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21 Feb 2007 : Column 761W—continued
Culture, Media and Sport
Big Lottery Fund
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been (a) committed and (b) distributed by the Big Lottery Fund on projects relating to (i) health, (ii) education and (iii) the environment since its creation. [122296]
Mr. Caborn: We are not able to supply the information in the format requested as many of the projects cover two or more areas of the Fund's statutory remit.
New Opportunities Fund
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been (a) committed and (b) distributed by the New Opportunities Fund since its creation. [122295]
Mr. Caborn: Information up to 31 March 2006 on how much money has been committed and distributed by the New Opportunities Fund since its creation can be found in the New Opportunities Fund Annual Accounts, copies of which were presented to Parliament.
Communities and Local Government
Local Area Agreements: East Sussex
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress her Department has made on implementing local area agreements in the East Sussex area; and if she will make a statement. [120944]
Mr. Woolas: The Government entered into a local area agreement with East Sussex in March 2006.
The agreement can be found via the IDeA website at:
http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/aio/4713907
Local Area Agreements: Environment Protection
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to incorporate environmental issues within local area agreements. [120940]
Mr. Woolas:
The Government are committed to ensuring that environmental issues are addressed at all levels, including the local level. We want to ensure that, where local area agreements can contribute to the delivery of the Government’s and local areas’ environmental objectives, they do so. Many local areas have already chosen to include targets relating to environmental issues in their local area agreements. Local area agreements have already facilitated enhanced partnership working between local bodies of the type necessary to ensure that environmental issues are addressed effectively and in partnership. The duties on local authorities and their local partners proposed in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill will further facilitate such joint working,
including by making local area agreements the single mechanism for central and local government to agree targets to reflect the key priorities for improvement in each local area.
Social Housing
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) one bed, (b) two bed, (c) three bed and (d) four or more bed units of social housing were completed in each year since 2000 in each London borough. [117567]
Yvette Cooper: Regional estimates on the proportion of new dwellings by bedroom and tenure in London are published on the Communities and Local Government website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/65/Table252_id1156065.xls
A table presenting the information in the aforementioned link has been placed in the Library of the House.
It is not possible to produce reliable estimates at ‘borough’ level from the information held centrally.
Social Housing: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) one bedroom, (b) two bedroom, (c) three bedroom and (d) four bedroom or more properties for social housing were built in the London Borough of Bexley in each of the last five years. [112586]
Yvette Cooper: Regional estimates on the proportion of new dwellings by bedroom and tenure in London are published on the Communities and Local Government website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/65/Table252_id1156065.xls
A table presenting the information in the aforementioned link has been placed in the Library of the House.
It is not possible to produce reliable estimates at ‘borough’ level from the information held centrally.
Supporting People
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Supporting People budget funds befriending schemes. [120945]
Mr. Woolas: Befriending schemes are not a specific classification upon which Supporting People (SP) data is collected. However, of the 28,367 SP funded services that reported data (as at the end of September 2006), 72 per cent. said that they provide “Emotional support, counselling and advice” and 52 per cent. reported providing support in “Developing social skills/behaviour management”.
The Supporting People grant must be used for the purpose of providing or contributing to the provision of welfare services to sustain or enable vulnerable people to live independently in their own home or community and must be spent in accordance with Supporting People
grant conditions. The programme is administered at the local level and services commissioned and delivered in line with the local needs and priorities as set out in local SP five-year strategies.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department offers to Supporting People teams on the support which should be made available to (a) older and (b) disabled people who need help with shopping. [120935]
Mr. Woolas: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not set out guidance for authorities’ Supporting People (SP) teams on the help and support that should be provided to service users. It is for administering authorities to decide at local level what support and services are made available to best meet the local needs and priorities that they have identified in their local five-year SP strategies.
All administering authorities must have regard to the relevant SP grant conditions when deciding whether SP funding can be used to pay for services. These grant conditions do not allow SP funding to be used for statutory services that authorities have a duty to provide. They do not preclude administering authorities from considering any eligible scheme that could meet their local needs.
Trade and Industry
Bank Services
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the reasons are for the exclusion of (a) debit and (b) charge card transactions from protection under the Consumer Credit Acts 1974 and 2006. [118843]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 8 February 2007]: The purpose of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, as amended by the Consumer Credit Act 2006 is to provide for consumer protection in relation to the provision of credit and hire purchase transactions. A debit card is purely a payment mechanism, not a vehicle for the extension of credit and thus falls outside the scope of the Act. Similarly, a charge card does not provide credit as, although it enables the cardholder to defer payment for goods and services, the full balance must be settled each month.
The banking industry's own code of practice, the Banking Code, sets standards of good banking practice in relation to debit cards and makes reference to charge cards. Compliance with the Code is independently monitored by the Banking Code Standards Board.
Departments: Official Cars
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many vehicles belonging to his Department were (a) lost and (b) stolen in each year since 1997; and what the (i) make and model and (ii) value was of each vehicle. [121366]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department does not own any vehicles.
Heating: Conservation
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Department of Communities and Local Government on (a) the role electric heating and hot water appliances will play in the Government's policy for a low-carbon and sustainable energy future and (b) the relationship between housing and energy strategies; [121650]
(2) what consideration he has given to electric heating as part of the UK's future energy framework; [121651]
(3) what discussions he has had with manufacturers of electric heating products on the low-carbon heating solutions offered by electric heating; [121652]
(4) what assessment his Department has made of the long-term low-carbon sustainability of electric heating compared with other sources; and if he will make a statement; [121653]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Electric heating is one of the more expensive heating fuels. This has an impact on fuel poverty, with the recent increases in electricity prices contributing to an increase in fuel poverty. Current fuel poverty policies do not replace functioning electric central heating, so this has not been mentioned in the response.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of fluctuations in the commercial revenues of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on its core programme of work; and what account is taken of such fluctuations when determining its budget settlements; [116835]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the commercial revenues of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for the 2007-08 financial year. [116836]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer to the answer which I gave the hon. Member for Copeland on 26 January 2007, Official Report, column 2064W.
Northern Ireland
Blood Transfusions
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many blood transfusions were required in the Province in each of the last 10 years. [120345]
Paul Goggins: Information on the number of patients receiving a blood transfusion each year is not available. However, the number of units of red blood cells issued from the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service to all hospitals in Northern Ireland over the last 10 years are detailed in the following table.
| Calendar Year | Units of red cells |
| (1)Figures for the entire calendar year 2006 are not currently available. Figures are available for part of 2006, and these have been projected to provide an estimate of the number of units of red blood cells issued in 2006. Source: Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service. | |
The number of units transfused per patient varies widely but studies have indicated that the average transfusion episode involves approximately three units of red cells per patient.
Children: Obesity
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in determining the level of childhood obesity in Northern Ireland. [121611]
Paul Goggins: In preparing the Fit Futures: Focus on Food, Activity and Young People Strategy, which has a specific focus on childhood obesity and in order to measure progress against the relevant public service agreement and investing for health targets, information is gathered from the Child Health System in each of the four Health and Social Services Boards in Northern Ireland. Details relating to the percentage of Primary 1 children (aged 54 months to 66 months) in Northern Ireland who were overweight or obese is presented in the following table.
| Northern Ireland—Children aged approx 5 years | ||||||
| 1997-98 | 1999-2000 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | ||
| Source: Child Health System (NI) 1997-2005, the figures above are calculated using the International Standard measurement for Obesity. | ||||||
The collection of this data is now embedded in the Inequalities Monitoring System and is subject to annual updates.
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