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Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Attorney-General

Children: Prosecutions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Attorney-General how many children with mental health difficulties have been prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales in each year since 2010. [R] [205395]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of the number of defendants, including those identified as children, with mental health difficulties who have been prosecuted. To obtain details of the number of cases where such circumstances apply would require a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files to be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.

Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what costs his Department has incurred in prosecuting the

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case of

(a)

Christopher Huhne and

(b)

Vasiliki Pryce. [204655]

The Attorney-General: The total cost the CPS incurred in prosecuting the case was £150,710.88. The cost incurred in relation to each defendant individually is not available, as some of the costs were recorded for both defendants collectively.

Crown Courts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many and what proportion of cases at the Crown Court in (a) 2013-14 and (b) each of the previous five financial years were subject to (i) a decision by the prosecution to offer no evidence, (ii) a judge-ordered acquittal, (iii) a judge-directed acquittal and (iv) an acquittal after trial. [205186]

The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the outcomes of prosecutions, on a defendant basis, at the Crown court. Prosecution outcomes comprise convictions, guilty pleas and convictions after trial. Unsuccessful outcomes represent all other outcomes and include judge ordered acquittals (discontinuances, indictment stayed, charges left on file and no evidence offered), judge directed acquittals, acquittals after trial and administrative finalisations.

The following table shows the volume and proportion of defendants as a total of the 13 CPS Areas, where the CPS offered no evidence, where a judge ordered or directed an acquittal and where the defendant was acquitted after trial, in each of the last six years.

Crown Prosecution Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 389W, on the legal profession, what proportion of the money spent on consultancy fees by the Crown Prosecution Service was paid to which companies for what services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014 to date. [203402]

The Attorney-General: A table setting out the proportion of the money spent on consultancy fees by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) paid to companies for services in financial years from 2010-11 to 2013-14 has been placed in the Library of the House, together with the corresponding expenditure. The CPS financial reporting systems are configured to provide information based on financial rather than calendar years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what steps he plans to take in response to the funding of HM Chief Inspectorate of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in his Annual Report 2013-14, page 4 that the background of continuing resource reductions is now having an impact on the ability of the CPS to deliver effectively across the whole range of its activity. [205211]

The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a comprehensive cost reduction strategy to 2015-16 that is fully aligned to, and supports, CPS priorities and objectives. The strategy will ensure that the department meets the SR2013 savings targets.

In their annual report for 2013-14 the Inspectorate acknowledged that CPS had improved its performance on serious and complex cases and also highlighted CPS success in hate crime cases and those involving violence against women and girls. The report was largely based on cases completed more than a year ago and more recent data show performance improvements across the

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board since then. For example, magistrates courts are seeing more guilty pleas and fewer cases dropped while the Crown courts are showing increasing conviction rates-now at 81% across England and Wales. The challenges mentioned in the report are being addressed but they should be seen in the context of an improving prosecution service across the country.

Magistrates Courts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many and what proportion of cases at the magistrates court in (a) 2013-14 and (b) each of the previous five financial years were subject to a (i) decision by the prosecution to discontinue the case, (ii) decision in committal proceedings to discharge the defendant, (iii) decision by the magistrate to dismiss the case on grounds of no case to answer and (iv) dismissal after trial. [205185]

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The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the outcomes of prosecutions, on a defendant basis, at magistrates courts. Prosecution outcomes comprise convictions; guilty pleas, convictions after trial and cases proved in the absence of the defendant. Unsuccessful outcomes represent all other outcomes and include prosecutions dropped (discontinuances, withdrawals, prosecutions stayed and no evidence offered), discharged committals, dismissals and administrative finalisations.

The following table shows the volume and proportion of defendants whose proceedings were discontinued by way of a written notice under Section 23 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, discharged at committal, dismissed no case to answer by magistrates and dismissed after a full trial, in each of the last six years.

Pay

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Attorney-General how many officials in the Law Officers' Departments, of each grade, have remained at that grade since 2010 but received a pay rise; and how much of a rise each such person at each such grade has received. [204761]

The Attorney-General: Tables containing the information requested plus accompanying notes have been placed in the Library of the House.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Buildings

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent on refurbishing (a) gymnasium and leisure facilities, (b) cafeteria and (c) interior decoration in (i) his Department and (ii) buildings owned by his Department in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date. [205351]

Jo Swinson: The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has spent a total of £45,368.90 on refurbishment works since 2013.

BIS spent the following on refurbishment during 2013-14.

BIS spent the following on refurbishment so far during 2014-2015.

Directors

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many directors have been disqualified in the first quarter of the current financial year. [205080]

Jo Swinson: A total of 341 directors were disqualified during the first quarter of this financial year.

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Grant Thornton

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns 286-87W, on Grant Thornton, how many of the 70 recorded complaints about insolvency practitioners from Grant Thornton in respect to formal insolvency procedures were successful. [205256]

Jo Swinson: According to information provided by the recognised professional bodies, 18 of the 70 complaints recorded about insolvency practitioners from Grant Thornton between June 2013 and March 2014 and which were passed to a recognised professional body for consideration have been closed with no further action taken. The remainder are ongoing.

Insolvency Service

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to which offices in the Insolvency Service he plans to recruit administrative staff over the next 18 months. [205082]

Jo Swinson: The Insolvency Service reviews its staffing requirements on a regular basis and responds to local needs as and when they arise. There are plans to recruit administrative staff in the following locations: Plymouth and/or Exeter; London; and Birmingham. This includes apprenticeships recruited in accordance with Civil Service Employee Policy guidance and through the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme.

Overall work force plans will be reviewed in the autumn, once the outcome of the current voluntary redundancy scheme is known and a better assessment of the agency’s work load can be made in the light of the number of insolvency cases in the first five months of the year.

Minimum Wage

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to increase the national minimum wage so that its real terms value is equal to that of January 2010. [205379]

Jo Swinson: This Government are fully committed to the national minimum wage (NMW) set by the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC) at a level that maximises the wages of the low paid without damaging their employment prospects by setting it too high.

We welcome the LPC’s 2014 assessment that marks the start of a new phase of bigger, real increases in the minimum wage, provided economic conditions continue to improve. In our recent 2015 remit we have asked the LPC to think ahead and build on the forward guidance that sets out our ambition to see real increases in the NMW.

Furthermore, since its introduction the NMW has increased faster than average earnings and inflation without an adverse effect on employment. From October this year the 3% rise of the adult rate means full time workers on national minimum wage will receive an additional £355 a year. This is the biggest cash increase since 2008.

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Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will estimate how much money his Department has spent in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since May 2010. [204769]

Jo Swinson: The Department does not keep records of how much money has been or will be spent in individual constituencies. To provide an answer for a particular area would require significant analysis and incur disproportionate cost.

Official Receiver

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many disqualification reports were submitted by the Leeds, Sheffield and Hull Official Receiver’s offices in the year ending 31 March 2014; and what the target is for the combined Leeds office for the year ending 31 March 2015. [205079]

Jo Swinson: The Service records disqualification report submissions by Official Receiver Command and not by location. A Command is overseen by a single Official Receiver and, currently, the Service has 18 Commands based over between one and three geographic locations.

From 1 April 2014, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire Command became East Midlands Command; with Sheffield transferred into the Northern Command. Northern Command has a target of 12 disqualification reports submitted and authorised to proceed in the year ending 31 March 2015.

In November 2014, with the closure of the Hull office, the Humber and East Yorkshire Command will be amalgamated with the Northern Command. A revised target for successful disqualification submissions for the combined Command has not yet been set and will be established as part of routine planning later in the year.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many disqualification reports have been submitted by Official Receivers’ offices in the first quarter of the current financial year. [205081]

Jo Swinson: A total of 76 disqualification reports were submitted by Official Receivers’ offices in the first quarter of this financial year.

Official Receiver: Leeds

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many desks there were in the Leeds Official Receiver’s office on 30 June 2014; and how many such desks were unoccupied. [205077]

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Jo Swinson: As of 30 June 2014, the total number of desks in the Leeds Official Receiver’s office is 124. The total number of unoccupied desks is 52.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how long the lease for the Leeds Official Receiver’s office has left to run; and when it was signed. [205078]

Jo Swinson: The lease for the Leeds Official Receiver’s office started on 28 August 2003 and will end on 27 August 2018.

Skilled Workers

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what action his Department is taking to address the exploitation of low-skilled workers. [204527]

Jo Swinson: In order to protect the rights of workers, this Department is taking a tougher approach on all employers that break minimum wage law. We have already made it simpler to name and shame employers that break the law in this area. The revised Naming and Shaming scheme came into effect on 1 October 2013. The new rules are part of Government efforts to toughen up enforcement of the National Minimum Wage and increase compliance.

The Government have already publicly named 30 employers. Between them they owe workers a total of over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000. By naming and shaming employers it is hoped that bad publicity will be an additional deterrent to employers who would otherwise be tempted not to pay the National Minimum Wage.

The Government have also doubled the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers and quadrupled the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. The Government will now introduce primary legislation so that a maximum penalty of up to £20,000 can be applied on a per worker basis—significantly increasing the maximum penalty employers can face.

In addition, through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill the Government are bringing forward measures to ban exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts and through secondary legislation to ban employment agencies using an ‘overseas only’ approach to filling posts. Both measures will further enhance the opportunities for workers, especially in low-skilled professions.

Culture, Media and Sport

Arts: Primary Education

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 7 July, Official Report, columns 143-44W on Arts: Primary Education, what data are collected by his Department as part of the Taking Part survey. [205449]

Mr Vaizey: A copy of this data has been placed in the House of Commons Library system on 19 June (ref: DEP2014/0898).

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Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what data his Department has collected from the Taking Part Survey on the primary school pupils from each region who have engaged with (a) theatre activities, (b) music activities, (c) dance and (d) other arts in each year since 2009-10. [205450]

Mrs Grant: Child data from the Taking Part survey for 5-10 year olds relate to out of school activity only. A table detailing 5-10 year olds’ out of school participation in individual art forms broken down by region will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It should be noted that the confidence intervals around the point estimates are large meaning that in most instances robust comparisons between regions and time periods cannot be made.

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the Taking Part Survey, what proportion of primary pupils from (a) disadvantaged backgrounds and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds have engaged with (i) theatre activities, (ii) music activities, (iii) dance and (iv) other arts in each year since 2009-10. [205452]

Mrs Grant: Child data from the Taking Part survey for 5-10 year olds relate to out of school activity only. Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) groupings have been used as a proxy for advantaged/disadvantaged backgrounds. To enable sufficient sample size to allow for robust comparisons to be made these have been combined into the lower five groups and the upper five groups. A table detailing 5-10 year olds out of school participation in individual art forms broken down by lower and upper IMD will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

ICT: East Yorkshire

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what analysis his Department has carried out of (a) mobile telephone network coverage and (b) high speed broadband coverage in east Yorkshire; and what steps his Department is taking and on what timescale to improve that coverage. [204982]

Mr Vaizey: Ofcom monitors and publishes broadband coverage data and it currently reports that superfast broadband coverage in the East Riding of Yorkshire stands at 21.6%. The Government have allocated over £10 million to support improvements to broadband infrastructure in East Riding, with phase 1 of the project scheduled for completion toward the end of 2015 and phase 2 scheduled to enter procurement in late summer of 2014. Ofcom also report that mobile voice coverage in the East Riding (2G) is available from at least one operator to over 99% of premises. Government are working to improve mobile voice coverage in poorly served areas through its £150 million Mobile Infrastructure Project.

Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will estimate how much money his Department has spent in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since May 2010. [204772]

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Mrs Grant: Our records show that from May 2010 to date, for the “Superfast Lancashire project” within which the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency falls, Broadband Delivery UK, which is part of the department, has provided £980,000 in grant funding. In addition we can identify that £21,875 of grants from the Listed Place of Worship Scheme have been awarded in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. However as the Department’s financial systems do not routinely record expenditure by constituency or similar geographical areas, a more detailed analysis of spending in the Department could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Pay

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many officials in his Department, of each grade, have remained at that grade since 2010 but received a pay rise; and how much of a rise each such person at each such grade has received. [204765]

Mrs Grant: The Department’s database management system does not record this information in a way that can extract the information asked for. To identify this information for each employee would incur disproportionate cost. Pay awards for civil service departments are limited to an average of up to one percent of overall pay bill costs.

Public Libraries: West Midlands

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many public libraries have closed in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in each of the last five years; [204447]

(2) how many new build libraries have opened in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Birmingham in each of the last five years; [204461]

(3) how many public libraries there were in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last five years. [204510]

Mr Vaizey: The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department. However the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collect, annually, from the individual library authorities comprehensive information relating to library service provision in the United Kingdom. This data include detail relating to the number of service points open to the public 10 hours or more per week, but do not include information on the number of closures or how many new build libraries have opened. The CIPFA data reflect the net figure of public libraries open in each year. Copies of CIPFA statistics are available in the House Library.

Sports: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding his Department has made available for community sports facilities in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. [204819]

Mrs Grant: The information is as follows:

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Sport England also invested £1.9 million in 1994 in the development of the Salt Ayre Sports Centre.

Sport England has number of funding programmes for sports facilities projects open throughout the year. Local sports clubs can check

http://www.sportengland.org/funding

to see which funding programmes they could apply to.

Sports: Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what work UK Sport is undertaking to help attract major sporting events to Northern Ireland. [204836]

Mrs Grant: With its successful hosting of the start of this year’s Giro d’Italia, Northern Ireland has demonstrated its ability to stage major sporting events. UK Sport recently met with the Northern Ireland Tourism Board (NITB) to explain its support to major events and has committed to meet with the NITB every six months. UK Sport is finalising dates for an additional meeting with Sport NI and the NITB to discuss this area further. UK Sport has established a major events agency co-ordination group, including Northern Ireland, which met for the first time this month. UK Sport works with national governing bodies to identify the UK’s major event hosting targets and this is regularly shared with Northern Ireland colleagues.

Defence

Army: Recruitment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014, page five, if he will provide a breakdown of the £5.3 billion savings that reductions in the army would save from 2012-13 to 2021-22. [200572]

Mr Francois: The vast majority—approximately 85%—of the savings referred to in the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, are the direct result of the reduction in the size of the Regular Army from 94,000 to 82,500.

The remaining savings arise from associated cost reductions, such as the reduced requirement for civilian support.

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NATO

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his priorities are for the forthcoming NATO summit in Newport, Wales. [204612]

Mr Brazier: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), gave on 14 July 2014, Official Report, column 564, to the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (John Robertson).

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what risk rating was placed on a collision involving a Tornado and another aircraft in (a) 1991, (b) 1998 and (c) 2010. [202364]

Mr Dunne: The risk rating placed on a collision involving a Tornado for the years 1991 and 1998 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For 2010 the risk placed on a collision involving a Tornado classifies the severity of Mid Air Collision as ‘Catastrophic’, and the likelihood as ‘Remote’. Nevertheless, we have initiated a programme to fit Tornado aircraft with a collision warning system, which is currently being trialed on two aircraft and a third has been fitted for further development. On current planning, we intend to introduce this capability in stages from later this year.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what quantitative criteria have been used to set to remote the risk probability of a collision involving a Tornado aircraft. [202641]

Mr Dunne: Military Aviation Authority Regulatory Article 1210 defines categories for quantifying the likelihood of a risk as follows:

“Likelihood is assessed with respect to the likelihood of the assessed consequence of a hazard. This is based on the likelihood of a single accident resulting in harm for a particular fleet. The appropriate category listed as follows must be used:

a. Frequent: Likely to occur at least several times a year.

b. Occasional: Likely to occur one or more times per year.

c. Remote: Likely to occur one or more times in 10 years.

d. Improbable: Unlikely to occur in 10 years.”

A panel of suitably qualified and experienced persons from the Tornado Force calculated the risk likelihood for the Tornado risk register based on this definition.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Tornado aircrew were actively involved in flying during (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013. [204981]

Mr Francois: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2014, Official Report, column 354W, on Afghanistan, how many evidence-based assessments have been carried out by his Department

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on the effects of lethal targeting; and if his Department will carry out or commission further assessment on use of remotely piloted air systems in Afghanistan in carrying out a post-campaign strategic review. [R] [204047]

Mr Francois: All weapons released by UK Combat aircraft in Afghanistan, be that Fast Jet, Remotely Piloted Air System or Rotary Wing platforms, are done so under the command of a pilot bound by UK Rules of Engagement. Following each release of a weapon by a UK platform, post mission analysis and a battle damage assessment is completed in theatre. I am withholding further details as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

The Secretary of State for Defence has previously said that there will be a need to review the strategic lessons from the Afghanistan campaign, but that time will be when combat operations are complete and all relevant information is available.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Technology

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage investment in agricultural technologies to increase the efficiency of food production. [204794]

George Eustice: DEFRA is working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for International Development to implement the Government's Agri-Tech Strategy. The Strategy is investing £160 million in projects and industry-led Centres of Agricultural Innovation to support an increase in agricultural productivity. In addition, a dedicated UKTI Unit has been established to increase the volume and value of overseas investment in the UK Agri-Tech sector.

The Strategy is industry-led. It is driven forward by a Leadership Council which brings together representatives of research bodies and the sector to identify and advise on industry priorities and to promote the Strategy within the sector.

Fishing Catches

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what proportion of commercial landings of fish and shellfish from UK-registered fishing vessels were taken from a depth below 800 metres in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013; [204911]

(2) how many UK-registered fishing vessels practise bottom trawling below a depth of 600 metres; and for what proportion of time spent at sea those bottom trawlers trawl below (a) 600 metres and (b) 800 metres; [204910]

(3) what tonnage of fish and shellfish quota was allocated to the UK under the Deep Sea Access Regime in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013; [204912]

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(4) what proportion of the total commercial landings of fish and shellfish from UK registered fishing vessels was taken from a depth below 600 metres in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013. [204919]

George Eustice: Determination of catches according to depth criteria and the time vessels fish at particular depths is labour intensive and requires extensive spatial analysis of catch records and vessel activity within a geographical information system. From analysis related to the EU deep sea access regime update discussions, we have provisional catch and vessel data available covering 2006-12 (see tables). These cover total annual catches (all species) and the proportion of these caught below 600 m, and vessels targeting deep sea species at depths greater than 600 m. We have not carried out similar analysis related to depths greater than 800 m or covering 2013. Quota is not allocated to member states under the EU deep sea access regime.

