Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 4 July 2007
Wales
Prisoners’ Children
8. Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussion he has had with the First Minister on the provision of support for children in Wales whose mothers are in prison. [146380]
Huw Irranca-Davies: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and my predecessor have held regular discussions with Assembly Government colleagues on a range of matters affecting Wales, including prisons. I intend to follow in the same vein.
Barnett Formula
9. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister in Wales on the working of the Barnett formula as it applies to public funding in Wales. [146381]
Mr. Hain: I meet regularly with the First Minister and discuss a wide range of issues.
Prescriptions
10. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has held with the Welsh First Minister on prescriptions written in England being filled in Wales. [146382]
Huw Irranca-Davies: My predecessor had frequent discussions with Welsh Ministers on all issues, including health.
Welsh patients benefit from the Welsh Assembly Government’s policy of free prescriptions for all, and English patients pay the apt fee for England, whichever side of the border they have their prescriptions dispensed.
GP Services
11. Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has held with Welsh Assembly Ministers on funding for the treatment of English patients registered with Welsh GPs. [146383]
Huw Irranca-Davies: My predecessor had regular meetings with the Assembly Minister for Health and Social Services, where cross border treatment of NHS patients were discussed, among other issues. I will continue to hold such meetings.
Community Policing
12. Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the development of community policing in North Wales. [146384]
Mr. Hain: This Government have invested huge sums in extra policing and community safety, and delivered large numbers of extra police officers. As a result of our policies, crime has fallen.
We are committed to ensuring that every community will have a Neighbourhood Policing team by April 2008.
North Wales police is on track to meet this target.
Public Expenditure
13. Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the level of public expenditure per head of population is in Wales in 2007-08. [146385]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Figures for total identifiable public expenditure per head in Wales are published retrospectively by the Treasury as a Command Paper. Figures for 2007-08 are not yet available.
Departments: Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2007, Official Report, column 1289W, on Departments: manpower, how many staff in his Department are classed as without posts. [146909]
Departments: Pay
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last three years; and at what total cost. [146976]
Mr. Hain: The only readily available information is for financial year 2006-07. Three members of Wales Office staff were awarded non-pensionable bonuses. The total cost was £1,000.
Departments: Performance Appraisal
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in his Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in 2006-07. [146928]
Mr. Hain: Provisionally one, which is currently being appealed.
Departments: Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in his Department have taken (a) five or more, (b) four, (c) three and (d) two periods of sick leave of less than five days in the last 12 months. [147060]
Mr. Hain: This information is not held centrally and obtaining it could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
Public Sector: Pay
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussion he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the economic benefits for Wales arising out of the introduction of regional pay in the public sector. [147294]
Mr. Hain: I have regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It is essential that all public sector workers receive a fair rate of pay wherever they live. Pay reflects the individual circumstances facing each workforce, for instance recruitment and retention, operational circumstances, local labour market considerations, pay modernisation and the value of the total reward package. With major Welsh towns and cities like Cardiff, Newport and Swansea now enjoying increased prosperity and a booming property market, Wales is not necessarily one single labour market.
Prime Minister
Official Residences: Mr. Prescott
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister whether the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) will be permitted to remain in his official residence in Admiralty House; and on what financial terms. [147435]
The Prime Minister: Following his recent illness, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) is making the necessary arrangements to move out of his official residence.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departments: Consultants
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on (a) management consultants and (b) other external consultants and advisers in each year since 2000; and which of these consultants undertook work for the Department with a total contractual value in excess of £10 million over this period. [146341]
Margaret Hodge: The Department’s spend on management and other consultants and advisers since 2000 is listed in the table. There have been no consultants who have undertaken work for the Department with a contractual value in excess of £10 million during this period.
Football: Primary Education
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families on increasing participation in football in primary schools; and if he will make a statement. [147393]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government are committed to increasing the amount of physical education and sport in schools through the National School Sport Strategy, delivered jointly by the DCMS and the DCSF. Football is one of 25 sports helping to deliver this strategy.
The 2005-06 School Sport survey found that 99 per cent. of primary schools offered football during the last year and that 79 per cent. of primary schools have a link with a football club.
Gambling: Licensing
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations his Department has received from (a) the gaming industry and (b) local authorities on the deadline for premises licence applications in order to secure continuation rights. [147467]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Industry representatives have raised this issue informally with the Department. Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) supports the existing timetable and we have received no such representation from local authorities.
Gaming Machines: Standards
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans his Department has to permit the pre-testing of gaming machines prior to the implementation of the new machine categories provided for in the Gambling Act 2005. [147466]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The power to test gaming machines for compliance with gaming machine technical standards rests with the Gambling Commission. Machines must be tested in line with the Commission’s testing strategy, to be published before 1 September 2007. The Commission has provisionally approved a number of test houses to carry out testing, and where tests of certain gaming machines will be required, those tests may be commenced prior to 1 September or completed during a reasonable time-frame set by the Commission.
Olympic Games: Greater London
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the value of land at the Olympic site which will be available for resale after hosting the Olympic games in 2012 at current prices. [146246]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 2 July 2007]: I have been asked to reply as Minster for the Olympics.
I refer the hon. Member to my written statement to the House on 27 March 2007, and the revised memorandum of understanding which has now been agreed with the Mayor. Copies of the memorandum have been deposited in the Library of the House. This shows details of the amounts we expect to be recovered from the sale of land acquired by the London Development Agency for the purposes of delivering the Olympic and Paralympic games, and how these funds will be allocated.
Sport England: Finance
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding was provided to Sport England North East Region in each of the last five years; and what the projected funding allocation is for the 2008-09 financial year. [147452]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The table provides details of funding provided to Sport England North East region in each of the last five years:
| £ million | ||
| Sport England North East | Exchequer | Lottery |
The projected funding for 2008-09 financial year will not be known until the outcome of the 2007 comprehensive spending review.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Departments: Advertising
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2007, Official Report, column 1216W, on Departments: Advertising, under what terms the checklist for the travellers website www.fco.gov.uk/travel and its paper equivalent carry advertisements for commercial insurance companies. [147353]
Meg Munn:
The website www.fco.gov.uk/travel is the home page for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Know Before You Go (KBYG) Campaign. The campaign is aimed at encouraging British travellers to prepare better before going overseas. Companies
and businesses can apply to become members of the campaign and as a part of that membership they have an entry and logo displayed through a link from:
The campaign employs a professional partnership marketing company, which develops a range of arrangements (within agreed guidelines), with partner organisations to get travel safety messages across to the public. As part of these arrangements, partner companies have been offered the opportunity to place their logos on the back of some KBYG leaflets. No financial exchange takes place, but the companies are required to provide the equivalent space in value on their own publicity materials.
One example of this is our partnership with The Halifax, whose logo appears on the “Checklist for Travellers” which, is distributed with each UK passport issued. In return for this, the FCO has secured wide exposure for travel safety messages in The Halifax’s online and printed travel-related communications tools, such as travel newsletters, advice pages, and travel insurance documents.
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