Conditions of Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many direct employees and contracted workers of her Department and its arm’s length bodies are paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage; and how many direct employees are on zero-hours contracts. [174973]

Mrs Grant: DCMS does hot have any direct employees who are (1) paid less than the rate, defined by the Living Wage Foundation, as a living wage and (2) on zero- hours contract.

DCMS is not responsible for setting pay levels for contracted workers. This is a matter for the organisations who employ them. However, we actively encourage employers to ensure that the living wage is paid and we would monitor these when contracts are being negotiated.

We do not hold central records for our arm’s length bodies.

Internet

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how her Department co-ordinates with other Government Departments to develop internet governance policy. [173521]

Mrs Grant: The Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries is a member of the ad hoc ministerial group on cyber, a cross-governmental committee where internet governance issues are discussed. He provides regular updates to committee colleagues.

DCMS also chairs a cross-Whitehall steering group on internet governance which co-ordinates Government policy on internet governance at senior official level.

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Brazil over that country's proposals for internet governance and ensuring a multi-stakeholder approach. [173523]

Mrs Grant: DCMS Ministers have not yet had the opportunity to directly discuss with their Brazilian counterparts that country's recent proposals on internet governance.

However, both DCMS and FCO officials continue to be in contact with their Brazilian counterparts. We look forward to hearing more about the Brazilian proposals, while we work to sustain and strengthen the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.

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Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the development of internet governance from civil society. [173524]

Mrs Grant: The Government strongly supports the multi-stakeholder model on internet governance, founded on co-operation between Government, business, civil society and international organisations.

In the UK, DCMS has established the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group on Internet Governance (MAGIG), which brings together experts from Government, industry and civil society to:

collaborate on UK inputs to internet governance events;

co-ordinate key messages and activities where helpful;

share research/information/capacity where necessary; and

comment on UK government policy on internet governance.

DCMS is also a strong supporter of the UK Internet Governance Forum and the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF). I spoke at the UK Internet Governance Forum in London, and he has just returned from the global IGF in Indonesia, where there were nearly 1,500 delegates representing 111 different countries—where civil society was the highest represented stakeholder group represented at that forum. We welcome and promote such levels of participation in all the global, regional and local multi-stakeholder internet governance fora.

Olympic Games 2012

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1031W, on Olympic Games 2012, how many companies applying for an Olympic marketing licence have been rejected because (a) the company provides goods or services which fall in an excluded category and (b) it does not meet the eligibility criteria; [174501]

(2) pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2013, OfficialReport, column 864W, on Olympic Games 2012, how many firms have submitted applications for Olympic marketing licences to date; and how many such applications have been (a) approved and (b) rejected. [174500]

Mrs Grant: As at 5 November 2013 914 companies have submitted applications to the British Olympic Association for a licence under the Supplier Recognition Scheme for companies that supplied the 2012 Games. Of those 763 have been approved and 151 declined. Of the applications declined, 108 were from companies providing goods and services which fall in an excluded category, and 43 failed to meet the eligibility criteria.

Olympic Games 2012: Wales

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of the contracts awarded to businesses in relation to the London 2012 Olympics were awarded to businesses operating within Wales. [174762]

Mrs Grant: The independent meta-evaluation of the 2012 games' legacy and benefits, produced by a consortium led by Grant Thornton for my Department, includes

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data from the CompeteFor database as of April 2013. At that point the majority of contracts on the database were games-related and 78 (1.8% of the total) had been awarded to suppliers in Wales.

I understand that one games-related contract, relating to design services for the Aquatic Centre, was awarded to Total CDM Solutions, which is based in the hon. Member's constituency.

Economic modelling as part of the meta-evaluation 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. This figure includes impacts throughout the supply chain and includes estimates of tourism, inward investment and exports secured because of the games.

The Government have, with the British Olympic Association, established the supplier recognition scheme, which enables companies which have supplied the games to actively promote their involvement, including in business to business communications at home and abroad. This is another first for London 2012. Licences are provided free of charge by BOA to eligible companies. 11 licences have so far been issued to companies in Wales.

Recruitment

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many new staff her Department has employed under (a) fixed-term contracts and (b) short-term contracts since May 2010. [174456]

Mrs Grant: The new staff that the Department has employed under (a) fixed-term contracts and (b) short-term contracts since financial year from 2010 are as follows:

Sunningdale Park

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how often her Department has used Sunningdale Park for civil service events since May 2010; what the nature of each such event was; and what the cost of each such event was. [174395]

Mrs Grant: The National School of Government was closed in March 2012. The information requested is not held centrally.

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 her Department

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(i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at the BT local rate are available in each case. [174992]

Mrs Grant: The Department does not have any telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843.

Television

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the number of hours of television viewing per week in each socio-economic class. [174326]

Mr Vaizey: The regulator, Ofcom is responsible for gathering and analysing data on media consumption. The following table contains viewing habits by social grade from 2005 when this information was first recorded.

Tourism: Northern Ireland

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on maximising the tourism benefits of the stages of the Giro d'Italia being held in Northern Ireland in 2014. [174620]

Mrs Grant: I have not held any discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on maximising the tourism benefits of the stages of the Giro d'Italia being held in Northern Ireland in 2014. However, I would like to congratulate them on winning the right to stage the big start of this important cycling race next year, which will further support Northern Ireland's wonderful tourism offer.

Justice

Probation: Essex

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many ICT packages are used by Essex Probation Service; what assessment he has made of how these will be merged across the service in time to successfully meet his timescale for his Transforming Rehabilitation proposals; what recent discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with Essex Probation Service on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [174529]

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Jeremy Wright: Currently Probation Trusts use both national and local ICT applications (ICT packages) to support their offender management work.

