Vacancies: North Yorkshire

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the current number of job vacancies is in the Thirsk, Malton and Filey travel-to-work area. [195486]

Esther McVey: The Universal Jobmatch System was introduced in November 2012. The system does not provide data for travel-to-work areas. However, I can confirm the number of live jobs on the system in these towns at 8 April 2014.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, columns 518-19W, on the Work programme, for what reason the change in the definition of Payment Group 6 referred to in the memorandum was made. [195415]

Esther McVey: The change in the definition of Payment Group 6 was made to allow more people to gain access to the tailored support provided by the Work programme.

Health

Air Pollution

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of deaths from air pollution in (a) London, (b) Cardiff, (c) Edinburgh and (d) Birmingham in each of the last 10 years. [195194]

Jane Ellison: Estimates of the fraction of mortality in English local authority areas and regions 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 of Health's Public Health Outcomes Framework.

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For London, this figure was approximately 7.2% in both years. In Birmingham, the figures were approximately 6.4% for 2010 and 5.9% for 2011. Figures for Cardiff and Edinburgh have not yet been published.

Bone Marrow Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in the UK receiving long-term care after a bone marrow transplant; and what assessment he has made of variations in the number of such patients across regions. [195435]

Jane Ellison: No estimate has been made as this information is not held centrally.

NHS England has published service specifications for both child and adult haematopoietic stem cell transplantation which sets out that a clearly defined programme of after care should be developed with the patient following treatment. The specifications are important in clearly defining what NHS England expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. They ensure equity of access to a nationally consistent, high quality service for patients.

Breast Cancer

Mr Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to generalise BRCA 1/2 gene testing in England and Wales; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that policy in Scotland. [195436]

Jane Ellison: Current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines recommend offering genetic testing to people with a 10% likelihood of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation. This has been put to the NHS England medical genetics Clinical Reference Group (CRG) with input also from the specialised gynaecology CRG to scope out what the issues are in order to inform us further.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the effectiveness of BRCA 1/2 genetic testing policy in Scotland.

Cancer

Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all cancer strategic clinical networks have adequate financial resources to contribute to the achievement in all domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework. [195144]

Jane Ellison: The Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) are funded by NHS England and managed through area teams. Their focus is on continuous service improvement particularly where there is a need for a co-ordinated system wide or a collective approach to improvement.

Cancer is one of the four key areas of focus for their work; the others being cardiovascular disease, maternity and children and mental health, which includes dementia. All of them are high national priorities.

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The SCNs work with local stakeholders, including local commissioners and local clinical teams to determine the priorities for their work plans and target their resources accordingly. These are aligned to the national priorities set out in Putting Patients First, NHS England's recently published Business Plan 2014-15 to 2016-17, and the NHS Outcomes Framework.

Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking to improve the experience of cancer patients at the end of life. [195145]

Norman Lamb: Domain 4 of the NHS Outcomes Framework includes the indicator “Improving the experience of care for people at the end of their lives”. The data source underpinning this indicator is the national survey of bereaved relatives (VOICES), an internationally recognised tool for obtaining feedback on people's experience at the end of life, as well as that of the bereaved person. This indicator will enable us to assess the progress NHS England is making in improving the quality of end of life care for all patients, including those with cancer.

The latest national VOICES survey results were published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in July 2013, and in March 2014, the ONS made findings of the survey available at national health service local area team and clinical commissioning group level. The survey results, are supporting commissioners and providers to target service improvements and drive up standards locally. Survey results can be viewed on the ONS website

www.ons.gov.uk

(type ‘VOICES survey' into the search bar).

The “Quality Standard for End of life Care for Adults”, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2011, highlights areas of care that can play a key role in supporting a positive experience, including: the importance of giving people the opportunity to discuss, develop and review a personalised care plan for current and future support; and treatment and the need for those delivering care to be aware of the individual's care plan and expressed care preferences. NICE Quality Standards are a concise set of statements designed to drive and measure priority quality improvements within a particular area of care and NHS England continues to champion their use with providers and commissioners.

Dental Health: Children

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding of dental visits to schools and Sure Start centres to promote dental awareness. [195405]

Dr Poulter: Oral health promotion programmes are commissioned by local authorities and funded from their public health allocations. No figures are collated centrally regarding the funding allocated by local authorities to such programmes in schools or Sure Start centres.

Public Health England will be publishing Commissioning Better Oral Health, an oral health promotion toolkit for local authorities, in early summer 2014.

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Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage reductions in dental decay in young children. [195528]

Dr Poulter: In May 2014, Public Health England (PHE) will publish the third edition of ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’, evidence-based guidance for health care professionals on the prevention of dental disease. This will include specific advice regarding the provision of preventative dental advice and treatment for children. A public-facing version is planned for later in the year.

Local authorities, working in partnership with IMHS England's Area Teams and PHE, have a key role in determining oral health strategies in their area, In order to support them in this role, PHE will be publishing ‘Commissioning Better Oral Health’, an oral health improvement toolkit for local authorities, in early summer 2014.

PHE promotes a healthy balanced diet to children through its Change4Life campaign, which aims to help families to eat healthier. PHE is also supporting the work of the School Food Plan to encourage schools to take a whole school approach to healthy eating.

The NHS dental contract reform programme is also focussed on embedding prevention in dental practice.

Dental Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to home visits for frail dental patients. [195529]

Dr Poulter: NHS England is responsible for commissioning dental care services to reflect local needs and priorities. This includes appropriate domiciliary services for patients who are unable to access high street, or community dental services. NHS England is currently engaged in working on a strategic commissioning framework for dental commissioning which includes services for vulnerable groups such as the frail and elderly.

1.4 million more patients have seen a national health service dentist since May 2010.

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on replacement of the 2006 Units of Dental Activity dental contract. [195530]

Dr Poulter: 1.4 million more patients have seen a national health service (NHS) dentist since May 2010. The Government remains committed to dental reform and to ensuring that any changes are thoroughly piloted before implementation. More than 90 pilot dental practices have been testing new ways of delivering care and remuneration that support dentists to increase access and improve oral health. The learning from these pilots will inform design of any new system. Professor Jimmy Steele's second report on the learning so far, “NHS dental contract pilots-Learning after first two years of piloting”, is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/282760/Dental_contract_ pilots_evidence_and_learning_report.pdf

and a copy has been placed in the Library.

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Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care dental services contracts have been secured by UK providers in each of the last four years. [195531]

Dr Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested. However information for England can be found as follows:

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Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has considered potential alternative sources of funding for additional NHS dental services. [195532]

Dr Poulter: The national health service commissions services based on local oral health needs. 1.4 million more patients have seen a national health service dentist since May 2010. NHS England determines how best to use its resources to meet this need. In the year 2013 the gross spend nationally on dental services was £2.84 billion of which £653 million was raised by patient charges. Patients contribute to the cost of their dental care where they are able to afford it and there are no plans to amend this.

General Practitioners

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of GP practices which have a premium or 0845 telephone number to book appointments. [195497]

Dr Poulter: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Regulations introduced in 2010 prevented general practitioner practices from entering into, renewing or extending a contract for telephone services unless it was satisfied that, looking at the arrangements as a whole, patients would not pay more to make calls to the practice than they would to make calls to a geographical number.

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It is for NHS England to ensure that practices are meeting the terms of their contracting arrangements.

Health: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library all recent correspondence between Ministers in his Department and their counterparts in the Scottish Government on cross-border public health risks. [195138]

Jane Ellison: Correspondence relating to the European Affairs Committee clearance of the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on Serious Cross-Border Threats to Health has been placed in the Library.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the Data Access Advisory Group's register of approved applications for sensitive data made to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) contains entries which are missing from the HSCIC's overall register of approved data releases. [195659]

Dr Poulter: The Data Access Advisory Group's (DAAG) register of approved applications for sensitive data covers applications made to DAAG for both release of sensitive data and advice on consent models.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) register as published on 3 April 2014 covers data releases approved by the HSCIC from 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2013.

There are three reasons why such approved applications may therefore not appear in the HSCIC's overall register of approved data releases:

1. If the data request was approved and the data released through the applications process for the Data Linkage and Extract Service (DLES) before 31 March 2013.

2. If the data request was approved and the data released through the applications process for the DLES after 1 January 2014. At its January 2014 meeting, the HSCIC Board committed to a quarterly update to the register.

3. If the request to DAAG is for advice on consent models. These will not appear in the register since no data will have been released.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who would be responsible for informing patients that their confidential medical data had been released without a legal basis. [195677]

Dr Poulter: The Department's guidance to national health service (NHS) healthcare providers is that they should inform patients when a personal data breach has taken place. In addition, the new standard NHS contract includes a requirement that NHS hospital trusts must adopt and implement and the recommendations of the Caldicott Information Governance Review, including the recommendation that where there is an inappropriate disclosure of personal confidential data then

“the data controller, the individual or the organisation responsible for the data”

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must explain the reasons for the disclosure, what remedial action is being taken and provide an apology to the patient whose data has been disclosed.

In line with other NHS organisations, the Health and Social Care Information Centre will only release confidential medical information with a legal basis to do so. If it breaches confidentiality then it should act in accordance with the Caldicott recommendations and inform individuals of the breach.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the approved application for sensitive data made by the Cabinet Office to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Data Access Advisory Group (DAAG), Application Reference OC/HES/030, does not appear in (a) the DAAG meeting minutes and (b) HSCIC's register of approved data releases; what data was requested in that application; and how the decision to approve the data release was made. [195678]

Dr Poulter: The record of the application made by the Cabinet Office (Application Reference OC/HES/030) and the decision made was recorded in the Data Access Advisory Group (DAAG) January meeting minutes which are now available on the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) website at the following link:

www.hscic.gov.uk/daag

This application did not request release of data and no data was released, therefore it does not appear on the HSCIC's register of approved data releases.

No data was requested in the application from the Cabinet Office. This application was to seek advice from DAAG about the consent approach covering wording for a piece of urgent work.

Due to the urgent nature of the request, the request was considered and approved by DAAG members out of committee, but this was not recorded in the relevant minutes. The members agreed to include this decision in the minutes from the January meeting to ensure that it was on record.

Nurses: Foreign Workers

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses from (a) the European Economic Area outside the UK and (b) other overseas countries registered as a nurse in the NHS in each of the last five years. [195477]

Dr Poulter: The Department does not hold information on the numbers of nurses from the European Economic Area and other overseas countries who are registered nurses working in the national health service.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the regulatory body for nurses and midwives and holds a register of nurses and midwives registered to practise in the United Kingdom. Nurses must be registered with the NMC to work as a nurse in any health care setting, not just the NHS. To keep their registration up to date, nurses also need to renew their registration every three years.

The following tables show the number of registered nurses from the European Economic Area and from overseas countries since 2002.

10 Apr 2014 : Column 332W

Nutrition

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific targets relating to portion size companies which are signed up to the calorie reduction pledge of the Responsibility Deal have agreed to; and what progress they have made in achieving those targets. [195540]

Jane Ellison: The calorie reduction pledge of the Responsibility Deal was launched in March 2012 and currently 36 companies are signed up to take a range of actions to reduce calories. Within that, the following 26 companies have pledged to take action on portion size. Some of the companies signed up to the pledge after the initial launch and may have made further progress since the last formal reports. Annual updates for 2013-14 will be made available from 15 May 2014.

Aldi Stores Ltd—will review portion sizes.

Aramark—will seek to influence customers' choice through portion control.

Asda—will support the development of a range of portion controlled options across bakery and snacking food lines.

Authentic Food Company—has reduced meal sizes.

Britvic Soft Drinks—has launched a 250ml slimline can.

Burton's Foods Ltd—is testing and implementing portion control packs across its biscuit range.

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CH&Co Catering Ltd—has committed to reduce portion sizes offering smaller alternative dessert and cake portions and smaller juice sizes, particularly smoothies.

Coca-Cola GB—has launched a 375 ml bottle and a 250 ml slimline can.

Compass Group UK & I—pledged to commence work on reviewing portion sizes at the end of 2012.

Dairy Crest Ltd—has introduced single serve portion products and reduced its milkshake bottle size from 500 ml to 471 ml.

Dairy UK—will encourage its members to reduce portion sizes where appropriate.

Feel Good Drinks—will introduce smaller pack size products to give options for lower volume/lower total calorie portions.

JD Wetherspoon PLC—will look to offer varying portion size options and reviewing the portion sizes on all components in all dishes.

Lexington Catering—will aim to reduce calories through new menu choices and portion control.

Mars UK—has introduced new smaller multipack formats.

Mondelez International—has introduced a two biscuit portion pack.

Nestle UK—will launch more than one third of new products as a smaller portion size alternative to a standard product, including three significantly smaller ice cream choices.

Premier Foods—70% of new products developed have reduced calories, including through new portion sizes.

Sainsbury's Supermarket Ltd—has introduced multipacks of 11g snack bags and a range of five portion controlled individual bags of dried fruit.

Seabrook Crisps Ltd—has reduced bag size in multipacks from 30g to 25g.

Sodexo—will look into the feasibility of offering two portion sizes, if appropriate and provide guidance on what a standard portion size of a high calorie item would be.

Subway International BV—has introduced a range of nine new low fat flatbreads to replace the wrap product. The flatbread is a smaller serving size than the wrap.

Unilever UK Ltd—has introduced smaller ice cream servings.

United Biscuits (UK) Ltd—has carried out a market trial of portion controlled biscuit packs.

Waitrose—has introduced a range of seven kitchen portion tools to help consumers manage portion sizes of everyday foods in the home.

Whitbread Group PLC (Beefeater)—will continually review portion sizes during product development and the promotion of different portion sizes.

Companies' delivery plans and annual updates for the Responsibility Deal calorie reduction pledge can be found at:

https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/pledges/pledge/7pN23

Obesity: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the causes of (a) adult and (b) childhood obesity in Harlow constituency. [195203]

Jane Ellison: Local authorities (LAs), working with local and national partners across the health and social care system, have responsibility for public health and the assessment and provision of preventative and obesity treatment services.

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LAs now have access to local adult and child excess weight data, which will help them in identifying how to support effective behaviour change within their local demography and in making the case for action going forward.

Public Health England is committed to supporting LAs by providing expert advice and is currently piloting a peer challenge approach with the Local Government Association, as part of the Health and Wellbeing Board sector-led improvement programme.

Out-patients: Attendance

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the NHS of missed appointments in (a) Chelmsford constituency and (b) Essex in the last 12 months. [195492]

Dr Poulter: The Department has not made an estimate of the cost of missed national health service appointments.

Palliative Care

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that there should be universal access to 24 hours a day seven days a week community nursing services to support people to die at home if that is their choice; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of introducing such a policy. [195083]

Norman Lamb: The Government are committed to extending patient choice in end of life care, and a review will be looking into this issue this year. The provision of community palliative care services will be looked at as part of this review.

Parents

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) families, (b) mothers and (c) fathers have used CANParent vouchers during the time of the pilot project, broken down by provider; whether any of the parenting classes providers in each of the pilot areas continue to offer either free or paid-for parenting classes; what funding the Department has allocated to CANParent in the next (i) financial year and (ii) Parliament; how much was spent on the scheme, broken down by subheading; what plans the Government have for the national rollout of the scheme referred to in the launch of the trial; and when the final evaluation of the CANParent trial will be published. [195437]

Dr Poulter: CANparent vouchers were available to parents of children ages 0-5 in the three trial areas of Camden, Middlesbrough and High Peak.

The latest data, at 8 April 2014, held by the contractor managing the CANparent trial, show that parenting class providers have confirmed a total of 2,234 women and 211 men have attended CANparent classes since the start of the trial (full data is collected on class attendance by females and males, but not according to their relationship to children in the family). These totals are broken down by provider in the following table:

10 Apr 2014 : Column 335W

The data on parenting class providers continuing to provide free or paid-for classes is not collected centrally.

Market development work following on from the initial two-year trial, led by Family Lives, was transferred to the Department of Health from the Department for Education (DFE) on 1 April 2014 and is due to run until 31 March 2015. The budget for that work stands at £1,140,758.

The trial will now run for one more year until March 2015. The budget for the one year extension of the CANParent trial stands at £1,286,000 for the 2014-15 financial year. No further funds have been committed to the project.

According to DFE officials, from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, the total amount spent on the CANParent trial was £1,248,640. From 1 April 2013 to the end of March 2014, the total was £2,228,806.

The new phase of the CANparent trial is an opportunity to build on the successes of the first trial but with an increased emphasis on supporting and encouraging providers to think about the long-term sustainability of CANParent and how they will be delivering classes once the trial comes to an end. CANparent aims to create a cultural shift so it becomes the norm to seek advice and support on raising children, just as it is the norm to attend antenatal classes, so that children get the best start in life. During 2014-15, a programme of business support will be offered to parenting class providers.

The DFE will publish the final evaluation of the initial two-year trial shortly. The publication of the final evaluation of the one-year extension will follow the completion of the trial in March 2015.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of new parents have signed up to the NHS Information Service for Parents; how many people have accessed the specially-commissioned videos online to support the scheme since its introduction; what the annual budget is for the NHS Information Service for Parents; and what plans his Department has for the scheme in the next financial year and into the next parliament. [195438]

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Dr Poulter: Since the launch of Information Service for Parents (ISP) on the 7 April 2012 there have been 312,875 sign-ups to the service, 268,308 of these are actively subscribed, and a breakdown of these current subscribers is detailed as follows.

We do not know whether or not these subscribers are first-time parents, as this information is not requested/captured as part of the sign-up process.

There have been 4,508,350 viewings of the videos since the launch of ISP (2,420,563 on NHS Choices and 2,087,787 on YouTube). It is not possible to break this figure down in to the number of people as requested, just the total number of times a video was started either on NHS Choices or YouTube.

The Department transferred £300,000 to Public Health England (PHE) for the financial year 2013-14.

The Department will transfer some funding to PHE in 2014-15 to support the work of the NHS Start4Life Information Service for Parents (S4LISP). Budget allocations are still to be confirmed but this sum is likely to be circa £1.5 million. PHE's total budget for the S4LISP will need to cover automated sign-up, content review and commissioning new content.

Physiotherapy: South Yorkshire

Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on steps to ensure that specialist neuromuscular physiotherapy is provided to both children and adults with muscle-wasting conditions in South Yorkshire. [195038]

Norman Lamb: No Ministers in the Department have held such discussions. The provision of physiotherapy services is a matter for the local national health service.

Radiotherapy

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Vision for Radiotherapy 2014-24, published by Cancer Research UK and NHS England on 3 March 2014; and if he will make a statement. [195539]

Jane Ellison: The ‘Vision for Radiotherapy’ 2014-24 was co-produced by NHS England and Cancer Research UK and will be one of a number of sources, used to inform the development of future strategy and policy, particularly NHS England's five-year strategy for specialised services.

Reckitt Benckiser

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what total costs his Department incurred in relation to the Government's claim against Reckitt Benckiser in connection with the supply of Gaviscon to

10 Apr 2014 : Column 337W

the NHS in England; what sums his Department will receive or has received in settlement of its claim against Reckitt Benckiser as announced on 28 February 2014; and what proportion of the sums to be received from Reckitt Benckiser relate to the costs incurred by his Department in bringing that claim. [195441]

Dr Poulter: Details of the settlement of the Department's claim against Reckitt Benckiser in connection with the supply of Gaviscon to the national health service in England are commercially sensitive. It would not be in the public interest for information to be supplied.

Smoking

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of NHS's involvement in No Smoking Day on 12 March 2014 and the performance of the NHS Choices Stop Smoking app. [195043]

Jane Ellison: NHS Smokefree is a public health campaign initiated and supported by Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of the Department. PHE worked collaboratively with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) as part of the NHS Smokefree campaign to support No Smoking Day (NSD) 2014.

Since 1 April 2013, NHS Smokefree has been run from PHE. The campaign has recently drawn to a close and we are currently in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of the activity. We will not specifically be making an assessment of the NHS's involvement in NSD, but the evaluation will provide an assessment of the overall campaign effectiveness.

As part of the campaign, PHE worked with the BHF to provide collateral such as posters and leaflets to a number of partners, including: pharmacies, employers, housing associations and local areas, to support NSD 2014. We also piloted a new One Day Quit tool.

The NHS Choices Stop Smoking app helps people to stop smoking by providing motivational messages and support. Since its launch in 2010, the app has received 315,000 downloads. To date, the app has been downloaded 23,000 times in 2014.

Smoking: Bolton

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Bolton have received assistance from the NHS to stop smoking in each year since 2010. [195044]

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested.

Information is available for the number of 'quit attempts' through the NHS Stop Smoking Service in the former Bolton Primary Care Trust area. People may also receive national health service assistance that is not recorded in this dataset:

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Thalidomide

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Birkenhead, of 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 886W, on thalidomide, if he will make representations to his German counterpart on compensation from Grünenthal to UK victims of thalidomide. [195148]

Norman Lamb: The Department has no current plans to make representations to the German Government on the subject of compensation from Grünenthal to the United Kingdom victims of thalidomide.

I hope to meet with representatives of the Thalidomide Trust to discuss this issue further.

Transport

Consultants

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid. [195584]

Stephen Hammond: The following table sets out the 10 professional services consultancy firms paid the most by the Department during the 11 months of the financial year 2013-14 for which we have data. These companies are sorted in descending level of departmental expenditure.

Motor Vehicles: Seized Articles

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles have been crushed as a result of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database errors since July 2013. [195536]

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Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold the information requested.

If the DVLA is made aware of any enforcement action taken as a result of an error, officials consider compensating for any losses incurred. Each case is considered individually.

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will request the Driving Standards Agency and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to waive charges arising from car seizures as a result of database classification errors. [195538]

Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not seize and impound cars.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) adopts a compliance and enforcement approach to ensuring vehicle excise duty is paid. This includes reminder letters and late licensing penalties as well as court prosecutions and the wheelclamping and/or removal of unlicensed vehicles.

If the DVLA is made aware of any action taken as a result of an error, officials will consider refunding any charges incurred. Each case is considered individually.

Parking: Fines

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign-registered cars received a parking penalty charge in each year since 2010; how many parking penalty charges for foreign-registered vehicles went unpaid in each year; and what the value was of these unpaid parking charges. [195473]

Mr Goodwill: This is a matter for individual local authorities who are required to keep records of all penalty charge notices issued including those issued to drivers of foreign-registered vehicles. The Department for Transport does not record this information centrally.

Railways: Stansted Airport

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received on efforts to improve the frequency of services by Cross Country trains between Peterborough and Stansted airport; and if he will make a statement. [195424]

Stephen Hammond: The Secretary of State for Transport has not received any representations from Cross Country Trains regarding frequency improvements to their services between Peterborough and Stansted airport.

Road Traffic: Greater London

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effects of congestion charging on traffic movements in London in each year since the introduction of such charging. [195184]

Stephen Hammond: Under the terms of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, transport in London, including the Congestion Charge scheme, is the responsibility of Transport for London and the Mayor.

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Therefore, the Department for Transport has not made an assessment specifically about traffic movements in London in each year since the introduction of congestion charging.

Rolling Stock: Lancashire

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from (a) local authorities and (b) hon. Members in Lancashire on rolling stock in Lancashire. [195651]

Stephen Hammond: Discussions have taken place with Lancashire county council on the provision of rolling stock for a new Manchester to Burnley and Blackburn via Rochdale service. A number of representations have been received from hon. Members concerning rolling stock in Lancashire, including at the Westminster Hall debate on rolling stock provision in the North of England on 12 March 2014.

Schools: Cycling

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2014, Official Report, column 411W, on transport: schools, how many (a) schools and (b) pupils took part in Bikeability cycle training in each year since 2005. [195440]

Mr Goodwill: Funding provided by the Department for Transport (DFT) for Bikeability cycle training began in financial year 2006-07.

Data collection since then has consisted mainly of the number of places delivered by each Bikeability grant recipient. Therefore it is not possible to fully answer (A), however, the current estimate is that 8,177 schools take part in training delivered by either their Local Highway Authority or School Games Organiser Host School.

The number of places delivered using DFT grant funding until 31 March 2013 is available and the totals are as follows:

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward proposals to update the current Air Navigation Order to define and categorise unmanned aircraft systems. [R] [194982]

Mr Goodwill: The safe operation of civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) in the UK is governed by the requirements of the Air Navigation Order 2009 (ANO). RPA with an operating mass of more than 20 kg are subject to regulation as though they are manned aircraft.

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RPA with an operating mass of 20 kg or less are referred to as ‘small unmanned aircraft’. Small unmanned aircraft are exempt from the majority of the regulations that normally apply to manned aircraft, however their use is specifically covered by two articles within the ANO, which legislate for the ‘general’ flying aspects and the flight of those equipped for surveillance. As well as these specific articles however, a more general article which prevents a person ‘causing or permitting an aircraft to endanger the safety of any person or property’ also remains applicable. There are no current plans to further categorise RPA.

West Coast Railway Line

Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the average load factor of West Coast Mainline trains leaving London Euston in 2013. [195450]

Stephen Hammond: The requested information is not available, however a number of similar statistics relating to 2012 are available via this link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rai02-capacity-and-overcrowding

Average load factors for all services departing Euston can be calculated from the data in Table RA10213.

The percentage of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) and the number of passengers standing is given for the three hour peaks for all franchised operators in Table RA10215.

Equivalent statistics for 2013 will be available in July 2014.

Defence

Armed Forces

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information his Department holds on the number of (a) aggravated assaults against members of the armed forces and (b) times members of the armed forces were discriminated against in bars, restaurants and hotels in each year since 2003. [195653]

Anna Soubry: This information is not held by the Department.

Armed Forces: Pay

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's notice 2014DIN01-021, Revision of cost-of-living addition salary bands; [195471]

(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's notice 2014DIN01-032, Increase in the rate of excess fares allowance from 6 April 2014. [195479]

Anna Soubry: Copies of the Department’s notice on the revision of the cost of living addition salary bands (2014DIN01-021) and the increase in the rate of excess fares allowance from 6 April 2014 (2014DIN01-032) have been placed in the Library of the House.

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RAF Menwith Hill

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department was (a) aware of the nature of and (b) consulted before the start of surveillance being carried out at NSA Menwith Hills. [194679]

Mr Francois: Operations at RAF Menwith Hill have always been, and continue to be, carried out with the knowledge and consent of the UK Government.

Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to promote the commercialisation of scientific and technological research by his Department and its agencies. [195656]

Mr Dunne: The National Security through Technology White Paper (Cm 8278) lays out our commitment to open procurement, and that the Department and its agencies will conduct research and development only where it is essential for our national security.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), a Ministry of Defence (MOD) Trading Fund, delivers the majority of the MOD’s Science and Technology Programme. Any ideas generated within Dstl can be commercialised through Ploughshare Innovations Ltd, a technology transfer company owned by Dstl.

Where external suppliers are contracted, the MOD leaves the intellectual property rights of any discovery or technology with those suppliers to commercialise. The MOD retains rights to disclose and use the intellectual property for UK Government purposes.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Business: Loans

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he has taken to increase the availability of credit for small businesses in (a) Bolton North East constituency and (b) England in the last year. [195045]

Matthew Hancock: The Government are committed to ensuring businesses can access the finance they need for investment and growth.

The Bank of England and HM Treasury announced in November that the Funding for Lending scheme would be focused on lending to businesses to reflect the success that the scheme has had with households. Lending under the Funding for Lending Scheme has totalled over £16 billion according to the latest figures.

The British Business Bank is being established to ensure that business finance markets work efficiently and effectively for smaller businesses, and its loan guarantee and investment programmes supported £660 million of lending and investment in 2013 across the UK.

A breakdown of the value of debt finance facilitated to businesses in Bolton North East constituency and England through British Business Bank programmes in the last year is detailed in the following table:

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Consultants

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid. [195566]

Jenny Willott: Under this Government's transparency programme, details of spend are published on gov.uk which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments %5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills

Digital Technology

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote digital industries in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [195156]

Mr Willetts: The Government published their Information Economy Strategy on 14 June 2013 which sets out how we will work with business and academic partners to promote digital industries across the UK. I am now working with the Information Economy Council to deliver the actions in the Strategy. The Technology Strategy Board is also investing in a range of programmes, including Collaborative Research and Development competitions and the Connected Digital Economy Catapult Centre, to support UK companies working in the digital industries.

Employment Agencies

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them. [195544]

Jenny Willott: Under this Government's transparency programme, details of spend are published on gov.uk which are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments %5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills

To provide the level of detail requested in relation to agency fees would incur disproportionate cost.

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Engineering: Females

Sir Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that more women are able to take up senior positions in engineering businesses. [903652]

Jenny Willott: The Government are working with employers, professional bodies and HE and FE institutions to encourage more women to enter engineering and to remove barriers to their progression.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) funds the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering jointly to run a programme of work aimed at understanding and addressing issues of diversity in the STEM work force.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has developed a diversity concordat which 70% of engineering institutions, representing over 90% of registered engineers, have now signed. They also run the Diversity Leadership Group, made up of senior industrial representatives from an array of engineering disciplines who steer and review collective actions to increase the size and diversity of the engineering talent pool.

BIS contributes to the cost of hosting the finals of the National Science and Engineering Competition at the annual Big Bang Fair which took place last month. Some 55% of Competition prizewinners were girls and the Fair promoted Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers to a record number of schoolchildren.

BIS also funds STEMNET to run the STEM Ambassadors programme: a nationwide network of over 27,000 volunteers who visit schools to bring STEM career opportunities to life. 40% of STEM Ambassadors are women.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many tier 4 visa applications were refused for applicants intending to study at each English university in the last year for which records are available; and what guidance his Department issues to universities on retaining fees paid by students whose applications for such visas are subsequently refused. [195655]

Mr Willetts: Statistics on tier 4 refusals are published in the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics, available in the Libraries of the House and at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Information relating to individual institutions is not published in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Information on the number of refusals of tier 4 visa applications by education sector or by individual institution is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

As autonomous bodies, individual UK HE institutions are able to decide their own tuition fee refund policy including what refunds will be made to overseas students who are subsequently refused a visa to study in the UK. The Department does not issue guidance, however, the QAA has issued guidance in 2012 for institutions on

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sponsoring international students which included recommendations on refund procedures for international students.

Innovation

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote innovation within industry; and if he will make a statement. [195158]

Mr Willetts: The Government are fully committed to improving the UK's innovation performance as an essential component of its growth plan. Innovation has long been, and will continue to be, a key driver of UK growth and economic prosperity, accounting for up to 70% of economic growth in the long-term.

The UK's Industrial Strategy, a new long-term partnership between business and all parts of Government, has identified a range of opportunities to help create growth for the future, from developing new skills and securing critical investment, to commercialising our scientific research and inventions.

Support for technologies is one of five core themes of the Industrial Strategy. The Government have identified “Eight Great Technologies” where the UK's science strengths and business capabilities combine to give us world-leading potential and announced an additional £600 million investment to help support their development from laboratory to marketplace.

We have made the Technology Strategy Board the Government's prime channel for supporting business-led technology innovation, which delivers a range of interventions in support of innovative businesses, such as the network of Catapult Centres and collaborative research and development competitions.

We have also put in place a range of wider policies to support innovation which include a tax regime that supports innovation, investment and enterprise that enables the UK to be internationally competitive, as the increasingly international nature of innovation means that it is crucial for the UK and its businesses and universities to remain active in the global innovation ecosystem.

We know that other leading innovators and the emerging economies are increasing their investment in science and innovation and that we need to strengthen our own performance in some areas and build on our acknowledged strengths to retain our position as one of the world's leading innovation countries.

This is why we will be developing a new Science and Innovation Strategy to be published this autumn. This will set out the future shape and scale of the UK's science and innovation system and look at how we measure the system's performance and the key challenges that the UK needs to address to maintain its global leadership position.

Minimum Wage

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of rates of national minimum wage non-compliance in each (a) sector and (b) region; what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people of each gender who are paid below the national minimum wage; and what information on such people is (i) collected and (ii) held. [195240]

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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 Peter Fullerton, dated April 2014:

In the absence of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of rates of national minimum wage non-compliance in each (a) sector and (b) region; and what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people of each gender who are paid below the national minimum wage and what information is (i) collected and (ii) held. (195240)

Information on non-compliance with the national minimum wage is not available from ONS. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Hourly levels of pay are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, whose earnings for the survey pay period were not affected by absence. ASHE data are used to produce estimates of the number and proportion of employee jobs with hourly pay below the national minimum wage. However, these figures cannot be used as a measure of non-compliance with legislation. This is because it is not possible to determine from the survey data whether an individual is eligible for the minimum wage. For example, it is not possible to identify people such as apprentices and those undergoing training who are exempt from the minimum wage rate or are entitled to lower rates. In addition, if employees receive free accommodation, employers are entitled to offset hourly rates.

In April 2013, the latest period for which results are available, there were 131 thousand jobs held by men (1.0 per cent of employee jobs held by men) and 148 thousand jobs held by women (1.1 per cent of employee jobs held by women) with hourly pay below the national minimum wage in the UK.

ASHE is based on a one per cent sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. Information on earnings and hours is obtained from employers and treated confidentially.

National Renewable Energy Centre

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the National Renewable Energy Centre on its local economy. [195660]

Michael Fallon: BIS has not made an assessment of the impact of the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) on its local economy. Narec has created a world leading suite of testing facilities for the offshore renewable energy sector. The recently announced merger with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult will accelerate the design, deployment and commercialisation of offshore renewable energy technology and help the UK capture the economic opportunity presented by this sector.

Private Sector

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010. [195503]

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Michael Fallon: Following the sale of 60% of Government shares in Royal Mail on 15 October 2013 some 150,000 Royal Mail jobs in the UK transferred from the public sector to the private sector.

Regional Growth Fund

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many bids by LEPS to the (a) regional growth fund and (b) exceptional regional growth fund have been (i) under discussion with officials, (ii) submitted, (iii) approved and (iv) rejected in each (A) bidding round and (B) region. [195179]

Michael Fallon: All bids received to the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and for exceptional RGF (eRGF) support are discussed with officials as part of the appraisal process. The following table lists bids received directly from local enterprise partnerships to the RGF by bidding round and the outcome.

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Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what the total value is of all bids to each round of the Regional Growth Fund; how much has been committed to winning bidders in each Regional Growth Fund bidding round; and how much such funding has been drawn down in each region to date; [195286]

(2) what the total value is of funds not yet drawn down by winning bidders under the regional growth fund in each bidding round and region; [195181]

(3) how much funding allocated under the Regional Growth Fund in each (a) holding and (b) region has not yet been drawn down by winning bidders. [195283]

Michael Fallon: Regional breakdown of RGF allocations for each bidding round (Rounds 1-4) including the amount drawn down and remaining to be drawn down are provided in the following tables. This data is as at 2 April. The RGF not drawn down for Rounds 1 to 4 totals £1,238 million. Of this, currently, £1,152 million is budgeted to be drawn down in 2014-15 and later years. Payments schedules are agreed with companies and payments are made when they need them.

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Regional Growth Fund: East Midlands

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was (a) committed to and (b) spent in each constituency in the East Midlands through the Regional Growth Fund in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014 to date. [195637]

Michael Fallon: We do not hold information in the format requested. However, the following table details the amount of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) allocated to and paid in each constituency in the East Midlands from the first four bidding rounds. In addition, £82.2 million has been allocated to nine programmes in the East Midlands, which support small and medium-sized enterprises across the region. Of this, £19.6 million has been paid to date.

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Royal Mail

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what category of investor Lansdowne Partners was with regard to the sale of Royal Mail. [195611]

Michael Fallon: All investors in Royal Mail—whether individuals or institutions—have a reasonable expectation of privacy; therefore we have not disclosed the names of specific investors and their involvement in the IPO process.

Self-employed

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of people who run a small or medium-sized enterprise as a secondary form of income alongside another job. [195098]

Matthew Hancock: Information is not available to answer this question. However, data from the Office for National Statistics estimate that around 400,000 people describe themselves as self employed in their second jobs between October 2012 and September 2013.

Skilled Workers: Immigration

Mr Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of migration on UK businesses which require highly-skilled employees. [903672]

Vince Cable: We recently published analysis proving that highly skilled migrants are not displacing UK workers. Indeed, in many sectors such as engineering and digital technologies, they're filling skills gaps and starting new companies.

Business groups tell me that an open labour market helps foreign investment in the UK and that migrants foster innovation and growth by bringing in new ideas, language skills and assisting trade links overseas. So overall, it's a positive picture.

Social Enterprises: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many social enterprises there were in Brighton, Kemptown constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available. [195159]

Jenny Willott: BIS does not have constituency level data on social enterprises. Using data from the 2012 BIS 'Small Business Survey' and the 'Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions 2013', BIS estimate that in 2013 approximately five% (or 60,000) of small and medium-sized enterprise employers¹ in the UK

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were social enterprises

. It is not possible to provide reliable information for smaller geographical areas.

¹ Small and medium-sized employers with between 1 and 249 employees.

² Defined as an enterprise that considers itself a social enterprise and that should not pay more than 50% of profit or surplus to owners or shareholders, should not generate more than 25% of income from grants and donations and, therefore, should not have less than 75% of turnover from trading.

Students: Loans

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on raising the cap on the amount of student loan accessible by students studying at alternative learning providers. [195051]

Mr Willetts: There currently are no plans to raise the cap on the amount of student loan accessible by students studying at alternative providers. Alternative providers are not subject to the same regulatory conditions as those providers whose students can access fee loans of up to £9,000. In particular, the fees that they may charge students are not subject to a cap, nor are these providers required to put in place an Access Agreement.

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's estimate is of the latest RAB charge for further education students. [195461]

Matthew Hancock: The Department models the proportion of loans which we expect will not be repaid (the RAB charge). The 2012 impact assessment on the introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans stated that we anticipated this RAB charge would be 60% of the total loan amount. Now that we are beginning to receive figures on actual learner numbers, we are reviewing the assumptions within the RAB charge model. This 60% figure may therefore be subject to change in the future.

UK Trade & Investment

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) bonuses, (b) additional salary increments and (c) premiums are offered to UK Trade & Investment staff for proficiency in foreign languages; for which foreign languages these are available; what level of financial support is available for each language; and how many staff receive support for each foreign language for which support is offered. [195618]

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) draws mainly on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).

BIS does not give bonuses, additional salary increments or premiums to the staff of UKTI for proficiency in any foreign languages. BIS does however actively encourage individuals to learn languages and they have access to the FCO's language school.