors supplying personnel for use in UK defence bases abroad are not prohibited from including in the contracts of those deployed in theatre a clause denying the right to report sexual offences; and if he will make a statement. [170773]

Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not consider such a prohibition necessary because a clause in a contract of employment which denies the right to report a crime is completely contrary to UK public policy and is not deemed by the MOD to be likely to be enforceable.

Buildings

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who has owned the Drill Hall in Newport, Isle of Wight since it was constructed; and if he will make a statement. [170394]

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Mr Dunne: The Department's records indicate that the Ministry of Defence has been the only owner of the Drill Hall.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) on how many occasions the in-house option has been exercised for contract renewal options for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation in the last three years; and if he will make a statement; [169722]

(2) on how many occasions the in-house option has been exercised when considering contract renewal options for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation in the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [170096]

Dr Murrison [holding answers 9 and 10 October 2013]: The Defence Infrastructure Organisation has not exercised an in-house option when renewing a contract in the last three years.

Defence: Procurement

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish details of the costs associated with the planning, discussion and scrutiny of the proposed GoCo to date; and if he will make a statement. [170276]

Mr Dunne: The Materiel Strategy programme is currently in the Assessment Phase and is considering two options, DE&S+ and a Government-owned contractor operated (GoCo) model. The commercial competition is ongoing and the Ministry of Defence is evaluating outline proposals from the GoCo bidders and the DE&S+ team. A final decision on which option will be taken forward will be made in summer 2014 at the end of the commercial negotiation and Assessment Phase.

The Concept Phase of the programme started in May 2011 and analysed a number of different operating models. It concluded with the approval of the Initial Gate Business Case in April 2013 and cost £12 million.

Devonport Dockyard and Clyde Naval Base

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what improvement notices have been issued by the Office for Nuclear Regulation at (a) Devonport Royal Dockyards and (b) HM Naval Base Clyde; and for what reason such notices were issued in each of the last five years. [170725]

Mr Dunne: The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has issued one improvement notice to Babcock, as the nuclear site licensee, in respect of Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd (DRDL) in the last five years. It was issued on 16 July 2013, following a number of events in which operations were not carried out in accordance with DRDL's health and safety operating instructions; and the statutory provisions of the Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations. Although satisfied that this issue did not have an immediate impact on safety, and that DRDL had already taken action to remedy some of the problems, ONR's opinion was that

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an improvement notice was necessary to ensure that DRDL make the appropriate improvements to their arrangements by 31 March 2014. A programme of improvements is in place to meet this compliance deadline.

Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde is a nuclear authorised site which is regulated by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) and not the ONR. The ONR has therefore not issued any improvement notices to the base. Where necessary, the DNSR would be responsible for issuing safety improvement notices to HMNB Clyde; none have been issued in the last five years.

Energy

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what returns on investment his Department has achieved through energy saving policies to date. [169971]

Anna Soubry: The return on investment achieved by the Ministry of Defence through the Energy Spend to Save Programme is shown in the following table:

The Department expects to continue to save some £70 million annually as a result of this investment.

Additionally, investment on energy saving measures outside of the Energy Spend to Save Programme is expected to provide a return of some £39 million per annum.

Historical Enquiries Team

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the relevance of unreleased historical documents relating to Northern Ireland held at Swadlincote to the work of the Historical Enquiries Team in investigating cases from the past; and whether he plans to release these records to the National Archive under the Public Records Act 1958. [170659]

Mr Francois: Unreleased Ministry of Defence (MOD) records held at the archive at Swadlincote are considered in a range of proceedings and investigations including support to the Historical Enquiries Team. MOD officials continue to work with the National Archives to determine which files should be selected for permanent preservation.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has for training of F35 Joint Strike fighter pilots; and if he will make a statement. [170554]

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Mr Dunne: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given by my noble Friend, the Under-Secretary of State, Lord Astor of Hever, to the right hon. and noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead, in the other place, on 30 July 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, columns WA263-64.

Jordan

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Moray, of 17 July 2013, Official Report, column 771W, on Jordan, in what capacity his Department's personnel are stationed in Jordan; and what the rank and role is of those personnel. [R] [170282]

Dr Murrison: As of 9 Oct 2013 the Ministry of Defence personnel stationed in Jordan comprise:

Five individuals in the Defence Section in the British embassy including the Defence Attaché, who is a Colonel, a Wing Commander, a Captain, a civilian and a Sergeant.

The UK Loan Service team, who are paid for by Jordan to deliver training and capacity building. Its 21 members compromise a Colonel in command, a Lieutenant Colonel, two Wing Commanders, four Majors, one Squadron Leader, three Captains, one Flight Lieutenant and eight Warrant Officers.

A Squadron Leader on exchange with the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

A Squadron Leader and a Warrant Officer working in the Jordanian-led Joint Intelligence Support Element.

A Lieutenant Colonel deployed with the US Central Command Forward (Jordan) as a liaison officer.

RAF Akrotiri

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assets and how many personnel from Royal Airforce (RAF) Regiment 20 have been deployed to RAF Akrotiri. [169580]

Mr Francois: The 20 Wing RAF Regiment, more commonly known as the Defence Chemical Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Wing, deployed two personnel to RAF Akrotiri between 12 to 21 September 2013. A Royal Navy medical specialist was also deployed in support. No assets from the Regiment were deployed to RAF Akrotiri with these personnel.

