03 March 2015

Transcription

03 March 2015

Daily Report
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
This report shows written answers and statements provided on 3 March 2015 and the
information is correct at the time of publication (06:31 P.M., 03 March 2015). For the
latest information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written
statements, please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/
CONTENTS
ANSWERS
5
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
11
Arts: VAT
11
5
Broadband: Urban Areas
11
Apprentices
5
Mobile Phones
12
Armoured Fighting Vehicles:
Ukraine
5
Public Libraries
12
Arms Trade: Ukraine
5
Public Libraries : Northern
Ireland
13
Enterprise Finance Guarantee
Scheme
6
Public Service Broadcasting
13
Insolvency Act 1986
6
Telford
13
Offshore Industry
7
Offshore Industry: North East
7
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND
SKILLS
CABINET OFFICE
7
Charities
7
Meetings
8
Pay
8
Public Sector: Mutual Societies
8
Science: Employment
8
Spirits
9
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
Antisemitism
9
9
Enterprise Zones
10
New Businesses: Government
Assistance
10
DEFENCE
14
Afghanistan
14
Armed Forces: Redundancy
14
Armed Forces: Training
16
Colombia
16
Information Warfare
17
LIBOR: Fines
17
Libya
18
Military Aid
18
Public Expenditure
19
Single Source Regulations
Office
21
Ukraine
21
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
21
Electoral Register
21
2
Daily Report
EDUCATION
22
Sixth Form Colleges
22
Family Nurse Partnership
Programme
Sixth Form Colleges: VAT
22
Genito-urinary Medicine
34
Health Services
36
34
University Technical Colleges:
Liverpool
22
Hereditary Diseases
36
ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
23
Human Papillomavirus:
Vaccination
37
Infectious Diseases: Research
37
23
Influenza: Vaccination
38
23
Medical Equipment
39
Mental Health Services: Kent
39
NHS: Empty Property
40
Obesity
41
Prosthetics
42
Radiotherapy
42
Weather: Health Education
43
Energy: Prices
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL
AFFAIRS
Climate Change
23
Dangerous Dogs Exemptions
Schemes (England and Wales)
Order 2015
24
Flood Control
25
Floods: Coastal Areas
25
Food and Environment Research
Agency: Thirsk
25
Thames Flood Barrier
26
HOME OFFICE
43
Asylum
43
26
Asylum: Appeals
47
Cyprus
26
Drugs: Misuse
48
Iran
26
Members: Correspondence
48
Middle East
27
Radicalism
48
Pakistan
27
Radicalism
27
Russia and Middle East
28
Ukraine
28
Court Orders: Compensation
49
28
Court Orders: Grandparents
51
Asthma
28
Courts: Buildings
51
Cancer
30
Information Commissioner
51
Cervical Cancer
31
Legal Aid Scheme
52
Dialysis Machines
31
Prisoners
52
Disability Aids
32
Epilepsy: Young People
34
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH
OFFICE
HEALTH
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Legal Costs
JUSTICE
SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON THE
ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Electoral Register
49
49
49
53
53
Daily Report
3
Electoral Register: Devon
60
Voting Behaviour
60
Social Security Benefits:
Disqualification
75
TRANSPORT
60
Unemployment
76
A595
60
Universal Credit
76
Aircraft: Air Conditioning
62
Work Capability Assessment
77
Airports
62
MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS
78
Aviation: Scotland
63
78
Bus Services: Tyne and Wear
64
London Bridge Station
65
WRITTEN STATEMENTS
79
Maritime and Coastguard
Agency: Wales
65
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND
SKILLS
79
Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties
67
Railway Stations: Disability
67
Railways
67
Railways: Franchises
68
Southern Railway
68
TREASURY
69
Government Departments: Pay
69
Inheritance Tax
69
Money Laundering and Tax
Evasion
70
Tax Avoidance
70
Tax Avoidance and Evasion
Tax Evasion
WOMEN AND EQUALITIES
78
Appointment of Members to
the Regulatory Policy
Committee
79
Measures to improve
transparency in insolvency
practitioner fees and handling
of cases in the courts
80
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
Royal Borough of Greenwich
DEFENCE
81
81
82
72
Preferred Bidder for
Marchwood Sea Mounting
Centre
82
72
82
72
Cutting the cost of keeping
warm: a fuel poverty strategy
for England
82
Apprentices
72
Equal Pay
73
WORK AND PENSIONS
Energy: Prices
73
Children: Maintenance
73
Cold Weather Payments:
Peterborough
74
Incapacity Benefit
75
Preston
75
Remploy
75
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH
OFFICE
84
Gifting of equipment to the
Free Syrian Police
84
Gifting of search and rescue
equipment to Syrian civil
defence teams
85
4
Daily Report
Post-Legislative Scrutiny of the
Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions)
Act 2010
HOME OFFICE
TREASURY
87
87
Child Sexual Exploitation
87
Strategic Policing Requirement
Refresh
88
89
Banking Reform: Senior
Managers and Certification
Regime
89
Double Taxation Convention
between the United Kingdom
and the Republic of Senegal
90
ECOFIN 17 February 2015
91
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.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
ANSWERS
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS
Apprentices
Mr Chuka Umunna:
[225676]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to figure 31
of the Apprenticeship Pay Survey 2014, published in December 2014, what proportion of
apprentices aged 25 or older were working for their employer before starting their
apprenticeship in each academic year since 2009-10.
Nick Boles:
The 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey is not directly comparable to earlier Apprenticeship
Pay Surveys (in 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012) due to substantial changes in both
coverage and questionnaire design.
However, the 2014 Apprenticeship Evaluation: Learner Survey[1] shows that, of those
apprentices aged 25+ who completed or were undertaking a Level 2 or Level 3
apprenticeship between August 2012 and March 2013, 91% worked for their employer
before starting their apprenticeship. The proportion is unchanged compared with the
previous year[2].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-evaluation-learnersurvey-2014
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-survey-learners
Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Ukraine
Sir John Stanley:
[224887]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to state the date or dates on
which export licence approval was given for the export of Saxon armoured vehicles to
Ukraine, the number of Saxon armoured vehicles for which export approval was given and
their stated value.
Matthew Hancock:
On 23 December 2014 two licences were granted for export to Ukraine of a total of 75
Saxon Armoured Personnel Carriers. The stated value of the export was £2,075,000.
Arms Trade: Ukraine
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson:
[225523]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many export licences
have been issued to UK companies selling military equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces
in the last two years.
5
6
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Matthew Hancock:
Seven licences have been granted to UK companies for military-rated items in the last
two years where the end-user was named as the armed forces, national guard or MOD
of Ukraine.
A further three licences have been granted for supply of components or technology to
end users, for the development or production of goods, for ultimate supply to the
armed forces/national guard/MOD of Ukraine.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme
Daniel Kawczynski:
[224964]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is
taking to resolve the mis-selling of Enterprise Finance Guarantee loans to small business by
the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Matthew Hancock:
The Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) is a valuable programme that helps viable
businesses get access to finance where they have insufficient security or an inadequate
track record. Since launch, EFG has supported SMEs by enabling over 23,000 loans with
a total value of some £2.4bn (as at 31 December 2014) and has a significant wider
economic benefit. Funding for up to a further £500 million of lending was made
available for 2015/16 in the 2014 Autumn Statement.
Following evidence of concerns of lending by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in August
2014, the Department asked RBS to instigate an internal review into this issue. The
findings of that review and a proposed course of action were presented at a meeting
with the British Business Bank in December 2014, and senior executives from RBS met
my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 14
January 2015. I have asked the British Business Bank – which now administers the
programme on behalf of the Department – to continue to closely monitor the action
being taken by RBS to address these issues. I have been given assurance from RBS that
they will put right any cases where they are at fault to ensure that no detriment is
suffered by either the borrower or the taxpayer.
Insolvency Act 1986
Mr Barry Sheerman:
[225120]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to bring
forward legislative proposals to amend the Insolvency Act 1986.
Jo Swinson:
The Deregulation Bill and the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, both
currently before Parliament, contain a number of proposals relating to insolvency which
will amend the Insolvency Act 1986. Amongst these proposals are: deregulatory and Red
Tape Challenge measures aimed at reducing unnecessary regulations and costs in
insolvency proceedings; measures to strengthen and improve confidence in the
insolvency practitioner regulatory regime; measures aimed at improving creditor redress
Daily Report
ANSWERS
where company directors are culpable for debts; and a reserve power to make
regulations relating to pre-pack administrations.
I have also laid a statutory instrument which will amend the creditor petition bankruptcy
limit as set out in the Insolvency Act.
Offshore Industry
Alex Cunningham:
[224573]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had
with (a) trade unions representing the offshore workforce and (b) industry representatives on
the effect of recent reductions in oil prices on the steps required to achieve revising the oil
and gas Industrial Strategy for (i) safety, (ii) skills, (iii) the supply chain, (iv) decommissioning
and (v) the fiscal regime.
Matthew Hancock:
The Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy is under constant review by the Oil and Gas Industry
Council, on which industry and trade unions are represented. The Council last met in
November 2014. Discussions on the implications of the effect of recent reductions in oil
prices took place at the January meeting of Pilot, on which industry and trade unions are
also represented. The next meeting of the Industry Council is on 24th March 2015.
Offshore Industry: North East
Mr Iain Wright:
[224602]
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has
made of the effect of the recent fall in the price of oil on (a) projects, (b) employment
prospects and (c) long-term competitiveness and capacity in the offshore sector supply chain
in the North East of England; and if he will make a statement.
Matthew Hancock:
We recognise the important role that businesses in the North East of England play in the
oil and gas offshore sector supply chain. No specific assessment has been made of the
effect of the recent fall in the price of oil on business in the North East of England, but
the Department continues to work with its local offices to monitor the situation. I am
planning to visit Newcastle shortly to gain first-hand knowledge of the issues.
CABINET OFFICE
Charities
Kate Green:
[225687]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many inquiries into faith-based charities of
each faith have been opened by the Charity Commission in each of the last three years.
7
8
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Rob Wilson:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I
have asked the Chief Executive to reply.
Attachments:
1. Charity Commission Letter to Member [rchajrowley20150303104106HQ.PDF]
Meetings
Barry Gardiner:
[225580]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the minutes of the meetings of
his Department's risk and resource security working group from 6 May 2010 to date.
Mr Oliver Letwin:
I am not sure which group the question is referring to. It is not normal practice to
publish the minutes of Government meetings.
Pay
Lisa Nandy:
[225609]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the salary is of the chief executive officer of
his Department's Community Organising programme.
Mr Rob Wilson:
The Cabinet Office does not employ a Chief Executive Officer for the Community
Organisers programme.
Public Sector: Mutual Societies
Lucy Powell:
[225682]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of
people who work in public sector mutuals.
Mr Francis Maude:
There are over 100 public service mutuals in operation across the country. Further
information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/public-servicemutuals-new-approaches-to-finance.
Cabinet Office does not collect its own figures on the number employed by such
mutuals. However the July 2013 Boston Consultancy Group report Soft Finance, Hard
Choices estimated that public service mutuals employed 35,000 staff and delivered
£1.5bn worth of public services.
Science: Employment
Dan Jarvis:
[225669]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of (a)
men and (b) women working in the (i) technology and (ii) engineering sector.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Rob Wilson:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I
have asked the Authority to reply.
Attachments:
1. ONS Letter to Member - People in Engineering [PQ 225669 ONS 71.pdf]
Spirits
Ian Paisley:
[225322]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the contribution of
the domestic spirits industry to the economy of (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK; and if he
will make a statement.
Mr Rob Wilson:
Attachments:
1. ONS Letter to Member - Domestic Spirits Industry [PQ 225322 ONS 69.pdf]
Ian Paisley:
[225323]
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs
supported by the domestic spirits industry in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK.
Mr Rob Wilson:
Attachments:
1. ONS Letter to Member - Jobs in Spirits Industry [PQ 225323 ONS 70.pdf]
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Antisemitism
Ian Paisley:
[225329]
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the
Inquiry into Anti-Semitism, published in February 2015 by the All-Party Group on AntiSemitism, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to tackle the use of social media for
anti-Semitic abuse.
Stephen Williams:
We are currently carefully considering the recommendations of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Anti-semitism.
9
10
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Enterprise Zones
Mr Chuka Umunna:
[225679]
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many business
tenants are in place in each Enterprise Zone.
Mr Chuka Umunna:
[225680]
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many jobs have
been created in each Enterprise Zone since May 2010.
Penny Mordaunt:
Since they started in April 2012, Enterprise Zones have reported that they have created
over 15,500 jobs, and over 480 businesses have been established.
New Businesses: Government Assistance
Dan Jarvis:
[225584]
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his
Department is providing to coalfield communities to help develop new businesses; and what
estimate he has made of the number of jobs which will be created as a result of such
initiatives.
Penny Mordaunt:
The Department for Communities and Local Government has funded the Coalfields
Regeneration Trust, Coalfields Enterprise and Growth Funds and the Homes and
Communities Agency’s coalfield projects. Based on information provided by these
sources, 38 businesses have been developed and over 25,000 jobs have been created or
safeguarded.
The Coalfields Regeneration Trust has a history of supporting communities through the
provision of training and health programmes, community assets, and small grants.
Going forward, they have been allowed to invest in property assets to generate income
and growth. They will also be providing small start-up loans and supporting people to
make the most of employment opportunities.
We have created Enterprise Zones in former a number of former coalfield areas – in
Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Kent and the Tees Valley – all helping to create growth in
former Coalfield communities. For example, the Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone
aims to create 14,000 jobs by 2020 and has sites on former collieries. The Orgreave
colliery and coking plant is now transformed into a centre for advanced manufacturing
and Markham Vale is benefitting from capital grant funding to develop the successful
business park. The Government has invested nearly £12 million into local infrastructure £1.8 million investment in Sheffield Business Park Phase 2 and £10 million in the
Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Arts: VAT
Kerry McCarthy:
[225571]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral Answer of
the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy of 15 January 2015, Official Report,
column 989, what discussions his Department has had with HM Revenue and Customs on
resolving difficulties faced by musicians and other creative professionals in complying with
changes to the way VAT is charged on digital services.
Mr Edward Vaizey:
DCMS officials are in contact with their counterparts in HM Revenue and Customs in
relation to the support and guidance given to small businesses, including those in the
creative industries, on this issue.
Broadband: Urban Areas
Chris Bryant:
[225611]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of
the number of (a) small and medium-sized enterprises based and (b) broadband connection
vouchers distributed in each SuperConnected City.
Mr Edward Vaizey:
The numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in cities, and other areas in
the UK, is collected and made available by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The table below details the number of broadband connection vouchers distributed in
each SuperConnected City, as reported by suppliers and cities to mid-February:
SCCP CITY
NO. OF VOUCHERS TO MID-F EBRUARY 2015
Aberdeen
45
Belfast
736
Birmingham
578
Brighton & Hove
150
Bristol
167
Cambridge
152
Cardiff
332
Coventry
266
Derby
81
Derry/Londonderry
113
11
12
Daily Report
ANSWERS
SCCP CITY
NO. OF VOUCHERS TO MID-F EBRUARY 2015
Edinburgh
352
Leeds-Bradford
1,546
London
4,010
Manchester
1,093
Newcastle
236
Newport
55
Oxford
88
Perth
23
Portsmouth
108
Salford
238
York
78
Total
10,447
Mobile Phones
Chris Bryant:
[225610]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the Statement
of Commitment between the Government and mobile network operators signed on 17
December 2014.
Mr Edward Vaizey:
The Government will shortly publish its response to the consultation on tackling partial
not spots that will also include details of the agreement reached with mobile network
operators on 17 December 2014.
Public Libraries
Chris Bryant:
[225619]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11
February 2015 to Question 223186, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of
statistics published by Public Libraries News on library closures and libraries transferred to
volunteers.
Mr Edward Vaizey:
The DCMS has no plans to make an assessment of the accuracy of statistics published by
Public Libraries News on library closures and libraries transferred to volunteers. The
Daily Report
ANSWERS
summary statistics published by Public Libraries News relate to public libraries
throughout the United Kingdom. The remit of the DCMS, however, is to superintend
and promote the improvement of libraries in England.
Public Libraries : Northern Ireland
David Simpson:
[225395]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department
has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on plans to reduce funding for Libraries NI in
2015-16.
Mr Edward Vaizey:
There have been no discussions between the DCMS and the Northern Ireland Executive
on plans to reduce funding for Libraries NI in 2015-16. The remit of the DCMS is to
superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by
local authorities in England. Funding for Libraries NI is the responsibility of the Northern
Ireland Executive.
Public Service Broadcasting
Chris Bryant:
[225617]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11
February 2015 to Quesiton 223684, when the consultation on the framework of regulation
that governs the balance of payments between broadcasters and platforms will open.
Mr Edward Vaizey:
The Department intends to consult shortly.
Telford
Chris Bryant:
[225604]
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much and what proportion
of the cost of his visit to Telford on 11 December 2014 was paid out of public funds.
Mrs Helen Grant:
On the 11th December 2014, my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited Telford
as part of a wider regional visit to the West Midlands. In Telford he met members of the
International Centre to discuss the Government's forthcoming Business Events Strategy.
He was accompanied by two officials.The cost charged to the public purse was £96.17p.
All other costs were borne by the Conservative Party.
13
14
Daily Report
ANSWERS
DEFENCE
Afghanistan
Sir Nicholas Soames:
[225173]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of military equipment (a)
returned to the UK, (b) destroyed in Afghanistan and (c) gifted to the Afghan government
since the withdrawal of British troops from that country.
Mr Mark Francois:
The information is not available in the format requested because not all Op HERRICK
equipment has yet been processed. Once this process of reconciliation has been
completed, I will write to the right hon. Member.
Alison Seabeck:
[225219]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cases of non-compliance relating to the
return of dangerous goods from Afghanistan there have been in the last 12 months.
Mr Mark Francois:
There have been no recorded incidents of non-compliances relating to the return of
dangerous goods from Afghanistan within the last twelve months.
However, during that period, staff at Bastion and Kandahar identified 40 instances of
potential non-compliance at the time of acceptance checks; all were corrected before
the consignments entered the transport chain.
Armed Forces: Redundancy
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson:
[225520]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) RAF Regiment, (b) Royal Marines
and (c) Regular Army personnel have been made redundant in each of the last five years;
and how many such personnel (i) have been re-hired on full-time reserve service contracts
and (ii) have joined the Reserves.
Anna Soubry:
The Ministry of Defence began collecting centrally information on the numbers made
redundant in October 2011. Of those made redundant, the information on those who
then joined the Reserve Forces is readily available post - 1 April 2012 for the Army
Reserve and post - 1 October 2012 for the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marine Reserve,
Royal Fleet Reserve and Royal Air Force Reserve.
Armed Forces personnel who leave and then join the Reserves or the Full Time Reserve
Service do not necessarily do so within the same Financial Year (FY).
The following table records the number of Armed Forces personnel who left the RAF
Regiment, Royal Marines or the Regular Army on redundancy during each FY or part FY
from 1 October 2011 to 31 December 2014 and the number who then joined the
Reserves or the Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS).
Daily Report
YEAR
ANSWERS
SERVICE
ARMY
ROYAL MARINES
ROYAL AIR FORCE
REGIMENT
(includes the
Operational Support
Regiment)
Number Made
Redundant
600
~
~
Who Then Joined:Reserve Forces
Of Which FTRS
50
10
~
-
Number Made
Redundant
2,060
10
-
Of Which FTRS
170
10
-
-
Number Made
Redundant
4,060
-
-
Of Which FTRS
390
10
-
-
Number Made
Redundant
1,280
-
-
Of Which FTRS
50
-
-
-
1 OCTOBER 2011 – 31
MARCH 2012
1 APRIL 2012 – 31
MARCH 2013
1 APRIL 2013 – 31
MARCH 2014
1 APRIL 2014 – 31
DECEMBER 2015
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
15
16
Daily Report
ANSWERS
~ denotes 5 or fewer.
- denotes Zero.
The Reserve Forces consist of Volunteer Reserves, Regular Reserves, Sponsored Reserves
and Full Time Reserve Service.
Armed Forces: Training
Mr Kevan Jones:
[223056]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spends on training
members of each of the Armed Forces each year.
Mr Kevan Jones:
[223059]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual per unit cost is of training
members of each of the Armed Forces.
Chi Onwurah:
[224510]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on training in
each of the last three financial years.
Anna Soubry:
[Holding answer 27 February 2015]: The Ministry of Defence undertakes a wide range
of training activity; from phase 1 and phase 2 training for new recruits to complex joint
exercises with other nations to specialist training for specific trades and skills
requirements, such as nuclear engineering. The costs for these activities encompass
nearly all of the Defence Lines of Development and can not be broken out without
incurring disproportionate cost.
Alison Seabeck:
[225193]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase the number of
people qualified and experienced in munitions and explosives.
Mr Philip Dunne:
The Ministry of Defence provides a wide range of training and education to meet our
demand for suitably qualified and experienced personnel specialising in ordnance,
munitions and explosives, including specialist courses run by the Defence Academy and
military schools, together with apprentice and graduate schemes. We are also working
with other organisations in the ordnance, munitions and explosives sector to understand
our long term requirements and invest throughout the sector, including through joint
training events.
Colombia
Jim Shannon:
[225431]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2014 to
Question 211346, in what ways is the issue of human rights closely examined before any
military assistance to Colombia is approved; and at what level or rank is this examination
conducted.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Mark Francois:
[Holding answer 2 March 2015]: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has clear guidelines in
place to ensure that our international obligations are considered and honoured before
military assistance to Colombia takes place. This includes carrying out Overseas Security
and Justice Assessments (OSJA) where applicable and liaising with the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office to ensure that MOD's activity is in line with our international
obligations. This examination is conducted at various levels and ranks in accordance with
the OSJA and departmental policy.
Information Warfare
Jim Shannon:
[225283]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the new role will be of the 77th Brigade; and
how many troops will be involved in that initiative.
Mr Mark Francois:
77th Brigade is the new name for the Security Assistance Group. Its continuing role
includes:
Providing support, in conjunction with other Government agencies, to efforts to build
stability overseas and to wider defence diplomacy and overseas engagement;
Leading on Special Influence Methods, including providing information on activities, key
leader engagement, operations security and media engagement;
Military capacity-building at various stages in the cycle of conflict, through mentoring,
support and training, including providing training support to Force Elements to enable
delivery of security assistance tasks.
There will be 440 military posts in 77 th Brigade.
LIBOR: Fines
Vernon Coaker:
[221590]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding from LIBOR fines was
distributed to veterans' charities in each (a) region and (b) constituent part of the UK in each
year since 2012.
Anna Soubry:
[Holding answer 26 January 2015]: Information held centrally by the Ministry of
Defence on the distribution of the £35 million LIBOR Fund and the £40 million Veterans
Accommodation Fund is provided in the attached documents. Not all recipients of
funding are veterans' charities and information on the £35 million LIBOR Fund is collated
by country rather than region.
In addition, it is likely that veterans have benefited from LIBOR funds distributed by other
Government Departments. However, this would be at disproportionate cost.
Attachments:
1. LIBOR Fund [HOC 221590 A.xls]
2. Veterans Accommodation Fund [HOC 221590 B.doc]
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Libya
Mrs Madeleine Moon:
[219659]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library (a) a copy of the risk
assessment carried out by his Department in relation to the choice of Bassingbourn camp for
the general purpose training of Libyan soldiers and (b) the steps taken to address each of the
risks identified; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Mark Francois:
[Holding answer 15 January 2015]: I have placed a copy of the Overseas Security and
Justice Assistance Human Rights Assessment for General Purpose Force Training in the
Library of the House. Risks specific to the UK locations assessed for that training are not
recorded on a single document but were considered within the risks of training in the
UK. These risks were managed before and after the training programme and
supplemented by the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Human Rights
Assessment.
Bassingbourn offered the required facilities for training and did not affect wider UK
military training. As part of the preparation of Bassingbourn for training, security
improvements were carried out, such as fencing off areas of the camp from local
residences. The Army also held rehearsal meetings at Bassingbourn to identify and
coordinate the mitigation of risks, including with the Home Office and the police.
The overall process of managing risks associated with General Purpose Force training
was conducted through meetings of officials between Whitehall departments on a very
regular basis, in which risk was a specific item on the agenda. This included consultation
with subject matter experts in each department, the police, the Libyan Government
through the UK and Libya embassies and the UK Defence Advisory and Training Team.
Military Aid
Jim Shannon:
[225432]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2014 to
Question 211346, what expertise and advice the UK has provided on international
humanitarian law and human rights during military operations at (a) seminars and
conferences and (b) other events since 2010; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Mark Francois:
[Holding answer 2 March 2015]: The Government has raised its concerns about the
issue of human rights with the Colombian Government on a number of occasions and
welcomes the reassurances we have received. As part of its role in this process, the
Ministry of Defence has, since 2010: sent a senior officer to Bogota to participate in an
international military law conference; sent a Royal Navy legal expert to speak at an
International Conference on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law; and,
contributed to a UN led team that travelled to Colombia with the intent of influencing
strategic change on human rights issues at the highest levels.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Public Expenditure
[225169]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what operations vote (a) Department Expenditure
Limit and (b) Annually Managed Expenditure outturn by subhead was in (i) near cash and (ii)
non-cash terms for the financial years 2010-11 to 2013-14.
[225276]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Supplementary Estimate Provision of
Defence Capability vote (a) Department Expenditure Limit and (b) Annually Managed
Expenditure provision by subhead was in (i) near-cash and (ii) non-cash terms in each
financial year from 2010-11.
[225277]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Main Estimate Operations vote (a)
Department Expenditure Limit and (b) Annually Managed Expenditure provision was by
subhead in (i) near-cash and (ii) non-cash terms in in each financial year from 2010-11.
[225278]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Supplementary Estimate Operations vote
(a) Department Expenditure Limit and (b) Annually Managed Expenditure provision by
subhead was in (i) near-cash and (ii) non-cash terms in each financial year from 2010-11.
[225279]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Provision of Defence Capability vote (a)
Department Expenditure Limit and (b) Annually Managed Expenditure outturn by subhead
was in (i) near-cash and (ii) non-cash terms in each financial year from 2010-11.
[225280]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Main Estimate Provision of Defence
Capability vote (a) Department Expenditure Limit and (b) Annually Managed Expenditure
provision by subhead was in (i) near-cash and (ii) non-cash terms in each financial year from
2010-11.
Michael Fallon:
The information for the years requested is available in the MOD Main and
Supplementary Estimates; and the Annual Report and Accounts, which have been laid in
the House and are available at the below links.
In this context, the term “ringfenced” is broadly similar to “non-cash” and the term
“non-ringfenced” is broadly similar to “near-cash”
Main Estimates
2010-11
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/247983/
0269.pdf
2011-12
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Main_parliamentary_supply_estimates_2011-12.pdf
2012-13
Main_parliamentary_supply_estimates_2012-13.pdf
2013-14
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2013-14
2014-15
main_supply_estimates_2014_2015_web.pdf
Supplementary Estimates
2010-11
0790.pdf
2011-12
1755.pdf
2012-13
0894.pdf
2013-14
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279575/s
upplementary_estimates_and_new_estimates_2013_14_120214_correction.pdf
2014-15
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/405330/s
upplementary_estimates_2014-15_web_with_corrections_slip.pdf
Outturns
Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 For the year ended 31 March
2014
MOD_AR14_print_version.pdf
Core Table 7.3 Contains Retrospective Parliamentary Outturn Tables covering the full
spending round
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Single Source Regulations Office
Alison Seabeck:
[225162]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he requests the Single Source Regulation
Office to perform additional analysis, on the basis of information it has received or
generated, but which it is not required to perform, who pays for this analysis; and what
estimate he has made of the costs of that analysis to his Department.
Mr Philip Dunne:
The Defence Reform Act (DRA) 2014 grants the Ministry of Defence (MOD) the power to
request the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO) to undertake additional analysis of
the standard reports provided to it by industry. To date, the MOD has not made any
such request to the SSRO.
Since such work would fall outside the core responsibilities of the SSRO, the MOD would
be required to pay the SSRO for any additional costs arising. It is too soon after the
implementation of the DRA to make any worthwhile estimate of the potential costs to
the MOD.
Ukraine
Sir John Stanley:
[224886]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information he has as to whether Saxon
armoured vehicles exported to Ukraine will have arms mounted on them by Ukroboronprom
or any other Ukrainian organisation.
Mr Philip Dunne:
The Ministry of Defence supplied the first batch of 20 Saxon vehicles to the Ukrainian
Government. The vehicles were delivered unarmed and any subsequent decision to arm
those vehicles is a matter for the Ukrainian Government.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane:
[225145]
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment his Department has made of the
accuracy of the data provided by the Electoral Commission on the 2014 Electoral Registers
used for the implementation of Individual Electoral Registration.
Mr Sam Gyimah:
The Government has not produced its own analysis.
The registers used for the implementation of Individual Electoral Registration in 2014
were those published before the transition.
The Electoral Commission has published its own analysis of the completeness and
accuracy of the electoral registers published in February in England, and March 2014 in
Scotland.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
EDUCATION
Sixth Form Colleges
Nic Dakin:
[225406]
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether sixth form colleges can apply for
academy status; and if she will make a statement.
Nick Boles:
[Holding answer 2 March 2015]: It would be legally possible for a sixth form college to
become an academy, but the Department is not currently able to consider applications.
This is because we have not yet been able to resolve difficult issues such as the cost of
VAT and the handling of existing debts held by sixth form colleges. We are looking at
these issues, but cannot promise to solve them.
Sixth Form Colleges: VAT
Yvonne Fovargue:
[225185]
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions Ministers in her Department
have had with sixth form colleges on VAT exemption and linking with Academies since May
2010.
Yvonne Fovargue:
[225186]
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many sixth form colleges have expressed an
interest in linking with Academy chains since May 2010.
Nick Boles:
Ministers have had numerous discussions with sixth form colleges about VAT exemption
since May 2010.
Any sixth form college can collaborate with an academy or academy chain. To create a
more formal link, sixth form colleges can apply to become an academy sponsor. Since
May 2010, fourteen sixth form colleges have expressed an interest in becoming an
academy sponsor.
University Technical Colleges: Liverpool
Steve Rotheram:
[225671]
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons her Department's funding for a
university technical college on the side of the former Anfield Comprehensive School was
withdrawn.
Mr Edward Timpson:
In August 2014, approval for the UTC Liverpool Engineering and Logistics project was
withdrawn, and the associated funding cancelled. This decision was taken because the
Universal Technical College project had made insufficient progress to give the
Department for Education confidence that a good quality school would open and
flourish. At the time of withdrawal of approval, the preferred location for the UTC was
the former Anfield Comprehensive School site.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Energy: Prices
Caroline Flint:
[225176]
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the oral
contribution by the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye of 14 January 2015, Official Report,
column 931, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the number of independent
suppliers has trebled to 19 since 2010.
Matthew Hancock:
I would like to update the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye.
In May 2010 there were 7 independent companies supplying gas and/or electricity to
households in Great Britain. Since 2010, thanks to the pro-competition, pro-consumer
policies of this Government, as part of our long term economic plan, the number of
independent suppliers has not just trebled, but almost quadrupled.
The Domestic Energy Market Snapshot 31 October 2014, published by Energy UK, notes
that the number of suppliers in the domestic market has reached an all-time high of 26
suppliers.
http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication.html?task=file.download&id=5017
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Climate Change
Barry Gardiner:
[225583]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which organisations
made reports in the first round of reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power; and
which of those organisations have informed her Department that they will not be reporting
in the second round of reporting under that power.
Dan Rogerson:
All the organisations which provided reports under the first round of the Adaption
Reporting Power are listed in Annex A of Defra’s “2013 Strategy for exercising the
Adaptation Reporting Power and list of priority reporting authorities”. The reports are
published on the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/adaptationreporting-power-received-reports.
All of the organisations which are participating in the second round of reporting are
listed on the GOV.UK website in the document “ List of organisations which were
invited to participate in the second round.” This can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/adapting-to-climate-change-2013-strategy-forexercising-the-adaptation-reporting-power. The list includes all of the organisations that
participated in the first round of reporting plus a number of new reporters . Of the 111
organisations invited to report, 101 have declared that they will submit voluntary
Adaptation Reporting Power reports to Government.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Dangerous Dogs Exemptions Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015
Henry Smith:
[225446]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she consulted
with (a) the British Veterinary Association, (b) the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, (c) Dogs Trust, (d) Blue Cross and (e) the Kennel Club in drawing up the
provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Exemptions Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015;
and if she will make a statement.
Henry Smith:
[225447]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her
Department has made of the effect of the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Exemptions
Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015 on the owners of exempted dogs intending to go
to university or who serve in the armed forces; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice:
The Dangerous Dogs Exemption Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015 recognises
that owning and keeping a prohibited dog is a significant responsibility. These dogs are
bred for fighting and Parliament has agreed that there should be restrictions and
conditions on their ownership in order to protect public safety. The court plays an
important role in determining whether a prohibited dog is a danger to public safety and
must take into account whether the person intending to be in charge of the dog is a fit
and proper person. The expectation of Parliament is that the person approved by the
court will have day-to-day responsibility for the dog. There is a limit on how long a
prohibited dog can be kept away from its home under the supervision of the person
approved by the court. This ensures that the dog is kept in suitable accommodation at
premises known to the police and is under the supervision of the court-approved person
at all times.
A public consultation exercise on a package of measures aimed at promoting more
responsible dog ownership ran from 23 April to 15 June 2012. This included aspects of
the 2015 Order including provisions to enable seized suspected prohibited dogs not
considered by the police to be a danger to public safety to be returned to their owner,
subject to conditions, pending a court judgment on the fate of the dog. These provisions
were widely supported. The keepership elements the 2015 Order return the law more
closely to the position agreed by Parliament before the judgment in
R (Sandhu) v Isleworth Crown Court [2012] and address issues of public safety. The
police were consulted on these provisions. Dogs Trust was consulted on the changes
relating to insurance of owners of prohibited dogs.
In its response to the EFRA Committee pre-legislative scrutiny report of the Dangerous
Dogs (Amendment) Bill, the Government made clear it would be bringing forward an
Order to prescribe the limited circumstances when transfer of keepership of a prohibited
dog is permitted. The issue was also covered in the fact sheets accompanying the Antisocial Behaviour Crime and Policing Bill during its passage through Parliament.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Flood Control
Barry Gardiner:
[225606]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the conclusions
of the Environment Agency's long-term investment scenarios were refelcted in funding
decisions taken as part of the 2014 National Infrastructure Plan's six-year flood defence
grant-in-aid capital programme.
Dan Rogerson:
Long-Term Investment Scenarios (LTIS) and the six-year programme were developed by
the Environment Agency and published on 2 December 2014. LTIS gives a high level and
long term strategic picture of future investment needs using national level data. It
cannot support programme level decisions because it does not contain sufficient detail
to make such decisions. In contrast, decisions on allocation of funding to individual
schemes in the six-year programme are made based on more detailed processes,
guidance and local data.
Floods: Coastal Areas
Barry Gardiner:
[225577]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will
publish the assessments it has prepared of the potential effects of an East Coast storm surge
on agriculture, food supply, transport infrastructure, critical infrastructure and loss of life.
Dan Rogerson:
Such assessments which are used for central government and Local Authority planning
purposes contain officially sensitive information which renders them unsuitable for
publication. For example, the Defra assessment contains sensitive information
concerning critical national infrastructure.
Food and Environment Research Agency: Thirsk
Miss Anne McIntosh:
[225457]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is
taking through the Food and Environmental Research Agency deal to support businesses in
Thirsk and Malton.
Dan Rogerson:
The establishment of the Food and Environmental Research Agency (Fera) joint venture
will bring new investment of £14.5m and, it is anticipated, create 50 new high value
science jobs. This will boost the National Agri-Food Innovation Campus York, where Fera
is based, and which is already working with the Local Enterprise Partnership to bring
more business and employment to the site. All of this will help support the local
economy in Thirsk and Malton.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Thames Flood Barrier
Barry Gardiner:
[225578]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the
correspondence between the (a) Environment Agency and (b) Committee on Climate
Change and her Department and between the Committee on Climate Change and the
Environment Agency on the Thames Barrier from November 2013 to date.
Dan Rogerson:
The Department and the Environment Agency do not currently hold a record of official
correspondence between the officials of Defra, the Environment Agency and the
Committee on Climate Change on this matter.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Cyprus
[225174]
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his
Department has had with the government of Cyprus on that country's proposed renewal of
its military co-operation agreement with Russia; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington:
We are aware of reports of recent agreements, including military agreements, between
the Republic of Cyprus and Russia. It is our understanding that the military aspects
represent a continuation of existing arrangements. The United Kingdom remains fully
engaged on a range of security and military issues with the Republic of Cyprus.
The EU has sent a united message to Russia that its actions in Ukraine are in flagrant
breach of international law, and all member states, including Cyprus, unanimously
agreed to impose measures against Russia in response to these actions.
Iran
John Howell:
[907847]
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent
assessment he has made of progress in the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group
of countries.
Mr Philip Hammond:
We have made some progress in recent weeks in negotiations, but we are still a long
way off an agreement: Iran needs to respond positively to solutions the P5+1 have put
forward if we are to make progress; and that needs to happen urgently - a lot of
complex and difficult issues need to be resolved before we can reach a comprehensive
deal, which addresses our proliferation concerns, and we have little time left before the
deadline.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Middle East
David Mowat:
[907851]
assessment he has made of the likelihood of a two-state solution emerging in the Middle
East.
Mr Tobias Ellwood:
A negotiated two state solution is the best way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
once and for all.
We are working closely with international partners on how we can support a renewed
process. We do not underestimate the challenges, but firmly believe that if both parties
show leadership, peace is possible.
Pakistan
Yvonne Fovargue:
[907842]
discussions he has had with the government of Pakistan on discrimination and violence
against people of minority faiths in that country.
Mr Tobias Ellwood:
We are deeply concerned by the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan.
On 24 February I raised UK concerns about the blasphemy law with a group of visiting
Pakistani parliamentarians.
The Foreign Secretary also discussed Pakistan’s blasphemy laws with Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif in November 2014.
We will continue to support all efforts in promoting religious tolerance and freedom of
speech in Pakistan, and call for perpetrators of human rights abuses to be brought to
justice.
Radicalism
Mr Graham Allen:
[907848]
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking
to tackle extremist ideology and to reduce its appeal worldwide.
Mr Tobias Ellwood:
There is an urgent need to tackle poisonous, extremist ideology and propaganda. We
are working closely with our international partners to address extremist material online,
mobilise civil society and religious leaders to challenge extremism in all its forms, and
identify more effective ways of countering ISIL’s and other extremists’ messaging.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Russia and Middle East
Mr John Baron:
[907845]
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he
has made of the strategic analysis capability of his Department in relation to Russia and the
Middle East.
Mr David Lidington:
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office invests significant resources in policy analysis
and capability in relation to the Middle East and Russia, including through our cadre of
dedicated Research Analysts and is further enhancing capacity through the States and
Societies Faculty in the new Diplomatic Academy.
Ukraine
Sir John Stanley:
[224888]
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will be
laying a Gifting Minute before the House in respect of Saxon armoured vehicles exported to
Ukraine.
Mr David Lidington:
The 20 Saxon armoured vehicles exported to Ukraine was a commercial sale between a
private company and the Ukraine Ministry of Defence, and subject to the rigorous export
licensing process. The vehicles were not gifted to Ukraine by the Government, therefore
a gifting minute will not be laid before the House.
HEALTH
Asthma
Liz Kendall:
[225150]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost of hospital stay was for
people admitted with a primary diagnosis of asthma in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison:
The information is shown in the following table. It is from reference costs, which are the
average unit cost to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing
defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs for acute care
are collected by healthcare resource group (HRG), which are standard groupings of
clinically similar treatments that consume similar levels of healthcare resource. The costs
shown in the table represent all HRGs for admitted care for asthma.
AVERAGE COST OF ADMITTED PATIENT CARE[1] FOR
ASTHMA
2009/10
£776
2010/11
£799
Daily Report
ANSWERS
AVERAGE COST OF ADMITTED PATIENT CARE[1] FOR
ASTHMA
2011/12
£837
2012/13
£846
2013/14
£860
Source: Reference Costs, Department of Health
Notes:
During the last five years, the HRGs relating to admitted treatment for asthma have
changed. The HRGs used for each year are as follows:
2009/10 to 2011/12:
DZ15A Asthma with Intubation, with Major CC
DZ15B Asthma with Intubation, with Intermediate CC
DZ15C Asthma with Intubation, without CC
DZ15D Asthma without Intubation, with Major CC
DZ15E Asthma without Intubation, with Intermediate CC
DZ15F Asthma without Intubation, without CC
PA12Z Asthma or Wheezing
2012/13:
DZ15G Asthma with Intubation
DZ15H Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 9+
DZ15J Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 6-8
DZ15K Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 3-5
DZ15L Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 0-2
PA12Z Asthma or Wheezing
2013/14:
DZ15G Asthma with Intubation
DZ15H Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 9+
DZ15J Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 6-8
DZ15K Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 3-5
DZ15L Asthma without Intubation, with CC Score 0-2
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ANSWERS
PD12A Paediatric Asthma or Wheezing, with CC Score 4+
PD12B Paediatric Asthma or Wheezing, with CC Score 1-3
PD12C Paediatric Asthma or Wheezing, with CC Score 0
HRGs beginning with DZ relate to adults only
HRGs beginning with PA or PD relate to children only
[1] Admitted Patient Care includes elective care (including excess bed-days), non-elective
care (including excess bed-days), day cases and regular day or night admissions
Liz Kendall:
[225503]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2014 to
Question 211703, how many people were recorded on a general practice register with a
diagnosis of asthma in 2013-14.
Jane Ellison:
The number of people in England recorded on a general practice register, as part of the
quality and outcomes framework, with a diagnosis of asthma in 2013-14 was
3,340,484.
Cancer
Grahame M. Morris:
[225122]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the results of the 2014 National Cancer Peer
Review programme cycle will be published.
Grahame M. Morris:
[225189]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to confirm the funding to be
allocated for the continuation of the National Cancer Peer Review programme.
Nic Dakin:
[225518]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what level of funding is required for the National
Cancer Peer Review Programme to continue.
Nic Dakin:
[225519]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to make an
announcement on the future of the National Cancer Peer Review Programme.
Mr John Baron:
[225551]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether funding has been secured for continuation
of the National Cancer Peer Review.
Jane Ellison:
NHS England is currently reviewing the national peer review programme for cancer with
a view to considering how its success might be extended into other new areas of
specialised commissioning. The Chief Executive of NHS England has confirmed that the
Daily Report
ANSWERS
programme will continue, playing a critical part of any broader peer review programme
NHS England may look to introduce. NHS England is in the process of allocating funding
for all of its programme funded activity, and as part of this the national peer review
programme for cancer will be funded to enable it to continue.
Cervical Cancer
Mr Stephen O'Brien:
[225373]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will change guidelines on cervical smear tests
to permit GPs to conduct such tests on women outside of routine screening time frames, if
the GP believes that such tests are necessary to investigate presenting symptoms.
Jane Ellison:
A cervical screening test is a population screening test, not a diagnostic test, and is
therefore not appropriate for women with symptoms. Waiting two weeks for a smear
test result could delay examination by a gynaecologist. The Department has published
guidance for general practitioners (GPs) on managing young women aged 20-24 with
abnormal vaginal bleeding. This is available at:
http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical/publications/doh-guidelines-youngwomen.pdf
Information for women of all ages on the symptoms of cervical cancer is available on the
NHS Choices website at:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cancer-of-the-cervix/pages/introduction.aspx
The Department advises women who are concerned about cervical cancer to speak to
their GP.
Dialysis Machines
Steve McCabe:
[225439]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure equal patient
access to dialysis treatment throughout the UK when the provision for dialysis treatment is
transferred to clinical commissioning groups.
Steve McCabe:
[225441]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what protocols are in place for the transfer of
responsibility for the provision of dialysis treatment to local clinical commissioning groups.
Steve McCabe:
[225442]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans for the transfer of
dialysis treatment to clinical commissioning groups to take place.
George Freeman:
Ministers are responsible for deciding which specialised services should be commissioned
by NHS England. Ministers obtain advice to inform these decisions from the Prescribed
Specialised Services Advisory Group (PSSAG), a Department of Health expert committee.
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ANSWERS
PSSAG considered a proposal from NHS England to transfer commissioning responsibility
for renal dialysis services from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).
PSSAG advised Ministers, that on the evidence presented to it, renal dialysis services
were suitable for commissioning by CCGs and did not meet the requirements for
national commissioning by NHS England.
However, the proposal has since been referred back to PSSAG for reconsideration after
the Department became aware that PSSAG was provided with incorrect evidence when
it first considered the proposals.
No further decision on the transfer of commissioning responsibility for renal dialysis
services can be made until PSSAG has reconsidered the proposal and provided Ministers
with its updated advice. Commissioning responsibility for these services will therefore
remain with NHS England at least until 1 April 2016.
Steve McCabe:
[225440]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who his Department consulted on the transfer of
dialysis treatment to clinical commissioning groups.
George Freeman:
Ministers have obtained advice from the Prescribed Specialised Services Advisory Group
(PSSAG), a Department of Health expert committee, on the proposal to transfer
commissioning responsibility for renal dialysis services. Ministers have also consulted
with NHS England. The Department ran a six week public consultation on the timing and
logistics of the proposed transfer, which received responses from a wide range of
individuals and organisations, including patients, clinical commissioning groups,
clinicians, National Health Service trusts, charities, and trade organisations.
Ministers have now referred the proposal back to PSSAG for reconsideration taking
account of corrected evidence.
Disability Aids
Andrew Gwynne:
[225094]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on which
specialised augmentative and alternative communication providers have hired speech and
language therapists since signing contracts with NHS England area teams; and how many
such therapists have been hired by each such provider.
Andrew Gwynne:
[225095]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which specialised augmentative and alternative
communication providers have signed contracts, or variations of contract, with the
appropriate NHS England Area Team; and on what date was each such contract or variation
signed.
Andrew Gwynne:
[225096]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the (a) £15 million convergence
funding allocated for specialised augmentative and alternative communication services and
Daily Report
ANSWERS
(b) £7.5 million convergence funding allocated for specialised environmental control services
is forecast to have been spent by the relevant specialised services by the end of the 2014-15
financial year.
Andrew Gwynne:
[225097]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when it is planned for the revised NHS England
service specification D01/S/b Complex Disability Equipment Communication Aids (Specialised
AAC services), published as Interim for adoption from 01/10/14, to be approved by the
Clinical Priorities Advisory Group.
Norman Lamb:
Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for commissioning Alternative
and Augmentative Communication (AAC) aids for patients with complex disability
whose needs require specialised assessment.
NHS England has advised that details of contracts for AAC providers are held at local
area team level. Contracts are in place (or a contract variation with a supporting
implementation plan) in the following areas:
- South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (covering Yorkshire and the Humber)
- Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral (covering North West and Wessex)
- Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country (covering the West Midlands)
The following areas have agreed plans with providers and are in the process of finalising
the contracts:
- Leicestershire and Lincolnshire (covering East Midlands)
- London
- Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (covering the North East)
- Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucester (covering the South West)
- Surrey and Sussex (covering the South East)
As there is currently no service in East Anglia, £2.1 million of the £15 million funding is
held in a national reserve while work is undertaken to establish the service requirements.
The local commissioners regard this as a priority and have committed £100,000 to spend
immediately on equipment.
In January this year, it was agreed that Cambridge University Hospitals will act as the
hub in a network model covering the East of England. The work to establish the service
is now in train. It is intended that there will be a limited service up to April 2015 with
priority given to people with degenerative conditions until the recruitment process is
complete. The aim is to have the full service in place soon after this.
It has been agreed that there will be a further stocktake of progress on all the agreed
contract changes and action plans in the next few weeks.
Information is not collected at a national level regarding the number of additional
speech and language therapists recruited. Recruitment is underway and progress is
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ANSWERS
being monitored by the local commissioning teams of NHS England as part of the
routine contract management arrangements.
Information is not collected at a national level regarding the spend by providers on
AACs. The full year allocations of £15 million and £7.5 million will be provided
recurrently in full from 1 April 2015.
NHS England has confirmed that the service specification on its website is the current
version that is in use and was signed off by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group in 2014
before it was published. There are proposals to review this in light of the allocations of
new funding to new providers from October 2014 and this will form part of NHS
England’s proposed work programme for 2015/16.
Epilepsy: Young People
David Simpson:
[225402]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support
teenagers with epilepsy.
Norman Lamb:
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline The diagnosis and
management of the epilepsies in adults and children in primary and secondary care,
published in January 2012, sets out best practice for clinicians in the diagnosis,
treatment and care of children, young people and adults with epilepsy.
The guidance sets out that the physical, psychological and social needs of young people
with epilepsy should always be considered by healthcare professionals. Attention should
be paid to their relationships with family and friends, and at school. In addition, the
guidance makes clear that teenagers with epilepsy should have a named clinician to
support transition to adult services.
Family Nurse Partnership Programme
Mr Frank Field:
[225385]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to publish the next
phase of the evaluation of the Family Nurse Partnership.
Dr Daniel Poulter:
We have commissioned a large-scale independent randomised control trial to evaluate
the Family Nurse Partnership programme’s effectiveness in England. The initial findings
from the trial will be published later this year.
Genito-urinary Medicine
Dr Sarah Wollaston:
[225144]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans are in place for an audit of the
commissioning process for sexual health services.
Daily Report
Dr Sarah Wollaston:
ANSWERS
[225188]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that standards of
patient access, service quality and patient safety are maintained by local authorities in the
commissioning of clinical sexual health services.
Jane Ellison:
Since March 2013, the Department, Public Health England (PHE) and other partners
have produced a range of policy documents and guidance for local authorities, clinical
commissioning groups, providers and others to support the provision of joined up, high
quality sexual health services. This guidance includes:
A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-framework-for-sexual-healthimprovement-in-england
Making it work –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-sexual-healthreproductive-health-and-hiv-services
HIV, sexual and reproductive health current issues bulletin Issue 1: Payments for patients
living outside your local authority https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-sexual-and-reproductive-healthcurrent-issues-bulletin-issue-1-november-2013
HIV, sexual and reproduction health current issues bulletin Issue 2: Commissioning
Sexual Health Services from Primary Care –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-sexual-and-reproductive-healthcurrent-issues-bulletin-issue-2-december-2013
HIV, sexual and reproduction health current issues bulletin Issue 3: Commissioning HIV
Services –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-sexual-and-reproductive-healthcurrent-issues-bulletin-issue-3-february-2014
HIV, sexual and reproduction health current issues bulletin Issue 4: Tendering Sexual
Health Services –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-sexual-and-reproductive-healthcurrent-issues-bulletin-issue-4-may-2014
Sexual Health Clinical Governance: Key principles to assist service commissioners and
providers to operate clinical governance systems in sexual health services –
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/252975/S
exual_Health_Clinical_Governance_final.pdf
Commissioning Sexual Health Services and Interventions: Best Practice Guidance for
Local Authorities –
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ANSWERS
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-sexual-health-services-andinterventions-best-practice-guidance-for-local-authorities
Sexual Health: Key Principals for Cross Charging –
exual_Health_Key_Principles_for_cross_charging.pdf
Integrated Sexual Health Services: National Service Specification –
ervice_Specification_with_covering_note.pdf
PHE is planning a joint review with the Association of Directors of Public Health and
other partners of the current commissioning arrangements for Sexual Health,
Reproductive Health and HIV services. The review is intended to look at current
commissioning arrangements and identify any issues arising from the changes to the
commissioning of services, together with examples of good practice. It will be based on
a structured questionnaire which will enable comparable information to be collected
through interview with key partners. A summary of the findings will be published in the
summer of 2015.
Health Services
Grahame M. Morris:
[225086]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS clinical reference groups are chaired by
employees of NHS England or people receiving financial reimbursement from NHS England.
Jane Ellison:
NHS England has advised that the chairs of Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs) are
appointed senior clinicians from around the country who are acting on a voluntary basis
with the support of their employing organisations (usually NHS trusts). They are
therefore not salaried, employed or reimbursed by NHS England in respect of their CRG
roles.
Hereditary Diseases
Philip Davies:
[225464]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the
health effects of consanguineous marriages; and what steps he is taking to reduce them.
Dr Daniel Poulter:
The NHS Born in Bradford study found that although most babies born to a couple who
are related do not have a genetic problem, consanguineous marriage can increase the
risk of birth defect from 3% to 6%. Further information is available on the Born in
Bradford website at:
http://www.borninbradford.nhs.uk/parentstudies/130/StudyDetails/studies-into-theimpact-of-congenital-anomalies-on-health/
Daily Report
ANSWERS
It is important that antenatal, paediatric and genetic services work with communities to
improve awareness of the risk of consanguineous marriage. Local commissioners are
best placed to determine whether action is needed in their area. To support clinical
commissioning groups (CCGs), NHS England published in February 2014, Our Ambition
to Reduce Premature Mortality: A resource to support commissioners in setting a level of
ambition. In line with the document, CCGs may wish to consider investment in
community-based health champions and communication campaigns aimed at raising
awareness of the implications of genetic inheritance alongside community based access
to genetic counselling and family planning services and enhanced diagnostic services.
A copy of the resource document is available on the NHS England website at:
http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mort-res-22-5.pdf
Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination
Dr Sarah Wollaston:
[225143]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when vaccinations for human papillomavirus for
men who have sex with men will be implemented.
Jane Ellison:
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert
body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters agreed at its October
meeting that further consultation was needed with stakeholders before finalising its
advice to ministers on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of men who have sex
with men (MSM). It held a stakeholder consultation between 12 November and 7
January and we understand that the JCVI considered the outcome of the consultation at
its meeting on 4 February 2015, as it reviewed its provisional advice on MSM.
Any implementation of an HPV MSM vaccination programme will be dependent on the
JCVI’s final advice. We look forward to receiving the JCVI’s final advice in due course.
Infectious Diseases: Research
Jim Shannon:
[225284]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will hold discussions with medical bodies on
funding for developing a cure for the common cold.
George Freeman:
The Department has no current plans to hold such discussions.
In 2013/14, the Medical Research Council (MRC) spent £2.0 million on research related
to the common cold. Of this, £0.5 million related to vaccine development and £1.5
million related to underpinning research related to the common cold.
Research projects that related to vaccine development were:
- Dr Chiu, Imperial College London, £1.1 million awarded for Cell mediated immunity
against RSV and influenza in a human experimental challenge model
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ANSWERS
- Dr Taylor, The Pirbright Institute, £0.5 million awarded for Pre-clinical development of a
simian adenovirus vectored respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine
Underpinning research related to the common cold:
- Dr Johansson, Imperial College London, £1.1 million awarded for Regulation of
interferon production in the lung during respiratory syncytial virus infection
- Professor Johnston, Imperial College London, £2.0 million awarded for MRC-GSK
Alliance: Mechanisms of interplay between allergy and viruses in asthma
- Dr Tuthill, The Pirbright Institute, £0.5 million awarded for Picornavirus capsid protein
VP4: Essential role in cell entry and conserved antiviral target
- Dr Bhella, University of Glasgow, University unit programme: Structural studies of
human viruses and host interactions
- Dr Rehwinkel, University of Oxford, University unit programme: Activation of innate
nucleic acid sensing pathways during virus infection, inflammation and autoimmunity
In addition to research directly related to the common cold the MRC also funds
additional research looking at the effects of the common cold on respiratory conditions
such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
The research in this field at Imperial College London is also funded by the National
Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research
Centre.
Influenza: Vaccination
Jim Shannon:
[225285]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide funding to ensure that vaccines
that are not resistant to flu bug virus are available.
Jane Ellison:
The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors influenza globally and each year
recommends the strains of flu virus that should be included in the flu vaccine for the
forthcoming Northern hemisphere flu season. It takes 6-7 months to produce flu vaccine
from the point that the selection of strains is made.
It is not possible to fully predict the strains that will circulate in a subsequent season, and
there is always a risk of drift, although this does not occur often. Over the last decade
there has generally been a good match between the flu vaccine strains selected and
those that circulate in the subsequent season.
Manufacturers who produce flu vaccine adopt the WHO recommendations for the
whole of the Northern hemisphere market.
It is crucial that people are not put off having the flu vaccine because of recent reports
about reduced effectiveness against one strain of flu this year.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Medical Equipment
Mr George Howarth:
[225281]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the
availability in obtaining dispensing appliance contractor licenses on patients with complex
conditions.
Mr George Howarth:
[225282]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the
ease with which small and medium-sized businesses can obtain a dispensing appliance
contractor licence; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman:
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. We are not
aware of any significant issues regarding the impact of these arrangements on small and
medium-sized businesses offering continence products nor on the adoption of
innovation in the NHS.
Mental Health Services: Kent
Damian Green:
[225146]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of
provision of mental health services for children and young people in South Kent; and if he
will make a statement.
Norman Lamb:
This is a matter for the local National Health Service.
The delivery of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (ChYPS) in South
Kent is provided by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT), and commissioned
by local NHS clinical commissioning groups and Kent County Council.
We are advised by NHS England that SPFT is compliant with contract targets, in that the
current average waiting time for initial routine assessments is four weeks, and from
referral to the start of routine treatment is 10 weeks. All emergency referrals are
responded to within 24 hours and urgent referrals within five days.
This Government has invested £54 million into the Children and Young People’s
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme over 2011-15/16, which aims
to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapies and collaboration with
children, young people and families. We have also invested an additional £7 million this
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
year to provide around 50 extra Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services beds for
young patients in the areas with the least provision – 53 new beds have now been
commissioned.
I launched the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce,
which will consider key issues facing child and adolescent mental health. The
Government will publish a report on the Taskforce shortly.
NHS: Empty Property
Tim Loughton:
[225563]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the current value of
unused NHS property.
Tim Loughton:
[225564]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of NHS property declared surplus
to requirements since 2010.
Tim Loughton:
[225566]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on retention of unused NHS
properties left vacant after three years.
Tim Loughton:
[225567]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the proceeds of NHS property
sales since 2010 have reverted to (a) HM Treasury and (b) the NHS.
Dr Daniel Poulter:
Over the current spending review period the Department has not returned any income
from asset sales to HM Treasury and the proceeds have remained within the National
Health Service.
It is the responsibility of each NHS organisation to decide how its property is used;
decisions about whether buildings are surplus to NHS requirements are determined
locally. The Department provides guidance on the management of property owned by
NHS organisations in its publication Health Building Note 00-08 The efficient
management of healthcare estates and facilities. This states that surplus property should
be sold as soon as possible, but it does not make any reference to the period when a
site is vacant.
The publication can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-efficient-management-of-healthcareestates-and-facilities-health-building-note-00-08
The Department does not hold centrally, information about the value of currently
unused NHS property. Between 2010-11 and 2013-14 foundation trusts and NHS trusts
reported that they had disposed of £684 million worth of capital assets.
Daily Report
Tim Loughton:
ANSWERS
[225565]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS properties in Sussex are currently
unused; and what estimate he has made of the value of those properties.
Due to the complexity of the accompanying table, the link below is to the
web version of the answer:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answersstatements/written-question/Commons/2015-02-26/225565
Obesity
Luciana Berger:
[225639]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with NICE on its
potential new indicator on obesity to be included in NICE's Quality and Outcomes
Framework indicator menu.
Jane Ellison:
Departmental officials have regular discussions with the National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence and have responded to its recent public consultation on potential new
indicators for inclusion in the 2016/17 Quality and Outcomes Framework indicator
menu.
Luciana Berger:
[225670]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of patients identified by their
general practitioner as being obese have (a) received follow-up advice on how to lose or
manage their weight and (b) succeeded in losing weight and maintaining their weight loss in
the last 12 months.
Jane Ellison:
The existing obesity related Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator supports
general practitioner’s to identify patients who are overweight or obese. There are,
however, no routinely required assessments of the number of people who have received
follow up advice, lost weight or maintained weight loss over 12 months.
Local authorities, working with local and national partners across the health and social
care system, have responsibility for public health and the assessment and provision of
preventative weight management services. Public Health England (PHE) works closely
with local authorities to ensure access to services and outcomes are recorded, though
this is not routinely reported back to a national database.
PHE is responding to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence consultation
on the QOF and Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicators to highlight
improvements to the system that support intervention and follow up support for
patients identified as overweight and obese.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Prosthetics
Alison Seabeck:
[225147]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the use of 3D printing in
research, design and production of recreational prosthetics.
Alison Seabeck:
[225192]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) children and (b) adults in the civilian
population in England have been fitted with recreational prosthetics in each of the last four
years.
Norman Lamb:
There is currently no policy on the use of 3D printers.
Information on the provision of recreational prosthetics is not held centrally.
Radiotherapy
Grahame M. Morris:
[225084]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were sent abroad for proton
therapy in each of the last five years; how many such patients were children in each of those
years; and what the annual cost was to the NHS in each of those years.
Jane Ellison:
The information requested is provided in the following tables.
Number of patients sent abroad for proton beam therapy (PBT) in the last five years
ADULT
P AEDIATRIC
T OTAL APPROVED
2010
22
34
56
2011
19
61
80
2012
20
86
106
2013
23
99
122
2014
32
102
134
Cost to the National Health Service of sending patients abroad for PBT in the last five
years
2009-10
£1.32 MILLION
2010-11
£4.48 million
2011-12
£8.80 million
Daily Report
ANSWERS
2009-10
£1.32 MILLION
2012-12
£8.23 million
2013-14
£9.63 million
In April 2012, the Secretary of State announced that £250 million will be invested to
build PBT facilities at The Christie Hospital in Manchester and University College London
Hospitals. Work has already started and the first facility is due to become operational in
2018.
Grahame M. Morris:
[225099]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what type of proton therapy machine NHS England
plans to install in (a) Manchester and (b) London.
Jane Ellison:
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust (Manchester) and University College Hospitals
London NHS Foundation Trust, subject to HM Treasury approval, will install high energy
proton beam therapy equipment.
Weather: Health Education
Tessa Munt:
[225119]
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on the NHS Choices
Winter Health Advice campaign; and for what purpose that expenditure has been incurred.
Jane Ellison:
The total budget for NHS England’s national ‘Feeling under the weather’ (NHS Choices
Winter Health Advice) campaign, for financial year 2014-15, is £6 million. The budget
delivered two waves of national campaign activity. The first wave ran from 27 October
2014 to 8 January 2015 and the second wave from 17 January to 1 March 2015.
The ‘Feeling under the weather’ campaign has been created to help reduce the number
of elderly and frail people requiring emergency admissions through urgent and
emergency care services, particularly accident and emergency departments. The
campaign aims to achieve this by raising awareness about what medical help is available
and should be sought, depending on the severity of the ailment.
HOME OFFICE
Asylum
Pete Wishart:
[225164]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to which Home Office Reporting
Centre further submissions under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules were initially made in
each of the last seven years.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
James Brokenshire:
The Home Office has used Reporting Centres for further submission at Eaton/ Becket
House (London), Electric/ Lunar House (Croydon), Frontier House (Folkestone), General
Building (Cardiff) , Heol Pentrefelin (Swansea), Sanford House (Solihull), Loughborough
Reporting Centre (Loughborough), Dallas Court (Manchester), Reliance House/ The
Capital (Liverpool), Waterside Court (Leeds), Vulcan House (Sheffield), Northumbria
House (Tyneside), Festival Court (Glasgow) and Drumkeen House (Belfast).
Pete Wishart:
[225190]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of
further submissions made under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules were (a) accepted as
fresh claims and (b) rejected with no right of appeal in each year for which figures are
available.
James Brokenshire:
The information requested is as follows:
a)
YEAR
FRESH CLAIMS
P ROPORTION
2001
13
16%
2002
4
3%
2003
11
3%
2004
22
4%
2005
38
3%
2006
68
4%
2007
115
4%
2008
307
5%
2009
1,066
8%
2010
1,254
4%
2011
1,100
8%
2012
798
7%
2013
558
6%
2014
413
4%
Total 5,767
Daily Report
ANSWERS
b)
YEAR
REJECTED NO ROA
P ROPORTION
2001
13
16%
2002
31
22%
2003
80
25%
2004
149
28%
2005
240
20%
2006
447
26%
2007
922
33%
2008
2,316
37%
2009
4,621
33%
2010
9,534
33%
2011
7,457
51%
2012
5,546
50%
2013
4,474
45%
2014
4,026
42%
Total 39,856
Pete Wishart:
[225191]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) grants and (b) refusals
of international protection her Department made in cases where further submissions under
rule 353 of the Immigration Rules were accepted as fresh claims for each of the last seven
years.
James Brokenshire:
The information requested is as follows:
a)
GRANTS ON PROTECTION GROUNDS
2008
161
2009
441
2010
361
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
GRANTS ON PROTECTION GROUNDS
2011
684
2012
759
2013
401
2014
119
Total
2,926
GRANTS NON PROTECTION GROUNDS
2008
786
2009
1,357
2010
2,719
2011
2,391
2012
1,719
2013
1,165
2014
562
Total
10,699
Grand Total 13,625
b)
REFUSALS AS FRESH CLAIMS
2008
307
2009
1,064
2010
1,252
2011
1,100
2012
798
2013
558
2014
413
Daily Report
ANSWERS
REFUSALS AS FRESH CLAIMS
Total
5,492
REFUSALS AS FURTHER SUBMISSIONS
2008
2,316
2009
4,621
2010
9,534
2011
7,457
2012
5,546
2013
4,474
2014
4,026
Total
37,974
Grand Total 43,466
Asylum: Appeals
Dr Julian Huppert:
[225434]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5
January 2015 to Question 218892, what average length of time it takes for her Department
to grant a visa after a decision is taken not to appeal a decision of the Asylum and
Immigration Tribunal.
James Brokenshire:
[Holding answer 2 March 2015]: The information requested covers a broad range of
case types and is not held centrally for in country cases. It could only be obtained at a
disproportionate cost. For international appeals the average time for allowed appeals to
be implemented from January to December 2014 was 43 calendar days. Since 2006, the
average time has been 69 days with a peak of 92 days in 2009.
The Home Office has 14 calendar days to consider whether to appeal an allowed Firsttier or Upper Tribunal decision (although this can be longer in some Upper Tribunal
decisions where the last avenue to appeal is direct to the Court of Appeal) for in country
cases and 28 calendar days for international (out of country) cases. The relevant unit
responsible for implementation will be notified once a decision has been made not to
appeal.
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ANSWERS
Drugs: Misuse
Diana Johnson:
[225633]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure
that new psychoactive substances identified by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs
and Drug Addiction are monitored by the Forensic Warning System.
Diana Johnson:
[225637]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new psychoactive
substances have been identified by the Forensic Early Warning System in each of the last four
years.
Lynne Featherstone:
The number of new psychoactive substances, not previously encountered either in the
UK or at EU level, identified by the Home Office Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS)
from January 2011 until March 2014 is as follows:
January 2011- March 2012 -17 April 2012- March 2013 -10 April 2013- March 2014- 4
Further detailed analysis, results and other key findings are published in each of the
FEWS Annual Report available at: www.gov.uk. Analysis for 2014/15, with reference to
data held by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA),
will be completed shortly.
Data from the EMCDDA is closely monitored. FEWS continues to identify and monitor
the existence of NPS in the UK through its various collection plans including those
substances first identified elsewhere in Europe and reported to the EMCDDA.
Members: Correspondence
Toby Perkins:
[225507]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the
enquiries of the hon. Member for Chesterfield on behalf of Mr S Jackson, passed to her
Department by the Prime Minister on 12 january 2015, reference JACK03010/03141925.
James Brokenshire:
I wrote to the Hon. Member on 23 February 2015.
Radicalism
Andrew Rosindell:
[224320]
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of
the success of efforts to reduce the potential radicalisation of British Muslims in the UK.
James Brokenshire:
Work to stop people being drawn into extremist and terrorist activity remains a priority
and is focused on: limiting the circulation of terrorist and extremist material on the
internet, supporting more resilient communities and ensuring individuals at risk of being
drawn into terrorism are provided with the support they need.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
In March 2014 we launched a new tool for the public to report terrorist material to the
Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Public referrals have tripled since it
launched. Working in partnership with industry, the CTIRU refers unlawful terrorist
content to them for removal.
Since February 2010, CTIRU has secured the removal of over 75,000 pieces of unlawful
terrorist content with 75% of this total removed since December 2013.
Radicalisation does not only happen online. We continue to disrupt propagandists who
seek to radicalise vulnerable people directly and counter their narrative. The police and
agencies routinely take action against those who promote terrorism under our existing
terrorist legislation. In the year ending 30 June 2014, there were 239 persons arrested
for terrorism related offences.
We also exclude foreign nationals from the UK on the grounds of unacceptable
behaviour. Training on awareness of radicalisation now includes specific advice in
relation to travel to Syria and Iraq. We have trained 130,000 frontline staff who may
come into contact with potential travellers and run courses equipping parents to identify
risks and have the confidence to seek support should they need it.
The police, local authorities and all sectors included in the Prevent duty have a vital role
to play in responding to concerns that individuals are being drawn into terrorism and
extremism. Where specific concerns have been raised and individuals consent, the multiagency Channel programme provides tailored support to people identified as at risk of
radicalisation.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Legal Costs
Rebecca Harris:
[225572]
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has
spent on legal fees in the case of The Queen (on the application of O) and the Secretary of
State for International Development.
Mr Desmond Swayne:
We are unable to comment on issues relating to an ongoing legal action.
JUSTICE
Court Orders: Compensation
Ian Lucas:
[223159]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much compensation has been ordered to be
paid by courts in North Wales in the last three years for which records are available; and how
much of that sum has been recovered from those ordered to pay compensation.
49
50
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Shailesh Vara:
This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously
and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace
those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the total
amount of financial penalties collected over the last three years. The amount of money
collected reached an all time high of £290 million at the end of 2013/14 and collections
continue to rise. In 2013/14 the total outstanding balance of financial impositions
reduced by £26.7m (5%) in the year.
The table below shows the value of compensation orders imposed in North Wales over
the last three years and the value that had been recovered by the end of the year
imposed.
COLLECTED IN SAME CANCELLED IN SAME OUTSTANDING AT
COMPENSATION
YEAR OF
YEAR OF
END OF YEAR OF
YEAR
IMPOSED
IMPOSITION
IMPOSITION
IMPOSITION
2011/12
£508,150
£174,652
£29,241
£304,258
2012/13
£485,074
£184,810
£24,535
£275,730
2013/14
£562,557
£200,850
£9,230
£352,478
The value of the impositions that remain outstanding at the end of the year includes
accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because
they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales
set by the courts for beyond the end of the financial year) and those that were being
paid by instalments on agreed payment plans.
