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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 3 July 2014

Scotland

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to NHS prescriptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202681]

(2) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to free school meals to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202680]

(3) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to NHS dentistry exemptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202682]

(4) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to legal aid to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202683]

(5) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to court fees exemptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202684]

(6) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to repayment of children's welfare loans to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202685]

(7) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to education maintenance allowance to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland; [202686]

(8) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to the energy assistance package, stage 3, to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland. [202687]

David Mundell: The Scottish Government are responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as universal credit is introduced.

There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

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Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects superfast broadband to be fully rolled out in (a) England and (b) Central Bedfordshire. [904622]

Mr Vaizey: 90% of the UK, including Central Bedfordshire, will be able to receive superfast broadband by early 2016, rising to 95% by 2017.

Broadband: South West

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps his Department has taken to further the provision of high speed broadband in the Heart of the South West area. [904631]

Mr Vaizey: Devon and Somerset has already received nearly £32 million to provide superfast broadband to 95% of premises by early 2016. We have recently announced a further £22.75 million to extend coverage to 95% by 2017. Devon and Somerset will also be the location for one of the pilots looking at the potential to go beyond 95% coverage.

Culture: Finance

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effects of the distribution of cultural funds and subsidies throughout the regions of the UK. [904630]

Mr Vaizey: Funding decisions for the arts are made independently of Ministers by Arts Council England (ACE). Earlier this week, ACE announced an increase in the proportion of spend on regional arts and major partner museums.

Direct Selling

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will bring forward legislative proposals to increase the penalties available for repeat offenders against the law relating to nuisance calls. [201465]

Mr Vaizey: Further legislation is not necessary, as both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) can issue substantive monetary penalties of up to £500,000 and £2 million respectively to any organisation that deliberately continues to contravene the regulations.

EU Education, Youth and Culture Council

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what input officials in his Department sought from their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive in preparation for the UK's attendance at the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council held in Brussels on 20 and 21 May 2014. [202604]

Mr Vaizey: DCMS officials seek to keep their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive informed of relevant EU developments on an ongoing basis.

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There was no specific contact prior to the meeting of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on 20 and 21 May.

Tour de France

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if his Department will estimate the level of financial benefit in (a) Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber as a result of the upcoming launch of the Tour de France. [202643]

Mrs Grant: UK Sport is supporting the production of a full economic impact assessment of the event and this will be made available later this year.

Tourism

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the importance of regional tourism in the UK; and what steps he has taken to support small, local hospitality businesses. [202718]

Mrs Grant: Estimates of the direct tourism gross value added (GVA) contribution to the UK economy for each English region, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were recently published by the Office for National Statistics for the year 2011. In total, they show that tourism directly contributed a GVA of around £50 billion to the UK (4% of the economy).

Further economic analysis by Deloitte, commissioned by VisitBritain, suggests that if indirect economic effects are also included, GVA is forecast to be as high as £127 billion (9% of the UK economy) in 2013.

In terms of supporting small, local hospitality businesses, since April 2013 community venues have not had to apply to the local council for an entertainment license for events such as dance displays and concerts. Previously, such licenses currently cost, on average, more than £200 for new applications or needed at least 10 days’ notice for Temporary Event Notices. At the 2014 Budget, the tax on a typical pint of beer was cut by 1p, the duty on ordinary cider was frozen this year, and the duty escalator for wine was ended. Duty on spirits was also frozen for 2014-15.

Furthermore, thematic marketing campaigns focusing on what England is most loved for including Heritage, Coast, Countryside and Culture, as well as Sport and

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Literature, will be delivered and developed as part of the three-year, £19.8m project 'Growing Tourism Locally', funded by the Government's Regional Growth Fund (BIS), with contributions from VisitEngland and private sector. The project focuses on working directly with destinations and the private sector, to create a number of dedicated marketing campaigns throughout the country with emphasis on specific areas and themes. This will also benefit SMEs in the hospitality sector.

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to help the tourism industry retain its role as a key provider of skills and training for the UK workforce. [202719]

Mrs Grant: The Government have recently launched a new Tourism Council, whose remit is jobs, skills and enterprise. The council is a partnership between Government and industry and will be jointly chaired by myself, the Minister for Skills and Enterprise, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), and Simon Vincent, Chair of the Hospitality Guild and Hilton President, Europe, Middle East and East Africa. In March, the Prime Minister announced that there will be two new apprenticeship Trailblazers for Tourism and Hospitality.

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Great Britain Tourism Survey that domestic trips in the UK fell by three million in 2013; and if he will make a statement. [202781]

Mrs Grant: The number of trips taken in GB in 2013 was the third highest in the eight years that the current survey has been running and well above pre-recession averages, with spending second only to 2012. We do expect to see a natural increase in people booking holidays abroad as the economy improves but people are continuing to choose Britain for their holiday. Through its Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign, VisitEngland continues to promote England as a place for all residents of Britain to enjoy, and Visit Scotland and Visit Wales are also actively promoting their offer. The GB Tourism Survey also noted the record number of inbound tourists in 2013 reaching nearly 33 million.

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to free (a) swimming and (b) other leisure services to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out. [202669]

Mrs Grant: No costing has been estimated.

Visits Abroad

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what future foreign visits the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities has planned in relation to her departmental duties; and if he will make a statement. [202720]

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Mrs Grant: A number of visits have been proposed by other Government Departments but I currently have no plans for any further foreign visits at this time.

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what the cost was of the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities' recent visit to Brazil; and if he will make a statement; [202721]

(2) if he will publish the official appointments which took place during the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities' recent visit to Brazil; and if he will make a statement; [202722]

(3) how many foreign visits the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities has made arising from her departmental roles; and if he will make a statement; [202723]

(4) what the cost is of all foreign visits undertaken by the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities as part of her official duties to date. [202727]

Mrs Grant: Details of Ministers’ visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/expenses-and-hospitality

The latest data available at this time are:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-meetings-and-hospitality-data-october-to-december-2013

Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what additional central Government funding is available to electoral registration officers for the purpose of electoral registration in each of the last 10 years; and which local authorities were successful in bidding for such funding. [202603]

Greg Clark: The following additional amounts were available for the purpose of electoral registration in the last 10 years:

In the financial years 2007-08 to 2010-11, local authorities were able to bid for funding from the Participation Fund, which was abolished due to lack of demand. A table listing those local authorities which received money from this fund has been placed in the Library of the House.

The Government have provided funding in 2013-14 and 2014-15, in addition to the Revenue Support Grant, for every local authority and Valuation Joint Board in England, Wales and Scotland for the net additional cost of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER).

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In addition, in 2013-14 every local authority and Valuation Joint Board in England, Wales and Scotland received a share of £3,984,068 funding to support the costs of activities to maximise electoral registration.

Treasury

Banks: Pay

Mr Crausby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Prudential Regulation Authority and (b) Financial Conduct Authority about reports of UK banks paying allowances to employees in order to avoid the EU's bonus cap; and what steps he plans to take to reduce such practices. [202634]

Andrea Leadsom: The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle excessive pay in the financial sector and ensure that pay is aligned with performance, with a tough Remuneration Code that requires deferral of at least 60% of bonuses of senior bankers and limits the amounts that can be paid in cash. Bonuses are down significantly since their peak under the last Government, and are now largely deferred and paid in shares.

In contrast, the EU’s bonus cap is a poorly thought through measure that undermines rather than reinforces our efforts by pushing up fixed pay. It was introduced without any proper impact assessment and has issues around its compatibility with the EU treaty; for these reasons we are challenging it in the European Court of Justice. However, pending the outcome, the Government is fully implementing the cap in the UK, and the Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for ensuring that the banks comply with these rules.

Business: Government Assistance

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps he has taken to support businesses with five or fewer staff. [202335]

Mr Gauke: The Government's long-term economic plan is backing small businesses as they set up and grow. As part of this plan we are cutting taxes and reducing red tape to help businesses. In particular, the employment allowance was introduced in April 2014, and allows businesses and charities throughout the UK to deduct up to £2,000 off their employer national insurance contributions (NICs) bill each year. Over 60% of the total benefit of the policy is expected to go to businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and a business employing three people on the median full-time private sector wage of £25,800 in 2014-15 will see their typical NICs bill cut by over 25%.

In addition, autumn statement 2013 announced the extension of the small business rate relief until April 2015, taking 350,000 small businesses out of business rates.

The British Business Bank was launched in October 2013 to make finance markets work better for small firms, allowing them to prosper, grow and support the UK economy. Over the next five years, the Bank aims to unlock up to £10 billion of financing for viable smaller businesses. Business Bank programmes facilitated a total

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of £782 million of new lending and investment in the fiscal year 2013-14, to over 30,000 businesses. This represents more than a doubling of activity on the previous year. The Business Bank also supported £100 million of new venture capital investment in 2013-14. Startup Loans is a £322 million scheme to help individuals to access finance and support to start a business. Over 18,000 loans totalling more than £90 million have been made since the launch in April 2012.

These measures are all part of our economic plan that is building a stronger, more competitive economy.

Financial Conduct Authority

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will review the scope of the consumer credit regulatory powers of the Financial Conduct Authority; [202725]

(2) if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the statutory powers of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to permit the FCA to investigate alleged illegal actions undertaken before its creation; [202688]

(3) which powers and responsibilities the Financial Conduct Authority has not inherited from the Office of Fair Trading; and which financial regulatory body has inherited each such power and responsibility; [202724]

(4) what requirement will be placed on Wonga to track down the address of each customer due financial compensation for unfair and misleading debt collection practices. [202726]

Andrea Leadsom: The Government have fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The transfer of regulatory responsibility for consumer credit from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took effect in April. The FCA has stronger powers and is far better equipped to protect consumers than the OFT.

Wonga has voluntarily agreed to pay compensation totalling more than £2.6 million to around 45,000 customers in relation to unfair debt collection practices between 2008 and 2010. The requirement agreed by Wonga is available at:

http://www.fca.org.uk/your-fca/documents/requirement-notices/wonga-group-limited-vreq

Had Wonga not agreed, the FCA could have used its powers to impose requirements. Wonga will appoint a skilled person (as specified under section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) to ensure that affected customers receive appropriate compensation.

More generally, the Government have ensured that the FCA has inherited the OFT’s powers (both criminal and regulatory) in relation to misconduct which occurred before 1 April 2014, as well as considerably strengthening the FCA’s powers in relation to misconduct which occurs under the new regulatory regime.

The FCA has the same powers as the OFT had to investigate and prosecute offences under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

The FCA has also inherited the OFT’s power to fine, although the OFT’s power to fine under the Consumer Credit Act was limited to fining a firm for breaches of a requirement imposed by the OFT (and the maximum penalty in this regard was £50,000). The Government

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have already strengthened the new regime by giving the FCA the ability to impose unlimited fines for breaches of regulatory requirements that take place after 1 April 2014.

Financial Markets: Regulation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the regulation of the practice of dark pool trading by high frequency bank traders. [202699]

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers regularly meet with Ministers in other Departments as part of normal Government business. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.

Dark pool trading is subject to regulation under the markets in financial instruments directive (2004/39/EC) (MiFID). The new MiFIR Regulation (600/2014/EU) recently agreed as part of the “MiFID 2” negotiations will impose significant limits on dark pool trading in the EU.

Performance Appraisal

Mrs Lewell-Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by his Department received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14. [202064]

Andrea Leadsom: The 2013-14 appraisal data are not available yet.

Tax Avoidance

Mr Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that proposed accelerated payment notices are not applied retrospectively. [201423]

Mr Gauke: The majority of people pay the tax they owe but there is a minority who don't. As part of the Government's long-term economic plan, we are cracking down on tax avoidance.

Legislation currently before Parliament on accelerated payments will enable HMRC to issue notices seeking upfront payment of disputed tax in certain existing and future avoidance cases.

The legislation is not retrospective. It does not create any new tax liability; it simply alters where the tax sits while the liability is being disputed, and puts those who try to avoid tax on the same footing as the vast majority who pay their tax upfront under PAYE.

The taxpayer can continue to dispute the case and will be paid with interest should they win.

UK Membership of EU: Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the economic benefit to Northern Ireland of the UK's membership of the EU. [203194]

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Nicky Morgan: The Government have made no assessment of the economic benefit to Northern Ireland of the UK’s membership of the EU.

Welfare Tax Credits: Self-employed

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-employed people claimed (a) child tax credits and (b) working tax credits in each of the last 10 years. [202509]

Mr Gauke: The following table is based on finalised tax credits administrative data for each financial year. The latest data available are 2012-13.

Data from earlier years are available only at disproportionate cost.

The decrease in the number of self-employed households in 2012-13 can largely be explained by the removal of the “second income threshold” of tax credits in April 2012. This policy change removed a large number of higher income households from the whole tax credits population.

In general, there is and has been a long-term trend of growth in the number of self-employed people.

Communities and Local Government

Fire Services

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) with reference to paragraph 1.20 of the Fire Statistics Great Britain 2012-13; what the reasons are for the difference in the number of primary fires in England attended by the Fire and Rescue Service reported in each table and table 1a of the appendices to the Fire Incidents Response Times, England 2012-13; [200566]

(2) for what reasons his Department no longer publishes statistics for non-fire incidents with casualties attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in Great Britain; [200567]

(3) how many non-fire incidents with casualties were attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in Great Britain in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14. [200568]

Brandon Lewis [holding answer 17 June 2014]: The information is as follows:

Collection of statistics

My Department’s Fire Statistics Monitor publication continues to provide statistics on numbers of non-fire incidents. These are updated twice a year and data for each fire and rescue authority in England can be found in spreadsheet workbook 7 at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-statistics-monitor

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The Department published numbers of casualties at non-fire incidents for the first time in the 2010-11 publication of Fire Statistics Great Britain. This was discontinued following a 2012 readership survey which did not identify any need for them on a regular basis.

Statistics on incidents attended

The following table provides figures for incidents with one or more casualties attended by fire and rescue authorities in Great Britain, based on the Fire and Rescue Incident Recording System.

Statistical calculation of response times

The difference in the primary fire numbers published is due to a small number of incidents being excluded from the calculation of average response times to ensure the data is as representative and consistent over time as possible. These are Official Statistics publications and, as such, the Department’s Head of Profession for Statistics has sole responsibility for decisions on the methodology for these statistics and how they are presented.

The excluded incidents are those for which response time may be less critical, such as fires in abandoned vehicles or derelict property, and exceptional incidents which would otherwise skew averages and hinder analysis of trends. The exclusions are in line with long-established statistical practice; details on the exclusions are set out on p.16 of the Fire Incident Response Times 2012-13, published in August 2013:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2012-to-2013

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) with reference to the difference in the record of the number of primary fires in England attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in paragraph 1.20 of the Fire Statistics Great Britain 2012-13 and in table 1a of the appendices to the Fire Incidents Response Times, England 2012-13, what assessment he has made of whether average response times for 2012-13 have been wrongly calculated; [201227]

(2) with reference to paragraph 1.20 of the Fire Statistics Great Britain 2012-13, what the reasons are for the difference in the number of primary fires in England attended by the Fire and Rescue Service reported in each table and table 1a of the appendices to the Fire Incidents Response Times, England 2012-13; [201259]

(3) how many non-fire incidents with casualties were attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in Great Britain in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14; [201260]

(4) for what reasons his Department no longer publishes statistics for non-fire incidents with casualties attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in Great Britain. [201261]

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Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer today to PQs 200566, 200567 and 200568.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will publish the research on the effect of age on aerobic capacity used by the Government in developing proposals regarding firefighters' pensions; [203129]

(2) what research his Department has undertaken into the aerobic capacity required by the occupation fitness standards used by fire services that guarantees that firefighters are safe and effective in their ability to complete necessary roles within their occupation. [203128]

Brandon Lewis: The Government commissioned report “Normal Pension Age for Firefighters” found that there was no reason why every firefighter who stayed physically fit could not remain operational until age 60. It also found that where firefighters do lose their fitness, the vast majority are able to regain their fitness levels following a period of extra training. The report can be found at

http://www.clg.heywood.co.uk/node/658

There is no single fitness standard in fire and rescue authorities and Dr Williams' assessment was based on current practices among fire and rescue authorities.

Fitness regimes are a matter for local fire authorities as employers and no direct changes to this are being made with the 2015 scheme, which has the same pension age of 60 years as the firefighters pension scheme introduced in 2006.

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if his Department will investigate the adequacy of the London Fire Brigade and other fire and rescue services' contingency arrangements for strikes. [203131]

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) on 30 June 2014, Official Report, columns 409-10W.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure that fire and rescue services are providing adequate training to resilience crews to maintain the safety of the public in strikes and on similar occasions. [203132]

Brandon Lewis: The responsibility for training resilience crews for industrial action by the Fire Brigades Union, is entirely a matter for individual fire and rescue authorities.

Fire Services: Pensions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on the granting of full pensions to firefighters over 55 years old who are forced to retire due to naturally declining fitness levels. [203130]

Brandon Lewis: If a firefighter is permanently incapacitated so as to be unable to undertake their role

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they will be eligible for an ill-health pension. Where a firefighter is not permanently incapacitated, fire and rescue authorities will support a firefighter in regaining their fitness. An independent report found that the vast majority of firefighters who lose their fitness will regain it following remedial training.

The New Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2006 provides fire and rescue authorities with the discretion to pay an unreduced pension to a firefighter having regard to the costs of the case and the economical, efficient and effective management of their functions; the draft Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2015 regulations contain a similar provision. In early June we made an offer to the Fire Brigades Union to work with the employers to develop a common approach to the use of this discretion. The union rejected that offer and announced further strike action. Further details can be found in my letter of 5 June to the Chairmen of Fire and Rescue Authorities at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/318086/Letter_from_Brandon_Lewis_on_strike_action_5_June_2014_2.pdf

I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

Housing: Planning Permission

Mrs Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a local planning authority which rejects a housing development application which is subsequently approved on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate are still eligible for the New Homes Bonus. [202127]

Kris Hopkins: Yes.

Tree Preservation Orders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has given to local authorities on dealing with trees that are subject to a preservation order. [202789]

Nick Boles: In March we issued new web-based planning guidance on the Tree Preservation Order system. It is available at

http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/tree-preservation-orders/

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will amend paragraph 98 of the National Planning Policy Framework to require applicants for onshore wind energy developments to demonstrate an overall national need for renewable energy. [202034]

Kris Hopkins: Inappropriately sited wind turbines can cause significant harm to the local environment. Hence, last year, we changed planning guidance to strengthen the protection of landscape and heritage in relation to onshore wind.

Looking forward, we are keeping planning policy on renewable energy under review and will consider whether any further steps are appropriate in the light of this monitoring. We are open to representations.

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Transport

Energy

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of his Department's consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in

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each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month. [202709]

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport monthly gas and electricity consumption and costs since June 2010 are shown in the following tables.

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First Transpennine Express and Northern Rail

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the franchise specifications for rail passenger services on the (a) TransPennine and (b) Northern lines contained in his Department's consultation document published on 9 June 2014 will lead to a reduction in services for passengers in the North East. [202433]

Stephen Hammond: The specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises have not yet been decided. A public consultation exercise is being conducted, which will inform these specifications. The consultation can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises

No decisions on services will be made until the consultation process has finished.

First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the match between service levels and passenger demand on each section of the (a) TransPennine Express and (b) Northern Rail franchises. [202320]

Stephen Hammond: Between 2002 and 2012 rail demand in the North of England grew by a total of 66% and demand is expected to continue to grow. The Department for Transport is currently preparing its own forecasts of passenger demand for the next franchises to inform the specification.

The Northern and TransPennine Express franchises consultation document included information from the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for the period up to March 2019. This set out the number of passengers to be accommodated on services into Leeds and Manchester on a weekday during the morning peak period, as set out in the table:

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Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the value for money of current levels of service on each section of the (a) TransPennine Express and (b) Northern Rail franchises. [202321]

Stephen Hammond: At a Direct Award or franchise Re-let we carry out value for money assessments (in order to calculate Benefit-Cost Ratios) of changes to service levels but we do not undertake this assessment of the existing base service levels where they carry forward into the new Agreement.

However, for any large procurement exercise such as a Direct Award or Franchise Re-let, we use externally produced comparators that cover the whole of the franchise to allow us to evaluate the price of any bid that we receive.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the franchise specifications for rail passenger services on the (a) TransPennine and (b) Northern lines contained in his Department's consultation document published on 9 June 2014 will increase the total number of daily (i) peak and (ii) off-peak services on these routes. [202434]

Stephen Hammond: The specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises have not yet been decided. A public consultation exercise is being conducted, which will inform these specifications. The consultation can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises

No decisions on services will be made until the consultation process has finished.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the hon. Member for Walsall North will receive a reply to his letter of 29 May 2014 on behalf of a constituent. [203034]

Stephen Hammond: The Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr Goodwill), replied to the letter on 1 July 2014.

Railways: North West

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with Northern Rail on modernising stations on the South Fylde line. [202376]

Stephen Hammond: As owner and manager of the stations on the South Fylde line, it is for Network Rail and Northern to look at improving facilities at the stations on this line, working to develop schemes with other local stakeholders.

Government support and funding for station modernisation and improvements are available through various schemes including Access for All and the National Station Improvement Programme.

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with Network Rail on the introduction of a passing loop on the South Fylde Line. [202445]

Stephen Hammond: I have had no discussions with Network Rail on this subject. Network Rail is currently undertaking a long-term planning process in consultation with industry, local and other stakeholders to identify priorities for future development of the rail network following the 2014-19 Control Period.

Rescue Services: Liverpool

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Liverpool was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in (a) April 2014 and (b) May 2014. [202598]

Stephen Hammond: Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed below risk assessed levels during:

(a) April 2014—30 occasions out of 60 shifts

(b) May 2014—six occasions out of 62 shifts

Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty’s Coastguard is using the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Valuation of Life and Health Interdepartmental Group

Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monetary thresholds were applied to the cost-per-quality adjusted life year quoted in the evidence submitted as part of his Department's work with the Inter-departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review in 2008. [202427]

Stephen Hammond: As suggested by the evidence submitted as part of the Department’s work with the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review in 2008, the Department for Transport does not use cost per quality adjusted life year in its analysis.

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Health

Asthma

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that national guidelines on asthma care are implemented; and what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality and availability of available data on asthma care. [203122]

Jane Ellison: NHS England is taking a number of actions to improve the care and management of people with asthma.

It is supporting clinical commissioning groups to improve out of hospital treatment for those with asthma by giving doctors more control over the commissioning of asthma services and improving information links between general practitioners and hospitals. The implementation of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) asthma quality standard, which sets out what good quality care looks like, will also raise the standard of care people with asthma receive.

The National Clinical Director for Respiratory Disease, Professor Mike Morgan, is responsible for working across all five domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework in NHS England in tackling asthma issues, and Dr Jacqueline Cornish, the National Clinical Director for children, young people and transition to adulthood, is working with the Strategic Clinical Networks for maternity, neonates and children and young people, to improve clinical outcomes for children and young people with asthma. NHS England also continues to work with Asthma UK and professional groups in both primary and secondary care to improve outcomes for all those with asthma. It is also working to ensure that everyone with a long-term condition is offered a personalised care plan and an asthma action plan should form part of that.

In terms of data collection on asthma, the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership is considering with NHS England, a national clinical audit of asthma services across the country against NICE quality standards for asthma.

Breastfeeding

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of mothers in England are breastfeeding their baby on discharge from neonatal care. [203154]

Dr Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to promote breastfeeding for mothers of babies in neonatal care. [203155]

Dr Poulter: The Department recognises that breastfeeding has huge health benefits for mother and baby and that breast milk is even more important for the most vulnerable babies cared for in neonatal and special care baby units, where it is essential to promote and support breastfeeding. In the last few years a number of local, regional and national initiatives to increase breast milk usage and improve breastfeeding support have been implemented, with an increasing focus on breastfeeding rates at discharge.

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NHS England’s Neonatal Service specification requires that all commissioned providers of neonatal services provide appropriate family facilities, which includes private and comfortable breastfeeding and expressing facilities.

The Department has sponsored a DVD ‘From Bump to Breast Feeding’ which is distributed free to pregnant women and includes material on breast feeding for pre-term babies. This is supported by NHS England.

Most trusts are working with agencies such as Bliss to improve this aspect of care and every year more units are successfully gaining accreditation for having implemented the baby friendly initiative. There is still further progress to be made in this area. However, teams who have demonstrable success are working to disseminate their practices.

A national neonatal Commissioning for Quality and Information (CQUIN) to increase breastfeeding rates in babies less than 33 weeks was agreed in 2012-13 and some units continue to work towards improving support as part of current CQUINs. To meet this, many units have recruited specialist nurses to support mothers in the early stages following delivery and again later in the transition to full breastfeeding and are able to demonstrate exemplar practices. Improvement projects focused on supporting mothers to provide breast milk for babies in neonatal units have seen statistically significant increases in breast feeding rates. NHS England does not have details of projects being implemented from individual trusts.

Chlamydia

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage postal tests and other alternative routes for Chlamydia screening; how many postal tests for Chlamydia were used in each of the last five years; and how many providers of such services there are. [203156]

Jane Ellison: The current National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) advice is that health service based screening may be supplemented by high quality internet-based testing. This is highlighted in the NCSP Standards for Chlamydia Screening, Equity of Access Report and Guide on Involving Young Men in Chlamydia Screening. The Public Health England (PHE) sexual health facilitator team advocate this to local commissioners and providers. Internet testing is attractive to some population sections, especially men.

Currently PHE does not collect information specifically on remote testing delivered through postal kits. Therefore the current number of such providers cannot be ascertained. PHE has applied to the Standardisation Committee for Care Information to introduce data collection on postal testing commissioned by local authorities.

The remote testing data for five years collected prior to 2012 by the NCSP is shown in the following table:

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Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what routes other than postal screening, GP surgeries and sexual health clinics, are being encouraged for opportunistic Chlamydia screening. [203164]

Jane Ellison: The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) recommends in its guidance that Chlamydia screening should be integrated within wider sexual health provisions for young adults, and offered at every opportunity (for example, consultations such as emergency hormonal contraception and abortion referrals). National guidance on integrated care models has been produced by the NCSP.

In addition to screening offered via postal test kits, general practitioner surgeries and genitourinary medicine clinics, commissioners are advised to ensure that screening is available in contraceptive health services, pharmacies and where appropriate, through outreach programmes. The NCSP provides guidance on when and how to best deliver outreach programmes with the aim of ensuring services are based on need, are good value for money and are sustainable.

Commissioning Support Units

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much income commissioning support units earned from clinical commissioning groups in 2013-14; and what proportion of that income related to support for clinical commissioning groups on putting NHS services out to tender. [203163]

Jane Ellison: During 2013-14 commissioning support units in England earned £602.1 million from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). We do not collect information centrally on what proportion of income is used in relation to CCGs tendering activity.

