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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 13 January 2014

Cabinet Office

Charitable Donations

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to increase legacy giving. [182014]

Mr Hurd: Legacy giving is worth 4.5% of the voluntary sector's total annual income. To support this we introduced an inheritance tax reduction which will grow over the next few years, and by 2016-17 we expect to spend over £100 million on this measure. Estates leaving 10% or more to charity will receive a 10% cut in the inheritance tax they owe.

In August 2013, along with Remember a Charity, I wrote to all solicitors in England, Wales and Scotland to highlight the research published by the Behavioural Insights Team which showed that simply asking people if they would like to leave money to charity in their will doubled the proportion of people leaving legacy gifts.

Charities: Taxation

Mr Spellar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions he has had with the Charity Commission about action to prevent tax fraud by charities. [181483]

Mr Hurd: Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for tax matters. Where tax fraud involving charities is suspected, the Charity Commission works closely with HMRC under the terms of their memorandum of understanding.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures he is considering for raising public awareness of cyber security. [182216]

Mr Maude: Raising awareness is a key pillar of this Government's transformative National Cyber Security Programme.

Death: Children

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the Chief Medical Officer's report Prevention pays—our children deserve better, what the (a) top 20 causes of paediatric deaths in children under five years of age in England, (b) the top five causes of death from infectious diseases in children under five years of age in England were in each of the last three years. [182127]

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Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the (a) top 20 causes of paediatric deaths in children under five years, of age in England and (b) top five causes of death from infectious diseases in children under five years of age in England were in each of the last three years. [182127]

Table 1 provides the number of deaths for the top 20 causes of death among children under five years of age (excluding neonatal deaths, which are deaths under 28 days), for deaths registered in England from 2010 to 2012 (the latest year available). A copy of Table 1 has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Table 2 provides the number of deaths for the top five causes of death from infectious diseases among children under five years of age (excluding neonatal deaths), for deaths registered in England from 2010 to 2012 (the latest year available).

Individual causes of death are coded by ONS using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The causes of death shown in the table are groups of codes designed for the tabulation of deaths according to ‘main’ causes.

The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age and cause are published annually on the National Statistics website at:

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition-tcm%3A77-27475

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Electronic Government

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what consultations his Department conducted with other Government Departments and agencies when developing the template for the pan-government web platform gov.uk; what pilot studies were conducted on the user-friendliness of that platform; what reports were prepared on the feedback from such pilots; what the cost was of developing the platform; and what feedback has been received from users since the platform went live. [181777]

Mr Hurd: Gov.uk was developed in an open, iterative, agile way, placing user needs at the core of design process. The prototype was shared with stakeholders and internal users initially as an alpha then beta version, providing the opportunity for ongoing comment and improvement.

Information is continuously gathered from research, analytics, and user feedback and is used to inform development priorities. Analytical data are publicly available on gov.uk's performance platform:

www.gov.uk/performance

The total cost of gov.uk from April 2011 to the end of March 2013 was £16.2 million. This includes the cost of the alpha and beta build in 2011-12 of £4.6 million; and the cost of building and running gov.uk in 2012-13 of £11.6 million.

The establishment of gov.uk has provided a substantial saving compared to the predecessor websites Business Link and Directgov.

Government Departments: Telephone Services

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of calls made on (a) higher rate and (b) 0845 telephone numbers to each central government department in each year since 2007. [182258]

Mr Hurd: Each Department is responsible for its choice of contact numbers and the Cabinet Office does not hold the information requested.

In December, Government published guidance for departments on prefix number selection. The guidance states that it is inappropriate for callers to pay substantial charges for accessing core public services, particularly for vulnerable and low income groups. The guidance

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includes a strong set of principles for departments, noting that for core services, departments should use prefixes offering a geographic rate call as a default policy position.

More generally, our digital-by-default policy aims to provide online public services which are so good that people do not need to use other channels. Further details are available on gov.uk/transformation.

Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2013, Official Report, column 587W, on electronic government, when he plans to update the digital landscape research. [181439]

Mr Hurd: The research was published in November 2012—we do not think it is a good use of resources to update the document at this stage.

Migration: EU Nationals

Mike Thornton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how his Department calculates the number of EU migrants that (a) enter and (b) leave the UK annually. [181674]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department calculates the number of EU migrants that (a) enter and (b) leave the UK annually. [181674]

ONS is responsible for publishing official estimates of immigration and emigration. The methodology uses data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to estimate Long-Term International Migration (LTIM), with adjustments made for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with regards to their length of stay, and migration to and from Northern Ireland. LTIM estimates adhere to the UN definition of a long-term international migrant, which states that a long-term migrant is a person who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year.

The detailed method used for calculating long-term migration to and from the UK can be found within the LTIM Methodology document published on the ONS website:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/population-and-migration/international-migration-methodology/long-term-international-migration-estimates-methodology.pdf

The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and Channel Tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. In total, between 700,000 and 800,000 IPS interviews are conducted each year for migration purposes. Of these, between 4,000 and 5,000 interviewees are identified as long-term international migrants. Citizenship is recorded according to the nationality of the passport held by the interviewee. For further information regarding the quality of the IPS in relation to migration, please see the following document on the ONS website:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/population-and-migration/international-migration-methodology/international-passenger-survey-quality-information-in-relation-to-migration-flows.pdf

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Unemployment: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of 16 to 24 year olds in Halton constituency had two or more periods of unemployment in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 to date. [182254]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of 16 to 24 year olds in Halton constituency had two or more periods of unemployment in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 to date. (182254)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. The requested information is not available from this source because the survey is not designed to identify repeated occurrences of unemployment.

National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Energy and Climate Change

Electricity: ICT

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the effect of data centres on electricity demand; and what discussions he has had with the industry on ways in which demand could be reduced without affecting performance. [181489]

Michael Fallon: The Department has made no such assessment. The Government do, however, recognise that data centres are large energy users and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his autumn statement 2013 that we will introduce a climate change agreement for data centres. My officials, together with HM Treasury colleagues, are currently discussing with sector representatives how to enable those parts of the sector that have demonstrated they meet the qualifying energy intensity criteria to receive a climate change agreement. This will be subject to the necessary changes to legislation and negotiation with the sector of an agreed energy efficiency target which will be included in the final agreement.

Energy

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many meetings he had with the big six energy companies in October 2013. [182253]

Michael Fallon: Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations

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Energy: Disconnections

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many domestic disconnections for non-payment there were in (a) 2013, (b) 2012, (c) 2011 and (d) 2010. [182287]

Michael Fallon: Ofgem monitors and publishes information about disconnections of domestic electricity supplies in its Domestic Suppliers' Obligations Annual Reports:

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Monitoring/SoObMonitor/Pages/SocObMonitor.aspx

The following table shows the number of domestic gas and electricity supplies that were disconnected due to debt in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The data for 2012 were published in the Domestic Suppliers' Obligations Annual Reports 2012 on 13 November 2013, so data for 2013 are not available.

Energy: Housing

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) households and (b) individuals use off-grid energy in their homes in each constituency. [182396]

Gregory Barker: DECC publish estimates of the number of households without a gas connection by local authority. These are available on the Government website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sub-national-estimates-of-households-not-connected-to-the-gas-network

These data are not available for number of individuals.

Energy: Prices

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households that will see their gas and electricity bills increase as a result of the limitation of the number of tariffs which gas and electricity suppliers can offer. [181422]

Michael Fallon: Limiting the number of tariffs gas and electricity suppliers can offer domestic customers is part of a package of measures Ofgem is introducing to make the energy market simpler, clearer and fairer for consumers.

The aim of the package is to ensure that consumers are not paying more than they need to and that they are presented with clearer choices and better information to help them shop around more easily for the best deals and increase competitive pressure on suppliers. Bills may continue to rise for other reasons, principally the rising cost of fossil fuels, but we expect them to be lower as a result of these measures than they would have been otherwise.

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Green Deal Scheme

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households have had energy efficiency measures fitted through the Green Deal scheme since its launch. [182460]

Gregory Barker: The Department regularly publishes Official Statistics on the number of energy efficiency measures installed through the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation, the latest of which was published on 19 December:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-december-2013--2

By the end of October 2013, a provisional 388,128 measures had been installed in around 336,000 properties, through the Energy Company Obligation, Cashback and Green Deal finance, of which 98% were delivered through the Energy Company Obligation. A fuller breakdown on measures installed is in the published statistics.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2013, Official Report, column 576W, on Hinkley Point Power Station, what the evidential basis was for the conclusion that there would be no significant effect on Ireland of the new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point. [182401]

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change granted development consent for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C in March 2013.

The decision to grant development consent referred to the advice of the Planning Inspectorate that there should be no significant transboundary impacts from Hinkley Point C. It also referred to the European Commission's opinion under Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty that the disposal of radioactive waste from interim storage facilities at Hinkley Point C was not liable to result in radioactive contamination of another member state that would be significant from the point of view of health. The Secretary of State also took into account the conclusion of the National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation, published in July 2011, that significant transboundary effects arising from the construction of new nuclear power stations were not likely, due to the robustness of the regulatory regime.

The Secretary of State's decision to grant development consent is available at:

http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/projects/South%20West/Hinkley-Point-C-New-Nuclear-Power-Station/

Radioactive Waste

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the licensing of nuclear facilities to utilise the UK's existing nuclear waste stockpile. [181500]

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Michael Fallon: The UK's inventory of radioactive waste and materials consists of a number of categories including: wastes (ie those materials defined as having no further use), spent fuels and other nuclear materials such as plutonium and uranium. Not all of these materials have potential for re-use.

The Government’s preferred route for the management of the plutonium stocks is re-use as mixed oxide fuel (MOX) in conventional nuclear reactors. The facilities for the manufacture of MOX fuels would need to be assessed and approved by the UK's nuclear regulators prior to construction and operation.

As part of its assessment of credible alternatives to reuse as MOX, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is also examining the use of fast reactor technology and an alternative form of MOX. Should these alternatives be pursued in the future, the requisite facilities would need to undergo regulatory assessment prior to construction and operation.

Fast reactors, if commercially deployed, may also provide usage routes for some elements of the spent fuels stored, subject to appropriate regulatory assessment.

The UK waste inventory includes some materials which physically cannot be utilised, such as vitrified high level waste and concrete emplaced intermediate level wastes. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management spent three years undertaking an examination of practical routes for the disposition or use of higher level radioactive wastes. Their report (CoRWM doc. 700) concludes that geological disposal preceded by safe and secure interim storage is the best available option.

The report can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236694/_CoRWM_3100_ Work_Programme_2013-16.pdf

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average length of time from the original application for large-scale solar projects to those projects coming online was in each year since 2009. [181522]

Gregory Barker: The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of all projects 0.01MW and over from submission of a planning application through to determination and generation:

https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

As at the end of November 2013, the REPD shows:

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department plans to consult on changes to the Warm Home Discount for 2015-16 onwards. [181386]

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Gregory Barker: We plan to consult on changes to the Warm Home Discount for 2015-16 in spring this year.

Wind and Solar Power: Planning Permission

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) how much (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind capacity (i) received planning approval and (ii) was rejected in each year since 2009; [181517]

(2) how many planning applications for (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms were (i) approved and (ii) rejected in each year since 2009; [181518]

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(3) how much large-scale solar capacity has had planning approval (a) accepted and (b) rejected in each year since 2009; [181519]

(4) how many planning applications for large-scale solar projects have been (a) approved and (b) rejected in each year since 2009. [181520][Official Report, 26 February 2014, Vol. 576, c. 6-8MC.]

Gregory Barker: The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of all projects over 0.01MW from submission of a planning application through to determination and generation:

https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

As at the end of November 2013, the REPD shows:

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what the average length of time between the original application for (a) onshore wind farms and (b) offshore wind farms to the receipt of planning permission was in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012 and (v) 2013; [182054]

(2) what the average length of time between the original application for large-scale solar power development and the receipt of planning permission was in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013. [182055]

Gregory Barker: The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of all projects 0.01MW and over from submission of a planning application through to determination and generation:

https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

As at the end of November 2013, the REPD shows:

Wind Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average time was from the original application for (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms to those wind farms coming online in 2013. [181521]

Gregory Barker: At the end of November 2013, the average length of time from submission of a planning application to full generation in 2013 was 214 weeks for onshore wind and 316 weeks for offshore wind.

Source:

The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)

https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

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Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been paid out in constraint payments to generators of electricity from wind farms in each of the last three years. [182345]

Michael Fallon: Constraint payments relating to England, Scotland and Wales are made by National Grid through competitive market arrangements in order to help ensure the secure operation of the electricity system. Details of most individual constraint payments to wind farms are published at

www.elexon.co.uk

and

www.bmreports.com

and aggregated data on payments to wind farms are published in its “Monthly Balancing Services Summary”, which is available at

http://www2.nationalgrid.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28139

Energy policy in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. Constraint payments are a commercial matter between the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) and the generator.

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of UK electricity has been generated from wind energy in each of the last five years. [182346]

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the proportion of UK electricity generated from wind energy in 2008 to 2012. Provisional data for 2013 will be available on 27 March 2014.

Northern Ireland

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulation

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) recorded offences and (b) convictions have occurred for offences under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R., 2009, No. 39), as amended, in each of the last five years. [182256]

Mrs Villiers: These matters are no longer the Government’s responsibility; the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions)

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Order 2010 made during the previous Government in which the right hon. Lady served, transferred responsibility for them to the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland when policing and justice was devolved on 12 April 2010.

House of Commons Commission

Personnel Management

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost was of human resources support per employee in the House of Commons Service in the latest period for which figures are available. [182312]

John Thurso: The cost of human resources staff in the House of Commons per member of staff was reported in a recent external report as £4,343.

The report noted that this cost was higher than some external benchmarks. However, the human resources service at the House of Commons includes a higher level of support for line managers than provided in many other organisations. The definition of human resources support also includes learning and development and a team responsible for processing payroll changes.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Sustainable Development

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the objectives of the inquiry into the sustainability of UK farming and food sectors are; and how they will apply to Northern Ireland. [181637]

George Eustice: The Government have not announced an inquiry into the sustainability of the UK farming and food sectors. The EFRA Select Committee announced their inquiry into food security on 28 October 2013, with a call for written evidence from interested parties. Further information can be found at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environment-food-and-rural-affairs-committee/news/food-security/

DEFRA submitted written evidence to the Committee in December, which included contributions from a number of other Government Departments.

Agriculture: Weather

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assistance his Department makes available to farmers for dealing with the effects of bad winter weather; [182241]

(2) what discussions he has had with the responsible Ministers in the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive on steps to address the effects of winter weather on farming. [182242]

George Eustice: DEFRA has convened a Farming Resilience Group comprising leaders from industry, the Met Office, banks and charities to support farmers in becoming more resilient to severe weather. Since May

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2013, the group has agreed a 10 point plan of action. This includes working with the Met Office to develop tailored weather warnings for farmers, and considering options for an industry-led mutual fund which farmers could call on in an emergency. Work is continuing to deliver the plan. Advice on safeguarding animal welfare in severe weather is available on the DEFRA website.

While farming is a devolved matter, these issues are regularly discussed at official level. For example, DEFRA has recently worked with the Welsh Government and the Cabinet Office to publish information specifically for farmers as part of the Met Office’s “Get Ready for Winter” website. This provides a range of advice, guidance and sources of further help in dealing with the impacts of winter weather.

Air Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions his Department has advised people to stay indoors because of poor air quality in each year for which data are available. [178487]

Dan Rogerson: The Government publish regular forecasts and information about air quality on the UK-Air website at:

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/

This includes health advice on what to do during high pollution episodes. However, it is not our policy to advise people to stay indoors. Historical data on this are not maintained. For localised incidents such as fires, explosions or chemical leaks, Public Health England (PHE) maintains records where advice has been given for affected communities to stay indoors. As it would take several days for PHE to collate this data, they have not been included in this response.

Beaches: Dungeness

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will give consideration to requesting an urgent review of the proposal for shingle recycling at Dungeness, Kent. [178358]

Dan Rogerson: Kent county council is best placed to make a judgment about the merits of restarting shingle recycling activity at Dungeness, as it is the local planning authority. Kent county council is expected to consider this matter in January 2014.

DEFRA cannot provide advice on specific planning cases as they may come before Ministers on appeal.

Flood Control

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total capital sum spent by the Environment Agency on (a) coastal and (b) river flood defences was in each of the last five years. [182465]

Dan Rogerson: The Government capital budget allocated by the Environment Agency to flood and coastal risk management schemes in each year since 2009-10 was:

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Flood Control: Hartlepool

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department spent on flood defences in Hartlepool constituency in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10, (d) 2010-11, (e) 2011-12 and (f) 2012-13; and how much funding his Department has allocated for flood defences in Hartlepool constituency in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16. [181538]

Dan Rogerson: I can report the following previous Flood and Coastal Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCRM GiA) spend for capital works in the Hartlepool constituency.

FCRM GiA allocation for 2013-14 is £3.6 million. Allocations for 2014-15 onwards have not yet been made. Allocations for 2014-15 will be confirmed by the Environment Agency Board in February 2014.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what places in the High Speed 2 safeguarded area or within half a mile of that safeguarded area (a) have been flooded in the past two months and (b) are considered to be at risk from flooding. [182155]

Dan Rogerson: From information currently available it does not appear that the safeguarded area for HS2 has been significantly flooded during the last two months. However, there could be some flooding arising from local sources that has not yet been recorded. This information will be captured and collated once the current emergency response has concluded.

The safeguarded area for phase one of HS2 crosses just over 100 watercourses, each of which will have a degree of flood risk associated with them. The scale of that risk will depend on the precise alignment of the route. At present this has not been fully assessed, nor has an assessment been made for the phase two routes.

Internet

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether access to any websites or domains is blocked from computers

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in his Department; and if he will publish a list of all such websites and domains to which access is prohibited. [178503]

Dan Rogerson: Access to websites and domains which may contain malicious content or to which staff are not permitted access under the DEFRA Acceptable Use policy are blocked from the computers in core DEFRA.

Websites are blocked that contain material that is illegal or could reasonably be regarded as offensive, obscene or otherwise inappropriate. For example, pornography, offensive or harassing statements or language including disparagement of others based on their race, national origins, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or transgender, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, age, disability, religion or belief, gambling, illegal trading, and any activities that could lead to financial or legal consequences or reputational damage to the DEFRA network.

DEFRA’s website provider operates this policy according to these generic types on a regular basis. Any list would be quickly out of date and is not held by the Department.

Peat

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to phase out the use of peat in garden compost. [181493]

George Eustice: The Natural Environment White Paper set out our ambition to end the use of peat through a voluntary partnership with the horticultural sector by 2030.

The Government response to the Sustainable Growing Media Task Force report was published in 2013 and is available to view on the gov.uk website. It set out where our resources will be focused over the next few years to assist in the transition to sustainable growing media and reduced peat use. We are committed to working with the industry to deliver the roadmap towards sustainable growing media and to overcome the barriers to peat reduction. For example, we are supporting the development of a performance standard and criteria for responsibly sourced and manufactured growing media.

A policy review will take place in 2015 to assess the delivery of the roadmap and to identify further actions necessary.

Poultry: South Africa

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2013, Official Report, column 567W, on poultry: South Africa, when he expects the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa’s investigation into dumping practices to be concluded. [182157]

George Eustice: The investigation is being carried out by an independent body in South Africa who have not provided an indication of the time scale for completion. We are monitoring the situation closely.

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Public Footpaths

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of (a) the accessibility of registered footpaths and (b) their state of maintenance. [181491]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has not made an assessment of the accessibility or state of maintenance of registered footpaths. Local highway authorities are responsible for ensuring the accessibility and the maintenance of public rights of way, including footpaths.

Seeds: EU Action

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations his Department has made to the European Commission on behalf of UK gardeners and allotment growers regarding proposed regulations on the sale of seeds within the EU. [178357]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA represents the UK in Council Working Parties, where the proposed regulation on the marketing of plant reproductive material is being negotiated with the European Commission and other member states.

The positions adopted are based on discussions with stakeholders and devolved Administrations. In all cases, DEFRA has and will continue to push for simpler regulations for ornamental plants and for material sold to gardeners.

DEFRA has supported ornamentals sector representatives in explaining the issues to the European Commission, resulting in a constructive meeting with the Commission official leading the original drafting. DEFRA is also supporting MEPs in their role as co-legislators for the proposals.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma

Mr Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Government of Burma complies with international law and grants citizenship to the Rohingya in that country. [182404]

Mr Swire: The situation in Rakhine State and the rights of the Rohingya community were at the heart of discussions between the Prime Minister and President Thein Sein during his visit to the UK in July 2013. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also pressed for a long term solution on the issue of Rohingya citizenship that is consistent with their human rights and we welcome the Government's stated commitment to initiating such a process. Our ambassador discussed citizenship with the authorities and communities involved during his visit to Rakhine State in December 2013. Together with the UN, EU, US, Australia, France and Japan, British Ministers and officials continue to lobby key Burmese Ministers with responsibility for Rakhine State on the full range of issues, including the need to resolve the citizenship status of the Rohingya community.

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Mr Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking in response to claims that ethnic cleansing is being committed against the Rohingya in Burma. [182406]

Mr Swire: The British Government have been among the most vocal members of the international community about the plight of the Rohingya community. We continue to make clear to the Burmese Government that where serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them must be held accountable for their actions. This should be done through a clear and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards. Further independent investigative work to fully establish the facts would be required for an informed assessment as to whether ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have been committed.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) staff are currently on the ground in Rakhine State, monitoring the human rights situation. We also continue to lobby the Burmese Government to allow the opening of a country office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, with a strong mandate which allows it to monitor the human rights situation in all parts of the country.

We have raised these concerns repeatedly at the highest levels of the Burmese Government and will continue to do so. Indeed, the situation in Rakhine State and the rights of the Rohingya community were at the heart of discussions with President Thein Sein during his visit to the UK in July 2013. In December 2013, our ambassador discussed human rights issues with the authorities and communities involved during his visit to Rakhine State.

China

Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the People's Republic of China about the detention without formal documentation of Pastor Zhang Shaojie of Henan Province, China, on 16 November 2013 and the subsequent alleged mistreatment of his lawyers. [181661]

Mr Swire: We are aware of the arrest and detention of Pastor Zhang Shaojie and at least 20 of his parishioners on public order charges and the reported harassment of lawyers and Christians attempting to visit the group. We are monitoring developments in the case.

Criminal justice reform and the rule of law, including torture prevention and treatment of detainees, has been a consistent focus of our human rights engagement with the Chinese authorities. We look to the Chinese Government to protect the rights of all their citizens, including freedom of religion, and we urge them to do so in line with their responsibilities under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Chinese Government have signed, but not ratified.

Christianity

Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the international community tackles the persecution of Christians. [181440]

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Mr Lidington: My Department is working actively at both ministerial and official level to keep this issue at the top of the international community's agenda, and to take action in individual countries. We are working to ensure that states take practical measures on the ground to implement UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which focuses the international community on combating religious intolerance, protecting the human rights of minorities and promoting pluralism in society. During the UN General Assembly Ministerial Week at the end of September the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi, convened a second meeting of international leaders to discuss what more politicians in particular can do to promote freedom of religion or belief and fight religious intolerance within our societies.

We also regularly use international processes such as the UN Universal Periodic Review, EU Dialogues with third countries and Ministerial Council Decisions at the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). As an example, we raised freedom of religion or belief with the Chinese and Saudi Arabian Governments during their Universal Periodic Reviews at the October session of the Human Rights Council. In September at the EU-Vietnam Human Rights Council Dialogue we highlighted, with our EU colleagues, 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.

