Railways

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with representatives of (a) Passenger Transport Executives and (b) Centro regarding rail devolution policy. [200119]

Stephen Hammond: The Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs) in the North of England are represented in discussions on this matter through the Rail North consortium of 30 local authorities. The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin) and Rail North Leaders agreed the principles of an initial partnership for the procurement and management of the next Trans Pennine Express and Northern franchises at a meeting on 24 January. Officials—including a number from the PTEs—are working closely together on its implementation. Details of the partnership can be found at:

http://www.railnorth.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Developing-the-Rail-North-Partnership.pdf

The Department is in regular discussion with West Midlands Rail (WMR), a consortium of local authorities led by Centro, on their development of a proposition for devolution of local rail services in the West Midlands. The proposition is expected to be submitted to the Department by the end of July. WMR is meeting the Secretary of State early in July to discuss its proposals.

Railways: Information Services

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to encourage the availability of passenger information data on board trains. [200376]

Stephen Hammond: Since 1998, all new trains have been fitted with audio-visual Passenger Information Systems (PIS). Many older trains have also been retrofitted with this equipment, while those that have not do at least have tannoy systems. The law requires all trains to have audio-visual PIS by 2020 and the industry’s ongoing work to meet this has been further facilitated by recent franchise decisions.

Railways: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the planned direct rail service from Shrewsbury to London

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submitted by Network Rail and Virgin trains to the Office of Rail Regulation. [200025]

Stephen Hammond: We recognise the very strong local support for the introduction of a direct rail service between Shrewsbury and London. Discussions with Virgin Trains to negotiate a further franchise through to April 2017 are currently taking place. As part of these discussions officials have engaged with Virgin Trains to find the most appropriate way of securing a direct train service to Shrewsbury that is financially viable and a service that passengers find useful. We continue to take a very close interest in this matter.

Railways: Tickets

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what amount of ticket revenue was shared between (a) London Midland, (b) Virgin West Coast and (c) Arriva Cross Country through the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services System in each of the last five years. [200120]

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold this information.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system. [200121]

Stephen Hammond: We have received no recent representations from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system and the effect on the future sharing of ticket revenue of changes in numbers of passenger journeys from and to stations on the London Midland line. [200122]

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport has received no recent representations from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system, nor regarding the future sharing of ticket revenue from passenger journeys from and to stations on the London Midland line.

Railways: Walsall

Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will direct Network Rail to inform officially the hon. Member for Walsall North when the work on the bridge at Broad Lane, Bloxwich, Walsall, arising from electrification of the railway line, will be finally completed. [200522]

Stephen Hammond: Network Rail is currently a private sector company limited by guarantee and the duration of the Broad Lane bridge replacement works is an operational matter for the company.

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Network Rail advises that the replacement works are due to be completed and the bridge is due to be re-opened to road traffic on 20 June 2014.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the (a) availability and (b) effectiveness of scrubber technology on maritime vessels; [200613]

(2) if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy of the report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping on Impact on Jobs and the Economy of Meeting the Requirements of MARPOL annex VI, published in March 2013; [200614]

(3) what consideration he has given to providing mitigation and transition support to maritime businesses during the introduction of maritime fuel sulphur regulations in January 2015; [200615]

(4) if he will review the effect of the maritime fuel sulphur regulations earlier than 2019; [200616]

(5) what discussions he has had with maritime industry stakeholders on the implications of maritime fuel sulphur regulations for freight traffic moving from water freight to road freight. [200617]

Stephen Hammond: In October 2012, and again in March 2013, I chaired ‘round table’ meetings of industry stakeholders (from the shipping, ports, exhaust gas cleaning system technology, oil refining and logistics sectors) to consider the best way forward for compliance with the new international and EU sulphur requirements. The potential for reverse modal shift, the maturity and efficacy of scrubber technology and the scope for financial assistance to industry were all key to those discussions. The report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping was produced as a result of those meetings, and officials have taken it into account in producing the Government’s Impact Assessment on the draft UK Regulations to implement the sulphur limits in national law.

The Government went out to an eight-week public consultation on 29 April 2014 on those draft UK Regulations. Meanwhile, Government officials continue to work closely with the industry and to explore the scope for securing EU finance, possibly under the Trans-European Network (commonly known as TEN-T) programme and affordable capital from the European Investment Bank, for shipowners and ports who wish to invest in scrubber technology or in technology associated with the use of an alternative fuel, such as liquefied natural gas, to comply with the new limits.

The UK Regulations will be reviewed in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation.

Transport: Streatham

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of the transport links in the Streatham area; what plans he has to improve transport in that area; what research his Department has done on projects that might improve transport within the Streatham area; and if he will make a statement. [200375]

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Stephen Hammond: Under devolution, transport in London is the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL).

The Government are providing over £10 billion to TfL during this Parliament to support a significant enhancement of London’s transport infrastructure.

Network Rail is currently undertaking a Sussex route study to develop options for improvements on rail services in the Streatham area. It is due to report its findings next year.

Residents and transport users in Streatham will also benefit from the higher capacity trains that will operate across the Thameslink network. Furthermore, as part of the new franchise, there are proposals to provide two additional trains in the peak.

Education

Apprenticeships

Mel Stride: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress his Department has made on increasing the number and quality of apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds. [904206]

Matthew Hancock: We are on track to deliver 2 million apprenticeships over this Parliament.

We continue to focus on quality, insisting that all apprenticeships are jobs, have a minimum duration of a year, include on-the-job training and meet the needs of employers. As a result, the number of ‘full’ 16 to 18 apprenticeship starts—those with a planned duration of a year—have doubled.

