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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 28 October 2004
SCOTLAND
New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many personnel the Department has recruited under the new deal in each of the past five years. [194478]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office has employed seven staff under the new deal in the past five years. Details are given in the following table.
| Number of new deal appointments | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 2 |
| 2001–02 | 3 |
| 2002–03 | — |
| 2003–04 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | 1 |
WALES
Meirionnydd Nant Conwy
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last visited the constituency of Meirionnydd Nant Conwy; and what the purpose was of that visit. [192214]
Mr. Hain: My last official engagement in Meirionnydd Nant Conwy was in August 1997 as a Welsh Office Minister when I had the great pleasure of attending that year's National Eisteddfod.
More recent visits to North Wales have taken me through the great beauty of the hon. Members constituency and if he has any specific suggestions for a ministerial visit I would be only to pleased to consider these.
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State stayed in Dolgellau in the hon. Gentleman's constituency during an official visit in January 2003.
New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many personnel the Department has recruited under the new deal in each of the past five years. [194476]
Mr. Touhig:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Ruth Kelly
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The size of the Wales Office and nature of its business means that it does not recruit directly but takes its staff mostly from the National Assembly for Wales and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Grey Visitor Passes
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) how many grey visitor passes have been issued to visitors to the parliamentary estate since they were introduced; [194316]
(2) how many grey visitor passes issued to visitors to the parliamentary estate have been lost since they were introduced; and what efforts have been made to recover them; [194317]
(3) what measures are in place to ensure that grey visitor passes issued to visitors to the parliamentary estate are successfully retrieved from visitors when they leave the parliamentary estate. [194318]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: It is not the practice of the House of Commons Commission to publish details of the operation of security arrangements on the parliamentary estate.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Agrimonetary Compensation (Buckingham)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in the Buckingham constituency have received agrimonetary compensation since 2002; and what the total amount is that has been paid out. [189853]
Alun Michael: Agrimonetary compensation payments to farmers in Buckinghamshire in respect of numbers and amount since 2002.
| EAGGF year | Number | Amount (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 778 | 493,832.00 |
| 2003 | 321 | 18,465.73 |
European agriculture guarantee and guidance fund years run from 16 October to 15 October.
Within the regional classification used by the EC (Nomenclature des unites territoriales statistiques (NUTS)) there is no code for Buckingham only for Buckinghamshire.
The figures are therefore for Buckinghamshire.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Illegal Trading
25. Mr. Watts: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance she gives to the Crown Prosecution Service on prosecutions for illegal trading. [194088]
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The Solicitor-General: The term illegal trading covers a range of possible criminal offences which may be prosecuted by a number of public prosecuting authorities, including the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and local authorities. The Crown Prosecution Service will apply the guidance contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors when deciding whether or not to prosecute in individual cases.
CPS Prosecutions (Blackpool)
26. Mr. Jack: To ask the Solicitor-General what studies she has undertaken of recent trends in Crown Prosecution Service prosecutions in criminal cases in Blackpool. [194089]
The Solicitor-General: Measured by unsuccessful outcomes, the CPS Unit responsible for prosecutions in the Fylde/Blackpool area of Lancashire has been performing well in comparison to other parts of the county, and in comparison to England and Wales more generally.
Domestic Violence Courts
27. Julie Morgan: To ask the Solicitor-General what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing the number of specialist domestic violence courts. [194090]
The Solicitor-General: Independent evaluation of five of the existing specialist domestic violence courts has been extremely positive. The Government intends to take forward the recommendation to increase the number of such courts in England and Wales.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Analogue Switch-off
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage in terms of area of (a) the UK and (b) Scotland will have digital television coverage by 31 December (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006. [193679]
Estelle Morris: Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) coverage figures are calculated by households covered rather than geographical area. At present 82 per cent. of households in Scotland are covered by DTT compared to 73 per cent. for the UK as a whole and this percentage cannot be increased before Switchover.
Though it is not possible to give an accurate prediction of future DTT coverage in Scotland and the UK, public service broadcasters are required to match substantially the same level of analogue coverage (98.5 per cent.), with digital. No specific dates for Switchover have been set, but the Government and Ofcom believe that digital switchover could start to happen as early as 2007 and be completed by 2012.
Drug Abuse (Football)
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Football Association regarding sanctions for footballers testing positive for drugs. [194411]
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Mr. Caborn: There have been no formal discussions between DCMS Ministers and the Football Association in the last 12 months about sanctions for footballers testing positive for prohibited substances.
Listed Buildings
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what account is taken of the impact that listing particular buildings will have on local regeneration when the decision is made about whether they should be listed; [194038]
(2) what action she is taking to ensure that decisions about listing buildings take into account the impact their listing will have on local regeneration; and if she will make a statement. [194039]
Mr. Caborn: The listing criteria, as set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (PPG 15), only allow the Secretary of State to consider the special architectural or historic interest of the buildings.
Local regeneration cannot be taken into consideration.
Comments received in response to our consultation document, Protecting our Historic Environment: Making the System Work Better, supported the principle that the Secretary of State should not be able to take account of wider considerations.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many buildings have been listed in each of the last 10 years. [194046]
Mr. Caborn: We are able only to provide reliable figures for the last five years. These are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 900 |
| 2001 | 742 |
| 2002 | 649 |
| 2003 | 721 |
| 2004 | (1)465 |
(1) To October 2004.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications for listing buildings have been turned down in each of the last 10 years. [194047]
Mr. Caborn: We are able only to provide reliable figures for the last five years. These are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,317 |
| 2001 | 1,375 |
| 2002 | 1,183 |
| 2003 | 1,255 |
| 2004 | 1,164 |
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