Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 2 May 2007
International Development
Burma
DFID provides significant support to projects to help the people of Burma access their human rights and build the foundations for sustainable democracy. Our programme includes a wide variety of activities, such as capacity-building for local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), training for journalists, work to involve poor people in decision-making about issues that affect them, and support for the empowerment of poor women. In addition, the British embassy in Rangoon is carrying out extremely valuable work to build local capacity.
DFID is about to start work on the implementation of a £3.0 million programme designed to expand and strengthen DFID’s work to support increased prospects for a successful transition to democracy and respect for human rights in Burma. The programme will increase opportunities for Burma’s people to engage in political decision-making processes at local level affecting their welfare, livelihoods and governance.
Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings
DFID’s grievance procedure is fully compliant with UK legislation and applies to civil servants working in the UK and overseas. We also apply it, unless local law dictates otherwise, to staff appointed in country (SAIC) who work under local contracts. In the last year, 13 grievance procedures were initiated in DFID, as set out in the following table.
Number Number of cases 13 Number upheld 3 Not upheld 8 Cases currently under way 2 Appeals 2 Appeals upheld 0
Departments: Intimidation
DFID’s grievance procedures are fully compliant with UK legislation and apply to civil servants working in the UK and overseas. We also apply them to our locally appointed staff overseas, who work under local contacts, unless local law dictates otherwise.
DFID investigated less than five complaints of bullying in the last 12 months. Due to the small number, a breakdown by number, employment status and outcome is not made public on the grounds of confidentiality.
Departments: Renewable Energy
DFID is committed to meeting the new sustainable operations on the Government Estate targets including the mandatory requirement to source at least 10 per cent. of energy from renewable sources.
During 2006-07 DFID consumed 6,991,124 kilowatt hours of electricity; approximately 95 per cent. of which was from renewable sources. From the start of 2007 the proportion from renewable sources is 100 per cent.
International Assistance
DFID is currently developing the indicators for the new public service agreement (PSA) on international poverty reduction which will cover the period April 2008 to March 2011. The final indicators will be subject to approval by the Treasury and will be dependent on wider discussions across Government.
The elimination of poverty in poorer countries through the achievement of the millennium development goals still remains our overarching goal. The PSA will therefore draw indicators from the set of millennium development goals and the inclusion of a specific indicator covering the prevalence of underweight children under five years of age is part of our current proposal.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Climate Change
The final report on the independent review into the activities of the Meteorological Office Hadley Centre is due to be published by early summer.
(2) why temperature data over the last 10,000 years were excluded from the Final Draft International Panel on Climate Change Summary for Policy Makers.
[holding answer 1 May 2007]: The forthcoming meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Bangkok will comprise the ninth session of IPCC Working Group III and the 26th session of the IPCC. The first meeting will accept the Working Group III contribution to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) and approve its Summary for Policymakers (SPM). The second meeting will accept the actions by the sessions of IPCC Working Groups I, II and III, review the IPCC terms of reference and discuss future work.
The reports of the IPCC are written by hundreds of scientists from across the world and provide an assessment of peer-reviewed scientific and technical literature on climate change. The IPCC does not carry out new research. As such, all the data contained within the IPCC's reports are already available in published literature and are independent of Government.
The SPM summarises the findings of the underlying report. The SPM is drafted by scientists and agreed by all Governments at the IPCC plenaries. The agreement of the SPM helps to communicate the IPCC outputs to Governments. No one Government, organisation or individual has sole responsibility for any part of the report.
Livestock: Waste Disposal
(2) how much carbon dioxide was released into the environment as a result of (a) fallen stock collection, (b) the burning of fallen stock and (c) the rendering of fallen stock in each year between 2004 and 2006.
My Department has made no assessment on the amount of carbon dioxide released as a result of fallen stock collection and disposal. However, total UK greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture fell by 16.4 per cent. between 1990 and 2005—the latest year that estimates are available.
The Animal By-Products Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 prohibits the burial, dumping or open-burning of fallen stock (with few exceptions) and is in place to protect public and animal health. Incineration and rendering provide a safe and controlled way of dealing with the disposal of animal carcasses.
There are various animal health and environmental controls that incinerator operators must follow when disposing of fallen stock. These can be found on the DEFRA website.
Sewage: Renewable Energy
My Department has not commissioned or supported any research into these methods of energy production, as they are well established and successful technologies.
The Government's key mechanism for encouraging renewable electricity generation is the renewables obligation (RO) which will provide around £1 billion per year of support to the renewables industry by 2010. Sewage gas and (subject to certain conditions) biomass waste, which could be sewage or sewage sludge, are eligible under the RO.
Water Charges
Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. It approves companies' charges schemes each year and provides detailed information in its water and sewerage charges report. Ofwat will publish its 2007-08 report on 16 May.
The volumetric rate for metered customers is calculated on the basis of cost per cubic metre. The following tables summarise the charges that are levied by water companies for 2007-08 on households both with and without water meters.
Fixed water charge (£/year) Rateable value water charge (p/£RV) Average water bill in 2007-08 (£) Fixed sewerage charge (£/year) Rateable value sewerage charge (p/£RV) Average sewerage bill in 2007-08 (£) Water and sewerage companies Anglian: — — 189 141.89 45.01 228 Anglian 118.93 42.05 — — — — Hartlepool 116.81 — — — — — Dwr Cymru 106.27 60.56 171 135.42 82.56 230 Northumbrian: — — — 95.40 46.35 163 North East 68.40 41.23 129 — — — Essex and Suffolk: 39.00 — 180 — — — Essex — 57.92 — — — — Suffolk — 101.79 — — — — Severn Trent: — — 145 — — 139 Zone 1 — 85.47 — — 80.15 — Zone 2 — 76.92 — — 67.50 — Zone 3 — 74.59 — — 71.12 — Zone 4 — 77.93 — — 77.11 — Zone 5 — 89.60 — — 89.97 — Zone 6 — 93.20 — — 87.13 — Zone 7 — 93.84 — — 84.91 — Zone 8 — 74.59 — — 70.62 — South West 93.50 99.12 242 82.50 223.58 408 Southern 29.54 48.00 121 56.28 89.60 228 Thames: 25.00 — 172 32.00 — 109 Area 1 — 58.34 — — 30.65 — Area 2 — 59.39 — — 31.77 — Area 3 — 44.64 — — 19.95 — Area 4 — 53.45 — — 28.65 — Area 5 — 68.66 — — 37.55 — Area 6 — 59.55 — — 31.07 — Area 7 — 81.81 — — 43.67 — United Utilities 47.00 68.60 156 — 114.50 185 Wessex 7.00 113.34 201 7.00 108.56 198 Yorkshire: — — 151 35.81 104.00 168 Yorkshire 31.87 95.70 — — — — York 25.01 54.50 — — — — Water only companies Bournemouth and W Hampshire 21.50 60.64 147 — — — Bristol 22.00 69.30 148 — — — Cambridge 23.40 45.00 123 — — — Cholderton 36.00 68.06 180 — — — Dee Valley: — — 131 — — — Chester 30.32 45.03 — — — — Wrexham 76.84 48.08 — — — — Folkestone and Dover 43.00 93.82 199 — — — Mid Kent 51.00 65.09 170 — — — Portsmouth 20.00 31.10 85 — — — South East: 20.00 — 179 — — — Eastbourne — 90.66 — — — — Mid Southern — 52.47 — — — — Mid-Sussex — 96.50 — — — — West Kent — 84.50 — — — — South Staffordshire — 55.36 115 — — — Sutton and East Surrey: — — 168 — — — Croydon 37.00 35.75 — — — — Northern Area 144.14 — — — — — Southern Area 37.00 60.72 — — — — Tendring Hundred 33.00 86.32 194 — — — Three Valleys — — 158 — — — Three Valleys 34.20 — — — — — Colne Valley — 43.44 — — — — Lee Valley — 53.35 — — — — Rickmansworth — 42.34 — — — — North Surrey 34.20 44.61 — — — —
Standing water charge (£/year) Volumetric water charge (p/m3) Average water bill in 2007-08 Standing sewerage charge (£year) Volumetric sewerage charge (p/m3) Average sewerage bill in 2007-08 Anglian — — 132 — — 167 Anglian Standard 24.00 115.14 — 67.00 112.04 — SoLow 0.00 147.14 — 0.00 201.38 — Aquacare Plus 64.00 61.80 — 111 .00 53.38 — Hartlepool Standard 24.00 82.09 — — — — SoLow 0.00 114.09 — — — — Aquacare Plus 50.00 47.42 — — — — Dwr Cymru 29.00 122.60 113 65.00 131.30 156 Northumbrian 28.80 — — 64.20 81.61 139 North East — 85.39 110 — — — Essex and Suffolk — — 132 — — — Essex — 93.64 — — — — Suffolk — 127.31 — — — — Severn Trent 20.95 115.07 134 11.05 78.99 135 South West 27.60 145.03 160 12.12 256.02 218 Southern 26.44 81.80 112 47.30 128.95 179 Thames 24.00 99.18 146 43.00 48.57 108 United Utilities 27.00 121.80 148 77.00 96.50 169 Wessex 17.00 148.25 153 36.00 133.96 162 Yorkshire — — 125 35.81 111.25 137 Yorkshire 25.84 109.20 — — — — York 22.79 61.10 — — — — Water only companies Bournemouth and W Hampshire 21.50 93.79 121 — — Bristol 30.00 98.22 126 — — — Cambridge 25.50 75.50 102 — — — Cholderton 25.00 112.51 116 — — — Dee Valley 24.00 — 101 — — — Chester — 78.08 — — — — Wrexham — 84.52 — — — — Folkestone and Dover 27.68 122.88 148 — — — Mid Kent — — 131 — — — Standard 23.40 95.07 — — — — Low User 0.00 126.27 — — — — Helpu/Medico 57.54 61.22 — — — — Portsmouth 24.00 57.50 87 — — — South East 16.12 — 144 — — — Eastbourne — 140.60 — — — — Mid Southern — 79.96 — — — — Mid-Sussex — 146.93 — — — — West Kent — 117.43 — — — — South Staffordshire 25.34 78.08 107 — — — Sutton and East Surrey 24.20 — 122 — — — Northern Area — 79.20 — — — — Southern Area — 102.65 — — — — Tendring Hundred 23.40 145.79 145 — — — Three Valleys 26.00 84.41 135 — — —
Wales
Supermarket Practices
I have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues at the Department of Trade and Industry to discuss a variety of issues.
Policing
I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on all matters affecting Wales, including policing.
I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on all matters affecting Wales, including policing.
Antisocial Behaviour
I regularly meet the First Minister to discuss a range of issues in Wales, including matters affecting our local environment.
Bilingual Juries
The Government have consulted on this issue and an announcement on the outcome of that consultation will be made in due course.
Out-patient Departure Closures
I regularly meet with the Assembly Minister for Health and Social Services to discuss a range of issues, including cross-border issues.
Health Services
I regularly meet with the Assembly Minister for Health and Social Service when we discuss a range of issues, including cross-border issues affecting health services in Wales.
Defence
Anglo-French Battle Groups
There are no plans to form a UK/French/German Battle Group, nor have there been in the past.