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ICT

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and laptops were lost by her Department in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date. [204471]

Dan Rogerson: The table below shows losses of official equipment in core DEFRA for calendar year 2013 and 2014.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Albania

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of progress made by Albania towards EU accession candidate status. [204916]

Mr Lidington: The General Affairs Council agreed on 24 June to grant Albania EU candidate status, but with tough conditions for the next stage of the process. We recognise the progress Albania has made, including in tackling organised crime and corruption, but believe significant additional reforms are required before further steps can be taken towards EU accession. Particular areas of concern include reform of public administration; independence, efficiency and accountability of judicial institutions; the fight against corruption; the fight against organised crime; action to tackle illegal migration; protection of human rights, anti-discrimination policies and property rights.

Marketing

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on the GREAT campaign in each country in each year since the campaign's launch. [204736]

Mr Swire: From February 2012 to March 2013 the total budget for the GREAT Britain Campaign was £37 million. This was split predominantly between the following 10 markets: Brazil, India, China, Hong Kong, US, Australia, Canada, Japan, France and Germany

For April 2013 to March 2014 the total budget was £30 million across 12 markets: China, Hong Kong, India, Brazil, France, Germany, Turkey, South Korea, US, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia.

April 2014 to March 2015 the total budget will be £46.5 million across 13 markets: China, Hong Kong, India, Brazil, US, Gulf, France, Germany, Turkey, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Emerging Europe (Poland/Czech Republic/Hungary/Romania/Slovakia).

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Because of the way the campaign’s finances were organised, a breakdown of expenditure by country is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Rendition

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr Tyrie), Official Report, column 172W, on 8 July 2014, on Diego Garcia, for what reason records of flight occurrence logs were water damaged; in what format the records are kept; and whether that format has been changed since the damage. [204744]

Mr Ellwood: During routine work to add existing records to the store in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) immigration officials noted water damage to a small number of records, caused by a leaking roof. This is believed to have resulted from extremely heavy weather in June 2014. Although the extent of the damage was not clear on initial inspection at the time, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) on 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 172W.

However, since 8 July, BIOT immigration officials have conducted a fuller inspection, and previously wet paper records have been dried out. They report that no flight records have been lost as a result of the water damage. A small number of immigration arrival cards from 2004 have been damaged, but that information about those flights is still available in the daily occurrence logs and monthly statistics. These records provide dates of aircraft movements in the territory, and passenger and crew numbers.

Following the incident, all hard copy records from the affected location are being transferred from the airport to a new location, and will be digitalised over the coming months.

Sexual Harassment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints of sexual harassment in his Department have been (a) formally reported and (b) upheld in each year since 2010. [204735]

Mr Ellwood: Bullying or harassment is never tolerated in the Department and any reported incidents are investigated as a priority. There have been three sexual harassment complaints made by FCO employees against other employees since 2010. Of these, two complaints have been upheld. The breakdown of cases by year is as follows:

2010—0

2011—0

2012—one (not upheld)

2013—two

2014—0 </form>

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Sri Lanka

Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterparts on protecting the rights of religious minorities in that country. [205273]

Mr Swire: We continue to raise our concerns about attacks against religious minorities in Sri Lanka with the Sri Lankan Government, including the most recent violence in Aluthgama and Beruwala. Through our High Commissioner in Colombo, we have urged the Sri Lankan Government to take early action to promote peaceful co-existence between all communities, noting the importance of ensuring any acts of violence, intimidation or threats are thoroughly investigated and those responsible brought to justice.

The Head of the EU Delegation has raised recent developments with the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary on behalf of EU Heads of Mission. The EU delegation has also released a statement in agreement with EU Heads of Mission in Sri Lanka condemning the violence and has called on the Sri Lankan Government to uphold law and order. On 7 July, I met members of the Sri Lankan Muslim community resident in the UK whose family and friends were directly affected by recent violence in order to hear their concerns.

Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department intends to take to support the investigation of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into alleged abuses in Sri Lanka. [205274]

Mr Swire: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I have given to question 194376, 3 Apr 2014, Official Report, column 742W.

Health

Cancer

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to monitor the standard of care received by cancer patients and to reduce regional variations in the standard of such care. [204712]

Jane Ellison: The latest Cancer Patient Experience Survey results, from 2013, shows that whilst variations between trusts still exist, the overall range of variation for many indicators has narrowed.

For example, in 2010 the proportion of patients saying that they had been given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist ranged from 92% in the highest performing trust to 59% in the poorest performing trust (33 points); by 2013 this had reduced to 97% to 76% (21 points).

NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality to develop better ways of using the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) data within the national health service in order to maximise the impact of the survey, to be able to work with successful and struggling organisations to spread best practice for example. NHS Improving Quality will be doing a suite of work across all surveys to understand what the barriers are to implementing change and to showcase best practice where real improvements can be demonstrated.

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The CPES survey results are delivered to every organisation so each can see how they compare to other organisations. Currently, the action plans are taken into account as part of peer reviews. NHS England would expect that every trust board should know its own survey results and take account of them.

Clinical commissioning groups are currently in the process of finalising measurable levels of ambition to improve patient experience and will be holding providers to account. These are based on NHS England's new measure for poor inpatient experience which includes dignity and respect and communication.

Dementia

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to support the carers of people who have dementia. [204715]

Norman Lamb: On 28 February 2014, the Department set out an ambition for people with dementia and their carers to have high-quality care and support, which includes timely access to support for carers. The Department is supporting the Dementia Action Alliance's carers call to action, which sets out a shared vision and four actions to improve quality of life for carers of people with dementia.

In its Commitment to Carers, published on 7 May 2014, NHS England confirmed it will support timely diagnosis of dementia and support for carers. The revised Dementia Enhanced Service, which will be introduced from March 2015, will include an offer of a health check for carers and signposting to relevant information, advice and support. In 2013-14, the dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation goal was extended to include support for carers of people with dementia.

Carers are central to the Government's reform of care and support, with significant improvements in the Care Act which extend carers' rights to an assessment which will be based on the appearance of a need for support. For the first time, local authorities will be required to meet carers' eligible needs for support. The Act also creates a new statutory principle to promote an individual's well-being, including health and emotional well-being, which will apply equally to carers. We have provided £400 million to the national health service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. The £3.8 billion Better Care Fund includes £130 million funding for carers' breaks from 2015-16.

Dentistry

Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for the NHS of the decision by the General Dental Council to raise their compulsory statutory annual retention fee from £576 per annum to £945 per annum. [204838]

Dr Poulter: No assessment has been made of the implications for the national health service of the decision by the General Dental Council (GDC) on their proposal to increase the annual retention fee.

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The GDC is an independent body and it is therefore for the GDC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. The proposed fee increase is subject to public consultation where the GDC’s case will be scrutinised. The Department does not usually contribute to such consultations but all professional regulators, including the GDC, are aware of the Department’s position on registration fees. In February 2011, the Government published Enabling Excellence, which states that we would not expect registration fees to increase beyond their current levels, unless there is a clear and robust business case that any increase is essential to ensure the exercise of statutory duties.

Disability Aids

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he will lay before Parliament the 2013-14 report on research and development work relating to assistive technology; [204719]

(2) what discussions his Department had in advance of the decision to end the independent production of the annual report to Parliament on research and development work relating to assistive technology and to reduce the scope of that report. [204749]

Dr Poulter: Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 sets out the following requirement:

“The Secretary of State shall as respects each year lay before Parliament a report on the progress made during that year in research and development work carried out by or on behalf of any Minister of the Crown in relation to equipment that might increase the range of activities and independence or well-being of disabled persons, and in particular such equipment that might improve the indoor and outdoor mobility of such persons.”

In recent years the report has been produced by the Foundation for Assistive Technology, and this contract with the Department expired in June 2014.

The Department plans to lay the 2013-14 report before Parliament before the summer recess.

The Department has to deliver change in a climate of continuing fiscal challenge and constraint on public spending, and the approach to reporting on assistive technology research and development is aligned with this. The Department does not therefore plan to invite tenders for production of section 22 reports from 2014-15 and will produce future reports on a smaller scale and of sufficient quality to meet the statutory requirement. This will be done in-house at no additional cost.

As the Government will continue to meet the statutory requirement, no specific discussions have taken place about production of reports from 2014-15.

General Practitioners

Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from doctors on the reforms in GP contracts needed to increase the number of GPs. [204730]

Dr Poulter: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health regularly meets with representatives of the medical profession, including British Medical

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Association and Royal College of General Practitioners, to discuss a variety of issues, including recruitment.

Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase GP numbers. [204731]

Dr Poulter: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave him on 23 June 2014, Official Report, column 20W.

Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of GPs needed to eliminate any shortfall in primary health care. [204732]

Dr Poulter: The Department set up Health Education England (HEE) to deliver a better health and healthcare work force for England. HEE is responsible for ensuring a secure work force supply for the future balancing need against demand, taking into account factors such as the age profile of the existing work force, the impact of technology, and new drugs.

The Department has recognised the need to increase the general practitioner (GP) work force and between September 2010 and September 2013, the number of full time equivalent GPs has risen by 1,051. Additionally, the Department has included in the HEE mandate a requirement that

“HEE will ensure that 50% of trainees completing foundation level training enter GP training programmes by 2016”.

This will support future growth in GP numbers.

Further work is being undertaken by HEE to improve applications and fill rate in to GP training to support the mandate target of 3,250 appointments into GP training by 2016 in England. This includes a review of the GP recruitment process, developing a pre-GP year to give exposure to prospective GP applicants of the specialty and careers advice for foundation doctors and medical students.

In recognition of the contribution the GP work force makes in the national health service, HEE will also undertake additional work on GP recruitment and retention, return to practice and reducing attrition rates, all of which will play a part in increasing the GP work force.

Additionally, the Department commissioned the Centre for Workforce Intelligence to conduct an in-depth review of the GP work force. The report will be published shortly and will build on the preliminary findings published in March 2013.

The review will assess:

current work force numbers to forecast supply;

key drivers affecting work force demand; and

regional variations in demand.

The review will make recommendations for future work force planning. It will also address issues such as GP workload and the 2016 recruitment target and beyond, as well as wider issues around primary care delivery.

Transforming Primary Care, which was published in April 2014 by the Department and NHS England and set out actions being taken towards the vision of personalised, proactive care. Transforming Primary Care made the following commitment:

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‘To ensure that we have a workforce ready to meet the challenges of the future, we are planning to make available around 10,000 primary and community health and care professionals by 2020, in support of the shift in how care will be provided’.

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the targets are on waiting times for appointments within the latest GP contract; [204796]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on overall satisfaction levels of waiting times for GP appointments; and if he will make a statement. [204832]

Dr Poulter: The general practitioner (GP) contract does not include any targets regarding waiting times for appointments. Under the terms of their contracts, GPs are required to provide primary medical services between 8am to 6.30pm from Monday to Friday to meet the reasonable needs of their patients.

The latest GP patient survey results, published this month, found that 74.6%-of patients rate their overall experience of making an appointment as good.

The Prime Minister's £50 million Challenge Fund will help over 1,100 practices, covering 7.5 million people, to develop new ways of improving GP access, including better access to GPs in evenings and at weekends and greater use of telephone, email and skype consultations.

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of GPs’ work taken up by administration; and what changes there have been in that proportion in the last five years. [204797]

Dr Poulter: There is no official survey of the proportion of general practitioners’ (GPs) workload taken up by administration. However, the Department and NHS England take account of feedback from a range of sources including the GP worklife survey, feedback from individual GPs and also from their professional representatives.

There were important changes to the GP contract this year to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy. More than a third of indicators were removed from the Quality and Outcomes Framework in order to free up time to allow GPs to provide more proactive, holistic care, particularly for older people and those with more complex needs.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to GPs on the use of telephone diagnosis. [205393]

Dr Poulter: The means by which a general practitioner (GP) consultation is conducted is entirely a matter for the practice and for the GP's clinical judgement. NHS England do not advise practices on the best means of diagnosis. However they would support the use of telephone consultation as it is a service that is valued by many patients and for some patients it would be their preferred method of receiving a service from the GP.

