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Maternity Leave

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of civil servants in his Department who were on maternity leave in each of the last five years returned to work. [189067]

Mr Vara: The Department does not hold a full set of administrative data regarding expected return to work dates from maternity leave and live administrative data for MOJ (excluding NOMS) sets only go back to May 2011.

As a consequence estimates, based on the minimum (six months) and maximum (12 months) time permitted for a period of maternity leave have been made. These estimates show that between 96% and 97% of staff returned to work following a period of maternity leave which was due to end between 1 May 2011 and 31 December 2013.

These percentages include staff who have left the MOJ but transferred to another Department but exclude staff on fixed term contracts whose contracts ended during their period of maternity leave.

Non-molestation Orders

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times a non-molestation order was breached on average before the perpetrator was jailed in the most recent period for which figures are available. [192243]

Jeremy Wright: There are two ways in which a breach of a non-molestation order can be dealt with:

(a) as a criminal offence, which can attract a custodial sentence of up to five years; and

(b) by the applicant applying for a committal hearing for civil contempt and which can attract a custodial sentence of up to two years.

Offenders receiving their first immediate custodial sentence for the criminal offence of breaching a non-molestation order in the 12 months ending September 2013 had received, on average, less than 1 (0.5) previous convictions or cautions for the same offence.

It is important to note that these figures are based only on those offences recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) by an English or Welsh police force, including the British Transport Police. This database holds details of all convictions or cautions for breaching a non-molestation order since their introduction as a criminal offence in July 2007.

Information on committal hearings for civil contempt is not held centrally by MOJ. The information may be recorded in the physical case files held at the courts, but locating and extracting it would involve looking at thousands of individual files and would incur disproportionate cost.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15. [192449]

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Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) including its executive agencies HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Legal Aid Agency and National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) excluding probation trusts, do not provide child care facilities for staff.

MOJ recognises that employees need flexible pre-school and out-of-school child care of a type and in a location most convenient to them. MOJ operates a salary sacrifice scheme for child care vouchers which enables employees to choose their own child care provider (subject to meeting eligibility requirements) and have their child care costs reduced by taking part of their salary in the form of child care vouchers (called salary sacrifice) up to prescribed limits. Child care vouchers are free from tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) so employees who use the scheme will make a saving on their child care costs. In addition MOJ at present offers a limited number of subsidised holiday play scheme places in Westminster Holiday Play scheme.

In order to obtain the information for Probation trusts an individual commission would need to be sent to each of the 35 trusts which would incur disproportionate costs.

Oakwood Prison

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the staff to prisoner ratio at HM Prison Oakwood is; [182795]

(2) what the staff to prisoner ratio at each prison in England and Wales is. [182797]

Jeremy Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) on 4 March 2014, Official Report, column 805W.

Figures represent the ratio of prisoners to prison officers and prison officer specialists in public sector prisons, and the ratio of prisoners to prison custody officers in private prisons. Contractual variations with private providers has resulted in differences relating to whether functions are civilianised, contracted out, or performed by prison custody officers, resulting in limitations in comparability between public sector and private prisons. A review is under way into the most appropriate methodology for calculating prisoner staff ratios.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many unfilled prison officer vacancies there have been, by prison, in each month since May 2010. [181118]

Jeremy Wright: The following table provides an estimate of the average monthly officer vacancy numbers in public sector prisons. The total number of officers is also provided to put the figures into context.

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The data in the table represents approximate figures (rounded to the nearest 10) which are our best estimate on the basis of the information provided by public sector prisons.

We do not hold data centrally for private prisons.

Although vacancy numbers are reported to the centre, workforce planning is managed locally by prisons. There are a number of complexities around the reporting of vacancies, in particular variations to staffing levels arising from changes in prison function or role, changes to prison capacity and changes resulting from the prison benchmarking and efficiency programme.

In addition headquarters guidance on how prisons should report vacancies to the centre was amended in 2010 and also 2011. As a result there has been inconsistency in reporting and the level of uncertainty in the data held by the centre means it is not possible to provide an accurate prison by prison breakdown. For this reason we have provided our best estimate for total figures as set out above.

A new workforce reporting tool is being implemented from April 2014 which will improve the consistency of reporting at prison level and enable accurate data to be held centrally.

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were employed in each prison in England and Wales in 2013. [187963]

Jeremy Wright: Staffing levels are being reviewed prison by prison as part of our prison benchmarking exercise.

Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing roles. The approach has been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years.

The number of full-time equivalent prison officers employed in each establishment of the public sector Prison Service of England and Wales can be found in table 10 of the publication available on the government website by following this link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/261632/noms-workforce-tables-30092013.xls

The headcount of prison custody officers in privately run prisons in England and Wales, as at 30 September 2013, is shown in the following table:

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Prisoners: Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what data his Department collects on the number of men in prison who have been victims of domestic violence; [191431]

(2) what data his Department collects on the number of women in prison who have been perpetrators of domestic violence; [191432]

(3) pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 866W, on prisoners: females, in how many of those cases were the women victims of (a) partner domestic violence where the perpetrator was (i) male and (ii) female and (b) family domestic violence where the perpetrator was (i) male and (ii) female. [191528]

Jeremy Wright: An estimate can be made using the Offender Assessment System (OASys), which asks whether there is "Evidence of domestic violence/partner abuse (including threats and psychological abuse)" and whether this is as victim or perpetrator.

Of the 2,192 women under sentence in custody at 31 March 2013 who had an OASys assessment of sufficient quality, 382 (17.4%) were recorded as having been perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Of the 51,362 men under sentence in custody at 31 March 2013 who had an OASys assessment of sufficient quality, 3,750 (7.3%) were recorded as having been victims of domestic abuse.

However, there are no further items in OASys identifying the gender of the perpetrator where the prisoner has reported being a victim, or to distinguish whether domestic abuse was partner or familial abuse. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

NOMS provides a range of programmes and interventions which are suitable for prisoners who have experienced domestic and other forms of abuse, as well as interventions aimed at those who have been perpetrators. These are available in both the male and female estate.

Prisoners: Repatriation

Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to negotiate compulsory prisoner transfer agreements with (a) Jamaica and (b) Pakistan. [191919]

Jeremy Wright: We already have a voluntary arrangement with Pakistan. A compulsory PTA is a longer term objective.

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Compulsory PTAs can be difficult to negotiate, but we remain determined to secure them wherever possible. In January this year we signed a compulsory PTA with Nigeria and last year we signed a PTA with Albania. We expect to see prisoner transfers to both these countries before the end of this year.

The Prisoner Transfer process is just one mechanism for removing Foreign National Offenders (FNOs). The number of FNOs deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) has increased under this Government. In 2013, we removed nearly 2,000 FNOs under ERS and under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS), which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 234 FNOs to date.

Jamaica has stated that a PTA is incompatible with their constitution. We are currently providing them with advice on prison reform with a view to returning to discussions on this matter.

Prisoners: Sexual Offences

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sex offenders were held in each prison in England and Wales between 2010 and 2013. [189463]

Jeremy Wright: Since 2010, those who break the law are now more likely to go to prison, and they go to prison for longer. The Government are creating a tough justice system with severe penalties available for serious offenders. We have already introduced automatic life sentences for a second serious sexual or violent offence, and we have announced plans to end automatic early release for child rapists, terrorists and all dangerous offenders. A range of interventions is delivered or enabled by the National Offender Management Service to rehabilitate, and reduce the risk posed by, sex offenders.

NOMS has created a sex offender management board to look at which prisons sex offenders should be held in, how sex offender treatment programmes can be best targeted and regimes for sex offenders who are not engaging in programmes.

The following table gives the number of sentenced and recalled sex offenders held in each prison in England and Wales as at 30 June for each year from 2010 to 2013.

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Prisons: Vandalism

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much was recovered from (a) convicted offenders and (b) prisoners on remand following damage caused by them to prison service property in the last full financial year for which figures are available; [192318]

(2) what the cost was of damage to prison service property caused by (a) convicted offenders and (b) prisoners on remand in the last full financial year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [192319]

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) introduced the system of recovering monies from prisoners for damage to prison property from 1 November 2013 following the implementation of Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 31/2013. Following a finding of guilt on adjudication, a requirement to pay compensation can be made for up to 100% of the damage caused, including labour costs. However the maximum must not exceed £2,000 and must never exceed the value of the damage caused.

Figures for the full financial year 2013-14 are therefore not yet available.

Moneys recovered from prisoners as a result of damage to prisons or prison property are recorded centrally by NOMS in summary format and do not distinguish between convicted or remand prisoners.

To obtain this information would require an examination of local records held at each establishment which could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Visits

Mr Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many closed visits there were in English jails in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013. [192194]

Jeremy Wright: “Closed visits” is a term applied to visits where the prisoner and visitor are prevented from having any physical contact. They are an administrative measure imposed for a limited period and on the basis

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of reasonable suspicion to prevent the smuggling of contraband through visits. The information about the number of closed visits that occur is not recorded centrally. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost by cross referencing and collating information from records held by individual prison establishments.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many vacancies there were for posts in the new (a) National Probation Service and (b) community rehabilitation companies on 1 February 2014; [189938]

(2) how many senior management posts there will be in the new National Probation Service and the community rehabilitation companies. [189939]

Jeremy Wright: The National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) will commence operation on I June 2014, and the process of moving staff into the new structure is nearing completion. According to information collected directly from Probation Trusts, less than 5% of posts across Trusts were vacant on 1 February 2014. These vacancies are managed as part of the business as usual process. We will continue to monitor and manage staff movements as transition to the new system progresses.

In terms of senior management posts the NOMS director of probation will be responsible for the NPS in England, with responsibility for the NPS in Wales covered by the NOMS director for Wales. In addition to these posts, there will be 7 NPS deputy directors and each of the 21 new CRCs will have its own chief executive, all of which have been appointed. Below this level, senior management posts have been filled through an expression of interest and assignment process. Under the terms of the National Agreement, all senior managers currently working within Trusts will be assigned to a role in either the NPS or a CRC.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many offender cases will be transferred from one officer to another following the creation of the National Probation Service and community rehabilitation companies; [191964]

(2) whether the circumstances under which an offender should stay with a particular team or probation officer and not be transferred will change as a result of the introduction of the National Probation Service and the 21 community rehabilitation companies; [192014]

(3) whether he expects the rehabilitation activity requirement to reduce unit costs in the courts and the community rehabilitation companies. [192044]

Jeremy Wright: Responsibility for the initial assessment of offenders, and management of those who are assessed as high risk, will rest with the National Probation Service (NPS). Once the NPS has assumed responsibility for an offender's case, they will continue to retain responsibility even if the offender's risk of serious harm decreases during their sentence. If an offender's risk of harm escalates to high, responsibility for the management of the case will transfer from the Community Rehabilitation Company to the NPS. The number of cases transferred will depend on the outcomes of risk assessments on

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offenders, and case transfers will happen in a way that ensures public protection, which remains our primary concern.

It is envisaged that reductions in reoffending delivered through the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will reduce overall costs across the CJS.

Procurement

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the full costs of the national compliance and enforcement service and the value of its business; and when this estimate was made. [190327]

Mr Vara: The cost of the national compliance and enforcement service for the financial year 2012-13 was £49 million.

Costs are the direct staff, office and court costs relating to the enforcement of financial penalties imposed by the courts. Approved enforcement agents costs which are reimbursed by the offender, and central overhead costs are not included.

The total value of debt estimated to be recoverable as at 31 March 2013, as published in the HM Courts and Tribunals Service Trust Statement 2012-13, was £320 million.

Re-employment

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff of his Department and its agencies have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by his Department and its agencies on (a) permanent and (b) fixed-term contract basis since May 2010. [192089]

Mr Vara: I refer the hon. member to the answer given on 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 227:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140204/text/140204w0004.htm#140204.htm_spnew20

Secure Training Centres

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the National Offender Management Service review of Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork includes secure colleges in its scope. [190353]

Jeremy Wright: The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners who are identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm. Its use for young people (under 18) is currently under review.

Secure colleges are not part of this review. However, as the Ministry of Justice develops the approach for secure colleges, we will need to ensure processes are in place to safeguard young people held in them. This will take into account learning from the current youth estate including the applicability of the ACCT process.

Sentencing: Foreign Nationals

Dr McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that the sentencing of foreign criminals in British courts is in accordance with the relevant sentencing guidelines. [191886]

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Jeremy Wright: The Government are committed to ensuring that foreign nationals who commit offences in this country are subject to the criminal law and where appropriate are also subject to deportation action.

Sentencing guidelines are produced independently of Government, by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. The guidelines relate to the sentencing of offenders in England and Wales regardless of their nationality. Judges and magistrates have a statutory duty under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to follow the sentencing guidelines unless it would not be in the interests of justice to do so. The Attorney-General also has a power to refer to the Court of Appeal certain cases where he considers that the sentence in an individual case is unduly lenient. This referral process also applies to sentences imposed on foreign national offenders.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to charge recipients of welfare benefit who appeal against decisions made by his Department. [189875]

Mr Vara: The Secretary of State has no plans to introduce fees to bring an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support).

Stalking

Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of probation staff have received training in sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. [191756]

Jeremy Wright: Sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which were inserted by virtue of section 111 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, have been included in the curriculum of the Probation Qualification Framework since 2012.

The Home Office has funded the development and delivery of a training package on stalking for frontline professionals which is being delivered by Women's Aid, in collaboration with Paladin, the National Stalking Advocacy Service. This training is currently taking place nationwide. The training material is also available for use by organisations and agencies to deliver sessions themselves.

Employment information, including training details, relating to probation staff is held by the 35 probation trusts. It is not collected centrally and could not be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.

Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what treatment is available for persons convicted of stalking (a) in prisons and (b) as a condition of a community order. [191758]

Jeremy Wright: NOMS commissioning strategy focuses investment on higher risk/harm groups of offenders with whom interventions have a proven impact. Stalkers are a comparatively small group within the offending population with a broad range of offending behaviours which may have different underlying motives or risk factors. The needs of offenders convicted of offences

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involving stalking behaviour can in some cases be addressed through existing accredited offending behaviour programmes or through one-to-one work.

NOMS Commissioners continually bear in mind the need to examine the needs of particular offender sub groups. If it becomes apparent that there is any discrete and significant subgroup of offenders with specific needs that are not met by existing provision, our commissioning strategy will change.

Television: Licences

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions were heard in magistrates courts for non-payment of television licences in each year between 2007 and 2012; and how many such cases failed to result in a prosecution. [189718]

Mr Vara: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence is shown in Table 1, along with the number found guilty and the number not found guilty.

Most TV licensing cases that are heard by magistrates courts are uncontested and the case is therefore often resolved in the defendant's absence. However, as part of our ongoing work to make court processes more efficient, the Ministry of Justice has brought forward proposals in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill that would permit such high-volume, low-level cases as TV licence evasion, when unopposed, to be heard by a single Justice.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were fined for not holding a television licence in each local authority in North Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [192104]

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Mr Vara: The number of defendants sentenced to a fine for TV licence evasion in the North Wales police force area, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.

Figures are provided by police force area and local justice area as the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database does not hold details of offences by local authority area.

We want to keep the amount of court time and resource dedicated to dealing with these cases to a minimum. That is why the Government are already bringing forward legislation to ease the burdens on the courts, for example through using single magistrates for high volume, low level cases.

Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.

Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on implementing the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010; and when he will take steps to bring this Act into force. [191783]

Mr Vara: I refer to the written ministerial statement made by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), on 25 April 2013, Official Report, column 71WS. The position remains that we intend to introduce legislation to amend the 2010 Act as soon as parliamentary time permits and to commence the 2010 Act as amended as soon as reasonably possible thereafter.

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Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many 18, 19 and 20-year-olds are currently held in adult prisons. [189991]

Jeremy Wright: As at 31 December 2013 there were 5,915 young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) in the secure estate. The following table shows the number of young adults held other than YOIs designated solely for 18 to 20-year-olds. Most of these will be held in institutions that are designated as both HM prison and HM young offender institution (YOI).

Youth Custody

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much local authorities contributed towards the cost of places in the youth secure estate in each of the last four years. [189759]

Jeremy Wright: The Government believe that local areas and frontline practitioners should have greater discretion and ownership in tackling youth offending. Local authorities have since 1 April 2013 had greater financial responsibility for the cost of children detained securely on remand.

Over the last four full financial years (2009-10 to 2012-13), the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales met the cost of detaining under-18s on remand in young offender institutions, while local authorities met one third of the cost of detaining children on remand in secure children's homes and secure training centres.

As invoices in relation to places in secure children's homes were paid by the local authority designated by the court directly to secure children's homes, the local authorities' contribution to the cost of this sector is not held centrally and would be available only at disproportionate cost.

The Youth Justice Board's income from local authorities in respect of children detained on remand in secure training centres over the last four full financial years is set out:

on page 49 of it’s “Annual Report and Accounts 2009/10”

http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/yjb/2010/YJB-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2009-10.pdf&sa=U&ei=glgQU5OIDcy3hAffmYD4D A&ved=0CCcQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNEPmBhAGX3GNSE VnRJDRVVJfaD_Eg

on page 52 of its “Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11”

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/yjb/yjb-annual-report-2010-11.pdf?type=Finjan-Download&slot=00000077&id=00000476&location=0A64020C

on page 64 of its “Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12”

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http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/yjb/yjb-annual-report-2011-12.pdf

on page 64 of it’s “Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13”

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/yjb/yjb-annual-report-2013.pdf

The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales meets the cost of detaining under-18s in the youth secure estate who are serving custodial sentences.

Zahid Mubarek

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made on each of the recommendations in Lord Justice Keith's Report into the death of Zahid Mubarek in YOI Feltham in 2000. [192345]

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Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) fully implemented 71 of the 88 recommendations made in the 2006 report of the Zahid Mubarek inquiry. Two recommendations were rejected at the time of the publication of the report. The remaining 15 recommendations were either partially implemented or became obsolete as a result of other developments. The final version of the action plan, giving a detailed account of the progress made against each of the 88 recommendations, was produced in June 2011 and placed in the House of Lords Library. Activity in response to the individual recommendations is no longer tracked, but the general themes have been absorbed into wider activity across NOMS.

Written Answers to Questions

Monday 24 March 2014

Health

Abortion

Mr Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what standards of data collection are required of clinical commissioning groups with respect to abortion services delivered in the independent sector. [192219]

Jane Ellison: Data requirements are for individual clinical commissioning groups to agree as part of the local commissioning process.

Alcoholic Drinks: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to tackle the production of counterfeit alcohol that contains dangerous substances such as methanol or isopropanol. [192410]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works in partnership with all United Kingdom local authorities to tackle the production, distribution and sale of counterfeit alcohol. The work involves the identification, detection and removal from sale of illicit alcohol including both counterfeit and fake brands that may be injurious to public health and products where the payment of UK duty/tax has been evaded.

The FSA provides financial and advisory resources to local authorities tackling the production, supply and sale of illicit alcohol and works in partnership with other Government Departments, such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and UK Border Force, and industry to tackle this problem.

The FSA uses intelligence, including that received from industry, to notify local authorities of the production and sale of counterfeit and fake brands or products, including those that are known to contain dangerous substances such as methanol or isopropanol and, if consumed, are harmful to human health. In such cases, the FSA issues Food Alert for Action notifications for immediate withdrawal action by all UK local authorities and publishes web-alerts to inform the public of the dangers of consuming the identified product.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk to public health of the sale of counterfeit alcohol that contains substances such as methanol or isopropanol. [192411]

Jane Ellison: No reliable data exists on the scale of alcohol counterfeiting. There can be risks to public health from counterfeit alcohol because it may contain substances that are harmful to health.

The Food Standards Agency works in partnership with all United Kingdom local authorities to tackle the production, distribution and sale of illicit alcohol. The

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work involves the identification, detection and removal from sale of illicit alcohol including both counterfeit and fake brands that may be injurious to public health.

HM Revenue and Customs also works collaboratively with other UK enforcement agencies to tackle this threat.

Ambulance Services

Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that hospital accident and emergency departments compensate NHS ambulance services where the patient hand-over time from ambulance to hospital exceeds 15 minutes. [192640]

Jane Ellison: We recognise handover sometimes takes longer than the recommended 15 minutes, particularly during peaks of demand—which is one of the main causes for delays.

That is why we have a system in place for unacceptable delay in patient handover.

The 2013-14 National Health Service planning guidance introduced fines for the first time for both ambulance and acute trusts for all delays over 30 minutes and a further fine for delays over an hour.

Any fines collected go back to the Clinical Commission Group, as the commissioner, who will work with the local Urgent Care Working Group to decide how the money is reinvested in the system.

Ambulance Services: South-West

Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust of delayed hand-overs exceeding 15 minutes of patients from ambulances to accident and emergency departments. [192639]

Jane Ellison: This information is not held centrally.

However, we understand that in the six months to 28 February 2014, data provided by commissioners shows there were 43,615 handovers that exceeded 15 minutes in the area served by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).

SWASFT provides ambulance services to 18 acute trusts in the south-west. Its services are commissioned by South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as the lead commissioner for ambulance services across the South West, and handover delays are reported to CCGs on a monthly basis.

Commissioners, SWASFT and the acute trusts all play a role in the management and reduction of delayed handovers. The lead commissioner regularly meets with SWASFT to ensure delivery of quality standards both in relation to performance against national response times and patient outcome.

Additionally, SWASFT regularly meets directly with acute trusts to produce action plans to improve handover delay performance, and has worked with all acute trusts within their geographical area to ensure that the escalation procedure within each acute trust links in to their own.

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Antibiotics

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government has to encourage the development of new antibiotic treatments. [192547]

Norman Lamb: This is a priority for the Government. One of the key objectives of the five year UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published on 10 September 2013 is to help stimulate development of a sustainable supply of new antimicrobials (including antibiotics) and rapid diagnostics.

The Government is actively encouraging research and development of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, nationally and internationally, to meet future needs.

In addition, we are taking a leading role in galvanising support among United Nations agencies and other international partners for a new approach to address the market failure.

Autism

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve health outcomes for people on the autistic spectrum. [192240]

Norman Lamb: The Government are working with our delivery partners in the health and social care system to bring about improvement to the health outcomes of people on the autistic spectrum. We know, as a result of the work we are undertaking on the Review of the Autism Strategy that there are examples of good practice around the country, but are aware that there is still work to be done.

In order to help improve the care and management of autism and to enable health and social care services to support people with autism more effectively, the Department commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce guidance on autism. This includes a recent Quality Standard for Autism which can help to inform the commissioning of autism services for children, young people and adults, focusing on the key areas for improving the quality of existing services.

At national level, the key enablers have been put in place. These include publication of statutory guidance for health and local authority bodies, commissioning of guidance and support materials from expert bodies, and publication of NICE guidance. The strategy and statutory guidance both promote Joint Strategic Needs Assessments as the vehicle for health and social care services to properly plan for the needs of people with autism in their area; action to be expressed through joint commissioning strategies and better local co-ordination of services.

The Government are committed to achieving the vision, set out in the Strategy, of local communities that not only accept and understand autism but provide real opportunities for adults with autism to live fulfilling and rewarding lives.

The updated Adult Autism Strategy will be published shortly.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cattle have been condemned after slaughter because of lesions caused by bovine TB in each of the last five years. [192836]

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Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency provided the following table which states the number of total carcase rejections for incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in approved slaughterhouses in Great Britain from August 2012 to February 2014. Records prior to August 2012 do not differentiate between total carcase and partial rejections therefore data earlier than this period would not provide a true reflection.

Breast Cancer

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with NHS England on the potential annual publication of a review of compliance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Breast Cancer quality standard. [192633]

Jane Ellison: Ministers have had no discussions with NHS England on the potential annual publication of a review of compliance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Breast Cancer quality standard.

Cancer

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the efficacy and quality of care of patients with cancer in (a) Harlow constituency, (b) Essex, (c) the East of England and (d) England; and if he will make a statement. [192247]

Jane Ellison: Results of the 2013 Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) were published by NHS England in a national report on 30 August 2013. The survey report reflects the responses of over 68,000 patients and provides an invaluable insight into cancer patients' experience of care, treatment and support.

For England as a whole, the survey results showed that cancer patients’ experience of care is improving, with 88% of patients reporting their care was either excellent or very good. Patients reported improved scores on 31 of 63 questions from the previous year—and this follows very significant improvement in scores in the 2012 survey over those achieved in 2010. It is clear that specialist cancer teams have been using the cancer patient experience survey to inform their quality planning activities, and that this work has borne fruit in many national health service trusts across England.

Trusts in and around London were some of the poorest performers in the 2010 survey, but some of them have improved significantly since then.

Princess Alexandra Harlow is ranked 131st of 155 trusts providing adult cancer care. Though it is clear there is much room for improvement, it should be noted that it has improved its position since 2010 and is moving in the right direction. It improved its scores

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from the previous year on a statistically significant basis on five questions in the 2013 survey and did not decline on any.

In Essex and East Anglia more widely, the CPES identified a pattern of improvement. Trusts that improved significantly between 2012 and 2013 in the area are:

Basildon/Thurrock (up on nine survey questions, down on 0);

East and North Herts (up on six, down on 0);

Southend (up on five, down on 0);

Ipswich (up on five, down on 0); and

Princess Alexandria Harlow (up on five, down on 0).

The only trusts in East Anglia that showed declining scores overall were:

Kings Lynn (down on three, up on one);

Mid Essex (down on three); and

Papworth (down on two).

However, Papworth was still ranked in the top 10 of all trusts in 2013.

To drive improvement in cancer patient experience, NHS England is working with high performing trusts in the CPES to identify best practice that can be shared and developed into toolkits and working with trusts with poorer scores to review how they use insights gained from the survey to develop service improvement plans.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of efficacy and quality of care for patients with cancer in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England. [192965]

Jane Ellison: Results of the 2013 Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) were published by NHS England in a national report on 30 August 2013. The survey report reflects the responses of over 68,000 patients and provides an invaluable insight into cancer patients' experience of care, treatment and support.

Yorkshire and the Humber region has some of the best performing hospitals in England in respect of cancer care, as rated in detail by their patients through the mechanism of the CPES 2010, 2012, and 2013.

The 2013 report shows that North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust is ranked 66^th out of 155 trusts providing adult cancer care. It has improved on a statistically significant basis on one question in the survey, and declined on none.

For England as a whole, the survey results showed that cancer patient's experience of care is improving, with 88% of patients reporting their care was either excellent or very good. Patients reported improved scores on 31 of 63 questions from the previous year—and this follows very significant improvement in scores in the 2012 survey over those achieved in 2010.

A copy of the survey report for North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust is available at:

www.quality-health.co.uk

alongside all other cancer reports.

Childbirth

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged over (a) 40 and (b) 50 gave birth in each of the last five years. [192461]

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

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

Letter from Glen Watson:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged over (a) 40 and (b) 50 gave birth in each of the last five years. [192461]

ONS is responsible for publishing statistics on the numbers of births registered in England and Wales. The latest year for which figures are available is 2012.

The table below provides the number of live births in England and Wales to mothers aged over 40 and over 50 for 2008-2012.

Detailed birth statistics by age of mother are published annually on the ONS website (see Characteristics of Mother 1, table 3) at:

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/characteristics-of-Mother-1--england-and-wales/index.html

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the process is for the merger of two or more clinical commissioning groups; what his role in that process is; what level of public consultation is required; and if he will make a statement. [192616]

Jane Ellison: NHS England is responsible for the establishment, authorisation and assurance of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Under section 14G of National Health Service Act 2006 (as inserted by the Health and Social Care Act 2012), two or more CCGs may apply to NHS England for those groups to be dissolved and another CCG to be established. The National Health Service (Clinical Commissioning Groups) Regulations 2012 set out the factors which NHS England must consider when considering an application under this procedure. The regulations require that an application to merge should be considered with regard to the same factors that were used for establishment. These include:

that the constitution meets the requirements of legislation and is otherwise appropriate;

that each of the members is (or will be on the date of the establishment of the new CCG) a provider of primary medical services;

that the area is appropriate (that is, that there are no overlapping CCGs and no gaps);

that the proposed Accountable Officer is appropriate;

that the CCG has made appropriate arrangements to ensure it is able to discharge its functions; and

that it has made arrangements to ensure that its governing body is correctly constituted and otherwise appropriate.

Further factors are set out in Schedule 1 to the regulations, and can be found at:

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1631/schedule/1/made

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Guidance on procedures for CCG constitution change, merger or dissolution was published in May 2013. The guidance sets out that NHS England will consider applications for CCG mergers once annually. Applications should come from all of the CCGs involved in the proposed merger, and should be submitted in writing to the relevant NHS England Regional Operations and Delivery Director for consideration by 1 June, to take effect from 1 April the following year.

When considering applications, NHS England will consider the extent to which the CCG has sought the views of patients and the public; what these views are; and how the CCG has taken them into account.

Cystic Fibrosis

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the report by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust entitled Hope for More: improving access to lung transplantation and care for people with cystic fibrosis, published on 10 March 2014, what assessment he has made of that report's conclusions as to geographical variations in the availability of lung transplants and the effect of these on the survival prospects of people with cystic fibrosis. [192503]

Jane Ellison: The current lung allocation system, including those to cystic fibrosis patients, is monitored closely to ensure there is equity for patients across the United Kingdom. The most recent analysis showed no statistically significant differences in allocation across the UK lung transplant centres. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) continues to consider practical steps within the current allocation system which could improve patient outcomes.

Lung allocation policy is developed by the Cardiothoracic Organs Advisory Group. It is presently reviewing the current approach focusing on equity and better outcomes for patients. Any recommendations to change allocation policy will be considered by NHSBT, who will check to ensure that they meet the aims of the allocation system and that they have the support of transplant stakeholders before making any changes.

Food: Testing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding (a) local authorities and (b) the Food Standards Agency had to carry out food sampling analyses in each of the last five years. [192407]

Jane Ellison: Sampling and surveillance are a priority for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and play a key role of the framework of regulatory controls to ensure that food is safe for consumers and complies with United Kingdom and European Union law.

Over the last five years the FSA has made additional funding available for local authorities to carry out food sampling as part of an annual national co-ordinated sampling programme (see the following table). This funding is over and above the funding allocated by local authorities themselves for analysis. This covers a wide range of issues including microbiological and chemical contaminants, misdescription and adulteration.

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The FSA has commissioned regular surveys of foods over the last five years to alert the FSA to potential food safety issues. These surveys can be found on the FSA website. The FSA also carries out a broad range of food sampling through its field officers, details of which are set out in the UK Multi Annual National Control Plan. The costs of these areas of sampling are not individually available, although specific sampling carried out on phenylbutazone in horse livers, following the horsemeat incidents, has cost the FSA £1,033,000 from January 2013 (when 100% testing started) to February 2014.

The FSA also received from the EU Commission a total of £48,500 in 2013 to cover the cost of the UK sample analysis as part EU-wide survey sampling of a range of beef products for horse DNA and phenylbutazone.

Local authorities receive funding through the Revenue Support Grant which they will use according to local priorities, including food sampling. Decisions on how to spend Revenue Support Grant funds are taken by individual local authorities. The FSA does not hold data on the financial allocation of funds for analysis by local authorities, only the volume and nature of the tests undertaken. Public Health England also provides an allocation to local authorities that funds the analysis of food safety (microbiological) testing.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 950W, on food: testing, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the decline in the number of food sampling tests being carried out over the last five years. [192409]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that there has been a declining trend in recent years in sampling levels by local authorities. This reflects local authorities' need to prioritise their activities. There has also been greater emphasis on co-ordinated sampling programmes and using intelligence to ensure better targeting. The FSA and Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are helping with this approach, giving additional funding support for complex investigations, training and for prioritised sampling in areas of agreed national importance. To further support local authority sampling activity the FSA increased the additional funding it provides to £2.2 million for 2013-14.

Consumer protection is the key priority for the FSA and local authorities. While it is for local authorities to decide on their priorities, the FSA monitors and audits local authority services to ensure appropriate resources are put into food safety and authenticity and intervenes with the local authority where this does not appear to be the case. Food enforcement data for all United Kingdom local authorities is published annually on the FSA website. Local authorities also oversee the testing of foods by businesses, which have a responsibility to ensure their products are compliant with legislation.