Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 CONTENTSqnadailyreport.blob.core.windows.net/.../Written...Commons-2015-02-24.pdf · 8 Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 ANSWERS employees

Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 24 February 2015 and the information is correct at the time of publication (06:33 P.M., 24 February 2015). For the latest information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written statements, please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/

CONTENTS ANSWERS 4

ATTORNEY GENERAL 4

Fraud 4

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS 4

Conditions of Employment 4

Foreign Workers 4

Ordnance Survey 5

Post Offices 5

Prince of Wales 6

Regional Growth Fund 7

Rio Tinto Group 7

Social Services: Pay 8

Sub Post Offices 8

Textiles: Industry 9

Training 10

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 11

Building Regulations 11

Domestic Visits 12

Freedom of Information 15

Housing: Blaydon 16

Housing: Carbon Emissions 16

Housing: Rural Areas 16

Local Government Services 17

Local Government: Devolution 18

Local Government: Procurement 19

Ministers' Quarterly Returns 19

Mobile Homes 19

Mortgages: Government Assistance 20

Property Development 20

Training 23

Travel 23

Written Questions: Government Responses 24

DEFENCE 25

Chief of Defence Materiel 25

Unmanned Air Vehicles 25

EDUCATION 25

Music: Education 25

Pedestrian Crossings: North West 26

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE 26

Energy: Multiple Occupation 26

Fossil Fuels: Prices 27

Fracking 27

Green Deal Scheme 27

Nuclear Management Partners 28

Wind Power: Noise 29

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

2 Tuesday, 24 February 2015 Daily Report

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS 29

Cattle: Animal Welfare 29

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 30

Niger 30

HEALTH 30

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse 30

Ambulance Services: Preston 30

Anaemia 31

Breast Cancer 32

Cancer 32

Care Quality Commission 34

General Practitioners: Clacton 35

General Practitioners: Preston 36

Health Services 36

Health Services and Social Services 37

Hospitals: North West 37

Hospitals: Plymouth 38

Medical Equipment 38

Medical Records: Databases 39

Mental Health Services 40

Mental Health Services: North East 40

NHS: Food 42

NHS: Private Finance Initiative 42

NHS: Research 42

Patients: Safety 43

Pharmacy 44

Social Services 44

HOME OFFICE 45

Entry Clearances 45

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students 46

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 46

Africa 46

Caribbean 46

Developing Countries: Health Services 47

Ukraine 47

JUSTICE 47

Civil Disorder: Greater London 47

Illegal Immigrants: Employment 48

LEADER OF THE HOUSE 51

Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy 51

SCOTLAND 52

Children: Poverty 52

Medical Records: Data Protection 52

Training 52

TRANSPORT 54

Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Stornoway 54

Training 54

TREASURY 56

Banks 56

Eurostar 56

Mining: Tax Allowances 56

Private Finance Initiative 57

Social Services: Pay 57

Spirits 58

Spirits: Taxation 58

Unpaid Taxes 58

WORK AND PENSIONS 59

Procurement 59

Vaccination: Compensation 59

Tuesday, 24 February 2015 Daily Report 3

MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS 61

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 61

Ukraine 61

WRITTEN STATEMENTS 62

CABINET OFFICE 62

The Report of the Triennial Review of the Civil Service Commission - A Better Civil Service 62

JUSTICE 62

North Wales Prison 62

SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION 63

Report on December 2014 Electoral Registers in England and Wales 63

TREASURY 65

Equitable Life Payment Scheme 65

Notes:

Questions marked thus [R] indicate that a relevant interest has been declared. Questions with identification numbers of 900000 or greater indicate that the question was originally tabled as an oral question and has since been unstarred.

4 Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 ANSWERS

ANSWERS

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Fraud

Sir Menzies Campbell: [224413]

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2014 to Question 207315, whether a Shawcross exercise has been conducted in relation to Serious Fraud Office investigations since the date of that Answer; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: [Holding answer 23 February 2015]: It is my department’s usual policy not to comment on any live investigation. In the period referred to there have been no Shawcross exercises in respect of any concluded SFO cases.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Conditions of Employment

Alison McGovern: [223955]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what definition the Government uses for classifying a zero hours contract.

Jo Swinson: There is no legal definition of a zero hours contract in UK domestic employment law. In general terms a zero hours contract is an arrangement under which an employer does not guarantee the individual any work, and the individual is not obliged to accept any work offered.

The ONS in their Labour Force Survey describe a zero hours contract as a contract ‘where a person is not contracted to work a set number of hours, and is only paid for the number of hours that they actually work’.

Foreign Workers

Jim McGovern: [223816]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to (a) encourage firms to pay a fair wage to workers in their overseas supply chains and (b) stop other forms of exploitation of those workers.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has introduced a requirement for large listed companies to include in their Strategic Report information on human rights issues. This requirement will be further enhanced by the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, due to come into force by 2017, which specifically includes human rights due diligence and supply chains.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-02-12/224413



Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 ANSWERS 5

In December last year, I announced support from BIS for the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, which will assess and rank the human rights performance of 500 companies worldwide. The combination of enhanced disclosure and published assessments of company performance will provide a powerful incentive to businesses to ensure that workers in their overseas supply chains are free from exploitation and are paid fair wages.

Ordnance Survey

Ian Lavery: [224214]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether it is his policy that the Ordnance Survey will remain the only official national mapping agency for the UK.

Matthew Hancock: As a Government-owned Company, Ordnance Survey will continue to publish and deliver a public task, and as such will continue to be the national mapping agency of Great Britain.

Post Offices

Chris Ruane: [224171]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many passport applications and renewals were administered by post offices in each year since 1985.

Jo Swinson: Information of the number of passport applications and renewals administered by post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

As such I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many post offices in which public funds were invested to convert them to a (a) main or (b) local post office have (i) temporarily or (ii) permanently closed in each of the last five years.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) Crown and (b) sub-post offices have been (i) temporarily and (ii) permanently closed in each of the last five years.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the shortest period was between the date on which a post office branch received public funding for improvement and the date on which it closed.







Jo Swinson: The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 99% of the population nationally living within three miles of a post office outlet.

This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures and there are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.

As the provision of post offices and the investment made under its network transformation programme are the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many external ATMs have been installed at (a) Crown, (b) main and (c) local post offices in each year for which data is available.

Jo Swinson:

The provision of Post Office ATM’s at post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

As such I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Prince of Wales

Caroline Lucas: [224053]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what briefing his Department provided on (a) the promotion and sale of arms and military equipment and (b) human rights to HRH the Prince of Wales before his trip to the Middle East; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 February 2015 by my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Tobias Ellwood), Minister for the Middle East to Question UIN 224052.




Regional Growth Fund

Mr Chuka Umunna: [222042]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which winning bidders have withdrawn from each bidding round of the Regional Growth Fund in each region; on what date each such withdrawal took place; and what the monetary value was of each such bid.

Greg Clark: [Holding answer 29 January 2015]: We have previously published details of 94 projects and programmes from Regional Growth Fund (RGF) Rounds 1 to 4 that are no longer proceeding. These can be found in the Official Report as follows:

11 February 2013:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130211/wmstext/130211m0001.htm

21 May 2013:


3 February 2014:


A written parliamentary question from the 2 September 2014 provided a further update on the breakdown of awards by round and by region:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-16/206268/

Projects and programmes usually withdraw because it becomes clear during the contracting stage of negotiations that they do not wish to proceed with the plans as set out in the original application. This can be due to a number of reasons, such as a changing market outlook or a reorganisation of their own future planned investment priorities. In all cases all the money awarded to the project and programme is recycled back into the Fund so that other companies can benefit from the support of the RGF.

Rio Tinto Group


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any former officials his Department have taken employment with Rio Tinto plc in the last five years.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not hold details of the future employment arrangements of all employees leaving BIS. The Business Appointment Rules (BAR) apply to civil servants who intend to take up an appointment or employment after leaving the Civil Service. These currently apply to members of the Senior Civil Service for two years after their last day of service, and for more junior












employees they apply for one year. We have no record of any applications under the BAR for employment with Rio Tinto plc in the last five years.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any employees of Rio Tinto plc has been seconded to his Department in the last five years.

Jo Swinson: The Department has not seconded any employees from Rio Tinto plc.

Social Services: Pay

Paul Flynn: [224122]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will introduce legislative proposals to ensure social care workers and home care providers are paid costs for travel to clients, training and on-call time in addition to being paid for the time spent with those for whom they provide care.

Jo Swinson: The Government already makes clear in legislation and guidance that travel time between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate. Whether a worker paid by the hour is entitled to the minimum wage for periods such as the time spent travelling between home and their first assignment and between their last assignment and home depends on the terms of their contract and whether they are working during that time. We have updated our guidance on the Gov.UK to make it clear that time spent travelling between assignments and rest breaks must be paid at least the NMW.

In relation to training, the NMW rules state that, where a worker is paid according to the number of hours they work, the NMW must be paid for all time spent training.

Workers who are required to be available to work, either on standby or on call, should also receive at least the NMW rate for this time, although there are exceptions in some circumstances.

We encourage any care sector worker who believes that they have been underpaid to make a complaint, using the free and confidential Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue & Customs investigate all complaints. In addition, they are currently undertaking proactive enforcement action into the six largest care providers.

Sub Post Offices


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he held with the National Federation of SubPostmasters on the abolition of road tax discs.

Jo Swinson: The abolition of vehicle tax discs is a matter for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not held





any discussions with the National Federation of SubPostmasters specifically on the subject of vehicle tax.

Ministers meet the National Federation of SubPostmasters regularly to discuss a range of issues relating to the Post Office network. The dates of these meetings are available on the gov.uk website.

Textiles: Industry

Mr Barry Sheerman: [223533]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to support skills development in textile manufacturing.

Mr Barry Sheerman: [223534]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to support innovation in textile manufacturing.

Matthew Hancock: Support is available to textile companies through a number of national initiatives such as the Business Growth Service, and through the Growth Hubs which are now being established across England by Local Enterprise Partnerships.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has invested in the Textiles Growth Programme through £12.8 million from round 4 of Regional Growth Fund (RGF). The programme, which is available for textile manufacturing companies across England (excluding London) will enable the UK to take advantage of a rapidly emerging trend for the re-shoring textile manufacturing and help grow the home and overseas markets in clothing with the Made in Britain mark. The Textiles Growth Programme, through the recent RGF Round 6, was awarded an additional £19.5 million on February 12 th to provide continued support to manufacturing companies within the sector until end of March 2017. This brings the total RGF funds awarded to the Textile Growth Programme in support to the textile industry to £32.3 million.

On Government support for skills, there is already a wide range of textile, fashion and design provision available at levels 2 and 3 (including access courses) in further education colleges. There are currently apprenticeship frameworks, both intermediate level 2 and advanced level 3, in Fashion and Textiles. There were 170 starts in 2013/14.

In line with apprenticeship Trailblazer reforms we have given the fashion industry approval to develop an apprenticeship standard for a fashion studio assistant, and the level 3 apprenticeship standard is currently in development. The British Fashion Council is fully engaged in this work, and is considering a bid for support to develop higher level apprenticeships, possibly to degree level.

