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26 Jun 2007 : Column 654W—continued
Westminster City Council: Temporary Accommodation
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2007, Official Report, column 1693W, if she will commission an independent assessment of Westminster city council’s ability to procure short-term leased temporary accommodation for homeless households within its area before making any further reductions in housing benefit subsidy in 2008-09. [145165]
Yvette Cooper: A questionnaire has been sent to a sample of local authorities seeking information on the use and costs of temporary accommodation. Until we have considered the results of this questionnaire no decision can be made about subsidy arrangements in respect of homeless households in temporary accommodation for 2008-09.
We are continuing to work with the Department for Works and Pensions and the devolved Administrations on our longer term proposals which would separate out reasonable costs for the rent and management of temporary accommodation; we would expect these to take effect from 2009.
Transport
A21
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which properties have been purchased under compulsory purchase orders along the proposed route of the A21 upgrade. [145672]
Dr. Ladyman: No properties have been purchased under compulsory purchase orders along the proposed route of the A21 upgrade.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on the Weald Smokery, East Sussex, following its acquisition under blight provisions. [145671]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency purchased Weald Smokery on 8 May 2007. The property itself was purchased for £1,395,657.00 which includes the farmhouse at £525,000, the business at £810,657 and the land stables at £60,000.
Following the purchase of the Weald Smokery under statutory blight provisions, the Highways Agency has incurred costs of £4,131 + VAT to date.
Aviation: Scotland
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled flights took place between (a) Glasgow and London and (b) Edinburgh and London in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2006. [145760]
Gillian Merron: The number of scheduled flights that took place between (a) Glasgow and London and (b) Edinburgh and London in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2006 were as follows:
| Number of Scheduled flights between: | 1997 | 2006 |
| Note: London airports include Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton and Stansted. Source: Civil Aviation Authority | ||
Speed Limits: Cameras
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) reviewed on the likely change in number of speeding fines issued as a result of the new speed camera guidance effective from 1 April. [145765]
Dr. Ladyman:
The Department has not commissioned or reviewed any research on the likely change in number of speeding fines issued as a result of
the new speed camera guidance. The guidance provides local authorities with greater freedom and flexibility on the deployment of cameras, allowing them to enforce in response to community concerns or at sites where there are speeding problems and a high risk that casualties will occur.
Travel: Carbon Emissions
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate his Department has made of the carbon emissions which would be caused by a journey from (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh to London using a high-speed rail service; [145761]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the carbon emissions caused by a journey from (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh to London by aeroplane. [145762]
Gillian Merron: The Department estimates that the per passenger carbon emissions for a journey between London and Edinburgh will be approximately 8 kg carbon for conventional speed rail, 17 kg carbon for high speed rail, and 26 kg carbon for aviation. Passenger carbon emissions are likely to be similar between Glasgow and London.
These rail estimates assume an approximate 600 km distance, current electricity generation mix, average intercity train occupancy of 38 per cent., and the same number of passengers using a high speed rail service as the conventional rail service. The estimates will be sensitive to these assumptions.
The estimate for air is based on Department for Environmental Food and Rural Affairs estimates of average per passenger kilometre emissions for domestic flights.(1) Estimates of rail carbon emissions are based on estimates by Professor Roger Kemp of Lancaster University(2) and Department for Transport modelling.
(1) DEFRA. Guidelines to DEFRA’s Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors for Company Reporting, (2007)
(2 )Interfleet Traction Energy Metrics (2007)
Culture, Media and Sport
Olympic Games: Greater London
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provision she is making for providing Dorset police authority with full funding for any security arrangements they provide for the Olympic games held in Dorset. [145593]
Mr. Caborn [holding answer 25 June 2007]: The Home Office and Olympic security co-ordinator are developing and costing the security planning and operation for London 2012. This will be published when appropriate, and will include relevant costs for police forces outside London.