Registered Visitors

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) on how many occasions Mr Oliver Waghorn has been registered as a visitor to his Department's main building since November 2011; [169636]

(2) on how many occasions Mr Luke Coffey has been registered as a visitor to his Department's main building since November 2011. [169637]

Mr Philip Hammond [holding answer 8 October 2013]: Since November 2011, there is no record of Mr Waghorn having been registered as a visitor to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) main building, and Mr Luke Coffey has been registered as a visitor on three occasions.

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These were on 2 December 2011 for a meeting with the special advisor, on 23 January 2012 to meet staff in the Permanent Secretary's Office, and on 24 January 2012 for a personal meeting with an Army Officer.

In addition, my private office records show both Mr Waghorn and Mr Coffey attended a meeting with me in my MOD office on 3 November 2011.

Turkey

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has discussed the acquisition, development and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles with his counterpart in Turkey. [R] [169706]

Mr Francois: No such discussions have taken place.

Type 26 Frigates

Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what plans he has to introduce the Type 26 frigate as the replacement for the Type 23 frigate; [169946]

(2) what weapons systems are planned to be included in the Type 26 Global Combat Ship; [170431]

(3) what unmanned aircraft system and rotor systems are planned to be included in the Type 26 Global Combat Ship; [170432]

(4) how many Type 26 Global Combat ships are planned to be built; and when the first ceremonial cutting of metal will take place; [170433]

(5) when the Type 26 Global Combat Ship will be completed and come into service. [170445]

Mr Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff), on 24 May 2012, Official Report, column 833W, to my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis).

The Type 26 Global Combat Ship (T26 GCS) programme is currently in its Assessment Phase. As is the standard practice with equipment projects, the final design, equipment fit and build programme will not be set until the main investment decision has been taken, this is expected to be around the middle of this decade. The Ministry of Defence's current planning assumption is for the construction of 13 T26 GCS.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2013, Official Report, column 960W, on unmanned aerial vehicles, whether his Department has carried out training in unmanned aerial vehicles in conjunction with a European military within his Department's reserved airspace areas in the UK in each of the last 10 years. [R] [169786]

Mr Francois: No joint training on unmanned aerial vehicles is known to have taken place between the UK and the armed forces of a European nation in the last ten years, within a reserved airspace area in the UK.

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Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to hold discussions with his international counterparts on updating the legal framework for attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles targeted at particular individuals. [R] [170715]

Mr Francois: No.

Work and Pensions

Innovation Fund for Separated Parents

18. Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made on the innovation fund for helping separated parents. [900450]

Steve Webb: We have invested almost £10 million in two rounds of the innovation fund. £6.5 million has already been awarded to seven voluntary and private sector organisations, most of which are now in the very early stages of delivery with some starting to see results. The second round is now well under way and will allocate up to £3.4 million to successful projects by the end of the year.

Post Office Current Account

20. Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for the future of the Post Office current account; and what assessment he has made of its compatibility with universal credit payments. [900452]

Steve Webb: Universal credit can be paid into Post Office card accounts—however, these have limited functionality.

We have always been clear that the best option is an account that accepts payments from employers and allows direct debits.

My Department continues to work closely with the Post Office as they consider their own proposals for banking products, including current accounts.

Defined Pension Contribution Schemes: Governance

21. Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the Office of Fair Trading's recent recommendations on the creation of independent governance committees in defined contribution pension schemes. [900453]

Steve Webb: We agree with the Office of Fair Trading's view that workplace pension schemes should have robust governance that protects member interests.

We are now working with the OFT and partners in the pensions industry to assess the implementation of their recommendations, including the creation of independent government committees.

We are also studying the responses to the Government's recent call for evidence on quality standards in DC workplace pension schemes.

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Employment of Former Remploy Workers: Hyndburn

23. Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former Remploy workers from Hyndburn constituency are now in employment. [900455]

Esther McVey: There are a total of four disabled former Remploy employees in the Hyndburn constituency. One is currently in employment. One found employment but has subsequently left and is now claiming JSA. A further former employee is claiming JSA and the final former employee is currently undertaking a work trial.

Widow's or Widower's Pension: Civil Partners

24. Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of surviving civil partners qualifying for a widow's or widower's pension. [900456]

Steve Webb: There is currently not enough data in this area to allow us to estimate accurately the number of surviving civil partners qualifying for a widow or widowers pension. However during the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 the Government committed to undertake a review of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes. This will investigate the differences in treatment between same sex and opposite sex survivor benefits in occupational pensions.

Work Capability Assessments

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what improvements he plans to make to the work capability assessment process. [900436]

Mike Penning: This Government have improved the work capability assessment process it inherited. However, we are not resting on our laurels.

Over the next few months we will:

Publish the fourth independent review, and the Government's response;

Publish the findings of the evidence-based review of the descriptors;

Publish an invitation to tender to re-contract provision.

Employment of Former Remploy Workers

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former Remploy workers are now in employment. [900445]

Esther McVey: At 4 October 2013, 1,326 disabled former Remploy workers are engaging with personal case workers to find jobs. 669 jobs have been found for disabled former employees and 535 are in work. 390 are on Work Choice undertaking activities aimed at moving them closer to employment.

Specialist Disability Employment Advisers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many specialist disability employment advisers are employed by his Department. [900447]

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Esther McVey: The total number of specialist advisers working with disabled people across Britain is 1,368. This is in addition to the dedicated support they receive from our mainstream advisers.

Carbon Emissions

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on the Government Carbon Offsetting Framework in the latest year for which figures are available. [169858]

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions spent £135.32 on the Government Carbon Offsetting Framework for 2011-12, the latest year for which figures are available.

This represents payment for 198.49 tonnes of carbon.

Carer's Allowance

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what consideration he has given to the earnings limit of the carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement; [170273]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect the increase in the national minimum wage will have on carers working over 16 hours per week; and if he will make a statement; [170277]

(3) when the earnings limit for carer’s allowance was last increased; and if he will make a statement. [170278]

Mike Penning: The earnings limit for carer’s allowance was last increased in April 2010, from £95 to £100 per week. There are no immediate plans to increase the earnings limit but the Government will keep the matter under review.

The earnings limit is £100 per week net of allowable expenses so some carers, including some of those working over 16 hours per week at the national minimum wage, will be able to earn significantly more than £100 and still be entitled to carer’s allowance.

Child Maintenance

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK have been in arrears with their Child Support Agency payments for a period of (i) under six months, (ii) under a year and (iii) over a year in each of the last five years. [170530]

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available as it is not routinely recorded. Answering your request would require the creation of new information which cannot be completed and appropriately assured without incurring disproportionate cost.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK have been registered with the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years. [170531]

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Steve Webb: The following table shows the number of cases registered with the Child Support Agency in (a) Ribble Valley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK for each of the last 5 years.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the proportion of employment and support allowance claimants who (a) are in receipt of contributory employment and support allowance and (b) have exhausted eligibility for contributory employment and support allowance. [169805]

Esther McVey: Statistics on the proportion of employment and support allowance claimants who are in receipt of contributory employment and support allowance can be found at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

Information on the proportion of employment and support allowance claimants who have exhausted eligibility for contributory employment and support allowance is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Employment: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average weekly number of job applications submitted by each jobseeker in (a) Wrexham constituency and (b) Wales in each of the last five years. [169800]

Esther McVey: No such data are collected.

Food Banks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus branches are currently signposting people to food banks; and if he will publish a list of such branches. [170709]

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Esther McVey: It is the policy for all Jobcentre Plus branches to signpost people to food banks where it is appropriate to do so.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Prime Minister's answer of 11 September 2013, Official Report, column 975, on Engagements, whether Jobcentre Plus branches are referring people to food banks. [170776]

Esther McVey: Jobcentre Plus signposts people to food banks where it is appropriate to do so.

Funeral Payments

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to support families who struggle to pay funeral costs; and if he will make a statement. [169830]

Steve Webb: The Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme continues to provide help towards a simple, respectful, low-cost funeral and, in 2012-13, over 35,000 awards were made worth £43.1 million, with an average award of £1,225.

From May 2012, budgeting loan provision was extended to include funeral expenses. This helps where a deposit is required up front, or towards the balance of costs that a social fund funeral payment cannot meet.

From 1 April 2013, any arrears of benefit, which were due to the deceased at date of death, are disregarded. This means that such arrears are no longer deducted from the funeral payment award.

Housing Benefit

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many persons under the age of 25 were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last four financial years; and how many such persons were (a) in employment and (b) not in employment; and what the average award of housing benefit was per week for each of those groups; [170173]

(2) how many persons under the age of 25 were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last four financial years; and how many of those were (a) in lone parent households and (b) victims of domestic violence. [170174]

Steve Webb: Statistics on how many persons under the age of 25 years were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last four financial years; and how many such persons were (a) in employment and (b) not in employment and (c) in lone parent households; and what the average award of housing benefit was per week for each of these groups can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Information on how many persons, under the age of 25 years, in receipt of housing benefit were victims of domestic violence is not available.

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Industrial Health and Safety

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many health and safety inspections of cooling towers have been completed since May 2010. [169764]

Mike Penning: In the years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out 223, 157 and 324 inspections respectively, involving cooling towers and evaporative condensers. HSE did not collect such data on inspections carried out by local authorities in those years.

In 2013-14, HSE and local authority inspectors are undertaking a special programme of visits to inspect cooling towers and evaporative condensers as part of a wider programme of interventions to improve the management of the risks from Legionella. Between April and September 2013, HSE has carried out 530 inspections, with 90 more undertaken by local authorities.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the safety implications of employing workers on zero hours contracts in (a) hazardous industries and (b) the offshore oil and gas industry. [170656]

Mike Penning: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for regulating health and safety in onshore major hazard industries and the offshore oil and gas industry.

The protection afforded by health and safety at work legislation to workers employed both onshore and offshore applies regardless of their employment arrangements.

HSE routinely checks that employers in major hazards sector have in place systems to ensure the competence of employees to ensure that they are appropriately skilled, and understand the risks of their work and the control measures necessary to prevent a major accident.

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Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants who (a) are in receipt of contributory jobseeker's allowance and (b) have exhausted eligibility for contributory jobseeker's allowance. [169804]

Esther McVey: Statistics on the proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants who are in receipt of contributory jobseeker's allowance can be found at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

Information on the proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants who have exhausted eligibility for contributory jobseeker's allowance is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed their sanction of their benefit have had their sanction overturned in each of the last five years; [169899]

(2) how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who disputed the sanction of their benefit had their sanction overturned after reconsideration in each of the last five years; [169902]

(3) how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed the sanction of their benefit have had their sanction overturned following appeal in each of the last five years. [169903]

Esther McVey: The information requested for (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) Great Britain is shown in the following table:

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Means-tested Benefits

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate his Department has made of the rate of non-take up of means-tested benefits. [169807]

Esther McVey: On 23 February 2012 the Department for Work and Pensions published the latest estimates of the take-up of the main income-related benefits in Great Britain: income support and employment and support allowance (income-related), pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (income-based). The publication provides estimates for 2009-10.