BIS awarded Huddersfield & District Textile Training Centre (Textile Centre of Excellence) £2.28 million under the Round 1 Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) to improve education of the industry including a programme of school engagement; encouraging employers to take on school leavers and graduates and develop a new pre-apprenticeship programme plus new apprenticeship model at level 2 and level 3. The project recorded a




range of successful outcomes, and the Centre of Excellence will continue to provide its services to the sector now EOP project funding has ended.

In Q4 last year, two Textile projects were approved through the Local Response Fund Scheme with a total value of over £253,000.

Manchester College was awarded nearly £180,000 to develop the Textiles Task Force. It will work with the Alliance Project to address immediate skills shortages reported across the textiles sector and to support workforce development and employee progression.

NWTexnet was also awarded over £75,000 for “Dynamic Portfolio Management”. This will enable the integration of new product development with a strategy for re-shoring manufacturing capacity. It will significantly rationalise the approach to product development and manufacturing in the sector while helping to up-skill staff so that the workforce is in place to take advantage of these re-shoring opportunities.

As part of the Sector Mentoring Fund, Manchester Economic Solutions Ltd was awarded the sum of £77,500 in January 2014 to deliver Mentor Tex – Textile industry mentoring programme in key areas such as Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire. The scheme has attracted interest from a wide range of textiles businesses, with 35 mentees identified of which 23 have completed full profiles, 10 mentors identified with 7 completing full profiles.

With regard to support for innovation, Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency and the prime channel through which the Government stimulates and supports business-led technology innovation. Companies in the sector can apply to its responsive support programmes such as Smart and Innovation Vouchers.

The Centre of Excellence in Huddersfield and the University of Leeds have already invested £6M and £4.2M, respectively, in textile infrastructure development and innovation. They have become a focus for skills training and technical and design innovation in the UK.

Training

Chi Onwurah: [224419]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

Jo Swinson: The guidance is all staff should ensure they undertake at least 5 days of learning a year as part of the commitment in the Civil Service Reform Capabilities Plan. Learning takes place in many forms including shadowing, taking on development projects, seminars, coaching, e-learning, undertaking research and attending meetings as well as relevant courses.




To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in his Department was in each of the last three financial years.

Jo Swinson: The majority of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) training budget is delegated to the individual business units. This enables them to target resources to their learning priorities. BIS does not centrally collate details of number of days training undertaken.

To collate this information would incur disproportionate cost.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

Jo Swinson: The training budget for 2012/13 was £2,992,186

The training budget for 2013/14 was £2,735,104

The training budget for 2014/15 was £2,277,029


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

Jo Swinson: The spend on training in the core Department was

YEAR SPEND (£)

2011/12 2,662,967

2012/13 2,070,999

2013/14 2,125,638

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Building Regulations

Oliver Colvile: [224167]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to better enforce building regulation inspections to ensure quality housing builds.






Stephen Williams: The duty to comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations lies on the person carrying out the building work. The duty of the building control bodies, local authorities and approved inspectors, is to take all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the requirements have been satisfied. Where they have not been complied with a compliance certificate should not be given. It is also possible for building control bodies to take formal enforcement action in the courts against builders for non-compliance where they consider this would be justified. Issues relating to warranties which may be provided for new homes are matters for the relevant warranty body.

Domestic Visits

Sheila Gilmore: [208006]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2014, Official Report, column 618W, on official visits, what domestic visits he has made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Kris Hopkins: [Holding answer 8 September 2014]: Ministers undertake regular visits to a wide variety of local authority areas in England, whilst balancing their Parliamentary work, internal Ministerial meetings in London and meetings of Cabinet Committees. Ministers also regularly host delegations from local authorities for meetings in Westminster.

The list below provides a list of visits up to the end of January 2015. It would entail disproportionate cost to provide a detailed commentary on the purpose of each visit, but a brief summary is included. To assist the hon. Member, a selection of political visits is also included.

Such visits also need to be viewed alongside the visits that other members of the Ministerial team have made, and the published list of meetings with external organisations.

2013

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council area on 21 January 2013, growth policy

London Borough of Enfield area on 22 January 2013, political

Cheshire West and Chester Unitary authority area on 1-2 February 2013, political

Borough of Eastleigh area on 11 February 2013, political

Borough of Eastleigh area on 22 February 2013, political

Oxfordshire County Council area on 1 – 2 March 2013, political

Reading Borough Council area on 18 March 2013, growth policy

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council area on 15 April 2013, local government and growth policy

Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth area on 19 April 2013, political

Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees Council area on 25 April 2013, political



Ribble Valley Council area on 26 April 2013, political

Mid Devon Council area on 29 April 2013, political

Leicestershire County Council area on 13 May 2013, troubled families

Royal Borough of Greenwich area on 18 June 2013, faith and integration

Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council area on 4 July 2013, local government policy

Salford City Council area on 4 July 2013, community rights

London Borough of Hackney area on 30 July 2013, community rights

Thurrock Council area on 9 August 2013, Thames Gateway policy

Hastings Borough Council area on 15 August 2013, coastal communities’ policy

Medway Council area on 18 August 2013, faith and integration

London Borough of Southwark area on 23 September 2013, community rights

Telford and Wrekin Council area on 7 November 2013, growth and housing policy

Cheshire West and Chester Council area on 18 November 2013, local government policy

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council area on 28 November 2013, local Enterprise Zones

Waveney District Council area on 7 December 2013, high streets policy

2014

Portsmouth City Council area on 16 January 2014, political

Norfolk County Council area on 31 January 2014, growth and housing policy

London Borough of Croydon area on 10 February 2014, flood response and recovery

Cherwell District Council area on 11 February 2014, flood response and recovery

Oxford City Council area on 11 February 2014, flood response and recovery

Arun District Council area on 20 February 2014, coastal defences and flooding

Runnymede Borough Council on 20 February 2014, flood response and recovery

Fife Council area on 24 February 2014, coastal communities’ policy

Aberdeen Council area on 24 February 2014, Cabinet meeting

London Borough Council of Hounslow area on 3 April 2014, community rights and housing policy

Derbyshire County Council area on 22 April 2014, growth policy and local enterprise zones

London Borough of Havering area on 23 April 2014, housing policy

Cambridge City Council area on 23 April 2014, political

Metropolitan Borough of Dudley Council area on 24 April 2014, political


London Borough of Wandsworth area on 1 May 2014, troubled families

Stoke-on-Trent City Council area on 2 May 2014, political

Brent Council area on 5 May 2014, faith and integration

Newark-on-Trent City Council area on 19 May 2014, political

Newark-on-Trent City Council area on 1 June 2014, political

Bedfordshire County Council area on 12 June 2014, political

Manchester City Council area on 26 June 2014, housing policy

West Riding of Yorkshire Council area on 26 June 2014, political

Doncaster City Council area on 27 June 2014, housing policy

East Riding of Yorkshire Council area on 27 June 2014, political

Harrogate Borough Council area on 5 July 2014, Le Grand Départ

Salisbury City Council area on 10 July 2014, political

Staffordshire County Council area on 11 July 2014, commemorative event

West Sussex County Council area on 21 July 2014, commemorative event

Hampshire County Council area on 29 July 2014, political

London Borough Council of Hounslow area on 1 August 2014, faith and integration

North East Lincolnshire Council area on 1 August 2014, growth policy and local Enterprise Zones

Glasgow City Council area on 4 August 2014, commemorative event

Mid Sussex District Council area on 23 August 2014, commemorative event

Bedford Borough Council on 2 September 2014, housing policy

Essex County Council on 4 September 2014, coastal defences

Tendring District Council area on 4 September 2014, political

London Borough of Harrow area on 14 September 2014, political

Birmingham City Council area on 17 September 2014, Waste management

Birmingham City Council area on 30 September 2014, local enterprise zones

London Borough of Wandsworth area on 21 October 2014, growth and housing policy

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council area on 23 October 2014, housing policy

Pendle Borough Council area on 24 October 2014, regeneration and housing policy

Stroud District Council area on 27 October 2014, political

Royal Borough of Greenwich area on 29 October 2014, better care fund

Manchester City Council area on 30 October 2014, better care fund


Stroud District Council area, Cheltenham Borough Council area and Staffordshire County Council area on 6 November 2014, political

Westminster Council area on 9 November 2014, commemorative event

Stroud District Council area on 20 November 2014, political

Westminster City Council area on 25 November 2014, commemorative event

Flyde Borough Council area on 27 November 2014, political

Central Bedfordshire Council area on 28 November 2014, housing policy

Northampton Borough Council area on 28 November 2014, political

Essex County Council area on 11 December 2014, housing policy

2015

Cardiff City Council and Newport City Council area on 8 January 2015, political

Bath and North East Somerset Council area on 15 January 2015, political

Leicester City Council and Charnwood Borough Council area on 29 January 2015, local Enterprise Zones

The list reflects the fact that the Department’s responsibilities are broadly devolved outside England. All visits are conducted in line with the provisions of the Ministerial Code.

Freedom of Information

Jim Fitzpatrick: [224160]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the reasons were for the change in his Department's performance in meeting deadlines for responding to Freedom of Information requests between 2010 and quarter three of 2014.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government, recognise the value of the Freedom of Information Act and as part of our commitment to transparency we aim to respond to these requests as quickly as possible.

Freedom of Information Act requests by their nature can prove complex to answer and, notwithstanding the statutory guidance on the amount of time that must be spent in responding, we sometimes take longer to reply in order to gather the information requested.

The change has been driven at least in part by an increased complexity of requests and we have responded to this in recent months by increasing the resources we devote to this area. Early indications show a significant improvement in performance, which we expect will be reflected when figures for cases received after 1 January 2015 are released.

Ministry of Justice statistics are published on a quarterly basis, approximately three months in arrears, so the next figures to be published will refer to cases received in



October to December 2014. The figures showing the improvements we have made will be visible in the following quarter when data for cases received in January to March 2015 are made available.

Housing: Blaydon

Mr David Anderson: [224150]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to Question 222144, if he will take steps to prevent Gateshead Council from proceeding with proposals to build on green belt land in Blaydon constituency until after the publication of Household Projections 2012 to 2037; and when he expects those projections to be published.

Brandon Lewis: The statistical publication on new household projections will be published this Thursday (26 February).

As I said in my previous answer, there are no central government proposals to build on the Green Belt in Blaydon. The Coalition Government has ensured that strong protections for the Green Belt are in place. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that Green Belt boundaries can be altered only in exceptional circumstances following local consultation and independent scrutiny of the Local Plan at the instigation of the local council. In October we issued additional gudiance that underlilned the importance of Green Belt protection.

If the hon. Member disagrees with the planning proposals of the local council, he should take issue with the decisions of the Labour councillors who run and control it.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Roberta Blackman-Woods: [224132]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which organisations and individuals responded to his Department's recent consultation on the proposed zero carbon homes exemptions for small sites; and which such responses were (a) in favour of and (b) against the Government's proposals to exempt sites of 10 homes or fewer from the allowable solutions.

Stephen Williams: The consultation on ‘Next steps to zero carbon homes – allowable solutions’ closed on 7 January 2015 and we are currently considering responses. We will be publishing a report on the summary of all responses received in due course.

Housing: Rural Areas

Andrew George: [224211]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the (a) social and (b) environmental impacts of the housing opportunities for inadequately housed people arising from his decision to change section 106 agreements for





(i) builders and (ii) rural areas not covered by section 157 of the Housing Act 1985; and what further steps he will take to monitor such impacts and opportunities in the future.

Brandon Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 12 February 2015 to Questions 223173.

Andrew George: [224212]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reason he decided to amend section 106 agreements in respect of small and medium sized builders and rural areas not covered by section 157 of the Housing Act 1985.

Brandon Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of 12 February 2015 to Question 223176.

Local Government Services

Emma Reynolds: [220944]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many procurement processes have been triggered as a result of the Community Right to Challenge.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many of the procurement processes that have been triggered by the Community Right to Challenge resulted in a successful bid by groups that had exercised that right.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many bids under the Community Right to Challenge have been assessed by local authorities.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many bids under the Community Right to Challenge have been made local authorities.

Stephen Williams: The Department does not collect or collate administrative data from local authorities on the number of Expressions of Interest they receive under the Community Right to Challenge. We do however carry out follow up surveys with community groups and parish councils that have used the Community Right to Challenge support service. The Department also collates intelligence from local authorities, where they speak to us about an Expression of Interest.

From this, we are aware of 51 Expressions of Interest submissions to councils, but this is not a comprehensive figure. Of these, we know of seven completed procurement exercises, four of which have resulted in the organisation that submitted the Expressions of Interest winning a contract. We know of two other cases where an Expression of Interest has been accepted and a procurement triggered, but not completed.







We know that voluntary groups remain interested in the Community Right to Challenge. The most recent follow up survey of organisations using the Community Right to Challenge support service showed that a further 43 groups, out of 105 respondents, were intending to submit an Expression of Interest in the next 12 months.

We do know that Challenge is recognised by the voluntary and community and parish sectors as being helpful in opening up relationships with lcoal authorities. In a recent survey of 188 enquirers to the advice service, 25% were in negotiation with their council on potential commissioning and said negotiation had come about as a direct result of the Challenge legislation. Almost half (48%) felt that their local authority was more open to contracting with eligible bodies than before the legislation came into force and 25% were working with ttheir authorities on commissioning as a result of the legislation. 70% felt the support they received had improved their contrct readiness and 82% were expecting to bid for the delivery of public services. Timescales for procurement exercises are sdignificant but we are working with support providers to monitor the number of organisations that succeed in winning contracts.

This information is informing our future programme of work especially around commissioning processes. Community groups advise us that they are encouraged by the shift in culture and the changing mind-sets of procurement and commissioning officiers in councils across England as a result of the Localism Act 2011. They tell us the community rights have prompted many councils to examine how local public services are commissioned in their area.

Through our support programme we have supported 376 groups with specialist referrals and provided 216 groups with financial assistance to develop their capacity to bid for and deliver services.

Local Government: Devolution

Henry Smith: [224121]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to devolve greater responsibilities to democratically elected county councils and county unitary authorities.

Kris Hopkins: The Government has always believed that local decision-making plays an essential role in building stronger local economies and communities and is open to discussions over possible offers from areas that are interested in greater devolution of powers. This basic principle of localism underpins the Government's approach and is why programmes such as Growth Deals and Growing Places Fund have been made available to all local areas in England through Local Enterprise Partnerships.

I also refer my hon. Friend to the Government's publication, "The implications of devolution for England” (CM 8969) which outlines the views of both Coalition parties on the scope for greater decentralisation in England.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implications-of-devolution-for-england


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implications-of-devolution-for-england


Local Government: Procurement

Roberta Blackman-Woods: [224131]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support he has given to commissioners in local government to attend the Commissioning Academy.

Kris Hopkins: The Government worked very closely with the Local Government Association to set up and develop the Commissioning Academy.

Since June 2012, 527 delegates have attended Commissioning Academy programmes. Of these 392 have attended the central Commissioning Academy programmes, including 206 (52%) from 53 local authorities.

A number of other programmes sit alongside the central programme under the Commissioning Academy umbrella. 78 have attended local programmes modelled on the central programme in Norfolk and Staffordshire, with participants drawn from local authorities and other public sector bodies in the local area. In addition, 8 councillors have attended a streamlined programme for local authority elected members.

Feedback from participants has been consistently positive. Independent research by the Local Government Information Unit on the impact of the Academy found that 71.9% of survey respondents felt their involvement in the programme was already having a tangible impact and they were confident it would lead to a positive outcome for citizens.

The Government continues to work with the sector to encourage even greater local authority take up of the programme.

Ministers' Quarterly Returns

Jim Fitzpatrick: [224159]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons ministerial returns for his Department for quarters two and three of 2014 have not yet been published.

Kris Hopkins: Updated detail of Ministerial hospitality, overseas travel and meetings with external organisations will be published in due course on the same day as other government departments.

Mobile Homes

Mr David Hanson: [223952]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223119, how many times the Minister-led working group set up to identify evidence of poor practice in the park homes sector has met to date; and if he will make a statement.





Brandon Lewis: The working group held its first meeting on 10 February and agreed its terms of reference and membership. The next meeting will be held in March.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Mark Hendrick: [224136]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes were purchased under Help to Buy in each local authority ward in each district and unitary council in Lancashire in 2014.

Brandon Lewis: This Government is committed to supporting people’s aspirations to own their own home. There are three Help to Buy schemes. Data for 2014 is only published for Help to Buy: Equity Loan. The Government does not collate Help to Buy data at local authority ward level, but postcode level data is held for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan and Mortgage Guarantee schemes.

In 2014, 848 families in Lancashire bought a home using the support of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan.

Between October 2013 and September 2014, 868 families have bought a home using the support of Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee. As the scheme opened for applications in October 2013, most of the sales will have completed in 2014.

From the start of the scheme in March 2012 up to December 2014, at least 100 families have bought a home using the support of Help to Buy: New Buy.

The Department’s official statistics on sales for the respective Help to Buy schemes are available at:

Help to Buy: Equity Loan (by constituency, local authority and postcode), to 31 December 2014: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics

Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee (by constituency, local authority and postcode), to 30 September 2014: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-september-2014

Help to Buy: New Buy (by local authority - these figures are not available by constituency), to 31 December 2014: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-and-help-to-buy-newbuy-statistics-april-2013-to-december-2014

Property Development


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many bids there have been to the fund to assist community groups with the Community Right to Build; how many such bids were successful; and how much has been allocated from that fund.


http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-september-2014

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-september-2014

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-and-help-to-buy-newbuy-statistics-april-2013-to-december-2014

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-and-help-to-buy-newbuy-statistics-april-2013-to-december-2014




To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many community referendums there have been as a result of the Community Right to Build.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many community-led developments have completed as a result of the Community Right to Build.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many community groups have exercised the Community Right to Build.

Stephen Williams: [Holding answer 20 January 2015]: A key priority for the Coalition Government has been to give communities greater control over shaping the development of their area. The Localism Act 2011 created new powers for communities to write their own neighbourhood plans and to gain planning permission for community-led development through Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders.

Nearly 1,400 communities, covering six million people, are now engaged at different stages of the neighbourhood planning process, giving millions of people the chance to participate in identifying, and voting on, where development takes place and what it looks like. All 52 referendums held to date have resulted in big ‘yes’ votes and 34 plans have been ‘made’ (brought into force) and therefore are part of the development plan, the starting point for determining planning applications.

The popularity of neighbourhood planning has shown that when given the opportunity, communities are keen to shape future development in their areas, and we expect the number of community-led developments to increase as more neighbourhood plans are finalised. Over the last two years there have been over 3,100 enquiries and 14,000 web hits relating to the Community Right to Build. The Community Right to Build gives communities the freedom to build new homes, shops, businesses or facilities where they want them, without going through the normal planning application process. Experience has shown that following discussions with the local planning authority for community-led development proposals, community groups have chosen to submit a planning application for their project, rather than a Community Right to Build Order.

To ensure groups undertaking community-led development have the right support and advice to gain planning approval, we broadened the remit of available support funding to assist community groups to bring forward development either through Community Right to Build Orders or community-led planning applications.

This has led to significant take up of funding for community-led projects coming forward, with over 100 applications for funding already approved by the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London Authority. Locality and their partners have also been working with 60 groups to provide assistance and advice.





The first three referendums for Community Right to Build Orders took place in December, all of which were passed and are now in force.

We have allocated a further £3.5 million to support the Community Right to Build and community-led planning applications for housing in 2015-18. On 17 February, my department announced a further £6 million funding boost to the community rights programme. This new funding will mean:

• like-minded communities will be able to network and learn from each other through the new My Community Network;

• communities will have access to tailored advice through a phone and online advice service to help them use the range of community rights and other neighbourhood approaches;

• 100 more neighbourhoods will be supported to use the Our Place approach, enabling councils and other public sector providers, voluntary and community groups, local businesses and the community to work together to tackle important local issues from job creation to health priorities;

• 100 communities will receive support to take the first steps in identifying important local issues and develop Community Action Plans;

• 50 communities will receive support to develop economic plans to address local economic priorities like job creation and enterprise;

• 50 local authority/community partnerships will receive advice, support and grants to support the transfer of multiple or complex publicly owned assets into community ownership; and

• 6 new contracts have been awarded to external partners to support communities in using the community rights in 2015-16.

George Hollingbery: [224544]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of minor developments which will be built in the next five years; and what assessment he has made of in which towns and cities the greatest numbers of such developments will be built.

Brandon Lewis: We now have a locally-led Planning system. As a result the Department does not hold projections of future planning applications, nor does it publish forecasts of housing completions. However the National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to identify, update annually and publish a deliverable five year housing land supply. Local planning authorities are expected to report on progress on delivery of new homes through their Authority Monitoring Reports.

In addition, the Department publishes official statistics on planning applications including those on minor sites, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-applications-statistics


https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-applications-statistics


Training


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

Kris Hopkins: All civil servants are encouraged to undertake a minimum of five learning and development days a year. This includes formal training, e-learning, job shadowing, mentoring, coaching and various other development activities.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

Kris Hopkins: This Government has taken a series of steps to save taxpayers' money and improve overall quality of the training provision.

Civil Service Learning was established in April 2011 in response to a wide ranging review of the delivery of training across the Civil Service. The new model is delivering better value out of its investment in training, reducing duplication in procurement and making greater use of the external market to provide the training which the Civil Service requires.

The figures below illustrate the spending on the category 'training' over the past six years, to illustrate the efficiencies we have achieved. The dip in spending in 2011-12 was a consequence of the transition from the old regime to Civil Service Learning.

