Staff

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of employees in his Department is (a) white British and (b) black, Asian and from other minority ethnic groups, by each civil service pay grade. [176633]

Jo Swinson: The latest available information on the ethnicity of BIS employees by pay grade is:

BIS encourages all staff to declare their diversity information so that we can ensure our culture and policies are inclusive and work equally well for everyone. However, this is not mandatory and some people simply prefer not to do so.

Travel

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost of travel within the UK was for his Department in each year since 2010; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence. [176828]

Jo Swinson: The cost of travel within the UK for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Core Department including UKTI) each year since 2010 is as follows:

Included within these figures the following was spent on:

26 Nov 2013 : Column 224W

Justice

Crime Prevention

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which early intervention crime-prevention schemes have received reduced funding from his Department since May 2010. [173607]

Norman Baker [holding answer 4 November 2013]: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.

Funding streams provided by the Home Office to local areas for crime reduction and prevention have frequently been multi-purpose, with discretion given to local areas as to how to use funds to achieve desired outcomes. It is not possible therefore to disaggregate precise amounts spent on early intervention crime prevention initiatives over the period in question. At the same time, specific funding streams have been consolidated within the police main grant to enable Police and Crime Commissioners flexibility to allocate funding to locally identified policing and crime, priorities as appropriate. Alongside the main police grant, for 2013-14 a transitional Community Safety Fund of £90 million (which comprises some previously separate funding streams) has been established to assist Police and Crime Commissioners in funding local crime and policing projects. While this is not specifically designated for early intervention programmes some local schemes may have an early intervention element. It is intended that this fund will be incorporated into the police main grant from 2015/16. In addition, in 2013/14, £400,000 has been provided to fund Advocates for young people, and £700,000 provided to tackle knives, gangs and youth violence (neither of these schemes was running in May 2010).

Criminal Proceedings

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average time taken is for each type of Class A criminal offence to reach court. [172518]

Mr Vara: Table 1 shows the average (mean) number of days from offence to first listing at court for all completed Class A criminal cases, England and Wales, annually 2010-012, quarterly Q2 2010 - Q2 2013.

26 Nov 2013 : Column 225W

Caution should be taken when interpreting averages based on a small numbers of defendants. The relatively low frequency of Class A offences can lead then to be more susceptible to the impact of individual outliers (e.g. a single historic case or a particularly lengthy investigation).

26 Nov 2013 : Column 226W

The time between an offence being committed and subsequently reaching court encompasses a number of distinct stages (e.g. reporting, investigation and charge) and associated criminal justice organisation. As such variations in duration are largely driven by the timing of initial reporting, the relative seriousness of the offence and the possible complexity of a case.

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26 Nov 2013 : Column 228W

Defamation Act 2013

Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the provisions of the Defamation Act 2013 not already in force will be implemented; and if he will make a statement. [R] [176749]

Mr Vara: As my right hon. Friend Lord McNally announced in the House of Lords on 19 November 2013, Official Report, column GC377, we intend to bring the Defamation Act 2013 into force on 1 January 2014.

Employment Tribunals Service

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many employment tribunal cases costs orders were issued in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14 to date. [176174]

Mr Vara: The number of cost orders that have been made by employment tribunals annually is published by the Ministry of Justice as Official Statistics. The most recent such statistical release is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employment-tribunal-and-employment-appeal-tribunal-statistics-gb

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many cases an employment tribunal judge used case management powers in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14 to date. [176175]

Mr Vara: The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 provide employment judges/tribunals with a range of case management powers including in respect of disclosure of documents; attendance at hearing; and strike out and deposit orders.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service staff are not required to collate data about the exercise of judicial case management powers. To provide them, it would be necessary to retrieve them manually from hard copy files, orders and/or judgments. Accordingly, this information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost by manually checking hard copy tribunal files or judgments.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employment tribunal cases in each region were overlisted from April 2012 to April 2013. [176183]

Mr Vara: The listing and management of hearings in employment tribunals (including the taking of decisions about cancellation, postponement or adjournment of cases) is a judicial function.

In accordance with judicial listing policy, it is possible that some cases listed for hearing on a particular day might not be reached during the course of that day. Such cases are then re-listed for an alternative day.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service staff are not required to collate and record information about these cases. Those that do record relevant information do not report the data in a manner that can be collated and reported on centrally. Accordingly, it is not possible to provide the information requested without manually retrieving and collating the information from hard copy tribunal files or other records at disproportionate cost.

Energy

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on improving the energy efficiency of his Department. [175989]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice has a programme of initiatives to tackle its greenhouse gas emissions, including capital investment on energy conservation

26 Nov 2013 : Column 229W

measures, energy surveys and optimising building management systems; working with facilities management providers to improve day to day building management, conducting behavioural change campaigns and ongoing maintenance.

Details of the Ministry of Justice's performance are published in its Annual Report and Accounts.

Forest Bank Prison

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the turnover of education staff has been at HM Prison Forest Bank since it was opened; [176510]

(2) how many days of sick leave have been taken by education staff at HM Prison Forest Bank in each year since 2010; [176511]

(3) what steps have been taken at HM Prison Forest Bank to improve teaching standards and conditions since the most recent inspection by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons; [176513]

(4) what steps he is taking to ensure education staff employed at HM Prison Forest Bank are provided with (a) sufficient training and (b) opportunities for career development. [176514]

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) does not hold the detailed staffing information requested. HMP Forest Bank is managed by Sodexo Justice Services (Sodexo) and the education staff employed there are employees of Sodexo or other contracted organisations.

Following the inspection by the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, an action plan was prepared based on the areas identified for improvement. The prison has completed the actions identified by the inspection and is continuing to seek ways to improve the delivery of education.

As the employer of teaching staff, Sodexo is responsible for providing them with training and career opportunities. Sodexo has stated its commitment to investing in its education staff, to ensure each member reaches his or her full potential.

I understand that teaching staff at Forest Bank have full access to Sodexo's corporate learning and development opportunities, as well as to training from wider organisations, to enable them to deliver effective teaching.

Parole

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sex offenders currently awaiting parole are considered to be (a) high risk, (b) medium risk and (c) low risk; and how many sex offenders are enrolled in the multi-agency public protection arrangements system in prisons in England. [176995]

Jeremy Wright: Information on the risk levels of sex offenders currently awaiting parole could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The required information is not held centrally on one system and would require matching together information from a number of different operational systems to identify the parole status and risk assessment of each offender. The data on parole status are held on the Public Protection Unit Database; the data on the risk of serious harm assessment are held on the Offender Assessment System (OASys) and further details required for accurate matching are held on the prison case management system (PNOM1S). Data from

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these systems are available centrally but they are not routinely matched. The information requested is held together on local individual case files but these are not available centrally.

All sex offenders who have been convicted of a specified sexual offence and/or to whom the notification requirements under part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 apply will be subject to supervision under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements following release from prison custody for as long as they are on licence or for the length of their notification requirement, whichever is longer.

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders who have been released by the Parole Board in each of the last five years have completed an accredited offender behaviour programme. [176996]

Jeremy Wright: In order to provide the number of offenders released by the Parole Board in each of the last five years who had completed an accredited offending behaviour programme, a manual check of all released offenders' files would be required as these data are not available centrally. That would mean that the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The completion of an accredited offending behaviour programme in itself is not a requirement for release. In deciding whether to direct the release of offenders who have completed their minimum period of imprisonment, the Parole Board will consider all the available evidence about an offender's current risk of harm. Thus, the Board will consider not only whether offenders have completed relevant targets on the sentence plan, but also their behaviour while in custody, current risk assessments and, finally, the proposed risk management plan for their release.

Pay

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many successful prosecutions there have been for failure to comply with wage slip regulations in each of the last three years. [176092]

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice holds no record of prosecutions pertaining to wage slip regulations, as such it is not possible to provide the information requested.

Prisons and Probation

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what real-terms changes in spending on (a) prisons and (b) the Probation Service he plans will take place between 2012 and 2017. [176027]

Jeremy Wright: The following table provides a direct resource expenditure on public and private sector prisons for 2012-13 and draws a comparison with the budget figures for 2013-14. It also provides the outturn and budget figures across the two years on probation trusts.

Please note that the allocated budgets for 2013-14 may be subject to change during the financial year. Due to changes in priorities, scope and accounting treatment the figures may not be directly comparable. The 2012-13 outturn on prisons has been adjusted to reflect this.

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I am unable to provide information for future years as allocations to MOJ's business groups beyond 2013-14 have not been agreed and because settlements beyond spending round 2013 (2015-16) have yet to be negotiated.

Prisons: Security

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of lost keys in each prison have been reported in each month since May 2010. [176847]

Jeremy Wright: While the number of incidents of key loss reported by prison establishments is recorded centrally, it has not been possible to provide the data for this answer in the time available. I will write to the right hon. Member as soon as the information has been produced.

Probation

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how offenders will be moved between community rehabilitation companies and the new National Probation Service; and what steps he has taken to mitigate other potential problems that may arise from urgent reclassification of offender risk levels under the Transforming Rehabilitation proposals. [173593]

Jeremy Wright: Protecting the public is our top priority. Under our reforms, management of the offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm, or who have committed the most serious offences, will be the responsibility of the National Probation Service (NPS), and management of medium and low risk offenders will be the responsibility of the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).

CRCs will be required to refer a offender to the NPS if they believe the risk of serious harm is escalating to high. If a CRC refers a low or medium risk offender to the NPS, and the NPS decides that the risk of serious harm has escalated to high, the responsibility for the management of the case will transfer to the NPS. These case transfers will happen in a way that minimises the chance of destabilising the offender. For example, the CRC could continue to be involved in delivering interventions to the offender even though the case responsibility has moved.

The NPS and CRCs will be expected to work closely together and we expect that partnership working would often be facilitated by co-location.

Roads: Accidents

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions of drivers accused of causing the death of a cyclist have resulted in convictions in each of the last three years; and what sentence was handed down in each such case. [176266]

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Jeremy Wright: The Government have made sure that significant penalties are available for those who cause death on the roads; the most serious offences of causing death by dangerous driving or causing death while under the influence of alcohol or drugs are punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment, causing death by careless driving is punishable by five years. There is no specific offence of causing the death of a cyclist so those who cause the death of a cyclist through dangerous or careless driving will be charged with the relevant offence.

The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from these centrally held data whether or not the victim of any offence of causing death while driving for which a defendant was proceeded against was a cyclist. This detailed information may be held by the courts on individual case files which due to their size and complexity are not reported to Justice Statistics Analytical Services. The information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average time was between arrest and sentencing for a young offender in each year since 2009-10. [176384]

Jeremy Wright: The average time from arrest to completion for youth criminal cases since 2010-11 can be viewed in the following table.

Completed cases include those sentenced, acquitted and withdrawn. It is not possible from centrally collated data to identify separately those sentenced.

The time between an offender being arrested and subsequently reaching completion in court encompasses a number of distinct stages, (for example investigation, charge and hearing at the court) and associated criminal justice organisations. Variations in duration are affected by the complexity and seriousness of a case both in terms of charging an offender and subsequent case management.

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Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what measures he has introduced to reduce young offending in the 100 most deprived UK communities. [177154]

Jeremy Wright: Preventing young people from offending is a Government priority. Considerable progress has been made in recent years in reducing the number of first time entrants to the criminal justice system, including through the work of youth offending teams. First time entrants to the youth justice system peaked in the 12 months ending June 2007 at 105,482 and has decreased by 76% since then to 25,332 in the 12 months ending June 2013.

The Department and the Youth Justice Board (YJB) do not produce their own deprivation index. The Department for Communities and Local Government publishes a number of deprivation indices, one of which is the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). This provides a comprehensive overall indicator of deprivation by geographical area and is widely used to identify the most deprived areas in England. The latest was published in 2011, for the year 2010. The index scores Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA) and the table in the following link provides the details of the top 100 most deprived LSOAs:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6872/1871524.xls

The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) monitors the youth justice system in England and Wales and identifies, promotes and disseminates good practice to youth justice practitioners.

Youth offending teams (YOTs) are multi-disciplinary teams which deliver youth justice services in the local area. Each local authority or two or more local authorities acting together are required to establish a YOT to provide youth justice services to young people in their area. YOTs have the discretion to apply measures they consider will best address the needs of the young people in their area. In doing so they will be informed by the YJB's published advice and guidance including the information within the YJB's effective practice library. This contains examples of practice submitted to the YJB by the sector which are categorised according to the strength of the evidence to support their effectiveness.

Young Offenders: Human Trafficking

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 818W, on young offenders, when he expects his Department to hold full offence data on the number of young people in custody for human trafficking offences. [176484]

Jeremy Wright: The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) collects data on the offence for which young people in custody have been sentenced.

Human trafficking was not recorded as a separate offence within the database used for data collection between 2008-09 and 2011-12. Any cases where the young person was in custody for human trafficking would be under the category “other” and cannot be extracted. A new database, which separately identifies human trafficking offences, has been in use since 2012-13 for data collection. Implementation issues have resulted

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in incomplete offence data and therefore it is not currently possible to answer reliably the question with regard to the number of young people in custody for human trafficking offences.

It may be possible to provide information relating to the 2013-14 period after the end of the financial year, but we will need to assess the quality of the data when it is available before we can determine whether it is reliable to use.

Youth Justice Board

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the budget was of the Youth Justice Board in each year since 2009-10. [176385]

Jeremy Wright: The budget of the Youth Justice Board has reduced from £501 million in 2009-10 to £311 million in 2013-14, in line with the reduction in spending on the youth estate: the number of young people in custody has reduced from an average of 2,418 in 2009-10 to an average of l,561 in 2012-13.

The following table shows the YJB's budget every year since 2009-10:

The YJB was previously sponsored jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Education (DFE), with both Departments providing funding. In 2010-11 sponsorship for the YJB transferred to the Ministry of Justice, with the Home Office continuing to contribute funding in that year and the following year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

China

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise the issue of forced organ harvesting (a) in general and (b) from Falun Gong practitioners in China with the Chinese government. [177111]

Mr Swire: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer dated 5 November 2013 to the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins), Official Report, column 107W.

Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the contribution made by projects funded by the Prosperity Fund to tackling climate change in emerging economies. [177202]

Mr Swire: Over half of the Prosperity Fund has been dedicated to tackling climate change in emerging economies. Notable examples include award-winning work on a software tool for comparing long-term energy choices which China and many other countries have adopted; the support for a new Climate Change Law in Mexico

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and the cooperation of the launch of new energy efficiency targets for industry in India. The Fund remains under regular review to ensure that it gives the best possible value for money for the British taxpayer.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had on the future of the Commonwealth green capital fund; and if he will make a statement. [177213]

Mr Swire: I believe that the hon. Lady is referring to the Green Climate Fund, which was discussed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, held earlier this month in Colombo. Although it is not a Commonwealth initiative, Heads recognised the importance of the Fund for helping developing countries to respond to climate change. We look forward to further progress towards the Fund's implementation at future meetings of the Green Climate Fund Board.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he has given to expanding the number of target countries supported by funding from the Prosperity Fund. [177278]

Mr Swire: The Prosperity Fund this year is worth £19.6 million and supports over 300 projects in 29 target countries. The qualifying countries are reviewed annually and the Fund remains open to outstanding projects from outside these countries.

The Fund supports efforts to create the conditions for sustainable global growth, to ensure access to resources and to create more open global markets. It is a crucial part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's contribution to the Government's growth agenda and has given notable support to our economic objectives overseas—ranging from, for example, supporting research for the People's Bank of China on the internationalisation of its currency, the renminbi; supporting the Mexican Federal Commission on changes in competition rules, which saved £300 million of Mexican public money and opened up the telecommunications sector; to helping Colombia's President Santos to launch a high level anti-corruption reporting system, in line with OECD standards.

Disabled Staff

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of employees in his Department have a physical or learning disability, by each civil service pay grade. [176659]

Hugh Robertson: All Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff have been encouraged to provide personal diversity data—including on disability—to be held anonymously. Provision of this information is voluntary and to date this record is not completed by enough staff to provide an accurate overall picture of those with physical or learning disabilities. The FCO Diversity and Equality Report 2013 lists the percentage of employees who declare having a disability by grade and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-diversity-and-equality-report-2013

Please note that this report does not go into any detail about the disability.

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Discrimination

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many complaints of discrimination related to pregnancy or maternity have been lodged against employees of his Department or its Executive agencies by (a) current employees and (b) prospective employees in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action; [176572]

(2) how many complaints of age discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his 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; [176606]

(3) how many complaints of racial discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his 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; [176623]

(4) how many complaints of sexual discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his 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; [176676]

(5) how many complaints of disability discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his 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; [176693]

(6) how many complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his 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. [176710]

Hugh Robertson: Over the five years in question (2008-13) there have been no formal complaints from Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) UK based staff or the staff of its Executive agencies in relation to age, race, homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment. There have also been no formal complaints of discrimination in relation to pregnancy or maternity made by FCO UK-based staff, the staff of its Executive agencies or prospective employees, and only one employment tribunal case lodged that was subsequently withdrawn.

The number of formal complaints relating to disability and sexual discrimination or harassment in each of these years is five or less. However in line with Cabinet Office guidance the FCO cannot disclose more detailed information on these cases, including whether they resulted in misconduct, for reasons of confidentiality, and to avoid the possibility of revealing the identities of individual staff.

In addition to this, records for complaints made by employees against locally employed members of staff or by other individuals are not held centrally, and to obtain these figures would incur disproportionate costs.

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Gibraltar

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the 2006 Cordoba Agreement and the commitment of each of the signatures to fulfil their commitments. [176517]

Mr Lidington: The 2006 Cordoba Agreement was a positive step forward in improving relations between the Governments of the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Spain in respect of Gibraltar. We stand by the commitments made under the Cordoba Agreement, including on aviation, which is the key aspect of the agreement which Spain is now seeking to resile from.

It is important that Gibraltar is included in all EU aviation legislation. We cannot accept a return to the pre-2006 Cordoba Agreement practice of suspending Gibraltar airport from EU aviation measures. We have raised this with the Spanish Government and the European Commission and we are continuing to seek a mutually acceptable solution.

Gibraltar: Spain

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings he has had with (a) the Spanish Ambassador and (b) his Spanish counterpart on Spain's relations with Gibraltar in the last six months. [176505]

Mr Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not met the Spanish ambassador to discuss Gibraltar in the past six months. On the two occasions when the Spanish ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during this period, he has been seen by the Permanent or Acting Permanent Under-Secretary, in line with diplomatic protocol for the summoning of ambassadors. The Secretary of State called the Spanish Foreign Minister on 7 August to raise our serious concerns regarding the ongoing situation at the Gibraltar-Spain border. The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister and I also spoke to our Spanish counterparts during August, and the Prime Minister raised the issue again during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister at the G20 summit in September.

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of proposals by the Spanish Government to introduce a fee to cross the border to Gibraltar. [176506]

Mr Lidington: I refer the right hon. Member to my response of 29 October 2013, Official Report, column 413W.

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking at (a) an EU, (b) an UN and (c) a bilateral level to reduce checks imposed by the Spanish Government at its border with Gibraltar. [176739]

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Mr Lidington: The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and I have all called our Spanish counterparts to protest in the strongest terms about delays at the Gibraltar-Spain border. We most recently made clear our concerns when we summoned the Spanish ambassador to the UK on 19 November and we protest formally to the Spanish Government about all delays experienced at the Gibraltar-Spain border.

In August, the Prime Minister asked European Commission President Barroso to send a monitoring mission to Gibraltar-Spain border. We welcome the fact that the Commission sent a mission on 25 September and subsequently, on 15 November, made recommendations for the Spanish Government to improve the functioning of the border. We fully expect Spain to act on those recommendations without delay.

The border between Spain and Gibraltar is an EU border governed by EU law, and we have therefore taken action primarily at a bilateral and EU level. We do not rule out raising this at the UN in future.

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the European Commission's ruling on the legality of checks by Spanish border authorities at its border with Gibraltar. [176741]

Mr Lidington: We welcome the fact that the Commission has put Spain on notice and has made recommendations to the Spanish Government to improve the functioning of the border which, if implemented, would reduce delays. We expect the Spanish Government to act on these recommendations without delay.

It is unsurprising that the European Commission was unable to conclude that EU law has been infringed: the border operated much more smoothly than normal during the Commission visit. This is not the same as confirmation that Spain has acted lawfully.

We remain confident that Spain has acted—and continues to act—unlawfully, and we will continue to provide evidence of that to the European Commission.

Haiti

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of (a) human rights and (b) representative democracy in Haiti; and if he will make a statement. [176777]

Mr Swire: The UN Independent Expert issued a report on human rights in Haiti in February 2013. The British Government agree with the recommendations in that report, particularly those around strengthening the rule of law, guaranteeing the economic and social rights of Haitian citizens and addressing gender-based violence. The UK remains particularly concerned by the delay to local and senate elections and the implications for representative democracy in Haiti. I raised these concerns with the President and Foreign Minister of Haiti during my visit to open the new British embassy in Port-au-Prince in June and, more recently, in writing to the President of the Haitian Senate.

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Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the proposed Mount Scopus Slopes National Park for (a) the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Al-Issawiya and At-Tur and (b) the ongoing peace negotiations. [176499]

Hugh Robertson: Our officials in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem report that, if implemented, the Mount Scopus Slopes National Park plans would designate the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus—land which is in the most part privately owned by Palestinian residents of Issawiyeh and At-Tur—as a national park. The park would have serious implications for the bordering Palestinian neighbourhoods, which have no further space for natural growth in other directions.

Recent settlement announcements have had a detrimental impact on trust between the parties and have led to the Palestinian negotiating team offering their resignations. During my recent visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I made clear our concerns about these announcements and our opposition to settlements.

We have raised our strong concerns over the Mount Scopus Slopes National Park plans with Israeli ministers and officials.

Pay Television

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether offices of (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies have access to Sky Sports or an equivalent premium sports television service; and what the cost to the public purse is in each case. [176431]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its executive agencies do not subscribe to Sky Sports or premium channels of any kind in the UK. This does not capture subscriptions sourced locally overseas as it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.

Sky Sports 1 is one of the eight channels provided via the Palace of Westminster feed and while some Departments in the FCO do have access to it; the FCO does not subscribe nor pay for it.

Staff

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of employees in his Department are (a) female and (b) male, by each civil service pay grade. [176589]

Hugh Robertson: The proportion of employees by gender and grade can be found in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Diversity and Equality Report 2013, see:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-diversity-and-equality-report-2013

The specific statistics on this are set out as follows:

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Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of employees in his Department is (a) white British and (b) black, Asian and from other minority ethnic groups, by each civil service pay grade. [176641]

Hugh Robertson: The proportion of employees by ethnicity and grade can be found in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Diversity and Equality Report 2013:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-diversity-and-equality-report-2013

The specific statistics on this are set out as follows:

Syria

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the number of Syrian refugees treated at the Galilee Hospital in the Golan Heights area of Israel. [176790]

Hugh Robertson: According to information from the Israeli National Security Council, approximately 300 Syrians have been treated in the Western Galilee Hospital. The hospital is situated in the Israeli town of Nahiriya, not in the Occupied Golan Heights.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will investigate the use of frozen Syrian Government assets for humanitarian aid for the population of that country. [176791]

Hugh Robertson: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 November, Official Report, column 79W.

Energy and Climate Change

Renewables Obligation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the monetary value of renewables obligation certificates received by (a)

26 Nov 2013 : Column 241W

Centrica plc,

(b)

EDF Energy plc,

(c)

E.ON,

(d)

Iberdrola,

(e)

RWE AG and

(f)

SSE plc was in each year from 2005 to date. [176744]

Michael Fallon: Renewables obligation certificates (ROCs) are issued to accredited generators by Ofgem on the basis of their reported renewable generation. Information on the number of ROCs issued to all accredited stations is published in the ROC register. This is available on Ofgem's website at:

https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/

It is not always clear from the register, however, who owns which generation assets, so the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

An estimate of the value of support for each generating station can be calculated by multiplying the number of ROCs issued by the value of the ROC. The nominal value of a ROC in any given year is equal to the buyout price (the amount a supplier must pay for every ROC they do not present to Ofgem in order to comply with their obligation) plus the recycle value (the amount re-distributed to suppliers from the buyout and late payment funds on a pro-rata basis depending on how many ROCs they presented to Ofgem) for that year. This information can be found in Ofgem's annual reports which are available on their website at:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-ro

The nominal value represents the maximum worth of a ROC to a generator but is not necessarily the amount paid by a supplier.

Wind Power

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's recommended minimum distance between housing and a 140 metre onshore wind turbine is. [176776]

Gregory Barker: The National Planning Policy Framework expects local councils to design their policies to ensure that adverse impacts from renewable energy developments are addressed satisfactorily and makes clear that a planning application for renewable energy should be approved only if the impact is, or can be made, acceptable.

To help implement the Framework, we published new planning practice guidance for renewable and low carbon energy. The guidance is clear that the need for renewable energy does not automatically override environmental protections and the planning concerns of local people.

The guidance explains that local planning authorities should not rule out otherwise acceptable renewable energy developments through inflexible rules on buffer zones or separation distances. This is because other than when dealing with set back distances for safety, distance of itself does not necessarily determine whether the impact of a proposal is unacceptable. Distance plays a part, but so does the local context including factors such as topography, the local environment and nearby land uses. This is why it is important to think about in what circumstances proposals are likely to be acceptable and plan on this basis.

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Church Commissioners

Churches: North Yorkshire

Miss McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what plans the Church Commissioners have to visit churches in North Yorkshire. [177268]

Sir Tony Baldry: A number of the different parts of the Church Commissioners have made frequent visits to the North Yorkshire area in the last few years following the last full review in 2007. The Church Commissioners undertake these formal visits to two Diocese a year. There are mechanisms in place to visit a Diocese should this be required on a more frequent basis such as a number of similar issues facing several churches in one diocese.

More informal meetings and visits take place throughout the year as part of the usual cycle of business. Such meetings usual involve among others the staff from the Pastoral and Closed Churches team and the Property and Investments Division, Rural Estates team and Strategic Land team.

This year the following parts of the Church Commissioners have specifically visited the North Yorkshire area:

The Rural Estates team and Strategic Land team have made a number of visits this year to York Diocese and to the wider estate in the North and West Yorkshire area.

The Pastoral Committee have visited St Margaret’s High Bentham which is part of North Yorkshire but falls under the jurisdiction of Bradford Diocese.

In recent years between 2007 and 2013 the Commercial team and Strategic Land team and Rural Estates team have also visited parts of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, Diocese of York , focusing on the areas of Hambleton, Selby and Kirklees, Leeds and Northallerton, Skipton and Ripon.

The Church Commissioners will continue to visit and engage with the staff of the Church in the North Yorkshire area however, there are currently no plans in place for another full review of the York Diocese for a number of years.

Work and Pensions

British Steel: Pensions

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his proposals on reducing widows' benefits include restrictions on the British Steel pension scheme. [177134]

Steve Webb: We have no plans to reduce existing widows' benefits paid by occupational pension schemes, and are not placing new restrictions on schemes in respect of such benefits.

The Pensions Bill 2013, introduces the single tier state pension and under these proposals from April 2016 there will no longer be an additional state pension to contract out of. This means in future schemes that were contracted-out will not have to meet the minimum standard that currently applies to contracted-out schemes. Pension entitlement, including entitlement to survivors' pension, derived from employment before that date will be unaffected.

We expect that following the end of contracting out, these schemes will continue to provide survivors’ benefits as they have always tended to be more generous than

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mandated by the contracting-out requirements. If sponsoring employers or trustees choose to alter scheme benefits, only pension rights accrued after the change would be affected, and changes would be subject to any restriction in scheme rules concerning changes to scheme benefits.

Child: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made on the implementation of his new child maintenance system; and if he will make a statement. [177101]

Steve Webb: The 2012 scheme opened as a pathfinder, on 10 December 2012, and the caseload has steadily expanded since then. On the 25 November 2013, the Government opened the 2012 scheme to all new applicants. We will no longer be accepting new applications to the 2003 statutory scheme.

New applications will first need to go through a gateway conversation, delivered by the child maintenance options service. Child maintenance options provide information and support to help parents consider a family based arrangement, before turning to the statutory service.

The 2012 scheme will act as a backstop for parents who cannot make their own family based arrangements. Experimental 2012 scheme statistics published today show that, for the months of August and September 2013, between 3,000 and 4,000 new applications a month have been handled. These statistics are available on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/260599/2012-child-maintenance-scheme.pdf

Housing Benefit

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an estimate of levels of expenditure by each local authority of their total allocation for 2013-14 for discretionary housing payments in the first six months of the current financial year. [177070]

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions requests that local authorities provide six monthly returns detailing their committed DHP expenditure.

We are currently gathering this information from local authorities and conducting the relevant quality assurance process.

This year, in addition to the original Government contribution, local authorities are able to bid for funding from a £20 million discretionary housing payment reserve fund. The scheme is open to bids until 3 February 2014.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who will be affected by the under-occupancy penalty in (a) the Vale of Clwyd, (b) North Wales and (c) Wales are aged (i) 60 and over but under the qualifying age for state pension credit, (ii) under 60 and registered as a couple with children, (iii) under 60 and a lone parent, (iv) under 60 and registered as a couple without children and (v) under 60 and single. [176818]

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Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available by age. However, work is in progress to include these data as part of the information already available through StatXplore, see the following hyperlink:

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

Guidance on how to extract information from StatXplore can be found here:

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

Innovation Fund

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of his Department's £14 million Innovation Fund: Support for Separated Families has been allocated in the first two rounds of funding awards; how much has been paid out by his Department to organisations with whom it has now signed contracts for delivery of Innovation Fund projects; and what his Department's plans are for the balance remaining in the fund. [177347]

Steve Webb: Projects in rounds one and two of the Innovation Fund have been allocated worth £6.5 million and £3.4 million respectively. The Department has so far been invoiced for £585,000 in respect of projects in round one. Contracts have yet to be signed for round two. The Department plans for the remainder of the fund to cover spending on rounds one and two as well as evaluating the projects. The actual spend on these will depend on the performance of the projects, as payments to organisations are a mix of milestone payments and payments based on numbers of participants, and the outturn cost of evaluation.

Jobcentre Plus

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's employees in Jobcentre Plus have undergone formal or informal poor performance procedures for not making enough sanctions referrals under the Work Programme. [177135]

Esther McVey: None because we do not issue targets for sanctions.

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2013 to the hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Henley), Official Report, column 153W, on telephone services, if he will publish a list of companies which made revenue from 0845 calls to Jobcentre Plus centres in 2012-13; and what amount was made by each company. [177340]

Esther McVey: Jobcentre Plus 0845 telephone numbers are provided to DWP by BT as part of the Integrated Communications Networks Services (ICONS) contract.

DWP does not incur costs for calls to Jobcentre Plus 0845 telephone numbers as the customer making the call is charged by their respective service provider for the call. DWP cannot, therefore, provide details of revenue generated by private companies as a result of calls to Jobcentre Plus 0845 telephone numbers.

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Long Term Unemployed People: Tyne and Wear

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what programmes his Department supports that focus on long-term unemployment in the Tyne and Wear travel to work area. [177434]

Esther McVey: The Work programme provides support, work experience and training for up to two years to help claimants who are long-term unemployed or face significant challenges, to find and stay in work.

Claimants who do not find sustained work during their time on the Work programme receive intensive Jobcentre Plus support to build on their time on the Work programme. From April 2014, under ‘Help to Work’, this will be expanded to include community work placements.

There are a number of local projects in the Tyne and Wear area that offer support to unemployed people, including the long-term unemployed that have completed the Work programme.

Mesothelioma

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have died from

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mesothelioma in

(a)

Jarrow constituency,

(b)

South Tyneside,

(c)

the North East and

(d)

the UK in each year since 1997. [177380]

Mike Penning: Mesothelioma data are not recorded at constituency level.

The following table shows the number of mesothelioma deaths for South Tyneside, the North East and for Great Britain in each year from 1997 to 2011, and the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland for each year from the earliest data available in 2001 to 2011. 2011 is the most recent year for which the data are available.

There is a small distinction between the figures for Northern Ireland and Great Britain; the figures for Northern Ireland are based on when a death from mesothelioma was registered, whereas the figures for Great Britain are for the year in which the person died of mesothelioma. This small distinction explains why figures are provided separately as Great Britain and Northern Ireland, rather than combined to produce a United Kingdom total.

Pay Television

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether offices of (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies have access to Sky Sports or an equivalent premium sports television service; and what the cost to the public purse is in each case. [176441]

Esther McVey: The DWP does not subscribe to Sky Sports. A small number of offices have access to the parliamentary annunciator service. The annunciator service gives information about parliamentary proceedings, including live feeds from the Commons and Lords Chambers and Westminster Hall, on screens throughout the parliamentary estate. The feed received by DWP includes the same channels, including Sky Sports, as are provided in the Palace of Westminster. There is no extra cost to the DWP.

Publications

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will (a) make available online and (b) place a copy in the Library of his Department's (i) Labour Market Decision Makers Procedural Guide, (ii) Jobseeker's Allowance Procedural Guidance, (iii) Get Britain Working Guide, (iv) Labour Market Conditions Guide and (v) Decision Maker's Guide. [177187]

Esther McVey: Government information is now published on the GOV.UK website. GOV.UK is run by Government Digital Services (GDS), who are part of Cabinet Office. We can publish Information on GOV.UK if there is a statutory requirement or a clear user need.

The Decision Makers Guide is already published on GOV.UK

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/decision-makers-guide-staff-guide

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We will investigate whether these other guides can also be published and will pursue this with GDS.

I will place a copy of these guidance products in the Library of both Houses.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of whether everyone in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or employment support allowance who is sanctioned is now given a written statement explaining the reason for the sanction; and if he will make a statement. [177240]

Esther McVey: Jobseeker's allowance and employment support allowance decision notices provide reasons for decisions, but claimants also have the right under the Social Security Act 1998 to request a fuller statement of reasons.

Social Security Benefits: Greater Manchester

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions were applied to claimants in Worsley and Eccles South constituency in each of the last five years. [177178]

Esther McVey: The available information on how many benefit sanctions were applied to claimants in Worsley and Eccles South constituency in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.

The information requested for JSA sanctions applied between 1 June 2012 and 21 October 2012 is not readily available by parliamentary constituency and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the EU Permanent Representatives Council document 10660/1/13 REV1, published on 19 June 2013, what

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assessment he has made of the recommendation that the UK could build on the current Youth Contract to implement a youth guarantee and address the problem of youth unemployment and those not in education, employment or training. [177214]

Esther McVey: The UK values the European semester as a mechanism to share knowledge and best practice between member states. Country specific recommendations form a valuable part of the process, encouraging and supporting member states to make necessary reforms.

The Government broadly agree with the European Council's recommendation 3 for the UK—that tackling youth unemployment should be a priority. That is why the Government implemented the Youth Contract in April 2012, providing almost £1 billion of additional support for young people over three years. And we have seen positive progress—the jobseeker's allowance claimant count for 18 to 24-year-olds has fallen in each of the last 17 months.

However, while the Government support the aims of the EU's Youth Guarantee and agree with much of the supporting guidance, they do not believe a four month guarantee is right for the UK. Over 80% of 18 to 24-year-olds flow off of jobseeker’s allowance within six months. Implementing a four month guarantee would mean spending money on many young people who would move off benefits anyway so wouldn't be cost effective.

Work Programme

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of those claimants who have completed the Work Programme are still claiming benefits. [177126]

Esther McVey: Statistics are not held on the proportion of claimants who have completed the Work programme that are still claiming benefits.

The latest statistical release (which covers the period 1 June 2011 to 30 June 2013) does show that of the 1.31 million claimants who have been referred to the Work programme 54,000 claimants returned to Jobcentre Plus after completing 104 weeks on the scheme.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, colum 501W, on Work programme, how many Work programme providers have been required to rectify shortcomings identified in the monthly survey of claimants. [177350]

Esther McVey: Claimant data collected by the Department forms part of a suite of information used in Work programme provider contract performance reviews to identify opportunities to improve customer services.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 521W, on the Work programme, how many customer complaints have been submitted to each Work programme prime provider in each month since that programme began work. [177351]

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Esther McVey: The Department does not hold information on the number of complaints received by Work programme providers. Records of any complaints they have received are kept by providers.

We require providers to work directly with individuals to resolve complaints about their service. If the individual is not happy with the final response from that provider they can take their complaint directly to the Independent Case Examiner's Service; an independent complaints review service which investigates complaints about the Department for Work and Pensions and its providers.

Deputy Prime Minister

British Constitution

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what further plans he has for constitutional reform. [177270]

Greg Clark: The Government continue to work on constitutional reform, particularly devolving more powers from Whitehall to our cities and regions. Work also continues on the implementation of individual electoral registration as well as on our legislative programme, which includes the Transparency Bill. In addition, the Government have already demonstrated their willingness to support common sense changes to the rules governing the membership of the House of Lords.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether electors currently on the electoral register who fail to register under individual electoral registration (a) will be able to vote in the May 2015 General Election and (b) will be counted for the purposes of any boundary redrawing in December 2015. [176817]

Greg Clark: The transition to IER is being phased in over two years to allow those not individually registered to continue to be able to vote in the 2015 general election.

The Government's current intention is for the transition to conclude later in 2015. However, the decision on when to end these transitional arrangements will be made after the next general election and with it the basis of the electoral register used in any redrawing of boundaries.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made in implementing individual voter registration; what assessment he has made of the effect of individual voter registration on the size of the electorate; and if he will make a statement. [176819]

Greg Clark: The Government are on track to introduce individual electoral registration (IER) in the summer of 2014. The Government have recently successfully completed a test of the system, including the IT, people, and processes, which will be used to transfer the overwhelming majority of electors across to the new IER register in 2014. The Government report on this work can be viewed here:

http://data.gov.uk/dataset/individual-electoral-registration-confirmation-dry-run-data

The Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators have produced readiness assessments for IER, all of which support implementation

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in line with proposed schedules. These are supplemented by a review of the programme undertaken by the Major Projects Authority. The reports will help inform the ministerial decision on whether to proceed with IER to the current timetable. An announcement will be made in due course.

As outlined in the Individual Electoral Registration impact assessment the completeness of the register is expected to be approximately maintained.