Procurement

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of his Department's overall procurement spend for each of the last three financial years was spent

15 Jan 2014 : Column 580W

(a)

in joint procurement exercises with other departments and

(b)

shared between different organisations within the same department group. [182699]

Elizabeth Truss: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, for the 2012-13 financial year, the Department for Education holds information on the aggregate value of contracts that have been called off from Crown Commercial Service framework agreements, which are negotiated on behalf of all Government Departments. For year ending March 2013 the value of spend through Crown Commercial Service framework agreements was £63.42 million.

For the financial year 2012-13, savings for the taxpayer achieved by using the Government's bulk-buying power and pooling spend on goods and services used by different Government Departments totalled £1 billion.

Schools: Defibrillators

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 635, what recent discussions he has had on the provision of defibrillators in schools. [182296]

Mr Laws: Since November 2013, the Secretary of State for Education, has been considering the British Heart Foundation's very helpful report which my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), presented to him following an earlier meeting.

At present, Government policy is that it is a matter for individual schools to decide whether to have a defibrillator and to arrange for suitable training of the school workforce in its use. The hon. Member will also wish to note, however, that 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, schools and with parents and young people. We intend to consult on the draft guidance later this term.

Secondary Education: Hartlepool

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve transition from primary to secondary school by pupils in Hartlepool constituency; and if he will make a statement. [182440]

Mr Laws: The Government recognise that the transition from primary to secondary school is a crucial time for all pupils.

For the past two years the Government have made up to £50 million of funding from the pupil premium available to secondary schools that choose to deliver a one or two week summer school. The purpose of the programme is to make the transition from year 6 to year 7 more successful for disadvantaged children. Over 58,000 pupils in almost 2,000 secondary schools took part during summer 2013, including 200 pupils in five Hartlepool schools. Schools in Hartlepool received £90,250 of summer school funding in 2012-13 and £106,250 in 2013-14.

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For pupils leaving primary school with weaknesses in literacy and numeracy, we are providing a catch-up premium for pupils in year 7. Schools can use this money to provide extra support to pupils who failed to reach the expected standard in primary school so that they can benefit fully from their secondary education. Hartlepool schools received a total of £95,000 from the catch-up premium in 2012-13. The allocations for 2013-14 are expected to be announced in February 2014.

It is for individual head teachers, ideally with input from primary school teachers who understand the specific needs of individual pupils, to decide the specific transition arrangements that are appropriate for their school and their individual pupils.

Cabinet Office

Armed Forces Covenant

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reason his note of 6 December 2013 on implementing the Military Covenant did not include reference to any activity related to the Ministry of Justice. [182764]

Mr Letwin: My note to colleagues on the Armed Forces Covenant, dated 6 December 2013, did include reference to Ministry of Justice activity. Specifically it talked about steps taken to appoint the first Chief Coroner, whose role includes monitoring investigations into service deaths; and also to ensure that investigations

15 Jan 2014 : Column 582W

into operational deaths of Service personnel killed overseas can now be carried out in Scotland, reducing additional stress on bereaved families. Responsibility for Coroners and Inquests sits with the Ministry of Justice.

More information on the work that has been taken forward since the Covenant was enshrined in law—through the Armed Forces Act 2011—can be found in the annual reports on the Covenant, published by the Ministry of Defence. The latest report can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/armed-forces-covenant-annual-report

and copies of the reports since 2011 are placed in the Library of the House.

Industry

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the share of (a) manufacturing, (b) financial and (c) non-financial services as a proportion of the total UK economy was in each year since 2009. [182925]

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

Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated January 2014:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the share of (a) manufacturing, (b) financial and (c) non-financial services as a proportion of the total UK economy was in each year since 2009. (182925)

The office for National Statistics publishes breakdowns of UK gross value added in the annual Blue Book publication. The data can be found in the Blue Book time series dataset published on the National Statistics website:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?table-id=2.3&dataset=bb

Data has been sourced from the Blue Book 2013 publication.

Shares have been calculated as the percentage of gross value added an industry group contributes to total UK gross value added.

Financial sector has been defined as section K (Financial and Insurance Activities) of the UK Standard Industrial Classification 2007.

Non Financial Services has been defined as all Services minus section K.

Unemployment: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the rate of unemployment among young men of (a) Afro-Caribbean, (b) Bangladeshi and Pakistani, (c) other Asian and (d) other ethnic minority origin. [182716]

Mr Hurd [holding answer 14 January 2014]:The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Caron Walker, dated January 2014:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the rate of unemployment among young men of (a) Afro-Caribbean, (b) Bangladeshi and Pakistani, (c) other Asian and (d) other ethnic minority origin. 182716

Information on unemployment by ethnic group is collected by the Annual Population Survey (APS). The available information is provided in the attached table for the period July 2012 to June 2013.

