5. To ask the Leader of the House what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on ensuring that statements on significant developments in Government policy are made to the House. (250015)

My right hon. and learned Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues when deciding whether an oral statement should be made to announce Government policy. This is done against the general principle set out in the ministerial code that when Parliament is in session, the most important announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance, in Parliament, and taking into account the importance of the issue and the other business before the House.

The hon. Gentleman may wish to know that there were 88 oral statements last Session, more than one every other sitting day, and already this Session there have been 14 statements in just 18 sitting days.

6. To ask the Leader of the House what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of arrangements for programming of Bills; and if she will make a statement. (250016)

My right hon. Friend has made no formal assessment of the operation of programming, but it has a number of advantages, including greater certainty about the timing of debates on specific areas of a bill and the timing of bills.

The introduction of programming is one of a number of recent reforms to the legislative process such as pre-legislative scrutiny and evidence-taking public Bill committees.

7. To ask the Leader of the House what progress has been made on the proposals in the Governance of Britain Green Paper which fall within her area of responsibility. (250017)

The House has agreed proposals for regional select and Grand Committees and we expect the committees to be nominated soon. In response to the Modernisation Committee's recommendations on revitalising the Chamber, we have introduced topical questions and debates.

8. To ask the Leader of the House if she will review the proportion of House of Commons time allocated to Government Bills. (250018)

In 2006-07, the last Session for which published figures are available, the House sat for a total of 1,118 hours and 52 minutes. It spent 298 hours and 11 minutes on Government Bills, around a quarter of the total.

This does not include time spent in Committee off the floor of the House, nor on pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Bills for future Sessions.

This compares with around 188 hours on private Members' business, around 17 per cent. of the total sitting time, and 118 hours and 35 minutes on Opposition business, around 10 per cent. of the total.

9. To ask the Leader of the House what assessment she has made of public opinion on arrangements for the publication of information on hon. Members' expenses. (250019)

The Government brought forward proposals to exempt information about payments made to hon. Members from the provisions of the Act in the belief that they would command general support in all parts of the House. When it became clear that they did not, we withdrew the proposals.

We are still proposing a new publication scheme, with more categories of voluntary publication than ever before, and a rigorous system of audit and assurance of hon. Members' allowances.

To ask the Leader of the House (1) what discussions she has had with other hon. Members in advance of her decision to propose the exemption of hon. Members from provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to claims for expenses; (250204)

My right hon. Friend has frequent private communications with Members from all parts of the House on a range of issues relating to her ministerial responsibilities.

No external bodies were consulted about the tabling of the draft Freedom of Information (Parliament) Order 2009.

To ask the Leader of the House what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on the criteria to be used in deciding whether an announcement should be made by means of an Oral Statement. (250014)

My right hon. and learned Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues when deciding whether an oral statement should be made to announce Government policy. This is done against the general principle set out in the Ministerial Code that when Parliament is in Session, the most important announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance, in Parliament, and taking into account the importance of the issue and the other business before the House.

To ask the Leader of the House on how many occasions in the last 12 months Ministers in her Office used their discretion to rule that a parliamentary question for written answer should be answered because it would be in the public interest to do so, even though to do so would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £700. (249146)

None. The situation described has not arisen. We aim to publish as much information as possible and would consider providing an answer, despite it exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold, if it was deemed to be in the public interest.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics what expert advisers have been commissioned by her Office since its inception; on what topic each was commissioned; and whether the adviser so appointed made a declaration of political activity in each case. (246966)

No expert advisers have been commissioned by my Office.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics if she will make it her policy that temporary and permanent employees of her Office employed at the same grade receive the same hourly rate of pay. (248406)

Both temporary and permanent staff are placed on the appropriate pay band for their grade. The same bands apply equally to permanent and temporary staff.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics on what date the relocation of Thornton Fields railway sidings was completed. (249794)

The Olympic Delivery Authority completed construction of the new sidings at Orient Way in May 2008. This was announced on 7 July 2008. The completion of Orient Way allowed work to begin early on the clearance of the Thornton’s Field site. That in turn was completed on 31 October 2008.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics on what date the contract to construct the velodrome for the London 2012 Olympics was awarded. (249798)

The Olympic Delivery Authority selected the British company ISG Interior Exterior in May 2008 for the Velodrome contract, with the contract being signed on 10 June 2008. ISG will set up on the Olympic Park site next month and the project remains firmly on track.

To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many church buildings are listed. (250272)

The Church of England is responsible for approximately 13,000 listed buildings. This represents about 45 per cent. of all the grade I listed buildings in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport over what period the data was collected which underlies Figure (a) 1.1, (b) 1.2 and (c) 1.3 in his Department's publication, UK Air Passenger Demand and carbon dioxide forecasts. (250393)

The period over which the data underlying Figures 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 of 'UK Air Passenger Demand and CO₂ Forecasts 2009' were collected is set out in Chapter 2 of the same report, with further detail in Annexes A-D.

Box 2.2 (p. 16) explains that the forecast shown in Figure 1.1 is based on data from the period 1984-2004. Page 26 explains that the airport choice model used in producing the forecast shown in Figures 1.2 and 1.3 is based on cross-sectional data for 2005.

Figure 1.3 illustrates the forecasting model's success in predicting movements in passenger demand since 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue has been generated by tolls on the Dartford-Thurrock crossing in each year since its opening. (249979)

For the period of the Extension Agreement—between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003— the Highways Agency records show annual revenue of £68,363,698.02. Records of annual revenues before this date are not held centrally by the Department for Transport.

Details of the annual total revenues from the Dartford Crossing from 2003-04 onwards are placed in the House Library (Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme—Annual Accounts).

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which (a) food and (b) drinks suppliers have been used by his Department in each of the last three years; and how much his Department paid to each such supplier in each of those years. (248381)

The requested information, where recorded, has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many licences for dynamic route guidance systems his Department has issued in each year since 1997. (249321)

The following table shows the number of licences issued since 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government has taken to reduce the incidence of drink driving. (249481)

I would refer my hon. Friend to section 3 of the Department for Transport’s Road Safety Compliance Consultation document, published on 20 November 2008, which sets out the Government’s latest proposal to deal with drink driving. A copy of the document is in the Library of the House and it can also be found on the Department’s website.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to review the system of self-certification for the renewal of driving licences for those over 70 years of age. (250371)

The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency, in conjunction with the Department for Transport, has been reviewing the system in place in Great Britain for ensuring that all drivers are fit to drive.

The review on health and driver licensing has been used to inform a public consultation.

I can confirm that the Department for Transport is currently preparing for a public consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason his Department has decided to run a rail replacement bus service on Tuesday mornings from Ealing Broadway station to Wandsworth Road station; for what reason this service is not advertised; how long he intends that this replacement bus service should operate; what the estimated monthly cost of this service to the public purse is; and how much of this cost has so far been recouped in terms of passenger revenue. (249217)

[holding answer 19 January 2009]: Mindful of the requirements of relevant legislation, the Department for Transport is currently funding a rail replacement bus service between Ealing Broadway station and Wandsworth Road station. This service, which is a temporary measure until the Department can arrange a replacement rail service in this area, has been operating since 14 December 2008 at a four-weekly cost of £1,880 to the Department for Transport.

The Department for Transport does not recoup any revenue from this service. As a rail replacement bus service, a rail ticket has to be purchased for travel on the bus, therefore revenue will be directed to the appropriate train operator for that area.

The Department for Transport intended the bus service to be advertised from 14 December 2008. Following a contractual delay, the bus service has been advertised, from this week, at the stations it is contracted to call at which are Ealing Broadway, Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth Road.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department holds on the number of prosecutions for road traffic offences that are not proceeded with annually on the grounds that the driver has subsequently surrendered his licence on grounds of old age. (250369)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold this information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of appeals against fixed penalty notices to traffic adjudicators were upheld in each of the last five years in each region of England; and if he will make a statement. (247900)

This information is not collected centrally by the Government, but the available figures for the number of appeals made against the issuing of Penalty Charge Notices and the number of appeals upheld for each local authority are set out in the annual reports of the traffic adjudicators: the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) for London; and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) for outside London.

The reports of the PATAS are available at:

www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk

The reports of the TPT are available at:

www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department holds on the number of road traffic accidents which are recorded annually as being the fault of drivers aged over (a) 70 years and (b) 80 years. (250370)

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Department for Transport publishes the number of drivers of different age groups involved in reported personal injury road accidents in table 38a of the publication "Road Casualties Great Britain - annual report 2007". Fault is not assigned to participants in these collisions. However, information on the contributory factors is collected and published in article 4 of the same report. Table 4h of this article provides the most frequently recorded contributory factors for car drivers by age group.

Copies of the report have been deposited in the Libraries of the House. The report is also published on the Department for Transport web site at the following link:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/roadcasualtiesgreatbritain20071.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many shipping containers have been lost overboard in UK waters in each year since 2006. (249471)

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) does not have a separate database to record the loss of containers. The MCA operates databases to record incidents, including recording where containers are lost overboard.

The MCA relies on ships reporting loss of containers in accordance with national and European legislation.

To give a specific number would require a manual interrogation of the incident recording system and that would incur disproportionate costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on encouraging local authorities to apply 20 mph zones around schools; and if he will make a statement. (248622)

The Department for Transport encourages local authorities to introduce 20 mph zones in areas where vulnerable road users are present, including the roads around school premises.

This view is reflected in the Department for Transport guidance to local authorities on setting local speed limits, published in August 2006. In addition, Traffic Advisory Leaflet 9/99 provides best practice guidelines on setting 20 mph speed limits and 20 mph zones. Copies of the leaflet are in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 199W, on departmental official residences, for what purposes Vehicle Certification Agency staff are based in (a) the United States and (b) Japan. (250046)

Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) staff are based in the United States and Japan to carry out their operational duties as a United Kingdom (UK) type approval (TA) authority to conduct and witness tests to European Community (EC) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) directives and regulations on vehicles coming into Europe from those countries.

VCA does not have any official residences anywhere.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to support the advertising industry; and if he will make a statement. (249810)

The Government are committed to supporting the creative industries, including the advertising industry. Last year this Department launched Creative Britain, a strategy setting out in 26 commitments the Government's determination to move the creative industries from the margins to the mainstream of the UK economy. The commitments cover education and training, research and innovation and intellectual property.

The Government also provide targeted support to help companies start, survive and succeed. This is available to all businesses, including those in the advertising sector, via Business Link

www.businesslink.gov.uk.

On 14 January the Government launched a support package which consists of loan guarantees and a new Enterprise Fund aimed at helping companies struggling to access finance for working capital and investment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much local authority funding was provided for the arts in England in each year since 1980. (246419)

The Department for Communities and Local Government collects data on revenue and capital expenditure by local authorities. Expenditure on the arts by local authorities is only available on a consistent basis since 2004-05. The net current expenditure for ‘arts development and support’ is set out in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by what date he expects the baseline data for the Find Your Talent pilots to be established. (249225)

The baseline position of the Find Your Talent pathfinder areas is currently being established. An independent evaluation team of SQW Consulting and Ipsos MORI will measure baseline participation in a representative sample of young people in the 10 areas and the results of this survey will be available in May 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to which (a) charities and (b) voluntary organisations his Department has provided funding in the last five years; and how much funding was provided to each. (247362)

The Department provides funding to charities and voluntary organisations through grant in aid, specific grants, strategic commissioning and the procurement of services, but it does not record the status of all bodies that it makes payments to, and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Department does record the charitable status of those bodies that it provides substantial financial support to, and I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) on 15 December 2008, Official Report, columns 353-54W, which includes a table of payments to charities where the charity received more than £100,000 in any one year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the Heritage Lottery Fund has been allocated to preserving historic churches in each of the last five years. (247833)

The Heritage Lottery Fund provides funding to places of worship, including historic churches, through its Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme. The allocation for this scheme over the last five years is set out in the following table. Historic churches have also been eligible to apply to the fund’s other grants programmes if they met the criteria, and provided that any application for outstanding repair works could not be tackled via the Places of Worship scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the long-term sustainability of historic churches; and if he will make a statement. (247834)

The Secretary of State relies on the advice of English Heritage in relation to the condition and sustainability of historic buildings. In 2005, English Heritage and the Council for the Care of Churches commissioned a Fabric Needs Survey, which aimed to establish the cost of all major repairs needed to bring all listed places of worship in England into good repair. The survey concluded, based on a sample of buildings, that £925 million over five years was necessary.

As part of its Heritage at Risk programme, English Heritage is undertaking an assessment of the condition and level of use of listed places of worship, the results of which are due to be published in 2010. This research will to give a national perspective on the physical condition of these buildings and inform DCMS, English Heritage and all partners across the sector, regarding the current and future prospects for sustainability.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s available funds on grants to church buildings; and if he will make a statement. (247835)

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has always recognised that places of worship are a very special part of the United Kingdom’s heritage, and it therefore continues to ring-fence funds for them. Although the Fund’s grant budgets will reduce from 2009-13, a higher proportion of its overall budget has been set aside in recognition of the role these buildings play in community life.

The Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage remain committed to providing grants to historic places of worship. The joint Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage funding scheme has offered over £133 million for the repair of historic places of worship since it began in 2002. In 2009, £25 million will be offered to listed places of worship: £17.5 million will go to Grade I and II* buildings, and £7.5 million to Grade II buildings. £15 million of this is provided by the HLF, and £10 million by EH. Both bodies anticipate continuing this grant scheme at its current level until 2010-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport where those offices established to advise on the maintenance and repair of church buildings will be located. (248228)

On 12 December 2008, English Heritage launched a scheme to provide funding for Support Officers for historic places of worship. To date, six Support Officer posts have been established in Brighton and Hove, Exeter, Coventry, Carlisle, the North-West region and Worcester. Posts are established in response to applications from dioceses; denominations; faith groups and other organisations or partnerships which have a role in the care of historic places of worship anywhere in England. The response to the scheme has been very positive and all nine English Heritage regions are now in discussion with potential partners. A wide geographical, denominational and multi-faith coverage is expected.

The Churches Conservation Trust is launching its Community Regeneration Task Force to work with the congregations of vulnerable church buildings where the building might end up vested in the Trust were it to become redundant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps (a) his Department and (b) English Heritage are taking to assist church maintenance pilot projects in the dioceses of (a) Gloucester and (b) London. (248229)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport provides grant-in-aid to English Heritage, the Government’s statutory adviser on all matters concerning the conservation of England’s historic environment.

The schemes in the Church of England dioceses of Gloucester and London are two of three pilot maintenance projects, which English Heritage has supported with funds and advice, the third being in the Church of England diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich. A model scheme will be developed from the lessons learnt from the pilot projects, which other dioceses and organisations will be encouraged to adopt, with funding from English Heritage for the set-up costs where possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost to the public purse of each royal property is in 2008-09. (247976)

The royal household receives £15 million a year from my Department to meet the costs of property maintenance; utilities; telephones and related services at the occupied royal palaces in England. As given in the Royal Public Finances Annual Reports 2007-08, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House (http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page3954.asp), the maintenance costs of the occupied royal palaces for the year to 31 March 2008 (the most recent year for which there are figures) were:

Most of these costs were met from the grant in aid, the remainder from income from a facilities management charge paid by the Royal Collection Trust, £1.8 million in 2007-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on (a) departmental Christmas parties and (b) staff entertainment in the last three years. (243743)

The annual DCMS staff Christmas party is self-funded by staff at no cost to the public purse. No expenditure has been incurred on staff entertainment in the last three years. All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on gifts and hospitality, based on principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what progress has been made in appointing a research consortium to review his Department’s participation research; when he expects the consortium to be appointed; and what time frame he plans to set for its deliberation; (249426)

We recently announced that the university of London’s EPPI-centre and Matrix Knowledge Group have been appointed to conduct the first phase of the research. This phase is due to last one year. For further details on the new ‘Culture and Sport Evidence Programme’ (CASE, formerly referred to as the ‘joint research programme’) please see the new webpage at:

www.culture.gov.uk/case

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards the target of reducing by 20 per cent. the number of unnecessary transactions required to be carried out by his Department's public bodies; if he will make it his policy to eliminate all unnecessary transactions; and if he will make a statement. (248919)

During the course of 2008, DCMS delivered a 9 per cent. reduction in the number of reports required of public bodies. We are pursuing further reductions with the aim of meeting the 20 per cent. target during 2009. Our oversight of each body is linked to a thorough risk assessment, so that a report should not be requested if the degree of risk does not justify it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of people responding to his Department's Taking Part survey said that they had participated in an active sport during the preceding four weeks in each year since 2005. (249356)

The ‘Taking Part’ survey is a continuous household survey providing national data on participation in culture, leisure and sport by adults aged 16 and over.

The following table shows the percentage of adults who participated in an active sport in the four weeks prior to interview.

This information has been extracted from the report published in December 2008, ‘Final assessment of progress on PSA3’. The full report is available at

<http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5653.aspx>

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications were received by his Department for posts of (a) members of the Independent Strategy Board of the Gambling Commission and (b) non-executive directors of the Tote; how many positions are available for each; and when he expects to make the appointments. (247354)

For the Independent Strategy Board of the Gambling Commission, nine vacancies were advertised and 50 applications were received. Appointments are expected to be made in time for the first board meeting on 4 March 2009.

For the non-executive directors of the Horserace Totalisator Board, two vacancies were advertised and 72 applications were received. I anticipate making these appointments by February 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what grants his Department and English Heritage have awarded for the maintenance of grade I listed buildings in Liverpool in the last two years; how much was awarded in each case; and if he will make a statement. (248325)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport provides no direct Exchequer funding for the maintenance of listed buildings. Government funding is provided as grant in aid to English Heritage.

English Heritage advises that they have offered the following grants to grade I listed buildings in Liverpool in the last two years. English Heritage’s grant schemes are primarily for major urgent structural repair projects rather than ongoing maintenance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take to assist voluntary organisations in applying for Heritage Lottery Fund grants. (248230)

This is a matter within the operational responsibility of the Heritage Lottery Fund. The fund has advised that it is committed to providing efficient and simple ways of funding voluntary organisations throughout the UK, and it produces a range of guidance, including some designed to help groups carrying out heritage projects for the first time.

The Government have encouraged all lottery distributors, including the Heritage

Lottery Fund, to ensure that the application process is as simple as possible. The lottery distributors have set up a website

http://www.lotteryfunding.org.uk

which has proved very successful in letting potential applicants know about the relevant lottery programmes, including those run by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the answer of 10 November 2008, Official Report, columns 484-5, on the Subs for Clubs campaign, what progress has been made in talks between his Department and HM Treasury. (250344)

DCMS officials have discussed the Central Council of Physical Recreation's (CCPRs) ‘Subs for Clubs’ proposal to allow community amateur sports clubs (CASC) to claim gift aid on junior subscriptions with HMT.

A decision was made against implementing this proposal at the current time. DCMS officials are in discussion with CCPR to identify ways of encouraging more clubs to register for the CASC scheme and to maximize the use of the existing benefits that CASCs enjoy.

To date the CASC scheme has now registered over 5,000 clubs receiving rate relief and other benefits. As of December 2009 Deloittes estimate that it has saved grassroots sports more than £48 million since its inception. This money has gone back into sport and has enabled clubs to spend it on everything from facilities to kit. Additionally, all community sports clubs will benefit over the next year from the reduction in VAT from 17.5 per cent. to 15 per cent. which will help to increase the funds available to clubs, and moreover provide more money in the pockets of potential donors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what dates since March 2008 (a) he and (b) the Sports Minister have met with their European counterparts to discuss the European White Paper on sport. (250271)

I have met with my European counterparts to discuss the White Paper at two EU Informal Sports Ministers’ meetings on 16-17 March 2008 and 27-28 November 2008.

The Secretary of State has had no such discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money was spent per capita on sporting infrastructure in (a) the north-east and (b) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last five years. (245015)

Sport England have provided the following figures, based on Exchequer data held for the last five financial years from 2003-04 to the second quarter of 2008-09:

The constituency and region will also have benefited from lottery funding for sporting infrastructure during this period.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of (a) all adults and (b) each priority group participated in active sport in the last four weeks. (249807)

The ‘Taking Part’ survey is a continuous household survey providing national data on participation in culture, leisure and sport by adults aged 16 and over.

The following table shows the percentage of all adults, and those from each priority group, who participated in an active sport in the four weeks prior to interview.

This information has been extracted from the report published in December 2008, “Final assessment of progress on PSA3”. The full report is available at:

http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5653.aspx.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many items of correspondence he has received on (a) St. George’s Day and (b) St. Patrick’s Day in the last 12 months. (247741)

As at 13 January we have identified 14 items of correspondence from the last 12 months which have St. George’s Day as the main subject and one item of correspondence that has St. Patrick’s Day as the main subject.

It is possible that further correspondence could mention St. George’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day as secondary issues, but this correspondence could be identified only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans his Department has to promote St George’s Day in 2009. (247743)

On 23 April, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will fly the St. George’s Flag alongside the Union Flag to celebrate St. George’s Day.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public funding is available from his Department to groups wishing to celebrate St George’s Day. (247744)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no public funding available to groups wishing to celebrate St. George’s Day.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has had discussions with tourism agencies about marking St. George's Day in 2009. (248360)

DCMS has had no specific discussions with tourism agencies about marking St. George's Day in 2009. However VisitEngland and some individual regions will have celebrations to mark St. George's Day in 2009. For example VisitEngland will highlight St. Georges Day events on enjoyengland.com as well as hosting Enjoy England Awards for Excellence on this date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average standard deviation was of the datasets of his Department’s Taking Part survey in each year since 2005. (247334)

The term ‘standard deviation’ refers to the variance, or spread, of data around the mean (standard deviation is the square root of the variance). Standard deviations can be calculated for individual estimates from Taking Part, rather than the overall dataset.

Confidence intervals are derived from the variance and the sample design, and are published for all Taking Part estimates. These indicate the range in which true percentages could fall.

To see an example, please refer to the latest report at:

http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5653.aspx

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on taxis in each of the last three years. (247585)

All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's staff guide under Travel and Subsistence and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.

The expenditure on taxis by the Department in each year since 2005 is set out in the following table. These figures represent expenditure on taxis and black cabs. In addition, some expenditure on black cabs and taxis is included in general travel and subsistence account and cannot be separately identified except at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the accuracy of data on the availability and use of wood and its contribution to the sustainability of future biomass energy projects. (249125)

Estimates of the availability and use of wood have been published by the Forestry Commission over a number of years. DEFRA has not undertaken an assessment of this information. The Forestry Commission publishes on its website the details of the methodologies used to compile the figures so that those using the information can make their own assessment of its accuracy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account his Department takes of the capacity of rural areas to absorb carbon dioxide in formulating its climate change policy. (249987)

My Department is undertaking further work to understand the realistic potential of the natural environment to act as a sink or store of carbon dioxide and also the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from management of the land. This takes account of the role of forests, soils, land-use and agriculture. My Department also supports a Rural Climate Change Forum to consider the ways in which rural areas can help mitigate and adapt to climate change. We will take all of this information into account as part of the Government’s approach to meeting their commitments under the Climate Change Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what his estimate is of the number of boats in the UK that would require a licence or other form of authorisation to facilitate recreational fisheries under Article 47 of the Council Regulation establishing a community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy; (249749)

In England there are some 400 charter angling vessels that would require an authorisation under Article 47 of the proposal as currently drafted, plus an as yet unquantified number of privately owned vessels. As part of the process of negotiating this proposal we shall be seeking clarification from the Commission on a number of issues relating to Article 47. Until we have that clarification it is difficult accurately to assess its potential impact in the areas referred to in these questions. We shall be seeking stakeholders views on these points and considering them in more detail in the impact assessment that my officials are drawing up and which we shall publish as part of the formal consultation procedure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when (a) he and (b) his officials were consulted on the terms of Article 47 of the Council Regulation establishing a community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy; and if he will make a statement; (249755)

Neither I nor my officials were consulted before the Commission published the current proposal on 17 November. The proposal is scheduled for initial discussion by Ministers at the June Fisheries Council although I would not expect it to be approved then. The proposal has an envisaged implementation date of 1 January 2010, subject to negotiation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the dredging of the Thames in Castle Point constituency as part of the Thames Gateway port development will commence. (250069)

Consents to undertake dredging to develop and subsequently maintain navigational areas within the London Gateway Port are given by the London Gateway Port Harbour Empowerment Order 2008 and issued by the Department for Transport. They came into force on 16 May 2008.

The timing of the proposed dredging is a commercial decision for the Harbour Authority, London Gateway Port Ltd.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of contractors and suppliers to (a) his Department and (b) its agencies has reported compliance with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008. (245322)

The information is not available in the form requested. Since 1 July 2008 the DEFRA delivery network has been using the standard OGC security clauses for all new contracts and has also checked the compliance of its strategic IT partner with all the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Review. In addition we have asked all information asset owners, responsible for assets containing personal protected information across the DEFRA network, to seek assurances from any other contractors or suppliers handling information on their behalf. Assurances have been received from all bar one of the owners in core DEFRA, and in respect of all executive agencies, except the Rural Payments Agency. In both cases the process of confirming assurances is under way but not yet complete.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on which occasions his Department has convened a citizens’ jury or randomly drawn panel of people to aid the Department’s policy making since 2000; whether the participants were paid in each case; and if he will make a statement. (243038)

DEFRA was formed in June 2001. However, inquires with policy leads have revealed the following examples of where DEFRA has convened a Citizen’s Jury since 2001:

In December 2005-January 2006, the Air and Environment Quality Division (now Atmosphere Quality and Industrial Pollution programme) ran a Citizen’s Jury to explore public views on air quality in order to inform the development of future policies and strategies. Members of the jury were paid to participate in the event.

In November 2007, a DEFRA-funded research project (WU0112) employed a Citizen’s Jury approach to explore people’s understanding of risk associated with the microbial pollution of water courses; public attitudes to culpability given the current scientific and policy evidence base, particularly as this related to the role of livestock farming; where public priorities were in terms of appropriate level and types of policy intervention and mitigation; and views regarding responsibilities for taking action to reduce microbial risks. Members of the jury were paid to participate in the event.

When used carefully and appropriately, Citizens’ Juries can be a helpful way of eliciting public preferences to factor into policy decision making.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many telephone numbers for which callers are charged at the rate applicable to 0845 numbers are used by (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies for public access to services. (246980)

From information held centrally, there are 38 telephone numbers for which callers are charged at the rate(s) applicable to 0845 numbers—four for core-DEFRA, 14 for DEFRA's executive agencies and 20 for non-departmental public bodies. None of the numbers are revenue sharing.

Members of the public using these numbers are charged by their telephone providers at their agreed rates. On 8 January 2009, BT announced that its consumer customers will no longer pay these charges from 16 January 2009. As from this date 0845 numbers will be included in their calls packages. Those not on a calls package and business customers will continue to pay the applicable or agreed 0845 rates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) monetary value and (b) weight of fish landed in the UK for domestic consumption was in the last 12 months, broken down by country of registration of fishing vessel. (248985)

The live weight and value of fish landed into the UK for domestic consumption in 2007 are shown in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) tonnage and (b) monetary value was of landings at UK ports by EU vessels in 2008 of fish caught in (i) the North Sea and (ii) UK home territorial waters. (249046)

Information on the tonnage of fish landings by EU vessels from the North sea as a whole for 2006, the latest year for which such information is available, is provided in the following table.

Landings by EU member states of fish caught in the North sea (ICES area IV):

The value of the fish involved and details of those caught in UK territorial waters is not readily available. Such information can be made available only by contacting the individual member states and third countries concerned. This would include requesting information on the value of catches by vessels of other member states and third countries that fish within that part of the North sea bounded by the UK's 200 mile fisheries limit. However, such information is only available in terms of the totals for the sea areas involved, and only for the quantities of fish involved rather than value. As such, the information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the assessed economic value of fisheries catch in each North Sea fisheries box that falls partly or wholly within the UK's 200 mile zone is. (248988)

To produce the requested information would require information on the value of catches by vessels of other member states and third countries that fish within that part of the North Sea bounded by the UK's 200 mile fisheries limit. However, such information is only available in terms of the totals for the sea areas involved, not at the level of the individual rectangles that make up this area, with these totals only being available for the quantities of fish involved rather than value. As such, the information could only be made available by contacting the individual member states and third countries concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what tonnage of (a) lobster, (b) shellfish and (c) shrimp was landed by the UK fishing fleet in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available. (249051)

Live weight landings of shellfish into the UK and abroad by UK registered fishing vessels for 2007 are shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fishing vessels are operating in UK home territorial waters from EU Eastern European Baltic accession countries that prior to accession fished in the Baltic Sea. (248983)

No fishing vessels from EU Eastern European Baltic accession countries that prior to accession fished in the Baltic Sea are operating in UK territorial waters (within the 12 mile limit).

Three Polish vessels have fished within the UK 200 mile fishery limit since January 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which fisheries boxes would fall (a) completely and (b) partially within the UK 200 mile/median maritime control limit in the absence of the common fisheries policy. (248989)

A copy of the map of the UK 200 mile fishery limits showing the statistical rectangles covered either fully, or partially, by the limit will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what tonnage of foreign-registered fishing vessels are operating in UK home fishing waters. (249048)

The number of foreign registered fishing vessels operating in the UK 200 mile fishery limit is very fluid and constantly changing in response to fishing opportunities. Their presence is recorded through a combination of obligatory satellite monitoring systems and through sightings of vessels made during aerial and naval reconnaissance activity carried out by, or on behalf of, UK fisheries administrations.

Based on the information collected as above, it is estimated that the number of foreign fishing vessels that operated in the UK 200 mile fishery limit in 2008, produced from sightings and satellite data, was 2,886. Of these, the vast majority (2,321 vessels) were registered fishing vessels from other member states. This includes fishing vessels identified as present within UK fishery limits but not carrying out fishing activities (e.g. Russian registered vessels).

The tonnage of those vessels involved is not readily available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what his Department's policy is on invoking the Hague Preferences; (248990)

For some time, the Government have been concerned that the Hague Preference mechanism does not provide the necessary support to coastal communities in the UK and Ireland that it was intended to do. We have, therefore, sought to open discussions with the Irish on suitable replacement arrangements. To date, they have been reluctant to engage. We will, however, continue to press them on this, and plan to explore options with the Commission and other member states in due course.

In recent years, we have limited our actions to offsetting the impacts of Irish invocation in the Irish Sea and adjacent areas to ensure the UK fleet is not put at a disadvantage. However, in the December 2007 EU Fisheries Council, we also invoked on both North Sea haddock and whiting, in recognition of the particular importance of these stocks to UK fishermen, and the concerns expressed within the industry that the scientific advice (on which the quotas were based) was somewhat at odds with fishermen's experience on the ground. For the same reasons, we repeated these invocations last December. In both years however, we restricted the scale of our invocations, recognising the concerns of other member states who lose out as a result of our actions.

The effects of the December 2008 EU Fisheries Council invocations on the scale of UK quotas for the stocks in question, are included in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Keep Britain Tidy on fast food outlets causing litter on streets. (248787)

Keep Britain Tidy (also known as ENCAMS) surveys show that fast food related litter is found in approximately a quarter of sites surveyed across England, with incidences increasing year-on-year.

For this reason, the voluntary code of practice for ‘Food on the Go’ was developed by Keep Britain Tidy on behalf of DEFRA, recognising that industry has an important role to play in tackling litter issues. In January 2009, Keep Britain Tidy published results of a survey into the most frequently found brands among fast food litter as part of its latest litter campaign. The results of the survey are available on their website:

www.encams.org.

DEFRA currently grant-aids £5 million per annum to Keep Britain Tidy to help meet the Government's aim of an improved local environment. DEFRA officials meet regularly with colleagues in Keep Britain Tidy, and Lord Hunt, Minister for local environmental quality, is planning to meet with them in the near future. Each year Ministers also agree priorities for the grant spend.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the economic downturn on employment opportunities in rural areas; and if he will make a statement. (248186)

Evidence shows that the economic downturn is likely to affect urban and rural areas. DEFRA is working closely with the regional development agencies and the Commission for Rural Communities, as well as with those Departments with policy responsibility, i.e. BERR and DWP, to make sure that the National Economic Council has access to high quality intelligence regarding the economic situation in rural areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of current North Sea (a) haddock, (b) cod, (c) herring and (d) plaice total allowable catch comes from boxes which fall (i) completely and (ii) partially within the UK 200 mile limit. (249184)

The information requested is not available. The process for the production of estimates of total allowable catch (TAC) for each stock involves the scientific assessment of the state of the stock at the level of the overall sea areas covered by each stock definition. As such, the process does not incorporate any apportionment, or derivation, of the TAC at the level of detail of the individual fisheries rectangles within the sea areas involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will commission research on the effects of the introduction of surface area water charges for churches, community and voluntary groups which own property used exclusively to further their causes. (248858)

The Government are aware of the problem of affordability faced by some customers as a result of the switch to site area charging for surface water drainage and are looking at what can be done.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what response his Department has made to representations made by sports clubs affected by increases in charges following the revision of the surface water charging element. (250359)

Ministers have received a range of representations from sports clubs about the move from charging based on rateable value to site area charging for surface water drainage. The Government are aware of the affordability issues faced by some customers as a result of the switch to site area charging and are currently reviewing their position. While the issue is under consideration, letters will continue to be acknowledged, and I will respond in full in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, columns 612-13W, on water companies: flood control, what powers local authorities will have in circumstances where water companies do not co-operate, share information or take action which an authority considers to be necessary. (249747)

This issue is being considered as part of the forthcoming draft Floods and Water Bill, due to be published in spring 2009.

To ask the Prime Minister how much has been spent on (a) departmental Christmas parties and (b) staff entertainment in 10 Downing Street in the last three years. (243733)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan), Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, on 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 582W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fines for the non-payment of penalty notices for disorder (PND) were registered by the courts in each of the last four years, broken down by (a) the offence for which the PND was issued and (b) how many fines were paid on time in full. (250390)

The number of persons against whom a fine was registered following the issue of a penalty notice for disorder (PND), by offence, in England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2007 can be viewed in the following table. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.

Significant improvements are being achieved by the courts in the collection of fines. The Courts Act 2003 introduced a series of measures aimed at improving fine collection including deduction from earnings and benefits, seizure of goods and clamping of vehicles. We do not identify separately the payment rate of fines arising from PNDs, but the latest enforcement rate for all financial penalties is 85.2 per cent. for the period April to December 2008. The payment rates for the last four years are shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost of enforcing a compensation order was in each of the last five years for which figures are available. (250108)

Information on the costs of collection of compensation orders is not collected. Data on the costs of collection of compensation orders is not held by either the Ministry of Justice or HMCS. Information on the enforcement rate of financial penalties imposed by courts is held but cannot make the distinction between compensation orders and other financial penalties and to use this figure to estimate the collection of compensation orders would be misleading.

It is therefore not possible to establish the average cost of collecting compensation orders.

The payment rate for financial impositions that includes compensation, costs, fines and the victims surcharge was 95 per cent. in 2007-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many open verdicts were recorded by coroners in each year between 2002 and 2008, broken down by area. (250401)

Statistics on the number of open verdicts returned by coroners in England and Wales in each year between 2002 and 2007, broken down by area, have been placed in the Library of the House. Figures for 2008 are not yet available, but are due to be published on the Ministry of Justice website in May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress has been made by his Department on the recording of ethnicity data by coroners. (250400)

At present coroners do not collect data on the ethnicity of the deceased in deaths which are referred to them. As part of our work to implement the coroner reforms included in the Coroner and Justice Bill we will be reviewing the statistical data currently collected by coroners and considering whether any changes are required.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what expert advisers have been commissioned by his Department and its agencies since 1997; on what topic each was commissioned; and whether the advisers so appointed made a declaration of political activity in each case. (246664)

Lord Lester acted as the Secretary of State’s expert adviser on constitutional reform between July 2007 and November 2008, and made a declaration of political activity prior to his appointment.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of all expert advisory appointments made by it and its agencies since 1997. The Department makes a number of appointments to public bodies, including advisory non-departmental public bodies, and compiling such a list would incur disproportionate cost. Since 2003 the Government have published on an annual basis the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each pay band.