Apprenticeship reforms will further increase quality and simplify the system, making it easier and more desirable for employers to offer more apprenticeships in the future.

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department takes to (a) monitor how the grants awarded through the Sponsor Capacity Fund are used and (b) recoup grants from the Sponsor Capacity Fund where the recipients do not go on to sponsor any academies or use the money in an inappropriate way. [200228]

Mr Timpson: Academy sponsors who receive the Sponsor Capacity Fund are required to sign a Grant Funding Agreement, agreeing to adhere to the terms and conditions of grant. They are required to submit an Annual Certification of Expenditure, signed by their auditors, and a final report detailing what has been achieved through use of the grant.

If they fail to comply with any of the conditions of grant, or are deemed to be in breach of it, they are required to return the grant to the Department.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which organisations have received grants through the Sponsor Capacity Fund to date; when any such grant was awarded; how much was so awarded; and whether each organisation subsequently sponsored any academies. [200230]

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Mr Timpson: Details of the organisations that have received grants of £25,000 or more through the Sponsor Capacity Fund are published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-department-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25-000

Basic Skills: Peterborough

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils in Peterborough constituency achieved (a) level 1 and (b) level 2 skills in English in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [200264]

Mr Laws: A table showing the number of pupils in Peterborough constituency that achieved a level 1 or a level 2 in English (key stage 4) since 2005/06 has been placed in the House Library.

Information on pupils for 2004/05 is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the average annual cost of childcare in the UK for a child aged (a) two and under, (b) three to four and (c) five and over; and if he will make a statement. [200175]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education uses cost information from a number of independent surveys, such as the Family and Childcare Trust Annual Childcare Cost Survey 2014:

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

Their findings on the costs of childcare for children aged under two years old and those aged two years and over in England are shown in the following table. The survey does not identify separately those aged five years and over.

It is encouraging to note that after 12 years of consistently rising prices, the costs of childcare in England have stabilised for the first time. In fact, once inflation is taken into account costs for the majority of parents have actually fallen. This means more parents are able to access affordable childcare and support their families.

But the Government are not complacent, and we are working to further increase childcare supply, which will further improve choice and affordability for parents:

(a) More schools are opening their own nurseries for the first time, and we are establishing child-minder agencies to increase the number of child-minders available.

(b) An increasing number of existing school nurseries are extending opening times from 8am to 6pm.

(c) We are also making it easier for good nurseries to grow, by removing red-tape and planning restrictions.

The Government recently announced that the new Tax-Free Childcare scheme will be increased up to £2000 per child and extended to all children under 12 from September next year. This will help around two million families.

To help disadvantaged families, the Government have extended the 15-hours a week of funded early education already available for all three and four-year-olds to

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include the most disadvantaged 20% of two-year-olds, and this will be extended further to 40% from September 2014.

The early years pupil premium (EYPP) will provide nurseries, schools and other providers of government funded early education with extra money for disadvantaged three and four-year-olds. The EYPP will be £50 million in 2015-16 and the Department for Education will consult on the details of the programme shortly.

All families in universal credit will be able to receive 85% support on childcare costs, up from 70% under the current working tax credit system. This change will see 300,000 working families getting more out of the money they earn. More and more families will find that it pays to get a job, from taking the first few shifts back at work, right up to working full-time.

Children: Social Services

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received in support of his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions in order to improve outcomes for children in receipt of child protection services. [200384]

Mr Timpson: Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children's social care functions are currently being considered.

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to develop pilot projects of his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions. [200385]

Mr Timpson: Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children’s social care functions are currently being considered. Local authorities will be able to apply to the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme for support to make use of any new freedoms introduced, and the impact of activities funded through the programme will be robustly evaluated.

Classroom Assistants: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teaching assistant training posts have been (a) commissioned and (b) filled in in (i) Copeland and (ii) Cumbria in the latest period for which figures are available. [200365]

Mr Laws: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teaching assistants have been employed in schools in (a) Copeland constituency and (b) Cumbria in each of the last five years. [200524]

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Mr Laws: The following table provides the head count and full-time equivalent (FTE) number of teaching assistants in service in publicly-funded schools in Copeland constituency, Cumbria local authority (LA) and England in each year from January 2008 to 2009 and November 2010 to 2012 (the latest information available). Data for 2013 will be available in July and will be accessible from the following web link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013

Colleges of Education: Greater London

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which members of his Department's assessment panel, which interviewed representatives of the Institute of Education of London University in January 2014 about the proposals to establish a University Training School in Holborn and St Pancras, had served in the previous three years as head teacher, deputy or assistant head of a secondary school. [199796]

Mr Timpson: The panel that considered the Holborn University Training School proposal and conducted the interview with the Institute of Education possessed a collective experience in school headship of over 32 years, covering secondary and primary phases. No member of the panel has served in such a role within the last three years.

Free school interview panels consist of a range of education and independent experts.

Disciplinary Proceedings

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British. [199882]

Elizabeth Truss: Our data do not record nationality; data held record only ethnicity.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British. [199903]

Elizabeth Truss: Our data do not record nationality; data held record only ethnicity.

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Equal Opportunities

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year. [199925]

Elizabeth Truss: Whilst the Department for Education does not set explicit targets for increasing diversity, Management Committee monitors representation rates on a monthly basis.

The following table shows the change to the workforce over the past year:

We also monitor the Department’s representation rates at SCS against civil service 2013 targets:

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants. [199946]

Elizabeth Truss: We take into account an organisation’s diversity policy and record where it is relevant to the subject matter of the contract or grant and is permissible by law. Where the organisation is listed as a Crown Strategic Supplier, we would also approach the relevant Crown Representative as part of the appraisal.

Free Schools: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applications for free schools have been made in (a) Copeland constituency and (b) Cumbria in each of the last two years. [200533]

Mr Timpson: The Department has not received any applications for free schools in Copeland. We have received one application from Cumbria within the last two years, which was successful.

London Academy of Excellence

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 205W, on the London Academy of Excellence, whether the enrolment data for 2013-14 for the London Academy of Excellence are now available; and if he will publish that data. [200588]

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Mr Timpson: The London Academy of Excellence reported 395 pupils on roll in their Individual Learner Record return (R10) for 2013/14.

School Meals

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children at primary and secondary schools have access to a healthy and balanced dinner each day. [200348]

Mr Laws: The independent School Food plan, published in July 2013, is designed to increase the quality and take-up of school meals in England and ensure that the food available conforms to healthy standards. As part of the School Food plan, we are introducing new statutory food-based standards for schools in England from January 2015 and funding three organisations to increase take-up in junior and secondary schools.

From September 2014, we are introducing free school meals for every child in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-funded schools in England, to ensure that every child in those year groups has access to a nutritious lunch. We are targeting infants in order to help establish good eating patterns early. Our intention is that by providing a meal when children start at school, they and their parents will see the benefits of school meals and continue to choose them throughout their education.

Schools: Inspections

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria are used to commission Ofsted to carry out spot inspections on schools. [199069]

Mr Laws: Ofsted has been carrying out Section 8 inspections at schools with serious behavioural problems since January 2014. No-notice inspections can also be triggered by parental complaints or safeguarding concerns.

Schools: North East

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region are receiving less overall funding in 2013-14 than they did in 2010-11. [199864]

Mr Laws: Because of the significant changes in the school funding system between financial years 2010-11 and 2013-14, it is not possible to provide meaningfully-comparable data on funding to individual schools in the two years. In addition, the amount of funding a school receives will change from year to year depending on the number of pupils registered at the school as well as the schools funding formula determined by the local authority, the arrangements for which were reformed in 2013-14 to comprise 12 nationally-consistent factors.

Sixth Form Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the proportion of 17-year-olds staying in education (a) before and (b) after the raising of the participation age. [200516]

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Mr Laws: The latest estimate of the proportion of 17-year-olds participating in education is included in “Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year olds in England” Statistical First Release (SFR), which is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-by-16-to-18-year-olds-in-england-end-2012

This release includes figures reflecting the position at the end of 2012, before raising the participation age (RPA) was implemented. The next release, due on 25 June 2014, will include updated figures for end 2013 which will reflect the first cohort impacted by the implementation of RPA.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department has taken to support children with special educational needs in (a) Peterborough and (b) England. [200288]

Mr Timpson: Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, to be implemented from this September, introduces the largest reform to the system for special educational needs and disability for 30 years. It builds on the experience of 20 pathfinders and will place children and families at the heart of a more integrated system focused on improving outcomes for children and young people.

The Department for Education is providing substantial funding to local areas to deliver the reforms. Last week, the Department announced an injection of an additional £45.2 million in 2014-15 on top of the £70 million Special Educational Needs (SEN) Reform Grant already provided this year for implementing the reforms. Peterborough will receive £200,615 of this most recent funding on top of the £307,940 SEN Reform Grant it has already received.

We are also providing £30 million over two years to voluntary, community and private sector organisations to provide independent supporters to families to help them navigate the new system. Bids to offer independent supporters have been invited by 25 June. The Department for Education’s strategic partner, the Council for Disabled Children, will then work with interested organisations to secure support for families across the whole of England.

This is supplemented by a wide range of activity to support implementation, from Pathfinder local authorities sharing their experience particular aspects of the reforms, through to funding for a range of specialist voluntary and community sector experts to provide materials and support for professionals on specific conditions.

Work and Pensions

Apprentices: Sick Pay

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to make apprentices who earn below earning thresholds eligible for statutory sick pay. [200562]

Mike Penning: There is no intention to increase the financial burden on business and extend the qualifying rules for statutory sick pay to bring apprentices earning

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below the lower earnings level into eligibility. An apprentice earning below the lower earnings limit will, in line with other employees on a low income, continue to have access to employment and support allowance.

Children: Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) forecast and (b) actual figures of (i) absolute and (ii) relative child poverty were in each year since the Child Poverty Act 2010 came into force. [200109]

Esther McVey: The Government have not produced forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty. The number of children in poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted, including the median income.

The Government do not believe it is possible to accurately project child poverty to 2020. Poverty projections are rarely accurate. For example, IFS projections in October 2011 suggested the number of children in relative poverty would fall by 100,000 in 2010/11, whereas in fact it fell by 300,000.

Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. This information is captured using the Family Resources survey (FRS) and has been reported since 1998/99; these estimates are available for each financial year up to 2011/12, the latest period for which estimates are available.

The estimates can be found at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/households-below-average-income-hbai-199495-to-201112

(ISBN 978-1-78153-531-8).

Relevant estimates can be found in Table 4.1tr - 4.4tr (on pages 102-5).

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of children were in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last 20 years. [200179]

Esther McVey: Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living. This information is captured using the Family Resources Survey (FRS).

Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income in the UK have consistently been reported using the FRS since 1998-99; these estimates are available for each financial year up to 2011-12, the latest period for which estimates are available.

All of these estimates can be found in the latest HBAI publication, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/households-below-average-income-hbai-199495-to-201112

(ISBN 978-1-78153-531-8).

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Relevant estimates can be found in Tables 4.16ts-4.17ts for relative low income (pages 135-136) and Tables 4.22ts-4.23ts for absolute low income (pages 141-142).

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of children in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty in each region of the UK in the next three years. [200180]

Esther McVey: The Government do not produce forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty either locally or nationally. The number of children in poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted.

This Government do not believe it is possible to accurately project child poverty. We know that poverty projections are rarely accurate. For example, IFS projections in October 2011 suggested the number of children in relative poverty would fall by 100,000 in 2010-11, whereas in fact it fell by 300,000.

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Disciplinary Proceedings

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British; [199895]

(2) what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British. [199917]

Mike Penning: The following table shows the proportion of employees who were subject to formal disciplinary proceedings and the proportion dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings who have declared themselves as white British.

The Department has only collected this information for the last three years since the Public Sector Equality Duty was introduced.

The Department plans to launch a campaign by autumn 2014 to encourage staff to declare their personal diversity information. This will ensure we have more complete data in future to improve policy development.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of employment and support allowance claims processed within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30, (d) 40, (e) 60 and (f) more than 60 working days. [200532]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Employment Schemes: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many companies (a) expressed an interest in and (b) tendered for the Help to Work scheme in Wales. [200022]

Esther McVey: DWP received expressions of interest from three organisations and three organisations tendered for the Community Work Placement (Help to Work) contract in Wales.

Equal Opportunities

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year. [199938]

Mike Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants. [199959]

Mike Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

Housing Benefit

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the extension of the shared accommodation rate to people under the age of 35 years. [200363]

Steve Webb: The final research outputs from DWP’s independent evaluation of the changes to the local housing allowance are due to be published this summer. The research will cover the impact of extending the age threshold for the shared accommodation rate.

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of housing benefit claims processed within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30, (d) 40, (e) 60 and (f) more than 60 working days. [200531]

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Steve Webb: None. The average speed of processing statistics for housing benefit is not broken down in this way. Published statistics are at the gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-statistics-on-speed-of-processing--2

Housing Benefit: North East

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region are paying the under-occupancy penalty; and how many of those households contain someone registered as disabled. [199861]

Esther McVey: The information requested in respect of housing benefit claimants affected by the under occupancy penalty for region and local authority is published in Table 3 at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/number-of-housing-benefit-claimants-and-average-weekly-spare-room-subsidy-amount-withdrawal

Further geographical information including parliamentary constituency is also available in Stat-Xplore here:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to extract the information can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Information on those households containing someone registered as disabled is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average annual amount of under-occupancy penalty is paid by households in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region. [199862]

Esther McVey: The information as requested is not available but such information we do have is for the weekly amount of spare room reduction amount (in bands) and this is published in Stat-Xplore here:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of adverse sanction decisions taken against jobseeker's allowance claimants in 2013 were repeat decisions. [200512]

Esther McVey: We have interpreted the question to be for the number of sanction decision reconsiderations and appeals upheld therefore resulting in a sanction still being applied following a request for a review or a formal appeal from the JSA claimant.

This information is published and can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

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Guidance for users is available at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

The proportion of adverse sanction decisions can be calculated using these figures.

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of jobseeker's allowance claims processed within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30, (d) 40, (e) 60 and (f) more than 60 working days. [200530]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Occupational Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are below the earnings threshold for auto enrolment into a workplace pension in each (a) region, (b) constituent part of the UK and (c) parliamentary constituency. [200360]

Steve Webb: The information is not available in the format requested.

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he proposes that his planned charge cap on workplace pensions from April 2015 will apply to new collective defined contribution schemes. [200361]

Steve Webb: The Government's Defined Ambition Bill will bring new forms of collective pension arrangements to the UK, and it is vital that member protection, good governance and fair charges remain at the heart of this system.

Details of how any charge cap may be applied to Collective Defined Contribution schemes will be in place before this legislation is commenced.

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have fallen below the auto enrolment threshold in each year since that policy was introduced. [200362]

Steve Webb: Under the Pensions Act 2008, the automatic enrolment earnings trigger is reviewed by the Secretary of State every year, and revised if necessary. Since automatic enrolment was introduced in October 2012, two annual reviews to the trigger have been conducted. The table shows the impact of changes to the earnings trigger.

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Universal Credit

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of universal credit claims made in pilot areas have been based on independent self-assessment. [200464]

Esther McVey: We have interpreted the question as the proportion of people who assess their own eligibility for UC via the on-line self assessment tool.

https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/entitlement

The Department does not collect this data

Welfare State: Reform

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to respond to the recommendations made by the Social Security Advisory Committee in Occasional Paper 12 published in April 2014; and if he will make a statement. [200513]

Steve Webb: The Department is currently considering its response to the Social Security Advisory Committee's recent study "The Cumulative Impact of Welfare Reform: a Commentary". A response will be published in due course.

Work Programme: North East

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region have been referred to the Work programme to date; and how many of those have achieved sustained job outcomes. [199858]

Esther McVey: The information requested is published and 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

Attorney-General

Disciplinary Proceedings

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Attorney-General (1) what proportion of staff within the Law Officers' Departments who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British; [199876]

(2) what proportion of staff within the Law Officers' Departments who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British. [199897]

The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 16June 2013, Official Report, column 433W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

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Equal Opportunities

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Attorney-General what targets the Law Officers' Departments have for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year. [199919]

The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 16 June 2013, Official Report, column 434W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Attorney-General what consideration the Law Officers' Departments' give to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants. [199940]

The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

Freezing Orders

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General with reference to the answer of 6 May 2014, Official Report, column 8W, on freezing orders, for each of the restraint orders granted since 2010-11, what the length of time was between receipt by the prosecution agency of the freezing request and the granting of the order. [199979]

The Solicitor-General: Since 2010-11 the Serious Fraud Office has obtained two restraint orders for overseas jurisdictions. The length of time from date of receipt of the requests to the granting of the orders, is shown in the following table;

The length of time between receipt of freezing requests by the Crown Prosecution Service and the granting of the order is shown in the following table. There were two cases (one in 2010/11 and one in 2012/13) which took a significant amount of time to execute as detailed work needed to be done with the requesting country in order to prepare the applications for restraint orders.

