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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 28 October 2013

Prime Minister

Members: Surveillance

Dr Huppert: To ask the Prime Minister whether it is his policy that the terms of the Wilson doctrine in respect of the (a) telephone tapping, (b) other interception of communications and (c) electronic surveillance of hon. Members should remain in force; and in how many instances since 1983 such interceptions have not yet been reported to the House. [172682]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the right hon. Lord Wallace of Saltaire to the noble Lord Strasburger on 3 July 2013, Official Report,House of Lords, column WA238.

Scotland

Energy

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what costs were incurred by his Department's estate in respect of (a) gas and (b) electricity supply in the 2012-13 financial year. [172649]

David Mundell: The costs incurred by the Scotland Office in the 2012-13 financial year, in respect of (a) gas was £6,876.40 and (b) electricity was £110,804.98, which includes £47,744.96 for Whitehall Standby Distribution System Standing Charges.

International Development

Afghanistan

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work has been undertaken by her Department to assess the likely number of applicants for leaseholdings before committing investment to the development of Bost Industrial Park. [171977]

Justine Greening: Officials met with local businesses in 2009 to discuss the business park.

Bangladesh

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings she has had to discuss the garment industry in Bangladesh in the last 12 months. [172515]

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Mr Duncan: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), and I held a meeting in London on 3 July with UK retailers and brand owners, including companies supplied by the garment industry in Bangladesh, to identify opportunities for improving working conditions for the poorest people around the world and promoting economic development. When I visited Dhaka in June I met international brands, factory owners, workers and the Government of Bangladesh to discuss the garment industry. The Under-Secretary of State for International Development, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), chaired a meeting with trade union representatives in July which included a discussion on the garment industry in Bangladesh.

Developing Countries: Forests

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's policy is on supporting deforestation in developing nations for the production of (a) palm oil and (b) biofuels in rare species' wildlife habitats. [172146]

Lynne Featherstone: Tackling deforestation requires action to curb the international demand for commodities such as palm oil that are driving deforestation, as well as support to developing countries to tackle the problem at its source.

DFID supports a number of programmes and policy initiatives which apply this approach, including the Forests Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme, which is supported by the Government's International Climate Fund. Stopping deforestation also protects forest habitat for rare species of wildlife.

Developing Countries: Maternity Services

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to which countries her Department provides financial or technical support to maternal health programmes where user fees are levied. [172617]

Lynne Featherstone: Out-of-pocket payments made at the time that health services are used, whether in the public or the private sector, act as a major barrier to access for poor people, especially women and children. In all countries, including countries where the UK has maternal health programmes, some people are required to make out-of-pocket payments to cover some or all of the cost of their health care.

The UK has a long track record of supporting countries to replace out-of-pocket payments with more equitable and efficient means of financing health care and has used a range of mechanisms to do so. The UK has provided direct bilateral support to several countries as they removed out-of-pocket payments, including Uganda, Burundi, Sierra Leone and Nepal, and is designing new support to Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique. The UK also funds the Department of Health Systems and Financing at the World Health Organisation, which is supporting more than 20 countries to develop more equitable health financing systems.

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Developing Countries: Tuberculosis

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the Stop TB Partnership's TB REACH programme; and when a decision on funding for TB REACH will be made. [172273]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID reviewed the external evaluation of TB REACH, which noted that TB REACH had successfully funded innovative approaches leading to additional TB cases being detected amongst high risk population groups and in high-burden countries. However, the report also noted concerns on the scalability and sustainability of TB REACH.

DFID has not yet made a decision on TB REACH funding. However, in September the UK Government committed up to £1 billion for 2014-16 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. The Global Fund commitment substantially increases our support to TB and TB-HIV and equates to approximately £180 million of UK development funding for TB over the next three years, providing TB treatment to more than one million people.

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with her Canadian counterparts in the Department for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development on support for TB Reach; and what discussions her Department plans to hold with them in future. [172274]

Lynne Featherstone: The Secretary of State for International Development has not had any discussions with her Canadian counterparts about support for TB Reach.

International Labour Organisation

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department gave to the International Labour Organisation in each of the last 10 financial years. [172524]

Mr Duncan: DFID's central finance records only hold details of supplier payments for the past four financial years, due to a systems change. In the period for which information is available, the central financial records show the following payments made directly to the International Labour Organisation:

Additionally, the records show the following payments made directly to the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation:

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Overseas Trade

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings she has had with ministerial colleagues in the (a) Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on trade with (i) India, (ii) countries in Africa and (iii) Bangladesh in the last 12 months. [172525]

Mr Duncan: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), met the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), earlier this year where they discussed trade with India, and developing country interests within the World Trade Organisation's multilateral negotiations. The Secretary of State has also engaged in numerous discussions with Government Ministers, including from the Foreign Office, on promoting growth and economic development in Africa and Asia.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which programmes her Department is supporting to address youth unemployment in each sub-Saharan nation in which her Department is active; and if she will make a statement. [172618]

Lynne Featherstone: All of our country programmes in sub-Saharan Africa support activities which address youth unemployment, either directly or indirectly. We have a number of programmes which target youth directly to help improve their employment opportunities. These programmes include the Employment Creation Fund and the Gauteng Youth Placement Scheme in South Africa, giving education-deprived youth in South Sudan practical livelihood skills through a Youth Education programme, supporting youth skills training and young entrepreneurs in Uganda, the ‘You Win’ entrepreneurship programme and youth participation in a roads maintenance programme in Nigeria and a youth employment programme in Mombasa, Kenya which is looking specifically at labour market entry for youth.

All country programmes work to increase growth and jobs in their countries through a range of interventions including encouraging investment, removing barriers to trade, developing local markets and increasing skills in the labour market. These broader activities benefit youth as well as the general population. In Sierra Leone, for example, early results from a pilot Job Creation Scheme, which does not specifically target youth, show that around 80% of new jobs are filled by young people.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she intends to answer Parliamentary Question numbers 169290 and 169243, tabled on 11 September for answer on 13 September 2013. [171401]

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Justine Greening: The parliamentary questions that the hon. Member refers to have now been answered and published on 16 October 2013, Official Report, column 778W.

Zimbabwe

Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid was given to Zimbabwe in the latest year for which figures are available; and what conditions were attached to such aid. [172547]

Lynne Featherstone: In the financial year 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, DFID granted £82 million to support the poorest people in Zimbabwe. DFID has not given any funding directly to the Government of Zimbabwe for over a decade (due to a lack of commitment to the UK's partnership principles including human rights, anti-corruption and domestic accountability) and has no plans to do so.

Instead, DFID Zimbabwe grants UK aid primarily through multilateral organisations, notably United Nations (UN) agencies, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector to deliver projects in a co-ordinated way with the rest of the international system. We expect all our implementing partners to meet high standards of financial management and accounting to achieve strong expected results, at best value for money.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what will be the practical requirements of paragraph 5(a) of schedule 3 to the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) 2012 Regulations, if it reverts to the requirement in the current Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 for rapid, uninterrupted movements of the knife. [172538]

George Eustice: The requirement for rapid, uninterrupted movements of the knife in paragraph 5(a) of schedule 3 of the latest draft of the welfare of animals at the time of killing regulations is the same requirement as that in paragraph 6(b) of schedule 12 of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995. The only difference is that the former specify that the knife must be hand-held.

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what practical changes will emerge for those engaging in religious slaughter as a result of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) 2012 Regulations. [172539]

George Eustice: Following last year's consultation, the Government have made clear that it will retain existing national rules for religious slaughter in the welfare of animals at the time of killing regulations where they give greater protection than EU Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing.

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Bovine Tuberculosis

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2013, Official Report, column 53W, on bovine tuberculosis: south west, when Natural England (NE) was informed of any possible need to extend the culls; when NE granted the application for extension; whether this decision took place after a full meeting of the NE board; and what the result was of any vote which took place in the board on the decision to extend the culls. [172386]

George Eustice: The culling company in west Somerset applied to Natural England (NE) for an extension of the culling period on 1 October. The culling company in west Gloucestershire applied for an extension of the culling period on 9 October.

An extension was granted to the west Somerset pilot cull on 11 October, and to the west Gloucestershire pilot cull on 23 October. The NE Board met on 23 October to consider whether the application in relation to west Gloucestershire should be determined by the Board, and decided to leave the determination to the NE Executive.

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2013, Official Report, column 54W, on bovine tuberculosis: south west, what assessment (a) his Department, (b) Natural England, (c) the Independent Expert Panel have made of the effect of a change in culling methods on the validity of scientific data gathered. [172388]

George Eustice: Controlled shooting and cage-trapping followed by shooting are the only culling methods permitted under licence from Natural England during the pilots. There has been no change of culling method during the pilots.

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the University of Exeter and the National Wildlife Management Centre on their research into badger group disruption aids and the spread of bovine TB published on 21 October 2013. [172468]

George Eustice: Officials, including the chief scientific adviser, have discussed the findings with the university of Exeter and the National Wildlife Management Centre. The research did not look at the effect of culling on social group disruption, but at contact rates within a stable population and their correlation to infection.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to publish his assessment of the (a) effectiveness and (b) humaneness of the badger cull; and if he will make a statement. [172894]

George Eustice: A report to Ministers on the outcome of pilot culls will be published after the culls have been completed and following a review of the results by an independent panel of experts.

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Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to determine the safety and humaneness of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement. [172667]

George Eustice: An independent expert panel has been appointed specifically to look at the safety, humaneness and effectiveness of controlled shooting during the pilots. The panel has overseen the development of protocols to do so and will analyse the data collected during the pilots before reporting to Ministers.

Dolphins

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if he will review the adequacy of existing laws to protect and conserve populations of bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the UK coastline; [172300]

(2) what is being done to protect and conserve bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the UK coastline. [172535]

George Eustice: Bottlenose dolphins are strictly protected in UK waters under the EU habitats directive and also under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This legislation requires the protection of all dolphins from deliberate disturbance, capture or killing. There are currently no plans to review this.

To help contribute to securing favourable conservation status for this species under the EU habitats directive, the UK has designated Special Areas of Conservation in Cardigan Bay and the Moray Firth, where there are semi-resident groups of bottlenose dolphin.

EU Regulation 812/2004 also establishes measures to tackle cetacean bycatch in relevant fisheries, including in UK waters. In 2012 the European Commission provided a report on the implementation of this regulation, including a way forward.

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent reports he has received of incidents of harassment, injury and death of bottlenose dolphins caused by boats off the coast of Cornwall. [172301]

George Eustice: Following reports of the death of a bottlenose dolphin off the coast of Cornwall in July, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has worked with local groups to publicise guidance relating to the disturbance of marine wildlife. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust has set up a marine disturbance hotline in the south-west for members of the public to report incidents.

Neither DEFRA, nor the MMO has received reports of other incidents involving bottlenose dolphins since the above incident in July. Data from the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme similarly indicate that there have been no other bottlenose dolphin strandings recorded in Cornwall in 2013.

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Telephone Services

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department's policy is on the use of geographical telephone numbers to allow the public to contact his Department. [172267]

Dan Rogerson: Core DEFRA offers a geographical telephone number to callers outside the UK as some international telecom companies do not support calls to non-geographical numbers.

Core DEFRA offers a non-geographical number to callers within the UK because this number allows suppliers to manage call flows and call routing to provide a better service to the caller.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of reports of ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses against the Rohingya people in Burma; and what reports he has received on their continued imprisonment in Thai immigration detention facilities. [172209]

Mr Swire: The British Government have been among the most vocal members of the international community in raising our concerns about the plight of the Rohingya community. In Burma we continue to make clear to the Burmese Government that where serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them must be held accountable for their actions. This should be done through a clear and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards. Further independent investigative work to fully establish the facts would be required for an informed assessment as to whether ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have been committed.

We also continue to raise our concerns about the condition of Rohingya refugees, particularly those who flee through Thailand, with the Thai Government.

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2013, Official Report, column 877, on human rights: Burma, what recent representations he has made to his Burmese counterpart on (a) allowing the UN access to military sites and (b) ending the recruitment of children as soldiers in Burma. [172215]

Mr Swire: Engaging the military will be vital if Burma's reform process is to succeed. The British Government appointed A defence attaché to Burma in February this year at the request of the Burmese Government and Aung San Suu Kyi; our defence attaché will be the primary mechanism for such engagement. We will focus on efforts to ensure that the Burmese military is democratically accountable and operates within the context of international standards, including human rights. We set out these objectives clearly to President Thein Sein during his visit to the UK in July 2013. Part of our engagement will focus on the issue of ending the recruitment of child soldiers.

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In August 2013 the UK, as part of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed a resolution on the issue of child soldiers in Burma. The resolution specifically calls on the Burmese Government to ensure the UN country team is granted access to all military sites, and that steps are taken to remove the incentives for recruiting child soldiers and to strengthen age verification mechanisms. Officials are in regular contact with UN staff and we will continue to engage with the Burmese Government and Burmese military on this issue.

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 July 2013, Official Report, column 427W, on Burma, what the outcome was of meetings in July 2013 between his Department and President Thein Sein of Burma on the treatment of the Rohingya people and the release of political prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [172221]

Mr Swire: As I set out during the Adjournment debate in the House on 8 October 2013, Official Report, columns 138-40, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised a number of our concerns during the visit of President Thein Sein. These concerns included the continuing plight of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State and specifically their citizenship status of the Rohingya.

The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State also repeated our calls for the release of all remaining political prisoners. To that effect, we welcomed the commitment made by President Thein Sein during his visit to release all political prisoners by the end of 2013. As I stated to the House on 8 October, while we welcome recent releases, we also call on the Burmese Government to repeal repressive laws that have led to a number of fresh arrests of political activists over the past year.

China

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of forced organ harvesting in Chinese prisons; and what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on this practice. [172193]

Mr Swire: We are aware that organs removed from executed prisoners are used for human transplantation purposes in China. Chinese law requires that prisoners give prior consent that their organs be used in this way. We note the pledge made by the Chinese Ministry of Health to begin phasing out the practice from November 2013.

We welcome steps the Chinese Government have taken in recent years toward regulating organ transplantation in line with international standards and establishing a national register for voluntary donors. We continue to encourage China to make further progress in this respect, including by engaging where appropriate to share best practice in the areas of organ donation and transplantation.

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Fisheries: Pitcairn Islands

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the economic and environmental viability of offshore commercial fishing within the Pitcairn Islands' exclusive economic zone. [172554]

Mark Simmonds: There is no offshore commercial fishery operating in Pitcairn Island waters, nor are there plans to create one. The Pew Environment Group has produced reports on the environmental viability of a commercial fishery, but there are limited data on the economic feasibility of such a venture. Work is under way to explore and assess all potential economic opportunities available to the Pitcairn Islanders, and this will include that of a sustainable fishery. The Government are committed to working with the Pitcairn Island Government and with partner organisations to ensure the sustainable management of Pitcairn' s marine environment.

Guinea

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support the Government and people of the Republic of Guinea in that country's transition to democracy. [172200]

Mark Simmonds: Britain is providing both political and practical support for Guinea's transition to democratic government, bilaterally and through multilateral channels, in particular the UN and EU. The role of women in elections has been the target of our support. In line with that, we have funded the training of 200 women election observers. We welcome the holding of peaceful legislative elections on 28 September, and look forward to the establishment of the new National Assembly as soon as possible.

Iran

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received that Iran is circumventing arms embargo sanctions. [172304]

Hugh Robertson: The Final Report of the UN's Iran Sanctions Committee's Panel of Experts of 5 June 2013 stated that Yemen reported an incident involving the transfer of conventional arms and related materiel in February 2013. Other reports suggest that Iran continues to transfer arms within the middle east and Africa—including to Syria, Gaza, and Kenya. Iran must end such activity immediately.

Libya

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what assessment he has made of the extent of human trafficking in Libya; [172334]

(2) what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the trafficking of people within Libya. [172340]

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Hugh Robertson: We have not made our own assessment of the extent of human trafficking in Libya, but we are aware that this issue remains a serious concern. The most recent figures produced by the Global Slavery Index suggest that an estimated 17,000 to 19,000 people in Libya have become the victims of trafficking since the revolution.

Libya committed to combating human trafficking in its work to improve border security and management in the country under the six security sector pillars identified as priority areas at the Paris Conference in February. The international community, including the UK, committed to providing further assistance to Libya on those priorities.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Libyan Government on the recent assassination of Ahmed al-Barghathi. [172335]

Hugh Robertson: Members of the British Government speak regularly with our counterparts in the Libyan Government, including on issues of security. On 11 October 2013 I condemned the assassination campaign in the east of the country. We continue to stress the importance of all perpetrators of serious crimes in Libya being brought to justice.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what assessment he has made of the current (a) security and (b) political situation in Libya; and if he will make a statement; [172336]

(2) what assessment he has made of the process of democratisation in Libya. [172339]

Hugh Robertson: Since the fall of the Gaddafi regime two years ago, the situation in Libya has changed significantly. Libya has held successful national elections for the first time in over 40 years. Prime Minister Zeidan's democratically-elected Government, and the transitional Government before it, has made some progress in rebuilding Government ministries, registering revolutionary fighters, and restarting oil and gas production.

However, the political transition in Libya will take time in light of four decades of mismanagement and dictatorship. Libya is now at a critical stage in its transition and still faces significant challenges. Armed militia outside of the Government's control continue to intimidate the Government and General National Congress, as evident in the recent kidnapping of Prime Minister Zeidan. The police and armed forces lack the authority and capability to secure the country. Political divisions are hampering progress overall. The UK, along with our international partners, is providing political and technical support to assist Libya during these critical times.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what estimate he has made of the number of internally displaced people in Libya; [172338]

(2) what assessment he has made of the current humanitarian situation in Libya; and if he will make a statement. [172341]

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Hugh Robertson: The most recent estimate produced by Amnesty International suggests that approximately 58,000 people are internally displaced in Libya, with many accommodated in camps outside Tripoli and Benghazi. The Libyan Government have made a commitment to improve the living conditions of internally displaced groups, to prepare conditions for a return to their home cities and to make progress on securing justice for alleged crimes against them. Our embassy is in contact with the groups affected and has raised these issues with the Libyan Government.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what projects the Government is supporting to improve governance in Libya. [172342]

Hugh Robertson: We have offered an expanded package of assistance, focusing on building accountable and human rights-compliant security and justice structures, and creating effective financial management and economic governance systems in Libya. For example, we are providing or have provided:

strategic advice on restoring public security and promoting the rule of law through police advisors working within the Interior Ministry;

a UK detentions adviser, working within the Ministry of Justice to assist on detention facilities and rule of law issues;

a defence advisory and training team (DATT) of about 20 personnel. The team has advisers embedded in the Libyan MOD, Navy, Air Force, border security force and joint training directorate;

£1.5 million to the UN elections fund and training of domestic electoral observers focusing on women and youth groups;

support to develop two new programmes to assist capacity building of Libyan institutions for private sector development and emergency job creation in central Libya.

Maldives

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the political situation in the Maldives; and what urgent steps he is taking to help ensure that elections in that country take place as soon as possible. [172148]

Mr Swire: We continue to receive regular reports on the deeply unsatisfactory political situation in the Maldives ahead of the scheduled re-run of the first round of presidential elections on 9 November. Our high commissioner to Colombo, who is also accredited to the Maldives, has travelled to Malé this week in order to meet with key figures including presidential candidates, President Waheed and the Elections Commissioner. British High Commission staff were also in the Maldives on 19 October in order to observe elections, and following the cancellation of the vote were also able to meet with key figures.

