Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 19 March 2008
House of Commons Commission
Diplomatic Protection Group
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008, Official Report, column 7W, on Diplomatic Protection Group, what safety and environmental issues were highlighted by the health and safety assessment; and what possible solutions are being considered. [194308]
Nick Harvey: The safety and environmental issues highlighted by the assessment were: a safe means for officers to leave the premises without danger from motor vehicles; the provision of a means of escape in case of fire; adequate ventilation and prevention of dampness. Solutions being considered to address the first issue are the provision of a convex mirror, a dedicated and marked walkway and instructions to the Officers not to use the vehicle exit ramp; on the other issues, a study is being undertaken of alternative accommodation on the parliamentary estate as well as of the feasibility of adapting the current accommodation so that it meets adequate standards.
Discrimination
David T.C. Davies: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many claims for discrimination, based on (a) sex, (b) race and (c) sexual orientation, were brought by members of the House service and settled (i) in and (ii) out of court in each of the last five years. [194971]
Nick Harvey: In 2003, one claim alleging racial discrimination was brought against the House. It was not upheld by the Employment Tribunal. There have been no claims of discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation.
Drinking Water
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will make it its policy to make jugs of tap water available in all dining rooms in the parliamentary estate. [194560]
Nick Harvey: Jugs of water are available in all House of Commons dining rooms. Jugged water is offered as a matter of course with bottled water available to diners if they prefer it.
Drinking Water
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the names and address are of suppliers of bottled water to the Department of Facilities; and what estimate has been made of the number of (a) lorry journeys and (b) lorry miles generated by these companies in order to meet orders placed by the Department and its predecessor in each year for which figures are available. [194557]
Nick Harvey: There is one supplier of bottled water to the Department of Facilities. It is:
Hildon Ltd
Broughton
Hampshire SO20 8DG
The number of lorry journeys and lorry miles generated by this company is as follows:
| Summary | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
These mileage figures do not include a return journey as the supplier's vehicles continue to other destinations with further deliveries.
When delivering to the House of Commons the vehicle is sent into London each day fully loaded with multi drop orders for the London area and hence the vehicle is fully utilised to ensure maximum efficiency.
Hildon have ordered an additional emission free battery powered vehicle which will be used for deliveries to the House of Commons and surrounding area.
Parking
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the (a) names, (b) job titles and (c) employers are of all persons with a permit to use the House underground car park who are not hon. Members, hon. Members’ staff or staff of the House. [194466]
Nick Harvey: As at 14 March 2008 there are 207 valid permits for the underground car park (excluding Members, Members’ staff and staff of the House). These are broken down as follows:
| Employer | Job title(s) | Permits |
For security and legal reasons, the names of the permit holders have not been included.
These permits are predominantly required for staff who work unsocial hours, when public transport is unavailable. They are only provided when the requirements of Members and staff of the House have been appropriately catered for.
Electoral Commission Committee
Electronic Voting
Mr. Pickles: To ask the honourable Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what assessment has been made by the Electoral Commission in the remote electronic voting pilots in the 2007 local elections of (a) the effect on turnout and (b) the value for money of such schemes. [195295]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that its reports on the 2007 local election pilot schemes, published in August 2007, found that there was no discernible effect on turnout in those elections. The Commission further found that the fragmented nature of the pilots meant that it was not possible to reach firm conclusions on which pilot schemes, if any, offered value for money.
The Commission's reports can be found on its website at:
Northern Ireland
Departmental Property
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many residential properties his Department owns; how many of these are vacant; and how many of these have been vacant for longer than (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months. [192996]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office owns 16 residential properties, 13 of which are currently occupied. The three vacant properties are with estate agents for sale on the open market; one is only recently vacated, one has been vacant for over three months, the other for over six months.
Scotland
Departmental Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many regulatory impact assessments his Department has conducted in the last 12 months. [191261]
David Cairns: Information on the final regulatory impact assessments published between 1 January and 30 June 2007 can be found in Command Paper 7297, available at:
Departments are in the process of identifying the final regulatory impact assessments published between 1 July and 31 December 2007. From April 2008, all final impact assessment will be published on a central website.
Departmental Pensions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of staff in his Department were making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions in each of the last two years. [193555]
David Cairns: The staff in the Scotland Office are seconded from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice who maintain the necessary payroll records. The office does not hold information on staff making additional voluntary contributions.
Ipsos MORI
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what payments his Department has made to Ipsos MORI in the last 24 months; and for what purposes. [194311]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office has made no payments to Ipsos MORI since 1 April 2006.
Press
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost of the press offices of (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies was in each year since 1996-97; what the cost was in each quarter since 1st April 2007; and if he will make a statement. [189667]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The office does not disaggregate its corporate and central running costs to this level of detail.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many press office staff were employed by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies (i) in each year since 1996-97 and (ii) at the latest date for which information is available. [189668]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The number of Press Officers is published in the office's annual reports, copies of which are in the House Library.
Transport
A2: M2
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimate is for the final cost of the realignment of the A2 trunk road between Pepper Hill and the M2. [194106]
Mr. Tom Harris: It is anticipated that the scheme will be delivered within the approved budget of £122.3 million.
Abandoned Vehicles: Fees and Charges
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans she has to amend the fixed charge for removing a vehicle from the highway. [193945]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
We have undertaken a public consultation exercise and further consideration of our original proposals in the light of responses. We are currently finalising our plans for new Regulations which I intend to lay to come into effect in October this year. These Regulations will set the charges that apply when the police use their statutory powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act to remove a vehicle that is illegally, dangerously or obstructively parked, or broken down or abandoned whether on or off-road.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the likely effects of proposed changes in the charges for removing vehicles from the highway on (a) motorists and (b) insurers. [193946]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
A partial impact assessment was included with the consultation document issued on the proposed changes. The document is available on the Home Office website at:
Aviation: Radioactive Materials
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2008, Official Report, column 41W, on aviation: radioactive materials, what the country of origin was of each of the shipments into the UK. [191708]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The countries of origin of those shipments notified to the Office of Civil Nuclear Security were as follows (the numbers of shipments are in parenthesis):
Spent nuclear fuel: Sweden (2); Japan (1)
Uranium fuel elements: Germany (16)
Uranium hexafluoride: France (12); Netherlands (9); Russia (6); South Korea (2); Germany (1)
Uranium dioxide: Spain (1); USA (1)
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