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23 Mar 2005 : Column 876W—continued
Transport
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what steps have been taken to encourage (a) hon. Members and (b) staff of the House to travel to the parliamentary estate other than by private motor vehicle. [222092]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: The House of Commons Commission recognises the benefits to all those who come to the House using means other than private cars where convenient for them to do so. There are at present some 100 cycle parking spaces on the parliamentary estate and public cycle parking nearby on Millbank. In addition there are plans to reorganise parking arrangements in Star Chamber Court which will create some 15 additional cycle parking spaces. Interest free loans for annual public transport season tickets are also available for staff of the House as are bicycle loans.
Waste
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) if he will estimate the total volume of waste that has been produced each year since 1975; and how much was (a) food and other organic waste, (b) paper products, (c) printer products and (d) plastic packaging; [222254]
(2) what the total volume of waste produced on the parliamentary estate was in each year since 1975, broken down by (a) amount produced and (b) amount recycled. [222328]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Data are available since 2002–03 for the total weight of waste, the weight of waste paper products recycled and the weight of other products recycled. Separate figures are not available for food, printer products or plastic packaging.
| Total weight of waste | Weight of paper products recycled | Weight of other products recycled | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 1,478 | 263 | 311 |
| 2003–04 | 2,319 | 379 | 229 |
| 2004–05 to January | 1,517 | 273 | 138 |
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many tonnes of waste produced from the parliamentary estate were incinerated in each of the last five years; and if he will estimate how many tonnes of (a) carbon dioxide and (b) other pollutants are produced as a result. [222326]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Approximately 1,700 tonnes of waste from the parliamentary estate were incinerated to generate electricity in 2003–04. The data is not available to calculate the tonnes of carbon dioxide or other pollutants produced as a result.
Water Usage
Norman Baker:
To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of
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Commons Commission pursuant to his answer of 15 December 2004, Official Report, column 1142W, on water usage, (1) what volume of water he estimates has been saved from the water conservation measures implemented by the House authorities in each year since such measures were implemented; [222076]
(2) what improvements have been made in Portcullis House to reduce the amount of water drawn from the boreholes; and if he will estimate what volume of water has been conserved as a result of these improvements in each year since the building was first occupied; [222251]
(3) what targets have been set to reduce water consumption on the parliamentary estate; and what progress has been made in meeting them. [222329]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Our target is to reduce water use. At Portcullis House, borehole water use has been reduced from an average of 710,000 cubic metres for each of the two years 2002 and 2003 to 350,000 cubic metres in 2004. This reduction was achieved by reducing the rate of pumping, following changing the original control settings.
For the estate generally between 1997–98 and 2003–04 water consumption increased by some 70,000 cubic metres per annum. It is not possible to separate the estimated effect of conservation measures on one hand from the effect of increased numbers of people working on the estate on the other hand.
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to his answer of 15 December 2004, Official Report, column 1142W, on water usage, what volume of water has been saved on the parliamentary estate as a result of (a) the fitting of detectors to urinal cisterns to prevent unnecessary automatic flushing and (b) the fitting of flush volume reduction devices or dual flush equipment to other cisterns and lavatories. [222252]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: It is not practicable to make such an estimate.
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what use is made of grey water on the parliamentary estate; and what future plans have been made for its use. [222330]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Grey water is used in Portcullis House for flushing lavatories. There are no plans for other use of grey water on the estate.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefit Processing
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long the average processing time was for an application for payment of (a) carers' allowance, (b) disability living allowance and (c) jobseeker's allowance in the last year for which figures are available; and what his Department's target is for processing each of these benefits. [223489]
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Maria Eagle: The administration of carer's allowance and disability living allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran and the administration of jobseeker's allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of Job Centre Plus.
Mr. Moran will provide a co-ordinated response and write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Terry Moran to Mr. Parmjit Singh Gill, dated 23 March 2005:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Disability and Carers Service and Jobcentre Plus.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long the average processing time was for an application for payment of a) carer's allowance, b) disability living allowance and c) jobseeker's allowance in the last year for which figures are available; and what his Departments target is for processing each of these benefits.
The year to date, as at December 2004, actual average clearance time for claims for carer's allowance was 16.8 days with an actual average clearance target of 24 days.
The year to date, as at December 2004, actual average clearance time for claims for disability living allowance was 36.7 days with an actual average clearance target of 39 days.
The year to date, as at December 2004, actual average clearance time for claims to disability living allowance using the special rules criteria was 5.8 days with an actual average clearance target of 8 days.
The year to date, as at December 2004, actual average clearance time for claims to jobseeker's allowance was 12 days with an actual average clearance target of 12 days.
Child Support Scheme/Agency
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects statistics on the new child support scheme to become available; whether the statistics on the new child support scheme produced within the Child Support Agency progress report of 28 October 2004 were quality assured; and if he will make a statement on the status of previous statistics produced on the new child support system. [223485]
Malcolm Wicks: Statistics on the 'new scheme' are already available and are regularly reported and published in my right hon. Friend's progress report; last presented on 28 October 2004.
The published information provided the most current available data. The Child Support Agency has since, as a result of in-depth investigations, identified some anomalies in this information.
The next progress report is due to be published on 24 March 2005 and identifies revisions in the information as a consequence of the agency's findings. A copy of the progress report will also accompany the Government response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Bassetlaw residents have claimed Child Support Agency maintenance payments, but have yet to receive them. [222726]
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Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. John Mann, dated 23 March 2005:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Bassetlaw residents have claimed Child Support Agency maintenance payments but have yet to receive them.
The information requested is not available, as data on Child Support Agency claims for maintenance payments is not recorded at constituency level.
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