The Prime Minister's £50 million Challenge Fund will help over 1,100 practices, covering 7.5 million people, to develop new ways of improving GP access. This includes better access to GPs in evenings and at weekends and greater use of telephone, email and video consultations.

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Ministers: Official Cars

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many journeys Ministers of his Department have made using the Government Car Service; and how many such journeys were for the transportation of a red box. [204939]

Dr Poulter: The information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate how much money his Department has spent in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since May 2010. [204777]

Dr Poulter: In general, the Department allocates funding to NHS England, which both allocates funding in turn to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and commissions certain services directly itself. The Department also makes allocations to local authorities for public health functions.

The Government have protected the overall health budget for the national health service in England. Every CCG in England will continue to benefit from stable real terms funding over the next two years. In 2014-15 every CCG's funding has increased by a minimum of 2.14% and will increase by a minimum of 1.7% in 2015-16. This includes the Lancashire North CCG which covers the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency.

NHS: Innovation

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the performance of the Innovation, Health and Wealth programme; and what the costs of the programme to date have been in respect of (a) the NHS and (b) external consultancies. [204839]

Dr Poulter: The Innovation, Health and Wealth programme is a 10-year strategy, launched in December 2011, alongside the Government’s Strategy for the UK Life Sciences.

NHS England has advised that considerable progress has already been made, with the vast majority of actions now complete and showing positive early signs of improvement in uptake and utility of new medicines and technologies in the national health service. NHS England, along with key stakeholders from the NHS, industry and representative bodies, has recently completed a refresh of the programme. This reviewed progress to date and identified areas where further action is needed. NHS England plans to publish the results of that review later this year.

NHS England has advised that information on expenditure on the Innovation, Health and Wealth programme is not available. Funding for the programme is shown in the table:

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Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department's publication, The NHS as an Innovative Organisation: A Framework and Guidance on the Management of Intellectual Property in the NHS, published in 2002, which of the conclusions of that report have been adopted; and what assessment he has made of the effect on the NHS of their adoption. [204840]

Dr Poulter: The Department has made no recent assessment of the effect of this framework and guidance on the management of intellectual property in the national health service.

Pancreatic Cancer

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase research funding for pancreatic cancer treatments. [204844]

Dr Poulter: The usual practice of the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pancreatic cancer treatment. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the national health service, value for money and scientific quality.

In August 2011, the Government announced £800 million investment over five years in a series of NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and Units, including £61.5 million funding for the Royal Marsden/Institute of Cancer Research Biomedical Research Centre, and £6.5 million funding for the Liverpool Biomedical Research Unit in gastrointestinal disease (which has a major focus on pancreatic cancer treatment). Some research they conduct is relevant to multiple cancer sites.

Pharmaceutical companies work in partnership with NIHR research infrastructure. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is currently hosting six pancreatic cancer treatment

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studies that are recruiting patients and have commercial funders. Commercial partners also work with the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and Units, and with the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (jointly funded by NIHR and Cancer Research UK).

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to ensure earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer; [204845]

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that GPs make earlier referrals in cases of possible pancreatic cancer; [204846]

(3) what steps he is taking to improve pancreatic cancer survival rates. [204847]

Jane Ellison: Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014-15. However, we know that early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can be very difficult as the symptoms are shared with a wide range of benign conditions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) are available to help general practitioners (GPs) assess when it is appropriate to refer patients for suspected cancer, including pancreatic cancer. NICE is in the process of updating the guidelines to ensure that these reflect latest evidence and can continue to support GPs to identify patients with suspected cancer symptoms and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.

The cancer waiting times two week urgent suspected cancer standard, which is included in the NHS Constitution, ensures that, where GPs are concerned that a patient might have cancer, they are seen quickly by secondary care.

In 2013, Macmillan Cancer Support, partly funded by the Department, piloted an electronic cancer decision support tool for GPs to use in their routine practice.

The tool covered pancreatic cancers and was designed to help GPs identify patients whom they might not otherwise refer urgently for suspected cancer. Over 400 GP practices across England participated in the pilot. A full evaluation of the pilot is currently being undertaken by Cancer Research UK and the Department’s Policy Research Unit and Macmillan Cancer Support is working with GP IT software companies to further develop, promote and disseminate the tool.

At a local level, it is for individual clinical commissioning groups to promote and enhance the diagnostic capability to deliver better outcomes. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments that may be used for pancreatic cancer are commissioned at the moment by NHS England. NHS England’s pancreatic cancer service specification clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective pancreatic cancer services.

NHS England has recently asked NICE to develop a clinical guideline and quality standard on pancreatic cancer. These will complement the existing Improving Outcomes for Upper Gastro-Intestinal Cancers guidance that describes best practice in the delivery of services for patients with all types of upper gastro-intestinal cancer, including pancreatic cancer.

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Primary Health Care

Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve out-of-hours primary care provision and to minimise dependence on accident and emergency facilities to provide primary care. [204729]

Dr Poulter: The NHS 111 service is becoming a core part of local urgent care systems and provides a vital service, directing patients to the right place including out of hours general practitioner (GP) services. Recent changes to the General Medical Services (GMS) contract mean GPs have to oversee the out of hours care their patients get and report any concerns they have. This is intended to drive up the quality of out of hours services.

Through the 2014-15 GMS contract the Government are promoting more personalised and proactive care management. It is intended that, by providing more personalised and proactive care for high risk patients, the number of patients that need to be admitted to hospital and the number of unplanned emergency admissions will be reduced.

Prisons: Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the potential use of mindfulness in prisons to (a) reduce violence in prisons, (b) improve the mental health of prisoners and (c) reduce reoffending. [204828]

Norman Lamb: The Department has no current plans to assess the potential use of mindfulness in prisons. Assessing the potential use of mindfulness therapies in prisons in reducing violence, improving prisoners’ mental health or reducing reoffending are matters for other organisations including the Ministry of Justice, the National Offender Management Service and NHS England to consider.

