Welfare Tax Credits

Tessa Munt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many publicans have been in receipt of tax credits in each of the last five years. [180242]

Nicky Morgan: This information requested is not collected, and is therefore not available.

International Development

CDC

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of the work of the Commonwealth Development Corporation. [180130]

Mr Duncan: The CDC is making good progress in implementing the five-year strategy agreed with DFID in 2012. The CDC is moving to a new business model deploying a full range of debt and equity capital—both direct and through funds—thus becoming a more distinctive development finance institution with a focus on investing in sustainable job creation in the poorer countries of Africa and South Asia.

The CDC has made changes to its staff to deliver its new and ambitious strategy and a new chair of the board has been appointed to help steer CDC through its transition. CDC's progress against the development targets set by DFID is on track, 2013 commitments are exceeding forecasts and there is a healthy pipeline of planned investments.

Conflict Prevention

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department has implemented the Building Stability Overseas Strategy since 2011; and if she will make a statement. [180603]

Mr Duncan: The Prime Minister, on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister and other members of the National Security Council (NSC), will shortly present an annual statement to Parliament on implementing the strategic defence and security review, including our work on building stability overseas.

The UK's response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines has clearly demonstrated the difference that humanitarian aid and support from the armed forces can make in responding to a rapid-onset crisis. Instability and conflict continue to threaten our national security and DFID continues to play its part in addressing the root causes of conflict, helping to get Government working better, supporting wealth creation, and improving the delivery of services such as security, justice, health and education.

In the spending review we announced that a new £1 billion Conflict, Stability and Security Fund will be introduced from 2015-16 bringing together defence, diplomatic, development, security and intelligence capabilities, replacing the existing tri-departmental conflict pool. The strategy for this fund will be set by the NSC taking a long-term view of British interests.

Developing Countries: Capital Markets

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to help developing countries develop their own capital markets. [180133]

Justine Greening: As part of our Economic Development strategy, DFID is undertaking work to support capital market development in a number of markets. One example is the new strategic partnership DFID has agreed with

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the London Stock Exchange Group to support capital market development in East Africa. The first initiative under the partnership will provide training to finance professionals, regulators and Government officials to address acute skills shortages that constrain capital market development.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (b) the World Bank and (c) other international bodies on improving the tax collecting capabilities of developing countries [180132]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has regular discussions with international organisations on tax and development, including the OECD, World Bank and IMF, both bilaterally and in international forums such as the G20 Development Working Group and the OECD's Task Force on Tax and Development.

Last month, the Secretary of State for International Development announced that DFID will work with the OECD, the World Bank Group, and the Secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes to provide expert technical assistance on international tax issues to improve revenue collection in developing countries and help authorities to combat tax evasion and avoidance.

Developing Countries: Tuberculosis

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to tackle drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis in developing countries. [180131]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID supports efforts to tackle multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) through its support to UNITAID and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria, its bilateral support and research into the development of new, more effective diagnostics, drugs and vaccines to prevent and treat TB.

For example, DFID funding contributed to the development of GeneXpert test machines. GeneXpert has shortened the times to diagnose drug resistant TB from weeks to a few hours helping those with MDR-TB get treatment earlier. Through our support to UNITAID, they are now being distributed to and used in high burden TB countries.

Grants

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what grants her Department has granted in contravention of UK policy on restrictions, embargoes and sanctions since May 2010. [180541]

Justine Greening: It is the responsibility of all spending departments within DFID to comply with UK policy when making grant payments. In a statement to Parliament last week, I reported that approximately £80,000 of UK Aid had been channelled via ring-fenced accounts held by the Ministry of Agriculture in Zimbabwe contrary to UK policy.

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Ministers

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on ministerial salaries in the last year for which figures are available. [180103]

Mr Duncan: This information is published in the DFID's Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13 at page 128.

TradeMark Southern Africa

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been clawed back from sums allocated to TradeMark Southern Africa. [180538]

Justine Greening: Investigations carried out by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) and DFID's internal audit department revealed serious flaws in the governance and programme management of the TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) programme, which in part stemmed from serious errors in the design and implementation phase in 2007-10. Our investigations confirmed that following DFID's commitment in July 2009, £67 million of funds deposited in 2010 have been only partly committed. The remaining uncommitted funds, approximately £44 million, will now be reclaimed by HMG. I have given notice to commence shutting down TMSA with immediate effect.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) meetings, (b) telephone calls, (c) letters and (d) other forms of communication she and her Ministers have had with TradeMark Southern Africa in the last 12 months. [180539]

Justine Greening: Investigations carried out by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) and DFID's internal audit department revealed serious flaws in the governance and programme management of the TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) programme, which in part stemmed from serious errors in the design and implementation phase in 2007-10. Our investigations confirmed that following DFID's commitment in July 2009, £67 million of funds deposited in 2010 have been only partly committed. The remaining uncommitted funds, approximately £44 million, will now be reclaimed by HMG. I have given notice to commence shutting down TMSA with immediate effect.

Under arrangements put in place in 2010, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) is the managing agent for the TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) programme. Both officials and Ministers have discussed the programme with COMESA.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much she personally gave approval to be granted to the TradeMark Southern Africa project. [180540]

Justine Greening: Investigations carried out by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) and DFID's internal audit department revealed serious flaws in the governance and programme management of the

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TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) programme, which in part stemmed from serious errors in the design and implementation phase in 2007-10. Our investigations confirmed that following DFID's commitment in July 2009, £67 million of funds deposited in 2010 have been only partly committed. The remaining uncommitted funds, approximately £44 million, will now be reclaimed by HMG. I have given notice to commence shutting down TMSA with immediate effect.

The TradeMark Southern Africa programme was approved by Ministers in 2009. Governance arrangements, budgets and salaries of TMSA staff were signed off by the then Secretary of State.

Zimbabwe

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what amount has been spent by schemes supported by her Department in Zimbabwe since May 2010. [180622]

Justine Greening: I refer you to the DFID annual reports which can be accessed on the DFID external website.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bangladesh

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Bangladeshi Government not to proceed with the execution of Abdul Quader Mollah. [179947]

Hugh Robertson: On 10 December, our high commissioner in Dhaka made representations to the Government of Bangladesh. On the same day the Senior Minister of State, my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi issued a statement expressing her deep concern at the imminent execution and restating our opposition to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. During her visit to Bangladesh on 12 December, Baroness Warsi reiterated the UK's objection to the use of the death penalty as a matter of principle to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Regrettably, these appeals were not successful and his execution took place on 12 December.

British Council

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the value to the UK of the British Council; and if he will make a statement. [180460]

Mr Swire: The British Council is a valued institution making a significant contribution to the UK's strategic and foreign policy interests.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is currently conducting a thorough review of the British Council in accordance with Government policy on Triennial Reviews for all non-departmental public bodies. As outlined in the written ministerial statement of 16 July 2013, Official Report, columns 80-81WS, a Review Team has been conducting a wide-ranging consultation and has gathered views from around 1,200 organisations and individuals,

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in the UK and overseas. It has studied all these contributions to evaluate emerging themes and views, prior to submitting conclusions and recommendations to Ministers. The review will then be published.

Conflict Prevention

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how his Department has implemented the Building Stability Overseas Strategy since 2011; and if he will make a statement. [180604]

Mark Simmonds: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has implemented the strategy actively, working very closely with the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Defence and others. The Department implements some two-thirds of total Conflict Pool funding. It has implemented a wide range of jointly-agreed Conflict Pool projects to prevent conflict and instability, including, for example, around elections in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Afghanistan; supporting civil society organisations in Pakistan, the Balkans and the Sudans and building capacity for conflict prevention in the African Union.

The FCO has worked with other Departments to improve the Government's early warning internal assessments and mechanisms, and has encouraged a greater focus on early warning and conflict prevention by our major multilateral partners. On rapid crisis response, it has strengthened its ability to respond rapidly to crises. The FCO has used the tri-departmental Conflict Pool's Early Action Facility to respond to the crisis in Mali in early 2013 and to the dangers of sub-regional contagion from the Syria crisis. It is working with other Departments to improve further our implementation of BSOS, resourced through the new £1 billion Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in FY2015-16. This fund will build on the existing Conflict Pool to help prevent conflict and tackle threats to UK interests arising from instability overseas.

Food Banks

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which food banks each Minister in his Department has visited since May 2010. [180014]

Mr Lidington: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have not visited food banks in the UK in their ministerial capacity.

Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) China, (b) Saudi Arabia and (c) Vietnam on protection of religious liberty in those countries. [180038]

Mr Lidington: The promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief is a key priority for this Government and we regularly raise our concerns with other countries either bilaterally, with EU partners or in multilateral fora.

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We have raised freedom of religion or belief with the Chinese Government directly including through their recent Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in October. We also raised the issue with Saudi Arabia as part of our advanced questions during their Universal Periodic Review at the same Human Rights Council Session. Freedom of religion or belief was also raised during the third round of the EU-Vietnam enhanced Human Rights Dialogue on 11 September in Hanoi. The EU highlighted concerns about the reported harassment of religious groups, the delays in registering churches and the refusal of the authorities to allow churches to train pastors.

We work to promote and defend freedom of religion or belief not just through our bilateral relationships and through our work in international organisations, but through supporting projects and through collaborative work with civil society.

Sri Lanka

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he expects the Sri Lankan Government to make on an independent investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses before the UK decides not to pursue a resolution on an international inquiry at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014. [180494]

Mr Swire: During his meeting with President Rajapaksa, the Prime Minister called for the Sri Lankan Government to make real progress on a credible and transparent, independent investigation into allegations of violations of humanitarian and human rights law during the military conflict. The Prime Minister has said that the UK would use its place on the UN Human Rights Council to call for an international investigation if there has been no progress. An assessment will be made at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on (a) the text of a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka for the session in March 2014 calling for an international inquiry, (b) the terms of reference for such an inquiry and (c) the membership of such an inquiry. [180495]

Mr Swire: We continue to press the Sri Lankan Government for credible, transparent and independent investigations into alleged war crimes and have made clear that these investigations need to have begun properly by March or we will use our seat on the UN Human Rights Council to call for an international investigation. We regularly discuss Sri Lanka, including accountability, with a range of other EU, Commonwealth and international partners. In those discussions we are exploring options, including the content of a UNHRC Resolution, ahead of the March session. It is too soon to define what any international investigation might consist of.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which members of the UN Human Rights Council he has discussed the case for an independent, international inquiry into the Sri Lankan civil war; and what recent assessment he has made of the strength of international support for such an inquiry. [180496]

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Mr Swire: We regularly discuss Sri Lanka, including accountability and the need for progress on a credible transparent and independent investigation into alleged war crimes ahead of the March UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in March 2014, with a range of other EU, Commonwealth and international partners. The UK has been voted back on to the UNHRC and will play an active role in building international support ahead of the March UNHRC session, where an assessment will be made of Sri Lankan progress to date. The UK previously co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka in March 2013 which urged Sri Lanka to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. We will coordinate closely with the members of the UNHRC to build support for an appropriate resolution on Sri Lanka.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the ability and willingness of the Sri Lankan Government to conclude an independent investigation into alleged war crimes before March 2014; and what criteria he has set for such an inquiry to be considered credible. [180497]

Mr Swire: We have urged the Sri Lankan Government to ensure that a credible, transparent and independent investigation into alleged war crimes has begun properly by March 2014. We have made clear that any investigation must be internationally accepted to be considered credible.

We share the concerns of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, that there have been no credible efforts to independently investigate the allegations to date. Progress will be assessed at the March 2014 UN Human Rights Council.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Floods: Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many households in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area have been flooded in the last three years. [180335]

Dan Rogerson: I have placed three tables in the House Library which show the number of properties flooded during the last three years. Information on the number of properties flooded in each parliamentary constituency and local authority area are available for the last two years only.

The Environment Agency does not hold detailed information that is easily accessible for flooding prior to 2012. For 2011-12 the number of properties flooded is shown by Environment Agency region only.

Annex 1 shows the number of properties flooded in each parliamentary constituency over the last two years.

Annex 2 shows the number of properties flooded in each local authority area over the last two years.

Annex 3 shows the number of properties flooded in each Environment Agency region between April 2011 and March 2012.

The totals include properties flooded in England and Wales up until March 2013, and properties flooded in England only since April 2013.

All figures are subject to change as the Environment Agency collates information and updates its records accordingly.

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Floods: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of the grant-assisted alleviation of shingle migration and flooding at Teal Bay, Morecambe. [180560]

Dan Rogerson: In July 2013 the Environment Agency, on behalf of DEFRA, approved a grant in aid sum of £71,000 to Lancaster city council, the Coast Protection Authority, towards resolving the issue of shingle migration in the Teal Bay area of Morecambe. This work involved the construction of rock armour groyne to prevent the Bare Beck tidal outfall becoming blocked by migrating shingle on the beach. This work has reduced the risk of flooding to over 1,130 properties.

This work is now complete and an assessment of its success is currently being undertaken by Lancaster city council.

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of construction of sea wall defences in the Hest Bank and Teal Bay area of Morecambe. [180561]

Dan Rogerson: In August 2012 the Environment Agency, on behalf of DEFRA, approved a grant in aid of £35,000 to Lancaster city council, the Coast Protection Authority, towards completing a study to update its coastal strategy, specifically in relation to an assessment of the coastal frontage between Hest Bank (Teal Bay) and Heysham.

The study, when complete, will guide the ongoing maintenance and capital investment required for this section of the Morecambe Bay frontage. The study will deliver a revised coastal monitoring programme and a schedule of future capital investment and remedial works in the area.

The study is due to be completed by Lancaster city council by March 2014.

Food Banks

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which food banks each Minister in his Department has visited since May 2010. [179951]

Dan Rogerson: Food banks which DEFRA Ministers have visited since May 2010 are detailed in the following table:

Land Drainage: Urban Areas

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the use of sustainable urban drainage systems to support water management in urban areas. [180351]

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Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency published an assessment on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in October 2013. The assessment included a review of historical evidence and new evidence on SUDS in London and how other cities are implementing SUDS. The Environment Agency's assessment is published on its website at:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/SuDS_and_the_Thames_Tunnel_Assessment_ Final_Report_Oct_2013.pdf

Poultry: Exports

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to introduce a new system of electronic certification to facilitate the export of poultry meat and breeding stock. [180608]

George Eustice: The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) is the delivery body for issuing Export Health Certificates for England, Scotland and Wales. The delivery body for Northern Ireland is the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD).

The AHVLA is currently working on the first phase of an IT solution for the provision of Export Health Certification which will be rolled put to exporters during the spring of 2014. Phase 1 is a cost effective, secure and efficient solution that will enable applications to be submitted electronically by exporters 24 hours a day and certificates to be issued within 24 hours of receipt where required.

The certification process for exports consigned to third countries from Northern Ireland is managed by DARD and therefore differs from the processes currently used in Great Britain.

Poultry: South Africa

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will defend the poultry industry against accusations of dumping made by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa. [180609]

George Eustice: The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) is an independent non-Government body. This ITAC investigation is the initial stage in a process being conducted under World Trade Organisation rules on dumping practices and does not allow for Government intervention at this point in the process.

Pending the outcome of the investigation, we will consider what action it may be appropriate to take.

Communities and Local Government

Affordable Housing: Construction

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many social houses were constructed in the UK in 2012-13. [177474]

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Kris Hopkins: The Department publishes statistics on Affordable Housing Supply in England. In 2012-13, there were 22,850 homes for social and affordable rent built in England. Overall, including homes for intermediate rent and affordable home ownership, there were 42,830 affordable homes delivered in England in 2012-13. Figures for the other UK countries are a matter for the devolved Administrations.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will update his Department's current guidance on the responsibility of private landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors in residential properties. [R] [180025]

Stephen Williams: The Department is taking forward a review of property conditions in the private rented sector which will, among other things, consider whether landlords should be required to install carbon monoxide alarms in their properties. The outcome of that review will inform any revisions that we may make to existing guidance.

Housing

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the pooling of £400 million from the New Homes Bonus within local enterprise partnership areas on the provisions of local council services. [178318]

Kris Hopkins: I refer my hon. Friend to the recent letter from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), to local authority leaders following the autumn statement; I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the average cost of moving house for people who move as a consequence of the under-occupancy penalty; and if he will make it his policy to provide a subsidy for such costs. [178009]

Kris Hopkins: The Department does not hold this information.

The removal of the spare room subsidy is estimated to save £490 million of taxpayers' money in Great Britain in 2013-14 by reducing the benefit bill, helping pay off the budget deficit left by the last Administration. The measure also encourages the more effective use of social housing, by addressing the under-occupation of family homes.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make an assessment of the effect of the under-occupancy penalty on social cohesion in neighbourhoods in which a high proportion of tenants are affected by that policy. [178015]

Kris Hopkins: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer to him of 22 November 2013, Official Report, columns 1072-1073W.

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Housing: Merseyside

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of (a) recent trends in the supply of and demand for larger properties in the Merseyside area and (b) whether his Department is aware of any plans for demolition of over-large properties for which there is over-supply as a result of the under-occupancy penalty. [177934]

Kris Hopkins: My Department has seen no credible evidence that properties are being demolished as a result of the removal of the spare room subsidy.

Otherwise, I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 27 November 2013, Official Report, columns 339-341W.

Non-domestic Rates: Worcestershire

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many businesses in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire are in receipt of 100% small business rate relief; [179808]

(2) how many businesses in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire are currently in receipt of small business rate relief. [179821]

Brandon Lewis: Ratepayers generally benefit from a small business rate relief discount if they occupy only one property and it has a rateable value of below £12,000.

Ratepayers occupying properties with rateable values below £18,000 (£25,500 in London) pay the small business multiplier, regardless of the number of properties that they occupy, and therefore do not pay the supplement which generally funds small business rate relief discounts.

Although small business rate relief is funded by a supplement on the bills of higher rateable value properties, central Government are funding the extra costs associated with the current doubling the level of the discount available under the scheme. The level of relief has now been doubled between October 2010 and 31 March 2015.

Details of the number of businesses in Worcestershire that were benefitting from the small business rate relief scheme as at 31 December 2010 are shown in the following table.

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Data as at 31 December 2012, which will include information on the number of businesses that were in receipt of 100% small business rate relief, were collected earlier this year and are currently being validated. This information will be published in January 2014.

We have announced that the temporary doubling will continue for a further year until 31 March 2015. We estimate that over half a million businesses in England are benefiting, with approximately a third of a million paying no rates at all. The Localism Act 2011 has also made it easier for eligible small firms to claim their small business rate relief.

We are also allowing ratepayers receiving small business rate relief that take on an additional property to continue receiving their existing relief for 12 months.

Planning Permission: Hampshire

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning appeals have resulted in local authority decisions being overturned by the planning inspector in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire in each of the last five years. [179932]

Nick Boles: Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.[Official Report, 10 February 2014, Vol. 575, c. 3MC.]

Since January 2008 there have been 83,507 Planning Appeal decisions for Portsmouth and 1,169,098 for the whole of Hampshire. An analysis of decisions by individual constituencies, such as Portsmouth South, is not available.

These figures show how the number of planning appeals received and allowed has fallen in the first year of the National Planning Policy Framework, refuting the suggestion of ‘planning by appeal'.

Private Rented Housing

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish the evidence used by his Department in formulating its policy to require landlords to check visas of prospective tenants prior to renting. [178027]

Kris Hopkins [holding answer 5 December 2013]: The landlord checking aspects of the Immigration Bill would

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require landlords to undertake migration checks on all adult tenants in the private rented sector, where the accommodation is their main or only home, except where the type of accommodation is specified as excluded within schedule 3 of the Bill. These checks would be light-touch and proportionate, building on the identity checks that many landlords already conduct on prospective tenants and on a similar scheme that already applies to employers.

The evidence the Government used to formulate this policy is set out in the following documents:

The consultation document, found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/226713/consultation.pdf

The Government response to the consultation, found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249616/Consultation_Response.pdf

The impact assessment, found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251968/Landlords_Impact_Assessment.pdf

Social Rented Housing

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will rank each English local authority by the percentage change in the number of units of social housing since 1990. [178831]

Kris Hopkins [holding answer 10 December 2013]: The Department does not hold a complete set of figures at local authority district level to fully answer this question.

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will rank each English local authority by the number of social housing starts since April 2010. [178835]

Kris Hopkins [holding answer 10 December 2013]: Statistics on house building starts by tenure in each local authority are published in the Department's live tables 253 (annual) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link:

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

Taken together, the private registered provider (housing association) and local authority tenures provide estimates of total social housing starts, but these figures understate total social housing supply. This is because the house building figures are categorised by the type of developer rather than the intended final tenure, leading to under- recording of social housing, and a corresponding over- recording of private enterprise figures.

More comprehensive statistics on affordable housing starts by tenure funded by the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London authority since 2009-10 are available at the following links:

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics

http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/increasing-housing-supplv/gla-affordable-housing-statistics

Taken together, the starts on site for social and affordable rent provide estimates of total social housing starts. These statistics include both newly-built housing and

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acquisitions but exclude delivery of affordable housing not funded by the Homes and Communities Agency and Greater London authority programmes.

For context, figures at an England level show that there have been over 113,000 affordable housing starts on site reported by the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London authority since April 2010. 86,000 of these were social housing starts.

Vacant Land

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what his policy is on the use of greenfield sites for new home building; [179802]

(2) if he will review the criteria for building on greenfield sites. [179958]

Nick Boles: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, column 633W.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprentices: Hampshire

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire were in apprenticeships in each of the last three years. [179762]

Matthew Hancock: Table 1 shows the numbers participating in an apprenticeship in Portsmouth South constituency and Hampshire local education authority for the 2011/12 and 2012/13 academic years.

Information on apprenticeship participation is not published by geography for academic years before 2011/12.

Business

Dr McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on business prospects in the different regions of the UK. [179842]

Michael Fallon: BIS Ministers and officials from this Department are in contact with their devolved Administration counterparts on a range of issues. For example, the Minister for Skills and Enterprise, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), sits on the Northern Ireland Economic Pact Working Group on Access to Finance along with Ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive. The first meeting of this working group took place on 8 October 2013.

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Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) black-owned and (b) minority ethnic group-owned businesses in the UK have been granted an Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan by the Partnership banks to date. [180067]

Matthew Hancock [holding answer 16 December 2013]: As Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme loans are provided from the lenders' own funds under a commercial agreement between the lender and borrower, these data are not collected by the Department.

The Department for Communities and Local Government did, however, publish a report in July called ‘Ethnic minority businesses and access to finance’. This outlines the actions that the British Bankers' Association has committed to, to improve availability of finance to ethnic minorities. The report is available on the www.gov.uk website.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many female-led businesses in the UK have been granted an Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan by the Partnership banks to date. [180068]

Matthew Hancock [holding answer 16 December 2013]: As Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme loans are provided from the lenders' own funds under a commercial agreement between the lender and borrower, these data are not collected by the Department.

The Deputy Prime Minister's Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government did, however, publish an independent report in June called ‘Banking on Women: an action plan to open up access to finance for women’. The Government have now joined forces with the banking industry to devise the action plan, focusing on giving women the support and confidence to ask for the financial help they need. The report is available on the www.gov.uk website.

EU External Trade: USA

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) with reference to the London School of Economics report, “Costs and benefits of an EU-USA Investment Protection Treaty”, commissioned by his Department and published in April 2013, what assessment he has made of the value of inserting a provision for an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism in the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement; [179963]

(2) what assessment he has made of which EU member states and US states have a legal system that does not guarantee adequate protection for foreign investors. [179964]

Michael Fallon: The Government have consistently pushed for an ambitious and broad agreement under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and to begin negotiations with all issues on the table. I am mindful that the research we commissioned highlighted certain risks associated with including investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the TTIP. Negotiations are at an early stage and the UK is pushing for an

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appropriate balance between protecting UK investors and ensuring that the UK Government are not prevented from regulating in the public interest.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students were in higher education in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire in each of the last three years. [179925]

Mr Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The table shows the number of enrolments in the Portsmouth South constituency, Hampshire and England for the academic years 2009/10 to 2011/12.

Information for the 2012/13 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.

Job Creation: Greater London

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to support the creation of jobs in Greater London. [180290]

Michael Fallon: The Mayor has a statutory responsibility for economic development in London. It is for the Mayor, advised by the London Enterprise Panel (LEP), to determine priorities for economic development in the capital and to use the resources available to the Greater London Assembly and the LEP and its partners to support the creation of jobs in Greater London.

Manufacturing Industries: Environment Protection

Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support UK Green Manufacturing. [179949]

Michael Fallon: Manufacturing is crucial to our recovery, export and future growth in productivity. The Government are working with manufacturers and their supply chains

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and are taking steps to strengthen and grow modern and sustainable manufacturing in the UK by encouraging innovation, business investment, technology commercialisation, skills and exports.

As part of their industrial strategy the Government published a series of sector strategies jointly developed with industry. The published sector strategies include examples of how Government and industry can work together to support future manufacturing. For example, ‘Lifting Off’, the aerospace strategy includes:

£100 million for low-carbon aero-engine technology in support of a target to reduce fuel emissions by over 20% over 20 years

An aspiration to develop green manufacturing technologies to reduce energy usage

£400 million Government-industry investment in the Airbus North Factory in North Wales which uses biomass and solar panels in wing construction and complements the Airbus Global Vision of reducing CO2 emissions in manufacturing by 50% and energy use by 30% by 2020

In the automotive strategy, ‘Driving success', measures include:

Government and industry together to invest £1 billion over 10 years in an Advanced Propulsion Centre to support the development of supply chains for low-carbon vehicles.

The Office of Low Emission Vehicles has £400 million to 2015 to support measures encouraging the development of ultra-low emission vehicles.

In addition, the Nuclear and Offshore Wind sector strategies focus specifically on how to build the UK supply chain to support development of these sectors.

The Technology Strategy Board has established a series of Catapult centres across the UK to support technological innovation in key sectors, including the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre near Rotherham. The Manufacturing Catapult is the catalyst for the future growth and success of manufacturing in the UK and its long-term goal is to stimulate growth in manufacturing and more than double the sector's contribution to UK GDP.

The GO-Science Foresight report, ‘The Future of Manufacturing’, published on 30 October 2013, has highlighted a number of trends which are likely to increase pressures for manufacturing to be more resource efficient. We are working closely with the Foresight team on the implications of this analysis and advice for Government policy.

Manufacturing Industries: Government Assistance

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies have (a) been announced as being the recipient of and (b) received money related to the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative in rounds (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four to date. [180488]

Michael Fallon: Advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative (AMSCI) projects are long-term collaborations, typically five years in duration. Many projects are still in their very early stages. The draw-down of money is as forecast by the individual projects within their own delivery plans.

Account managers at our delivery partner, Finance Birmingham, work hard within the rules of the scheme to ensure projects go ahead on time. AMSCI projects

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involve multiple companies of often widely varying size and capacity in consortia. Changes to market conditions, ownership and strategy in any one company in the consortium can delay commencement of the project and draw-down of funds. Account managers work with the lead applicant of each successful project to reformulate the project or identify new partners as required.

