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13 Nov 2007 : Column 101W—continued
At the most recent CBD meeting, held in March 2006, governments reaffirmed this decision. We supported the decision. The UK Government’s position has not changed on this issue.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the potential effects on UK agriculture of the use of Terminator seed technology; and if he will make a statement. [162376]
Mr. Woolas: My Department has not commissioned any recent research on the potential effects of “Terminator seed” technology on UK agriculture.
We commissioned a desk study of Technologies for Biological Containment of Genetically Modified (GM) and non-GM Crops. The report is available on the DEFRA website.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received from (a) Progressio and (b) others on Terminator seed technology. [162377]
Mr. Woolas: We have received two recent representations, which included the subject of “Terminator seed” technology, neither of these were from Progressio.
Pigs
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what response he has made to the recommendation of the Farm Animal Welfare Council that the use of aversive gas mixtures for stunning and killing pigs should be phased out within five years; and if he will make a statement. [162903]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 12 November 2007]: In its response to the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) report, the Government indicated that it would investigate alternatives to the use of carbon dioxide for stunning and killing pigs. DEFRA has commissioned two research projects that will examine the use of other gases or gas mixtures (including inert gases) for these purposes. The work commenced in 2005, but it will take at least five years to complete. The Government’s response confirmed that it could not make a commitment to phase out the use of carbon dioxide within five years while there was no certainty that an effective alternative system would be available within that time frame. This remains the position.
Wild Boar
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to (a) finalise and (b) publish his Department’s strategy for wild boar management. [162803]
Joan Ruddock: We intend to finalise our policy on feral wild boar management by the end of 2007 and will publish it as soon as is practical.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library a breakdown of his Department's efficiency savings in relation to its Spending Review 2004 (SR04) targets, including (a) the efficiency projects in the Department, (b) the date on which each of these projects was initiated and (c) how much was predicted to contribute to the SR04 target. [162316]
Mr. Woodward: Details of the Northern Ireland Office's efficiency savings in relation to Spending Review 2004 can be seen in the Department's Efficiency Technical Note. A copy is available in the Library.
Solicitor-General
Prison Service: Homophobia
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General with reference to her answer of 21 May 2007, Official Report, column 1145W, on Prison Service: homophobia, for what reason this information is not held by the Treasury Solicitor; and if she will make a statement. [163233]
The Solicitor-General: The Treasury Solicitor keeps records primarily to meet the operational needs of his Department as the Government's solicitor. Cases tend to be categorised according to client and according to the nature of the claim at law, for example, assault, personal injury, unfair dismissal, misfeasance, judicial review. Homophobia as such does not constitute a claim at law. Rather, it may be, or may be perceived to be, a motivating factor in many kinds of claim. Whether, in any case, homophobia has been such a factor may never be established leaving the issue speculative and any record based upon it unreliable. No operational purpose of the Treasury Solicitor's Department would be served by keeping such a record and for that reason, having regard to the duty to be cost-effective, such records are not kept.
Culture, Media and Sport
Community Development
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on the Where We Live programme in each of the last three years. [163518]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 12 November 2007]: The Where We Live programme now has the new brand-name of Living Places.
The programme is delivered through a partnership between the five leading national cultural agencies, DCMS, DCLG and the Regional Cultural Consortia.
Its aim is to ensure all communities can benefit from cultural and sporting opportunities by embedding culture in the development of our villages, towns and cities.
DCMS contributed £20,000 towards the Thames Gateway Forum in 2006.
DCMS has yet to be invoiced for its contribution of £20,000 from this year's partnership budget.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what efficiency savings his Department was required to make as part of its Spending Review 2004 (SR04) targets; what efficiency projects have been undertaken in the Department in pursuit of those targets; on what date each was initiated; and how much each was predicted to contribute to the SR04 target. [162321]
Margaret Hodge: The Department has five efficiency programme streams that contribute to its overall target of £262 million savings over the SR04 spending period. Latest figures up to June 2007 are:
| £ million | ||
| June 2007 outturn | March 2008 target | |
Our efficiency savings are reported publicity in our Departmental Annual Report and our Autumn Performance Report. The 2007 Autumn Performance Report, due to be published in December, will contain the latest figures up to September 2007.
Departmental Manpower
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 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. [162431]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s nominated officers have received no reports under paragraph 16 of the revised Civil Service Code since 6 June 2006.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many allegations of victimisation for whistleblowing have been reported to his Department by departmental staff since 6 June 2006. [162432]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No allegations of victimisation for whistleblowing have been reported by staff in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport since 6 June 2006.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many civil servants in his Department (a) transferred to other Government Departments and (b) left the civil service in each of the last five years. [162741]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Over the last five years a total of (a) 347 civil servants in DCMS have transferred to other Government Departments and (b) 172 have left the civil service. See following table for breakdown per year.
| Transferred to OGD( 1) | Left civil service | |
| (1) Please note that figures for transferred civil servants include those on long-term loans to other Government Departments and whose loan period to DCMS came to an end and who returned to their own Department. | ||
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Welsh speakers his Department employs. [162890]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We are unable to provide an answer as the Department does not hold information on how many Welsh speakers it employs; the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Football: Community Relations
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which football clubs receive Government funding to operate community schemes; what assessment he has made of these schemes; and if he will make a statement. [162206]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following Government initiatives fund community schemes operated by, or in conjunction with, football clubs.
Playing for Success establishes out of school hours study support centres at professional football clubs and other sports clubs. 80 centres are based in football clubs, including all 20 clubs in the premier league, to which the Department for Children Schools and Families will contribute £5.3 million in 2007-08.
The Home Office funds Positive Futures, a national sports-based social inclusion programme. Six football clubs, (Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Portsmouth, Chelsea, Millwall and Brentford) have Football in the Community Schemes affiliated to them that have successfully applied for Positive Futures programme funding, and will receive a total of £608,074 in 2007-08. The 2007 annual monitoring and evaluation report on the entire Positive Futures Programme is expected to be published in November.
The Kickz scheme, currently delivered in partnership with 19 premiership and 11 football league clubs across the country, offers positive evening activities for young people, including football leagues and education sessions. Evaluation of the four pilot Kickz projects showed that local crime had fallen by an average of 27 per cent. during those times that projects were being held. The Football Foundation received £1 million to help expand the Kickz programme from four to 25 clubs in 2006 and a further £1 million was allocated to Kickz in September 2007.
I am arranging for further details of these schemes and participating clubs to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Legacy Lives Conference
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many government bodies are involved in the 2008 Legacy Lives Conference in Barbados; and if he will make a statement. [163721]
Mr. Sutcliffe: UK Sport is the only government body that is involved in this event. In addition, the Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is due to speak at the conference via video link.
Sports: Drugs
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding the Government have allocated for prevention of doping in sport in each of the last 10 years. [162750]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows UK Sport’s, the UK’s national anti-doping organisation and lead agency for elite sport, allocation of funding for the prevention of doping in sport in each of the last 10 years.
| £ million | |
| (1) These entries show budget figures, as records for actual spend are not available. The figure for 2007-08 is a forecast. | |
Since 2002, Government have paid an annual contribution to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for its work in the prevention of doping in sport. The following table sets out these contributions, which are paid in December each year. The figure for 2007 is a forecast.
| Amount (£) | |
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