We continue to work closely with the international community in order to help ensure that elections take place as scheduled. Since 19 October I have spoken three times to the Commonwealth Secretary-General to discuss the Maldives, and the Prime Minister also raised the Maldives during his discussion with the Commonwealth Secretary-General on 21 October. I have also made publicly clear that the UK will be watching the situation closely and that the Elections Commission should be

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given space to make the preparations necessary for the first round to be held on 9 November. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), released a statement on 19 October which made clear that:

‘continuing challenges to prevent elections taking place will be seen as nothing less than an attempt to frustrate the democratic process.'

Muhammed Sillah

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the detention of Muhammed Sillah in Canada and his proposed deportation to Gambia. [172351]

Hugh Robertson: The British Government have not made an assessment on this issue. Canadian immigration and asylum issues are a matter for the Canadian authorities.

Press Freedom: Iran

Rebecca Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of levels of press freedom in Iran. [172530]

Hugh Robertson: We continue to be concerned about the lack of press freedom in Iran. At least 40 journalists—as well as 29 bloggers and online activists—are reportedly serving sentences in Iran. At least 23 journalists have reportedly been arrested since January 2013. This includes the arrest of 15 journalists between 25 and 27 January, the largest mass arrest of journalists in the country since 2009.

Seas and Oceans: South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to strengthen the level of marine protection around South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands in line with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature protected area management categories. [172555]

Mark Simmonds: The protection of the marine environment around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a matter for the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI). Following an initial declaration of a large marine protected area (MPA) in 2012, GSGSSI consulted scientists and stakeholders and in January 2013 announced an enhanced suite of measures, strengthening the extensive environmental protection already implemented by the existing MPA (over 1,000,000km² area).

These additional protection measures, which were developed in accordance with guidelines from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), incorporate an innovative combination of spatial and temporal closures. Within the MPA, 92% of the seafloor is protected from any form of bottom fishing, including all of the seafloor within 12 miles of the island of South Georgia. A seasonal closure of the krill fishery prevents competition between the fishery and the abundant krill-eating predators, for example penguins

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and seals. This novel approach to marine protection provides an excellent model for the implementation of MPAs in other parts of the world.

Somalia

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of progress in stabilising Somalia. [172201]

Mark Simmonds: Somalia has come a long way in a short time. In May, the UK jointly hosted a second Somalia Conference with the Federal Government of Somalia. This generated further international support for the Somalian Federal Government's plans for the armed forces, police, rebuilding the judiciary, and public financial management. The Somali President set out his plan for political reconciliation and roadmap to elections in 2016; and international partners pledged some $350 million (around £216 million) in new financial support aligned to these plans. In September, a further conference in Brussels brought together Somalia and the international community to agree a 'New Deal Compact', a plan for the international community to support the Government of Somalia in rebuilding the country. This sustained international support, in which the UK continues to play a leading role, has produced real gains on the ground, including the agreement signed between the Federal Government and the Interim Juba Administration in the South of Somalia. However the situation remains fragile. Al Shabaab remains active, and it is important that the Somali National Forces and African Union Mission in Somalia take the fight to Al Shabaab to create the space for political reconciliation. We are working closely with the Federal Government of Somalia to maintain international support for that and their wider objectives.

Syria

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been offered to refugees from Syria with family members and connections in the UK. [169992]

Mr Harper: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.

The Government share the deep concerns of others regarding the continuing humanitarian crisis in Syria.

In line with our international obligations, family members of those granted refugee status in the UK (including those from Syria) may apply for family reunion from outside the UK.

However, the Government have no current plans to resettle Syrian refugees or to provide emergency humanitarian admission. We continue to believe that the immediate priority should be to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced people in partnership with neighbouring countries and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The UK has now increased its pledge for the Syrian relief effort to £500 million. This represents the UK's largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis.

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Western Sahara

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the European Commission will be required to inform the UN Secretary General of fish taken from the waters of Western Sahara under the new protocol to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement. [172347]

Hugh Robertson: The new protocol to the fisheries agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco has not yet been agreed by the Council and the European Parliament. The new protocol, as initialled, does not require the UN Secretary-General to be informed of fish taken from the waters of western Sahara.

Zimbabwe

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment has been made of the human rights record of the Zimbabwe Government. [172474]

Mark Simmonds: Despite some longstanding concerns, the overall human rights situation in Zimbabwe has remained stable in recent months. Where human rights violations have occurred, they have included harassment of civil society organisations (CSOs), human rights defenders and opposition political activists. We also remain concerned about the repressive legislation and limited media freedom which affect all Zimbabweans.

We welcome the peaceful and calm manner in which the elections on 31 July were held, despite intimidation and the threat of violence during the lead up to polling day. We remain concerned, however, that the conduct of the elections was seriously flawed, with clear evidence of voting irregularities. We have made clear to international partners and the Zimbabwean Government our concerns over the credibility of the process.

The UK government will continue to monitor the human rights issues in Zimbabwe closely. We call regularly, both bilaterally and in partnership with other EU member states, for an end to all such abuses. We expect the new Government to restore internationally accepted human rights standards and to honour its obligations, and ensure the protection and promotion of fundamental freedoms for all Zimbabweans.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons Chamber

Joan Walley: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent inspections have been undertaken of thermostat controls in the Chamber; what routine maintenance is carried out on the heating system in the Chamber; and if he will make a statement. [172289]

John Thurso: The Chamber's environmental controls (including thermostat/sensor control) are inspected before every sitting of the House and are monitored throughout by staff in Engineers' Control using building management systems, including alarms. Maintenance plans are designed

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to minimise the risk of the heating system going wrong. If the hon. Member has concerns about specific issues, the DG, Facilities would be happy to discuss these with her.

All the plant systems serving the Chamber are regularly maintained to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The major plant serving the Chamber is being refurbished under the major medium term mechanical and electrical programme.

ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission what assessment the Commission has made of the security and privacy implications of moving hon. Members' ICT services onto the Cloud. [172675]

John Thurso: While it is not the practice of the Commission to comment on security matters in any detail, the high-level position is that Parliamentary ICT, working with the Parliamentary Security Director, the Senior Information Risk Owners of both Houses, Speaker's Counsel, other parties and the supplier, has assessed the risks of the proposed new arrangements for the security and privacy of parliamentary data. These are generally assessed as positive in relation to conventional cyber attack and negligible in relation to potential cross-jurisdictional action (for example, under the USA PATRIOT Act).

The biggest risk to the security and privacy of parliamentary data is poor user behaviour and non-compliance with rules, policies and best practice. Any new arrangements will be accompanied by refreshed guidance and a substantial awareness-raising campaign.

Members can access current guidance via the ICT security pages on the parliamentary intranet. If the hon. Member has any particular issues that she would like to discuss, the Parliamentary Security Director would be happy to meet her.

Home Department

Criminal Records Data (Romania and Bulgaria)

4. Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that criminal records data held by (a) Romanian and (b) Bulgarian authorities are shared with UK authorities in order to combat serious organised crime. [900696]

Mr Harper: The UK is already able to secure information on previous convictions from Romania and Bulgaria under existing EU Council Framework Decisions. In addition, both Romania and Bulgaria have deployed officers to the UK to assist in providing information about offenders from their countries.

Animal Experiments

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animals were used for experimentation in the UK in each of the last three years. [172412]

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James Brokenshire [holding answer 25 October 2013]: There were 4.03 million animals used in scientific procedures in Great Britain in 2012 (most recent year for which data are available); 3.71 million were used in 2011, and 3.64 million were used in 2010.

Northern Ireland statistics are published separately by the Northern Ireland Health, Social Services and Public Health Department. Statistics for 2012 will be published November/December 2013. There were 17,687 animals used in scientific procedures in Northern Ireland in 2011 and 17,668 were used in 2010.

Arrests

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested but not charged with a qualifying offence in each of the last five years. [172262]

James Brokenshire [holding answer 24 October 2013]: The information requested is not collected centrally as the outcomes of arrests are not separately identifiable from data collected from police forces.

Capita

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many texts sent by Capita on behalf of the UK Border Agency since May 2010 advising people of termination of their right to remain in the UK have subsequently been proven to have been sent in error. [171437]

Mr Harper [holding answer 18 October 2013]: Up to the end of quarter 2 of 2013, 143 (0.24%) complaints have been received by the Home Office and Capita out of the 58,800 people put into the contact process at that time. Of the 143 complaints received, Capita has accepted that 14 cases were contacted in error (0.024%).

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value was of the contract held by Capita with the UK Border Agency for managing text messaging to individuals who do not have leave to remain in the UK in each year since May 2010. [171583]

Mr Harper [holding answer 18 October 2013]: The contract between the Home Office and Capita Business Services was signed on 29 October 2012. The contract is for a minimum of four years, and the value of the contract is a maximum of £30 million over four years.

Deportation: Sri Lanka

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been removed to Sri Lanka under immigration law in each year since 2010-11; and what her policy is on immigration and the safety of Tamil people who are returned. [172066]

Mr Harper [holding answer 22 October 2013]: The following table shows the total numbers of enforced removals, refusals at port and voluntary departures to Sri Lanka from January 2010 to June 2013.

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Data for July 2013 are not yet available, but quarterly data for July to September 2013 will be published as part of the regular Home Office publication scheme at the end of November.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK. Provided data are published as National Statistics.

The data on removals and voluntary departures by destination are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: April to June 2013, tables rv_06 and rv_06_q from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Statistics home page at gov.uk:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2013/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2013#summary-points-april-to-june-2013

The Home Office policy on the consideration of applications for protection from nationals of Sri Lanka is contained in the Operational Guidance Note (OGN) for Sri Lanka, published 31 July 2013. The OGN is available at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/countryspecificasylumpolicyogns/

The guidance reflects the findings of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber Upper Tribunal in the Sri Lanka country guidance case of GJ and Others, published 5 July 2013, and the UN High Commissioner tor Refugees Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum Seekers from Sri Lanka, published December 2012.

The tribunal identified new at risk categories for Sri Lankan nationals, but found that Tamils per se are not at risk. Each application for protection is considered on its individual merits against country information obtained from a wide range of sources.

Returns are only undertaken when the Home Office and the courts have judged it safe to do so.

Entry Clearances: Appeals

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many ECM reviews in (a) Pakistan, (b) India, (c) China, (d) Australia and (e) the US have been refused on the basis of staff shortages in each of the last five years; [171990]

(2) what assessment she has made of the proportion of ECM reviews which are not completed due to staff shortages. [171991]

Mr Harper: There are no statutory reviews of decisions that entry clearance managers (ECM) have to make.

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ECM reviews are used as a quality-assurance measure. Statistics regarding the number of ECM reviews that are ‘refused’ are not kept.

ECM reviews are carried out in a number of different circumstances, including:

dip-sampling of decided visa applications (operational guidance sets out the percentages of cases to be reviewed, using broad categories);

when an appeal against a refusal decision has been received;

if an MP has written to query a decision;

when a complaint has been made;

when certain the provisions of paragraph 320 of the immigration rules have been used to refuse an application (the ‘deception’ provisions of the rules).

Depending upon the category of application, and whether the visa application has been approved or refused, ECMs currently review decisions in line with the following percentages:

Non-settlement cases issued: 10%

Settlement cases (issued or refused): 20%

Points-based system cases refused: 2% (these cases have the right to an Administrative Review, which is carried out by an ECM)

Non-settlement cases refused (not including PBS applications): 20%

ECMs also target their reviews on new/temporary staff; cases where there has been a recent rules change; and once a quarter will undertake an unannounced review of all of the decisions that an entry clearance officer makes on a particular day. As an illustration of the numbers undertaken more recently, the following table shows global reviews for 2012-13.

My officials closely monitor application rates globally and staffing is reinforced if demand affects our ability to meet our internal quality assurance targets.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that students applying for visas for study in the UK are not unreasonably affected by fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. [171257]

Mr Harper [holding answer 17 October 2013]: Students are required to demonstrate that they have sufficient funds available to meet their living costs while they are in the UK. The precise amounts that they must have available are set out in the Immigration Rules. Where the funds are in one or more foreign currencies, the applicant must have the specified level of funds when converted to pound sterling using the spot exchange rate which appears on www.oanda.com for the 28-day period up to the date of application. Students may therefore check for themselves whether their funds are sufficient to meet the visa requirements, taking into account daily exchange rates, before submitting an application.

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Mr Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has any plans to introduce alterations to student visa requirements and administration as they affect potential students from India; and if she will make a statement. [171373]

Mr Harper: The Government have overhauled the student visa route with a package of measures designed to tackle abuse of the route while continuing to attract the brightest and best students to our world-class universities. This has resulted in the total number of student visas issued falling by a third since 2010, while visa applications from university students continue to increase. All genuine students with the right qualifications, sufficient funds to cover their fees and maintenance costs and a good level of English can come, with no annual limit on numbers. There are no plans to alter the requirements for students from India.

Firearms: Licensing

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will publish the estimated fees for the new e-commerce system for firearms licensing. [172427]

Damian Green [holding answer 25 October 2013]: The introduction of e-commerce does not mean there will be an automatic change in fees for firearms licensing. The e-commerce system is a police initiative which will make the firearms licensing process far more efficient and may have cost benefits. Once the system has been piloted in summer 2014 we will work with police to calculate the costs of the automated process and consider reviewing the fees accordingly.

Firearms: Smuggling

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make an estimate of the number of firearms illegally imported to the UK in each of the last five years. [171937]

Mr Harper [holding answer 22 October 2013]: The Home Office does not hold annual estimates of the number of firearms illegally imported into the UK. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 October 2013, Official Report, column 645W, about illegal firearms seized upon arrival in the UK.

Gangmasters

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to extend Operation Endeavour, targeting illegal gangmasters, to the Peterborough city council area; and if she will make a statement. [171505]

Mr Harper [holding answer 21 October 2013]: We welcome the robust action taken by Cambridgeshire Police in concert with the Gangmaster Licensing Authority, the National Crime Agency, Home Office Immigration Enforcement and other organisations to deal with exploitation in Wisbech, King's Lynn and March. The Home Office is working in partnership with other workplace and law enforcement organisations to co-ordinate multi-agency taskforce action against businesses committing

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labour market abuses involving migrant workers in other parts of the UK. I cannot comment specifically on where future police operations might take place.

Gilbert Deya

Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the extradition of Gilbert Deya to Kenya. [171993]

Mr Harper: The Secretary of State is considering further representations from Mr Deya that extradition would breach his Convention rights. She will make a decision as soon as possible.

Illegal Immigrants

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) telephone calls to 0207 9786399 and (b) texts of “home” to 78070 were (i) received and (ii) resulted in a removal following the recent 'go home or face arrest' advertising campaign. [171192]

Mr Harper: The pilot has had a great deal of interest. The effect of the pilot, including the number of individuals who contacted the Home Office and departed the UK, is the subject of an evaluation which will be published in due course.

Immigration

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the Older Live Cases unit to make a decision on case J1102048; and if she will make a statement. [171294]

Mr Harper [holding answer 17 October 2013]: This case is currently with the Older Live Cases unit and will be reviewed within the next six months.

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department What steps she is taking to reduce immigration. [900702]

Mrs May: The most recent statistics show that net migration is down by a third since its peak in 2010. Our tough policies continue to bring immigration back under control and we are committed to bringing net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands.

Immigration Bill (Draft)

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will publish regulations associated with the draft Immigration bill. [172027]

Mr Harper [holding answer 22 October 2013]: The Immigration Bill contains a number of measures to reform our immigration system, reforming the appeals system, making it easier to remove illegal migrants, ending the abuse of article 8 and preventing illegal migrants accessing services or the labour market. A number of measures in the Bill will require regulations to be produced before they could be brought into force, subject to the Bill completing its passage through Parliament. We aim to publish draft regulations or

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documents setting out the Government's intent before the relevant clauses are considered at Commons Committee stage.

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) emails and (b) telephone calls have been received by the help desk operated by the UK Border Agency since May 2010 on employment enforcement under sections 15 to 25 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [172069]

Mr Harper [holding answer 22 October 2013]: Between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013, the Home Office received 186,220 e-mails to its Employer Checking Service (ECS) from employers seeking to establish a statutory excuse against a civil penalty. During this period there were 654,810 calls made to the Sponsorship and Employer Helpline. This helpline received inquiries regarding the prevention of illegal working as well as sponsorship queries. The figures for illegal working calls only is not available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Note:

The figures quoted are not National Statistics but are based on provisional management information and may be subject to change.

Investigatory Powers Tribunal

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints submitted to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal were deemed to be vexatious or without standing in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013; what definition of (i) standing and (ii) vexatious the Investigatory Powers Tribunal uses; and if she will make a statement. [171984]

James Brokenshire: The Investigatory Powers Tribunal regularly publishes statistics on the number of complaints submitted. The most recent information regarding the number of complaints made to the Tribunal in 2012 is set out on their website at:

www.ipt-uk.com

This states that in 2012 they carried forward 47 cases from 2011, received 168 new cases, completed 191 and carried forward 24 cases to 2013. Statistical information is not available on the number of frivolous (this is the term used in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 rather than 'without standing') or vexatious complaints received by the Tribunal in 2012 and 2013.

Iraq: Iran

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 84W, on Iraq: Iran, what the current immigration status is of the 52 residents of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty who are seeking resettlement in the UK. [172212]

Mr Harper: None of the 52 residents of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty who were previously settled in the UK have any current immigration status here. We have agreed to consider, exceptionally, their re-admission as refugees, subject to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees

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(UNHCR) assessment of each individual to ensure that none have been complicit in acts of terrorism or other activities incompatible with refugee status. Thus far, UNHCR have submitted 17 assessments to the Home Office. No decisions have yet been reached.

Jimmy Mubenga

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will adopt the three recommendations put forward by Citizens UK on enforced removals in the wake of Jimmy Mubenga's unlawful killing. [171499]

Mr Harper [holding answer 18 October 2013]: It is assumed that this question relates to the four National Independent Commission on Enforced Removals recommendations (NICER) in its second report of 21 December 2012.

Home Office Immigration Enforcement has established the Complex and Scheduled Removals Team (CSRT) to consolidate the necessary skills to review complex cases and determine the most effective, humane and low risk method of return.

The requirements stipulated by Home Office Immigration Enforcement for Detainee Custody Officers (DCOs) are higher than those of the Security Industry Authority for accreditation (SIA). There are therefore no plans to seek accreditation for DCOs from the SIA.

Independent observers from HM Inspectorate of Prisons and from Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) already monitor a number of removal flights from the UK.

The monitoring by observers from IMBs is being evaluated and decisions have yet to be made about the future arrangements for this type of monitoring.

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Restraint is used only as a last resort. All escorting staff are trained in the use of control and restraint techniques which are accredited by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). We wish to retain the ability to use these techniques, in line with other law enforcement organisations, such as the police and prison service. We have asked NOMS to design a bespoke Home Office training package for overseas escorts. The Independent Advisory Panel on Non-Compliance Management were appointed to provide support in the development of this package and to provide independent advice to the Home Office on the quality and safety of the new package, in particular the use of restraint techniques.

Passports

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people aged 85 or over have applied (a) for a new passport and (b) to renew their passport in the last 12 months for which figures are available; [172230]

(2) how many people at the minimum qualifying age and over have applied (a) for a new and (b) for the renewal of, a passport in each of the last five years. [172245]

Mr Harper [holding answer 24 October 2013]: The latest figures available from Her Majesty's Passport Office are for the calendar year 2012. In that year, people aged 85 or over applied for (a) 622 new passports and (b) 22,246 passport renewals.

The number of people applying for new or renewal passports in the past five calendar years is shown in the following table:

Police Numbers

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change there has been in the number of police officers in (a) Wales and (b) each other nation and region of the UK since May 2010. [171873]

James Brokenshire: The following table contains data on the numerical and percentage change, for police officers in each English region and Wales, from 31 March 2010 (the closest month to May 2010 for which data is available) to 31 March 2013 (the most recent data). Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved Administrations.

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Police Stations

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the role played by police stations in meeting the policing needs of large and growing towns. [171972]

James Brokenshire: Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including the number and opening hours of police stations, are matters for chief constables and police and crime commissioners.

Visibility, accessibility and confidence in policing are not about certain types of building. There are many good examples of forces doing far more with their money by finding new forms of public contact. These include the new non-emergency number 101, the internet, or contact in places such as supermarket surgeries, where more people can contact the police.

Sexual Offences

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent officers were employed in each rank of the Metropolitan Police's Sapphire Command in each year since 2008. [172358]

Damian Green: The Home Office does not hold this information.

Health

Air Pollution

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of air pollution on public health; and what steps the Government are taking to tackle this problem. [172711]

Jane Ellison: The main health impact of air pollution is the effect on mortality of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution estimated¹, on the basis of 2008 data, that fine particulate matter (measured as PM2.5) had an effect on the mortality of the United Kingdom population equivalent to 29,000 deaths in 2008.

¹Note:

http://comeap.org.uk/documents/reports

The Public Health Outcomes Framework² has an indicator of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to air pollution (measured as PM2.5) and this contains an estimate of the fraction of mortality attributable to fine particulate matter in 2010 for all upper tier and unitary authorities in England.

²Note:

www.phoutcomes.info/

With regard to what steps the Government are taking to tackle this problem I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Richard Benyon), on 3 June 2013, Official Report, column 784W, to the hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown).

Death: Weather

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce excess winter deaths across the UK. [172654]

Jane Ellison: The Department, with Public Health England and NHS England, has developed annual Cold Weather Plans for England since 2011. The 2013 Cold Weather Plan for England was published on 25 October 2013, recommending actions to be taken throughout the year to reduce excess winter deaths, with specific actions during winter triggered by Met Office alerts. To encourage local public health action, excess winter deaths is also an indicator in the Public Health Outcomes Framework, which is designed to help local authorities prioritise public health issues in their local area.

The Department, working with Public Health England and NHS England, is urging people who are offered the flu vaccine, including those who are most at risk, and all two and three-year-olds (as of 1 September 2013) to protect themselves from flu this winter by ensuring they get vaccinated against the flu virus. For the first time, a nasal spray vaccine will be offered to healthy two and three-year-old children, as their close contact with each other means that they are more likely to transmit the virus to other vulnerable groups—including infants and older people.

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The Department is also investing £500 million in NHS England over the next two years to make sure that accident and emergency departments are prepared for the inevitable winter pressures.

The Department works with other Government Departments and local government to reduce the health impacts of cold weather, demonstrated in the 'Get Ready For Winter' website, hosted by the Met Office, which contains advice on all aspects of winter preparedness.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of waiting times for accessing sexual health services. [172653]

Jane Ellison: The Department does not collect waiting times for sexual health services.

Local authorities (LAs) have been responsible for commissioning most sexual health services since 1 April 2013. How these services are provided is for LAs to determine, but the Department's Sexual Health Improvement Framework (published March 2013) highlights the importance of providing rapid access to confidential, open-access, integrated sexual health services in a range of settings, accessible at convenient times. There are a number of tools available to local authorities, including advice and support from Public Health England, to help them to improve access in their local areas.

Health Education: Greater Manchester

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total (a) expenditure on consultants to date and (b) budget is for the Greater Manchester Healthier Together project. [172329]

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally. The reconfiguration of health services is a matter for the national health service locally.

This information should be obtained from NHS commissioners in Greater Manchester.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people treated for injuries related to (a) female genital mutilation and (b) domestic violence in 2012-13 were in the UK (i) illegally and (ii) as short-term visitors at the time of their treatment; and what provision he plans to make for such cases under the proposed new charging scheme for NHS treatment. [172516]

Jane Ellison: Although the Health and Social Care Information Centre collects hospital episode statistics, there is currently no central coding of domestic violence or female genital mutilation in respect of healthcare or treatments, nor do these contain information about the patient's residency, nationality or migration status.

The Department is considering responses to its recent consultation “Sustaining services, ensuring fairness: A consultation on migrant access and their financial contribution to NHS provision in England” and will respond shortly.

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Medicine: Education

Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to ensure that the number of places for medical undergraduates at UK universities is sufficient to meet the annual recruitment needs of the NHS for such graduates. [172546]

Jane Ellison: In England periodical reviews are carried out to determine the appropriate level of medical school intakes. The last such review was published in December 2012. A further review will be undertaken by Health Education England in due course.

University College Hospital

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2013, Official Report, columns 702-3W, on health services, (1) for what reasons NHS England refuses to allow treatment at University College London Hospital when the service is available on site; [172382]

(2) whether patients awaiting treatment recommended by their clinicians for more than 18 weeks due to delays in commissioners agreeing funding have the legal right to insist that they are treated after that deadline has passed. [172383]

Jane Ellison: From 1 April 2013, NHS England became responsible for commissioning all Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Radiosurgery Radiotherapy (SRT) services. Brain tumour patients requiring such services may access treatment from any provider with whom NHS England holds a contract for provision of such a service. University College London Hospital does not hold such a contract.

NHS England is undertaking a demand, and capacity review project for SRS and SRT for intracranial conditions. Until those capacity requirements are clear, NHS England has said it would be inappropriate to encourage new. market entrants to provide this service as it cannot be clear what the potential consequential impacts on service quality, sustainability (financial and clinical) and potential unintended changes to patient pathways will be. Until the review is complete no substantive changes will be made to the current provision.

No one should expect to wait more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred to the start of their non-emergency consultant-led treatment, unless it is clinically appropriate to do so or they choose to wait longer. Where the 18-week waiting time has not been met, the relevant commissioner has a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure that person is offered an appointment with a range of alternative providers where the patient requests this.

Education

Child Minding

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many childminders have been registered in (a) Harlow, (b) the East of England and (c) England in the last 10 years. [172159]

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Elizabeth Truss: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.

Energy

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what costs were incurred by his Department's estate in respect of (a) gas and (b) electricity supply in the 2012-13 financial year. [172647]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department's estate incurred £363,648 in respect of gas and £2,371,598 in respect of electricity supply in the 2012-13 financial year.

Free Schools: Yorkshire and the Humber

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has concerns about the performance of any free schools in Yorkshire and the Humber. [172238]

Mr Timpson: There are 12 free schools currently open in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. Three of these have had an Ofsted Section 5 inspection and none were judged to be inadequate. Only one of the schools currently has attainment data as a free school and is performing well above the floor standard and above the national average.

The Education Funding Agency has also reviewed the financial management and governance arrangements of the Kings Science Academy in Bradford and plans are in place to address the issues raised.