Furthermore we speak out bilaterally, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs did following the deplorable burning of Churches and attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and meet with local faith leaders to better understand their concerns. For instance the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Hugh Robertson), discussed the situation faced by Coptic Christians and implications of the new constitution in his meeting with Bishop Yulios during his recent official visit to Cairo in December. We also lobby against discriminatory legislation and practices and support projects which address this and help to encourage co-operation and understanding between different faith groups. For example we are currently funding a series of grass roots meetings in Iraq, led by Canon Andrew White, bringing together people from different faiths to combat sectarian violence.

On 15 November Baroness Warsi gave a speech in Washington stressing the need for an international response to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The Minister announced plans to host an international conference in the first half of 2014 on promoting the benefits of religious pluralism to encourage countries to protect this fundamental, yet threatened, human right.

Diplomatic Service

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which UK parliamentarians visited the (a) embassy or high commission and (b) residence of head of mission in (i) Angola, (ii) Democratic Republic of Congo, (iii) Mongolia, (iv) Papua New Guinea, (v) Indonesia, (vi) Equatorial Guinea, (vii) Venezuela and (viii) Turkmenistan in 2013, other than for the purpose of a ministerial, IPU, CPA or Select Committee visit. [181360]

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Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office endeavours to provide guidance and support to UK parliamentarians visiting our posts overseas, when such visits form part of their parliamentary responsibilities. We are unable to provide information on private visits that individual UK parliamentarians have made to our posts overseas, which do not form part of their parliamentary work.

In 2013, excluding ministerial, IPU, CPA and Select Committee visits, the following official visits by UK parliamentarians took place:

(i) My noble Friend the Lord Marland visited the British embassy and residence in Luanda in October, as part of a visit in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Angola;

(ii) In May 2013, members of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for the great lakes visited the British embassy in Kinshasa;

(iii) No UK parliamentarians visited the British embassy in Ulaanbaatar, as part of their parliamentary responsibilities, in 2013;

(iv) No UK parliamentarians visited the British embassy in Port Moresby, as part of their parliamentary responsibilities, in 2013;

(v) My hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), visited the British embassy in Jakarta as part of Westminster Foundation for Democracy sponsored visit. My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) visited the British embassy in Jakarta in January, April, June and November, as part of a visit in his official capacity as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Indonesia. In March 2013, members of the APPG for trade and investment visited the British embassy in Jakarta;

(vi) The British Government do not have a high commission or embassy in Equatorial Guinea. Our relations with Equatorial Guinea are managed through the British high commission in Yaoundé in Cameroon;

(vii) No UK parliamentarians visited the British embassy in Caracas, as part of their parliamentary responsibilities, in 2013; and

(viii) My hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), attended official functions at the residence in Ashgabat in January and November 2013, in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Turkmenistan.

Pakistan

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken and plans to take to promote the protection of the Hazaras in Pakistan. [181507]

Hugh Robertson: We remain concerned about the violence faced by the Hazara population in Pakistan and continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to protect and guarantee the fundamental rights of all their citizens as laid down in the constitution and in accordance with international standards. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office closely monitors the situation in Balochistan as documented in the annual human rights report and quarterly updates.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 626W, on Palestinians, what views the Government communicated to the Palestinian Authority prior to or during the meeting of the International Olive Council on the Palestinian Authority's membership of the Council. [181356]

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Hugh Robertson: Since the Palestinian UN General Assembly upgrade in November 2012, the Government have been clear in our belief that the focus should be on the negotiation process. To this end, we have noted our concerns about the potential impact of any Palestinian action to upgrade their status in UN bodies or international organisations with the Palestinian Authority. We raised the International Olive Council with the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October 2013 in this regard.

Religious Hatred

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what conversations he had with the (a) EU and (b) World Bank on measures to prevent international aid funding from being used by non-governmental organisations to incite religious hatred. [182096]

Lynne Featherstone: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for International Development.

DFID has a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and would not consider funding, directly or indirectly through multilateral contributions any projects that discriminate between individuals or groups of people on any grounds including race, sex, sexual orientation, religion and disability.

Russia

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government have offered to the Russian Government following the recent terrorist attacks in that country. [181641]

Mr Lidington: Following the attacks in Volgograd the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs wrote to President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, offering condolences on behalf of the UK. The Prime Minister assured President Putin that the UK stands ready to help Russia bring those responsible to justice and to prevent any further attacks. We are also working with the Russian authorities on preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics Winter Games in Sochi, including on security issues.

Syria

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation of Christians in Syria; and if he will make a statement. [182158]

Hugh Robertson: The plight of Christians and other minorities in Syria continues to be deeply worrying. We have serious concerns about increasing sectarian tensions and believe that President Assad has deliberately tried to stir up such tensions in an increasingly desperate attempt to hold onto power.

The British Government place great importance on the right to freedom of religion for all. We condemn all instances of violence and discrimination against individuals and groups because of their faith or belief. We will continue to work with the Syrian people, countries in the region and our international partners to support a

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peaceful and democratic transition to a more open society that respects the rights of all of its citizens, regardless of their religion.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to prevent illegal migration onto the Turks and Caicos Islands and to reduce the number of potentially fatal journeys taken by such immigrants. [182176]

Mark Simmonds: Illegal migration from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), a UK Overseas Territory, is a very real problem, as made evident by the recent tragic incident on 25 December 2013, which led to at least 19 fatalities. I discussed this issue with the TCI Premier during our bilateral at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council on 25 November 2013.

The TCI Government have constitutional responsibility for immigration policy and border control, but the Government have a fundamental objective and responsibility for the security of TCI flowing from international law, our shared history and political commitment to the wellbeing of all British nationals. The Government have therefore provided substantial support to TCI, including funding for a radar station and training for marine police.

The Government are encouraging the Haitian Government to step up their efforts to combat people trafficking, and to discourage their people from undertaking the dangerous journey by boat to TCI which may lead to their death and almost certainly to their detention and deportation. We are also supporting the TCI and Haitian Governments to develop practical co-operation. A Haitian consulate opened in TCI in February 2013. We are supporting negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding covering deterring and combating illegal migration.

Education

Annual Reports

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish his Department's annual report and accounts for 2012-13. [182146]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education's 2012-13 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.

Children: Cancer

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to support children with cancer in the education system. [181599]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education expects schools to understand and be aware of individual pupils’ needs and to provide them with appropriate support to ensure they have full access to education. Schools should work closely with relevant health and social care professionals, and with parents/carers to ensure that individual healthcare plans set out what support is needed for each pupil and how this will be provided.

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We have placed an amendment in the Children and Families Bill to create a new duty on governing bodies of maintained schools (and proprietors of academies) to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The guidance is currently being developed in collaboration with members of the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance, and other partners, and with parents and young people. We intend to consult on the draft guidance later this term.

Children’s Play: Disability

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's policy is on the promotion of play for disabled children in schools. [182111]

Mr Timpson: Schools and teachers are best placed to decide how to support individual children to develop, including through play. The new national curriculum gives schools greater freedom to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

In determining their approach schools should be aware of their legal responsibilities. Schools have duties under the Equality Act not to discriminate against disabled pupils and to make reasonable adjustments. The Children and Families Bill also requires that a child with special educational needs

‘engages in the activities of the school together with children who do not have special educational needs’

where this is reasonably practical.

The Department for Education provides grant funding for Project Ability. This aims to increase competitive opportunities for young disabled people. It is delivered through a network of 50 lead Project Ability schools, and helps schools in England to improve the quality of sport for disabled pupils.

Correspondence

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) mean and (b) maximum time taken to respond to letters from (i) members of the public, (ii) organisations and (iii) hon. Members was in each year since 2010. [181350]

Elizabeth Truss: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Each year the Minister for the Cabinet Office publishes a report on Departments' and agencies' performance on handling Members' and peers' correspondence. Information relating to the Department for Education, covering all correspondence to which Ministers replied, can be found in the following editions of the Official Report:

For 2010—28 March 2011, column 1WS

For 2011—15 March 2012, column 30WS

For 2012—13 May 2013, column 23WS

The report on performance in 2013 will be published later this year.

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The Department for Education Annual Report contains figures showing the timeliness of all replies to correspondence (i.e. those from Department for Education Ministers and those from officials). The reports for 2010-11 and 2011-12 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports

The report for 2012-13 will be published shortly.

Dyslexia

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many primary school children in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools are classified as having a dyslexia type condition; [182392]

(2) how many young people in sixth form education in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools are classified as having a dyslexia type condition; [182394]

(3) how many secondary school children in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools are classified as having a dyslexia type condition. [182395]

Mr Timpson: We do not collect information specifically on the number of pupils with dyslexia.

Data on pupils with special educational needs are collected from maintained schools, academies and non-maintained special schools in the annual school census. Where the pupil is identified as being at school action plus or has a statement of special educational needs, their primary need is collected. Primary need is not collected for pupils in independent schools.

The category of primary need collected that is closest to dyslexia is ‘Specific Learning Difficulty'. Data for the number of pupils with this primary need by type of school attended are given in the table.

Information on special educational needs is published annually in the publication ‘Special Educational Needs in England', which is available online¹.

¹ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational- needs-in-england-january-2013

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what eligibility criteria are set for pupils to qualify for a free dyslexia test. [182398]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education does not set any eligibility criteria for dyslexia tests.

Schools have a legal duty to use their best endeavours to make special educational provision for their pupils. It is for schools to decide how best to use their available

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budget to ensure that special educational needs are identified early and that appropriate support is put in place to meet this duty.

Further Education: Finance

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 11, on further education (funding), when he will publish the impact assessment. [182409]

Matthew Hancock: We have published an impact assessment today, which can be found here:

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/i/impact%20assessment.pdf

London Academy of Excellence

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, columns 70-2W, on free schools, when data on enrolments at the London Academy of Excellence will be available. [182461]

Mr Timpson: The London Academy of Excellence is one of seven open 16-19 free schools in the academic year 2013/14. It is the only 16-19 free school that provides data on its pupil numbers through the individualised learner record; this is the equivalent to the school's census return for further education institutions. The next return of the individualised learner record is due in February and we would expect to have the verified pupil numbers by the end of February. The 2014/15 allocations will include this information and will be published in October 2014.

Music: Teachers

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether music services teachers are (a) classified as having teacher pay and conditions and (b) under local council conditions and pay scales. [182220]

Mr Laws: There is flexibility for employers of music services teachers regarding the terms and conditions of employment offered. Music services teachers can be employed under the provisions of the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).

Alternatively music services employees can be employed as instructors under the local authority pay system. This is known as ‘Soulbury' terms and conditions.

Politics: Education

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to increase teaching about parliamentary democracy and government in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools. [181366]

Elizabeth Truss: Citizenship education is in the new national curriculum at key stages 3 and 4. The programmes of study, for first teaching in secondary schools from September this year, will improve pupils' knowledge and understanding of democracy, Government, and how laws are made and upheld. Primary schools are not required to teach citizenship, but may introduce relevant topics as part of non-statutory subjects including personal, social, health and economic education.

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Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools are trialling nursery places for two year-olds; and what assistance those schools are receiving from his Department. [181574]

Elizabeth Truss: The Government believe that high quality early education and child care has a positive impact on a child's later success and future outcomes. The evidence shows that starting younger, in high quality teacher-led provision, can have a real and lasting impact on children's development and life chances, particularly for those from the most disadvantaged families.

We want more schools to offer nursery places and to extend these to two-year-olds. This will provide more choice and flexibility for parents and enable more children to benefit from all that a good school can provide.

To support more schools to open nurseries and extend care to two-year-olds we are working with 49 schools, drawn from a variety of urban and rural settings, that are already taking, or preparing to take, two-year-olds. These schools will identify good practice, share their learning widely and encourage more schools to follow suit.

The following schools are participating in the project:

Benchill Primary School

Bensham Grove Community Nursery School

Broadclyst Community Primary School

Brookside Infant School

Canklow Woods Primary School

Carr Manor Primary School

Chesterfield School

Crowmoor Primary School and Nursery

Dulwich Wood Nursery School and Children's Centre

Durand Academy

Eden Park Primary School

Goodway Nursery School

Gooseacre Primary Academy

Handale Primary School

Hathersage St Michaels C of E (VA) Primary School

Latymer All Saints Church of England Primary School

Lever Edge Primary Academy

Lillian de Lissa Nursery School

Lord Street Community Nursery School and Preschool

Medlock Primary School

Moorgate Primary School

Nell Gwynn Nursery School

Netherfield Primary School

Newall Green Primary School

Norfolk Community Primary School

Oakwood Primary Academy

Oasis Academy Hadley

Old Church Nursery School and Children's Centre

Parbold Douglas C of E Academy

Plumberow Primary Academy

Richard Newman Primary School

Robsack Wood Community Primary School and Nursery

Shortbrook Primary School

Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School

St George's Cathedral Catholic Primary School

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St John Vianney RC Primary School

St. Bede Primary Academy

St. Mary's (C of E) Primary School

Stoneyholme Nursery School

Susan Isaacs Nursery School

The Eldon Federation (Eldon Early Years)

The Grove Nursery School, Children and Family Centre

The Orchards Nursery School

Tilery Primary School

Trimdon Grange Infant and Nursery School

Trinity Church of England Primary School

Vittoria Primary School

West View Primary School

Whitchurch CE Infant and Nursery School.

Schools participating in the demonstration project have each received a grant of £10,000 in return for their active participation in the project evaluation and providing peer support. The grant may also be used to contribute towards the development of appropriate resources, provide training for staff and for local leadership activities. Up to £2,500 of the grant can be used for capital purposes.

Pupils: Bullying

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what initiatives his Department has put in place to tackle bullying within schools and online since 2010; and what assessment has been made of their effectiveness. [181617]

Elizabeth Truss: As outlined in the Schools White Paper 2010, the Government have made tackling all forms of bullying one of our top priorities by striking a balance between schools’ legal requirements, freedom and accountability.

Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 for maintained schools and the Independent Schools Standards Regulations 2010 for Academies and Free Schools requires that all schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils, including that which occurs online. Schools have the freedom to shape these measures in the context of their pupils’ needs.

In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour, including bullying. They can now issue same day detentions, confiscate banned items and search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images on mobile phones which might be linked to cyberbullying.

In 2011, the Government published streamlined advice for schools, reducing it from 481 pages to just 11 pages to make absolutely clear schools’ legal obligations to prevent and tackle bullying, and clarify teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for unacceptable behaviour.

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.

In addition, the Government have pressed for progress through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and works to protect children online, including from the risk of cyberbullying. UKCCIS brings together the most important internet organisations, such as Facebook and Microsoft, and is chaired by Government Ministers,

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including the Minister for Children and Families, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson).

Ofsted now holds schools clearly to account for their effectiveness in dealing with pupil behaviour, which includes bullying. Under the current Ofsted framework introduced in 2012, school inspectors consider pupil behaviour and safety, which includes how well schools prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Furthermore, the Department keeps abreast of research in this area and is funding a series of questions about bullying and cyberbullying in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 Crime Survey for England and Wales. This will give us a baseline estimate of prevalence and will help us to track trends over time.

We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations: Beatbullying, the Diana Award, Kidscape and NCB, to develop effective initiatives to prevent and tackle bullying. As part of their funding, these organisations have in place separate evaluations, which will report on the effectiveness of their varied initiatives to prevent and tackle bullying.

Schools: Birmingham

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what guidance he has given Birmingham local authority on dividing extra funding for school places between the constituencies that fall under its jurisdiction; [182177]

(2) if he will take steps to ensure that funding for extra school places in Birmingham will benefit equally all children in Birmingham. [182179]

Mr Laws: The Department recently announced an additional £2.35 billion in basic need funding, to support local authorities to create the additional places that will be needed by September 2017, in addition to the £5 billion already committed for the period 2011-15. Birmingham has been allocated £96.29 million basic need funding for the financial years 2015-17, in addition to £61.45 million previously allocated for the period 2011-15.

We expect local authorities to use the funding provided to create additional places in the areas where they are needed. This is likely to mean more investment in the areas that see the biggest increase in pupil numbers, so that all parents in Birmingham can be confident that their child will be able to secure a place in a good, local school.

Schools: Finance

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on funding allocation for schools. [181658]

Mr Laws: The Secretary of State for Education has not had any recent discussions with local authorities about funding allocation for schools.

I have had seven meetings with representatives from local authorities to discuss issues relating to capital and revenue funding for schools. This includes meetings with MPs who were accompanied by local authority representatives.

Officials in the Department also meet regularly with representatives from local authorities to discuss funding policy and allocations

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Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department issues to teachers on the early detection of young people with dyslexia-type conditions. [182110]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education issues guidance on supporting Special Educational Needs (SEN) through the SEN Code of Practice. A consultation on a new Code concluded on 9 December 2013, and responses are currently being analysed.

All schools are required to complete the phonics screening check with pupils in year 1. This will help identify children who have not reached the expected level of ability with phonics. Officials have worked with dyslexia organisations to provide advice on how to respond to the results of the check where teachers are concerned about dyslexia or literacy difficulties.

The Department for Education is also funding the Dyslexia SpLD Trust to provide advice to schools on identifying and responding to specific learning difficulties. This advice includes a professional development framework and a toolkit to help teachers identify dyslexia earlier.

These resources, including the guidance on responding to the phonics check, are available online¹.

¹ www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk

Teachers: Surveys

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he intends to publish the findings of the most recent Teacher Workload Survey. [182403]

Mr Laws: Officials are currently analysing the data collected during the 2013 Teacher Workload Survey.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what budget the National College for Teaching and Leadership has allocated to school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the number of new SCITTs that will be supported in each of those years. [181510]

Mr Laws: School-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) enables more aspiring teachers to benefit from the experience and expertise of the best teachers in the country.

Trainees undertaking their Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course at a SCITT provider on a tuition fee place fund the course fees themselves, either directly, or in the form of a student loan. Therefore, no NCTL budget is allocated for this in 2013/14 or in 2014/15.

Training bursaries are, however, available to trainees depending on the subject in which they are training to teach and their degree classification. These are funded by NCTL. The training bursaries range from £4,000 to £20,000 in 2013/14 and £4,000 to £25,000 in 2014/15.

