Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Church Commissioners
Churches: Theft
Miss McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what estimate the Church Commissioners have made of the impact that the level of thefts from churches has had on the average cost of insurance premiums for churches over the last three years. [190054]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Commissioners do not hold figures for church insurance premiums. We understand that the rates charged by Ecclesiastical, the leading insurer of Anglican churches, have until now been unaffected. The situation has recently become so serious, with the very substantial increase in metal thefts, that it is inevitable that premiums will be affected in the future.
Leader of the House
Members: Correspondence
Mrs. May: To ask the Leader of the House when she will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Maidenhead of 27 November 2007, on her Labour Party deputy leadership campaign and declarations under the ministerial code. [191625]
Ms Harman: I have nothing to add to what I said in the House in response to a question from the right hon. Member for Maidenhead during business questions on 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 435.
Electoral Commission Committee
Electoral Commission: Grants
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to an Electoral Commission press release dated 12 February on grants allocated to community-based organisations, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that such funding is awarded to politically impartial organisations. [191091]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that all grant-funded organisations must comply with the terms and conditions of the scheme, which state that projects must be run and delivered in an impartial and unbiased manner and that no part of the grant shall be used to promote party or other political purposes.
All grants are monitored through quarterly reports and annual visits by Commission officials.
Liberal Democrats: Finance
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what progress has been made on the Electoral Commission’s investigation into the permissibility of the donations by Mr. Michael Brown to the Liberal Democrat Party. [191127]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the position remains as stated in the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 16 May 2007, Official Report, column 748W.
Television
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many plasma television screens have been purchased by the Commission, and at what cost, in the last 24 months. [191071]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that nine plasma television screens were purchased in the last 24 months at a total cost of £11,215.52. Six screens were purchased when the Commission’s London office was refurbished and three when the Commission opened new offices in Exeter, York and Coventry.
Wales
Brofiscin Quarry: Hazardous Substances
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans on what timetable have been agreed by his Department and the Environment Agency Wales for the removal of toxic waste from Brofiscin quarry; what estimate he has made of the associated costs; and who is liable to meet such costs. [190073]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Environment Agency is currently conducting an appraisal of remedial treatment solutions and the associated costs for Brofiscin Quarry. It is also investigating who should be responsible for the cost of remediation. In doing so, the Environment Agency must act in accordance with the relevant legislation and statutory guidance. The contaminated land regime does not prescribe a timetable for these processes.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects of (i) Agent Orange derivatives, (ii) polychlorinated biphenyls and (iii) dioxins on (A) current and (B) future residents in areas around Brofiscin quarry; and if he will make a statement. [190074]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
It is the responsibility of Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council to investigate and respond to public health-related
matters such as exposure of local residents to any airborne vapours, gases or dusts.
All investigations to date have indicated that there is no identifiable harm or immediate danger to human health from the quarry. The local authority has obtained funding from the Welsh Assembly Government for a study to investigate the presence or absence of vapours from the quarry site which will evaluate any potential risk to human health. The investigation is scheduled to start in March and to last 12 months.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to act against those responsible for the illegal dumping of toxic waste at Brofiscin quarry. [190075]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Environment Agency is currently investigating who should be responsible for the cost of remediating Brofiscin quarry. Once its investigation is complete and a determination made, the Environment Agency will consult with these ‘appropriate persons' on remediation options and costs. The ‘appropriate persons' may remediate the land voluntarily, or, alternatively, the Environment Agency may serve a Remediation Notice detailing what work needs to be done. In certain circumstances, the Environment Agency may carry out the work itself and seek to recover costs from the ‘appropriate persons'.
Scotland
Departmental Written Questions
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what proportion of parliamentary questions for answer on a named day to his Department received an (a) holding and (b) substantive answer on the named day in each year since 2001. [190281]
David Cairns: The vast majority of parliamentary questions tabled to the Scotland Office are for ‘ordinary’ written reply. However, of those tabled as named day, approximately 85 per cent. have received a substantive answer on the named day since 2001.
Northern Ireland
Crime: Drugs
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Police Service of Northern Ireland spent on combating illicit drugs in each of the last two years. [186982]
Paul Goggins:
Information in the form requested is not readily available and to attempt to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Police enforcement regarding drug-related crime spans all business areas of the organisation. It is not only the drugs squad within crime operations that combat ‘illicit drugs’. Tactical Support Groups, organised crime operations, districts, special operations and roads policing all have their part to play and a breakdown of the costing within each of
these areas for this particular aspect of the roles they provide is not readily available.
Departmental Home Working
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in his Department have been able to work from home in the last 12 months. [189776]
Mr. Woodward: Some members of staff in the Northern Ireland Office work from home as and when circumstances allow and with agreement from their local management, but we do not hold the numbers centrally.
The Department is currently examining whether it would be possible to expand these arrangements bearing in mind the additional costs, security, and health and safety issues.
Departmental Private Finance Initiative
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) value and (b) start date was of each private finance initiative project approved by his Department in each of the last three financial years. [190798]
Mr. Woodward: The capital value and start date for every signed PFI project is recorded centrally on the Treasury's website at
Departmental Travel
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many journeys his Department’s (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants made between London and Northern Ireland on official business in each month since May 2007. [187060]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Month | Secretary of State/Minister of State | Civil servants | Total |
| (1) The month of February consists of bookings up to 18 February only. | |||
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department and its agencies spent on first-class travel in the last 12 months for which figures are available, broken down by staff grade. [187662]
Mr. Woodward: In the last 12 months there were a total of 15 first class journeys by air. The breakdown by grade is as follows:
| Grade | Number of flights |
The cost of each of these trips includes the cost of domestic and internal flights (in the country of either origin or arrival) which was at a class other than first class. It is not possible to disaggregate the cost to give a figure for the element of the journey which was first class travel.
In the same period there were 333 first class rail journeys, at a cost of £8,866.00, as follows:
| Grade | Number of rail journeys |
The information on rail travel is based on our centralised travel booking records only and excludes journeys booked directly by officials and recouped as part of their expenses claim. These journeys are few in number and could be identified only at disproportionate cost.
All flight and rail journeys are shown as single journeys.
Drinking Water
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on bottled water in the latest year for which figures are available. [189801]
Mr. Woodward: During the financial year 2006-07, the Northern Ireland Office (excluding its Agencies) spent £33,665 on the purchase of bottled water. This figure includes the supply of bottles of water used in water cooler machines.
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