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20 Jun 2003 : Column 448W—continued

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what financial contribution (a) Her Majesty the Queen and (b) His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is making to the redecoration and refurbishment of Clarence House. [115778]

Estelle Morris: The information requested is as follows:

(a) Her Majesty the Queen is not paying anything towards the redecoration of Clarence House; and


(b) His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is paying £78,000 including VAT towards the decoration costs. In addition, he is paying about £1.6 million for the soft furnishings, including carpets, light fittings and curtains.

Council of Ministers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department's vote in the Council of Ministers against a legislative proposal (a) was sufficient and (b) was not sufficient to achieve with other member states a blocking minority. [117214]

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Mr. Caborn: Cultural matters are not subject to Qualified Majority Voting: matters are voted unanimously. Audiovisual matters are subject to Qualified Majority Voting, but DCMS Ministers have not voted against proposals.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department abstained in the Council of Ministers on a legislative proposal that was passed by Qualified Majority Voting. [117237]

Mr. Caborn: Ministers in the DCMS have not abstained in voting on audiovisual matters that are subject to Qualified Majority Voting.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department has been outvoted by Qualified Majority Voting in the Council of Ministers; and if she will list the legislation by year. [117241]

Mr. Caborn: This Department has not been outvoted by Qualified Majority Voting in the Council of Ministers.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department indicated dissent from a proposal in the Council of Ministers but did not register a vote or abstention. [117256]

Mr. Caborn: On no occasion has this Department registered dissent from a proposal that has been voted on in the Council of Ministers.

London Olympic Bid

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from what budget the salary for the leader of the London Olympic Bid comes; and how many days a week the leader of the Bid will be contracted to work. [120171]

Mr. Caborn: The salary for the leader of the London Olympic Bid will come from the joint provision set aside by the Government and the London Development Agency to cover the costs of the bid. It is envisaged that the leader of the Bid will be contracted to work a two to three-day week, although this is likely to be flexible to reflect changing pressures of work and to meet priorities and needs.

Sport England

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been allocated for redundancies and early retirement at (a) Sport England and (b) UK Sport for (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2003–04. [119950]

Mr. Caborn: The figures requested are shown in the following table:

£

	2002–03 (Actual)	2003–04 (Plans)
Sport England	—	7,236,000
UK Sport	767	25,000

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Voluntary Organisations

Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding programmes are operated by her Department to support voluntary organisations working with young people; and what the level of support has been in each of the last three years. [120531]

Mr. Caborn: We will be paying £134,000 this year, as we have done for each of the previous two years, to Community Service Volunteers (CSV) for the Lending Time project—involving volunteers in public libraries. The Home Office will also be putting in £134,000 for each of these years.

SCOTLAND

Reshuffle

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice he offered on the designation of officials in his Department in (a) correspondence and (b) communications issued on Friday 13 June. [120676]

Mr. Darling: None.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Infanticide (Mothers)

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Solicitor General what plans she has to change the way in which the criminal justice system deals with mothers accused of murdering their children; and if she will make a statement. [119933]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to apply the two-stage test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors—namely, whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction and whether a prosecution is required in the public interest. In the light of the Sally Clark judgment the Crown Prosecution Service is issuing guidance to all Chief Crown Prosecutors instructing that the defence should be made aware of the criticisms of the Court of Appeal should any future case involving Dr. Williams or Professor Meadow arise. The CPS is also involved in a number of working groups that are considering the work of expert witnesses.

Staff Numbers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor General how many staff were employed by her Department in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [106971]

The Solicitor-General: A holding reply was given on 7 April.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) on 4 April 2003, Official Report, column 891W.

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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Fallen Stock

Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to visit south Cumbria to discuss the operation of the fallen livestock disposal scheme. [119337]

Ben Bradshaw [holding answer 17 June 2003]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to visit south Cumbria for this purpose. However we have regular meetings with stakeholders to discuss this issue.

Common Agricultural Policy

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on developing country producers of EU enlargement, with particular reference to the payment of production-related subsidies to accession country farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy. [119007]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 16 June 2003]: Enlargement will bring important benefits for developing countries. The new member states will take on EU partnership and co-operation agreements, and will therefore provide expanded access for developing countries under preferential and free trade arrangements, the EU's Generalised System of Preferences and the "Everything But Arms" scheme. Overall, enlargement will give access to a larger single market of up to half a billion people, with one set of rules and regulations applying throughout.

However, enlargement will not alter the conclusion that the CAP as it stands has a detrimental impact on developing countries. The government are committed to CAP reform as a key element towards their goal of a more sustainable agriculture. A fundamentally reformed and market-oriented CAP would benefit developing countries, as well as farmers, consumers, the environment, and taxpayers in both old and new EU member states.

Computers

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) computers, (b) computer printers and (c) other computing equipment were (i) purchased, (ii) disposed of by (A) landfill, (B) incineration and (C) other means, (iii) recycled and (iv) reused, broken down by households and businesses in the last year for which figures are available. [119066]

Mr. Morley: These figures are not collected centrally. However, a report by the Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling (ICER) suggests that in 1998, 225,000 tonnes of IT and LAN equipment were discarded. Of that, about 20 per cent. by weight was sent for reuse or recycling. This report is currently being updated and revised figures will be available shortly.

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GM Crops

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers she has to accept or reject the advice of the Advisory Committee on Releases into the Environment with respect to proposed GM releases into the environment. [119076]

Mr. Morley: The Advisory Committee on Releases into the Environment is the statutory committee appointed under section 124(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to advise my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on the exercise of her powers in granting consents for the release of genetically modified organisms and other relevant matters. The Secretary of State may accept or reject the advice of the committee, but decisions must be based on an assessment of risks to human health or the environment and other criteria set out in the legislation and are open to challenge through the courts.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received regarding the licensing of GM crops for commercial use from (a) farming organisations, (b) supermarkets, (c) other Governments and (d) others. [119257]

Mr. Morley: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and Defra Ministers and officials regularly receive representations on GM crops from a wide range of stakeholders, including farming organisations, supermarkets, other Governments and others. No central record is kept of these communications.

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