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13 Nov 2007 : Column 87W—continued
Whistleblowers
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many reports have been made to his Department’s nominated officers under paragraph 16 of the revised Civil Service Code since its publication on 6 June 2006. [162477]
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many allegations of victimisation for whistleblowing have been reported to his Department by departmental staff since 6 June 2006. [162478]
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when his Department’s whistleblowing procedures were reviewed to reflect the provisions in the revised Civil Service Code. [162479]
Mr. Hain: My Department’s whistleblowing policy statement was updated in October 2006.
Public Expenditure
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what in-year changes were made to the Barnett formula as it applies to Wales in each year since 2000. [164000]
Mr. Hain: The Barnett formula remains unchanged. Revised editions of the Treasury publication “Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly—a Statement of Funding Policy” were published in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2007. These contain full details of the Barnett formula including changes to the population factors and the comparability factors.
In addition, the population factors are revised on an annual basis to take account of the updated mid-year estimates of population published by the Office for National Statistics.
House of Commons Commission
Departmental Property
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the cost to the public purse was of providing a square metre of office space on the parliamentary estate in 2006-07. [162487]
Nick Harvey: The average resource cost of a square metre of space on the parliamentary estate in 2006-07 was £651. This is a high-level figure covering the whole of the estate, including unusable spaces. Detailed cost figures for office space only are not readily available. A costing system is under development to provide detailed unit cost information by the end of 2007-08.
Palace of Westminster: Parking
Mr. Harper: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) if the Commission will consider introducing a scheme to enable hon. Members to book disabled parking bays for their guests; [162619]
(2) what enforcement procedures are in place to ensure that parking bays designated for people with disabilities in the Palace of Westminster are used by blue badge holders only; [162620]
(3) what recent assessment the Commission has made of the adequacy of parking arrangements for disabled visitors to the Palace of Westminster. [162621]
Nick Harvey: Parking spaces for Members and staff with disabilities or mobility problems are provided in Star Chamber Court. If space is available and advance notice is given, the Serjeant at Arms office will endeavour to accommodate Members’ guests although this cannot be guaranteed. Priority is given to Blue Badge holders driving the vehicle. Able-bodied drivers are normally given permission to drop off a passenger and park elsewhere. Occasionally it is possible to arrange for parking in the House of Lords for such visitors.
Permission to park in designated bays is occasionally given to Members or staff who have temporary disabilities such as a broken limb or following major surgery so the bays are not limited to Blue Badge holders only.
The provision of parking facilities for people with disabilities is kept under review and the Serjeant at Arms office records details of permissions given to ensure that the limited spaces are not overbooked.
Electoral Commission Committee
Constituencies: Parliament
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what calculations the Commission has made of the number of parliamentary constituencies there would be in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland if all constituencies had equal numbers of voters. [163633]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission has no statutory responsibilities in relation to parliamentary constituency boundaries, and informs me that it has made no such calculations.
Transport
Aircraft: Air Conditioning
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of (a) carbon monoxide and (b) organophosphates poisoning were reported on (i) Flybe 146 flights, (ii) 146 aircraft, (iii) Boeing 757 flights and (iv) other flights in the last year for which figures are available. [163162]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The CAA's mandatory occurrence reporting scheme (MORS) database contains reports of contaminated air events submitted by UK operators. The nature of any potential contaminant is not recorded on the database. In accordance with its regulatory practice, the CAA's data analysis does not identify the operators or aircraft registrations and has been aggregated to include all UK operators.
The last full year for which figures are available is 2006. In that year there were 109 contaminated air events. These figures break down by aircraft type as follows:
| Aircraft type | Number of contaminated air events |
Aviation: Fireworks
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many passenger aircraft have reported instances of near misses with fireworks in the last 10 years; and at what altitude each of the aircraft was when the near miss took place; [162766]
(2) how many passenger aircraft have been struck by fireworks in the last 10 years; at what altitude each aircraft was struck; and what damage was sustained. [162767]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Over the last 10 years, there have been 33 reports of fireworks in the vicinity of passenger aircraft within UK airspace, and six reports of passenger aircraft struck by fireworks in UK airspace.
The reported altitude and aircraft damage (if applicable) for each event is summarised in the following tables by year. Where the altitude of the aircraft was not reported, the data is recorded as “unknown”.
| Fireworks reported in vicinity of passenger aircraft | ||
| Number | Height (feet) | |
| Passenger aircraft struck by fireworks | |||
| Number | Height (feet) | Damage to aircraft | |
Aviation: Noise
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost was of the Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources in England study published by her Department on 2 November 2007; and how much was spent on fees to MVA consultants. [162080]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 12 November 2007]: The current cost of the Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources in England (ANASE) project is £1,458,711.1. Of which, £1,401,517.60 represents fees to MVA consultants.
British Transport Police: Manpower
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total serving strength of the British Transport Police is; and how many officers work primarily in (a) airports and (b) international railway stations. [163136]
Mr. Tom Harris: As at 31 March 2007 the British Transport Police comprised 2,818 serving officers, 252 Community Support Officers and 1,121 support staff.
The British Transport Police do not police the airports.
The other information requested is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British Transport Police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, e-mail: general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk
Departmental Assets
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what departmental assets are planned to be sold in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2010-11;
what the (a) description and (b) book value of each asset is; what the expected revenue from each sale is; and if she will make a statement. [164157]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The requested information, where not commercially sensitive, has been placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Manpower
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Welsh speakers her Department employs. [162899]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Invalid Vehicles: Accidents
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents involving mobility scooters were recorded in each of the last three years records for which information is available. [163108]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Mobility scooters involved in personal injury road accidents reported to the police are recorded under the other motor vehicle category and cannot be identified as a distinct group of vehicles.
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