Teachers: Offenders

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers currently practising in England have criminal convictions, by category of criminal offence. [185746]

Mr Laws: The information requested is not held centrally.

Employers have a statutory duty to undertake Criminal Records Bureau checks as part of their recruitment process.

If a practising teacher is convicted of an offence, their employer will be notified under the Notifiable Occupations Scheme.

Teachers: Pay

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with the School Teachers Review Body about extending the terms and conditions for teachers to allow them to buy cars through salary sacrifice schemes. [185515]

Mr Laws: There have been no discussions with the School Teachers Review Body about this issue.

Young People: Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his most recent assessment is of the effectiveness of the Youth Contract for 16 to 17-year olds. [185847]

Matthew Hancock: In order to assess the effectiveness of the Youth Contract programme for 16 and 17-year-olds in helping young people participate in education and training, the Department for Education has commissioned a consortium led by the Institute for Employment Studies to carry out an independent evaluation of the programme. This research will be published in spring 2014.

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International Development

Developing Countries: Disability

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people with disabilities are able to benefit equally from UK aid programmes and have a voice in international development. [185171]

Lynne Featherstone: UK aid programmes are grounded in a thorough poverty analysis which seeks to identify the specific needs of poor and disadvantaged people. The UK Government invest both in programmes that directly support people with disabilities, and in mainstream programmes that include a specific focus on people with disabilities. The UK also provides support to the Disability Rights Fund and to other organisations such as ADD International which specifically work to empower disabled people and disabled people's organisations. Going forward, seeing disability properly included in the post-2015 international development framework is one of the UK priorities.

Developing Countries: Eyesight

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to tackle trachoma in the developing world. [185176]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID is funding the Global Trachoma Mapping Project that will complete the global mapping of trachoma. This project will identify where people are at risk of the disease and where treatment programmes are needed. The project has examined over 1 million people for trachoma since December 2012. DFID is also designing a programme to prevent and treat trachoma in a number of high-burden countries in Africa.

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust has made the elimination of avoidable blindness in the Commonwealth a major focus of its work. This will include work on trachoma. DFID is providing up to £50 million in matched funding to support the work of the trust on avoidable blindness.

European Commission

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will set out her

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Department's priorities for discussions with the European Commission over its 2014 work programme; and if she will make a statement. [185315]

Lynne Featherstone: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that was given by the Minister for Europe, the right hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) on 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 65W.

Electoral Commission Committee

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the average cost per download was for each campaign in each of the electoral registration campaigns since 2004. [185198]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it maintains data for its registration campaigns dating back to the 2005 UK general election.

The Electoral Commission has completed nine public awareness campaigns since 2005. The cost and response to these campaigns in terms of downloads are set out in the following table.

In this table, the cost-per-registration download figures are based on media costs; the cost of actually running the advertisements. They do not include the cost of developing and producing the adverts themselves because this would skew the comparisons (some advertising campaigns reused existing material, but others involved spending on producing new material).

The total campaign expenditure (including producing material and other costs such as research and call centre provision) is shown in the final column.

What is clear is that the perceived importance of an election does appear to have an effect on the cost per registration, hence the extremely cost-effective response rate to the 2010 general election.

The budgets for each campaign are also not entirely comparable as elections happen in different areas of the UK and different populations (such as the inclusion of London) can have a particular effect on the media budget. What this does show, however, is that even excluding general elections, over the past nine years, the cost per registration has decreased in a general trend.

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The commission also ran a public awareness campaign to support the Northern Ireland autumn canvass in 2013 at a cost of £835,000. The campaign encouraged people to return the canvass form that they received, rather than download one from the commission’s website. 30% of people surveyed in Northern Ireland said they returned the canvass form because of the commission’s public awareness campaign, which met the target set for the campaign based on the nearest equivalent campaign in 2006.

A similar campaign was conducted to support the 2006 autumn canvass in Northern Ireland at a cost of £628,000. 29% of those surveyed said they returned the canvass form because of the commission’s public awareness campaign.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what information the Electoral Commission holds on the registration rates of attainers in (a) Great Britain and (b) each region of Great Britain. [185478]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not hold data on the registration rate of attainers by each region of Great Britain.

However, the Electoral Commission’s study on the completeness and accuracy of the April 2011 registers in Great Britain found that 55% of 17 to 18-year-olds were registered to vote.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Nationals Abroad

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report, column 426W, on British nationals abroad, who will conduct this review; which organisations will be consulted as part of the review; and whether a public consultation will be part of the review. [185609]

Mark Simmonds: The review will begin in February and conclude in the summer. The first stage of the review process will be to set its scope, including the range of stakeholders to be consulted and whether a public consultation will take place.

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report, column 426W, on British nationals abroad, if he will consult the devolved Administrations on the use of police and court services in regard to UK citizens killed or seriously harmed abroad. [185610]

Mark Simmonds: A wide range of key external stakeholders will be consulted as part of this review of consular response to cases of murder and manslaughter, including appropriate contacts within the devolved Administrations. Once complete, if the review results in the adoption of new policies in these areas, a copy of the new policies will be placed in the Library of the House.

Nigeria

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Nigerian counterpart following the passage of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act in that country; and with which international counterparts he has discussed the Act's compatibility with (a) the Commonwealth Charter and (b) international human rights laws. [185697]

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made a public statement on 15 January and highlighted our concerns with the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act in Nigeria. The Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Jeremy Wright), raised these concerns with the Nigerian Foreign Minister on 9 January 2014, as did our High Commissioner in Abuja with the Nigerian Attorney-General the same day. During the Act's passage through the National Assembly we made our concerns about it clear to the Nigerian Government.

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We are clear that the Same Sex Marriage Bill infringes both the human rights of the Nigerian LGBT community and the rights of expression and association, which are guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution and by Nigeria's international treaty obligations. We also consider that the Bill is not compatible with the Commonwealth Charter. We have discussed this with international partners, including the US and the EU, both of whom have also issued statements of concern.

Pakistan

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Government have had with the Government of Pakistan regarding the constitutional Federal Shariah Court in Pakistan's call for the implementation of the death penalty against those found guilty of breaking blasphemy laws; and if he will make a statement. [185468]

Hugh Robertson: It is our long-standing policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. The Prime Minister reiterated this to the House during questions on 29 January. Ministers regularly raise the issue of the death penalty in Pakistan at the highest levels both in terms of our principled stance and in supporting cases of British nationals facing the death penalty overseas. We also continue to regularly raise the issue of the blasphemy laws at a senior level with the authorities in Pakistan. The Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi most recently raised our opposition to the death penalty with the Chief Minister of the Punjab on 27 January in the case of a British national convicted under Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Pitcairn Islands

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of measures in place to protect children on the Pitcairn Islands from convicted sex offenders. [185457]

Mark Simmonds: A third Pitcairn Child Safety Review, commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development, was completed by independent experts in May 2013. The Government are working with the Pitcairn Island Council to implement these recommendations. Our commitment to strengthen the protection of children, young people and their families on Pitcairn remains a top priority.

Sexuality: Discrimination

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Commonwealth counterparts on amending the Commonwealth Charter to include opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexuality. [185695]

Mr Swire: The UK has not had any discussions on the amendment of the Commonwealth Charter. The Commonwealth Charter states:

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“We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds”.

It remains our view that the phrase “all forms of discrimination” on “other grounds” covers discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as well as any other form of discrimination.

Uganda

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the situation of LGBT people in Uganda; and what recent representations he has made to his Ugandan counterpart on this issue. [185394]

Mark Simmonds: Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. On 20 December 2013 the Ugandan Parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill; exact details are not yet known. The Bill requires presidential assent to become law. We have consistently raised our concerns about the Bill and its potential impact on minority rights in Uganda. I last discussed this with the Ugandan Foreign Minister on 28 January 2013.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Ugandan counterpart following the approval of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill by the Ugandan Parliament; and what assessment he has made of the decision of President Museveni decision not to sign this Bill. [185696]

Mark Simmonds: The Bill was passed by the Ugandan Parliament on 20 December 2013, and requires presidential assent to become law. President Museveni is yet to respond formally. We have consistently raised our concerns about the Bill with the Ugandan Government at the most senior levels, both before it was passed by Parliament and after. Most recently, I last raised this issue with the Ugandan Foreign Minister during a meeting on 28 January 2014.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether officials in his Department have participated in any EC Working Group considering policy or law applying to use of unmanned aerial vehicles. [R] [185350]

Hugh Robertson: We are not aware of any EC Working Group considering policy or law to use unmanned aerial vehicles.

Northern Ireland

European Commission

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will set out her Department's priorities for discussions with the European Commission over its 2014 work programme; and if she will make a statement. [185317]

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Mrs Villiers: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) on 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 625W.

Scotland

European Commission

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will set out his Department's priorities for discussions with the European Commission over its 2014 work programme; and if he will make a statement. [185319]

David Mundell: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given on 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 625W, by the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington).

Women and Equalities

European Commission

Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will set out the Government Equalities Office's priorities for discussions with the European Commission over its 2014 work programme; and if she will make a statement. [185312]

Mrs Grant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 625W, available at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140129/text/140129w0005.htm#1401306000008

Marriage

Nick Herbert: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities when she expects conversion of civil partnerships to marriages under Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 to begin; and what the reasons are for the delay in starting this process. [185534]

Mrs Grant: As the Government announced on 10 December 2013, we are working hard to ensure that couples wanting to convert their civil partnerships into marriages are able to do so as soon as possible. We aim to do this before the end of 2014.

These aspects of implementing the Act take longer because they involve developing and implementing completely new procedures and processes. This contrasts with the work to make new marriages for same sex couples possible, where we have been able to build on existing processes so implementation is more straightforward.

Health

Abortion

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 227W, on abortion, how many doctors have been challenged to defend their judgment that grounds for an abortion were met; and how many such doctors had their decision overturned in each of the last 30 years. [185162]

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Jane Ellison: The Department does not hold this information.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many constituencies there is not a full-time accident and emergency department. [185039]

Jane Ellison: No data have been collected centrally on the number of full-time accident and emergency departments since 2011.

Where an organisation provides a facility which qualifies as an accident and emergency department under the definitions and guidance published by NHS England, it is required to include data for that facility in the information on the performance of accident and emergency departments which it submits to NHS England. These provider organisation-level data on accident and emergency performance are published by NHS England as Weekly SitReps.

Action on Smoking and Health

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding the Action on Smoking and Health charity received from his Department in 2013-14; and what assessment he has made of how these funds have been spent. [185126]

Jane Ellison: For 2013-14, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) was awarded £175,000 grant from the Department for work to contribute to the achievement of the national ambitions in the Tobacco Control Plan, “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Tobacco Control Plan for England 2011”.

The tobacco policy team monitors all grant activity and in this case holds regular governance meetings with ASH. In addition, we have received an update report from ASH in accordance with the terms of all grants awarded under Section 64 of the Health and Social Care Act 1968.

To date, ASH has received £125,000 of the grant awarded for 2013-14.

Alcoholic Drinks: Rehabilitation

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rates of referral are to specialist alcohol treatment services for people in each region and of each gender. [185714]

Jane Ellison: The following table shows new presentations to treatment services for primary alcohol problems in 2012-13 by strategic health authority, broken down by gender. National totals match those published in the alcohol annual statistics report in October 2013. “The Alcohol Statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS)—1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013” has been placed in the Library.

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The data are presented by the former strategic health authorities, since this is the way that the alcohol treatment data were collected and reported until March 2013.

Ambulance Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what clinical standards he has put in place for ambulances run by private providers. [185844]

Jane Ellison: From 1 April 2011, a new system of regulation began for the independent ambulance sector. Providers of independent ambulance services need to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and need to meet its essential standards of quality and safety. The essential standards are available at:

www.cqc.org.uk/organisations-we-regulate/registering-first-time/essential-standards

It is the responsibility of individual NHS ambulance services to ensure 999 calls are attended by staff who are properly trained and are adequately equipped and to determine the type of vehicle and equipment required to provide an appropriate response to call-outs, according to the clinical needs of the patient.

Independent or voluntary ambulance services may be used to support NHS ambulance services and can help manage peaks in demand.

Where an NHS service provider subcontracts with a private provider, it is the responsibility of that ambulance service to ensure that services delivered are subject to rigorous governance arrangements and checks, including registration with the CQC.

Autism

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the next review of the adult autism strategy to take place, after the publication of the revised strategy in March 2014. [185351]

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Norman Lamb: The current review of the adult autism strategy is due to be completed by the end of March 2014. No date has yet been set for a further review of the strategy. We will include details of this when we publish the revised strategy.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support the Government provides for children with autism as they reach adulthood. [185839]

Norman Lamb: The Government's Mandate to NHS England calls for improvements in ensuring smooth transitions between children's and adult services; the new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence quality standard for autism emphasises that a child's plan should cover the transition to adult services.

Support for children with autism as they reach adulthood requires a co-ordinated approach from a range of agencies. Education, Health and Care plans for children with special educational needs—which the Children and Families Bill will introduce—cover the years from 0 to 25, providing a basis for planning effective transition.

The Department for Education is funding Ambitious about Autism for their Finished at School project which is looking at innovative ways to help young people with autism make the transition from school to college, and sponsoring the Autism Education Trust in extending its training programme from schools into further education.

‘The disability and health employment strategy’ of December 2013 sets out a range of proposals to enable disabled young people to make the transition to work.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will introduce a fund for local authorities to encourage the development of new models of provision for people with autism; [185840]

(2) what steps the Government take to raise awareness of how the public can support children and young people with autism; [185841]

(3) if he will introduce a community-based scheme to raise awareness of children and adults with autism. [185842]

Norman Lamb: As part of the ongoing Review of the Adult Autism Strategy, we are actively considering a variety of proposals from the National Autistic Society relating to awareness-raising, how local communities can become more autism-aware, and new models of provision for people with autism.

Chronic Illnesses

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people with (a) long-term conditions and (b) osteoarthritis currently have a personalised care plan. [185168]

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people with (a) long-term conditions and (b) osteoarthritis currently have a personalised care plan. [185492]

Norman Lamb: The information requested is not centrally held.

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Responsibility for determining the overall national approach to improving health related quality of life for people with long-term conditions passed to NHS England and clinical commissioning groups in April 2013.

One of the objectives in the Government's Mandate to NHS England is for the national health service to better empower patients to manage and make decisions about their own care and treatment. Achieving this objective would mean that by 2015 everyone with a long-term condition would be offered a personalised care plan that reflects their preferences and agreed decisions.

European Commission

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out his Department's priorities for discussions with the European Commission over its 2014 work programme; and if he will make a statement. [185313]

Dr Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Europe on 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 625W.

Fractures

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to promote comprehensive fracture liaison services. [185169]

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government have taken to promote comprehensive fracture liaison services. [185491]

Norman Lamb: Responsibility for determining the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes from health care services, including fracture liaison services (FLS), lies with NHS England.

NHS England advises that it is aware that provision of good FLS is not uniform across the country and is working with clinical commissioning groups to support them to develop appropriate local services. It also advises that the FLS model recommended by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and the National Osteoporosis society is recognised as best practice and is being promoted.

Health Education: Sex

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government plan to take to address risks to public health caused by a rise in the incidence of risky sexual behaviour related to drug use. [185530]

Jane Ellison: Local authorities are responsible for commissioning sexual health and alcohol and drug services as part of their public health remit. This includes initiatives to address risky sexual behaviour related to drug use, if it is an issue in their area.

A set of interlinked drug use and sexual behaviours, often referred to as ‘chem sex’ among a minority of men who have sex with men (MSM) is a serious health issue that is driving poor sexual and mental health. It is implicated in the transmission and acquisition of HIV

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and other blood borne viruses and in the rising numbers of shigella cases (a form of dysentery) in gay and bisexual men.

Public Health England (PHE) is monitoring this situation, and has highlighted the importance of integrated working between sexual health and drugs services. PHE has established a working group with key stakeholders across drugs and sexual health to improve intelligence about the size of the at-risk population, pool expertise and develop new guidance. PHE is also collaborating with a national steering group (Project Neptune) which is writing guidance for health care providers on the evidence base and expert consensus regarding treatment for club drugs and ‘legal highs’, including many of the drugs reported by MSM in the context of ‘chem sex’.

There is less intelligence on the links between drug use and heterosexual risky sexual behaviour, but PHE is currently piloting a new surveillance system in sexual health clinics which will collect information on drug use, sexual risk and sexually transmitted infections/HIV outcomes. If successful, this will give a much better insight into the extent of this problem in heterosexuals as well as MSM. Also in the pipeline are new PHE resources to raise awareness of shigella.

The Department continues to fund the Terrence Higgins Trust and their partner organisations, for targeted HIV prevention.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2013, Official Report, columns 348-49W, on health services: reciprocal arrangements, what steps his Department is taking to recoup balances outstanding from those European countries in relation to EHIC payments; and if he will make it his policy to withhold Government EHIC payments from those countries which owe the UK money under those arrangements. [185854]

Jane Ellison: The United Kingdom takes every action possible under European Union regulations to recoup outstanding balances, including putting forward the strongest possible evidence promptly to back our claims. New rules allowing interest to be charged on outstanding payments are being put in place. The UK will use these to the full.

Under European Union Regulation 987/2009, which covers the period from 1 May 2010 onwards, interest is payable on payments made more than 18 months after the claim has been received. The European Commission is currently working on finalising guidance on the full details of how to calculate interest on late payments. The UK will be using that guidance to calculate interest payments when it is finalised, and will be actively pursuing the payment of interest on overdue payments.

Health Trainers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health trainers there were in the NHS in each year since May 2010. [185850]

Dr Poulter: The number of health trainers working in the national health service is not collected centrally. This staff group is not identified separately in the NHS annual workforce census.

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Health: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, column 469W, on health: finance, when the figures for Q2 and Q3 will be available. [185855]

Jane Ellison: The total public health ring-fence allocation for 2013-14 is £2.66 billion. At the end of September 2013 £1.18 billion had been spent, 44.2% of the total allocation. The following table shows total local authorities allocation and related spend at quarter two. Quarter two data were published on 6 December 2013.

The quarter three data will be published on 11 March 2014 by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

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Hospitals: Greater Manchester

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) black, (b) red, (c) amber and (d) green alerts there has been at (i) Central Manchester University Hospital Foundation NHS Trust and (ii) University Hospital South Manchester Trust in each month of the last five years. [185361]

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.

We have therefore written to the chair of the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust informing them of the hon. Member’s query. They will reply shortly and a copy of the letters will be placed in the Library.

Human Papillomavirus

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to provide immunisation for the HPV virus in young males. [185069]

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has agreed that evaluation of potential extensions to the programme to include men who have sex with men (MSM) should be a priority. JCVI agreed to the formation of an HPV sub-committee to consider a number of key issues on HPV vaccination, including vaccinating MSM, and potential extension of the programme to include adolescent boys. The HPV sub-committee met for the first time on 20 January 2014 to review available evidence on the impact and cost-effectiveness of potential extensions to the HPV vaccination programme.

The HPV sub-committee will report its findings to JCVI following consideration of future studies by Public Health England on the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending HPV vaccination to MSM and/or adolescent boys. It is expected that the MSM modelling study will be completed at the end of 2014 at the earliest, and the adolescent boys modelling study will be completed at the end of 2015 at the earliest. We will consider and respond to any JCVI's recommendations in due course. This issue was the main subject of the debate in Westminster Hall on 8 January 2014.

Manor Hospital Walsall

Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 178W, on Manor Hospital, Walsall, if the Department has now received notification arising from the report of the Mid Staffordshire Special Administrators and Monitor for additional investment at the Manor Hospital, Walsall, in view of the need for additional capacity to take in patients arising from external situations; and if he will make a statement. [185357]

Jane Ellison: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), received the Trust Special Administrators' final report on 16 January and has a maximum of 30 working days from that date to evaluate the recommendations against the requirements set out in legislation. To date the Department has not received an application for funding from Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust in relation to the proposals.

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Medical Records: Databases

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether individuals whose medical confidentiality has been breached by the caredata programme will be notified of their eligibility for compensation; [185117]

(2) whether households which do not receive a “Better information means better care” leaflet will be able to seek legal redress against GPs who have acted as data controllers for their practice and uploaded patient information to care data. [185199]

Dr Poulter: As data controllers, general practitioners (GPs) must meet fair processing obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998, including an obligation to ensure that patients are aware of how their personal confidential data are shared and their right to object. The care data leaflet drop is only part of a comprehensive range of awareness raising activities, which also includes: leaflets and posters in every general practice in England; articles in newspapers; information on the NHS Choices website and via social media, as well as information cascaded via 350,000 patient groups and charities.

GPs are responsible for the personal data that they hold and could face civil action if they breached patient confidentiality or they could be fined by the Information Commissioner if their action breached data protection law. However, GPs are required by law to provide data to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) for care data and provided that a GP releases no more data than that which is requested by the HSCIC, there would be no grounds on which to take action against the GP.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether individuals will be notified if their personal data has been provided to researchers with identifying details provided under care data; [185131]

(2) with whom is data held by the Health and Social Care Information shared; and for what purpose. [185201]

Dr Poulter: There are very strict rules about what information the Health and Social Care Information Centre can release to the national health service and to outside organisations.

Information can be released in three ways:

anonymised information: this information does not identify any individuals;

potentially identifiable information: this is information about individual patients but it does not include any identifiers; and

identifiable information: information that identifies an individual can only be disclosed where there is a legal basis for doing so.

Only researchers who have obtained the patient's express permission or who have been granted legal approval are allowed to access information that identifies individuals. Only the Secretary of State for Health or the Health Research Authority can grant this legal approval and they do so following independent advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG). CAG considers each application against the legal framework.

Patients would not be notified individually.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether households which have opted out of receiving bulk, junk or unaddressed mail will receive a “Better information means better care” leaflet. [185177]

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Dr Poulter: Royal Mail has confirmed that the leaflet will be delivered to all households in England, including those that have opted out of receiving bulk, junk, or unaddressed mail.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that all individuals living in (a) shared accommodation, (b) care homes, (c) residential homes, (d) blocks of flats or apartments (e) university halls of residence and (f) prisons will receive an individual copy of the “Better information means better care” leaflet. [185181]

Dr Poulter: General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for fair processing including raising awareness among hard to reach groups. The leaflet, “Better information means better care” which explains how information from medical records is used to improve the quality of care is being sent to all households in England, including any residential address and shared accommodation, care and residential homes, flats or apartments, universities and halls of residences. NHS England is currently working with the Prison Health Teams to look at how this issue could be raised through the work that they do.

The leaflet forms one part of a wide range of local, regional, and national activities for raising awareness among patients, which also includes: leaflets and posters that have been sent to every GP practice in England; articles in newspapers; interviews on radio and television; information on the NHS Choices website; information disseminated via social media; and information cascaded via 350,000 patient groups and charities.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has given to local authorities on assessing the effect of musculoskeletal conditions on their local population, including the effect of musculoskeletal conditions in joint strategic needs assessments. [185170]

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to local authorities on (a) assessment of the effect of musculoskeletal conditions on their local population and (b) inclusion of musculoskeletal conditions in joint strategic need assessments. [185497]

Norman Lamb: The Department has not issued any guidance to local authorities on musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions nor has NHS England.

MSK conditions, such as rheumatism and back pain, are common and account for 15-20% of general practitioner (GP) consultations. Most patients can be successfully managed by their GPs locally, but those with rare or particularly complex MSK disorders can be referred on to a specialist service.

Joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) and joint health and wellbeing strategies (JHWSs) are a key element of local strategic planning processes, and the means by which the current and future health and wellbeing needs of the local population are determined. JSNAs and JHWSs are agreed through health and wellbeing boards.

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JSNAs need to cover the health and care needs of the whole local population and may well include MSK conditions. However, it would not be appropriate for the Department to highlight any particular care group or area of need over another as this would risk undermining the purpose of JSNAs and JHWSs being objective, comprehensive and locally-owned. In March 2013 the Department published statutory guidance to support health and wellbeing boards in undertaking JSNAs and JHWSs, “Statutory Guidance on Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies”. A copy has been placed in the Library and is available at the following link:

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media.dh.gov.uk/network/18/files/2013/03/Statutory-Guidance-on-Joint-Strategic-Needs-Assessments-and-Joint-Health-and-Wellbeing-Strategies-March-20131.pdf

NHS

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when each strategic health authority was abolished as a legal entity; and when the chief executive officer of each strategic health authority ceased to be paid (a) a salary and (b) any other payment by NHS England or any other NHS body. [185654]

Jane Ellison: All strategic health authorities were legally abolished on 1 April 2013 under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

The Department cannot determine whether former strategic health authority chief executives continued to be paid a salary or any other payment after this date by NHS England or any other national health service body.

NHS: Finance

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the guidance his Department gives individual funding request panels on interpretation of the rules surrounding clinical exceptionality and taking into account the human impact of their decisions. [185028]

Norman Lamb: NHS England has published guidance, “Interim Commissioning Policy: Individual funding requests”. Appendix A of the guidance sets out advice on exceptionality. A copy is available on NHS England's website:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-03.pdf

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when NHS England's review into stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) will be published; whether the SRS Clinical Reference Group assisted in writing this review; and which other stakeholders were consulted by NHS England during this review's production; [185130]

(2) pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2014, Official Report, column 148W, on radiotherapy, from where the clinical reference group will gather its evidence to examine the clinical and cost effectiveness of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy; [185257]

(3) pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2013, Official Report, column 248W and 21 January 2014, Official Report, column 148W, on radiotherapy, whether the

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stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) consortium will be part of the review team examining the clinical and cost effectiveness of SABR. [185258]

Jane Ellison: The report of the review for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)/stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is not yet finalised and no publication date has been set. The report concerns a need assessment and services review into SRS/SRT for intracranial conditions. To date, NHS England has contacted providers who are currently contracted to deliver SRS/SRT for the purpose of obtaining capacity information.

The draft report produced by the review team includes representation from the SRS Clinical Reference Group (CRG). This draft is ready to be shared for further engagement with the CRG to enable NHS England to consider its views as part of its consideration of the final report and the impact assessment.

There is further work to be completed before the report, and its potential options for implementation, are considered formally by NHS England. Following this work, NHS England intends to publish the report and consult with stakeholders ahead of any final decision being taken.

Using standard medical evidence search methodology, the Radiotherapy CRG will review evidence of the clinical and cost effectiveness of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) that has been published in peer reviewed journals in the time since the production of the current SABR policy.

NHS England would strongly encourage the SABR consortium to be registered as a stakeholder in the Radiotherapy CRG in order for their views to be considered as part of the process.

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2014, Official Report, column 83W, on radiotherapy, what the tariff paid for stereotactic radiosurgery treatment is by local commissioners in each English region. [185256]

Dr Poulter: The tariff paid for stereotactic radiosurgery treatment is negotiated locally between commissioners and providers, rather than at national level. As such we do not hold the information centrally.

School Milk

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department plans to publish its response to Next Steps for Nursery Milk consultation, which closed in October 2012. [185529]

Dr Poulter: The Department is conducting a comprehensive analysis of all the responses to the nursery milk consultation, the impact assessment and the accompanying survey of child care providers. A Government response on the future operation of the nursery milk scheme will be made after full consideration is given to these and other relevant information.

The Government remain fully committed to continuing the nursery milk scheme.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which directorate of his Department is currently responsible for nursery milk; and on what grounds the responsible directorate has changed since May 2010. [185819]

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Dr Poulter: The Public Health Directorate is responsible for nursery milk. The directorate responsible for nursery milk has not changed since May 2010, although the responsible division within the directorate changed following an internal reorganisation.

The Government remain fully committed to continuing the nursery milk scheme.

Skin Cancer

Mr Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions he has had on the availability and development of innovative treatments for melanoma with (a) the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, (b) other specialist cancer centres, (c) NHS England and (d) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; [185208]

(2) what discussions he has had about the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's appraisal of ipilimumab for use as a first line treatment for advanced melanoma in the light of the high incidence of melanoma amongst young people. [185209]

Jane Ellison: Ministers have had no such discussions with these organisations.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the development of its guidance. It would be inappropriate for Ministers to interfere with the development of NICE guidance.

Departmental officials may discuss treatments for melanoma with NICE and other interested parties, including as part of the topic selection process for NICE technology appraisals and in considering potential patient access schemes for specific medicines.

Stem Cells

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to (a) improve awareness of stem cell transplants for treating cancers and (b) increase registration of stem cell donors. [185215]

Jane Ellison: The Government allocated, in 2011-12 and 2012-13, a total of £8 million to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Anthony Nolan to help improve stem cell transplant services in the United Kingdom. This funding has resulted in an aligned UK stem cell register, an increase in adult stem cell donors recruited to the register and an increase in the number of cord blood stem cells banked.

Both NHSBT and Anthony Nolan work to raise public awareness of stem cell transplants and to promote stem cell donations. For 2013-14, a further £4 million in discretionary funding has been allocated to continue this work. The delivery reports from NHSBT and Anthony Nolan show that the benefits are being built on this year.

Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2014, Official Report, column 181W, on the electoral register, and columns 189-90W, on the electoral register: Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Secretary

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of State for Northern Ireland on the registration of attainers in

(a)

Northern Ireland and

(b)

Great Britain. [185325]

Greg Clark: As was the case under previous Administrations details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) grants and (b) other external activity have been issued under the Democratic Engagement Programme to date. [185383]

Greg Clark: The Government are making available up to £4.2 million to maximise the rate of voter registration as part of the transition to individual electoral registration in 2014.

Every local authority in the country will receive funding to help them with the costs of local activities for maximising registration.

In addition, the Government are funding directly a number of national organisations to develop approaches to maximise registration among particular groups.

To improve registration levels for young people, Cabinet Office has also made the Rock Enrol! learning resource available, which promotes democratic engagement and encourages young people to register to vote.

European Commission

Mr Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out his Office's priorities for discussions with the European Commission over their 2014 Work Programme; and if he will make a statement. [185307]

The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Europe, the right hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), on 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 625W.

Cabinet Office

British American Tobacco

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2014, Official Report, column 160W, on British American Tobacco, what official meetings the Minister without Portfolio has had with representatives of British American Tobacco on issues other than policy. [185820]

Mr Kenneth Clarke: None. As part of the Department’s transparency programme, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

Efficiency and Reform Group

Michael Dugher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many staff of his Department worked in the Efficiency and Reform Group in (a) April 2013 and (b) the latest period in which figures are available; [171738]

(2) when he plans to reply to question 171738, tabled by the hon. Member for Barnsley East on 16 October 2013 for answer on 18 October 2013. [178053]

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Mr Maude: Apologies for the delay in answering this question but it has proved challenging to establish accurate baseline numbers for staffing.

The Efficiency and Reform Group was founded after the 2010 General Election to tackle wasteful expenditure and reform the way Whitehall works.  Just one example of the waste we found was that one major service integrator was charging £30,000 to change a logo on a web page. Other examples are detailed in Sir Philip Green’s Efficiency Review, which found that while paper cost one department £73 per box, another paid just £8.

Last year alone, ERG supported departments in achieving savings of over £10 billion. This follows £5.5 billion saved in 2011-12 and £3.75 billion in 2010-11. I want to pay tribute to the hard work of many civil servants, in my department and across Whitehall. These civil servants have delivered these savings by acting as the taxpayers’ champion inside Government.

A lot of this work simply was not being done under the previous Government, but the predecessor organisations employed more than twice as many members of staff as the efficiency and reform group now employs .

If this work had been started before May 2010, billions of pounds of extra savings would have been possible. In fact at the time of the last general election, the Government did not even know who their top suppliers were nor how much they were spending on each. It was a remarkably lax way to treat taxpayers’ money.

Across Government the number of civil servants paid over £150,000 has fallen by 35% since the general election.  Spend on consultants and contingent labour has fallen by 82%. In addition, ERG’s work has substantially boosted the proportion of Government business going to SMEs.

Information on staffing within the Cabinet Office is published regularly in our organograms. The most recent includes information from 31 March and will be updated in due course to include information from September. It is available here:

http://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office

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The staff working within ERG should be seen within the context of those previously working at the centre of Government prior to May 2010, as well as of the new functions now delivered by the Cabinet Office. It is difficult to establish an accurate baseline but the following numbers should provide some guidance.  After the last general election, machinery of government changes moved the National School of Government, the Central Office of Information and the Office of Government Commerce into the Cabinet Office. The NSG had 197 staff,  OGC had 298 people and the COI 735. These organisations were then disbanded. There were also 121 people working for DirectGov, 43 for the Office for Government CIO, five for Digital Engagement, 52 in the Group Strategy Unit and 12 for BusinessLink and 336 for Buying Solutions. 

As of 31 Dec 2013 there the following staff working in the following ERG clusters (numbers given as full-time equivalents): MPA 53.8; Corporate 93.1; Efficiency 103.8; Transformation 115.8; Government Digital Service 235.2; Central Teams 24 and Government Procurement Service 417.8.

ERG is saving money for taxpayers but with fewer staff than were employed before May 2010.

Public Expenditure

Mr Jeremy Browne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the level of Government spending was in (a) cash terms and (b) as a percentage of GDP in each year since 1990. [185648]

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

Letter from Peter Fullerton:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the level of Government of spending was in (a) cash terms and (b) as a percentage of GDP in each year since 1990. 185648

The attached table provides central and local government current expenditure in cash terms and as a percentage of GDP since 1990.

3 Feb 2014 : Column 83W

3 Feb 2014 : Column 84W

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people aged 24 and under have been unemployed for over a year in each of the last 20 years. [185738]

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 Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people aged 24 and under have been unemployed for over a year in each of the last 20 years. 185738

I refer the Rt Honourable Gentleman to the answer provided on 14 January 2014, Hansard reference 182556. I have provided a link to the answer provided in Hansard.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140114/text/140114w0002.htm#140114108001879