2008-09: £2,080,738 2009-10: £2,309,137 2010-11: £1,312,688 2011-12: £377,521 2012-13: £767,549 2013-14: £667,618

I would also observe that my Department has reduced total staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14.

Travel

Lucy Powell: [218469]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.

• In 2009-10, the Department spent £85,853 on taxis. We have cut this to £28,999 in 2013-14.





• In 2009-10, the Department spent £216,591 on first class rail in the UK. We have cut this to £5,764 in 2013-14.

• In 2009-10, the Department spent £34,108 on business class air. We have cut this to £10,891 in 2013-14.

A yearly breakdown is attached. There will be business cases for such travel, but we have significantly reduced costs compared to the last Labour Government.

I would add that, since 2010, the Department has taken on responsibility for residual functions of the Government Offices for the Regions, and also oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside London and working with the European Commission, this has therefore increased the business need for travel. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers from the abolition of these regional quangos; and overall, we have still managed to reduce travel costs through better procurement and tighter management controls on costs.

Attachments:

1. Travel Expenditure within DCLG 2009-10 to 2013-14 [218469 Powell.docx]

Written Questions: Government Responses


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 217181, tabled on 4 December 2014 by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East.

Brandon Lewis: Question 217181 was answered on 23 February 2015.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 220920, tabled on 15 January 2015 by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 220921, tabled on 15 January 2015 by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East.










Stephen Williams: Questions 220918, 220919, 220920 and 220921 were answered today, 24 February 2015.

DEFENCE

Chief of Defence Materiel

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: [907691]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what terms and conditions the contract of the Chief of Defence Materiel has been extended.

Mr Philip Dunne: I am pleased to confirm that the Chief of Defence Materiel’s contract has been extended for a further year on the existing terms and conditions. He will therefore have served a total of five years in post, in line with existing guidelines for senior civil servants of his rank.

As a member of the Defence Board, details of Mr Gray’s salary and bonus payments are published annually in the Department’s accounts.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Tom Watson: [R] [224127]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which post or team in his Department is responsible for the application of remotely piloted aircraft systems.

Mr Mark Francois: There is no one person or team responsible for the application or deployment of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). The decision to deploy RPAS is taken by Ministers following advice provided by senior personnel, both military and civilian, across the Department.

EDUCATION

Music: Education

Jesse Norman: [224416]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce funding for music hubs in 2016-17.






Mr Nick Gibb: The Secretary of State confirmed £75 million of funding for music hubs for 2015-16 on 26 January 2015. The next spending review, covering the 2016-17 financial year, will take place after this year’s general election, and therefore no commitments can be made at this stage.

Pedestrian Crossings: North West


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much each unitary and county local authority in the North West spent on school crossing patrols in the 2013-14 financial year; and how many school crossing patrol officers there are in each local authority area in that region.

Mr David Laws: The Education and Inspection Act 2006 (section 508A) puts a duty on schools to promote and establish a strategy for developing a sustainable transport infrastructure that meets the needs of children and young people in their area. This should address such issues as environmental improvements, health benefits and enhanced child safety and security. School crossing patrols are one option that can contribute to the fulfilment of this duty. While most local authorities do provide this service, it is not a statutory duty. As such, the Department for Education does not collect how much each local authority spends on the number of school crossing patrols they provide.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy: Multiple Occupation

Jonathan Reynolds: [223722]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of homes under multiple occupancy that are covered by the regulations fobidding landlords to let properties that are below Energy Performance Certificate E after 2018.

Amber Rudd: [Holding answer 12 February 2015]: Around 400,000 domestic private rented properties in England and Wales fall under the definition of a house in multiple occupation (HMO), out of around 4.2m properties that are in the private rented sector. HMOs, and rooms let on an individual basis within an HMO, are in scope of the minimum energy efficiency standard regulations where the property has an EPC. It is not possible to estimate the total number of HMOs that may be affected by the minimum energy efficiency standard regulations as the government does not hold information on the number of HMOs that have an EPC.




Fossil Fuels: Prices

Graham Stringer: [223842]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2015 to Question 221753, whether his Department's three fossil fuel price projections used in policy-making include a projection in which the recent change in fossil fuel prices resembling the recent worldwide fall in such prices.

Matthew Hancock: [Holding answer 12 February 2015]: DECC’s projections for oil, gas and coal prices include scenarios to appraise the implications of sustained low prices. We will ensure we use the latest information to inform policy decisions.

Fracking

Miss Anne McIntosh: [223681]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether monitoring of potential fugitive methane emissions will continue for 30 years after the exploration for fracking has finished.

Matthew Hancock: The Environment Agency will make a case by case assessment of monitoring requirements. There is provision in the environmental permit for an operation involving hydraulic fracturing to require monitoring indefinitely post closure of a well. The Environment Agency will not allow surrender of the permit unless it is satisfied that the well has been decommissioned in line with standards set by the Health and Safety Executive, the site has been returned to a satisfactory condition and there is no significant on-going risk to the environment.

The recent Infrastructure Act 2015 makes clear that any hydraulic fracturing activity cannot take place unless appropriate arrangements have been made for monitoring emissions of methane into the air. During operations the operator will be required to undertake environmental monitoring, including emissions monitoring, to demonstrate compliance with their permits. In some cases, depending on the risks presented by a site or community concerns, the Environment Agency may undertake extra monitoring themselves.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will not grant well consent unless he is satisfied that an environmental permit is in place which contains a condition requiring compliance with a waste management plan providing for the monitoring of emissions of methane into the air for the period of the permit.

Green Deal Scheme

Jonathan Reynolds: [224402]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many vouchers from the first round of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund have been cashed.





Amber Rudd: The latest monthly Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation National Statistic release reported that under release one of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, 11,061 vouchers had been paid (following installation of 13,613 measures), with a value of £54.3 million, by the end of December 2014:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-january-2015.

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: [224533]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222816, what estimate he has made of (a) the total number of hours, (b) full-time equivalent staff employed and (c) costs of reachback support in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.


To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222816, what estimate he has made of (a) the total number of hours, (b) full-time equivalent staff employed and (c) costs of reachback support in 2014-15 to date.

Matthew Hancock:

REACHBACK SUMMARY

Actual Cost £k Hours Roles

14/15 Year End Forecast as at Pd9

10,821 68,933 63

15/16 Forecast 6,008 37,050 33


To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2015 to Question 220911, how much the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority expects to award Nuclear Management Partners in efficiency fees in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Matthew Hancock: As owners of Sellafield Ltd, under the terms of the Parent Body Organisation (PBO) contract, Nuclear Management Partners is paid dividends funded by the fees earned by Sellafield Limited. The estimated fee payable to Sellafield Limited for 2014-15 is commercially sensitive and will not be disclosed until after it has been determined following the end of the financial year. For financial year 2015-16 the amount of fee

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-january-2015

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-january-2015





pool available is still subject to discussion between Sellafield Limited and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.


To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the cost to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of termination of its contract with Nuclear Management Partners.

Matthew Hancock: Contractual termination costs will be determined based upon the terms of the contract with Nuclear Management Partners. The precise terms of the contract are commercially confidential but these costs will equate to approximately one per cent of average annual fee (this arrives at around £430K plus interest from the start of 2014/15). NMP will earn fees in line with its contract over the course of its contract notice period.

Wind Power: Noise

Sir James Paice: [224179]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to bring the ETSU-R-97 assessment methodology for calculating the noise impact of wind turbine generators in line with current World Health Organisation guidelines.

Amber Rudd: [Holding answer 23 February 2015]: The Government takes seriously the impact of noise from wind turbines. Potential noise impacts are considered within the planning process in accordance with ETSU-R-97, and taking into account any guidance on good or best practice that the Government has published or endorsed, before any decision is taken whether or not to grant consent to a project. The Government believes that wind farms built in accordance with current guidance should not have significant impacts on those living or working within the vicinity of these sites, and has no plans to revise ETSU-R-97.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Cattle: Animal Welfare

Sir Greg Knight: [223946]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department has commissioned or carried out into the welfare of intensively-farmed dairy cattle which spend the majority or all of their lives indoors.

George Eustice: The Department funded a 3 year project in 2008 entitled “AW1026: A study to investigate the management and welfare of continuously housed dairy cows.”

The final report has been published on our website and is available at the following link:





http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=15761&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=AW1026&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Niger

Mr Nigel Dodds: [224382]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage respect for freedoms of religion, association and speech in Niger.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief continue to be important human rights priorities for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

We were concerned by recent attacks on churches and other buildings in Niger following protests against the publication of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. FCO officials recently met religious groups to discuss these incidents.

We will continue to monitor the situation in Niger closely, both bilaterally and through our international partners such as the European Union and the United Nations.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Alex Cunningham: [223833]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of alcohol-related harm in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: Estimates have been made of the cost to the National Health Service of alcohol related harm at around £2.7 billion per year in 2006-07 and £3.5 billion per year in 2009-10.

Work is ongoing to produce estimates for more recent years.

Ambulance Services: Preston


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of ambulance A&E responses for red 1 patients in Preston have exceeded the mandatory response time of eight minutes in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of ambulance A&E responses for red 2 patients in Preston have exceeded the mandatory response time of between eight and 19 minutes in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=15761&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=AW1026&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10%23Description








Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes ambulance response statistics by ambulance service NHS Trust.

The proportion of responses by the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust that were within eight and 19 minutes are shown in the following table.

PROPORTION OF RED 1

EMERGENCY RESPONSES

WITHIN 8 MINUTES

PROPORTION OF RED 2

EMERGENCY RESPONSES

WITHIN 8 MINUTES

PROPORTION OF CATEGORY

A AMBULANCE RESPONSES

WITHIN 19 MINUTES

2009-10* Not available Not available 95.4%

2010-11* Not available Not available 95.6%

2011-12 Not available Not available 95.5%

2012** 74.1% 77.3% 95.1%

2013 74.8% 77.1% 95.5%

2014 71.3% 72.1% 94.4%

Source: NHS England

Notes:

*NHS England started collecting monthly ambulance response times in April 2011 (source: www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators ). Figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are response times for whole financial years collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (source: www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB11062 ).

**The Red 1 and Red 2 definitions were first used in June 2012. Figures for Red 1 and Red 2 for 2012 comprise June to December 2012.

Anaemia

Mr Virendra Sharma: [224293]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 Febraury 2015 to Question 223094, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings by the Pernicious Anaemia Society members' survey, published in the British Journal of Nursing in April 2014, that over 60 per cent of people with pernicious anaemia are unhappy with their treatment and that many such people self-medicate to reduce their pain; and if he will consider the potential merits of revising the relevant guidelines to recommend more regular treatment.

http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators

http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB11062



Norman Lamb: The treatment of pernicious anaemia, the result of a vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency, is well established and reported in the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) document, Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Cobalamin and Folate disorders, which was updated in May 2014. The BCSH operates independently of the Department and NHS England.

Current clinical practice within the United Kingdom is to treat pernicious anaemia with Vitamin B12 intramuscular injections. The BCSH produces evidence based guidelines for both clinical and laboratory haematologists on the diagnosis and treatment of haematological disease, drawing on the advice of expert consultants and clinical scientists practicing in the United Kingdom. The guidelines can be found via the BCSH website at the following link:

www.bcshguidelines.com

Any patient with pernicious anaemia who has concerns about their treatment should discuss this matter with their general practitioner.

Breast Cancer


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of NHS trusts to provide breast radiology services.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has been working with Public Health England, the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and The British Society of Breast Radiology on this matter. The RCR is planning to undertake a survey this spring of all breast imaging services to evaluate the current and future workforce and service needs. We will work with Health Education England to support workforce development and change as needed for this area of radiology.

Cancer

Andrew Gwynne: [223751]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects of the work of strategic clinical networks has had on (a) cancer outcomes and (b) quality of cancer services since April 2013.

Jane Ellison: Strategic clinical networks (SCNs) bring together clinicians from across health care settings and the wider health and care system in 12 geographic areas across England. Their role is to make improvements in outcomes for complex patient pathways. They are structured around four core areas: maternity, children and young people; cardiovascular disease (renal, diabetes, cardiac, stroke); cancer; and mental health, dementia and neurological conditions. On cancer outcomes and the quality of cancer services, they have driven improvement in a variety of ways.

http://www.bcshguidelines.com/




In terms of tackling inequalities in health outcomes, SCNs have implemented local cancer general practitioner (GP) awareness campaigns and GP training to improve the detection of cancer. Wessex SCN bowel cancer screening uptake has risen by 5% to 60% in the last three years as a result of bringing together networks of experts to develop and share evidence-based best practice. Elsewhere, North East SCN continues to support improved cancer detection rates through planned care by increasing two week wait referrals through targeted GP cancer pathways awareness campaigns.

They have also sought to improve access to the best treatment and outcomes for patients. For example, East Midlands SCN has spread best practice in upper gastrointestinal cancer services across the locality and streamlined care pathways by developing commissioning specifications. The South West SCN has worked with GPs and acute trusts to implement intensity modulated radiotherapy leading to an increase in patients receiving this more precise form of treatment from 4% in 2012-13 to 30% in 2013-14. The South East Coast SCN has brought together leaders from across the local health system to tackle waiting times. Since they began leading these improvement initiatives, trusts have seen a marked increase in 62 day cancer waiting times performance.

Another important effect has been the improvement of quality standards. In 2013, the Greater Manchester Lancashire and South Cumbria SCN worked with the local health community to tackle low compliance (18.8%) of acute trust haematology cancer multi-disciplinary team standards against national standards. This resulted in a significantly higher level of compliance (67%) achieved by the development of robust clinical guidelines and patient pathways across the network. In addition, the Thames Valley SCN has worked with a wide range of stakeholders to reconfigure urology cancer pathways in order to comply with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Improving Outcomes Guidance and improve patient experience scores.

Through evaluation to support commissioning decisions, SCNs have often given clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) the tools to evaluate cancer outcomes for local populations to aid better decision making on patient services. West Midlands SCN developed a Cancer Dashboard which benchmarks performance by CCG, and Yorkshire and the Humber SCN commissioned a study of cancer diagnosis related to emergency presentation designed to build an evidence base to support improved diagnostic services.

SCNs have also enabled participation by facilitating the involvement of patients and the public in the design of local healthcare services. The East of England SCN has worked to ensure that patients and carers are well-represented as partners on service improvement forums and steering groups, ensuring a continued focus on patient experience and on the outcomes that are most important to patients.


Care Quality Commission

Mr Jamie Reed: [223752]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Care Quality Commission inspection reports have been published within the 50-day target period in the last 12 months.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. The CQC is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the levels of safety and quality, including the decisions of when to publish an inspection report.

The CQC has provided the following information.

The CQC has published 20% of inspection reports within the 50 days for the period 1 February 2014 to 31 January 2015. The CQC has provided the following further information about its performance in hospital, adult social care and primary medical service settings.

In CQC’s Business Plan for 2014/15 to 2015/16 it listed its operations key performance indicators which included an aim to publish final reports of inspections undertaken with CQC’s new approach within 50 days. Since the Business Plan published in May 2014, there have been differences in the time taken to publish inspection reports across the sectors (detailed below).

The reasons for these variations are due in part to processes being refined. The Hospitals directorate in CQC now works to a deadline of 65 working days after finding 50 days did not allow sufficient time for the post-inspection process.

The new approach to inspection reports are also more detailed and in-depth and require more time to prepare, especially for the more complex inspections that CQC now undertakes. A timeline of 11 – 12 weeks from conclusion of the physical inspection to publication of the final report balances speed with accuracy to produce a comprehensive report.

Hospitals data summary - Hospitals data includes community and mental health services

Total number of new approach inspection reports published by CQC from the period 1 February 2014 to 31 January 2015 64

Total number of new approach inspection reports published within 50 days

12

Total number of new approach inspection reports published within 50 days as a percentage

18.75%



Total number of new approach inspection reports published within 65 days

42

Total number of new approach inspection reports published within 65 days as a percentage

65.63%

Adult Social Care 1 data summary

NEW APPROACH INSPECTION REPORTS PUBLISHED BY CQC FROM THE

PERIOD 1 FEBRUARY 2014 TO 31 JANUARY 2015

Completed within 50 days Total

Number of inspection reports 205 902

Percentage of inspection reports 22.7% 100.0%

1 The data presented is limited to reports where there is a publication date and last site visit date recorded.

Primary Medical Services 2 data summary

NEW APPROACH INSPECTION REPORTS PUBLISHED BY CQC FROM THE

PERIOD 1 FEBRUARY 2014 TO 31 JANUARY 2015

Completed within 50 days Total

Number of inspection reports 48 373

Percentage of inspection reports

12.9% 100.0%

2 The data presented is limited to reports where there is a publication date and last site visit date recorded.

General Practitioners: Clacton

Mr Douglas Carswell: [223920]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what alternative provision his Department is offering to the users of the Epping Chase Surgery, Clacton for access to primary care in response to that surgery's closure.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The provision of primary medical services is a matter for NHS England.



NHS England’s Essex Area Team advises that, since February 2014, the Epping Close Surgery has been temporarily relocated on Kennedy Way, Clacton, following a serious water leak at its original premises.

To date, there have been no complaints from patients about the relocation, which has enabled the practice to continue to provide healthcare to patients.

General Practitioners: Preston


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were waiting to be placed on a GP list in Preston constituency on the last working day of (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally. Patients are entitled to register with any general practitioner practice as long as they live within the practice’s catchment area and the practice has an open list.

Health Services

Mr Russell Brown: [224332]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England will remain the sole budget-holder and accountable commissioner for all specialised services in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) future years.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what scope joint committees of NHS England and clinical commissioning groups will have to deviate from national service specifications for specialised services in (a) 2015-16 and (b) future years.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is the accountable commissioner and budget holder for all specialised services as set out in the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, with the Manual for prescribed specialised services providing further detail.

NHS England has achieved significant progress in developing a set of nationally consistent service standards and commissioning policies, which ensure equity of access to high quality services across the board. Those standards and policies will continue to apply for those specialised services which are to be collaboratively commissioned by NHS England and clinical commissioning groups.

NHS England is currently in the process of agreeing the guidance on the collaborative commissioning arrangements which will be in place from 1 April 2015.

NHS England has clarified that where there are collaboratively commissioned services, NHS England will retain the full financial risk for these services for 2015/16. NHS





England has advised us that there will be further work conducted over the next year to advise on the range of specialised services for which NHS England should remain the accountable commissioner and budget holder for 2016/17 and future years.

Copies of The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012 and the Manual for prescribed specialised services are attached.

Attachments:

1. Manual for prescribed specialised services [NHS Commissioning Board.pdf] 2. NHS Commissioning Board & CCG Regulations 2012 [Responsibilities and Standing Rules.pdf]

Health Services and Social Services

Miss Anne McIntosh: [224374]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on the proportion of Government funding which is allocated to health and social care.

Norman Lamb: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has frequent discussions about the proportion of Government funding allocated to health and social care, both internal and external, and receives a large amount of correspondence on the issue.

Hospitals: North West


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West waited on trolleys for more than 12 hours to be admitted to a hospital ward or were treated and sent home in the last 12 months.

Jane Ellison: NHS England publishes weekly data available for analysis, which includes the number of patients spending more than 12 hours waiting to be admitted from the decision to admit.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many instances of ambulances queuing were reported at Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Jane Ellison: Since November 2010 there have been no reported incidents of ambulances queuing at the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Data is collected only during the winter when the Winter Daily Sitrep data collection takes place. Winter Daily Sitrep data collections can be found at:

www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/




http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/


Hospitals: Plymouth


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many days of staff sickness absence there were in (a) Derriford Hospital and (b) Mount Gould Hospital in 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.

NHS HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICE MONTHLY WORKFORCE STATISTICS: FULL TIME EQUIVALENT

DAYS LOST TO SICKNESS ABSENCE IN SELECTED TRUSTS, 12 MONTH PERIOD FROM OCTOBER 2013 TO

SEPTEMBER 2014

Organisation October 2013 to September 2014

Plymouth Community Healthcare CIC 30,236

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 77,215

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Notes: 1. While lower sickness absence figures, in general, indicate lower levels of sickness absence it should be noted that lower figures can also indicate under reporting of sickness absence. 2. Data presented is Full Time Equivalent Days Lost to Sickness Absence (includes non-working days). 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 1. 4. The HSCIC seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses.

Medical Equipment


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of delays in the delivery of continence and ostomy devices to patients resulting from a lack of access to Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences for small and medium-sized suppliers of continence devices.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to address the effect of the time taken to obtain continence products on the quality of life of patients with continence problems.





George Freeman: We have made no such assessment and are not aware of reported delays in patients obtaining the appliances prescribed for them, including continence and ostomy products. There are no licensing requirements to open a private dispensing appliance contractor business. NHS England is responsible for determining whether a dispensing appliance contractor should be granted the right to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Such determinations can generally be appealed to the Family Health Services Appeal Unit of the NHS Litigation Authority.

The Department keeps the operation of the relevant NHS regulations governing the right to provide NHS pharmaceutical services under regular review with NHS England, the NHS Litigation Authority and contractors’ representatives as appropriate.

Medical Records: Databases

Mr Roger Godsiff: [223762]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 222677, what assessment he has made of whether the way in which patients are able to access, or are notified of, services such as bowel screening or e-referrals will change when patient data begins being extracted under the care.data programme.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. Information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing. No change will take place when primary care data begins to be extracted for care.data that will alter how patients are able to access or are notified of these services.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 222677, what assessment he has made of whether the change in data paths under the care.data programme will affect the indirect care that can be provided to people who opt out of that programme.

Dr Daniel Poulter: When a patient objects, they are requesting that their confidential general practitioner data is not used for purposes other than their direct care.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the health data of people who have opted out of the care.data programme has been shared with non-NHS organisations.

