NHS Property Services

Mr Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the policy of NHS Property Services is on the sale of properties it owns to other NHS institutions where those properties are used to provide healthcare. [174373]

Dr Poulter: NHS Property Services will only dispose of a property once it has been declared by commissioners to be surplus to operational requirements for the delivery of NHS services.

Any property to be disposed of is first listed on the Government's Electronic Property Information Mapping Service (ePIMS) website, which allows other public sector bodies to purchase it. Properties are listed on this website for 40 working days and if no other public sector organisation expresses an interest, they will be marketed externally.

NHS Property Services: Fareham

Mr Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many properties in Fareham are owned by NHS Property Services. [174374]

Dr Poulter: The freehold-owned properties in Fareham borough council’s area that NHS Property Services owns are:

land and buildings at the former Coldeast hospital site;

land at the former Coldeast hospital site previously occupied by the Sylvan clinic;

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Fareham health centre;

Portchester health centre; and

Sharland House, High Street, Fareham.

The company also holds a lease for the site of the electricity sub-station, at Fareham community hospital.

NHS: Drugs

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the role of functional medicines in developing individualised programmes for NHS patients; and if he will make a statement. [173881]

Jane Ellison: No assessment has been made.

The Department does not maintain a position on any particular complementary and alternative medicine. Although the Department provides strategic leadership to the national health service and social care organisations in England, it is for local NHS organisations to plan, develop and improve services for local people. This includes complementary therapies.

NHS: Redundancy Payments

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the National Audit Office's report of July 2013, “Managing the transition to the reformed health system”, what the names of the 44 individuals referred to in paragraph 4.16 are; which NHS body each such individual was employed by; and how much the redundancy payment made to each such individual was. [174354]

Dr Poulter: The list of 44 individuals included primary care trust (PCT) chief executives and strategic health authority (SHA) chief executives and directors at risk of redundancy and contained estimates of the costs.

The table sets out the payments made to 23 individuals on the list that have appeared in organisational remuneration reports published on 31 October 2013. The remaining 21 have either not agreed to the disclosure or have not received a redundancy payment.

We intend to write to those of the 23 individuals, who have secured a payment to seek their agreement to disclosure.

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Obesity

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate of (a) adult and (b) child obesity was in (i) 1993, (ii) 2003 and (iii) the latest year for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the likely level in 2023. [173955]

Jane Ellison: The national data for adult and child obesity prevalence published by the Health Survey for England is as follows:

Adults (age 16 and over) obesity prevalence in 1993 was 14.9%, 2003 it was 22.6%, and in the latest year available (2011) 24.8%.

The earliest year for data on child obesity prevalence was 1995 in the Health Survey for England:

Children (age 2-15 years) obesity prevalence in 1995 was 11.7%, 2003 it was 16.9%, and in the latest year available (2011) 16.3%.

No assessment has been carried out on the likely level of adult and child obesity in 2023. However, predictions for 2025 were modelled in the Government's Foresight report: “Tackling Obesities: Future Choices” (2007). This modelling suggested that by 2025, 47% males and 36% of females will be obese. For children, by 2025 for boys aged 6-10 years and 11-15 years, 21% and 11% respectively were predicted to be obese. For girls 6-10 years and 11-15 years, 14% and 22% respectively are predicted to be obese.

Ostomy

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of patients in England who are treated by way of colostomy irrigation rather than making use of ostomy bags and accessories; [173949]

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(2) what was the cost to the NHS of issuing ostomy bags and accessories in England in each of the last five years; [173950]

(3) what proportion of patients in England has been trained in techniques of colostomy irrigation; [173951]

(4) what assessment he has made of the rate of use of colostomy irrigation among patients in England as against patients in the other nations of the UK and other member states of EU. [173982]

Norman Lamb: In terms of the cost of prescribing in primary care, it is not possible to distinguish ostomy bags and accessories from other stoma appliances. Net ingredient cost (NIC) is provided for all products within “British National Formulary” (BNF), Chapter 23 Stoma Appliances.

Palliative Care

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he plans to publish details of an alternative, individual approach to end-of-life care; [173940]

(2) if he will make an assessment of study NCT01081899 on www.clinicaltrials.gov as reported in The Lancet, which looked into the effectiveness of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for hospitalised cancer patients with regards to (a) the effect of pursuing the LCP on patients' survival time and (b) a patient's experience of care in respect of dignity and kindness. [173941]

Norman Lamb: The Government have no plans to make an assessment of study NCT01081899, looking at the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). As I announced on 15 July, our intention is for the Liverpool Care Pathway to be phased out over the next six to 12 months in favour of an individual approach to end-of-life care for each patient, with a personalised care plan backed up by a named senior clinician responsible for its implementation and condition-specific guidance. I also announced a full system-wide response to the review's recommendations by the end of the year.

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This work is being undertaken by the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People (LACDP), which was announced on the 30 August this year. The LACDP is working with partner organisations, stakeholders and charities across the health and care sectors to inform this response.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of stress on (a) cancer and (b) heart disease. [173933]

Jane Ellison: We are aware of the impact that stress can have on illnesses such as cancer and heart disease and that access to psychological services from the point of diagnosis can support patients in their recovery, by meeting their emotional as well as physical needs.

The Cardiovascular Outcomes Strategy, published in March 2013, sets out good practice for the management of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) for health-care practitioners and highlights the importance of access to psychological support for people diagnosed with heart disease.

Building on good practice regarding CVD services and more generally, NHS Improving Quality, working with the Strategic Clinical Networks, will develop, evaluate and disseminate approaches to assessment and care planning for CVD patients. These will include an assessment of needs generally, including access to psychological support.

With regard to cancer, in March 2013, the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative published ‘Living with and beyond cancer: Taking Action to Improve Outcomes’. This document supports commissioners, providers and others to take the actions necessary to improve survivorship outcomes and highlights the significance of having an integrated package of interventions, including holistic needs assessment and care planning, which would include access to psychological support.

Further, we published ‘Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer’ in 2011, which describes improvements in outcomes that are relevant to people living with and beyond cancer. These improvements include reducing the proportion of people who report unmet psychological support needs following cancer treatment.

Transplant Surgery

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on establishing a clinical trials network for new transplant research. [174177]

Dr Poulter: The Department has had no specific discussions with NHS England on establishing a clinical trials network for new transplant research.

The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds research infrastructure for clinical trials and other well-designed studies, including trials and studies relating to transplantation. This infrastructure includes the NIHR Clinical Research Network, biomedical research centres and units, clinical research facilities, and experimental cancer medicine centres.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has provided the following information.

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NHSBT has been actively involved in both initiating and supporting organ donation and transplantation research and development, within the resources available, to identify best practice, and support new research initiatives, that are in line with NHSBT's organ donation strategy ‘Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020’.

NHSBT has actively supported research through project funding and clinical trials, and has funded clinical research fellows, and supported honorary fellows to work on projects that are directly aligned with NHSBT's organ donation strategy. Furthermore, in the last two years, NHSBT has funded QUOD (Quality in Organ Donation, a bio resource and basic laboratory support, based in the University of Oxford) which will provide a unique resource to support translational research focusing on quality in organ donation. NHSBT has also funded a Clinical Trials Resource that will provide advice and practical support for clinical trials which looks at increasing the availability, quality and outcomes of donated organs.

With regard to bone marrow transplantation, NHSBT does not lead on developing clinical research networks for bone marrow. NHSBT works in collaboration with other United Kingdom bone marrow registries and the Oversight Committee of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum (SCSF) to provide support for research and assessment into improving the quality and number of stem cells available for UK patients. In addition, NHSBT will feed into the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum reviews on scientific developments that have an impact on the aims of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum recommendations, published in 2010.

Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what expenditure she expects to make on the Super Connected Cities programme in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16. [165859]

Mr Vaizey: The Government approved revised plans for the 22 Super Connected Cities at the end of June, with outline allocations across the cities amounting up to the full programme budget of £150 million. A more detailed profile will be agreed with HM Treasury and the cities shortly.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she will be replacing the Super Connected Cities programme with a voucher scheme. [165861]

Mr Vaizey: The connections vouchers scheme is a key part of the offer to cities from the Super Connected Cities programme which also includes city-centre wireless plans, wi-fi hotspots in public buildings, and innovative technology projects which contribute to economic growth through high-speed broadband.

Castes

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will conclude consultation on the amendment to the Equality Act 2010 to prevent discrimination by caste and descent. [174113]

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Mrs Grant: The caste legislation timetable, which relates to the duty contained in the Equality Act 2010 has been published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/caste-discrimination-legislation-timetable

Copyright

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what outcomes were agreed at the meeting between the Minister with responsibility for culture, communications and creative industries and Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 31 October 2013 on (a) Government proposals for a private copying exception and (b) the introduction of a levying scheme on copying devices to compensate UK artists. [174353]

Mr Vaizey: It is the Government's intention to introduce an exception for private copying, limited to personal use. Ministers in the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport are aware of the strong views expressed on various sides about this. However, the exception will not harm creators, and will only let people copy for their own personal use what they have paid for or legitimately acquired. This is fair to all parties, and underpins the continuing importance of consumers who support artists and creators by obtaining content legally.

Culture

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will conduct a review of the cultural sector in the northern cities of England. [174287]

Mr Vaizey: My Department has no immediate plans to conduct a review of the cultural sector in the northern cities of England. Arm's length bodies of my Department, including Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, are implementing strategies to ensure that all areas of the country have access to their funding, both directly and through outreach work done by London institutions.

In the case of Arts Council England, this includes a £45 million strategic touring programme giving more people across England experiences of the arts; a £243.6 million capital investment programme supporting organisations all around the country to develop resilience by giving them the right buildings and equipment to deliver their work; and a £37 million fund focusing on parts of the country where people's involvement in the arts is significantly below the national average.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) works with local authorities and other cultural organisations to promote access to HLF funding. Projects such as the new Museum of Liverpool (grant £11.4 million), Tyneside Cinema (grant £2.7 million), the Whitworth Art Gallery (grant £8.5 million) and Experience Barnsley (grant £2.6 million) have made a significant contribution to opening up access to important cultural assets and broadening audiences. The HLF is also working with Priority Development Areas (including in Manchester, Liverpool and Sunderland) to encourage more applications.

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Other bodies, such as English Heritage, provide advice and support to encourage engagement with culture, including the historic environment.

My Department's Taking Part Survey shows: there have been significant increases in engagement with heritage since 2005-06 among those who lived in the North East (5.7% to 74.8%) and Yorkshire and the number (6.5% to 74.8%); since 2005-06, the proportion of people visiting museums or galleries increased significantly in all regions of England; and since 2005-06 there have been significant increases in the number of adults engaging with the arts in the North East (from 70.2% to 74.6%) and the North West (from 71.5% to 76.5%).

Football

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she has made in implementing the recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's Fourth Report of 2012-13, “Football Governance Follow-Up”, HC509. [174358]

Mrs Grant: DCMS continues to press the football authorities to respond positively to the Committee's recommendations. We commend the recent steps to reform the FA board, improve financial management with the introduction of the Financial Fair Play rules, and improve engagement with fans, including by introducing Supporter Liaison Officers in clubs. We are also considering proposals from Supporters Direct on supporter ownership.

Ministerial Policy Advisors

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many officials at what grades are employed to provide direct support to special advisers in her Department. [174050]

Mr Vaizey: The Department has one grade D employed to provide direct support to the special advisers.

Music: Festivals and Special Occasions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the contribution of music festivals to the UK economy. [166037]

Mr Vaizey: Although produce economic estimates on the value of the creative industries, including the music industry, to the UK economy, we do not do so for the music festival industry.

Olympic Games 2012

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the revenue to the Exchequer generated by the London 2012 Olympic Games. [173365]

Mr Gauke: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.

The Treasury has not made any estimates of the Exchequer revenue generated by the London 2012 Olympic Games. Modelling undertaken for the Department for

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Culture Media and Sport as part of the Meta-Evaluation of the Impacts and Legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games estimates that the impacts of the London 2012 Olympic Games would in total generate for the UK economy some £28 billion to £41 billion in Gross Value Added over the period 2004 to 2020.

Olympic Games 2012: Wales

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much projects in Wales have received in Olympic legacy funding. [173974]

Mrs Grant: Individual Government Departments have allocated funding for legacy projects which further their own departmental objectives. Many of these relate to devolved functions and therefore the UK Government's remit does not cover Wales. However Wales has benefited from a number of UK Government initiatives, including UKTI's work to promote UK business on the back of the games, UK Sport's funding for elite athletes and Join In's work to promote volunteering, especially sport-related volunteering.

The independent meta-evaluation of legacy benefits from the games carried out for my Department by a consortium led by Grant Thornton included an assessment of economic benefits. It estimated the total economic impact of the games for Wales, in terms of gross value added between 2004 and 2020, at between £570 million and £950 million, with total job years created over the same time period at between 20,300 and 31,400. In addition, Wales benefited from the games in a number of ways, including:

having a games venue (football at the Millennium stadium);

10 pre-games training camps with 23 teams;

69% of Welsh schools signed up for Get Set, the educational programme managed by LOCOG (and now managed by the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association), which provides educational materials based on the Olympic and Paralympic values; and

103 projects in Wales were awarded the Inspire Mark, the brand managed by LOCOG which was given to high-quality non-commercial projects inspired by the games.

As announced on 22 December 2011, working together through the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC), the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive reached agreement on an inter-Administration dispute concerning the application of the Barnett formula to funds set aside for regeneration and transport within the budget for the Olympic games in 2012. Following consideration, the Administrations agreed that the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive would receive a one-off sum equivalent to the Barnett formula consequentials of relevant changes to Olympics funding since the present UK Government took office in May 2010. These sums amounted to £30.2 million, of which the Welsh Government received £8.9 million.

The Spirit of 2012 Trust has recently been established to allocate up to £40 million from the sale of the Olympic Village to initiatives across the UK which promote the games' legacy. In advance of that the Big Lottery Fund has awarded over £13 million for projects promoting legacy across the UK.

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Justice

Air Navigation Order 2009

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted under the Air Navigation Order 2009 for using a laser pen in the last five years. [173893]

Mr Goodwill: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Transport.

The Civil Aviation Authority has made no prosecutions under the Air Navigation Order 2009 in relation to this offence. However, laser pen offences are usually dealt with by the police and prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service. The Department does not hold any data on the number of prosecutions there have been.

Prison Service

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent staff are provided at each prison establishment through the use of the Payment Plus system; and under what criteria prison governors are permitted to use Payment Plus; and if he will make a statement. [173358]

Jeremy Wright: Payment Plus payments may be available for additional hours worked, over and above an individual's scheduled shift, in the following circumstances: staff on a bedwatch; or constant observation; staff on a category A escort over and above the profiled staffing level; staff working in newly built accommodation while the recruitment of staff takes place; and to temporarily cover vacancies against the target staffing figure in an establishment where the governor and deputy director of custody agree this cannot be met through ordinary staffing arrangements.

There is no discretion for additional hours working to be paid other than in the specific circumstances listed above.

