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5 Jun 2007 : Column 358W—continued
Departments: Public Relations
Grant Shapps: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent by his Office on public relations in each of the last five years. [139418]
The Prime Minister: For these purposes my Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Hilary Armstrong) on 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 45W.
Departments: Visits Abroad
Mr. Dai Davies:
To ask the Prime Minister what the total (a) carbon cost and (b) financial cost has been of his overseas visits since he announced the date of his
resignation; and what estimate he has made of the projected carbon cost of his planned overseas visits up to 27 June. [139257]
The Prime Minister: In respect of carbon costs, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) on 15 May 2006, Official Report, column 820W.
In respect of financial costs, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie) on 24 May 2007, Official Report, column 1523W.
Privy Council: Oaths and Affirmations
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Prime Minister what legal obligations there are for members of the Privy Council to adhere to the terms of their oath of membership; and if he will make a statement. [138140]
The Prime Minister: Privy Councillors are duty bound to honour the Privy Council oath just as they are bound to honour the oath of allegiance that they also take on becoming members of the Privy Council.
Wales
Departments: Advertising
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which (a) advertising agencies and (b) other organisations supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for his Department in each of the last five years; and what the cost of these services was. [139447]
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent on advertising by his Department in each of the last five years. [139525]
Departments: Data Protection
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many times his Department was found to have been in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [139205]
Departments: Legal Costs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent by his Department on legal fees in each of the last five years. [139390]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office has spent the following amounts on external legal advice, all of which has come from the Treasury Solicitor.
| Amount (£) | |
Departments: Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was raised from the sale of his Department's property in each of the last five years. [139304]
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was received by his Department from the letting of its properties in each of the last five years. [139324]
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what properties his Department (a) owned and (b) rented in each of the last five years. [139344]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office owns one property, Gwydyr House, London.
The Wales Office rents office space covering 637 square metres, in Cardiff. This rental lease has been in place since 2003. Before that the Wales Office did not have any rented premises.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent estimate has been made of the value of his Department’s property portfolio. [139369]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office owns Gwydyr house in Whitehall, which has a book value of £2,100,000. We do not own any other property.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost of leasing buildings and office space for his Department was in each of the last five years. [139461]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office has been leasing office space in Cardiff since 2003. From October 2005 to September 2006 we leased office space in London.
| Cost (£) | |
Departments: Public Relations
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent by his Department on public relations in each of the last five years. [139452]
Departments: Recruitment
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department paid to recruitment consultants in each year since 1997. [140041]
Departments: Travel Agents
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department and its agencies paid in travel agencies’ fees in each year since 1997. [139914]
River Severn
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the Severn Barrage Project; and if he will make a statement. [139538]
Mr. Hain: I have discussed the issue of tidal power in the Severn Estuary on several occasions with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
As the recent Energy White Paper makes clear, the Government recognise tidal power represents a massive untapped clean, green energy resource. That is why the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) is leading a major study looking at issues related to harnessing tidal power in the UK. The SDC study will consider a wide range of locations and technologies, including the potential of tidal power in the Severn Estuary and the proposals for a tidal barrage.
With the second largest tidal range in the world, the Severn Estuary is one of the most promising locations in existence for tidal energy. A Severn Barrage could produce up to 5 per cent. of UK energy consumption by 2020, save up to 3 per cent. of total UK carbon emissions, and last for 150 years.
Sports
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent meeting he has had with the management of the SkillsActive Wales Learning Hub on participation in sport in Wales. [139953]
Education and Skills
Bookstart Scheme
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment has been made of the economic and social background of those families who have collected Bookstart books and packs. [139993]
Beverley Hughes:
Booktrust tells me that its annual audit indicated that, in the financial year 2006-07, Bookstart packs were received in England by approximately 88 per cent. of eligible children (87 per
cent. for the baby pack, 85 per cent. for Bookstart Plus and 93 per cent. for My Treasure Chest).
Since its inception the Bookstart programme has been delivered in partnership with Sure Start local programmes which were located in areas with large numbers of disadvantaged families. This link has been maintained as Sure Start Children's Centres have been created, many of them based around the local programmes, initially serving families living in the most disadvantaged areas. By 2010 we aim to deliver 3,500 children's centres, one for every community, giving many more families with young children access. This, together with the wide reach of contact points for pack delivery, has helped to ensure that the packs are received by a diverse range of families, including those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Bookstart makes special efforts to ensure that its local schemes work proactively to facilitate delivery of book packs to “hard to reach” groups. Local scheme performance on accessing “hard to reach” groups is evaluated periodically, and best practice is shared and its adoption encouraged.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment has been made of the impact of the Bookstart scheme on improving reading standards. [139994]
Beverley Hughes: The Bookstart scheme aims to encourage a love of books by children in their earliest years, and helps to support the development of early communication and language skills in young children. A number of studies have assessed the impact of the Bookstart programme on reading standards. Among these, Wade and Moore's longitudinal study in Birmingham in 2000 offers the most comprehensive examination of the immediate and long-term impact of the programme. The study compared a cohort of Bookstart children who received the book pack at nine months with a control group who did not receive a pack. The children's performance on a range of literacy and reading measures was evaluated at intervals from the age of two-and-a-half to three years up to the end of Key Stage 1 in primary schools. Observations of book sharing in the home at the initial evaluation demonstrated that Bookstart children concentrated more and showed more interest in books, pointed to text more and tried to turn pages more than did the comparison group. The second evaluation stage, using Baseline Assessment of children in their reception year, demonstrated significantly improved performance on reading scores for Bookstart children. The final evaluation used the SATS tests at the end of Key Stage 1. Results for each group showed that Bookstart children were on average between 20 to 30 per cent. superior in their ‘reading task’ and ‘reading comprehension’ scores.
A copy of the research study, “A Sure Start with Books”, by Barrie Wade and Maggie Moore, has been placed in the House Libraries.
Child Minding: EC Law
Mr. Paul Goodman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of European Regulation (EC)
No. 852/2004 of levels of unemployment among childminders; [136680]
(2) what inspections of childminders under European Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 have taken place. [136681]
Caroline Flint [holding answer s 14 May 2007]: I have been asked to reply.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment in respect of Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 was produced and refined at various stages during development of the regulation. This assessed its impact in terms of costs, benefits and risks which could affect businesses, charities or the voluntary sector. No specific assessment has been made of the impact on levels of unemployment among child minders.
The enforcement of food law in the United Kingdom is delegated primarily to local authorities which carry out inspections of food businesses within their area of jurisdiction.
The Food Standards Agency does collect information on local authority enforcement activity, but not at a level of detail sufficient to allow individual food business types such as child minders to be identified. The information requested could be obtained only from individual local authorities and, therefore, can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service budget is for 2007-08; what its projected expenditure is for that year; and whether he plans to ensure that any overspend on the budget is met. [140267]
Mr. Dhanda: At a time of budget restrictions the Government have maintained the budget for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) and it was increased to £106,698,000 (net of receipts) in 2007-08. CAFCASS expects to manage within this budget, and the Government plan to ensure that CAFCASS continues to be adequately funded.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he has any plans to increase the number of persons referred by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service to mediation. [140271]
Mr. Dhanda:
Mediation is a process of dispute resolution which aims to avoid the need to initiate court proceedings. Where it is safe to do so, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) undertakes dispute resolution with separating parents when they have been unable to reach agreement over arrangements for their children and court proceedings have been initiated. CAFCASS has no power to refer people to mediation, but, its officers do advise separating parents about taking up, or returning to, mediation. Many CAFCASS teams
work closely with local mediation services, deciding which service is most likely to be successful in individual cases.
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