The UK, France and Germany have however been instrumental in developing the EU Battlegroup concept, which achieved full operational capability in January 2007. EU Battlegroups are small, mobile self-sustaining forces (approximately 1,500 troops) intended for rapid intervention in a crisis, typically in response to a UN request. There are two EU Battlegroups on standby at any time. The UK provided a national Battlegroup on standby during the first half of 2005 and will do so again in 2008. With the Netherlands we have also offered an amphibious Battlegroup in 2010. Each Battlegroup will be on standby for a period of six months.
Armed Forces: Gibraltar
[holding answer 8 March 2007]: As at 31 March 2007, some 350 regular forces personnel were stationed in Gibraltar.
Armed Forces: Health Services
The number of uniformed doctors, dentists, nurses and medical and support staff who are employed by each single service is shown in the following table:
Service Medical officers (which include primary consultants, secondary consultants and GPs) Dental officers Nurses (not including health care assistants) Allied Health Professionals, medical dental support staff RN 130 51 290 890 Army 240 130 620 2550 RAF 130 61 430 980 Note: Figures over 100 are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DMSD
Numbers are correct as of 1 January 2007, and include fully qualified service personnel only.
Army: Northern Ireland
[holding answer 19 March 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 March 2007, Official Report, column 751W.
Defence Communication Services Agency: Pay
In line with the Ministry of Defence pay award, the last pay rise awarded to staff within Information Systems and Services—formerly the Defence Communication Services Agency—was on 1 August 2006. This was paid in February 2007 and fully backdated to 1 August 2006. The next pay rise will be due as of 1 August 2007.
Departments: BAE Systems
[holding answer 20 April 2007]: In respect of MOD's main London buildings (main building, old War Office and St. George's Court) contractor security passes (valid for one year) have not been issued to any of those individuals listed in the question.
MOD passes are issued locally at establishment, business unit, or budget area level. Details of passes issued are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Complaints
The Armed Forces Act 2006 introduced a package of improvements to the service complaints process including the establishment of an independent Service Complaints Commissioner (SCC). The recruitment process for the position will begin shortly.
In formulating changes to the complaints process, the objective was to introduce independence into the system without undermining the chain of command and its overall responsibilities for the welfare of those under command. While there are no plans to establish a military complaints commission or an office of a military ombudsman, the powers available to the SCC, combined with the other improvements, will offer service personnel a better overall system.
Departments: Databases
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Manpower
As at 1 January 2007 there were 510 (FTE) civilians employed by this department in the north-east.
Full-time equivalence (FTE) counts part-time staff by the number of hours they work as a proportion of their full-time conditioned hours.
Departments: Publications
Yes. I will provide a draft copy of JSP 530 for financial year 2007-08. The draft contains all the resource account codes for financial year 2007-08, but awaits an update of the textual part of the document describing the usage of the resource account codes. I plan to place the full version of JSP 530 in the Library of the House in June 2007.
European Council
[holding answer 30 April 2007]: During each six-month presidency, EU Defence Ministers meet once in the format of the General Affairs and External Relations Council. I have attended both such meetings since taking office. Another Minister or senior official would represent me if I were unable to attend.
HMS Cornwall: BBC
The two BBC personnel and one journalist from The Independent left HMS Cornwall, as planned, on the morning of 24 March. They travelled by seaboat to the USS Underwood and then by helicopter to Bahrain, also as planned.
Iran: Territorial Waters
All UK forces deployed on operations in the Operation Telic joint area of operations are briefed on the UK rules of engagement applicable to national and coalition operations, including those involved in the boarding of vessels in Iraqi waters. Personnel are briefed by Commanders both in-theatre and prior to deployment as part of their pre-deployment training.
[holding answer 24 April 2007]: As was made clear at the time, the service personnel who were detained by the Iranians reported that they were operating inside the Iraqi border and were forcibly escorted into Iranian territorial waters.
Lynx Helicopters: Procurement
The decision to procure the new future Lynx helicopter was taken by MOD Ministers on the basis of advice and recommendations from the MOD Investment Approvals Board. Ministerial approval of the decision was announced on 22 June 2006.
M/V Al Hanin
The merchant vessel Al Hanin's own pilot ladder was used.
Peace Keeping Operations: Iraq
Operation Telic is the UK contribution to a coalition operation in Iraq which involves a number of countries, including the US and UK, working together to help the Iraqis build a stable, democratic and secure nation. As part of this wider operation UK and US forces regularly operate closely together.
Service Personnel: Media
[holding answers 27 April and 1 May 2007]: I refer my right hon. Friend and the hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 16 April 2007, Official Report, columns 23-26, and my further written statement of 24 April 2007, Official Report, columns 21-22WS. While the independently-led review of media access to personnel is under way, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the issues involved.
Sonar
[holding answer 1 May 2007]: Both HMS Daring and HMS Dauntless will be fitted with the Medium Frequency Sonar 7000 system.
Trident Submarines
The rationale for the timetable for the replacement of the Vanguard-class submarines was set out in the White Paper: The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent (Cm 6994) published on 4 December 2006. The Ministry of Defence provided further detail on the expected life of the Vanguard-class in a letter to the Defence Select Committee dated 1 February 2007, which the Committee published in Volume II of its Ninth Report of Session 2006-07 (Ev 122) on 27 February 2007. I also covered this issue in detail during my evidence session with the Committee on 6 February, a transcript of which was published in the same Report (Ev 57).
Trade and Industry
Bankruptcy
The extent of any debt written off by means of an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is a matter for agreement between the debtor proposing the arrangement and the creditors who must approve it. Such information is not held by Government.
Cuba: Sanctions
The European Commission has responsibility within the European Community for dealing with extraterritorial measures taken by third countries against EU member states. Council regulation EC2271/96 (the ‘EU blocking statute’) was introduced by the EU in 1996 to offer protection to EU individuals and companies against certain specific extraterritorial legislation, including the US Helms/Burton Act which applies sanctions against Cuba.
My officials are in discussion with the European Commission in relation to recent cases of US extraterritoriality in the context of UK trade with Cuba, and the commission is considering how best to take these issues forward.
Departments: Official Hospitality
Heads of management units are responsible for ensuring that the principles governing hospitality and rules concerning expenditure are followed in their management units and, as is the case for all other expenditure, that an effective system is in place for dealing with claims and accounting for expenditure.
Expenditure on alcohol at public expense is governed by the general principles of financial propriety set out in Government accounting and further guidance is set out in the Department’s staff handbook.
Housing: Internet
The information is as follows:
(a) While the Government believe that the delivery of higher bandwidth broadband services is best left to the market, we are working with Ofcom and the industry-led Broadband Stakeholders Group to understand the potential barriers to further investment and how these might be addressed.
(b) DTI works closely with DCLG and built environment stakeholders, including English Partnerships and the Building Research Establishment, to raise awareness of the benefits and practicalities of digital connectivity. Examples of this work include the ‘Data Services—Connecting to Homes’ guidance for developers, currently in preparation, and the digital access provision (DAP) forum, producing best practice for digital connectivity at the earliest stages of the construction process.
Recycling
I have been asked to reply.
There are a range of controls in place to safeguard human health and the environment from exports of waste. All exports of waste from the UK for disposal are generally prohibited. However, certain non-hazardous wastes such as paper, glass and plastic can be exported for recovery or recycling, including to China, provided the wastes are destined for genuine and environmentally sound recovery operations. It is in the Chinese authorities' interest to ensure that imported recyclables are tracked and properly processed in an environmentally sound manner.
It is for waste producers, including local authorities and waste management contractors, to ensure that their waste is properly managed throughout the steps in the recycling chain, including at its final destination. They should assure themselves that exported waste is in compliance with the relevant environmental legislation, including that which applies to waste exports, and the duty of care. In support of this, the Environmental Services Association in the UK recently launched a compliance scheme for exports of recyclable materials, which the Government welcome. The code of practice, which is part of the scheme, includes requirements on members of the scheme to have documented control systems to demonstrate that waste recyclables are recovered under standards broadly equivalent to EU standards.
The Environment Agency (EA) is the competent authority in England and Wales responsible for the regulation and control of transfrontier shipments of waste. The EA has a programme of inspections of sites exporting waste and has taken part in joint enforcement projects with other EU regulators as part of the Sea Ports Projects, which includes detailed monitoring of waste exports from the EU.
In addition, in March 2005, DEFRA wrote to all waste collection and disposal authorities in England reminding them of their responsibilities regarding the export of waste to the EU and other countries.
Electoral Commission Committee
Ballot Papers
Selection of a printer for the production of ballot papers is a responsibility of the relevant Returning Officer. The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not produce an approved list of printers, but its guidance manuals for Returning Officers offer advice on how to approach outsourcing of the production of ballot papers.
Ballot Papers: Derwentside
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has provided no such written advice. The Commission did, however, provide oral advice to Derwentside district council following the discovery of errors in the instruction sheets in the postal ballot packs for the 16 wards with multi-member vacancies. The Commission concurred with the council’s proposed response, which was to inform immediately all electors registered as postal voters in the relevant wards, and to offer a replacement ballot pack to any who considered themselves to have been confused by the error.
Local Government: Reorganisation
The Electoral Commission informs me that it had no involvement with the Government’s original invitation to local authorities to bid for unitary status, nor with the drawing up by the Government of a shortlist of local authorities that it considered likely to meet the criteria. However, as with a number of other organisations, the Commission has since been consulted by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government over the shortlist.
House of Commons Commission
Drinking Water
The House of Commons Refreshment Department purchases water in 500ml and one litre bottles for resale and for use in Committees and other meetings. The number of bottles purchased in the financial year 2006-07 was as follows:
Type of bottle Number of bottles Glass bottles (one litre) 73,813 Plastic bottles (500ml) 159,475
None of these bottles was returned to the supplier for re-use. They are, however, recycled and in the financial year 2006-07 the House sent 174.2 tonnes of glass and 2.7 tonnes of plastic bottles for recycling.
Other Departments purchase 18.5 litre bottles for use in chilled water dispensing machines. These are returned to the supplier for re-use. The number purchased during 2006-07 was 651.
Portcullis House: Energy
Portcullis House is assessed on a regular basis both for energy efficiency and carbon emissions. There is a reducing trend for both as can be seen from the following table:
kWh kWh/m2 C tonnes 2003-04 7,493,419 361.7 652.8 2004-05 7,102,707 342.9 623.8 2005-06 7,230,601 349.1 630.2 2006-07 6,882,342 332.2 537.4
All electricity consumed on the parliamentary estate has come from renewable sources since 1 February 2007, therefore there will be no carbon emissions resulting from electricity consumption in future. This has contributed to the reduction in carbon emissions for the year 2006-07.
The Board of Management will consider again next month whether the House should seek to achieve ISO14001 and then eco-management and audit scheme accreditation (EMAS).
Leader of the House
Departments: Paper
In the last three years, 100 per cent. of paper used by the Leader of the House of Commons Office for photocopying has been from recycled sources.
Paper used for printed publications complies with the Government's sustainable procurement “quick wins” agenda, which states that “coated papers must contain a minimum of 60 per cent. recycled fibre and uncoated papers 100 per cent. recycled fibre”. In practice most papers used comprise at least 75 per cent. recycled fibre for coated and 100 per cent. for uncoated.
Departments: Sick Leave
None. They all enjoy working here so much. It is a stress free environment.
Transport
Aviation
No definitive plans have been submitted by NATS for new holding stacks for aircraft in relation to flights from (a) Stansted, (b) Luton and (c) London City airport. Plans for such changes, following full consultation by NATS as the change sponsor, would be submitted to and assessed by the independent aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, in accordance with the Airspace Change Process:
www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP725.PDF
Aviation: Carbon Emissions
[holding answer 26 April 2007]: International aviation is not included in the UK’s climate change inventory as there is no internationally agreed method for allocating such emissions among states. In 2005 aviation represented 6.3 per cent. of UK emissions, calculated as a proportion of emissions in the UK inventory plus emissions from international aviation and shipping departing the UK. Detailed data may be viewed at:
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/index.htm.
As the “Future of Air Transport Progress Report” (December 2006) noted, aviation emissions arising from the combustion of kerosene include carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, particulates and other compounds. These give rise to “radiative forcing” impacts. The total radiative impacts were estimated by the EC TRADEOFF project to be approximately twice those of carbon dioxide (excluding cirrus cloud formation).
Using a radiative forcing multiplier of two, emissions from flights departing the UK contributed approximately 13 per cent. of total UK emissions in 2005. However, the figures for non-aviation sources do not include any radiative forcing attributable to them, as conclusive figures are not available.
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
I refer the hon. and learned Gentleman to the response I have given to the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) today (UIN 134036).
[holding answer 1 May 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given today to his related question (UIN 134036).
There are no equivalent data which relate emissions attributable to UK citizens’ travel. The Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey provides information from surveys of overseas visits by UK residents but this information is not directly related to emissions.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link: Greater London
Opening the Channel Tunnel Rail link into St. Pancras will improve the capacity of the domestic rail network by freeing up train paths used by Eurostar in South London, between Fawkham junction and Waterloo. The international platforms at Waterloo will also be available for domestic use from December 2008 and the new depot at Temple Mills will free up capacity on the west London line, previously used by Eurostar to access the international depot at North Pole. Additionally the Channel Tunnel Rail link itself will provide new capacity for high speed domestic services into London from North and East Kent, which are expected to be introduced in 2009.
Crossrail: Finance
(2) when his Department plans to submit its final proposal to HM Treasury for the funding of Crossrail.
The Crossrail project has been allocated a total of £408 million in funding to date, including an additional £154 million that has been recently agreed for ongoing project development. The full cost of the project is projected to be around £15-16 billion in cash prices.
The Department has regular discussions with HM Treasury on many matters. This includes the funding and financing of Crossrail, which will be considered further in the context of Sir Michael Lyon’s recommendations on local government finances and wider spending pressures and priorities. However, the affordability challenge represented by the scheme remains significant.
Departments: India
This Government publish an annual list of Cabinet Ministers’ travel overseas costing over £500 along with the total cost of all ministerial travel. Information for 2005-06 was published on 24 July 2006 and is available in the Library of the House. Information for 2006-07 will be published as soon as it is ready.
All travel is in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
None of my ministerial colleagues from the Department for Transport have visited India in the last 12 months.
Departments: Paper
The following tables show the percentage of paper containing recycled content used in each of the last three years:
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 DfT(C) 98.01 95.48 95.19 DVLA 100 100 100 DSA 98 98.5 97 GCDA 100 100 100 HA 100 100 100 MCA 80 80 80 VCA 100 100 100 VOSA 74 77 77
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 DfT(C) 100 100 100 DVLA 91 73 64 DSA 100 100 100 GCDA 95 95 95 HA 100 100 100 MCA 70 70 70 VCA 90 90 90 VOSA1 75 75 75 1 VOSA priced publications are counted separately using paper which does not include recycled content.
Departments: Renewable Energy
The Department purchased 36,615,981 kilowatt hours of energy from renewable sources in financial year 2005-06.
East Coast Main Line: Standards
GNER measures service quality in terms of both train punctuality and also areas such as train cleanliness, station condition and customer service. Punctuality is monitored on a daily basis by Network Rail, with statistics published by the Office of Rail Regulation. Other areas are audited by GNER and the results reviewed by the Department against Key Performance Benchmarks set for the franchise. The Department also takes note of National Passenger Survey results in order to be assured that GNER service quality to the rail traveller is maintained.
Exhaust Emissions
The environmental impacts of Transport Innovation Fund proposals, including carbon dioxide emissions, will be considered as part of the assessment of TIF bids.
Parking: Fixed Penalties
Although the official transcript of the judgment in TfL v. PATAS (interested party—Simeon Ademolake) is not yet available, the Secretary of State is considering the amendments that could be made to the wording of the draft regulations to implement the parking provisions in Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 to cover such a situation.
Petrol: Silicon
There is no reason to expect a repeat of the recent incident in which fuel was contaminated with silicon. However we will be asking the British Standards Institution to consider, in concert with its European partners, whether revision of EN228, which is the industry standard for premium unleaded petrol, would be appropriate.
Railways: Energy
The Department is involved in several research projects assessing how trains use energy. In particular this includes a project commissioned by the Rail Safety and Standards Board into rail traction energy which will compare the energy consumption of different train types that operate at different speeds. I expect the results to be published in the summer.
Railways: Overcrowding
In 2005 the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) published a report entitled “The health and safety effects of crowding”, which is available on its website, rssb.co.uk. The Office of Rail Regulation’s Railway Industry Advisory Committee asked RSSB to consider further the issues identified in the report and this work is under way.
Railways: Wales
(2) what proportion of train stations in Wales have automated ticket machines; and if he will make a statement.
All railway stations in Wales are operated by Arriva Trains Wales (‘ATW’). Under the Welsh rail devolution arrangements, the Welsh Assembly Government are responsible for the management of the ATW franchise.
The information requested could not be provided without disproportionate cost.
(2) how many train stations in Wales have automated ticket machines installed; and if he will make a statement.
All railway stations in Wales are operated by Arriva Trains Wales (‘ATW’). Under the Welsh rail devolution arrangements, the Welsh Assembly Government are responsible for the management of the ATW franchise.
The information requested could not be provided without disproportionate cost.
Statistics on number of passengers on the railway network for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in the National Rail Trends Yearbook editions, which are available in the House Library or from their website: www.rail-reg.gov.uk. Figures for earlier years are not held by the Department in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Roads: Construction
The Department requires an appraisal of the impact of a proposal on public accounts. The relevant guidance document is Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) Unit 3.5.1, available at www.webtag.org.uk, with more technical detail contained in TAG Unit 3.5.3.
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
The Department placed in the Library of the House detailed information on the funding allocated to local authorities in the local transport capital settlements between 1997-98 and 2005-06 (inclusive) in response to a written parliamentary question in the other place on the 18 January 2006, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA122. Similar information was summarised per mile of road in a written response in the other place on 2 February 2006, Official Report, House of Lords columns WA77-79.
I also refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 22 March 2007, Official Report, columns 7048-50W, which provided further details of the capital funding provision for Suffolk and a number of other authorities in the Eastern Region.
The local transport capital settlement allocations for all transport authorities in England for 2006-07 are posted on the Department’s website:
www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/ltp/capital/ltpdec2005
Those for 2007-08 are posted on the site too:
www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/ltp/capital/ltpsettle06/allocationspreadsheet
Rolling Stock: Bedfordshire
(2) what plans his Department has to increase capacity on train services between Bedfordshire and London; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what representations he has received on proposals to provide additional rolling stock on train services between Bedfordshire and London; and if he will make a statement.
This summer, the Government will be publishing their High Level Output Specification (HLOS) for rail services for the period to 2014. This HLOS will include the specification for capacity on the three main routes that serve Bedfordshire—the East Coast, West Coast and Midland main lines.
Traffic Lights
The Department has no plans to consider adopting flashing yellow traffic signals during off-peak hours. Removing the protection afforded by a red signal leads to concerns for the safety of pedestrians, especially blind or partially sighted pedestrians. The preferred method is for more traffic responsive operation of traffic signals which should lead to reductions in unnecessary delays.
Home Department
Community Support Officers: Great Yarmouth
(2) how many police officers have been stationed in Great Yarmouth in each year since 1997.
Data are not collected for the borough of Great Yarmouth; the available data for the requested dates are for the Norfolk police force, and are given in table 1.
Additionally, data are collected for the Eastern Basic Command Unit (BCU) of Norfolk police which contains North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth. These data are available for police officers from 2003 onwards, and are given in table 2; and for police community support officers from 2005 onwards, and are given in table 3.
Police strength data are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series “Police Service Strength, England and Wales”. The latest publication (data as at 31 March 2006) can be downloaded from:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1306.pdf
Norfolk 31 March: Police Officers3 PCSOs4 1997 1,432 n/a 1998 1,430 n/a 1999 1,381 n/a 2000 1,381 n/a 2001 1,420 n/a 2002 1,468 n/a 2003 1,499 12 2004 1,510 33 2005 1,544 68 2006 1,557 65 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2 Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. 3 Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with earlier years figures). 4 Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
Eastern BCU 31 March: Police officers3 2003 384 2004 389 2005 377 2006 381 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2 Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. 3 Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
Eastern BCU PCSOs 30 June 2005 24 30 June 2006 39 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2 This collection was undertaken by the Home Office Police Human Resources Unit and does not form part of the “Police Service Strength” statistical series.
Custodial Treatment: Courts
Court cells were used on 33 occasions between 1 January 2006 and 1 April 2007.
Drugs: Crime
The information requested is not available. Data collected centrally on recorded crime do not identify whether any offences (other than drug offences as defined by law) are drug related. The recorded crime series does include the number of specific drug offences and these are given in the following table.
Number of offences Darlington 229 Durham 1,317 England 111,968
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Darlington 211 220 230 302 Durham 1,289 1,205 1,062 1,299 England 130,825 131,551 133,140 165,842 Note: The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable.
Extradition
For the purposes of this reply a copy of the table has been placed in the Library. The table has assumed that the details required in the question are the requesting country and the year of extradition, or the year in which the case was closed for other reasons. The figures exclude:
(i) any requests which may have been closed before arrests for extradition took place;
(ii) any requests made to Scotland or Northern Ireland, which are matters for the Scotland Office and Northern Ireland Office respectively; and
(iii) any requests made under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) mechanism as these are made by the judicial authorities of other European Union member states rather than by foreign governments.
European Union member states entered the EAW on the following dates:
1 January 2004—Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom;
27 July 2004—Austria, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta. Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia;
1 March 2005—Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Slovakia; and
28 July 2005—Italy.
Finally, it should be noted that the requests to which the figures relate will in many cases have been made in earlier years than those in which the resulting extraditions took place or in which the cases were closed.
HM Prison Coldingley
On 15 March a quantity of drugs, mobile phones and DVDs were found following an intelligence led search. This find was as a result of a joint operation with Surrey police. The police estimate the street price of the drugs at £6,000 to £7,000. The staff involved in this operation have been commended for their actions and the resources available to ensure a positive response to the supply of controlled drugs are kept under review. For reasons of security, and to maximise the possibility of future finds, it would not be appropriate to comment further.
Identity Cards: Fraud
The Government are aware that there are certain websites which offer to sell fake identity cards, and that there is a concern that young people may try and use them to purchase alcohol unlawfully. It is, of course, illegal to sell alcohol to under-18s. It is the responsibility of retailers to have adequate procedures in place and appropriate training for staff, if they wish to have a licence to sell alcohol.
Many retailers have now adopted a ‘Think 21’ policy, where anyone appearing to be under 21 should be asked for identification prior to any sale of alcohol, which will prevent an offence being committed. Valid forms of identification include a passport or a driving licence with a photo. The Home Office also supports the Proof of Age Standards (PASS) scheme, which establishes a common standard for issuing the various proof of age cards that are available. PASS accredited cards carry a secure hologram which helps retailers to identify genuine proof of age cards. Following on from the success of the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns, in May 2007 we will be conducting a national Tackling Under Age Sales of Alcohol Campaign, which will test whether or not retailers ask for valid identification from potential underage purchasers of alcohol.
Naturalisation Test
The number and percentage of candidates who have been successful in the Life in the UK test in each month since November 2005 is set out in the table.
Success in the test does not guarantee that an applicant will be granted citizenship (or, from 2 April 2007, settlement) as other factors will be taken into account in making a decision.
Passes Pass rate (percentage) November 2005 2,066 72.7 December 2005 2,926 69.0 January 2006 5,042 69.2 February 2006 6,933 70.1 March 2006 8,781 69.1 April 2006 7,526 69.2 May 2006 8,436 67.9 June 2006 8,575 67.3 July 2006 8,527 67.4 August 2006 9,417 67.9 September 2006 11,764 67.1 October 2006 11,501 66.7 November 2006 10,856 66.1 December 2006 8,055 65.8 January 2007 11,754 67.8 February 2007 14,282 70.0 Total since November 2005 136,441 68.0
Offenders: Employment
The information is not currently available in the specific format requested. HM Prison Service collects the total number of prisoners who have education, training or employment (ETE) secured upon release. This data are supplied in the following table for the last two financial years, broken down by gender, along with the prison system target for this measure. ETE information was not collected in the current format before April 2002.
Total ETE outcomes System ETE target Female Male Total 2005-06 1804 41074.5 42878.5 2006-071 1642.5 3724405 38887 1Data for 2006-07 are provisional
Outcomes include those who attended Freshstart appointments at Jobcentre Plus, whereby prisoners who do not have a job or training place to go to on release are linked into employment, training and benefits advice and support immediately after release.
Freshstart interview attendance data for February and March 2007 have not yet been received.
HM Prison Service is implementing new systems to ensure the specific information requested is available for the 2007-08 financial year.
No assessment has been made to date of the re-offending rates of those who find a job on leaving prison or of those who do not have a job on release. However, work is currently underway to analyse the findings of three resettlement surveys of prisoners conducted at the point of release and this will provide such an assessment. Findings from this work should be available by the autumn of 2007 and published on the RDS NOMS website.
Prison Service: Corruption
During the 24 months to 31 March 2007, there were seven cases of fraudulent expense claims formally investigated, detailed in the table
Fraudulent Expense Claims
During the 24 months to 31 March 2007, there were 7 cases of fraudulent expense claims formally investigated, detailed in the table below.
Month Number of cases Amount Investigated (£) Disciplinary outcome April 2005 1 69.05 Dismissal February 2006 2 1,967.95 2 Resignations July 2006 2 677.00 1 Written warning 1 Dismissal October 2006 1 195.50 Final written warning March 2007 1 1,972.11 Disciplinary hearing being conducted
Prison Service: Standards
13 area professional standards managers and 128 local professional standards managers were in post in February 2007. It is not mandatory to appoint a deputy local professional standards manager, although many establishments have a deputy in post. By February 2007 all 13 area professional standards managers had received training along with 216 prison staff.
The commissioning authority may withhold all or part of a report if disclosure to an individual facing allegations under the code of discipline is considered to threaten the safety of staff or prisoners, or the good order of an establishment. The specific circumstances under which a report, or part of a report, may be withheld are listed in PSO 1300 Investigations paragraph 3D 8.1.
Prisoners: Medical Treatments
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Prisoners who are assessed as requiring treatment in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 should be so transferred within 12 weeks of the responsible national health service organisation receiving the referral. A reduced waiting time standard of two weeks is currently being piloted.
For hospital appointments, Prison Service Order 3050, continuity of care for prisoners, sets out what prison governors must do to ensure prisoners receive timely clinical interventions and treatment. A copy has been placed in the Library. It is also available on the HM Prison Service website at:
http://pso.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/PSO_3050_continuity_of_healthcare_for_prisoners.doc
Prisons: Greater London
The area manager for London has received three complaints from staff about alleged managerial failures since taking up post.
Prisons: Misconduct
The conclusions of the inquiry into the misconduct of senior officers in the segregation unit at HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs were not considered during the process of appointing the Governor of HM Prison Whitemoor.
Prisons: Security
There are 13 Area Professional Standards Managers, 128 Local Professional Standards Managers, a central Professional Standards Unit of 13 staff. In addition, there are ongoing developments to the types of equipment and training available to staff to detect contraband or improve the use of intelligence.
It is the responsibility of HM Prison Service (for public sector prisons) and individual providers (for contracted sector prisons) to ensure that security departments are appropriately staffed and operate effectively. It is the responsibility of the National Offender Management Service to monitor the performance of providers (both contracted and public sector) and to ensure that this is acceptable across all areas of work involving security.
Prisons: Surveillance
For operational security reasons, it would be inappropriate to provide the information requested.
Rape: Convictions
(2) how many rape prosecutions where DNA or other forensic evidence was used led to (a) a conviction and (b) an acquittal in each of the last three years.
Court proceedings (including rape convictions) for 2006 will be available in the autumn of 2007.
Information on whether DNA evidence was used to bring about a conviction to court is not available as the individual circumstance of a case are not held centrally.
Tasker Inquiry
The commissioning authority has formally amended the terms of reference once, at the request of one of the complainants.
No interim reports have been published. A partial report has been submitted to the commissioning authority. The delay in completion of the investigation has been caused by the breadth of the terms of reference, and the scale and complexity of the ensuing investigation.
No formal extensions have been granted. The commissioning authority has been kept informed of the progress of the investigation throughout, and has accepted the revised timeframe.
The initial target date for completion was March 2006. This proved to be unrealistic given the scale of the investigation, and the investigation is now due to be completed in the near future.
The Prison Service area manager for London is the commissioning authority and as such will have responsibility for considering the content of the report, overseeing any disciplinary action that may be deemed necessary, and addressing any other issues that may arise. The area manager for London may seek to discuss these matters with his line manager who is the Deputy Director General of the Prison Service.
Terrorism: Birmingham
I have no knowledge of who provided this information. It was not released by me, nor my special advisers nor anyone close to me, nor anyone else with either my knowledge or acquiescence.
Work and Pensions
Council Tax Benefits: Greater London
Estimates of take-up are not available below the level of Great Britain. The latest estimates of the take-up of the main income-related benefits: income support, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseeker’s allowance (income-based) in Great Britain can be found in the DWP report entitled “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2004/2005”. Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
Departments: Handbooks
Development of Conditions of Service policies in DWP is a continuous evolutionary process. A number of the corporate policies also take the form of policy frameworks, stating broad principles within which individual DWP businesses are permitted to develop their own Conditions of Service policies according to the services they deliver.
The effect of this is that a CD-Rom of the Conditions of Service material would only be accurate, relevant and up-to-date on the day it was created, and would not have the functionality to link to other sources of information referred to within the policy material or to business specific policy material.
Therefore while there are no plans to place a CD-ROM in the Library Members who want access to specific Conditions of Service policies should contact:
Kevin White, DWP's Human Resources Director General about corporate policies or the relevant business Chief Executive in constituent specific cases, and request a CD-ROM of the specific policy material.
Departments: India
There were no visits made by any of the Department’s Ministers to India in the last 12 months.
Departments: Intimidation
The information currently held centrally by the Department is the number of complaints of bullying investigated by the Departments central team of investigators.
During the last 12 months (for the period April 2006 to March 2007) the Department for Work and Pensions central team of investigators has received 102 complaints of bullying of which 32 were upheld.
Departments: Renewable Energy
On 12 June 2006 the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced a set of sustainable operations targets for the Government Estate. These targets included mandating Government Departments to source at least 10 per cent. of electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, wave, tidal, solar, thermal and photovoltaics (PVs), by March 2008.
During 2005-06 DWP sourced 206,087,269 kilowatt hours of electricity from renewable sources. This equates to 62.9 per cent. of the total DWP consumption of 327,460,763 kilowatt hours of electricity during the year.
Departments: Sexual Harassment
The information currently held centrally by the Department is the number of complaints of sexual harassment investigated by the Department's central team of investigators.
During the last 12 months (for the period April 2006 to March 2007) the Department for Work and Pensions central team of investigators has received 20 complaints of sexual harassment of which 13 were upheld.
Departments: Statistics
Information on the cost of producing the quarterly statistical summary is not available.
Estimates for the annual costs of national statistics are contained in the relevant national statistics annual report and accounts, which are available on the national statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1051.
The last year these were produced was 2004-05.
Departments: Surveys
Over the last five years, DWP has routinely published its staff survey results within the public domain. Survey results have been supplied to main Libraries in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as those in Oxford and Cambridge. Last year, following a request from Nicola Beckford, BBC Political Programmes, Cabinet Office arranged for direct access to all main Government Departments’ survey results through the civil service website. DWP Survey 2004 and 2005 results can already be accessed there. Results for DWP Survey 2006 will also appear there shortly. In addition, DWP is making separate arrangements to place its staff survey results, since 2002, on the DWP website.
Grandparents: Parental Responsibility
Information about the family relationship between a claimant and any dependant children is not needed for the assessment of income-related benefit claims, so it is not recorded. We have no plans to change this.
Housing Benefit: Homelessness
The changes were a short-term measure to address the very large increase in expenditure on temporary accommodation and longer term proposals to change the funding scheme for temporary accommodation in the future. No amendments were made to the changes after meeting with Local Authority Associations.
Housing Benefit: Temporary Accommodation
The information is not available.
IT Projects
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 2 May 2007
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the benefits processing replacement programme (BPRP) and the customer accounting and payment strategy (CAPS). This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
BPRP was launched in November 2004 to develop a replacement for our legacy IT systems, which calculate benefit payments in Jobcentre Plus and the Disability and Carers Service. CAPS was a much earlier Departmental IT programme with the aim of developing and implementing a replacement for the order book payment system. This would have provided customers with a single payment account and a smart card to access their benefit payments through the Post Office network. There is no connection between the two programmes.
We expect that a substantial part of the investment in BPRP will be of future benefit to the Department. For example, software licences and a testing and development environment have already been of benefit to other IT projects in Jobcentre Plus, and will be of use as we develop IT support for the employment and support allowance. Additionally, some of the planning and design work undertaken by BPRP will be of value to Jobcentre Plus in taking forward our IT Strategy.
I hope this is helpful.