Radiography

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) radiographers and (b) radiologists were in practice in each of the last five years. [204908]

Dr Poulter: The latest annual workforce census data, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, provides information on the numbers of radiographers and radiologists working in the national health service in England as at 30 September each year. The numbers of full-time equivalent radiographers and radiologists working in the NHS in England in each of the last five years are shown in the table. The latest available statistics are as at 30 September 2013 and were published on 25 March 2014.

Radiographers and radiologists also work in the private and independent sectors but the numbers are not collected centrally. The Society of Radiographers may be able to supply more information on radiographers. Their website is available at:

www.sor.org/

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Surgery

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with NHS England on Specialised Services Circular 1407 and its potential effect on the use of robotic assisted surgery; and if he will make a statement. [204682]

Jane Ellison: There have been no discussions between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and NHS England regarding Circular 1407.

NHS England is currently developing a commissioning policy for robotic assisted surgery (RAS). The national commissioning policy on RAS will ensure that patients have access to procedures and technology that will benefit them, based on a robust evidence review. Until the policy is available NHS England has not requested the cessation or reduction of any existing services but rather a pause on the introduction of any new services or on expansion of current services.

Terminal Illnesses

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many working-age people in England were diagnosed with a terminal illness in each of the last five years; [204906]

(2) how many people in England on end-of-life registers were in work for each of the last five years. [204905]

Norman Lamb: Data on the number of people diagnosed with a terminal illness are not collected centrally.

Information recorded in Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems (EPaCCs), also known as ‘locality registers’ or ‘end of life care registers’ is not collected centrally. EPaCCs are implemented locally and are the responsibility of local commissioners. The core data set for EPaCCs does not include information about a dying person's employment status.

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Ulipristal Acetate

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take to ensure that women are made aware of the abortifacient nature of the drug ulipristal acetate; and if he will make a statement. [204752]

Jane Ellison: Ulipristal Acetate, known as EllaOne, is an emergency contraceptive not an abortifacient. The information provided in each pack of EllaOne clearly states that it should not be taken by a woman who knows or suspects she is pregnant.

Home Department

Detention Centres

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Gold Suite has been opened at each immigration removal centre in England and Wales in the last year; and what the nature was of each incident that caused it to be opened. [202820]

Karen Bradley: The Home Office command suite structure for the management of serious incidents is based on the model operated by the Prison Service. Silver Command Suites are opened in the establishment where the incident occurred.

A Gold Command Suite is opened in Prison Service headquarters for incidents where the Home Office requests mutual assistance from the Prison Service and is attended by a Home Office senior manager.

Any other serious incident, which does not require mutual assistance but requires ongoing management, is dealt with by opening a Gold Command Suite at Detention Operations headquarters.

The number of times Silver Suites have been opened in the past year in immigration removal centres is detailed in the following table for January 2013 to March 2014 and is provided in line with the data periods for published statistics.

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House of Commons Commission

Clerk of the House

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what funding the Commission allocated for payment of travel, hotel and subsistence expenses of candidates interviewed for the role of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; what the actual cost was of paying those expenses; and from which budget those expenses will be paid. [205043]

John Thurso: No specific budget has been allocated for the payment of travel, hotel or subsistence expenses for candidates interviewed for the role of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive. The cost incurred to 14 July is £2,702.31. The costs are met from the House Service's general recruitment budget.

Data Protection

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, who within the House is accountable for data security. [204883]

John Thurso: The Clerk of the House is responsible for data security for the House of Commons Service. As Data Controller, the Clerk is obliged by law to process personal data fairly, lawfully and in accordance with the data protection principles of the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Clerk of the House delegates actions relating to data security as follows:

The Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO), the Director General, Human Resources and Change, is the member of the House of Commons Management Board responsible for managing information risk. He oversees information security policy for the House of Commons.

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The Director of Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology (D/PICT) has overall Management Board-level responsibility in both Houses for implementing the ICT strategy for Parliament and for providing both Boards with technical security advice. She is responsible for the specification, procurement, operation, security and maintenance of the electronic systems on which the great majority of Parliament’s information is communicated, stored and handled and for providing officials and staff with training and support on their use.

The Parliamentary Security Director advises the SIROs in both Houses and gives strategic and policy direction to D/PICT on cyber security.

Members are the data controllers for all personal data that is handled by their offices and they have responsibility for ensuring that this is done in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

Justice

Government Departments: Freedom of Information

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library (a) the number of Freedom of Information requests received by each Government Department in each of the last four years, (b) the number and proportion of such requests that received a full answer from each Department and (c) the number and proportion of such requests which did not receive a full answer in each category of reason for refusal in each Department. [204955]

Simon Hughes: The Government publish detailed statistics on freedom of information requests received by central Government Departments quarterly and annually. These include the number of requests received by Government Departments, the number of requests which received a full answer and the number which did not receive a full answer. The statistics for the last four years can be found on the following web addresses:

For 2013 Annual:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-statistics-October-December-2013-and-annual

For 2012 Annual:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-statistics-October-December-2012-and-annual

For 2011 Annual and 2010 Annual:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/earlier-editions-statistics-on-implementation-in-central-government-earlier-editions-in-the-series

Prison Accommodation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many extra places will be created in public sector prisons; from what date; and for how long. [204721]

Mr Vara: Prison numbers fluctuate throughout the year and we have sufficient accommodation for the current and expected population.

Sensible measures have been taken to ensure that we will have sufficient capacity to deal with the projected level of the population. These measures include identifying

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additional places in prisons that can provide safe and decent conditions, if required. This is a proportionate measure to ensure that we are able to hold all of those committed to custody by the courts.

Decisions on the number of such spaces required and their duration of use will depend on the current and projected prison population, including an assessment of the necessary margin to manage population fluctuations.

We will end this Parliament with more adult male prison places than we inherited, more hours of work in prisons than we inherited, more education for young detainees than we inherited and a more modern, cost-effective prison estate than we inherited.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget has been set aside for funding HM Prison Service Reserve. [204746]

Mr Vara: The running of the Reserve is within headcount and no additional budget has been allocated to it. Reserve officers will be used to fill vacant posts on a temporary basis; these posts, including support costs, are already funded.

