Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
29 Jan 2007 : Column 49Wcontinued
A proposed research and development programme and associated technology transfer activities;
Proposals for an Agri-food Waste Challenge Fund, co-financed under the EU Competitiveness Structural Funds Programme 2007-2013. This Programme is currently subject to a public consultation and final decisions on Programme.
All of these initiatives and activities are described within DARDs recently published Renewable Energy Action Plan. This Plan seeks to help farmers, landowners and wider rural community capitalise on the opportunities presented by renewable energy technologies.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the levels of farm-based activity in renewable energy production in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [111666]
David Cairns:
No formal assessment has been made of the levels of farm-based activity in renewable energy production in Northern Ireland. However, since 2003, DARD has committed a total of £4 million in grant assistance to a range of renewable energy projects and technologies across rural Northern Ireland. This includes support for short rotation coppice willow, with
plantings expected to reach 800 hectares in 2007. DARD has just published a Renewable Energy Action Plan to assist the land based and rural sector to realise the potential of renewable energy in a balanced and sustainable way.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the action that will be taken consequent upon the publication of the Report of the Police Ombudsman, into the Royal Ulster Constabulary and protected informers. [111552]
Mr. Hain: The Government acknowledge that the Police Ombudsmans investigation has succeeded in bringing to light serious failings of duty by a small number of police officers over the period 1991 to 2003. The Chief Constable has accepted the reports recommendations and work on reinvestigating the cases referred to in the report has already begun. Where sufficient evidence can be obtained, prosecutions will be brought, whether against loyalist paramilitaries or police officers if there is sufficient evidence to put before a court that they are thought to have been involved in any criminal activity.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many elected members of Sinn Fein have been issued with firearms certificates for the purposes of carrying personal protection weapons. [110564]
Paul Goggins: It is inappropriate to release detailed information on the security arrangements of an identifiable group of individuals, particularly when the publication of such information could increase the risk to the individuals or the group.
Janet Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if Cabinet Office officials will meet representatives of the company Bombox to discuss the Cabinet Offices promotional materials on civil contingencies. [110859]
Edward Miliband: Cabinet Office regularly receives requests to meet with a wide range of organisations to discuss civil contingencies issues. Each request is carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. Officials are awaiting a letter from Bombox providing an explanation of their issues of concern. Once this is received, we will be able to take a view on how best to address them.
Norman Baker:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many parliamentary questions were tabled to her Department in 2006, broken down by (a)
ordinary written and (b) named day; what percentage of ordinary written questions were answered within 10 working days; and what percentage of named day questions were answered by the specified date. [115327]
Hilary Armstrong: The total number of parliamentary questions tabled by hon. Members to the Cabinet Office for answer in 2006 was 611. 71 were named day of which 77 per cent. were answered on the day named.
The Department does not assess its performance within a 10 working day target. Information on the percentage of ordinary written parliamentary questions answered within 10 parliamentary working days is only available at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements are in place to allow civil servants facing redundancy in one Government Department to transfer to another; and if she will make a statement. [111655]
Hilary Armstrong: The Government have put in place a common framework to support Departments, in their handling of staff facing redundancy to maximise redeployment opportunities and to minimise recourse to compulsory redundancies. In support of this process, a vacancy handling database has been developed to give affected staff priority access to vacancies across other Government Departments.
25. Miss McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, how many parish priests were recruited in the last 12 months. [111477]
Sir Stuart Bell: 2006 figures are still being collated but I can tell the hon. Lady that in 2005 there were 505 ordinations.
Mr. Fraser: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what estimate the Commissioners have made of the internal damage caused by bats to parish churches. [111470]
Sir Stuart Bell: No information is held centrally but a substantial number of churches, especially in rural areas, have roosts. Many are accommodated successfully but the potential for damage to important historic contents is high and managing the situation can be both costly and difficult for the volunteers who care for our church buildings.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what financial support is available for rural churches which require repairs to their fabric. [111270]
Sir Stuart Bell: The main sources of funding are the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme, which has a budget of £25 million per annum, and the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which reimburses VAT on repairs to historic churches and gives out £10.5 million per annum to English churches. Other, smaller sources include grant-giving bodies such as the Historic Churches Preservation Trust and local trusts. Most repair costs (about £101 million per annum) are met by the local church and community.
There are no additional sources of funds specifically targeted toward rural churches.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what funding sources are available for the repair of historic churches. [111271]
Sir Stuart Bell: The main sources of funding are the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme, which has a budget of £25 million per annum, and the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which reimburses VAT on repairs to historic churches and gives out £10.5 million per annum to English churches. Other, smaller sources include grant-giving bodies such as the Historic Churches Preservation Trust and local trusts. Most repair costs (about £101 million per annum) are met by the local church and community.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what plans the Commissioners have to include Londons churches in the cultural celebrations surrounding the 2012 Olympics. [112292]
Sir Stuart Bell: The dioceses of London, Southwark and Chelmsford (together with other faith groups in the London area) would wish to ensure that churches play their part in welcoming visitors to the Olympics and the recently launched Strategy for Faith Tourism will help set priorities. Westminster Abbey and St. Pauls Cathedraltwo of our leading attractionscontinue to show that the Church of England already has a good record of welcoming large numbers of visitors to London.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what the annual change in stipend was for members of the clergy in each of the last three years. [111528]
Sir Stuart Bell: The increase in the national stipend benchmark (for clergy of incumbent status) was 3 per cent. in 2004, 5 per cent. in 2005 and 5 per cent. in 2006. The increase in the national minimum stipend (for other clergy) was 3 per cent. in each of those three years.
Additional information is available from The Central Stipends Authority's report, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the Deputy Prime Ministers Department is not required to produce an autumn performance report. [112156]
Mr. Timms: Autumn performance reports are primarily intended to provide the public, and particularly Parliament, with an update on public service agreements. Only those Departments with public service agreement targets are required to produce one.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what powers he has to secure the reimbursement of funds paid to the European Union but spent without proper legal authority under the EU treaties; [111321]
(2) what controls his Department has to ensure that revenue paid to the European Union is spent under a legitimate legal base provided for in the EU treaties. [111322]
Ed Balls [holding answer 25 January 2007]: The legal base for specific areas of EC budget expenditure is a matter for the Department which has policy responsibility for that area of spending and is something which they look at closely during the course of negotiations on these areas. The position the Department takes on the area of spending and legal basis is subject to parliamentary scrutiny of the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee and the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union. The UK makes its contributions to the EC budget as a whole and not to individual spending within it. When Council or Commission decisions have been adopted it is open to a member state to challenge the legal base through the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice under procedures laid down in Article 230 of the Treaty.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on large bonuses being paid to people employed in the financial services industry. [111837]
Ed Balls:
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of
the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Governments practice to provide details of all such representations.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what data his Department collects on trends in the levels of remuneration of people employed in the financial services industry in London compared with other (a) sectors and (b) regions of the UK. [111838]
Ed Balls: The Office for National Statistics collects data on earnings in the financial sector and all other major industry sectors as part of its annual survey of hours and earnings. The survey includes data for each region of the UK and is published on an annual, weekly and hourly basis, with separate data for basic and overtime pay.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Bank of England on the potential effects of large bonus payments to people employed in the financial services industry on levels of inflation. [111839]
Ed Balls: The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England and other MPC members regarding a wide range of economic and financial issues. It is for employers to decide pay rates in the light of what is necessary to recruit, retain and motivate labour in the market conditions in which they operate. Excessive pay awards increase inflationary pressure, and wage pressures are one of the factors considered by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England when setting interest rates. Excessive pay deals ultimately threaten employment.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of bonuses in excess of £100,000 on retail prices. [111840]
Ed Balls: It is for employers to decide pay rates in the light of what is necessary to recruit, retain and motivate labour in the market conditions in which they operate. Excessive pay awards increase inflationary pressure, and wage pressures are one of the factors considered by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England when setting interest rates. Excessive pay deals ultimately threaten employment.
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the economic effect on the regions of the City of London and the financial markets. [111949]
Mr. Timms: The Government have set out their assessment of the importance of the City of London and the financial markets to the UK economy as a whole in Financial services in London: Global opportunities and challenges (March 2006), and The UK financial services sector: Rising to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation, (March 2005), including for example through connections between London and financial centres in Leeds and Edinburgh.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 421W, on Iraq and Afghanistan, how much he expects the Ministry of Defence to draw down from the Reserve to cover the cost of military operations in 2006-07. [110816]
Mr. Timms: The Ministry of Defence drew down £1.4 billion to fund the net additional cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of its 2006-07 winter supplementary estimate. The figure will be finalised in MODs spring supplementary estimate.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 421W, on Iraq and Afghanistan, whether the £600 million he referred to in his 2006 pre-Budget statement is additional to the £800 million he referred to in his 2006 Budget statement. [110817]
Mr. Timms: The £600 million allocated to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2006 pre-Budget report is additional to the amount allocated at Budget 2006.
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much his Department spent on accommodation at the Watergate Hotel for him and his staff in each year since 1997; [111070]
(2) how many nights he has spent at the Washington Embassy on official business since 1997; and how many nights he has spent at the Watergate Hotel in Washington on official business since 1997. [111071]
John Healey: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what official visits (a) he and (b) the Chief Secretary to the Treasury have made to hospitals in South London since the last general election. [111411]
Mr. Timms: Treasury Ministers undertake a range of visits across the United Kingdom in the course of ministerial business.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |