Employment Agencies

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 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. [195551]

Gregory Barker: The following table details the companies used and the total amounts paid to them in the last financial year. We are unable to identify separately the amounts retained by the companies as fees and the amounts passed on to the temporary worker by the company.

Energy Supply

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken to secure the long-term provision of energy for the UK; and if he will make a statement. [195153]

Michael Fallon: This Government published their Energy Security Strategy in November 2012 which sets out the range of policies in place to deliver energy security and meet demand up to 2050. The strategy sets out the Government's approach which is based on competitive markets combined with effective regulation to deliver diversity of supply and robust infrastructure for consumers. This is supported through measures in a number of areas which will enhance energy security further while also delivering wider energy goals.

These measures include resilience measures to prevent possible disruptions ranging from flooding through to industrial action, and to reduce the impact of incidents if they do occur and energy efficiency measures to lower our exposure to domestic and international energy market risks. We also work to maximise economic production of our oil and gas reserves to provide reliable energy supplies which are not exposed to international energy supply risks as well as working to improve the reliability of global energy markets to help ensure that, where the UK does require the supply of energy from overseas, it is dependable and affordable. In addition, reliable networks ensure that the energy we need is delivered, where we need it. Lastly, decarbonising our energy supplies will help to reduce our dependence on international fossil fuel markets in the longer term.

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Further details are set out in the document which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65643/7101-energy-security-strategy.pdf

Energy: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the Supplemental Balancing Reserve on energy bills for the year (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16. [195408]

Michael Fallon: The cost of procuring Supplemental Balancing Reserve and Demand Side Balancing Reserve is a matter for Ofgem and National Grid. In its draft impact assessment Ofgem estimated the cost of buying these services would be less than £1 a year for the average domestic customer. Ofgem's final impact assessment did not revise or update this estimate. DECC has not carried out a separate assessment.

Ofgem's draft impact assessment can be found at:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/84629/nationalgridsproposednewbalancingservices-draftimpactassessment.pdf

A final impact assessment is available at:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/85278/decisiontoacceptngetapplicationtointroducetwonewbalancingservices andsubsequentconsultationonfundingarrangements.pdf

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what forecast he has made of the impact of capacity contracted under the Supplemental Balancing Reserve to the Loss of Load Expectation in the winter of (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16. [195421]

Michael Fallon: The Government have not made any forecast of the impact of capacity contracted under the Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) on the Loss of Load Expectation for winter 2014-15 or 2015-16. SBR is one of National Grid's two new balancing services, approved by Ofgem in December 2013. SBR and the Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) will address potential capacity shortfalls in the middle of the decade. National Grid is currently developing a methodology to determine how much capacity should be contracted via SBR. Once this is approved by Ofgem, National Grid will proceed with the procurement process.

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that all customers receive the full benefit of reductions in levies on energy bills. [195520]

Michael Fallon: All households will benefit from our changes. While the reduction in individual household bills will depend on the energy supplier, this package, including VAT, will be worth an average of around £50 to households, compared to what would have happened without these changes. All customers on fixed tariffs will receive the £12 rebate from suppliers in autumn and the vast majority of them can either switch to a new tariff created since the autumn statement without any charge or will be switching to a new tariff anyway as a result of their fixed contract coming to an end this year.

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Fracking

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received on the regulatory regime associated with fracking. [195089]

Michael Fallon: The Department has received a number of comments and has been made aware of recommendations by a variety of interested parties, including non-governmental organisations and members of the public, that are relevant to the UK’s shale gas regulatory regime. The UK has a strong regulatory system which provides a comprehensive and fit for purpose regime for exploratory activities, but we want continuously to improve it. The Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil (OUGO) works closely with regulators and others to ensure that regulation is also fit for purpose for production; and that it remains robust enough to safeguard public safety and protect the environment.

The Department is presently conducting a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) on further onshore licensing. The SEA consultation closed on 28 March. Some of the responses to this consultation are relevant to the UK’s shale gas regulatory regime. All responses will be carefully considered before any decision is made on further licensing.

Green Deal Scheme

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 345-6W, on the Green Deal scheme, if he will take steps to enable Green Deal providers to access all the supporting data for Green Deal reports held by Landmark Information Group. [194923]

Gregory Barker: The supporting data for Green Deal Advice Reports held by Landmark Information Group contains sensitive personal data, such as how householders use energy. We do not think it appropriate for providers to have access to this data, given data protection considerations.

We understand that providers would find the raw data useful to tailor Green Deal Advice Reports around the measures customers want installed. However, they have access to the Green Deal Improvement Package Tool—which would allow them to tailor the reports as necessary. This tool can be found at:

https://www.gdsap.org.uk

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been disbursed to Ombudsman Services for work relating to the Green Deal in each month since January 2013; and how many complaints relating to the Green Deal have been processed by Ombudsman Services over the same period. [195420]

Gregory Barker: I can confirm that DECC pays the Ombudsman Service a fixed quarterly rate to provide Green Deal services, support to DECC and maintain systems, plus an additional fee for each investigation undertaken. The quarterly fixed rate payments work out at £3,333.00 per month.

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I would also like to point out that as part of the Government’s transparency initiative DECC publishes summary details of all payments made over £500, including payments to contractors. You can find this information using the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=& publication_filter_option=transparency-data&topics%5B%5D= all&departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&direction=before&date=2013-03-01

The Ombudsman Service has undertaken some casework but this has not resulted in formal complaints or investigations and there have been no investigation charges to the Department.

Housing

Dr Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has conducted on the accuracy of assumptions made in the National Housing Condition Survey that all stone properties built before 1920 are of solid wall construction. [195067]

Gregory Barker: DECC has not undertaken any research into the accuracy of the assumptions made in the English Housing Survey that all stone properties built before 1920 are of solid wall construction.

Offshore Industry

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had on the Natural Environment Research Council’s funding of a new innovation programme in oil and gas; if he will write to the Natural Environment Research Council on the measures it has taken to assess whether its funding of this programme is compatible with (a) the UK’s statutory domestic carbon reductions targets as set out in the Climate Change Act 2008 and (b) the UK’s international commitments as set out in the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun and Camp David agreements; if he will place in the Library a copy of such correspondence; and if he will make a statement. [195318]

Michael Fallon: I have not had any recent discussions with the Natural Environment Research Council regarding a new innovation programme for oil and gas and so I do not intend to write on this matter. There is good co-operation between Government and NERC, and I would anticipate that their schemes will be aligned with the aims of my Department which include the development of the UK’s hydrocarbon resources.

Private Sector

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 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. [195509]

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not transferred any jobs to the private sector as a result of privatisation or outsourcing since May 2010.

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Radioactive Fallout

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment has been made by (a) the RIMNET network and (b) other bodies of the possibility that the sand fallout across the British isles from the Sahara desert has been contaminated by long-lived radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted by France in the Algerian Sahara in the 1960s. [195416]

Michael Fallon: The Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network (RIMNET) is the UK Government’s radiation monitoring and nuclear emergency response system which is operated on a 24-hour a day, seven days a week basis by the Met Office, on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Data from RIMNET has been inspected and shows no evidence of increased levels of radioactivity across the UK.

The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes a programme of far-field monitoring, away from nuclear sites, of radioactivity in air and rainwater. This programme involves constantly sampling air through filters in high volume air samplers. Filters are changed on a weekly basis and subsequently analysed. Past Saharan dust events have not caused any detectable increase in radioactivity on the filters. Results for the changed filters on 31 March and 7 April should be available in the next few days. The results will be published as consolidated data in the annual Radiation in Food and the Environment (RIFE) report which is published jointly by a number of UK and devolved agencies. Previous RIFE reports are available at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_substances/publications/rife_reports.aspx

Winter Fuel Payments

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions his Department has had with other Government Departments on extending the winter fuel payment to people on the higher rate of disability living allowance for care or mobility and the equivalent enhanced rate of the new personal independence payment; and if he will make a statement. [195087]

Gregory Barker: Winter fuel payments is a DWP policy.

However, people with disabilities may be able to access the Warm Home Discount scheme and receive a rebate off their electricity bill. They may also be able to access the energy companies obligation through which they can get help with insulation and heating measures.

Communities and Local Government

Betting Shops

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that betting shops are not placed in the same planning use class as cafes, banks and public houses. [195298]

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Nick Boles: Yes.

Betting shops are currently in the A2 ("financial and professional services") use class. The Budget announced that we will consult on introducing a wider 'retail' use class; I can confirm that this would not include betting shops or payday loan shops.

Moreover, to increase access to retail banking and to encourage new entrants, we have already recently amended secondary legislation such that shops (A1) are now able to change to banks, building societies, credit unions and friendly societies, within the A2 use class. This does not cover betting shops or payday loan shops.

Enterprise Zones

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many jobs have been (a) created and (b) safeguarded at each enterprise zone to date; how many (i) jobs and (ii) firms are currently based at each enterprise zone; and how many businesses have begun occupying premises at each enterprise zone since it began operation; [195301]

(2) how many vacant premises are currently located at each enterprise zone. [195302]

Kris Hopkins: More than 7,600 jobs have been created and 260 new businesses attracted to the 24 enterprise zones over the period April 2012 to December 2013. However, I am unable to disclose zone-level information as the estimates that enterprise zones provide us with may be subject to local commercial sensitivities and disclosure may prejudice commercial negotiations. For this reason, it is for individual zones to determine whether they make this information available.

Fire Services: Retirement

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the mean retirement age of a firefighter was in each of the last 10 years; [195475]

(2) how many firefighters in South Yorkshire retired before the age of 60 in each of the last 10 years; [195463]

(3) how many firefighters in Rotherham retired before the age of 60 years in each of the last 10 years. [195476]

Brandon Lewis: The Department collects information on numbers of normal and early retirements only, it does not collect information on the specific age of these firefighters at retirement. To assist the hon. Member a table containing this information has been provided.

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The Department collects information on retirements at Fire and Rescue Authority level only.

Planning Permission

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the protections currently available under planning law for parcels of land which are subject to planning applications and which are close to national parks. [195155]

Nick Boles: The Government made clear in the National Planning Policy Framework that national parks have the highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty and that great weight should be placed on their conservation. In developing the planning guidance, which was published in March 2014 to support the framework, the Government took account of feedback raised during the ‘Beta' test phase. The guidance, which is a material consideration in planning decisions, explains that section 11 A(2) of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 requires authorities to ‘have regard' to the purpose of national parks ‘in exercising or performing any functions in relation to, or so as to affect, land’ in national parks. The guidance is clear that the duty is relevant in considering development proposals that are situated outside national parks, but which might have an impact on the setting of, and implementation of, the statutory purposes of these protected areas.

Through the Localism Act, the Government have strengthened the role of local plans to shape where development should or should not go. This would allow councils to protect the countryside close to national parks.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in how many cases an Article 4 direction has resulted in the rejection of a planning application which has not subsequently been overturned by the Planning Inspectorate; and what assessment he has made of the typical circumstances of such cases. [195255]

Nick Boles: This information is not held centrally.

Social Rented Housing: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many social housing units were built in Brighton, Kemptown constituency in the most recent five-year period for which figures are available. [195160]

Kris Hopkins: Statistics on house building completions by tenure in each local authority district are published in the Department's live tables 253 (annual) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link:

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

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Taken together, the Private Registered Provider (housing association) and local authority tenures provide estimates of total social housing completions, but these figures understate total affordable supply. This is because the house building figures are categorised by the type of developer rather than the intended final tenure, leading to under recording of affordable housing, and a corresponding over recording of private enterprise figures.

More comprehensive statistics on affordable housing completions funded by the Homes and Communities Agency since 2009-10 by local authority district are available at the following link:

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics

These statistics include both newly built housing and acquisitions but exclude delivery of affordable housing not funded by Homes and Communities Agency programmes that are reported in local authority returns to the Department. A fuller picture of all affordable housing completions is published in the Department's live tables 1006, 1006a, 1007 and 1008, which are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

There is no data source that provides information on affordable homes delivery by parliamentary constituency.

Over 170,000 new affordable homes have been delivered in England since April 2010 (to the end of September 2013). Our Affordable Homes Programme will lever in £19.5 billion of public and private investment over the current spending review period. Over 2015 to 2018, we will be investing a further £23 billion in public and private funding for affordable housing.