The values cancelled could be legal or administrative cancellations. Administrative
cancellations only take place in certain circumstances and after all attempts to collect the
amount outstanding have been made. These circumstances include where the offender
has died, where they have emigrated with no prospect of return, where the offender
has been sent to a mental institution for 12 months or more or where the offender
cannot be traced and there has been at least 12 months from the point of imposition. It
should be noted that administrative cancellations can be re-instated if the prospects of
recovery improve (where, for example, a new address is found).
Legal cancellations occur after the case has been reconsidered by a judge or magistrate
and further evidence has been presented. Legal cancellations can be as a result of a
successful appeal, a change in financial circumstances of the offender or a committal to
prison for non payment. The majority of the cancellations applied within the same year
of imposition will be as a result of legal cancellation.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Court Orders: Grandparents
Charlotte Leslie:
[225681]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2015 to
Question 223614, how many such applications by grandparents for child arrangement
orders were successful in each of those financial years; and how many such orders were
breached in each of those financial years.
Simon Hughes:
Details of the number of applications by grandparents for child arrangement orders
which were successful in each of those financial years and how many such orders were
breached can only be obtained by manually checking every case file which can only be
done at disproportionate costs.
The Children Act 1989 makes the welfare of the child the paramount consideration
when the court determines any question with respect to the child’s upbringing. The
terms of any order made may not therefore reflect what was sought in the application.
Courts: Buildings
Bridget Phillipson:
[225118]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Answer of 13 January 2015 to
Question 217622, what the resource requirements are for each planned stage of the court
reform programme; what the planned (a) start and (b) finish time is for each stage of the
programme; and what the planned staff allocation is for each planned stage of the
programme.
Mr Shailesh Vara:
Planning for the stages of the programme, which spans five years, is underway and will
be subject to ongoing refinement through the mobilisation phase up to Summer 2015.
The resource requirement for these stages has not yet been finalised and will be
developed as part of the ongoing planning.
Information Commissioner
Ian Lavery:
[225273]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative information his Department holds
on pay rates of the Information Commissioner's Office and other independent regulators
and ombudsmen with similar functions for staff at the same grade.
Simon Hughes:
The Ministry of Justice does not hold a comparative list on pay rates at the Information
Commissioner’s Office and other similar bodies, and the information could only be
provided at disproportionate cost. Information on salaries of senior staff in public bodies
is published by the Cabinet Office and can be found on the GOV.UK website, or within
relevant annual reports of individual bodies.
51
52
Daily Report
Ian Lavery:
ANSWERS
[225274]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average percentage pay rise was of
Executive Team staff at the Information Commissioner's Office since June 2014; and what
average pay increase has been proposed for non-executive staff excluding buy-out of
contractual progression.
Simon Hughes:
In July 2014 the Executive Team of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) was
restructured and reduced from the Commissioner plus four Directors to the
Commissioner plus three Directors. As a part of the restructure, the Remuneration
Committee of the ICO’s non-executive Management Board reviewed the salaries of the
remaining Directors and made recommendations to the Commissioner based on the
changes to individual Director’s responsibilities that resulted from the restructure. The
mean percentage increase was 11.7% but as a result of the restructure the overall
spend on Executive salaries has been reduced.
The ICO is subject to the 1% public sector pay cap but it is the ICO’s intention to focus
the money available under the cap on those staff who will not benefit from the buyout
of contractual progression, providing a pay increase of 3% for most of these staff.
Legal Aid Scheme
Rebecca Harris:
[225672]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in legal aid claims was paid to Leigh Day
in 2013-14.
Mr Shailesh Vara:
The net payment to Leigh Day in the 2013/14 financial year was £529,559.30.
This payment covers all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payment made
will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.
Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system but we must ensure it is sustainable for
those who need it, for those who provide legal services as part of it and for the
taxpayer, who ultimately pays for it. When we began the process of reform England and
Wales had one of the most expensive legal aid systems in the world at around £2 billion
a year. We have made tough choices to make the necessary savings whilst still ensuring
legal aid remained available where people were most in need of a lawyer.
Prisoners
Philip Davies:
[221109]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which offences prisoners serving a sentence of 12
months or less had committed (a) on the latest date for which information is held and (b)
during the latest year for which information is held.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Andrew Selous:
Since 2010, offenders are more likely to go to prison and for longer. Sentencing in
individual cases is a matter for our independent judiciary, taking account of all the
circumstances of each case.
Latest available information on the number of prisoners serving an immediate custodial
sentence of 12 months or less, by offence group, in England and Wales can be viewed
in the attached table.
The Government has recognised the unacceptably high level of re-offending among
offenders receiving short custodial sentences and has responded with provisions in the
Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, which for the first time requires all those serving
custodial sentences to be subject to 12 months of supervision following their release.
This means that every sentenced offender leaving prison will spend at least 12 months
under supervision (during which time they will be liable to be sent back to prison if they
breach their conditions) where previously around 45,000 have been released each year
with no statutory oversight.
These new statutory requirements have been combined with a significant new approach
to rehabilitation under which Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) – which
bring together the best of the public, private and voluntary sectors – are working in new
and innovative ways to tackle re-offending and will be paid according to the results they
achieve.
Attachments:
1. Prison population under a custodial sentence [221109 - Table.xls]
SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane:
[224960]
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on
the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2014 to Question
216723, which local electoral registration officers in England and Wales will not publish
registers until after 1 December 2015.
Mr Gary Streeter:
As part of the data collection activity for the Electoral Commission’s recent
report on individual electoral registration 20 EROs said they were delaying
publication of their 1 December 2014 registers. However, this may not be the
total number as others may have delayed publication without informing the
Commission (which they were not required to).
Chris Ruane:
[225165]
the Electoral Commission, which 10 local authorities had the greatest proportional drop in
electoral registration between 2013 and 2014.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Gary Streeter:
The ten authorities that had the largest proportional drop in their registered electorate
between February/March and December 2014 are listed in table 5 of the Commission’s
report published on 24 February 2015, which is available on its website.
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/182375/Analysis-ofthe-December-2014-electoral-registers-in-England-and-Wales.pdf
Chris Ruane:
[225166]
the Electoral Commission, how much the Electoral Commission plans to spend on television
advertising to encourage registration; and how it monitors the effectiveness of such
campaigns.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission’s budget for the production of its television advert ahead of
the elections in May 2015 is £263,961, and its budget for purchasing television
advertising space is £1,506,733.
The Electoral Commission uses Government Communication Service guidance on
communication evaluation – which provides a model for best practise across the public
sector - to inform the evaluation of its public awareness campaigns. The overall target
for additions to electoral registers in Great Britain during the Commission’s TV campaign
is one million.
However, given the nature of the format it is impossible to directly attribute voter
registration applications and additions to the electoral register to television advertising.
Chris Ruane:
[225167]
the Electoral Commission, what representations the Electoral Commission has received about
monitoring and improving household canvasses from (a) hon. Members and (b) other bodies
and individuals.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission is regularly in communication with a wide range of
stakeholders, including (a) Members of Parliament and (b) other bodies and individuals,
about a variety of issues relating to electoral registration.
Details of meetings held by Chair and Chief Executive can be found on the
Commission’s website, www.electoralcommission.org.uk
Chris Ruane:
[225175]
the Electoral Commission, whether the local authorities which did not take sufficient action
to conduct a household canvass in 2014 did not take sufficient action to conduct a
household canvass in a previous year.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission is not aware of any local authority that did not take all
necessary steps as set out in law – including making personal visits to non-responding
properties – in relation to the 2014 individual electoral registration write-out and
canvass.
Chris Ruane:
[225180]
the Electoral Commission, what interim assessments the Electoral Commission has made of
the accuracy of the data on registration rates collected in the run-up to the introduction of
individual electoral registration; and what procedures were in place to enable concerns
about that data to be raised.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission informs me that the main source of reliable information on
registration rates have been the Commission’s own reports on the accuracy and
completeness of the electoral registers. The most recent report was published in July
2014 and is available on the Commission’s website, here:
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/169889/Completen
ess-and-accuracy-of-the-2014-electoral-registers-in-Great-Britain.pdf
The household surveying methodology for these studies and the analysis conducted on
the findings are robust. The findings were also recently verified by a separate study using
census data which found, for the same electoral registers, similar levels of accuracy and
completeness as the household survey.
In addition, the Office for National Statistics annually collects and publishes the number
of entries on the 1 December electoral registers. The Office for National Statistics checks
any apparent anomalies in the data with the relevant Electoral Registration Officers.
Chris Ruane:
[225181]
the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has sufficient data to
recommend whether the end of the transition to individual electoral registration should be
brought forward to December 2015.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission informs me that it will be collecting data from Electoral
Registration Officers (EROs) on the registers in force for the May 2015 elections. The
Electoral Commission is working with Cabinet Office, electoral management software
suppliers and EROs to improve the reliability of this data.
The data, in addition to information already collected, will inform the Commission’s June
2015 assessment on whether the end of the transition to individual electoral registration
can be brought forward to December 2015.
The Commission’s February 2015 report states that without reliable data it is unlikely
that the Commission would be able to recommend in any circumstances that the end of
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56
Daily Report
ANSWERS
the transition to individual electoral registration should be brought forward to December
2015.
Chris Ruane:
[225182]
the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the
effects of its handling of the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration on (a) public
perception of the integrity of the Commission and (b) public confidence in the Commission.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission publishes regular reports on the delivery of Individual
Electoral Registration (IER).These reports include information on how the
Commission has delivered its responsibilities to relation to IER.
The next of these reports will be published in June.
The Commission’s statutory report on the elections taking place in May 2015
will include post-election public opinion survey results on satisfaction with the
election process and electoral registration.
Chris Ruane:
[225183]
the Electoral Commission, when the Electoral Commission first knew of the problems with
the registration software used by Electoral Registration Officers; and what steps the
Commission has taken to overcome those problems.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission report on the transition to individual electoral registration,
published on 24 February, set out the problems encountered with the electoral
management software (EMS) systems used by Electoral Registration Officers, when
collecting data about the 1 December registers. These problems do not relate to either
the online registration system or the wider functionality of the local EMS systems.
The Electoral Commission became aware of this problem once the first data returns
were submitted by Electoral Registration Officers shortly after 1 December.
Since that date the Electoral Commission has worked closely with the Cabinet Office
and directly with electoral management software suppliers to refine the reporting
function within their systems. There have been substantial improvements in the data
returns, but further work is still needed to ensure the data provided in May is more
reliable. The Commission is continuing to work with the Cabinet Office and software
suppliers on this.
Chris Ruane:
[225184]
the Electoral Commission, what progress the Electoral Commission has made in
differentiating in online registration between people who are already registered and people
newly on register.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Gary Streeter:
In its report published on 24 February 2015, the Electoral Commission stated that 80%
of the approximately 2 million registration applications made since December 2014 were
made online. However, some of these may have been duplicates.
The Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office sought to collect data on duplications
across all applications up to December but the dataset was not reliable enough to report
on it.
The Commission and the Cabinet Office intend to collect improved data on duplications
in May.
Chris Ruane:
[225198]
the Electoral Commission, what research, actions and advice the Electoral Commission
undertook to ensure that (a) students and (b) people living in Houses of Multiple Occupation
and other mobile groups did not fall off the electoral register in the run up to Individual
Electoral Registration; and what assessment the Commission has made of the success of
such actions.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission provides comprehensive guidance to Electoral Registration
Officers (EROs) to support them in maintaining accurate and complete electoral
registers. The guidance specifically addresses how EROs can target students and identify
residents living in houses of multiple occupation.
The Commission also provides a range of public engagement resources and templates
that can be adapted locally, some of which have been designed to help EROs target
specific groups such as students.
The Commission’s has published an analysis of the December registers in England and
Wales, which can be found at:
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/182375/Analysis-ofthe-December-2014-electoral-registers-in-England-and-Wales.pdf. This analysis
illustrates the challenges of registering students at their term-time address, and the
report sets out what action has already been undertaken and what more will continue
to be done to target students.
In light of the analysis of the December registers, the Commission has added an
additional strand of activity to its public awareness plans make clear to students that
they need to register at their term-time address if they wish to vote in their university
constituency.
The Commission has also been working with the NUS, the Association of Colleges,
Universities UK and other bodies to promote voter registration with students and to
encourage registration drives on university and college campuses.
To supplement the work being carried out locally by EROs to work with houses in
multiple occupation, the Commission has developed partnerships with a number of
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58
Daily Report
ANSWERS
housing groups and associations to use their communication channels to promote voter
registration.
The Commission will continue to monitor progress with the transition to individual
electoral registration and will report in June 2015 on the state of the registers used at
the May polls.
Chris Ruane:
[225199]
the Electoral Commission, what estimate the Electoral Commission has made of the cost per
registration of 16 and 17 year olds who are encouraged to register primarily through (a)
television adverts and (b) Bite the Ballot school visits.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has made no comparative assessment of
the cost-per-registration of 16 and 17 year olds in these two areas given the very
different nature of the activity.
Chris Ruane:
[225204]
the Electoral Commission, what advice the Electoral Commission gave to Electoral
Registration Officers on (a) maximising the registration of home movers and (b) sending
voter registration forms to all households.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission provides comprehensive guidance to Electoral
Registration Officers (EROs) to support them in maintaining accurate and
complete electoral registers. This guidance sets out the actions EROs should
take to identify potential new electors, such as by making use of local data including property databases - and partnership work.
The Commission also provides a range of public engagement resources and
templates that can be adapted locally, some of which are specifically designed
to help EROs target home movers.
Additionally, to supplement the work being carried out by EROs, the
Commission has developed partnerships with a number of organisations that
home movers are likely to come into contact with - such as mortgage advisors to use their communication channels to promote voter registration.
In 2014, Household Enquiry Forms (HEFs) – which are designed to identify who
is living at a property and eligible to register so that the ERO can invite them to
register to vote – were only required to be sent to properties where no electors
were registered, or where the ERO believed there may still be other people
living at the address who were not registered.
This means that home-movers have not been captured as effectively as they
would have been during a typical annual canvass where all households would
receive a form. The processes followed in 2014 were unique in this regard;
Daily Report
ANSWERS
canvass activity in 2015 and all subsequent years will involve sending
household enquiry forms to all properties to check who is resident at an address
and to identify new electors who can subsequently be invited to register, and
carrying out follow up activity as required.
To address this gap, the Commission has strongly recommended that all EROs
write to all households in their area ahead of the May 2015 polls to check that
they have accurate information on who is registered at each address and to
prompt those who are not yet registered to apply now. The Commission has
welcomed the provision of additional funding by the Cabinet Office, which has
helped EROs to do this.
The Commission has provided guidance to help EROs carry out this activity, and
also developed and made available a template ‘household notification letter’
that they could use. The Commission has also run online paid-for-search
advertising to support this activity.
All EROs have confirmed that they have been or will be carrying out this activity
or other comprehensive activity which seeks to address the issues identified by
the Commission’s analysis of the 1 December registers, which are set out in full
in the report which was published on 24 February and is available at:
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/182375/An
alysis-of-the-December-2014-electoral-registers-in-England-and-Wales.pdf.
Early feedback from EROs where the activity is now well advanced has
indicated that it has had a positive impact on boosting the number of
registration applications received.
Chris Ruane:
[225355]
the Electoral Commission, what representations the Electoral Commission made to (a) the
Cabinet Office and (b) other bodies on the issue of the accuracy of the 2014 electoral
register during the course of its compilation.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission is regularly in communication with a wide range of
stakeholders, including (a) the Cabinet Office, and (b) other bodies, about a
variety of issues relating to electoral registration. The Commission’s
engagement with the Cabinet Office includes continued membership of their
Electoral Registration Transformation Programme Board.
The Electoral Commission has provided comprehensive written guidance and
accompanying resources for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to support
them in maintaining accurate and complete electoral registers. The Commission
has also continued to work with EROs to monitor and support them in
delivering their plans to address the particular registration challenges in their
local area.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Electoral Register: Devon
Chris Ruane:
[225179]
the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the
reasons for the recent increase in voter registration in East Devon.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission’s recently published report notes that the Electoral
Registration Officer (ERO) for East Devon attributed the increase in the local
electorate to the success of making door to door visits to non-responding
properties and individuals. This was the first time such visits had been carried
out across the area since 2010.
It should also be noted that while East Devon recorded one of the largest
proportionate increases in register size in December 2014, it also saw one of the
largest falls in February 2014 which made it more likely to record a higher
increase in December 2014.
Voting Behaviour
Ian Paisley:
[224986]
the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission will increase its target for voter
increase.
Mr Gary Streeter:
The Electoral Commission sets targets for increasing the number of people registered to
vote, rather than increasing turnout.
The Commission has set a target of 1 million additions to electoral registers in Great
Britain, 10,000 additions in Northern Ireland and 100,000 additional overseas voters
during the period of its public awareness campaign for the May elections May.
TRANSPORT
A595
Mr Jamie Reed:
[225585]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the A595 has been closed to
traffic because of (a) roadworks and (b) accidents in each of the last 10 years.
Mr Jamie Reed:
[225586]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road accidents occurred on the A595
in each of the last 10 years; and how many such accidents resulted in fatalities.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Jamie Reed:
[225587]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of likely numbers of
road users on the A595 in each of the next 10 years.
Mr Jamie Reed:
[225588]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requests his Department has received for
additional funding for the A595.
Mr Robert Goodwill:
The A595 is a primary route and different sections of the road fall under the
responsibility of either the Highways Agency or the local highway authority, Cumbria
County Council.
The Department for Transport does not hold information on how many times the road
which falls under Cumbria County Council’s responsibility has been closed to traffic due
to (a) roadworks and (b) accidents in each of the last ten years. The attached table
shows closures on the sections of the A595 which falls under the responsibility of the
Highways Agency.
In addition, the following table provides data on reported personal injury road accidents
on the entirety of the A595 by severity between 2004 and 2013. Data is not yet
available for 2014.
ACCIDENT S EVERITY
Fatal
Serious
Slight
Total
2004
6
30
144
180
2005
5
27
109
141
2006
5
21
130
156
2007
3
20
117
140
2008
3
11
99
113
2009
2
19
97
118
2010
6
10
94
110
2011
3
16
75
94
2012
4
13
89
106
2013
2
13
81
96
The Department does not have an estimate of the number of road users expected to use
the A595 in the next ten years.
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
As part of the Highways Agency Route Strategy investment planning process, the
Agency published an evidence report for the North Pennines route strategy in April
2014. This took into account the details of the Cumbrian Strategic Economic Plan and
any priorities identified through the Local Enterprise Partnership and by other
stakeholders. The Highways Agency will continue to work with stakeholders as it
finalises the North Pennines route strategy.
Attachments:
1. A595 Closures [225585 - Reed - Closures to the A595 Trunk Road in Cumbria since
2005.pdf]
Aircraft: Air Conditioning
Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil:
[225418]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons it is not a requirement to
monitor and detect in real time organo-phosphate compounds in the cabin air of aircraft
operating in and out of UK airports.
Mr Robert Goodwill:
It has not been shown that cabin air exposures, either in general or following specific
incidents, cause ill-health. Responsibility for introducing any additional monitoring or
detection system on board a commercial aircraft is the responsibility of the European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Airports
[225415]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the
relationship between direct air connectivity between UK airports and overseas locations and
tourism from the overseas locations so connected.
[225416]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the
contribution made by the direct connectivity of UK airports to emerging markets to tourism
from such locations in the medium and long-term.
[225420]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the
comparative benefits to businesses of direct aviation connectivity between two locations and
connectivity requiring a stopover at a hub airport.
Mr Robert Goodwill:
The Government has set up the Airports Commission to examine the question of how
best to maintain the UK’s international hub connectivity.
As its Interim Report shows, the Airports Commission is taking account of economic
benefits to the UK of aviation connectivity when making recommendations.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
The Commission’s final report is due to be submitted to Government in summer 2015.
The Government’s principle concern is to protect the integrity and independence of the
Commission through to the final report and will not be commenting on its ongoing
work.
Aviation: Scotland
[225417]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the
number of direct flights from Scottish airports to emerging economies which have
commenced since 2010.
Mr Robert Goodwill:
The table below shows the number of air transport movements at Scottish airports on
direct routes outside Western Europe or North America, which have commenced since
2010.
Number of flight departures, 2010-2013
REPORTING
AIRPORT
NEXT
AIRPORT
NEXT
COUNTRY
Aberdeen
Baku
Azerbaijan
Aberdeen
Riga
Latvia
Aberdeen
Antalya
Turkey
Edinburgh
Istanbul
Turkey
Edinburgh
Budapest
Hungary
Edinburgh
Sharm El
Sheikh
Egypt
Edinburgh
Tallin
Estonia
Edinburgh
Szczecin
(Golenow)
Poland
Edinburgh
Katowice
Poland
Edinburgh
Antalya
Turkey
Edinburgh
Enfidha
Tunisia
Glasgow
Enfidha
Tunisia
34
74
Glasgow
Boa Vista
(Rabil)
Cape Verde
Islands
35
53
Glasgow
Warsaw
Poland
2010
4
2011
2012
2013
62
84
1
1
13
97
314
137
137
10
92
44
16
39
125
49
62
63
22
20
16
26
116
88
63
64
Daily Report
REPORTING
AIRPORT
NEXT
AIRPORT
NEXT
COUNTRY
ANSWERS
2010
2011
2012
2013
(Chopin)
Glasgow
Gdansk
Poland
86
Glasgow
Punta Cana Dominican
Republic
Prestwick
Bydgoszcz
Poland
Prestwick
Warsaw
(Chopin)
Poland
Prestwick
Modlin
Masovia
Poland
Prestwick
Rzeszow
Poland
63
Prestwick
Warsaw
(Modlin
Masovia)
Poland
42
13
83
105
135
68
Source: Civil Aviation Authority Airport Statistics
Routes with less than 10 departures in a year are excluded.
Bus Services: Tyne and Wear
Bridget Phillipson:
[225116]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the review his Department has
commissioned KPMG to conduct on bus market dynamics will assess the Tyne and Wear bus
market.
Mr John Hayes:
The study is considering the bus market in England outside of London to ensure that the
Department understands the state of the bus market and is well placed to respond to
emerging thinking in the sector.
The Department is not part of the Tyne and Wear Quality Contract Scheme process as it
is a matter for local determination, and the Department is not seeking to influence that
process. It is not our intention to publish any new evidence on buses before the election
purdah period.
Bridget Phillipson:
[225117]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether KPMG has been given unrestricted
access to commercially sensitive data held by his Department for its inquiry into bus market
dynamics.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr John Hayes:
Consultants, when working for the Department, are given access to data held by the
Department. The conditions for access, restrictions on the consultants and the measures
for protecting and respecting the confidentiality of the data are detailed in the
Department’s standard user agreements.
London Bridge Station
[225569]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has made to Network
Rail about engineering works at London Bridge station and their effects on rail services into
and out of that station.
Claire Perry:
The Secretary of State met with Mark Carne in January, seeking assurances that the
disruptions passengers experienced in early January were not to be repeated .Officials
from the Department for Transport (DfT) are also in regular contact with Network Rail,
and train operators to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to improve the service
offered to passengers.
As my Right Honourable Friend is aware, I recently convened and chaired roundtable
meetings with the senior management of both Southern and Thameslink (GTR),
Network Rail, Department officials who are responsible for the franchise in the DfT, MPs
whose constituencies are being affected by the performance of these operators,
Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch, and the Office of Rail Regulation.
At the meetings, GTR, Southern and Network Rail presented their high level
improvement plan, which sets out the actions they are taking to turn things around
across six key areas: Infrastructure, Trains, Timetable, Drivers, Operations and Customer
Experience. The plan has also now been published on their websites and, importantly,
they have committed to updating it by the end of February with specific commitments
on the outputs that will be delivered.
Following these presentations, the operators were challenged on a range of issues,
including the Thameslink Programme-related disruption at London Bridge.
As a result of the meetings I secured a commitment that Network Rail and the train
operators will provide a monthly report on progress towards their committed outputs
and publish this on their websites, so that passengers have transparency on what is
being delivered.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Wales
Mr Gordon Marsden:
[225612]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many hours of training Milford Haven staff
have received from staff at the Swansea Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre on
knowledge of the coastline currently covered by Liverpool Maritime Rescue Co-ordination
Centre.
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ANSWERS
Mr John Hayes:
The staff at Milford Haven Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) have not
received training from the staff at the Swansea MRCC on knowledge of the coastline
that was covered by Liverpool MRCC.
Sharing of knowledge of the coastline covered by Liverpool MRCC was undertaken
between Coastguards at Liverpool MRCC and Holyhead MRCC. Sharing of knowledge
of the coastline currently covered by Swansea MRCC is undertaken between
Coastguards at Swansea MRCC and Milford Haven MRCC.
Mr Gordon Marsden:
[225613]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff transferred from Swansea
Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre to Milford Haven Maritime Rescue Co-ordination
Centre between January 2012 and February 2015.
Mr John Hayes:
No staff permanently transferred from Swansea Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre
(MRCC) to Milford Haven MRCC in the period between January 2012 and February
2015.
However two people will move to Milford Haven MRCC from Swansea MRCC on 16
March when Swansea MRCC closes. In addition, four people from Swansea MRCC will
transfer into the new coastal structure of Her Majesty’s Coastguard.
Mr Gordon Marsden:
[225614]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff were employed at (a) Swansea
and (b) Milford Haven Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in (i) August 2013, (ii) February
2014, (iii) August 2014 and (iv) February 2015.
Mr John Hayes:
The new flexible shift patterns and the ability for areas covered by the new HM
Coastguard structure to be handled by any Coastguard within it mean workload is
managed nationally rather than on a centre by centre basis. This enables HM
Coastguard to proactively match available staff across the whole network to its busiest
areas and times, both diurnally and seasonally.
It is therefore more relevant to consider the total number of Coastguards available on
the growing national network
As of 6 March 2015 this network, and the benefits it delivers, with stretch from Beachy
Head to the Mull of Galloway. The transition of the national network around the United
Kingdom will be complete by December 2015.
The number of staff that were employed at the two Maritime Rescue Coordination
Centres (MRCCs) during the dates asked are shown below:
MRCC
AUG-13
FEB-14
AUG-14
FEB-15
(a) Swansea
25
23
20
18
Daily Report
MRCC
AUG-13
(b) Milford Haven 23
ANSWERS
FEB-14
AUG-14
FEB-15
23
21
22
Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties
Dan Jarvis:
[225668]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of
money that has been saved by the Government by making vehicle tax registration available
online.
Claire Perry:
Since its introduction in 2004, the online vehicle licensing service has delivered an
estimated total efficiency saving of £95 million (up to financial year 2013/14).
In addition, further efficiencies will be realised as a result of abolishing the tax disc in
October 2014 of around £10 million per year.
Railway Stations: Disability
Mr Mark Spencer:
[225208]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations in (a)
Nottinghamshire, (b) England and (c) the UK are not compliant with disability access
guidelines and requirements.
Claire Perry:
Information on the accessibility of individual railway stations is collected by the Rail
Delivery Group and published as part of the Stations Made Easy facility on the National
Rail Enquiries website at:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/default.aspx
Railways
Dr Matthew Offord:
[225413]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of
the effectiveness of co-ordination of work by the train operating companies and Network
Rail in order to ensure the smooth running of the railway.
Claire Perry:
While there will inevitably be occasions when things do not go to plan, Network Rail and
the train operators generally work together well in ensuring the safe and reliable
running of services. The effective co-ordination of their respective activities is also
supported by the work of a number of cross-industry bodies such as the Rail Delivery
Group and National Task Force.
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ANSWERS
Railways: Franchises
[225570]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, under what circumstances his Department may
remove a franchise from a train operating company before the scheduled end of a franchise
contract.
Claire Perry:
Schedule 10 in the Franchise Agreement between the Secretary of State and the train
operator defines under what circumstances the Department can remove a franchise
from a train operating company before the scheduled end of a franchise contract –
copies of all Franchise Agreements can be found on the Government website at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-register-of-rail-passenger-franchiseagreements.
Southern Railway
[225568]
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has made to
Southern Railway about its performance.
Claire Perry:
The Department’s senior officials attend four weekly meetings with the train operators
senior management team, where all aspects of performance under the franchise
agreement is scrutinised and challenged. Whilst the Department also monitors each train
operator’s overall performance, the Franchise Management team remains in close
regular contact with Southern particularly whilst performance is not at the level
passengers expect.
As my Right Honourable Friend is aware, I recently convened and chaired roundtable
meetings with the senior management of both Southern and Thameslink (GTR),
Network Rail, Department officials who are responsible for the franchise in the DfT, MPs
whose constituencies are being affected by the performance of these operators,
Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch, and the Office of Rail Regulation.
Ministers and officials have also held a number of meetings with Southern, Network Rail
and the Office of Rail Regulation to discuss the poor performance on the Southern
routes. This has resulted in Southern, Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail
publishing a high level improvement plan on their websites which sets out the actions
they are taking to turn things around.
Furthermore, the Department has secured a commitment that Network Rail , Southern
and GTR shall provide a monthly report on progress towards their committed outputs
and publish this on their websites, so that passengers have transparency on what is
being delivered.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
TREASURY
Government Departments: Pay
Pamela Nash:
[225345]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost of off-payroll arrangements in
government departments and their arm's length bodies was in each of the last five years.
Danny Alexander:
Information regarding the total cost of off-payroll workers broken down by individual
government departments and their arm’s length bodies is not held centrally.
Departmental spending on consultancy, which is one element of total spending on offpayroll workers, is collected by the Cabinet Office. Consultancy spending has reduced by
almost three quarters over this Parliament, from £1.2 billion in 2009-10 to £316 million
in 2013-14. This followed work to simplify and strengthen the management of
consultancy expenditure across government.
Off-payroll workers play an important role in helping public sector organisations meet
short term needs for specialist advice and interim services.
It is essential that government employers are able to assure themselves that their higher
paid contract workers and most senior staff are meeting their tax obligations.
New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were
established in May 2012 when I, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, published the
Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees.
The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the
payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax
arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors.
The Treasury carried out an evaluation of compliance with the rules which was published
on 11 March 2014. This revealed that departments sought assurance on the tax affairs
of 1,940 of their contractors, and 125 contracts were terminated or ended and were
referred to HMRC for further investigation as a result of these rules. The Treasury has
also issued £1.5 million in fines in 2014 to a small number of departments who did not
fully comply with the requirements of the guidance.
Inheritance Tax
Pamela Nash:
[224585]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2015 to
Question 223222, how many staff made up the specialist inheritance tax compliance teams
in each of the last five years for which records are available.
Mr David Gauke:
The number of full time equivalent staff in the specialist inheritance tax compliance
teams for the last four years are:
2014/15 148 2013/14 158 2012/13 156 2011/12 153
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
Prior to 2011/12 the teams were organised and structured in a different way and
comparable figures are not available.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has improved the process it used to ensure
compliance with inheritance tax law. This has increased the team's efficiency which is
reflected in the number of staff deployed.
Money Laundering and Tax Evasion
Paul Flynn:
[224846]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) discussions he had and (b) decisions were
taken on tackling (i) money laundering and (ii) tax evasion at the meeting of G20 finance
ministers in Istanbul in February 2014.
Mr David Gauke:
G20 Finance Ministers committed to support the unprecedented actions agreed by
Leaders at the 2014 Brisbane G20 Summit, to address money laundering, terrorist
financing and tax evasion.
On money laundering and terrorist financing, these actions include improving
transparency of company ownership, to prevent the misuse of companies for illicit
purposes; implementing the international standards on anti money laundering/counter
terrorist financing and committing to greater international cooperation in this area; and
taking steps to establish a new global standard in tax transparency, to combat tax
evasion.
The full text of the meeting communique can be found on the website of the Turkish
G20 Presidency.
Tax Avoidance
Paul Flynn:
[224284]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) the Crown
Prosecution Service, (b) the Attorney General, (c) HM Revenue and Customs and (d) the
Financial Conduct Authority on the use by UK residents of the provisions of the European
Savings Directive to avoid paying UK tax by opening anonymous bank accounts in
jurisdictions abroad since 1 January 2015.
Mr David Gauke:
The European Savings Directive has been in force since 2005. It is a mechanism for
achieving tax compliance through either disclosure of investment income data to the tax
jurisdiction of the individual concerned or (in limited circumstances) applying
withholding tax at source as an alternative to information disclosure.
Austin Mitchell:
[224570]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will appoint an independent commission to
investigate claims about the roles of PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and
Deloitte in designing, selling and implementing tax avoidance schemes.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr David Gauke:
PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte are members of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, a professional regulator. HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is working with ICAEW and other professional regulators to
strengthen their role in upholding professional standards.
In addition to this, the Government introduced the High Risk Promoters (Promoters of
Tax Avoidance Schemes) legislation in Finance Act 2014 to tackle the small and
persistent minority of promoters of tax avoidance schemes who display behaviours that
are detrimental to the integrity of the tax system. The legislation enhances HMRC's
ability to tackle promoters who commonly design, market and implement products
which overwhelmingly do not work. It focuses on promoters who rely on noncooperation with HMRC and may rely on concealment and mis-description of elements
of their schemes to succeed. Such promoters must change their behaviour voluntarily or,
if they do not do so, be subject to information powers which affect them, their
intermediaries and their clients – meaning that promoters can be named and fined up to
£1 million.
Austin Mitchell:
[224572]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the legal costs and
fines recovered from (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Ernst & Young and (d)
Deloitte after tax courts and tribunals have rejected tax avoidance schemes designed by
those firms in each of the last five years.
Mr David Gauke:
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has a very successful record of winning cases against
avoidance schemes that taxpayers choose to litigate. They are successful in around 80%
of these cases, and many taxpayers, of course, settle before reaching litigation. When
successful, HMRC will request costs in appropriate cases. Under the normal court rules
relating to costs, these are recovered from the litigant.
The Government has introduced the High Risk Promoters (Promoters of Tax Avoidance
Schemes) legislation in Finance Act 2014 to tackle the small and persistent minority of
promoters of tax avoidance schemes who display behaviours that are detrimental to the
integrity of the tax system. The legislation enhances HMRC's ability to tackle promoters
who commonly design, market and implement products which overwhelmingly do not
work. It focuses on promoters who rely on non-cooperation with HMRC and may rely on
concealment and mis-description of elements of their schemes to succeed. Such
promoters must change their behaviour voluntarily or, if they do not do so, be subject to
information powers which affect them, their intermediaries and their clients – meaning
that promoters can be named and fined up to £1 million.
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ANSWERS
Tax Avoidance and Evasion
Mr William Bain:
[224575]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in HM Revenue and Customs have
been assigned to deal with (a) pursuing cases of tax evasion and (b) investigating tax
avoidance schemes in each of the last four financial years.
Mr David Gauke:
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) allocates resources in a flexible manner, so that it
maximises performance.
Information on the structure and organisation of HM Revenue and Customs is available
at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts
Tax Evasion
Paul Flynn:
[224064]
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the names of individuals with
whom HM Revenue and Customs has reached an out of court agreement to settle cases of
tax evasion that came to light as a result of information from HSBC's Swiss branch; and what
the amount of tax evaded was in each case.
Mr David Gauke:
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can only name taxpayers in specific instances. The
rules governing HMRC’s entitlement to publish details of deliberate defaulters are set
out in Section 94 Finance Act 2009.
WOMEN AND EQUALITIES
Apprentices
Mr Chuka Umunna:
[225069]
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many apprentices employed by (a) the
Government Equalities Office and (b) its executive agencies and associated bodies are aged
(i) 16 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24 and (iii) 25 years or older; and how many of those apprentices
employed in each form of body and of each age group were previously employed by the
Government.
Jo Swinson:
The answer is as follows:
(a) one apprentice, aged 19 to 24, not previously employed by the Government.
(b) None
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Equal Pay
Dr Eilidh Whiteford:
[225003]
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many companies have been required to
carry out equal pay audits after they have been found to be discriminating on the basis of
gender since 1 October 2014.
Jo Swinson:
Regulations requiring an employment tribunal to order an equal pay audit where an
employer is found to be in breach of equal pay law came into force on 1st October 2014.
We are not so far aware of any cases where an audit has been ordered.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Children: Maintenance
Pamela Nash:
[225674]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's most recent
estimate is of the number of Child Support Agency cases within each segment of the
planned case closure programme in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e)
Northern Ireland.
Steve Webb:
The most recent estimates of the number of Child Support Agency cases within each
segment of the case closure programme are:
SEGMENT
Segment 1
Segment 2
Segment 3
Segment 4
Segment 5
Total
England
137,900
48,600
21,900
317,000
106,200
631,700
Scotland
15,000
4,000
2,100
31,600
10,800
63,400
Wales
10,300
3,200
1,500
22,400
7,500
44,900
NI
300
200
100
800
400
1,700
Other
400
100
300
500
200
1,400
Total
164,000
56,000
25,800
372,200
125,100
743,100
Notes:
1. These are indicative estimates based on the case load as at 31 January 2015 and are
subject to change due to cases continually moving segments.
2. Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the
Parent with Care or Non Resident Parent lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include
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Daily Report
ANSWERS
cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division
(CMED).
3. Other includes those that are abroad or where insufficient information is held to
enable classification.
4. Volumes shown in the table above represent all live cases that were eligible for case
closure and had not been closed as at 31 January 2015.
5. Figures rounded to the nearest 100 and may not sum due to rounding.
Cold Weather Payments: Peterborough
Mr Stewart Jackson:
[225461]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Peterborough
constituency received a cold weather payment in the last 12 months for which records are
available; and if will he make a statement.
Steve Webb:
The Cold Weather Payment scheme is administered at weather station level rather than
any other standard GB geography such as constituency level. The coverage area for each
weather station is determined by the Met Office which assesses the most appropriate
weather station for each postcode area. Cold weather payments are triggered when the
average temperature recorded at the weather station has been recorded as, or is
forecast to be, 0oC or below over seven consecutive days.
The constituency of Peterborough covers all or part of the postcode areas PE1-PE8 and
PE13. Postcode areas PE1 to PE8 are covered by Wittering weather station. There have
been no cold weather payments paid in this area in the last 12 months (to 27 th February
2015).
PE13 postcodes are covered by Marham weather station. Qualifying individuals living in
this area will have received a payment in respect of a seven-day period of cold weather
from 17 th -23 rd January 2015. No other payments were triggered in Marham in the last
12 months. Marham weather station covers the postcode areas of CB6-CB7, IP24-IP28,
PE12-PE14 and PE30-PE38. We estimate that 23,800 payments were made in this area
as a whole in respect of the January 2015 trigger. We are not able to break this figure
down to a lower level.
Notes
1. The number of payments made is not necessarily the total number of individuals
benefitting from a Cold Weather Payment. Any individuals making a joint claim for one
of the qualifying benefits, such as a couple living together, will receive one payment
between them rather than one payment each.
2. Individuals in receipt of Pension Credit are usually eligible for Cold Weather Payments.
In addition those on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, incomerelated Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit may be eligible for Cold
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Weather Payments if they are in receipt of certain disability benefits, have a disabled
child, or a child under the age of five.
3. The number of payments given here is an estimate as information on the exact
number of payments made is not readily available. These figures are produced by
determining the volume of eligible recipients in each weather station area at the start of
the winter season and using these figures throughout the winter to estimate payments
and expenditure based on the actual triggers recorded.
Incapacity Benefit
Paul Burstow:
[225554]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will commission research into the
reasons why the largest category of people transferred from incapacity benefit to the fit-towork group have been people with mental health issues.
Mr Mark Harper:
We have no plans to commission such research.
Preston
Mark Hendrick:
[225638]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February
2015 to Question 224791, what topics he discussed with staff during his visit to Preston
Benefit Centre on 11 April 2014.
Esther McVey:
Further to my previous response, discussions took place between DWP staff and
Secretary of State as he toured the office, no details are held regarding content.
Remploy
Pamela Nash:
[225675]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February
2015 to Question 224963, on which dates he or his Ministerial colleagues have met a former
Remploy employee since May 2010; and when any further such meetings are planned.
Esther McVey:
As the Department with responsibility for Remploy, DWP Ministers have met with former
Remploy employees. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of such meetings. No
further meetings with former Remploy employees are planned at present.
Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
Paul Burstow:
[225560]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will commission research into the
effect of benefit sanctions on the (a) mental and (b) physical health of people on jobseeker's
allowance or the work-related activity group of employment and support allowance.
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ANSWERS
Esther McVey:
As with all of our policies, we will keep the operation of the sanctions system under
review to ensure that it continues to operate effectively and as fairly as possible.
We continue to make improvements to the sanctions system as committed to in the
Oakley Review. The Government has gone further than the scope of the Review, for
example, we are reviewing all claimant communications and sanctions processes, not
only for those Jobseekers Allowance claimants who come under the remit of the Review,
but all Jobseekers Allowance claimants and also all Employment Support Allowance
claimants.
We will continue to publish sanctions statistics on a quarterly basis.
Unemployment
Mr Frank Field:
[225408]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how
many working-age households are better off out of work than in work in each year since
2010.
Esther McVey:
The information requested is not available.
Universal Credit ensures that people are better off in work – and makes it pay for people
to increase their earnings through more or better paid work. We will, for the first time,
be supporting people in low-paid work to take active steps to increase their earnings.
Universal Credit substantially improves the incentives to work. Up to 300,000 more
people are likely to be in work as a result of Universal Credit, through improved financial
incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.
The number of workless households has fallen by nearly 700,000 since 2010, to its
lowest level on record and the number of people in in-work poverty fell 300,000 on the
year, 2012/13 compared to 2011/12.
Universal Credit
Mr Frank Field:
[225409]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the
number of universal credit claimants likely to face hardship as a result of the seven-day
waiting period before new claimants are paid.
Mr Mark Harper:
[Holding answer 2 March 2015]: This information is not available. If a claimant is in
urgent financial need they will be able to claim a UC New Claim Advance.
Mr Frank Field:
[225640]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people making an
application for universal credit are not registered on the real-time information system.
Daily Report
ANSWERS
Mr Mark Harper:
All Universal Credit claims - whether relating to the employed, self-employed or
unemployed - which are successfully made are then registered on HMRC systems. Any
PAYE reported in real time by employers in respect of these is then passed to Universal
Credit systems. The majority of employed Universal Credit claimants will have their
earnings reported via PAYE, and over 99% of all such employments are now being
reported in real-time. For the minority whose earnings are not reported through PAYE
(for example the self-employed) we have developed processes to ensure they can selfreport their earnings.
Work Capability Assessment
Alison Seabeck:
[225205]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has set any targets for
Maximum to deal with the backlog of legacy work capability assessments queries which will
be transferred from Atos on 2 March 2015.
Mr Mark Harper:
Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), operated by MAXIMUS, has not
been allocated specific targets in relation to the clearance of legacy work.
The Department has put in place a strong contract management and performance
monitoring structure to ensure a step change in delivery is achieved, both in terms of
delivering volumes and improvements to the service.
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Energy: Prices
Tom Greatrex:
[224816]
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of
the Rate of Return on Equity for each of the Distribution Network Operators under
Distribution Price Control Review 5.
An error has been identified in the written answer given on 25 February 2015. The
correct answer should have been:
Matthew Hancock:
Ofgem are responsible for regulating the electricity Distribution Network Operators
(DNOs) and the setting of the price control review. Ofgem’s latest estimate for the Rate
of Return on Equity for each of the DNOs is in the attached table which covers the years
2010-11 to 2013-14. The last year of Distribution Price Control Review 5 (2014-15) is
still on-going.
1.
Attachments:
Copy of RORE DNOs Excel.xlsx
Daily Report
WRITTEN STATEMENTS
WRITTEN STATEMENTS
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS
Appointment of Members to the Regulatory Policy Committee
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise and Energy (Matthew Hancock):
[HCWS326]
I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Jonathan Cave, Alexander Ehmann, Nicole
Kar and Jeremy Mayhew to the Regulatory Policy Committee, commencing on 16 March
2015. Term end dates of between three and four years have been set in order to ensure that
knowledge is maintained by the Committee in future.
Dr Jonathan Cave has been Senior Teaching Fellow in Economics at the University of
Warwick since 1994. For more than 30 years, he also worked for the RAND Corporation
most recently as Senior Research Fellow at RAND Europe. He has previously been a visiting
professor, research fellow and lecturer at several universities in the US, including UC Los
Angeles. Before entering academia, he was an economist at the Bank of England and later
the US Federal Trade Commission. Jonathan is a Member of Defra’s Science Advisory Council
Exotic Disease Subgroup. Jonathan holds no other public appointments and has not
undertaken any party political activity.
Nicole Kar is a partner at Linklaters LLP, where she is a specialist in EC and UK competition
law. Before joining Linklaters in 2001, Nicole was a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of
Queensland and a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Nicole is also Vice
Chair of the Competition Committee of the City of London Solicitors’ Company a trustee of
the Mary Ward Settlement and a committee member of the Peace Brigades International’s
Alliance for Lawyers at Risk. Nicole holds no other public appointments and has not
undertaken any party political activity.
Jeremy Mayhew is a Senior Adviser at PwC Consulting. His professional career has mainly
been in the media and broadcasting industry, both at the BBC and as a consultant. Jeremy
has served on the Regulatory Policy Committee since 2012 and holds a number of other
appointments; since 1996, he has been an independent Common Councilman on the City of
London Corporation, where he is now Chairman of the City Bridge Trust Committee and a
Deputy Chairman of the City’s Policy & Resources and Finances Committees. He is a former
Chairman of the Barbican Centre Board and has, previously, served on the Boards of BBC
Worldwide, the Strategic Rail Authority, and the London Development Agency and as a nonexecutive adviser to the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing & Crime. He is a Member of
the Conservative Party.
Alexander Ehmann is Head of UK Public Affairs at Tata Limited, and represents the Tata
business presence in the UK. This includes large businesses, such as Jaguar Land Rover, Tata
Consultancy Services and Tata Steel as well as a number of UK based small and mediumsized businesses. Previously, Alexander was Deputy Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the
Institute of Directors (2006-2014), and External Affairs Adviser at PhonePayPlus, a
telecommunications regulator (2004-2006).
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Alexander has been a member of Regulatory Policy since 2012 and holds no other public
appointments. He is a Member of the Liberal Democrat Party and since May 2014 has been a
Councillor for St Margaret’s and North Twickenham Ward in the Borough of Richmond upon
Thames, London.
These appointments have been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public
Appointments Code of Practice (April 2012).
Measures to improve transparency in insolvency practitioner fees and handling of
cases in the courts
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer
Affairs (Jo Swinson):
[HCWS325]
I am today laying regulations requiring insolvency practitioners to provide additional
information to creditors about their fees and expenses. Insolvency practitioners are given
strong powers by legislation to administer insolvencies. They take decisions and actions that
can have a significant financial impact on those affected. Their fees are paid out of the assets
in cases. It is important that there is confidence in the way that they charge fees.
After commissioning an independent review by Professor Elaine Kempson, we consulted
with interested parties on what measures should be put in place to address shortcomings in
the current fee regime. Where insolvency practitioners’ fees are based upon time costs, they
will be required to provide an upfront estimate of their fees for creditor approval, before
they can take their fees. Insolvency practitioners will not be permitted to draw fees in excess
of the approved estimate unless creditors give further approval. This will therefore act as a
cap on fees.
These measures will increase transparency for creditors as they will have a much clearer
indication of what the likely fees and costs of dealing with an insolvency will be. The
provision of clear information, setting out what work will be done and what it will cost to
undertake that work, will also give creditors more knowledge when agreeing fees and better
equip them to challenge fees where they appear unreasonable.
The measures will give insolvency practitioners the opportunity to demonstrate to creditors
what they do and the value they deliver in return for their fees.
Together with the measures contained in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
currently before Parliament strengthening the oversight regulation of insolvency
practitioners, these steps should provide creditors with greater confidence in the insolvency
regime through increased transparency and accountability.
The statutory instrument that will be laid today also amends how courts deal with insolvency
cases. The new provisions will allow the High Court to transfer simple cases to the County
Court at Central London so that the High Court can focus on more difficult complex cases.
This will improve efficiency in the system.
Daily Report
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COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Royal Borough of Greenwich
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris
Hopkins):
[HCWS337]
On 29 January 2015 I explained to the House ( Official Report, Column 28WS) the Coalition
Government’s commitment to protecting an independent free local press, and how the
Government was seeking to take action on the practice by a small number of local
authorities to publish local authority newspapers, which given their frequency of publication,
can push out and undermine that independent press. I also explained that each case would
be considered on its merits, and that on this basis the Secretary of State had given the Royal
Borough of Greenwich notice of a direction that he proposed to give requiring that Council
to comply with the provisions in the March 2011 Code of Recommended Practice on Local
Authority Publicity which restrict the frequency of publication of the Council’s newspaper.
Within the period of 14 days following the notice, as statute provides, Greenwich Council
has made a number of representations. These included that in the Council’s view there is no
evidence that its weekly newspaper has an impact on the local independent press in the
area, that the proposed direction would be ultra vires, irrational, and procedurally unfair, and
that in any event the Council would not be able to comply with such a direction by the
proposed date of 31 March 2015.
I can now tell the House that the Secretary of State has carefully considered these
representations, together with other information available about the Council’s publicity, the
responses received to the Government’s 2013 consultation ‘Protecting the Independent Press
from Unfair Competition’, and the Government’s response to that consultation. He has also
had careful regard to the Department’s Equality Statement on enforcing the Code of
Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, and has considered afresh earlier
representations that the Council had made about proposals to direct its compliance with the
Code to restrict the frequency of publication of its newspaper. The Secretary of State has
concluded that it would be lawful and appropriate in all the circumstances of Greenwich for
him now to issue the direction as he had proposed.
Accordingly, the Secretary of State, in accordance with his powers under section 4A(1), (2)
and (3) of the Local Government Act 1986, has today directed the Royal Borough of
Greenwich Council, in order to secure the Council’s compliance with the requirements of the
Code, as follows:
· to commission or publish no more than four issues of “Greenwich Time”, or any equivalent
newsletter, newssheet or similar communication, in the period of one year commencing 31
March 2015, and in subsequent years; and
· to ensure that the executive of the Council within 14 days of the date of the direction will
take the necessary decisions in order that the Council will be in a position to comply with the
requirement on publication from 31 March 2015 onwards.
With this direction not only must the Council cease to publish its weekly newspaper,
‘Greenwich Time’, but it is also barred from outsourcing or contracting for the publication of
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any weekly newsletter, newssheet or similar communication by a third party to whom the
Council may make payment.
I will be placing in the Library of the House copies of the direction, a letter to the Council
setting out the Secretary of State’s reasons, the Equality Statement, and the representations
of the Council.
DEFENCE
Preferred Bidder for Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Mr Philip Dunne):
[HCWS330]
The House will be aware that in May 2014 I launched the process to grant a concession to
manage, and exploit the commercial potential of, the Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre.
Following a strong competition, I am pleased to announce that Solent Gateway Limited has
been selected as the preferred bidder. This will be a joint venture between David MacBrayne
Limited and GBA (Holdings) Limited.
The concession is expected to generate significant value for Defence, in terms of both a
share in the profits from commercial exploitation of the spare capacity at the port and a
reduction in the cost of sea-mounting. The commercial arrangement secures the delivery of
Ministry of Defence’s routine and, importantly, surge requirements. The new port operator
will also be providing a deployable Reserve capability as part of the Army’s Total Support
Force.
We expect to conclude the transaction and sign a contract with the new operator over the
coming month. The concession will commence in the autumn. At that time, around 40 civil
service employees, subject to TUPE consultation, will transfer to employment under the
winning bidder. As is normal, their existing employment rights will be preserved.
Cutting the cost of keeping warm: a fuel poverty strategy for England
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey):
[HCWS327]
Today I will be publishing the fuel poverty strategy for England as required under the Warm
Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 following extensive consultation held from July to
October 2014.[1]
This new fuel poverty strategy, the first in nearly 14 years, aims to set a durable framework
for future fuel poverty policies with an ambitious new legal target, accompanying milestones
and a strong accountability system.
Tackling fuel poverty has been a major priority during this government. While the numbers
of fuel poor households rose rapidly from 2004 to 2010, they are now falling. In terms of
energy efficiency, we have delivered over 1.8 million heating and energy efficiency measures
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WRITTEN STATEMENTS
in low income areas and households. In terms of incomes, we have permanently increased
Cold Weather Payments and continued support worth around £2 billion per year through
Winter Fuel Payments. And in terms of energy prices, we have ensured a downward pressure
through retail market and tariff reforms.
The new fuel poverty strategy builds on this success.
The independent review of fuel poverty conducted by Professor Sir John Hills of the London
School of Economics, held in 2011/12, demonstrated that the traditional way of measuring
fuel poverty had been flawed. It under-estimated the scale of the problem when energy
prices were low and over-estimated the scale of the problem when energy prices were high.
