| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 July 2007 : Column 1600W—continued
Trident
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated ongoing in-service costs are of the Trident replacement over its 30 year life span how much is accounted for by (a) facilities and revenue costs at Aldermaston, (b) new missiles required to carry the warheads, (c) Military Defence Police (MDP) costs for guarding (i) Aldermaston, (ii) Burghfield and (iii) Coulport and (d) MDP costs for escorting the convoys; and if he will make a statement. [147835]
Des Browne: As paragraph 5-14 of the White Paper: ‘The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent’ (column 6994) makes clear, in-service costs of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, including the costs of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), will on average be around five to six per cent., of the defence budget once the proposed fleet of replacement SSBNs comes into service. Further information on the costs of replacing the Trident D5 missile and the costs of the AWE are included in paragraphs 5-11 and 5-13 of the White Paper respectively. The future costs of the Ministry of Defence Police for guarding Aldermaston, Burghfield and Coulport and for escorting nuclear convoys, which are included in the in-service cost mentioned above, are expected to be similar to today however, it is too early to provide a precise estimate.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departments: Public Transport
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what incentives he has considered to encourage staff in his Department to use public transport. [148798]
Margaret Hodge: The main incentives that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport offers are interest free loans to purchase season tickets for road/rail transport and purchase of bicycles for travel to work.
Use of public transport is encouraged by Departmental policies, including providing links to major travel and rail operators on our intranet site.
Football Association: World Cup
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what occasions (a) he or his predecessor, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) representatives of his Department met the Football Association to discuss an English bid for the 2018 World Cup (i) before the feasibility study by the Treasury and his Department into holding the World Cup in England began, (ii) while the study was in progress; and what such meetings have taken place since the study was completed. [148964]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Bidding to host a future World Cup is not a decision for Government but for the relevant football authorities. Ministers and representatives of this Department have not met with the Football Association (FA) to discuss an English bid for the 2018 World Cup. However, representatives of HM Treasury, this Department and the FA met on a number of occasions during the feasibility study to consult and discuss emerging issues. Since publication of the report my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Central (Mr. Caborn) in his capacity as the Prime Minister's World Cup ambassador, has met the FA on a number of occasions to discuss circumstances relating to a potential FA bid for the World Cup.
Gambling: Advertising
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what restrictions are to be put in place to prevent advertisements promoting gambling-related activities during children’s television viewing hours. [148536]
James Purnell: The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) has published a new code for gambling advertisers which puts in place strict controls to prohibit gambling advertising during or around children’s programmes or programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 18. The new rules will be regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and come into effect on 1 September.
National Lottery: Grants
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications the Heritage Lottery Fund has received for projects that are run by (a) not-for-profit organisations and (b) all other organisations in each year since 1997. [148585]
Margaret Hodge: The number of applications received by the Heritage Lottery Fund that are run by not-for-profit and all other organisations per annum since 1997 are detailed in the following table.
| Applications received by the Heritage Lottery Fund | ||
| Financial year | Not-for-profit( 1) | Other( 2) |
| (1 )Not for profit sector, including Churches and voluntary sector (2 )Includes public sector, central and local government | ||
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many grants have been awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to projects that are run by (a) not-for-profit organisations and (b) all other organisations in each year since 1997. [148586]
Margaret Hodge: The number of grants awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund that are run by not-for-profit, and all other organisations per annum since 1997 are detailed in the following table.
| Projects that have received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund | ||
| Financial year | Not-for-profit( 1) | Other( 2) |
| (1 )Not for profit sector, including Churches and voluntary sector (2 )Includes public sector, central and local government. | ||
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what verification process is used for projects that make applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund to assess the accuracy of (a) business plans and (b) budgets before awarding funding to a project; and if he will make a statement. [148587]
Margaret Hodge:
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) assesses business plans against key elements specified in its published guidance. These include relevance of the project to the aims of the applicant organisation, an analysis of the market for the project, financial appraisal, management
structure, assessment of risks to the project and systems for monitoring and evaluating the project.
Project budgets and financial information are assessed by a variety of measures including: the accuracy of cost breakdowns; the identification of eligible costs; calculation and identification of fees, contingencies, inflation and VAT; eligibility and accuracy of identified sunk costs and voluntary contributions; partnership and other funding secured; and the ability of the applicant to meet any funding shortfalls.
The level of detail required for business plans and budgets in applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund depends on the size of grant applied for.
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the level of priority that the Heritage Lottery Fund gives to funding of private sector projects. [148588]
Margaret Hodge: Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) trustees determine priorities subject to the broad policy directions set by Government. HLF policy is to award grants to private owners where public benefit outweighs private gain.
The Commons Select Committee in its report ‘Protecting and Preserving Our Heritage’ supported this approach.
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria the Heritage Lottery Fund uses to assess the viability of projects that have already received (a) public funding, (b) private funding and (c) Heritage Lottery Fund funding when considering applications for additional funding; and if he will make a statement. [148590]
Margaret Hodge: Heritage Lottery Fund assesses requests for additional funding (grant increases) by appraising the additional sum requested against the following criteria:
evidence that the costs relate to unforeseen and unforeseeable extra works;
that the costs faced are genuinely outside the grantee's control;
that the approved purposes of the project remain materially the same;
that the project still represents value for money; and
that the additional costs can not be met from other sources.
This assessment process is applied to all applications.
Work and Pensions
Children: Maintenance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which providers will deliver support and advice to recently parted parents on making private arrangements for child maintenance; and if he will make a statement. [146689]
Mr. Plaskitt: It is not yet possible to identify who will provide the information and support service as the commissioning process has not yet started.
Chronically Sick: Employment
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to bring forward provisions to strengthen the legal rights of people with (a) rheumatoid arthritis and (b) other chronic health conditions in the workplace. [147836]
Mrs. McGuire: We have no plans to extend the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as we have already fulfilled our commitment to put in place a comprehensive set of enforceable civil rights for disabled people. In particular, we extended and improved the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 from 1 October 2004 to bring all small employers and previously excluded occupations, except service in the armed forces, within the scope of employment provisions of the Act.
For a disabled person to benefit from the protection provided by the Disability Discrimination Act, they must meet the Act's definition of a disabled person. In general, the Act defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Someone with rheumatoid arthritis or a chronic health condition is protected by the Act if their condition meets this definition.
Incapacity Benefit: Assessments
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of his Department's progress in improving the adequacy of medical reports following recommendations made by the Committee of Public Accounts in its 27th Report of Session 2001-02. [147816]
Mrs. McGuire: Considerable progress has been made since the Public Accounts Committee's report. The current contractor for medical services is ATOS Healthcare, and the contract for the provision of medical services now includes revised targets to help improve the quality of the medical reports as well as speed of response.
Training for the doctors involved has been improved and quality assurance arrangements have been enhanced. An IT system for the provision of evidence-based reports has been implemented. Sub-standard reports are returned to the contractor for rework. In addition, changes have now been made to legislation to allow for health care professionals, not just doctors, to carry out medical examinations, produce reports and to give advice across the range of disability benefits.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of public companies with underfunded company pension schemes. [149011]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Estimating the number of public companies with underfunded defined benefit company pension schemes is complicated by several factors. Identification of the sponsoring company is not straightforward since many schemes will be directly
connected to a subsidiary or holding company. In addition not only are valuations (and therefore deficits) calculated in different ways, they are not calculated frequently. Changes in the economic climate such as those we are seeing at the moment also alter the funding situation of schemes to a large degree.
In December 2006, the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund produced aggregate funding figures based on a group of defined benefit schemes in their joint publication ‘The Purple Book’. While these figures do not cover every defined benefit scheme they are representative. This detailed publication can be found in the House of Commons Library and on the Pensions Regulator's website at:
customersupport@pensionsregular.gov.uk.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |