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16 May 2006 : Column 855W—continued
The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 (implementing Directive 97/74 which extended to the UK Directive 94/45 on the establishment of European Works Council). These require companies with at least 1,000 employees in total across the member states and at least 150 workers in each of two or more of those member states, to establish structures for consulting workers on issues that affect them.
Since the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force in 1999, further Directives and Regulations have been adopted under Articles 136-139 of Title XI of the EC Treaty, i.e. the “Social Provisions” Chapter.
Job Sharing
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to encourage employers to provide job shares. [69854]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by the Minister for women on 28 February 2006, Official Report, column 658W.
Mobile Telephony
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the land area of the UK is covered by third generation mobile telephony. [69868]
Margaret Hodge: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is the Independent Regulator for the
communications sector, deriving its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from the Secretary of State, and accountable to Parliament in its own right. Accordingly, my officials have asked the chief executive Officer of Ofcom to reply to my hon. friend and to send me a copy of his response. Copies of the chief executive’s letter will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the effect on business of local post offices of the ending of the Post Office card account. [70891]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Post Office Ltd. and Department for Work and Pensions are currently discussing various options to help mitigate any impact on post offices resulting from the end of the Post Office card account.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what average income has accrued to a post office branch from a Post Office card account; [70893]
(2) what the total amount of revenue to a local post office branch from the Post Office card account was in 2005. [70894]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Income received by Post Office Ltd. from a Post Office card account is commercially confidential information.
UK Atomic Energy Authority
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what impact the proposed management buy-out of the UK Atomic Energy Authority will have on the Government's plans for the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus; and if he will make a statement. [70916]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There is no proposed Management Buy Out (MBO) of the UKAEA and the UKAEA is not for sale. However, the Board of UKAEA is overseeing a fundamental restructuring of the organisation in line with Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)'s published strategy and in accordance with UKAEA's published 2005 Corporate Plan.
UKAEA's Board is now transforming UKAEA into three distinct publicly owned entities. UKAEA will in part, continue as a non-departmental public body (NDPB) responsible for fusion research and development at Culham and the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (HSIC). Secondly, UKAEA's nuclear sites at Dounreay, Harwell, Winfrith and Windscale will become companies able to be competed by the NDA. Thirdly we are creating a commercial subsidiary, NewCo, which with its Alliance industry partners CH2MHI11 and AMEC will compete in the future decommissioning market.
The UKAEA Board is considering various options for NewCo's continuing commercial development. Any decisions in this regard will not impact on the HSIC which will continue to form part of the ongoing NDPB.
Wireless Telegraphy Act
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many successful prosecutions there were for offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 in (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05 and (d) 2005-06; and how much was collected in fines arising from such prosecutions in each year; [67626]
(2) how many people have been prosecuted in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland for offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 since 1991; [67627]
Margaret Hodge: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) which is accountable to parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of Houses.
Culture, Media and Sport
Digital Switchover Costs
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research she has commissioned into the likely costs of digital switchover for the BBC. [68071]
Tessa Jowell: Evidence from a variety of different sources, including primary research, will feed into our assessment of the BBC’s future funding needs including costs related to digital switchover. This includes work carried out under the Digital Television Action Plan published in March 2005, the BBC’s own figures and the financial analysis carried out by PKF and set out in their independent report published on26 April.
The Government have carried out a variety of research and drawn on other evidence to inform the development of the assistance scheme for households where one person is 75 or over or has a serious disability, the costs of which will form part of the BBC’s overall switchover costs. Details of the published research and other relevant reports which have fed into the policy development are in the table.
All research carried out by the Government on digital switchover is available at www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk
Licensing Act
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on amending section 147 of the LicensingAct 2003. [69949]
Mr. Woodward: During the Government’s public consultation on “Drinking Responsibly”, some trading standards officers expressed the view that it was difficult to secure convictions against corporate bodies under sections 169A and 169B of the Licensing Act 1964. These are the equivalent offence provisions to those provided by sections 146 and 147 of the Licensing Act 2003, which were given effect on24 November 2005, and which cover the sale of alcohol, and allowing the sale of alcohol, to children.
As a result of these representations, new offence provisions and closure powers relating to the persistent selling of alcohol to children have been included in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which is currently being scrutinised by the House of Lords. If the Bill receives Royal Assent, these new provisions would particularly impact on corporate bodies as well as individuals.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will undertake a review of the implications of licensing costs for village halls and not-for-profit entities; and if she will make a statement. [67302]
Mr. Woodward: An Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel was established by the Government in May last year to consider whether fees had been set at the right level for community groups, businesses and local authorities.
The Panel—which is chaired by Sir Les Elton—published its interim findings on 5 December. This identified a number of areas for more detailed work, including further consideration of the impact of the new regime on not-for-profit organisations and village halls. The full interim report can be accessed on my Department’s website at:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/alcohol_and_entertainment/monitoring_and_evaluation/ifreview.htm
The Panel is continuing to work closely with all stakeholders in order to gather the evidence that will inform their final report, which is due to be published in the autumn.
London 2012 Olympics
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions have taken place between her Department and the British Olympic Association regarding the funding required to train athletes to Olympic standard for entry into every event at the 2012 Olympic games. [71097]
Mr. Caborn: There have been no specific discussions between the Department and the British Olympic Association (BOA) on this issue, but the Department has discussed this with UK Sport. UK Sport is the Government’s lead agency on elite sport and is responsible for funding high performance sport across the United Kingdom.
Lord Moynihan, chairman BOA, did, however, write to the Secretary of State in November 2005 commenting on UK Sport’s submission, developed with the support of the BOA, for additional funding to support our Olympic sports and elite athletes to train and compete at the London 2012 games. In addition, the Secretary of State spoke with Lord Moynihan during the Winter Olympics in Turin.
School Sports
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how much money provided through the School Sports Policy has been allocated to each project; [71104]
(2) how much money was allocated to the School Sports Policy; and how much of that money has been allocated to sports projects. [71105]
Mr. Caborn: Over £459 million has been invested by the Government to support the delivery of the National School Sport Strategy over the three years 2003-04 to 2005-06. The National School Sport Strategy comprises eight individual but interlinked workstrands. The table sets out details of money allocated to these workstrands:
| Budget 2003-04 to 2005-06 | |
| Workstrand | £ million |
In addition to the money allocated to these eight workstrands, funding was also invested in work to enhance Community Club Development (£60 million between 2003-04 and 2005-06), Coaching (£28 million between 2003-04 and 2005-06) and the Sporting Playgrounds programme (£10 million between 2003-04 and 2004-05). All this work is supporting the National School Sport Strategy, and the delivery of the sports public service agreement target.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) individuals and (b) organisations have applied for funding through the School Sports Policy in each year since it was set up; and how many of those applications (i) resulted in an award of funding and (ii) were declined. [71106]
Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department for Education and Skills, are working together to deliver the National School Sport Strategy. We have allocated funding to a number of strategic partners, which include Sport England, Youth Sport Trust, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, and others, to implement the National Strategy programmes.
Between 2003-04 and 2005-06, 306 applications for funding were received to form School Sport Partnerships. All of these were successful, in some cases following further development work on some of the applications.
Defence
Aircraft
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all UK Hercules aircraft are fitted with anti-explosive foam. [70970]
Mr. Ingram: Explosion suppressant foam is not currently fitted to RAF Hercules aircraft, though we have made the decision to fit some of the fleet. The first Hercules fitted with explosion suppressant foam will be available for operational deployment within the next few months.
Army Exercises
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have (a) been killed and (b) seriously injured on exercise in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [58984]
Mr. Ingram: While data relating to soldiers who have died or been seriously injured are recorded centrally, it is not possible within these figures to identify those soldiers who were on exercise at the time of the incident.
Body Armour
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether every serviceman in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan has his or her own body armour. [70241]
Mr. Ingram: All personnel deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan are issued with body armour.
Whether they are wearing it at any time will depend on the security situation in the area they are deployed.
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