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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 6 February 2014
House of Commons Commission
Carbon Offsetting
3. James Wharton: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how much the House of Commons has paid in carbon offsetting for travel since November 2013. [902435]
John Thurso: The House of Commons entered an e-auction for carbon offsets which took place on 2 December 2013. 1,080 tonnes were offset at a cost per tonne of 38p—a total charge of £410.40 excluding VAT.
Northern Ireland
Terrorism
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many attacks by dissident republicans took place in Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months; and how many such attacks involved (a) bombs and (b) shootings. [185699]
Mrs Villiers: The following table shows the number of national security attacks which took place in Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months, identifying which of these attacks involved bombs and shootings. Bombs include improvised explosive devices, mortars and incendiary devices.
| Number of attacks | Number involving bombs | Number involving shootings | |
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Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were (a) detained, (b) prosecuted and (c) imprisoned following conviction in each of the last 12 months in relation to dissident republican attacks in Northern Ireland. [185700]
Mrs Villiers: The following table shows the most up-to-date figures for arrests made under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and for the number of those subsequently charged with any offence. These data refer to the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available. It is not possible to give figures for convictions and sentencing, which is the responsibility of the devolved Department of Justice. Figures are provisional and subject to minor amendment.
| Number of Republicans arrested under Section 41 | Number of Republicans subsequently charged with any offence | |
| 1 This information is for part-month only as at the date of the download (31 January 2014) not all those arrested in this month may have been included as yet. Source: Police Service of Northern Ireland | ||
Scotland
Pensions
Mr McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what effect changes in pension contributions have had on the take-home pay of officials of his Department at (a) AA, (b) AO and LO2, (c) EO and LO1, (d) HEO, (e) SEO, (f) 7 and (g) SCS grades and equivalents since May 2010. [186039]
David Mundell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 4 February 2014, Official Report, columns 214-15W, by the Minister for Civil Society, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd).
Leader of the House
Chevening
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Leader of the House what the cost of repairs and maintenance of the Chevening Estate was in 2012-13. [902442]
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Mr Lansley: There was no cost to the public purse for repairs and maintenance of the Chevening Estate in 2012-13. Any such costs would have been met privately by the Chevening Trust, in accordance with the provisions of the Chevening Estate Act 1959.
Treasury
Beer: Excise Duties
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the (a) per-container cost and (b) costs to industry of introducing a duty-paid tax stamp on all products liable to beer duty; [186173]
(2) what consideration he has given to the reintroduction of fiscal stamps on alcohol products and their permissibility under the EU Treaty provisions on the freedom of movement of goods. [186174]
Nicky Morgan: HM Revenue and Customs consulted on the introduction of beer fiscal marks in 2012. Responses to the consultation indicated (a) while costs to apply stamps to cans and bottles at the time of manufacture could be a fraction of a pence per container, for other products such as imports the costs could be as high as 10p to 15p, and (b) industry costs of at least £6 million set up costs and up to £31 million annual costs largely related to adaptations to packaging procedures.
In 2013, HMRC, in its response to a public consultation on beer fiscal marks, confirmed it would not be introduced at this time, but would explore other, less burdensome, options to tackle alcohol fraud further. Spirits drinks for sale on the UK market are already required to bear a duty stamp.
National identification marks, or fiscal marks, are provided for in Article 39 of Council Directive 2008/118. They are allowed to prevent any evasion, avoidance or abuse providing they do not create a disproportionate barrier to trade.
Employment
Mr George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the additional revenue accruing in the form of (a) income tax and (b) national insurance contributions as a result of people moving off benefits and into employment in each of the last four quarters. [186346]
Mr Gauke: The information requested is not held centrally by any single Government Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mortgages: Barrow in Furness
John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many house sales have been completed in Barrow and Furness constituency using the Help to Buy scheme since that scheme's introduction. [186439]
Sajid Javid:
The Government are committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. The Help to Buy: mortgage
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guarantee and equity loan schemes were set up to support households who cannot get a mortgage because of the very large deposits required by lenders following the financial crisis, but who can afford the mortgage repayments. The schemes also help those trapped in their existing homes who are unable to take the next step.
