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24 Mar 2005 : Column 960W—continued
Stamp Duty Exemption
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which electoral wards in (a) Cleethorpes and (b) Great Grimsby constituencies qualify for stamp duty exemption. [223459]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
The following wards, as at 7 May 1998, are qualifying areas for stamp duty land tax disadvantaged areas relief.
Relief is available for purchases of residential property in qualifying areas where the consideration does not exceed £150,000.
Surplus Assets Sales
Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the value of sales of surplus assets from his Office was in each year since 2000–01. [220985]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established on 29 May 2002. The value of the sales of assets is shown in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's published accounts.
HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Energy Use
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1417–18W, on energy use, what target has been set for energy use for financial year 2005–06; if he will list the members of the Energy Savers group on the parliamentary estate; on what dates this group met; and what the outcome was of each meeting. [222396]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: I have written to the hon. Member.
Escalators
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what factors have led to the conclusion that escalators on the parliamentary estate should not be set to a motion-activated setting. [222268]
Sir Archy Kirkwood:
The escalators at Portcullis House are not currently motion-activated for reasons of safety and the high traffic rate during working hours.
24 Mar 2005 : Column 961W
They are put to manual control outside sitting hours. The escalator to the underground car park remains on motion-activated setting.
Motor Vehicles
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many motor vehicles are owned and operated by the House authorities on the House of Commons estate. [222250]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Two vehicles are owned and operated by the authorities on the House of Commons estate: an electric-powered delivery van owned by the Refreshment Department and a delivery van owned by the Works Services Directorate of the Serjeant at Arms Department.
Parliamentary Estate
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many extra buildings and what additional square feet of office space has been acquired by the parliamentary estate in each year since 1975. [222397]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: Acquisitions on the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate since 1975 are as follows:
During that time some property was disposed of.
Water Usage
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2004, Official Report, column 1142W, on water usage, what the budget for water economy investments and energy-saving measures have been for each year, in real terms, since 1997, broken down by measure. [222333]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: The annual cash budgets for tactical energy saving measures were:
| Cash budget (£) | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 50,000 |
| 1998–99 | 50,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 25,000 |
| 2000–01 | 50,000 |
| 2001–02 | 30,000 |
| 2002–03 | 30,000 |
| 2003–04 | 30,000 |
| 2004–05 | 30,000 |
24 Mar 2005 : Column 962W
The sum is not allocated in advance to specific measures.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum claims from Burmese citizens are outstanding. [223689]
Mr. Browne: Information on asylum claims outstanding by nationality is unavailable and could be produced only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
9,800 cases were awaiting an initial decision at the end of December 2004, the lowest level for more than a decade; of these 5,300 cases were work in progress i.e. the application had been outstanding for six months or less.
As at 31 December 2004, there were an estimated 5,000 appeals lodged with the Home Office which had not been sent to the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA); a proportion of appeals lodged do not result in appeal bundles being sent to the IAA. The total asylum work in progress in the IAA as at 31 December 2004 was 21,600 (10,300 at the Adjudicator Tier, 6,200 applications for permission to appeal to the Tribunal, and 5,200 Tribunal Appeals).
Information on the number of cases awaiting an initial decision or appeal outcome is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Correspondence
David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall, North dated 16 February regarding a constituent, ref. M4496/5. [223342]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 22 March 2005]: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 23 March 2005.
Early Release Schemes
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the earliest possible release time is of a prisoner convicted of a standard list offence, assuming eligibility for all of the early release schemes, having been sentenced to (a) four months', (b) six months', (c) 10 months', (d) 12 months', (e) 18 months', (f) 24 months', (g) four years', (h) six years' and (i) eight years' detention. [217728]
Paul Goggins:
Under the provisions contained in Section 34A of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, eligible prisoners serving sentences of between three months and under four years may be considered for release under the Home Detention Curfew Scheme (HDC). The time the prisoner will spend under curfew is tapered according to the length of sentence. Prisoners must serve a quarter of the sentence in custody subject to a minimum of 30 days before they can be released on HDC. The earliest release dates for eligible prisoners is set out in the following table.
24 Mar 2005 : Column 963W
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee for the Implementation of the Programme of Exchanges, Training and Co-operation Between Law Enforcement Authorities (OISIN) met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [217815]
Caroline Flint: The Oisin funding programme expired on 31 December 2002. The Management Committees last met on 23 and 24 July 2002 to agree the successful projects for funding for that final year. They have since been replaced by a single funding programme known as AGIS.
During the period 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2004 the AGIS Management Committee met three times. On 14 October 2003 it met to discuss the draft annual work programme and call for bids for 2004. On 27 May 2004 it discussed the evaluation of bids for 2004. On 16 September 2004 it met to discuss the draft annual work programme and call for bids for 2005.
Before each meeting the Home Office conducted preparatory consultations with past bidders, stakeholders, agencies and devolved administrations to discuss the UK's position in the Committee.
The Committee meetings take place in Brussels. The UK is generally represented at meetings of these Committees by Home Office officials and an official from the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.
The composition of the UK delegation is always agreed beforehand and it is possible for Scottish Executive officials to attend meetings of the Committees as part of the British delegation.
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