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28 Apr 2008 : Column 5W—continued
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Recruitment
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria are used for the recruitment process to the Police Service of Northern Ireland of those who respond to advertisements in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) the Irish Republic and (c) Great Britain. [201353]
Paul Goggins: I am advised by PSNI that the criteria and assessment process for the recruitment of regular officers to the Police Service of Northern Ireland are exactly the same, regardless of origin of application.
Prisoner Escapes: Causeway Hospital
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the review into the escape from custody of the prisoner attending the Causeway hospital on Tuesday 15 April 2008 to be concluded. [201506]
Paul Goggins: Terms of reference for the review were issued by the Prison Service's Deputy Director, Head of Operations, on 16 April, and specified that the report should be completed within 14 working days, i.e. 6 May. The investigating officer started interviews on Monday 21 April and it is expected that the review will be completed on schedule.
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: Finance
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics (1) how much and what proportion of the finance for the cost of the construction of the athletes’ village for the 2012 Olympic Games is planned to be raised on the debt markets; [201988]
(2) what recent discussions she has had with Bovis/Lend Lease on raising capital for financing the construction of the Olympic village; [201989]
(3) when she expects to announce the award of the contract for the construction of the athletes’ village for the 2012 Olympics; [201990]
(4) what her most recent estimate is of the public funding to be allocated to supporting the broadcast and media centres at the Olympic village for the 2012 Olympics; [201991]
(5) if she will provide a breakdown by main budget heading of the £492 million figure announced in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Annual Olympics Report of January 2008 allocated to construction of the (a) broadcast and media centres and (b) Olympic village for the 2012 Olympics. [201992]
Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 31 March 2008, Official Report, column 454W. The combined public sector budget for the IBC/MPC and the Olympic village remains at £492 million. However, the exact value of the overall public sector contribution will be finalised as sensitive commercial negotiations are closed out and, until then, we cannot disclose the further details requested.
Scotland
Festivals and Special Occasions: USA
David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his Department played a role in (a) Tartan Day and (b) other Scotland Week events in the United States in April 2008. [201833]
David Cairns: There was no Scotland Office involvement in events in the US in April.
Leader of the House
Select Committees: Regional Government
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Leader of the House what the reasons are for the time taken to set up regional select committees; and when she expects them to be appointed. [201016]
Helen Goodman: This matter is being considered by the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons and the Government await its report with interest. The Committee invited evidence from October last year and has subsequently held a number of oral evidence sessions. The Government will bring forward proposals in due course.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Energy: EU Law
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his officials will next meet the European Commission to discuss the Energy-using Products Directive. [201012]
Joan Ruddock: My officials held a teleconference with the European Commission on 24 April to discuss the draft implementing measure on boilers and water heaters under the Energy Using Products Directive.
Lighting: Waste Disposal
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consideration he has given to the safe disposal of compact fluorescent lamps. [201007]
Joan Ruddock: Low-energy light bulbs should be disposed of responsibly and advice on their safe disposal has been made available on DEFRA’s public website.
From 1 July 2007, waste Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs—the most common type of energy efficient bulbs) have been subject to the requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. Those who sell items such as energy efficient bulbs must provide information to the public about where they can take waste bulbs and other WEEE. Some retailers will also take them back in store. However, most retailers have funded Designated Collection Facilities—the majority of these are at local authority civic amenity sites. From this point, producers of such equipment fund its transport, treatment and recycling.
CFLs contain a small amount of mercury (limited to 5mg by the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) but it cannot escape from an intact bulb. Even if a bulb should break, the risks from such a small amount of mercury are minimal.
Plastics: Recycling
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he plans to take to facilitate development of plastics recycling facilities. [202078]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 557W.
Recycling
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much waste was recycled by each local authority in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) Lincolnshire in the latest period for which figures are available. [201969]
Joan Ruddock: The tonnages of household waste recycled, reused or composted by each local authority in Yorkshire and the Humber and Lincolnshire in 2006-07 are listed in the following table.
| Household waste sent for recycling/reuse/composting | ||
| Type of authority | tonnage | |
| Source: 2006-07 WasteDataFlow results. | ||
Waste Disposal: Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what applications his Department has received from Gloucestershire county council in respect of private finance initiative projects for waste disposal. [201326]
Joan Ruddock: DEFRA first received an application for private finance initiative (PFI) credits from Gloucestershire county council in 2003. Gloucestershire's proposed waste PFI project was approved by the Department and the Treasury's Project Review Group.
The procurement progressed to the Best and Final Offer stage. However, following a review of all major procurement schemes, the council decided to terminate the procurement and surrender the indicative allocation of PFI credits.
In May 2007 DEFRA received a new Expression of Interest (EoI) from Gloucestershire county council for PFI support. The project will be supporting the implementation of a long-term residual waste treatment solution.
On the basis of the EoI, DEFRA subsequently invited the authority to produce a detailed Outlined Business Case which represents the formal application for PFI credits. The deadline for this is 30 April 2008.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts: Females
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take to achieve the 50 per cent. target for women on the boards of arts organisations; what funding his Department has allocated to such measures over the next 12 months; and when he expects the target to be met. [200293]
Margaret Hodge: The Department is undertaking a range of measures to improve board diversity, and to work towards achieving the target of 50 per cent. representation of women on the boards of its NDPBs. These include widening departmental networks and contacts, encouraging NDPBs to produce diversity plans for appointments, and raising awareness about public appointments generally. It is not possible to predict when this target will be met, but we will continue to work energetically to achieve it. We plan to launch a targeted leaflet and publicity campaign this summer, specifically aimed at reaching and engaging people from under-represented groups, including women, members of ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities. The cost of this campaign is not yet confirmed.
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consultation process his Department undertook to inform the process by which 50 per cent. was agreed as the target for women's participation in the boards of arts organisations. [200294]
Margaret Hodge: The DCMS target for 50 per cent. representation of women applies to the boards of the NDPBs for which it is responsible, and to which DCMS Ministers make appointments. This target was agreed in consultation with the Cabinet Office.
Culture: Education
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether (a) arts and crafts and (b) museums and heritage initiatives will be prioritised under the Find Your Talent campaign. [201380]
Margaret Hodge: When we announced the Government's plans for a Find Your Talent programme in February 2008, we published a prospectus setting out a core range of activities the pilots, as a minimum, should offer. This includes: learning a musical instrument; visiting and engaging with national and local exhibitions, galleries and museums; taking part in theatre and dance performances; making a piece of visual art or craft; and visiting heritage sites, significant contemporary buildings and public spaces.
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