The Government are collecting data on the mortgages covered by the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme and will report in due course. The number of sales supported by the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme by the end of December 2013 is given here by local authority:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics
Tonnage Tax
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reduction in tax liabilities for shipping companies in the tonnage tax scheme was in each (a) calendar and (b) financial year since the scheme was introduced up to the latest estimates for (i) 2013 and (ii) 2013-14. [185941]
Mr Gauke: The following tables provide estimates of the difference between accruals of tax liabilities for the UK Shipping Industry through tonnage tax and what they would otherwise have been under standard UK corporation tax since 2000 for (a) calendar year and (b) financial year:
| £ million | |
| Calendar year | Reduction in tax liabilities1,4,5 |
| £ million | |
| Financial year | Reduction in tax liabilities1,4,5 |
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| Notes: 1 Estimates have been rounded to the nearest £5 million. 2 The latest data available are for 2011. 3 Estimates for 2000-04 should be treated as indicative only, due to insufficient data being available before 2005. 4 Estimates are based on the assumption that without the introduction of tonnage tax in 2000, the level of affected UK shipping activities would have remained equal to that of 1999. 5 This methodology has been revised and is now consistent with estimates reported to the European Commission. 6 Previous methodology was based on taking into account that it is likely that fewer large ships would be operated from the UK if generally internationally mobile ship operating companies had to pay standard UK corporation tax rather than tonnage tax. As a result these estimates may differ from estimates previously released. |
The latest tax returns data available are for 2011; however, HMRC publishes projections of the estimated reduction in tax liabilities accrued by the UK shipping industry through the tonnage tax regime for 2012-13 and 2013-14. These are available at the following link (and are consistent with the methodology used above):
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-5.pdf
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Databases
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the contract for the AHVLA SAM IT programme was put out for public tender; how many organisations competed for this contract; who was awarded the contract; and for how long it was granted. [185667]
George Eustice: The SAM IT system was delivered under an overarching IT contract with IBM, held by DEFRA. This contract was awarded after a competitive OJEU tender process in 2005.
The SAM application was selected after a competitive tender process; there were three suppliers shortlisted at the time, all of whom offered packages to meet AHVLA requirements.
Floods: Cumbria
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likelihood of increased marine flooding on the Furness peninsular as a result of changing climate patterns. [186438]
Dan Rogerson: Over the last year the Environment Agency has updated its tidal flood risk mapping for the whole of the Cumbrian coastline. This included mapping the risk from a flood with a 0.5% chance of happening each year. Additional mapping was then created by looking at the impact of projected sea level rise for the year 2115 as a result of climate change. The resulting maps show the areas considered to be at risk from a 0.5% chance of flooding each year now and in 2115. These maps are available on request from the Environment Agency.
Gangmasters Licensing Authority
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many successful prosecutions have been brought by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in each year since it was established. [186433]
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George Eustice: The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) was formally established as a non-departmental public body on 1 December 2004 and it commenced operations on 1 April 2005. The criminal offences set out in the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, of operating as a gangmaster without a licence (section 12) and entering into arrangements with an unlicensed gangmaster (section 13) came into force on 1 October 2006 and 1 December 2006 respectively.
The GLA has brought 67 successful prosecutions since the criminal offences in the 2004 Act came into force. These are set out in detail in the following table:
| Section 12 | Section 13 | Other | Total/year | |
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what level of resources he has made available to the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) in each of the last three years; and what resources he plans to make available to the GLA in 2014-15. [186436]
George Eustice: The level of funding allocated by DEFRA to the GLA in the last three years is set out in the following table. The funding levels were set as part of the SR10 spending review. While the authority was asked to reduce the cost of its licensing activities, funding for enforcement was maintained in cash terms in recognition of the importance of this aspect of the GLA's work.
Discussions continue to finalise GLA budget allocations for 2014-15.
| £ million | |||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |
Noise: Pollution Control
Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the noise maps created for the second round of strategic noise mapping as part of the Noise Action Plan will be published. [186255]
Dan Rogerson: We expect to publish the result of the noise mapping by June this year.
Pensions
Mr McCann:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what effect changes in pension contributions have had on the take-home
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pay of officials of his Department at
(a)
AA,
(b)
AO and LO2,
(c)
EO and LO1,
(d)
HEO,
(e)
SEO,
(f)
7 and
(g)
SCS grades and equivalents since May 2010. [186035]
Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to Cabinet Office's answer to PQ 185222 on 4 February 2014, Official Report, columns 214-5W, which provides information about how the take-home pay of those with different levels of salaries is affected by the pension contribution increases.
Transport
Rail Electrification: Hull
11. Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent progress has been made on electrification of railway lines to Hull. [902423]
Mr Goodwill: Officials are working closely with First Hull Trains, promoters of the electrification scheme to Hull. The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), will shortly be meeting with the promoters and also with a delegation of local MPs and business leaders to hear the case for electrification in person.
Motorways
14. Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve safety on motorways. [902427]
Mr Goodwill: Motorways are the safest roads in the country. The Highways Agency network carries 32.7% of all traffic, but accounts for only 6.8% of those killed or seriously injured. Hard-shoulder running on smart motorways is delivering further improvements.
High Speed 2
16. Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the November 2011 Major Projects Authority report on High Speed 2. [902429]
Mr McLoughlin: I exercised the power of veto to withhold the release of the report. The full reasons for that have been reported to Parliament. The Department has already published over 200 pieces of material about HS2 and we have held 10 major consultations in three years.
Road Safety: Pedestrians
17. David Rutley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve road safety for pedestrians. [902430]
Mr Goodwill: The Government have already taken a range of steps to improve pedestrian safety, including making it easier for local authorities to implement 20 miles per hour zones and launching a new THINK! resource centre to help teachers educate children and teens on road safety.
We will continue to work with delivery partners, including local authorities, to identify further opportunities for improving pedestrian safety.
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Airports
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which 10 UK airports service the most overseas destinations; and what proportion of transfer passengers is at each such airport. [185978]
Mr Goodwill: The 10 UK airports which served the most overseas destinations with at least a weekly service (defined as over 50 direct flights in the year) in 2012 are given in the following table, together with the estimated proportion of transfer passengers at each airport.
| Estimated proportion of transfer passengers (%) | |
Biofuels
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of total palm oil production and importation arising directly or indirectly from the use of biofuels and bioliquids for energy in the UK. [185758]
Mr Goodwill: The complete verified dataset published today "Biofuel statistics: Year 5 (2012 to 2013), report 6" suggests that in 2012-13 approximately 1.407 million litres of biodiesel derived from palm oil was reported by suppliers for end uses covered by the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). As a proportion of the overall supply of biofuels this represents 0.1%. The data indicate that all biodiesel derived from palm oil reported was imported. The latest data are available on the Department's website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/biofuels-statistics
Regarding bioliquids under the Department for Energy and Climate Change's renewable energy incentive schemes, only the Renewables Obligation (RO) offers an incentive for the use of bioliquids. Ofgem's latest reports do not record any palm oil as used in the RO. The latest data for 2011-12 can be obtained from the Ofgem website at:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/58240/annual-sustainability-report-dataset-2011-12.xlsx
Crossrail Line
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) Transport for London on Crossrail Two. [186206]
Stephen Hammond:
The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), and other Transport Ministers regularly discuss Crossrail 2 with the Mayor of London and senior officials at Transport for London (TfL). As the
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project is at an early stage of development there have so far only been preliminary discussions with Ministers from other Departments. In particular, the Department has regular discussions with Her Majesty's Treasury and TfL regarding the funding and financing study announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), in June 2013.