In Round 1, there are nine projects in total. Six of these projects have received funds. Of the three which are still to receive funds, two have always been scheduled to start in 2014 and one has been engaged in finding new partners for their consortium.

In Round 2 there are 11 projects, nine of which have received funds. Of the two which are still to receive funds, one has been awaiting internal board decisions and the other has been involved in a restructure.

In Round 3, five projects have been approved. These are at various stages of financial due diligence and state aid compliance.

For Round 4, the Independent Investment Board met on Monday 2 December 2013. An announcement will be made in the new year as to how many projects have been successful.

The nine projects approved from July to December 2013 in the regional West Midlands and Liverpool City Region scheme are at various stages of financial due diligence and state aid compliance.

Met Office

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what work the Met Office undertakes for foreign Governments. [180525]

Michael Fallon: The Met Office undertakes a range of work for foreign Governments. Usually this is carried out in partnership with foreign Government agencies and research organisations, or through donor-funded development projects, or under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation. This includes work: to improve weather and climate modelling capabilities through collaborative research and development projects; to help developing countries improve their capacity to forecast weather and climate and deal with the impacts of severe weather, for example by training weather forecasters and improving weather observing systems; and to support defence operations, and to improve resilience to climate variability and climate change.

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what work the Met Office undertakes for the (a) Scottish Government, (b) Welsh Assembly Government and (c) Northern Ireland Executive. [180528]

Michael Fallon: The Met Office is the UK's National Meteorological Service with responsibility for providing weather and climate services for the whole UK, including delivery of the public weather service and national severe weather warning service.

The Met Office therefore maintains close links with the devolved Administrations and works in partnership with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to provide the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service, and weather information to support Transport Scotland. It also works with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) through

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the Flood Forecasting Centre to help deliver flood forecasting services in Wales, and provides air quality advice to support NRW in the event of major incidents. In Northern Ireland, the Met Office provides services to support the work of the Department for Regional Development, the Department of Social Development, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Rivers Agency.

Regional Development Agencies

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department allocated to development agencies in the (a) North West, (b) North East and (c) Yorkshire in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10. [179953]

Michael Fallon: The Single Pot allocations to the regional development agencies in question were as follows:

Regional Growth Fund

Mr Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what his policy is on extending the regional growth programme beyond September 2014; [179960]

(2) what funding assistance he will put in place to assist regional growth after September 2014. [179962]

Michael Fallon: The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) runs beyond September 2014. RGF is a flexible fund operating across England from 2011 to 2017 and creating jobs into the mid-2020s.

The budget allocation for the latest rounds of RGF (Rounds 5 and 6) is £600 million. The deadline for applications for Round 5 of the RGF was 9 December 2013 and the bidders selected for a conditional allocation will be announced in the spring. Round 6 of RGF will be open for applications in summer 2014.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions Mr Lawrence Tomlinson has met officials from the Insolvency Service in relation to his report on RBS; and on which dates such meetings took place. [180419]

Jo Swinson: Lawrence Tomlinson met officials from the Insolvency Service on three occasions: 18 September, 11 November and 18 November 2013.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether officials from the Insolvency Service were consulted ahead of the publication of Mr Lawrence Tomlinson's report on RBS; and whether the report was approved by the Insolvency Service. [180420]

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Jo Swinson: Lawrence Tomlinson met Insolvency Service officials on three occasions to discuss his concerns about bank treatment of businesses in financial difficulty. However, Mr Tomlinson wrote and published his report in an individual capacity. It was not a matter for consultation with, or approval by, anyone in the Insolvency Service,

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether investigations are being carried out by the Insolvency Service into the findings of Mr Lawrence Tomlinson's report on RBS. [180421]

Jo Swinson: Officials in the Insolvency Service are looking carefully at the evidence Mr Lawrence Tomlinson has prepared. It will consider whether there are any issues that need to be raised with the regulatory bodies for insolvency practitioners and whether there are any issues for the legislative framework on insolvency that need to be addressed. In doing so, it will also take into account any findings of the independent review commissioned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which it announced on 29 October, into banks' treatment of businesses in financial difficulty following the recent allegations that have been made by Mr Tomlinson and others.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings have taken place between (a) Ministers and (b) officials at his Department and staff at the Insolvency Service in relation to Mr Lawrence Tomlinson's report on RBS. [180422]

Jo Swinson: Ministers, special advisers and officials have had regular meetings with Mr Tomlinson since his appointment as an Entrepreneur in Residence in March 2013. Ministers and officials meet regularly to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the banking and wider financial services sector and the insolvency industry.

Science: Africa

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote science skills, research and understanding in Africa. [179944]

Mr Willetts: The Government are keen to increase the number and scale of UK science and research collaborations with our partners in Africa.

In 2012 we expanded the BIS/FCO Science and Innovation Network (SIN) into South Africa and Nigeria with the creation of new officer posts in Abuja, Cape Town and Pretoria. As well as building relationships with the Governments and institutions within both countries, we are also looking to the SIN officers to act as entry points for science and innovation collaborations in other parts of sub-Saharan and West Africa.

Further, aided by the new Global Collaborative Space Programme announced in the autumn statement, the UK Space Agency is looking to strengthen partnerships in several African countries including Algeria and Nigeria. Space technology is an important tool in assisting development priorities such as resource usage, communications and education; and UK expertise in these fields is very relevant to Africa's future.

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I also visited South Africa in September as part of the UK-South Africa Bilateral Forum. At the forum the South African Science Minister, Derek Hanekom, and I signed an agreement to fund a UK-South Africa scientific seminar scheme to facilitate meetings of early to mid-career scientists from our two countries.

Work and Pensions

Atos Healthcare

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many medical professionals Atos is obliged to employ under its contract with his Department. [178524]

Mike Penning: The contract does not state a specific number of health-care professionals (HCP), but it does state it is for the contractor to maintain as many HCPs as necessary to enable it to deliver all service levels contained within the contract.

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contractual penalties are in place if Atos fails to meet targets or fulfil obligations. [178526]

Mike Penning: There are a range of financial remedies available within the Medical Services contract to address service level failure. However, this is a matter of commercial- in-confidence between the Department of Work and Pensions and its supplier Atos Healthcare.

Disability Living Allowance

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that standard forms for disability living allowance applications capture an accurate portrayal of needs. [178935]

Mike Penning: Disability living allowance (DLA) is being replaced for working-age claimants by personal independence payment (PIP). PIP will involve a more sophisticated evidence-gathering process, most usually involving a face-to-face consultation between the claimant and an independent health professional, so that a reliable picture of the customer's ability can be measured against clearly defined criteria.

Applications for DLA will continue for children under the age of 16, as will renewal activity for people already in receipt of DLA who were aged 65 or over on 8 April 2013 and continuing renewal and change of circumstances activity for working-age claimants outside of the areas where DLA to PIP natural reassessment has currently been rolled out to.

The design and development of DLA claim forms, including a child-specific claim form, involved extensive consultation with the Disability Advisory Forum, which collectively represented organisations covering a wide range of disabilities. The Disability Advisory Forum was involved at formative and later stages of the development of the claim forms.

All DLA claim forms have been designed to gather as full and accurate a picture as possible about an individual's disability or disabilities, any treatment or therapies being received and the care and mobility needs arising.

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Disability: Children

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of changes in benefits payable to disabled children as a result of policy changes implemented in the last three years. [178743]

Mike Penning: Disability living allowance (DLA) provides a valuable non income-related and tax free cash contribution towards the disability related extra costs of severely disabled people, including children. The benefit can also act as a passport to a wide range of other help, including carers allowance for parents or guardians and the Blue Badge Disabled Parking Scheme. DLA expenditure on children increased from £1.3 billion to £1.4 billion in real terms between 2009-10 and 2012-13.¹

With the introduction of UC, the disabled child addition is intended to provide extra support to low- income families including a disabled child. Caring responsibilities can mean that the parents of disabled children are less able to take up work and so might need extra support for longer periods than would otherwise be the case.

Universal credit simplifies existing provision and aligns the additional elements for disabled children with those for adults. Aligning child and adult payments through these reforms should help to smooth the transition into adulthood for severely disabled young people who need to rely on universal credit for ongoing support.

Some families with a disabled child may be entitled to lower amounts under universal credit than now. However, there will be transitional protection for existing claimants where their circumstances remain unchanged. Also, some disabled children and the most severely disabled adults will actually receive more support than now.

The Government are not making any savings from this—the changes to disability support we are making in universal credit are cost neutral and will focus support to the most severely disabled people.

The Government will also extend eligibility for the higher rate to children who are registered blind (currently only entitled to the disabled child element in tax credits).

The Government regularly produce analysis of the cumulative impact of all coalition changes, including welfare, on households across the income distribution. This information is published at every Budget and other major fiscal events, in the interests of transparency. The most recent update was published with the autumn statement on 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113.

The impact of welfare changes on households cannot be seen in isolation. The tax and public spending decisions the Government make also affect the take-home income of households and their living standards. That is why the Treasury conducts cumulative analysis of all changes in the round.

This type of analysis is complex and results can be reliably shown at a high level only. Therefore, the break downs requested are not available. It is also important to note that cumulative analysis shows the impact of coalition policies compared with a hypothetical scenario of all the previous Government's policies continued forwards. These previous policies were not affordable.

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The Government routinely inform their decision-making through equality analysis of individual policy changes, as required by the Equality Act 2010. All major welfare reform changes have been accompanied by a published equality impact assessment and these are updated if impacts change.

On 2 July 2013 the Government published their disability strategy ‘Fulfilling Potential—Making it Happen'. Its vision is of a society that enables all disabled people to fulfil their potential and have equal opportunities to realise their aspirations. An outcomes and indicators framework has been put in place to help track progress towards the vision of ‘Fulfilling Potential'. This will include publishing annual measures of disabled people's income, compared with that of non-disabled people.

Disability living allowance data are published via the tabulation tool, which includes data on average amounts. We intend to publish official statistics on personal independence payment from spring 2014. The initial release is unlikely to include data on average amounts; this information will be released at a later date. Details of the publication strategy can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262511/pip-stats-release-strategy-021213.pdf

¹https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/222845/expenditure_tables_Budget_2013.xls#'DisabilityBenefits'!A1

Disclosure of Information

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been made to his Department about failure to supply information in an accessible format in each of the last three years. [178752]

Mike Penning: DWP has recently completed the gradual roll-out of a new DWP complaints process. Complaints are recorded against various standard DWP categories and related sub-categories. A sub-category regarding ‘Alternative formats not provided’ was introduced in May 2011 to those offices operating the new process, under the category ‘You haven't given me the information that suits my needs’, so we do not have the information requested prior to May 2011. Data relating to this category are available for the dates shown, but only cover areas of DWP which had rolled out the new process at that time.

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Food Banks

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what food banks each of the Ministers in his Department has visited since May 2010. [180017]

Esther McVey: Since 2010, DWP Ministers have visited food banks in their constituencies.

Ministers

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on ministerial salaries in the last year for which figures are available. [180111]

Mike Penning: Details of ministerial salaries are included in the Remuneration Report section of the Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13. This is available in the public domain at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-work-and-pensions-annual-report-and-accounts-2012-to-2013

New Enterprise Allowance

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make the new enterprise allowance available to Work programme participants. [179002]

Esther McVey: There are currently no plans to extend the new enterprise allowance to participants in the Work programme. A core principle of the Work programme is that providers are free to offer the interventions they feel are right for the individual, at the right time. Providers can, and do, offer self-employment support and it would not be right for us to pay for people to participate in these two programmes at the same time.

Work programme participants who move into self-employment may also apply for a StartUp loan to support them in setting up their business.

Personal Independence Payment

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average waiting time for a Capita-run health assessment for those seeking to claim personal independence payment is; what procedure Capita uses to notify claimants of cancelled assessments; and what telephone number Capita uses for the personal independence payment claimant helpline. [180011]

Mike Penning: Personal independence payment started from April 2013 and nationally from June 2013. The Department has committed to publish statistics in spring 2014 when sufficient and meaningful information can be quality assured.

The length of time taken to arrange an assessment varies considerably, based on a number of factors, including the claimants personal circumstances.

If an appointment has to be rearranged, Capita will contact the claimant by telephone to inform them. When it contacts the claimant it will outline the reasons why the appointment has been cancelled and give options

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for a new appointment. If Capita is unable to reach the claimant initially, it continues to call them until it is able to make contact and this is recorded on its systems.

Capita's claimant helpline numbers which are available on its internet site are:

Enquiry Centre, Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm: 08081788114 (England and Wales), or 08081788115 (llinell Gymraeg/Welsh line); and

if a claimant has speech or hearing difficulties, they can contact Capita by textphone on 08081787177.

Social Security Benefits

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what recent assessment he has made of the effect on disabled people of the Government's welfare reform policies since 2010; [178815]

(2) what comparative assessment he has made of the effect of welfare reforms implemented in the last three years on the average amounts claimed by (a) disabled and (b) non-disabled claimants. [178824]

Mike Penning: The Government regularly produce analysis of the cumulative impact of all coalition changes, including welfare, on households across the income distribution. This information is published at every Budget and other major fiscal events, in the interests of transparency. The most recent update was published with the autumn statement on 5 December.

The impact of welfare changes on households cannot be seen in isolation. The tax and public spending decisions the Government make also affect the take-home income of households and their living standards. That is why the Treasury conducts cumulative analysis of all changes in the round.

This type of analysis is complex and results can be reliably shown at a high level only. Therefore, the breakdowns requested are not available. It is also important to note that cumulative analysis shows the impact of coalition policies compared with a hypothetical scenario of all the previous Government's policies continued forwards. These previous policies were not affordable.

The Government routinely inform their decision-making through equality analysis of individual policy changes, as required by the Equality Act 2010. All major welfare reform changes have been accompanied by a published Equality Impact Assessment and these are updated if impacts change.

On 2 July 2013 the Government published their disability strategy ‘Fulfilling Potential—Making it Happen'. Its vision is of a society that enables all disabled people to fulfil their potential and have equal opportunities to realise their aspirations. An outcomes and indicators framework has been put in place to help track progress towards the vision of ‘Fulfilling Potential'. This will include publishing annual measures of disabled people's income, compared with that of non-disabled people.

Disability living allowance data are published via the tabulation tool, which includes data on average amounts. We intend to publish Official Statistics on personal independence payment from spring 2014. The initial release is unlikely to include data on average amounts;

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this information will be released at a later date. Details of the publication strategy can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262511/pip-stats-release-strategy-021213.pdf

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance claimants waited longer than (a) one week, (b) two weeks, (c) three weeks and (d) one month to have their benefit claim processed in each year since 2006. [180453]

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Esther McVey: The Department does not routinely report the speed of claims clearance in one/two/three- week or monthly durations. However, the following extract from the Department's management information system programme (MISP) outlines the percentage of employment support allowance (ESA) claims cleared in five, 10, 16 and 21 days and percentage of incapacity benefit (IB) claims processed in 10 and 40 days for March YTD in each reporting year.

16 days is the official measure for ESA new claims. The five, 10 and 21 day levels are for internal management information purposes only as were the IB 10 and 40-day levels.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average processing times were for incapacity benefit claims in (a) each quarter of (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007 and (b) the first two quarters of 2008; and what the average processing times for employment and support allowance were in (1) the second two quarters of 2008 and (2) each subsequent quarter to date. [180484]

Esther McVey: The information in response to this PQ is unable to be released. This is because the information has a clerical element which has the potential to be retrospectively changed. Therefore any data may change following its release potentially resulting in reputation embarrassment to the Department. This approach is consistent with previous requests from this data source for this type of information which may be subject to change.

Unemployment: Older Workers

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on training for people over the age of 50 looking for new jobs in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [179049]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

The Department has done away with one-size-fits-all employment programmes. The Work programme offers tailored support to all claimants who are referred to it regardless of their age. Work programme providers look at an individual's specific needs when helping them move either closer to or into employment.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2013, Official Report, columns 49-50W, on universal credit, for what reason the estimated annual saving of £1.3 billion differs from the figure of £2.2 billion contained in his Department's Impact Assessment of December 2012; and if he will make a statement. [180483]

Esther McVey: The £1.3 billion quoted in the answer of 9 December 2013, reflects our latest estimate of annual savings from reduced fraud, error and overpayments under universal credit, once fully rolled out.

The December 2012 universal credit impact assessment shows an estimate of £2.2 billion annual savings as a result of reduced fraud, error and overpayments together with changes to the current earnings disregards in tax credits. Hence the two figures are not comparable.

Our latest estimate that is comparable to the savings stated in the impact assessment is broadly similar, currently at £2.3 billion per annum once universal credit is fully rolled out.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost to his Department of aligning the accounting treatment of profits from self-employment for the purpose of universal credit applications with the treatment of self-employment for tax purposes. [180620]

Esther McVey: DWP has worked with HMRC to align the universal credit self-employed earnings reporting requirements as closely as possible with HMRC's new

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cash-basis accounting system for tax self-assessment. This will allow claimants to keep similar accounts for both purposes.

It is not possible to disaggregate the impact of this alignment from the overall costs of self-employment reporting in universal credit.

Cabinet Office

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the use of digital Government services by those on the lowest incomes and unemployed. [180498]

Mr Hurd: This Government's digital-by-default agenda is designed to ensure we have digital services which are so simple and convenient to use that all those who can use them will choose to do so, while those who cannot are not excluded. Our new website, GOV.UK is designed to be accessed from any internet-enabled device.

In September 2012 the Government digital service conducted the digital landscape research looking at the use of the internet in the UK—but more specifically to understand more about how people use Government digital services and information.

As part of this research, demographic information was collected that enabled the Government to look at the use of digital Government services and information, including by those who are on low incomes and who are unemployed. The research is published at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-landscape-research/digital-landscape-research

Education

Adoption

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what support exists for children and adoptive parents post-adoption. [180341]

Mr Timpson: Adopters are legally entitled to an assessment of their and their adoptive child's needs for adoption support services against categories of support set out in the Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005. This includes assessment of needs for financial support, therapeutic services, advice and guidance and educational support services. Local authorities are under a legal duty to appoint an adoption support advisor to advise about these services. The provision of support to meet these needs is at the discretion of the local authority, taking into account the individual case and local resources.

The Adoption Passport, published in 2013, provides adoptive parents with information about what they can expect from the range of support services available. Through the Children and Families Bill we put the duty on local authorities to bring this information to the attention of both prospective and approved adopters so that they are fully aware of their entitlements and how they can access local services.

Children adopted from care are eligible for priority school access and, from 2014, will be eligible for free early education from the age of two and the pupil premium. From 2015, adoptive parents will have the

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same rights in relation to pay and leave as birth parents. This will include arrangements to entitle them to adoption leave from the day they start a job; enhancing the rate of adoption pay during the first six weeks of adoption; and allowing time off work for introductions to the child prior to placement.

In September this year we announced the setting-up of the Adoption Support Fund with a contribution of £19.3 million, to help adoptive parents access therapeutic services to meet their children's needs. The fund will be rolled out nationally from 2015 but will be trialled from next year. Through the Children and Families Bill, we are introducing a requirement for local authorities to prepare personal budgets for adopters once the local authority has agreed to provide support.

Children: Protection

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much each local authority spent on child protection services per head of children receiving those services in 2012-13. [180601]

Mr Timpson: Local authorities do not provide information in this format, a report from the Audit Commission¹ published in November 2013 found that children's social care has been largely protected from spending reductions in each year from 2010-11 to 2013-14. On average, council spending on children's social care increased by 1.5% during 2012-13.

¹http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Tough-Times-2013-Councils-Responses-to-Financial-Challenges-w1.pdf

Children: Social Services

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children are in receipt of social services, by local authority in the latest period for which figures are available. [180600]

Mr Timpson: In order for a child to be in receipt of services, a local authority must first assess the child's needs. If following this assessment services are required then the child is described as a ‘child in need’. The numbers of children in need in each local authority in England are published annually in the children in need census:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/characteristics-of-children-in-need-in-england-2012-to-2013

Directors

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what role non-executive members of his Department's board play in directing the work of officials in his Department. [180562]

Elizabeth Truss: The work of officials is directed by Ministers and senior officials. Non-executive board members play a key role across Government, offering advice and challenge on the management of departments. They support and challenge the executive on a range of areas, including operational and delivery implications of departmental policy proposals.

In the Department for Education, non-executives work closely with officials in a support and challenge role. They also play key roles in the formal governance

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structures, for example, Paul Marshall chairs the Audit and Risk Committee and Theodore Agnew chairs the Performance Committee.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what office facilities are provided for non-executive members of his Department's board in his Department's buildings. [180563]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education's non-executive board members are frequently in Sanctuary Buildings. We provide meeting rooms, desk space, administrative support and access to office space and office equipment as necessary. The amount of support varies between non-executive board members depending on the amount of time they are able to contribute to departmental business.

Education: Finance

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance he gives further education colleges on action to take if after intervention from the Education Funding Agency they receive insufficient funding from a local authority for a student with high needs. [180454]

Mr Laws: Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess the education and support needs of young people and secure provision for them. The high needs funding reforms introduced in 2013/14 now give them the responsibility to provide funding to institutions directly in line with their commissioning decisions.

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not have the power to intervene or overturn local authority assessment or commissioning decisions. The EFA provides a responsive and flexible approach to facilitating resolution of issues between institutions and local authorities on a case-by-case basis. Institutions can raise concerns relating to high-needs students directly with the EFA, which will support discussions between the local authorities and institutions concerned. We expect local authorities to respond appropriately and constructively to EFA advice.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that all local authorities provide sufficient funding to (a) further education, (b) sixth form colleges and (c) specialist colleges that educate 16 to 25-year-olds with high needs in 2014-15. [180455]

Mr Laws: We have asked local authorities to work closely with further education, sixth form and specialist colleges in planning provision for 2014-15. The amount of funding allocated to each authority for its pupils and students with high needs will be finalised by March 2014. The conditions of grant attached to these allocations, and guidance from the Education Funding Agency, provide authorities with information about how the funding system for 16 to 25-year-olds should work, but the level of funding for individual students is a matter for local authorities and institutions to discuss and reach agreement.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have raised concerns with (a) his Department and (b) the Education Funding

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Agency on the amount of funding they have received from local authorities to educate pupils with high needs aged (A) five to 15 and (B) 16 to 25 years. [180456]

Mr Laws: Ministers have responded to 39 letters from Members of Parliament and school representatives, including headteachers, regarding Special Educational Needs funding since April 2013.

English Baccalaureate

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the proportion of pupils that will sit the EBacc at GCSE in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015. [180117]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has surveyed schools on the effects of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), but has not itself made an estimate or set targets for the proportion of pupils who will sit the EBacc in 2014 and 2015.

The proportion of pupils entering these core academic subjects has increased significantly since the Government introduced the English Baccalaureate in 2010 and there is no reason why this increase should not continue. According to provisional data, the proportion of pupils entering the EBacc has risen to 35% this year, up from 25% last year.

Source:

GCSE and equivalent results in England 2012/13 (provisional) Statistical First Release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251184/SFR40_2013_FINALv2.pdf

Foster Care

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children are currently being housed with foster parents in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK. [180416]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education collects information on children looked after by local authorities in England who are placed with an approved foster carer. Information is not available at constituency level or for the United Kingdom as a whole.

The number of looked-after children in foster care in England and Lancashire local authority at 31 March 2013 was 50,900 and 1,050 respectively.

Internet: Bullying

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate he has made of the number of children who are being cyber-bullied in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [180417]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education does not routinely collect data on the number of children who are cyberbullied in the UK. However, a number of expert organisations, such as the Diana Award and NSPCC, have undertaken surveys to try to measure this problem. These surveys reveal wide variation in reported incidence, which could be because personal interpretation of what constitutes cyberbullying varies.

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Estimates from an evidence review carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Centre (at the Institute of Education, University of Kent and Loughborough University) for the Department in 2011, found that between 8% and 34% of children and young people in the UK have been cyberbullied. Evidence from the 2010 Longitudinal Study of 15,000 14 to 16-year-old people in England (LSYPE), which is funded by the Department, found that cyberbullying was the most common form of abuse along with name-calling.

We are also funding a series of questions about bullying in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 Crime Survey for England and Wales. One of the questions asks 10 to 14-year-olds about whether or not they have experienced cyberbullying in the last 12 months. This will give us a baseline estimate of prevalence and will help us to track trends over time.

We believe that schools, parents and internet providers all have a role to play in keeping children and young people safe online. Every school must have a behaviour policy, which includes measures to prevent all forms of bullying. Ofsted holds schools to account for how well they do this. Since January 2012, school inspectors have had to consider types, rates and patterns of bullying and the effectiveness of the school's actions to prevent and tackle bullying, including cyberbullying.

We have given teachers a specific power to search for and, if necessary, delete inappropriate images or files on electronic devices, including mobile phones. From September 2014, pupils in all four key stages will be taught about e-safety as part of the new curriculum. This will empower young people to tackle cyberbullying through responsible, respectful and secure use of technology, as well as ensuring that pupils are taught age-appropriate ways of reporting any concerns they may have about what they see or encounter online.

The Government expect all social media to have simple mechanisms for reporting abuse, to take action promptly when abuse is reported and to make it easier for users to turn off anonymous posts. The Government have pressed for progress through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). UKCCIS brings together the most important internet organisations, such as Facebook and Microsoft, as well as Ministers, and works to protect children online.

The Department is also providing £4 million of funding over two years from 2013 to four anti-bullying organisations. These are Beatbullying, the Diana Award, Kidscape and the National Children's Bureau consortium. Although this funding has been awarded to specific projects to reduce bullying in general, this can, and does, include work to tackle cyberbullying.

Ministers

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was spent on ministerial salaries in the last year for which figures are available. [180096]

Elizabeth Truss: Information about ministerial salaries is in the public domain in the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 (Amendment) Order 2011. This is available at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2011/9780111509258/schedule/1

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Pre-school Education: Southwark

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many two-year-olds in the London Borough of Southwark currently receive free early education. [180462]

Elizabeth Truss: Local authorities have been under a statutory duty to secure a place for any eligible two-year-old since 1 September 2013. The London borough of Southwark reported that in October, 553 two-year-olds were already in places.

Formal data on the number of two-year-olds in funded places will be gathered through the Early Years and Schools Censuses, which will take place in January 2014 and will be published in summer 2014.

Public Expenditure

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to close his Department's 2012-13 financial accounts. [180470]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education's accounts are now going through the final stages of audit review. Subject to clearance, we would anticipate laying them in mid-January 2014, before the statutory deadline of 30 January 2014.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teacher education places have been allocated by the National College of Teaching and Leadership for (a) each secondary subject and (b) primary phase (i) nationally and (ii) by English region to (A) HE providers, (B) SCITTs, (C) School Direct and (D) salaried School Direct. [180190]

Mr Laws: Management information released on 21 November by the Department for Education provides full details of initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for 2014/15 by lead school and provider¹.

¹ Available at:

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/xlsx/i/itt%20allocations%20management%20information%2021%2 0nov%202013.xlsx