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Cancer: Drugs

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answers given to the Rt hon. Member for Chelmsford of 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 768-9W, on cancer: drugs, and to the hon. Member for Wells of 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 614W, on National Institute for Health Research, if he will place in the Library the data used to calculate those answers. [200432]

Norman Lamb: Prior to April 2013, the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority and the Department collected information on spend and number of patients treated by drug.

NHS England has had oversight of the Cancer Drugs Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on spend and patient numbers routinely on its website at:

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

National Institute for Health Research expenditure is reported in the Department's annual report and accounts.

Copies of the information used to provide answers to the right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns) on 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 768-69W and to my hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Tessa Munt) on 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 614W, have been placed in the Library.

Cancer: Greater London

Dame Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients who were referred by GPs for tests for suspected cancers at (a) Lewisham Hospital, (b) Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich, (c) Guys and St Thomas' Hospital and (d) Kings College Hospital were not seen within six weeks of referral in the last six months. [200864]

Jane Ellison: The information is not available centrally. While information is collected and published every month on waiting times and activity for 15 key diagnostic tests, the data do not identify whether the tests were for suspected cancers or other conditions.

Community Hospitals

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what future plans he has for community hospitals in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [200420]

Jane Ellison: The majority of NHS services, including services provided in community hospitals, are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Future plans for community hospitals therefore need to be developed locally rather than determined at a national level.

NHS England expects CCGs’ commissioning decisions to be underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local health care needs and to have regard to the need to address health inequalities.

Continuing Care

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 288W, on Parkinson's Disease, over what timeframe NHS England will improve its collection of data concerning individual funding requests for treatments of progressive conditions. [200509]

Norman Lamb: NHS England has advised us that it is aiming to complete work on improving data collection for individual funding requests in the autumn.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of how many non-clinical dementia specialist professionals are currently working across the health and care sector. [200824]

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Dr Poulter: People with dementia receive care and support from many groups of professionals across the health and social care sector. By October 2013, 108,000 national health service staff had received Tier 1 training on dementia, enabling them to spot the early symptoms of dementia, know how to interact with people with dementia and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate care. The Government's refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, builds on this by setting an ambition for a further 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, with the tools and training opportunities being made available to all staff by the end of 2018.

The size of the adult social care workforce is 1.5 million people and research in 2010 indicated that over 40% of this work force is involved in supporting people with dementia. Skills for Care estimate that over the past year over 100,000 social care workers have received some form of dementia awareness training through work force development funding from local authorities and care providers.

Drugs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the prevalence and effect of unlicensed performance enhancing drugs (a) online and (b) in shops. [200547]

Norman Lamb: There are strict legal controls governing the sale and supply of medicinal products in the United Kingdom.

Unlicensed medicines which claim to enhance performance generally claim to enhance either sexual, cognitive or athletic performance.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) works with domain name providers to shut down websites which are illegally trading in unlicensed erectile dysfunction medicines and which refuse to come in to compliance.

A UK registered pharmacy may have a presence on the internet; however the requirements of legislation apply equally to both UK internet pharmacies and bricks-and-mortar premises. These legal controls also apply equally to medicines for human use sold or supplied via the internet or e-mail transactions. These restrictions do not apply to countries outside UK jurisdiction where medicines may be classified and regulated differently.

Medicines most commonly associated with enhanced athletic performance are anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. These medicines are controlled as class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The MHRA has serious concerns about the availability of medicines being offered via the Internet and issues regular warnings to the public concerning the inherent risks of purchasing medicines online. MHRA advice is that medicines purchased from websites, particularly websites based overseas, cannot be guaranteed to meet set standards of quality, safety and efficacy and advises patients not to purchase medicines in this way.

Gambling

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions he has had with (a) NHS England and (b) Public Health England on improving treatment for gambling addicts; [200558]

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(2) what training is provided to staff working within alcohol and drugs treatment in identifying and treating the problem of gambling addiction; [200541]

(3) what steps the Department is taking to improve healthcare outcomes by improving the awareness of gambling addiction on the part of healthcare professionals; and what guidance NHS England provides to local health authorities on the commissioning of services for gambling addiction. [200542]

Norman Lamb: The Department does not hold information on what specific training is provided to alcohol and drug treatment staff. Ensuring competent staff is the responsibility of local commissioners and providers.

Public Health England (PHE) is working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the national gambling treatment service to identify how it can strengthen training, and are promoting the work of the Royal College of General Practitioners who have developed an online gambling diagnosis and treatment training resource that is available free to all health professionals.

PHE promotes the Royal College of General Practitioners' online training resource among all health professionals. PHE has developed guidance for local authorities on gambling and is exploring what the local needs are and where evidence allows it to intervene. However, PHE does not wish to undermine the treatment available through the national provider GamCare until evidence emerges that this is not meeting current need.

The Secretary of State for Health has regular discussions with PHE and NHS England on a range of health issues. PHE is also working with NHS England and the Local Government Association to explore what the current need is locally so it can get a better picture; and decide whether PHE needs to act through prevention and restrictions on gambling shops; or through changes to the current GamCare treatment network.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on the integrated sexual health tariff. [200940]

Jane Ellison: Consideration is being given to taking forward work previously developed by NHS London on a non-mandatory integrated sexual health tariff. This consideration includes whether national data collections need further development to support the tariff and pricing structures.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of sexual health services delivered by private providers. [200941]

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the sexual health commissioning toolkit will be published. [200942]

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Jane Ellison: Public Health England plans to publish "Making it work; a guide to whole system commissioning for sexual and reproductive health and HIV" by the end of July 2014.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish an update to A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England first published in March 2013. [200943]

Jane Ellison: The first review of progress on the Framework will be published shortly.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were working in his Department on sexual health matters in each year since 2010; and how many people have worked in (a) his Department and (b) Public Health England on sexual health matters since the formation of Public Health England. [200949]

Jane Ellison: The following table shows staff numbers working directly on sexual health matters within the Department since 2010. There are also a number of senior civil servants and other staff, such as analysts, working in the Department who input to work on sexual health and a wide range of other issues.

The total number of Public Health England staff working on sexual health is 255.3 WTE.

Public Health England's head count includes staff working on Health Protection, field epidemiology, microbiology services and Health and Wellbeing staff. Some staff are externally funded and are not exclusive to sexual health, working across disciplines.

Heart Diseases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the out-of-hospital survival rates are for patients who suffer a heart attack in each year since 1984 for which information is available; [200402]

(2) what recent assessment he has made of the effect of stress on heart failure; [200404]

(3) what estimate he has made of the incidence of heart attacks among workers who work (a) 40 and (b) 60 hours a week. [200405]

Jane Ellison: Information on survival rates for patients who suffer an out of hospital heart attack or an out of hospital cardiac arrest are not collected centrally.

The British Heart Foundation suggests that between 2 and 12% of people treated by the emergency services after suffering an out of hospital cardiac arrest survive to be discharged from hospital.

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The Department has made no assessment of the effect of stress on heart failure, nor has it made any estimate of heart attacks among workers who work 40 or 60 hours per week.

However, researchers analysing data from the Whitehall II study observed that people who believed stress was significantly affecting their health had double the risk of suffering from coronary heart disease, compared to people who did not believe stress was having an impact.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of using mobile telephone apps to use GPS to locate trained resuscitators and atrial fibrillation equipment to bring a rapid response to those who have suffered a heart attack. [200407]

Jane Ellison: The development of mobile device based Apps are being considered by NHS England across health and care settings and are still in development and launched the Health Apps Library in March 2013.

NHS England is taking a leading role on apps in a number of areas:

Health Apps Library: In recognition of needing to support patients and the public in knowing which apps they can trust and that are safe. Only apps that have successfully completed a clinical safety review process are listed.

Overall United Kingdom Apps Review Framework: In recognising the need to help apps developers understand what review and regulation they need to go through, NHS England, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency are jointly working together to create an overall review framework for health apps.