The Hills Review recommended a new approach– the Low Income High Costs approach. That
has been adopted and helps to ensure we prioritise people living in the deepest fuel poverty,
above all by making their homes warmer through energy efficiency investments
Over 320,000 fuel poor households in England live in properties rated below band an “E”
level EPC rating needing to spend on average £1,000 a year more on energy to heat their
home compared to a typical home. Through the Energy Act 2013, we established a new
duty to adopt a fuel poverty target. The new fuel poverty target for England sets an ambition
that as many fuel poor homes as reasonably practicable achieve a Band C energy efficiency
standard by 2030 and became law in December 2014.[2]
Today’s strategy is our roadmap for meeting that target. It confirms the following interim
objectives in the new fuel poverty strategy:
· as many fuel poor homes in England as is reasonably practicable to Band E by 2020;
· as many fuel poor homes in England as is reasonably practicable to Band D by 2025.
The new fuel poverty strategy sets out a number of recent and new initiatives that are being
taken forward. With almost a fifth of our housing stock in the private rented sector, and a
third of the fuel poor living in rental accommodation, a new minimum energy efficiency
standard for the private rented sector is in the process of being introduced. DECC are
partnering with the NHS to focus on the links between health and fuel poverty. A major
focus is on fuel poverty in non-gas homes, with new data, new working groups and our new
central heating fund. DECC is also looking at data sources to better identify of people in fuel
poverty and new types of housing that appear to be badly affected such as park homes.
Today is an important milestone. With this new strategy now in place, DECC will continue to
work with partners in central and local Government, industry and the third sector to
maintain a sustainable path towards cutting the cost of keeping warm for fuel poor homes.
I will today lay before Parliament and place a copy of the strategy in the Libraries of the
House. You will also be able to find it on-line here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cutting-the-cost-of-keeping-warm
[1] We published a consultation at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cuttingthe-cost-of-keeping-warm-a-new-fuel-poverty-strategy-for-england We also held a number
of consultation events alongside our regular engagement and partnership activity.
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[2] See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3220/made. Note there is also a specific
methodology – the Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating (FPEER) methodology – for
measuring energy efficiency in relation the target. See
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuel-poverty-england-regulations-2014-andmethodology
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Gifting of equipment to the Free Syrian Police
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Philip Hammond):
[HCWS332]
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has today laid a departmental Minute proposing the
gifting of equipment to the Free Syrian Police.
The conflict in Syria remains catastrophic, with an estimated 200,000 people killed and more
than half the Syrian population in need of humanitarian assistance. The UK will continue to
do all it can to end the conflict through a political settlement, while also alleviating
humanitarian suffering and protecting UK national security.
The UK is committed to working with the moderate opposition to help develop their capacity
to meet needs on the ground and to reduce suffering and to save lives, thereby also helping
reduce the space for extremists to operate. In line with this approach, on 6 February 2014,
my predecessor, the Rt Hon Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr William Hague), laid before
the House of Commons a departmental Minute which set out our plans to expand a UKfunded pilot project to train and equip Free Syrian Police officers, enabling them to provide
community policing. I am pleased to present a further UK contribution of practical support to
the Free Syrian Police, aimed at furthering their work.
The UK is working with international donors to provide training, technical assistance,
maintenance funds, and basic equipment to the Free Syrian Police operating in oppositioncontrolled areas of Syria. The UK is also supporting the development of greater community
oversight and monitoring of the police to help ensure that they are responsive to local needs.
Through this support the UK is aiming to build community resilience and moderate
governance to help counter the threat from extremist groups. Following the success of an
initial pilot and subsequent phases, developing the capacity of community policing has
become a core aspect of the UK’s ongoing support to the moderate opposition in Syria.
The departmental Minute laid today sets out in more detail our plans to gift office and
communications equipment, uniforms, non-armoured vehicles and other operational
equipment to the Free Syrian Police. Subject to assessment under the Consolidated EU and
National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, it is proposed that this will include a limited amount
of controlled equipment, namely body armour and helmets (for conducting vehicle checks
outside towns), CS spray (small canisters for individual personal protection), handcuffs (for
making arrests), and night-vision goggles (early warning system for approaching regime
helicopters).
Daily Report
WRITTEN STATEMENTS
The goods will be procured, distributed and delivered by an implementing partner carefully
selected through competitive tender. The total cost of the proposed gift is up to £750,000,
which will be met by the Government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). The UK’s
assistance forms part of an approach coordinated with other donors that will help deliver the
best value for money. Other donors, including the US, Denmark and the Netherlands, are
also contributing on a similar scale.
The gift forms part of a renewed comprehensive UK programme of training and technical
assistance worth approximately £2.5 million in the current financial year, which will be
delivered by implementing partners. The training aims to build the capacity of the Free Syrian
Police including through developing their strategy, planning and management mechanisms
and enhancing coordination between Free Syrian Police units, as well as strengthening the
relationship between police actors and local communities.
The Free Syrian Police are responsible for providing basic civilian policing in large areas of
opposition-controlled territory. Police actors, local administrative councils and the National
Coalition’s Interim Ministers have all underlined to us the need to improve policing and
security, and we have worked closely with Syrian partners and other donors to design a
comprehensive programme of support.
The gift is being scrutinised to ensure that it is consistent with export controls and complies
with our international obligations. Recipients have been carefully selected to prevent
equipment being given to those involved in extremist activities or human rights violations. All
our assistance is carefully calibrated and legal, is aimed at alleviating human suffering and
supporting moderate groups and is regularly monitored and evaluated. We have assessed
the project for human rights risks, using the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance
guidelines established by the Foreign Secretary in 2011 as part of ensuring these risks are
effectively mitigated.
The Treasury has approved the proposal in principle. If, during the period of fourteen
parliamentary sitting days beginning on the date on which the departmental minute was laid
before the House of Commons, a Member signifies an objection by giving notice of a
Parliamentary Question or a Motion relating to the minute, or by otherwise raising the
matter in the House, final approval of the gift will be withheld pending an examination of
the objection.
Gifting of search and rescue equipment to Syrian civil defence teams
[HCWS333]
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has today laid a departmental Minute proposing the
gifting of search and rescue equipment to Syrian civil defence teams.
The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate. An estimated 200,000 people have been
killed since the war began four years ago, many of them innocent civilians. The Assad regime
continues to use the most barbaric military methods and tactics available, including the use
of indiscriminate artillery fire, chemical weapons and barrel bombs. The UK remains
committed to doing all it can to promote a political settlement to end the conflict, to
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alleviate the humanitarian suffering, and to protect UK national security through countering
terrorist and extremist threats.
In January and May 2014, my predecessor, the Rt Hon Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr
William Hague), laid departmental Minutes before the House of Commons and issued
Written Ministerial Statements setting out our plans to gift equipment to civil defence teams
operating in opposition-controlled areas of Syria. No objections were received to either gift
and the UK distributed the equipment to civil defence teams along with comprehensive
training packages. These defence teams have now saved over 10,000 lives by rescuing
civilians trapped in damaged buildings, fighting fires and by providing emergency first aid.
Our assistance has helped increase the legitimacy and capacity of local councils and
supported communities in dealing with the aftermath of attacks. Other donors, including the
US, Denmark and Japan, have also contributed to the civil defence initiative.
The UK intends to continue its support to this programme by increasing the communications
capability and mobility of the teams, providing more medium-weight rescue equipment and
equipping further emergency medical teams. The departmental Minute laid today set out our
proposal to gift £3.5 million in equipment to Syrian beneficiaries operating within civil
defence. The proposed list of equipment includes cutting and rescue tools, personal
protective gear including helmets and goggles, stretchers, medicines and medical supplies,
radios, firefighting equipment and 4x4 vehicles. The programme will also increase
coordination between the Syrian Interim Government and civil defence teams, and provide
civilian outreach for the civil defence teams, improving the resilience of local communities.
The programme is expected to cost £10 million and will be funded through the
Government’s Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF).
The use of CSSF funds to cover the costs of the gift has been approved by members of the
Middle East and North Africa Strategic Programme Board from the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence.
The gift has been scrutinised to ensure that the provision of this equipment is consistent with
export controls and complies with our international obligations. Recipients have been
carefully selected to prevent equipment being given to those involved in extremist activities
or human rights violations. All our assistance is carefully calibrated and legal, is aimed at
alleviating human suffering and supporting moderate groups and is regularly monitored and
evaluated.
The Treasury has approved the proposal in principle. If, during the period of fourteen
parliamentary sitting days beginning on the date on which the departmental minute was laid
before the House of Commons, a Member signifies an objection by giving notice of a
Parliamentary Question or a Motion relating to the minute, or by otherwise raising the
matter in the House, final approval of the gift will be withheld pending an examination of
the objection.
Daily Report
WRITTEN STATEMENTS
Post-Legislative Scrutiny of the Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010
[HCWS331]
The Government has today published a memorandum to the Foreign Affairs Committee and
the Committees on Arms Export Controls on post-legislative scrutiny of the Cluster
Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has carried out the post-legislative scrutiny, which
includes a preliminary assessment of how the Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010 has
worked in practice, and has set out its findings in a Command Paper (Cm 9021) to the
Committees.
Copies of the Command Paper are available from the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office.
HOME OFFICE
Child Sexual Exploitation
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May):
[HCWS328]
Professor Alexis Jay’s report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham and Louise Casey’s
follow up report on the performance of Rotherham Council both provide a terrible account
of the appalling failures by the Council, the police and other agencies to protect vulnerable
children. The culture of complete denial that was uncovered by Professor Jay persists today.
That is why immediate action has been taken to protect the children of Rotherham through
the appointment of five commissioners to take on the full range of the authority’s executive
functions and begin a rapid improvement programme; and the launch of an independent
two-stage investigation into child sexual exploitation and abuse in Rotherham (Operation
Stovewood run by the National Crime Agency).
I have been clear that the situation in Rotherham is only the tip of the iceberg. We need to
confront these failures at a national level which is why in September last year I announced
that I would chair a series of meetings with other responsible Secretaries of State to look at
the failures highlighted in Professor Jay’s inquiry at the Prime Minister’s request.
I have chaired a number of these meetings with the Secretaries of State for Communities,
Education, Health, Justice and the Solicitor General. Today the Government publishes a
report setting out the actions we are taking in response to Professor Jay’s and Louise Casey’s
findings.
The actions will strengthen accountability and leadership in professions and local
government; address the culture of inaction and denial that led to victims being dismissed
and ignored; improve joint working and information sharing so that agencies intervene early;
strengthen the protection of children who are at risk; reinforce law enforcement efforts to
stop offenders; and provide greater support for victims and survivors. Among these actions
are:
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- The establishment of a new independent taskforce, bringing together specialists in social
care, law enforcement and health, which will be deployed in local authorities where child
abuse is a concern. Linked to the taskforce, will be a new centre of professional expertise,
which will develop better approaches to tackling sexual abuse.
- The launch of a £1 million communications campaign, to promote a wider understanding
of what people should do when they suspect a child is being abused. This will be
accompanied with revised guidance, What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused,
for professionals, the public, and children.
- The creation of a new single point of contact for child abuse related whistleblowing, which
will monitor patterns of failure across the country. We will make clear that all organisations
with safeguarding responsibilities should have internal whistleblowing policies.
- A new system of multi-agency inspections, to examine whether local agencies are working
in a co-ordinated manner, sharing information and taking joint decisions to protect children.
Failure of agencies to share information about children at risk was a critical element of what
happened in Rotherham. Today, my ministerial colleagues and I have written to the leaders
of every local authority, Directors of Children’s Services, Police and Crime Commissioners,
Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards, Health and Wellbeing Boards and GPs, making clear
that there can be no justification for failing to share personal information about a child when
that information could be used to protect that child’s life.
The Government is clear that child sexual exploitation must be stopped. Work is already
underway to put into practice these and other proposals.
A copy of the Government’s response will be placed in the House Library.
I would also like to give an update on Home Office work in response to allegations in
Professor Jay’s report that the department had been made aware of the problems in
Rotherham in 2002, but had failed to take action on this information. I gave an assurance
that the Home Office would conduct an internal investigation to ascertain what happened,
which Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC would then review to ensure it had been
undertaken absolutely properly. My department has been undertaking detailed searches of
Home Office files and records of the time – and potentially relevant files and records across
Government – to establish what information was passed to the department about child
sexual abuse in Rotherham and what action was taken as a result. Searches of the
department’s digital holdings are still ongoing and we expect to be able to provide the
completed investigation to Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC in the next three months,
subject to their availability.
Strategic Policing Requirement Refresh
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May):
[HCWS329]
The Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) sets out my view, as Home Secretary, of the
national threats that the police must address and the national policing capabilities required
to counter those threats. The national threats currently in the SPR are terrorism, civil
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emergencies, public disorder, cyber security incidents and serious and organised crime. The
SPR supports police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and chief constables in balancing local
and national priorities effectively, and in driving improvements to their force’s response to
serious and cross-boundary threats.
I am today issuing a revised and updated SPR which confirms the validity of the existing
threats and, for the first time, makes Child Sexual Abuse an additional national threat.
This will ensure that PCCs and chief constables prioritise an issue of growing national
importance. It will encourage a collaborative approach to building the capability needed to
tackle child sexual abuse, including efficient sharing of resources, intelligence and best
practice, and deliver a more effective and integrated policing response.
The other changes in the revised SPR include:
- adopting the definition of a ‘national’ (rather than ‘large-scale’) cyber security incident, as
set out in the Cabinet Office National Cyber Security Incident Management Policy, to achieve
greater clarity and consistency in the articulation of the cyber threat,
- updating the definition of ‘cyber crime’ in line with the definition provided in the Serious
and Organised Crime Strategy,
- including references to Regional and Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) in recognition of the
important role they play in tackling serious and organised crime; providing a national
network of regional capabilities, and
- widening the scope of the civil emergency threat to ensure that it is not limited to coastal
flooding and includes all those contingencies that require an aggregated response across
force boundaries.
My officials have had extensive engagement with police leaders and other partners to review
and revise the SPR. PCCs and forces will be expected to have regard to the refreshed SPR
when exercising their responsibilities to deliver the changes that have been introduced.
I have placed copies of the SPR in the House of Commons Library and an electronic copy can
be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-policing-requirement
TREASURY
Banking Reform: Senior Managers and Certification Regime
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrea Leadsom):
[HCWS336]
This Government has taken significant steps to reform the UK’s system of financial
regulation.
In the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (“the Act”), we legislated to strengthen
the accountability of bank senior management and to raise standards of individual conduct
in the banking sector. I am now announcing the timetable for bringing the Senior Managers
and Certification Regime (SM&CR) created by these reforms into operation. I am also
announcing the Government’s plans for applying the SM&CR to foreign banks operating
through branches in the UK.
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The introduction of the SM&CR will be a major reform with significant implications for the
firms concerned (banks, building societies, credit unions and investment firms regulated by
the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)) and for the individuals, particularly senior
managers, who work in those firms. The Government has therefore decided, following
discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the PRA, that the SM&CR will
come into operation on 7 March 2016. In order to facilitate an orderly transition from the
existing approved persons regime, firms will be required to notify the regulators by 8
February 2016 of the approved persons who are to be senior managers under the SM&CR.
The Treasury will make the necessary commencement Order (under section 148 of the Act)
and a transitional provisions Order (under section 146 of the Act) shortly.
The Government issued a consultation on whether to extend the SM&CR to UK branches of
foreign institutions on 17 November 2014. The consultation closed on 30 January 2015 and
the Government has been considering the responses received.
The Government has now decided to proceed with this measure. It will come into operation
on the same date (7 March 2016) as the SM&CR applying to UK firms and foreign
institutions will also have until 8 February 2016 to notify the regulators of the approved
persons who are to be senior managers in their UK branches.
The Treasury must now make an Order (subject to the affirmative procedure) under section
71A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to implement the measure. The
Government intends to arrange the debates as early as possible in the next Parliament.
The PRA and FCA will shortly be consulting on additional SM&CR rules. These rules will help
ensure that the SM&CR is applied in an appropriate and proportionate way to foreign
institutions operating through branches in the UK.
The commencement order will also bring sections 36 to 38 of the Act into force from 7
March 2016. This means that the new criminal offence relating to decisions causing a
financial institution to fail could apply to decisions taken by senior managers in UK banks,
building societies and PRA-regulated investment firms (but not credit unions or any foreign
institution) on or after that date.
Double Taxation Convention between the United Kingdom and the Republic of
Senegal
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke):
[HCWS335]
A Double Taxation Convention with the Republic of Senegal was signed on 26 February
2015. The text of the Convention has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and
made available on the GOV.UK website. The text will be scheduled to a draft Order in
Council and laid before the House of Commons in due course.
Attachments:
1. UK Senegal Double Taxation Convention [150226 UK Senegal.pdf]
Daily Report
WRITTEN STATEMENTS
ECOFIN 17 February 2015
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne):
[HCWS334]
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Brussels on 17 February
2015. Ministers discussed the following items:
Investment Plan for Europe
The Presidency gave a state of play update on the Commission’s proposal for a regulation on
the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
Current Legislative Proposals
The Presidency gave an update on current legislative proposals.
Annual Growth Survey 2015 and Alert Mechanism Report
The Council adopted conclusions on the Annual Growth Survey and the Alert Mechanism
Report.
Follow-up to the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on
9-10 February 2015 in Istanbul
The Presidency and the Commission debriefed the Council on the G20 meeting of Finance
Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Istanbul.
Discharge procedure in respect of the implementation of the budget for 2013
The Council, on the basis of a report from the Court of Auditors, approved draft
recommendations on the discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the
implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013.
The UK, along with Sweden and the Netherlands, voted against the Council
recommendations and submitted a joint statement expressing there had not been an
improvement to the Court of Auditor’s error rate assessment.
Budget guidelines for 2016
The Council endorsed guidelines concerning the 2016 budget of the EU, which will be its
overall reference for the budget year.
High Level Group on Own Resources – First assessment report
The Chairman of the High Level Group on Own Resources presented the Group's First
Assessment report on the system of financing the EU budget, followed by an exchange of
views.
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03 March 2015

Transcription

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