Sports: Finance
Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much she has allocated to the development of British sportsmen and women until 2012; how many recipients of such funding live in
Ribble Valley constituency; and what proportion of the funding allocated to the 2012 Olympic games is for the development of sporting talent. [145959]
Mr. Caborn: UK Sport, the Government's lead agency for high performance sport, is scheduled to allocate £600 million to the development of British sportsmen and women between now and 2012. £252 million has already been allocated to supporting Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes through to the Beijing games in 2008. £216.4 million has been awarded directly to the national governing bodies and the athletes via UK Sport's world-class pathway programme, with the remainder funding key athlete support services such as sports science and medicine, and technology research and innovation.
The world-class pathway programme supports athletes at three different levels: World-class talent, world-class development and world-class podium. Of the total through to Beijing, approximately 50 per cent. of funding is focused on the world-class talent and development pathways.
Funding for each sport beyond 2008-09 will be decided after a comprehensive review of its performance at the Beijing games, and assessment of its potential for future success at London 2012.
At present there are three athletes from the Ribble Valley area on the world-class pathway programme.
Solicitor-General
Polygamy
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions for polygamy there were in the last 12 months. [144224]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
There is no offence of polygamy as such. A person who enters into a second or subsequent marriage while the first is still valid commits an offence of bigamy under section 57 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
The most recent data available, from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, show that in England and Wales in 2005, 28 defendants were prosecuted for and 21 found guilty of the offence of bigamy. Data for 2006 will be available in the autumn of 2007 and data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
Church Commissioners
Churches: Fire Prevention
Mr. Pickles: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what guidance has been provided on the implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in churches. [145722]
Sir Stuart Bell:
Comprehensive guidance to the legislation may be found on the Department of Communities and Local Government website and the
Churches Main Committee has circulated supplementary guidance on the regulations' effect on places of worship. Church Fire Guidance Notes are available from Ecclesiastical Insurance and from the Churchcare website
Churches should be aware that, in practice, the 2005 Order did not significantly change the requirements falling on them. All churches are recommended to make a ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessment and act upon it.
Wales
Departments: Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of sick leave taken by staff in his Department was stress-related in each of the last three years. [145985]
Mr. Hain: No Wales Office staff have cited stress as a reason for sick absence in the last three years.
Electoral Commission Committee
Absent Voting: Proof of Identity
Mr. Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Electoral Commission is taking to check what proportion of postal vote identifiers were checked in the 2007 local elections. [142188]
Peter Viggers: On 20 February, the Department for Constitutional Affairs formally requested the Commission to carry out a review of the introduction of personal identifiers for absent voting in England and Wales, and to report by 31 July 2007. The Electoral Commission informs me that it has asked Returning Officers to supply information about the levels of checking they undertook in the 2007 local elections, and intends to include the information supplied by Returning Officers in its report.
House of Commons Commission
Catering
Mr. Hands: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much it has cost to commission the Russell Partnership to conduct a survey into catering services in the House. [144925]
Nick Harvey: Invoices have not yet been received for this work, but the tendered price to carry out two surveys (one for staff of the House and one for Members’ staff) and to carry out interviews with a sample of around 35 Members is £6,950.
The work is being carried out to provide qualitative information for the benchmarking of the House of Commons Refreshment Department’s services, which was recommended by the Administration Committee in their report on Refreshment Department Services (HC 733) published on 14 February 2006.
Northern Ireland
Departments: Credit Cards
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years. [145298]
Mr. Hain: The following table represents the amount spent by staff in the Northern Ireland Office, excluding its agencies and NDPBs, via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.
| £ | |||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
The Northern Ireland Office does not have departmental credit cards.
The Government Purchasing Card (GPC) was fully introduced in the Northern Ireland Office in the 2006-07 financial year as a tool to purchase and pay for low value goods and services.
Departments: Legal Costs
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 19W, on Departments: legal costs, how much of the expenditure on legal fees in each of the last five years was incurred (a) by the Public Prosecution Services, (b) in respect of the Saville inquiry, (c) in respect of the Finucane, Nelson, Hamill and Wright inquiries, (d) by the Crown Solicitor’s Office and (e) by other parts of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [141257]
Mr. Hain: Pursuant to the answer provided on 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 19W, on the Department’s legal costs, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) expenditure is broken down as follows:
| £ | |||||
| Legal fees | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
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