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Training bursaries payable are higher for those trainees training to teach in shortage subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing and languages.

Tuition fee places delivered by a SCITT may be allocated directly to the SCITT as provider-led places or through a lead school for the School Direct (tuition fee) training programme.

If the trainee is undertaking a School Direct (salaried) place, the NCTL funds the training costs and pays a contribution towards their salary costs while they are training to teach. The funding is paid directly to schools who will work with a SCITT provider to deliver the ITT training in partnership. The amount allocated for School Direct (salaried) places depends on the subject in which the trainee is training to teach and the geographical location of the school. The salary and training contribution ranges from £14,000 to £23,900 in 2013/14 and in 2014/15.

The total budget allocated for these places will be known at the end of each academic year when the ITT providers are required to complete a full census return for their trainees.

In addition to this funding a total of £300,000 has been allocated in 2013/14 to support the start-up of new SCITTs.

There is also funding available to teaching schools in 2013/14 who become a SCITT provider, which will be borne from the existing teaching schools budget.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what financial incentives the National College for Teaching and Leadership has offered to schools to become a school-centred initial teacher training provider. [181543]

Mr Laws: A support package to schools interested in becoming a school-centred initial teacher training provider (SCITT), including an average pilot financial grant of £17,000, was offered to schools to support their accreditation bid.

This package was designed to increase school to school support through buddying opportunities with existing teacher training providers and deployment of Specialist Leaders in Education working across existing SCITTs.

SCITTs enable more aspiring teachers to benefit from the experience and expertise of some of the best teachers in the country.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have been encouraged by the National College for Teaching and Leadership to express an interest in becoming a school-centred initial teacher training provider. [181544]

Mr Laws: Around 900 schools currently offering School Direct places in 2013/14, including teaching schools and academy chains, were signposted to information on becoming a school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITT) via communications within the teaching school newsletter in October 2013 and a School Direct bulletin in November 2013.

Schools that express an interest in becoming a SCITT are invited to attend a ‘potential new provider' briefing to find out more information. 38 schools attended a briefing in November and December 2013.

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SCITTs enable more aspiring teachers to benefit from the experience and expertise of some of the best teachers in the country.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reasons and when Ministers encouraged the National College for Teaching and Leadership to promote school-centred initial teacher training in addition to School Direct. [181545]

Mr Laws: The Secretary of State for Education set out the context for supporting schools to become school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITTs) at a speech on improving the quality of teaching on 5 September 2013, saying:

“As schools take more control over training the next generation of teachers, many of the best academy chains and teaching school alliances are now playing an even greater role in training the next generation of teachers as accredited SCITTs.

We want to see their numbers increase, enabling more aspiring teachers than ever before to benefit from the expertise and experience of some of the best in the business—so we will be bringing forward proposals to support this later in the year.”

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will direct Ofsted to make a comparative assessment of the quality of training available through school-centred initial teacher training and other initial teacher training providers. [182135]

Mr Laws: There are currently no plans for the Department for Education to ask Ofsted to make a specific comparative assessment of the quality of training across different types of initial teacher training provider. Her Majesty's chief inspector advises the Secretary of State for Education of anything he should be aware of as a result of the inspections of all providers of programmes leading to qualified teacher status for maintained schools.

However, a recent survey of newly qualified teachers/trainee teachers found that trainees/teachers consistently rated school-based training higher than other initial training providers across a range of criteria.

Communities and Local Government

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many families were housed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation on the most recent date for which data are available in (a) Barrow-in-Furness and (b) South Lakeland; and how many such families included children aged under 16. [182464]

Kris Hopkins: The following table provides the most recent data available recorded on 30 September 2013.

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This Government have retained a strong homelessness safety net protected in law, supported by £470 million in the current spending review period to prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions.

The law is clear that families with children must only be placed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation as a last resort and then for no more than six weeks.

We are continuing to support local authorities to raise their game and have provided £2 million for seven councils struggling with increasing bed-and-breakfast use so that they can reduce numbers and develop long lasting solutions to this problem. The latest statistics show that, with the help of this funding, Westminster and Croydon councils have vastly reduced the number of families with children in bed and breakfast beyond six weeks. We publish performance data and have also provided £1.9 million for local authorities to take a Gold Standard approach to help them design and deliver more efficient and cost-effective housing solutions for vulnerable people.

Enterprise Zones

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimates his Department has made of the net number of jobs that have been produced by each enterprise zone since their creation. [181355]

Kris Hopkins: Enterprise Zones opened for business in April 2012, and since then, nearly 5,000 jobs have been created. This estimate is of gross jobs (and includes temporary construction workers). My Department does not have estimates of the number of net additional jobs created.

Fire Services: Pensions

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many newly recruited firefighters have opted out of the firefighters' pension scheme in each of the last five years. [181371]

Brandon Lewis: Prior to April 2012, the Department did not collect information from fire and rescue authorities on the opt out rate among newly recruited firefighters.

Between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013, excluding firefighters who joined on temporary contracts or were aged over 50 (and therefore likely to be already in receipt of a firefighter pension), 16 whole-time firefighters did not join the scheme, giving a joiner rate of 88%.

Between 1 April 2013 and 30 September 2013, excluding firefighters who joined on temporary contracts or were aged over 50 (and therefore likely to be already in receipt of a firefighter pension), 10 whole-time firefighters did not join the scheme, giving a joiner rate of just over 85%.

Fire Services: Retirement

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to prevent senior firefighter officers being able to retire, claim their lump sum pension sum and then return to work. [176106]

Brandon Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 650W.

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Housing: Construction

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many hectares of land owned by county councils have been made available for housing development in each of the last three years. [181448]

Kris Hopkins: The Department does not collect information on how much land county councils have made available for housing development.

Local Government

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many communications his Department sent to local authorities in 2013. [181652]

Brandon Lewis: This Department has lead responsibility within Government for local government and therefore has regular communications with local authorities on a range of issues. In that context, it would be impractical to keep a list and the information is not centrally held.