Allocation of Payment Plus hours must be on a fair and equitable basis to all eligible staff. Governors are responsible for ensuring that each establishment's detailing systems and processes are subject to a full equality impact assessment before any Payment Plus system is implemented and must take appropriate action on the findings of that assessment. The impact assessment should then be reviewed after six months. Where Payment Plus additional hours are available, governors must ensure that flexible systems are put in place to allow staff to choose when they wish to work, subject to sufficient volunteers being forthcoming.

The table contains information on the level of Payment Plus worked at each public sector Prison Service establishment in terms of the equivalent full-time staff contributed during June 2013.

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Education

Academies

Mr Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what changes would need to be made to the status of academies to enable the Office for National Statistics to treat them as non-profit institutions serving households. [174375]

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Mr Timpson: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) makes independent decisions on whether bodies should be classified to the public or to the private sector in line with the European System of Accounts 95 accounting standards.

The Government currently have no plans to make changes to the status of academies.

Guidance on some of the factors ONS takes into account in considering how to classify a body can be found online:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/226420/PU1547_final.pdf

Education: Assessments

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what regional segmentation of data is available of British results in (a) the Programme for International Student Assessment and (b) other comparative international studies. [174193]

Mr Laws: Disaggregated data for the United Kingdom at the national level from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are available for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and can be found in the national reports for each country.

Data for England and Northern Ireland are also available for the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA) Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011; the IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011; and the OECD's Adult Skills Survey¹.

Further segmentation at a regional level is not possible for any of these studies because sample sizes are too small.

¹ Available at:

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/pisa

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/pirls

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/timss

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research/projects/international-survey-adult-skills/

Free Schools

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether free schools are bound by any code of conduct relating to conflicts of interest caused by patrons, donors, governors or staff of a free school being involved in a company which benefits commercially from contracts placed by that free school. [173853]

Mr Timpson: Free schools are run by academy trusts, which are charitable companies. A trust can only conduct its affairs in line with its Articles of Association and its funding agreement, which in turn requires it to have regard to the Academies Financial Handbook. Both the articles and the handbook describe the expected conduct of academy trusts regarding conflicts of interest. The handbook makes it clear that academy trusts are required to openly procure any externally-sourced services and that if a business controlled by, or belonging to, a trustee of an academy trust wishes to bid to deliver a service to that academy it must do so at cost.

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Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether he has been made aware that any free school other than the Al-Madinah free school (a) has appointed staff who do not have appropriate qualifications and experience, (b) have operated at any time without a designated principal, (c) is not meeting safeguarding requirements, (d) has not identified which of its pupils have special educational needs, (e) is delivering an unacceptable poor standard of education and (f) has unacceptable levels of teaching quality; [174228]

(2) whether officials in his Department have been made aware that any free school other than the Al-Madinah free school (a) has appointed staff who do not have appropriate qualifications and experience, (b) has operated at any time without a designated principal, (c) is not meeting safeguarding requirements, (d) has not identified which of its pupils had special educational needs, (e) is delivering an unacceptably poor standard of education and (f) has unacceptable levels of teaching quality. [174209]

Mr Timpson: As with all new schools, Ofsted inspects free schools prior to opening to ensure that a school is in a position to open and will meet the relevant school standards. New schools can open only if registration is recommended by Ofsted and any conditions set by Ofsted are met.

All free schools receive a visit from an education adviser in their first term to assess progress since opening. The education advisers report back any issues to the Department.

Where education advisers have identified any problems, these have been raised with the relevant school's trust. Follow-up visits are then conducted to give assurance that these have been resolved.

Ofsted conducts a full inspection of all free schools in their second year of operation. Inspections can be brought forward if the Department has any concerns, as happened with Al-Madinah free school. So far, Al- Madinah is the only free school where this has happened.

