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21 Feb 2007 : Column 738Wcontinued
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what measures are (a) being taken, (b) planned and (c) being considered to increase the energy efficiency of the House of Commons Estate. [120730]
Nick Harvey: A range of measures being taken, planned and considered to increase the energy efficiency of the House of Commons estate are as follows:
Replacement of old Building Energy Management System controls;
Replacement of hot water calorifiers with heat exchangers;
Improvement of the Press Area ventilation;
Installation of secondary glazing;
Installation of energy sub metering;
Purchase of Monitoring and Targeting software; and
Working with the Carbon Trust.
Refurbishment of the plant rooms; and
Reduction of heating and cooling distribution losses.
(c) Measures being considered:
Installation of roof insulation;
Draught proofing of windows;
Installation of some new internal and external lighting;
Installation of a Combined Heat and Power plant;
Installation of absorption chillers; and
Optimisation of the electricity voltage.
Jim Dowd: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will take steps to link the control systems of lifts Hop 15 and Hop 77. [121526]
Nick Harvey: Lifts HoP 15 and HoP 77 serve the east side of the Palace of Westminster (opposite the Members' Smoking Room on the Principal floor and Strangers Bar on the ground floor). The lifts, while adjacent, have different functions. HoP 77 in addition to being a Members only lift has been converted to be accessible by wheelchairs and serves the ground, Principal, first and second floors. HoP 15 serves the Refreshment Department basement in addition to these floors.
The controls for both lifts have been linked with an option to operate independently or together (duplex). There are advantages and disadvantages of each mode of operation. In independent mode a specific lift can be called. If, however, the user has no preference, both call buttons could be pressed causing slower service to other floors. In duplex mode the nearest lift is sent, ensuring best service to all floors. During a Division, however, the Members only lift may be called by a non-Member resulting in slower service to Members. Furthermore if the user requires the disabled lift, this may not be the one that arrives.
Switching between either operation mode is straightforward. The controls are currently set on independent mode to favour Members during a Division and disabled Members, staff and visitors.
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what steps are being taken to increase further the amount of (a) glass, (b) metal, (c) plastic and (d) paper on the parliamentary estate which is recycled. [120546]
Nick Harvey: In 2005-06 36 per cent. of the parliamentary estate's waste collected was sent for recycling. A number of steps are being taken to increase recycling of waste such as: increasing awareness; introducing an environmental management system; separating waste; and introducing battery recycling bins. These are as follows:
An environmental awareness campaign was started in late 2005 which has included guest speaker presentations, exhibitions, a film show and articles in the inHouse staff magazine. A waste management exhibition is currently being considered for the parliamentary estate.
Environmental Management System
The House of Commons has agreed for an environmental management system to be implemented on its estate and the House of Lords will consider this in the near future. It is intended, as a first step towards implementing this, to run an environment champions programme on the parliamentary estate. This programme will be run with the purpose of reducing energy consumption and increasing waste recycling in the estate's buildings.
The waste contractor will shortly be providing a recycling operative on the estate to further separate the waste collected from inside the buildings, since some waste which has been contaminated with other waste cannot be sent for recycling and has to be incinerated instead. The employment of a recycling operative should increase the quantity of waste sent for recycling and decrease the quantity of waste sent for incineration. Any metal which has not been collected on the estate for recycling, is separated from the general waste at the incineration plant and sent for recycling from there.
Bins for collecting batteries for recycling will be located in each parliamentary estate building soon and more recycling bins will be located in the Palace of Westminster and Refreshment Department outlets.
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what assessment has been made of the potential for the generation of energy from solar panels on the roofs of the House of Commons Estate. [120728]
Nick Harvey: No estimates have been made of the potential for the generation of energy from solar panels on the roofs of the parliamentary estate.
In late 2005, a brief study was conducted to assess the potential for solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar hot water systems on the vast areas of pitched and flat roofs of the Palace of Westminster. The report said that large areas of the roof would be suitable for the installation of either solar PV or hot water systems, but the integration and connection of solar hot water systems to the building's existing hot water services would be "complex, expensive, aesthetically challenging and perhaps be of little benefit given the small quantity of hot water used within the Palace during the summer months". Utilising solar PV systems would provide better value for money but the simple payback period would still be far longer than the expected life of the systems.
A consultant has recently prepared a report on several renewable energy system options for the Palace of Westminster and this report is currently being considered to determine which systems should be investigated further. A proposal from another consultant to conduct feasibility studies for utilising renewable energy systems in all the parliamentary estate outbuildings has been received and considered and it is expected that these studies will start within the next few months.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total sum of bonuses paid to civil servants in his Department was in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [121566]
Mr. Thomas: The following tables give the number of non-pensionable bonuses awarded to the Department for International Development staff in each of the last two financial years, together with total cost for each year.
Non-pensionable bonuses awarded to DFID senior civil servants (SCS) | ||
Number of awards | Total cost (£) | |
Non-pensionable bonuses awarded to DFID staff below the (SCS) | ||
Number of awards | Total cost (£) | |
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he expects to reach the 0.7 per cent. of gross national income aid target by (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement. [119462]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 7 February 2007]: The Government has set a clear timetable for UK official development assistance (ODA) as a proportion of gross national income (GNI) to reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent in 2013.
ODA is defined by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and is measured in calendar years. Each year we report our ODA expenditure to the OECD-DAC as a proportion of GNI. Provisional figures are published each year in April for the previous year with final figures published in October.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has made of the effectiveness of the approach to the curriculum at Bishops Park College; [122067]
(2) on what factors the decision of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to select Bishops Park College as the case study for approaches to organising the curriculum on the secondary curriculum review website were based. [122068]
Jim Knight: Bishops Park Colleges approach to the curriculum has been shown to be effective in helping to improve staying on rates; reduce the number of exclusions and teenage pregnancies; and increase parental satisfaction. Its 2003 OFSTED inspection report stated that
Bishops Park College is a good, highly innovative school, providing good value for money.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority took this into consideration when deciding to include Bishops Park College on its website, as an example of a school that is taking an innovative approach to curriculum thinking and planning.
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the name is of each maintained boarding school or school with boarding houses; in which local authority each school is located; how many pupils are on roll at each; and what percentage of pupils at each (a) are eligible for free school meals, (b) have special educational needs, (c) are from ethnic minorities and (d) are selected on the basis of (i) academic ability and (ii) aptitude. [120808]
Jim Knight [holding answer 19 February 2007]: The available information is shown in the following tables.
There are currently 32 state maintained mainstream boarding schools in England. The maintained boarding sector includes all ability comprehensive schools, grammar schools and one further education college. Information for the further education college is not included in the table. Some are single sex schools, others are mixed. All pupils follow the national curriculum.
The Department does not collect information on schools which are partially selective (selecting some of their pupils by academic ability or aptitude). An indicator to show which of the maintained boarding schools are grammar schools (wholly selective) has been provided.
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