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3 July 2006 : Column 727W—continued
Welwyn and Hatfield
Wimbledon
Witney
Worcester
National Lottery
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what data are used to assess deprivation for the purposes of the policy directions given by the Government to the Big Lottery Fund on the proportion of the funds that are to be disbursed to Wales. [81659]
Mr. Caborn: Decisions about the allocation of the funding between the nations of the UK are made by the Big Lottery Fund, not the Government. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price) on 16 January 2006, Official Report, column 952W, and to the subsequent letter from the chief executive of the fund, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
School Sport
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress is being made in meeting the two hour sport participation target for school children. [81606]
Mr. Caborn: The National School Sport Strategy Public Service Agreement overall objective is to increase the percentage of 5 to 16-year-olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport, within and beyond the curriculum, to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008.
The 2004-05 school sport survey confirmed the National School Sport Strategy is making good progress—overall, 69 per cent. of pupils in partnership schools participate in two or more hours of high quality PE and school sport each week, an increase of 11 per cent. since the 2003-04 survey. The 2005-06 survey is in progress and the results will be published in the autumn.
Sports Facilities
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what public funding is available to (a) local authorities and (b) other providers for the improvement of sports facilities. [81767]
Mr. Caborn: By the end of 2006, Government and the national lottery distributing bodies will have committed £1 billion to develop new or refurbished public sports facilities through programmes such as the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP), Active England and New Opportunities for PE and Sport. A further £40 million is available for CCDP in the period 2006-08.
Over the next three years, we expect around £1 billion to be available for investment by local authorities on sports services, including sports facilities, and the Building Schools for the Future initiative will provide local education authorities with £6.5 billion for capital investment in secondary schools, part of which will go towards sports facilities.
Terrorism Relief Fund
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has consulted (a) representatives of the travel insurance industry and (b) other insurers on the Terrorism Relief Fund. [82258]
Tessa Jowell: I am due to meet shortly with representatives of the travel insurance industry and hope to do this before the summer recess.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) on what basis payments from the Terrorism Relief Fund will be made; and whether they will be made retrospectively; [82287]
(2) if she will make a further statement on the Terrorism Relief Fund before the House rises for the summer adjournment. [82288]
Tessa Jowell: I continue to work in consultation with the British Red Cross and victims’ groups on the details of exactly how the fund will operate.
I hope to be able to make a further announcement in the coming months.
Electoral Commission Committee
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act
26. Mr. Hands: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what recent representations the Electoral Commission has received regarding section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. [81389]
Peter Viggers: Section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 requires the Electoral Commission to report on the administration of certain elections and referendums. The Commission informs me that it is currently reviewing the way in which it carries out its responsibilities under this section. Following consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, responses have been received from 46 individuals and organisations.
Voter Participation
28. Jo Swinson: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Commission is taking to increase participation by young people in elections. [81391]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it undertakes advertising and other work to increase participation in elections amongst young people. This includes developing educational resources, training youth workers and teachers and making grants to organisations working with young people.
Transparency
Simon Hughes: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what plans the Committee has to meet in public and publish records of all its meetings in full. [81390]
Peter Viggers: The Speaker's Committee has no present plans to meet in public, or to change its practice of publishing summary records of its meetings.
Leader of the House
Deputy Prime Minister
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Leader of the House if he will take steps to establish a Select Committee with responsibility for overseeing the role of the Deputy Prime Minister. [81934]
Parliamentary Papers
Mr. Amess: To ask the Leader of the House if he will make it his policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the (a) Vote Office and (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [81238]
Mr. Straw: Departments regularly deposit papers in the Libraries of the House for the reference of Members and Peers. It is for Departments to assess the level of interest in a deposited paper and in cases where there is likely to be wider interest to provide sufficient copies of the document to the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office accordingly.
Departments are always happy to provide copies of deposited papers to Member and Peers on request.
Church Commissioners
Church Repairs
Miss McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the take-up was of grants to pay for church repairs in 2005-06. [81837]
Sir Stuart Bell: In 2005-6, the English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund joint scheme offered new grants and enhancements to existing grants which together totalled £24,465,309. As far as I am aware, all the offers were accepted.
In addition, grants totalling £999,000 were offered to 26 cathedrals and 24 of these offers (worth £971,000) were accepted.
£12,498,019 was also paid out in England in reimbursement of VAT under the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Tithe Redemption Annuities
Robert Key: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what factors were taken into account when deciding that tithe redemption annuities should cease to be payable. [80964]
Sir Stuart Bell: In 1976 the Government announced that as there were sufficient funds in the tithe account to service the existing redemption stock and, as the costs of administering the scheme were high, tithe redemption annuities should be extinguished. Final payments were to be made in 1976 and 1977. Legislative effect was given to this in the Finance Act 1976. The Board of Inland Revenue handled the matter on the Government's behalf.
Wales
Customs Services
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met Treasury Ministers to discuss (a) the customs coverage at ports and along the coast of Wales and (b) the impact of the disbandment of the Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Team on Wales; and if he will make a statement. [80360]
Mr. Hain: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a wide range of issues.
HM Revenue and Customs keeps the deployment of officers under constant review. Officers are deployed according to risk and, depending on the risk, are stationed at ports either on a permanent or visiting basis.
The work of the Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Team has been subsumed by other intelligence units. These changes have been found to be more efficient and productive. As a consequence Wales will benefit from
improved intelligence relating to imported smuggled goods, whatever method of transport and point of entry is used.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the draft Bills produced by his Department since October 2005; how many were examined or are planned to be examined by (a) a Departmental Select Committee or a combination of Select Committees and (b) a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament; and if he will make a statement; [81652]
(2) if he will list in date order the (a) Green and (b) White Papers produced by his Department since October 2005. [81651]
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the unnumbered command papers produced by his Department in each session since 1976; how (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public can (i) inspect and (ii) obtain copies; and if he will make a statement. [81654]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office was established on 1 July 1999 and has not presented any unnumbered command papers to Parliament since that time.
Welsh Police Forces
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the effect on overall police (a) numbers and (b) funding in Wales of the proposed amalgamation of the four Welsh police forces. [79606]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
The case for the amalgamation of the four police forces in Wales which was published in March suggested that such a force would have 7,613 officers and would lead to total annual savings of around £16 million.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent estimate he has made of the cost of unifying the four police forces in Wales. [79628]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
The estimated set-up cost of a strategic police force for Wales is £35 million. We are committed to paying 100 per cent. of reasonable set-up revenue and capital costs, net of reasonable savings. The precise projected level of these costs and savings is a matter for negotiations currently taking place.
Long-term savings made possible by the merger are currently estimated at around £16 million a year.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent so far on amalgamating the four police authorities in Wales. [79630]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
The costs to the Home Office relating specifically to amalgamation of police forces in Wales cannot be identified separately.
The costs, if any, that police forces and police authorities in Wales have incurred is a matter for the bodies concerned.
Public Accounts Commission
National Audit Office
24. John Mann: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission what assessment the Commission has made of whether the National Audit Office has sufficient resources available to enable it to examine the value for money of claims handling agreements for miners' compensation. [81387]
Mr. Alan Williams: The Comptroller and Auditor General has decided to include an examination of the Coal Health Compensation Schemes in his 2007-08 value for money programme, which will be considered by the Public Accounts Committee on 12 July. Work is planned to begin later this year. The forward National Audit Office programme is a matter for the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee.
Prime Minister
Bus Loans
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Prime Minister whether his Government has lent a double decker bus to (a) organisations, (b) political parties, (c) campaigns and (d) other governments; and if he will make a statement. [81903]
The Prime Minister: The information requested is not held centrally.
Engagements
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Prime Minister whether any Cabinet Ministers plan to be in Germany on official business on (a) 8 and (b) 9 July. [81866]
The Prime Minister: For security reasons, the future engagements of Cabinet Ministers are announced as and when appropriate.
EU Finance
Mr. Brady: To ask the Prime Minister whether he was consulted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer before representations were made to the European Commission in the week commencing 19 June to re-open discussions about the UK abatement. [81821]
The Prime Minister: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
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