Youth Custody

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of transporting children from London and the South East to secure children's homes elsewhere in the country in each of the last three years. [191089]

Jeremy Wright: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for placing young people remanded or sentenced to custody in accordance with individual needs. The YJB recently announced that, reflecting the continued falls in the number of young people in custody, from April 2014 it would be reducing the number of beds it purchases in the Secure Children's Home sector.

As the YJB is not invoiced for escorts to secure children's homes on a regional basis, the YJB does not hold data on the costs of escorts for young people from London and the South East being transported to secure children's homes in other regions. Invoice information also does not separate out the costs of escorts to secure children's homes and secure training centres which are delivered under the same contract. Although the YJB does hold data on where young people have been collected from, and transported to, this information is not routinely collated and to calculate the cost of individual journeys to secure children's homes could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much capital investment there was in each secure estate establishment closed since May 2010 in the 12 months prior to the public announcement of the closure of that establishment; and what items were purchased at a cost in excess of £100,000 at each such establishment. [194308]

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not readily accessible. I will write to the right hon. Member when it is available.

Work and Pensions

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2014, Official Report, column 162W, on employment and support allowance, when his Department expects to publish data on mandatory reconsiderations of employment and support allowance. [194425]

Mike Penning: While data are being collected, they are not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.

The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that they satisfy the relevant standards. I will not publish these data until they are in a robust state to share.

Employment: Learning Disability

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people registered with a learning disability were in (a) part-time and (b) full-time employment in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012 and (v) 2013. [193309]

Mike Penning: The information requested is within the table.

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Incapacity Benefit

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2013, Official Report, column 419W, on employment and support allowance, whether his Department expects to complete the incapacity benefit reassessment process in April 2014. [194546]

Mike Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 56-57WS.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140327/wmstext/140327m0002.htm# 14032769000011

Occupational Pensions

Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether people aged 55 years old and over enrolled in hybrid pension schemes will acquire the same right to access pension pots conferred upon those in defined contribution schemes; and if he will make a statement; [194180]

(2) what plans he has to provide that persons aged 55 years old and over enrolled in hybrid pension schemes will acquire the same rights to access pension pots accrued from additional voluntary contribution payments as holders of defined contribution pensions. [194181]

Mr Gauke: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.

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The Treasury is currently running a consultation, “Freedom of Choice in Pensions”, where it is considering how the new flexibilities should apply in the case of hybrid schemes.

Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the total value of funds held by pension providers on behalf of individuals who contracted out of the state earnings-related pension; and what arrangements will need to be made to allow people aged 55 years old and over to access such funds. [194182]

Mr Gauke: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.

People who contracted out of the additional state pension will either have been in a defined benefit pension scheme between 1978 and the present day, or in a defined contribution scheme between 1988 and 2012.

The greater flexibility and choice in pensions announced at the Budget will be available to those with defined contribution pensions, including those who have been contracted out.

Those with public sector defined benefit pension wealth will not be able to benefit from increased flexibility. This is because the majority of public sector defined benefit schemes are unfunded and the costs of any large-scale transfers out of the schemes would probably have to be funded by higher contributions from members or through general taxation. The Government do not believe this would be fair.

In principle, the Government would like to find a way to extend the flexibility to members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes. However, this decision is finely balanced and the Government intend to proceed with caution. We are currently consulting on this.

The Government estimate that private sector defined benefit schemes hold around £1.1 trillion of assets, which they invest with the objective of generating a return to meet their obligation to scheme members.

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the performance of Atos in carrying out medical assessments for personal independence payments; and if he will review this contract following the recent announcement on the employment and support allowance work capability assessment contract. [193373]

Mike Penning: The Department's contracts with Atos Healthcare and Capita for the delivery of assessments for personal independence payment include a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department's expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. We are closely monitoring their progress against these and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.

In particular, for both providers, the end-to-end process for many claimants is taking significantly longer than originally anticipated. We are working with the providers

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to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience.

The contracts include a range of remedies which allow the Department to take action on minor as well as more significant poor performance and ultimately the Department has the right to terminate the contract if there is sustained underperformance.

The contracts for personal independence payment assessments are entirely separate to the contract Atos Healthcare has for the delivery of assessments for employment and support allowance and other benefits.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 318W, on Personal Independence Payment, what discussions he has had with providers about personal independence payment claim processing times. [194292]

Mike Penning: Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. We are closely monitoring their progress against the Department's expectations for service delivery, including claim processing times and are taking robust action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.

While, in line with other benefits, there are no statutory time limits on processing claims for PIP, we are working closely with our service providers to minimise the length of time claimants have to wait for assessments. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 318W, on Personal Independence Payment, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of personal independence payment claim processing times. [194293]

Mike Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. There are no time limits or targets on processing times for claims for PIP.

We recognise the new processes are taking longer than expected and we are taking robust action to improve these, including working closely with the providers to ensure performance expectations.

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what service level agreements his Department has with companies contracted to carry out the assessment process for the personal independence payment. [194367]

Mike Penning: The personal independence payment service level agreements are published and available to view in Deposited Papers (House of Commons), deposited on 28 January 2013-Deposit Reference DEP2013-0322. The service level agreements are set out in annex 7.

This information can be accessed from the link:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?max=100&y=2013&search_term=

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Department+for+Work+and+Pensions&itemId =119004&sort=1&sortasc=False#toggle-322

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average waiting time is for applicants for personal independence payment in each region of the UK to be assessed by (a) Capita Health and Wellbeing and (b) Atos Healthcare in each region. [194368]

Mike Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) started from April 2013 and, although limited data have started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on PIP from spring 2014, in line with our publication strategy:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284330/pip_stats_release_strategy_feb14.pdf

An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on 11 February 2014.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10. [194232]

Mike Penning: I will place a copy of the document (PQ 14 194232 Top 20 and Bottom 20 Contracts 2009-2014) in the Library.

Remploy

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer 6 March 2014, Official Report, columns 971-72W, on Remploy, which businesses were sold; and whether profit from such sales has been passed back to HM Treasury. [194184]

Mike Penning: The automotive, filters, health care, e-cycle and CCTV managed services were the five businesses that were sold as part of Remploy's commercial process.

The overall cost of the exit of the factory businesses included profits from the sales of the businesses with total costs estimated to be below budget.

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research has been undertaken on the prospects of former Remploy factory workers who were made redundant in (a) 2007-08 and (b) phases 1 and 2 of the 2012-13 factory closures. [194186]

Mike Penning: The Department is not able to assess the prospects of former Remploy factory workers made redundant as part of the 2008 modernisation plan as this plan, agreed by the previous Government, did not include tracking processes.

Before implementing the Sayce recommendations, the Government considered the lessons from implementation of the modernisation plan changes. This is why we introduced the £8 million guaranteed

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People Help and Support Package (PHSP), providing help for up to 18 months to disabled former Remploy workers and why we are is tracking the support that this is providing. As at 21 March 2014, 1,513 disabled former Remploy workers are choosing to work with our personal case workers to find another job and 716 are in work.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which companies have entered into contracts to deliver community work placements in each region and country of the UK. [194506]

Esther McVey: The procurement exercise is still in progress. As a consequence, at this stage the information requested is not yet available and therefore cannot be disclosed.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Argentina

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what bilateral funding arrangements his Department has with (a) governmental and (b) non-governmental projects and bodies in Argentina. [194079]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA does not have any funding arrangements with either governmental or non-governmental projects or bodies in Argentina.

Drinking Water: Chlorine

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what his policy is on the use of chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water; and if he will make a statement; [194339]

(2) which water companies operating in the UK use alternatives to chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water; [194340]

(3) what plans he has to encourage the use of alternatives to chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water; and if he will make a statement. [194341]

Dan Rogerson: By law, water companies are required to supply safe drinking water at the tap. Companies are free to choose the technology they use to treat water and in doing so are required to ensure it is correctly designed, operated and maintained. Increasingly a combination of filtration and ultra violet light is used by companies in England and Wales as an alternative to chlorine.

Trade Unions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision. [194039]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA is currently reviewing the provision of check-off for trade union subscriptions.

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Electoral Commission Committee

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2014, Official Report, columns 654-5, on electoral register, if the Electoral Commission will publish the results of all research it has conducted into the size of the electorate. [193378]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it publishes all of its completed research on electoral registration on its website, here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/electoral-registration-research

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 655W, on electoral register, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the reasons for the increase between December 2000 and April 2011 in the proportion of eligible people not registered at their current address. [193404]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has set out its analysis of the key reasons for the decline in levels of registration in this period in two reports—‘The completeness and accuracy of electoral registers in Great Britain’ and 'Great Britain's electoral registers'.

Both reports can be found here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/electoral-registration-research

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-3W, on the Electoral Register: fraud, if the Electoral Commission will make an assessment of (a) the effect of the views of politicians and (b) statements by the Electoral Commission on public perception of electoral registration. [193832]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not have any current plans to carry out research to make such an assessment.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, columns 455-6W, on the Electoral Register, for what reasons the electoral commission has no plans to undertake a direct assessment of registration rates in specific university towns and cities. [193834]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it will undertake analysis of the impact of the transition to IER for all local authorities, which will include all university towns and cities, throughout the transition period. This will include publishing data by local authority, and in some cases by electoral ward, at several points during the transition period.

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Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, columns 455-6W, on the Electoral Register, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Electoral Commission's review of public engagement strategies. [193835]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its report, titled 'Readiness for the transition to Individual Electoral Registration' was published on 31 March with a copy placed in the House Library. The Commission's report includes the conclusions of its assessment of all electoral registration officers' (EROs') public engagement strategies, which found that all EROs have the right plans in place to identify the challenges for their particular local area and what mechanisms they will use to engage with residents to maximise registration. The Commission has also written to the hon. Member with a copy of its report.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-3W, on the Electoral Register: fraud, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of concern about electoral fraud in the UK and other EU countries. [193833]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it regularly monitors comparative international research on electoral matters. Comparing the UK with other countries around the world, Gallup polls place the UK in the top third of countries in terms of confidence in the honesty of the electoral process.

The most recently available Gallup data from 2007-08 showed that 40% of UK respondents said they did not have confidence in the honesty of elections in the UK. This was slightly lower than the findings from Germany (44%) and Italy (43%), but significantly higher than those from Denmark (5%), Finland (8%) and Sweden (8%).

Full findings are at the following link:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/111691/Worldwide-Views-Diverge-About-Honesty-Elections.aspx

Electronic Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what research the Electoral Commission has commissioned into online voting. [193288]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it carried out and published extensive public opinion research and technical analysis to support its statutory evaluation of online voting pilot schemes between 2002 and 2007.

The Commission has also included questions relating to online voting in its public opinion research. Most recently, the Commission's 2013 winter tracker public opinion survey found that among those not ‘very confident' that elections in Great Britain/Northern Ireland are

3 Apr 2014 : Column 768W

well run, just over half (51%) think that making it possible to vote online would increase their confidence ‘a lot' or ‘a little'.

The full winter tracker survey results can be found here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/public-opinion-surveys

The Commission will draw on this research and any other relevant evidence as it develops a strategy for modernising elections to further build on the advances that are already planned, such as the new online registration system that will be launched in the summer, and as set out in the Commission Chair's recent speech on this issue, which can be found on its website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-views/letters-and-speeches

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the introduction of online voting in (a) Australia and (b) South Africa and its relevance to the UK. [193289]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it monitors developments in voting technology in other countries, including the limited online voting pilot schemes which have so far taken place at an individual state level in Australia. South African overseas voters can go online to register to vote, but cannot actually vote online.

The Commission will continue to take account of relevant experience from other comparable democracies as it develops a strategy for modernising voting at elections in the UK.

Treasury

Carbon Emissions

Dr Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the HM Revenue and Customs computable general equilibrium model used to assess the effect on GDP of illustrative policies to meet targets in the fourth carbon budget includes (a) avoided costs of flooding and damage caused by flooding as a result of climate change, (b) a carbon price, (c) avoided costs of air pollution and (d) macroeconomic effects of an increased take up of domestic and commercial energy efficiency. [194139]

Nicky Morgan: The scope of the analysis carried out by HM Revenue and Customs for DECC was to estimate the macroeconomic impact of the fourth carbon budget policies. The modelling therefore captured the macroeconomic effects of improvements in energy efficiency among households and businesses. It did not include the potential economic effects of any resulting reduction in environmental externalities, such as the avoided costs of flooding and avoided costs of air pollution as a result of the policies.

The impact of the fourth carbon budget policies on the carbon price in the EU Emissions Trading System was taken into account in the modelling.

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Economic Situation

Mr Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the role played by the inequality of (a) wealth and (b) income in the 2007 financial crisis. [189202]

Nicky Morgan: The UK economy was hit by the most damaging financial crisis in generations, after a decade of growth built on unsustainable levels of debt.

In the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis, UK disposable income inequality remained fairly flat. Since the financial crisis, UK income inequality has fallen to its lowest level since 1986. Robust data on wealth inequality over this same time period are not available. The causes of the financial crisis are complex, and the relationship between the crisis and trends in income and wealth inequality is unclear. The Government have not made an assessment of any role played by income and wealth inequality in the 2007 financial crisis.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue likely to accrue to the Exchequer from the sale of EU Emissions Trading Scheme allowances in each year to 2021. [194278] [194278]

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Nicky Morgan: The Office for Budget Responsibility published its forecast of total EU ETS auction accruals at Budget 2014, in table 4.5 of the Economic and Fiscal Outlook. No forecast is available beyond 2018-19.

Import Duties: USA

John Healey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list by sector the amount of revenue received by the Exchequer as a result of tariffs on US imports in each of the last five years. [192182]

Mr Gauke: The table contains details of the total revenue collected on goods imported to the UK from the US since 2011. Customs duty is collected by HMRC on behalf of the EU; the Exchequer retains 25% of the customs duty. The figures shown below reflect the amount retained by the Exchequer.

Data on imported goods are held for a maximum of four years by HMRC. The table therefore shows the available ‘complete years' data held on imported goods.

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Income Tax: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Brigg and Goole constituency pay income tax at (a) 20 per cent, (b) 40 per cent and (c) 45 per cent. [194485]

Mr Gauke: Estimates of the number of taxpayers at each income tax rate band are published in HMRCs National Statistics which are available on the internet.

The figures at UK level are published in table 2.1 at the following address.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-1.pdf

Breakdowns by country and region are published in table 2.2 at the following address with Yorkshire and the Humber shown on page 2.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-2.pdf

Projected estimates at parliamentary constituency level would not be reliable or statistically robust.

Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the planned changes to pensions on the operating budget of (a) the Money Advice Service and (b) the Pensions Advisory Service. [193945]

Mr Gauke: The Government are currently consulting on how best to deliver the ‘at retirement guidance guarantee' announced at Budget through its consultation 'Freedom and Choice in Pensions'.

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The Government have been clear that the onus to provide at retirement guidance will be on pension providers and has made a £20 million development fund available to get the initiative up and running.

The budgets of the Money Advice Service (MAS) and Pensions Advisory Service (tPAS) are based on annual forecast of consumer need and demand for advice.

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his Department's analysis of the potential risk to (a) the economy and (b) the prospects for long-term investment arising from the changes to the taxation regime for pensions. [194248]

Mr Gauke: The Government published a consultation, “Freedom of Choice in Pensions” alongside Budget 2014, where it is considering how the planned changes could potentially impact on investment in the wider economy.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10. [194230]

Nicky Morgan: Under this Government's transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

State Retirement Pensions

Mark Reckless: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to pensions on the level of net migration and the number of over-55s who may emigrate; and what analysis his Department has made of the effect of this policy on the likelihood of meeting the target of reducing net migration to under 100,000 by 2015. [193322]

Nicky Morgan: The Government have not made any assessment of the effect of changes to pensions on migration levels.

Tax Avoidance

Mike Freer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government's response to the consultation Tackling marketed tax avoidance will be published. [194401]

Mr Gauke: The Government's response was published on 27 March 2014:

www.gov.uk

Trade Unions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision. [194048]

Nicky Morgan: HM Treasury regularly reviews all HR policies.

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Communities and Local Government

All Party Groups

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his Department's policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups. [193383]

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, on 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 300W.

Bellwin Scheme

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of local authorities which registered for emergency financial assistance under the Bellwin Scheme as a result of recent flooding have received payment within 15 working days. [193630]

Brandon Lewis [holding answer 31 March 2014]: Bellwin provides emergency financial assistance to local authorities to help them meet uninsurable costs they incur when responding to a major emergency in their area. The level of funding over time is casually linked to the scale of flooding or other emergency. It operates by local authorities retrospectively claiming spending back.

As at 27 March 2014, only five local authorities have submitted Bellwin claims in respect of the recent flooding. One of these claims was paid within 15 days. The other four claims have only been received in the last few days and should also be paid within 15 days. Local authorities have until the end of June 2014 to apply.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the likely effect of the Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2014 on the amount of Community Infrastructure Levy collected. [193888]

Nick Boles: Over the next 10 years it is estimated that the average annual Community Infrastructure Levy revenues could be in excess of £450 million. This is based on forecasts of the latest household projections and that adoption rates of the levy will steadily increase over the next few years, leading to a rise in overall levy revenues. We now have 30 charging schedules in place and anticipate a further 10 to be adopted by early June 2014.

Fire Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in local government spending on the effectiveness of fire brigades. [193997]

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Brandon Lewis [holding answer 31 March 2014]:Fire and rescue authorities are best placed to assess and manage their services and do this through integrated risk management planning. Fire and rescue authorities now attend 46% fewer incidents than 10 years ago and they allocate their resources according to local risk.

There is still scope for fire and rescue authorities to make sensible savings, eg through reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement, shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management; sharing of senior staff, locally led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.

In his independent review, Sir Ken Knight concluded that fire and rescue authorities need to transform themselves to reflect the entirely different era of risk and demand they now operate in.

Fire Services: Floods

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the role of firefighters in responding to the recent floods. [194056]

Brandon Lewis [holding answer 31 March 2014]: More than 1,000 firefighters from across the country assisted with the flood response over December, January and February. We are extremely grateful for the work that they did to reduce water levels and help communities deal with the flooding.

Fire Services: Pensions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to change the contribution rates to the Firefighters Pension Scheme. [194054]

Brandon Lewis [holding answer 31 March 2014]:The Government response to the consultation on employee contribution rates to apply in the Firefighters' Pension Schemes from 1 April 2014 was published on 6 March alongside the amending regulations. The Government response can be found at

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/firefighters-pension-scheme-1992-and-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-2006

Fire Services: Retirement

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the current recommended age of retirement for firefighters. [194055]

Brandon Lewis [holding answer 31 March 2014]:An independent review for the Firefighters' Pension Committee in 2013 found that, under current practices, firefighters would be operationally fit at age 60 if they maintain a physically active and healthy lifestyle, One in three members of a firefighters' pension scheme is in the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2006, which already has a Normal Pension Age of 60. The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 set the Normal Pension Age for the reformed

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firefighters' pension scheme to be age 60 from 2015, in line with the recommendation from Lord Hutton's independent report.

A firefighter with a full career earning £29,000 will be able to retire at age 60 with a pension of £19,000 per annum. Firefighters will be able to retire before the scheme's Normal Pension Age with an actuarial reduction.

Homes and Communities Agency

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on devolution of Homes and Communities Agency assets to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships. [190614]

Kris Hopkins: In disposing of its assets the Homes and Communities Agency is guided by value for money principles; disposals are expected to be at market value for land and other assets in order to protect public investment. The Homes and Communities Agency are open to considering proposals for joint working that will promote development, economic activity and growth.

These assets were bought by the national taxpayer and therefore the receipts are deployed nationally. Receipts are reinvested to help finance other Government housing and regeneration programmes, as well as fund a range of historic legal commitments and liabilities on land inherited by the Homes and Communities Agency from other bodies (including the liabilities left by the former Regional Development Agencies).

I would add that neither combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships have responsibility for housing; we should avoid 'function creep' which would dilute their focus and/or centralise and take power away from local councils (both as local housing authorities and as local planning authorities).

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent assessment is of the success of the zero carbon homes policy; and if he will make a statement. [193886]

Stephen Williams: Budget 2014 reaffirmed the Government's commitment to implement zero carbon homes from 2016. In Growth Review 2011 we set out a fair, practical and cost-effective approach to zero carbon homes. This made house builders responsible for abating the carbon from energy use from systems which they can control—heating and hot water systems and building services—not the energy use from appliances which they cannot be expected to control. We are taking forward the zero carbon homes policy through a staged approach of steadily strengthening the energy performance requirements in the building regulations and through the introduction of cost-effective options for off-site carbon reductions—‘Allowable Solutions'. Under this Government the energy performance requirements for new homes, the latest of which come into force on 6 April 2014, have been strengthened by around 30% from the previous 2006 standard saving house holder's fuel bills and cutting carbon emissions.

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Housing: Fires

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many deaths in fires in domestic properties in England there were in each year since 1999. [193770]

Brandon Lewis: The number of fatal casualties from fires in domestic properties in England has reduced by 42% from 1998-99 to 2012-13. The data for each year are provided in the following table.

The Government remain committed to ensuring the fire safety of people in their own homes. The Department's long-running fire safety campaign—established in 1988 and re-branded as Fire Kills in 1999—is delivered in partnership with fire and rescue authorities across England. The award-winning campaign promotes a range of fire safety messages, primarily around the importance of working smoke alarms, to help drive down the number of fires and associated casualties.

Local Government: Pensions

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the need for local authority pension schemes to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decision-making. [193479]

Brandon Lewis: These issues are matters for individual local authorities that administer pension funds to consider when deciding upon their investment strategies. Each administering authority is required to publish a statement of principles, which should address such issues. Statutory guidance states that the authority must report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of their policies.

Notwithstanding, local authorities need to focus on delivering a good rate of return for their fund and value for taxpayers, given local government pensions cost taxpayers (via employer contributions) almost £6 billion a year.

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to

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become active owners or stewards of their assets as defined in the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code; [193481]

(2) what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become signatories to the Stewardship Code. [193480]

Brandon Lewis: Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code and ensure that the code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. 16 of the 89 local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.

Parish Councils

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress he has made on measures to allow town and parish councils to send agendas electronically. [193805]

Brandon Lewis: Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires local authorities (both principal and parish councils) to send summonses to attend meetings by post. Reflecting the take-up of digital communications, Ministers are minded to issue an Order under Section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 to facilitate this being done electronically; although we do believe that councillors should continue to have a right to receive communications in hard copy by post should they wish, and that this should be reflected in any legislative change.

We will be undertaking an informal sounding shortly on the wording of any draft Order with key partners, including the Local Government Association and the National Association of Local Councils.

Planning

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to support local planning authorities in (a) improving the viability of brownfield sites and (b) restarting stalled developments. [185957]

Nick Boles: The information is as follows:

Kick-starting stalled developments

This Government has introduced a series of measures to support stalled house building. These include:

The Get Britain Building investment fund, providing over £500 million of finance which has so far helped start 11,893 new homes on stalled sites (as of February 2014).

The Growing Places Fund is providing £770 million to deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock stalled schemes that will promote economic growth, create jobs and build homes. The fund has been fully allocated to local enterprise partnerships and the devolved Administrations to fund local projects.

The £474 million local infrastructure fund investment fund is supporting the delivery of upfront infrastructure for locally-supported, large scale housing sites and commercial development; it also

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provides capacity funding and brokerage support to local authorities to help them progress major schemes through the planning process. Nearly 80,000 homes have been unlocked on 15 different sites. A further 13 schemes are currently being assessed for investment, which we believe have the potential to deliver nearly 40,000 homes.

The autumn statement committed an additional £1 billion of local infrastructure fund funding to unlock locally-led housing schemes capable of delivering up to a further 250,000 new homes, and a second round prospectus will be published in due course.

The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 enables developers with any Section 106 agreement to apply for a review of the affordable housing component to ensure development is not being made unviable by unrealistic requirements. Such unviable Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: a sensible review can result in more housing and more affordable housing.

As the housing market has improved, we have ended the temporary measure (introduced by the last Administration) which allowed developers to roll forward their planning permissions; this ending of the measure will increase the incentive for developers to start on site before permission expires.

We are also seeking to tackle the inappropriate use of planning conditions and speed up the process of gaining non-planning consents.

The Budget announced a £525 million builders' finance fund to assist small and medium-sized developers to access finance to support the delivery of housing schemes of between 15 and 250 units, helping kick-start stalled sites and deliver around 15,000 units over four years.

Supporting development on brownfield land

Freeing up brownfield land for regeneration and development is a key priority for my Department. Our actions include:

We have amended planning regulations to make it easier to change the use of an existing building from commercial to residential use, retail to residential use and agricultural to residential use. Permitted development rights have been expanded, including for flats above shops and allowing for new temporary uses. The Budget announced our intention to further extend these flexibilities.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning should encourage the effective use of land by re-using brownfield land provided that it is not of high environmental value, and that local councils can set locally appropriate targets for using brownfield land. We have also amended planning practice guidance to stress the importance of bringing brownfield land into use.

We have abolished the last Government's Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes and instead we have focused on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use. We are investing £160 million specifically to bring empty homes back into use. The New Homes Bonus rewards long-term empty homes being brought back into use and we have given councils the flexibility to remove tax subsidies given to empty homes, and use the money to keep the overall rate of council tax down. The number of empty homes in England has fallen to its lowest rate ever according to the Empty Homes Agency.

My Department has been supporting the Olympic legacy, driving renewal and regeneration in east London, replacing over 740 acres of polluted, low-grade industrial land and premises with new sports and community facilities, parks, homes, shops and transport infrastructure.

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We are working with the Mayor of London to unlock the construction of 11,000 new homes at Barking Riverside, and extend transport infrastructure.

A new garden city will be delivered on brownfield land in Ebbsfleet, supported by an Urban Development Corporation and up to £200 million of public investment. The last Administration pledged in its 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan to regenerate Ebbsfleet but failed to deliver.

The new Right to Contest builds on our existing Community Right to Reclaim Land, which lets communities ask that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies is brought back into beneficial use. This new right applies to sites currently in use, but are not vital for operations. It gives businesses and members of the public an opportunity to challenge government on the best use of its estate.

We have a comprehensive programme to sell surplus public sector land and property, freeing up taxpayers' money and providing land for new homes. As at the end of December we had released surplus government-owned land with capacity for 68,000 homes to be built. We have strengthened the role of the Homes and Communities Agency through a targeted programme of transfers from other Government Departments and agencies. In addition, to ensure land is released efficiently, the Homes and Communities Agency will be Government's land disposal agency. This builds on the Homes and Communities Agency's expertise and experience of complex land remediation and disposals as well as their close relationships with local planning authorities.

Through the Strategic Land and Property Review we have identified scope to generate £5 billion of receipts from government land and property between 2015 and 2020. This will put land and property into the hands of those who can exploit them for commercial purposes—creating opportunities for housing and economic development.

Changes to Community Infrastructure Levy rules now provide an increased incentive for brownfield development, and extended exemptions for empty buildings being brought back into use. We have recently published a consultation paper to lift Section 106 burdens on vacant buildings being returned to use.

The Budget announced an Estate Regeneration fund which will provide £150 million to help kick start and accelerate the regeneration of housing estates.

I hope this outlines the decisive action that this Government are taking.

Planning Permission: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful planning appeals have been made against (i) Stockport metropolitan borough council and (ii) Tameside metropolitan borough council in each year since 2010. [192143]

Nick Boles: Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.

The table shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.

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While the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the absolute number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.

Planning Permission: Staffordshire

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning appeals resulted in local authority decisions being overturned by the planning inspector in South Staffordshire in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013. [192251]

Nick Boles: Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.

The following table shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year for South Staffordshire district council. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.

While the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken to ensure that the legal costs accrued over the closure of the traveller site in Fylde are recovered from the travellers. [193259]

Brandon Lewis: The High Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Secretary of State to dismiss the planning appeal and uphold the enforcement notice in relation to an unauthorised traveller site at Fairfield Road, Hardhorn.

My Department seeks to recover the costs of litigation from the other parties where this is appropriate, and I can confirm that we will be seeking to do so in this case.

Fylde borough council may also seek to do the same through due legal process; however, this is a matter for the council rather than my Department.

Working Hours

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of employees in his Department of each (a) civil service pay grade and (b) gender work (i) reduced hours, (ii) flexi-time, (iii) from home, (iv) a compressed working week, (v) job share, (vi) term-time only and (vii) part-time. [193958]

Brandon Lewis: The proportion of Department staff currently working reduced hours by civil service pay grade is as follows:

The proportion of Department staff currently working reduced hours by gender is as follows:

With regard to flexi-time, the Department operates a flexible working hours system of attendance under which managers may agree that staff work flexibly within certain set hours. This policy applies to all non-senior civil service staff at all office locations and is subject to operational need.

The Department does not hold a central record of staff working from home, a compressed working week, job share, and term-time only. These arrangements are agreed between managers and staff and may reflect very

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short-term arrangements as well as those of a more enduring nature. As home working and compressed hours arrangements do not impact on pay or employment terms these arrangements are not recorded on the Department's central HR system. Where job share and term-time arrangements have an impact on pay or employment terms and conditions these staff are recorded as part-time on the Department's central HR system.

The Department's definition of part-time working is the same as reduced hours and so the above proportions still apply.

Education

Ad-Deen School Ilford

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what reports he has received about teaching standards and education at Ad-Deen Primary School, Ilford; and if he will make a statement. [194388]

Mr Laws: The last report received by the Secretary of State for Education relating to teaching standards and education at Ad-Deen Primary School was from Ofsted following their inspection of the school on 19-20 January 2011. This judged the school to be satisfactory for curriculum, teaching and assessment.

Cancer: Health Education

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will make cancer awareness education a statutory requirement in schools; [194325]

(2) what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of cancer awareness education in schools. [194491]

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David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will include cancer awareness education as part of the national curriculum in personal, social and health education. [194537]

Elizabeth Truss: Cancer awareness is important for all young people. However, I do not believe that there should be a statutory requirement for it to be taught in schools. The Government aim to reduce prescription throughout the education system, and trusts schools to provide what is best for their students. The Department for Education does not collect data on this topic.

Schools are free to teach cancer awareness when it is relevant to the national curriculum. For example, the science curriculum requires pupils to learn about the effects of drugs on their bodies, and the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle is included in the requirements for physical education. In design and technology, schools may highlight the importance of nutrition and a healthy diet. Schools may include cancer awareness as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, using suitable resources from relevant organisations. The PSHE Association has produced a suggested programme of study as guidance for teachers, and continues to highlight other sources of expertise.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many serious case reviews have been (a) commissioned and (b) published since June 2010. [194098]

Mr Timpson: 302 serious case reviews (SCRs) have been commissioned by local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) and notified to the Department for Education since June 2010. 114 have been published.

136 SCRs are currently in progress. 30 SCRs have been notified as not for publication due to compelling reasons related to the welfare of the children directly related to these cases.

22 SCRs have been completed and have not yet been published due to outstanding police investigations, criminal proceedings and welfare issues.

We have set up a national panel of independent experts who will advise and challenge LSCBs on any case where an LSCB has concerns about the publication of an SCR report and/or intends not to publish an SCR report.

¹ Overview reports only. These figures do not include executive summaries published during this period.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress has been made on implementing the early help recommendation of the Munro Review. [194392]

Mr Timpson: In respect of Professor Munro's recommendation on introducing a duty to secure provision of early help services, the Government have concluded there is sufficient legislation in place to deliver early help services to children and families. The Department for Education will continue to work with sector partners to reinforce existing legislation and understand how early help offers in local areas can be improved.

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Curriculum

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what requirements there are for academies and free schools to publish their curriculum for prospective parents; and what form that must take. [194157]

Mr Timpson: Academy trusts that have a funding agreement published pre-July 2010 are required to publish an annual prospectus, which includes details of the curriculum offered. Since July 2011, the funding agreement with each academy or free school has included a requirement to publish details of their curriculum.

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to increase freedoms for special schools to design their own curriculum. [194569]

Mr Timpson: The new national curriculum, to be taught from September 2014, sets out only the essential knowledge that all children should acquire, and leaves teachers to decide how to teach this most effectively and to design a wider school curriculum that best meets the needs of their pupils.

For all pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including those who attend special schools, lessons should be planned to ensure that there are no barriers to achievement. In many cases, such planning will mean that these pupils will be able to study the full national curriculum.

The SEN Code of Practice includes statutory guidance on identifying and supporting pupils with SEN and adapting teaching approaches to ensure they have access to the same opportunities as their peers.

Jimmy Savile

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which establishments are being investigated in relation to historical abuse by Jimmy Savile. [194393]

Mr Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education's statement to the House of 27 March provided a list of children's homes and schools that are mentioned in the information passed to the Department for Education, and which are now being investigated. The statement is available at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140327/wmstext/140327m0001.htm# 14032769000024

Sixth Form Colleges

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to ensure long-term capital funding for sixth-form colleges. [194366]

Mr Laws: The 2013 spending round confirmed the levels of capital funding that the Department for Education will receive between 2015 and 2021. This settlement will enable the Department to develop a long-term approach, allowing us to consider making allocations over a number of years, which would help schools, sixth-form colleges and their responsible bodies to plan with greater confidence.

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I am clear that in future years our funding should be better targeted to where it is most needed, and it is for this reason that the Department is currently collecting up to date information on the condition of school buildings, including sixth-form colleges, through a comprehensive survey. This survey is due to be completed by the summer and it is our intention that the results will be used to inform the allocation of capital maintenance funding from 2015-16.

Teachers: Training

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many graduates have entered teaching since 2007 in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) England and Wales. [194487]

Mr Laws: The Department for Education does not hold data for the number of graduates entering teaching within Brigg and Goole constituency as data are not collected on graduates entering teaching at the constituency level.

The numbers of graduates entering teaching since 2007 in England is published in Sector Level Reports found on the National College for Teaching and Leadership website:

http://dataprovision.education.gov.uk/public/page.htm?to-page=publicOpencmsStaticPage&cms-page-id=tta-public/en/publicAdditionalReports/sectorLevelReports.html

A summary of this information can be found in Table 1.

The Department does not hold data for the number of graduates entering teaching within Wales as education in Wales is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government.