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HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Ex-Members
Tom Cox:
To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what facilities an ex-Member of the House
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of Commons who holds an ex-Member's pass is able to use within the Palace of Westminster; and if he will make a statement. [196730]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: An ex-Member's pass allows the holder to use the Terrace Cafeteria and the Strangers' Bar and, on Monday lunchtimes only, the Members' Dining Room (the smaller of the two) in the House of Commons.
Green Travel Plan
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what plans he has to introduce a green travel plan for the parliamentary estate to include hon. Members. [196982]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Travel arrangements made by hon. Members to or from the parliamentary estate are not primarily the responsibility of the House of Commons Commission. Cycle parking facilities are provided on the estate for hon. Members, their staff and staff of the House of Commons. In the past year, former Member's car parking bays in Star Chamber Court have been converted into cycle parking racks, and additional racks have been provided outside 7 Millbank.
WALES
Departmental Events (Funding)
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the (a) conferences, (b) publications, (c) initiatives, (d) projects and (e) receptions organised by his Department which have received funding from outside commercial bodies since May 1997, broken down by (i) funding body and (ii) amount paid. [196602]
Mr. Touhig:
None.
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Departmental Publications (Accessibility)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of publications issued by his Department are available in (a) Braille, (b) autoprint, (c) large print and (d) easy read format. [194301]
Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office has never been requested to provide any of its publications in any of these formats. In the event that such a request was received, the Office would endeavour to meet it.
Theft and Fraud
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. [191423]
Mr. Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Wales to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 21 January 2003, Official Report, column 73W.
The Wales Office was established on 1 July 1999. The Wales Office does not sponsor any agencies or non-departmental public bodies.
Since this time, there has been no reported theft or fraud against this office.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Departmental Staff
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of the staff in his Department in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003 were people with disabilities. [196126]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member for Buckingham to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 9 November 2004, Official Report, column 619W.
Development Awareness Fund
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has spent on the Development Awareness Fund. [197201]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: Since 1998–99 a total of £27.6 million has been spent on the Development Awareness Fund.
| Amount spent (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 1.5 |
| 1999–2000 | 3.0 |
| 2000–01 | 5.0 |
| 2001–02 | 5.4 |
| 2002–03 | 6.2 |
| 2003–04 | 6.5 |
| Total | 27.6 |
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Nigeria
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions the Government have had with the Nigerian Government on the implementation of the UK's Country Assistance Plan in Nigeria. [197202]
Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development has carried out extensive consultations on the new Nigeria Country Assistance Plan (CAP) with the Nigerian Government, both at federal and state level. We have also consulted widely with the private sector and civil society organisations. Discussions have included the Minister of Finance, the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, other members of the Economic Reform Team, the National Planning Commission, the Nigerian High Commission in London, and various federal Government agencies. State and local governments were consulted in a series of meetings held across the country. I personally met with a range of government representatives during my visit to Nigeria in September.
We will continue to work closely with our Nigerian partners in Government, Civil Society, the Private Sector and the Nigerian Diaspora as we move to implement the new CAP.
I will arrange for a document entitled "Report on the Outcomes of DFID Nigeria's CAP Consultation with Key Stakeholders in Nigeria and the UK" to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
CHP
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the new energy efficiency commitment being used to stimulate the market for micro-combined heat and power and domestic heat pumps. [195183]
Mr. Morley: The consultation exercise on proposals for the Energy Efficiency Commitment after 2005 received a number of suggestions for the inclusion of an incentive for innovative technologies. The consultation period closed on 13 August. Following the formal consultation process, we received a number of representations from Members of Parliament in support of a specific amendment to the Order. They hoped that their proposal would assist the promotion of new energy efficient technologies, such as domestic heat pumps and micro combined heat and power.
We have been considering all suggestions as part of the development of the draft legislation for the next phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment to be laid before Parliament shortly.
Coastal Defences
Mr. Gummer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Culture,
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Media and Sport and (b) English Heritage concerning the weighting given to heritage in the calculation of need for coastal defences. [193493]
Mr. Morley: I have had no direct discussion on this issue with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
However English Heritage, as the Government's statutory adviser on matters concerning the conservation of England's historic built environment, was consulted during development of guidance on environmental appraisal of flood and coastal defence projects and of the scoring system for prioritising such projects for Defra grant aid. English Heritage is also represented on Defra's Stakeholder Forum to inform the Government's new Strategy for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management.
Economic justification for proposed defences should as far as possible take into account benefits arising from protection of all assets, including heritage assets. Higher benefits in relation to costs will tend to increase a proposed project's priority score
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and, additionally, a specific allowance is made for protection of heritage assets in the scoring system. It is important to note that the priority scoring system does not attempt to determine the need for defences in an absolute sense but to prioritise proposed projects so that finite funding is allocated to best effect nationally.
Cattle Farming (Payments)
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been paid out under (a) the Beef Special Premium Scheme, (b) the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme, (c) the Slaughter Premium, (d) the Over 30 Scheme and (e) the Beef National Envelope in each county in England in 2003–04; and if she will make a statement. [193847]
Alun Michael: The total amount paid out under the (a) Beef Special Premium Scheme (BSPS), (b) Suckler Cow Premium Scheme (SCPS), (c) Slaughter Premium Scheme (SPS), (d) Over 30 Month Scheme (OTMS), and the (e) Beef National Envelope (BNE) for each county in England for the 2003 scheme year is as detailed in the following table:
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