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Prisoners: Voting
Questions
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the responses to their second public consultation on prisoners' voting rights, which concluded on 29 September 2009; and what is their evaluation of the responses. [HL2568]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The second stage consultation closed on 29 September and we are currently considering the responses. Details of the views received and the Government's evaluation of the responses will be published in due course.
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Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Prison Service has expressed concerns about enabling sentenced prisoners to vote in parliamentary elections. [HL2570]
Lord Bach: The National Offender Management Service responded to the first consultation on prisoner voting rights that there were "a number of complex practical issues that would need further consideration" in relation to facilitating postal voting by prisoners. They further indicated that there was a "fundamental need for further clarity on the administrative procedures that would need to be adhered to should Parliament decide to amend the current UK electoral law".
NOMS, as part of the Ministry of Justice, was engaged in the development of the options for practical implementation on which the second stage consultation paper sought views. That consultation closed on 29 September 2009 and an analysis of the responses is being undertaken. The responses, and the Government's evaluation of them, will be published in due course.
Schools: Teachers
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin on 3 March (WA 354-5), what importance they attach to educational qualifications; and why they do not monitor and record the educational qualifications of teachers serving in primary and secondary schools. [HL2601]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): Teaching is a graduate-level profession and all new teacher trainees in most subjects since 1980-81, and all subjects from 1983-84, have had to have a degree. Records of teacher qualifications are not currently held centrally, although a new annual school workforce census has been introduced which will help to improve the quality of data in this area. The census will collect information on the level and subject of all post-A-level qualifications held by teachers in primary and secondary schools. The qualifications module of the census was piloted in autumn 2009 and the full roll out of the census is scheduled for autumn 2010.
Although comprehensive data about the qualifications of serving teachers are not currently collected, the department has a range of information available:
the Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey (SSCSS) provides information on the levels and subjects of qualification of secondary teachers. This is an occasional sample survey that is used to provide national estimates of the number of teachers by subject area. The survey was carried out in 1988, 1992, 2002 and most recently in 2007;in addition, the proportion of first year entrants holding a UK degree of classification 2:1 or higher forms part of the performance profiles dataset held by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA); and16 Mar 2010 : Column WA170
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average annual salary of (a) primary head teachers, and (b) secondary head teachers, in each of the ten districts of Greater Manchester. [HL2717]
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: Information on the average annual salary of head teachers is not available at the district level because leadership grade information has been incorrectly recorded within the data source and any figures provided, broken down by district, would not be reliable.
UN: Territorial Integrity
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether in their activities in the United Nations they give greater weight to territorial integrity than to self determination. [HL2435]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): The United Kingdom, in its activities within the United Nations, gives weight to both the international legal principles of the territorial integrity of states and the self-determination of peoples. The application of these principles to any given factual situation will depend on all the circumstances.
Unemployment
Question
Asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno
To ask Her Majesty's Government which 10 local authorities have the highest rate of unemployment in the United Kingdom. [HL2727]
Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for ONS, to Lord Bates, dated March 2010.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Question asking which 10 local authorities have the highest rate of unemployment in the United Kingdom. (HL2727)
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The Office for National Statistics compiles unemployment statistics for local areas in Great Britain using model based estimates. Estimates for Northern Ireland are not available on this basis.
The latest available estimates cover the 12-month period ending June 2009 and are shown in table 1 for the 10 local or unitary authorities with the highest unemployment rates.
As with any sample survey, model-based estimates are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in table 1.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at http://www.nomisweb.co.uk.
| Table 1: Highest unemployment rates1 in Great Britain by local unitary authority, July 2008 to June 2009 | |
| per cent | |
- 1. Coefficients of Variation have been calculated as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below.
- The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV - for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.
|
Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. |
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the levels of (a) unemployment, and (b) youth unemployment, in each parliamentary constituency in the north east of England in (1) April 1997, (2) June 2001, (3) June 2005, and (4) January 2010. [HL2749]
Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for ONS, to Lord Bates, dated March 2010.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what were the levels of (a) unemployment, and (b) youth unemployment, in each parliamentary constituency in the north east of England in (1) April 1997, (2) June 2001, (3) June 2005, and (4) January 2010. (HL2749)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS). However, due to the small sample size, no reasonable estimates are available for parliamentary constituencies in the north east of England.
As an alternative, in Table 1 we have provided the number of (a) total, and (b) people aged 16-24, claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in each parliamentary constituency in the north-east of England in April 1997, June 2001, June 2005 and January 2010.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at http://www.nomisweb.co.uk.
Universities: Foreign Languages
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