Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Mr Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients contracted (a) MRSA and (b) other infections in hospitals in Dorset in each of the last three years. [176072]

Dr Poulter: Although Public Health England (PHE) does not routinely collect comprehensive data on all hospital-acquired infections, as part of its mandatory surveillance programmes it does collect data on Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), Meticillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteraemia and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteraemia at the level of each acute NHS trust.

The data summarised in the following table, taken from this surveillance programme, represent the total number of trust apportioned cases of MRSA bacteraemia, CDI and MSSA bacteraemia and all cases of E. coli bacteraemia from three acute national health service trusts in Dorset over the last three years (where data are available).

Trust apportioned cases represent infections that were probably acquired in the reporting trust during the present admission, as determined by PHE. Three years of data are presented for MRSA bacteraemia and CDI, two years for MSSA bacteraemia and one year for E. coli bacteraemia in line with commencement of data collection for the latter.

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Malnutrition: Bradford

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with malnutrition were admitted to Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust hospitals in each of the last five years. [176056]

Norman Lamb: The number of in-patient finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for the fiscal years 2008-09 to 2012-13 is shown in the following table:

Mental Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2013, Official Report, columns 71-73W on mental health, if he will make an assessment on the effect of a reduction in living standards on mental health and well-being. [175935]

Norman Lamb: The link between economic downturns and mental ill health is well established and there have been a number of recent publications that have considered this issue. We have therefore no plans to carry out a further assessment on the effect of the reduction in living standards on mental health and well-being at this time.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2013, Official Report, columns 166-9W, on mental health

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services for young people, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in data collection on the accuracy of data relating to under-18 year olds who were admitted to adult mental health wards between 2007 and 2012; and what estimate he has made of the number of young patients on adult wards which were not set aside for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services patients in 2011-12. [176010]

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no such assessment.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre data collection for 2011-12 does not exclude patients who were on part of an adult ward set aside for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services patients.

In 2011-12, there were 47 children aged under 16 on an adult mental health ward and 298 adolescents aged 16-17 on an adult mental health ward.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of child and adolescent mental health services provision (a) nationally and (b) regionally. [177147]

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no such assessment.

We are investing £54 million over 2011 to 2015 in the Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. This will drive service transformation in child and adolescent mental health services—giving children and young people improved access to the best mental health care by embedding evidence-based practice and making sure whole services use session-by-session outcome monitoring.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his oral statement of 19 November 2013, Official Report, columns 1095-7, on the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, what his current estimate is of the number of medically qualified personnel who will be involved in carrying out the regulatory, advisory and inspection functions referred to in that statement. [176921]

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England and is responsible for designing and implementing its new regulatory and inspection model. The CQC has provided the following information.

The CQC, led by its Chief Inspector of Hospitals, began the first wave of its new acute inspections on 16 September 2013. These will be completed on 6 December 2013.

Typically, during this programme, at least four medically qualified personnel have been involved in carrying out the CQC's regulatory, advisory and inspection functions in each case. On each inspection, the number of medically qualified personnel carrying out these functions has varied depending on the size of each trust (the number of locations it operates) and the nature of any concerns that have been highlighted from the intelligence the CQC has received about each trust.

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The CQC has defined ‘medically qualified personnel' as medical doctors. Other clinical staff have also been part of inspection teams: at least four nurses or allied health professionals have participated, though their numbers have varied depending on trust size and nature of concerns about each trust.

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral statement of 19 November 2013, Official Report, column 1097 and the answer of 8 October 2013, Official Report, column 104W, on Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, whether the fit and proper person test referred to in that statement is the same mechanism as the barring mechanism referred to in that Answer; and when he expects that fit and proper person test to be implemented. [177118]

Dr Poulter: The Government Response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry confirmed that the Government will establish a new fit and proper person test for board-level appointments, which will mean that the Care Quality Commission is able to bar directors who are unfit from individual posts at the point of registration. This will apply to providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Where a director is considered by the Care Quality Commission to be unfit, it could either refuse registration, in the case of a new provider, or require the removal of the director on inspection, or following notification of a new appointment.

Further details will be set out in the response to the consultation on corporate accountability which will be published shortly. The Government plan to publish the draft regulations for consultation at the same time and to introduce the new regulations in October 2014.

MMR Vaccine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people between 10 and 16 years old had received at least one dose of the MMR vaccine when the 95 per cent target was announced in his Department's MMR Action Plan, published in May 2013. [177151]

Jane Ellison: Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) coverage is only routinely collected at age two and five years. The baseline coverage was therefore estimated from annual coverage data collected between 2002 and 2008.¹ Of English children aged 10 to 16 years in 2013, around 88.2% were reported to have received at least one dose of MMR vaccine at the age of five years. To adjust for vaccination that these children may have received subsequently, it was assumed that 30% of those recorded as unvaccinated at the age of five years had received at least one MMR by 2013.² This provided a baseline estimate of MMR coverage in 10 to 16-year-olds of between 92% and 93% in April 2013.²

¹Note:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733783627

²Note:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/calculating-mmr-coverage-ready-reckoner-tool-2013

Public Health England (PHE) is currently undertaking an audit to assess what proportion of children aged 10

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to 16 years and recorded as unvaccinated for MMR on their local Child Health Information System have a record of vaccination with their general practice.

Muscular Dystrophy

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the access to care for patients with muscular dystrophy in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in the last five years; [176928]

(2) how many people have been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each of the last five years. [176929]

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no assessment of the access to care for patients with muscular dystrophy in Ribble Valley constituency, Lancashire and England in the last five years.

Information on how many people have been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in each of the last five years is not available in the format requested.

Making the national health service more responsive to the needs of people with long-term conditions, including those with neurological conditions such as muscular dystrophy, is a key Government priority and we have committed to this in the NHS Mandate, the NHS Constitution and the NHS Outcomes Framework.

The Mandate and the Outcomes Framework both include objectives for NHS England to make the NHS among the best in the world at supporting people with on-going health problems to live healthily and independently, with much better control over the care they receive.

Muscular Dystrophy: West Midlands

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase neuromuscular care advisor and paediatric neuromuscular consultant provision in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement. [176838]

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services.

NHS England published “Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult)” in July 2013. This service specification describes the service commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multidisciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multidisciplinary team includes neuromuscular care co-ordinators.

The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they comply with the service description and standards.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 500W, on NHS Walk-in Centres, how many walk-in centres were classified as accident and emergency in each of the last three years. [176419]

Jane Ellison: This information is not held in the format requested.

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There has never been an agreed definition of a walk-in centre (WiC). 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 these are collected as ‘type 3’ A&E departments along with urgent care centres and minor injuries units. Others are commissioned locally and do not currently submit central returns.

It is not possible to identify the number of sites as the aggregate return only collects attendances by organisation, not by site.

NHS: Negligence

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 502W, on NHS: Negligence, whether his Department holds data on the cost of negligence cases to the NHS; and if so how much such cases have cost in each of the last three years. [176420]

Dr Poulter: The Department does not hold this information centrally, as each national health service body is responsible for handling its own litigation except where they have the claims processed under the statutory NHS indemnity schemes, which are administered by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA) on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The following table shows cost of negligence cases administered by the NHS LA in each of the last three years :

These figures relate only to expenditure by the NHS LA. ‘Other negligence’ includes public and employers' liability and property claims.

NHS: Staff

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many medically qualified personnel involved in NHS England and other NHS bodies are not currently providing direct care or treatment to patients. [176920]

Dr Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.

Doctors are defined centrally based on the General Medical Council/General Dental Council approved medical specialty within which they trained if their role requires such registration to be held to carry out their duties. The coding does not differentiate between those who do or do not provide direct patient care.

NHS: Training

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) training and (b) guidance his Department gives to medical professionals working for the NHS on awareness of (i) disabilities and (ii) hidden disabilities when treating a patient. [176134]

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Dr Poulter: Disability awareness training is primarily a responsibility of employers. However, the Government recognise the importance of lifelong learning for all staff working in health and social care.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on a wide range of physical and mental health conditions, many of which will affect disabled people. In addition, NICE is developing further guidance, including clinical guidelines on mental health problems in people with learning disabilities and disability, dementia and frailty in later life.

NICE expects health and care professionals to take NICE guidance on the treatment of relevant conditions fully into account when deciding how to treat a patient.

Nurses

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2013, Official Report, column 663W, on nurses, what the reasons for the decision taken to stop collecting centrally the numbers of locum or bank nurses were. [176125]

Dr Poulter: The Government made a commitment in the White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ to:

“...initiate a fundamental review of data returns, with the aim of culling returns of limited value, to ensure that the National Health Service information revolution is fuelled by data that are meaningful to patients and clinicians when making decisions about care, rather than by what has been collected historically”.

The Fundamental Review covered all national data returns requested by the Department and its arm's length bodies (ALBs) from NHS organisations and recommended that 76 (25%) of the returns be discontinued and estimated that this would reduce the burden on the NHS by approximately £10 million per annum.

The review challenged data returns to demonstrate they meet the following criteria:

help drive the achievement of a key priority with the focus on outcomes and the quality standards that deliver them, safety and patient experience;

provide comparable information about the quality of services;

support patient choice and empowerment;

are required to demonstrate public or parliamentary accountability for the efficient stewardship of public money, or

are necessarily generated as a result of the care giving process.

Following consultation, a number of central returns were discontinued, including the bank nursing aspect of the NHS Non-Medical Workforce Census. The rationale behind its suspension and ultimate cessation was because this data return did not meet the criteria, and included considerations such as the burden on NHS organisations, data quality and availability of similar information from other data sources.

Improved NHS Earnings data now includes information on Bank Staff Earnings—the latest publication is available here:

www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=123588itopics=l%2fWorkforce0/o2fStaff+earnings&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=l#top

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of nurses who qualified in the UK who have not secured a job in the NHS in each of the last three years. [176136]

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Dr Poulter: The information is not collected centrally.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) may have the information on the number of nurses who qualified in the United Kingdom but who have not secured a job in the national health service in each of the last three years. HESA is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education. HESA collects information on the first destination of graduates.

The HESA website is available at:

www.hesa.ac.uk

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the difference between the number of nurses expected to qualify in the UK and the number required to fill current and future vacancies in the next five years; [176137]

(2) how many nurses are expected to qualify in England and Wales in each year from 2014 to 2018; [176138]

(3) how many nurses qualified in England and Wales in each year from 2005 to 2013. [176139]

Dr Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) will publish its England level plan (name to be confirmed) on 5 December. This year providers have forecast their future workforce requirements (with the responsibility of reflecting local service demand based on need) which local education and training boards (LETBs) have moderated to make adjustments to their education and training commissions. The England assessment of those positions will be available in the published plan.

HEE holds information contributing to, and is responsible for, the secure supply of the England NHS-funded workforce but Wales is not part of its remit. Attrition assumptions have been modelled into an assessment of security of supply, and hence the “qualifiers” that will outturn through to 2014-18 (for nurses), the higher level outcomes of which will be published in December.

Earlier this year, HEE exercised a due diligence process to collate information from the LETBs (formerly strategic health authorities) as part of an inherited HEE responsibility to provide assurance of 2012-13 education commission positions. In year outturn from 2009-10 to 2012-13 actuals are listed as follows by core nursing branch:

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Nurses: Foreign Workers

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of non-UK qualified nurses recruited by the NHS from (a) within the European Union and (b) non-European Union countries on fixed-term contracts who (i) have had their contracts extended and (ii) been given permanent contracts in each of the last five years. [175972]

Dr Poulter: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses employed in the NHS are nationals of countries (a) within and (b) outside the EU. [176331]

Dr Poulter: The numbers of nurses employed in the national health service who are nationals of countries within and outside the European Union are not collected centrally. However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) collects data on the number of registrations to the NMC register. The following table shows the number of nurses from overseas and the European Economic Area registered as nurses in the NHS since 2002:

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of non-UK-qualified nurses recruited by the NHS from countries (a) within and (b) outside the EU in each of the last three years. [176332]

Dr Poulter: The number of non-United Kingdom qualified nurses recruited by the national health service from countries within and outside the European Union is not collected centrally. However, the Nursing and

25 Nov 2013 : Column 160W

Midwifery Council (NMC) collects data on the number of registrations to the NMC register. The following table shows the number of nurses from overseas and the European Economic Area registered as nurses in the NHS since 2002:

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of NHS mental health trusts offering specific maternal mental health services. [176315]

Dr Poulter: Information on the number of national health service mental health trusts offering specific maternal mental health services is not collected centrally.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, columns 504W, on radiotherapy, whether NHS England intends to introduce a non-mandatory tariff for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for the financial year 2014-15. [175924]

Dr Poulter: NHS England and Monitor will not be introducing a non-mandatory tariff for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for the financial year 2014-15.

Tuberculosis

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the level of tuberculosis in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Hendon constituency. [176291]

Jane Ellison: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the United Kingdom is assessed through systematic analysis of notification data obtained from the Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance System run by Public Health England. In 2012 in the UK, a total of 8,751 cases of TB were reported, a rate of 13.9 cases per 100,000 population.

TB rates in the UK showed a sustained increase from 2000 until 2005, and have remained among the highest in western Europe. Certain sub-groups, such as new migrants, ethnic minority groups, and those with social

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risk factors (homelessness, imprisonment or problem drug/alcohol use) have particularly high rates.

In 2012, the rate of TB in England was 15.3 cases per 100,000 population. The rate of TB in London was 41.8 cases per 100,000 population. Hendon constituency had a TB rate of 47.5 cases per 100,000.

Visual Impairment

Mrs Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will take steps to ensure that all newly-blind and partially-sighted people receive an early offer of rehabilitation; [176745]

(2) if he will take steps to ensure that all local authorities have an up-to-date register of blind and partially-sighted people in their area. [176746]

Norman Lamb: Clause 76 of the Care Bill will require local authorities to provide preventive services to their populations, and we will use regulations under the Bill to maintain existing requirements for rehabilitation (intermediate care) services to be provided free of charge for up to six weeks. This duty applies regardless of people's eligibility for care and support, and includes people with sight impairments. Clause 76 will be supported by guidance.

Local authorities have a legal duty to keep a register of people who are severely sight impaired and partially sight impaired. This requirement is retained under the Care Bill. The register will help to ensure that visually impaired people can receive proper assessments of their support needs.

Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband: Heywood

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress her Department has made in rolling out broadband in Heywood. [176058]

Mr Vaizey: Superfast broadband is now available to 73% of premises in the UK; in Rochdale superfast coverage is 96.2%. The Greater Manchester local authorities, excluding the cities of Manchester and Salford which have funding from the Urban Broadband Fund, are currently finalising a contract for further delivery of superfast broadband under the Government's rural broadband programme.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department is intending to give to small local radio stations in connection with the introduction of digital broadcasting. [176405]

Mr Vaizey: The Government recognise the importance of local commercial radio stations to the communities they serve and is committed to reserving part of the FM spectrum as a platform for local and community radio stations, for as long as it is needed. My officials are also working with Ofcom to consider the potential options

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for smaller local stations to migrate to digital in the lead up to and after a future switchover. We are very encouraged by the recent research Ofcom has carried out on software enabling low-cost, low-power DAB transmissions, which has been successfully trialled in Brighton.

Disabled Staff

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of employees in her Department have a physical or learning disability, by each civil service pay grade. [176654]

Mrs Grant: The table shows the proportion of DCMS employees who have declared a disability (physical or learning) in each grade.

This answer assumes the civil pay scale to be the civil service grade.

Discrimination

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of age discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of her Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many of those complaints resulted in disciplinary action. [176601]

Mrs Grant: Our records show there have been no complaints of age discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of DCMS.

The Department does not hold records of complaints against its Executive agencies.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of racial discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of her Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action. [176618]

Mrs Grant: Our records show there have been no complaints of racial discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of DCMS.

The Department does not hold records of complaints against its Executive agencies.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of sexual discrimination or harassment have been lodged

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against employees of her Department or its Executive agencies by

(a)

employees and

(b)

other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action. [176671]

Mrs Grant: Our records show that there were no complaints of sex discrimination lodged against employees of my Department. There were two complaints of sexual harassment made (one in 2010 and one in 2011). Action was taken in accordance with the Department's disciplinary procedures.

The Department does not hold records of complaints against its Executive agencies.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of disability discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of her Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action. [176688]

Mrs Grant: Our records show there have been no complaints of disability discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of DCMS.

The Department does not hold records of complaints against its Executive agencies.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of her Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action. [176705]

Mrs Grant: Our records show there have been no complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of DCMS.

The Department does not hold records of complaints against its Executive agencies.

Employment Tribunals Service

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many claims at employment tribunals have been lodged against her Department on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity discrimination in each of the last five years; and how many such cases were found against her Department. [176550]

Mrs Grant: Our records show there have been no employment tribunals related to pregnancy or maternity lodged against DCMS.

Football

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will establish a Government expert group on increased opportunity for supporters to be involved in the ownership of their clubs; and if she will make a statement. [177163]

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Mrs Grant: We are currently considering proposals from Supporters Direct on an expert group on supporter engagement. Meanwhile, we continue to press the football authorities to better engage with their fans and have been encouraged by the introduction of a designated Supporter Liaison Officer into each of the Premier League and Football League clubs.

Football Association

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she has made on encouraging reform to the internal governance of the Football Association; and if she will make a statement. [177162]

Mrs Grant: We welcome the fact that recent reform of the FA Board now meets Sport England's governance requirements. We continue to press the football authorities to ensure further reform to their decision making structures, the financial regulation of the game and their engagement with supporters.

Internet

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on ICANN's proposals for exclusive ownership of generic top-level domains at the upcoming conferences in Argentina and Singapore. [176337]

Mr Vaizey: The UK supported the advice provided by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to the Board of ICANN in April 2013 following its meeting in Beijing that as a general rule the generic top- level domain name (gTLD) space should be operated in an open manner. As an exception to this general rule, the GAC also advised the board that in the cases of gTLDs associated with market sectors which have clear and/or regulated entry requirements in any jurisdictions, such as the charity, financial, gambling and health sectors, appropriate registration restrictions should be applied by the registry operators. The board accepted this GAC advice.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consideration the Government have made of the effects on competition of ICANN's proposals for exclusive ownership of generic top-level domains on businesses operating in the UK. [176342]

Mr Vaizey: Through its seat on ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), the UK supported the general position taken by the GAC that exclusive ownership of generic top-level domains would not serve the best interests of promoting competition in the domain name space and would not be consistent with the overall public interest objectives of expanding the domain name system.

Jimmy Savile

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the BBC Trust on reports of (a) leaked evidence from the Pollard Review and (b) exclusion by the Pollard Review of evidence from BBC executive Helen Boaden. [177080]

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Mr Vaizey: Although I have regular discussions with the BBC Trust on a range of matters, the Pollard Review and all other related inquiries are a matter for the BBC.

Railways

Mrs Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Transport, (b) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (c) Cabinet Office about improving wi-fi coverage and mobile connectivity across the UK rail network. [177008]

Mr Vaizey: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues at the Department for Transport, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office on a range of issues.

Sports: Females

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of female sports coaches and match officials; and what assessment her Department has made of the effect of female sports coaches and match officials on female sports participation rates. [176503]

Mrs Grant: 31% of sports coaches in the UK are women. Sport England is investing £5 million through Sports coach UK to improve the standard and availability of coaching. This includes a pilot project to recruit and retain 500 new female coaches in the south-east. The aim is to roll out the project nationally from 2015 and recruit up to 5,000 new female coaches. While there is some evidence to suggest the gender of coach can be important to participants, the quality and enjoyment of the coaching session remain key factors in increasing and maintaining the number of women who take part in a sport.

Sport England does not hold any specific data on female match officials.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to ensure that sporting and changing facilities in (a) schools and (b) community centres are appropriately adapted to encourage sporting participation by (i) disabled women, (ii) elderly women and (iii) Muslim women. [176721]

Mrs Grant: Sport England has invested around £40 million to upgrade community sports facilities and make these accessible and welcoming facilities for disabled and non-disabled people alike of all ages. In addition, Sport England has published design principles to ensure that needs of all groups are considered at the design phase and good quality access is provided. In response to research on BME groups provided by Sporting Equals, Sport England is using the Bury Woman and Sport pilot project to try out new ways to overcome barriers to participation for Muslim women. These include women-only fitness sessions with no spectators, sessions delivered by women and adjusting the timings of sessions to be sensitive to prayer times.

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The Department for Education is responsible for information on sporting and changing facilities within schools.

Staff

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of employees in her Department are (a) female and (b) male, by each civil service pay grade. [176584]

Mrs Grant: The table shows the percentage of employees in DCMS who are (a) female and (b) male, by each civil service grade.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of employees in her Department is (a) white British and (b) black, Asian and from other minority ethnic groups, by each civil service pay grade. [176636]

Mrs Grant: The table shows the percentage of employees in DCMS who are (a) white British and (b) from other minority groups, by each civil service grade.

Completion of these data is non-mandatory for staff. As such these figures may not be fully representative of work force diversity.