Integrated apps: The future direction of apps is to move from lots of individual apps for specific purposes that are not linked to “integrated apps” that brings different pieces of information together.

Sudden and unexpected cardiac arrest remains a major public health concern in all countries and can affect all ages.

Defibrillators that can save many lives within minutes of the event are widely available, but rapid location of these and also trained community responders is an urgent and unmet need. Apps have been developed and several are in use but they will not achieve their full potential until integrated into a national scheme which NHS England is considering.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable for the new congenital heart disease review is. [199257]

Jane Ellison: NHS England is currently undertaking the congenital health disease review. It has conducted extensive pre-consultation engagement with a wide range of stakeholders who have an interest in congenital heart disease.

NHS England has made considerable progress in responding to their concerns and, for the first time, it has developed a comprehensive set of commissioning standards that will cover the whole patient pathway from infancy to adult services and right through to palliative care and bereavement.

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Following the engagement process, we understand that NHS England will consult on these draft service standards later this year, but not in July as previously anticipated.

Moving forward, NHS England is committed to a review that is robust, transparent, inclusive, and which will deliver high quality and sustainable services for all patients.

All information relating to the review can be found on NHS England's website and through a fortnightly blog.

Heart Diseases (Children)

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children's heart surgery units receive equal and sufficient levels of scrutiny across the country. [199258]

Jane Ellison: Clinical audit is an important tool for driving up standards in the delivery of treatment and care. The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research regularly provides clinical audit data to NHS England and the regulators which they use to monitor the outcomes at all children's cardiac centres. As part of the Congenital Heart Disease review, NHS England is currently reviewing the type of information that it analyses to monitor the outcomes of these services.

Influenza

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of reports that scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created a life-threatening virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain; whether he has made an assessment of the potential threat to the UK population arising from that experiment; and whether the Government have made any representations to the US Administration on this matter; [200589]

(2) what assessment he has made of reports that scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created a virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain; whether he has made an assessment of the potential threat to the UK population arising from that experiment; and whether the Government have made any representation to the US Administration on this matter. [200875]

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) was advised that the work undertaken at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been reviewed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, in keeping with the institute's implementation of the United States Government Policy for Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern.

As part of this, PHE understand that the research was carried out in secure facilities with high levels of containment. A key finding of the research was that people vaccinated with the current seasonal influenza vaccine (which protects against 2009 H1N1 influenza, a related virus) had some evidence of protection against the novel virus that had been created. In addition, the team showed that the novel transmissible virus is expected to be sensitive to the antiviral medication oseltamivir. Effective counter measures to this novel virus are therefore available.

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This research provides information on the mechanisms responsible for adaptation of avian influenza viruses to mammals. Knowing what genes are associated with a potentially severe pandemic strain can help predict the likelihood of a strain emerging and help devise appropriate counter measures.

Leeds General Infirmary

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to release the second stage of the review into the closure of surgery at Leeds Children's Heart Unit; and if he will make a statement. [199256]

Jane Ellison: This is a matter for NHS England.

The second stage report into the suspension of surgery at Leeds Children’s Heart Unit was published on 13 March 2014. The third and concluding report is in the final stages of preparation and is expected to be published by the end of July 2014. NHS England will ensure that key stakeholders are made aware of the publication date once it has been agreed.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 10 June 2014, Official Report, column 896W, on hospitals, what progress his Department has made at Medway NHS Trust since it was placed in special measures in 2013. [200426]

Jane Ellison: Medway was recently re-inspected by the Chief Inspector, who will be publishing the results of the re-inspection shortly alongside his recommendation as to whether the foundation trust has made sufficient improvement to exit the regime.

The trust is making good progress in the majority of areas reviewed in 2013 by the Keogh team. However, since the Keogh review the trust has received warning notices from the Care Quality Commission in relation to its maternity services (October 2013) and emergency services (March 2014) indicating continuing quality concerns in other areas.