The full report can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up

Pensions

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the total cost to pension holders of charges levied by pension management companies. [170013]

Steve Webb: The Making Automatic Enrolment Work Review, set up by the current Government, found that charges levied on pensions can have a significant impact on lifetime savings. The report found that a median earner with a full savings history who pays a 0.5% AMC would lose 9% of their total fund value. By contrast, at the stakeholder charge cap they would lose over 20% of their total fund value.

We will be publishing a consultation this autumn that examines a range of proposals on charges, including for a cap on pension charges as a means to protect individuals and employers from excessive charges. As part of this consultation, the Government will set out their assessment of the costs to pension holders of the charges levied by pension companies.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the risks of pricing to the cap should a cap on charges by pension management companies be introduced. [170014]

Steve Webb: We will be publishing a consultation this autumn that examines a range of proposals on charges, including for a cap on pension charges as a means to protect individuals and employers from excessive charges. The consultation will also cover possible implications of the proposals. During the consultation phase we will welcome views and evidence from stakeholders on these and other issues.

Pensions: Homosexuality

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment she has made of the number of individuals likely to be affected by a move to provide pension equality for same sex couples; and what assessment she has made of the cost of such a move. [170500]

Steve Webb: During the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 the Government committed to undertake a review of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes. This will investigate the differences in treatment between same sex and opposite sex survivor benefits in occupational pensions.

Part of the review will be to collect data on the number of scheme members affected by the differences in treatment and use this to investigate what the costs and other effects would be of the elimination of these differences by the equalisation of survivor benefits.

The Government will publish a report on the outcome of the review before 1 July 2014.

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Private Rented Housing: Rents

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will introduce a scheme whereby rents can be paid on behalf of tenants directly to landlords; and if he will make a statement. [170691]

Esther McVey: We expect most universal credit claimants to take financial responsibility for paying their own household bills on time. This will help prepare claimants for the world of work and improve financial inclusion.

We will give extra help to those who need it, including appropriate budgeting tools and money advice.

We will provide alternative payment arrangements for the minority who genuinely cannot manage the standard monthly payments. Where there is a risk of financial harm to the claimant or their family, we will look at managed payments of rent to the landlord, making more frequent payments or splitting the payment within the household.

Recruitment: EU Nationals

Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the

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number of UK job vacancies filled by non-UK EU applicants through the First EURES Job job mobility scheme in the last year for which figures are available. [170563]

Esther McVey: The European Commission began data collection on the country of origin and destination of participants in the Your First EURES Job job mobility scheme in January 2013. During the first and second quarter of 2013, 61 people were placed in employment in the UK through pilot projects operating from other EU member states. The UK Government are not participating in the scheme.

Redundancy

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were made redundant from non-departmental public bodies accountable to his Department in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and how many redundancy payments were made in lieu of notice. [170359]

Mike Penning: The following information includes compensation paid through the use of voluntary exit, voluntary redundancy and compulsory redundancy schemes.

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department were made redundant in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and how many such staff received payments in lieu of notice. [170379]

Mike Penning: I have provided the information requested, which includes compensation paid through the use of voluntary release, voluntary exit, voluntary redundancy and compulsory redundancy schemes.

Social Security Benefits

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much (a) income support, (b) housing benefit, (c) employment and support allowance and (d) jobseeker's allowance was paid late due to administrative error by his Department in each of the last 12 months. [169763]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available our Management Information systems do not capture data in this way.

Social Security Benefits: Brent

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in the London borough of Brent have had their benefits reduced as a result of the household benefit cap. [170493]

Esther McVey: With the exception of the four phased area local authorities, Official Statistics on how many households in each local authority have had their benefits reduced as a result of the household benefit cap are not currently available. They are intended for future publication later this year in line with the Code of Practice on Official Statistics.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Records

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department made of (a) the medical purpose and (b) the potential

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effect on people's willingness to be honest with their doctors about addiction problems of the application made by his Department to access drug treatment data of NHS patients in order to link it to information about employment and benefits claims; and if he will make a statement. [169740]

Esther McVey: In December 2012, an application from the Department for Work and Pensions went before the Department of Health's Ethics Committee, seeking approval to allow the National Treatment Agency (now part of Public Health England) to share data with the Department.

The purpose of this application was to enable analysis to provide the Department with a better understanding, at a population level, of the impact of drug dependency on employment prospects and engagement with the labour market, as well as the role that employment plays in recovery.

The analysis would have involved linking information from the Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, and Public Health England. Once matched, the data would have been anonymised, and appropriate information security protocols and safeguards would have been in place to prevent the data being used for any other purpose.

The application made by the Department to allow Public Health England to share data with DWP was turned down by the Ethics Committee. The Department has not appealed that decision, nor lodged a follow-up application. While the Department believes that there would have been much to be gained from undertaking the planned analysis to understand the needs of this client group, the Ethics Committee considered that the individual medical benefit likely to stem from the sharing of information on any individual was not sufficiently demonstrated. It is likely to be the case that if there are indirect medical benefits realised, it may be in respect of future cohorts of people in treatment, rather than individuals whose data was used to inform the analysis.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department, other than those employed at pathfinder jobcentres, are currently involved in processing universal credit applications. [170549]

Esther McVey: At the end of September 2013 there were just over 100 staff delivering universal credit in the Pathfinder Service Centres.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who will be in receipt of universal credit by April 2014. [170550]

Esther McVey: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban) provided to the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), on 2 September 2013, Official Report, column 251W.

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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what date he expects the universal credit portal to be able to accept all new applications for working age benefits. [170551]

Esther McVey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban) provided to the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling), on 9 September 2013, Official Report, column 611W.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the National Audit Office Report, Universal Credit: early progress, HC 621, paragraph 2.5, how many of the 99 recommendations made by the reset team for universal credit have been implemented; and if he will make a statement. [170644]

Esther McVey: All of the recommendations made by the reset team are being considered or implemented. Many span the delivery of the Universal Credit Programme over a long period and as such, though significant progress has already been made, will not be considered fully implemented for some time.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of universal credit claimants in the pathfinders to date have made their claims online. [170645]

Esther McVey: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban) provided to the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) on 2 September 2013, Official Report, column 251W.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to deal with fraud and error in universal credit claims prior to full functionality of the IT system. [170646]

Steve Webb: The Department is ensuring that it is in a position to deliver robust protection against the wide range of threats that universal credit may face at each stage of roll out, working closely with other Government Departments to achieve this. Enhanced security controls are being progressively developed enabling the Department to refine them ahead of full functionality of the IT system.

All new universal credit claims delivered though the pathfinder are verified through documentation provided by claimants. There is further scrutiny of claims using a rule-based data matching service built on existing technology that directs the requirement for any additional documentary evidence or specialist attention where indicated. This is in addition to the face-to-face identity verification process that takes place routinely. Once in payment, all claims are regularly checked for the potential for heightened risk based on unreported changes and new information being available, and referred for specialist intervention where required.

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Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the likely effect of the introduction of Universal Credit on the timely payments of rents by tenants to landlords; and if he will make a statement. [170690]

Steve Webb: The Direct Payment Demonstration projects have and continue to provide much valuable live learning about how best to design that aspect of universal credit so that it has the least impact on both tenants and landlords.

To date, the learning has had a direct influence on the design for universal credit in the areas of Personal Budgeting Support, the Alternative Payment Arrangements and the rent arrears trigger.

The latest figures from the first nine months of the projects showed:

the rent collection rate across projects was between 91% and 97%; and

the average rent collection rate was 94%.

A further update will be made available during the autumn.

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive on the effects of the implementation of welfare reform in Northern Ireland. [170402]

Esther McVey: The Minister for Welfare Reform regularly meets with the Minister for Social Development of Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues including welfare reform implementation and they will continue to engage on such matters.

Winter Fuel Payments: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Wrexham and (b) Wales received the winter fuel allowance in each of the last five years. [170209]

Steve Webb: The information is in the following table:

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Work Capability Assessment

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to ensure that blind and partially sighted people are adequately assessed in work capability assessments. [170230]

Mike Penning: The work capability assessment (WCA) is based on an individual's functional ability, not the condition itself.

We are committed to ensuring that the WCA assesses people, including blind and partially sighted people, as fairly and accurately as possible.

As part of Professor Harrington's third independent review he considered whether changes were needed to the sensory descriptors used in the WCA. He asked several charities, including RNIB, to produce evidence that the sensory descriptors needed to change. As his review reports, the material submitted failed to provide any evidence that blind and partially sighted people are not being unfairly assessed by the current WCA.

Since that point, the Department has been working with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists to update the guidance and training material used by Atos healthcare professionals and DWP Decision Makers.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to publish updates of the data contained in his Department's publication, Employment and Support Allowance—Incapacity Benefits Reassessments: Outcomes of Work Capability Assessments, Great Britain, published in March 2012, broken down by geographical area. [170552]

Mike Penning: Since 30 April 2013 the publication Employment and Support: outcomes of Work Capability Assessment was combined with Employment and Support Allowance: incapacity benefits reassessment. Both publications are released each quarter (January, April, July and October), but as one publication.

The next release date is 22 October 2013 as announced on the Publication Hub at:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html

and gov.uk at:

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

Justice

Absenteeism

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the rates of staff (a) absence and (b) sickness absence in his Department in each of the past five years were; and what the departmental targets were in each case. [168739]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice does not have a formal departmental target for staff absence but reviews absence levels at regular intervals in line with practice across the civil service and keeps progress in reducing absence under close scrutiny. Improving attendance is a high priority across the Ministry. The Department's managing attendance policies and procedures provide a

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simple, clear and consistent framework for managing attendance and allow managers to help employees achieve improved attendance at work.

Overall absence rates are not calculated by the Department. Therefore to provide such information in each of the last five financial years would incur a disproportionate cost.

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The following table sets out the rate of average number of working days lost (AWDL) due to sickness across the whole of the Ministry of Justice in each of the last financial years.

Community Orders

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 September 2013, Official Report, columns 512-3W, on community orders, how many convictions which led to a community order saw the individual complete their order in full in each year since 2010. [169926]

Jeremy Wright: Information on termination of community orders and the reason for termination, e.g. ran their full course is published routinely in the ‘Offender Management Statistics Quarterly—Annual Tables’, The requested information can be found within table A4.23 of the Probation Tables 2012, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/194275/omsq-annual-tables-2012.zip

The annual trend has shown increasing numbers of community orders completed successfully.

Coroners

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many coroners are above the judicial retirement age; and what estimate he has made of the average age of such coroners. [170248]

Mr Vara: Neither the Ministry of Justice nor the chief coroner's office holds this information but the figure is believed to be very small.

The reforms introduced in July of this year under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 set the coroner retirement age at 70, bringing it into line with that for other judicial office holders, but this is only for new coronial appointments.

Council Tax: Non-payment

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many summonses were issued for non-payment of council tax in each of the last five years; and how many such summonses resulted in a hearing in which the defendant was present. [170313]

Mr Vara: Council tax cases are not always listed and resulted individually as local councils issue multiple cases that are heard at a single hearing. HMCTS cannot, therefore, tell how many people they relate to, or how many defendants attended. The only way we may be able to obtain these data would be to ask each area/court to manually count and check the numbers which would be possible only at disproportionate costs. Upon the granting of a liability order the local council takes responsibility for the production of those orders.

Courts: Operating Costs

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost was (a) per case heard and (b) per day in a (i) magistrates' court and (b) Crown court in each year since 2005-06. [166028]

Mr Vara: The information is as follows.

(a) The average costs of hearings in magistrates courts and disposals and orders made in Crown courts are as follows:

The average costs have been derived by dividing the direct costs incurred by the courts in a financial year by the number of hearings reported by the HMCTS performance database for the financial year in the case of magistrates courts and the numbers of disposals and orders made in the financial year in the case of the Crown court.

Direct costs in this instance means those costs recorded against cost centres classified as part of the Crown court or magistrates court jurisdiction, plus allocated judicial costs incurred centrally. Non-cash depreciation expenses have been excluded.

While the total direct cost of the Crown court jurisdiction fell from £227 million to £216 million in 2012-13, there was a greater percentage decrease in the number of disposals and orders made, leading to the increase in cost per case shown.

Since 2007-08 magistrates courts proceedings data recorded by HMCTS are not directly comparable with the data previously recorded by the Office of Criminal

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Justice Reform. As a result it is not possible to provide comparable average magistrates courts costs per case for 2005-06 and 2006-07.

(b) Since 2011-12 the staff and judicial cost per sitting day in the magistrates and Crown courts have been published in the HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts:

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Staff and judicial expenditure is based on jurisdictional analysis. Expenditure includes apportioned costs from regional and central teams. Judicial costs met centrally through the consolidated fund are apportioned based on sitting days. Costs are divided by the actual days sat in each jurisdiction to derive a cost per sitting day.

Between 2009-10 and 2011-12 a different approach to costing sitting days was used, based on judicial, administration and court costs incurred directly by the courts, excluding overheads and depreciation. These were reported in response to your previous question (91551) in January 2012.

Courts average cost per hearing day are as follows:

Prior to financial year 2009-10, financial systems did not support the jurisdictional analyses that are the basis of current costings. It is therefore not possible to provide meaningful comparatives for the average cost per hearing day for earlier years.

Courts: Security

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget was allocated for (a) Crown court security and (b) magistrates court security across England in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement. [170032]

Mr Vara: HMCTS does not budget separately for security costs as these are captured within wider estates headings. However, actual expenditure on security in courts in England and Wales in each year since 2008 is as follows:

Crown Prosecution Service

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Director of Public Prosecutions is obliged to publish details of meetings in the same manner as Ministers publish ministerial diaries; and if he will make a statement. [170640]

The Solicitor-General: I have been asked to reply.

For the purposes of the publication of transparency data, the Director of Public Prosecutions is regarded as a Permanent Secretary and in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines must, like all Permanent Secretaries, publish details of meetings. These data are published on a quarterly basis and can be found on the CPS website as well as data.gov.uk.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for employment and support allowance appeals. [169741]

Mr Vara: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits, including employment and support allowance (ESA).

The total number of appeals received by the SSCS tribunal nationally has risen significantly: from 339,200 in 2009-10 to 507,100 in 2012-13 (an increase of 49%). The number of ESA appeals received has risen from 126,838 in 2009-10 to 327,961 in 2012-13 (an increase of 159%).HMCTS has responded strongly at a national level to continue to increase the capacity of the SSCS tribunal and reduce waiting times. Measures in place include ongoing recruitment of additional judges and medically qualified members and the review and continuous improvement of administrative processes both internally and between HMCTS and DWP. This is in addition to local initiatives, such as identifying additional hearing venues across HMCTS estate, and increasing the use of Saturday sessions. All of this is having a positive effect. The total number of disposals (which includes appeals disposed of at a tribunal hearing as well as those struck

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out, superseded or withdrawn) has increased significantly from 279,000 in 2009-10 to 465,500 in 2012-13 (an increase of 66%). ESA disposals have increased from 70,535 in 2009-10 to 204,321 in 2012-13.

In the first quarter of this year, the tribunal disposed of 92,810 ESA appeals, compared to 52,300 in the same quarter last year, an increase of 44%.

The average waiting time for all benefit types has fallen nationally from 23 weeks in 2011-12 to 18 weeks in 2012-13. This reduction has been sustained in the first quarter of 2013-14.

Knives: Crime

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the highest number of previous convictions for possession of a bladed article for an individual convicted of such an offence without being sent to prison was in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many offences that individual had committed in total at the point of sentence for this offence. [165413]

Jeremy Wright: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), wrote to the hon. Member on 30 September to provide the following information, and copies were placed in the House Library.