The primary national applications are Oasys, which is used for the risk assessment of offenders and National Delius which is used for day-to-day offender case management. Both applications were introduced across all Trusts in England and Wales in 2013, and so do not need to be merged. They enable a consistent national approach to the use and recording of offender risk assessment and case management across England and Wales.

Probation Trusts maintain, independently, a range of local ICT applications (for example for staff workload management, or victim liaison) to support offender management activities.

The ICT work strand of the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) programme has audited and analysed the range of Probation Trust local ICT applications. While there is no business requirement to merge these, a suite of test of breed local applications will be introduced progressively as part of the creation of the National Probation Service (NPS). This is being done to support consistency of practice and to enable rationalisation.

Once established, community rehabilitation companies (CRC) will continue to use existing local ICT applications pending those applications development or rationalisation by the new providers.

With respect to recent discussion held with Essex Probation Trust, I can confirm that officials within the NOMS Change team and ICT have had no discussions to date with Essex Probation Trust.

Young Offenders: Employment

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what proportion of young offenders aged 16 and over have taken up full-time, permanent employment upon leaving custody; [174563]

(2) what proportion of young offenders aged over 16 have gone into full-time education upon leaving custody in the last 10 years. [174590]

Jeremy Wright: The Government are considering how best to improve the skills, education prospects and job opportunities of young people leaving custody as part of our forthcoming proposals to transform the youth secure estate.

Local youth offending teams provide the Youth Justice Board with data, which they chiefly collect for local purposes, on the type and numbers of hours per week of education, training and employment (ETE) which young people who offend take up. However, it is not possible on the basis of these data to reliably estimate the proportion of these aged 16 and 17 who have taken up full-time education or permanent full-time employment, as distinct from education, training and employment combined.

Table 1 shows the proportion of young people who have offended and are above statutory school age, who were receiving 16 or more hours of ETE at the end of their custodial licence period. Data are available from 2006-07 to 2012-13. Data prior to 2006-07 were not broken down by school-age and above-school-age categories.

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The method of calculating figures on young people in ETE changed in 2011. Prior to 2011, youth offending teams routinely removed young people from their figures when the young person was unavailable to attend their placement (eg because of holidays, exam periods, or serving a further custodial sentence). The change in recording practices may explain the drop in the proportion of young people in ETE between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

Young Offenders: Reoffenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the reoffending rate for young offenders was in each year since 2009. [174562]

Jeremy Wright: Reducing reoffending and better rehabilitation of young offenders are key priorities for the Government. Earlier this year we consulted on our vision to transform youth custody to place education at the heart of youth custody. In this way young offenders in custody can be equipped with the skills, qualifications and self-discipline they need to re-engage with education, training or employment on release and stop offending. We intend shortly to publish our response to the consultation setting out our plans for transforming youth custody.

Statistics on proven reoffending are published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis in the “Proven Re-offending Statistics Quarterly Bulletin” at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/proven-re-offending-quarterly-january-to-december-2011

Business, Innovation and Skills

Arms Trade: Egypt

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will provide a list of all military equipment sold to Egypt under a UK arms export licence since 2010 by (a) type of equipment and (b) organisation within Egypt to which it was sold. [174949]

Michael Fallon: This Department only holds information about licences granted and not about equipment actually supplied.

Information about export licences issued between 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2013 is available in the Annual

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and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls which are available to view on the Strategic Export Controls: Reports and Statistics website at

https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/eng/fox

These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (eg Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.

The names of the companies/organisations who were granted these licences is exempt from disclosure because this information was provided in confidence and such information is commercially sensitive.

Later export licence publications (from 2012) do provide some footnoting for some of the more sensitive looking licences, which describes the type of end user and/or the end use of the goods.

Bankruptcy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many individuals were declared insolvent in each quarter in each of the last three years. [174421]

Jo Swinson: Official Statistics for individual insolvencies are presented in the Quarterly Insolvency Statistics, the latest publication of which covers Q1 2003 to Q3 2013 and can be found on the Insolvency Service website here:

http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/201311/index.htm

Tables 2 and 6 cover bankruptcies, debt relief orders and individual voluntary arrangements in England and Wales and Northern Ireland respectively. Table 4 covers sequestrations and protected trust deeds in Scotland.

Concrete and Cement

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will give consideration to making a super-complaint to the Office of Fair Trading regarding the fairness of (a) supply and (b) pricing in the UK concrete and cement market. [174820]

Jo Swinson: Super-complaints can only be made to the Office of Fair Trading by certain bodies which represent consumers. While it is the role of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to designate which bodies can make a super-complaint he does not have the powers to bring one himself.

In January 2012, the Office of Fair Trading made a reference to the Competition Commission for a market investigation into the supply or acquisition of aggregates, cement and ready-mix concrete. The Competition Commission published its provisional findings on 23 May 2013 and is required to publish its final report by 17 January 2014.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Clothing

Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) if he will discuss the listing of sites selling counterfeit bridalwear with internet search engine providers; [174238]

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(2) if he will discuss the issue of availability of counterfeit bridalwear with (a) his EU counterparts and (b) the World Trade Organisation. [174239]

Jo Swinson: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 232W.

As indicated my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Viscount Younger of Leckie) would be pleased to discuss the issues concerned with industry representatives and following this will consider further discussions with relevant organisations as necessary.