Since the Keogh review the trust has created 29 additional medical posts and 115 additional nurse and nurse support staff posts. It has struggled to recruit sufficient numbers to these posts with the result that it remains highly reliant on locum and agency staff.

Mental Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what comparative assessment he has made of the rates of mental ill health caused by (a) working long hours and (b) being unemployed; [200406]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of work-based stress on suicide levels. [200412]

Norman Lamb: Numerous studies, including the Marmot Review into health inequalities in England (published in 2010) draw attention to the impacts of unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, on mental health.

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Research also demonstrates that work related stress and mental health problems often go together. Work related stress may trigger an existing mental health problem that the person may otherwise have successfully managed.

However, common mental health problems and stress can exist independently. For example, people can have work related stress leading to physical symptoms such as high blood pressure, without experiencing anxiety and depression. They can also have anxiety and depression that is unrelated to stress.

Gainful employment promotes mental well-being. Unfortunately, the workplace can also be the source of nonproductive stress leading to physical and mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts and behaviours and suicide.

A number of studies demonstrate an association between the areas of England worst affected during the recent financial crisis and increased suicide rates. Between 2008 and 2010, there were approximately 800 more suicides among men and 155 more among women than would have been expected based on historical trends. This was supported by a recent review of the international impact of the global economic crisis. A rise in poor health status associated with the recession has also been found not only for the unemployed, but also among people who remain employed.

People come into contact with the welfare system at a time when they may be vulnerable because of unemployment and its associated consequences. The Department for Work and Pensions provides guidance and training for staff to help them identify and support people who are vulnerable, including those who may be at risk of suicide or self-harm.

NHS: Re-employment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancy payments have been recovered from NHS staff who have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by an NHS organisation in each of the last three years. [200856]

Dr Poulter: The Department does not hold information relating to the recovery of payments from national health service staff made redundant and subsequently re-employed by an NHS organisation.

This information will be held locally by NHS organisations.

The NHS is set to save £5.5 billion this Parliament and £1.5 billion each year thereafter, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and freeing up extra resources for patient care.

Obesity: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to reduce child obesity in Barnsley. [200932]

Jane Ellison: In April 2013, local responsibility for the prevention and management of obesity transferred from primary care trusts to local authorities.

Barnsley's health and wellbeing board, run by Barnsley council, is drafting a Health and Wellbeing strategy for the borough to support children and young people in

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avoiding the potential health problems related to child obesity, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases later in life.

Our national approach to tackling obesity includes engaging with a wide range of partners including businesses, health professionals and individuals. We have set national ambition for a downward trend in excess weight in children and have a well-developed and wide-ranging programme of actions. Obesity rates in children are levelling off.

Some of the key initiatives are Change4Life, Change4Life Sports Clubs, the National Child Measurement Programme and School Sports Funding.

This is in addition to measures being taken by other Government Departments such as the School Food Plan, published by the Department for Education last year.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was. [200487]

Dr Poulter: Details of United Kingdom-based visits undertaken by the Secretary of State for Health and his ministerial team since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was have been placed in the Library.

The purpose of all these visits was to meet staff and patients and learn more about the service except where denoted with an asterisk.

Details of Ministers' visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

Public Health England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many financial bonuses of what amount have been paid to employees of Public Health England since April 2013; and on what criteria such bonuses were awarded. [200546]

Jane Ellison: Financial bonuses have been paid to 20 employees of Public Health England since its establishment on 1 April 2013, all of which relate to their performance in predecessor organisations in the 2012-13 reporting year. The criteria used for the performance assessment and subsequent payments for which they were eligible were those of their former employer.

Of these, 18 were to former employees of the Department of Health, all of which were non-consolidated. The number of payments and amounts were as follows:

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The remaining two were to former employees of the Health Protection Agency, which were also non-consolidated, and amounted to £10,000 each.

Vaccination

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what restrictions apply to the discretion of clinical commissioning groups to commission immunisation services. [200343]

Jane Ellison: Policy on what national immunisation programmes should be implemented and how best to implement them is the responsibility of the Department working with Public Health England and NHS England.