State Retirement Pensions

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the financial effect on local authorities when the single tier state pension is introduced in 2016-17 and local authorities no longer receive a national insurance rebate from the contracting out of pensions. [194998]

Brandon Lewis: The Government are currently in discussions with the Local Government Association on this matter.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of London households in temporary accommodation were in (a) private sector leased properties, (b) hotels, (c) bed and breakfast, (d) local authority registered social landlord property and (e) other accommodation (i) at the most recent date for which figures are available and (ii) at 31 March 2010. [191531]

Kris Hopkins: [holding answer 17 March 2014]: To assist public scrutiny, I have placed in the Library of the House, a table which provides quarterly figures for the last 10 years.

Over that period, the numbers of households in temporary accommodation in London in this Government is far lower than averaged under the last Administration.

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The peak of 63,800 households in December 2005 compares to 42,430 in December 2013.

Councils have a responsibility to move homeless households into settled accommodation as quickly as possible and we made common sense changes to the law to enable them to use suitable private rented homes. The average stay in temporary accommodation in England has been reduced from 20 months at the beginning of 2010 to 14 months now, which means that people on average are spending far less time in such temporary accommodation.

We have also seen a 42% reduction in the numbers of families with children in Bed and Breakfast for more than six weeks on this time last year across the country. The seven local authorities that my Department has funded to tackle families in Bed and Breakfast have made significant progress, achieving an overall reduction of 96% since the funding began.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings he has had with the Mayor of London on air quality. [195708]

Dan Rogerson: The Secretary of State meets the Mayor of London on a regular basis. They met on 1 May last year specifically to discuss air quality. There has also been correspondence between them on this issue.

In addition, DEFRA air quality officials are in regular contact with officials at the Greater London Authority.

Bees

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy of the findings of the European Commission's Epilobee Study, published on 2 April 2014; and if he will make a statement. [195673]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has received a copy of the report on the findings of the Epilobee Study and is considering its content.

We take the issue of honeybee health seriously. We have a long-established bee health programme, which includes inspection of colonies, diagnosis of bee pests and diseases, and training for beekeepers. Bee health forms a key part of the National Pollinator Strategy, which is currently out for consultation.

Bees: Pesticides

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what studies the Government has (a) conducted and (b) commissioned on the effects of pesticides on honeybee mortality. [195674]

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Dan Rogerson: Pesticides are authorised for sale and use only if effects on non-target species, including honeybees, are not unacceptable.

The Government have, over a number of years, commissioned broader research on the effects of pesticides on honeybees. Details of all DEFRA research can be found at:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/

Current DEFRA research projects include:

PS2370 Interpretation of pesticide residues in honeybees

PS2374 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) of the effects of pesticides on foraging bees

PS2376 Evaluation of procedures to improve estimates of exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoid insecticides

In addition, one of the nine projects being carried out under the Insect Pollinators Initiative (which is part-funded by DEFRA) is ‘An investigation into the synergistic impact of sub-lethal exposure to industrial chemicals on the learning capacity and performance of bees’.

Research needs in this area are kept under active consideration.

Biodiversity

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide citations of all the scientific literature used by his Department to establish the weightings of risk factors when establishing the metric for biodiversity offsetting. [195096]

Dan Rogerson: The current metric was developed for use in the biodiversity offsetting pilots. DEFRA published a paper at the start of the pilots describing the metric and explaining the rationale behind it. That paper is called “Biodiversity Offsetting Pilots. Technical Paper: the metric for the biodiversity offsetting pilot in England”. Pages 18-19 include the list of references

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/biodiversity/offsetting/documents/110714offsetting-technical-metric.pdf

The time multiplier reflects HM Treasury “Green Book” guidance.

Coastal Erosion

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to review the integrity of the coastline following recent severe weather; and if he will make a statement. [195364]

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency, assisted by the military, is undertaking a review of coastal flood defences after the recent weather events. The results of this review will inform the Environment Agency’s priorities for the near future.

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to protect the (a) UK coastline and (b) Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven stretch of coastline from erosion; and if he will make a statement. [195366]

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency has had strategic overview of coastal erosion risk management in England since 2008. Under this overview the Environment

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Agency oversees the development, monitoring, delivery and reporting of Shoreline Management Plans and associated coastal strategies for the whole coastline of England and Wales. This sets out how coastal erosion will be managed sustainably in the long term.

Lewes district council and Brighton and Hove city council are developing a long-term plan to manage erosion risk along the frontage from Beachy Head to Selsey Bill. This is to be completed this year. It will evaluate the most sustainable options to maintain the coastline over the next 100 years and assess the economic viability of replacing the existing defences when required. The plan has been funded by £104,000 of flood and coastal erosion risk management grant in aid.

Conifers

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to increase the planting of conifers. [195349]

Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Sandra Osborne) on 10 March 2014, Official Report, column 75W.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the amount spent per person on flood defences in (a) England and (b) Wales in each year since 2001 to date; and what estimate he has made of the amounts in each year to 2016. [195489]

Dan Rogerson: The figures are as follows:

(a) Average DEFRA spend per head on flood and coastal erosion risk management in England.

(b) Flood management in Wales is a devolved matter and DEFRA has made no estimate of the amount spent per person.

Forests

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department gives the private sector on steps to increase the area of woodland with a current UK forestry service compliant management plan. [195348]

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Dan Rogerson: Forestry is a devolved issue. UK Forestry Standard compliant management plans are a matter for the devolved Administrations.

In England, the Forestry Commission, with input from the private sector, has recently published new management plan templates with accompanying guidance. This delivers the commitment in the Government’s response to the report by the Forestry Regulation Task Force to develop a series of UK Forestry Standard compliant management plan templates for a range of forest types.

Grant funding is available through the English Woodland Grant Scheme to support the production of woodland management plans and similar support is planned as part of the next Rural Development Programme. In the next programme an approved UK Forestry Standard compliant management plan will be a prerequisite for further woodland grant support.

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recommendations have been made to him by the Natural Capital Committee on the ecosystem services provided by woodland. [195350]

Dan Rogerson: The Natural Capital Committee’s (NCC) second report to the Government’s Economic Affairs Committee was published on 11 March. The report does not make specific recommendations that only apply explicitly to woodland. It does, however, use woodland-based examples to illustrate a number of opportunities to enhance ecosystem service values. A copy of the report is available at:

http://www.naturalcapitalcommittee.org/

The Government plans to respond to the NCC’s recommendations in summer 2014.

In 2012, the NCC published its principles for guiding decision making regarding forestry in the UK in response to recommendations made by the Independent Panel on Forestry report. The NCC’s response is available at:

http://www.naturalcapitalcommittee.org/advice.html

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans that the commercial timber manufacturing sector will be represented on the proposed public forest trustee body. [195353]

Dan Rogerson: In January this year, we set out a list of 10 core principles for the new body, including that it would be managed by experts and have access to the best advice. We intend that the commercial timber manufacturing sector should be represented in the arrangements, giving effect to this commitment.

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress his Department has made towards the creation of a new public forest trustee body as proposed in the Government’s Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement 2013. [195358]

Dan Rogerson: The Government are making good progress in developing plans for the new, operationally independent public body to manage the public forest estate, as announced in the Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement, published in January 2013. DEFRA

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and the Forestry Commission have worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders in designing the features of the new body. Subject to parliamentary time, the Government intend to legislate at the earliest opportunity.

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on developing an ecosystem valuation approach. [195387]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA and HM Treasury produced new Green Book supplementary guidance in 2012 on how to account for nature’s value at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/191500/Accounting_for_ enviornomental_impacts.pdf

This supplementary guidance covers the practical application of techniques for valuing environmental impacts in policy appraisal. It applies to all programmes, policies and projects. An important recommendation in this guidance is the use of the ecosystem services framework.

DEFRA is also supporting independent research on developing further our understanding of nature’s economic and social value through the National Ecosystem Assessment Follow-On Project (NEAFO), which will report later this year.

Livestock: Transport

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts regarding the live export of animals; and if he will make a statement. [195386]

George Eustice: The EU Commission's approach is focused on better enforcement of existing European rules on the welfare of animals during transport, rather than making any substantive change to legislation. I have not held any discussions with my EU counterparts on this strategy.

Timber

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on the development of the Grown in Britain certification scheme for timber products. [195347]

Dan Rogerson: The Government support and are very encouraged by the Grown in Britain initiative, which is working to maximise the long-term benefits that our woodlands can bring to the environment, social well-being and the economy. As Grown in Britain is a sector-led initiative, the Government are not responsible for the development of the brand licensing system that will be applied to timber products produced by Grown in Britain commercial partners.

Justice

Coroners

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether police reports to coroners' inquests are available to the connected parties; what the cost is of supplying such reports; and if he will make a statement. [195543]

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Mr Vara: Rules 12 to 15 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1616/contents/made

provide for a coroner, on request, to disclose relevant documents to ‘interested persons’ in the coroner’s investigation, subject to specified restrictions. This may include reports that police provide to the coroner.

Rule 16 of the Rules provides that a coroner may not charge a fee for any document disclosed before or during an inquest. Regulation 12 of the Coroners Allowances, Fees and Expenses Regulations 2013:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1615/contents/made

sets out the fees that coroners may charge for disclosure after an inquest.

We do not have operational responsibility for coroners so do not hold data on the costs to coroners of supplying documents and there would be disproportionate costs for both MOJ and coroners in obtaining it. This is because we would need to approach each coroner to ask them to investigate and advise MOJ of the costs to them of disclosing police reports to interested persons.

The Rules minimise disclosure costs for coroners by providing for electronic disclosure where appropriate, and for a coroner to disclose a bundle of relevant documents together, where this is more efficient. Paragraphs 117 to 126 of the Chief Coroner’s Guide to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009:

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/coroners/guidance/chief-coroners-guide-to-act-sept2013.pdf

explain this in more detail.

The coroner provisions in the 2009 Act were implemented in July 2013 and we have undertaken to review their impact after 18 months.

Courts

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of (a) magistrates' courts, (b) County courts and (c) County Court money claims centres use higher-rate telephone numbers. [191689]

Mr Vara: The information held centrally on how many and what proportion of (a) magistrates courts, (b) County courts and (c) County Court money claims centres use higher-rate telephone numbers is as follows:

(a) Magistrates courts—33 out of 330 courts

(b) County Courts—17 out of 216 courts

(c) The County Court Bulk Centre in Northampton which centrally manages money claims, also uses higher rate telephone numbers.

Some of the individual numbers are used for more than one court.

As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department's approach is not to use 084 or 087 for non-geographic numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone—see:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130423/text/130423w0004.htm#130423w0004. htm_wqn27

and

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?ids2013-11-20a.175002.h&s=Vaz+0845#g175002.q0

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The number of 08 numbers used by the Department has fallen by 55% since December 2009.

Employment Tribunals Service: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employment tribunals in Scotland have been processed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each year since 2010. [195137]

Mr Vara: The Government are committed to working across the employment law (including the employment dispute resolution) system to help to make it easier for companies to hire and manage staff, while protecting workers' rights. This encourages employers to create new jobs, supporting enterprise and growth.

Workload before the employment tribunals is affected by several factors, including underlying economic performance trends, the impacts of reforms of employment legislation and tribunals process, and the number of collective disputes (for example involving insolvencies, and equal pay complaints) that lead to large-scale multiple claims.

The number of claims accepted by employment tribunals and processed by HMCTS in each calendar year, since 2010, is set out in the following table:

Insurance: Fraud

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the number of victims of personal injury insurance fraud in the last year for which information is available. [195396]

Mr Vara: No figures are available for the number of victims of, or for the average loss incurred from, personal injury fraud. Across all forms of insurance the ABI estimates that fraud adds, on average, an extra £50 a year to the annual insurance bill for every UK policyholder.

However, we have already seen a fall in premiums paid by motorists following the implementation of Government reforms in April 2013. The latest ABI quarterly index shows a 9% drop in actual premiums paid in the last year. The Government fully expect insurers to continue to meet their commitment to pass on the savings from these and other reforms to consumers.

The Government are committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end we are working closely with stakeholders across the industry to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

No estimate is available of any cost savings that might accrue from clarifying the courts' powers to strike out claims that are exaggerated or fabricated. However, we are considering what reform might be appropriate to the law in this area.

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Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if his Department will estimate the savings in reduced litigation costs that might accrue from a reform of civil procedure rules to clarify the courts' powers to strike out cases on a basis that personal injury claims were exaggerated or fabricated; and if he will make a statement; [195398]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the average loss incurred by victims of insurance fraud in the last year for which information is available. [195397]

Mr Vara: No figures are available for the number of victims of, or for the average loss incurred from, personal injury fraud. Across all forms of insurance the Association of British Insurers estimates that fraud adds, on average, an extra £50 a year to the annual insurance bill for every UK policyholder.

However, we have already seen a fall in premiums paid by motorists following the implementation of Government reforms in April 2013. The latest ABI quarterly index shows a 9% drop in actual premiums paid in the last year. The Government fully expect insurers to continue to meet their commitment to pass on the savings from these and other reforms to consumers.

The Government are committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end we are working closely with stakeholders across the industry to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

No estimate is available of any cost savings that might accrue from clarifying the courts’ powers to strike out claims that are exaggerated or fabricated. However, we are considering what reform might be appropriate to the law in this area.

Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will adopt the Law Commission's proposal in its 12th programme of law reform on fraud by victims of personal injury; [195630]

(2) what progress his Department has made on potential measures to discourage personal injury claimants from exaggerating or fabricating losses over and above genuine elements; and if he will make a statement. [195650]

Mr Vara: The Government are committed to reducing the number of fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider the issue.

As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many appeals against jobseeker’s allowance decisions went to tribunal between (a) 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 and (b) 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; [195526]

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(2) what proportion of jobseeker’s allowance appeals were represented at tribunal between (a) 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 and (b) 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; and what proportion of such claimants were successful. [195524]

Mr Vara: The first-tier tribunal—social security and child support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits including jobseeker’s allowance (JSA).

The following table shows (i) the proportion of appeals against JSA which were represented and (ii) the proportion of those appeals which were found in favour of the appellant for the period (a) 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 and (b) 1 April to 31 December 2013 (the latest period for which figures have been published).

A combination of reasons can lead to a decision being overturned on appeal. For example, a hearing may generate additional evidence, in particular oral evidence provided by the appellant at the hearing.

Information on appeals received by the tribunal against decisions made about claims for JSA is published by the Ministry of Justice in Tribunals Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report, which includes the number of appeals received in the periods (a) 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 and (b) 1 April to 31 December 2013, can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289342/tribunal-stats-oct-dec-2013.pdf

Magistrates Courts

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he next plans to review the number of magistrates courts operating in England. [195041]

Mr Vara: HM Courts and Tribunals Service continues to keep the number of magistrates courts under review, as with the wider estate, to ensure it meets operational requirements.

Non-molestation Orders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 95W, on non-molestation orders, what the figure for previous convictions or cautions is for (a) male and (b) female offenders. [194472]

Jeremy Wright: The following additional break down has been provided in addition to PQ 192243.

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

In the 12 months ending September 2013, nine females received their first immediate custodial sentence for breach of non-molestation order, of which six had no previous, one had one previous and two had two or more previous convictions or cautions for the same offence. Averages have not been provided for female offenders breaching a non-molestation order as the number of females is too small to provide a reliable estimate.

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

Oakwood Prison

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what discussions he or his officials have had with the management of HM Prison Oakwood about staffing levels at that prison; [194420]

(2) what the expected additional cost is in 2014-15 of the increased staffing levels agreed for HM Prison Oakwood; [194364]

(3) what increase in staffing levels at HM Prison Oakwood his Department has agreed with G4S. [194421]

Jeremy Wright: Staffing levels at HMP Oakwood are regularly reviewed by both the Ministry of Justice and G4S. There are currently no plans to increase staffing levels at HMP Oakwood.

Offensive Weapons

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people aged (a) under 18 years old and (b) 18 years and over were (i) prosecuted and (ii) received a custodial sentence for carrying a bladed or pointed article in a public place in each year since 2008. [194369]

Jeremy Wright: Since 2009 there has been an overall decline in knife crime. A higher proportion of people are going to prison for knife possession than in previous years and sentences are getting longer. However we continue to keep this area of the law under close scrutiny. We recently made it clear that cautions should no longer be used for knife possession offences for adults and are currently exploring wider changes to how we tackle knife offences.

Table 1 illustrates the number of juveniles proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to having an article with blade or point in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012.

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Table 2 illustrates the number of adults proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to having an article with blade or point, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012.

It is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with.

Data detailing the number of people aged (a) under 18 and (b)18 and over, who were (i) convicted (ii) and

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received a custodial sentence for carrying a bladed or pointed article in a public place in each year since 2008 can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-october-2013-december-2013

The figures provided have been drawn from an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Department. The PNC holds details of all convictions and cautions given for recordable offences committed in England and Wales. In addition, as with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

The Department also records number of prosecutions and custodial sentences for this particular offence which can be viewed in the following tables.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will take steps to reform civil procedure rules to clarify courts' powers to strike out cases due to exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims; and if he will make a statement; [194773]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the effect on insurance premiums of personal injury insurance fraud in the last year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement; [194759]

(3) how many insurance fraud cases were struck out due to exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims in the last year for which figures are available; [194774]

(4) if he will take steps to reform civil procedure rules in a similar manner to the Republic of Ireland's Civil Liabilities and Court Act 2004 to tackle third party insurance fraud; [194804]

(5) if he will make resources available for a project by the Law Commission investigating the question of fraud by victims of personal injury; [194805]

(6) what estimate his Department has made of the scale of (a) detected and (b) undetected insurance fraud in the last year for which figures are available; [194806]

(7) if he will request that the Law Commission undertake a law reform project on the question of fraud victims of personal injury as part of its 12 programme of law reform. [194807]

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Mr Vara: The Government are committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider this issue. We will make our conclusions known in due course.

No figures are available on the number of exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims struck out by the courts. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) indicate that whiplash claims cost customers more than £2 billion a year and add £90 to the average motor insurance premium.

The ABI describe 7% of all motor claims in 2011—worth £441 million—as fraudulent. In addition, they estimate that a further £1 billion of motor insurance fraud went undetected in 2011.

As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

Prison Accommodation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) operational capacities and (b) certified normal accommodations were of each privately run prison with which a contract for additional places has been signed since January 2014. [194309]

Jeremy Wright: The privately operated prisons at which additional places have been purchased since January 2014 are listed as follows:

Altcourse

Dovegate

Forest Bank

Lowdham Grange

Parc

Peterborough

Individual prison population and capacity information is published monthly on the Government website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2014

Population and capacity figures for March 2014 will be published on the Government website on 11 April.

Prisoners' Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the highest number of hours spent on temporary release in a week by a prisoner was in the latest period for which figures are available; [194657]

(2) on how many occasions a prisoner did not spend at least one period of 24 consecutive hours in prison in a week in each of the last three years; [194673]

(3) how many prisoners were released on temporary licence for (a) up to 12 hours, (b) 12 to 24 hours and (c) over 24 hours in a week in the latest period for which figures are available. [194677]

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Jeremy Wright: Prisoners may be released on temporary licence for reasons linked to their resettlement needs and sentence plans, or where there are compelling circumstances that justify the release. Last month, we announced a range of measures to strengthen the existing temporary release provisions to ensure that the right balance is always struck between facilitating resettlement and protecting the public. Under our plans, public protection will always take priority.

Data on the number of hours for which prisoners are released on temporary licence are not collated centrally.

Data on temporary releases in 2012 is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-notice-releases-on-temporary-licence-2012

Prisoners: Publications

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reason the rules governing the provision of books to prisoners have recently been changed. [193552]

Jeremy Wright: Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time. Prisoners may have additional books stored locally at the prison. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access.

Ministers have not made any policy changes specifically about the availability of books in prisons. The changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework we introduced last year in relation to parcels were introduced to ensure consistency across the estate and to make sure that security can be maintained. There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.

The National Offender Management Service works closely with the Shannon Trust to support schemes such as ‘Toe by Toe’, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.

Prisoners: Religion

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether prisoners are subject to different conditions depending on their religion. [194808]

Jeremy Wright: All prisoners are held in accommodation/conditions appropriate to their individual categorisation and the assessed rehabilitation needs.

Prisoners: Repatriation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners in England and Wales originate from countries that are signed up to the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement. [191088]

Jeremy Wright: The EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement (Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA) entered into force on 5 December 2011.

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To date 18 member states (including the United Kingdom) have implemented the Agreement. The number of foreign nationals in prison from these countries (as of 31 December 2013) is set out in the table.

Transfer under the EUPTA requires a deportation order and prisoners must have at least six months left to serve when transferred. Many shorter sentenced EU prisoners will therefore not be in scope for transfer.

Use of the EUPTA remains at an early stage, but we expect to see a significant increase in the number of prisoner transferred once the Agreement has been implemented by all member states.

All foreign national offenders sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office for them to consider deportation at the earliest possible opportunity.

The Prisoner Transfer process is just one mechanism for removing foreign national offenders. The number of FNOs deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) has increased under this Government. In 2013, we removed nearly 2,000 FNOs under ERS and under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS), which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 237 FNOs to date.

Whereas this Government have begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison since 2010, between 1997 and 2010, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons more than doubled.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many assaults there were against prison officers in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013. [194698]

Jeremy Wright: NOMS takes the issue of assaults on prison staff very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who assault staff are charged and punished appropriately.

NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is tackled in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.

The number of prisoner on prison officers assault incidents in each year are provided in table 3.8 of the supplementary tables on assaults that accompany each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest publication can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody

Figures for the number of these incidents that are reported on the centralised administrative system as being referred to the police in each year are provided in table 1. These figures do not represent individuals as

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there may be multiple assailants in some incidents. How many of these resulted in charges or conviction can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Postal Services

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) items of post were received by prisoners and (b) items of contraband was found in prisoners’ post in each of the last four years. [195533]

Jeremy Wright: Prisons employ a range of measures to detect, disrupt and deter the trafficking of unauthorised items into prisons.

The number of individual items of post sent to prisoners is not recorded by prison establishments. Finds of contraband are recorded on a central incident reporting system as either a drug-related incident or a miscellaneous incident. In order to establish the number and type of contraband found in post received by prisoners, in each of the last four years, would require the interrogation of over 62,000 individual electronic incident files. This could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what types of contraband were found in items of post received by prisoners in each of the last four years. [195534]

Jeremy Wright: Prisons employ a range of measures to detect, disrupt and deter the trafficking of unauthorised items into prisons.

The number of individual items of post sent to prisoners is not recorded by prison establishments. Finds of contraband are recorded on a central incident reporting system as either a drug-related incident or a miscellaneous incident. In order to establish the number and type of contraband found in post received by prisoners, in each of the last four years, would require the interrogation of over 62,000 individual electronic incident files. This could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Remand in Custody

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many (a) men and (b) women were refused bail and remanded in custody where the allegation related to (i) an offence against the person, (ii) a public order offence and (iii) a harassment offence in the latest period for which figures are available; [194404]

(2) how many (a) men and (b) women were refused bail and remanded in custody where the alleged offence related to an incident involving domestic violence in the latest period for which figures are available. [194414]

Jeremy Wright: The number of men and women remanded in custody at magistrates courts and the Crown courts for offences of violence against the person, public order offences and harassment offences, for 2012

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(latest available) can be viewed in the tables. The proportion remanded in custody has remained broadly constant in recent years.

The MoJ Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought,

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but not all the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally-held information does not allow us to separately identify which offences proceeded against were related to domestic violence. This information is not reported to Justice Statistics Analytical Services in MoJ owing to its size and complexity, and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners being held in prisons in England and Wales are serving sentences passed in jurisdictions outside England and Wales. [194412]

Jeremy Wright: As at 31 December 2013, 231 prisoners held in prisons in England and Wales were serving sentences imposed in jurisdictions outside England and Wales. This includes 125 who were convicted overseas, for example in Thailand, Panama and Venezuela, and 106 who were convicted in another UK jurisdiction or the Islands (Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle Man).

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Taxation: Appeals

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) first-tier and (b) upper-tier tax tribunal (i) judges and (ii) expert panel members there were as of April 2014; for how many days (A) first-tier and (B) upper-tier tax tribunal panel members sat in 2013-14; and how much was paid to tax tribunal panel members in 2013-14. [195472]

Mr Vara: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, columns 491-92W, which contain the most up-to-date information on judicial numbers. Data for later periods will be contained in the next publication of the data on total numbers of the judiciary and their background.

For the period April 2013 to December 2013, panel members sat in the first-tier tribunal tax chamber for a total of 964.50 days. Members do not sit on tax cases in the upper tribunal¹.

In the financial year 2013-14, judicial expenditure for all fee-paid judicial office holders within the tax jurisdiction was £1.8 million².

¹ This figure is taken from internal management information and as such has not been quality checked to the same level as official statistics.

² This figure is still subject to internal audit processes and will be incorporated into overall judicial spend figures in the HMCTS annual report and accounts which will be published later this year.

Verne Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funds his Department has spent on preparing HM Prison The Verne for re-role as an immigration detention centre to date. [194448]

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice has not spent any additional money to date in preparing HM Prison The Verne to hold immigration detainees. However, the Home Office has funded infrastructure changes to make the site suitable for holding immigration detainees. These changes have allowed for early and cost-efficient preparation for its change of use while continuing to allow The Verne to operate as a prison.

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Written Questions: Government Responses

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 293W, on prisons: mother and baby units, what the reasons were for the time taken to provide a substantive answer day to the named day question tabled for answer on 10 February 2014. [194372]

Jeremy Wright: Officials in the Ministry of Justice have looked into the issue you have raised and we can confirm that the reason the above answer was delayed was due to an administrative error.

I apologise for this delay.

Education

Children: Autism

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve the education of children with pathological demand avoidance. [195317]

Mr Timpson: The reforms made in Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 will improve education for all pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). These reforms will ensure that there is a focus on identifying the individual needs and aspirations of children and young people with the full involvement of their families. The Act requires joint planning and commissioning of services across education, health and social care, so that these needs can be met more effectively.

The National Autistic Society acknowledges that pathological demand avoidance is increasingly becoming recognised as part of the autism spectrum. The Department for Education continues to fund the Autism Education Trust to provide training to early years, school and further education staff on autism. We also provide grant funding to organisations including Ambitious about Autism and the National Autistic Society in order to support implementation of the reforms.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 221W, how many three and four-year-olds in each parliamentary constituency are accessing the free early years entitlement outside of reception classes. [195200]

Elizabeth Truss: The information is provided in a table which will be placed in the Library of the House.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average cost of child care for a three-year-old in England has been in each year since 2005. [195216]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education uses cost information from a number of independent surveys. The Family and Childcare Trust (formerly the Daycare Trust) has published a child care costs survey annually since 2002. Survey information is available on:

http://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-costs-surveys

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or by contacting the Family and Childcare Trust. Their findings on the costs of child care for children aged two and over in England since 2005 are shown in the following tables.

From the 2010 survey onwards, the hours of weekly child care used in the cost survey was changed from 50 hours a week to 25 hours a week. This was because the trust believed that the lower figure was a more accurate reflection of typical child care usage.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether recommendations from the Independent Experts Panel on serious case reviews to local safeguarding children's boards are advisory. [195604]

Mr Timpson: ‘Working Together' states that local safeguarding children boards:

“should have regard to the panel's advice when deciding whether or not to initiate a serious case review (SCR), when appointing reviewers and when considering publication of SCR reports.”

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which children's services departments have instituted the role of Principal Social Worker; and how many people each such department employs. [195605]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of social workers, including those they appoint to the Principal Social Worker role.

Children's Centres

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what plans he has in place to support children’s centres that wish to move towards a co-operative model following their proposed closure; [195433]

(2) if he will provide funding for the transition of children’s centres to new structures; [195434]

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(3) what steps he has taken to ensure the quality of service provided by co-operative model children’s centres; [195462]

(4) what steps he has taken to develop the capacity and knowledge of parents and staff who volunteer to take on the running of their children’s centre. [195474]

Elizabeth Truss: The Cabinet Office’s Mutuals Support Programme provides support to public sector workers who want to turn their service into a mutual. This can include children’s centres and co-operative forms of organisation. Further information is available through the Mutuals Information Service website at:

http://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

The Department for Communities and Local Government recently announced a Transformation Challenge Award to help councils transform the way they run local services to put the user first. The Department for Education has funded work to support and encourage groups of parents, families and community members to develop their own community management models for children’s centres.

All designated children’s centres including those provided by co-operative model, are inspected by Ofsted.

Families: Advisory Services

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of (a) mothers and (b) fathers with children under two years of age in each of the pilot areas have taken up subsidised relationship support between April 2012 and March 2014; whether this support was face-to-face or online; how much the support cost parents; what the subsidy cost the Government; how much of the £1 million funding has been used; and if he will break down the costs of the scheme by subheading. [195439]

Mr Timpson: Some £400,000 was spent out of a budget of £1.1 million.

The remaining information which is available is published in the Evaluation report and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262849/DFE-_RR311.pdf

Free Schools

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will rank each English local authority by the number of (a) primary and (b) secondary free schools to have received approval; and what this represents as a proportion of the estimated school-age population. [195442]

Mr Timpson: The published list of successful applications to open a free school and of free schools already opened or in the pre-opening stage, which includes which local authority they are in, is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-successful-applications-and-open-schools-2014

The total number of places in these schools when at full capacity will be around 2% of the total number of children currently educated in state-funded schools in England.

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The number of places in approved free schools is published online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/successful-free-school-proposals-announced

The total school population is published in the 'schools, pupils and their characteristics' statistical first release and is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2013

Further Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will visit further education colleges to discuss the effect of his proposed 17.5% reduction from September for funding for 18-year-olds in full-time education. [195446]

Elizabeth Truss: I have received a large number of invitations to discuss this topic and sadly cannot accept nearly as many as I would like to.

Nevertheless, I have listened to the views of the hon. and right hon. Members, as well as those of colleges and other providers of 16 to 19 education. I am pleased that we have been able to afford to mitigate the impact of the funding reduction on 18-year-olds in the academic year 2014/15. We will cap any losses in relation to this at 2% of the funding that an institution receives for the education of 16 to 19-year-olds.

However, the overriding need to tackle the budget deficit remains, and so the full funding reduction for 18-year-olds will still be necessary in 2015-16. We have carried out and published an impact assessment, which is available online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-reduction-for-18-year-olds-impact-assessment

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on career colleges. [903663]

Elizabeth Truss: The Government's policy for career colleges is the same as for any other further education college that enrols 14 to 16-year-olds. The Education Funding Agency first needs to grant permission for the college to enrol 14 to 16-year-olds, and permission is restricted to colleges with a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating.

The proposals set out by the Career College Trust, an independent charity, take advantage of the flexibilities and freedoms of the funding reforms introduced by this Government to provide an alternative approach to offering high quality academic and vocational education from age 14.

I await with interest developments in career colleges and other innovative schemes for 14-19 provision, which have arisen as a result of the Government's vocational education reforms.

Further Education: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed 17.5% reduction in funding for full-time education on 18-year-olds from ethnic minorities who (a) have poor prior attainment and (b) speak English as an additional language. [195478]

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Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has published an impact assessment, which is available online:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-reduction-for-18-year-olds-impact-assessment

The impact assessment looked at the proportion of 18-year-old black and minority ethnic (BME) students in full-time education who attract a funding uplift for disadvantage based on the level of deprivation of their home postcode, compared with the proportion of all 16 to 18-year-old BME students. It shows that 18-year-old BME students in full-time education are not more likely to be from disadvantaged areas than 16 to 18-year-old BME students as a whole.

I am pleased that we have been able to afford to mitigate the impact of the funding reduction on 18-year-olds in the academic year 2014-15. We will cap any losses in relation to this at 2% of the funding that an institution receives for the education of 16 to 19-year-olds.

Jimmy Savile

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which local authorities are involved in investigations of historic abuse by Jimmy Savile; and when he expects the resulting reports to be published. [195606]

Mr Timpson: As published in the written statement made by the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), on 27 March 2014, the following local authorities are involved in investigations of historical abuse by Jimmy Savile:

Bournemouth;

Devon;

Gloucestershire;

Leeds;

London borough of Hounslow;

London borough of Islington;

London borough of Southwark;

London borough of Tower Hamlets;

Manchester;

Nottingham;

Nottinghamshire, and

Surrey.

The investigations will be completed at the earliest opportunity, but not before the independent quality assurers are satisfied that they have been full and thorough.

Julian Le Grand

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what contractual arrangements his Department has with Professor Julian Le Grand; and how much he has been paid. [195602]

Elizabeth Truss: In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), appointed Professor Julian Le Grand as chair of a panel undertaking a review of Doncaster Children's Services, as announced in a letter dated 25 March 2013 to the then Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies. The letter is published on the Department's website:

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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/doncaster-childrens-care-direction-for-improvement-march-2013

Professor Le Grand submitted his report to Ministers in May 2013. Professor Le Grand was subsequently asked by the Minister for Children and Families, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) to chair another panel to consider ways forward for Birmingham's Children's Social Care Services, as announced in a letter to the leader of Birmingham council, Albert Bore, on 29 November 2013. The letter is also published on the Department's website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/edward-timpson-writes-to-birmingham-city-council

The Report of this work was submitted to Ministers in February 2014.

Professor Le Grand received no remuneration for his work on either review. The Department for Education met reasonable travel, accommodation and other expenses for Professor Le Grand which were wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in relation to this work in accordance with the Department's policies.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many early years providers with exemptions from the early years foundation stage are funded to provide early education places to two, three and four-year-olds. [195336]

Elizabeth Truss: According to the information that the Department for Education holds, we are aware that 43 early years providers, who have been granted full or partial exemptions from the learning and development requirements of the early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework, are in receipt of early education funding.

Information on the exemption process for early years providers is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-early-years-foundation-stage-eyfs-learning-and-development-requirements-guidance-on-exemptions-for-early-years-providers

As the published information above states, to be granted an exemption, independent schools have to meet the quality threshold of ‘good’ or better judgment in the school’s most recent inspection report; meet the other conditions set in the Secretary of State’s Direction (which is to notify parents and the local authority) and notify the Department of their intention to take up the exemption.

Providers who are governed by principles of learning and development that cannot be reconciled with the learning and development requirements of the EYFS have to submit an application to the Secretary of State, demonstrating how their principles of learning and development conflicts with the EYFS and meet the other conditions set by the Secretary of State which is to notify parents and the local authority of their intention.

Priority School Building Programme

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2014, Official Report, column 250W, on schools construction, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's

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non-firm, estimated dates for the start and finish of construction for each PSBP school. [195610]

Mr Laws: The Department for Education does not hold firm predictions for when every project will start or finish construction as time scales can shift in either direction.

I do not believe it is appropriate to publish non-firm, estimated dates for the start and finish of construction for each Priority Schools Building Programme school.

Pupil Exclusions: Autism

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of the school exclusions pilot on pupils with autism; [195295]

(2) what assessment he has made of the potential role of the local offer in reducing the number of pupils with autism affected by official and unofficial exclusion. [195296]

Mr Timpson: An interim evaluation of the school exclusions pilot, published in March 2013, found early indications of schools taking more responsibility for pupils at risk of exclusion, collaborating with each other and working in partnership with local authorities to improve alternative provision in their areas. Such approaches benefit all pupils vulnerable to exclusion, including those with autism.

The Department for Education has introduced wide ranging reforms through the Children and Families Act 2014 to improve provision and support for children and young people with special educational needs or a disability.

The Act requires local authorities to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability. The local offer will set out in one place information about provision families can expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have education, health and care (EHC) plans.

The local offer will provide children, young people and parents with clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the services and support available and how to access it, including that from schools.

It will make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving families and service providers in its development and review, enabling them to have a greater say in how services and support develop over time.

This should therefore have an important role to play in improving outcomes and reducing exclusions for children and young people with SEN, including those with autism.