| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Sep 2007 : Column 2145W—continued
Sports: Drugs
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many publicly-funded athletes in the Olympic disciplines have missed two out-of-competition drug tests. [155311]
Mr. Sutcliffe: UK Sport, the national anti-doping agency, does not disclose information on specific numbers of athletes who have missed drug tests under the Whereabouts system, nor the number of ‘strikes’ they have received. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, UK Sport is obliged to report specifically on doping violations for individual athletes, and missed tests are not defined as a violation until three have been recorded.
UK Sport does annually report the total number of missed tests across all sports on the national anti-doping programme. In 2006-07, the figure was 126.
Sports: Transport
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the proportion of people who live within 20 minutes of a good multi-sport facility; which mode of transport was used in calculating this figure; what the average distance covered in this time was for the purposes of the calculation; how this target has been assessed; what plans he has to monitor the targets; and what definition his Department uses of a good multi-sport facility. [154898]
Mr. Sutcliffe
[holding answer 10 September 2007]: For the purposes of this commitment the Government have defined ‘multi-sport’ as access to at least two different sports facilities that are most in demand. In relation to ‘good quality’ there is no single nationally recognised measure that can be applied to all sports facilities. However, the Active Places sports facilities database (the main tool for measuring the
commitment) holds information about the age of facilities and length of time since last refurbishment. We are using these figures as the measure of quality.
Using the Active Places database Sport England are undertaking strategic mapping of the nation’s sports facilities and we know that over 90 per cent. of people in England are within 20 minutes’ travel time of at least two different sports facilities that are most in demand by the public (swimming pools, playing fields, synthetic turf pitches, health and fitness centres, sports halls and golf courses). We know that, of the built sports facilities listed on Active Places (pools, halls, health and fitness centres and synthetic turf pitches), 65 per cent. have been built or refurbished in the last 10 years. We expect to see these positive figures maintained in future years.
The Government take the view that those in urban areas should be within 20 minutes’ walking distance of a multi-sport environment, while those in rural areas should be within 20 minutes’ driving distance by car. Urban and rural areas are defined using the “Rural and Urban Area Classification 2004: Introductory Guide”, which was jointly published by The Countryside Agency, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Office for National Statistics, and the Welsh Assembly Government. The rural road travel times are based on the average road speeds derived from the Integrated Transport Network produced by Ordnance Survey. The urban walking catchments are based on a straight line 1.34 km distance.
Northern Ireland
Abortion
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2007, Official Report, column 79W, on abortion, whether Parliament will be able to pass legislation changing the law relating to abortion in Northern Ireland once the Northern Ireland Assembly has assumed responsibility for the criminal law. [153304]
Mr. Woodward: When responsibility for the criminal law is devolved, consideration of legislation relating to the law on abortion will be a matter for the devolved authorities in Northern Ireland. As paragraph 13 of the Devolution Memorandum of Understanding (Cm 5240, published in December 2001) makes clear:
“The United Kingdom Parliament retains authority to legislate on any issue, whether devolved or not. It is ultimately for Parliament to decide what use to make of that power. However, the UK Government will proceed in accordance with the convention that the UK Parliament would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters except with the agreement of the devolved legislature.”
The Government’s position on the law on abortion in Northern Ireland is as set out in the answer of 16 July 2007, Official Report, column 79W.
Crimes of Violence
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on recent violent attacks; and if he will make a statement. [155070]
Paul Goggins: We are in regular discussion with the PSNI in relation to a variety of policing matters, including instances of violence.
The PSNI policing plan for 2007-08 includes a target for reducing violent crime by two percentage points. Violent crime this year to date is showing a reduction of 18.2 per cent. in comparison to the same period last year.
Departments: Correspondence
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many letters he and his predecessors sent in each of the last five years. [153446]
Mr. Woodward: This information is not recorded.
Departments: Information Officers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many press officers are employed by his Department. [153069]
Mr. Woodward: There are 12 press officers working for the Northern Ireland Office, comprising of a director of communications, deputy director of communications, two principal information officers, four senior information officers and four information officers.