Responsibility and funding for national immunisation programmes rests with NHS England. Clinical commissioning groups are free to consider the need and resourcing for local immunisation activity with their partners in local authorities, who are responsible for taking appropriate steps to improve local public health.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether precursors of genocide exist in Burma for the Rohingya; and if he will make a statement. [200353]

Mr Swire: It is the policy of the British Government that any judgment on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes. We consistently lobby the Burmese Government for further action to address the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State, to improve security, to deliver accountability and to find a sustainable solution on citizenship. I raised our concerns with the Burmese Government during my visit in January, summoned the Burmese ambassador to press for humanitarian access in April, and discussed the situation with Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw again on 13 June.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the issue of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese Army was raised with the Burmese colonel who received training in the UK from 10 March to April 2014; and if he will make a statement. [200354]

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Mr Swire: The Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context course, delivered in the UK by the Defence Academy, was attended by participants from over 20 countries; one of these was a colonel from the Burmese military. The course is designed for countries making the difficult transition to democracy in a variety of contexts. Specific issues of concern relating to individual countries are therefore not raised during the course.

I, however, raised the issue of rape and sexual violence with the Burmese Army's Commander-in-Chief and northern Commander during my visit to Burma in January.

I welcome Burma’s endorsement of the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 5 June; we stand ready to provide any support necessary to assist implementation of the declaration.

China

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in China. [200350]

Mr Swire: We do have concerns about restrictions to civil and political freedoms in China, particularly around ethnic minority rights; the death penalty; and freedom of expression, association and assembly.

The climate for human rights defenders and civil society is very difficult, and security in areas with ethnic minorities remains tight.

Ministers regularly raise human rights issues with Chinese counterparts, and we highlight our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

Christianity

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what direct steps the Government has taken to ensure the safety of Christians in countries where they are being persecuted for their faith. [200349]

Mr Lidington: Freedom of religion or belief is a priority for this Government internationally. On 15 November 2014, the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend Baroness Warsi, gave a speech in Washington stressing the need for an international response to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The full text of her speech is available on our website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/an-international-response-to-a-global-crisis

We are concerned about the rising tide of persecution of individuals on the basis of their religion and belief. We regularly raise individual cases and discriminatory legislation with other governments and we support overseas programmes designed to overcome prejudice, discrimination and sectarianism. We also work in multilateral fora to ensure that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief is afforded the international legal protection that it deserves. Furthermore the Senior Minister of State has convened meetings of international

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leaders to generate practical steps to promote freedom of religion or belief and to fight religious intolerance within our societies.

Iran

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of (a) Farshid Fathi, (b) Behnam Irani, (c) Silas Rabbani, (d) Amin Khaki, (e) Saeed Abedini and (f) other pastors and deacons imprisoned in Iran being beaten in prison. [200929]

Hugh Robertson: We remain deeply concerned by the detention and ill treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian Government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith.

Israel

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the UK has made to Israel following the Israeli Parliament's consideration of legislation to allow force-feeding of Palestinian administrative detainees on hunger strike. [200934]

Hugh Robertson: Officials from the British embassy in Tel Aviv met with an official from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office on 17 June; they expressed our concern over the bill.

Italy

Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent correspondence his Department has received from UK citizens living in Italy on delays in passport renewal; whether all such letters were acknowledged; and for what reasons any such letter has not yet been acknowledged. [200963]

Mr Lidington: Passport renewal is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Passport Office under the responsibility of Home Office Ministers. Any related correspondence received in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is therefore transferred to that Office for response.

Lithuania

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Lithuanian Government to secure restitution for British citizens who had assets seized by the Nazis as soon as possible. [200383]

Mr Lidington: The Government attach great importance to supporting the families tragically affected by the Holocaust—including on the issue of property restitution. I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, column 689W.

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Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on redundancy payments for special advisers since May 2010. [200476]

Hugh Robertson: 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), to today's parliamentary question 200473.

Palestinians

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart in favour of the removal of demolition orders from all structures at the Tent of Nations farm outside Nahalin village on the West Bank. [200352]

Hugh Robertson: We have no plans, at the moment, to raise this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. However, we repeatedly make clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concerns about continued demolitions of Palestinian property and the need to abide by their other obligations under international law. Officials from the British embassy in Tel Aviv raised the broad issue of demolitions on 28 May with Prime Minister Netanyahu's office.

Tibet

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts and other senior figures in the United Nations and the EU on human rights abuses in Tibet. [200500]

Mr Swire: We remain concerned about the situation in Tibet. Ministers regularly raise their concerns with Chinese counterparts, and we highlight our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

We regularly work with international partners on these issues, including the EU and the UN Human Rights Council. We believe that long term stability in Tibet will be best achieved through respect for the universal human rights and genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the Chinese constitution.

Justice

Aarhus Convention

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many Aarhus claims in England and Wales have been successful for the claimant since 1 April 2013; [200806]

(2) how many Aarhus claims in England and Wales have been granted permission to proceed since 1 April 2013; [200807]

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(3) in how many applications for Judicial Review in England and Wales the defendant has successfully challenged the claim as an Aarhus claim since 1 April 2013; [200808]

(4) how many applications for judicial review in England and Wales made since 1 April 2013 have been identified on Claim Form N461 as Aarhus Convention claims. [200817]

Mr Vara: The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. The data is not held centrally and providing information at the level of detail sought would require a review of many manual files.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was. [200490]

Jeremy Wright: The Department is not able to provide this information without incurring disproportionate cost because this would require extensive searches of all current and former Ministers’ diaries over this period and further research to confirm the purpose of each visit.

I can confirm that Ministers from this Department go on regular visits which are relevant to their portfolios, including to courts and tribunals, prisons, probation services and a wide range of organisations connected to the Department’s work.

Prisoner Escapes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners serving sentences in open conditions have previously absconded for their current or previous establishments (a) once, (b) twice, (c) three times and (d) four or more times. [200960]

Jeremy Wright: Keeping the public safe is our priority. Absconds and escapes have reached record lows under this Government but each incident is taken seriously. Immediate changes have already been ordered to tighten up the system as a matter of urgency. Prisoners will no longer be transferred to open conditions or allowed out on temporary release if they have previously absconded, escaped, or attempted to do either.

My officials are currently working to provide the information requested. I will write to the hon. Gentleman in due course.

Prisoners

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours per week were spent in cells by prisoners by (a) per week day and (b) per weekend day by security category of prisoner, in each of the last three years. [200832]

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what average time was left to be served on a sentence for prisoners serving (a) determinate, (b) indeterminate, (c) life and (d) all sentences moved from closed to open conditions within the prison estate in each year since 2010. [200961]

Jeremy Wright: We do not centrally hold data on the number of prisoners transferred from closed to open prisons for the time period requested—or the type of sentence which they were serving. Consequently, the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual trawl through the records of every prisoner who has formed part of the prison population since 2010 to identify if they had/have ever been held in open conditions during the time period requested.

Determinate sentence prisoners should not generally be moved to open prison if they have more than two years to serve to their earliest release date, unless assessment of a prisoner’s individual risks and needs support earlier categorisation to open conditions. Such cases must have the reasons for their categorisation fully documented and confirmed in writing by the Governing Governor.

Indeterminate sentence prisoners do not have fixed release dates, so even if the data on transfers was readily available, it would not be possible to identify a length of time left to be served in these cases.

Depending on the length of tariff and the risk they pose, indeterminate sentenced prisoners (ISPs—both those serving life and IPP sentences) move through their sentence via a series of progressive transfers into lower security establishments in the closed estate and then usually into open conditions. ISPs may be considered for transfer to open conditions up to three years before the expiry of their minimum tariff. The decision to transfer ISPs to open conditions is a categorisation decision which is a matter for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may take this decision after seeking advice from the Parole Board—or without seeking advice from the Board, where the prisoners demonstrate exceptional progress.