EU External Trade: USA

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the public, (b) trades unions, (c) businesses and (d) consumer groups are consulted about ongoing negotiations for a transatlantic trade and investment partnership. [174816]

Michael Fallon: Since the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was announced at the Lough Erne G8 summit in June, Ministers—led by my noble Friend, Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, and the Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office), my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), and officials have undertaken a programme of consultation and stakeholder engagement to help ensure we secure a good deal for the UK. We have received many written responses from business, trade associations, trade unions, consumer organisations, and other civil society representatives.

In addition to officials' regular consultation with stakeholders on all EU Free Trade Agreements, the Department has also set up a consultative group of key TTIP stakeholders which meets regularly to inform the Government's approach to the negotiations. This group includes representatives from:

cross-sector business representative bodies;

sectoral trade associations;

the Consumers' Association; and

the TUC.

We are considering the next stage of our consultation with all groups interested in the TTIP negotiations.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to keep Parliament informed of developments in the negotiations for a transatlantic trade and investment partnership. [174817]

Michael Fallon: The Government are committed to keeping Parliament up to date throughout the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). My noble Friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint will write to the right hon. Member—as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on EU-US trade and investment and to the European Scrutiny Committee Chairs of both Houses to update on significant developments. We will also consider statements and other steps to keep Parliament informed of developments as the negotiations progress.

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Export Control Organisation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of licence applications for the export of strategic goods and items are currently processed by his Department's Export Control Organisation within 60 days. [174641]

Michael Fallon: The proportion of licence applications processed within 60 days currently stands at 98.5% for the year to date since the target came into full effect (July 2013). The latest figure—for October 2013—is 98.9% (1563 out of 1,581 SIELs and SITCLs (standard individual export licences and standard individual trade control licences) completed.

This is against a secondary performance target of 99% to be processed within 60 days. Performance against the Export Control Organisation's primary target (70% of licence applications completed in 20 working days) is running at 80.3%.

Graduates: Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the employment rate was of UK university graduates in each discipline in each of the last 10 years. [174330]

Mr Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK Higher Education Institutions. Employment rates of undergraduate leavers by level, mode and subject discipline are published as part of Performance Indicators for Higher Education in the UK and are derived from the Destinations of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE) survey. Time series from 2002/03 to 2011/12 are presented in Supplementary Table (SE1), and show the percentage of UK domiciled graduates in employment and/or further study six months after leaving higher education. Tables for each of the 10 years can be accessed by using the following link:

http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view &id=2071&ltemid=141

Information referring to graduates in the 2012/13 academic year will become available from the HESA in summer 2014.

Insolvency

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses were declared insolvent in each quarter in each of the last three years. [174420]

Jo Swinson: Official Statistics for corporate insolvencies are presented in the Quarterly Insolvency Statistics, the latest publication of which covers Q1 2003 to Q3 2013 and can be found on the Insolvency Service website here:

http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/201311/index.htm

Tables 1, 4 and 6 cover liquidation in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively; Tables 3 and 5 cover administrations, receiverships and company

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voluntary arrangements in England and Wales and Scotland, respectively. Official Statistics for administrations in Northern Ireland are not available.

Post Offices

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what information he holds on how many post offices have transferred to the locals model; and what assessment he has made of whether the Government's targets on transformation will be met in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014. [174854]

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 8 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W. As of 1 November 2013, 698 branches had signed binding contracts to convert to the local operating model, with 507 having already converted. In total, as of the same date, 2,113 branches have signed contracts to convert under the modernisation programmes, with 1,274 of those having completed the conversion process.

Post Office Ltd, which is responsible for delivering the Network Transformation programme, exceeded the number of expected conversions in 2012/13, with 1,450 branches signing binding contracts to convert. Progress continues to be made in the current financial year, which ends 31 March 2014 and is the subject of continuing monitoring and review.

Regional Growth Fund

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 28 October 2013, Official Report, column 365W, on Regional Growth Fund, on what date the last agreed offer was finalised under round two of the Regional Growth Fund. [174494]

Michael Fallon: The last agreed offer under Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) was finalised on 23 August 2013.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what proportion of winning bidders under round four of the Regional Growth Fund (a) applied for funding and (b) received funding under previous rounds of the Regional Growth Fund; [174495]

(2) what proportion of funds allocated under round four of the regional growth fund have been allocated to bidders which (a) applied for funds and (b) received funding under previous rounds of the Regional Growth Fund. [174496]

Michael Fallon: 102 projects and programmes were selected for conditional Regional Growth Fund (RGF) support in Round 4 of the RGF. 48% of Round 4 bidders applied in previous RGF bidding rounds and 36% received funding under previous RGF rounds according to bid documents.

Selected bids from Round 4 have not yet been finalised. Bidders have until January 2014 to finalise their awards.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications have been considered for funds under the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund to date; how many awards of

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such funds have been allocated; what the total monetary value is of such awards made to date; and what funds remain unallocated under the exceptional regional growth fund for

(a)

2013-14 and

(b)

2014-15. [174497]

Michael Fallon: 12 applications have been considered for Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) awards. Eight of these applications are in possession of conditional offers and the total allocated is close to £50 million, subject to due diligence. To ensure a flexible response to eRGF awards which are urgent, exceptional cases, they are funded from existing Regional Growth Fund (RGF) budgets, rather than through a separate allocation. This funding is available either because a previously selected bidder has withdrawn their project, or because during the award negotiation, both parties agree to a lower RGF offer than was originally requested. In both instances, the RGF money is recycled back into the fund, so no funding lies unutilised waiting for eRGF bids.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been paid to beneficiaries under the Regional Growth Fund to date. [174540]

Michael Fallon: The Regional Growth Fund has paid £816 million to programmes and projects to date. The pace of drawing down Government funding is dictated by a beneficiary's needs. Companies do not need the money in their bank accounts in order for an RGF offer to make a difference—just having our support can be enough to get projects started and to trigger private investment that also drives up employment. Many projects have been able to start work as soon as they received confirmation of RGF funding. RGF money paid to beneficiaries has generated £1.12 billion of private sector investment to date.

Royal Mail

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people received shares in Royal Mail Group Ltd at the recent flotation; how much was retained due to the difference in the £750 worth of shares applied for and the £749.10 given in shares; and what happened to the amount retained. [178468]

Michael Fallon: Over 700,000 members of the public and Royal Mail employees purchased shares through the Royal Mail share offer. As stated in the prospectus, amounts less than the offer price of one ordinary share have not been refunded but will be given to charity. Approximately £70,000 will be donated to the British Postal Museum and Archive.

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will discuss with the Board of Royal Mail Group Ltd on the possibility of offering dividend reinvestment plans to promote continued investment by small shareholders. [178469]

Michael Fallon: The introduction of dividend reinvestment plans is a matter for Royal Mail in consultation with all its shareholders. The Secretary of State for

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Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has no plans to discuss this with the Royal Mail plc Board.

Sovereignty: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions (a) he and (b) his ministerial colleagues have had with their counterparts in the Scottish Government regarding the Scottish Government's White Paper on Independence. [174383]

Jo Swinson: Scottish Government Ministers have not sought any meetings or discussions with me or my ministerial colleagues regarding their White Paper on Independence.

Sunningdale Park

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how often his Department has used Sunningdale Park for civil service events since May 2010; what the nature of each such event was; and what the cost of each such event was. [174392]

Jo Swinson: BIS has used Sunningdale Park for the following civil service events since May 2010.

Communities and Local Government

Betting Shops

Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the use of existing local authority powers to prevent the growth of betting shops on high streets; and how existing betting shops might be removed. [174451]

Brandon Lewis: Local authorities already have a range of powers available in regard to betting shops. Where there are permitted development rights to allow change of use a local planning authority can consult on and make an article 4 direction where there is an adverse impact on local amenity. For example, the London borough of Barking and Dagenham has been consulting on an article 4 direction and associated supplementary planning guidance to address the proliferation of betting shops in the local area. A betting shop must comply with its licensing conditions, and where they are breached the local licensing authority has powers to intervene including removing the licence to operate.

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Bromley London Borough Council (Crystal Palace) Act 1990

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations he has received from (a) the Mayor of London and (b) the London borough of Bromley regarding the Bromley London Borough Council (Crystal Palace) Act 1990; and if he will make a statement. [174839]

Brandon Lewis: Officials from my Department have met with representatives from the Greater London Authority and the London borough of Bromley on several occasions to discuss the initial proposals to recreate the Crystal Palace.

These discussions have included consideration of the existing legislation governing the Crystal Palace Park, including the Bromley London Borough Council (Crystal Palace) Act 1990, and what type of legislative options might be needed to enable the rebuilding of the Crystal Palace. My officials will examine these issues further over the coming months, once the ZhongRong Group have developed more detailed plans and consulted the public on these.

More broadly, I also refer the hon. Member to the speech by the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles), given on 29 October 2013, Official Report, columns 898-900.

Housing

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with local authorities regarding low-demand housing and unpopular neighbourhoods. [174260]

Kris Hopkins: I refer the hon. Member to the comprehensive written ministerial statement of 10 May 2013, Official Report, column 13-14WS.

Housing: West Midlands

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to support more house building in the West Midlands. [170108]

Kris Hopkins: The Government are providing a wide range of support for new house building in England. These include supporting homebuyers, investing in new affordable housing—including in the private rented sector, and reforming the planning system. The results of these programmes are clear to see.

Housing supply is now at its highest since the end of the unsustainable housing boom in 2008, with 334,000 new homes built over the last three years. In the most recent quarter, housing starts are up by 33% on last year (29,510 in the June Quarter 2013).

The numbers of first-time buyers are at a five-year high, while the number of repossessions is at its lowest level since 2007, and mortgage arrears are at their lowest since 2008.

Over 150,000 affordable homes have been delivered in England over the last three years, thanks to the wider affordable housing programmes. Over 84,000 homes .have already been delivered

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under the current programme which invests £19.5 billion of public and private funding in affordable housing over this spending review period.

The rate of affordable house-building will soon be at the highest level for two decades. A further £23.3 billion will deliver 165,000 new affordable homes between 2015 and 2018.

More homes are being approved through planning. Having swept away the previous Government's top-down targets and reduced red tape, the latest quarterly figures show a 45% year-on-year increase in the number of planning approvals for new homes in the second quarter of 2013. In the year to June 2013 88% of planning applications were approved, a 10-year high.

Since the launch of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in April according to figures held by the Homes and Communities Agency there have been 15,410 reservations for new build homes. This scheme will further support the housing market, providing housebuilders with the confidence to increase output further.

As outlined in the written ministerial statement of 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 31-33WS, my Department no longer publishes statistics by Government office region. Local authority figures from which regional estimates can be calculated can be found in Live Tables 253 and 253a at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

Local Plans

Mrs Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average length of time is for approval of local plans submitted by local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [175021]

Nick Boles: The time taken to examine the plan will vary according to the complexity of the issues raised and the level of objection. Plan examinations have been completed in eight months but can take longer depending on their complexity and the quality of underpinning evidence. Examination of a local plan requires planning inspectors to check carefully that local authorities have made an objective assessment of local needs and that their draft local plan makes adequate provision for sustainable development to meet those needs.

