Written Answers to Questions
Friday 27 April 2007
Communities and Local Government
Departments: Tribal Group
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contracts her Department awarded to (a) Geronimo Communications Ltd. and (b) its parent company Tribal Group plc. in each of the last three years; and what the cost was of each contract. [133743]
Angela E. Smith: The Department has not awarded any contracts to Geronimo Communications Ltd. in the last three years. A number of contracts have been awarded to Tribal Group though the detail of the spend for each contract could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However the total spend with Tribal Group over the last three years is as follows:
| £ | |
Housing: Construction
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received on red ash testing; and what guidance she has issued on red ash testing and floor replacement. [131984]
Angela E. Smith: Over a number of years the Department has received representation from a number of homeowners who have properties constructed using red ash. In the past the Communities and Local Government has not issued technical guidance specific to this issue but has referred individuals to related documents published by the Building Research Establishment. Work on a new guidance document ‘Guidance for assessing sulphate bearing hardcore under domestic buildings’ will be completed shortly and this guidance will then be made available.
Local Government
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) events, (b) engagements and (c) meetings (i) she, (ii) other Ministers in her Department and (iii) staff in her Department attended with (A) councillors and (B) officials of authorities bidding for unitary status between 1 February and 16 April 2007. [133142]
Mr. Woolas: My colleagues and I and officials frequently meet members and officers of councils from across the country which may include councils that either have made unitary proposals or would be affected by such proposals.
Members: Correspondence
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to reply to the letter of 21 March 2007 from the hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald. [133892]
Ruth Kelly: I apologise for the delay in responding to the right hon. Member’s letter.
I will respond to the letter shortly.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Minister of State expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 23 February 2007, on the Sustainable Communities Bill. [134604]
Mr. Woolas: I responded to the hon. Member’s letter on 19 March 2007. I have arranged for a copy of that letter to be resent.
Regional Planning and Development: Gloucestershire
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what amendments affecting Gloucestershire were made to the South West Regional Spatial Strategy following the consultation in 2006; and whether such amendments were recommended by (a) Assembly officers, (b) the Government Office of the South West, (c) the South West Regional Development Agency, (d) her Department, (e) local authorities, (f) commercial interests, (g) community representatives and (h) members of the public. [134462]
Meg Munn: No amendments have been made to the draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) following the consultation in 2006 when it was submitted to the Secretary of State for her consideration. The draft RSS is at an Examination-in-Public now and so any proposed changes will be considered in the light of this.
Unitary Councils
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department met representatives from (i) any council that has bid for unitary status and (ii) any councils affected by such bids between October 2006 and 27 March 2007. [131048]
Angela E. Smith: My colleagues and I frequently meet members of councils from across the country which may include councils that either have made unitary proposals or would be affected by such proposals.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will publish an assessment of the 26 proposals for future unitary structures which have been submitted to her Department by local authorities against the criteria in her October 2006 invitation. [132583]
Mr. Woolas: The reasons for my right hon. Friend’s decisions are set out in the decision letters of 27 March 2007. These can be found on the Department’s website at:
Copies of the letters have been placed in the Library of the House.
Culture, Media and Sport
Cultural Heritage: Iraq
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funds have been allocated by her Department to protect sites of cultural heritage in Iraq since 2003; and if she will make a statement. [133853]
Tessa Jowell: My Department's response to the heritage crisis in Iraq has been via the bodies which it funds, most notably the British Museum. The DCMS has and will continue to support the museum's work in this area.
provided expertise and training on conservation and site management;
sent two archaeologists to Iraq who were instrumental in co-ordinating the quick supply of a wide range of desperately needed materials and equipment to the Baghdad Museum; and
arranged and managed (with additional funding of £15,000 from the DCMS) a project that allowed three interns coming from the Iraqi Ministry of Culture to learn the skills necessary for the future management of the Babylon archaeological site.
In addition to the work of the British Museum, the British Library has also provided expertise and support. It was able to work with the Iraq National Library and Archive, supplying surrogate material to replace that which was lost during the conflict.
Gambling Act 2005
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the measures her Department has put in place to address in the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005 the project management weaknesses highlighted in paragraphs 51 to 54 of the Better Regulation Commission's Report on the Implementation of the Licensing Act 2003. [132800]
Tessa Jowell: In response to the advice set out at paragraphs 51 to 54 of the Better Regulation Commissioner's Report on the Implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, the Department has put in place the following measures:
robust programme management arrangements that draw on lessons learned from implementing the Licensing Act 2003;
a ministerial commitment, which has been honoured, to local authorities that there would be a period of three months between laying of relevant secondary legislation and the assumption of their new duties;
provision for a system of “continuation rights” designed to give those businesses that take advantage of the opportunity reassurance about their ability to operate legally in the event that applications are not processed in time for the coming into force of the new regime.
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has used a cross-sector pilot group to test the application requirements and forms for the licences required by the Gambling Act 2005 as recommended by the Better Regulation Commissioner's Report on the Implementation of the Licensing Act 2003. [132801]
Tessa Jowell: In light of the Better Regulation Commission's recommendations, the Department and the Gambling Commission piloted all application and other forms with industry representatives and licensing authorities. The original proposals were modified significantly as a result of the comments received. The Department and the Gambling Commission held consultative meetings on other aspects of the licensing regime to ensure that we drew on existing best practice wherever possible as well as lessons learned from implementing the Licensing Act 2003.
Licensing Act 2003
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department has taken to implement the recommendations of the Better Regulation Commission's report on the Implementation of the Licensing Act 2003; and if she will make a statement. [132799]
Tessa Jowell: Following a meeting in October, the Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism agreed with the chairman of the Better Regulation Commission measures to progress the issues raised in the commission's report. These measures were incorporated into the Department's Better Regulation Simplification Plan which was published in December 2006. Recommendations such as the discretion to correct minor errors on application forms and clarifying the flexibility on the scale to be used in plans are being addressed in the revision of statutory Guidance to licensing authorities. We expect to publish revised Guidance in the early summer.
We have also been engaging in pre-consultation with key stakeholders prior to bringing forward proposals later this year for public consultations on minor variations of licences and the removal of the designated premises supervisor requirement for village halls.
Olympic Games
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's latest estimate is of expenditure on the Olympic Games in each year from 2006-07 to 2012-13; and how much money has been spent in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06. [109851]
Tessa Jowell: Expenditure by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) in 2006-07 is forecast to be £237 million. The ODA’s budget for 2007-08 is £538 million.
Spending by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) in 2006-07 is forecast to be £25 million and the budget for 2007-08 is £57 million. This will be funded from commercial finance. LOCOG’s operational lifetime budget is estimated to be circa £2 billion which is financed from private sources.
During the bid period 2003-05 the bid company London 2012 Ltd. spent £28 million. In addition to this the London Development Agency and DCMS contributed, in total, a further £10 million supporting the bid and developing the master plan for the Lower Lea Valley. This cost was outside the Public Sector Funding Package and was partly met by private funding.
In 2005-06 the Interim ODA spent £41 million and the LOCOG spent around £9 million.
On 15 March 2007 I announced an overall budget for the ODA of up to £5.3 billion for expenditure, excluding tax. Work is in progress, in conjunction with the ODA, to establish the budget profiles for 2008-09 and beyond.
Defence
Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the total number of soldiers who have served in Iraq since the commencement of the war in Iraq have been from the ranks of the Territorial Army. [131640]
Mr. Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, it is possible to estimate that the proportion has fluctuated between approximately 6 per cent. currently to a high of 18 per cent. in 2003. These figures count full-time reserve service personnel within Territorial Army numbers.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departments: Energy
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what instructions are issued to staff in her Department on shutting down computers at night; and what other procedures are in place to ensure computers are shut down. [134864]
Edward Miliband: All staff, contractors and security guards are instructed to switch off PCs and monitors when not in use. This is part of a wider and continuing sustainable development programme, which also includes night time energy audits of buildings.
Departments: Paper
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage of paper used (a) for photocopying and (b) in printed publications by her Department was from recycled sources in each of the last three years. [134055]
Hilary Armstrong: All paper used for photocopying is 100 per cent. recycled with a post-consumer waste content of 100 per cent. The vast majority of paper supplied for printed publications is 100 per cent. recycled with a post-consumer waste content of 75 per cent.
Orders and Regulations
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many regulations were repealed in each year since 1997. [133218]
Hilary Armstrong: Regulations have been repealed in a variety of ways including through primary legislation and orders under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 and its predecessor the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994.
Information on the total number of regulations repealed since 1997 in not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
35 Regulatory Reform Orders were passed under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 simplifying a range of legislation. For example the Regulatory Safety (Fire Safety) Order 2005 replaced over 50 pieces of legislation with one new set of rules. The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 repealed the Regulatory Reform Act. Several Legislative Reform Orders are currently at an early stage of development and will also include the repeal of regulations.
Sports: Young People
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2007, Official Report, column 1753W, on the Youth Sport Trust, what part the Chairman of v played in the Chancellor's announcement on 7 February of the Youth Trust Programme. [133657]
Edward Miliband: The chair of v, Ron Aldridge, played no role in the Chancellor's announcement.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |