Income Tax

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total estimated number of higher rate taxpayers was in (a) the last financial year and (b) 2010. [197917]

Mr Gauke: Estimates of the number of taxpayers at each income tax rate band are published in HMRC’s National Statistics which are available on the internet at the following address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/number-of-individual-income-taxpayers-by-marginal-rate-gender-and-age

Individual Savings Accounts

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who have utilised their full tax-free ISA allowance in each of the last three years in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency. [193677]

Mr Gauke: Until 1 July 2014 there are two allowances for ISAs: a cash and an overall allowance. This answer assumes the hon. Lady is asking about the overall allowance.

The following table contains the number of individuals who made full use of their (£10,680) ISA allowance in 2011-12 in the UK and in Scotland.

A breakdown for 2012-13 and 2013-14 is not yet available. Constituency-level statistics are not available.

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As announced at Budget 2014, from 1 July 2014 the overall annual New ISA subscription limit will be increased to £15,000 and can be used for either cash or stocks and shares investments, or any combination of the two, up to this limit.

This measure will reduce income tax on savings for people constrained by the current limits, improving incentives to save and increasing real household disposable incomes. Over 6 million people are expected to benefit from these increases, including over 5 million adults expected to be constrained by the cash ISA limit.

International Monetary Fund: Ukraine

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution the UK will make towards the $17 billion IMF package for Ukraine. [197774]

Andrea Leadsom: As a member of the IMF, the UK will be involved in the IMF’s $17 billion programme for Ukraine. The UK’s contribution to the Fund is not public spending and would have no fiscal implications on the UK: it does not add to our debt or deficit. With its preferred creditor status, lending to the IMF is one of the most credit-worthy institutions in the world and no one who has ever provided money to the IMF has ever lost that money.

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of the $3.2 billion released by the IMF to Ukraine's interim Government that will be spent on servicing debt to Russian gas providers. [197781]

Andrea Leadsom: The IMF's programme is intended to put the Ukrainian economy on a more stable footing, part of which involves Ukraine servicing its legitimate debts. The actual repayment of Ukraine's gas debts is a matter for the Government in Kyiv to discuss with their creditors.

Landfill Communities Fund

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of Landfill Community Fund grants to projects in (a) Dudley North constituency, (b) Dudley borough, (c) the west midlands and (d) England. [196349]

Nicky Morgan: ENTRUST, the regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF), has provided the value of the LCF in Dudley, the west midlands and England from the inception of the fund to date and for the last financial year. This is set out in the following table. ENTRUST does not have this information broken down by constituency.

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Given the level of unspent funds that the LCF continues to hold, reducing the value of the fund by less than 10% is not expected to impact on communities’ ability to receive LCF funding.

Minimum Wage: Shipping

Mr Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times failure to pay the minimum wage has been (a) reported, (b) prosecuted and (c) penalised in the maritime sector since the Equality Act 2010 came into force. [195429]

Mr Gauke: The Government take the enforcement of national minimum wage (NMW) legislation very seriously and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforce the NMW legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999.

HMRC investigates all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, in addition carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

Since 2006, HMRC started considering prosecution for minimum wage offences. Since then, there have been seven investigations into employers in the water transport sector. None of these were identified as having failed to pay the minimum wage.

Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the number of staff required at HM Revenue and Customs in Cumbernauld following his Department's decision to award the mail management contract to the EDM Group. [196998]

Mr Gauke: The timetable for implementation is still being finalised. HMRC does not yet have details of how and when teams currently handling post will be impacted.

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultation his Department had with HM Revenue and Customs staff prior to awarding the mail management contract to EDM Group. [196999]

Mr Gauke: Regular consultation took place between HMRC and staff representatives throughout the process up to the point the decision was made to go out to tender for a provider of scanning services to HMRC.

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the savings to the public purse provided by the recent award of the mail management contract to the EDM Group. [197000]

Mr Gauke: Over the three-year contract term it is estimated that there is a minimum £8.9 million saving to the public purse when comparing the contract cost with an in-house provision.

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Tax Avoidance

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2014, Official Report, column 254W, on tax avoidance, what the (a) total number and (b) timescale involved was in the tenfold increase of people investigated. [197919]

Mr Gauke: In the tax year ended 5 April 2013, HMRC opened 256 investigations into cases where IR35 was identified as the main risk. This is a tenfold increase over the number of investigations opened in the tax year ended 5 April 2011.

Taxation: Self-employed

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people paid their income tax via the use of personal service companies in 2012-13. [197916]

Mr Gauke: HMRC data show the total annual income of individuals by income type, but not which type of business this income derives from. Further, there is no statutory definition of a personal service company. For these reasons, it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the number of people who paid income tax via the use of personal service companies.

Welfare Tax Credits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many single person tax credit claims have been sanctioned or stopped in each constituency in each of the last five years. [197737]

Nicky Morgan: HMRC do not hold the requested information and there would be a disproportionate cost attached to obtaining it.

Welfare Tax Credits: Self-employed

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people registered as self-employed claimed tax credits in each of the last five years. [197586]

Nicky Morgan: The following table is based on finalised tax credits administrative data for each financial year. The latest data available are for 2011-12.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funds the Crown Estate received from offshore wind farms in each coastal constituency in each of the last five years. [197738]

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Nicky Morgan: It is not possible to breakdown the revenue the Crown Estate receives from its offshore activity against constituency boundaries onshore.

The Crown Estate’s Annual report and accounts is available at:

http://ar2013.thecrownestate.co.uk/

and includes a section on Energy and Infrastructure.

Working Tax Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent planning assumption is for the last date on which new claims for working tax credit will be accepted. [197998]

Nicky Morgan: Working tax credit is gradually being replaced by universal credit. The current Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) planning assumption is that the universal credit service will be fully available in each part of Great Britain during 2016, having closed down new claims to the legacy benefits that it replaces, including tax credits. HMRC will continue to work closely with the DWP on the specific process and timing for the closure of new claims to working tax credit.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to Question 193089, tabled on 20 March 2014 for answer on 25 March 2014. [198277]

Nicky Morgan: I have done so.

Work and Pensions

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of Child Support Agency cases subject to case closure which have child maintenance arrears based wholly or partly on an interim maintenance assessment; and what steps he is taking to re-evaluate the amount of arrears owed and to inform the non-resident parent and parent with care accordingly. [197481]

Steve Webb: We have identified around 1,400 cases subject to case closure which have child maintenance arrears based wholly or partly on an interim maintenance assessment.

The arrears existing on cases coming up for closure will be reviewed, and where necessary revised, to ensure accuracy. Both parents will be informed of the arrears balance prior to their case closing.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how often powers in the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 to require suppliers of gas and electricity to (a) provide the Child Support Agency with information to confirm the whereabouts of a non-resident parent and (b) obtain account information to assist enforcement action to recover child maintenance arrears have been used to date. [197482]

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Steve Webb: The powers available within Section 4(1) of the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 are used as part of the normal trace process available to caseworkers when required. However, this information is not routinely recorded for management information purposes. To provide this would require the creation of new information, which could be completed and appropriately assured only at a disproportionate cost.

Conditions of Employment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from what date he plans that the refusal of a job on a zero-hours contract will be sanctionable by Jobcentre Plus advisers; and if he will provide protection to claimants with caring responsibilities which limit their work availability. [197974]

Esther McVey: JSA claimants are not required to apply for zero-hours contract jobs and therefore will not be sanctioned if they do not apply for such jobs.

Universal credit means that claimants can accept any offer of work without fear of their benefits or the support they receive from the Jobcentre being negatively affected. They will always be better off in work.

Under universal credit, if a claimant turns down the offer of employment without good reason a sanction can be applied. Claimants always have the opportunity to provide a good reason.

Claimants who turn down the offer of employment under a zero-hours contract because of an exclusivity clause will always be considered to have good reason and no sanction will apply.

Decision makers will also consider whether the job was suitable for the claimant taking into account the specifics of the role, the type of work, any agreed restrictions on hours and the claimant’s particular circumstances, including any caring responsibilities.

Employment Schemes

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to ensure that unemployed people who volunteer for the Help to Work scheme do not do the same work as offenders on community service orders. [197780]

Esther McVey: These are two entirely different schemes and we would expect the requirements of placements for offenders to be very different. The welfare to work companies we have contracted to provide community work placements are experienced at delivering different programmes across different areas of Government.

Employment Schemes: Hampshire

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people on (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance have moved from the Work programme to Work Choice in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire in the last three years. [198021]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

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Housing Benefit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long tenants who move from direct payment of housing support to managed payment because they have eight weeks of rent arrears will be allowed to stay on managed payment before they revert to direct payment. [198004]

Steve Webb: It is expected that this arrangement would be reviewed six months after the arrears have been repaid, with a view to the tenant returning to the standard monthly payment, having received additional personal budgeting support where appropriate. All alternative payment arrangements are discretionary and based on individual circumstances and consequently this timescale may vary depending on the capabilities and support needs of the claimant(s).

Independent Living Fund

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding will be provided to local authorities after June 2016 to support former Independent Living Fund users. [198015]

Mike Penning: The 2013 spending review announced that local authorities and the devolved Administrations will be fully funded to meet their additional responsibilities towards former ILF users in 2015-16. Funding in respect of former ILF users from 2016-17 onwards will be decided in the next spending review.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of recipients of the Independent Living Fund who will move into residential care following closure of the Fund. [198017]

Mike Penning: The potential implications of closing the Independent Living Fund are set out clearly in the Equality Analysis that was published on 6 March alongside the written ministerial statement announcing the closure.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) North Lanarkshire and (d) Airdrie and Shotts constituency applied to the jobseeker's allowance hardship regime and were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful in each of the last four years for which figures are available. [197645]

Esther McVey: These data are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the date on which the last new claims will be made for jobseeker's allowance. [198001]

Esther McVey: The closure of new claims to tax credits will be informed by the universal credit implementation plans. DWP current planning assumptions are that the universal credit service will be available in each part of Great Britain during 2016, having closed

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down new claims to the legacy benefits it replaced, with the majority of the remaining legacy case load moving to universal credit during 2016 and 2017. Final decisions on these elements of the programme will be informed by the development of the enhanced digital solution.

We will continue to work closely with HMRC on the specific process and timing for the closure of new claims to working tax credit.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Hampshire

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire who applied to the jobseeker's allowance hardship regime were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful in each of the last three years. [198024]

Esther McVey: These data are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Veterans

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how armed forces veterans are identified when making an application for jobseeker's allowance; and if he will make a statement. [197704]

Esther McVey: Armed forces veterans who claim jobseeker's allowance are identified by the work coach at their initial work search interview.

Pensioners: Income

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of what constitutes an adequate retirement income; what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) men and (b) women who will achieve this income; and if he will make a statement. [197763]

Steve Webb: In September 2013 we published the “Framework for the analysis of future pension incomes”, which contained details of our modelling of adequate retirement incomes. Recognising that an individual’s income in working life affects the retirement income that they would deem to be adequate, we use replacement rates (the ratio of retirement income to working age income) instead of a single income value to assess adequacy.

We use the following set of five replacement rate targets as determined in the Pensions Commission’s 2004 report to define adequate replacement rates:

To account for income-sharing among couples, we use equivalised household-level income for both working age and retirement incomes.

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Using the Department’s Pensim2 model we look at the simulated replacement rates of individuals reaching state pension age between 2014 and 2059, yielding around 27.9 million individuals in our adequacy measure.

Our analysis shows that we expect around 56% (around 15.7 million) of those individuals to have an adequate replacement rate. It also shows that around (a) 55% of men and (b) 57% of women in our measure will have an adequate replacement rate.

Respite Care

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years. [197824]

Mike Penning: The Department has no schemes of this nature.

Social Security Benefits

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the highest amount is that a single household has been capped as a result of the benefit cap. [197600]

Esther McVey: Of the top 10 highest capped households at the end of March 2014, the average capped amount was £607 per week.

More detailed information on the amount capped is not available as providing this information could identify individuals and would breach data confidentiality. Further information on the number of households capped by the amount capped is found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-january-2014

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made in implementing the Simple Payment initiative; how many people use it; and what steps he has taken to ensure its resilience. [197994]

Mike Penning: The Simple Payment service is continuously monitored to ensure satisfactory performance. As a result, 99.82% of transactions over the past six months have completed successfully at the first attempt.

There are, in total, 137,617 customers registered to use the service.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the creation of a single fraud investigation service on the level of fraud against local authorities. [197496]

Esther McVey: The introduction of single fraud investigation service will ensure that all allegations of local authority welfare benefit fraud are investigated appropriately in accordance with a single policy. As

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such the SFIS project strengthens the approach to investigating and tackling welfare benefit fraud in local authorities.

Unemployment: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking and what budget he has allocated to help tackle youth unemployment in (a) Barnsley and (b) South Yorkshire. [198129]

Esther McVey: The Government are aware of the problems facing young jobseekers in the labour market and have put in place a substantial menu of provision to help them move into work.

The Youth Contract provides intensive support for all 18 to 24-year-olds. Extra funding is being made available to support the most vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training into learning, an apprenticeship or job with training.

This comprehensive package of support is enhanced by the Flexible Support Fund, which Jobcentre Plus District managers can use to address locally identified skills needs. Also, the Work programme provides tailored support to those claimants furthest from the labour market.

Additionally, on 14 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that funding of £50 million Youth Contract under spend would be made available to cities.

The Sheffield city region received £5 million to offer intensive adviser and mentor-led support for young people alongside a specialist training programme aimed at equipping young people with the right skills to match local employer needs.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department plans to handle applications for universal credit from people with annual PAYE status. [197912]

Esther McVey: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the written answer I gave him on 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 863W.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support for the payment of mortgage interest will be available for universal credit recipients in low-paid work; and if he will make a statement. [197914]

Steve Webb: Under the current system, low paid workers are able to supplement their earnings by claiming support from tax credits. However, tax credits do not make any allowance for mortgage interest payments. Similarly, when universal credit replaces the tax credit system, there will be no entitlement to help with mortgage interest during any period in which the claimant is in paid work.

However, the earnings rules are far more generous in universal credit. This means that most people, particularly those on low incomes, have a significantly greater incentive to move into work than under the current system.

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The vast majority of people claiming UC will be better off in work, even if they work part-time and even if they receive a low hourly rate of pay. For example, a lone parent receiving the average amount of mortgage interest who takes up a job that pays the national minimum wage will be better off than under the current system if he or she works just seven hours a week.

Vacancies: Internet

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on the Universal Jobmatch programme between (a) April and September 2012, (b) October 2012 and March 2013, (c) April and September 2013, (d) October 2013 and March 2014 and (e) April and September 2014. [198055]

Esther McVey: The programme expenditure for Universal Jobmatch over the period April 12 to September 14 includes contractual costs as well as internal costs. Any reporting therefore risks being in breach of commercial in confidence agreement.

Work Programme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds on (a) the ethnicity of people aged 24 years and under referred to the Work programme and (b) the number of those aged 24 years and under who have (i) been attached to a work service provider, (ii) attained a job outcome payment and (iii) received at least one sustainment payment. [197768]

Esther McVey: Statistics on the number of people aged 24 and under who have been referred to the Work programme were identified as being from an ethnic minority background and (i) attached to a Work programme provider, (ii) attained a job outcome and (iii) received at least one sustainment payment can be found at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

Energy and Climate Change

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 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. [197457]

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has no plans to relocate either (a) staff or (b) offices to Brighton.

Floods: Cumbria

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, columns 712-3W, on floods: Cumbria, when the results of his public consultation will be published; and whether plans are in place for moving the nuclear waste stored at the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository if the site is deemed at risk. [197817]

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Michael Fallon: The Environment Agency carried out a public consultation exercise between November 2013 and February 2014 on LLW Repository Ltd’s variation application to dispose of further radioactive waste at the Low Level Waste Repository. Submissions received as part of this exercise are available on the Environment Agency’s Public Register. Responses will be published by the Environment Agency before the end of 2014, as part of a second consultation on a draft decision on the variation application. It is then anticipated that a final decision will be published in the spring of 2015.

As part of the Environmental Safety Case for the repository, LLW Repository Ltd was required to consider the need to move some or all of the radioactive waste disposed of at the facility given the best current understanding of likely coastal erosion timescales and all relevant technical factors. This work has demonstrated that the risks presented by leaving the radioactive waste in place are consistent with relevant legislation, standards and guidance. The most appropriate option for the environment and people, now and into the future, is not to recover and move the radioactive waste and therefore no plans have been put in place for this.

Fossil Fuels

Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, column 791W, on fossil fuels: imports, how much in thousand tonnes of (a) oil and (b) gas was (i) exported from and (ii) imported to the UK in 2012 and 2013. [198118]

Michael Fallon: Data on gas trade in units of thousand tonnes are not available. The standard unit of measurement is GWh.

In 2012, the UK imported 53,763 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 534,987 GWh of gas and exported 28,535 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 131,711 GWh of gas.

In 2013, provisional figures show that the UK imported 50,311 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 523,506 GWh of gas and exported 30,382 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 99,582 GWh of gas.

Fracking

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make an assessment of the British Medical Journal editorial “Public Health England’s draft report on shale gas extraction: Mistaking best practices for actual practices”, published on 17 April 2014; and if he will make a statement. [198116]

Jane Ellison: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department of Health.

Public Health England (PHE) has considered the British Medical Journal (BMJ) editorial, “Public Health England’s draft report on shale gas extraction: Mistaking best practices for actual practices”, published on 17 April 2014. PHE’s response to the article was published online on 30 April 2014 and can be found at:

www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g2728?tab=responses

PHE’s response to the BMJ article states that the conclusion of the report that risks from the process of shale gas extraction will be low if operations are properly run and regulated was a considered judgment. PHE has

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identified those aspects of operations that are considered to pose the greatest risks. PHE has made a number of recommendations for the control of risks, as have others. If shale gas extraction does take place, PHE will work with regulators to help ensure that environmental monitoring and health surveillance programmes are implemented appropriately. PHE agrees with Kovats

et al

(Lancet 383, 757-8; 2014) on the potential for health impact assessments (HIA) to play a role in informing policy and local planning processes, considering all issues associated with shale gas extraction which may affect health, including greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. PHE will seek to support HIAs and will continue to evaluate evidence on health risks associated with shale gas extraction and related technologies.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will discuss the potential health risks of fracking with (a) medical professionals and (b) the Secretary of State for Health; and if he will make a statement. [198117]

Michael Fallon: Public Health England has carried out a review of the potential health risks from chemical and radiological pollutants from shale gas extraction processes. This review, published in October 2013, took account of available information published up to 2012. It is being updated to take account of new information.

The review was conducted in response to requests to provide specialist advice to those responsible for public health protection, including local authorities and regulators. The review concluded that the risks to public health from exposure to emissions from shale gas extraction are low if operations are properly run and regulated. In the UK, shale gas developers and operators will be required, through the planning and environmental permitting processes, to satisfy the relevant regulators that their proposals and operations will minimise the potential for pollution and risks to public health.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his oral contribution of 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 908, on energy price freeze, (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of Bloomberg's analysis of investment in renewables; [197221]

(2) what the evidential basis is for the statement that average annual investment in renewables has more than doubled in the current Parliament compared with the previous one. [197222]

Michael Fallon: This table shows that average annual investment in renewables has more than doubled in the current Parliament, compared with the previous one.

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There are a number of sources analysing and interpreting new investment in UK renewable electricity, including DECC’s own analysis. However, data are not always readily comparable owing to differences in methodology, data collection points, timings and market coverage.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the total cost was of support under the feed-in-tariff for (a) solar, (b) wind, (c) anaerobic digestion, (d) hydro and (e) the sub-15KW wind sector in each of the last three years. [197241]

Michael Fallon: The total spending for the feed-in-tariffs (FITs) scheme is set out as follows.

All figures are nominal, and are published in Ofgem's annual report; 2013-14 figures will be published at the end of 2014:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/feed-tariff-fit-scheme/feed-tariff-reports/annual-reports

We do not publish information on spending on individual technologies within the FITs scheme, nor on spending on individual bands for each technology. More information about deployment levels of the different technologies supported by FITs is available via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monthly-small-scale-renewable-deployment

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to tariff levels and degression thresholds outlined in Phase 2B of the feed-in-tariff on manufacturing and employment in the sub-15KW wind sector. [197242]

Gregory Barker: As the first degression for wind tariff bands was only introduced on 1 April 2014, it is too early to say what impact it has had on manufacturing and employment in the sub-15kW wind sector. Up to the end of 2013, over 5,150 wind installations had been accredited for FITs, and this pace of deployment has shown no signs of slowing since April 2013. The degression mechanism is very important for the cost control of the FITs scheme and for keeping the cost to the electricity consumer as low as possible.

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects of EU state aid rules on the UK feed-in tariff policy framework; and if he will make a statement. [197680]

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Gregory Barker: The European Commission adopted new guidelines for Energy and Environmental Aid (EEAG) on 9 April. Existing schemes, such as the feed-in tariff scheme (FITs), are not required to be brought into line with these new guidelines for as long as the relevant scheme remains covered by its existing EU state aid approval. It would need to be brought into line only if we were to introduce a change to the scheme that would, in itself, require state aid notification, as this would be outside the existing approval. If, after consultation on any alterations to FITs, we were to propose such a change, we would consider the trade-offs and risks for the scheme as a whole before reaching a final policy decision.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in the UK solar PV sector in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014. [197687]

Gregory Barker: DECC does not hold these data.

In March the National Solar Centre estimated that the industry employs 13,723 people on a full-time basis.

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the potential contribution of solar farms to the Government's 2020 renewable energy target; and if he will make a statement. [197712]

Gregory Barker: As set out in the Solar PV Strategy, published in April 2013, solar PV is an important part of the UK’s energy mix. In the EMR delivery plan we estimated a total of between 10 and 12GW of solar photovoltaic across all scales would be installed by 2020. Of this we anticipate that 2.4 to 4GW will be large- scale solar PV installations greater than 5MW.

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the amount of private sector investment committed to large-scale solar PV farm projects in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of an early reduction in Renewables Obligation support on those levels of investment. [197714]

Gregory Barker: We do not hold data on the amount of private investment committed to large-scale solar PV projects.

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to define and safeguard quality in solar farm developments. [197715]

Gregory Barker: In April 2014 we published the Solar PV Strategy¹, which set out the principle that solar PV should be: appropriately sited, give proper weight to environmental considerations such as landscape and visual impact, heritage and local amenity, and provide opportunities for local communities to influence decisions that affect them and gain some form of community benefit.

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The Solar Trade Association has produced “10 Commitments” for solar farm developers², and the National Solar Centre has produced its best practice guide for large-scale solar PV development.³ DECC will continue to work with industry through the Strategy Working Group to promote industry best-practice.

¹Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf

² Available at:

http://www.solar-trade.org.uk/media/STA%2010%20commitments%20v%2010.pdf

³Available at:

http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/other_pdfs/KN5524_Planning_Guidance_reduced.pdf

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of contracts for difference auctioning on the quality of solar farms. [197717]

Gregory Barker: The eligibility criteria for solar farms under contracts for difference are set out in the allocation regulations. Any solar farm must meet these criteria in order to be able to apply for a CfD.

In April 2014 the Government published the Solar PV Strategy¹, which sets out that DECC will continue to work with industry, to promote industry best practice for the development of solar farms.

¹ Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of how much solar farm capacity (a) has been installed in the UK and (b) will be installed (i) in 2015-16 and (ii) by 2020. [197718]

Gregory Barker: Energy Trends published in March 2014 show that at the end of 2013 there were 2,698 MW¹ of installed capacity across all scales of solar photovoltaic. From January to the end of March 2014, the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which tracks all renewables projects over 0.01 MW through the planning system (including both building-mounted and ground-mounted solar PV), shows an additional 264.37 MW² of solar PV installed.

It is not possible to state precisely how much solar PV will be installed in 2015-16.

¹ Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295362/ET_March_2014.PDF

² Available at:

https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department has taken to boost the mid-scale 50kW to 5MW solar PV roof sector since December 2013. [197719]

Gregory Barker: The Solar PV strategy¹, published in April, set out our ambition for solar PV, including a focus on opening up the market for projects on commercial and industrial rooftops.

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¹ Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects the solar PV permitted development rights consultation referred to in his Department's solar strategy to be published; and if he will make a statement. [197720]

Nick Boles: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is working with the Department for Energy and Climate Change on the introduction of a permitted development right in England for the installation of rooftop solar panels up to 1 MWp on commercial buildings. This builds on the existing permitted development right for non-domestic properties, which allows the installation of solar panels up to 50 kWp. We expect to consult on this proposal over the summer.

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what the total UK solar capacity is; and what proportion of that capacity is installed on rooftops in the 250kW to 5MW bands; [197721]

(2) how much solar PV was installed on roof-tops under the Renewables Obligation in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014 to date. [197725]

Gregory Barker: Total UK solar PV capacity at the end of March 2014 was 2,941 MW. It is not currently possible to break down the data to indicate the proportion of that capacity that is installed on rooftops.

Source:

Table ET 6.4, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-trends-section-6-renewables

Tidal Power

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on community engagement in tidal energy developments. [197031]

Gregory Barker: DECC Ministers regularly meet Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of issues. As has been the case with successive administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Wind Power

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many turbines of capacity of sub-15kW were installed in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013. [197244]

Michael Fallon: The number of sub-15kW wind turbines accredited under the feed-in tariff scheme during 2012 and 2013, were 1,747 and 327 respectively.

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Installations are grouped into years based on their ‘commissioning date’ i.e. the date the technology was physically installed and deemed to be up and running.

Wind Power: Manufacturing Industries

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many manufacturers of sub-15kW wind turbines are based in the UK; and what the value of exports from this sector was in 2013. [197240]

Michael Fallon: The Department does not hold this information.

The renewables industry, including the small and medium wind manufacturers, is an important source of jobs and investment in the UK. In 2013, RenewableUK, the trade association for the onshore wind sector, reported that the UK is home to over 10 small and medium wind manufacturers and that nearly 3,800 sub-15 kW turbines were exported¹.

¹ “R-UK Small and Medium Wind Market Report 2013” available at:

http://www.renewableuk.com/en/publications/index.cfm/Small-and-Medium-Wind-UK-Market-Report-2013

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Africa

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who will represent the Government at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja. [197777]

Mark Simmonds: No UK Minister was available to attend the World Economic Forum being held in Abuja on 7-9 May. We did propose to send senior officials, but the organisers of the World Economic Forum declined this request.

Australia

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Australian counterpart on the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; and what representations he has made to the Australian Government in support of global co-operation to reduce emissions. [197848]

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), first discussed climate change with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka last November, and more recently at their annual bilateral in March. In each conversation, it was agreed that securing a binding, global deal in 2015 was a shared aim and to explore ways to achieve that through partnership.

While the Foreign Secretary has yet to discuss specifically the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Secretary of State for Energy and

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Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), has discussed this with the Australian Environment Minister, and they agreed on the need for global action on climate change.

Bangladesh

Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Bangladesh on locating the British national Mujibur Rahman Mujib after his disappearance on 4 May 2014. [197902]

Hugh Robertson: Our high commission in Dhaka raised the case of missing British national Mr Mujibur Rahman Mujib with the Government of Bangladesh on 7 May. We have urged the Bangladeshi authorities to do everything possible to locate Mr Mujib and his driver, to resolve the circumstances of their disappearance and to keep us informed of all developments in the case. Meanwhile, the British Government are providing consular support to Mr Mujib's family.

Burma

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what economic links there are with Burma; and what the value of (a) exports to and (b) imports from Burma was in the last year for which figures are available. [197957]

Mr Swire: Building a sustainable economy in Burma, including increased responsible international investment, is key to economic growth, alleviating poverty, improving livelihoods and improving stability. As set out in the ‘UK Activities in Burma’ document published on 8 April alongside a written ministerial statement, the Government are working to encourage and support Burma to remove barriers to becoming a stable, prosperous and democratic country with a sustainable economy that benefits all its people and create a positive climate for domestic, international and UK trade and investment.

We are active in several areas including:

establishing a UK Trade and Investment office in Burma to provide practical support to British companies;

establishing a UK Financial Services Task Force to support the development of sound financial structures and products;

funding two specialist economists from the International Growth Centre to support the Myanmar Development Resource Institute in providing high-quality advice to Government;

providing £1.1 million to support Burma’s application to the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative which will help improve the transparency and accountability of the revenues from Burma’s natural resources;

supporting work to strengthen Burma’s accountancy profession, to tackle financial crime and to increase local community involvement in investment decisions.

UK exports of goods to Burma in 2013 were worth £44 million (a 243% year on year increase) and imports from Burma were worth £65 million (a 44% year on year increase). The top UK exports were transport equipment and road vehicles while the top imports were clothing.

In 2012, the last year for which total goods and services figures are available, UK exports of goods and services to Burma were worth £20.8 million and imports from Burma were worth £46 million.

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China

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Chinese authorities regarding reports that Christian communities in and around the city of Wenzhou are fearful following attacks on churches and threats made against other Christians. [197915]

Mr Swire: We have continuing concerns about restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in China. We are aware of particular cases such as the demolition of Sanjiang church in Wenzhou and of raids on churches and threats made to Christians.

We continue to raise our concerns publicly through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy and the quarterly updates to this. We also raise our concerns directly with Chinese officials. We next plan to do so during the forthcoming UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

Egypt

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, on the imposition of the death penalty on 683 people in Egypt. [197742]

Mr Hague: The Government have discussed this issue with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and we share many of her concerns about the sentences. Mrs Pillay and I made statements on 28 and 29 April respectively expressing concern over the sentences, along with reports that some of the defendants may not have had adequate legal representation. It is the long-standing policy of the Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle.

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the UK will make towards the EU monitoring mission to Egypt in advance of presidential elections in May 2014. [197744]

Mr Hague: The European Union has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Egypt for the presidential elections scheduled on 26 to 27 May 2014, in response to an invitation by the Egyptian authorities. We support this deployment and our embassy in Cairo will contribute three members of staff as short-term observers to the EOM.

Honduras

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the threat to human rights defenders and journalists in Honduras. [198025]

Mr Swire: The Government attach great importance to the support of human rights and democracy around the world. The human rights situation in Honduras is undoubtedly of concern, particularly in regard to human

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rights defenders and journalists, who have been known to face particular threats. The limited investigative capacity of judicial institutions in Honduras means it is often difficult to determine who is responsible for such crimes. However, as Her Majesty’s ambassador to Honduras set out in a recent statement to mark Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the British Government are working to support the efforts of the Honduran Attorney-General’s Office and other institutions to tackle impunity human rights abuses, including crimes perpetrated against journalists and human rights defenders.

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the President of Honduras about human rights abuses in Honduras. [198026]

Mr Swire: The Government have consistently engaged with Honduran authorities on the issue of human rights. Soon after the new President of Honduras took office in January this year, representatives from the British embassy met senior Honduran officials, including the Attorney-General and the Commissioner for Human Rights. Our embassy has since continued this dialogue with the appropriate Honduran authorities, including raising specific cases highlighted by a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Most recently, Her Majesty’s ambassador wrote to the newly appointed Human Rights Ombudsman and the Attorney-General to highlight our ongoing human rights concerns. An official from the Crown Prosecution Service also travelled to Honduras in February to assess whether UK expertise can be used in support of EU work, to develop capacity in tackling impunity for human rights violations and abuses.