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Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what savings he expects to realise as a result of the implementation of the under-occupancy penalty in each year to 2015-16. [182750]

Esther McVey: The intention of this policy is to ensure fairer use of housing stock.

The estimated savings in each year for the removal of the spare room subsidy measure are £490 million in 2013-14, £525 million in 2014-15 and £560 million in 2015-16.

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much expenditure his Department has allocated to discretionary housing payments for tenants in the social housing sector in each year to 2015-16. [182751]

Steve Webb: The Department does not hold data that distinguish between discretionary housing payments (DHP) allocated to tenants in the private sector and those in the social sector. The total Government contribution in DHPs to local authorities from 2001-02 to 2014-15 is detailed in the table.

DHPs are provided for local authorities to use according to their own priorities and policies. From 2011-12 the DHP amount made available has been increased to support people through the reforms to housing benefit across the private and social sectors.

As announced in the autumn statement 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113, the Government will increase DHPs by £40 million in 2015-16. This will ensure that support available to people affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy is maintained and local authorities have the confidence to offer long term awards where appropriate.

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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the total amount of housing benefit wrongly withheld from people under the removal of the spare room subsidy whose eligible rent should have been determined in accordance with regulations 12 and 13 as set out in paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006; and what estimate he has made of the average loss for each household affected. [182766]

Esther McVey: The Department does not hold all the detailed information needed to make a precise estimate of the numbers affected or the average loss this represents for each household.

It is estimated the numbers affected are likely to be fewer than 5,000 nationally.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that people who have lost housing benefit under the removal of the spare room subsidy but should not have done so are informed of their actual housing benefit entitlement; and if he will make a statement; [182768]

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure refunds are paid to people who have lost housing benefit under the removal of the spare room subsidy but should not have done so, due to their eligible rent not having been determined in accordance with regulations 12 and 13 as set in paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006. [182769]

Esther McVey: It is for local authorities to ensure that people have their correct housing benefit entitlement.

A bulletin has been issued advising local authorities of the anomaly which will mean that some social sector tenants are not subject to the removal of the spare room subsidy until the legislation is amended.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who have lost housing benefit under the removal of the spare room subsidy but should not have done so, due to their eligible rent not having been determined in accordance with regulations 12 and 13 as set in paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006; and of those, how many have left their homes. [182770]

Esther McVey: The Department does not hold all the detailed information needed to make a precise estimate of the numbers affected. On the information currently available, we estimate the numbers affected are likely to be fewer than 5,000.

Information is not available regarding those who may be affected and who have moved house.

Jobcentre Plus: Torbay

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time vacancies were advertised in Jobcentre Plus in Torbay local authority area in each quarter in each of the last three years. [182276]

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Esther McVey: The information is as follows:

Administrative data on the number of vacancies held locally by Jobcentre Plus was published until the end of last year and can be accessed by following this link:

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/summary.asp?mode=construct&version=0&dataset=89

and selecting the 'notified' vacancies variable and the relevant geography and time period.

Universal Jobmatch has replaced the previous Jobcentre Plus system of taking vacancies. Information on vacancies reported through the new service, including notified vacancies at local authority level, is available from the Universal Jobmatch management information tool

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/Reports/Reports.aspx

and selecting number of new jobs and the relevant geography and time period.

Procurement

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of his Department's overall procurement spend for each of the last three financial years was spent (a) in joint procurement exercises with other Departments and (b) shared between different organisations within the same Department group. [182702]

Mike Penning: In the timeframe for this question, the Department has let many of its contracts via cross-Government arrangements put in place by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), formerly the Government Procurement Service. Thus the need to enter into collaborative procurement exercises with other Government Departments has been minimal. Going forward, the restructuring of the DWP's commercial function where some of our contract teams migrate directly to CCS will mean this trend will continue and is likely to increase. Those categories that remain under DWP control may be sufficiently distinct to this Department to make the need for collaboration with other Departments less likely.

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Of the contracts the Department for Work and Pensions let during the period 1 April 2010 to 13 January 2014:

(a) four were let via collaborative exercises with other Government Departments. The proportion of the overall contracts value was less than 1%.

(b) 48 contracts included access for organisations within the Department for Work and Pensions group. The proportion of the overall contracts value was 52%.

Universal Credit

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the effect on the projected employment rate of female workers (a) with children and (b) without children of freezing the work allowance in universal credit in each of the next three financial years. [182334]

Esther McVey: Under universal credit, the amount someone can earn in work before their benefits are reduced is much more generous than under the existing system, where people can be effectively penalised for moving into work. The changes included in the autumn statement 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113, will help ensure that overall benefit expenditure is sustainable, while still maintaining a better targeted and more generous system under universal credit.

Universal credit will encourage claimants to move into employment. It is estimated that up to 300,000 individuals will move into work as a result of universal credit, through improved financial incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the impact of the freezing of the work allowance within universal credit in each of the next three financial years, allowing for inflation, on the annual real incomes of people in each income decile and classed as (a) lone parents with children, (b) single people in work, (c) couple households with children where one adult is in full-time work, (d) couple households with children where one adult is in full-time work and the other in part-time work, (e) couple households with children where both adults are in full-time work, (f) couple households with two children where both adults are in part-time work, (g) couple households without children where one adult is in full-time work, (h) couple households without children where one adult is in full-time work and the other is in part-time work, (i) couple households without children where both adults are in full-time work and (j) couple households without children where both adults are in part-time work. [182342]

Esther McVey: Once fully rolled out, 3 million households gain on average £174 per month (in 2012-13 prices) from universal credit after taking account of the work allowance freeze. Transitional protection will ensure that there will be no cash losers under universal credit, providing their circumstances remain the same.

Impacts of the groups requested by income decile are not available due to sample size restrictions, however the following table shows the numbers of gainers by family type and employment status.

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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many software developers his Department is currently seeking to recruit for its digital service in order to build the universal credit end state system and other software projects; and what contingency plan is in place in case it is unable to fill them all. [182767]

Esther McVey: We are confident that the necessary skills and expertise will continue to be in place to deliver the UC online service. It has always been the intention that the Department would complete the work to develop the UC digital service, building on the work of GDS. That is why we have already strengthened in house expertise including appointing former Vodafone director of global online Kevin Cunnington to lead the development of our digital service and will be recruiting around 50 IT specialists. This has always been in the plan for completing the digital service and therefore there are no additional costs for recruitment.

Work Programme

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department of the Work Programme has been from June 2011 to date. [182579]

Esther McVey: The total paid to Work Programme Providers in the UK is £1,047 million from the start of the programme through to 30 September 2013, the period covered by the December 2013 Statistical Release.

The majority of payments to Work Programme Providers are 'payment by results' for job outcomes and job sustainments.

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of the Work Programme payments for (a) attachment, (b) job outcomes and (c) job sustainment has been from June 2011 to date. [182580]

Esther McVey: The majority of payments to Work Programme Providers are 'payment by results' for job outcomes and job sustainments.

The total paid to Work Programme Providers in the UK from the start of the programme through to 30 September 2013, the period covered by the December 2013 Statistical Release, is £1,047 million, made up of:

£504 million attachment payments

£242 million job outcome payments

£301 million job sustainment payments.

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Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of savings in out-of-work benefits through the intervention of the Work Programme to date; [182581]

(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people in work who would be claiming out-of-work benefits without the intervention of the Work Programme. [182582]

Esther McVey: We cannot estimate at this stage what the impact of the Work programme has been on benefit receipt or employment. Analyses of previous labour market programmes have relied on matching participants to non-participants within the same time period. This approach would be less effective for a programme which rolled out nationally within a short period in June 2011.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has commissioned a consortium led by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to undertake an independent evaluation of the Work programme. Part of the consortium is providing methodological advice and peer review to DWP analysts working on an in house impact assessment of the programme.

All reports from the evaluation will be published on the DWP website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/research-reports

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals to the Work Programme there were from June 2011 to September 2013; and what the job outcomes are for people classed as (a) JSA 18 to 24, (b) JSA 25+ and (c) JSA early entrant. [182583]

Esther McVey: The information requested on the number of Work Programme referrals and Job Outcomes for the period June 2011 to September 2013 can be found in the following table:

Work Programme referrals and Job Outcomes caseload by payment type: June 2011 to September 2013

Health

Ambulance Services: North West

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had with the North West Ambulance Service about the effective prioritisation of emergency calls. [182294]

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Jane Ellison: No recent discussions have been held between the Department and the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Bolton

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding per head of population has been allocated to the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group for 2013-14. [182297]

Dr Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 8 January 2014, Official Report, column 264W.

General Practitioners: Retirement

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs have retired in each of the last 10 years. [182291]

Dr Poulter: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Hospital Beds

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from NHS England on bed shortages over the winter period. [182627]

Jane Ellison: The Department has had no representations from NHS England on bed shortages over the winter period.

NHS England publishes figures on bed availability and bed occupancy on a quarterly basis.

The bed occupancy rate (for all beds open overnight) has remained relatively stable, rising in the winter months as we would expect, but remaining between 84 and 88% since 2000.

Legal Opinion

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which legal firms his Department instructed in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and what the cost to the public purse was of those instructions. [182804]

Dr Poulter: The following table shows expenditure that the Department made in 2008-09 and 2009-10 to external organisations that have provided legal services to the Department.

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The expenditure in 2009-10 to the organisations MacFarlane Special Payments Trust, Skipton Fund Ltd, the Eileen Trust and the MacFarlane Trust were for services provided by Wilson Solicitors.

Medical Records: Databases

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason it was decided not to include an opt-out form in the ‘Better information means better care’ leaflet. [182335]

Dr Poulter: When developing plans for the 'Better information means better care' leaflet, NHS England thought that it was more appropriate for general practitioners locally, as data controllers for their practice, to determine how best to manage the opt-out arrangements for their patients.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he will take to ensure that patient data made available by the care.data programme is not used for private profit; [182339]

(2) whether researchers using patient information made available under the care.data programme will be able to pay an extra charge to receive that data with patient-identifying information. [182371]

Dr Poulter: Any organisation or researchers can make an application to the Health and Social Care Information Centre for data and each application is considered individually.

An organisation or researcher making an application would only be allowed access to confidential information if they had a legal basis to do so including:

where they had already obtained explicit patient consent; or

had been granted legal approval under Regulation 5 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (commonly known as ‘section 251 support’);

or

legally required to do so, for example, in a public health emergency such as an epidemic.

While the Health and Social Care Information Centre charges a fee to cover its costs, it does not make profits from providing data to other organisations, nor does it subsidise any applicants to receive it.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on providing compensation to people whose medical confidentiality has been breached by (a) the care.data programme and (b) his Department's other programmes. [182340]

Dr Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has been established to be the secure environment in which personal confidential data is held and analysed. The HSCIC is legally bound to maintain confidentially and to ensure confidential information is held securely. This would include data collected as part of the care.data programme or other programmes managed by the HSCIC on behalf of the Department.

Breach of confidentiality by the HSCIC would attract a fine of up to £500,000 from the Data Protection regulator, the Information Commissioner and leave it open for an individual to seek redress through the civil courts.

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Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total estimated cost is of (a) the IT systems for the care.data programme and (b) the public awareness campaign for care.data. [182341]

Dr Poulter: NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre are currently in the process of scoping the care.data programme and associated funding requirements.

The cost of the NHS England leaflet drop to households in England is approximately £1.2 million.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of hours of GPs' time that will be spent talking to patients about care.data in 2014; what the total cost of such time will be; and what potential effect such time spent will have on patient waiting time. [182351]

Dr Poulter: General practitioners (GPs), as data controllers, have legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 for ensuring that patients are aware of how their information is used and shared. This is not a new requirement and does not just relate to care.data. The leaflet is not just about care.data but all uses of data for wider purposes. Making sure patients understand about how their information is used and the benefits it can bring is something we should all support.

The Information Commissioner’s view is that cost of compliance is an Information Governance overhead for a GP practice, in the same way that paying an accountant is a tax/finance overhead. We are supporting GP practices in a number of ways for example, there is a patient information line which patients can call if they have questions, which will ease the burden on GP practices.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 146W, on NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, what the (a) name was of each consultant used and (b) value was of each contract for consultancy for the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement in the most recent year for which data is obtainable. [182749]

Dr Poulter: The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement closed on 31 March 2013. NHS England has advised that without incurring disproportionate cost, it cannot confirm whether this information is still available. However, it has been able to identify that total consultancy spend by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement in 2012-13 was £223,968 and these costs were predominantly for closing down the organisation. The spend by category is shown in the following table.

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NHS: Management Consultants

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 148W, on NHS: management consultants, where records and details of consultancy contracts are held. [182805]

Dr Poulter: NHS London strategic health authority (SHA) was abolished on 1 April 2013. Contracts which continued after this date were transferred to the organisation which became responsible for performing the function in question. Records pertaining to non-clinical contracts which terminated before 1 April 2013 are likely to have transferred to the ownership of the Department, along with other corporate records of the SHA.

The archived corporate records of NHS London exist as over 1 million hard copy and electronic records. These are currently stored in off-site paper archives and on archived server software respectively, which are currently held by NHS England on behalf of the Department.

Out-patients: Attendance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital appointments have been cancelled in the last five years. [182372]

Jane Ellison: Between 2008-09 and 2012-13 50,900,745 hospital appointments have been cancelled. Of these 25,434,899 were cancelled by patients and 25,465,846 cancelled by hospitals.

The total number of attendances was 346,363,303, and cancelled appointments represent 14.7% of the total.

Peters & Peters

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 149W, on Peters & Peters, in which specific cases Peters & Peters were instructed in 2008, 2009 and 2010; and in respect of the ongoing case from 2005, how much Peters & Peters have been paid for the case. [182806]

Dr Poulter: Information on dates of instruction and claims is in the following tables.

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In respect of the case which began prior to 2005, costs billed by Peters & Peters were £5,029,287.53.

Copies of claim forms and statements of case may be requested from court records. In relation to cases in which Peters & Peters have acted for the Secretary of State for Health, these can be requested from the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in London.

Procurement

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what weighting his Department's procurement procedures give to (a) the location of a company and its workforce, (b) the extent to which a company has a strong environmental record, (c) whether the company is a social enterprise and (d) other company history prior performance. [182640]

Dr Poulter: The Department undertakes all procurement activity in line with the principles of equal treatment, transparency and non-discrimination as well as Government best practice and policy.

The Department does not set standard weightings in its procurement procedures, for location of the company and its work force, the extent to which a company has a strong environmental record and whether the company is a social enterprise. Weightings may be given for these areas dependent upon the individual procurement and requirement.

In line with Cabinet Office policy (Procurement Policy Note 9/12), the Department will take into consideration the performance of suppliers.

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion and value of his Department's contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years. [182691]

Dr Poulter: A search to identify the proportion and value of the Department's contracts that have been let under restricted procedure, by the open procedure, via framework agreements and via a tendering process involving

15 Jan 2014 : Column 594W

the use of pre-qualification questionnaire would incur a disproportionate cost for the Department. The information of value of contracts let and procurement route used is currently recorded separately and cannot be provided without further detailed analysis.

The Department's default policy position is to make full use of existing Government-wide contracts and framework agreements for the procurement of common goods and services. The Department eliminated the routine use of pre-qualification questionnaires in 2012, in line with Government policy.

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of his Department's overall procurement spend for each of the last three financial years was spent (a) in joint procurement exercises with other departments and (b) shared between different organisations within the same department group. [182700]

Dr Poulter: A search to identify the proportional spending on joint procurement exercises both with other Departments, and across the Department and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) would incur a disproportionate cost for the Department. This level of information is not recorded separately without further analysis of financial information across the Department and NDPBs.

The Department and its NDPBs fully participate in a number of Government-wide joint procurement exercises, which are led by the Crown Commercial Service (Government Procurement Services). This work supports the development of frameworks and contracts for use by Government Departments relating to common goods and services.

Treasury

Bank Services: EU Nationals

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps he proposes to take in light of the recent vote on draft EU legislation on basic bank accounts; and if he will make a statement; [182205]

(2) what recent discussions he has had with the EU on basic bank accounts. [182194]

Sajid Javid: The Government are committed to improving access to financial services for individuals.

The European Commission published the proposed Payment Account Directive in May 2013. The Government is supportive of the aim of the proposed Directive. Treasury Ministers and officials have and will continue to work closely with counterparts in Europe to ensure the right outcome for the UK consumer and industry.

There are no plans to make a further statement.

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people from EU countries outside of the UK who have opened basic bank accounts in the UK. [182203]

Sajid Javid: The Government have made no estimate of the number of people from EU countries outside of the UK who have opened a basic bank account in the UK.

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Child Tax Credit: Essex

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new applications for child tax credits were made in (a) Essex and (b) Chelmsford constituency in the last 12 months. [182756]

Nicky Morgan: Between January 2013 and December 2013, the number of new tax credits claims that were eligible for child tax credits was an estimated 9,200 in the county of Essex and 500 in the Chelmsford constituency.

Debts

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of current levels of household debt. [182109]

Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

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 estimate has been made of current levels of household debt. (182109)

The office for National Statistics only publishes details of the combined financial liabilities of households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH), rather than households alone. The most recent analyses can be found in table A64 of the United Kingdom Economic Accounts (UKEA) 2013 Q3, published on 20 December 2013. The UKEA is available on the National Statistics web site at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-economic-accounts/q3-2013/index.html

This shows that, for households and NPISH combined, the total financial liabilities in 2013 Q3 were £1549.5 billion.

Mortgages

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the practice of mortgage lenders declining mortgage applications from people who in the previous six years had taken out a payday loan. [182434]

Sajid Javid: In making mortgage lending decisions, lenders must follow the appropriate regulatory and legislative requirements. Beyond this, decisions about who they lend to and on what terms are a commercial matter, including how they use information about existing or previous credit commitments.

Credit risk models and approaches vary between lenders, so while a history of payday loans may prevent a borrower taking out a loan with one lender, others may take a different approach.

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Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010. [177748]

Nicky Morgan: Since 2010 there have been (a) no secondees from the trades unions working in the Treasury and (b) no secondees from the voluntary sector working in the Treasury.

Social Security Benefits

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Stafford and (b) the UK were claiming each of the major in-work benefits in each of the last 10 years; and what the cost of such benefits was to the Exchequer. [180128]

Nicky Morgan: The information is as follows:

HMRC-tax credits

The finalised annual award child and working tax credits statistics for 2011-12 are available here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/fin-main-stats/cwtc-awards.xls

Table 1.1 of this publication provides a breakdown of families and tax credit entitlement at the UK level, split by family structure and working status, for the latest year 2011-12 back to 2003-04, which was the first year of the current tax credit system.

This table shows the amount of working tax credit entitlement linked to in-work families. A breakdown of the Exchequer cost is not available.

The finalised annual award child and working tax credits statistics for 2011-12 split by geography are available here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/fin-geog-stats/geo-analyses.xls

Table 2 of this publication provides a breakdown of families and average annual tax credit entitlement at the local authority level, including Stafford. A breakdown of working tax credit and child tax credit entitlement is not available. Older geographic publications are available here:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121106034103/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/final-award-geog.htm

DWP-benefits

The information for Great Britain is in the following table. The information relating to Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.