Non-domestic Rates

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many small businesses are in receipt of 100% small business rate relief. [174835]

Brandon Lewis: Data collected as at 31 December 2010 showed that 296,000 hereditaments in England were in receipt of 100% small business rate relief.

Data collected earlier this year are currently being validated and will be published in the autumn.

We estimate that approximately half a million businesses in England are benefiting from small business rate relief, with approximately a third of a million paying no rates at all.

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assessment he has made of the effects on the small business sector of the expiry of the doubling of small business rate relief in March 2014; [174836]

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(2) what assessment he has made of the effects of freezing business rates in 2014-15 for hereditaments with a rateable value of between (a) £6,001 to £18,000 and (b) £6,001 to £25,000 in London. [174837]

Brandon Lewis: We keep all taxes, including business rates, under review. The small business rate relief scheme will be considered at Autumn Statement 2013.

Non-domestic Rates: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total value of business rates levied in Barrow and Furness constituency was in each of the last five years. [175091]

Brandon Lewis: Details of the amount of non-domestic rates collectable from ratepayers in the Barrow in Furness borough council area in respect of each of the last five years are shown in the following table. The figures shown are the amount the authority would have collected in the year if everyone liable for non-domestic rates in that year had paid. This includes not only those who are liable to pay for the whole year but also those who are liable to pay for part of the year and takes account of the amount of relief given.

This information is contained in statistical releases on collection rates of council tax and non-domestic rates published on the DCLG part of the .gov.uk website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics

The data are as reported by billing authorities on the annual quarterly collection rates of council tax (QRC4) return. Data are not collected at a constituency level.

Year-on-year changes reflect a number of factors such as: changes in the base (e.g. the construction of new buildings); the retail prices index adjustment to annual bills; and variations in levels of relief granted.

The Government's commitment to the annual retail prices index cap means that there has been no real-terms increase in business rates since 1990. We have also taken a number of steps on business rates. We have: temporarily doubled the level of small business rate relief for a further year—making three and a half years in total—so that the higher level of relief will apply throughout 2013-14; announced a new measure which will mean that empty new builds will be exempt from empty property rates for up to 18 months up to state aid limits between 1 October 2013 and 31 October 2016; simplified the process for claiming small business rate relief by removing red tape; introduced business rate relief in the Enterprise Zones; waived £175 million of backdated business rates demands levied on businesses, including some in ports; and given local authorities wide-ranging, discretionary powers to grant business rates discounts.

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Planning Permission

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure that planning inspectorates consider the importance of localism when assessing local plans. [173649]

Nick Boles: We have put local plans at the centre of the planning system as the means for local people and local firms to shape how and where development should and should not take place.

The Localism Act has abolished top-down regional strategies and limited the discretion of planning inspectors to insert their own wording into local plans. It also ensures that rather than focusing on reporting progress in making plans to central Government, local authorities focus on reporting progress to local communities.

During the inquiry into the draft Local Plan, planning inspectors are expected to check carefully that local authorities have made an objective assessment of local needs and that their draft Local Plan makes adequate provision for sustainable development to meet those needs.

A local authority can draft its plan to reflect local opinions on how and where to meet those needs. The

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inspectors should rigorously assess the evidence to ensure it is objective and listen carefully to all sections of the community before making a judgment on that evidence.

Publications

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to his Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by his Department in each year since 2010. [168781]

Brandon Lewis: As outlined in the answer of 28 February 2011, Official Report, column 110W, the Labour Government spent £26 million of public funds on research reports which were never published, which we have subsequently made public as part of our transparency agenda. This commissioning was an astonishing waste of taxpayers' money. For clarity, I am excluding such reports from the scope of this answer, along with any external reports which were commissioned under the last Administration but where the external research concluded and was subsequently published after May 2010.

The information is as follows:

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In addition, the Department funds technical research on the sales and reserves of aggregates in different parts of England, to support the work of Aggregates Working Parties. The costs of this are met from the overall funding for these working parties; the research is available and listed on gov.uk.

Recruitment

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new staff his Department has employed under (a) fixed-term contracts and (b) short-term contracts since May 2010. [174455]

Brandon Lewis: Since May 2010 my Department has employed (a) 89 new staff on fixed-term contracts, and employed (b) 76 people on short-term contracts as either paid interns or apprentices.

Fixed term contracts for short-term or specialist roles often represent better value for money for taxpayers than permanent contracts or hiring consultancy firms.

Sunningdale Park

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how often his Department has used Sunningdale Park for civil service events since May 2010; what the nature of each such event was; and what the cost of each such event was. [174394]

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) on 17 July 2013, Official Report, column 706W.

Health

Ambulance Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ambulance stations there were in each region in (a) May 2010 and (b) the most recent period for which figures are available. [174504]

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.

Autism

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of an innovation fund to assist the development of autism services; [174833]

(2) what assessment he has made on how the NHS is complying with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on diagnosing and managing adults with autism. [174834]

Norman Lamb: As part of their Push for Action campaign the National Autistic Society proposed that there should be an innovation fund to assist the development of autism services, and we will consider this during the current review of the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy which will be completed by the end of March 2014.

The Department does not monitor compliance against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's clinical guidelines as they represent best practice and are not mandatory. It is however NHS England's priority to ensure high quality care for all and to secure the best possible outcomes for patients.

Cancer: Drugs

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the likely demand for medicines funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [174246]

Norman Lamb: The management of the Cancer Drugs Fund is a matter for NHS England. NHS England has advised that forecasting arrangements are in place, and the Department has made no separate assessment of demand levels for 2013-14.

For subsequent years, the Government announced on 28 September 2013 that a further £400 million will be made available to extend the fund to the end of March 2016.

Information published by NHS England shows that between 1 April and 30 September 2013, 8,686 patients benefited from the Cancer Drugs Fund, bringing the total to over 38,000 since October 2010. Further information can be found on NHS England's website at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

Clinical Trials

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the recommendations submitted by the umbrella group AllTrials to the European Medicines Agency consultation on transparency of clinical trials; [174316]

(2) what his policy is on greater clinical trial transparency; and whether his Department has contributed to the European Medicines Agency consultation into the transparency of clinical trials. [174317]

Dr Poulter: The Government are committed to transparency in the area of clinical trials. It is important for patients, the public, researchers and the national health service and can be achieved through ensuring trial registration and outcome publication as well as making data available through the appropriate channels. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory

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Agency on behalf of the Government submitted a response to the European Medicines Agency's consultation on publication and access to clinical trials data.

We have not yet reviewed the recommendations submitted by AllTrials to the consultation. The Government have engaged in this initiative and will continue to do so as this progresses in the future.

Croydon Primary Care Trust

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2013, Official Report, column 147, on NHS accountability, when he expects to respond to the report from the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding the deficit for Croydon's Primary Care Trust in financial year 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [174838]

Norman Lamb: The Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), will be replying to Councillor Jason Cummings, the chair of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee, this week.

The report of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee contained three recommendations for the Department. Two of these we were pleased to accept, as they clarified existing powers.

The third recommendation was that the Secretary of State use his powers to compel the former chief executive of the former Croydon Primary Care Trust (PCT) to provide evidence to the Committee.

However, employees attend before local authorities and answer questions on behalf of the relevant body, not in a personal capacity. Accordingly, the regulations do not impose duties on people who are no longer employees of NHS bodies. Where employees of NHS bodies have moved on, we would expect the relevant body to have appropriate handover arrangements and to identify another suitable person to attend. This did indeed happen in Croydon, where the chief executive of the PCT at the time of the hearing did appear before the Committee.

The Department will shortly be publishing new guidance to support local government scrutiny functions by describing the new powers and duties provided for by the Local Authorities (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013. The guidance will clarify the position in regard of these issues.

Domestic Accidents: Older People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what (a) proportion and (b) number of elderly people have attended exercise classes on fall prevention in the latest period for which figures are available; [174321]

(2) what research his Department has commissioned on the effect of fall prevention exercises on the prevalence of hip fractures in the elderly; [174322]

(3) how much his Department spent on fall prevention exercises in each year for which data are available; [174323]

(4) what assessment his Department has made of the comparative effectiveness of fall prevention exercise regimes; [174324]

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(5) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of fall prevention exercises in reducing hip fractures in the elderly. [174325]

Norman Lamb: The Government believe that falls prevention strategies are best developed locally so as to reflect the needs of local communities and to make best use of local infrastructure, expertise and other assets. Local authorities would take the lead in commissioning services to support falls prevention, working in partnership with local clinical commissioning groups, general practitioner practices and acute hospitals, and as an integral part of the health and well-being strategies overseen by local health and well-being boards.

The Department has strengthened the power and responsibility of local authorities by extending their remit to public health and by providing a total of £5.46 billion of ring-fenced funding over two years (2013-14 and 2014-15).

The Department has also made provision to go further by introducing a duty in the Care Bill on local authorities to provide or commission services that prevent, delay or reduce adults or carers' needs for care and support. Such services could promote independence, and prevent people reaching crisis point in their area.

The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funding a £2.5 million trial looking at the comparative effectiveness of advice, exercise and a multi-factorial fall prevention programme on peripheral fractures among older people living in the community. The Prevention of Fall Injury Trial is funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and the report of the trial is expected to be published in March 2016. The trial is sufficiently large to determine whether falls prevention can reduce fractures, not simply falls, and to provide insight into approaches which are most effective, cost-effective and acceptable to the population. It will provide answers that can be used by primary care practices to determine how they best advise and refer patients who are at risk of falling, but may not yet have had a fall.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published revised guidance on falls prevention in June 2013, which includes evidence as to the effectiveness of exercise programmes. NICE guidelines are based on thorough assessment of the available evidence and are developed through wide consultation with stakeholders. This document is available at:

www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/14181/64088/64088.pdf

This follows up the Falls and Fractures Commissioning Toolkit published in 2010 and contains relevant information:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/dh_103146

In addition, we have promised to commission development of a national library of evidence on prevention to support local authorities in carrying out their duties.

The Department does not collect information centrally on exercise programmes or any other activity by local authorities or local national health service bodies with regard to falls prevention. However, we do collect and publish information on relevant outcomes as part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework and NHS Outcomes Framework, including data on: injuries due to falls in people aged 65 and over; hip fractures in

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people aged 65 and over; improving recovery from fragility fractures; and, helping older people to recover their independence after illness or injury.

This information is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-lives-healthy-people-improving-outcomes-and-supporting-transparency

www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-outcomes-framework-2013-to-2014

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Mr Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many staff who work for the East and North Herts NHS Trust earned between (a) £50,000 and £66,000,

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(b)

£67,000 to £99,000 and

(c)

£100,000 or more in the last financial year; [174713]

(2) how many staff who work for the East and North Herts Clinical Commissioning Group earned (a) between £50,000 and £66,000, (b) between £67,000 and £99,000 and (c) £100,000 or more in the last financial year. [174729]

Dr Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. The figures in the following table are derived from basic pay, not all earnings. Estimates are calculated from payments made in one month (June 2013) multiplied by 12 to represent the year's salary.