Iran

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Ministers had with the Iranian Government on the imprisonment of (a) Rasoul Abdollahi, (b) Saeed Abedini, (c) Ebrahim Firozi, (d) Behmain Iranal, (e) Alireza Seyedin, (f) Maryam Naghash-Zargaran, (g) Farshid Fathi and (h) others imprisoned for their religious beliefs in Iran. [197946]

Hugh Robertson: We remain deeply concerned about the detention and treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called publicly for the Iranian Government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith. The UK’s non-resident chargé d’affaires raised the issue of freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the Iranian Government on the prosecution of people of the Baha’i faith. [197947]

Hugh Robertson: The UK has repeatedly expressed concern at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran, including the sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran to 20 years imprisonment and the regular harassment the community suffers from. We raised the treatment of

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Baha’is with the UN special rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014 and the UK’s non-resident chargé d’affaires discussed freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March. We will continue to call on the Iranian Government to ensure that all their citizens are able to exercise their right to freedom of religion, free from persecution and harassment.

Kenya

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of the involvement of the Somali group al-Shabaab in attacks in Kenya. [197990]

Mark Simmonds: Al-Shabaab issued public threats against Kenya following its military intervention in Somalia in 2011. A number of terrorist attacks in Kenya since then have been attributed to al-Shabaab, including the September 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping centre in which 67 people were killed. We are aware of the media reports that al-Shabaab was behind the recent attacks in Kenya.

Nigeria

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he has offered to the Nigerian authorities to resolve the continued abduction of girls from the north -east of that country. [197989]

Mark Simmonds: In the days following the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria, we have offered our assistance to the highest levels of the Nigerian Government. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), spoke to the Nigerian Foreign Minister on 18 April immediately after the abductions and offered the UK’s assistance.

On 7 May the Prime Minister spoke to President Jonathan and offered to send a team of UK experts to Abuja. The President accepted and the team, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), arrived in Abuja on 9 May. The team will provide expertise in counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, military mentoring and training, victim support and economic development. Human rights compliance is, and will remain, an essential element of any UK assistance in Nigeria. I visited Nigeria on 14 May, and reiterated our support with President Jonathan.

We are co-ordinating closely with international partners. An FCO team was in Washington on 5 May for talks with the US on Nigeria. Our expert team in Abuja will be co-ordinating closely with a US team also in Abuja. We are also speaking to the French and are encouraging other EU partners to lend their support. Given Boko Haram’s exploitation of Nigeria’s porous borders and indications that some of the girls may have been taken to Cameroon or Chad, we are engaging with Nigeria’s neighbours.

Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to help find the 230 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram; and whether the UK will commit military aid to the search effort if required. [198005]

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Mark Simmonds: Since the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria, we have been in regular contact with the Nigerian Government to offer our assistance. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), spoke to the Nigerian Foreign Minister on 18 April immediately after the abductions and offered the UK's assistance. The Prime Minister spoke to the Nigerian President on 7 May. The Nigerian President accepted our offer of a team of experts led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and including Ministry of Defence (MOD), Department for International Development (DFID) and police representatives. The team arrived in Abuja on 9 May and will be talking to the Nigerians to offer advice on how the Nigerians can defeat Boko Haram and bring stability to the north of Nigeria.

It is too soon to comment on what specific assistance we will give. However, the team will provide expertise in counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, military mentoring and training, victim support and economic development. Human rights compliance is, and will remain, an essential element of any UK assistance in Nigeria.

Overseas Aid

Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department, its executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies have funded or made a contribution towards funding relating to nation branding development in any overseas state or territories in the last 10 years. [197983]

Mr Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not directly funded any nation branding development in any overseas states or territories, nor have its executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies. The British Council does not directly fund nation branding but, through its work building trust for the UK internationally, through cultural and educational exchanges for example, it benefits both the UK’s and partner states’ national brands on a reciprocal basis. Information on any co-funded nation branding activities carried out overseas is not held centrally and to collate this would incur disproportionate cost. Activities funded or carried out by an overseas territory Government to promote their own territory is a matter of devolved responsibility.

Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which nation branding consultancies have been funded or part-funded by his Department to work in overseas states and territories in the last 10 years; and what fees have been paid to each of those consultancies in each year since 2004. [197984]

Mr Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not directly funded any nation branding consultancies to work in overseas states and territories. Information on any part-funded nation branding consultancies working in overseas states and territories is not held centrally and to collate this would incur disproportionate cost.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has, however, previously paid subscription fees for the years 2009 to 2012 to Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, a US-based market and consumer information organisation which provides an analytical ranking to help measure

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and manage national reputation. The subscription costs were: for 2012: £30,597.44; for 2011: £29,554.50; for 2010: £31,141.41 and for 2009: £33,960.81.

Qatar

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Government of Qatar about working conditions for those constructing FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums. [197641]

Hugh Robertson: I raised concerns about migrant workers’ conditions with the Qatari authorities during my visit to Doha on 8-9 January. Our ambassador and other officials have raised the issue on previous occasions and will continue to do so.

Saudi Arabia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia concerning reports of the confinement of Saudi Arabian princesses in Jeddah; [197876]

(2) what discussions he has had with HM Ambassador to Saudi Arabia about reports of the confinement of Saudi Arabian princesses in Jeddah. [197877]

Hugh Robertson: The UK has long-standing concerns about the restrictions on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. These concerns are clearly set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Human Rights Report, most recently updated in April 2014. Ministers and officials often raise women’s rights, including the guardianship system, with their Saudi Arabian counterparts, including at the UN and through EU representatives.

Sri Lanka

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka; what recent representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka about the arrest and detention of human rights defenders; and what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart about the use of that country's Prevention of Terrorism Act. [197542]

Mr Swire: We continue to have serious concerns about respect for human rights in Sri Lanka, in particular continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and activists. We have consistently made clear to the Sri Lankan Government the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression and protecting human rights defenders, and continue to urge the Sri Lankan Government to uphold their international human rights obligations and to ensure that civil society, human rights defenders and activists are allowed the space to act freely.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights Report for 2013 and the quarterly updates to the report, which are available online, includes Sri Lanka as a ‘Country of Concern’ for human rights and outlines our assessment more fully.

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I made clear to the Sri Lankan Government following the arrest of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen—who have now been released—that it is important that human rights defenders are not subject to intimidation and have a right to freedom of expression. We are also aware of the arrests of Mrs Jeyakumari Balendran and others in Sri Lanka. Officials at our high commission in Colombo have raised concerns with the Sri Lankan Government, in particular on the lack of clarity around the evidence against the suspects and the charges brought.

We have previously raised concerns with the Sri Lankan Government about the length of time individuals can be detained without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. On 27 March, the UN Human Rights Council agreed a resolution which calls on the Sri Lankan Government to make progress on human rights issues and to implement Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations, which include the re-evaluation of detention policies.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the Government of Sri Lanka's decision to proscribe a number of Tamil groups and individuals for alleged links to terrorist activities and (b) the effect this will have on the reconciliation process. [197551]

Mr Swire: I am concerned at reports that the Sri Lankan Government have proscribed a number of individuals and Tamil organisations operating outside Sri Lanka. Although we respect the right of the Sri Lankan Government to take appropriate action against individuals and groups where there is clear evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities, our high commissioner to Sri Lanka has made clear to the Sri Lankan Government that proscription should not be used to prevent or stifle the right to freedom of speech, particularly at a time when Sri Lanka’s human rights record is under international scrutiny. We believe that this development is not conducive to a successful reconciliation process and will continue to monitor developments closely.

Ukraine

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Ukraine's interim Government about the $3.2 billion immediately released by the IMF as part of its support package. [197746]

Mr Hague: I discussed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package during my visit to Kyiv on 6-7 May, when I met Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia and the Head of the National Security and Defence Council. We are supportive of the IMF programme for Ukraine and welcome the Ukrainian Government’s commitment to reform.

Vietnam

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department provides to non-governmental organisations working in Vietnam to combat child trafficking and to help repatriated victims of trafficking. [197996]

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Mr Swire: We currently fund a range of projects in Vietnam targeted at raising awareness of and combating modern slavery and human trafficking through victim reintegration programmes. There is a focus on alternative job creation for victims and potential victims of trafficking.

In particular, our British ambassador opened Compassion House in June 2013, a UK-funded shelter in Lao Cai on the Chinese border for girls who have been trafficked. It is operated by the local government authorities in conjunction with a local non-governmental organisation, Pacific Links Foundation, to provide life skills and vocational training.

Our embassy also funds the “Capacity Building Activities for Victims of Gender-Based Violence” project which provides support for women and children in Vietnam who have suffered from gender-based violence and the effects of human trafficking.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Vietnamese counterpart on preventing child trafficking from that country to the UK. [197997]

Mr Swire: The UK has a highly co-operative relationship with the Vietnamese authorities to tackle human trafficking, including of minors, from Vietnam to the UK.

Our embassy staff in Hanoi engage regularly with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, to facilitate visits to the UK to showcase the mechanisms we have in place. Later this month, high-level officials from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will be visiting the UK Human Trafficking Centre of the National Crime Agency, the Home Office’s Modern Slavery Unit and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC’s) Child Trafficking Advice Centre and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve their understanding of the UK’s approach when working with victims of trafficking.

Equally, the embassy has worked together with local authorities to open Compassion House in June 2013, a UK-funded shelter in Lao Cai on the Chinese border for girls who have been trafficked.

Scotland

Pensioners

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people of pensionable age there were in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland at the most recent date for which figures are available. [195612]

Mr Alistair Carmichael: The information following is arranged by UK parliamentary constituency.

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More information can be found on the following link:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/population/estimates/special-area/ukpc.html

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Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the main lessons were from the electoral registration dry run for registration levels under individual voter registration amongst (a) black and ethnic minority, (b) young and (c) low paid and unemployed people. [197789]

Greg Clark: The evaluation from the Confirmation Dry Run is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-confirming-electors-through-data-matching

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the merits of using vehicle registration databases held by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority to increase levels of voter registration as part of his plans for individual electoral registration. [197790]

Greg Clark: Officials are currently working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to pilot the use of data from vehicle registration databases and driver licence data to improve levels of voter registration.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to collate information on the (a) amount spent by local authorities on electoral registration, (b) number of staff employed by local authorities on electoral registration and (c) local authorities with the (i) highest and (ii) lowest levels of electoral registration. [197791]

Greg Clark: Following the transition to the individual electoral registration, the Electoral Commission aims to establish a model which can provide detailed information on financial spend by electoral registration officers and returning officers, and the activities the expenditure relates to, including the impact on performance.

The Office for National Statistics already holds information on those local authorities with the highest and lowest levels of registration.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will consider the merits of ring-fencing funds allocated by his office to local government for the purpose of voter registration. [197793][Official Report, 3 July 2014, Vol. 583, c. 7MC.]

Greg Clark: Both the paper forms and the new online registration channel to be used under individual electoral registration have been designed to meet a wide range of accessibility needs. The Government have no current plans to commission such research, but the Electoral Commission is currently aiming to publish its assessment of registration rates under individual electoral registration in July 2016.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of the telephone to confirm continued entitlement to electoral registration; and which local authorities use telephones for that purpose. [197794]

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Greg Clark: The Electoral Commission collates information on canvass responses (including responses by telephone) as part of its assessment of electoral registration officers’ performance. These data can be found on their website at:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/performance-standards/performance-in-running-electoral-registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what information he holds on how much (a) central and (b) local government spent on advertising to promote voter registration in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [197796]

Greg Clark: This information is not held centrally.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what comparative assessment he has made of the data-matching levels of those electoral registration officers who (a) did and (b) did not use local government data matching in the individual electoral registration dry run. [197805]

Greg Clark: All 380 EROs in England, Wales and Scotland took part in the Confirmation Dry Run in 2013 which involved matching their electoral registers against data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. The average match rate was approximately 78%.

Following this, 138 local authorities conducted data matching against locally held data sources, such as council tax records. On average, this increased these local authorities’ match rates by approximately 7%.

The full evaluation of the Confirmation Dry Run, including local data matching activity, is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-confirming-electors-through-data-matching

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will extend the carry over of electors from household registration to individual registration from the general election 2015 to the freeze date for the next boundary review in December 2015. [197806]

Greg Clark: The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 provides for those who have not registered under Individual Electoral Registration to be ‘carried forward’ until December 2016, at which point they will be removed from the register if they have not made a successful application to register. The Act contains a provision that allows an order to be made in Parliament in the summer of 2015 that will conclude ‘carry forward’ in December 2015.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities that have failed one or more Electoral Commission performance indicators for electoral registration did not apply for the additional funding his office has put in place. [197829]

Greg Clark: In 2013, five electoral registration officers (EROs) reported that they did not meet performance standard 3, relating to house-to-house inquiries:

Mid Devon;

Taunton Deane;

Torridge;

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West Devon; and

West Somerset.

One ERO, Basildon, reported that they did not meet standard 1, relating to information sources.

The Electoral Commission is in the process of carrying out a detailed analysis of EROs’ electoral registration data from the 2013 canvass, following which it will publish its final assessment of EROs’ performance in 2013.

No authorities that failed one or more Electoral Commission performance indicators in financial year 2013-14 have applied for the additional funding.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 6 September 2010, Official Report, column 302W, on electoral register, what additional research has been conducted into the reasons for the apparent decline in registration levels and the growth of local and regional variations in electoral registration. [197931]

Greg Clark: The Electoral Commission is currently conducting research into the completeness and accuracy of electoral registers, which will be published in summer 2014.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 20 October 2011, Official Report, column 1099W, on electoral register, what proportion of pupils between the ages of 16 and 18 on the National Pupil Database were registered to vote in each year for which data are available. [197948]

Greg Clark: The information requested is not held centrally.

The National Pupil Database does not include information on pupils' eligibility to be registered.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 344W, on electoral register: standards, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the proportion of post-primary schools and further education colleges visited by electoral administrators in all parts of the UK. [197951]

Greg Clark: The Government have no such plans. They recognise that electoral registration officers are best placed to determine what type of registration activity is likely to prove most effective at a local level.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 343W, on electoral register, what steps he has taken to ensure that aspects of good practice in Northern Ireland are adopted elsewhere in the UK. [197952]

Greg Clark: This Government have taken on board the lessons of the 2002 introduction of Individual Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland. A number of safeguards are in place for the transition that were not used in 2002. For example, data matching will allow the vast majority of electors to automatically re-register and the

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transition is being phased over two years to allow those not yet individually registered to vote in the 2015 general election.

Funding has been made available to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain. Electoral registration officers have been encouraged to use this funding to support the delivery of the Rock Enrol! learning resource.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 20 October 2011, Official Report, column 1099W, on electoral register, what the results were of the pilot scheme data matching electoral registers against other data services such as the National Pupil Database. [197955]

Greg Clark: Results were published in March 2012 and July 2013 and can be found via these links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60723/FINAL-Data-Matching-Evaluation-Report-new.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223850/Data_Mining_Evaluation_FULL_Report_FINAL.pdf

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effect of levels of expenditure of electoral registration measures on levels of registration. [197956]

Greg Clark: The Government have made no recent assessment of the effect of levels of expenditure of electoral registration measures on levels of registration.

The Government announced on 5 February 2014 that five national organisations and every local authority in Great Britain would be sharing £4.2 million funding aimed at maximising the rate of voter registration as part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration in 2014.

They have been provided with guidance to support them in evaluating the success of activity delivered through this funding. Government will continue to work closely with all funding recipients in order to monitor the outcomes.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 6 June 2011, Official Report, columns 625-6W, on the electoral register, what assessment he has made of the effect of the ending of the Participation Fund on voter registration levels before the introduction of individual electoral registration. [197962]

Greg Clark: As part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, the Electoral Commission has been responsible for conducting research into the completeness and accuracy of the register. Its previous report, following the conclusion of the Participation Fund, can be found at:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/145366/Great-Britains-electoral-registers-2011.pdf

The Electoral Commission will be publishing a further assessment of the completeness and accuracy of the register in summer 2014.

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Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 14 June 2010, Official Report, column 324W, on the electoral register, who is responsible for assessing the performance of the Electoral Commission in (a) monitoring and (b) increasing the electoral registration rates of individual local authorities. [197964]

Greg Clark: The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (2000) established the Electoral Commission as independent of Government. It is accountable to Parliament through the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent by the Government on encouraging people to register to vote in each year since 2010. [197965]

Greg Clark: The Government spent £54,708 in 2010-11 on promoting electoral registration, voting and awareness of election processes through the Participation Fund. The fund was subsequently abolished because of lack of demand from local authorities.

The Government announced a new approach on 5 February 2014, making £4.2 million available to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain and five national organisations to support the cost of activities for maximising registration as part of the transition to individual electoral registration.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the compatibility of software used by local authorities for electoral registration and that used by (a) the Electoral Commission and (b) his own Department. [197967]

Greg Clark: In developing the digital service which supports the implementation of individual electoral registration (IER), the Government have ensured the compatibility of election management system (EMS) software used by local authorities and valuation joint boards with the mechanisms which will manage the transfer and matching of data. This has been achieved by developing an interface which standardises the communication of data between EMS software and the IER digital service. This has been fully and successfully tested.

The Electoral Commission has no direct responsibility for the processing or determination of registration applications and therefore has no requirement to interact with the digital service.

Electoral Register: Learning Disability

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the proportion and number of voters with learning disabilities who (a) register to vote and (b) vote. [197553]

Greg Clark: The Government have made no such estimate.

No record is made of disability when registering to vote or when voting.

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Electoral Registration Officers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of electoral registration officers who have not fulfilled their statutory responsibilities in each of the last 10 years. [197584]

Greg Clark: The Government have made no such estimate.

Since 2008, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been subject to performance standards set and monitored by the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission publishes its annual reports on ERO performance on its website.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of how many and what proportion of electoral registration officers (EROs) conducted data-matching activities for the purpose of improving individual electoral registration; and what steps he can take against EROs who did not conduct such data-matching activities. [197825]

Greg Clark: As individual electoral registration (IER) will be introduced from 10 June 2014, an assessment has not yet been made.

In line with current practice, once IER is in place, the performance of electoral registration officers (EROs) will be monitored through the performance standards of the Electoral Commission.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 20 July 2010, Official Report, column 298W, on electoral register, how many electoral registration officers have been convicted of an offence related to failure to take sufficient steps to register electors under section 9A of the Electoral Registration Act 2006. [197934]

Greg Clark: The Government are not aware of any electoral registration officer being convicted of an offence related to their statutory duty to take all reasonable steps to maintain the completeness and accuracy of the register.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) central Government and (b) local government databases electoral registration officers may use in undertaking their registration functions. [197954]

Greg Clark: The introduction of individual electoral registration (IER) will require electoral registration officers (EROs) to confirm existing electors and verify all new applicants to register to vote against data held by the Department of Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. In addition, the Government are currently exploring using data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to further enhance the IER data-matching processes as well as providing EROs with information which may help them identify unregistered eligible people.

Under existing legislation EROs are entitled to inspect any data held by the local authority which appointed them, including data held by private companies acting on behalf of the authority, in order to check the validity of applications to register and to identify potential new

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electors. The data sources which are available to EROs will vary with some EROs appointed by unitary authorities having access to a greater range of data than those appointed by district councils; the Government have introduced secondary legislation to address this issue by allowing district councils to request data from their county council.