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Housing and council tax benefits are available to those who are in-work or out of work. The figures provided here are for in-work only.

Expenditure on those in work for housing benefit and council tax benefit is not available prior to 2008-09 and information is not available at local authority level for statutory maternity pay or statutory sick pay.

The information for housing benefit and council tax benefit excludes any passported recipients and is based on a combination of quarterly statistical data and local authority subsidy returns, as outturn expenditure data are not available at this level. For 2008-09, November 2008 data have been used as this is the most representative dataset available during this period.

The information for statutory maternity pay and statutory sick pay is based on provisional employer returns to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and is expenditure funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, some additional expenditure will be funded by the employer. These estimates may vary from the estimates published by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) in their annual uprating report.

Figures are consistent with autumn 2013 expenditure forecasts published at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2013

Housing benefit case load data by local authority 2008 to 2013 can be found at:

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

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

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

Housing benefit and council tax benefit case load data from 2010 to February 2013 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics

Housing benefit and council tax benefit case load data prior to 2010 can be found at:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107093842/http:/statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/index.php?page=hbctb_arc

For Northern Ireland statistics go to:

http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Tax Allowances

Mr Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of tax relief on (a) pension contributions on the overall level of contributions and (b) income and capital gains from ISAs on the overall level of non-pension savings; [182593]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on reductions of the (a) lifetime allowance and (b) annual allowance for pension contributions on the overall level of pension saving. [182594]

Mr Gauke: Tax relief on pension contributions is one of the primary means by which the Government encourage people to save for their retirement. In 2011-12 an estimated £34.9 billion of tax relief was provided on contributions to approved pensions schemes:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/pension-stats/pen6.pdf

Tax relief on income and capital gains from ISAs is forecast to be £2.85 billion in 2013-14 as shown in Table 1.5:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-5.pdf

The effectiveness of these reliefs is kept under ongoing review as part of the normal policy process.

The reductions in the lifetime allowance and the annual allowance affect only the wealthiest pension savers; 99% of pension savers make annual contributions worth less than the annual allowance of £40,000, while 98% of those approaching retirement have pension pots valued at less than the lifetime allowance of £1,250,000.

The Tax information and Impact Note produced for Budget 2013 estimated that 140,000 individuals would be affected by the restriction of the annual allowance to £40,000. Furthermore, 360,000 people were expected to be affected by the new lower lifetime allowance of £1,250,000. Some of these individuals are expected to reduce their pension contributions, but the vast majority of pension savers will be unaffected. Further details may also be found in this document:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/tiin-1046.pdf

Taxation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate HM Revenue and Customs has made of the number of limited companies trading that were neither VAT-registered nor had a PAYE scheme in each year from 2007-08 to 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [182350]

Mr Gauke: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Taxation: Bingo

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will bring forward legislative proposals to decrease the tax on bingo to bring it in line with taxation rates applying to other gambling industries. [183036]

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Mr Gauke: The Government keep all taxes, including bingo duty, under review.

Taxation: Electronic Commerce

Mr Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to ensure that online purchases are taxed at the appropriate rate. [181477]

Mr Gauke: VAT on goods is generally payable at the rate of the location of the customer, and therefore applies equally to goods bought from UK companies and goods bought from abroad, and to goods bought from high street retailers and those bought online.

Under current EU rules supplies of digital or electronic services to non-business consumers are currently taxed where the supplier belongs. This means that if a company locates in a low VAT jurisdiction they will account for VAT at the rate in that country. Member states agreed to change the taxation of intra-EU business-to-consumer (B2C) supplies of telecommunications, broadcasting and e-services with effect from January 2015. From that date VAT on these services will be payable in the member state in which the customer is located rather than where the supplier is located.

This will prevent businesses from moving their operations to other member states to take advantage of lower VAT rates and will protect £5 billion in revenue each year.

UK Power Networks

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs is investigating the off-shoring to the Cayman Islands of profits by UK Power Networks. [182515]

Mr Gauke: HMRC cannot disclose to me information about an identifiable taxpayer. HMRC has a statutory duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality and may not disclose information unless the limited and controlled circumstances set out in the statute creating HMRC apply.

HMRC ensures all taxpayers pay the right tax due under UK law. HMRC applies the UK tax rules, which are based on a commonly agreed set of international standards, to determine the amount of a multinational's profits that are taxed here. HMRC's experienced tax professionals have in-depth knowledge of multinationals' business models and appetite for risk in tax planning.

Justice

Administration of Justice Act 1982

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to bring into effect sections 23-25 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982. [182564]

Mr Vara: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, has no plans to bring sections 23-25 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 (registration of wills) into force at present. Persons in England and

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Wales wishing to deposit a will for safekeeping may do so with the Probate Service on payment of the appropriate fee (currently £20). Various private sector bodies, including many legal practitioners, also offer safekeeping services.