Ofsted has found that two schools, Al-Madinah free school and Discovery New school, are inadequate. The Department is taking the necessary action with both schools. Three quarters of the free schools which opened in 2011 were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

GCSE

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of year 11 pupils did not achieve grades (a) D to G and (b) A* to C at GCSE in mathematics and English in each of the last five years; and how many had achieved those grades by the age of 18 years. [174167]

Mr Laws: The following tables show the number and proportion of academic age 15-year-olds who did not achieve (a) grades D to G and (b) grades A* to C in GCSE English, mathematics, and both English and mathematics, for the 2004/05 to 2008/09 academic years and tracks them through to academic age 18. Academic age relates to age at the start of the academic year, so academic age 15-year-olds are usually in year 11. The tables also show the number and proportion of these young people who had achieved at least D to G and A*

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to C grades by academic age 18. The data shown represent the last five cohorts for whom attainment

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data to academic age 18 are available, and are based on young people in the state sector at academic age 15.

Home Education

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of (a) girls and (b) boys registered as being home-schooled who are not receiving an adequate education. [174137]

Mr Laws: The Department does not collect data on the number of children registered by local authorities as receiving home education and not all local authorities operate registration schemes. Local authorities have a duty to intervene if it appears to them that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving a suitable education, and handle this matter on a case-by-case basis when such children come to their attention. The Department does not collect data on the numbers of these cases.

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that girls and boys who are home-schooled receive an equal education. [174138]

Mr Laws: We respect the right of parents to educate their children at home. If a child is of compulsory school age, home education has to be suitable for his or her age, ability and aptitude. The Department does not currently have any evidence that there is a general problem in the provision of education at home for girls as opposed to boys.

Kings Science Academy

Mr Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) when his Department was informed by Action Fraud that the police had decided to take no further action into allegations of fraud at the Kings Science Academy in Bradford; [174376]

(2) for what reasons his Department's report of May 2013 on the Kings Science Academy in Bradford was not published before 25 October 2013. [174481]

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Mr Timpson: The Department contacted Action Fraud on 5 September and, in response, Action Fraud stated that the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau had assessed the case but determined that there was not enough information to progress the case further.

Action Fraud subsequently notified the Department on 1 November that the information provided had been wrongly classified as an information report rather than a crime report. This error has been rectified by Action Fraud and West Yorkshire police have confirmed they are now investigating. Action Fraud has apologised to the Department for this error.

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) published all investigation reports, but there is no set timeframe for publication. In this case, the EFA was awaiting the outcome not only of the police enquiries, but also of any disciplinary process before publishing the report.

Members: Correspondence

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to his statement of 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 887, on Al-Madinah Free School, if he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt) of 15 October 2013. [174223]

Mr Laws: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Nash, wrote to the hon. Gentleman on 7 November 2013.

Private Education: Admissions

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will run a pilot programme of the Open Access scheme promoted by the Sutton Trust in independent day schools in the West Midlands; [174253]

(2) what assessment he has made of the Open Access scheme promoted by the Sutton Trust; [174254]

(3) what steps he is taking to implement the Open Access scheme promoted by the Sutton Trust. [174255]

Mr Timpson: The Government applaud the many initiatives in the independent schools sector, supported by schools through bursaries and scholarships, and by many charities, to support children who would not otherwise be able to receive an independent school education. However, we have no plans to introduce an Open Access scheme.

Our priority is to transform the state education system so that all children are able to access a good quality education, regardless of their background. Independent schools have a key role to play in this; for example, they can work collaboratively with their state school neighbours, or become academy sponsors of underperforming schools.

Schools: Inspections

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make mindfulness training available to Ofsted inspectors. [173882]

Mr Laws: It is a key responsibility of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to determine the training, skills and experience that are necessary to carry out inspections on his behalf.

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Ofsted is an independent, non-ministerial Government Department so it would not be appropriate for the Department for Education to intervene in training for inspectors.

Mr Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that Ofsted gives increased consideration to the quality of careers advice and the monitoring of pupil's destinations when judging the effectiveness of a school's management and leadership. [174476]

Matthew Hancock: Ofsted's commitment to give greater priority to the inspection of careers advice was set out in ‘Going in the right direction? Careers guidance in schools from September 2012', a thematic review report published on 10 September. This has been reflected in the supplementary guidance for inspectors which asks them to look at:

“The extent to which timely information, advice and guidance provide pupils with a good understanding of the full range of options available to assist them to make informed decisions about their next steps in education, training or employment; the availability and quality of advice and guidance on learning and career pathways; and whether staff have the necessary qualifications, experience and skills to provide information, advice and guidance.”

Ofsted's inspectors have been briefed on how to implement this in practice and what to look for, in light of the thematic review findings.

The Department for Education publishes Destination Measures for each school and these will feed into judgments by Ofsted, as well as helping schools to be held to account locally. We are continuing to strengthen the Measures to provide an increasingly effective way of assessing whether schools and colleges are raising the aspirations of their students and supporting them effectively into education, training or employment.

Schools: Transport

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to allow local authorities to delegate school transport funding to individual schools so that they may design their own arrangements for their pupils. [174140]

Mr Laws: Currently, the responsibility for school transport, as well as the funding, rests with local authorities and there are no plans to alter legislation to delegate this responsibility formally, or the funding, to individual schools.

We expect local authorities to work in partnership with schools, local transport providers and neighbouring authorities to identify needs and to source the most appropriate provision and secure value for money. In planning and commissioning area-wide transport provision to meet the needs of the whole community, they are best placed to enter into contractual arrangements on behalf of schools and other services.

If, however, an individual school wanted to manage its own provision, then it is open to the school to discuss with the local authority how the transport funding and responsibility could be devolved.

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Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with Her Majesty's Chief Inspectorate of Education, Children's Services and Skills on inspecting specialist support services for deaf children. [174558]

Mr Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and I have held discussions with Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills, Sir Michael Wilshaw, and Ofsted about inspecting local authorities' implementation of the reforms to support children with special educational needs, including deaf children.

The Department for Education has asked Ofsted to carry out a study to identify best practice in preparing for the reforms and whether there is a need for an inspection framework to drive improvements. Ofsted will consider links with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in developing this work. We will reflect on the implications of the study when it is completed.

We have no plans for Ofsted routinely to inspect local authority specialist services. To do so would impose significant new burdens on Ofsted and would impact on its ability to fulfil its current inspection commitments. It also risks giving schools the wrong impression that they are not responsible for deaf pupils or that those pupils are someone else's responsibility.

Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information is available to parents of pre-school deaf children on the effectiveness of support from specialist support services for deaf children. [174559]

Mr Timpson: Local authorities are responsible for providing information to parents about specialist support services available in their area.

The Children and Families Bill places a new requirement on local authorities to set out a “local offer” of the support that is normally available. This will include special educational provision for children in early years settings.

Clause 32 of the Bill also requires local authorities to provide parents of children and young people with advice and information about matters relating to special educational needs, which will include parents of pre-school deaf children.

In addition, Ofsted inspects all registered early years providers to judge the quality and standards of the care and the learning and development of children. These are inspected against the standards set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and this includes clear elements on special educational needs.

Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the report entitled “Communication is the key by Ofsted, what assessment (a) he and (b) Ofsted have made of the effectiveness of specialist support services for deaf children across England in local authorities that were not included in that report. [174560]

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Mr Timpson: The Department for Education has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of specialist services for deaf children in local authorities not covered in the Ofsted report entitled “Communication is the key”.

Nationally, the Department for Education assesses the progress of deaf children through the school attainment data. We know from our most recent figures that attainment for deaf children has improved dramatically over the last five years. In 2011/12, 71% of deaf children achieved five or more A* to C grades in GCSE compared with 43% in 2007/08. The Department publishes these data annually in “Children with special educational needs: an analysis”.

