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23 Nov 2006 : Column 166W—continued
Gambling
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which organisations were consulted by the Gambling Commission in relation to the changes to be levied for a betting shop operations licence. [101464]
Mr. Caborn: A consultation document on gambling operating and personal licence fees was issued jointly by the Department and the Gambling Commission on 20 July 2006. A list of respondents has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.
In addition, the Gambling Commission discussed the document with:
British Gambling Association
British Casino Association
Lotteries Council and Hospice Lotteries Association
British Holiday and Home Parks Association
British Amusement and Catering Trades Association
Small Bookmakers Association
Federation of Racecourse Bookmakers
Gamcare and Responsible Gambling Solutions
Bingo Association
General Municipal and Boilermakers Union, Community and the Transport General Workers Union
Lottery Funding
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) awards and (b) payments have been made from the New Opportunities Fund for physical education and sport since June. [101844]
Mr. Caborn: Since 1 June 2006 the following transactions have taken place:
PE and Sport in School: seven new grants and 46 grant variations;
School Sports Co-ordinators: 98 new grants and 14 variations;
Community sport programmes: 22 new grants made.
The value of awards made during that period has been £21,679,381 and of payments made £82,810,085.
Ministerial Travel
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the occasions since she has held her present office when she has used (a) rail services, (b) the London Underground, (c) tram or light railway services and (d) buses in connection with her ministerial duties. [101985]
Mr. Lammy: Records are not held centrally for the period 2001-05 and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For 2006 details are provided in the following table.
| Number | |
The Department’s Ministers will use public transport wherever practical and possible to complete their official visits. All ministerial travel on official business is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in Travel by Ministers.
National Rate Telephone Lines
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much revenue (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies accrued from national rate telephone lines in each of the last five years. [102621]
Mr. Lammy: My Department does not have any national rate telephone lines which generate revenue.
Olympic Games
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made to ensure that people from deprived areas of the UK benefit from the skills legacy of the 2012 Olympics. [100896]
Mr. Caborn: Government action to help ensure that people from deprived areas of the UK benefit from the skills legacy of the 2012 games includes a programme of activity with Sector Skills Councils to deliver the games’ future skills needs, such as:
Construction Skills—coordinating research and delivery of constructions training where none exists.
People 1st—developing a National Hospitality Skills Academy and UK Skills Passport, which will raise standards of skills and training across the hospitality and tourism industries.
GoSkills—established an employer's forum to discuss and plan transport requirements for the games.
This activity will be complemented by work in the English regions and devolved Administrations, who are producing their own strategies to maximise the games’ skills impact. The London Employment and Skills Taskforce Action Plan was launched in October. In addition, the Olympic Delivery Authority intends to make clear its commitment to requiring and encouraging its suppliers to operate with a competent work force.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has a traffic light system in place for processing parliamentary questions, where questions are categorised using a colour code. [103156]
School Sport
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the £750 million pledged by the Prime Minister to school sport at the 2000 Labour Party Conference has been (a) committed and (b) spent. [101621]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 21 November 2006]: Latest figures from the big lottery fund show that New Opportunities for PE and Sport (NOPES) funding has now been fully committed. 2,780 sports facilities projects across the United Kingdom have benefited and 1,397 (50 per cent.) of these projects are already completed and in use.
To date, £418,900,000 (56 per cent.) has been drawn down by local education authorities.
Defence
9mm Browning Pistol
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress with the trials to replace the 9 mm Browning pistol personal side weapon. [100573]
Mr. Ingram: There are no trials being conducted into potential replacements for the Browning 9 mm pistol. A replacement is not planned until the pistol reaches its out of service date in 2016.
Ammunition Stockpiles
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will conduct a review of the siting of armed forces ammunition stockpiles to increase security and reduce risk of hazard. [101629]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 22 November 2006]: The siting of ammunition stockpiles is routinely reviewed by the Ministry of Defence in order to ensure that stocks are positioned to meet the operational demands of the armed forces. Rigorous application of safety and security policies ensures that safety and security risks are minimised.
Armed Forces
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the submissions to the recent Armed Forces Compensation Scheme consultation. [101068]
Derek Twigg: An evaluation has been carried out of the first year of operation of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme which came into force on 6 April 2005. Views were obtained from ex-service organisations, individual claimants and the staff who administer the scheme. The findings of the evaluation will be set out in a report which will be sent to members of the statutory Central Advisory Committee, established for the purposes of consultation in 1921 when the original War Pensions Scheme was introduced, for their final comment before the report is made available. Once this is complete I intend to publish the report, including placing a copy in the Library. While the evaluation was not a formal consultation exercise, in line with Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation, part of the report will include a summary of key issues identified as part of the consultation process.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) process and (b) timetable is for publishing recommendations from the Armed Forces Pay Review Body. [101324]
Des Browne: The Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body submits their report to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Defence by January each year. An announcement, by means of a written ministerial statement, is made once the Government have considered the Review Body’s recommendations.
Colombia
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance other than de-mining training is provided in Colombia using expenditure earmarked by his Department for military assistance in that country. [101406]
Des Browne:
Current UK military assistance to Colombia is concerned with military education, with a strong emphasis on human rights and with training the Colombian armed forces in Explosive Ordnance Disposal. This comprises humanitarian de-mining and Improvised Explosive Device Disposal training courses, support to
the Columbian process of Military Justice Reform and training to members of the Colombian armed forces engaged in counter-narcotics.
Defence Training Rationalisation Programme
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the affordability of the Defence Training Rationalisation Programme is conditional on it being an off-balance sheet transaction. [101318]
Derek Twigg: The bids for the DTR PPP are currently under consideration. All solutions involve a significant amount of capital construction during the first five years of the contract that would not be affordable if this project were to be procured conventionally or through an on balance-sheet PFI. As with all such investment proposals, however, the primary consideration is whether it would represent better value for money than the alternative options available.
Iraq War
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the amount spent on the war in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [102039]
Des Browne: The costs of operations are calculated on a net additional basis and audited figures are published each year in the MOD’s Annual Report and Accounts.
The total of the annual audited figures for the costs of operations in Iraq for the years 2002-03 to 2005-06 was £4,026 million.
Parachute Regiment
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment and (b) current strength is of each of the three battalions of the Parachute Regiment. [100519]
Derek Twigg: The establishment and current strength of the three battalions of the Parachute Regiment as at 1 October 2006 are as follows:
| Parachute Regiment | Establishment | Strength |
| Notes: 1. The establishment figures refer to the number of posts within a battalion that may be filled by Infantry PARA personnel (officers and soldiers). Therefore, it excludes posts that are filled by attached personnel of other arms and services such as chefs, clerks, etc. 2. Strength figures include members of the regiment serving with the battalion i.e. two Parachute Regiment (two Para) includes Para personnel posted to two Para, it does not include other Infantry personnel serving with the two Para or Para personnel posted away from the regiment. 3. Figures are for trained infantry officers and soldiers and include Para full time reserve service (FTRS) personnel serving with the Parachute Regiments. 4. Strength and Establishment figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Totals are rounded separately and therefore may not equal the sum of their parts. | ||
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) officers and (b) soldiers in the Army are in receipt of parachute pay. [100520]
Derek Twigg: As at 17 November 2006 the number of officers and soldiers in the Army in receipt of parachute pay was:
| Number | |
| Note: These figures do not include Gurkha soldiers. | |
Pensions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many pensions have been in payment to (a) officers retiring after 16 years and (b) others ranks retiring after 16 years in each year since 1990-91; and if he will make a statement. [101142]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of defence spending was on defence pensions in each year since 1980-81; and what he estimates it will be in each of the next five years. [101299]
Derek Twigg: Each year, in its Annual Report and Accounts, the Department provides a figure for the aggregate pension costs incurred in respect of its civilian and Service employees. This has been used to calculate the proportion of defence spending on defence pensions, by reference to the net resource outturn for the financial years 2000-01 to 2005-06 (and an estimate for 2006-07), as follows:
| Proportion of defence pension costs within net resource outturn (percentage) | |
| (1) Estimated | |
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