Churches: Liability

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2013, Official Report, columns 949-50W, on chancel liability, what recent assessment he has made of the effects of chancel liability. [182721]

Mr Vara: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, is keeping the issues relating to chancel repair liability under review but has not made an assessment of its effect recently.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Consumers: Protection

Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward legislative proposals to extend credit protection as found in section 54 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to goods bought through a hire purchase agreement which have not been received. [181568]

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.

Section 54 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes provision in respect of conduct of business regulations. It provides that, without prejudice to the generality of section 26 of that Act, regulations under that section may include provisions further regulating the seeking of business by a person to whom the regulations apply who carries on a consumer credit business or a consumer hire business.

Sections 26 and 54 are revoked, with effect from 1 April 2014, by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2013 along with various other provisions of the Consumer Credit Act as part of the transfer of the regulation of consumer credit from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). From that date, the legislative framework governing consumer credit will be constituted by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and FCA rules made under that Act. The Treasury has no plans to bring forward further legislative proposals.

Easter

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will now bring into force the provisions contained in the Easter Act 1928. [182565]

Jenny Willott: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, does not intend to bring the Easter Act 1928 into force in the near future. The Easter Act 1928 would set the date for Easter to fall on a

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Sunday between 9 and 15 April each year. The Easter Act 1928 remains on the Statute Book, but has not been brought into force. To do so would require an Order in Council, with the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The Act also requires that, before the Order is made, “regard shall be had to any opinion officially expressed by any Church or other Christian Body.” There is no indication that the Churches are keen to move to a date for Easter fixed in accordance with the Easter Act 1928.

Lord Heseltine Review

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations accepted in its response to the Heseltine Review, “No Stone Unturned”, published in March 2013. [182320]

Michael Fallon: The Government published its response to “No Stone Unturned” by my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Heseltine in March 2013. That response accepted in full or in part 81 out of Lord Heseltine's 89 recommendations.

The Government continue to take forward these recommendations to ensure that we rise to the challenge to significantly advance the process of decentralisation, unleash the potential of local economies, strengthen partnerships with industry and foster economic growth.

Central to the Government's response was the creation of the Local Growth Fund (LGF). The LGF amounts to £2 billion in 2015/16 and this includes funding from transport, skills and housing. There is an ongoing commitment that the LGF will be at least £2 billion per year for the life of the next Parliament.

As set out in the spending round, the LGF will bring the resources under the strategic influence of local economic partnerships (LEPs) to at least £20 billion in the years to 2021. The Government will determine the future composition of the LGF at the next spending review.

Funds will be allocated from the LGF as part of growth deals, which are being negotiated with every LEP. As part of this, LEPs were asked to develop multi year strategic economic plans for their area. The 39 LEPs shared their first drafts with Government in December 2013. LEPs have been given extra resource (up to £250,000 per LEP) to develop these strategies. BIS officials are working with LEPs on the development of the plans.

Procurement

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of his Department's overall procurement spend for each of the last three financial years was spent (a) in joint procurement exercises with other departments and (b) shared between different organisations within the same department group. [182698]

Jenny Willott: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not record this information so therefore the answer cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. However, BIS does make use of cross-Government framework agreements that are procured

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via the Government Procurement Service and which are open to all Government Departments. BIS also strongly encourages Partner Organisations to make use of cross- Government Procurement frameworks.

Regulation

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which Government Departments have not yet met their commitments to reduce overall regulation under the one-in, two-out principle. [182277]

Michael Fallon: Departments are committed to delivering one-in, two-out by the end of the Parliament, based on regulation and deregulation brought in since January 2013. The latest information on Departments' performance to date can be found in the Seventh Statement for New Regulation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/266133/bis-13-p96b-seventh-statement-of-new-regulation.pdf

TNT

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make an assessment of the potential effects of the agreement between PostNL and LDC to extend TNT's end-to-end delivery service on Royal Mail. [182741]

Jenny Willott: Under the Postal Services Act 2011, regulatory responsibility for the postal services sector was transferred from Postcomm to Ofcom as an independent regulator with the primary duty of securing the universal postal service in the United Kingdom.

It is Ofcom's responsibility to monitor any impacts of market competition on the provision of the universal service in the UK. Parliament has given Ofcom the powers to intervene if the provision of the universal service is ever at serious risk from the effects of market competition.

Ofcom has an effective and ongoing monitoring regime to track the financial sustainability of the universal postal service. In March 2013 Ofcom published guidance on its approach to assessing the impact of end-to-end competition in the postal sector. In its November 2013 annual monitoring report Ofcom concluded that it would not be necessary to impose any additional regulatory conditions on end-to-end operators to secure the ongoing provision of a universal postal service at this point in time.

If Ofcom's ongoing monitoring regime does not prompt the need for any earlier assessment, it will carry out a full review of the impact of market competition towards the end of 2015 as a matter of course. This will ensure that the regulator has made a detailed assessment of the actual and potential impact of emerging end-to-end competition based on a better understanding of how the postal market is developing. More information about Ofcom's regulatory regime can be found on its website

www.ofcom.org.uk

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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Flood Control

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2013, Official Report, columns 478-9W, on flood control, and his oral answer to the hon. Member for York Central of 9 January 2014, for what reasons the earlier answer shows that his Department's spending on flood protection in England fell from £646 million in 2010-11 to £533 million in 2013-14 when his oral answer on his Department's spending on flood protection states that he is providing more money for this purpose than any previous Government in the current spending review; how the £2.3 billion figure in his oral answer relates to the £646 million and £533 million figures in the answer of 15 July 2013; how the figure of £2.3 billion was calculated; over what period the £2.3 billion will be spent; and what the evidential basis is for the statement that the current Government is providing more than any previous Government on flood protection. [182589]

Dan Rogerson [holding answer 14 January 2014]: Together with external contributions under this Government's Partnership Funding approach, more is being spent on flood and coastal erosion risk management during the current spending review period (2011-12 to 2014-15) than in the previous four years (2007-08 to 2010-11).

The supporting information for this calculation follows.

I would also like to take this opportunity to correct the record. Floods funding is complex, with a number of different income streams including Government funding, local levies, and other contributions towards schemes. Further analysis has identified some minor inconsistencies in the figures previously provided on historic Government spending on flood risk management, including in the written answer referred to by the hon. Member. I regret that this was not presented in a consistent way, something I have now rectified.

Government expenditure on flood risk management

The following figures set out DEFRA expenditure on flood risk management, including through grant in aid provided to the Environment Agency for this purpose. They exclude funding through local levies or other income.

Future budgets for flood and coastal erosion risk management

The following figures set out current budgets, calculated on the same basis.

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Expenditure on flood and coastal erosion risk management during the four-year period from 2007-08 to 2010-11 totalled £2.371 billion. Expenditure already incurred, and planned, during the current spending review period (2011-12 to 2014-15) totals £2.341 billion.

Funding from external sources spent during the four-year period from 2007-08 to 2010-11 totalled £13 million. For the current spending review period, funding from external contributions under our new Partnership Funding approach are expected to total up to £148 million.

Taken together, more is therefore being spent on flood risk management than ever before.

Flood Control: Oxford

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will fund a western conveyance channel aimed at cutting flooding risk in Oxford. [182568]

Dan Rogerson: Decisions on funding for flood management projects are made by the Environment Agency and are based on criteria agreed with DEFRA. I understand that no business case for this scheme has yet been produced. If, and when, a viable business case can be made, it will be considered alongside other schemes under the normal criteria.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of a western conveyance channel on flood prevention in Oxford. [182569]

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency is working with Oxford City Council to assess the effect of a western conveyance channel on flood prevention together with other possible options for reducing flooding in Oxford.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to reduce flood risk in Oxford. [182570]

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency has recently completed the first phase of the Oxford Flood Risk Management Strategy which seeks to reduce flood risk to 3,600 homes and businesses. This includes £2.5million of investment in de-silting channels, increasing the capacity of structures and providing temporary defences. The Environment Agency is working with Oxford City Council, Oxford Flood Alliance and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to assess technical solutions and funding options for reducing flooding in Oxford.

Floods: Housing

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what weight is given to flood risks by the Environment Agency when responding to consultations on planning applications for housing. [182537]

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee for planning applications. However, it is the role of the Local Planning Authority to balance flood risk against other considerations.

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Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 157W, on Gangmasters Licensing Authority, what the number and value of compensation payments through the imposition of compensation orders was in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13. [182753]

George Eustice: The Gangmasters Licensing Authority secured no compensation payments through the imposition of compensation orders during the three financial years 2010-13.

Water: EU Law

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the cost of implementing the Water

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Framework Directive in England; and if he will make a statement. [182489]

Dan Rogerson: Various assessments have been made of the costs of implementing the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in England and Wales. One of the most recent was to inform the first River Basin Management Plans, which set objectives and programmes of measures for the period 2009-15. This estimated a total cost of £300 million arising from actions undertaken in that first cycle alone. Benefits have also been assessed.

The most recent assessment by Government of the full costs of WFD implementation was made after adoption of the Directive. For England and Wales an annual cost of £900 million was estimated. The Environment Agency is now updating this analysis of WFD costs as part of the review of River Basin Management Plans for 2015-21. Draft Plans will be subject to a six-month consultation later this year. When Ministers agree the final plans, they will take into account the balance of costs and benefits and the appropriate phasing of improvements over this period (to 2021) and beyond to 2027.