Dr Daniel Poulter: No data have yet been extracted as part of the care.data programme. There will be no access to data that flow from the pathfinder practices, other than in a secure data facility on site at the Health and Social Care Information Centre in Leeds during the pathfinder stage.





No data will be extracted from the care.data programme until the National Data Guardian is satisfied the programme is ready for the extractions to begin.

Mental Health Services

Graham Jones: [223817]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for mental health talking therapies in (a) England, (b) the North West, (c) East Lancashire and (d) Hyndburn constituency.

Norman Lamb: The average national waiting time for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme therapies for the last quarter of 2014/15 (quarter two) was 4.8 weeks. The quarter two data for the North of England region show that the average waiting time is 5.3 weeks. The average waiting time for the East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group is 6.3 weeks. Data are not collected by constituency.

Over £400 million is being invested over the spending review period to make a choice of psychological therapies available for those who need them in all parts of England.

The Department’s 2014-15 Mandate to NHS England makes clear that ‘everyone who needs it should have timely access to evidence based services’. The Mandate sets a clear objective for NHS England to deliver the key objectives of the IAPT programme – providing access to therapies to 15% of those eligible (around 900,000 people) per year by 2015, with a recovery rate of 50%.

We have put in place the first waiting times standards in mental health, a significant milestone on the road to parity.

The new five-year plan for mental health, Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, sets out our ambition and the immediate actions we will take this year and next to achieve better access and waiting times in mental health services.

We have identified £40 million additional spending to kick start change in the current year. We have freed up a further £80 million from existing budgets for 2015/16. This will, for the first time ever, enable the setting of access and waiting time standards in mental health services. This will include treatment within six weeks for 75% of people referred to the IAPT programme, with 95% of people being treated within 18 weeks.

Starting this year, the Department and NHS England will work together with mental health system partners to develop detailed proposals for the introduction of further access and waiting time standards from 2016 onwards.

Mental Health Services: North East

Mr Iain Wright: [224147]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for mental health talking therapies in (a) Hartlepool constituency and (b) the North East.




Norman Lamb: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the following table. The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset contains information on referrals to IAPT services which provide talking therapies. Information is provided both for Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) and for all 12 North East CCGs combined for the year 2013/14. Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG includes Hartlepool constituency and the CCG is the smallest geographical breakdown available.

THE NUMBER OF REFERRALS ENTERING TREATMENT 1 IN THE YEAR, WITH MEAN AND

MEDIAN WAITING TIMES (DAYS), FOR IAPT SERVICES IN 2013/14. DATA SHOWN FOR

NHS HARTLEPOOL AND STOCKTON-ON-TEES CCG AND ALL NORTH EAST CCGS

COMBINED 2 .

Organisation name Referrals entering treatment

Mean 3 waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)

Median 3 waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)

NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG

7,050 27 11

All North East CCGs combined

50,845 25 11

1 In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment (an appointment with a therapy type recorded) in the year.

2 CCG is based on general practitioner (GP) Practice. Where GP Practice is not recorded, or cannot be assigned to a CCG, the referral is categorised as 'Unknown'.

3 Means and medians have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Notes:

Waiting time is measured by counting the number of days between a referral being received and the first treatment appointment. For 2013/14, the presence of a valid therapy type is used as an indicator of whether treatment was provided in the course of the appointment.

Entering treatment figures are rounded to the nearest 5.


It is generally advised that the median is used as the more reliable measure of average waiting time, as this accounts better for any outliers in the data.

Source: IAPT Dataset, Health and Social Care Information Centre

NHS: Food

Alison McGovern: [223957]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of fresh produce supplied to the NHS through NHS supply chain contracts in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 was produced in the UK.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS Supply Chain estimate that the proportion of fresh produce supplied to the National Health Service through NHS Supply Chain contracts in both 2013 and 2014 that was United Kingdom country of origin was 73%.

NHS: Private Finance Initiative

Jesse Norman: [907651]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of savings related to PFI contracts in the NHS since 2010.

Mr Jeremy Hunt: Since May 2010, £179 million of signed savings on National Health Service private finance initiative (PFI) contracts has been reported by the Department of Health to HM Treasury.

Our reforms have made it illegal for any government to drive the private sector into the NHS as Labour did, as Labour’s PFI deals are costing the NHS more than £1 billion a year.

NHS: Research


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to publish the results of the consultation for the NHS England Research and Development Strategy.

George Freeman: The consultation for the NHS England Research and Development Strategy closed in December 2013. NHS England subsequently decided not to publish the results of the consultation at that time, but instead to use the findings to inform a new piece of work which would be developed with the Department which will describe NHS England’s role in promoting and taking account of research in the new healthcare system.

NHS England is working with the Department to agree a revised approach.

Delivery of NHS England’s research objective was discussed at the accountability meeting on 14 October 2014. The minutes of this meeting are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/377477/SofS_Accountability_Meeting_oct_2014.pdf







Patients: Safety

Catherine McKinnell: [223770]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Patient Safety Alert: Improving medication error incident reporting and learning, published by NHS England on 20 March 2014, which NHS trusts have (a) indentified a board-level director with responsibility for overseeing medication error incident reporting and learning, (b) e-mailed the contact details of a Medication Safety Officer to the Central Alerting System and (c) identified a multi-professional group to regularly review medication error incident reports.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Data was extracted on 10 February 2015 from the Central Alerting System (CAS) and the table attached shows that 244 trusts* have recorded that they have completed the actions required by the Alert including the information requested above.

*Note: This figure is based on the names that trusts are registered under in CAS.

Attachments:

1. CAS- Trusts with contact details&completed actions [Table of actions.docx]

Catherine McKinnell: [223771]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Patient Safety Alert: Improving medication error incident reporting and learning, published by NHS England on 20 March 2014, what progress he has made in developing the National Medication Safety Network; and what channels are available for patient groups to make representations to the National Medication Safety Network.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England, in collaboration with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has carried out the following activities in relation to developing the National Medication Safety Network:

- Undertaken nine web events with presentations and recordings posted to the www.patientsafetyfirst.nhs.uk web forum accessed by Medication Safety Officers (MSOs). A total of 699 MSOs have participated in these formal web meetings.

- Run a conference for MSOs on 19 January 2015 with keynote speakers from NHS England, MHRA and the National Reporting and Learning System with 150 MSOs in attendance.

- Run dedicated web events for the 18 Community Pharmacy MSOs.

- Are arranging one-day regional meetings on 10 March 2015 (London), 15 July 2015 (Midlands) 12 May (South), 14 October (North) inviting 70-100 MSOs. A key aim of these events is to provide the opportunity for MSOs to feedback in person to NHS England and the MHRA on development of the MSO role.

- We have dedicated (0.4 full-time equivalent) support for development of the MSO role from the Specialist Pharmacy Service. The remit includes monitoring of engagement by MSOs in the network.



http://www.patientsafetyfirst.nhs.uk/


Although the NHS England Medication Safety team have not yet received any formal representations from national patient groups, MSOs have been encouraged to liaise with their local organisation ‘patient and public voice’ leads to help recruit patients onto their medication safety committees.

Members of the public and patient groups can also make enquiries directly to NHS England.

Pharmacy


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2014, Official Report, column 710W, on pharmacy, what progress his Department has made on the introduction of data-sharing between GPs and pharmacists.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Proof of Concept (POC) project is making good progress. The project has completed the implementation stage of providing Summary Care Record (SCR) access for community pharmacies.

By the end of 2014, 135 pharmacies across all five areas (West Yorkshire, Sheffield, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and Somerset), have been enabled to have access to the SCR. The pharmacies involved include independent pharmacies, national multiple providers, and representatives from the major supermarkets. Over 1,300 patient SCRs have been accessed to date to support direct patient care.

The POC project team are now working on the findings and associated recommendations. Initial analysis is promising and the final report is due in the coming months.

Social Services

George Hollingbery: [224385]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of trends in levels of eligibility for social care set by councils between 2005 and 2010.

Norman Lamb: During 2005/06 to 2009/10, the number of councils which set their local eligibility at the “substantial” banding within the existing guidance increased by nearly a third, and the number of councils setting their eligibility at “moderate” decreased by a similar proportion. This indicates councils making restrictions in access and eligibility over this period.

The following table sets out the percentage of councils in each of the bandings between 2005/06 and 2009/10. The bandings were set out in 2003 guidance and updated in 2010 by Prioritising Need in the Context of Putting People First: A whole system approach to eligibility for social care, which retained the same eligibility framework based on four bandings.




PERCENTAGE OF LAS

AT CRITICAL PERCENTAGE OF LAS

AT SUBSTANTIAL PERCENTAGE OF LAS

AT MODERATE PERCENTAGE OF LAS

AT LOW

2005/06 2.2% 55.0% 36.7% 6.1%

2006/07 1.4% 62.2% 33.2% 3.2%

2007/08 2.1% 69.7% 26.5% 1.7%

2008/09 2.1% 70.5% 25.7% 1.7%

2009/10 2.0% 71.1% 25.0% 2.0%

Source: The Care Quality Commission. This is provided as % as the total number of local authorities (LAs) providing social care changed over this period.

To resolve substantial and longstanding concerns from people with care needs that the existing framework is opaque and not applied consistently across England, the Government is introducing a national minimum eligibility threshold for adult care and support from 1 April 2015. This will provide more clarity on what level of needs are eligible for care and support. LAs will no longer be able to tighten the criteria beyond this threshold, but they will have the flexibility to meet other needs that are not eligible, if they chose to do so.

HOME OFFICE

Entry Clearances

Mr Nigel Dodds: [224379]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what rules apply to the entry into the UK of diplomatic personnel from countries identified by the Government on countries of concern in relation to human rights violations and corruption.

James Brokenshire: Diplomats posted to an Embassy or High Commission in the UK or who are in transit through the UK to their diplomatic posting are exempt from immigration control. This means that any checks are limited to verifying the person’s nationality and identity, that they are exempt from immigration control and they are the rightful holder of the document presented.

People holding diplomatic passports coming to the UK for any other reason are assessed against the Immigration Rules. In certain cases individuals are subject to international travel bans, imposed by the EU or UN. These are imposed for a number of factors and human rights violations and corruption could be a factor in this decision.



Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mr Christopher Chope: [224185]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken for the determination of applications for Tier 4 visas Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies certificates was in the last period for which figures are available; and what the average time taken for applications equivalent to those applications was in the period before that period.

James Brokenshire: [Holding answer 23 February 2015]: Information on the average time taken to decide a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies request application is not routinely published.

There are two types of Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) requests that a sponsor can submit:

An 'annual CAS request' for an allocation of CAS to cover a 12 month period An ' in-year CAS request' if additional CAS are needed at any point during the year.

The Home Office introduced a published service standard on 1 January 2014 of 18 weeks and aims to conclude all such cases within that timeframe.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Mary Creagh: [223750]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's commitment to support a reduction in the average time taken for goods to cross international borders in the locations in which the Africa Free Trade Initiative operates, what assessment she has made of her Department's performance in meeting that commitment; and what change there has been in that average time since the commencement of her Department's involvement.

