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8 Jan 2007 : Column 259W—continued
Rowing
David Heyes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects agreement between the Amateur Rowing Association, FISA and Sport England on boat buoyancy to be reached. [113407]
Mr. Caborn: The DCMS has asked Sport England to commission an independent review of rowing safety which will include an assessment of the issue of boat buoyancy. To date the terms of reference for the review remain to be agreed with the key stakeholders. Once this has been achieved the process of consultation and research will commence. At this stage it is not know when the review will report.
Royal Events
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what events have been planned to commemorate the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2007. [113432]
Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is not currently involved in preparations for any events to commemorate the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2007.
A crown piece to celebrate the diamond wedding anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip will be available in 2007.
Any further announcements will be made closer to the time.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what events have been planned to mark the Diamond Jubilee of HM the Queen in 2012. [113482]
Mr. Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Culture gave him on 30 March 2006, Official Report, column 1156W.
Sports Coaching
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time community sports coaches were employed at the end of 2006; and if she will make a statement. [113477]
Mr. Caborn: At the end of December 2006 funding awards have been made to support 3,245 community sports coach posts. Current data from Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust shows that 2,856 community sports coach posts are operational, of which 701 are full time and 2,155 part-time positions.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in how many sports national coaching certificates were implemented, broken down by sport. [113478]
Mr. Caborn: The following sports have been endorsed to deliver UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC), formerly the National Coaching Certificate, qualifications at the following levels:
| Level | |
Sports coach UK’s Coaching Standards Group, responsible for endorsing UKCC qualifications, will consider revised qualifications submitted from a further six sports by the end of February 2007.
Telephone Services
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps Ofcom is taking to inform the public of the cost of 0871 numbers. [108538]
Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
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 Library of the House.
Trooping the Colour
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the personal Commonwealth flag of Queen Elizabeth II will be displayed at the Trooping the Colour in 2007. [113658]
Mr. Caborn: The personal Commonwealth flag of Queen Elizabeth II is not flown at Trooping the Colour as it is only flown when Her Majesty visits Commonwealth countries.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the flags from all the (a) Crown Dependencies and (b) Overseas Territories will be displayed at the Trooping the Colour in 2007. [113659]
Mr. Caborn: The flags from the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories will not be displayed at Trooping the Colour in 2007, as only the flags of the Commonwealth countries are flown. The Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are not member states of the Commonwealth.
Union Flag
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on which occasions the Union Flag is flown from Government department buildings. [113690]
Mr. Caborn: The Union Flag is flown on Government Department buildings on the following 16 appointed occasions.
The Birthday of The Countess of Wessex
Her Majesty's Accession
The Birthday of the Duke of York
The Birthday of The Earl of Wessex
Commonwealth Day
The Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen
St. George's Day
Europe Day
Coronation Day
The Birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh
The Official Celebration of Her Majesty's birthday
The Birthday of The Duchess of Cornwall
The Birthday of The Princess Royal
Remembrance Sunday
The Birthday of The Prince of Wales
Her Majesty's Wedding Day
The Union Flag is also flown to mark certain other ad hoc occasions including State Visits, State Opening of Parliament and, the deaths of Heads of State. Different guidance is in place for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Visitor Economy
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on providing a sector needs analysis for visitor economy; and if she will make a statement. [113468]
Mr. Woodward: People 1st (the Sector Skills Council for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries) recently undertook a comprehensive Skill Needs Assessment as part of their ‘Sector Skills Agreement’ (SSA) process. This is a major DfES policy area designed to create a demand led system of education and training.
The Sector Skills Agreement has five stages, the first of which is the Skills Needs Assessment. This Assessment, undertaken between May and November 2005, looked at the current and future skill needs of the sector through extensive consultation with employers regionally, by industry and across the four UK nations. The research identified management and leadership, customer service and chefs skills as the priority skill areas.
Linked to this, retention was also identified as a priority. The industry has high staff turnover rates, which cost the sector nearly £1 billion each year. The full report and a summary can be found at www.people1st.co.uk.
The second stage is an assessment of the supply of learning, which People 1st undertook between January and June 2006 (consulting with both employers and learning providers). The research revealed the sector employs a high percentage of students and international workers, has weak progression routes, and the majority of employers are confused about both what support is available and how to access it.
The third stage looked at the gap between supply and demand, and is being used to inform the final two stages which involve working with employers and delivery partners to finalise the agreement. Further details will be available when these discussions have concluded.
This research has underpinned the series of Skills Summits that DCMS held with People 1st. These summits are overseeing the development of a National Skills Strategy for the sector (the England arm of the Sector Skills Agreement), which is due for completion in March 2007.
I recently chaired the third summit in this series and launched the UK Skills Passport. The Passport will benefit both employers and employees by providing an entire system of career development and training, and signposting industry to qualifications and funding that meet their needs. A fourth Skills Summit will take place later this spring.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agricultural Shows
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which agricultural shows he expects to attend during 2007. [110149]
Barry Gardiner: The Secretary of State’s diary for 2007 has not yet been finalised. He is due to attend the Oxford Farming Conference on 3 January and will consider invitations to agricultural shows in the light of the Department’s objectives.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much rural payments subsidy was paid to Mr. F. Ainsworth of Rossendale; and what steps his Department is taking to recover that to which he was not entitled. [104864]
Barry Gardiner: Mr. Ainsworth has been a claimant under the rural payments scheme. Recipients of payments to which they are not entitled are subject to the Rural Payments Agency recovery procedures.
Animal Culls
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what culls have been conducted by his Department since May 1997; what (a) costs were involved, (b) compensation was paid and (c) number of animals were killed in each case. [109523]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information on DEFRA's disease surveillance and control policies and activities is available on the Department's website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/default.htm.
Animal Welfare Act
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has put in place to ensure that owners of dogs with naturally bobbed tails will not be prosecuted under Section 6 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. [109646]
Mr. Bradshaw: No specific steps have been taken to ensure that owners of dogs with naturally bobbed tails are not prosecuted. The number of breeds with natural bobs is small and I think it extremely unlikely that an owner of such a dog would be prosecuted under the tail docking ban. Should such a case be brought before the courts, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution to prove that an offence has been committed, and evidence from a veterinary surgeon or breed society is likely to establish the necessary facts.
Badger Culling
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when experiments on controlling cattle TB by badger culling were first begun by his Department; how many badgers have been culled to date; and what the cost of such culls has been. [109521]
Mr. Bradshaw: The only experiment run by DEFRA or MAFF is the randomised badger culling trial (RBCT), which began in 1998. A total of 10,957 badgers were culled during the trial. Culling operations ended in October 2005, with some surveying work continuing into 2006. The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, which oversaw the trial, is now working through an analysis of the data for its final report which is due in 2007.
The RBCT has cost £48 million, which includes the costs of the field trial, analysis and audit.
Badger culling operations prior to the RBCT were badger control strategies—not experiments. Further information on the RBCT, and a history of badger controls, is available on the DEFRA website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/abouttb/badgers.htm.
Bees
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many bee-keeping inspectors are employed by his Department; what assessment he has made of their functions; and if he will make a statement about their future. [109826]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 18 December 2006]: The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Central Science Laboratory, delivers the bee health programme on behalf of DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly Government. Within the NBU, there are eight regional bee inspectors and approximately 36 seasonal bee inspectors led by a national bee inspector. They carry out a targeted apiary inspection programme together with an extensive series of training events for bee keepers.
Work is under way, in consultation with stakeholders, to develop a bee health strategy. This exercise includes reviewing the current programme to determine its effectiveness and assessing future options for achieving our objectives.
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