The Government believe that those who carry, or use a knife or offensive weapon to threaten another person and cause an immediate risk of serious physical harm to that other person are committing serious offences and should be punished accordingly.

In the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013, the Government introduced the new offence of threatening and endangering someone with a knife in a public place or a school, which came into force on 3 December 2012.

The Government are already considering whether there is a case for further changes to be made to the sentencing framework for knife possession as part of the knife sentencing review. We have already made it clear that we will be ensuring that cautions cannot be given for knife possession except in exceptional circumstances. Any changes we make to the sentencing framework will be brought forward in due course.

The highest number of previous convictions for possession of a knife by an offender who was convicted of a knife possession offence and not sentenced to custody is 15, for offences committed 12 months ending March 2013, England and Wales. The same offender had a total of 25 convictions for all offences at that point and had received custodial sentences for some of the previous convictions mentioned.

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The custody rate for those convicted of possession of a knife with at least one previous knife possession offence is 45%. In general custody rates have been increasing for possession of a knife or offensive weapon, up from 16% in Q1 2008 to 28% in Q1 2013¹.

These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

¹https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-january-to-march-2013

Legal Opinion

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) which 50 organisations or persons have received the largest sums of money from the public purse for the provision of legal services in respect of (a) immigration and (b) asylum cases in each of the last five years; [166138]

(2) how much from the public purse has been provided (a) directly and (b) indirectly through third parties to support legal cases related to (i) immigration and (ii) asylum issues in each of the last five years; and how much has been given to each such third party in each such year. [166139]

Jeremy Wright: At a cost of around £2 billion a year we have one of the most expensive legal aid systems in the world. We have made changes and proposed further reforms to reduce the cost of legal aid and to ensure that the legal aid system commands the confidence of the public. The Government are committed to providing value for money for the taxpayer and making legal aid sustainable for the future. We believe costs paid to lawyers through legal aid should reflect this.

Legal aid in most immigration cases was removed from 1 April 2013 under changes brought in by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This will deliver a saving to the public purse of around £20 million per year. Immigration tribunal cases are usually about the facts of a case, and are designed to be user-friendly, so having a lawyer isn't usually necessary. We have also removed legal aid for certain immigration judicial reviews. The majority of Immigration and Asylum advice remaining in scope relates to asylum cases, where the person fears for their life if sent home.

Prior to this, the total expenditure under legal aid for Immigration and Asylum matters had reduced since 2010 (see Table 1 as follows), partly due to the introduction of fixed fees, but also due to a general decrease in the number of individuals claiming asylum in the UK.

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The peak in the value of claims in 2009-10 occurred at a point where the UK Borders Agency were concluding many cases which had formed part of their case resolution "legacy" cohort. This led to providers being able to report costs on cases which had been open for a significant period, and therefore led to an increase in the value of claims in that period.

1. Availability of information:

In response to both questions, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is able to provide elements of the information requested, however, due to the methods used to report claims for costs to the LAA, it is unable to provide all of the information.

The LAA does not provide payment directly to individuals seeking legal advice; however, it does provide payment to organisations holding contracts to provide legal advice to such eligible individuals.

This funding consists of two levels—Controlled Work (this includes initial advice and funding for certain types of appeal) and Licensed Work (appeals to a higher court and applications for Judicial Review). In responding to both questions the data provided have been split between the two levels of funding.

The information that we are able to provide in response to the two questions differs between these two levels of funding.

Providers receive payment for Controlled Work through a Standard or Variable Monthly Payment; this is reconciled against the value of claims made for cases up to that point. This monthly payment is not separated between Immigration and Asylum, therefore in order to provide a response to your questions we have provided the Top 50 organisations in each year based on the value of the claims made by provider, rather than the amounts actually paid.

While the LAA is able to distinguish between claims in relation to Immigration advice and those concerning Asylum at the Controlled Work level, it does not hold data which allows it to do so for Licensed Work. Therefore for Licensed Work, the Top 50 across Immigration and Asylum combined has been provided.

2. Response to question 166138:

In response to question 166138, the LAA has provided a series of tables which set out the information available. I have placed copies of these tables in the House Library.

3. Response to question 166139:

In response to question 166139, the data have again been split between Controlled Work and Licensed Work, with a further split between Asylum and Immigration claims only possible in relation to Controlled Work. The data in relation to Controlled Work have again been limited to values claimed rather than amounts paid, where as for Licensed Work the actual payments have been provided.

Under both Controlled Work and Licensed Work, payments are made directly to contract holding organisations. Those organisations may also then make payments to third parties (such as experts and interpreters) in the form of disbursements. The details of the individual disbursements are not generally held by the LAA but are retained on the provider's file. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of the amounts paid to individual third parties.

Table 5 as follows details the total claims made in each financial year under Controlled Work, separated into both Asylum and Immigration. The total value of the disbursements claimed by organisations as part of those total claims has also been given.

Table 6 as follows details the total value of payments made directly to organisations under Licensed Work in each of the last five financial years. Similarly to the previous question, the LAA is unable to separate between Asylum and Immigration cases for this level of funding. The table also includes the total value of payments made to organisations for disbursements, which would have formed part of the total payments made to the organisations.

Table 7 details the total value of payments made directly to barristers under Licensed Work in each of the last five years. The data cannot be separated between Asylum and Immigration.

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Magistrates' Courts

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hearings before magistrates' courts in (a) London and (b) England have been postponed because of a failure to notify witnesses of their requirement to attend on the due date in each of the last five years. [170319]

Mr Vara: We are overhauling the Criminal Justice System to make the court process swifter and more efficient and recently launched our ‘CJS Strategy and Action Plan’ which includes steps to address the number of cracked and ineffective trials including increasing digital working and improved case management of files.

The number of trial hearings in England and Wales which are considered ineffective due to ‘prosecution/defence witness absent’ is published as part of the National Statistics publication ‘Court Statistics Quarterly’.

However, we are unable to centrally identify which of these ineffective hearings were due specifically to ‘failure to notify witness of their requirement to attend’. The information may be available via the manual inspection of case files but this would be possible only at a disproportionate cost.

Magistrates Courts: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people living in Dudley that volunteer at Dudley magistrates court; [170124]

(2) what assessment he has made of the long-term viability of Dudley magistrates court if the HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s preferred proposal for a new listing pattern for the newly formed black country local justice area goes ahead; [170125]

(3) what estimate he has made of the number of staff that would be (a) moved or (b) made redundant as a result of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s preferred proposal for a new listing pattern for the newly formed black country local justice area; [170126]

(4) what discussions he has had with individuals and organisations regarding plans to introduce a listing pattern for the newly formed black country local justice area; [170127]

(5) whether travel times listed in the HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s proposals for a listing pattern for the newly formed black country local justice area take account of traffic; [170128]

(6) what estimate he has made of the number of visits made to Dudley magistrates court by (a) victims of crime, (b) witnesses and (c) court volunteers in each of the last three years; [170129]

(7) what measures his Department has taken to ensure that Dudley magistrates court is able to clear its backlog of cases. [170130]

Mr Vara: The information is as follows:

(1) HMCTS currently has 105 magistrates (volunteers) that sit at Dudley magistrates court and live in Dudley. All of these magistrates have been involved in pre-consultation meetings and all have had a copy of the consultation document to consider. HMCTS will continue to offer sittings on dates and at centres where they

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volunteer to attend and there will be no adverse impact on the number of magistrates required. We are unable to provide attendance details of volunteer victim support officers since HMCTS does not collect that information.

(2) If the proposed listing pattern is implemented, the long-term viability of Dudley magistrates courthouse would be; following consultation with judiciary, stakeholders and court users, to use the courthouse to accommodate family, civil and tribunals (CFT) hearings. In contrast to the decreasing criminal work load, the CFT work load is increasing and there is a requirement for additional court estates to accommodate this rise. This would provide court users with local services which at present are only available in Wolverhampton and Walsall. HMCTS does keep its estates under constant review to ensure that it meets operational needs. The proposals in the consultation are designed to make better use of our estate and the judicial resources available in the black country to improve the service we provide to all court users. We can confirm that there are no plans to close Dudley courthouse.

(3) There are no plans to make any staff redundant. In the eventuality that staff are required to undertake duties in neighbouring courts, HMCTS will undertake and comply with all statutory consultation procedures. It is proposed that Dudley courthouse will accommodate civil, family and tribunal hearings which will require staff resources thus reducing, possibly eliminating the need to ask staff to travel to neighbouring centres.

(4) The consultation has been managed by a group of senior magistrates and senior managers within HMCTS all of whom work in the west midlands, the black country and Warwickshire. There has been a lot of pre-consultation, inter-agency engagement with court users, police, CPS, GeoAmey, Victim and Witness Delivery Group, prisons, DVLA and local solicitors to ensure that the needs of all linked agencies are considered. There have also been three consultation meetings with HMCTS staff, police, probation, CPS, magistrates and judiciary to assess the listing proposals. In addition to this, the project group has held individual meetings with GeoAmey, probation, police and youth offending, witness service and the Legal Aid Agency to ensure that all stakeholders have been involved and any challenges faced addressed prior to consultation. A copy of the consultation paper has been distributed to in excess of 70 separate bodies; responses to be received by 21 October 2013. All parties/agencies will be involved in final implementation discussions.

(5) The average travel times included in the consultation paper do not include potential traffic delays. Travel by private vehicle was sourced by the Green Flag route planner website and the public transport calculations were sourced using the appropriate websites for each travel mode entering required ‘to arrive at 9.30 am’ at each court centre as the end parameter.

(6) HMCTS does not collate data on the number of visits made by victims and witnesses at court centres. We have checked with the central performance team who have clarified that these data are not captured. Furthermore they are not captured locally or on the magistrates libra system. We do, however, collate data on magistrates (volunteers) attendances which are as follows:

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In 2010—2,355 days per calendar year, 2011—1,610 days per calendar year and 2012—1,441 days per calendar year. The video link equipment on site at Dudley will still be available for use by witnesses when required.

(7) If the preferred listing practices are implemented, local management will provide additional sitting days for Dudley to eliminate any backlog. No outstanding cases will be transferred to neighbouring court buildings.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) in which month his Department plans to publish the response to its consultation, Reducing the number and costs of whiplash claims; [169784]

(2) when his Department plans to publish the response to the consultation, Reducing the Number and Costs of Whiplash Claims. [168453]

Mr Vara: This Government are committed to reducing the number and cost of whiplash claims to help bring down the cost of motor insurance premiums for consumers.

On 16 May 2013, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), announced in a written ministerial statement that the Government would defer its response to the Reducing the number and cost of whiplash claims' consultation until after the Transport Committee had published its own report and recommendations in this area. The Committee's report was published on 31 July 2013. We are considering its recommendations alongside the responses received to the consultation. The Government will publish their response later this year.