Ofsted does not routinely inspect local authority specialist services. All deaf children in publicly funded education have their school inspected by Ofsted through the existing framework. This includes both mainstream and special schools. Where schools have a specialist resource for deaf children as part of their school, this is specifically covered by the Ofsted inspection.

The school inspection framework places a clear emphasis on meeting the needs of disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs, such as deaf pupils. Inspectors must consider the quality of teaching and the progress made by these pupils. Any deaf child in a mainstream or specialist school would have their education inspected as part of the Ofsted section 5 framework.

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education where a school with School Direct trainees fails its Ofsted inspection, what rights School Direct trainees have to transfer to a new school and who will have responsibility for (a) amending any contractual arrangements into which the school may have entered with School Direct trainees and (b) making any other consequential arrangements. [173989]

Mr Laws: The responsibility for the quality of initial teacher training under School Direct falls on the accredited provider. Therefore, if a school were to fail its Ofsted inspection, the relevant training provider would need to ensure that any trainees based in that school continued to receive a high-quality training experience, whether at the original school or elsewhere. Where the trainee is also employed by a school on the School Direct (salaried) scheme, any change to the contract between the trainee and the school would need to be agreed by the school, trainee and accredited provider.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what account is taken in Ofsted school inspections of the performance of schools in respect of School Direct trainees. [173995]

Mr Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Gentleman, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Library.

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Communities and Local Government

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation: Coastal Areas

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were recorded as living in bed and breakfast accommodation in the principal seaside towns in each of the last 30 years. [168893]

Kris Hopkins: This information is not centrally held in the form requested, although figures are available for individual local authority areas.

Electrical Safety

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions have taken place between officials of his Department and manufacturers and suppliers of moulded plastic fuse boards on returning to the use of metal or rigid plastics for the purpose of improving fire protection. [173877]

Brandon Lewis: No discussions have taken place between officials in my Department and the manufacturers and suppliers of moulded plastic fuse boards.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology has recently established a Project Team to look into this issue and advise the British Standards Institute on the adequacy of current standards. Manufacturers and suppliers of consumer units are members of the Project Team and officials from my Department will be attending future meetings.

Energy: Prices

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated average (a) monthly and (b) annual fuel bills were for families in England and Wales (i) in total and (ii) in each region in each of the last three years. [173912]

Gregory Barker: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The following table shows the average fuel bills for households in England and Wales for each of the last three years, with a further table showing bills by regions.

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All figures assume fixed consumption levels of 18,000 kWh for gas and 3,300 kWh for electricity, and are averaged across all methods of payment. DECC does not publish data on gas bills in Northern Ireland. Data for monthly bills are calculated by dividing the annual bills by 12.

The datasets are made available in the DECC statistics publication Quarterly Energy Prices, in tables 2.2.2 and 2.3.2 (for England and Wales) and tables 2.2.3 and 2.3.3 (for each PES region of Great Britain).

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse was of providing cover for the strike by firefighters on 25 September 2013. [174044]

Brandon Lewis: Individual fire and rescue authorities are responsible for their own contingency plans. We do not hold information centrally on the relevant costs or savings.

Housing

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will take steps to ensure that his plans to transfer £400 million of local authorities' New Homes Bonus funds into a national fund for local economic partnerships (LEP) does not result in low-income councils funding high-income LEP areas; [174263]

(2) what assessment he has made of whether his plans to transfer £400 million from local authorities' New Homes Bonus funds into a national pot for local economic partnerships (LEP) will result in lower-income local authorities funding higher-income LEP areas. [174264]

Kris Hopkins: There are no plans to transfer £400 million of New Homes Bonus funds into a national fund for local enterprise partnerships. We consulted over the summer on how £400 million of New Homes Bonus funds could form part of the Local Growth Fund in 2015-16 to help them collaborate with local authorities to deliver local growth priorities. We are currently considering the responses to the consultation.