Cystic Fibrosis

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cystic fibrosis sufferers have died while being on the waiting list for a lung transplant in each of the last five years. [203030]

Jane Ellison: The information requested is in the following table:

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East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the speech by Simon Stevens, CEO, NHS England on 4 June 2014, if he will call in and review the decision taken by the East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust to transfer community services currently based at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital Herne Bay to the Estuary View Medical Practice in Whitstable. [203152]

Jane Ellison: The reconfiguration of local health services is the responsibility of the local national health service, led by clinicians, and should be in the best interests of patients. Any reconfiguration proposed has to ensure that it shows support from general practitioner commissioners, strengthened public and patient involvement, clarity on the clinical evidence base and consistency with current and prospective patient choice.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) and NHS Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are leading plans to consolidate out-patient sites from 15 locations down to six, and conducted public consultation on plans between December 2013 and March 2014. We understand EKHUFT’s board approved these proposals on 27 June 2014.

These changes do not affect the future of any community hospitals in Kent. NHS England confirms the NHS Canterbury and Coastal CCG Governing Body met on 2 July 2014 and approved EKHUFT’s move to implement new ways of working in an out-patient setting, including the reduction of specialist acute out-patient clinics from 15 sites down to six sites, and the choice of Estuary View Medical Centre as the centralised site for specialist acute out-patient services on the north Kent coast.

Energy

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of his Department's consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month. [202706]

Dr Poulter: The Department’s consumption in kWh of gas and electricity in each month since June 2010 is detailed in the following tables.

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Gas and electricitycosts

The Department’s previous way of processing energy bills makes it difficult to provide meaningful and relevant monthly costs for earlier years but the annual expenditure for 2009-12 is as follows:

The following table outlines the monthly costs of gas and electricity consumption in the Department’s buildings from April 2012-13 to March 2013-14.

These figures relate to buildings occupied by departmental staff, where the Department is directly responsible for payment of gas and electric bills and can provide monthly consumption figures. This covers Richmond House, Skipton House, Wellington House, Premier House and Premier Buildings (vacated in November 2012).

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General Practitioners

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the effect of projected population growth on the demand for GP services over the next 10 years. [203089]

Dr Poulter: Office for National Statistics estimates suggest that by 2024, more than 10% of the United Kingdom population will be aged 75 or over. Our recent publication ‘Transforming Primary Care’, sets out our vision for more proactive, personalised, joined up care, particularly for older people. From the end of June 2014, all people aged 75 and over will have a named general practitioner (GP) with overall responsibility for and oversight of their care.

Additionally, because of advances in medicine, people of all ages are living with complex health needs. Starting in September 2014, over 800,000 people will benefit from a Proactive Care Programme, which will provide personalised joined-up care and support tailored to their needs.

To ensure that the workforce is capable of supporting these changes, we are working closely with Health Education England, NHS England and the professions to improve recruitment, retention and return to practice, both for GPs and for other key parts of the local workforce such as community nurses. We are planning to make available around 10,000 additional primary and community health and care professionals by 2020.

Knee Replacements

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current waiting times are for NHS knee replacement operation in England, by region. [202777]

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not held centrally. Consultant-led referral to treatment waiting times are collected separately for 18 high volume treatment functions (divisions of clinical work based on main specialty), including trauma and orthopaedics, but not for individual procedures such as knee replacements.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of NHS knee replacement operations and subsequent revisions in England in the last three years. [202779]

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not held centrally.

Such information as is available is from reference costs, which are the average cost to national health service trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs for acute care are collected by Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs), which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that consume common levels of healthcare resource. The HRGs in the attached table therefore include the costs of other knee procedures in addition to knee replacements.

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Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS knee replacement operations were carried out in England, by region, in the last three years; [202780]

(2) how many knee replacement revisions were carried out by the NHS in England in the last three years; and how long the average time interval was between total knee replacement and subsequent revision procedures. [202778]

Jane Ellison: The table below shows how many knee replacement operations were carried out in England, by region, in the last three years.

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