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Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General, with reference to the answer of 6 May 2014, Official Report, column 8W, on freezing orders, what value of the assets placed under those freezing orders were made subject to a confiscation order; and how much was confiscated. [200111]

The Solicitor-General: Requests from overseas jurisdictions are confidential as they relate to ongoing criminal investigations and proceedings in the requesting country and it would be inappropriate to disclose any further details.

Nigeria

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Attorney-General whether officials of the Crown Prosecution Service have (a) met the Attorney-General of Nigeria since January 2012, (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney-General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian Government and (c) received any requests for mutual legal assistance regarding the OPL 245 case. [200209]

The Solicitor-General: The CPS criminal justice adviser in Abuja has met with the Attorney-General of Nigeria a number of times since January 2012 to discuss criminal justice reform. The CPS is not aware of any other contact between CPS officials and the Attorney-General of Nigeria.

The CPS is not aware of any of its officials having conversations with the Attorney-General of Nigeria or with any other senior official of the Nigerian Government about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI.

Requests for mutual legal assistance attract a duty of confidentiality to the requesting country and, therefore, the CPS can neither confirm nor deny the receipt of any such requests.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Attorney-General what visits each of the Ministers in the Law Officers’ Departments have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was. [200478]

The Solicitor-General: Details of Law Officer visits are published quarterly online at:

www.gov.uk

Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions there were in each Crown Prosecution Service area for (i) assisting unlawful immigration to an EU member state, (ii) assisting entry to the UK in breach of a deportation or exclusion order, (iii) assisting the

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entry/remaining of an excluded person, (iv) possession and/or manufacture of false identity documents, (v) employment of illegal immigrants, (vi) trafficking in exploitation/for sexual exploitation, (vii) trafficking people for labour and other exploitation, (viii) conspiracy to traffic and (ix) slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour in the last five years for which figures are available. [200028]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not keep a central record of the number of prosecutions completed, and whether they were successful or not, for the offences listed in the question. This information could be obtained only by a manual examination of all files prosecuted which would incur disproportionate cost.

Official statistics relating to criminal court proceedings and offenders brought to justice are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many referrals there were from local police forces to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in each CPS business area for a charging decision on the offences of (a) assisting unlawful immigration to an EU member state, (b) assisting entry to the UK in breach of a deportation or exclusion order, (c) assisting the entry/remaining of an excluded person, (d) possession and/or manufacture of false identity documents, (e) employment of illegal immigrants, (f) trafficking in exploitation/for sexual exploitation, (g) trafficking people for labour and other exploitation, (h) conspiracy to traffic and (i) slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour in each of the last five years. [200029]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not keep a central record of the number of referrals from the police for a charging decision for the offences listed in the question. This information could be obtained only by a manual examination of all files prosecuted which would incur disproportionate cost.

Official statistics on crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office.

Stalking

Mr Llwyd: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown prosecution lawyers have been trained to deal with offences of stalking under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in each Crown Prosecution Service area; and if he will make a statement. [199868]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has developed two online e-Learning courses on all types of stalking. The “Cyber Crime: Cyber Stalking” course includes cyber stalking, non-cyber stalking and harassment. The “Stalking and Harassment” course (which was released in April 2014) deals specifically with stalking and harassment offences, with emphasis on building a strong case, working closely with the police, appropriate charge selection, and engaging with victims throughout the legal process. The CPS maintains a central record of the number of prosecutors who have been trained to deal with stalking and harassment offences by way of the e-Learning courses.

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The following data were extracted from the CPS HR Database and the online Prosecution College Database on 11 June 2014. The data are based on those barristers or solicitors who held a practising certificate in the relevant period and were employed by the CPS on 11 June 2014. The data cover the period 1 November 2012 (the month when the Cyber Stalking e-Learning module was revised to include the new stalking offences) to 11 June 2014.The data include only those lawyers who have completed either the Cyber Stalking or Stalking and harassment e-Learning courses, including the evaluation modules, as the database records e-Learning based on completion of all elements of the course.

Victims: Medical Records

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what discussions the Director of Public Prosecutions has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers about implementing the recommendations in the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspector report on the disclosure of medical records and counselling notes; and if he will make a statement. [199973]

The Solicitor-General: There have been no discussions between the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) about implementing the recommendations in the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate report on the disclosure of medical records and counselling notes. The recommendations of the report were that Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) legal guidance on Rape and Sexual Offences was updated and that CPS Headquarters may wish to liaise with ACPO about such disclosure to develop a national police form for use when the police consult complainants. The guidance was updated on 12 December 2013 and the capture of information in a national police form is being considered as part of the work on digitisation of cases files and has been discussed with ACPO.

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Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what recent amendments have been made to Crown Prosecution Service guidance on (a) when to disclose the defence medical records and counselling notes of victims and (b) what action to take if victims do not consent to disclosure. [199974]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revised its rape and sexual offence legal guidance in relation to disclosure of medical records and counselling notes on 12 December 2013. The revised guidance included guidance on both (a) when to disclose to the defence medical records and counselling notes of victims and (b) what action to take if victims do not consent to disclosure. The revised legal guidance is published on the CPS website at:

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/disclosure_and_third_party_material/

Health

Antibiotics

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Minister in his Department leads on anti-microbial resistance in the UK. [199981]

Jane Ellison: I generally lead on this Government priority. The Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), has a specific interest in relation to health-care-associated infections. However, all departmental Ministers act as advocates on this global public health issue that cuts across the Department's portfolio.