Justine Greening: The department has met this commitment to support a reduction in the average time taken for goods to cross international borders. For example, by mid-2013 delays at one border crossing between Zambia and Zimbabwe had been reduced by over two thirds from the baseline. This is part of DFID’s approach to ending aid dependency through growth and jobs.

Caribbean

Mary Creagh: [223530]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2015 to Question 220282, and with reference to page 234 of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, what her Department's budget is for programmes in the Caribbean in 2014-15; and for what reasons that budget has changed from what was originally planned for that year.





Justine Greening: [Holding answer 12 February 2015]: My answers of 14/01/2015 and of 29/01/2015 remain the same. As stated on page 233 of the 2013/14 Annual Report, 2014-15 figures are “indicative” and “subject to revision.”

Developing Countries: Health Services

Jeremy Lefroy: [223905]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to develop its framework on health systems strengthening.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID has committed to developing a framework for its work on health systems strengthening which will set out areas of focus for work in developing countries and globally. The framework will encompass the global processes that are already underway in the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the new post-2015 development goals and will consider the implications for measurement of progress towards universal health coverage.

Ukraine

Daniel Kawczynski: [224041]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what humanitarian aid is being provided to civilians in Ukraine caught up in the conflict in that country.

Justine Greening: In response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine the UK Government has so far committed £16.4 million of bilateral humanitarian support in Ukraine. In addition, the UK’s share of multilateral contributions through the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) and the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

JUSTICE

Civil Disorder: Greater London

Philip Davies: [223895]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders released from custody after serving a sentence handed down following the riots in London in 2011 have subsequently been convicted of a further offence and received a non-custodial sentence for that offence.

Mike Penning: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time specified. I will write to my hon. Friend with an answer as soon as possible.





Illegal Immigrants: Employment


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each year since 2009 have received prison sentences for employing illegal immigrants.

Mike Penning: Employers have had a duty to prevent illegal working since 1997 by carrying out specified document checks on people before they employ them. Since 2008, this duty has been underpinned by a civil penalty scheme. In May 2014, this Government introduced measures making it simpler to check the immigration status of potential employees and at the same time doubled the maximum civil penalty to £20,000 for the employment of an illegal worker. The increased maximum civil penalty better reflects the harm caused by employing illegal workers, the costs to wider society and the unfair economic advantage derived from the activity.

Where an employer knowingly employs an illegal worker the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table



OFFENDERS SENTENCED TO IMMEDIATE CUSTODY FOR OFFENCES RELATED TO

EMPLOYING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, ENGLAND AND WALES, 2009 TO 2013 (1)(2)

Offence Outcome 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Employing a

person aged 16 and above subject to immigration control (3)

Sentenced 29 4 2 1 1

of which

Immediate custody

. . . . .

Employing a

person knowing that they are an adult subject to immigration control (4)

Sentenced 5 4 5 4 3

of which

Immediate custody

1 . 2 1 .

Employing

accession state national subject to worker authorisation in accession period (5)

Sentenced . 1 . . .

of which


OFFENDERS SENTENCED TO IMMEDIATE CUSTODY FOR OFFENCES RELATED TO

EMPLOYING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, ENGLAND AND WALES, 2009 TO 2013 (1)(2)

Immediate custody

. . . . .

'-' = Nil

(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

(3) An offence under Section 8 Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, amended Asylum and Immigration Act 2004

(4) An offence under S 21 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006

(5) Offence under R12(1)(b) and (6) Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006

Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Ref: PQ 223879

Court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of fines (a) levied against and (b) collected from businesses prosecuted for employing illegal immigrants in each year since 2009.



Mr Shailesh Vara: This question can only be answered at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual search of all live and closed fine accounts to identify the information requested.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy

Richard Burden: [224060]

To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's policies of the report from the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy entitled Open Up, published in January 2015; and which recommendations of that report he plans to implement.

Mr William Hague: The majority of the recommendations in the report from the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy are for the House itself to consider and respond to.

In relation to the recommendations regarding the legislative process, the Government is committed to ensuring that the legislation it puts before Parliament is of a high standard and to ensuring that Parliament has the necessary means by which to perform its scrutiny function.

In April 2013, the Government launched the Good Law initiative, designed to promote law which is effective, clear and accessible. Various initiatives have been introduced this Parliament designed to improve the legislative process, including the use of explanatory statements on amendments, improved explanatory notes and piloting public reading stages of Bills. The Government has also given sufficient time to allow proper scrutiny in public bill committees and provided additional days at Commons report stages where necessary.

The Speaker's Commission also recommended that secure online voting should be an option for all voters by 2020. To make online voting available for UK elections could be attractive in light of current advances in IT. However, there are concerns that e-voting is not sufficiently transparent or secure.

The major issue raised by those opposed to the introduction of e-voting is that it is not sufficiently robust or trusted. In addition, the cost of introducing such a system would be substantial. Public support for such measures is still far from universal and traditional means of voting (such as polling stations and postal voting) remain popular with the electorate. Therefore, any means of e-voting would have to be introduced as an additional voting channel. Whilst e-voting may be something for the Government to consider in the future, it is not an immediate priority. The experience of the referendum on Scottish independence shows us that if people are engaged in the democratic process they will turn out to vote using the existing mechanism.



SCOTLAND

Children: Poverty

Margaret Curran: [224310]

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many children in Scotland are living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income series. These estimates are available as three-year averages to 2012/13, and show that in 2010/11-2012/13 the number and percentage of children in relative and absolute low income was 0.2 million (17%) and 0.2 million (18%) respectively.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Margaret Curran: [224309]

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with (a) Ministers of the Scottish Government and (b) his ministerial colleagues on the sharing of Scottish NHS data with HM Revenue and Customs in relation to implementation of the Scottish rate of income tax.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: The Scottish Government is consulting until the end of February on whether HMRC should be allowed access to NHS Scotland data (name, date of birth, postcode and gender data) to support the identification of Scottish taxpayers, who will pay tax at the Scottish rate of income tax from April 2016. Discussions have taken place between the two administrations and there will be further discussions after the conclusion of the consultation.

Training


To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies. Some of those employing bodies specify the number of days per annum that should be devoted to training. However, all Scotland Office managers are given guidance that their staff should have learning targets to be monitored through their objectives, as part of their annual reviews and through regular meetings.






To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in his Department was in each of the last three financial years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies.

All staff have access to a wide range of professional development courses through their parent employers, through Civil Service Learning, and in the form of continuous on the job training. The Office does not have a record of time spent on training in each of the last three financial years.


To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what his Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office’s training budget in each of the last three financial years is shown below:

11/12 12/13 13/14

Budget £10,000 £10,000 £10,000


To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office’s expenditure on training in each of the last three financial years is shown below:

11/12 12/13 13/14

Outturn £3,111 £7,314 £9,118





TRANSPORT

Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Stornoway

Katy Clark: [223979]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.

Katy Clark: [223980]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.

Mr John Hayes: Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements means that it is more important to consider the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.

Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during January 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 31 occasions out of 62 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 25 occasions out of 62 shifts.

Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.

Training


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

Claire Perry: In line with the Civil Service Reform Plan, the Department for Transport recommends that its entire staff undertake a minimum of five days learning and development per year.

This includes a wide range of learning for example, on the job training, e-learning, classroom training and coaching or mentoring.

The department encourages all staff to undertake at least five days a year of development via its internal communications and links this to development opportunities throughout the year.





Managers are also advised to discuss staffs development needs as part of the performance management process and how to access learning - e.g. via Civil Service learning (CSL).


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in his Department was in each of the last three financial years.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport encourages staff to take full advantage of the wide range of development available and to undertake at least five days a year of development.

Staff in the Department has undertaken the average number of day’s formal development over the last three financial years:

· 2013-14 – 4.5 days

· 2012-13 – 3.5 days

· 2011-12 – 4 days

In addition to this, staff have engaged in a good deal of informal development which is not easy to capture for example on the job training, coaching and mentoring.


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport has and continues to make a significant investment in learning and development for its staff.

In the last three financial years, the Department’s original training budgets were as follows:

· 2013-14 - £12,882,894

· 2012-13 - £11,526,697

· 2011-12 - £11,155,906


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport is committed to building a strong skills base and views investing in its people’s development as being critical to its success.

In the last three financial years, the Department has spent the following on training:

· 2013-14 - £4,703,015

· 2012-13 - £4,440,087





· 2011-12 - £3,433,400

The Department for Transport consists of a central department and five executive agencies. These are:

· Highways Agency

· Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency

· Maritime & Coastguard Agency

· Vehicle Certification Agency

· Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (the Driving Standards Agency and the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency merged on the 1st April 2014).

The Government Car & Despatch Agency (GCDA) ceased to be an executive agency on the 1 st October 2012 when its functions were transferred to the central department.

The figures for the former Government Car Despatch Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency are not available.

TREASURY

Banks

Paul Flynn: [224283]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to permit publication of data by banks in the UK on the aggregate bank holdings of residents in other jurisdictions using the structure developed by the Bank for International Settlements for banking data collection.

Mr David Gauke: UK Banks are already subject to extensive disclosure requirements which have been substantially strengthened under this Government.

Eurostar


To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of employees at Eurostar International Limited who receive more than 50 days' paid holiday per year.

Danny Alexander: Eurostar is run on a standalone commercial basis, as a result my department does not hold this information.

Mining: Tax Allowances


To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department provides tax relief to encourage multinational mining corporations to maintain their headquarters in the UK.





Mr David Gauke: Since 2010 the Government has delivered a range of reforms to encourage investment in the UK, including the establishment of headquarter operations by multinational companies. The Government has cut the main rate of corporation tax from 28% to 21% and it will fall further to 20% this April, the lowest rate in the G20. In addition, the Government has introduced the Patent Box, increased the generosity of Research & Development tax credits and modernised the UK’s Controlled Foreign Company regime.

Private Finance Initiative

Austin Mitchell: [224365]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the capital value is of each PFI contract formed since the inception of that policy; and what amount the Government is contracted to repay in each such case.

Danny Alexander: A spreadsheet containing data on all operational PFI projects can be found on the following link, www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-projects-2014-summary-data.

Social Services: Pay

Paul Blomfield: [224081]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to comments by the Minister of State for Care and Support in the Daily Telegraph on 7 February 2015, on investigations into minimum wage payment in the social care sector, when HM Revenue and Customs will complete its investigations into the six companies; how the companies to be investigated were identified; and if he will take steps to ensure that workers are compensated when breaches of the minimum wage are found to have taken place.

Mr David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage or is aware of an employer who does not meet NMW legislation should make a complaint to the Pay & Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to comment on ongoing investigations.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to him at UIN 212652 on how HMRC identify sectors and employers for targeted investigation and enforcement.

Any arrears of pay due to workers are uprated to the current rate of NMW. The majority of employers identified as paying below the NMW will pay arrears on receipt of a formal Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not, HMRC will pursue recovery through the civil courts on behalf of the workers.




