daily report thursday, 11 june 2015...

Daily Report Thursday, 11 June 2015

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 11 June 2015 and the information is correct at the time of publication (06:41 P.M., 11 June 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

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS 5

Construction Industry Council 5

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Public Expenditure 5

Exports: Telephone Services 6

Office for Life Sciences 6

Space Technology 6

CABINET OFFICE 7

Digital Technology 7

Married People: Tax Allowances 7

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 8

Voluntary Work: Young People 8

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 8

Communities and Local Government: Departmental Coordination 8

Devolution: Cheshire 9

Right to Buy Scheme 10

Social Rented Housing 10

Social Rented Housing: Construction 10

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT 11

Direct Selling 11

Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 11

DEFENCE 12

Afghanistan: Armed Forces 12

Armed forces: Cadets 12

Armed Forces: Cadets 13

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings 13

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees 14

Military Aid: Iraq 14

Procurement: North West 14

RAF Volunteer Reserve 15

VJ Day 15

EDUCATION 15

Academies 15

Academies: Standards 17

Education and Adoption Bill 17

Schools: Standards 18

Schools: Torbay 18

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE 19

Nuclear Power Stations 19

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

2 Thursday, 11 June 2015 Daily Report

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS 19

Agriculture: Subsidies 19

Insecticides: Licensing 20

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 21

Conferences 21

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Families 21

Nigeria: Armed Conflict 21

Travel: Insurance 22

HEALTH 22

Accident and Emergency Departments: Hornsey and Wood Green 22

Alzheimer's Disease: Social Services 23

Care Quality Commission: Finance 24

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Health Services 24

Defibrillators: Prices 25

Department of Health: Families 26

Diabetes: Chiropody 26

Food Poverty 27

General Practitioners: Recruitment 27

King George Hospital Redbridge: Accident and Emergency Departments 28

Medical Equipment: Prices 28

Midwives: Recruitment 29

Motor Vehicles: Smoking 29

NHS: Working Hours 29

Nurses: Foreign Nationals 30

Nurses: Qualifications 31

Psychiatry 31

Psychiatry: Sheffield 32

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations 33

Staff: Screening 33

Urgent and Emergency Care Review 33

Vaccination: Children 34

HOME OFFICE 34

Arrests: South Yorkshire 34

Drugs 35

Human Trafficking 35

Police: West Midlands 36

Vetting 36

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 37

Department for International Development: Families 37

Developing Countries: Older People 37

JUSTICE 38

Employment Tribunals Service 38

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges 38

Equal Pay 39

Ministry of Justice: Families 40

Perinatal Mortality: Coroners 40

Young Offender Institutions: Employment 40

Young Offender Institutions: Restraint Techniques 42

Youth Custody: Crimes of Violence 46

Youth Custody: Staff 47

NORTHERN IRELAND 49

Human Rights Act 1998: Northern Ireland 49

Thursday, 11 June 2015 Daily Report 3

Northern Ireland Office: Families 49

Parades: Northern Ireland 49

PRIME MINISTER 50

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees 50

SCOTLAND 50

Sovereignty: Scotland 50

TRANSPORT 50

Bus Services 50

Driving: Licensing 51

East Anglia Railway Line: Franchises 51

High Speed 2 Railway Line 52

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Scotland 53

Midland Main Railway Line: Electrification 53

Railways: Franchises 53

Road Traffic 53

Roads: Hertfordshire 54

Roads: Safety 54

Rolling Stock: Standards 54

Transport for London: Finance 55

Tyne and Wear Metro: Performance Standards 55

TREASURY 55

Banks: Fines 55

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation 56

Fuels: Rebates 56

NHS: Finance 56

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES 57

Equal Pay 57

WORK AND PENSIONS 57

Carer's Allowance: South Yorkshire 57

Local Housing Allowance 57

Personal Independence Payment 57

Social Rented Housing 58

Social Security Benefits 58

Social Security Benefits: Glasgow North 58

WRITTEN STATEMENTS 59

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS 59

Royal Mail 59

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT 60

Telecommunications Council 60

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE 61

Agenda for June EU Environment Council 61

HEALTH 62

Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council in Luxembourg: 19 June 2015 62

HOME OFFICE 63

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (1 March 2015 to 31 May 2015) 63

JUSTICE 64

NOMS accounts - explanatory note 64

PRIME MINISTER 65

Ebola Medal 65

The Report of the Investigatory Powers Review 65

TREASURY 66

Fiscal sustainability report 2015 66

Update on Financial Services 68

4 Daily Report Thursday, 11 June 2015 ANSWERS

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 Thursday, 11 June 2015 ANSWERS 5

ANSWERS

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Construction Industry Council

Mr Iain Wright: [1473]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on future government support for the Construction Industry Council.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on future government support for the Automotive Council.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on future government support for the Aerospace Growth Partnership.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills will work closely with industry and businesses to understand their needs and what more the Government can do to retain the UK’s competitive position within the global economy. The biggest challenge facing the economy is improving productivity and it is important to recognise that the productivity challenge is different sector by sector. Regular dialogue and working with business, including through the sector councils, as part of our wider industrial approach, is a vital part of that.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Public Expenditure

Shabana Mahmood: [1375]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to HM Treasury's press release, Chancellor announces £4.5 billion of measures to bring down debt, published on 4 June 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect on productivity of delivering efficiency savings from his Department's budget.

Anna Soubry: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will deliver £450 million of the Chancellor’s announced £4.5 billion savings announced on the 4th June. The majority of this will be delivered through known underspends and releasing unallocated funding.

Officials in the department are working with the appropriate funding bodies to determine how savings can best be achieved in line with Ministerial priorities.

Priority areas for growth and productivity, including funding for apprenticeships and science, will not be affected – raising the skill level of the workforce and developing new ideas are fundamental drivers of long-run productivity growth.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-08/1473





Exports: Telephone Services

Mike Kane: [1156]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department plans to take to promote helpline services for UK exporters and firms seeking to export.

Anna Soubry: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the Government Department that helps UK exporters and companies seeking to export, provides details of its main helpline (+44 (0)20 7215 5000) on its publications and its website at www.gov.uk/ukti.

UKTI has an ongoing programme of activities to promote its services to potential and existing exporters. When promoting specific activities e.g. an event, UKTI provides customers with the contact point most relevant to the activity rather than the helpline itself. In line with government strategy of being digital by default UKTI will provide an online enquiry form or a contact email address as the preferred option to contact us and receive our services.

Office for Life Sciences


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on future government support for the Office for Life Sciences.

George Freeman: Our manifesto committed to support the long-term economic plan by fostering research, innovation and jobs in the life science industry. We will therefore continue to invest in growing the life sciences sector, to help people compete and win in the intense global race for high value, high knowledge jobs, to unleash the potential of innovation, and to drive investment and growth in the UK economy. The Office of Life Sciences will continue to be an important part of that.

Space Technology


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on future government support for the UK space sector.

Joseph Johnson: The UK has a thriving space sector worth £11.3b to the economy and satellites have been acknowledged as one of the UK’s Eight Great technologies, fundamental to our future economy. The UK’s Civil Space Strategy, 2012 to 2016, will continue to guide policy in line with the goal of space contributing £40 billion a year to the UK economy by 2030.

As part of the Deregulation Bill, reforms to the existing Outer Space Act will come into force in October - reducing the burden on satellite operators, making the UK more competitive globally, particularly building on our expertise in small satellites. This





continued growth is enabled by balanced investment in national and European space programmes.

At the European Space Agency’s Council of Ministers in December 2014, we committed additional investment of more than £200 million in Europe’s space programme, enabling the UK to further collaborate with Europe and develop world leading technologies, services and science missions. While individual opportunities will continue to be evaluated on their own merit, our broad policy goals remain: economic growth, scientific excellence and maximum benefit to citizens.

Working across government is central to achieving these aims. For example, the UK Space Agency jointly published the National Space Security Policy in April 2014 with the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office, to set out a coherent approach to the UK’s space security interests, and the publication of a National Space Policy later this year will spell out the principles which underpin the UK approach to space.

CABINET OFFICE

Digital Technology

Chi Onwurah: [1492]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what target his Department has for the proportion of the UK population which should be able to access services online; and when he plans to publish an update to the Government's Digital Inclusion Strategy.

Matthew Hancock: The Digital Inclusion Strategy aims to reduce the proportion of UK adults who lack basic digital skills by 25% by 2016, and by a further 25% every two years thereafter.

We are working with Government departments, public, private and voluntary sector organisations to assess the need to revise the current Strategy.

Married People: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: [1493]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what role the Government Digital Service plays in the delivery of the married couple's allowance online application system; and what assisted digital support is available for people who cannot apply online.

Matthew Hancock: GDS is developing GOV.UK Verify for people to prove their identity and use digital government services safely. HMRC has worked with GDS to develop alternative verification methods for anyone who has difficultly completing the GOV.UK Verify process. Support for customers to complete their digital Marriage Allowance application is available from HMRC online or on the phone.

No one need miss out on the Marriage Allowance. People can apply at any stage in the tax year and get the full entitlement regardless of when they submit their claim.




Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Chi Onwurah: [1494]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to bring forward proposals to amend the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 in response to the review of that Act by Lord Young, published in February 2015.

Mr Rob Wilson: During his review, Lord Young concluded that now was not an appropriate time to amend the Act. However, we have committed to build on his review to ensure that commissioners maximise the potential of social value.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Mr David Anderson: [1056]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2015 to Question 321, what qualifications and at what level are required by non-National Citizens Service personnel in charge of children taking part in residential training weeks under the National Citizen Service scheme.

Mr Rob Wilson: The quality of all staff involved in NCS is vital to its ongoing success. All personnel involved in delivering the residential phase of the programme must hold a DBS certificate, be recruited in line with safer recruiting best practices and possess such qualifications as required to fulfil their roles.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Communities and Local Government: Departmental Coordination

Bill Wiggin: [1306]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 319, what recent representations his Department has received on heat loss through windows in listed buildings.

Bill Wiggin: [1307]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 319, whether he has discussed with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change changing planning guidance on listed buildings to reduce heat loss through windows.

Bill Wiggin: [1308]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 319, on listed buildings, what he plans to discuss when he next meets the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.







Bill Wiggin: [1309]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 319, on listed buildings, when he next plans to meet the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Bill Wiggin: [1310]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 319, on listed buildings, when officials in his Department met the Department for Energy and Climate Change in the last month.

Bill Wiggin: [1311]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 319, on listed buildings, what subjects he has discussed with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Brandon Lewis: In determining applications for replacement windows in listed buildings local planning authorities must take account of national planning policies, including those on the historic environment and supporting energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings. They must weigh up these policies and any other relevant considerations, including the relevant development plan, in considering each case.

Government guidance makes clear that conservation is an active process of maintenance and managing change. It recognises that heritage assets are likely to require sympathetic changes from time to time to ensure they remain used and valued.

Historic England publishes a range of useful advice on saving energy for owners of listed buildings and developers. This can be found online at: https://www.historicengland.org.uk/advice/your-home/saving-energy/.

I will meet my rt.hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy and Climate Change soon but in line with the established practice under previous administrations, details are not provided on the topics discussed at meetings between Government Ministers.

Devolution: Cheshire

Justin Madders: [988]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on devolution in the Cheshire West and Chester local authority area.

Mr Mark Francois: The Government is open to discussing proposals from any area which would welcome increased powers and greater freedoms to maximise their economic growth, providing the case can be made that there is both strong governance and the capacity and capability to deliver.






Right to Buy Scheme

Emma Reynolds: [1049]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with banks and other financial institutions about extension of the right to buy to encompass housing association properties.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with housing associations on the expansion of right to buy.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to consult representatives and bodies within the housing sector on the proposed extension of the right to buy policy before the publication of legislative proposals on that policy.

Brandon Lewis: Ministers and senior officials in my Department are engaging on an ongoing basis with the housing sector, banks and other financial institutions in relation to key policy issues.


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of housing association tenants who will take up the right to buy in each of the next five years.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 8 June , PQ 1059.

Social Rented Housing

Jeremy Lefroy: [1107]

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many registered Housing Association properties there are in each English local authority.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on Private Registered Provider dwelling stock in England and in each local authority district are published in the Department’s live table 115, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants

Social Rented Housing: Construction


To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes for social rent were built in each of the last 30 years.










Brandon Lewis: Statistics on total additional new build housing provided for social rent in England, since 1991-92, are published in the Department’s live table 1009, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Direct Selling

Kerry McCarthy: [1441]

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on funding new call blocking technology to protect vulnerable consumers from nuisance communications; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The government is continuing to work to ensure protection of vulnerable consumers from nuisance calls, including considering options for funding call blocking technology. The Ministers will update the House when the final decision has been reached.

Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003

Kerry McCarthy: [1419]

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations; and when consultation on those proposals will begin.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is currently considering whether to amend the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR) in order to implement measures to further tackle nuisance calls. There are legal and policy implications in progressing such measures, which we will carefully consider before issuing a consultation or determining the means by which they could be implemented. We remain committed to tackling nuisance calls and intend to build on the effective policies introduced over recent years to protect consumers, such as changes made to PECR earlier this year to enable the Information Commissioner's Office to take enforcement action more easily. We will advance any further measures as quickly as possible and consult in the usual way.






DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Armed Forces

Paul Flynn: [1262]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will bring forward plans to hold a public inquiry into the British military involvement in Afghanistan since 2006.

Penny Mordaunt: No decisions have been taken by the Government on a review of our engagement in Afghanistan. We remain focused on supporting the National Unity Government of Afghanistan as part of NATO's Resolute Support mission.

We have been learning tactical lessons of our operations in Afghanistan throughout the campaign. However, combat operations have only recently ceased, and our focus has been on a successful drawdown from the ISAF combat mission and transition to the NATO Resolute Support mission. We still have around 470 military personnel in Afghanistan, and we need to maintain our focus on supporting them. We will, of course, want to look at the broader lessons that can be learned from the campaign in due course, but the Government will want to do this in a way that would enable us to implement lessons identified quickly and practically, so that they have a real impact.

Armed forces: Cadets

Mrs Madeleine Moon: [1348]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many adult volunteers there were in each of the cadet forces in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The following table shows the number of adult volunteers, by each cadet force as of 1 April of each year from 2008 to 2014.

NUMBER OF CADET FORCE ADULT VOLUNTEERS

FORCE/YEAR 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Combined Cadet Force

2,220 2,200 2,080 2,150 2,100 2,110 2,810

Sea Cadet Corps

3,110 3,540 3,600 5,600 5,190 5,820 5,920

Army Cadet Force

8,380 8,330 9,450 8,440 8,380 9,800 9,440

Air Training Corps

9,530 9,770 9,180 10,460 10,510 12,080 10,430




This information is included in the UK Reserve Forces and Cadets annual publication available from the .gov.uk website at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strength-of-the-uk-reserve-forces-index.

The next report, scheduled for publication on 18 June 2015, will include the figures for 2015.

Armed Forces: Cadets


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) girls and (b) boys were engaged in each of the cadet forces in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The following table shows the number of male and female cadets by each cadet force as of 1 April each year from 2008 to 2014.

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-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-09/1500

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2015 to Question 157, on armed forces disciplinary proceedings, from which service each of the 22 complaints were received; how many of the 22 complaints were from (a) serving and (b) former service personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The following table details from which service each of the 22 Service complaints were received, and whether they are from serving or former Service personnel.

SERVICE NUMBER OF SERVICE COMPLAINTS

FROM SERVING PERSONNEL

NUMBER OF SERVICE COMPLAINTS

FROM FORMER SERVICE

PERSONNEL

Royal Navy 0 6

Army 3 13

Royal Air Force 0 0

Since my answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 157, a further four Service complaints have been received; one from a serving member of the Royal Navy and three from former

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strength-of-the-uk-reserve-forces-index







Service personnel, two of whom served in the Army and one who served in the Royal Air Force.

As I stated in my answer to Question 905 on 9 June 2015, I am happy to meet the hon. Member to discuss this issue.

Attachments:

1. Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings [Hansard Extract Tuesday 9 June 2015.doc]

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

David Simpson: [1185]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Royal Navy is taking to deal with the number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Penny Mordaunt: The Royal Navy is playing a full part in the international effort to save lives at sea. HMS Bulwark deployed on 4 May 2015 and is working closely with the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre; efforts so far have saved over 2,900 lives.

Military Aid: Iraq


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2015 to Question 207, whether Explosive Risk Management Ltd was contracted to provide counter-IED training in Iraq in 2014; whether a counter-IED course was provided to Kurdish Peshmerga in 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: Explosive Risk Management Ltd was contracted to deliver C-IED training in Iraq in 2014. Through these training services, a four week course was delivered to the Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2014. A similar course was due to be delivered in southern Iraq, but was withdrawn prematurely due to security issues.

This contract was not included in my previous answer of 5 June 2015 to Question number 207 as the service was for training not security.

Procurement: North West

Andrew Gwynne: [1739]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs his Department (a) directly and (b) indirectly supports through its supply chain in (i) the North West, (ii) Tameside and (iii) Stockport.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence no longer compiles national or regional defence industry employment statistics as they do not directly support policy-making or operations.





RAF Volunteer Reserve


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian pilots were serving in the Royal Air Force Reserves in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier: Whilst Reservists' occupations are recorded, this does not capture those Reservists with civilian pilot qualifications who are not employed as civilian pilots. The information requested is therefore not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The RAF has 26 Volunteer Reserve pilots and 14 Sponsored Reserve pilots who work full time for AirTanker working as both civilian and RAF pilots depending on whether they are flying the civilian or military registered Voyager aircraft.

In addition there are 66 full time Reserve Service pilots.

VJ Day

Angela Smith: [1425]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VJ Day.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave during Defence questions on 8 June 2015 (Official Report, columns 893-894) to the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson).

Attachments:

1. VJ Day [HOC 1425 Hansard Extract 8 June 2015.doc]

EDUCATION

Academies

Kevin Brennan: [1437]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Questions 646 to 649, what the names are of the 30 federated schools which have been granted an academy order but for which no academy agreement has been signed.

Edward Timpson: The 30 schools referred to in the answer were schools for which academy orders had been made for them to progress to open as converter academies, and which were listed on http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/ as being in a federation. Edubase records do not distinguish between different types of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ federation and not all will be federations with a single governing body as set out in the School Governance (Federations) (England) Regulations 2012. The schools to which the answer referred are:





SCHOOL NAME LOCAL AUTHORITY

Seagry Church of England Primary School Wiltshire

Somerfords' Walter Powell VA CofE Primary School

Wiltshire

Hammond Community Junior School Surrey

Lightwater Village School Surrey

Cicely Haughton School Staffordshire

Loxley Hall School Staffordshire

Clayton Hall Business and Language College Staffordshire

NCHS The Science College Staffordshire

Newall Green Primary School Manchester

Chorlton Park Primary School Manchester

Old Moat Community Primary School Manchester

Aegir Community School Lincolnshire

Warren Wood Community School Lincolnshire

Prendergast Ladywell School Lewisham

Prendergast Vale School Lewisham

St Mary's School East Sussex

New Horizons School East Sussex

Cuckmere House School East Sussex

St Rumon's Church of England (VC) Infants School

Devon

Gunnislake Primary School Cornwall

Prince Albert Junior and Infant School Birmingham

Heathfield Primary School Birmingham

All Saints CofE School Somerset

Dulverton Middle and Community School Somerset

Exford Church of England First School Somerset


SCHOOL NAME LOCAL AUTHORITY

The Duchess's Community High School Northumberland

Alnwick Lindisfarne Middle School Northumberland

Alnwick the Dukes Middle School Northumberland

Tenterden Church of England Junior School Kent

Tenterden Infant School Kent

Academies: Standards

Pat Glass: [1359]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Academies were rated as requires improvement or worse by Ofsted at their last inspection.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the Hon Member with the information requested. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House library.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools rated inadequate by Ofsted since the new Ofsted categories were introduced have been transferred to a new sponsor.

Edward Timpson: Looking only at inspection judgements since the introduction of the new Ofsted framework in September 2012, there are 35 academies that have transferred to a new sponsor while in Ofsted category 4. Ofsted inspections are taken from Ofsted’s published lists found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-management-information-ofsteds-school-inspections-outcomes

Education and Adoption Bill


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2015 to Question 1006, whether the parliamentary scrutiny cited in that Answer refers to the publication of those draft regulations before Second Reading of the Education and Adoption Bill.

Edward Timpson: We are engaging closely with interested parties to develop the coasting regulations.

We will publish draft regulations to enable scrutiny at Committee stage.





Schools: Standards


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools which have remained as maintained schools following an inadequate Ofsted grade and been subsequently re-inspected have been graded (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) inadequate.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the Hon Member with the information requested. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House library.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many maintained schools graded as inadequate by Ofsted have converted to Academy status and have been re-inspected and been graded (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) inadequate.

Edward Timpson: This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the Hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries.

Schools: Torbay

Kevin Foster: [1109]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to the local council in Torbay to improve the supply and quality of local school places.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them in doing so is one of this government’s top priorities.

Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to support them in their work creating new school places. We use data provided by authorities to ensure funding is targeted according to levels of need in each area. Torbay has received £6 million of basic need funding for 2011-15, helping to create 147 new school places by the end of the academic year 2014-15, with many more in the pipeline. The 2015-18 basic need funding allocation for Torbay is £10 million.

The previous government published the first primary basic need scorecards to hold local authorities to account for the quality of the places they create. Torbay’s scorecard showed that as of summer 2013, 94% of primary places were created in ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools.





ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Nuclear Power Stations

Paul Flynn: [1615]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that future nuclear power stations have aesthetic appeal.

Andrea Leadsom: Section 4.5 of the Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy and section 2.8 of the Nuclear National Policy Statement set out the Government’s views on consideration of good design in making proposals for major energy infrastructure, including new nuclear power stations. In doing so, the Overarching Energy NPS states that “high quality and inclusive design goes far beyond aesthetic considerations”. The Planning Inspectorate will take the NPSs into account in considering applications for development.

The Energy NPSs are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-policy-statements-for-energy-infrastructure.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

Maria Eagle: [1173]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what budget stream will the additional costs her Department and the Royal Payments Agency have incurred as a result of changes to the process for submitting an application for the Basic Payment Scheme be met.

George Eustice: Any direct costs will be funded from the Rural Payments Agency.

Maria Eagle: [1180]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what costs (a) her Department and (b) the Royal Payments Agency have incurred through reverting to a paper based system for claiming under the Basic Payments Scheme.

George Eustice: Exact costs of the change to the new approach for the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 to Defra and Rural Payments Agency are still being assessed.

Maria Eagle: [1184]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of Basic Payment scheme payments will be made to UK farmers when the payment window opens in December 2015; and if she will make a statement.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-policy-statements-for-energy-infrastructure

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-policy-statements-for-energy-infrastructure





George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency has said it will be making full payments as early as possible in the payment window. Payments will start from December and the vast majority will be made by the end of January.

Maria Eagle: [1229]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her evidence to the EFRA Committee on 11 March 2015, HC942, Q397, what recent reports she has received on whether the maps used on the system for making Basic Payment Scheme payments are up and running.

George Eustice: Ensuring successful delivery of the Basic Payments Scheme (BPS) in 2015 is our priority and the core of the Rural Payments System is working well. We are looking carefully at how best to develop the system, including the mapping functionality, in order to support delivery of the BPS in future years.

Insecticides: Licensing

Dr Paul Monaghan: [1355]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to license derivatives of the pesticide known as neonicotinoid for use in the UK.


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to license the pesticide known as neonicotinoid for use in the UK.

George Eustice: Neonicotinoids are a group of chemicals used as active substances in pesticides. Decisions on the approval of pesticide active substances are made at EU level. Five neonicotinoids are currently approved but, since December 2013, three are not permitted for use on a wide range of crops considered “attractive to bees”. A number of other uses remain permitted under the EU approval. The UK has implemented the restrictions in full. These restrictions remain in place until and unless the European Commission decides to change them.

EU legislation also sets out the rules under which Member States consider applications for the authorisation of products. This includes rules for authorisation in emergency situations in crop protection. The Government has received applications for emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid seed treatments for use on oilseed rape and these applications are currently being assessed.





FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Conferences

Patrick Grady: [1124]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which of his Cabinet colleagues will represent the UK at the (a) UN Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July, (b) UN Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda in New York from 25 to 27 September and (c) Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris from 30 November to 11 December.

James Duddridge: The UK delegation to each event will be finalised closer to the time.


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Scottish Government Ministers or officials will be invited to join the UK delegation to the (a) UN Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July, (b) UN Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda in New York from 25 to 27 September and (c) Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris from 30 November to 11 December.

James Duddridge: The UK delegation to each event will be finalised closer to the time.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Families

Mr David Burrowes: [1196]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps he is taking to assess the impact of his Department's policies on the family.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) has not applied the Test to date as The Family Test applies to domestic policy only.

Nigeria: Armed Conflict


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the Nigerian authorities to counter violence and militant attacks.






James Duddridge: The UK fully supports the efforts of Nigeria and its neighbours to tackle Boko Haram. This includes providing a substantial package of UK intelligence and military support, including training and advice to Nigerian units deploying against Boko Haram in north east Nigeria. The UK is also providing £5 million to support the regional Multinational Joint Task Force to tackle Boko Haram. My Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP) the Foreign Secretary offered further support to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram when he met President Buhari on 29 May 2015.

Our support to Nigeria on counter terrorism is designed not only to counter terrorism, but also to improve human rights standards.

Travel: Insurance

Jim Shannon: [942]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of travel insurance by people travelling on holiday abroad.

James Duddridge: Encouraging travellers to obtain comprehensive travel insurance is a key part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s ‘Know Before You Go’ communications campaign, which has been active since 2001. Messaging on insurance is prominent in many of our travel safety materials and we run specific campaigns on insurance. In May this year we worked with the Association of British Insurers to create a new ‘checklist’ to help travellers choose the right insurance policy for their needs, which we communicated through social media and our network of industry partners. I believe our ‘Know Before You Go’ partners have a crucial role to play, and have urged them to continuing working with us to encourage British nationals to travel with insurance – including at our last annual gathering of partners in December 2014. Our messages on insurance have also been reinforced by broadcasts on a wide range of national, regional and community TV and radio stations.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments: Hornsey and Wood Green

Catherine West: [1102]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve A&E provision in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the management of the Whittington Hospital on that hospital's performance; and if he will make a statement.






To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on funding for the Whittington Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Local clinical commissioning groups, and the NHS Trust Development Authority, are working with the management of the Whittington Hospital to improve financial performance and to ensure that access and waiting times standards are met. Ministers have had no discussions with the management of the Whittington Hospital about its performance.

The Department has made a loan facility of £23.9 million available to Whittington Health Trust. This funding will provide cover for the deficit until such time that the NHS Trust Development Authority is able to make further representations for funding on behalf of the Trust.

Alzheimer's Disease: Social Services

Richard Burden: [1360]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of social care for people with Alzheimer's disease.

Jane Ellison: The Government is clear that all types of dementia which includes Alzheimer’s disease remain a priority and will implement the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 in full to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020.

The 2020 Challenge set the following aspirations to improve the provision of social care for people with dementia by 2020:

- Newly appointed healthcare assistants and social care support workers, including those providing care and support to people with dementia and their carers, having undergone training as part of the national implementation of the Care Certificate, with the Care Quality Commission asking for evidence of compliance with the Care Certificate as part of their inspection regime. An expectation that social care providers provide appropriate training to all other relevant staff.

- All relevant social care staff working with adults and older people accessing social care services being supported to spot the early signs and symptoms of dementia and helping people with the condition to access high quality care and support.

- A clear evidence base for what works in training on dementia for health and social care staff, which can be used to develop smarter education and training programmes.

This builds on the progress already made under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015. This includes over 100,000 social care workers having already received some form of dementia awareness training. Moreover, the Department funded the College of Social Work to develop guidance to improve the quality of practice and




inform continuous professional development (CPD) for social workers, to enable high quality care and support for people with dementia and their carers.

Expenditure on adult social care and the future demand for services will be reviewed as part of the Spending Review.

This year, the Better Care Fund will provide £5.3 billion of investment in better integrated care, based on joint plans that have been developed locally, and putting resources where the local NHS and social services think it is needed.

Spending on social care is ultimately a local decision made by individual councils.

The Care Act 2014 also came into force on 1 April 2015. The Act consolidates legislation into a single statute building on a series of recommendations for reform from the Law Commission. It also places much existing best practice in the care and support sector into law for the first time – including personalisation, preventative approaches, consistency of access, and support for carers.

Care Quality Commission: Finance

Daniel Zeichner: [1385]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what resources have been allocated to the Care Quality Commission to fulfil its new powers of investigation under Sections 53-56 of the Care Act 2014.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) took on responsibility for the market oversight scheme set out in Sections 53 to 56 of the Care Act 2014, on 6 April 2015. CQC published guidance for providers on the scheme in March 2015. Forty three corporate providers of adult social care services were informed in April 2015 that they would be subject to the scheme.

The CQC is funded from two sources: fee income, levied on the health and social care providers that it regulates; and grant in aid (GIA) funding from the Department. The grant in aid allocated to the CQC for 2015/16 is £120 million. The provision of GIA, which is described as unspecific support, is intended to finance CQC’s spending including resources such as those associated with market oversight.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Health Services


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Government is making on support and care for patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Jane Ellison: The Government’s mandate to NHS England sets out the requirement for the National Health Service to demonstrate progress on preventing people from dying prematurely from respiratory disease. NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility for determining the overall national approach to achieve this and




improving clinical outcomes from healthcare services for people with respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Early diagnosis of COPD plays an important role in maximising the ability to manage the condition. NHS England is currently working with several pilot sites exploring different approaches to diagnosis for people with symptoms of breathlessness.

The CCG Outcomes Indicator Set also includes indicators to support CCGs to understand the progress they are making in improving outcomes for people with COPD including:

- referrals of people with COPD to a pulmonary rehabilitation programme; and

- unplanned hospitalisation for people with chronic ambulatory care sensitive conditions (which includes COPD).

NHS Improving Quality in collaboration with Primary Care Information Services has developed a tool for primary care to help general practitioners improve the detection and management of COPD. It is also currently piloting new models of care for breathlessness with the aim of improving the speed and accuracy of diagnosis. This will enable patients to access appropriate treatments and therapies more quickly, improving their clinical outcomes and quality of life. COPD patients are likely to benefit from this as one of the chief causes of breathlessness is COPD.

Defibrillators: Prices


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which National Clinical Directors and Clinical Reference Groups have been involved in establishing best value prices and reference prices for implantable defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators.

Ben Gummer: When establishing the suggested average prices the Complex Invasive Cardiology - Clinical Reference Group lead and clinical representatives were involved in supporting and understanding the need for average prices for implantable defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what variation there is in (a) prices paid by NHS trusts for implantable defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators and (b) the costs for such devices that trusts pass back to NHS England.

Ben Gummer: The price paid by National Health Service trusts for devices varies significantly, as does, correspondingly, the cost passed onto the NHS. Analysis indicates the percentage difference between the lower and highest prices for duel chamber implantable defibrillators to be in the region of 90% and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators 75%.





To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what clinical advice NHS England has sought in establishing best value prices and reference prices for implantable defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators.

Ben Gummer: NHS England has sought advice from the Complex Invasive Cardiology - Clinical Reference Group lead and clinical representatives to support the development of suggested average prices for implantable defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators.

Department of Health: Families


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps he is taking to assess the impact of his Department's policies on the family.

Jane Ellison: The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Department is working to raise awareness of the Family Test amongst its policy staff, so that the impact of policy on the family is considered as a matter of course. The Family Test is highlighted in policy induction training, which is available to staff who are new to policy roles in the Department. The Family Test is also highlighted through the PolicyKit, an online resource for the Department’s policy officials.

Diabetes: Chiropody

Keith Vaz: [1116]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps health authorities are taking to ensure diabetics receive annual checks on their feet.

Keith Vaz: [1117]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many diabetic foot clinics are in operation in the UK.

Jane Ellison: Incentivising general practitioners through the Quality and Outcomes Framework to ensure patients receive the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) care processes will increase the number of annual foot checks delivered so that patients at risk will be picked up earlier. The latest data published in the National Diabetes Audit






report shows that over 85% of all those with diabetes in England and Wales received a foot examination in 2012-13. However, there is still room for improvement.

NHS England has launched the National Diabetes Footcare Audit (a new module to be incorporated into the National Diabetes Audit) which will enable all diabetes foot care services to measure their performance against NICE clinical guidelines and peer units.

According to the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit, in 2011, 58.3% of trusts had a multidisciplinary foot team, and in 2013, 71.8% of trusts had one.

Food Poverty


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Feeding Britain, published in December 2014 by the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the UK, what steps his Department is taking to provide support to those suffering from food poverty in the UK.

Jane Ellison: The issues raised in the Feeding Britain report affect a number of Government Departments. Food poverty, however, it not a matter for the Department of Health.

The Department has a range of programmes to support good nutrition, such as, the Nursery Milk Scheme and the Healthy Start Scheme.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Jim Shannon: [939]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage more medical students to consider careers as general practitioners across the UK.

Ben Gummer: NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) and the British Medical Association GP Committee are working closely together to ensure that we have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice.

To encourage medical graduates to consider general practice as a career, the four organisations will conduct a campaign this summer targeted at recruitment to GP training in the autumn. The campaign will include a joint letter to all newly qualified doctors setting out the positive aspects and future of a career in general practice.

The Government’s mandate to HEE requires them to ensure that 3,250 trainee doctors enter GP training programmes by 2016. This will enable further increases in the GP workforce across England.

Transforming Primary Care set out the intention to make available around 10,000 primary and community health and care professionals by 2020, in support of the shift in how care will be provided. Bringing forward substantial numbers of new GPs through training is a key part of this.




King George Hospital Redbridge: Accident and Emergency Departments

Margaret Hodge: [1339]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether a deadline has been given for the planned closure of accident and emergency at King George Hospital in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Ben Gummer: This Government has always been clear that the reconfiguration of health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. All service change should be in the best interests of patients and should be led by clinicians, not driven from the top down.

The local NHS has always been clear that changes to the accident and emergency service at King George Hospital will not be made until it is safe to do so. Plans have been put on hold and cannot take place whilst Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust remains in special measures.

Medical Equipment: Prices


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what modelling NHS England has done to determine (a) the effects of trends in NHS trusts' income on (i) provision of (A) implantable defibrillators, (B) cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators and (C) other high cost devices and (ii) service viability and (b) the effects of provision of high cost devices on the future financial positions of trusts.

Alistair Burt: The costs incurred by National Health Service trusts for high cost devices such as implantable and cardiac resynchronisation defibrillators are re-charged to NHS England on a pass-through basis, i.e. the re-charge equals the cost invoiced by the supplier of the device. Correspondingly the financial impact of high cost device purchases are cost-neutral to NHS trusts and do not impact on their income and expenditure position.

However, NHS England specialised commissioning is currently supporting NHS trusts with information on European Union compliant procurement frameworks that offer better value for the taxpayer.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England plans to establish reference prices as ceiling prices above which trusts will not be reimbursed.