Placing a prisoner in open conditions serves two main purposes. Firstly, it facilitates the eventual resettlement of prisoners into the community, in conditions more similar to those that they will face in the community than closed conditions can provide. Secondly, it allows for risk to be assessed in order to inform release decisions and, should the prisoner secure release, to inform risk management plans for ongoing supervision in the community. Thus, for many prisoners who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody, this can assist in their successful reintegration in the community and help protect the public. To release these prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate could lead to higher levels of post-release reoffending.

Keeping the public safe is our priority. That is why this Government have taken action on both releases on temporary licence (ROTL) and absconds from prison. We commissioned a fundamental review of ROTL policy and practice last year and, in March, announced a package of measures to ensure that the public was properly protected. We have brought forward some of those measures so that they begin to take effect immediately,

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particularly with more serious offenders where the review concluded that an enhanced risk assessment approach should be taken.

The public have understandable concerns about the failure of some prisoners to return from temporary release from open prison. Keeping the public safe is our priority and we will not allow the actions of a small minority of offenders to undermine public confidence in the prison system. The number of temporary release failures remains very low—less than one failure in every 1,000 releases and about five in every 100,000 releases involving alleged offending—but we take each and every incident seriously. The Government have already ordered immediate changes to tighten up the system as a matter of urgency. With immediate effect, prisoners will no longer be transferred to open conditions if they have previously absconded from open prisons, or if they have failed to return or reoffended while released on temporary licence.

Prisons: Assaults

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many assaults on prison officers were committed by inmates in UK prisons in the last five years; and how many working days were lost as a result of such assaults. [200252]

Jeremy Wright: NOMS takes the issue of assaults very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working closely with the police and CPS to develop a new joint protocol to report crimes in prison—this includes pushing for prosecutions when prison staff are attacked.

The number of prisoner on officer assaults in England and Wales prisons for each year over the last five years is presented in Table 3.8 of the assaults tables in each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics

The Ministry of Justice is not responsible for prisons in other Administrations of the United Kingdom.

Figures for the number of working days lost due to sickness arising from assaults on officers are shown in table 1. The data in this table are based on approved claims for sick leave excusal, whereby a period of absence that can be attributed to an assault at work does not count against the officer’s allowance of sick pay. It is not specifically recorded that the assaults were initiated by prisoners. Table 1 shows that staff sickness fluctuates from year to year.

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Prisons: Employment

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners in each prison in England and Wales are willing and able to work but cannot do so as a result of a lack of available vacancies in their prison establishment. [200797]

Jeremy Wright: This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

We want more prisoners to undertake work in prisons, within the discipline of regular working hours, which will also help them develop the skills they need to gain employment, reform, and turn away from crime. To truly expand real work in prison, we need to maximise the involvement of businesses and the rest of Government, making it profitable for companies and to deliver value to the taxpayer.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1½ million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.

In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

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

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average number was of hours per week spent working by prisoners in each prison in England and Wales in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14. [200831]

Jeremy Wright: The establishment-level breakdown requested is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully whilst they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

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The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.

In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS annual report management information addendum:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

Figures for 2013-14, which will include an establishment-level breakdown for public sector prisons, will be published in July.

Our reforms to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

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

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners are classed as unemployed in each prison in England and Wales. [200833]

Jeremy Wright: This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1½ million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.

In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning. Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

19 Jun 2014 : Column 716W

Figures for 2013-14, which will include an establishment-level breakdown for public sector prisons, will be published in July.

Our reforms to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

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

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, column 494W, on prisons: mobile telephones, when data on mobile telephones seized in prisons in 2013 will be made available. [200962]

Jeremy Wright: The number of mobile phone and SIM card seizures for the first six months of 2013 was 3,398. The data for the whole of 2013 will be available by the end of August 2014, broken down by prison establishment.

One seizure may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.

All figures provided have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.