EU External Trade: USA

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that provision of NHS services will not be open to legal challenge as a result of the proposed transatlantic trade and investment partnership; [174818]

(2) whether the NHS will be exempt from any competition and investment provisions agreed as part of a transatlantic trade and investment partnership. [174819]

Jane Ellison: The United Kingdom has already undertaken some long-standing commitments at the multilateral level in terms of access to the health sector through the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS, 1995). The UK's aim in relation to health services in the Free Trade Agreements negotiations, including the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), is to maintain commitments that are broadly in line with our existing obligations under the GATS.

The TTIP will not affect the policy that it is for national health service commissioners to take decisions on the competitive tendering of services, in the best interests of their patients, consistent with the NHS Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition Regulations.

Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on the relationship between social class and (a) smoking, (b) obesity and (c) physical activity levels. [174344]

Dr Poulter: The Department funds a wide range of research on socioeconomic factors relating to smoking, obesity and physical activity.

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The Department funds the Public Health Research Consortium (PHRC), which brings together senior researchers from 11 United Kingdom institutions in a new integrated programme of research, with the aim of strengthening the evidence base for interventions to improve health, with a strong emphasis on tackling socioeconomic inequalities in health.

One project by the PHRC has included study of regional and socioeconomic status differences in smoking prevalence, consumption and cessation, and another project has studied the changing social patterning of obesity. Reports of these projects are available on the PHRC website at:

http://phrc.lshtm.ac.uk/project_2005-2011_a910r.html

and:

http://phrc.lshtm.ac.uk/project_2005-2011_b106.html

The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funding the NIHR Public Health Research programme. This programme includes a current project on “Tackling inequalities in obesity: How effective are public health interventions at reducing socio-economic inequalities in obesity amongst children and adults?”

The Department is a funding partner in the National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI). The NPRI supported research published recently in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity on socioeconomic position and childhood sedentary time:

www.ijbnpa.org/content/10/1/105

Health Services: North East

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide additional funding to NHS

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Trusts in the north-east to develop resilience to increased pressures on accident and emergency departments during winter. [174967]

Jane Ellison: Decisions on which high-risk trusts to concentrate the resources for the upcoming winter were made jointly by NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA), and were made on the basis of a number of factors including risk to delivery of the accident and emergency (A&E) standard, local circumstances and the needs of local populations.

Every urgent care working group, including those in the north-east, have presented specific plans for initiatives to alleviate pressures on local A&E departments, and NHS England, Monitor and the NHS TDA are working with hospitals across the whole country to ensure that emergency services are ready for winter. The situation remains under constant review.

Hip Replacements: Older People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the cost to the public purse of repairing broken hips in the elderly in each of the last 10 years; [174312]

(2) how many elderly people suffered a broken hip following a fall in each of the last 10 years. [174424]

Norman Lamb: Information on the cost to the public purse of repairing broken hips in the elderly is not reported separately to the Department.

Data on the number of people aged 65 and over who suffered a hip fracture following a fall in each of the last 10 years are in the following tables.

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Hospital Beds

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds there were in each of the last three years. [174438]

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table:

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were cancelled in each of the last seven years. [174430]

Jane Ellison: The requested information is shown in the following table:

Hypertension: Drugs

Mr Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the value of the drug Chlortalidone in treating hypertension; and on what grounds the decision to withdraw Chlortalidone from the NHS was made. [174591]

Norman Lamb: Chlortalidone tablets, marketed as Hygroton, have not been withdrawn from the United Kingdom market, but they are currently out of stock due to the closure of the UK manufacturing site. The Department is aware of the situation and is in discussion with the company. The manufacturer, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, is experiencing difficulty in identifying an alternative manufacturing site capable of producing the medicine to the required standards. As a result, the company is currently not in a position to confirm a date for resupply. Alternative medicines are available and which medicine is appropriate will depend on the condition to be treated. This is a matter for discussion between the doctor and his or her patient.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's clinical guideline on the clinical management of primary hypertension in adults (CG127), published in August 2011, recommends a thiazide-like diuretic (such as Chlortalidone) as a treatment option if diuretic treatment is to be initiated or changed.

Influenza: Vaccination

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department has spent on promoting free winter influenza vaccinations in each of the last five years. [175092]

Jane Ellison: The estimated total cost of promoting the influenza vaccination programme in England in each of the last five seasons is shown in the following table:

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Maternity Services

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance his Department gives on the best size of maternity units in England in terms of the number of births handled each year; [174715]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the acceptable safe travel time for women in labour. [174716]

Dr Poulter: The Department does not give guidance on the best size of maternity units in England in terms of the number of births handled each year. Maternity providers and commissioners should engage with the local population to ensure that maternity services are developed to meet local needs.

The Department has not made any assessment of the acceptable safe travel home for women in labour. In planning for birth, women should discuss with their midwife or health professional their choice of place of birth and any associated risks in order to make an informed decision about where they access care.

Medical Records

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission observational research using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Group to assess the (a) effectiveness of AEDs and (b) prevalence of side effects in (i) biological offspring and (ii) other populations. [174236]

Dr Poulter: The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Group would be able to undertake research studies into the effectiveness of, and prevalence of, side effects in the use of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs).