Spirits

Stephen Hammond: [224340]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the financial contribution of the spirits industry to the UK economy.


To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the spirits industry to economic activity in the wider economy.


To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many jobs are supported by the spirits industry in the UK.

Priti Patel: Ernst & Young (EY) have recently published its economic impact analysis of the spirits industry in the UK. The EY report which can be found online includes estimates of the spirits industry’s financial contribution to the UK economy, contribution to economic activity and the number of jobs the industry supports.

Spirits: Taxation


To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of how much consumers of spirits paid in duty, tax and VAT in the latest period for which figures are avaiable.

Priti Patel: Receipts from duties on spirits that are released for consumption in the UK are published in our monthly alcohol bulletin:

https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx

Information on VAT paid by consumers on spirits is not available. HM Revenue & Customs do not collect data on VAT receipts by individual goods or services.

Unpaid Taxes

Jonathan Edwards: [224290]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs in unpaid taxes.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) publishes the total unpaid tax debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs within its Annual Reports and Accounts. The latest is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330670/HMRC-annual-report-2013-14.pdf





https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx



WORK AND PENSIONS

Procurement


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many contracts his Department has awarded to private sector organisations in each of the last five years; and what the value of those contracts was.

Esther McVey: The number of contracts awarded to private sector organisations by The Department for Work & Pensions in each of the last 5 years, by award value, is provided in the table below.

YEAR NO. OF CONTRACTS AWARD VALUE

2009 366 £3,947,818,007

2010 150 £972,973,727

2011 153 £4,713,641,256

2012 126 £1,152,741,666

2013 151 £449,956,792

2014 167 £1,253,064,873

2015 (01 Jan - 12 Feb) 35 £142,079,330

Vaccination: Compensation


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many vaccine damage payments have been awarded in each year since 2003.

Mr Mark Harper: The number of Vaccine Damage Payments made each year since 2003:

2002/03 5

2003/04 5

2004/05 4

2005/06 5

2006/07 4

2007/08 2




2008/09 0

2009/10 3

2010/11 1

2011/12 0

2012/13 0

2013/14 0

2014/15 0

Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS 61

MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Ukraine


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what humanitarian aid is being provided to civilians in Ukraine caught up in the conflict in that country.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 24 February 2015. The correct answer should have been:

Justine Greening: In response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine the UK Government has so far committed £16.4 million of bilateral humanitarian support in Ukraine. In addition, the UK’s share of multilateral contributions through the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) and the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). stands at £4.35 million.


62 Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 WRITTEN STATEMENTS

WRITTEN STATEMENTS

CABINET OFFICE

The Report of the Triennial Review of the Civil Service Commission - A Better Civil Service

Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude): [HCWS296]

Lord Wallace of Saltaire announced on 29 July 2014 that the Government had asked Sir Gerry Grimstone to lead a triennial review of the Civil Service Commission. I am now pleased to announce the completion of the review.

The Commission plays an important role providing assurance that selection to appointments in the Civil Service is on merit and hearing and determining appeals made under the Civil Service Code.

The review concludes that the functions performed by the Commission are still required and that it should be retained as an executive non-departmental public body. The review also looked at whether its remit should be extended or amended to support the Civil Service in facing its future challenges. The report makes 31 recommendations. The Government welcomes the review and thanks Sir Gerry for his work. The Government will consider its recommendations carefully.

In the course of his review, Sir Gerry consulted with a wide range of stakeholders and ensured there was independent challenge. I would like to thank all contributors and Sir Gerry for his work on this review, and his useful report.

The full report of the triennial review of the Civil Service Commission – “A Better Civil Service” can be found on Gov.uk and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Attachments:

1. A Better Civil Service [CSC_TR_Report_a_better_civil_service.pdf]

JUSTICE

North Wales Prison

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation (Andrew Selous): [HCWS297]

The construction of the new prison in North Wales is already underway as part of the Prison New Capacity and Unit Cost Programmes. I can confirm that the new prison will be operated by Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS) but with 34% of service provision outsourced, including the running of the large industrial workshop complex. This new model will bring the public, voluntary and private sectors together, working to provide the best rehabilitative environment and to tackle re-offending rates.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-02-24/HCWS296/


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-commission-triennial-review-a-better-civil-service


Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 WRITTEN STATEMENTS 63

The prison will provide 2,106 male Category C places for offenders from North Wales and North West England, and will have a small remand function serving the courts in North Wales. The first houseblock will start to take prisoners from early 2017. In addition to places for education and resettlement, there will be 12 large workshop spaces that can be used flexibly for a range of work and skills training activities and a recycling unit. This new prison will enable offenders to be held closer to home, allowing better support for their rehabilitation and reintegration into their communities on release.

The decision to allow HMPS to operate the prison reflects the success of the Prison Unit Cost Programme which will save £300m per annum from prison budgets by 2015/16 and reduces unit costs by £2,200 per place. The innovative approach we are taking in North Wales provides value for the taxpayer, makes best use of the considerable public sector expertise in running safe and decent prisons and will draw on the core strengths of the public, private and voluntary sectors to achieve the best results. It will incorporate the learning and good practice from previous prison mobilisations to ensure that it operates efficiently while providing prisoners with a robust and effective regime to assist them to address their offending behaviour.

This £212m investment in constructing the prison is a significant opportunity for North Wales, with the project set to boost the regional economy by around £23m a year and create up to 1,000 jobs once operational. The Ministry of Justice has been working closely with Welsh devolved health and education services to develop suitable models for the prison and will continue to work with the Welsh Government and other partners to agree the necessary resourcing as delivery requirements are finalised.

Our estate strategy will achieve long term cost reduction in the prison estate through the policy of ‘New for Old’ – this means replacing uneconomic prison places with modern, fit for purpose accommodation at much lower cost. The National Audit Office has stated that “ The strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years, has quickly cut operating costs, and is a significant improvement in value for money on the approaches of the past.” The North Wales prison will provide good quality prison accommodation that delivers value for the taxpayer as a result of the low cost per place. Creating a modern low cost prison estate is essential to further reduce the overall cost of the prison system.

SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Report on December 2014 Electoral Registers in England and Wales

Representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission (Mr Gary Streeter): [HCWS295]

The Electoral Commission has today published a report on its analysis of the December 2014 electoral registers in England and Wales. This is part of the Commission’s programme of work monitoring the progress of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER). In April, it will publish equivalent data and analysis for Scotland, which began the transition to IER on 19 September after the referendum on independence.



The publication of the December registers is a key milestone in the transition to IER, but it is not the end of the process and work has been, and still is, continuing to ensure that as many people as possible are registered to vote at their correct address in advance of the May 2015 polls.

The Commission’s analysis of the December registers identified that the size of the December 2014 electorate in England and Wales was approximately 2% lower than it was following the final household canvass in February/March 2014. This means there were around 920,000 fewer entries on the registers in December 2014. This decline is likely attributable to the lack of comprehensive household canvass activity in 2014. The processes followed in 2014 were unique in this regard; canvass activity in 2015 and all subsequent years will involve sending forms to all properties to check who is resident at an address and to identify new electors who can subsequently be invited to register.

To address this, the Commission has strongly recommended that all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) carry out an audit of their registers by sending a letter to every property in their area showing who is registered to vote at that particular address and prompting anyone who is not yet registered to do so. All EROs in England and Wales have confirmed that they have or will be carrying out this activity or are considering other comprehensive activity which seeks to address the issues identified by our analysis of the 1 December registers data. Should any ERO decide not to undertake such activity, the Commission will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to issue a direction to require them to do so. The Commission also welcomed the January 2015 announcement that £6.8 million would be made available to EROs to support activity to maximise registration, and many EROs have used their share of this to fund sending out these Household Notification Letters.

There also appear to have been more specific challenges, including the registration of students at their term time address; therefore some local authorities with large student and young mobile populations have seen larger than average falls in numbers of entries on the register. The Commission also reports that the number of registered attainers - 16 and 17 year olds - is significantly lower than in previous years.

While no-one on the 1 December registers will be removed from the register before the May 2015 elections unless the ERO is no longer satisfied that they are entitled to remain registered at that address, more needs to be done to target those not yet included on the register at their current address.

EROs have comprehensive plans in place to get people registered and the Commission is running online and television advertising campaigns to encourage people to register. The results of this activity are already encouraging and we welcome the great work that has been done, and is still planned, by a huge number of organisations to get voters registered. It is positive that as of the publication date of the Commission’s analysis, around 2 million applications to register have already been made since 1 December - 166,000 of which were on National Voter Registration Day itself. We know that some of these will be duplicate entries and therefore not new additions to the register and that more work is clearly needed, however, the Commission is also confident that appropriate plans are in place to ensure voters know what they need to do to get registered

Daily Report Tuesday, 24 February 2015 WRITTEN STATEMENTS 65

The Commission is also working with partners including the National Union of Students, the Association of Colleges and Universities UK among other organisations to help get students and other young people registered and is planning further public awareness activity specifically targeted at these groups.

The Commission has encountered problems collecting reliable data from each ERO due to issues with the electoral management software (EMS) systems they use to manage the electoral register. The Cabinet Office contracted directly with suppliers to provide these systems and the Commission provided the Cabinet Office with a clear indication of the data that they and EROs would need to make a full assessment of progress. Despite this, not all local authorities have been able to provide the management information the Commission expected. The absence of some key data, and issues with the quality of other aspects of the data, has affected the analysis the Commission is able to do at this stage. In particular, the Commission could not obtain a full set of data of a sufficient quality to enable a detailed analysis of progress with the transition to IER in this report.

These issues with data have created a real risk that the Commission will not have sufficient information to be able to make a robust, evidence-based recommendation in June 2015 to inform the UK Government’s decision on whether to recommend to Parliament that the end of the transition should be brought forward. The Commission’s report sets out that, without urgent action by the Cabinet Office and software suppliers to ensure that the necessary data will be available to allow for a full and rigorous analysis of the state of the registers, it is highly unlikely that the Commission will be able to recommend that the end of the transition be brought forward to December 2015.

Copies of the Commission’s report have been placed in the library and it is also available on the Commission’s website: www.electoralcommission.org.uk

TREASURY

Equitable Life Payment Scheme

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrea Leadsom): [HCWS298]

As of 31 January 2015, the Scheme has now issued payments surpassing £1 billion to 896,367 policyholders.

The figures are broken down as follows:

• 412,445 payments to individual investors have been issued totalling £560.3 million.

•

• 446,158 payments totalling £169.3 million have been issued to those who bought their policy through their company pension scheme.

There are now approximately 142,000 policyholders who are due a payment but where the Scheme has not yet been able to trace or validate their address.

The Scheme has gone to significant lengths to trace eligible policyholders. It remains committed to tracing and paying as many eligible policyholders as possible, and will continue



to consider all proportionate actions it can take to do this, including working with the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Scheme encourages any policyholders who believe themselves to be eligible to call the Scheme on: 0300 0200 150. The Scheme can verify the identity of most policyholders on the telephone, which means any payment due can usually be received within two weeks.

Documents

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