Ben Gummer: Trusts are obliged to charge the National Health Service the cost of the implantable devices on a pass through basis, i.e. the cost invoiced by the supplier of the device. The average prices have been issued to commissioners to help them assess value for money





on device expenditure and identify potential areas for future efficiency improvements. NHS England’s current approach is not to impose a ceiling price however; we will be working closely with providers where they are not taking advantage of current market rates for devices.

Midwives: Recruitment


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to increase the number of midwives employed in hospitals in the next five years.

Ben Gummer: The configuration of services is a matter for the local National Health Service and there is no national blueprint for how healthcare services should be organised locally, as services need to be tailored to local needs. It is for clinical commissioning groups, in conjunction with provider partners, to give assurance that processes and service specifications are in place which ensures midwifery staffing is appropriate for the delivery of safe, high quality maternity services.

The Government is working with Health Education England for the delivery of sufficient midwifery-training commissions to meet the NHS future service demands and ensure that the right workforce tools are accessible for NHS workforce planners to forecast future maternity requirements.

Motor Vehicles: Smoking

Luciana Berger: [1497]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2015 to Question 1077, on motor vehicles: smoking, whether the communications campaign is being developed by his Department or by an external agency; and what the cost of that campaign will be.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England will be running a multi-channel campaign to raise awareness of the legislation, starting in mid-September. Plans are still being finalised but will likely include advertising on radio, billboards and video on demand.

NHS: Working Hours


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what timetable he has set to implement seven day working in the NHS.

Ben Gummer: The Government committed in its manifesto to ensuring patients can receive the hospital care they need seven days a week, and ensuring everyone can see a general practitioner seven days a week, by 2020.





Paul Flynn: [1263]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of introducing a seven-day NHS on staff working hours.

Ben Gummer: The Government is committed to introducing a truly seven day National Health Service so that the quality of care received by patients is the same every day of the week.

We are working closely with NHS England and other NHS bodies to implement this. How these changes are implemented will depend on local priorities and needs.

We are not expecting NHS staff to work longer hours although there may need to be changes in when those hours are worked. Staff working hours must remain safe and legal.

The independent pay review bodies were asked by the last Government to advise on the implications for staff contracts of implementing seven day services. They will report this summer and we will consider their observations carefully.

Nurses: Foreign Nationals


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the amount the NHS spent on recruitment of non-EU adult nurses in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not collect information on the costs incurred by the National Health Service when recruiting staff. The configuration of services and the recruitment of staff required to deliver these services, is the responsibility of local NHS organisations when planning a workforce that is appropriate to deliver the health needs of their local population and which is based on clinical need and sound evidence.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses have been recruited to work in the NHS under Tier 2 visas in each year since 2010.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses working in the UK on tier 2 visas have been refused indefinite leave to remain in each year since 2012.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses working in the NHS under tier 2 visas and refused indefinite leave to remain have left employment within the NHS in each year since 2012.

Ben Gummer: The Department does not collect this data, the Home Office holds responsibility for the administration of applications under Tier 2 visas.







Nurses: Qualifications

Fiona Bruce: [973]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps were taken to check the professional credentials of foreign trained nurses who started work in the UK in the period before the Nursing and Midwifery Council's monitoring system was reviewed in October 2014.

Ben Gummer: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse registration. We expect the NMC’s registration processes and associated checks to protect patient safety through being appropriate, robust, fit for purpose and effective, and by verifying that a nursing applicant is who they claim to be, is appropriately qualified, is competent and fit-to-practise.

On 1 October 2014, the NMC introduced a new overseas registration process, for applicants from countries outside of the European Economic Area with competency testing at its core. Prior to this an overseas nursing programme, including protected learning time and a period of supervised practice, was the route to NMC registration for overseas nurses. Since August 2013, overseas nursing applicants are required to attend a face-to-face interview and produce original versions of all the documents, including their qualifications, used in support of their application.

Psychiatry

Louise Haigh: [1087]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of talking therapies in (a) Sheffield and (b) England.

Alistair Burt: The national roll out of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme began in 2008 with the aim of helping adults with common mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, to recover.

Over the spending review period 2010-2015 the IAPT programme received over £460 million of Government investment. The programme is supported by an outcomes based dataset, the IAPT dataset, which collects information and measures outcomes from IAPT services. The Health and Social Care Information Centre have a requirement to maintain the IAPT dataset.

The table below shows the number of referrals and waiting times to the Sheffield service compared to the same nationally:

The number of referrals entering treatment 1 in the year, with mean and median waiting times (days), for IAPT services in Quarter 3, 2014-15 (October 1 to December 31).




ORGANISATION NAME REFERRALS 2 ENTERING

TREATMENT

MEAN 3 WAITING TIME TO

FIRST TREATMENT

APPOINTMENT (DAYS)

MEDIAN 3 WAITING TIME TO

FIRST TREATMENT

APPOINTMENT (DAYS)

England 202,051 30 17

NHS Sheffield CCG 1,610 60 42

Source: IAPT Dataset

Notes:

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

2. This is not distinct people, as a person can have more than one referral.

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

4. Data shown for England and NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group.

The National Health Service mandate for 2015/16 and “Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020” include the commitment to introduce the first tailored access and waiting times for mental health in 2015/16.

This was accompanied by a £120 million investment – an investment of £40 million new money in 2014/15 to lay the groundwork for introducing the standards, and £80 million in 2015/16 that will be realised out of existing NHS England budgets

One of the three access and waits standards is that 75% of people referred to the IAPT programme will be treated within six weeks of referral, and 95% will be treated within 18 weeks of referral.

Psychiatry: Sheffield

Louise Haigh: [1088]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is in (a) Sheffield, Heeley constituency and (b) Sheffield for access to talking therapies.

Alistair Burt: The information is not available in the format requested.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 legislated for parity of esteem between mental and physical health. We have invested £400 million to make a choice of psychological therapies available in all parts of England for those who need them. We have also invested over £120 million to introduce, for the first time, waiting times standards for mental health services – a very significant milestone on the road to parity.



Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to NHS England of the provision of fitness for work certificates as required by the Department for Work and Pensions in the period 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: Neither the Department nor NHS England has made any assessment of the cost of the provision of fitness for work certificates.

Staff: Screening


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2015 to Question 1100, how many employees are represented by the 160 employers signed up to the Staff Health Check pledge.

Jane Ellison: The most recent figure available for the number of employees covered by this pledge is from July 2014 when there were 122 employers signed up to the pledge, representing 458,237 employees. However, there are currently 160 employers signed up to the Staff Health Check pledge so this number will have increased.

Urgent and Emergency Care Review

Steve Baker: [953]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of progress by the NHS on implementation of the Keogh Review of urgent and emergency care; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: On 3 June 2015, NHS England invited expressions of interest from organisations and partnerships across England to become vanguard sites for new care models focusing on urgent and emergency care. These sites will test new approaches to delivering urgent care and aim to improve the coordination of services and reduce pressure on accident and emergency departments. It is expected that about five million people will be covered by the initial phase of the vanguard sites, which could be rolled out across England in the next couple of years.

Across England as a whole, new urgent and emergency care networks are being developed. These will operate strategically, to improve the consistency and quality of urgent and emergency care by bringing together System Resilience Groups (SRGs) and other stakeholders to address challenges in the urgent and emergency care system that are difficult for single SRGs to address in isolation.





Vaccination: Children


To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of (a) national and (b) regional take-up of his Department's childhood immunisation programme in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison: Annual vaccine coverage information for all childhood immunisations is published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The information includes vaccine uptake rates for children at the ages of one, two and five, and is broken down by region.

The latest annual data for 2013-2014 can be viewed at:

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=15492&q=immunisation&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top

Annual data for 2012-2013 data can be viewed at:

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB11665

Annual data for 2011-2012 data can be viewed at:


HOME OFFICE

Arrests: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: [1707]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of arrests made in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley and (c) South Yorkshire in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office publishes data on the number of arrests in the South Yorkshire police force area. These data include the total number of arrests, and breakdowns by gender, age, and ethnicity of the person arrested, and the offence type that they were arrested for. These data are all published annually, and the latest data, which cover the year 2013/14, can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/421809/ppp-arrests-2014-tabs.ods

Data for previous years can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made in parliamentary constituencies, or individual towns or cities.


http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=15492&q=immunisation&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both%23top











Drugs

Paul Flynn: [1614]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the annual report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction on legal highs, published on 4 June 2015; and what plans she has to review her policy on legal highs.

Mike Penning: On 28 May, the Government introduced the Psychoactive Substances Bill in the House of Lords, which provides for a blanket ban on the production, distribution, sale and supply of psychoactive substances. This will apply to both online and offline markets and give police, other law enforcement agencies and local authorities the power to take action where necessary.

We are also taking forward a comprehensive action plan on new psychoactive substances (NPS) to enhance our response to prevention, treatment and information sharing. For example, we have launched a tool kit to help local areas prevent and respond to NPS use, published clinical guidelines and we continue to proactively monitor NPS in the UK through our Forensic Early Warning System and Drugs Early Warning System.

All of the six NPS recently risk-assessed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction are already permanently controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Human Trafficking

Mr Laurence Robertson: [1478]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to eliminate people trafficking into the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: This Government is determined to tackle the scourge of human trafficking and modern slavery. We will do this by supporting the victims and relentlessly pursuing the perpetrators of theses horrendous crimes.

We are now focused on implementing the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the wider Modern Slavery Strategy, which was published in November last year. These include measures to bring into effect modern slavery offences with potential life sentences; a statutory defence for victims; an independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner; improving transparency in supply chains; and working with international partners to disrupt the threat across the world.

This work will make a real difference in our fight against modern slavery and will help to protect many more vulnerable people from lives of servitude.




Police: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: [1468]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the policing budget for the West Midlands in each of the next five years.

Mike Penning: No decisions have been taken on police funding beyond 2015/16. Future funding levels will be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review later this year. However, as my Rt. Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear in his Budget Statement on 18 March, sustained economic stability will require difficult decisions to be made about public spending .


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will review the expected standard of front-line policing in the West Midlands over the next five years.

Mike Penning: Decisions on the size and distribution of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioner, taking into account local priorities.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on front-line policing in the West Midlands; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: Ministers are in regular contact with Police and Crime Commissioners and other interested parties and discuss a variety of matters, including resources. No specific representations regarding front line policing have been received recently.

Vetting


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the length of time taken to process Disclosure and Barring Service checks; and if she will make a statement.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the average length of time taken to process Disclosure and Barring Service checks (a) in the West Midlands and (b) nationally.

Karen Bradley: The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) receives around 4 million disclosure applications a year and provides the Home Office with monthly updates on the length of time taken to process disclosure checks. Latest figures relating to May 2015 show that 94.6% of disclosure applications were processed within 56 days against a DBS service standard to







issue 95% of all disclosures within this time. Most disclosure applications are processed in a shorter timescale and, in May 2015, 87.3% of applications were processed within 21 days. The average time taken to process applications nationally in May 2015 was 14.2 days and in the West Midlands 24.7 days.

A key aspect of DBS administration is to ensure that disclosure checks are both accurate and completed within service standard timescales. In the small proportion of cases where checks have not been completed within these timescales, the DBS is expected to take the necessary steps to progress the case including, as appropriate, working with the police and other parties involved in the checking process.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Department for International Development: Families


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps she is taking to assess the impact of her Department's policies on the family.

Grant Shapps: The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 for domestic policies through the publication of guidance for officials – Family Test Guidance.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy-making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty internationally. In this respect the welfare of the world’s poorest – both individuals and families – are central to DFID’s work. DFID does not however have a leading responsibility for domestic policies and has not therefore made any assessments using the Family Test.

Developing Countries: Older People

Mr Virendra Sharma: [1159]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to ensure that the UK's international development strategy supports older people.

Grant Shapps: DFID is committed to ensuring that the specific needs of the most vulnerable and marginalised, including older people, are addressed in everything DFID does. This includes in our country programmes and humanitarian responses, through DFID-supported social protection programmes such as the Senior Citizen’s Grant in Uganda and by committing to making age-disaggregated data is a requirement for humanitarian financing. DFID also funds a number of civil society organisations who support older




people, including a significant partnership with HelpAge International. DFID’s disability framework, published in December 2014, highlights the importance of specifically addressing the needs of older people.

JUSTICE

Employment Tribunals Service


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time was for fee remission in employment tribunal claims in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of fee remission applications were successful in that period.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The figures are published in the latest quarterly bulletin on Tribunal statistics, published on 11 June, which is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Gloria De Piero: [1410]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to conduct a review of the effects of the introduction of employment tribunal fees.

Mr Shailesh Vara: When fees were introduced in the Employment Tribunals, in July 2013, the Government made a commitment to review their impact. Today I have announced the start of that review in a statement on the Ministry of Justice website.

The review will consider how effective the introduction of fees has been at meeting the original objectives, while maintaining access to justice. The original objectives were:

i) to transfer some of the cost from the taxpayer to those who use the service, where they can afford to do so;

ii) to encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution services, for example, ACAS conciliation; and

iii) to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the tribunal.

It will also consider the effectiveness of the new fee remissions scheme, which was introduced in October 2013.

The review will take into account a wide range of evidence including: tribunal data on case volumes, case progression and case outcomes; qualitative research on the views of court and tribunal users; the general trend of the number of cases appearing at tribunals before the fees were introduced; any consequences arising as a result of an improved economy on the number of people being dismissed; to what extent there has been discouragement of weak or unmeritorious claims; whether there has been any impact




because of changes in employment law; and other reasons for changes in user behaviour.

The terms of reference for the review have been published alongside my statement on the Ministry of Justice website and I have placed a copy of that statement and the terms of reference in the libraries of both Houses.

The review is expected to be completed later in the year.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the amount of money recovered from employment tribunal fees when claims are settled before a final hearing over the last three years; what proportion that amount is of the total fees charged; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I have been asked to reply as responsibility for this falls within the Ministry of Justice's remit.

We do not currently track the fees paid to commence proceedings in the Employment Tribunal linked to case outcomes, and we therefore cannot provide an estimate of the income received from claims which settle before final hearing.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much income from employment tribunal fees has been raised since their introduction; and what amount of such fees has been repaid to claimants.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Income from employment tribunals is published in the HMCTS annual report and accounts for 2014-15, which were laid in Parliament on 10 June 2015. In 2013-14, £4.5m was collected in employment tribunal fees. In 2014-15, £9m was collected in employment tribunal fees, making total receipts from the introduction of employment tribunal fees in July 2013 to the end of the 2014-15 financial year £13.5m.

The cost of fee remissions between July 2013 & March 2015 was £4m (2013-14 £0.7m and 2014/15 £3.3m).

Equal Pay


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to section 98 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, how many and which companies have been ordered to conduct equal pay audits by an employment tribunal since the introduction of the regulations in that section.

Mr Shailesh Vara: This data is not collated centrally by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. This information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost by manually checking hard copy tribunal files or judgments.





Ministry of Justice: Families


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps he is taking to assess the impact of his Department's policies on the family.

Caroline Dinenage: The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance

The Ministry of Justice has applied the Test since it was introduced. The DWP is working with all departments to embed the Test in the policymaking process.

Perinatal Mortality: Coroners

David Mowat: [1126]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the inquest into the death of Clara Tully, if he will bring forward proposals to allow inquests on infants who die during labour.

Caroline Dinenage: Coroners must investigate all deaths which are sudden, unnatural, violent, or of unknown cause. This can include deaths of newborn babies such as in the tragic case of Clara Tully. Coroners cannot by law investigate cases in which a child has not lived independently of its mother, such as stillbirths. They can, however, open an investigation if there is any doubt over whether there was independent life, once they have received a report of the case. There are also hospital and medical investigations into stillbirths.

The Chief Coroner, HHJ Peter Thornton QC, is considering actions to improve consistency and good practice.

Young Offender Institutions: Employment

Dan Jarvis: [1480]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average number of hours of purposeful activity delivered each week at each young offenders institution in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: Average hours of purposeful activity per prisoner per week was formerly monitored as a performance indicator for all prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs), but this was discontinued at the end of the 2011-12 business year because it was not used in the day-to-day management of establishments.

From October 2012 data has been collected on the average number of hours of activity per month young people receive during the main part of weekday regime delivery in public sector under 18 YOIs and this is provided in the tables below. Data collected prior to 2012 is not comparable to the data collected at present and therefore has not been





included in this reply. The data collected by privately run under 18 YOIs is also not comparable so again has not been included.

While education is the major component of current activity provision, young people are also able to access a wide range of other activities during the main part of the weekday regime such as offending behaviour interventions, resettlement and sentence planning, social and professional visits and religious, healthcare and domestic services.

New contracts for education providers in public sector YOIs commenced in March 2015. These will provide an even greater focus on education during this core part of the daily regime, and will see the number of hours of education available more than double.

The tables below set out the average number of activity hours provided in each public sector young offender institution per young person per month from October 2012 to April 2015, the latest date for which figures are available (- indicates that the establishment was not holding under 18s at the date in question).

2012

OCT NOV DEC

Cookham Wood 93 76 105

Downview 127 156 148

Eastwood Park 122 110 133

Feltham 96 89 105

Hindley 100 125 115

New Hall 11 25 171

Warren Hill 112 108 111

Werrington 108 107 100

Wetherby 114 112 116

2013

JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC

Cookham Wood

86 80 72 80 87 80 101 91 92 111 101 108

Downview 107 132 217 133 100 108 127 - - - - -

Eastwood Park

143 87 121 151 138 112 - - - - - -

Feltham 86 87 113 86 82 91 101 90 88 88 79 84



Hindley 122 106 117 126 121 107 124 120 116 128 111 110

New Hall 184 154 130 301 128 59 - - - - - -

Warren Hill 112 94 100 104 99 82 90 97 88 101 92 120

Werrington 90 93 101 113 106 98 106 108 100 116 106 117

Wetherby 120 103 99 99 105 96 113 108 99 108 101 98

2014


Cookham Wood

101 91 98 87 88 84 75 80 82 90 73 86

Feltham 81 72 74 79 81 77 86 80 91 91 68 91

Hindley 106 102 107 95 106 107 117 111 120 123 99 165

Warren Hill 84 - - - - - - - - - - -

Werrington 108 96 105 111 125 103 114 98 110 115 100 105

Wetherby 102 93 97 101 97 93 104 94 99 98 79 91

2015

JAN FEB MAR APRIL

Cookham Wood 72 54 64 62

Feltham 85 77 82 80

Hindley 236 - - -

Werrington 98 102 109 96

Wetherby 76 64 74 87

Young Offender Institutions: Restraint Techniques

Dan Jarvis: [1482]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents where restraint was used in each young offender institution in each year since 2010.



Andrew Selous: Prison staff are trained to use specific systems of restraint to control violent prisoners. Wherever possible staff will try to de-escalate the situation by persuasion or negotiation. Staff only use restraint as a last resort to prevent violence, and where no other means of controlling the prisoner is possible. Where restraint techniques have to be applied, the minimum amount of force will be used for as short a time as possible. Healthcare staff examine all prisoners on whom force has been used.

Young Offender Institutions are responsible for holding Young People aged 15 to 17 and, in separate parts of the establishment, Young Adults aged 18 to 21. NOMS has developed a specialised system of restraint which is designed and independently accredited for use with Young People. This aims to minimise any use of physical force and, where it is used, to reduce the risk of injury to Young People as far as possible.

All prisons submit a central monthly return setting out the number of times force, including restraint has been used against individual prisoners. These figures include any incident where physical force was used against a prisoner no matter how small, including incidents where staff defend themselves from attack and where prisoners are handcuffed. The main measure used for recording use of force is the number of prisoners on whom force has been used, rather than number of individual incidents. All prisons must have local procedures in place to monitor and review the use of force within the establishment, including monitoring trends.

Since 2010 the number of times force has been used has fallen. Table 1 provides details of the number of Young People and Young Adults on whom force of any description was used categorised by Young Offender Institution 1 and year.

Table 1: Number of young people and young adults on whom force was used, by establishment and calendar year

PRISON NAME 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

TOTAL 10,098 11,323 9,528 10,310 9,080

ALBANY 4 0 0 0 -

ALTCOURSE 74 114 135 135 153

ASHFIELD 665 2,211 1,114 181 0

AYLESBURY 376 251 215 220 385

BEDFORD 29 39 30 29 30

BELMARSH 0 0 0 21 37

BRINSFORD 242 326 324 245 603

BRISTOL 23 43 26 24 31

BRONZEFIELD 62 66 28 25 24


PRISON NAME 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

BULLINGDON 0 0 0 5 30

CARDIFF 0 0 1 11 24

CASTINGTON 124 0 0 - -

CHELMSFORD 202 265 156 51 93

COOKHAM WOOD

461 399 564 408 674

DEERBOLT 189 283 118 212 274

DONCASTER 106 111 72 136 154

DORCHESTER 8 19 22 12 -

DOWNVIEW 19 20 36 28 0

DRAKE HALL 0 0 8 0 7

DURHAM 13 31 32 28 9

EASTWOOD PARK

67 33 21 49 24

ELMLEY 76 86 53 26 44

EXETER 34 36 23 22 35

FELTHAM 1,312 1,013 1,269 2,057 1,574

FOREST BANK 8 20 37 32 102

FOSTON HALL 4 5 38 13 3

GLEN PARVA 448 536 580 848 653

GLOUCESTER 0 4 18 - -

HIGH DOWN 43 94 93 64 84

HIGHPOINT 0 0 0 0 0

HINDLEY 587 893 672 547 773

HOLLESLEY BAY 0 1 1 0 3

HOLLOWAY 43 36 38 13 25

HOLME HOUSE 5 18 18 11 14


PRISON NAME 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

HULL 19 16 15 13 30

HUNTERCOMBE 132 0 0 0 0

ISIS 63 273 417 405 152

LANCASTER FARMS

321 488 280 310 158

LEWES 8 23 24 21 26

LEYHILL 0 0 0 0 0

LINCOLN 6 11 10 4 5

LITTLEHEY 326 320 188 156 89

LOW NEWTON 50 9 15 8 4

MOORLAND 135 44 35 28 13

NEW HALL 34 51 63 30 20

NORTHALLERTON 150 66 23 13 -

NORWICH 24 59 37 45 55

NOTTINGHAM 1 34 33 38 30

ONLEY 20 0 0 0 0

PARC 390 303 287 236 251

PENTONVILLE 0 0 0 0 124

PETERBOROUGH 26 27 96 46 36

PORTLAND 222 242 228 167 131

PRESTON 0 0 26 29 37

READING 250 207 51 43 -

ROCHESTER 311 242 181 135 32

STOKE HEATH 446 196 66 30 5

STYAL 97 74 24 23 29

SWANSEA 1 6 8 11 16

SWINFEN HALL 143 133 181 117 125


PRISON NAME 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

THAMESIDE - - 31 214 145

THORN CROSS 25 10 8 1 2

WANDSWORTH 0 0 0 0 118

WARREN HILL 451 247 399 942 3

WERRINGTON 306 435 395 526 530

WETHERBY 424 578 590 1,033 641

WINCHESTER 0 0 0 18 49

WOODHILL 68 30 20 51 45

WORMWOOD SCRUBS

0 0 0 5 110

Notes to table:

1 Includes dedicated Young Offender Institutions and those establishments designated to hold young adults.

- denotes the establishment was not open.

Youth Custody: Crimes of Violence

Dan Jarvis: [1483]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of assault incidents in each (a) young offender institution and (b) secure training centre in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: The safety and welfare of young people in custody is vital, and we take all assaults in youth custody extremely seriously. The number of assaults in youth custody can be influenced by a range of variables, including the size of the cohort and the complexity of the needs presented by young people in each establishment. These elements can differ considerably over time. Statistics on assaults by secure estate sector are provided in Chapter 8 of the Youth Justice Statistics publication, published annually in January: (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-annual-statistics-2013-to-2014).

We are currently taking forward a comprehensive programme of work to improve behaviour management in the youth secure estate, which includes a new CPS, Police and NOMS protocol to increase prosecutions for violence in adult and youth custody. A specific action plan to address violence in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) is being taken forward by NOMS.



Overall, the number of assaults in STCs and under-18 YOIs has fallen since 2010. Table 1 shows the number of assaults in Secure Training Centres (STCs) and under-18 YOIs in each calendar year since 2010.

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-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-08/1483

Youth Custody: Staff

Dan Jarvis: [1481]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the ratio of staff to young person in each (a) young offender institution and (b) secure training centre in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: The youth secure estate comprises under 18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), Secure Training Centres (STCs) and Secure Children’s Homes. These three sectors have a range of staffing ratios in order to meet the wide ranging needs of young people in custody. Young people are placed in establishments that can most effectively manage their individual needs.

The information set out in Table 1 refers to the number of young people per prison officer in each public sector YOI establishment that holds under 18s. Where an establishment accommodates different age groups the ratios reflect staffing in the entire establishment. For this reason the ratios shown may not reflect actual staffing levels in the under 18 units.

Table 1: The number of young people per prison officer (including specialists)

in public sector YOIs holding young people aged under 18, 2010 to 2015

ESTABLISHMENT 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Cookham Wood

1.4 0.9 1.1 1.0 1.5 1.8

Downview 3.7 2.9 3.9 3.6 - -

Eastwood Park 2.7 2.7 2.8 2.1 - -

Feltham 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.2

Foston Hall 2.1 - - - - -

Hindley 1.6 1.6 1.5 0.9 1.9

Huntercombe 1.3 - - - - -





ESTABLISHMENT 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Stoke Heath 3.2 - - - - -

Warren Hill 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.0 - -

Werrington 2.0 2.3 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.3

Wetherby 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.2 1.3 1.6

Notes:

1. ‘-‘indicates that the establishment was not holding under 18s at the date in question.

2. Staff to young person ratios in public sector Prison Service establishments is reported as the number of prisoners held in an establishment divided by the number prison officers (including specialists) employed. Ratios do not reflect the number of officers on duty at any particular moment.

3. Data presented relates to monthly snapshots taken in each year since 2010.

STCs provide a secure environment where young people can be educated and rehabilitated. They differ from YOIs in that they have a higher staff to young people ratio and are smaller in size.

STCs are required to operate above minimum staffing levels specified by the YJB for different times of day. These are monitored by the YJB and have not changed since 2010. Minimum staffing levels for the normal operating model are illustrated in Table 2, which also indicates unit sizes at each of the four establishments.

Table 2: Minimum staffing levels for STCs by unit size

UNIT SIZE MINIMUM STAFFING LEVELS ESTABLISHMENT

5 bed 2 custodial staff:5 young people Medway, Rainsbrook

6 bed 2 custodial staff:6 young people Medway, Rainsbrook

7 bed 2 custodial staff:7 young people Hassockfield

8 bed 3 custodial staff:8 young people Medway, Oakhill, Rainsbrook


NORTHERN IRELAND

Human Rights Act 1998: Northern Ireland

Emily Thornberry: [1447]

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 3 June 2015 to Question 368, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of the Government's plans to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 on the existing devolution settlement in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace: We remain committed to upholding our obligations as set out in Part 6 of the Belfast Agreement.

Northern Ireland Office: Families


To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps she is taking to assess the impact of her Department's policies on the family.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The majority of Northern Ireland policy which has an impact on the family is devolved. The Northern Ireland Office will consider any implications for, and impact on, families in its policymaking process.

Parades: Northern Ireland


To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with devolved institutions in Northern Ireland to ensure a safe and peaceful 2015 marching season.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I meet the Minister for Justice for Northern Ireland and Chief Constable on a regular basis to discuss a range of security issues including those relating to parades. The most recent meeting took place on Wednesday 20 May.

I also met the Chief Constable separately on Monday 8 June during which we had a further discussion about the summer parading season.





PRIME MINISTER

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

Mr Roger Godsiff: [1438]

To ask the Prime Minister, if the Government will send a representative to the (a) European Council meeting on 25-26 June 2015 and (b) Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 16 June 2015 to discuss the situation of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Mr David Cameron: It is my normal practice to attend Head of Government European Council meetings, and for the relevant Minister to attend relevant Council meetings.

SCOTLAND

Sovereignty: Scotland

Toby Perkins: [1399]

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the benefits of enabling 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the Scottish Referendum in 2014.

David Mundell: On 18 September last year, the people of Scotland, including tens of thousands of 16 and 17 year olds, made the historic decision to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Evidence suggests that 84.6% of the electorate voted in the referendum, compared to 75% of registered 16 and 17 year olds.

Following that vote, and in line with the agreement from the all-party Smith Commission, the previous Government devolved to the Scottish Parliament the power to legislate to reduce the minimum voting age to 16 at Scottish Parliament and Scottish local government elections.

TRANSPORT

Bus Services

Bill Esterson: [900261]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of bus services in England.

Andrew Jones: The Government is committed to supporting bus services in England. The most recent Bus Passenger Survey, published in March by Transport Focus, shows a satisfaction rate of 88%.

And we are also taking forward a Buses bill to provide local authorities with the tools they need to improve local bus services.





Driving: Licensing

Chi Onwurah: [1495]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with vehicle hire companies on the ending of the physical paper driving licence.

Andrew Jones: The photocard licence remains a physical document. The changes which took place on 8 June abolished the paper counterpart to the driving licence. Old style paper licences remain valid.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has actively engaged with the vehicle rental industry about the abolition of the paper counterpart to the driving licence. Recently, this has included weekly conference calls with the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) and also a number of workshops with a large number of car hire company representatives.

A comprehensive range of publicity materials was developed specifically for the vehicle rental sector and its customers. These were intended to help businesses to prepare themselves and their customers for the change. These communications were also provided to Lease Europe, which is the European equivalent of the BVRLA.

The full range of publicity material is online at http://dvla.dft.gov.uk/dvla-aoc-toolkit.html

Chi Onwurah: [1496]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information campaign was in place to publicise the end of the physical paper driving licence; and what feedback has been received on the effectiveness of that campaign.

Andrew Jones: The photocard licence remains a physical document. The changes which took place on 8 June only abolished the paper counterpart. Old style paper licences remain valid.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) utilised media, online and direct mail channels. It also engaged directly with trade organisations and car hire companies who may need to check the status of drivers. Since March 2015, the DVLA has written directly to 640,000 professional bus and lorry drivers and sent information to around a million drivers each month. Information on GOV.UK about the change has been viewed over 2.6 million times and 40 pre-planned broadcast interviews were undertaken on 8 June.

The information that was previously on the counterpart is still available to the police, courts and insurance companies via a dedicated system.

East Anglia Railway Line: Franchises

Sir Alan Haselhurst: [900268]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on rail franchising in the Greater Anglia region.


http://dvla.dft.gov.uk/dvla-aoc-toolkit.html

http://dvla.dft.gov.uk/dvla-aoc-toolkit.html




Claire Perry: Our policy is for franchising in the Greater Anglia region and nationally to support economic growth and deliver improvements for passengers.

We held a public consultation on the future of franchising in the East Anglia region and the results of this will be taken into account in the requirements for the current franchise competition.

We expect bidders to exceed these requirements. The Invitation To Tender will be provided to bidders in August and we will announce a winner in July 2016.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: [1416]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Phase 2 route of High Speed 2 will be announced.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is considering the responses to the consultation on the route from the West Midlands to Manchester, Leeds and beyond. It will set out how it plans to take forward HS2 Phase Two later this year.


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the route of Phase 1 of High Speed 2 has been surveyed.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Where access to land has been secured, physical surveys have been made possible on over 80% of the route. In those locations where this has not yet been possible, desk based research (for example, using data sets provided from Statutory Agencies, Local Authorities and local Wildlife Trusts) and aerial surveys have been undertaken. The results of these are detailed in the Environmental Statement for Phase One, published to accompany the deposit of the hybrid Bill and the subsequent Additional Provisions.


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the plans for Euston Station and High Speed 2 will be announced; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: As part of its plans for High Speed 2, HS2 Ltd is reviewing its proposals for the redevelopment of Euston Station and is proposing to deposit revised plans for the station in an Additional Provision to the Phase One hybrid Bill later this year.





High Speed 2 Railway Line: Scotland


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the report on the extension of High Speed 2 to Scotland will be published; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Advice prepared by HS2 Ltd in conjunction with the Department for Transport, Transport Scotland and the Scotland Office to identify broad options for high speed and upgraded railways to the north of England and Scotland is currently with Ministers for consideration. This advice will be published in due course.

Midland Main Railway Line: Electrification

Mr Philip Hollobone: [1386]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to reinstate the half-hourly train service north from Kettering when the Midland mainline is electrified.

Claire Perry: Network Rail will be undertaking timetable modelling to determine the stopping pattern for passenger trains following electrification of the Midland Mainline. This work is only at a very early stage and it is not possible for me at the moment to confirm whether or not it will be viable to reinstate the half hourly train service north from Kettering.

Railways: Franchises

Yvonne Fovargue: [900260]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rail franchise system.

Claire Perry: We continuously monitor a range of indicators, including performance figures and passenger satisfaction. Rail use is at its highest level since the 1920s: 1.65 billion passenger journeys were made in Great Britain on franchised passenger trains in 2014-15. The number of journeys made on the rail network has more than doubled since the introduction of the franchise system.

Road Traffic

Jo Cox: [900252]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to alleviate road congestion.

Andrew Jones: The Government’s Road Investment Strategy has committed £15bn to deliver 127 schemes on the strategic road network over the next five years. Some of these schemes will tackle longstanding congestion and safety problems as well as major capacity enhancements around Yorkshire. On local roads a programme of major local schemes with around £1 billion of Departmental funding has been announced.






Roads: Hertfordshire

Sir Oliver Heald: [1411]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is giving to Hertfordshire County Council to assist with the upkeep of local roads.

Andrew Jones: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced on 23 December 2014 funding allocations for local highway authorities in England between 2015/16 and 2020/21. This includes over £92 million for Hertfordshire. This funding can be used to reduce the number of potholes on the local road network.

It is for each local highway authority to improve the condition of the local road network through planned preventative maintenance. The Department for Transport’s role is to support local authorities through the provision of funding and by sharing good practice.

Further information on the funding allocations can be found at the following address: http://maps.dft.gov.uk/local-highways-maintenance-funding/

Roads: Safety

Peter Dowd: [900267]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on improving road safety.

Andrew Jones: The Department published its Strategic Framework for Road Safety in 2011. Actions were implemented in all three framework areas, improving road safety together, education, and targeted enforcement and sanctions.

A full progress report from 2013 is available on GOV.UK. Since then the Department has also made it an offence to drive with certain levels of drugs in your body; and drivers cannot demand a blood or urine test if they fail a breathalyser test anymore.

Rolling Stock: Standards

Julie Cooper: [900259]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the performance and quality of rolling stock on the national rail network.

Claire Perry: Under successive Governments, the quality of rolling stock on the national network has not kept up with either demand or passengers’ expectations. This is why replacement and renewal of rolling stock is an integral part of the Government’s ambitious plans for the rail network.

Improvements in rolling stock are key to the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy, with a record £38 billion being spent as part of the largest modernisation of the railways since Victorian times.


http://maps.dft.gov.uk/local-highways-maintenance-funding/




This includes the new Intercity Express trains that will be built in the UK and serve passengers travelling on Great Western and East Coast, as well as the new Thameslink trains that will operate on commuter routes north and south of London.

Transport for London: Finance

Lilian Greenwood: [1358]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to provide additional financial support to Transport for London for the purposes of meeting the cost of increasing rail fares by RPI in 2016.

Claire Perry: We recognise that our commitment to cap regulated rail fares at RPI+0% for the term of this Parliament is likely to have an impact on Transport for London’s revenues. The Department will continue to discuss the implications of this with Transport for London.

Tyne and Wear Metro: Performance Standards

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: [900263]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Claire Perry: Performance during the period of DB Regio’s operation of the Metro concession has declined from an average of 86.62% Charter Punctuality (which is measured at 3 or more minutes late) in 2010/11 to only 80.37% in 2014/15.

Responsibility for the letting and operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro concession is a devolved matter and the monitoring of the concession performance rests with Nexus (the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive).

Regular updates are provided to North East Combined Authority meetings, where performance has been scrutinised.

I can confirm that the government is investing £350m over 10 years to renew infrastructure on the Metro, which is already delivering longer term reliability and resilience.

TREASURY

Banks: Fines

Mr Roger Godsiff: [1439]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what amount of money has accrued to the Exchequer in bank fines in each of the last two years; and how much such money has been allocated to charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available.





Harriett Baldwin: In the last two financial years HM Treasury has received £1.3bn in LIBOR and FX banks fines. All LIBOR penalties received in this time period have been allocated to military or other uniformed charities. All foreign exchange penalties received in this time period have been allocated to create a fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

John Pugh: [1017]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to increase compensation to Equitable Life pensioners beyond the level previously agreed.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government has no plans to change the funding available to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.

To date the Scheme has paid out over £1 billion to around 900,000 policyholders.

Fuels: Rebates


To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the proprietors of fuel stations in Durness and Scourie have not been reimbursed through the rural fuel rebate scheme for fuel duty reductions they have passed to customers in the IV27 postcode area for claims submitted on 10 May and 1 June 2015.

Damian Hinds: HMRC has a duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality and cannot comment on individual circumstances.

All claims made for Rural Fuel Duty Relief should be paid provided they meet the criteria set out in the Excise Notice (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-2001-rural-fuel-duty-relief-scheme/excise-notice-2001-rural-fuel-duty-relief-scheme).

NHS: Finance

Paul Flynn: [1265]

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of allocating an additional £8 billion to the NHS by 2020 on funding available for other departments.

Greg Hands: As a result of this Government’s long-term economic plan, the NHS budget increased in real terms over the last Parliament. In this Parliament, the Government will secure the future of the NHS in England by investing in the NHS’s own five-year plan. Decisions on future departmental savings will be taken at the Spending Review later this year.





WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Equal Pay


To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to section 147 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, when she plans to (a) publish a consultation and (b) set a timetable for bringing forward legislative proposals on pay transparency.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government will deliver its manifesto commitment to require companies with at least 250 employees to publish gender pay information at the earliest opportunity. A consultation will be published in the Summer with a view to making regulations in early 2016.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Carer's Allowance: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: [1730]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were in receipt of carer's allowance in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley and (c) South Yorkshire in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: Statistics on people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance is published and available at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Local Housing Allowance

Stephen Timms: [1415]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of setting local housing allowance rates at the 20th percentile of market rents on (a) levels of arrears in the private rented sector, (b) viability in the buy-to-let sector and (c) affordability for working families with children.

Justin Tomlinson: No assessment has been made at the 20th percentile.

Personal Independence Payment

Kate Green: [1539]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 June 2015 to Questions 767 and 768, what estimate he has made of the expected additional



https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp




number of appeals against decisions not to award personal independent payments following a reassessment.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department has previously estimated (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmworpen/916/916we02.htm - section 9 refers) that 40% of individuals in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) undergoing a reassessment to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will appeal their decision, including individuals that are appealing against disallowance of benefit or the level of an award they have received.

Information on the number of people in receipt of DLA expected to be reassessed for entitlement to PIP was published on 19 December 2012 and is available on www.gov.uk : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timetable-for-introducing-personal-independence-payment-and-estimates-of-projected-caseloads-policy-briefing-note.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: [1414]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of arrears in the social rented sector of requiring all housing benefit claimants in that sector to make a contribution to their rent.

Justin Tomlinson: No assessment has been made.

Social Security Benefits


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to abolish the two-week waiting period before claimants who are designated as not vulnerable may receive a hardship payment.

Priti Patel: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 9 June 2015 to Question UIN 1243.

Social Security Benefits: Glasgow North


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit recipients have been sanctioned in Glasgow North constituency in the last 12 months.

Priti Patel: The available information is published at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ :

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.html

http://www.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timetable-for-introducing-personal-independence-payment-and-estimates-of-projected-caseloads-policy-briefing-note

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timetable-for-introducing-personal-independence-payment-and-estimates-of-projected-caseloads-policy-briefing-note




https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.html

Daily Report Thursday, 11 June 2015 WRITTEN STATEMENTS 59

WRITTEN STATEMENTS

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Royal Mail

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Sajid Javid): [HCWS23]

The Government has sold half of the 30% stake it retained in Royal Mail plc, at a price of 500 pence per share.

The sale has raised £750m, which will be used to reduce public debt.

Following independent financial advice, the Government decided that yesterday was a good opportunity to realise value for money from a sale of part of its remaining shareholding in Royal Mail. The shares were sold through an accelerated bookbuild process which enabled Government to take advantage of the current favourable market conditions. The sale was launched yesterday after the financial markets closed.

Royal Mail has demonstrated that it can thrive in the private sector. It now has the ability to access the funds it needs to ensure that it has a sustainable future and can adapt to the changes in the postal market.

The universal postal service will continue to be protected by the regulatory regime set out in the Postal Services Act 2011. Ofcom has been given a primary duty to ensure that the universal postal service is maintained and the regulatory tools to intervene if it is under threat.

In addition, building on the success of the initial scheme, and in recognition of their work in turning around the Royal Mail, the Government intends to gift up to 1% of the shares of the Company to Royal Mail’s UK employees. These shares will come from Government’s remaining holding and they will be subject to sales restrictions.

This builds on the 10% of the total shares in the Company that were awarded to Royal Mail employees as part of the 2013 flotation.

The Government sees no policy reason to keep its remaining stake in Royal Mail.

Post Office Ltd, which operates the network of branches throughout the UK, remains wholly-owned by Government and was separated from Royal Mail in April 2012. The relationship between the Post Office and Royal Mail is a commercial one and a 10 year contract for the delivery of Royal Mail services through post offices was put in place in 2012.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-06-11/HCWS23/

60 Daily Report Thursday, 11 June 2015 WRITTEN STATEMENTS

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Telecommunications Council

Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy (Mr Edward Vaizey): [HCWS30]

The Telecommunications Council will take place in Luxembourg on 12 th June 2015. I am representing the UK at this Council, and below are the agenda items and the positions, I intend to adopt on each of them.

The first item is an exchange of views on the Commissions Digital Single Market Strategy, which was published on 6 th May. The debate will be informed by two questions from the Presidency. My intervention will include: This strategy is strongly welcomed by the UK; Europe should prioritise making it easier for small businesses to start up, scale up and add value to the whole EU economy; and that we should also prioritise the area of e-commerce. My intervention will also lay out early high level HMG views on various parts of the Digital single market package including telecoms framework, the data economy and cross border parcel policy.

The second item is for Council to reach agreement for a General Approach on the proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme on interoperability solutions for European public administrations, businesses and citizens (First reading - EM11580/14). I am proposing to abstain from voting on this general approach. My intervention will make it clear that whilst we support the aims of ISA2 in principle and hope to be able to support a final text following negotiations with the European Parliament, we cannot support the current text.

This will be followed by information from the Presidency on the 'state of play' on negotiations regarding 'A Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down measures concerning the European single market for electronic communications and to achieve a Connected Continent' (EM13562/13 and 13555/13 + ADDs 1-2). My intervention will: stress UK's ambition that the Regulation contain a clear timetable of actions that will result in the eventual cessation of mobile roaming charges in the EU; and seek to ensure that the Regulation enables Member States to bring forward, or maintain, existing parental controls measures, thus permitting the UK to maintain our current regime of online protection for children. Discussion on this item will be preceded, and informed by an informal Ministerial breakfast whose aim is to reach political agreement on the Regulation; my interventions during this discussion will mirror those in Council.

This item will be followed by information from the Presidency on a Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning measures to ensure a high level of network and information security across the Union (NIS Directive). (First reading – EM6342/13). I do not intend to intervene on this item. However, if a round table is initiated by others on this item I will remind Council that whilst the UK supports the aim of raising the level of, cyber security across the Union it would be prudent to take our time and make sure we get the detail right so the Directive is not unduly burdensome on business




The Council will then be given a progress report from the Presidency on Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility to public sector bodies' web-sites (First reading - EM16006/11). We do not expect a debate on this item and I do not propose to intervene.

There will then follow the adoption of draft council conclusions on the transfer of the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to the multi-stakeholder community. I will support these conclusions and do not expect a debate on this item.

Finally, under AOB, the Luxembourg delegation will inform the Council of their priorities for their forthcoming Presidency before Council adjourns until the next meeting in quarter four 2015.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Agenda for June EU Environment Council

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd): [HCWS25]

My Honourable friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart) and I will attend the EU Environment Council in Luxembourg on 15 June.

Following the adoption of the agenda the list of “A” items will be approved.

During the legislative deliberations, there will be a policy debate on the proposal for a Directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants.

The one non-legislative item on the agenda is the road to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Conference of the Parties in Paris, for which there will be an exchange of views. Over the lunch Ministers will be invited to discuss further aspects of the international climate change negotiations, namely the Lima-Paris Action Agenda and possible long term goals for 2050 and 2100.

The following Any Other Business items will be discussed.

1. Proposal concerning the establishment and operation of a market stability reserve for the Union greenhouse gas emission trading scheme.

2. An update from recent international meetings.

3. The European fund for strategic investments - an opportunity for environmental projects.

4. The Lisbon Charter - a guide for public policy and regulation of drinking water supply, sanitation and wastewater management services.

5. The work programme of the incoming Luxembourg Presidency.



HEALTH

Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council in Luxembourg: 19 June 2015

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health (Jane Ellison): [HCWS24]

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will meet on 18-19 June in Luxembourg. The Health and Consumer Affairs part of the Council will take place in the morning of 19 June.

The main agenda item is the following:

Regulations on medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices: the Presidency plans a General Approach on medical devices. The regulations seek to address weaknesses in the current regulatory system, ensure a more consistent level of implementation across the EU, and ensure that the EU will continue to be viewed by business as an innovation-friendly regulatory environment.

The UK has broadly supported the Commission’s proposals in order to ensure high standards of patient safety. At the outset of negotiations the UK identified three areas as priorities:

• avoiding an ineffective and bureaucratic process proposed by the Commission involving additional pre-market scrutiny of higher risk devices by a central committee of Member State experts;

• ensuring sufficient flexibility is in place to allow health institutions to manufacture and use diagnostic tests developed ‘in-house’; and

• resisting proposals to introduce additional regulatory burdens.

Under 'Any Other Business' there will also be presentations on three other issues by the following delegations:

Slovenia - follow-up to the informal meeting of EU Health Ministers on a new framework for the EU alcohol policy;

Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta - importance of the health dimension in the European Agenda on Migration;

Luxembourg - priorities for their forthcoming Presidency, which will run from July until December 2015.

For information, a copy of the latest agenda is attached.

Attachments:

1. Health Council Provisional Agenda 19th June [Health Council June 19 Prov Agenda.pdf]




HOME OFFICE

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (1 March 2015 to 31 May 2015)

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May): [HCWS26]

Section 19(1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (the Act) requires the Secretary of State to report to Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of every relevant three-month period on the exercise of her TPIM powers under the Act during that period.

The level of information provided will always be subject to slight variations based on operational advice.

TPIM NOTICES IN FORCE (AS OF 31 MAY 2015) 2

TPIM notices in respect of British citizens (as of 31 May 2015) 1

TPIM notices extended (during the reporting period) 0

TPIM notices revoked (during the reporting period) 0

TPIM notices revived (during the reporting period) 0

Variations made to measures specified in TPIM notices (during the reporting period) 6

Applications to vary measures specified in TPIM notices refused (during the reporting period) 0

The number of subjects relocated under TPIM legislation 1

The TPIM Review Group (TRG) keeps every TPIM notice under regular and formal review. A TRG was held on 16 March 2015. The next TRG will take place in June.

On 20 April 2015 the Court of Appeal agreed that the appeal brought by DD in the case of DD v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 3820 (Admin) (which resulted in a judgement in which the High Court determined a preliminary issue in DD’s appeal against the revival of his TPIM notice), could be withdrawn with all the issues to be heard again by the High Court. This Court of Appeal Order is available at http://www.bailii.org/ reference T1/2014/4078.

The case of DD v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 3820 (Admin) was heard again at the High Court between 21 and 24 April 2015. The judgement is expected to be handed down in June.


http://www.bailii.org/


JUSTICE

NOMS accounts - explanatory note

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation (Andrew Selous): [HCWS29]

I wish to apologise to the House on behalf of the Ministry of Justice following the provision of misleading information to members. In its annual accounts to be published today, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is releasing amended data for prison crowding. It has become apparent that crowding figures previously published in the NOMS Annual Report, and doubling figures published in the Prison Performance Digest, have understated the level of crowding in each year back to 2008/2009.

These incorrect figures have in turn informed public statements from the Ministry of Justice, including statements to Parliament.

There are two measures of prison estate capacity: (i) certified normal accommodation (CNA), also known as the uncrowded capacity, which refers to the number of prisoners that cells, cubicles or rooms were originally designed to hold, and (ii) operational capacity, which is the number of prisoners a prison has been assessed as capable of holding, taking into account regime facilities and the requirement to maintain order and control. Crowding means, for example, that two prisoners may be sharing a cell originally designed for one. All prisons’ regimes, facilities and staffing are structured to provide for the total number of prisoners within it and NOMS will only crowd where it has been assessed as safe and decent to do so.

Errors in the published figures, used to provide parliamentary answers, were due to misinterpretation on the part of some prisons, which reported the number of prisoners held in excess of the number that cells were designed to hold (CNA), rather than the number of prisoners affected by crowding. In instances where two prisoners were held in a cell designed for one, both prisoners should be counted as being in crowded conditions. Some prisons, however, were only counting the additional prisoner.

The public should rightly expect this information to be accurate. Publication of clear, reliable figures on how many prisoners we hold in crowded conditions is an important part of making sure we can be held to account. It is therefore unacceptable that these incorrect figures have been published over the last six years and that these errors were not identified sooner. Since discovering these errors, we have taken urgent steps to ensure that figures will in future be subjected to rigorous quality control.

The attached table shows updated national figures for crowding, which is measured as the percentage of prisoners who are held in a cell, cubicle or room where the number of occupants exceeds the uncrowded capacity of the cell, cubicle or room from 2008/09 to 2014/15. The table also contains amended data on the level of doubling, defined as the percentage of the prison population held two to a cell designated as a single cell.

The amended figures have been calculated following an exercise to validate data and make appropriate corrections. The new data will also be published in the 2014/15 NOMS Annual Report.



Going forward, we have put robust new checks in place to quality assure figures as they are submitted, and to prevent incorrect figures from being published again. I will be writing to members who have been provided with incorrect information and I once again apologise to the whole House for these mistakes.

Attachments:

1. Prisoners in Crowded or Doubled Conditions [Table - Percentage of Prisoners in Crowded or Doubled Conditions.doc]

PRIME MINISTER

Ebola Medal

Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron): [HCWS28]

I have today placed in the libraries of both Houses a copy of the Command Paper setting out the details of the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa. The Ebola medal pays tribute to the bravery and selflessness of civilian and military personnel who have taken on great personal risk to support the UK government’s response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. I would like to put on record my admiration for the commitment shown by people helping those suffering with Ebola.

Attachments:

1. Cm 9060 Ebola Medal for service in West Africa [Cm 9060 Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa.pdf]

The Report of the Investigatory Powers Review

Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron): [HCWS27]

In 2014 the Government asked the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, David Anderson QC, to conduct a review into the operation and regulation of law enforcement and agency investigatory powers, with specific reference to the interception of communications and communications data. David Anderson has completed that review and I am pleased to be publishing his report today. I can confirm that no redactions have been made to the report.

I am very grateful to David Anderson for a thorough and comprehensive report. The Government’s intention is to bring forward legislation relating to the Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies’ use of investigatory powers and to have that legislation enacted before the sunset provision in the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 takes effect on 31 December 2016.

The Government will take full account of David Anderson’s report, which I believe offers a firm basis for consulting on our new legislation. The Government will need to give further consideration to the detail of both David Anderson’s recommendations and those in the Intelligence and Security Committee’s Privacy and Security report published in March, before we develop our proposals. But this report is a very important and valuable contribution to the continuing debate about the role of the Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies, their use of investigatory powers and their oversight. The Anderson review was




taken forward with cross-party support and I believe that it should help us continue to take this issue forward on the basis of cross-party consensus. The Government’s proposals will be brought forward for pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of Parliament in the autumn.

As David Anderson’s Report highlights, there are a range of threats against the UK and its interests, from terrorism, both at home and overseas, to cyber attacks from criminals. Many groups, not just the Government, have a role to play in ensuring the right capabilities are in place to tackle those threats. It is particularly important to engage Communications Service Providers in developing solutions, given the technology supporting modern communications. That is why I appointed Sir Nigel Sheinwald as my data envoy to engage with industry and others to explore the possibilities for a sustainable long-term basis for providing data when it is needed to protect our security. In parallel to new legislation, the Government will be taking forward Sir Nigel’s advice, including pursuing a strengthened UK-US Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process and a new international framework. As David Anderson recognises in his report, updated powers, and robust oversight, will need to form the legal basis of any new international arrangements. We will continue to work closely with the companies to take all these issues forward.

Attachments:

1. Report of the Investigatory Powers Review [2015.06.11 IPR Report.pdf] 2. Report of the Investigatory Powers Review Annexes [2015.06.11 IPR Report Annexes.pdf]

TREASURY

Fiscal sustainability report 2015

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Greg Hands): [HCWS31]

Today the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its fifth Fiscal sustainability report (FSR). This document meets their requirement to annually prepare an analysis of the sustainability of the public finances, and provides an important insight into the state of the public finances and the impact that demographic change will have.

The OBR also published the second Welfare trends report (WTR). This report provides a transparent and independent analysis of welfare spending, in line with a request from the Chancellor in December 2013 to publish information on trends and drivers of welfare spending, and sources of error compared to the previous forecast.

The FSR was laid before Parliament earlier today and copies of both reports are available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office.

Changes since last year’s Fiscal sustainability report do not change significantly the path of the long-term projections, with the FSR’s key conclusion reiterating that:

“longer-term spending pressures, if unaddressed, would put the public finances on an unsustainable path".



As the OBR notes in its analysis, this is due to the spending pressure generated by an ageing population, which is projected to increase age-related spending by 3.9% of GDP from 2019-20 to 2064-65. Without additional policy change, the overall budget surpluses that are assumed to continue after this Parliament bring debt down to a low of 54% in the early 2030s, before being outweighed by age-related pressures that put debt back onto an upward trajectory. Debt reaches 87% of GDP in 2064-65 and is expected to continue rising thereafter. The report projects that tax revenues will remain at a relatively constant share of GDP from 2019-20 onwards, although in its detailed analysis of oil and gas revenues, it highlights the sharp scale of the decline in tax receipts from the North Sea.

The government takes the sustainability challenge seriously. As life expectancy continues to increase, there is a need for a regular and structured way in which to consider changes to the State Pension age in future. That is why the government will carry out a regular review of State Pension age every 6 years, starting in this Parliament. Details of the core principle to guide that review were set out alongside Autumn Statement 2013, including that people should expect to spend on average up to a third of their adult life in receipt of the State Pension. The OBR projects that this would have a substantial positive impact on long-term fiscal sustainability, with state pension spending projected to be 0.8% of GDP lower by 2064-65 than if the state pension age had risen with currently legislated changes.

Reforms to the state pension come alongside the government’s reforms to public service pensions, which will rebalance taxpayer and member contributions in the short term while ensuring costs are sustainable and fair in the long term. The previous government implemented reforms to rebalance contribution costs between the taxpayer and the member, to change the uprating measure to CPI, and to reform the schemes’ designs in line with Lord Hutton’s recommendations. HM Treasury has estimated that these reforms will save more than £430 billion by 2061-62.

Spending on health rises from 6.2% of GDP in 2019-20 to 8.0% in 2064-65, as the population ages, with spending on social care rising from 1.2% to 2.2% over the same period. Given the particular spending pressures that arise in health and social care, including non-demographic factors, the government is committed to ensuring that care services are as efficient and effective as possible. This includes funding the NHS’s own plan to deliver a modern, efficient and sustainable NHS and continuing to integrate health and social care services through policies such as the pooling of around £6 billion of health and care funding in Greater Manchester and the £5.3 billion Better Care Fund.

On the revenues side, the OBR have revised their oil and gas forecast down to £2.1bn between 2020-21 and 2040-41 with companies’ net revenues expected to be low over the period. The OBR’s analysis clearly demonstrates the impact of falling production and cost escalation on the profitability of the sector – the onus is now on industry to make real improvements in these areas to improve their competitiveness. At Budget, the Chancellor introduced a radical package of reforms to support the sector, worth £1.3bn, including reducing the headline tax rates and introducing a new Investment Allowance to reward companies investing in the UK Continental Shelf. This package is expected to lead to £4bn of additional investment and an increase in production by 15% by 2019-20.


Recognising the scale of the long-term challenge, the government is committed to ensuring that our public finances are put on, and remain on, a sustainable path for the long term. The OBR analysis makes it very clear that the government’s medium-term fiscal consolidation plan is a vital step towards achieving long-term fiscal sustainability. This includes government reforms to change the welfare system to ensure it promotes work and personal responsibility, while putting expenditure on a more sustainable footing.

Over the last Parliament, the government halved the deficit from its post-war peak, but the deficit remains one of the highest in the developed world. This Parliament, the government will complete the task of getting the public finances into surplus, so that we bear down on our excessive national debt, and begin to address the long-term challenges that we face.

The Fiscal sustainability report and the Welfare trends report published today are key examples of the great strides the OBR have taken in delivering greater transparency and credibility to our fiscal forecasts since its creation, 5 years ago. This government remains committed to supporting the OBR in its role to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. The Chancellor has therefore asked Sir David Ramsden, Chief Economic Advisor to the Treasury, to complete a Treasury review on the existing regime and framework of the OBR including a focus on its role in enhancing UK fiscal credibility. The outcomes of the review will be published in the summer.

Update on Financial Services

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Harriett Baldwin): [HCWS32]

The Chancellor announced yesterday, following advice from the Governor of the Bank of England and N M Rothschild, the government’s independent advisor, that the government plans to initiate share sales of RBS in the coming months. Copies of the advice have been made available on HM Treasury’s website.

As Rothschild noted, the UK is currently in a position where alongside the United States, the taxpayer can comfortably expect to secure proceeds which exceed what they put in to overall banking sector interventions.

The Chancellor was advised that it is in the interests of the taxpayer to begin sales soon, with decisions on specific details of a sale to be made in due course.


daily report thursday, 11 june 2015...

Documents