Departments: Legislation
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which Bills introduced by his Department in the last five years contained sunset clauses; and what plans he has for the future use of such clauses. [151830]
Mr. Woodward: The following Acts introduced as Bills by my Department in the last five years have contained sunset clauses (that is to say, provisions that will expire at the end of a set period):
Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections and Periods of Suspension) Act 2003
Section 7 provided that the provisions of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 which have been inserted or substituted by the 2003 Act and section 1(4) of the 2003 Act would expire on 16 November 2003 unless 7(4) applied or an order had been made under section 7(2) of the 2003 Act. These provisions have not expired (save s.31(2) of the NIA 1998, as inserted by the 2003 Act, which has since been substituted by the Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) Act 2006) because an order was made under s.31(2) of the NIA 1998 so s.7(4) applied.
Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003
Section 23 of the Police (NI) Act 2003, as amended by Article 10 of the Policing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2007, provides for the appointment of constables who have a specified policing skill. This provision will expire on 21 April 2009 (i.e. two years after the Policing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2007 came into operation).
Electoral Registration (Northern Ireland) Act 2005
Section 3 provides that the Act shall cease to be in force 12 months after the day on which it is passed, unless an order has been made under 3(2). No such Order was made and the Act has expired.
The appropriateness of a sunset clause for the whole or part of any proposed legislation is considered on a case by case basis. It is also addressed when a regulatory impact assessment relating to legislation is being prepared.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which Bills introduced by his Department in the last five years did not contain sunset clauses; and if he will make a statement. [152495]
Mr. Woodward: The following Acts introduced as Bills by my Department in the last five years have not contained sunset clauses:
Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning (Amendment) Act 2002
Justice (Northern Ireland Act) 2002
Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002
Northern Ireland Assembly Elections Act 2003
Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc) Act 2003
Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2004
Northern Ireland Act 2006
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006
Terrorism (Northern Ireland) Act 2006
Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) Act 2006
Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) Act 2007
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007
Departments: Manpower
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed in his Department to work on ministerial correspondence. [152827]
Mr. Woodward: Three civil servants are employed in my Department to co-ordinate responses to ministerial correspondence. However, in the course of their duties most staff at all grades are involved in the process of drafting responses to ministerial correspondence.
Departments: Ministerial Red Boxes
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many ministerial red boxes the Department bought in each of the last five years; what the cost of each was; who the suppliers were; and what tendering process was used in selecting them. [150293]
Mr. Woodward: Ministerial boxes are used by successive Ministers over many years. In the last five years my Department has not purchased any new ministerial boxes.
Departments: Official Hospitality
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many receptions were held at 11 Millbank in each of the last five years. [152826]
Mr. Woodward: Our records show that over the last three years the following number of receptions were held in Millbank. Records are not available for 2003 and 2004.
| Number of receptions held | |
| (1 )To date | |
Departments: Press
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to which periodicals his Department subscribes. [153061]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office, excluding its Agencies and Executive NDPBs, subscribes to the following periodicals:
American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
Archbold News
Belfast Gazette
British Journal of Community Justice
British Journal of Criminology
British Journal of Social Work
Bulletin of Northern Ireland Law
Bulletpoint
Child Care in Practice
Childright
Community Safety Journal
Community Safety Matters
Computer Active
Computer Weekly
Country Life
Crime Reduction News
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice Matters
Criminal Law Review
Criminal Lawyer
Current Sentencing Practice News
Diversity at Work
Dod’s Parliamentary Companion
Druglink
Economist
European Human Rights Law Review
Exchange Administrator
Forensic Science International
Fortnight
Homes & Gardens
House of Commons Hansard
House of Lords Hansard
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
Howard League Magazine
Human Rights Alerter
Human Rights Updater
Industrial Relations Law Reports
International Journal of Legal Medicine
International Review of Victimology
Journal of Adolescence
Journal of Forensic Sciences
Justice of the Peace Journal
Justice of the Peace Reports
Legal Information Management
London Diplomatic List
Magistrate
Modern Law Review
Net Advantage
New Law Journal
New Statesman
Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly
PC Pro Magazine
Phoenix
Police Review
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |