Post Office

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on increasing the range of services provided by the Post Office network. [196569]

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Jenny Willott: Post Office Ltd, with its network of over 11,500 branches, is well placed to become a provider of front-office services for the Government, helping citizens interact with the Government either face-to-face or online.

While public services must be competitively tendered, Post Office Ltd has shown that it can very effectively bid for and win new work. It has won every Government contract it has bid for over the past three years in highly competitive tendering processes.

In particular, in 2012 it successfully bid for the competitively tendered DVLA framework contract for Front Office Counter Services (FOCS). This contract runs to 2020 and is available to other Government Departments. For example, HM Passport Office recently moved its services with Post Office Ltd onto FOCS and this Department and the Cabinet Office are in close contact about a range of other opportunities.

Furthermore, Post Office Ltd was recently one of the successful bidders for the Cabinet Office’s online identity assurance contract, ensuring that Post Office Ltd can play a role in the delivery of modern, online Government services.

While I continue to highlight to my colleagues the opportunities available to the Government from using the Post Office network and contracts such as these, individual contracts are a matter for the services in question and their respective public bodies and Departments. I have not had recent discussions specifically with the Welsh Government.

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on increasing the range of services provided by the Post Office network. [196570]

Jenny Willott: Post Office Ltd, with its network of over 11,500 branches, is well placed to become a provider of front-office services for the Government, helping citizens interact with the Government either face-to-face or online.

While public services must be competitively tendered, Post Office Ltd has shown that it can very effectively bid for and win new work. It has won every Government contract it has bid for over the past three years in highly competitive tendering processes.

In particular, in 2012 it successfully bid for the competitively tendered DVLA framework contract for Front Office Counter Services (FOCS). This contract runs to 2020 and is available to other Government Departments. For example HM Passport Office recently moved its services with Post Office Ltd onto FOCS and this Department and the Cabinet Office are in close contact about a range of other opportunities.

Furthermore, Post Office Ltd was recently one of the successful bidders for the Cabinet Office’s online identity assurance contract, ensuring that Post Office Ltd can play a role in the delivery of modern, online Government services.

While I continue to highlight to my colleagues the opportunities available to the Government from using the Post Office network and contracts such as these, individual contracts are a matter for the services in question and their respective public bodies and Departments. I have not had recent discussions specifically with the Northern Ireland Executive.

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Post Offices: Rural Areas

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure the retention of (a) rural post offices and (b) jobs in rural post offices. [197428]

Jenny Willott: Since 2010 the Government have committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a Post Office network of at least 11,500 branches that meets strict access criteria that ensure fair and reasonable access to Post Office services, including in rural communities. For example, the access criteria require 99% of the population nationally to live within three miles of a post office outlet. The Post Office is the only retailer in the UK that meets these criteria. Furthermore, the Government have been consistently clear that there will be no programme of branch closures, and under this Government the Post Office network is at its most stable for a generation.

The overwhelming majority of rural branches are owned and operated by private businesspeople, known as sub-postmasters, who provide access to Post Office services under contractual arrangements. Sub-postmasters are responsible for employing the staff required to deliver Post Office services.

Recycling

Mrs Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to address the barriers to remanufacturing identified in the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group's recent report on remanufacturing. [R] [196871]

Michael Fallon: The Government welcome the broad thrust of the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group’s recent report ‘Remanufacturing: Towards a resource efficient economy’. We recognises the important role that remanufacturing has in supporting the long-term sustainability of the UK economy, encouraging resource resilience while boosting business opportunities and skilled employment.

BIS is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and across Whitehall on a number of areas touched on by the report; such as the regulatory regime that governs waste, where work is already in progress to ensure that it encourages greater re-use of materials in existing and developing manufacturing processes.

We will use the report to inform a number of areas of policy that impact on sustainability and remanufacturing.

Research Councils

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost was of the recent triennial review of the Research Councils. [196730]

Mr Willetts: The cost of the review primarily relates to the salary costs of review team members, who undertook the review as a corporate objective alongside their existing responsibilities. On average, the review team spent around 10% of their weekly core work hours on the review across its duration. There were additional costs associated with the extensive stakeholder engagement and in-year

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awards to review team members to recognise their personal contribution in completing the review. These awards are consistent with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) in-year awards policy of recognising and rewarding contributions to business performance and demonstrating the BIS values.

The estimated maximum total cost to BIS of the review team is £81,350, which represents 0.002% of total Research Council funding.

Royal Mail

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 291W, on Royal Mail, for what reasons the underwriters' discretionary fee has not been paid. [196537]

Michael Fallon: No decision has been made on the payment of this discretionary payment.

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings or telephone calls have taken place between Ministers and officials in his Department with (a) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (b) BlackRock, (c) Capital Research, (d) Fidelity Worldwide, (e) GIC, (f) Henderson, (g) JP Morgan, (h) Kuwait Investment Office, (i) Lansdowne Partners, (j) Lazard Asset Management, (k) Och Ziff, Schroders, (l) Soros, (m) Standard Life, (n) Third Point and (o) Threadneedle in relation to the flotation of the Royal Mail since May 2010; and what was discussed in such meetings. [197339]

Michael Fallon: Neither Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills nor officials have discussed the Royal Mail flotation with any of these investors.

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which priority investors in Royal Mail have subsequently sold all or part of their holdings of shares since the date of flotation; and what estimate he has made of the level of profits made in each case. [197387]

Michael Fallon: Maintained by Royal Mail and is subject to uncertainties (e.g. funds can hold their shares through a range of nominees/custodians).

Based on the Bloomberg register dated 23 April, we estimate that more than half of the pilot fishing investors allocated shares remain invested and that they hold shares equal to more than 50% of their combined allocations.

Given that the timings of sales and purchases are not available on a fund-by-fund basis, the Department does not know, and has not made any estimate, of any profits made by these investors (other than Lazard Asset Management, whose representative told the Public Accounts Committee on 30 April the level of profit it made on the sale of Royal Mail shares for its clients).

Students: Admissions

Mr Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to announce the final allocation of student number controls to alternative providers. [196560]

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Mr Willetts: Provisional student numbers for 2014/15 were issued on 20 February 2014. Since then we have considered applications for a higher number and adjusted numbers issued where appropriate on 2 May 2014. However, we cannot confirm final allocations until providers have been re-designated for student support purposes for the 2014/15 academic year.

Students: Loans

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 204 of HM Treasury's Central Government and Supply Estimates 2013-14, February 2014, HC 1006, if he will provide a breakdown of the £15.877 million supplementary estimate for the increase in costs of student loan debt sale. [196546]

Mr Willetts: The supplementary estimate adjustment for the student loan debt sale relates to the Government subsidising the sale of student loans in 1998 and 1999. The adjustment reflects changes to the value of the Government liability following annual debt sale subsidy payments, including adjustments for cancelled loans.

The subsidy will continue until all the loans are extinguished, which is expected to be no earlier than 2028, which is the 30-year duration of the first debt sale agreement.

Further details of the liability are available in the BIS Annual Report and Accounts.

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 201 of HM Treasury’s central government supply estimates 2013-14, supplementary estimates and new estimates, February 2014, HC 1006, what factors led to the need for the revised forecast that gave rise to the reserve claim of £5.455 billion for non-cash relating to revised forecasts for student loans; for what reasons this was unforeseen in his Department’s main estimate for 2013-14; and what steps he plans to take to avoid the need for such a supplementary estimate in the future. [196868]

Mr Willetts: The supplementary estimates claim covered additional impairment of up to £3.2 billion resulting from improvements made to the student loans repayment model. Significant changes were made to the model after main estimates 2013-14, which enabled the Department to make better use of historical earnings data, which in turn produced greater accuracy in modelling borrowers’ earnings paths. These changes, in addition to greater use of Student Loans Company data to support the model, have enabled us to address the historical over-forecasting of repayments.

The claim also included a contingency of £1.4 billion for any change to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecasts between December 2013 and March 2014. If unusually low interest rates were forecast to continue for longer than expected, this would result in a cost to the Government as future cash flows would be lower. Any changes to forecasts of earnings growth and RPI would also mean that lower loan repayments would be likely in future years The Department will continue to take account the possibility that the OBR will change its forecasts in March of future years.

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Non-cash pressures of £0.4 billion from higher than forecast growth in the take-up of loans and pre-agreed claims of £0.7 billion for higher impairment charges identified at SR13 were also included.

The Department will continue to update its modelling of student loan repayments in the light of the latest data and forecasts, and methodological innovation.

Temporary Employment

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will undertake an assessment of the effects that pay between assignment contracts have on agency workers' pay. [196533]

Jenny Willott: The exact number of agency workers in the UK who are employed on pay between assignment contracts is not known. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills continues to monitor available evidence and is talking to relevant stakeholders to gather further information about the effects of pay between assignments contracts.

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will support the introduction of legislation at EU level to ensure that pay between assignment contracts does not result in agency workers being paid a lower wage than other employees. [196534]

Jenny Willott: There are no proposals for change to the relevant legislation on agency workers at EU level at this stage.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system. [196758]

Jenny Willott: I have no plans to end the Department's check-off arrangements.

University Technical Colleges

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what amount the Government spent on full-time students in technical colleges in 2013-14; [196539]

(2) what amount his Department spent on all apprenticeships in 2013-14. [196540]

Matthew Hancock: The funding available for adult further education and skills in 2013-14 financial year was £4.1 billion, of which £3.6 billion was routed through the Skills Funding Agency to support the capacity for 3 million learners. More detailed data on spend in that financial year are not yet available.

The funding available for apprenticeships in 2013-14 financial year was £1,566 million, of which £802 million was provided by the Department for Education for those aged 16 to 18 and £764 million was provided by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills for those aged 19 and over. More detailed data on spend in that financial year are not yet available.

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Treasury

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement. [196869]

Andrea Leadsom: HM Treasury staff are currently based in London and Norwich. HM Treasury policy is to ensure that its current space is used to maximum efficiency in line with the Civil Service Reform agenda before we would consider a move of staff or offices to Brighton, but we are grateful for his suggestion.

Business

Mr McKenzie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal measures he has taken to encourage small and medium-sized businesses in the UK since May 2010. [197139]

Nicky Morgan: The Government are committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business and have introduced a number of fiscal measures since 2010 to encourage small and medium-sized businesses.

The Government have doubled the small business rate relief for every year of this Parliament, saving businesses occupying small premises over £1.5 billion to date. The Government announced additional business rate measures at the Autumn Statement 2013, capping business rates increases at 2% in 2014-15, and introducing a special discount of £1,000 for retail premises with rateable values below £50,000 in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

From April 2014, the £2,000 employment allowance is supporting small businesses aspiring to hire their first employee or expand their workforce. The Government have also increased the payable research and development tax credit for loss-making small and medium-sized businesses from 11% to 14.5% from April 2014, providing particular support for early-stage companies and start-ups.

Fuel costs are significant for many small businesses so the Government have implemented the longest duty freeze for over 20 years. In total, by 2015-16 a small business with a van will have saved £1,300 and a haulier £21,000.

Child Benefit

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many 19-year-olds had applications for child benefit rejected because of a break in their education in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13. [196833]

Nicky Morgan: The information is not available.

Child Tax Credit

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many 19-year-olds have been refused child tax credits because of a break in their education in each year since 2009-10. [196835]

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Nicky Morgan: The information is not available.

Children: Day Care

Alok Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of families eligible for tax-free childcare in Reading West constituency. [192622]

Nicky Morgan: The information requested is not available.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of parents of children whose nursery costs are (a) £2,000, (b) £1,800, (c) £1,600, (d) £1,400, (e) £1,200, (f) £1,000, (g) £800, (h) £600, (i) £400 and (j) £200 per year who will benefit from tax-free childcare. [192679]

Nicky Morgan: The information requested is not available.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of families who will benefit from (a) £2,000, (b) £1,800, (c) £1,600, (d) £1,400, (e) £1,200, (f) £1,000, (g) £800, (h) £600, (i) £400 and (j) £200 per year of tax-free childcare support. [192680]

Nicky Morgan: Information on the number of families eligible for tax-free childcare and the number of families who will benefit from the increase of the £6,000 cap on costs per child to £10,000 can be found in Annex B of Delivering Tax-Free Childcare: the Government’s response to the consultation on design and operation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293084/PU1607_Tax_free_Childcare_response.pdf

Further breakdowns of the number of families benefitting from the levels of support requested are not available.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average benefit which will be received by each family eligible to receive tax-free childcare. [192681]

Nicky Morgan: Information on the estimated number of families eligible for the tax-free childcare scheme and the exchequer impact of tax-free childcare can be found in the Budget 2014 policy costings document:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293740/PU1638_policy_costings_budget_2014.pdf

Mary Macleod: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in (a) London, (b) Hounslow borough and (c) Brentford and Isleworth constituency will benefit from the Government's tax-free childcare policy. [197018]

Nicky Morgan: The information requested is not available.

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Corporation Tax: Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last discussed the possible devolution of corporation tax with the Northern Ireland Executive. [196577]

Mr Gauke: The Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have taken forward a constructive and positive programme of work examining the potential for devolving corporation tax powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

As agreed in “Building a prosperous and united community” the Government are taking forward further work on corporation tax devolution and will make a final decision on the devolution of these powers no later than the autumn statement 2014.

Credit Unions

Mike Kane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what support the Government are giving to credit unions to help extend access to fair credit. [197059]

Andrea Leadsom: The Government are supportive of credit unions and have taken a number of steps to assist them, most recently including:

The Department for Work and Pensions investment of up to £38 million in an expansion project for credit unions. The project aims to help credit unions expand and grow, enabling them to provide financial services to more people.

From 1 April this year the Government increased the cap on the maximum interest rate a credit union can charge for loans from 2% to 3% per month. This will allow credit unions to make more loans to their members without making a loss. Even if they choose to charge the higher rate of interest, the cost of borrowing from a credit union will still be significantly cheaper than many high-cost lenders.

The Government intend that these measures will help the credit union sector go from strength to strength, so it can be a viable option for financial services provision for an even wider range of consumers.

Crown Estate Commissioners

Mr Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions he has met representatives of the Crown Estate since May 2010. [196955]

Nicky Morgan: Treasury Ministers meet the Crown Estate Board and staff several times a year.

Debt Collection

Ian Lavery: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average commission paid across Government is of recovery of £1 of debt by private debt collection agencies. [196352]

Mr Maude: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

After the 2010 General Election, the Government established the first ever cross-Whitehall taskforce to tackle fraud, error and debt. Our ambition is that by the time of the 2015 election, we will save taxpayers £20 billion

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a year through cutting losses to fraud, error and debt, as well as savings driven by the Efficiency and Reform Group.

The average commission paid by the largest debt holding Departments (HMRC and DWP) for the recovery of £1 of debt by private debt collection agencies is 7p.

Energy: Industry

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will next meet representatives of energy-intensive industries to discuss the EU Commission's draft Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines. [197358]

Nicky Morgan: Treasury Ministers meet a range of stakeholders on an ongoing basis, including energy intensive industries. For instance, the Chancellor recently visited Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant. The Chancellor has written to representatives of energy-intensive industries about the Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines and instructed officials to meet them to discuss this issue.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Equitable Life policyholders are expected to benefit from the compensation scheme. [196844]

Andrea Leadsom: Around one million policyholders are eligible for a payment from the Equitable Life Payment scheme.

Ex-gratia Payments

Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has agreed to the Top Level Budget holder in the Ministry of Defence making ex-gratia payments to members of the armed forces wrongly disciplined under AGAI 67 following receipt of a police caution; what estimate he has made of the level of such payments; when such payments are to start; and if he will make a statement. [195769]

Danny Alexander: The Treasury delegates ex-gratia payments that are not novel or contentious to the

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Ministry of Defence, below an agreed threshold. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) may then delegate further to Top Level Budget holders with the agreement the Treasury.

The MOD has not made any ex-gratia payments in response to claims from armed forces personnel that they had been wrongly disciplined under AGAI 67 on receipt of a police caution.

Financial Institutions

Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which meetings or telephone calls have taken place between Ministers and officials in his Department and (a) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (b) BlackRock, (c) Capital Research, (d) Fidelity Worldwide, (e) GIC, (f) Henderson, (g) JP Morgan, (h) Kuwait Investment Office, (i) Lansdowne Partners, (j) Lazard Asset Management, (k) Och Ziff, Schroders, (l) Soros, (m) Standard Life, (n) Third Point and (o) Threadneedle since 2010 and what was discussed in any such discussions. [197329]

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Details of officials' meetings with external organisations are not held centrally and it would entail disproportionate cost to collate this information.

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) laundering plants and (b) millions of litres of fuel were seized in the UK by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last 10 years. [183466]

Nicky Morgan: Figures are available only for the year 2010-11 and onwards. The number of laundering plants and millions of litres of fuel seized in those years are shown in the following table.

HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. HMRC has also recently concluded the evaluation of a possible new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

HMRC uses several avenues to tackle fraud: criminal prosecution, civil action (such as seizing fuel or pumps), civil penalties and strong regulatory controls.

Government Departments: Assets

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an estimate of the value of backlog maintenance of central Government-owned assets. [196969]

Danny Alexander: These data are not available as backlog maintenance is for individual Departments to manage and consequently the Treasury does not ask for

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the information. The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) does include current valuations for assets across Government, which takes into account the condition of the assets.

Imports

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many months of imports the UK's reserves can cover; and if he will make a statement. [196967]

Nicky Morgan: The UK has not operated an exchange rate targeting monetary policy regime since 1992. Rather, foreign exchange reserves are currently held on a precautionary basis, to be used in the event of unexpected shocks.

Latest data show that the value of the reserves is $110.9 billion, up from $71.2 billion in June 2010. UK imports averaged £44.4 billion per month over 2013.

Income Tax

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of raising the income tax personal allowance for 2015-16 from £10,500 to £12,300, with the same maximum cash benefit going to basic and higher rate taxpayers but no benefit going to additional rate taxpayers. [196610]

Mr Gauke: Raising the income tax personal allowance to £12,300 in 2015-16 is estimated to cost in the region of £9.5 billion.

A reduction to the basic rate limit has been assumed so that the higher rate threshold is unchanged. As a result of this, basic rate and most higher rate taxpayers would benefit equally from the personal allowance increase.

This estimate is based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to consolidate departmental funding streams into a single national infrastructure fund; and if he will make a statement. [196964]

Danny Alexander: The Government believe that there is a powerful case for giving local business and political leaders the levers they need to create jobs and drive growth. In ‘Investing in Britain’s Future’, the Government accepted Lord Heseltine’s recommendations to devolve economic power to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) through the creation of the Local Growth Fund (LGF) with over £2 billion of budgets from skills, housing and transport for 2015-16. An area’s allocation from the LGF will be available to be spent on the priorities LEPs and their partners have determined in their strategic economic plans.

The Government allocated capital funds between programmes at spending review 2010 and spending round 2013 on the basis of a zero-based review of the

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economic returns of every central Government capital programme, with investment being targeted increasingly at economic infrastructure. Once allocated between programmes, funds were moved into the appropriate departmental budgets to allow Departments to deliver those programmes.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value is of guarantees made under the UK Guarantees scheme to date. [196965]

Danny Alexander: Three guarantees and one stand-by Facility have been signed under the UK Guarantees scheme, with a total value of £1,090,800,000.

Any guarantees signed are reported to Parliament as required by the legislation—Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012—underpinning the scheme and can also be found on the gov.uk website.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value of guarantee was of his Department's largest 200 infrastructure projects in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2013-14. [196966]

Danny Alexander: The UK Guarantees scheme did not exist in 2010-11. Following its introduction in 2012, Drax Power, the Northern Line Extension and Mersey Gateway Bridge are the projects in the National Infrastructure Plan that have benefited from the scheme. The total value of those three guarantees is £1,082,000,000.

The infrastructure pipeline published alongside the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 provides a forward- looking, bottom-up assessment of overall planned and potential infrastructure investment in the UK to 2020 and beyond, and includes details of the projected value of individual investments. It includes large public and private infrastructure projects and capital programmes (generally worth £50 million or over) and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-plan-2013

The pipeline has been published annually since it was first published in 2011.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of building information modelling in reducing the total cost of ownership for complex infrastructure assets; and if he will make a statement. [196968]

Danny Alexander: The 2011 Government construction strategy set a target that all publicly procured construction will require fully collaborative 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) as a minimum by 2016.

Infrastructure UK is working closely with the Government and industry groups implementing BIM on new projects. Early adopter projects include the Ministry of Justice’s Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute, which has demonstrated an overall saving of around 20% with BIM as part of a suite of efficiency measures deployed on the design and construction of the project.

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Major projects and clients are now implementing BIM on new infrastructure projects. It is still too early to draw conclusive evidence of whole-life benefits. However, High Speed 2 has made a specific commitment to deploy BIM and the Highways Agency is piloting BIM on the new A556 trunk road project, from which evidence of benefits will be collated.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the next 40 infrastructure projects are that the Government plan to undertake; and in what order the Government plan to undertake those projects. [196970]

Danny Alexander: The Government published our top 40 priority infrastructure investments in our National Infrastructure Plan (December 2013). This included projected construction start and finish dates. The relevant information is contained in Annex A of the Plan, accessible here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-plan-2013

Insolvency: Civil Proceedings

John Glen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of how much tax will be collected annually from insolvency litigation following reforms to insolvency litigation through the 2012 Legal, Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act. [197300]

Mr Gauke: No assessment has been made of how much tax will be collected annually from insolvency litigation following reforms to insolvency litigation through the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.

John Glen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax has been collected from insolvency litigation (a) through the Specialist Investigation Unit and (b) in all other insolvency litigation cases handled by HM Revenue and Customs in each year since 2010. [197343]

Mr Gauke: HMRC does not maintain centrally held records of the amount it collects through insolvency litigation.

International Monetary Fund: Ukraine

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's latest assessment is of the likely timeframe within which International Monetary Fund funds will be released for the Ukraine. [195125]

Andrea Leadsom: The IMF Board is expected to consider Ukraine’s application for a financial assistance programme in April. The agreement of a programme and subsequent disbursement of funds is also dependent on the Ukrainian authorities adopting a set of reforms as set out by the IMF.

The latest IMF statement, following staff-level agreement with the Ukrainian authorities on a potential programme, can be found at:

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2014/pr14131.htm

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Manufacturing Industries

Mr McKenzie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal steps he has taken to encourage manufacturing in the UK since May 2010. [197138]

Nicky Morgan: With our long-term economic plan, this Government are committed to strong and sustainable growth that is balanced across the economy. Manufacturing is a vital part of this, and the Government have put in place a wide range of measures to improve the wider business environment and support this sector, including both tax reforms and direct support.

This Government have reduced the main rate of corporation tax to improve the business environment and attract investment: it is currently 21%, down from 28% in 2010, and will fall further to 20% in April 2015. Beyond this, support to manufacturing includes the Government committing £3.2 billion to the regional growth fund, over £1.5 billion of support to specific sectors through the industrial strategy, £345 million to the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative, and over £200 million to a catapult centre on high-value manufacturing. In the recent Budget, the Government announced a package of measures to reduce energy bills for manufacturers and improve their competitiveness.

There is more to do, but the latest GDP figures and May’s manufacturing PMI are encouraging.

Minimum Wage

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) inspections, (b) findings of non-compliance, (c) prosecutions and (d) convictions have been handled by HM Revenue and Customs for non-payment of the minimum wage in each region in each year since 2008. [197359]

Mr Gauke: The Government take the enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) very seriously and HMRC reviews every complaint that is referred to it, investigating the complaint and, in addition, carrying out targeted enforcement where we identify a high risk of non-payment of NMW.

The information for the time period requested is detailed in the following table. HMRC does not keep statistics at regional level for the purposes of completed inspections and non-compliance. However, the location of the employers prosecuted is included.

The majority of employers identified as paying below the NMW will pay arrears on receipt of a formal notice of underpayment. Where they don’t, HMRC will pursue recovery through the civil courts. For deliberate non-compliance or obstructive behaviour, HMRC operates a policy of selective and exemplary criminal investigation action to bolster our overall enforcement strategy. Criminal investigations rarely result in arrears being paid to

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workers and are reserved only for the most serious cases. All of the prosecutions noted in the table above were successful.

Minimum Wage: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in HM Revenue and Customs' national minimum wage team were monitoring Scotland in each year from 2010 to 2014. [196927]

Mr Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC reviews every complaint that is referred to it by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, by collating and analysing data received from various sources, HMRC ensures targeted enforcement through robust risk assessment processes to identify employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying NMW.

HMRC deploys resources to risk, so work relating to a specific geographical area is not always undertaken by the NMW team based in that area. In addition, the NMW Dynamic Response Team (DRT) provides a multi-agency response to emerging risks, high-profile casework and compliance initiatives across the UK.

Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing the NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved, beyond those identified above.

Money Lenders

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of unscrupulous money lending in (a) the UK, (b) East Midlands, (c) Nottinghamshire and (d) Ashfield in each of the last five years. [197321]

Andrea Leadsom: The Government have not made an estimate about levels of unscrupulous money lending. The National Audit Office estimated that unaddressed detriment in the UK consumer credit market cost consumers £450 million in 2011-12.

The Government have fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The new, more robust Financial Conduct Authority regime will help to deliver the Government’s vision for a well functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which is able to meet consumers’ needs.

Mortgages: Interest Rates

Mr Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief was provided for mortgage interest payments by buy-to-let residential property investors at the (a) basic income tax marginal rate, (b) higher income tax marginal rate and (c) additional income tax marginal rate in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13. [196905]

Mr Gauke: The information is not available. HMRC's administrative systems do not separately identify mortgage interest payments against residential property from other financial costs incurred across all types of property businesses (both residential and non-residential). Moreover, property income is grouped with other income in the

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calculation of tax liabilities, and consequently the amounts of specific deductions effective against each rate of tax is not precisely defined.

Mr Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of each type of tax relief was provided to buy-to-let residential property investors at the (a) basic income tax marginal rate, (b) higher income tax marginal rate and (c) additional income tax marginal rate in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13. [196906]

Mr Gauke: The information is not available. HMRC's administrative systems do not distinguish between residential and non-residential property businesses nor the nature of rental property businesses such as buy-to-let investors. Moreover property income is grouped with other income in the calculation of tax liabilities, and consequently the amounts of specific deductions effective against each rate of tax is not precisely defined.

Mr Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief was provided to buy-to-let residential property investors at the (a) basic income tax marginal rate, (b) higher income tax marginal rate and (c) additional income tax marginal rate in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13. [196907]

Mr Gauke: The information is not available. HMRC's administrative systems do not distinguish between residential and non-residential property businesses nor the nature of rental property businesses such as buy-to-let investors. Moreover property income is grouped with other income in the calculation of tax liabilities, and consequently the amounts of specific deductions effective against each rate of tax is not precisely defined.

National Insurance Contributions

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of raising the national insurance personal allowance for 2015-16 to (a) £10,000 and (b) £12,300. [196603]

Mr Gauke: Raising the national insurance contributions thresholds for individual earners (The Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit) in 2015-16 to £10,000 is estimated to cost in the region of £5 billion. Raising them to £12,300 is estimated to cost around £10.5 billion.

These estimates are based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

Office of Tax Simplification

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent progress has been made on implementing the recommendations of the Office of Tax Simplification. [197027]

Mr Gauke: At Budget 2014 the Government announced that we will implement Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) recommendations to simplify the taxation of employee benefits and expenses, employee share schemes, and partnerships. We will also simplify national insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed by collecting class 2 NICs through self-assessment from April 2016, as recommended by the OTS.

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Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the PCS Union on the future of HM Revenue and Customs Debt Management and Banking operations. [196985]

Mr Gauke: Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to privatise HM Revenue and Customs Debt Management and Banking operations; and if he will make a statement. [196986]

Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has no plans to privatise its Debt Management and Banking (DMB) operations.

HMRC has been using debt collection services provided by private sector suppliers for several years. This has given HMRC additional capacity to complement its in house operations and increase the flexibility of its business operations, with debt collection agencies (DCAs) working alongside in-house debt collection activity.

HMRC plans to continue to use private sector services—the overall aim being to strengthen further HMRC’s debt collection service, making optimal use of both internal and external collection specialists.

In the future, HMRC will purchase those externally provided services through the Debt Market Integrator (DMI), a Cabinet Office-led initiative to create a “one stop shop” for all Government Departments to access a range of private sector debt collection services.

Taxation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people did not meet the

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31 January 2014 deadline for making their tax return. [197291]

Mr Gauke: Of the 10.7 million 2012-13 Self Assessment tax returns due by 31 January 2014, around 708,800 (6.6%) were not filed by the filing deadline.

Taxation: Personal Records

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a risk assessment or cost-benefit analysis has been carried out on the proposal to sell UK tax records. [196867]

Mr Gauke: There are no plans to sell UK tax records.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system. [196773]

Andrea Leadsom: In HM Treasury these arrangements are kept under review.

VAT: Electronic Publishing

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Treasury received in VAT charged on e-books in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14. [196595]

Mr Gauke: No reliable estimate has been possible for the value of VAT levied on the sale of e-books purchased in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to questions 192679, 192680 and 192681 on children: daycare, tabled on 18 March 2014 for answer on 24 March 2014. [197155]

Nicky Morgan: I have done so.

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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 6 May 2014

Health

Abortion

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private abortion clinics are situated on the premises of NHS hospitals in England; and how many such clinics are run by (a) BPAS and (b) Marie Stopes International. [197322]

Jane Ellison: There are 17 independent abortion clinics situated on national health service premises in England. Of these, 11 are run by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and three by Marie Stopes International.

Academic Health Science Networks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the running costs are for each of the academic health science networks. [197372]

Norman Lamb: The information requested is not available.

NHS England advises us that individual funding levels and programme costs vary between academic health science networks (AHSNs). NHS England budget allocations are not their sole source of income and AHSNs are seeking to supplement this funding through participation in strategic investment programmes and match-funding initiatives. Core running costs are for AHSNs to determine independently and may also be subject to change through the year.

Further information on AHSN work programmes and business plans can be found on their websites:

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Action on Smoking and Health

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether funding allocated to Action on Smoking and Health may be used for campaigning purposes by that body under the terms on which it is allocated. [195596]

Jane Ellison: Since 2011, the conditions for the grants provided to Action on Smoking and Health under the Department of Health’s “Section 64 General Scheme of Grants to voluntary and Community Organisations” arrangements have explicitly set out that none of the funding provided by the Department should be intended or used for political lobbying or campaigning purposes.

Advocacy work in support of the implementation of existing Government tobacco control policies and programmes of work is acceptable.

Benzodiazepines

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of potential correlation between relative deprivation and the prescribing rates of benzodiazepines at GP practices. [196616]

Norman Lamb: The Department has undertaken no such assessment.

Brain: Tumours

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour; and if he will make a statement; [196257]

(2) what steps he is taking to encourage international collaboration in research and the sharing of best practice on quality of life for patients diagnosed with brain tumours. [196259]

Jane Ellison: NHS England has made a recent assessment of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour through its Peer Review Programme (PRP). This programme includes measures that require all brain and central nervous system multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to demonstrate the availability and adequacy of patient information. The outcome of the 2013-14 assessment of compliance with these measures indicated that out of 91 MDTs and 36 treatment centres, 84% were compliant with the patient information measure at the most robust level.

There is a programme of work aimed at improving the care and experience of people living with a diagnosis of cancer, developed in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support, which draws from a wide range of evidence-based good practice.

The National Cancer Intelligence Network runs a brain and central nervous system-related cancers Clinical Reference Group, which works closely with brain cancer charities. In addition to this, the PRP measures participation in drug trials and research internationally.

The Department works closely with its cancer research funding partners through the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The NCRI is a strategic partnership

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of 22 Government, charity and industry cancer research funders, together with patients. The NCRI is a member of the International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP), which includes cancer research funders from the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. The ICRP is a unique alliance of cancer organisations working together to enhance global collaboration and strategic co-ordination of research. Researchers can search the ICRP database to avoid duplication and identify collaborators in specific areas of cancer research, including brain tumour research.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress his Department has made on diagnosis rates of brain tumours in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [196261]

(2) what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of access to imagery scanning for diagnosing brain tumours; and if he will issue revised guidance on when to refer a patient for a scan with the aim of raising diagnosis rates and decreasing mortality rates. [196258]

Jane Ellison: “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, published on 12 January 2011, stated that general practitioners (GPs) need easy access to the right diagnostic tests to diagnose or exclude cancer earlier. The strategy committed over £450 million over four years, to achieve early diagnosis of cancer, including improving access to key diagnostic tests, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans to support the diagnosis of brain cancer. The funding was also designed to cover subsequent testing and treatment in secondary care.

In 2012, the Department published “Direct Access to Diagnostic Tests for Cancer, Best Practice Referral Pathways for General Practitioners”. The document includes criteria for accessing key diagnostic tests, including MRI brain scan, and aims to raise awareness of the symptoms that require urgent referral to specialists and sets out where a direct referral for an MRI brain scan may benefit patients through achieving a faster diagnosis. GPs are able to access these tests directly in cases where the two- week urgent referral pathway is not appropriate but a patient’s symptoms require further investigation. The intention is that more people presenting with relevant symptoms will be tested and at an earlier stage.

NHS England monitors the use of these diagnostic tests through the Diagnostic Imaging Dataset. Latest provisional data published by NHS England on 27 March 2014, for the period November 2012 to November 2013, showed that over a quarter of all tests that may have been used to diagnose or discount cancer were requested by GPs under direct access arrangements. In that period, 509,215 MRI tests were requested, including 35,055 through direct GP access arrangements. The published data are available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostic-imaging-dataset/diagnostic-imaging-datasetdiagnostic-imaging-dataset-2013-14-data/

Information on diagnosis rates of brain tumours is not centrally collected. Information on the number of patients with suspected brain or central nervous system tumours who were seen by a specialist within two weeks from a GP referral is provided in the attached tables, for the last 10 years.

Before 2009, the operational standard for two-week waits was 98%. Starting from the 1 of January 2009, the basis for reporting waiting times data was changed. The

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new standards were set to be more in line with the already implemented referral to treatment routes. The scope of cover for the new standards was widened (as set out in the Cancer Reform Strategy 2008), and the collection was made simpler by not using clock pauses. From 2009 onwards the operational standard for two- week waits was set to 93% (assumed to be the maximum sustainable performance level) including tolerances for:

The number of patients who make themselves unavailable or decline an appointment within two weeks.

Patients who cancel a booked out-patient appointment (giving advance notice), and rebook appointments outside of 14 days.

Information on number of patients with suspected brain or central nervous system tumours who were seen by a specialist within two weeks from a GP referral for the last 10 years (pre reporting waiting times data change).

Information on the number of patients with suspected brain or central nervous system tumours who were seen by a specialist within two weeks from a GP referral for the last 10 years (post reporting waiting times data change)

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Cancer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment his Department has made of the overall performance of cancer services against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence breast cancer quality standard; [196363]

(2) what methods of data collection his Department uses to measure the performance of services against each of the 13 statements in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence breast cancer quality standard; [196365]

(3) what assessment his Department has made of the performance of cancer services against statements 11 and 12 in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence breast cancer quality standard. [196367]

Jane Ellison: The Health and Social Care Act (2012) places a duty on NHS England to have regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards. Commissioners should have regard to them in the planning of services they commission according to their population needs.

While no assessment has been made of the performance of services against the breast cancer quality standard, compliance with quality standards generally could be monitored through a range of mechanisms depending on the specific quality standard. For example, the 30 national clinical audits funded by NHS England, the Best Practice Tariff, Commissioning for Quality Improvement Initiatives arrangements and the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set. These levers are designed to drive quality improvement in the national health service using quality standards where appropriate.

At the request of NHS England, the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership will shortly begin commissioning a new national breast cancer clinical audit. There is an expectation that national clinical audits, where appropriate, support the implementation

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of NICE clinical guidelines and quality standards. The new national clinical audit will be in place by the end of 2014-15.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that future iterations of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey enable the responses of patients with primary and secondary cancer to be analysed separately; [196364]

(2) what recent discussions his Department has had on the potential for Patient Reported Outcome Measures to be used to measure improvements in outcomes for breast cancer patients. [196366]

Jane Ellison: No recent ministerial discussions have taken place on the potential for Patient Reported Outcome Measures to be used to measure improvements in outcomes for breast cancer patients.

NHS England took over responsibility for the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) on 1 April 2013. The development of the CPES is overseen by the Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group (CPEAG), which has a wide-ranging membership including clinicians, cancer charities, experts in survey methodologies, research bodies, health service commissioners and NHS England staff.

The survey questionnaire is reviewed by CPEAG each year to ensure that it captures the best information and as part of the process for the next survey, NHS England is engaging with a range of stakeholders to look at how it can improve and amend the survey appropriately.

In the meantime, NHS England has added a new question to the 2014 survey questionnaire to identify patients who have been diagnosed with cancer more than once because the evidence suggests that there may be a difference in the experience of those patients.

The results of the 2014 survey will be published later this year.

Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on steps to ensure that future iterations of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey allow the separate analysis of the response of patients with primary and secondary cancer. [196490]

Jane Ellison: There have been no recent discussions between the Department and NHS England on allowing the separate analysis of the response of patients with primary and secondary cancer in future iterations of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES).

NHS England took over responsibility for the CPES on 1 April 2013. The development of the CPES is overseen by the Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group (CPEAG), which has a wide-ranging membership, including clinicians, cancer charities, experts in survey methodologies, research bodies, health service commissioners and NHS England staff.

The survey questionnaire is reviewed by CPEAG each year to ensure that it captures the best information and as part of the process for the next survey, NHS England is engaging with a range of stakeholders to look at how it can improve and amend the survey appropriately.

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In the meantime, NHS England has added a new question to the 2014 survey questionnaire to identify patients who have been diagnosed with cancer more than once because the evidence suggests that there may be a difference in the experience of those patients.

The results of the 2014 survey will be published later this year.

Cancer: Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria his Department uses to decide whether to prescribe Kadcyla using funds from the Cancer Drugs Fund. [196787]

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for administering the Cancer Drugs Fund. Its national Cancer Drugs Fund clinical panel added Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine) for the treatment of HER2-positive locally advanced/unresectable or metastatic breast cancer to its national cohort policies list in February 2014. Further information on how the panel made its decision is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

Care Homes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms his Department has in place to monitor standards in care homes for the elderly. [197374]

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) all providers of regulated activities, including national health service and independent providers, have to register with the CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality.

The CQC is currently introducing a new system of inspection of social care providers. This new system of inspection will be structured around five key questions that matter most to people—are the services safe, caring, effective, well-led and responsive to people’s needs. The new inspections will make more use of people’s views and will use expert inspection teams involving people who have personal experience of care. The CQC has been piloting this new approach in 252 social care providers since April 2014.

The Department is also working with the CQC to develop fundamental standards, which will set out the line below which care should never fall—they will be requirements that all providers of health and social care registered with the CQC must meet. The CQC will be able to take action including prosecution where providers are not meeting these standards. These fundamental standards will apply to all registered providers across health and adult social care.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the use of CCTV in care homes. [197375]

Norman Lamb: The Department currently has no plans to require the installation of CCTV in care homes. However, we do have to recognise that recent cases of

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abuse and neglect have been exposed as the result of hidden cameras. We acknowledge that there are occasions when it may be appropriate for their use to be considered.

The Care Quality Commission is exploring whether hidden cameras might be used as part of its investigations. It is consulting widely on the use of covert surveillance and will take account of a wide range of views before making its decision.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to allow families of patients in care homes to report concerns about standards of care. [197376]

Norman Lamb: Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 requires all care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to:

“have an effective system in place for identifying, receiving, handling and responding appropriately to complaints and comments made by service users, or persons acting on their behalf”.

Where a person’s care is provided or arranged by their local authority, complaints and concerns should be directed initially to the local authority, which remains responsible for the quality of care. If a person has arranged their own care, they should pursue the matter directly with the provider in the first instance.

In both cases, should complainants not be satisfied with the response, they are entitled to ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate.

People may also raise concerns with the CQC, as regulator of health and adult social care services. Under the 2008 Act, the CQC does not have the responsibility for investigating specific complaints about social care providers. However, where there are concerns about a provider which is registered with the CQC, such concerns should be brought to its attention. The CQC will use this information, together with local information from partners and the public, to help it decide when, where and what to inspect.

The CQC is currently introducing a new system of inspection of social care providers. This new system of inspection will be structured around five key questions that matter most to people—are the services safe, caring, effective, well-led, and responsive to people’s needs. The new inspections will make more use of people’s views and will use expert inspection teams involving people who have personal experience of care. The CQC has been piloting this new approach in 252 social care providers since April 2014.

Cerebral Palsy: Children

Mr Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that health professionals are trained in the identification and notification of (a) all special educational needs and (b) educational needs related to cerebral palsy in children under two years of age. [196404]

Dr Poulter: The Government work with Health Education England, which provides leadership on the training of the health workforce, and the professional regulatory bodies, such as the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which set professional standards, to ensure that health professionals are appropriately trained in identification and support of children with special educational needs, or cerebral palsy.

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Clinical commissioning groups are under a statutory duty to make arrangements to notify the local authority where a provider is of the opinion that a child under compulsory school age has special educational needs (having first discussed this with the child’s parents). The Children and Families Act introduces new arrangements for local authorities and health services to work together to support children with special educational needs.

Cervical Cancer

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who will have responsibility for cervical screening under the forthcoming Public Health England commissioning framework. [196446]

Jane Ellison: The National Health Service (NHS) Cervical Screening Programme is commissioned by NHS England under the NHS public health functions agreement 2014-15 (the Section 7a agreement, covering public health functions to be exercised by NHS England on behalf of the Department). Public Health England is responsible for the piloting and roll-out of new screening programmes or improvements to existing programmes, including the current pilot of human papillomavirus testing as primary screening.

Childbirth

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward from 42 weeks the period for inducing labour in at-risk expectant mothers. [196280]

Dr Poulter: The induction of labour is a clinical decision for health care professionals. These decisions are based on the latest available evidence and take account of the risk and other clinical factors for each individual pregnancy.

To assist health care professionals, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published clinical guidelines on the induction of labour, which are available on the NICE website at:

www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12012/41256/41256.pdf

The NICE guidelines advise that women with uncomplicated pregnancies should usually be offered induction of labour between 41+0 and 42+0 weeks.

Women can be deemed high- risk for a multitude of reasons. Each reason will carry its own set of criteria for delivery. It is not possible to say that induction for all at- risk pregnancies should be brought forward as these should be reviewed according to individual needs.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of dementia awareness training in the health and social care sector; and if he will make a statement. [196253]

Dr Poulter: The Government’s Mandate to Health Education England (HEE), published in May 2013, included the following deliverables:

All national health service staff who look after patients with dementia can have foundation level dementia training; and

100,000 NHS staff will have received foundation level training by 31 March 2014.

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The latest data available from HEE show that over 108,000 NHS staff had completed Tier 1 dementia awareness training by 14 October 2013.

The Department has commissioned a number of projects on dementia education and training for health and social care staff and is working closely with its Workforce Advisory Group on dementia to consider the effectiveness of this work.

Dementia: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps are being taken in Lancashire to help provide greater care for people with dementia; [196506]

(2) what funding has been made available in Lancashire to help diagnose the early onset of dementia since May 2010. [196511]

Norman Lamb: Improving the quality of care for people with dementia and their carers is a priority for this Government and we continue to support the national health service, who make decisions locally on spending on dementia care.

In 2010-11, £90 million was made available nationally for dementia to the NHS through central allocations to support timely diagnosis of the condition and to ensure that by 2015, two-thirds of people with dementia have a diagnosis and receive appropriate support following diagnosis.

NHS organisations in Lancashire also received capital funding from the Department through a programme to improve environments of care for people with dementia. In 2013-14, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust received £950,000 and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received £1,014,288.

Departmental Responsibilities

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) meetings, (b) items of written correspondence, (c) phone calls, (d) consultation responses, (e) tenders and (f) other individual communications and contacts his Department has had with (i) Johnson & Johnson, (ii) Ethicon and (iii) BARD. [196778]

Norman Lamb: Within the last 12 months, the Department has had regular communication with a number of pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic manufacturers, on a wide range of topics. However, the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Diabetes: Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adolescents were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14. [196485]

Jane Ellison: Neither the Department nor NHS England collects this information centrally.

The majority of adolescents with diabetes have their disease managed through specialist paediatric diabetes services. It is estimated that 97% of children with diabetes have type 1, 1.5% have type 2 and 1.5% have other types of diabetes.

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There is a National Paediatric Diabetes Audit run by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health; more information on this audit can be found at:

www.rcpch.ac.uk/national-paediatric-diabetes-audit-npda

Drugs: Poisoning

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2013, Official Report, column 1667W, on drugs: poisoning, how many (a) men, (b) women and (c) children were admitted to hospital for drug poisoning, showing ICD10 codes T36-T50 separately at a four character level in 2013. [196571]

Jane Ellison: The information requested has been placed in the Library. It provides a count of the number of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of T36-T50 for male and female adults and children for the year 2012-13. Explanatory footnotes have also been provided.

It should be noted that this is not a count of patients as the same patient may have been admitted more than once in a year.

Electronic Cigarettes

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his policy is on the licensing of e-cigarettes; [197421]

(2) whether his Department has given consideration to licensing e-cigarettes as medicines. [197422]

Jane Ellison: On 14 March 2014, European Union member states formally adopted the revised Tobacco Products Directive, including the provisions for regulation of electronic cigarettes. Article 18 of the directive will subject electronic cigarettes to consumer products legislation, with specific additional regulatory requirements unless they fall under the definition of a medicinal product.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is continuing to focus on regulating medicinal nicotine containing products, including electronic cigarettes, to enable licensed products that meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy to be available. Marketing authorisation applications have been submitted and interest in licensing continues.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will put restrictions in place to prevent the promotion of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 16 years. [197423]

Jane Ellison: The revised Tobacco Products Directive (Directive 2014/40/EU) will prohibit the advertising of e-cigarettes marketed as consumer electronic products where there is a cross-border dimension, for example television, radio, newspapers and magazines. The Department will consult on the transposition of the Directive into United Kingdom law and seek views on the need for domestic provisions on advertising.

It was not possible to achieve age-of-sale controls through the revised Directive so the Government have already moved quickly to take regulation-making powers for Ministers in England and Wales to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s, through the Children and Families Act. In England, we plan to bring this new law into effect within the current Parliament.

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General Practitioners

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate his Department has made of the average annual change in income for GP practices in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Tower Hamlets arising from the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee; [196551]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the average annual change in income to GP practices in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Tower Hamlets arising from changes to points available for payment-related indicators under the Quality and Outcomes Framework. [196552]

Dr Poulter: The overall effect of the average annual changes in income for general practitioner (GP) practices as a result of the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee is as follows:

(a) England—no change;

(b) London—a decrease of £948,000 spread across 721 General Medical Services (GMS) practices; and

(c) Tower Hamlets—a decrease of £184,000 spread across 21 GMS practices.

The overall effect of the average annual changes in income for GP practices as a result of the changes to Quality and Outcomes Framework payments is as follows:

(a) England—no change;

(b) London—an increase of £1,680,000 spread across 721 GMS practices; and

(c) Tower Hamlets—an increase of £138,000 spread across 21 GMS practices.

NHS England modelled these figures based on current practice populations.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the effects of the removal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee on (a) GP services and (b) the income of GPs; and if he will commission research on the range and extent on GP income in Tower Hamlets. [197051]

Dr Poulter: As part of the general practitioner (GP) contract settlement in 2013, the Department decided to phase out Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG) top-up payments over a seven-year period, starting in the coming financial year 2014-15. This means that MPIG payments to practices will be reduced by one seventh every year from 1 April 2014.

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. The decision to implement the changes over a period of seven years is designed to allow those practices that will lose funding to adjust gradually.

GPs are independent contractors and are responsible for deciding their own levels of income. The decision on how to address specific local issues will be taken by NHS England’s area teams after a full assessment of local circumstances. We understand that NHS England’s primary care team in London is in regular contact with the Chief Officer of Tower Hamlets clinical commissioning group about this issue.

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Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the (a) numbers of GP practices and (b) services offered by GP practices of removing performance indicators from the Quality and Outcomes Framework. [197052]

Jane Ellison: We have reduced the number of indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) 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 QOF will be reinvested in general practice.

We understand that NHS England is currently developing the specifications and reporting protocols that will be required to capture the information provided by the retired QOF indicators.

This will enable NHS England’s commissioning teams, clinical commissioning groups and the Care Quality Commission to take this information into account in reaching rounded judgments about the quality of care provided by general practice. It will also be used to evaluate the impact of the indicators that were retired on 1 April 2014, and will inform future decisions about the development of QOF.

NHS England has recently undertaken an analysis to identify ‘outlier’ practices—those that will lose the largest amount of funding per patient as a result of the phasing out of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee. Details of these practices have been sent to NHS England area teams.

In a small number of cases where there are exceptional underlying factors that necessitate additional funding—for example because a practice is serving an atypical population—it is anticipated that area teams will meet with the practices to discuss and agree arrangements to ensure that appropriate services for patients continue to be available.

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints against GPs have resulted in a GP being struck off by the General Medical Council in the last five years. [197289]

Dr Poulter: The General Medical Council (GMC) is an independent body and responsible for dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt. The information in this response has been provided by the GMC.

Table 1 shows the numbers of complaints against general practitioners (GPs) and the number of investigations resulting from those complaints in each of the last five years. Table 2 shows the number of GPs erased from the register in each of the last five years.

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