Prisoners’ Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many and what proportion of prisoners who were given a life sentence (a) applied for and (b) were refused a resettlement licence in each of the last five years; [204726]

(2) how many and what proportion of prisoners who were given an indeterminate sentence for public protection (a) applied for and (b) were refused a resettlement licence in each of the last five years. [204754]

Mr Vara: Temporary release can be a valuable tool in the resettlement of prisoners in the community but it must never take place at the expense of public safety. We conducted a fundamental review of the policy and practice of release on temporary licence (ROTL) after serious failures last year. We are introducing a system that enhances the assessment of serious offenders and restricts access to ROTL to cases where there is a clear, legitimate reason for the release. We have already introduced some of these changes and have additionally introduced a restriction on prisoners transferring to open conditions and having ROTL if they have previously absconded from open prisons; or if they have failed to return or reoffended while released on temporary licence.

Data on temporary release applications and the outcomes of such applications are not collected centrally and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost. Data on releases on temporary licence are published at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-december-2013-and-annual

and

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-notice-releases-on-temporary-licence-2012

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Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners have self-certified gender recognition certificates; and how many such prisoners were born (a) male and (b) female; [205389]

(2) how many prisoners who were born as female but now live as men, have been moved to men's prisons; and how many such prisoners have self-certified gender recognition certificates; [205390]

(3) how many prisoners who were born as men have been issued self-certificated gender recognition certificates; and how many such prisoners have been transferred to women's prisons; [205391]

(4) how many prisoners who were born male but now live as a women have been moved to a women's prison in each of the last 10 years. [205412]

Simon Hughes: It is not possible to report on the number of prisoners with gender recognition certificates or on the number who were born male but now live as female. Section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 prohibits disclosure of the fact that someone has applied for a gender recognition certificate or disclosure of someone's gender prior to the acquisition of the gender recognition certificate.

Individuals with a gender recognition certificate are recorded on administrative systems as their legal gender, and are not identifiable as having changed gender. To use any other source of information to identify such individuals would not be appropriate.

In accordance of the Equality Act 2010 and the Gender Equality Duty, NOMS is committed to paying due regard to the need to address and eliminate the unlawful discrimination and harassment of transgender individuals.

Procurement

Mr Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions took place between officials in his Department, the Home Office and STERIA before the decision to privatise Ministry of Justice shared services was taken. [204926]

Simon Hughes: Prior to entering these detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Limited (a joint venture between STERIA and the Cabinet Office) all options were fully evaluated. A business case was developed to evaluate the two Independent Shared Service Centre (ISSC) options, alongside the option to remain a standalone organisation.

The business case was informed by proposals from both ISSC framework providers, which included SSCL. In order to complete these proposals, both providers learned about the existing MOJ Shared Services organisation through visits to our sites and through the information that was provided to them about:

How Shared Services fitted in to the MOJ organisation.

What services they provided and who their customers were.

How many transactions were processed in a typical day.

Who their partners were and what systems they used.

The projects that were currently under way.

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The evaluation criteria in the business case included people impact, services delivery, cost and IT. Overall the SSCL proposal was the strongest, in part due to the investment that they were already making in a new IT platform and the fact that the costs of this could be shared across multiple Government Departments.

The Ministry of Justice is now entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of their back office services, with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014.

The Home Office have also been considering their options at the same time as the Ministry of Justice but the two Departments have completed their evaluations as separate and independent exercises. The Home Office have reached the same conclusion and assessed SSCL to be its preferred option. The two Departments have started contract negotiations at the same time but each will have a separate contract with SSCL. It is intended that MOJ and Home Office follow the same process going forward and will make changes within the same time scales.

Both of these evaluations followed the publication of the Government’s Next Generation Shared Services Strategy in December 2012 and a rigorous procurement exercise completed by Cabinet Office to select the providers of the two Independent Shared Service Centres.

Mr Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the potential effect of the privatisation of Ministry of Justice shared services on jobs in Bootle constituency. [204927]

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice is entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of its back- office services with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014. We expect this to bring increased savings and efficiency in back-office functions, provide further benefits across wider Government and offer better value for money to the tax payer.

SSCL has stated its intention of providing 12 months job protection for all transferring staff from the point of transfer in October 2014. This means that there will be no compulsory redundancies during this period. No decisions have been made to close buildings and we expect all sites to remain open during this period.

Following the transfer of staff, services and IT, there will be a stabilisation stage during which SSCL will look at how the service is currently delivered. No decisions will be made until SSCL has had the opportunity to fully understand the operation.

We will continue to work with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess any impacts on staff.

Mr Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reason his Department did not consult the Public and Commercial Services Union on an in-house bid for the Ministry of Justice shared services contract. [204928]

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of its back-office services with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014.

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Prior to entering these detailed discussions with SSCL, all options were fully evaluated. A business case was developed to evaluate both Independent Shared Service Centre (ISSC) options as well as the option for back office to remain a standalone organisation.

Detailed information was put together on the in-house option, which reflected our existing organisation and also any known plans for the coming years, including those for growth in our customer numbers. This information was prepared in parallel with the proposals from the two ISSC framework providers. The costs and benefits of all three options between now and 2021-22 were assessed and this informed the business case, which was approved by the MOJ departmental board.

The MOJ has been meeting regularly with trade union representatives since we started considering the options in December 2013 prior to any decisions being made and also prior to taking the outcome of the evaluation to the MOJ departmental board. Trade union representation includes representatives from Public and Commercial Services (PCS).

Once we knew the decision had been taken to enter into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL) we informed trade union representatives. Formal consultation is now taking place about the transfer of MOJ staff to SSCL under TUPE. We have been working with these staff and keeping them informed of developments. This will continue throughout the transition process.

SSCL recognises our existing unions, including PCS, and will continue to consult with them after the staff transfer has taken place.

Mr Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to protect personal data held by Ministry of Justice Shared Services when those data are off-shored to countries with less robust data protection than the UK. [204929]

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice is entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of its back-office services with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014. We expect this to bring increased savings and efficiency in back-office functions, provide further benefits across wider Government and offer better value for money to the tax payer.

It is a part of Shared Services Connected Limited’s business strategy to move some of its work offshore. However, no decision has been taken to move any of the work of MOJ Shared Services offshore. Should there be any proposals to offshore MOJ work in the future, specific agreement would be needed from the MOJ. This would also include the need to make sure that the right level of data security was in place.