Brain: Blood Clots

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have had intra-arterial thrombectomy treatment to reduce the risk of blood clots in the brain in each of the last five years. [200075]

Jane Ellison: Information on the number of people who have had intra-arterial thrombectomy treatment to reduce the risk of blood clots in the brain is not held centrally.

Cancer: Drugs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to increase the transparency of NICE's decisions on the Cancer Drugs Fund to remove any restrictions on treatment use arising from budgetary pressures and increase its level of engagement with members of the public. [200515]

Norman Lamb: The operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund is the responsibility of NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence does not have a role in the management of the fund.

NHS England has a standard operating procedure for the Fund, which is available at:

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

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Clinical Trials

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many drug trials have taken place in the UK in each of the last three years. [200074]

Norman Lamb: The numbers of applications received by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Clinical Trials Unit for clinical trials of medicinal products over the past three financial years is shown in the following table:

Colitis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of ulcerative colitis there have been in each of the last three years. [200068]

Norman Lamb: Annual incidence data for ulcerative colitis are not collected. In its guidance, ‘Ulcerative colitis, Management in adults, children and young people’, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has estimated that there are 146,000 people in the United Kingdom with a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis.

Cystic Fibrosis

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adult cystic fibrosis patients were being cared for by specialist centres in each of the last 10 years. [200612]

Norman Lamb: Information concerning the number of adult cystic fibrosis (CF) patients cared for by specialist centres in each of the last 10 years is not available. These data have only been collected since the introduction of the tariff for CF services in 2011, and in the following table we have provided the number of adult patients cared for in each year since that time:

More generally, we expect all CF patients to have a CF specialist in charge of their care and as part of the ongoing support they receive, to be assessed at specialist centres.

Diane Belshaw

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet Ms Diane Belshaw. [200026]

Norman Lamb: As Minister responsible for mental health policy, I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady and her constituent Ms Diane Belshaw. My diary secretary will contact the hon. Lady to make arrangements.

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Disciplinary Proceedings

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British. [199887]

Dr Poulter: The Department publishes Workforce Equality Data which consist of information about disciplinary cases combined with grievance cases, by ethnicity. This information is presented in the following table with the proportion of cases where ethnicity has not been declared.

Detailed information on disciplinary cases alone is not held for this full period, as penalties which may have been imposed would have been ‘spent’.

However, since 1 April 2013 detailed information is available and for the financial year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014, 54% of staff who were subject to formal disciplinary proceedings were white British and 9% were of undeclared ethnicity.

More information for the years 2012 to 2014 is available on the .GOV website on the following links:

2012

www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-health-workforce-information-2012

2013

www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-equality-information-department-of-health

2014

www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-equality-information-2014

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British. [199908]

Dr Poulter: Detailed information which specifically identifies dismissals following formal disciplinary proceedings is not held for this full period. The Department publishes workforce information on the .GOV website, which includes figures for staff that have left the Department.

From 1 April 2013 changes have been made to how leaving reasons are recorded on the internal Human Resources System. For the financial year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014, 14% of staff who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings were white British and for a further 14% ethnic origin is not recorded on the internal HR system, as declaration of ethnicity is voluntary for staff.

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Equal Opportunities

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year. [199930]

Dr Poulter: The Department has exceeded the target set by the Cabinet Office for women in the senior civil service (SCS), met the target for black and minority ethnic (BME) staff in the SCS, and is 1% below the target for disabled staff in the SCS.

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants. [199951]

Dr Poulter: The Department as part of its commercial contracts already includes discrimination and human rights provisions in its standard terms and conditions of contract and by submitting a tender or quotation to the Department, a supplier agrees to these terms.

The Department is currently enhancing its approach to addressing equality issues in the procurement process.

All organisations applying to the Department’s competed grant schemes are asked to confirm that they have an Equal Opportunities Policy Statement in place. Only applicants with a policy in place or in the process of being produced would meet the eligibility criteria for grant funding.

The standard terms and conditions for grant awards contain a clause covering equality. All organisations that are awarded grants confirm that they agree to the terms and conditions prior to the release of the grant payment.

Food: Fraud

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the merits of strengthening penalties for breaches of food law in reducing food fraud. [200061]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the competent authority for the food hygiene regulations. The FSA board has, on a number of occasions, highlighted its concern that the level of sanction imposed by the courts for food hygiene offences has not been sufficient to deter offending. The sentences imposed are often small when set against the potential profits to be accrued from non-compliance with the regulations. The FSA would welcome the strengthening of penalties for breaches of the food hygiene regulations.

The FSA is also keen to ensure that there is consistency in sentencing for food hygiene offences. It has approached the Office of the Sentencing Council and requested that they consider producing sentencing guidelines for food

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hygiene offences. They are currently working with officials from the Council, who are hoping to produce draft guidelines that can be put before the full Sentencing Council.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current tools available to enforcement officers to take swift action in tackling food fraud. [200062]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works with local authority enforcement officers to ensure that food law is applied across the entire food chain. Direction and guidance on the approach that local authority food law regulatory services should take is given in the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (the Code). The FSA regularly assesses the effectiveness of tools available to these enforcement officers through undertaking audit of local authorities' enforcement services, reviewing the code and ensuring lessons are learnt from major incidents.

The code sets out instructions and criteria to which the authorities must have regard and is periodically reviewed to ensure that it reflects current enforcement practices and supports local authorities’ delivery of their official control obligations and that enforcement is consistent, effective and proportionate.

The FSA provides specific tools to support local authorities with investigations relating to potential food fraud. The FSA operates the Food Fraud Database, which utilises specialist intelligence management software to record intelligence reports and identify links, and uses this to assist local investigations. The FSA also provides local authorities with financial support through its Fighting Fund, expert advice through its Food Fraud Advisory Unit and holds dedicated training courses for enforcement officers.

In addition, the FSA is building an enhanced intelligence gathering network to increase the opportunity to capture and act on intelligence which may be indicative of future risks relating to food fraud, as well as producing strategic and tactical assessments to share with relevant enforcement agencies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to strengthen food surveillance and the analytical capability of local authorities to pre-empt potential food fraud in the last 12 months. [200063]

Jane Ellison: The main role for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in combating food fraud is to provide assistance and resources to United Kingdom local authorities (LAs) food-fraud-related investigations through the provision of financial support, expert advice and training. The FSA continues to develop its capability in relation to food fraud, working closely with other Government Departments, LAs and industry to detect and deter food fraud.

The FSA provides additional funding on an annual basis to UK enforcement authorities for sampling and surveillance of food to help ensure risk-based targeted checks at ports and inland. Food authenticity and food adulteration issues have been prioritised in consultation

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with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Health.

In 2013-14, the FSA made available £1.6 million to LAs and ports plus an additional £700,000 specifically for authenticity issues including:

meat speciation and fish speciation by DNA testing;

added water in chicken;

authenticity of durum wheat; and

authenticity of basmati rice.

Over the last 12 months, FSA and DEFRA have worked with the Authenticity Steering Group to address and prioritise analytical method development for the Food Authenticity Research Programme. Current activities include knowledge transfer sessions, which have been joint-funded by FSA and DEFRA, to enhance the range of analytical methods available to support LA enforcement activity. For example, a knowledge transfer event took place for Public Analysts on DNA extraction processes in early 2014 with a further two planned for later this year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency on joined-up action at both national and local level to tackle food fraud. [200064]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) continues to develop its capability in relation to food fraud, working closely with other Government Departments including the Department of Health, local authorities and industry to detect and deter food fraud.

The FSA is building an enhanced intelligence gathering network to increase the opportunity to capture and act on intelligence which may be indicative of future risks relating to food fraud, as well as producing strategic and tactical assessments to share with relevant enforcement agencies. Through this, the FSA has strengthened its links with other enforcement agencies, including the National Trading Standards Board, National Crime Agency, the Intellectual Property Office and the Gangmasters Licensing Agency. The FSA is a member of the Government Agencies Intelligence Network and is sharing and receiving intelligence through this network to support cross-Government investigations.

At a European level, the FSA is fully engaged with the European Commission Food Fraud Team and its network which is now sharing intelligence to support cross-Europe investigations.

The FSA also provides support to local authorities in their food-fraud-related investigations through the provision of financial support, expert advice and training.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities have not conducted any sampling to check food composition over the last 12 months. [200065]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) collects food law enforcement monitoring returns from local authorities annually. Data for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 are currently being collected. Following collation and analysis, the FSA plans to publish these data in November 2014.

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The FSA advises that the following local authorities did not report any food composition sampling in 2012-13 via the Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System (LAEMS):

Armagh

Birmingham

Blackburn

Bolton

Darlington

Isle of Wight

Leicester City

Plymouth City

Redcar and Cleveland

Rochdale

Rutland

South Lanarkshire

Swindon

Tameside

All of these authorities reported taking other labelling or microbiological samples in 2012-13.

A table has been placed in the Library which shows how many food standards samples (composition and labelling) each local authority reported via LAEMS in 2012-13, together with a comparison against the number reported in 2011-12 and how many food standards samples each local authority reported through an FSA-funded project.

All of the reported food standards samples were official samples and would have been submitted to the local authority's appointed public analyst for analysis. Out of 22,055 food standards samples in 2012-13, 4,387 were funded by the FSA; all other food standards samples would have been paid for by the local authority. By comparison, in 2011-12, the FSA funded 5,072 out of 21,970 food standards samples.

For some local authorities, the FSA funded sampling figure is larger than the number included in the LAEMS report. The difference will be due to the LAEMS reports only including samples for which the analytical result was received from the Public Analyst before 31 March 2013.

Fruit Juices: Sugar

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with manufacturers of fruit juice about a reduction of levels of sugar in their products. [200076]

Jane Ellison: Eight businesses have signed up to the Responsibility Deal to reduce calories, including added sugar, in the soft drinks they produce and retail. Ministers and officials are continuing to engage with soft drinks businesses to encourage greater sign up to the calorie reduction pledge. The school food standards severely restrict the provision of foods and drinks that are high in sugar in schools.

General Practitioners: Sunderland

Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of changes in average waiting times for GP appointments in Sunderland since May 2010. [200002]

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Jane Ellison: No such estimate has been made.

The following table contains results from NHS England’s 2013 GP Patients Survey. The survey collected data from January to March and July to September 2013.

Genetics

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many xx-positive cases have been recorded in the UK in each of the last 30 years. [200390]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that no Trichinella infection has been found in United Kingdom domestic livestock in the past 30 years. Trichinellainfection in food-producing animals is controlled by European Union regulations, which are directly applicable in the UK. UK industry routinely tests export pigs as required by their export markets, and all sows and boars, horses and feral wild boar going through approved establishments for Trichinella (which currently amounts to about 3 to 4 million pigs a year), alongside an FSA programme of surveillance in wildlife.

Monitoring for evidence of Trichinella infection in foxes has been carried out in the UK since 1999. Foxes are tested because they are a good indicator of the presence of infection. There have been only two incidences of Trichinella Spiralisfound in foxes in Northern Ireland, one in 2007 and one in 2009, and just one incident of Trichinella Pseudospiralis in a fox in Great Britain in 2013.

In terms of human infections, Trichinellosis in humans is notifiable to the Department and any case that occurs is investigated and where possible the source of infection is identified. There have been no human cases acquired from meat produced in the UK for more than 30 years.

10 cases of trichinellosis were diagnosed in the UK between 2000 and 2012, including an outbreak of eight cases in England and Wales in 2000. Eight of these cases were associated with the consumption of imported meat products. The remaining two cases were travel-related where infection was acquired abroad: one case in 2001, and the other 2010.

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Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the British Medical Association and the Royal Colleges about potential improvements to the treatment of (a) brain injury and (b) chronic fatigue syndrome. [200071]

Norman Lamb: No recent discussions have taken place between the Department’s Ministers and either the British Medical Association or the Royal Colleges to discuss potential improvements to the treatment of either brain injury or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Health Services: Medway

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints his Department received from members of the public on care and treatment by Medway NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2010. [200388]

Jane Ellison: A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified 19 items of correspondence from members of the public received between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2010 which complain about care and treatment at Medway NHS Foundation Trust. This is a minimum figure which represents correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only.

Influenza: Vaccination

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken following his Department's consultation on a review of the procurement of seasonal influenza vaccine in May 2011. [199991]

Jane Ellison: No changes have been made since the consultation to procurement of vaccine for the existing seasonal flu programme, which are ordered directly by general practitioners from manufacturers or suppliers. However, vaccine for the programme for children aged two to 16 years, which began in 2013 and is being rolled out progressively, has been centrally procured. Experience of the childhood flu immunisation programme will help inform consideration of arrangements for procurement of influenza vaccine more widely.

Medical Records: Databases

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will carry out and publish a written risk assessment of the care.data programme; for what reason no such written risk assessment has been published; and which Minister in his Department took the decision not to publish such an assessment. [200563]

Dr Poulter: There has been no decision made not to have a risk assessment for the care.data programme. Risks and issues are considered by the care.data programme board at regular meetings.

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Mental Health Services: Young People

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria his Department uses to evaluate tenders to provide children and adolescent mental health services. [200009]

Norman Lamb: NHS England has responsibility for commissioning Tier 4 (in-patient) child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Tiers 1-3 CAMHS are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

As with all procurement exercises undertaken by the national health service, there will be a clear service specification and evaluation criteria will be developed specific to the requirements of the service being tendered. Providers will then be able to submit a response, which NHS England or the CCG will assess and make a decision based on the outcome.

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to better retain staff in children and adolescent mental health services. [200014]

Norman Lamb: The Government’s refreshed mandate to Health Education England (HEE), published on 1 May 2014, set out the requirements of HEE regarding recruitment, training and retention for the national health service workforce, including staff providing children and adolescent mental health services. Underpinning the HEE mandate is a Government investment of nearly £5 billion for 2014-15.

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to maintain the quality of services provided by children and adolescent mental health services in the UK; [200499]

(2) what recent assessment he has made of the quality of service provided by companies with contracts to provide children and adolescent mental health services. [200010]

Norman Lamb: NHS England has responsibility for commissioning Tier 4 (in-patient) child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Tiers 1-3 CAMHS are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). There are a number of measures in place to ensure the quality of Tier 4 CAMHS provided by companies:

All providers of CAMHS need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

National service specifications have been developed for Tier 4 CAMHS to which all service providers are required to adhere. These are used as part of the standard national health service contract. A copy of these documents can be found on NHS England’s website and accessed via the following links:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-c/c07/

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/c07-tier4ch-ado-mh-aut.pdf

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All providers are monitored against the standard contract through evidence-based contract meetings. NHS England and the CQC may also undertake visits to the units to assess the quality of service being delivered.

Where concerns or issues are raised about a particular unit, such matters are referred to the Area Team Quality Surveillance Group, chaired by Directors of Nursing, for consideration and discussion.

Where there is significant cause for concern, NHS England may restrict or stop referrals to a particular unit. In extreme circumstances, the CQC has the powers to de-register a provider from being able to provide CAMH services.

Mental Health: Young People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the next British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey will be carried out. [200389]

Norman Lamb: The Department is currently looking at the options available for carrying out a new survey of children and young people's mental health.

Muscular Dystrophy

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in licensing drugs to deal with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. [200116]

Norman Lamb: On 22 May 2014, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for Translarna (ataluren), an orphan designated medicine for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by nonsense mutations. Translarna is to be used in patients aged five years and older who are able to walk.

The CHMP opinion on Translarna will now be sent to the European Commission for adoption of a decision on a European Union-wide marketing authorisation.

Other products are currently in various stages of development.

NHS: Finance

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which areas NHS England pays for NHS services through (a) block grants, (b) activity payment mechanisms and (c) outcomes-based approaches. [199992]

Dr Poulter: NHS England (as opposed to clinical commissioning groups, which pay for the majority of NHS acute services) pays for NHS services through a mixture of block contracts, activity payment mechanisms and outcomes-based approaches in areas such as specialised commissioning, primary care, armed forces, health and justice and public health.

The following table provides a breakdown of where various payments are made¹.

¹ This is not a definitive list.

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