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Written Answers to Questions

Friday 12 September 2014

Cabinet Office

Birth Rate

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of births that will take place in England in each of the next 10 years. [208775]

Mr Newmark: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated September 2014:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary question to the Minister for the Cabinet Office asking how many births will take place in England in each of the next 10 years. [208775]

Projected numbers of births are included in the official national population projections. The most recent national population projections are based on mid-year population estimates for 2012 and were published in 2013. The projected number of births in England is given in the table below.

National population projections are not forecasts and do not attempt to predict the impact of future government policies or changing economic circumstances. They provide an indication of the future size and age structure of the population that might arise if recent demographic trends were to continue. More information on population projections can be found at:

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/npp/national-population-projections/index.html

Government Departments: Cost-effectiveness

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what savings the Efficiency and Reform Group has identified in each year since 2010. [208570]

Mr Maude: Savings delivered by the Efficiency and Reform Group in each financial year since 2010 are as follows:

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Savings delivered in each year are normally measured against a 2009-10 baseline and are a mixture of recurring and non-recurring savings.

All savings figures have been verified by the Cross Department Internal Auditors and reviewed by the NAO.

Communities and Local Government

Written Questions

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of named day written questions were answered by his Department within the prescribed period in the (a) 2012-13 Session, (b) 2013-14 Session and (c) 2014-15 Session to date. [208443]

Kris Hopkins: Departmental performance information, for ordinary and named day Parliamentary Questions, is collated by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and submitted to the Procedure Committee. This is published on a sessional basis by the committee, and includes evidence regarding departmental performance. The monitoring report relating to the 2012-13 Session was published on 13 February 2014 as HC1046. The report covering statistics relating to performance during the 2013-14 Session will be published very shortly by the Procedure Committee.

Culture, Media and Sport

Olympic Games 2012: Tourism

Sir Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his most recent estimate is for tourist (a) numbers and (b) spend delivered as a result of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. [208830]

Mrs Grant: The most recent estimate for tourism numbers and spend delivered as a result of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games was set out in VisitBritain’s Shifting the Dial Report (July 2013). This showed there were 685,000 visits from overseas to the UK in July, August and September 2012 primarily due to, or involved attending an official ticketed event at the London 2012 Olympic or Paralympic games. This rose to 871,000 visits if we include live free to view or cultural events such as the London 2012 Festival. These visits resulted in spend of £925 million. Overall for 2012, there was an increase in visits from overseas to the UK of 0.9% on 2011 to 31.1 million.

Supported by VisitBritain’s GREAT Britain campaign, established as a means of promoting Britain as a great place to visit, study and do business with on the back of London 2012, there was a record 32.8 million inbound visits in 2013, up 5.6% on 2012. This also resulted in record spend (in nominal terms) up 12.7% on 2012 to £21 billion.

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Electoral Commission Committee

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, which wards, by town, county and parliamentary constituency had a postal vote turnout greater than 80% at the last local elections for which figures are available. [204710]

Mr Streeter: As it has previously been confirmed to the hon. Member, the Electoral Commission does not hold ward data by town and parliamentary constituency.

The most recent postal vote turnout data it holds by ward/division is for the May 2013 county council elections in England and Anglesey, Wales. The following table shows the wards/divisions where the postal voter turnout was greater than 80%.

Electoral Commission

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, (1) which Electoral Commission regulation campaigns were deemed (a) appropriate and (b) inappropriate to be allocated targets for registration download; [208197]

(2) under what criteria the targets set for the electoral registration campaigns that were conducted by the Electoral Commission were deemed appropriate for targets for registration downloads. [208198]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its campaigns deemed appropriate to be allocated targets for registration downloads are those for which downloading a registration form was the major aim and call-to-action (i.e. what the campaign is requesting its audience to do) for the campaign.

Since 2010, those campaigns are:

UK general and English local elections, 2010

English, Scottish and Welsh local, London mayoral and London Assembly elections, 2012

English and Welsh local elections, 2013

English and Northern Irish local, English mayoral and UK European Parliamentary elections, 2014

Conversely, those campaigns deemed inappropriate to be allocated a target for registration downloads include those for which downloading a registration form is not the major call-to-action (i.e. what we are asking people to do in response to the campaign). Instead, these campaigns focus more on informing the

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voter or making the voter aware of the subject. These are also often additional aims of the voter registration-focused campaigns.

Since 2010, those campaigns are:

Welsh devolution referendum, 2011

UK Parliamentary voting system referendum; Scottish Parliamentary, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly, English local and Northern Irish local elections, 2011

England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections, 2012

Northern Ireland canvass 2013

The Commission is basing this response on the assumption that where question 208197 refers to ‘regulation campaigns’, this is understood to be ‘registration campaigns’, as the Commission does not run public awareness campaigns for its regulatory work.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2014, Official Report, column 299W, on electoral register, how many periodic reports on the accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers there have been since 2001. [205135]

Mr Streeter: All of the Commission’s reports on the accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers are on its website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/electoral-registration-research

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 301W, on the electoral register, if he will list the electoral registration officers who responded to the Electoral Commission survey on the importance of data matching and who considered that local data matching was (a) important and (b) unimportant during the live run confirmation. [205247]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has placed the answer to the hon. Member’s question in the Library.

ICT

Mr Bradshaw: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and laptops were lost by the Electoral Commission in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date. [204808]

Mr Streeter: The Commission informs me that in 2013 no items of mobile equipment were lost and in 2014 one piece of mobile equipment was lost. This was a BlackBerry mobile phone which was left on a commuter train on 22 January 2014.

All Commission BlackBerrys are password protected. The Commission’s standard procedure was followed and the device was disabled and all data were remotely wiped off as soon as possible the following day. The Commission’s Information Manager was informed and an incident report was created.

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Voting Behaviour

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the 100 local authority wards with the lowest turnout for voting at polling stations are; and what the proportion of the total turnout for postal voting in these wards is. [204717]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has placed the answer to the hon. Member’s question in the Library.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether case trapping is being used in the (a) Gloucestershire and (b) Somerset badger cull. [208808]

George Eustice: In line with the badger control licence issued by Natural England and the Best Practice Guidance for contractors, cage trapping and controlled shooting are the two culling methods being used in both Somerset and Gloucestershire during this year’s culls.

Rivers

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to institute infraction proceedings where water framework directive river quality standards are not met. [208674]

Dan Rogerson: It is for the European Commission, in its role as guardian of the Treaties, to oversee the application of European Union law and institute infraction proceedings where it considers such action appropriate.

The standards which apply under the water framework directive are set out in Directions from the Secretary of State to the Environment Agency. These standards are used by the Environment Agency in drawing up objectives for all water bodies in river basin management plans. These plans are then approved by the Secretary of State. All public bodies have a duty to have regard to these plans and the Environment Agency must exercise its functions to achieve the plans’ objectives.

Sewage: Water Treatment

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance her Department provides on the level of phosphate discharge allowable from sewage treatment works under the water framework directive; and what plans she has to review this guidance. [208676]

Dan Rogerson: In July DEFRA published updated ministerial guidance to the Environment Agency to assist it in carrying out its river basin planning functions under the water framework directive. This includes guidance on environmental standards such as phosphates standards.

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Current phosphate standards are set out in Directions to the Environment Agency and will apply to the end of the current six-year planning cycle in 2015.

Updated standards for phosphate will apply for the next six-year river basin planning cycle. This follows a review and consultation by the UK Water Framework Directive Technical Advisory Group. The new standards will be reflected in revised Directions to the Agency.

The Environment Agency sets limits on discharges from sewage treatment works to achieve standards set out in the Directions.

Health

Abortion

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will direct the General Medical Council to release papers relating to the pre-signing of abortion HSA1 certificates by doctors to the police for investigation under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and Perjury Act 1911. [208379]

Jane Ellison: The Department considers the pre-signing of forms without any consideration of information relating to the woman to be incompatible with the requirements of the Abortion Act 1967.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is an independent statutory body, and the Secretary of State does not have any express legal powers to direct the GMC.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times his Department has received applications for (a) additional funding or (b) other support from the funds and trusts which provide support to people with contaminated blood in each of the last five years. [208727]

Jane Ellison: The Department provides funding only to the five financial support schemes which provide support to people infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C as a result of treatment with contaminated national health service supplied blood or blood products.

The Macfarlane Trust, the Eileen Trust and the Caxton Foundation are given an annual budget allocation and are required to operate within the budget envelope of that allocation and any reserves they may hold. The Department provides MFET Ltd and the Skipton Fund with sufficient funds to meet all legitimate claims for the payments that they are mandated to make. In the last five years, the Department has received one business case for additional funding from the Macfarlane Trust, and one from the Caxton Foundation.

Childbirth

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many babies who were born before 24 weeks gestation survived in each of the last five years. [208380]

Dr Poulter: The latest data published by the Office for National Statistics in October 2013 show that very few live births occur before 24 weeks gestation. Infant mortality

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rates for babies born this early remain extremely high. For babies born in 2011, one in 1,000 of live births occurred at less than 24 weeks; the infant mortality rate for these babies was 894.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Data from the Epicure series of studies of survival and later health among babies and young people who were born at extremely low gestations found there was no difference in the ongoing illnesses or complications affecting surviving babies born between 22 and 25 weeks gestation in 1995 and 2006. High levels of disability were present at six years of age in surviving children born before 24 weeks, including cerebral palsy, low cognitive scores, mobility problems, blindness or profound hearing loss.

The following table shows the most recently available data on the number of live births prior to 24 weeks gestation, and the number of those births that survived until one year of age, in England and Wales. The data for 2007 and 2008 have been combined.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will revise his definition of genetic modification to include manipulations of mitochondrial DNA. [208378]

George Freeman: The Department decided that, because there is no existing universally agreed definition of genetic modification in humans, it would adopt a working definition. The definition that has been adopted is that genetic modification involves the germ-line modification of nuclear DNA (in the chromosomes) that can be passed on to future generations.

We have no current plans to revise the working definition but will keep it under review.

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Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome

Mrs Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, columns 156-7W, on ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), if he will make it his policy that all cases of OHSS are recorded in official statistics and not only those that require hospital admission or are graded as severe. [208439]

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that there is not currently an evidence base to predict the cohort of patients that may develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). This means that there would be little clinical value in requiring licensed fertility clinics to report every incidence of OHSS.

Home Department

Ashya King

Dr McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the name and job title was of the official who signed the European arrest warrant for the parents of Ashya King; [208309]

(2) what expenditure has been incurred by UK police forces in the search for the parents of Ashya King; and how these costs will be met. [208310]

James Brokenshire: No Home Office or other Government official was involved in signing a European Arrest Warrant for the parents of Ashya King. A European Arrest Warrant is issued by a judge, on application by a constable or appropriate person, in this case, the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Home Office does not hold information on what expenditure has been incurred by UK police forces in the search for the parents of Ashya King.

Any costs incurred are a matter for the individual forces involved.

Asylum: Deportation

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been deported to other European countries in each of the last four years. [207405]

James Brokenshire: The table below provides the total number of enforced removals of asylum cases to other European countries, in each year from 2010-13.

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Deportations are a specific subset of removals which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals.

It is not possible within these figures to say at what stage in the asylum process individuals have reached at the time of their removal, including whether their claim has failed at that point, as those departing voluntarily can do so at any stage without necessarily notifying the Home Office.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK and on persons refused entry to the United Kingdom within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by type are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: April – June 2013, tables rv.06 and rv.06.q from gov.uk on the statistics webpages at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

and will be placed in the Library of the House.

Borders: Personal Records

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement by the Prime Minister of 1 September 2014, Official Report, column 24, on EU Council Security and Middle East, and with reference to the oral evidence of Mark Sedwill, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, to the Committee of Public Accounts of 9 October 2013, HC 663-i, whether data protection legislation in any EU country continues to prevent the disclosure of advance passenger information to the UK. [208363]

James Brokenshire: Some carriers are unable to collect and provide advance passenger information due to concerns that this would be incompatible with EU free movement and data protection legislation. However, we already receive a very substantial amount of such information on European routes, and intend to continue to increase this.

Counter-terrorism: Wales

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) the All Wales Prevent Board and (b) the Wales CONTEST Board. [208019]

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James Brokenshire: The All Wales Prevent Board and the Wales CONTEST Board are institutions wholly owned and operated by the Welsh Government. Responsibility for their oversight and effectiveness falls to the Welsh Government. The Home Office is committed to working with the Welsh Government on the delivery of the CONTEST Strategy in Wales. The Home Office provides the secretariat for the Wales CONTEST Board and senior Home Office officials are members. A range of Home Office officials from relevant areas also regularly attend the All Wales Prevent Board.

The Welsh Government’s Director General for Local Government and Communities, who chairs the Wales CONTEST Board, is also a standing member of the UK’s CONTEST Board. This process is supplemented by day-to-day working-level contacts between officials in both administrations.

Entry Clearances: China

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Chinese nationals visited the UK on tourist visas in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013. [208546]

James Brokenshire: Chinese nationals can visit the UK using a number of visit visas including business, student and other. The number who visited the UK in the last three years using an ordinary visit visa, who are most likely to be tourists, is given in the table:

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on persons entering the UK as visitors by nationality in table ad_03_o (Admissions) within the ‘Immigration Statistics’ release. It is not possible to say how many of these visited for the purpose of tourism.

A copy of the latest release, ‘Immigration Statistics April - June 2014’ is available from the Library of the House and from

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Illegal Immigrants: Channel Tunnel

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last met Eurotunnel Group representatives to discuss illegal immigration into the UK through the Channel Tunnel. [208442]

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development

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and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the gov.uk website:

http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

Illegal Immigrants: France

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with (a) the French Government, (b) local government in Calais and (c) ferry operators regarding illegal immigrants at Calais since 1 August 2014; and if she will make a statement. [208169]

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the gov.uk website at:

http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

Immigrants: Detainees

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time spent in detention for the purposes of immigration control by (a) women and (b) men in each category of detainee was in each of the last five years. [208559]

James Brokenshire: Published figures on people detained in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act 2014 powers include those held in short term holding facilities, pre departure accommodation and immigration removal centres. Figures exclude those held in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short term holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours), and those recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their dependants. The period of detention starts when a person first enters the Home Office detention estate. If the person is then moved from a removal centre to a police cell or Prison Service establishment, this period of stay will be included if the detention is solely under Immigration Act powers.

The table below shows the available information on length of detention, in bands, as at the last day of each year for the last five years. The Home Office publishes length of detention figures in bands as average figures can be skewed by the small number of people detained for longer periods.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within Immigration Statistics: April to June 2014, from the GOV.UK website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Immigration Controls

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers in the UK motorsport industries hold a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence. [208459]

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James Brokenshire: There are four employers regulated by the Motor Sport Governing Body who hold a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to his letter to the Director General, UK Visas and Immigration of 4 August 2014 on behalf of a constituent, CTS ref M11054/14. [208487]

James Brokenshire: The Director General of UK Visas and Immigration replied to the hon. Member on 9 September 2014.

Passports

Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the longest time is for which a passport application has been waiting to be processed from receipt at the passport office to delivery to applicant for (a) new applications and (b) applications for renewal of passport in the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 May 2014. [199391]

Norman Baker: In the period to which the right hon. Member refers, the longest waiting time for completion of (a) a new application and (b) for a renewal was both 135 days. In the case of the new application, the applicant failed to provide the required supporting documentation with their application. Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) made five separate requests, over the next three months for the documentation to be supplied. The applicant finally supplied the documents over four months after the date of the application. HMPO issued the passport eight days after receipt of the documentation. In the case of the renewal, an application was made to renew a child’s passport with a change of name. HMPO wrote to the parent on seven occasions seeking additional information concerning parental responsibility and agreement to the change of name. A court order confirming the change of name was forwarded by the applicant over four months after the date of application. The passport was issued seven days after receipt of the court order.

Stansted Airport

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the UK Border Force is taking to reduce queuing and improve the passenger experience at Stansted airport. [207268]

James Brokenshire: This year, Border Force increased the number of e-passport gates at Stansted from 5 to 15 which allows for a more efficient flow of passengers through the primary arrivals control. Alongside this, Border Force is working closely with Stansted airport to reduce queues and improve the passenger experience. It has increased the number of Border Force officers at the port, including seasonal workforce to deal with the large volumes of passengers through the summer; introduced a new resourcing tool using live arrivals data and transit times to schedule the right number of officers at passport control for each flight; improved signage; and introduced a new style queuing system which feeds to multiple desks and allows for a continuous movement of passengers.

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According to Border Force data, the performance at Stansted has been consistently above service level agreements throughout the summer, and has shown significant further improvement since the introduction of the new eGates on 15 August in time for the August bank holiday weekend (the busiest weekend of the year). The targets are to clear 95% of passengers within 25 minutes for EU/EEA nationals, and 45 minutes for non EU/EEA nationals.

Justice

Insolvency

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) whether an impact assessment has been carried out on the amount of reduced income that creditors will receive as a result of the proposed end of the temporary exemption for insolvency litigation under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which is planned for April 2015; [207438]

(2) what type of statutory instrument he plans to introduce to bring the temporary exemption for insolvency litigation under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to an end in April 2015. [207439]

Mr Vara: In April 2011 the Government published an Impact Assessment in relation to the reforms set out in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012.

It explained that while there may be a reduction in the number of cases brought where no win no fee conditional fee agreements are used, overall the LASPO reforms will tackle excessive costs. The Government do not propose to update the Impact Assessment in relation to insolvency proceedings.

The LASPO reforms will apply to insolvency proceedings from April 2015. As provided in the Act, implementation will be by way of Commencement Order.

Youth Justice

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the national youth justice budget was in each of the last three years. [208784]

Andrew Selous: I refer the hon. Member to a previous answer of 26 November 2013 to question 176385, HC Deb 26 Nov 2013, Official Report, column 234W, which provides the Youth Justice Board’s budget for the past five years:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131126/text/131126w0003.htm#13112677002849

Northern Ireland

Administrative Scheme for the “On the Runs” Independent Review

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reason she has declined to disclose the number of recipients of On-The-Run comfort letters who have fled the jurisdiction of the UK since her statement following the Hallett report on 17 July 2014; and if she will make a statement. [208832]

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Mrs Villiers: I am not aware of the whereabouts of any individual who received a letter under the ‘on the runs’ administrative scheme and who may have left the UK since the publication of the Hallett report. I am not therefore in a position to disclose the potential number of individuals concerned.

Decisions about investigation and prosecution in specific cases, including seeking an individual’s extradition where necessary, will be taken by the independent police and prosecuting authorities.

Donal Donnelly

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in relation to Mr Donal Donnelly in 1985 was published in the Belfast and LondonGazettes; and if she will make a statement. [208398]

Mrs Villiers: There are no statutory requirements relating to the publication of pardons granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy and I am not aware of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in relation to Mr Donal Donnelly being published in the Belfast or LondonGazettes.

Written Questions

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of named day written questions were answered by her Department within the prescribed period in the (a) 2012-13 Session, (b) 2013-14 Session and (c) 2014-15 Session to date. [208430]

Mrs Villiers: The information requested is shown below:

(a) 2012-13 Session: 87% of named day questions were answered on the nominated day;

(b) 2013-14 Session: 83% of named day questions were answered on the nominated day;

(c) 2014-15 to date: 88% of named day questions have been answered on the nominated day.

Departmental performance information, for ordinary and named day parliamentary questions, is collated by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and submitted to the Procedure Committee. This is published on a sessional basis by the committee, and includes evidence regarding departmental performance. The monitoring report relating to the 2012-13 Session was published on 13 February 2014 as HC1046. The report covering statistics relating to performance during the 2013-14 Session will be published very shortly by the Procedure Committee.

Transport

Blue Badge Scheme

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Blue Badges were issued in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK in each of the last 10 years. [208776]

Mr Goodwill: The estimated number of blue badges issued each year is shown in the following table. Figures are available on a financial year basis only from 2008-09.

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Department for Transport figures cover England only.

Figures are not available at parliamentary constituency level.

Large Goods Vehicles

Sir Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign HGV lorries entered the UK in the last period for which figures are available; and how much revenue has been raised through the HGV Road Levy User since its introduction. [208828]

Mr Goodwill: In the 12 month period ending June 2014, 1.79 million foreign registered road goods vehicles travelled from Great Britain to mainland Europe. This was a 15% increase on the previous 12 month period. Statistics are available for outward traffic only to minimise reporting burdens as inbound data would be so similar.

The HGV Road User Levy was introduced on 1 April 2014 for goods vehicles over 12 tonnes. After five calendar months to 31 August 2014, £20.1 million revenue had been collected through the foreign operator payment system from vehicles registered in 80 different countries. This revenue came from the purchase of 752,000 levies ranging from daily to annual time restrictions. In Great Britain, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have issued 978 fixed penalty notices for £295,000 to vehicles from 44 different countries and indicate a compliance rate of over 95% from vehicles stopped.

Treasury

Fuel Oil: VAT

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to reduce the level of VAT on kerosene home heating oil; and if he will make a statement. [208438]

Mr Gauke: Kerosene used as a domestic heating fuel is already subject to a reduced rate of VAT at 5%, which is the lowest rate the UK can apply under EU law.

Minimum Wage

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the sum was of unpaid wages involved in each of the cases where employers have been prosecuted for non-payment of the minimum wage since 1999. [203781]

Mr Gauke: The Government take the enforcement of NMW very seriously and HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them, investigating the complaint and, in addition, carrying out targeted enforcement where we identify a high risk of non-payment of NMW.

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With the agreement of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, HMRC started prosecution for minimum wage offences from August 2007.

The total sum of arrears involved in cases where employers have been prosecuted is £20,034.

Criminal investigations do not guarantee arrears being paid to workers and are reserved only for the most serious cases. The Government are cracking down on employers who break the law and have increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent and the maximum penalty has increased from £5,000 to £20,000. The revised penalty is calculated as 100 per cent of the total underpayment for all of the workers specified in a Notice of Underpayment relating to pay reference periods that commence on or after 7 March 2014.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many non-criminal financial penalties were issued by HM Revenue and Customs to employers for underpayment of the minimum wage in each of the last six financial years; [205613]

(2) how many employers were found by HM Revenue and Customs to have paid the minimum wage in each of the last six financial years. [205614]

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

The vast majority of employers obey the law and pay their employees at least the national minimum wage.

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

The number of penalties issued for non-payment of National Minimum Wage for the time scales requested is set out as follows:

I refer the hon. Member to my response of 6 May 2014, Official Report, column 110W. In 2008-09, there were 4,317 complete inspections with 1,746 incidences of non-compliance.

In all years, the remaining investigations did not highlight sufficient evidence to prove non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.

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Tax Avoidance

Richard Fuller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that HM Revenue and Customs collect detailed statistics on tax avoidance separately from data on general compliance. [208369]

Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is developing a new system to allow it to interrogate more easily data on avoidance. This system will complement other strategic HMRC case management systems.

Richard Fuller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a threshold for the maximum proportion of a person’s assets HM Revenue and Customs should seek as advance payment on tax avoidance schemes to prevent people becoming bankrupt. [208370]

Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will treat Accelerated Payments as a debt like any other, so HMRC will be able to use their normal considerations and flexibilities in cases of genuine hardship. HMRC will consider alternative payment arrangements as it does with any debt. The priority in cases of genuine hardship will be to get people onto a payment track so that the debt is paid as quickly as possible.

It would be complex and costly to assess the ability of all those due an Accelerated Payment notice to pay the notice in advance of issuing it. It also risks creating a rigid approach that does not provide the flexibility to treat individual cases on their own terms.

HMRC will equally be able to use its full range of debt collection powers as necessary to recover what is owed by the taxpayer, including insolvency powers in the most extreme cases.

HMRC will always ensure that its action is proportionate and the particular action will always depend on the precise facts and circumstances of the particular taxpayer.

Wales

Written Questions

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of named day written questions were answered by his Department within the prescribed period in the (a) 2012-13 Session, (b) 2013-14 Session and (c) 2014-15 Session to date. [208434]

Alun Cairns: The information requested is shown as follows:

(a) 2012-13 Session: 98% of named day questions were answered on the nominated day;

(b) 2013-14 Session: 96% of named day questions were answered on the nominated day;

(c) 2014-15 to date: 100% of named day questions have been answered on the nominated day.

Departmental performance information, for ordinary and named day parliamentary questions, is collated by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and submitted to the Procedure Committee. This is published on a sessional basis by the Committee, and includes evidence regarding departmental performance. The

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monitoring report relating to the 2012-13 Session was published on 13 February 2014 as HC1046. The report covering statistics relating to performance during the 2013-14 Session will be published very shortly by the Procedure Committee.

Work and Pensions

Affordable Housing

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of 5 September 2014 by the Minister of State for Disabled People, of 5 September 2014, Official Report, columns 554-64, if he will publish the evidential basis for the statement that implementation of the Affordable Homes Bill would cost £1 billion; when those calculations were made; and by whom they were calculated. [208796]

Mr Harper: The calculation of the cost of about £1 billion for the Affordable Homes Bill was made on Thursday 4 September by Departmental Officials following an assessment of the potential effects of the provisions set out in the draft Bill at Second Reading.

The potential cost was estimated using administrative data (Single Housing Benefit Extract) and the Department’s policy simulation model. The following assumptions were made:

The bill in effect nullifies the removal of the spare room subsidy policy, which would negate the projected savings from being realised;

That Clause 2 as currently drafted would result in non-dependent deductions falling out of the calculation of Housing Benefit but would bring in ineligible service charges for all claimants who are social sector tenants (including pensioners) who meet the conditions described at Clause 2 (1) (a), (b) and (c) regardless of whether or not they are affected by the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy.

Asbestos

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time Health and Safety Executive officers were employed to monitor asbestos removal in each month since May 2010. [208726]

Mr Harper: The information requested is not held. All HSE construction inspectors are trained to enforce the management and control of asbestos by duty holders and routinely deal with asbestos issues in their everyday work. The majority of construction inspectors are further trained to inspect notified licensed asbestos removal work. The following table provides the average number of full-time equivalent operational inspectors who visited construction sites on a day-to-day basis for the years 2010-11 to 2013-14.

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Personal Independence Payment

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average cost of a personal independence payment decision, including assessment costs and departmental administration. [208738]

Mr Harper: The costs of administering the PIP assessment process were published in the NAO report in February 2014.

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Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the costs of administering and providing personal independence payment decisions are monitored and value for money reviewed for improvement. [208739]

Mr Harper: We keep the costs under continuous review and this information will be used to support the future development of unit cost benchmarks.