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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2013, Official Report, columns 80-1W, on Electoral Register, if his Department will use information gathered on the amount spent by local authorities on voter registration to inform policy on registration levels. [193857]

Greg Clark: The Government do not hold information on the amounts spent by local authorities on electoral registration.

Employment: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many disabled people were in paid work in Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years. [194258]

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

Letter from Joe Grice, dated March 2014:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many disabled people were in paid work in Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years. (194258)

The ONS compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of the number of disabled people in employment in Brigg and Goole constituency are not available due to small sample sizes.

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

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Older People

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate the Government have made of the likely change in the number of people in the UK who will be aged 90 years and over between 2012 and 2023. [194120]

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

Letter from Caron Walker, dated March 2014:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate

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the Government has made of the likely change in the number of people in the UK who will be aged 90 years and over between 2012 and 2023. [194120]

Estimates of future population are available as population projections. The most recent national population projections are based on mid-year population estimates for 2012 published in 2013. They project the number of persons aged 90 and over in the United Kingdom to increase by 311,000, from 513,000 in mid-2012 to 824,000 by mid 2023.

National population projections are not forecasts and do not attempt to predict the impact of future government policies, changing economic circumstances or the capacity of an area to accommodate a change in population. They provide an indication of the future size and age structure of the population if recent demographic trends continued.

Rents: Greater London

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will request that the Office for National Statistics publishes the evidential basis for the comment by the Minister for Housing of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 606, on changes in rents in London. [194170]

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

Letter from Joe Grice, dated March 2014:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office if the ONS will publish the evidential basis for the comment by the Minister for Housing of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 606, on changes in rents in London (194170).

ONS publishes the experimental Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP), which tracks the changes in the price charged for renting private housing. The IPHRP excludes properties rented by housing associations and local authorities, and any other forms of social housing. The IPHRP measures the change in the price of renting residential property from private landlords, thereby allowing a comparison between the prices tenants are charged in the current month compared with the same month in the previous year. The index does not measure the change in advertised rental prices.

The available information is provided in the table for the period January 2011 to December 2013.

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Communities and Local Government

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he will publish the Government’s response to the consultation on their commitment to implement zero carbon homes by 2016. [193636]

Stephen Williams: The Government are currently considering the responses to the consultation on “Next steps to zero carbon homes—Allowable Solutions” and will publish their response shortly.

Land: Contamination

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 476W, on land: contamination, what proportion of the revenue support grant arises from a calculation of the cost to local authorities of fulfilling their duties under part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. [193553]

Brandon Lewis: Revenue support grant is not ring-fenced. It is an unhypothecated block grant and it is therefore not possible to break it down for any particular category of funding. From April 2013, the new business rates retention scheme also allows local authorities to retain a portion of business rates collected.

Deputy Prime Minister

Constituencies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2012, Official Report, column 444W, on constituencies, what comparative assessment he has made of the accuracy of the (a) electoral register and (b) census. [193801]

Greg Clark: Using population figures derived from census data would not provide a better basis for a review of constituency boundaries than using the electoral register. The electoral register is updated annually, whereas the census takes place every ten years; in addition, census figures will include persons who are not eligible to register to vote, for example on grounds of citizenship or age.

Devolution and Decentralisation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister What recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues about the Government’s policy on devolution and decentralisation. [193672]

The Deputy Prime Minister: I meet regularly with ministerial colleagues to discuss this Government's policy of decentralising responsibility to the most appropriate levels.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 392W, on the electoral register if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidelines for the issuing of fixed penalty notices for non-registration. [193800]

Greg Clark: Guidance from the Electoral Commission on the use of civil penalties for failure to respond to a notice of requirement to register was published in September 2013.

I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 386W, on the electoral register, what is the (a) earliest and (b) latest age a person is allocated their national insurance number; and what the earliest date is that an attainer can be registered to vote. [193836]

Greg Clark: National insurance numbers are sent automatically when individuals reach the age of 15 years and 9 months. There is no upper age limit to apply for a national insurance number.

The law provides that an attainer will be included on the register if they will reach the age of 18 before the end of a 12-month period starting from the next 1 December after the application is made.

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Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, columns 509-10W, on the electoral register, with which national organisations his Department is working to encourage people to register to vote. [193837]

Greg Clark: Five national organisations have received funding as part of the Government's measures to maximise voter registration.

The Government are working with a number of other groups such as the British Youth Council and Operation Black Vote.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2013, Official Report, column 443W, on electoral register, what progress he has made with private sector credit reference agencies on ensuring the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register. [193919]

Greg Clark: The Government are using public data to confirm the vast majority of electors on the register when the transition to individual electoral registration takes place this year.

There are no plans to use private sector credit reference agency data.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 3 September 2012, Official Report, columns 93-4W, on electoral register: fraud, what assessment he has made of the reasons there have been no successful prosecutions for postal vote fraud since 2011. [193880]

Greg Clark: The Government have made no such assessment.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 19 June 2012, Official Report, columns 923-24W, on electoral register: fraud, how many successful prosecutions for electoral registration fraud there were in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014 to date. [194030]

Greg Clark: The Government do not collect this data.

Electoral Register: Northern Ireland

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 189W, on the electoral register: Northern Ireland, if he will discuss the lessons from the registration for schools programme in Northern Ireland with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. [193838]

Greg Clark: I have discussed the Northern Ireland schools initiative with the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan).

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Electoral Register: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 510W, on the electoral register: young people, how the £4.2 million funding to maximise the rate of voter registration ahead of the transition to individual electoral registration has been spent; and what measures are in place to monitor the effectiveness of this spending. [193839]

Greg Clark: Funding has been provided to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain, and five national organisations, to support the cost of activities for maximising registration as part of the transition to individual electoral registration.

Guidance has been made available to support them in evaluating the success of activity delivered through this funding. Government officials will continue to work closely with funding recipients to monitor and measure the outcomes.

Health

NHS: Working Hours

16. Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by the taskforce reviewing the effects of the Working Time Directive on the NHS. [903434]

Dr Poulter: There are significant clinical concerns about the effect that the European working time directive has on continuity of care for patients and the quality of training for doctors. Therefore we have set up an independent taskforce chaired by Norman Williams, president of the Royal College of Surgeons. The taskforce will report shortly.

NHS

19. David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to improve patient choice in the NHS. [903438]

Norman Lamb: We are committed to patients having greater choice and control over their health care. Today, we will bring parity to patient's choice of provider in mental and physical health, and in October this year, we will enable patients to register with GP practices out-of-area, and introduce legal rights to have personal health budgets.

General Practitioners: Rural Areas

22. Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will provide support for small rural GP surgeries additional to that provided through the new GP surgery funding formula. [903442]

Dr Poulter: The Department recognises that the withdrawal of the minimum practice income guarantee (MPIG) for general practices has raised concerns about the viability of some small practices. That is why we are taking the next seven years to implement the change to MPIG funding fully. Phasing the changes over this period will allow the minority of practices that lose funding to adjust gradually to the reduction in payments.

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NHS England area teams are working with the small number of practices which are particularly affected. They are considering whether different arrangements are needed to ensure there are appropriate primary medical services for local populations.

Abortion

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidence his Department has assessed on whether giving birth to a baby of a particular gender constitutes a greater risk to the mother’s physical or mental health than termination of the pregnancy; [193284]

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that the British Pregnancy Advisory Service is not undertaking abortions based on gender. [193312]

Jane Ellison: Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal. The 1967 Abortion Act states that two practitioners have to be

“of the opinion, formed in good faith”

that the woman has grounds for an abortion according to the criteria set out in that Act.

The Department has made this position clear to all providers, including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and will do so again in the forthcoming further guidance.

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Congleton of 25 February 2014, Official Report, column 156W, on sex-selective abortion, if he will ensure that the Government’s forthcoming guidance on compliance with the Abortion Act 1967 addresses the question of whether or not it is necessary for registered medical practitioners to see a woman in order to form an opinion in good faith that the continuance of the pregnancy would adversely affect her mental or physical health; and if he will make a statement. [193295]

Jane Ellison: The purpose of the guidance is to clarify for medical practitioners what is required of them when making a decision under the Abortion Act. This guidance is currently in development and will be published in due course.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impartiality of abortion counselling advice provided by Marie Stopes and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. [193314]

Jane Ellison: Guidance on the provision of non-judgmental counselling was included in the Government’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement published in March 2013.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortion notification HSA4 forms have been referred to (a) to the General Medical Council and (b) the police following scrutiny by his Department since 2006. [193618]

Jane Ellison: There have been no referrals to the General Medical Council nor to the police in relation to HSA4 forms submitted to the chief medical officer.

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Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Congleton of 20 March 2014, Official Report, column 722W, on abortion, on how many occasions departmental medical practitioners have requested further details from a patient's medical records via the doctor approving termination in each of the last five years for which records are available. [193683]

Jane Ellison: This information is not recorded.

Air Pollution: Death

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to particularate air pollution in each of the last five years. [194102]

Jane Ellison: In 2010, the Department of Health's expert advisory committee on the medical effects of air pollutants published an estimate of the mortality effect in 2008 of long-term exposure to particulate air pollution arising from human activities. The mortality burden for the United Kingdom was estimated as an effect equivalent to nearly 29,000 deaths.

Estimates of the fraction of mortality in English local authority areas in 2010 and 2011 attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution arising from human activities are published by Public Health England as one of the indicators in the Department's Public Health Outcomes Framework. For England as a whole, this figure is approximately 5.5%.

All-Party Groups

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups. [193559]

Dr Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 300W.

Ambulance Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will estimate the resource implications of requiring all ambulance trusts to meet category A eight-minute response time in all rural locations; [193611]

(2) what comparative assessment he has made of the performance of ambulance trusts serving predominantly (a) rural and (b) urban areas against the (i) eight-minute and (ii) 19-minute response time targets for category A patients; [193612]

(3) what plans he has to review ambulance response targets for category A and category C call-outs; [193613]

(4) if he will review the (a) response time targets and (b) resources available for ambulance trusts which serve largely or predominantly rural areas; [193614]

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(5) if he will make a comparative assessment of response (a) outcomes and (b) times for category A calls for ambulance trusts in (i) rural and (ii) urban locations. [193615]

Jane Ellison: No comparative assessment has been made of the performance of ambulance trusts serving predominantly (a) rural and (b) urban areas against the (i) eight-minute and (ii) 19-minute response time targets for category A patients because ambulance trusts are not confined to given areas and so can and do work across locations, including across urban and rural areas.

A comparative assessment of response (a) outcomes and (b) times for category A calls for ambulance trusts in (i) rural and (ii) urban locations will not be made because data on ambulance performance are collected at national and trust level and as a result do not distinguish between rural and urban areas. Previous ambulance response time standards based on rural and urban areas were discontinued in the early 2000s, partly due to definitional issues and inconsistency of response.

Work is currently being undertaken collaboratively between the Department and NHS England on how data can possibly be used differently to provide more insight into any variations in performance at a more in-depth level. However, it is important to recognise that ambulance performance data sit within a suite of data, including clinical outcome indicators, collected to provide a richer picture of the delivery of services to patients across the field of urgent and emergency care.

No estimate will be made of the resource implications of requiring all ambulance trusts to meet category A eight-minute response time in all rural locations. Each ambulance trust is required to plan to provide appropriate resources to meet local demand. How a trust organises itself operationally to take into account its particular geography and any related challenges is its responsibility.

NHS England has, however, done an assessment on the resources available for ambulance trusts which serve rural areas. This assessment shows ambulance services use advanced technology to accurately predict where demand is most likely to come from, given past call history. They then station vehicles accordingly. Ambulance trusts also include the incorporation of first responder and co-responder schemes based out in the community to ensure skilled help reaches patients as quickly as

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possible. Longer term, local ambulance trusts are working closely with their local health economies to find innovative ways of managing demand, including more use of telephone triage and appropriate referral to suitable local health providers where that is clinically appropriate.

Ambulance trusts constantly review their operational deployment regimes to attempt to maximise response times to rural areas. NHS England expects ambulance trusts to deal with all emergency calls on the appropriate basis, no matter whether they are from a rural or urban locality.

As commissioners of ambulance services, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) supported by area teams must work with ambulance trusts directly to address any concerns they may have about performance standards generally and delivery of services to patients. The Department expects CCGs to ensure that the appropriate services are provided to their populations, in both urban and rural areas.

NHS England is currently undertaking a review of urgent and emergency care, which is considering the way the system delivers services, including ambulance services. As part of the review, NHS England is working closely with the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives to see what can be done to improve ambulance performance, including performance in rural areas.

NHS England is focusing on whole system change to the delivery of urgent and emergency care, including new models of care for ambulance services; as a result the clinical and performance standards which underpin this new offer from the ambulance service may be very different to those of the present. Therefore, it does not make sense to make piecemeal changes to the current performance standards before we know the outcome of NHS England's review.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the response outcomes were for each ambulance trust for category B calls in each of the 10 years for which records are available up to 2011. [193685]

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table, but is not directly comparable between years.

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Cancer

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in implementing (a) the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative recommendations and (b) the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative recommendation that services to treat complex problems arising from cancer treatment be commissioned on a national basis; and what assessment he has made of complex problems arising from bone marrow transplant in the context of such treatments. [193649]

Jane Ellison: NHS England is supporting a two-year programme of work in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support to develop and implement evidence- based findings from the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative. There are four agreed priorities:

implementation of the four components of the Recovery Package;

promoting the benefits of physical activity as part of treatment and follow-up care;

implementation of risk stratified pathways supported by evidence- based surveillance; and

improved knowledge and management of consequences of treatment.

Improvement in knowledge of the late effects of cancer treatment, including haematological cancers, to inform commissioning of services is one of four priority work areas for the next two years. There are already examples of services being commissioned directly by NHS England to meet complex and rare late effects of cancer treatment. If the emerging evidence indicates the need for additional services which fulfil the criteria for NHS England prescribed services, then this would be the advice provided by the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative to the NHS England Board.

Colorectal Cancer

Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were eligible for and participated in the bowel cancer screening programme in (a) England, (b) each of the five regional programme hubs and (c) each of the 59 regional screening centres in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12, and (iv) 2012-13. [194093]

Jane Ellison: The requested information has been provided in the following table.

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