Priority School Building Programme

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of schools have had building works commence on site under his Department's Priority School Building Programme since that programme was announced. [170559]

Mr Laws: This Government are spending £18 billion on school buildings, more than the last Government's first two Parliaments combined. Over 280 schools have been built or refurbished under this Government—projects where construction started after May 2010 and the schools are now open.

Before building works can begin, plans must be drawn up, contracts negotiated and planning permission secured.

Under Building Schools for the Future (BSF) it took three years from first planning for building works to begin. We have cut this to one year under the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP).

Planning work has started with over 200 of the 261 schools in the PSBP, of which construction has started on 11 schools. Had this Government continued with the BSF arrangements, none of these projects would have started yet and it would have been another 18 months before construction began.

We are on track to complete all PSPB schools by the end of 2017. This is two years earlier than was planned when the programme was announced.

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Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of schools have had work commence under his Department's Priority School Building Programme since that programme was announced. [171414]

Mr Laws: I refer the hon. Member to parliamentary question number 170559, answered today.

Sign Language: Education

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the availability of sign language courses for families with deaf children in (a) Devon and (b) England. [172690]

Mr Timpson: Local authorities have clear duties to support children with special educational needs (SEN). It is for them to plan and deliver the necessary services for children within their area. The Department for Education does not collect information on the specific activity that they support.

The Department for Education is funding the “I-Sign” consortium to increase the availability of family sign language support, and to map the current provision for deaf children and their families. This work will support the Government's reforms of the SEN system and will provide information to parents of young people on the local availability of sign language support.

The “I-Sign” project was piloted in two regions, including the south-west (based in Exeter), between 2009 and 2011. During this period, and with funding from the Department for Education, it developed an online family sign language programme¹.

¹ www.familysignlanguage.org.uk

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will include information and guidelines on the importance of communication and sign language courses for families with deaf children in his Department's special educational needs code of practice. [172691]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education does not intend to include detailed guidance on support for specific needs in the special educational needs (SEN) Code of Practice. Local authorities need to identify and provide support based on individual circumstances, with the full involvement of families or young people.

The draft Code, published for consultation on 4 October 2013, includes general information and links to further guidance that will support local authorities with the reforms. This includes information from the Early Support programme on early communication for deaf children, including sign language and support for families.

It also includes information on the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP). The Department for Education is funding NatSIP to enable local authorities to benchmark the support that they offer to deaf children and their families and to share information and guidelines on improving the support available.

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Defence

Armed Forces: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the use of mindfulness in treating post-traumatic stress disorder. [172204]

Anna Soubry: "Mindfulness" is a generic term covering a range of psychotherapeutic treatments and interventions. Among these, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is recognised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence as effective for the treatment of mental health disorders such as recurrent depression, and recent research suggests that some mindfulness-based techniques may be helpful in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, alongside established techniques such as Trauma Focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. The "Surgeon General's Review of Mental Health Literature 2011-12" includes an entry on "mindfulness" research, and it is planned to deliver training in mindfulness-based techniques to Defence Medical Services mental health personnel.

Defence: Procurement

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of expenditure on defence procurement contracts valued in excess of £5 million was placed with UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last three years. [172619]

Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has published details of expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises over the last three years, this is available at the following link:

http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/finance-and-economics/MOD-contracting-with-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/financial-year-2012-13

Information specifically related to contracts with a value over £5 million is, however, not separately identified. This information will take additional time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member.

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to ensure that UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises are able to access contracts in the defence procurement supply chain in the last 12 months. [172620]

Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) set out its commitment to improving engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the ‘National Security Through Technology’ White Paper, which details a range of measures aimed at increasing the value of defence business going to SMEs.

Examples of the practical steps we are taking include standardising and simplifying our procurement systems; we recently introduced a Dynamic Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ), which should reduce the length of the contract award procedure by 30 days, and is supporting the Government's aim of minimising the use of PQQ for the lowest value procurements.

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We have also increased the level of direct access that SMEs have to the MOD through, for example, the Defence Suppliers SME Forum, which I chair, and next meets on 5 November. This gives SMEs an opportunity to raise issues and ask questions directly of Ministers and senior MOD officials. Within our supply chain, we are actively encouraging our Prime Contractors to improve their engagement with SMEs, and we regularly seek data on the level of sub-contract work that is going to smaller companies.

Progress on these and our other SME initiatives is regularly monitored and published in the MOD SME Action plan, which can be accessed via gov.uk at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-business-plan-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises

Gibraltar

Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many submarines of (a) the Royal Navy, (b) the US Navy and (c) other navies have docked at the Z-berth at Gibraltar since 2001. [172143]

Mr Francois: The following table shows the number of submarines that used the operational berth, formally the Z-berth, in Gibraltar in each of the calendar years 2001 to 2012. The figure for 2013 is the number of visits up to 22 October.

Libya

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide details of the work of the Defence Advisory Team in Tripoli. [172337]

Mr Francois: The Defence Advisory Team in Tripoli works to support the UK/Libya relationship and provide advice through a number of embedded advisers in the Libyan Ministry of Defence, Navy, Air Force, Land Forces and Border Security Force. There is also a senior disarmament adviser working with the Government of Libya, the UN and international partners on disarmament issues.

The team also provides the platform for short term training teams enabling a variety of capacity building programmes including: strategic communication, developing explosive ordnance disposal schools, supporting the creation of a joint operational planning capability, and naval training teams.

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Communities and Local Government

Bus Services: Concessions

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the amount (a) received from the Government and (b) reimbursed to bus operators by local authorities for statutory concessionary bus passes in the last year for which figures are available. [172164]

Stephen Hammond: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Transport.

The funding is part of the Local Government Finance Settlement and it is not possible to say how much grant is provided for any particular service. Councils have the freedom and flexibility to make spending decisions in line with their local needs and priorities.

In 2012-13, local authorities in England paid £906 million reimbursement to bus operators for concessionary travel by older and disabled people—this figure includes some discretionary as well as statutory elements. For further details, the relevant published table is BUS0830a which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/concessionary-travel-statistics-2012-13

Councillors

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much has been distributed in pay and pensions to councillors across the UK in each of the last three years; [171859]

(2) what the range of payments for pay and pensions to councillors across the UK was in each of the last three years. [171860]

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not hold this information.

The Taxpayers Alliance compiled a survey on councillor allowances and councillor pensions in August 2012, which can be found on their website at:

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/allowances.pdf

Every council is required to publish information yearly about their spending on councillor allowances.

Parish Councils

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what measures are available to parish and town councils and their residents to prevent such councils not being reimbursed for work done by them on behalf of the relevant unitary or district council. [170589]

Brandon Lewis: Under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972, a local authority can arrange for the discharge of its functions by another local authority, including a town or parish council. This is a local authority power and the parties should make suitable terms for the arrangements. If a contract is made then the courts can enforce compliance and payment.