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18 Nov 2004 : Column 1896W—continued
Pensions Protection Fund
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement on the Pensions Protection Fund, of 8 November 2004, Official Report, column 20WS, what estimate he has made of the amount of liability that would not be borne by the Pension Protection Fund if schemes which had had an insolvency event before the Pension Protection Fund is launched were to be excluded. [198059]
Malcolm Wicks: The Pensions Bill has always made it clear that in order for a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period to start, an eligible pension scheme must not have commenced wind-up prior to the introduction of the PPF. The sponsoring employer of the scheme must also have a qualifying insolvency event after the introduction of the PPF.
This position has not changed. The statement on 8 November simply made it clear that if the sponsoring employer had experienced any insolvency events prior to the introduction of the PPF this would not in itself disqualify the scheme from entering the PPF.
It is not possible to calculate the amount of liability that would not be borne by the PPF if the PPF were to exclude schemes whose sponsoring employers had an insolvency event before the PPF is launched. This is because we cannot second-guess what will happen in the complicated insolvency proceedings which will
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ultimately determine both whether the PPF eligibility criteria will be met, and the level of liabilities which will fall to the PPF.
Private Finance Initiatives
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the private finance initiative arrangements in which the Department is engaged; what the total cost of each arrangement is (a) over its lifetime and (b) in each year of its operation; and how the arrangement appears in the Department's public accounts. [193974]
Jane Kennedy: The Department for Work and Pensions is currently engaged in nine PFI initiatives. These are a combination of: (i) those let to April 2001 by the former Department for Social Security and the former Employment Service, which were executive agency's of the then Department for Education and Employment; and (ii) those let subsequently by the DWP. Contract costs for IS/IT initiatives are not provided because of commercial confidentiality. This is in line with paragraph 13, part 2 of the code of practice of Access to Government Information.
The Department's PFI initiatives and annual expenditure are all disclosed in the Department's Resource Accounts. This information is recorded in the operating cost statement. There is also a section
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"Commitments under PFI Contracts" that lists all the PFI contracts and discloses the total payments to which the Department is committed in the next financial year.
Where a PFI deal is specific to an Executive Agency it is also disclosed within the Agency accounts.
The Department's Resource Account can be accessed at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2004/res_acc/report.pdf
The Agencies Annual Reports can be accessed at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre/index.asp
All documents are available in the Library.
The Department does not have any on-balance sheet PFI contracts.
Public Awareness Campaigns
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 July 2004, Official Report, columns 452–54W, on public awareness campaigns, on what evidence his assessment is based in each case; and if he will place the relevant research in the Library. [196653]
Maria Eagle: The following table sets out a summary of campaigns and the evidence used to assess effectiveness. Copies of the reports on the Targeting Fraud Campaign, Disability Discrimination Act research and Pension Credit research are available in the Library. However, information on smaller campaigns is not generally collated into a single document and so could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Public Health Act
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the number of disused petrol stations which do not meet the requirements of the Public Health Act 1961; how many improvement notices have been issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; and what further steps are planned to deal with the potential detrimental effects to the environment of disused petrol stations. [192308]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
The local Petroleum Licensing Authority enforces the safety of disused petrol stations. There is no statutory obligation on them to keep records of how many sites do not meet the requirements of the Public Health Act 1961. There is also no statutory obligation on them to keep records on how many improvement notices they have issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to disused petrol stations. As such, it is not possible to provide the statistics requested.
The DEFRA groundwater protection code on filling stations contains advice on decommissioning underground storage tanks and the Environment Agency has powers to enforce the code. In general, the Agency expects risks to groundwater from decommissioned tanks to be lower than from active tanks since, at worst, only residual fuel would be likely to remain. The Environment Agency's risk-based approach to groundwater protection and improvement will be taken forward under the Water Framework Directive. Local authorities also have duties under Part 11A of the Environmental Protection Act to identify contaminated land and secure remediation which may involve the Environment Agency.
Public Relations
Mr. Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department on public relations in each of the past three years. [186208]
Maria Eagle:
The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the former Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. Information on costs prior to June 2001 is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The available information is in the table.
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| Press office/Public relations (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 (from June 2001) | 816,725 |
| 2002–03 | 1,739,935 |
| 2003–04 | 1,482,811 |
Notes:
1. Figures represent the salary costs for press officers.
2. The increase between 2001–02 and 2002–03 coincided with the creation of the regional press office network, which was drawn from existing Employment Service and Benefits Agency communications staff.
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