Driving Under Influence: Drugs
Sir James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that all patients taking long-term medication understand the new drug driving offence; and if he will make a statement. [185809]
Mr Goodwill: I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer of 3 February 2014, Official Report, columns 7-8W.
Heathrow Airport
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many aircraft arrivals and departures have taken place at Heathrow between 6am and 7am in each year since 1993. [185979]
Mr Goodwill: The Government do not hold the information requested. We understand however that on a typical day there are around 40 arrivals and 12 departures at Heathrow between 6am and 7am.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the destinations of flights and number of passengers in each flight which arrive at Heathrow in the noise quota period are. [185981]
Mr Goodwill: The Department for Transport does not hold details on the number of passengers that arrive in the night quota period (23.30 to 06.00). There are around 15 scheduled arrivals during the night quota period. These are mostly long haul flights, half of which originate from the Far East.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of passengers on flights scheduled to arrive at Heathrow in the night noise quota period are transfer passengers. [185982]
Mr Goodwill: The Department for Transport does not hold figures as requested. Oxford Economics issued a report in December 2011 entitled "The Economic Value of Night flights at Heathrow". It estimated that 38% of passengers using Heathrow at night (11 pm to 7 am) in the 12-month period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 were transfer passengers.
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of progress on the High Speed 2 Phase One environmental statement consultation. [902426]
Mr Goodwill: The environmental statement consultation will conclude on 27 February. So far, we have received just under 10,000 responses to the consultation.
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London Midland
Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment his Department has made of the performance of London Midland and of the future of their franchise; and whether the performance of London Midland from Watford continues to be monitored daily. [186368]
Stephen Hammond: The franchise agreement between the Government and each individual train operator includes benchmarks in key performance areas. The Department monitors each train operator's overall performance against these areas and there are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement, should performance drop below what is expected. We monitor the franchise performance as a whole; we do not monitor individual lines or routes on a daily basis. This regular monitoring includes monthly meetings with their senior management where performance figures are scrutinised and challenged. Where any non-compliance is discovered, then Department officials will follow the steps set out in the enforcement policy, which is available online at:
http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/enforcement-policy-rail-franchise-agreements-and-closures/enforcementpolicy.pdf
M42
Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many types and number of cameras are in use on the M42 motorway; what information is collected or detected by them; and whether such cameras are used to detect breaches of both the national speed limit and the managed motorway limits. [186153]
Mr Goodwill: There are four types of cameras in use on the M42 which are owned and operated by the Highways Agency.
There are 16 fixed automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) which are used to measure journey time reliability by detecting the movement of partial vehicle number plates between defined links on the motorway. These cameras are not used to detect breaches of speed limits and the number does not include ANPR cameras which are wholly operated and maintained by the police and are subject to Home Office regulations.
There are 190 fixed monitoring cameras. These are used by the Highways Agency Regional Control Centre to ensure that the hard shoulder is clear of stationary vehicles, debris or other obstructions before opening the hard shoulder as a live running lane. These cameras are not used to detect breaches of speed limits.
There are 35 pan, tilt and zoom cameras. These are manually operated and used by operations personnel to monitor the motorway network, identify issues and deal with incidents. These cameras are not used to detect breaches of speed limits.
There are six Highways Agency digital enforcement cameras (HADEC) which are used to detect breaches of the speed limits set on the motorway at fixed points. These cameras in most part are only used when Active Traffic Management is in operation. However, all the HADEC sites are capable of enforcing speeds of up to the national speed limit. This is done at the discretion of the West Midlands Camera Enforcement Unit.
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Night Flying
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the number of noise quota points used per winter and summer season in the night noise quota period in the last 20 years. [185980]
Mr Goodwill: The Department for Transport assessed previous noise quota points used since 2006-07 when considering proposals for future noise quota points, set out in the Stage 2 Consultation on Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
This information can be found in Annex C of the Stage 1 Consultation on Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, available online at:
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/night-flights-consultation
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the full greenhouse gas emissions balance of the renewable transport fuel obligation, including indirect land use change and indirectly-caused nitrous oxide emissions. [185792]
Mr Goodwill: The average lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions savings of biofuels reported under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, including estimates accounting for indirect land use change, are shown in the following table. The percentage figures are savings relative to emissions from fossil fuels. These include the estimated direct greenhouse gas emissions from nitrous oxide associated with fertiliser use in feedstock production.
| Percentage | |
The table has been published for consultation as part of the Department's Draft Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Post Implementation Review, which is available on the Department's website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-transport-fuel-obligation-a-draft-post-implementation-review
West Coast Railway Line
Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what weight his Department will give to performance on the Abbey Flier train line and investment in that route as a factor in the negotiations for the next operator of the West Coast Main Line. [186367]
Stephen Hammond:
The ‘Abbey Line’ is a 6.5-mile local railway line running from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey station, in Hertfordshire. The line is currently operated by the London Midland franchise. No decisions in relation to the weighting of performance in the next franchise competition have been taken to
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date. The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for this franchise, planned to be published in April 2016, will be developed following public consultation and will set out the detailed specification for the franchise.
Education
Academies
George Freeman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) sponsored and (b) converter academies there were in each parliamentary constituency and local authority in England in (i) May 2010 and (ii) January 2014; and what the name of each such academy is. [186090]
Mr Timpson: As at 1 May 2010 there were 203 open academies, all of which were sponsored. As at 1 January 2014 there were 3,616 open academies, of which 997 are sponsored and 2,616 are converters.
The Department for Education publishes a list electronically each month showing the name of every open academy, when they opened, whether they are sponsored or converter academies and the local authority and parliamentary constituency where they are located. This list can be accessed at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies/open/b00208569/open-academies
Academies: Capital Investment
George Freeman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which academies in each parliamentary constituency have received funding under the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund in 2013-14. [185973]
Mr Timpson: 937 academies have received allocations through the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund in 2013-14. A copy of the list has been placed in the House Library.
The Education Funding Agency is currently assessing applications to the latest round of the fund. The Department has allocated £463 million for the programme in 2014-15, including £21 million allocated for the Universal Infant Free School Meals initiative announced in December 2013.
Children: Day Care
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many free nursery places providing 15 hours a week of free child care there were in each region in each of the last 20 years. [184846]
Elizabeth Truss: The Childcare Act 2006 places local authorities under a duty to secure funded places for all eligible children.
Available information on the number of three and four-year-olds benefiting from funded early education provision in England by region is available in the Provision for Children under five years of age Statistical First Release. The information requested is given in the tables.
Information by region is not available prior to 2011 and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
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| Number of three and four-year-old children benefiting from funded early education provision1 by region, England, January 20002to 20133 | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| 1 Up to 2010, the funded entitlement consisted of up to 12.5 hours per week. However, in certain circumstances some children were eligible to receive up to 15 hours per week. The number of children eligible to receive 15 hours per week increased significantly in 2010 when 25% of children were entitled to 15 hours a week, before all children became eligible for 15 hours a week from 2011. 2 Data are not available prior to 2000. The free part-time early education entitlement was introduced for four-year-olds in 1998 and the roll out for three-year-olds began in 1999 initially in disadvantaged areas. By April 2004 all three-year-olds could access a free part-time early education place. 3 Up to 2007, any child attending more than one provider may have been counted more than once. From 2008, children have only been counted once. 4 Not available. Source: Early Years Census (EYC), School Census (SC), and School Level Annual School Census (SLASC). | |||||||
Classroom Assistants
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to support teaching assistants. [186238]
Mr Laws: It is for individual school employers to decide how they support their teaching assistant employees.
The Department for Education's “Review of Efficiency in the School System”1 outlines a range of reforms to support and encourage effective workforce deployment. The review shows that differences in the impact of teaching assistants on school attainment can be explained by factors associated with their deployment. We have, therefore, been gathering information from outstanding schools about how they deploy their teaching assistants and we intend to share the findings with all schools to help them make decisions on how best to use these members of staff.
1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-efficiency -in-the-schools-system
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to train new teaching assistants. [186239]
Mr Laws: It is for individual school employers to decide how they train their teaching assistant employees.
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to recruit teaching assistants. [186240]
Mr Laws: The recruitment of teaching assistants is a matter for individual school employers.
Grandparents
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to protect grandparents' access rights; [186275]
(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of grandparents' right of access to their grandchildren in the event of family breakdown. [186325]
Mr Timpson: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Margot James) on 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 187W.
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Public Appointments
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many public appointments his Department made in the last 12 months; how many such appointments are remunerated posts; what the level of such remuneration is; and how many people so appointed are (a) women and (b) men. [186395]
Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 February 2014, Official Report, column 301W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).
Pupils: Disadvantaged
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) junior and (b) middle schools were in the lowest 268 for value-added progress for key stage one to key stage two for disadvantaged pupils in the last year for which figures are available. [186370]
Mr Laws: In 2013, a total of 89 junior schools and 30 middle schools were in the lowest 268 key stage 2 schools nationally for value-added progress of disadvantaged pupils from key stage 1 to key stage 2. These figures exclude key stage 2 schools with less than 11 disadvantaged pupils in their 2013 key stage 2 cohort.
Schools: Cricket
Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many secondary schools offer female pupils access to cricket teaching. [186312]
Mr Timpson: The Department for Education does not collect information on how many secondary schools offer female pupils access to cricket teaching. The Government encourage schools to offer all young people the opportunity to play a wide variety of sports.
Sport England is investing over £49 million into the development of Satellite Clubs between now and 2017. There are 135 Cricket Satellite Clubs already up and running in schools and colleges which offer young people the chance to play cricket, and are all open to girls.
Schools: Staff
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the contribution of school support staff to educational attainment at schools in England. [186236]
Mr Laws: The Department for Education's ‘Review of Efficiency in the School System’1 outlines a range of reforms to support and encourage effective work force deployment. The review showed that differences in the impact of teaching assistants on educational attainment can be explained by factors associated with their deployment. We have, therefore, been gathering information from outstanding schools about how they deploy their teaching assistants and we intend to share the findings with all schools to help them make decisions on how best to use these members of staff.
1https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-efficiency -in-the-schools-system
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Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of support staff working in schools in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands, (c) Dudley Metropolitan Borough and (d) Dudley North constituency. [186237]
Mr Laws: The School Census gives the full-time equivalent number of school support staff employed in publicly funded schools in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands, (c) Dudley local authority and (d) Dudley North constituency in November 2012. It is available online here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2012
Social Networking
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent meetings he has had with representatives of (a) Facebook, (b) Ask FM and (c) other social media; and what was discussed at each such meeting. [186349]
Mr Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not had any recent meetings with representatives from Facebook, Ask FM or other social media sites. Responsibility for internet safety policy was transferred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sports from September 2013. The Department for Education maintains a strong interest in internet safety; I co-chair the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCCIS) together with the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), and the Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green).
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring forward proposals to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure; and if he will make a statement. [186274]
Mr Timpson: The Optional Protocol provides for a mechanism whereby a child, having expended all domestic remedies, would be able to make a complaint to the UN Committee if they felt that their rights under the UN convention on the rights of a child had been violated. The UK Government believe that strong and effective laws are already in place under which individuals may seek enforceable remedies in the courts or tribunals if they feel that their rights have been breached. Nonetheless, the Government recognise that ratifying the Optional Protocol may add further protection for children in respect of their rights and will continue to keep this under review in light of emerging information on its implementation.
West Cheshire College
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has reviewed the use of radio frequency identification technology with a real-time location system at UK West Cheshire College in Chester; and if he will make a statement. [186331]
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Elizabeth Truss: The use of radio frequency identification technology with a real time location system is a matter for the college.
Justice
Courts
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many litigants-in-person have appeared in UK courts in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the increased numbers of litigants-in-person on the efficient operation of the court system. [181026]
Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the administration of the courts in England and Wales only. Family cases showing self-representing applicants and respondents are published quarterly. Self-representation is determined by the field ‘legal representation’ in the Ministry of Justice administrative database being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in person.
Information for parties representation is available for family courts at a national level from 2011. The data are in table 2.4 of Court Statistics Quarterly, available at this link:
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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013
Details of self-representation in criminal courts can only be estimated by manually checking every case file at disproportionate costs. We are working towards publishing data on self-representation in civil procedures and will publish these in our statistical publication in 2014.
Parties with no legal representation are not a new phenomenon in our courts. Judges are used to helping persons with no legal representation, including explaining procedures and what is expected of them. We have also taken steps to help people who either want or have to represent themselves in court, including publishing a revised guide for separating parents and increased training for judges. The link to the guide is:
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForms. do?court_forms_num=cb7&court_forms_title=&court_ forms_category
Courts: Tees Valley
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many criminal cases have been heard at (a) Teesside magistrates court and (b) Teesside Crown court in each year since 2007. [185647]
Mr Vara: The following tables detail the number of criminal cases heard at Teesside magistrates court and Teesside Crown court over the last seven years.
| Teesside magistrates court | |||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| 1 Not available. | |||||||
| Teesside Crown court | |||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
HM Courts and Tribunals Service no longer holds data for magistrates court cases heard in 2007 and 2008.
Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average length of waiting time for employment and support allowance tribunals is; [173425]
(2) what the cost of employment and support allowance tribunals has been in each year for which figures are available; [173457]
(3) how many and what proportion of employment and support allowance appeals in each region and district have been successful at tribunals in the last year; [173458]
(4) how many people are employed in hearing employment and support allowance tribunals. [173459]
Mr Vara: Since its peak, Government spending on incapacity benefits has fallen by £800 million in real terms. The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits, including employment and support allowance (ESA).
In the period 1 April 2013 to 30 September 2013 (the latest period for which data have been published) the average waiting time from receipt of an ESA appeal at the Tribunal to disposal was 18.9 weeks.
The following table shows the estimated total cost to HMCTS of employment and support allowance (ESA) appeals in the years 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. For each period the estimated costs were calculated by multiplying the average cost of an individual SSCS tribunal case in that year by the number of ESA appeals disposed of during the year.
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| Estimated cost of employment and support allowance appeals | ||
| Number of all ESA appeals disposed of1 | Estimated total cost (£ million) | |
| 1 Data include both cases cleared at hearing and those cleared without the need of a tribunal hearing, through being struck out, withdrawn or superseded. 2 Employment and support allowance was introduced in October 2008 and this is reflected in the volume (appeals would not have started to have come through to the tribunal until some weeks after October 2008) and cost provided for the period 2008-09. | ||
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The following table shows the number of ESA appeals disposed of at a tribunal hearing in each Government office region, and the number and proportion of appeals in which the decision was in favour of the appellant. The information covers April 2012 to March 2013 and 1 April to 30 September 2013, the latest period for which data have been published.
The SSCS Tribunal hears appeals on a range of benefits of which ESA is one and SSCS Tribunal staff will be involved with processing the range of appeals heard by the Tribunal.
It is therefore not possible to supply the numbers of staff employed to deal with appeals against decisions on entitlement to ESA specifically.
Fixed Penalties
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many penalty notice orders were (a) issued, (b) not paid within a 21-day payment window and (c) never paid in (i) England and Wales and (ii) each police authority area in each year from 2010 to 2013; and how many outstanding fines there were of what monetary value on 31 December (A) 2010, (B) 2011, (C) 2012 and (D) 2013; [186228]
(2) how many unpaid penalty notice orders were cancelled in (a) England and Wales and (b) each police authority area in each year from 2010 to 2013; and what the value was of those cancelled orders in each such year. [186341]
Mr Vara: Data on the numbers of PNDs and fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued by each police authority are published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-in-england-and-wales-201112
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-march-2013
Penalty Notices for Disorder data for calendar year 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
When PNDs and FPNs are not paid within the prescribed time limits they are registered as fines for enforcement by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). Once PNDs and FPNs are registered as fines it is not possible to identify these separately from other court imposed fines so it is not known how many or what monetary value remain outstanding at certain years or how many or what value were cancelled. Fine registered PNDs and FPNs are enforced in the same way as all other court imposed financial impositions.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters
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is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012-13 and collection has continued to rise in this financial year.
HMCTS is actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.
Freedom of Information
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which companies wholly owned by more than one public authority are covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 since the scope of the Act was extended in 2013. [185864]
Simon Hughes: We estimate that the extension of the Freedom of Information Act has increased the scope of the Act by more than 100 companies wholly owned by the public sector. Whether a particular company is within the scope of the Act depends on its ownership, which can change over time. Therefore we do not at present hold a comprehensive list of all of the companies who have been brought within scope.
Human Trafficking: Victim Support Schemes
Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the nationality and gender was of each suspected victim of human trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in July 2013; in which (a) region, (b) country, (c) metropolitan district, (d) district council area, (e) city and (f) parliamentary constituency each of the suspected victims was found; which agency referred each person to the scheme; and in which town the shelter to which they were placed for the statutory period was. [185712]
Damian Green: In July 2013 there were 76 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by the Salvation Army. In the interests of victim safety only the region in which the victim was encountered is provided, and not the county, metropolitan district, district council area, city or parliamentary constituency, or information on where victims are accommodated in the service. Details on referrals are provided in the table.
| Nationality | Gender | Region | Referral agency |
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Legal Aid Scheme
Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications were made at magistrates courts for legal aid in the last 12 months. [185747]
Mr Vara: In the 12 months from January to December 2013 there were 374,466 successful and 24,835 unsuccessful applications made at magistrates courts for legal aid.
Probation
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the (a) inherent, (b) target and (c) residual scores are from the risk arising from the Transforming Rehabilitation Probation programme that information and communication technology systems are unable to reflect the new processes; [184776]
(2) what the (a) inherent, (b) target and (c) residual scores are from the risk arising from the Transforming Rehabilitation Probation programme that the design and architecture of the new structure is problematic; [184777]
(3) what the (a) inherent, (b) target and (c) residual scores are from the risk arising from the Transforming Rehabilitation Probation programme that there is too much focus on the National Probation Service in relation to planning the expense of the community rehabilitation companies; [184778]
(4) what the (a) inherent, (b) target and (c) residual scores are from the risk arising from the Transforming Rehabilitation Probation programme of failure to have a robust operational design in place which has been fully tested; [184779]
(5) what the (a) inherent, (b) target and (c) residual scores are from the risk arising from the Transforming Rehabilitation Probation programme of poor exit management of Trusts and a failure on the part of the Ministry of Justice to recognise the lead in time to effect a sustainable transition; and what regulations have been put in place. [184780]
Jeremy Wright:
The Rehabilitation Programme team actively monitors risks and develops and implements mitigating activities. Our rigorous planning approach means we are applying appropriate effort and resource to setting up both the National Probation Service (NPS)
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and the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) as required. The Transforming Rehabilitation programme remains on track to deliver these essential reforms.
The primary national ICT applications, Oasys and National Delius, which were introduced across all Trusts in 2013, already enable a consistent national approach to the use and recording of offender risk assessment, and case management across England and Wales. Community Rehabilitation companies (CRC) will continue to use existing local ICT applications pending those applications development or rationalisation by the new providers.
We have developed and designed the new system over several months, through consultation and engagement, and will continue to work closely with Trusts to test key aspects of the new system in the run up to implementation. We are taking a phased approach to implementation and have plans in place to roll out further business readiness tests at key stages of implementation so that we can ensure we are managing the transition to the new system in a safe and measured way which maintains public protection.
Trusts are being wound down on 31 May, following staged stand up of CRCs and the NPS. This means that transition to the new arrangements will happen in a sensible way which ensures public safety at every stage.