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8 Jan 2007 : Column 374W—continued
In respect of European investment, of the funding that remains to be formally approved under the 2000-06 programme, around £24 million has been allocated for future regeneration projects in Liverpool, although the projects earmarked to take up this funding have yet to be formally appraised and approved.
A further €468 million of European Competitiveness, Phasing-in funding, has been allocated to the whole of Merseyside for the 2007-13 Programming period, of which €281 million is ERDF and €187 million is ESF. At this stage it is not possible to estimate what proportion of the funding will be invested in Liverpool.
In terms of evaluation, each of these European projects have been subject to detailed and rigorous appraisal prior to funding being agreed. After that, during the implementation phase, they are subject to performance monitoring by the responsible agencies and in many cases audit. In addition, the programmes themselves are subject to review and evaluation, in order to ensure they are yielding the outputs and outcomes expected. The effectiveness of each European Programme as a whole is also reviewed at its halfway stage through a comprehensive ‘Mid-term Evaluation’ and on closure through an ‘Ex-post Evaluation’.
All other programmes are subject to monitoring and evaluation to review the effectiveness of the investment, for example, Communities and Local Government have not long concluded an evaluation of the URC, Liverpool Vision.
Renewable Energy
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, column 185W, on renewable energy, what figure this represents as a percentage of total kWh used by her Department; and what plans her Department has to increase the amount of energy acquired from renewable sources. [109786]
Angela E. Smith: On 12 June 2006 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced new sustainable operations targets for the Government Estate. Government Departments are mandated within the new targets to source at least 10 per cent. of electricity from renewables (such as wind, wave, tidal, solar, thermal and photovoltaics (PV’s)) by March 2008.
In the year 2005-06, the amount of renewable energy as a percentage of total kWh used by the Department is as follows:
| Renewable energy consumed (kWh) | |
| Percentage | |
These figures have yet to undergo independent verification and so must be regarded as provisional.
This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Communities and Local Government and its Agencies review the proportion of energy purchased from renewable resources on an annual basis. This review takes into consideration factors such as cost, market forces and Government commitments.
Repossessions and Evictions
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many privately owned houses have been repossessed in the past three years; how many evictions there were from private rented accommodation over the same period; what assessment she has made of the reasons for each; and if she will make a statement. [110112]
Yvette Cooper: The Department for Constitutional Affairs collect data relating to mortgage and landlord possession actions in county courts for England and Wales. The data cover both local authority and private mortgages and social and private landlord actions. The figures do not indicate how many houses have been possessed through the courts either by mortgage lenders or landlords.
The number of possessions of mortgaged properties in the UK is available on the Council of Mortgage Lenders website at:
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/filegrab/lAP4.xls?ref=2753
A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
The figures since 1990 are as follows:
| Properties taken into possession in period | ||
| Number | Percentage of all loans | |
Section 106 Agreements
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department defines Section 106 agreements as a tax. [103886]
Yvette Cooper: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not define what is a tax or not. The definition of tax is part of the national accounts, which are compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ONS’s National Accounts Classification Committee has not considered planning obligations.
Solar Panels
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to simplify the planning process for the installation of solar power panels on domestic properties. [110140]
Yvette Cooper: The Government believe the planning system should make it easier to install microgeneration technologies, including solar panels. We are currently reviewing the regulations on what equipment a householder can install without having to apply for planning permission. Our aim is to produce a system that is both clearer and permits more microgeneration. We will be consulting on proposals in the new year.
International Development
“Responsibility to Protect”
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to implement the United Nations’ policy initiative “responsibility to protect”. [113395]
Mr. Thomas:
The “responsibility to protect” concept, endorsed at the 2005 UN World Summit, made clear that individual states hold the primary responsibility to protect their own populations from genocide, war
crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The international community also confirmed its readiness to act, collectively, to prevent and stop such crimes, through the United Nations. Such action includes using appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, including sanctions. On a case by case basis, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations, the UN Security Council may authorise the use of force.
Since the World Summit, the UN Security Council has adopted resolutions on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict and on Darfur, both of which refer to the World Summit agreement on the responsibility to protect. In addressing the situation in Darfur, we have also used diplomacy and applied political pressure; reminded the Sudanese Government of their own responsibility to the people of Darfur; worked through the Security Council to apply sanctions; referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court; and are working on UN support to the African Union Mission in Sudan.
Through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool, the UK is also supporting an NGO network to raise the profile of responsibility to protect with national governments and civil society, particularly in Africa.
The Government will continue to advocate appropriate and speedy responses—bilaterally, within the EU and UN, and at the Security Council—to protect vulnerable populations against genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
Afghanistan
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what role his Department had in formulating the UK contribution to the Bonn Accords on the Afghan constitution; and if he will make a statement. [113196]
Hilary Benn: Based on the Bonn Agreement, the constitution-making process in Afghanistan essentially followed a three-stage process: (i) drafting of a preliminary Constitution by the Constitutional Drafting Commission; (ii) deliberation on, refinement, finalisation and distribution of the first draft Constitution by the Constitutional Commission; and (iii) the adoption of the Constitution by the Constitutional Loya Jirga.
DFID contributed £650,000 to help fund a public consultation programme on the draft Constitution before the adoption of the document by the Constitutional Loya Jirga on 4 January 2004. A further £500,000 was also spent on outreach programmes to make the wider community aware of the purpose of the Constitution and provided a reasonable understanding of its key features.
The adoption of the new Constitution ensured a presidential system of government with a bicameral parliament. The document contains explicit recognition of equal rights for women and men and paved the way for national elections and the development of democratic institutions.
Aid Expenditure
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of UK’s GDP was used for international aid in each of the last 10 years. [113345]
Hilary Benn: International Aid figures are reported as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI) and the UK figures for the last 10 years are listed in the following table.
Further information on UK international aid as a percentage of GNI is published in Table 5 of “Statistics on International Development 2001/02-2005/06”, a copy of which is available in the Library.
| Official development assistance (ODA) | Other official flows (OOF) | Official aid( 1) | Total | GNI | Total as a percentage of GNI | |
| (1 )Official Aid ceased to exist from 2005 for OECD-DAC reporting purposes. However, the UK Government still give aid to countries that would previously been classified as Official Aid, such as Russia and new EU member countries. | ||||||
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