Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 7 May 2008
Prime Minister
Engagements
14. Mr. Steen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will visit the UK Human Trafficking Centre in Sheffield to discuss trends in human trafficking into the UK from other EU member states. [203752]
The Prime Minister: The Government deplore all forms of human trafficking. The UK has led the way on human trafficking: the EU plan on preventing and combating trafficking in persons was adopted during the UK presidency in 2005; and, the UK and Poland are leading a project with a number of EU partners to undertake more practical co-operation on human trafficking.
The UK's action plan “Tacking Human Trafficking”, published in March 2007, sets out the Government's strategy. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Domestic Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions he visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [204389]
The Prime Minister: A list of my UK visits will be published in the usual way following the end of the financial year.
Speeches
Greg Clark: To ask the Prime Minister who his Office has employed as a speechwriter since he took up office as Prime Minister. [203890]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 625W.
Duchy of Lancaster
Community Assets Programme
8. Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made on the community assets programme; and if he will make a statement. [203762]
Phil Hope:
The £30 million Community Assets programme is making excellent progress. Last month it announced 37 in-principle awards to refurbish assets
that will be transferred to third sector ownership. The projects are imaginative and varied: from inner-city spaces offering alternative education for young people to cutting edge theatre and art, and health and keep fit services.
Charities and Community Groups
9. Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of administration on charities and community groups. [203763]
Phil Hope: The Government are tackling administrative burdens affecting the third sector in a number of ways. For example the Charities Act 2006 includes a range of de-regulatory measures that particularly help the smallest charities, and the Charity Commission has introduced a simplified annual return form which is already benefiting 65,000 charities.
Social Enterprise
10. Ms Butler: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to promote social enterprise amongst young people. [203764]
Edward Miliband: The Government are committed to promoting social enterprise among young people as part of the 2006 Social Enterprise Action Plan and the 2007 Third Sector Review. Programmes with a focus on young people include the Social Enterprise Ambassadors programme, raising the profile of social enterprise, and embedding social enterprise in the school curriculum, such as GCSE Business Studies.
Social Change
11. Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance he provides to the third sector on campaigning for social change; and if he will make a statement. [203765]
Edward Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona MacTaggart).
14. Paul Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the Government’s policy is on third sector organisations which campaign for social change. [203768]
Edward Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart).
Social Inclusion
12. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent steps he has taken to promote social inclusion in rural areas. [203766]
Phil Hope:
The Socially Excluded Adults Public Service Agreement and the Families at Risk Review will help to promote social inclusion in rural areas. They will support the Government’s wider work on building strong rural communities and ensuring that public services meet the needs of the most vulnerable
rural residents. The Government are providing over £50 million a year to support rural bus services, are ensuring that 95 per cent. of the rural population are within three miles of a Post Office, and have committed to deliver over 10,000 affordable homes in settlements of less than 3,000 inhabitants by 2011.
Hospitality: Senior Civil Servants
13. David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent assessment he has made of compliance with the civil service management code’s rules on the registration of hospitality received by senior civil servants. [203767]
Edward Miliband: The rules on the registration of hospitality are set out in the “Civil Service Management Code”. The Government are committed to publishing, for the first time, an annual list of hospitality received during 2007 by members of departmental boards. The information is currently being compiled, and it will be published shortly.
Conditions of Employment
Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made in removing the two-tier workforce. [203754]
Phil Hope: In 2005 the Government introduced a Code of Practice on Workforce Matters designed to prevent the development of a two tier workforce in public services. The code’s implementation is currently being reviewed as part of the work programme of the Public Services Forum. The code also explicitly encourages employees and trade unions to alert Government to any problems with its implementation.
Departmental Press
Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what weekly publications the Prime Minister's office subscribes to or purchases each week; and at what cost. [203891]
Phil Hope: The Prime Minister’s office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 9 October 2007, Official Report, column 530W.
Transport
Aviation: Noise
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when the Government adopted the 57dBLeq contour as the threshold for problematic aircraft noise; [194002]
(2) if she will review the effectiveness of the 57dBLeq contour as a threshold for problematic transport-related noise. [194003]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
In September 1990 the Department for Transport announced the replacement of the noise and number index (NNI) with Leq (16 hour) dBA as
the daytime index for aircraft noise. 57 dBA Leq (measured over 07.00-23.00 period) was adopted as representing the onset of annoyance, although the Government acknowledged that there can be no absolute measure of disturbance from aircraft noise given the variation in individual reactions.
This decision followed publication of the report “United Kingdom Aircraft Noise Index Study” (ANIS) in 1985 and subsequent consultation on its findings.
In 2001 the Department commissioned the “Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources” (ANASE) study to update the ANIS research. The conclusions of this study (which were announced by the Secretary of State on 2 November 2007) indicated that whilst it is highly probable that annoyance with a particular level of aircraft noise is higher than found in the ANIS study, it showed no evidence of a particular threshold at which it becomes a serious problem.
However, in terms of making quantitative comparisons between the results from ANASE and the earlier ANIS study, expert peer reviewers of the ANASE study advised that “reliance on the detailed outcome of ANASE would be misplaced” and that they would “counsel against using the detailed results and conclusions from ANASE in the development of government policy”.
Although the report does not provide evidence for replacing the figure of 57 dBA Leq (16 hours) with a lower or higher figure, we believe it is right to retain this figure as a safeguard for those who are most affected by aircraft noise. In the “Future of Air Transport” White Paper the Government gave a commitment that further development of Heathrow could only be considered if it resulted in no net increase in the total area of the 57 Leq dBA noise contour compared with summer 2002, an area of 127 sq km. That commitment stands and the ability to meet it is a key consideration, in the “Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport” consultation.
Additionally, as we announced when the ANASE study was released, pending the availability of a better alternative we will apply existing valuation for road and rail noise when assessing the economic impact of noise in the cost- benefit analysis of future aviation projects. We have taken this approach in the case of “Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport” consultation.
The Department is taking forward work to follow up the ANASE findings with the Aircraft Noise Monitoring Advisory Committee (ANMAC), whose role is to advise the Department on policy relating to aircraft noise at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
The significance of the 57 dBA (16 hours) contour—as representing the onset of annoyance—specifically relates to aircraft noise. Noise annoyance criteria from other transport sources will reflect research, as appropriate, specific to those modes.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether training flight movements are included in data collected on air traffic management movements and consequential noise at UK airports. [200671]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Civil Aviation Authority collects statistics on air transport movements at the larger UK airports and these are published on their website. The published statistics include a table:
(http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2007Annual/Table_ 03_1_Aircraft_Movements_2007.csv)
listing non-commercial movements amongst which are test and training flights.
The CAA also produces annual noise contours maps for the three London designated airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted). However similar maps for other airports are not produced.
Biofuels: Asthma
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the likely effects on incidence and severity of asthma of increased use of biofuels. [202837]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1432W.
Dartford Tunnel: Tolls
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors she took into account in deciding the level of discount to local residents for Dartford Crossing tolls. [203572]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Final decisions have not yet been taken on discounts from Dartford Crossing charges for local residents. Our proposals are currently out to consultation, and the rationale for our proposals is described in the consultation document.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role her Department has in setting toll charges for (a) the Mersey Tunnel and (b) the Dartford Crossing. [203574]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Mersey Tunnels are not directly a matter for central Government. The Mersey Tunnels Act allows Merseytravel to increase tolls based on a Retail Price Index formula. Charges at Dartford are established by Order of the Secretary of State in exercise of powers conferred by the Transport Act 2000.
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2008, Official Report, column 2533-34W, on departmental ICT, how many of the missing or stolen (a) laptops, (b) mobile telephones and (c) personal digital assistants have been replaced by her Department; and at what cost. [202439]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The cost for the replacement of the laptop computers, mobile telephones and personal digital assistants reported as lost, missing or stolen since 2002, as referred to in the answer of 5 March 2008, Official Report, columns 2533-34W, was:
£79,370 for lost, missing or stolen laptops;
£2,852 for lost, missing or stolen mobile telephones; and
£4,918 for lost, missing or stolen personal digital assistants.
For the purposes of this reply, it is assumed that all lost, missing and stolen mobile devices were replaced by the Department for Transport. Complete records of whether any single lost or stolen item was actually replaced are not available. Where accurate replacement costs are not available, the replacement costs for these items have been estimated.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Disclosure of Information
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will make it her policy to require the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to release information to companies making manual requests only if such companies are members of a DVLA-accredited trade association. [203951]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The requirement for private car parking companies who submit requests for vehicle keeper information via electronic channels to be a member of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA) was introduced following public consultation in 2006. The British Parking Association is the only existing ATA for the parking industry. Following the consultation, it was not considered necessary to extend this requirement to those who apply via the manual, paper-based channels due to the fact that each application is considered individually and additional to the evidence that must be provided.
The DVLA will shortly be undertaking a review of all the new measures introduced in 2006. This review will consider the effectiveness of the current requirements, and all other options available.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many requests for information in respect of the registered keeper of a vehicle were made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in the last month for which figures are available; how many of those were received by (a) electronic and (b) manual requests from (i) DVLA-accredited trade associations, (ii) non-DVLA-accredited car park operators, (iii) individuals and (iv) others; and how many in each category were (A) accepted and (B) refused. [203952]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 provides for the release of information from the DVLA’s vehicle register to the police, to local authorities for investigation of an offence or a decriminalised parking contravention, and to anyone who can demonstrate ‘reasonable cause’ for having the information made available to them.
The requirement for unregulated companies who submit requests for vehicle keeper information via electronic channels to be a member of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA) was introduced following public consultation in 2006.
Following the consultation, it was not considered necessary to extend this requirement to those who apply via the manual, paper-based channels due to the fact that each application is considered individually and additional to the evidence that must be provided.
The latest figures available for requests for information processed by the DVLA under the ‘reasonable cause’ provisions are for March 2008.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |