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19 Apr 2007 : Column 754W—continued
Sexual Offences: Hartlepool
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in Hartlepool broke the terms of their sentence and order relating to child sex offences in each of the last five years; and what action was taken against those people who breached their order and condition. [131388]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The specific information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained locally only at disproportionate cost.
War Crimes
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answers of 21 March 2007, Official Report, column 975W, on war crimes, for what reasons the issue of arrest warrants in each of the cases listed necessitated a review of the legal and practical issues raised by the issue of arrest warrants in international cases. [132127]
Joan Ryan: It is appropriate to consider whether in principle it is right that persons may be arrested and detained for international offences such as war crimes, genocide and torture on application by a private individual to a court before there is an opportunity for the Attorney-General to reach a view on the merits of the case and decide whether a prosecution should proceed.
House of Commons Commission
Bicycles: Parking
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many bicycle parking spaces are available on the House of Commons estate for (a) hon. Members, (b) staff and (c) visitors. [131064]
Nick Harvey: There are currently 143 bicycle parking spaces on the House of Commons estate. They are situated as follows:
Colonnade: 69, (of these seven are reserved for Members only and 14 are reserved for members of the House of Commons Cycling Club).
Star Chamber Court: 48.
Norman Shaw North Inner Courtyard: 32.
Canon Row Courtyard: 12 (to be in place after Easter 2007).
The provision of parking on the estate for non-passholders is not currently compatible with maintaining a secure perimeter. Further discussions have taken place
regarding the provision of additional bicycle parking outside in the vicinity of the estate. I understand that six additional bicycle parking spaces have been agreed on Victoria Embankment near Portcullis House and that Transport for London, the highway authority, has been requested to install them as soon as possible. Other potential sites for on-street cycle parking around Parliament are being investigated by Westminster City Council and other relevant authorities.
Palace of Westminster: Temperature
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the temperature setting is for the Palace of Westminster; and if he will arrange for the temperature to be reduced. [131389]
Nick Harvey: The normal temperature setting for the Palace of Westminster is 21(°) C, in line with guidance from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) guide for office spaces, but this can be adjusted according to demand from the occupants. There are many heating zones in the Palace of Westminster which have their temperatures controlled independently, therefore temperature settings may differ from area to area. The existing controls are currently being replaced with more modern ones which should enable better control and energy efficiency to be achieved.
Recycling
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will estimate what percentage of packaging and delivery containers of goods purchased by the Refreshment Department is (a) made from biodegradable or recycled materials and (b) recycled. [131063]
Nick Harvey: The information requested is as follows.
(a) The Refreshment Department does not collect any information that enables it to estimate the percentage of packaging and delivery containers made from biodegradable or recycled materials. However, returnable crates, containers or trolleys are used for most meat, dairy, and sandwich deliveries. Draught beer kegs and a small percentage of other drinks delivery containers are also returned to the supplier.
(b) The monthly total quantity of waste collected for incineration in a power plant is monitored for the entire parliamentary estate, as is the quantity of each material collected for recycling. The waste materials currently being recycled include cardboard, paper, glass, wood and metal, with 41 per cent. of waste currently being recycled. However, at present this information is not broken down by building or by Department. The Refreshment Department is actively working with Works and Estates to increase the amount of cardboard and other waste sent for recycling and a proposal to run an environment champions programme on the estate is being considered. This would require the waste arising to be monitored for each building but it is uncertain whether it would be possible to monitor the waste being collected from the Refreshment Department alone.
International Development
China
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which (a) hon. Members, (b) Ministers and (c) officials participated in the recent parliamentary delegation to China organised by his Department; who arranged the visit; which organisations or individuals were consulted beforehand; whether the delegation was given permission by the Government of China to visit all areas of China; whether (i) the one child policy and (ii) coercive abortion was discussed; what the cost was to his Department of the visit; whether a report on the trip was produced; whether the United Nations Population Fund provided any (A) direct funding, (B) informal support and (C) personnel; what recent representations he has received on the visit; what assistance was provided by the British embassy in China; and if he will make a statement. [132654]
Mr. Thomas: No parliamentary delegation has recently visited China to discuss family planning issues. Neither the DFID office in Beijing, the embassy or the local United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) office are aware of any such visit.
Developing Countries: Maternity Services
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the progress in meeting the fifth Millennium Development Goal, to improve maternal health. [131250]
Mr. Thomas: The millennium development goals (MDGs), including the fifth goal on improving maternal health, enables countries and international development partners, including DFID, to work together towards a common end. The United Nations produces an annual progress report “the Millennium Development Goals Report”, outlining the progress made against each of the MDGs, including maternal health, at global and regional levels. At country level, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works with countries to track their progress against the MDGs.
DFID supports these global assessment processes and does not try to replicate them. However, DFID does track the progress of UK development investments. For example, we produce an annual report on progress in implementing our maternal health strategy “Reducing maternal deaths: evidence and action”. The second annual progress report is due to be published shortly and copies will be placed in the Library of the House. The report will provide details on what we have achieved, areas where we have made less progress and what more we need to do. The report covers both our efforts in supporting Government and non-government efforts to improve maternal health (MDG 5) in countries, as well as what we have done internationally and at the policy level.
In addition at country level, a framework for annual assessment of performance is included in DFID’s country assistance plans (CAP). These CAPs set out details of how DFID aims to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.
In 2006, the international community agreed a new target under the maternal health millennium development goal (MDG 5) for “Universal Access to Reproductive Health by 2015”. This is in addition to the existing target under MDG 5 to “Reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015”. The new target means that access to reproductive health information, services and supplies should be available to all who need it. And it means that Governments and the international community will be held accountable for providing them. We are proud that the UK fought hard for this target and has supported subsequent work to agree appropriate monitoring indicators. One of the new proposed indicators is ‘unmet need for family planning’ which is an important indicator because family planning is one of the most cost effective interventions we can make towards the achievement of not only the new reproductive health target, but to the achievement of all the MDGs.
Developing Countries: Renewable Energy
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of renewable energy in developing countries. [132506]
Mr. Thomas: DFID is committed to increasing access to reliable and affordable energy for reducing poverty and increasing economic growth in developing countries. Renewable energy has an increasingly important role to play in helping developing countries make progress towards the millennium development goals.
We are also encouraging the World Bank and other development partners to give renewable energy greater attention as part of their efforts to improve access to energy. At Gleneagles in 2005 the G8 called on the World Bank and Regional Development Banks to create a new Clean Energy Investment Framework. They have now developed their plans and are beginning to demonstrate progress.
The World Bank has scaled up its financial support for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. In August 2006, it announced a rise to $680 million in commitments in the year to June 2006, an increase of 48 per cent. compared to the previous year. This figure excludes large hydropower projects and covers solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and small (less than 10 MW) hydropower technologies.
These figures exceed the commitment they made in 2004 to increase their renewable energy and energy efficiency investments by 20 per cent. per annum over the next five years. We very much welcome this increased investment by the World Bank on clean energy. We now think that the bank needs to set out a high level of ambition for funds flowing through the Clean Energy Investment Framework over the coming years. At the recent spring meetings of the World Bank the UK called on the bank to set a range of new investment and outcome targets, including a higher target for renewable energy.
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