AEDs are prescribed in primary care, secondary care and specialist care centres. A CPRD study would be possible in AEDs prescribed in primary care (whether initiated in primary care or as follow-on care from specialist treatment). This would be dependent on there being sufficient data for a given AED to enable a study to be reliable. The initial work the CPRD team would propose would be to undertake some analysis to assess the feasibility of the study, and inform the study design which would be set out in its protocol.

It is likely that analysis of side effects in those prescribed AEDs could be undertaken using the CPRD data resources. It may also be possible to undertake an assessment of side effects in the offspring of mothers prescribed AEDs. However, it will not be possible to include analysis of side effects in the offspring of fathers prescribed AEDs. This is because there is no method to link fathers and their offspring in an anonymised dataset like the CPRD GOLD primary care data. This is due to the fact that there is only very rarely an entry in a father's medical record that he has been or is about to be father to a child. As a result it is not possible to link fathers' records with those of their offspring.

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to link biological parent medical notes to those of their offspring. [174304]

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Dr Poulter: The Clinical Practice Research Datalink has been linking anonymised patient data of mothers to their offspring for several years. A probabilistic matching exercise is undertaken each month using a multi-step matching algorithm to provide a good level of confidence in the accuracy of the matching. Any records where there is uncertainty over the accuracy of the link are excluded. This mother-baby link is available for protocol controlled research studies for medical and health research purposes. It has been available in its current form since 2010.

It is only possible to undertake a matching exercise between mothers and their offspring. Linkage between fathers and their offspring is not possible as there is only very rarely an entry in the fathers' medical records to record that they are or are about to be the father of a child.

Medical Treatments

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for which treatments the NHS has ended funding since May 2010. [174502]

Jane Ellison: Local commissioners are responsible for delivering the vast majority of NHS services and treatments for their resident populations in England. Prior to 1 April these decisions were the responsibility of primary care trusts and now they are the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

In 2013-14 the Department allocated £95.6 billion of overall funding to NHS England for NHS services. From within this overall envelope, recurrent revenue allocations are made to CCGs by NHS England on the basis of a weighted capitation formula used to determine CCGs' share of available resources to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need. It is for CCGs to decide how to use their funding to commission services and treatments to meet the health care needs of their local populations, taking account of local and national priorities.

The NHS Constitution sets out a number of important rights for patients regarding the provision of treatment, including “the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, if your doctor says they are right for you”, and, “the right to expect local decisions on funding of other drugs and treatments to be made rationally and following a proper consideration of the evidence”.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; and if he will publish the results of that assessment. [174680]

Dr Poulter: The Department assesses the performance of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (the Agency) in a number of ways. These include annual and quarterly accountability meetings and regular informal contact with the Agency to discuss business policy.

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The Department also attends key governance meetings such at the Risk Assurance and Audit Committee and the monthly Agency Board meetings. The Department does not publish a formal assessment of the Agency's performance, but the Agency's Key Performance Indicators for the year ahead are published in its annual business plan:

www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/es-policy/documents/publication/con261797.pdf

and its performance against these targets are published in the annual report and accounts:

www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/comms-ic/documents/websiteresources/con297456.pdf

The Secretary of State for Health approves the business plan and annual accounts and the annual account is then laid in Parliament.

Mental Health Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to work with NHS bodies, local authorities, police and other agencies to (a) prevent people with mental health problems becoming victims of crime and (b) support people with mental health problems who are victims of crime. [174564]

Norman Lamb: The Department is working with the Ministry of Justice to establish ways in which victims of crime with mental health problems can receive the most appropriate support.

We are investing up to £16 million in the Time to Change programme to empower people to talk about mental health problems and to tackle the discrimination they face.

Multiple Sclerosis: Drugs

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on how many NHS trusts are currently prescribing nabiximols (Sativex). [174960]

Norman Lamb: Nabiximols is defined in the British National Formulary Section 10.2.2 Skeletal muscle relaxants, as a cannabis extract.

For primary care, in the first quarter of the 2013-14 year (April to June 2013), nabiximols was prescribed by 136 of the total 211 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England. A total of 570 prescription items were dispensed with a total net ingredient cost of £222,250. This information was obtained from the Prescribing Analysis and CosT tool system.

For secondary care, information is not available at CCG level. National level data indicate most usage to be within primary care.

NHS

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a card to establish the right to use NHS services. [174841]

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Jane Ellison: The Department will respond to the recent consultation “Sustaining services, ensuring fairness” very shortly, including plans on an improved system to identify chargeable patients and those eligible to use the national health service without charge.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many walk-in centres there were in each of the last four years. [174433]

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not held by the Department.

Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning walk-in-centres (WiCs) based on an assessment of local need.

There has never been an agreed definition of a walk-in centre. This term is sometimes used interchangeably with terms such as “Minor Injuries Unit” and “Urgent Care Centre”.

Information on WiCs which are classified as a type of accident and emergency (A&E) department is already collected as part of the existing A&E returns although others are commissioned locally and do not currently submit central returns.

NHS: Compensation

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures are in place to enable individuals to seek compensation for harmful effects of pharmaceutical products and medical devices. [174235]

Norman Lamb: While the Government have every sympathy with patients who believe they have been adversely affected by pharmaceutical products or medical devices, any claims for compensation are for the legal system to determine.

NHS: Drugs

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) cancer and (b) other medicines appraised through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's Single Technology Appraisals process have been (i) recommended, (ii) restricted and (iii) not recommended for use in the NHS in each year since Single Technology Appraisals were introduced; [174232]

(2) how many cancer medicines have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for use in the NHS in 2013 to date. [174233]

Norman Lamb: The information requested is provided in the following tables.

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