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28 Oct 2004 : Column 1306W—continued

Olympic Sports Facilities

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) 50-metre Olympic swimming pools, (b) Olympic standard velodromes and (c) Olympic standard running tracks there are in the UK; and where they are located. [194410]


 
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Mr. Caborn: There are 24 50-metre swimming pools in the UK. Of these, four have the necessary swimming and spectator facilities to host Olympic and other major international competitions. They are located in London (Crystal Palace), Manchester, Sheffield, and Glasgow.

The remaining 20 50-metre pools are located at: Aldershot, Bath, Birmingham, Coventry, Ealing, High Wycombe, Hillingdon, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, Millfield School, Norwich, Portsmouth, Stockport, Tyne and Wear, Wigan, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Stirling, and Swansea.

There are two Olympic standard velodromes in the UK—one each in Newport and Manchester.

There are six running tracks in the UK with sufficient athletics and spectator facilities to host Olympic and other international competitions. These are located in: Gateshead, Sheffield, London (Crystal Palace), Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. The facility in Glasgow is currently being refurbished.

In addition, there are approximately 210 athletics tracks in the UK, which are certified as being of Olympic size and standard but do not have suitable spectator facilities to hold international competitions.

Sports Councils

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the annual Exchequer grant aid awards to (a) UK Sports, (b) the Welsh Sports Council, (c) the Scottish Sports Council, (d) the Northern Ireland Sports Council and (e) Sport England have been in each year since 1996. [194462]

Mr. Caborn: The figures requested are shown in the following table:
UK SportSport England
1996–974,000,00015,679,000
1997–9811,800,00033,730,000
1998–9911,600,00036,489,000
1999–200012,600,00037,523,000
2000–0112,750,00038,323,000
2001–0216,773,00043,162,000
2002–0316,321,00080,324,000
2003–0423,175,00044,572,000
2004–0527,310,00077,052,000



Notes:
1. The figures for 2004–05 show plans. All other figures reflect reported outturn
2. The UK Sports Council and English Sports Council became operational on 1 January 1997 when they superseded the Sports Council of Great Britain.


Support for sport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved responsibility; questions should therefore be directed to each administration.

Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures her Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake to comply with the Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order 2003. [194433]


 
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Mr. Caborn: DCMS is committed to the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. As part of that Framework we are required under Part E Energy—Target E4 to source at least 15 per cent. of electricity from Good Quality Heat and Power by 2010 (allowances will be made for those Departments that already purchase combined purchase 100 per cent. renewable energy). DCMS is not able to source a suitable supply of CHP and has taken the decision to increase its procurement of renewable energy. Our offices at 2–4 Cockspur Street were supplied with a 100 per cent. Green Energy from January 2004 and our office at 179a Tottenham Road was supplied with Green Energy from September 2003. One of our NDPBs, the Science Museum has a small combined heat and power generating station.

TRANSPORT

Air Navigation Charging

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on proposed reforms to the charging system for airlines for the use of air navigation purposes. [193772R]

Charlotte Atkins: The Single European Sky (SES) Regulations, which came into force on the 20 April 2004, require the development of a common charging scheme for the recovery of the costs of air navigation services provided to airlines and other airspace users. An Implementing Rule to specify the details of the new charging scheme is under development by the European Commission but has not yet been finalised.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been done on the possible effects of reform of the charging system for airlines on smaller regional airlines; and what the result was of this research. [193773R]

Charlotte Atkins: The Government has undertaken no research on this matter. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has produced a discussion paper outlining the flaws in the existing en-route charging system and presenting a number of key principles against which reform should be judged. A key theme of the work was that the scheme should be more cost-reflective and that the user should pay for any services used.

Aviation Fuel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what position the Government took at the recent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in respect of (a) the taxing of aviation fuel on planes, (b) the taxing of aviation fuel held in storage at airports, (c) the introduction of en route emissions charges and (d) the proposal that no use of new market mechanisms should take place until at least 2007. [192242]

Charlotte Atkins: At the 35th ICAO Assembly (27 September–8 October) the UK acted as spokesperson for the 41 member states of the European
 
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Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC). We succeeded in getting recognition for the first time that ICAO policy on the exemption of aviation fuel from taxation has been called into question in some States which impose taxes on other transport modes and other sources of greenhouse gases.

More generally, ECAC States succeeded in their aim of keeping open market-based options to tackle the climate change impacts of aviation. The new Assembly Resolution gives us flexibility to continue to pursue the policies set out in the Air Transport White Paper—to press for the inclusion of intra-EU aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme; as well as to explore and discuss options for the use of other economic instruments.

States were urged to refrain from the unilateral implementation of greenhouse gas emissions charges prior to the next regular session of the Assembly in 2007—this was acceptable to ECAC as it represents a realistic time-scale for putting any market-based measures in place.

Flight Overbooking

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce legislation to address overbooking of flights by commercial airlines. [193459]

Charlotte Atkins: On any particular flight there is likely to be a proportion of passengers, mainly from those holding flexible tickets, who do not check in. On the basis of statistical evidence from previous flights, airlines estimate the probable number of no-shows and overbook accordingly. On the great majority of flights no passengers are denied boarding, and by reducing the number of empty seats overbooking keeps fares lower than they would otherwise be. This practice is widely accepted by passenger organisations and by regulators as being in the best interests of consumers generally.

In the comparatively small proportion of cases where denied boarding occurs, existing Community legislation requires Community air carriers to provide prescribed minimum levels of financial compensation, in addition to offering passengers a choice between re-routeing and reimbursement. On 17 February 2005 a new EC Regulation is due to enter force, which will increase the minimum levels of compensation payable to those affected by overbooking and extend cover to passengers on both scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

Government Offices for the Regions

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role Government Offices for the Regions play in (a) the provision of transport and (b) the development of transport infrastructure. [194329]

Charlotte Atkins: The nine Government Offices are the primary vehicle through which a wide range of Government policies are delivered in the English regions. The Government Offices promote Government policies and programmes and use their influence to enable communities in their regions to become better places in which to live, through the effective alignment and delivery of national, regional and local priorities.
 
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On transport, the Government Offices assist in accelerating the delivery of the Secretary of State's national objectives for transport, including delivery of PSA targets in the region, through partnership with DfT and relevant national, regional and local bodies. The Government Offices do not have direct responsibility for the provision of transport infrastructure, but they assist in the development of such infrastructure, for example by:


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