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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 1 May 2014

Prime Minister

10 Downing Street

Richard Burden: To ask the Prime Minister what receptions were held in 10 Downing street on each day in the week commencing 21 April 2014; and what the occasion was of each reception. [196811]

The Prime Minister: Details of official and charity receptions held at Downing street are published on a quarterly basis. Details can be accessed via the gov.uk website.

Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister what meetings he has had with (a) the First Minister of Northern Ireland, (b) the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and (c) both the First and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [196714]

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Prime Minister how many visits he made to Northern Ireland in an official capacity in 2013. [196863]

The Prime Minister: I regularly meet the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to discuss a range of issues and will continue to do so.

I visit all parts of the United Kingdom regularly, including Northern Ireland. I last visited Northern Ireland on Thursday 10-Friday 11 October 2013.

Stephen Sutton

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received on the work of Stephen Sutton in fundraising for cancer charities; and if he will make a statement. [196801]

The Prime Minister: I was very moved to read of the outstanding fundraising work carried out by Stephen and his passion to raise money for teenage cancer services to help others like him.

As part of Stephen’s list of 50 things he wants to do, he came to Downing street to give a speech in July last year. Although I was unable to meet him on that occasion I continue to be awe-struck by his enthusiasm, his determination and achievement.

His fund-raising is not only incredible in itself but is also an inspiration for young people and the wider community.

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House of Commons Commission

Cromwell Green Entrance

Mr Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what consultations the House authorities held with English Heritage prior to implementing the recent changes to St Stephen's Entrance; whether those changes will be permanent or temporary; and what steps the Commission plans to take to ensure that better protection from inclement weather and other improved facilities are provided for visitors to the House. [196940]

John Thurso: The changes at St Stephen's Entrance are intended to be temporary to reduce the queuing time at our public entrances. Work is progressing to improve the permanent public search facility at Cromwell Green. The redesign will deliver a more efficient search process and increase capacity. These changes are temporary and do not affect the building directly, so there was no prior consultation with English Heritage. However, work is also under way to explore, with English Heritage and Westminster city council, installing a permanent canopy to the pedestrian walkway leading to the Cromwell Green search point, which would provide protection in bad weather.

Scotland

Self-employed: Females

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many women in Scotland were self-employed in the most recent period for which information is available. [196922]

David Mundell: In the latest Annual Population Survey, accessed by NOMIS on 29 April 2014, the figures for the period January 2013 to December 2013 show the number of women (aged 16+) who were self-employed in Scotland was 94,000.

Northern Ireland

Terrorism

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will place in the Library a list of the members of the IRA who have been beneficiaries of the use of the royal prerogative of mercy. [194053]

Mrs Villiers: Based on an assessment of the records held by my Department, the royal prerogative of mercy (RPM) was granted in Northern Ireland 365 times between 1979 and 2002, but this total does not include the period between 1987 and 1997 for which records cannot currently be found. The Department does not hold information which specifically confirms whether individuals who received the RPM were members of proscribed groups. There are no cases where the RPM has been granted since the current Government came to office in May 2010, and the records indicate that there are no instances where the RPM was granted after 2002.

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Justice

Administration of Justice

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many single justice procedure notices HM Courts and Tribunal Service could send out annually if it used the opportunities to do so within the criteria proposed in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. [196516]

Mr Vara: It will be a matter for prosecuting authorities to decide whether to use this procedure and to send out single justice procedure notices.

The impact assessment for this policy is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289202/regulatory-cases-ia.pdf

Convictions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 4(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, where the person to whom controlled drugs were supplied or offered to be supplied was a child, in each of the last four years. [196434]

Damian Green: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the court proceedings database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information the age of an individual to whom an offender has been convicted of supplying illegal drugs. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Females: Islam

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that women's rights are not undermined by the use of sharia law. [903799]

Mr Vara: The Government are committed to the protection and promotion of women’s rights. Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government have no intention of changing this position. Everyone is equal before the law.

Open Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what offences were committed by prisoners serving their sentences in open prisons. [194416]

Jeremy Wright: Open prisons have been used since 1936, because they are the most effective means of ensuring that prisoners are suitably risk-assessed before they are released into the community under appropriate licence conditions. These prisons also provide effective supervision for prisoners who do not require the security conditions of the closed estate, because they have been

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assessed as having a low risk of harm to the public and a low risk of absconding by the independent Parole Board and/or NOMS.

Indeterminate sentence prisoners located in open conditions have been rigorously risk assessed and categorised as being of a low enough risk to the public to warrant their placement in an open prison. They will have previously spent time in prisons with higher levels of security, before being transferred to open conditions if recommended by the Parole Board or directed through NOMS.

The main purpose of open conditions is to test prisoners in conditions more similar to those that they will face in the community. Time spent in open prisons affords prisoners the opportunity to find work, re-establish family ties, reintegrate into the community and ensure housing needs are met. For many prisoners, in particular those such as ISPs who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody, these are essential components for successful reintegration in the community and therefore an important factor in protecting the public. To release these prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate would undoubtedly lead to higher levels of post-release reoffending. The reoffending rates for those released from open prisons are low when compared to all prisoners released from custody in England and Wales.

The requested information is provided in the following table:

Personal Injury: Compensation

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to his answer of 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 636W, on personal injury: compensation, what recent discussions he has had with members of the core group on whiplash and other members of the wider stakeholder community. [196517]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice has formed medical and legal sub groups to provide further assistance with the implementation of the Government’s whiplash reform programme. My colleague Lord Faulks, Minister of State for Justice, wrote to all working group members on 20 March to prioritise their work programme.

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On 2 May 2014, Lord Faulks sought views on proposed fixed costs for medical reports and related issues. The responses will be considered before amendments to the Road Traffic Accident Protocol and Civil Procedure Rules are finalised and presented to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee.

Information on membership of the sub groups, copies of the letters from Lord Faulks and other associated documents, together with an update on progress are available on the MOJ website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil-justice-reforms/personal-injury-claims

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment his Department has made of the effects on the economy of reforming the UK's 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; [196527]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the expected cost to the economy of (a) detected and (b) undetected personal injury insurance fraud in 2014-15; [196525]

(3) what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the economy of (a) detected and (b) undetected personal injury insurance fraud in the last year for which figures are available. [196526]

Mr Vara: No figures are available for the number of victims of, or average loss incurred from, personal injury fraud. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers 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.

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 the economic effects 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.

Prisons: Libraries

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisons had operative libraries in each of the last five years. [196679]

Jeremy Wright: Prisoners in all prisons in England and Wales have access to libraries and have had access in each of the last five years.

Prison Service Instruction 45/2011 requires every prison to provide a library; to allow every prisoner to borrow and exchange library books; and to ensure that prisoners have access to mandatory publications.

Prisons: Recycling

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisons have recycling units run by (a) prisoners and (b) outside contractors. [194413]

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Jeremy Wright: There are currently 108 prisons that have recycling units. Of the 95 recycling units operated by public sector prisons, three of them are supervised by private contractors. 13 private sector prisons also have recycling units, many of which employ prisoners.

Sexual Offences Act 2003

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there have been with offence code (a) 21, (b) 22, (c) 23, (d) 71, (e) 72, (f) 73, (g) 74, (h) 17Z, (i) 17B, (j) 19C, (k) 19D, (l) 19E, (m) 19F, (n) 19H, (o) 20A, (p) 20B, (q) 22B and (r) 88A under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (i) in each of the Crown courts in Greater Manchester and (ii) at the lowest available level. [195751]

Jeremy Wright: The proportion of offenders given custody for sexual offences has increased since 2003.

The Government take very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children and adults. Our laws in these areas are rightly robust and clear. The 2003 Act, which came into effect in May 2004, significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales. We have already introduced automatic life sentences for a second serious sexual or violent offence, and we have announced plans to end automatic early release for child rapists, terrorists and all dangerous offenders.

The number of offenders found guilty at the Crown court in Greater Manchester police force area, for sexual offences with the offence codes specified from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available), can be viewed in the table.

Court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.

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Youth Courts

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many members of the bench of the youth court were (a) women and (b) men in the most recent year for which information is available; [196712]

(2) what proportion of members of the bench of the youth court were of each ethnic category in the most recent year for which information is available; [196709]

(3) what proportion of members of the bench of the youth court were (a) 20 to 30, (b) 31 to 40, (c) 41 to 50, (d) 51 to 60, (e) 61 to 70 and (f) over 70 years old in the most recent year for which information is available; [196710]

(4) what the socio-economic background is of each member of the bench of the youth court. [196711]

Mr Vara: The Government are committed to judicial diversity. It is important that magistrates reflect the diverse communities in which they serve.

To provide the requested information would require each of the 47 local advisory committees to check the individual personal records of all of the youth court magistrates in their respective areas. This would incur disproportionate costs. Information on magistrates’ diversity more generally is published on the judiciary website:

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/statistics/magistrates-statistics

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In relation to the hon. Member’s question about the age profile of magistrates who sit in the youth court, I can clarify that the statutory retirement age for all magistrates is 70.

Health

Better Care Fund

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to put safeguards in place to ensure that services within an individual clinical commissioning group area are not put at risk if that area is performing satisfactorily against its required targets, even if there is unsatisfactory performance at county level under the Better Care Fund requirements. [196942]

Norman Lamb: The policy framework for the Better Care Fund, as set out in an annexe to the NHS Planning Guidance published in December 2013, has been designed to improve the health and care services on which local people depend.

Where a local area achieves the ambitions set out in its plan, it will receive the full pay for performance element—since this is a clear indication that local commissioners are investing in services that achieve the right outcomes for local people and that no remedial action is necessary via contingency or recovery plans. The performance of other localities or the performance nationally will have no bearing on these payments. Funding will not be withdrawn for underperformance in 2015-16 but that local area will be given support to improve performance for the benefit of local people.

There is no requirement for the Government to put further safeguards in place, since the current policy is clear and has been widely communicated to local areas and throughout the health and social care system.

Cancer

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans NICE has to further assess photodynamic therapy treatments for the treatment of cancers. [196123]

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued interventional procedures guidance on the use of photodynamic therapy in a range of cancers. NICE has also published medical technologies guidance on ambulight photodynamic therapy for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer in medical technology guidance.

NICE is currently developing, or will develop, clinical guidelines for a number of different cancers. NICE develops the detailed scope of its clinical guidelines through consultation with stakeholders. Where appropriate, NICE may consider photodynamic therapy as part of its guidelines.

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to increase the use of photodynamic therapy for cancer; [196124]

(2) which cancers the NHS treats with photodynamic therapy; [196125]

(3) which hospitals provide photodynamic therapy for the treatment of cancers. [196126]

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Jane Ellison: NHS England does not routinely commission photodynamic therapy (PDT.) for the treatment of cancers and has not identified a clinical appetite for the availability of PDT through the individual funding request process.

NHS England has invited the University College London Hospitals to submit an application to the Cancer Drugs Fund with respect to PDT, but this has not been received to date. However, NHS England will consider reviewing its current position if the situation changes.

Information related to hospitals that provide PDT is not held centrally.

Cancer: Drugs

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the Government will provide funding to meet any shortfall in funding of the National Cancer Drugs Fund. [196048]

Norman Lamb: On 1 April 2013, NHS England took on responsibility for the operational management of the Cancer Drugs Fund and is therefore responsible for managing any related pressures from agreed funding within the overall health budget.

Assurances have been given by NHS England that no patient whose treatment is currently being funded through the Fund will have funding withdrawn, as long as it is clinically appropriate that they continue to receive that treatment.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with NHS England about future funding of the National Cancer Drugs Fund. [196050]

Norman Lamb: Departmental officials have frequent discussions with NHS England on a range of issues relating to the management of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Cancer: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on access to cancer drugs. [195969]

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions.

Cochlear Implants

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cochlear operations there were in each of the last five years; and what the ages were of the patients who had those operations. [195959]

Norman Lamb: In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of cochlear operative procedures by five year age bands, for the years 2008-09 to 2012-13:

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Please note that this is not the number of patients because one patient may have had more than one episode of care within the time period.

Eggs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage children and pregnant women to eat more eggs. [195960]

Jane Ellison: Eggs can make a useful contribution to intakes of protein, vitamins and minerals within a balanced diet. The Government promote a healthy balanced diet as visually depicted in the eatwell plate. The eatwell plate depicts the types and proportions of the main food groups we should eat, one of which is meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein.

The eatwell plate applies to most people, including pregnant women. Between the ages of two and five, children should gradually move towards eating the same foods as the rest of the family, in the proportions shown on the eatwell plate.

The eatwell plate is widely used within Government and in the school curriculum, as well as by education, the food industry and charities. It is promoted through the NHS Choices website and forms the basis of the Change4Life social marketing healthy eating messages.

Electronic Cigarettes

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces. [196178]

Jane Ellison: There are no current plans to restrict the use of electronic cigarettes in public places in England.

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Fertility: Males

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research the Health Protection Agency has funded on male fertility and sperm counts in the last five years; and if he will publish the findings of such research. [195983]

Jane Ellison: The Public Health England (PHE) Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (and its predecessor organisation, the Health Protection Agency) does not have any specific research ongoing in respect of male sperm counts affecting fertility. PHE does though have a small experimental research programme investigating whether the genetic material carried by sperm can be affected by environmental factors including chemicals. In conjunction with the Medical Research Council, PHE has published work in the journal Epigenetics in 2012 showing that smoking can affect the composition of genetic material in sperm. The effect, if any, of this on fertility or the developing embryo was not determined. This work is continuing by PHE.

General Practitioners

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made by his Department of the effects on GP services nationally of changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and the minimum practice income guarantee. [196885]

Dr Poulter: We have reduced the number of indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework by more than a third. This is intended to free up time for general practitioners (GPs) to provide more personalised care which includes the new responsibility of providing a named GP for all of their patients aged 75 and over.

The money released from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) will be reinvested in general practice. NHS England will use the clinical data extracted from GP practice systems to ensure continued transparency about quality and outcomes in relation to the areas where indicators have been retired from the QOF.

In 2013, the Government announced they would phase out minimum practice income guarantee (MPIG) top-up payments over a seven year period, starting in the financial year 2014-15. The Government consider MPIG payments to be inequitable because practices serving similar populations get paid very different amounts per patient.

The national health service will be supporting the most affected practices to adjust as these payments are gradually phased out over seven years.

The money released by doing this will be reinvested in the basic payments made to all General Medical Services practices, which are based on numbers of patients and key determinants of practice workload, such as patient age, health needs and the unavoidable costs of providing services in rural areas.

Health: Screening

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to maintain NHS Health Checks when funding ring-fencing is removed from the public health budget. [196941]

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Jane Ellison: No decision has been made regarding ring-fencing for 2015-16. It is a statutory requirement that local authorities offer a NHS health check risk assessment to their entire eligible population every five years. The Public Health Regulations also request that local authorities demonstrate year on year improvement on uptake which is also an indicator in the Public Health Outcome Framework.

Medical Records: Databases

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what clinical fields were disclosed in the Health and Social Care Information Centre's (HSCIC) data release to Dr Foster Intelligence (Row ID 448 on the HSCIC's register of approved data releases); and how many individual patient records were disclosed. [196807]

Dr Poulter: The Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) is published every quarter. The entry in the data release register for Dr Foster Intelligence (Row ID 448) covered three releases in April, July and October 2013. The SHMI data fields are released at provider spell level, i.e. a continuous period of time spent as a patient within a single trust, and the number of provider spells in each of the quarterly releases is summarised as follows:

The extracts of data released to Dr Foster Intelligence consist of three datasets and are listed in the following table:

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Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reuse agreement in appendix B of the Health and Social Care Information Centre's (HSCIC) data release to Dr Foster Intelligence (Row ID 448 on the HSCIC's register of approved data releases) covers. [196808]

Dr Poulter: The data reuse agreement relating to the release of data to Dr Foster Intelligence (DFI) as indicated in Row ID 448 within the data release register allows discussions between DFI and individual trusts. This relates to the Hospital Episode Statistics and Official National Statistics linked mortality data, which has enabled the Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator.

Part of the discussion involves the underlying hospital indicator data of the individual trusts in order to improve patient care; trusts will only be discussing their own data, in a non-identifiable form.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the Health and Social Care Information Centre's (HSCIC) data release to Dr Foster Intelligence (Row ID 448 on the HSCIC's register of approved data releases) does not have (a) corresponding s251 support and (b) a corresponding entry in the Confidentiality Advisory Group's (CAG) register; and whether the CAG, the Data Access Advisory Group or any other body scrutinised the application. [196809]

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Dr Poulter: Date of Death is categorised as personal confidential data, which is Office for National Statistics (ONS) data; therefore this entry was classed as identifiable on the register.

Permission for the ONS data release was granted by the ONS under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 section 42(4), a section 251 approval is therefore not required.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether data releases by the Health and Social Care Information Centre that contain identifiable data can be classified as non-sensitive. [196810]

Dr Poulter: Personal health information is confidential and sensitive under the Data Protection Act 1998. This type of data is only released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) where it is required by law, such as in response to a court order or where there is a legal basis which allows the data to be shared.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what powers (a) his Department, (b) the NHS Information Centre and (c) the Health and Social Care Information Centre charge commercial companies to receive downloads of NHS patient data. [196884]

Dr Poulter: Section 271 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 provides powers to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), allowing the organisation to charge commercial companies for receiving data. In line with this and Government policy, HSCIC charges on a not-for-profit basis; this is to recover costs for administering the application process and preparing data extracts.

HSCIC’s predecessor organisation, the NHS Information Centre, also applied a not-for-profit charge for administering the application process and preparing data extracts.

Medicine: Education

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of current provision of pain education for undergraduate medical students. [196883]

Dr Poulter: The content and standard of medical training, including in regards to pain management, is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

Medical schools design curricula for undergraduate medical education. In doing so they must ensure that teaching meets the standards of the GMC in order to both gain and maintain GMC recognition of their course.

The Government have mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and work force development in the national health service. HEE will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.

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NHS: Staff

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that efficiency savings are not introduced too quickly and that the resulting stress on staff is kept to a minimum. [195967]

Jane Ellison: The national health service in England is on track to deliver up to £20 billion efficiency savings by 2015, allowing it to treat more patients than ever before, while maintaining a good financial position.

The NHS began planning for these efficiency savings in 2009, and the Department monitors the performance of the NHS in England, ensuring that delivery of the efficiency savings does not have an adverse effect on access, quality or outcomes performance.

The Department believes that the wellbeing of NHS staff is vital, and this is monitored in a number of ways including through the NHS Staff Survey. NHS trusts are made aware of the survey results for their organisation, and we expect them to use this information in implementing local policies to promote the wellbeing of their staff.

Nationally, NHS Employers is supporting NHS organisations in tackling stress in the workplace by developing line managers to better manage staff mental wellbeing; improving emotional wellbeing within organisations; providing organisational interventions to improve staff engagement; helping line managers to promote staff engagement; and supporting effective organisational development.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage the retention of experienced NHS staff. [195968]

Dr Poulter: Across the national health service in England it is the responsibility of employers to ensure they retain sufficient experienced staff to deliver services to patients. Since 2010, the percentage of staff leaving the NHS each year has remained broadly stable, between 8% and 9%¹, and the number of professionally qualified clinical staff has risen by 2.6% to 570,410².

We have established Health Education England which is responsible for planning and delivering a secure and stable NHS work force which will help the NHS retain experienced staff.

The ability of the NHS to retain staff will be linked to their experience of working in the NHS including their wider reward package made up of remuneration; training and development; health and wellbeing; staff engagement and equalities issues.

From August 2014, we are introducing Total Reward statements to support staff retention and motivation, by providing NHS staff with details of the overall value of their employment package.

In 2012 and 2013, 81%³ of staff received job related training, learning and development and 56% of managers took a positive interest in staff health and wellbeing, up from 55% in 2012.

We commission NHS Employers to support NHS trusts to improve staff health and wellbeing including good practice on staff engagement (up to 3.74/5 in 2013 from 3.68 in 2012). Also, fewer staff experienced discrimination at work, 11%, down from 12% in 2012

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after our introduction of a new equalities framework which 90%

of health and social care employers use.

¹ Calculated from Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) NHS Workforce Statistics, December 2013 turnover tables.

² (HSCIC) NHS Workforce Statistics, December 2013.

³ All figures taken from NHS Staff Survey 2012 and 2013.

⁴ Provided by the NHS Employers organisation website.

Organs: Donors

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to allow children under two months to become an organ donor. [196138]

Jane Ellison: The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is currently considering a review of existing guidance in relation to the diagnosis of brain-stem death that would enable infants between 37 weeks gestation and two months of age to be organ donors. The College is looking at the evidence available to see whether new recommendations are appropriate and whether the parents of infants dying in the first two months of life could be asked about organ donation. The document should be ready by the summer.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had on changing the name of the condition post-traumatic stress disorder to post-traumatic stress injury. [196943]

Norman Lamb: No such discussions have been had. National health service clinicians use the tenth edition of the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) for mental and behavioural disorders. Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined in the ICD-10 as a condition which “arises as a delayed or protracted response to a stressful event or situation (of either brief or long duration) of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone”.

Soft Drinks: Schools

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 56W, on soft drinks: schools, and the oral answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 718, on children's diet, whether the restrictions referred to in that written answer are the same as the ban on sugary drinks referred to in that oral answer. [196976]

Jane Ellison: The written answer we gave the hon. Member on 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 56W, was a comprehensive response outlining Department for Education policy on food and drink in schools. This followed up on the answer we gave the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) on 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 718.

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Women and Equalities

Equal Pay

Meg Hillier: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of progress in closing the gender pay gap. [903796]

Jenny Willott: Analysis published by the DCMS last month showed that the gender pay gap is falling steadily overtime—and that the full-time pay gap has now almost been eliminated for women under the age of 40.

We are tackling the pay gap and its causes. From next month, the right to request flexible working will be available to all employees; we are also working with employers to promote greater transparency through the Think Act Report initiative.

Equality Act 2010

Dr Huppert: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if he will undertake a review of continued efficacy of section 193(5) and (6) of the Equalities Act 2010; and if he will include in that review an estimate of the number of bodies to which that legislation applies. [196945]

Mrs Grant: The Government will review the Equality Act 2010 next year in order to meet the parliamentary commitment to conduct post-legislative scrutiny. This review will provide a progress update on developments since the legislation was introduced and a factual overview of how the legislation has operated.

No central record exists of the number of bodies to which sections 193(5) and (6) apply.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Mr Hollobone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities in what areas the Equality and Human Rights Commission has plans to improve its performance. [196920]

Mrs Grant: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body and is responsible for its own performance plans.

The Commission has improved its performance across a wide range of areas in the last three years including the quality and delivery of its work, its value for money and its stewardship of resources. The Commission is expected to maintain progress to deliver its strategic priorities effectively and efficiently. Details of the performance improvements are set out in the Commission's Annual Report and Accounts.

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/corporate-reporting/annual-reports/

The Commission's plans for improvement for the 2014-15 financial year are set out in the Commission's published business plan.

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/vision-and-mission/our-business-plan/

Females: Public Appointments

Pat Glass: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what progress the Government have made on increasing the representation of women in public life. [903800]

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Sajid Javid: There has been real progress in getting more women into politics and this is the most gender diverse Parliament ever. We are also making real progress on increasing the number of women appointed to public boards. 45% of new appointees between April and September 2013 were women.

Defence

Publications

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's Costing and Cost Management Strategy. [184212]

Mr Francois: Costing and Cost Management Strategy is an internal Ministry of Defence document and is not for external publication.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Conifers

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he plans to take to double the amount of new productive conifer planting necessary to meet the target of 12% woodland cover by 2060. [196497]

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

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he plans to take to replace productive conifer forest cover lost as a result of the (a) open habitats policy and (b) ancient woodlands policy. [196498]

Dan Rogerson: Open habitats policy has a mechanism within it to ensure there is a balance between woodland creation and woodland loss based on the composition and productivity of the woodland that is being removed.

The Forestry Commission monitors the area of woodland restored to open habitats and uses the data along with the quality of biodiversity benefit to determine whether compensatory planting should be required when granting a felling licence.

“Keepers of time”, the ancient woodland policy, promotes the restoration of plantations on ancient woodlands to site native species for biodiversity benefits. There is no reason why these woods should not still be managed productively, albeit with a different timber crop.

Forests

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on establishing a new Public Forest Trustee body. [196499]

Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 394W, to the right hon. Member for Sterling (Mrs McGuire).

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Horses: Exports

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the exporting of live horses and ponies for slaughter. [196910]

George Eustice: There is no ban in place on the export of live horses for slaughter. However, there is a system of inspections and checks in place to make sure that horses are healthy and fit for transport. The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) undertakes risk based inspections of equines destined for export. Local authorities also undertake inspection work and are responsible for investigating breaches of the welfare legislation with a view to prosecution.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system. [196765]

Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Member to my reply on 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 765W, to the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth).

Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprentices

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many workplaces employ apprentices in each (a) region and (b) parliamentary constituency. [196849]

Matthew Hancock: I am placing the information sought by my hon. Friend in the Libraries of the House. Table 1 shows the number of workplaces that employ apprentices by region and Table 2 shows the number of workplaces that employ apprentices by parliamentary constituency.

The tables will also be published online through the FE Data Library:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-other-statistics-and-research

Employee Ownership

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 8W, on employee ownership, (1) what estimate he has made of how many people will apply to be an employee shareholder under the Shares for Rights Scheme; [196146]

(2) how many companies have applied to participate in the Shares for Rights Scheme to date. [196147]

Jenny Willott: The employee shareholder status is a new employment status that is optional for companies to offer and for individuals to take up. There is no requirement for individuals to apply to Government to become an employee shareholder or for companies to register or apply to Government to use it.

The Government have therefore made no assessment of levels of current or future take-up.

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Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 8W, on employee ownership, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the qualifications and independence of the independent advisers provided by companies to advise employees on their employee shareholder employment status. [196148]

Jenny Willott: In order for an individual to become an employee shareholder, the individual must obtain advice from a relevant independent adviser on the terms and effect of the proposed agreement. An employee shareholder employment contract is of no effect if an individual does not get independent advice before the agreement is made. It is in the interest of the individual to understand the employee shareholder contract and its implications before they accept a job.

Advice must be given by a qualified lawyer, certified trade union member, certified worker at an advice centre or a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives who is employed in a solicitor’s practice. The law does not permit advice from a person employed by the employer to count towards fulfilling the legal advice requirement.

The law is already clear in this area. Government have drawn on the same legal mechanism detailing the provision of advice which is set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 8W, on employee ownership, if he will produce guidelines for companies and employees on choosing independent advisers provided by companies to advise employees about the Shares for Rights Scheme. [196149]

Jenny Willott: Detailed guidance on the employee shareholder status was published on the www.gov.uk website before the status came into law on 1 September 2013, and this guidance includes a section on who qualifies as a relevant independent adviser.

Exports: Government Assistance

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps he has taken to ensure that exporters of intangible goods can access the resources of UK Export Finance. [196127]

Michael Fallon: UK Export Finance can provide support for intangibles, such as software licences, where they are provided in connection with goods or services. As far as the supply of intangibles by themselves is concerned, UK Export Finance has initiated a public consultation on proposals to widen its powers under its enabling legislation, the Export and Investment Guarantees Act 1991 (as amended). These proposals include giving UK Export Finance the ability to support exports of intangible goods such as intellectual property rights by themselves. If, having regard to the responses to that consultation, it is deemed to implement these proposals, they will form part of a Bill that will be introduced in the next Session of Parliament.

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Royal Mail

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the stabilisation period in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail, as detailed in the engagement letter between his Department and the underwriting banks, ends; and how that period has been defined. [196951]

Michael Fallon: The stabilisation period, also known as a “greenshoe” or “over-allotment” option, is a market-standard provision that allows the Initial Public Offering's (IPO) stabilisation manager to provide share price stabilisation (if required) for up to 30 days post-commencement of conditional dealings. In the case of the Royal Mail, the stabilisation manager was UBS and the stabilisation period ended on 8 November.

In the engagement letter, the payment of the discretionary fee was linked to the ending of the stabilisation period. However, we informed the banks involved that a decision would not be taken in the timeframe set out in the engagement letter, given the volatility of the Royal Mail share price after the IPO.

We have not set a rigid timetable for the decision on the payment of the discretionary fee which remains unpaid.

Education

Children: Day Care

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) which local authorities currently do not have enough childcare places available to cater for the extension of the child care offer to the 40% most disadvantaged two-year-olds in September 2014; and what the shortfall of places is in each such authority; [196830]

(2) which local authorities currently do not have enough child care places available to cater for the 20% most disadvantaged two-year-olds; and what the shortfall is in each such authority. [196831]

Elizabeth Truss: In February 2014 local authorities reported that around 103,000 two-year-olds were already accessing a funded early learning place. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that every eligible child, whose parents wish them to take a place, is able to.

Domestic Violence

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the performance of local safeguarding children boards in assessing (a) health authorities and (b) the police and local authority performance in domestic abuse cases. [196557]

Mr Timpson: Ofsted carry out inspections of local authorities under section 136 (2) of the Education and Inspections Act, 2006 (EIA). Since November 2013, these inspections include a review of the effectiveness of the local safeguarding children board (LSCB).

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This review of the LSCB looks at how well the LSCB evaluates and monitors the quality and effectiveness of the local authority and other statutory partners, including health partners and the police. The functions of the LSCB include developing policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their area. This includes participating in the planning of services to protect children from all forms of abuse.

Ofsted has to date published 12 inspection reports under its new framework.

Pensions: Teachers

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the Government Actuary's Department provided Ministers with estimates of additional monies received from extra contributions to the teachers' pension scheme before 19 March; and if so, if he will publish such estimates. [196812]

Mr Laws: The Government Actuary’s Department has provided no such estimate to the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove).

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Government Actuary's Department will publish details of the valuation of the teachers' pension scheme. [196813]

Mr Laws: The Government Actuary provides advice to the Secretary of State for Education on the valuation of the teachers pension scheme and his Department is currently finalising its work. The Secretary of State plans to publish the outcome of the valuation, including the Actuary’s full report, in June 2014.

Schools: Construction

Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the oral answer of 20 January 2014, Official Report, column 7, from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Planning, on major developments (new schools), what scope there is for organisations other than local education authorities to be involved in the design, planning and sponsorship of new build primary and secondary schools in major new residential developments. [196796]

Mr Timpson: Any group or organisation can apply to the Department for Education to set up a free school. If approved, the proposers and any group members are involved in all aspects of project planning and design of the school. 175 free schools, 17 UTCs and 28 studio schools have been opened by groups including existing schools, academy sponsors, parents, teachers and community groups. A number of these have been in major new residential developments.

Schools: West Midlands

Mr Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to remove any contractual gagging orders or similar measures applicable

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to staff in the west midlands involved in the ongoing investigation into school governance in that area led by Ian Kershaw. [196860]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education hopes that any individual with relevant information about the serious allegations made in relation to a number of schools in Birmingham will come forward and share this with the Education Commissioner, Peter Clarke, and Ian Kershaw, the chief adviser for Birmingham city council’s investigation.

Amendments to the Employment Relations Act 1996, introduced by the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) 1998, mean that any confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements cannot have the effect of preventing a protected disclosure and any provision will be void to the extent it seeks to do so. The Department revised the model settlement agreements for new academies in January to make this absolutely clear. The 1998 Act also introduced provisions to protect workers from detrimental treatment or victimisation from their employer if, in the public interest, they blow the whistle on wrongdoing.

Secondary Education: Standards

Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will add economics, English literature and computing to the list of facilitating subjects for key stage 5 performance tables; [196819]

(2) when he plans to review the list of facilitating subjects for key stage 5 performance tables. [196816]

Elizabeth Truss: The facilitating subjects are identified by the Russell group of universities as A-level subjects that are required more often than others by universities. The list includes English literature along with mathematics, further mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, history and languages (classical and modern).

The Russell group is an independent organisation; it recently reviewed the list of facilitating subjects and confirmed no change was needed. The Department for Education publishes a measure in the key stage 5 performance tables of the percentage of students achieving AAB grades at A-level, including in at least two facilitating subjects.

Transport

Air Traffic Control: Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultation he undertook on the content of his Department's publication, Guidance to the Civil Aviation Authority on Environmental Objectives Relating to the Exercise of its Air Navigation Functions, published in January 2014, with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive. [196777]

Mr Goodwill: During the public consultation period a meeting was held between officials from the Department for Transport and the Department for Regional Development, Northern Ireland, where the content of the guidance was discussed. There was no specific consultation with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive.

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Birmingham New Street Station

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had on the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station. [196586]

Stephen Hammond: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), visited the Birmingham Gateway project on 22 April 2014 to view progress. In addition, regular meetings take place between officials, Birmingham city council, Network Rail and other stakeholders on the project.

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in his Department have been employed on zero-hour contracts in each of the last two years up to the most recent period for which records are available. [196958]

Stephen Hammond: The number of direct employees of the Department and its six executive agencies who are on zero-hours contracts is nine. All are qualified engineers.

There are no direct employees on zero-hour contracts in the Department’s arm’s length bodies.

Driving: Licensing

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to streamline provisional licences for the drivers of heavy goods vehicles. [196857]

Stephen Hammond: There are no plans to change the current process for the issue of provisional driving licences to drive heavy goods vehicles.

Fuel Cells: Hydrogen

Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps his Department is taking to support the hydrogen fuelling market; and when he expects to have completed them; [196452]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the effect a hydrogen transport system would have on air quality in (a) London and (b) the UK; [196341]

(3) what steps he is taking to enable hydrogen fuel to compete equally as a viable part of the transport mix. [196408]

Mr Goodwill: As set out in Driving the Future Today, our strategy document published last year, the Government are committed to the move to ultra-low emission vehicles. We recognise the economic opportunities for the UK that this transition provides as well its potential contribution to cutting the emissions from road transport.

The Government’s approach to this agenda has been consistently technology neutral and we have been active participants in UKH2Mobility. This is a joint industry-Government project evaluating the potential for hydrogen as a transport fuel and the scope to make the UK an early market for the commercial deployment of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) from 2015 onwards. The UKH2Mobility project is ongoing and both

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Government and industry participants are working together to consider the steps needed to secure the benefits of moving to hydrogen as a transport fuel for the UK. This includes the clear contribution that studies have shown FCEVs can make to improving air quality in the UK. We have undertaken no specific research on the impact of FCEVs on air quality in London.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many High Speed 2 consultation requests are EIA development as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011; and how many recommendations for refusal of the grant of planning permission are (a) EIA and (b) non-EIA development. [R] [195979]

Mr Goodwill: Safeguarding directions for the London to west midlands section of HS2 were made in July 2013 and updated in October 2013. The number of High Speed 2 consultation requests which are EIA development as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 is five.

The number of recommendations for refusal of the grant of planning permission are as follows:

(a) EIA—3

(b) Non-EIA development—3.

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many consultation requests from local planning authorities under the safeguarding directions for phase one have been received by HS2 Ltd since 9 July 2013; and from which local planning authorities such consultation requests have been received. [R] [195980]

Mr Goodwill: Since 9 July 2013, HS2 Ltd received 60 consultation requests from local planning authorities under the safeguarding directions for the London to west midlands section of HS2. The requests were received from the following local planning authorities:

Birmingham city council

Hertfordshire county council

London borough of Brent

London borough of Ealing

London borough of Hillingdon

Lichfield district council

London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

North Warwickshire borough council

Oxfordshire county council

Stratford-upon-Avon district council

Solihull Metropolitan borough council

South Northamptonshire council

Warwickshire county council

Westminster city council

Aylesbury Vale district council

London borough of Camden.

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many referrals have been made to him where a local planning authority is minded to approve an application for planning permission against the advice of HS2 Ltd; and what his decision has been on each such referral. [R] [195981]

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Mr Goodwill: There have been no referrals made to the Secretary of State for Transport where a local planning authority is minded to approve an application for planning permission against the advice of HS2 Ltd.

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) EIA and (b) non-EIA development recommendations HS2 Ltd has made for conditions to be imposed on planning permission to protect the High Speed 2 project. [R] [196049]

Mr Goodwill: Following the making of safeguarding directions for the London to west midlands section of HS2 in July 2013 (updated October 2013), the number of recommendations made by HS2 Ltd for conditions to be imposed on planning permission to protect the High Speed 2 project is as follows:

(a) EIA recommendations—0

(b) Non-EIA recommendations—7.

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much he estimates will have to be spent protecting the High Speed 2 track on phase 1 and phase 2 against the effects of mining subsidence; and whether that sum is included in the overall projected cost. [R] [196117]

Mr Goodwill: On phase 1 there are no specific allowances relating to mining subsidence in the cost estimate as there is no active mining below the route, nor any recorded abandoned mining shown in the publically available records that have been researched. Physical ground investigations and desktop studies of existing records will be undertaken prior to construction of the railway, and allowances have been made in both the cost estimate and the project contingency for any ground treatments that are identified.

On phase 2 there is an allowance within the cost estimate for the risks around crossing open-cast quarries, mines and landfill sites and the current level of design reflects where appropriate the difficulty of crossing these type of areas.

High Speed Two Growth Taskforce

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure there is a Liverpool city region representative on the HS2 Growth Taskforce chaired by Lord Deighton. [196944]

Mr Goodwill: The HS2 Growth Taskforce launched its final report in March 2014, delivering 19 recommendations to Government to help get our cities, transport network, people and businesses ready to maximise the growth potential from HS2.

While the taskforce membership was drawn from across the country and represented many different fields of expertise, it was not possible to include representatives from every area that will benefit from HS2.

Recognising the importance of engaging closely with Liverpool in producing their recommendations, the taskforce went to the city in January 2014 to hear the views of local partners and businesses from across the city region.

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Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will include small and medium-sized enterprises in the procurement process for its contract to manage direct debit payments for vehicle tax discs. [196295]

Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will deliver direct debits for vehicle excise duty in two phases. Initially, the DVLA will partly use its existing contract for IT service provision with elements being subcontracted via an open competition which will include small and medium-sized enterprise interest.

The full strategic solution will be pursued in an open competition which will start in 2015. This open competition will also invite interest from Government frameworks which support small and medium-sized enterprise involvement.

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency meets the deadline of 1 November 2014 for enabling payment for vehicle tax discs by direct debit. [196296]

Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has in place a dedicated project team which is working on the systems and other changes needed to deliver direct debits for vehicle excise duty. Progress is being monitored in line with departmental governance procedures.

Parking Offences

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the Streets Ahead campaign by the charity Guide Dogs; what steps he is taking to reduce parking on pavements; and if he will make a statement; [196489]

(2) how many parking tickets were issued against owners of vehicles parked illegally on pavements in each of the last five years; and how many such people were prosecuted in each such year. [196488]

Mr Goodwill: In London, there is in general a ban on parking on the footway. Outside London, local authorities have wide-ranging powers to make traffic regulation orders to prohibit pavement parking on designated lengths of highway or over a wide area. The former Transport Minister, the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), wrote to local authorities in February 2011 urging them to take up these powers. Local authorities with civil parking enforcement (CPE) powers are responsible for parking enforcement, including that relating to the footway.

In addition, the Department has developed and authorised new traffic signs for local authorities to use where pavement parking is prohibited.

With regard to the number of parking tickets issued, individual local authorities are required to keep records of all penalty charge notices issued. The Department for Transport does not record this information centrally.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of applications made to the appeals service for parking on private land have related

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to parking charge notices on NHS hospital car parks; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the issues raised in such appeals. [196505]

Mr Goodwill: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 25 February 2014, Official Report, column 331W (UIN 188122).

Parking: Hospitals

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to undertake a review of (a) the methods of any car park management company responsible for hospital car parks where there has been a significant increase in the number of car parking charge notices issued and the number of appeals since that company was awarded the contract and (b) in each such case, the reasons for those increases. [196934]

Mr Goodwill: Parking in hospital car parks is the overall responsibility of the relevant national health service (NHS) trust or landowner, as is the case for all other private car parks. As such it is entirely a matter for the trust or landowner to determine the levels of any parking charges. I have no plans to review or intervene in this matter as the Government promote a system of industry self-regulation in the private parking sector.

Policy

Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in which circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement. [196605]

Mr Goodwill: The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury website. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances.

Railways: Sanitation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 817W, on railways: sanitation,

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if he will commission an investigation into sanitation of train toilets; and if he will include in that investigation a review of the adequacy of the accountability of train companies for sanitation of trains. [196933]

Stephen Hammond: The Department has no plans to commission such an investigation. Ensuring that appropriate standards of cleanliness are met is a matter for train operators.