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19 May 2008 : Column 58W—continued
The Physical Education, School Sport and Club Links Strategy (PESSCL) has now evolved into the Physical Education and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP). Sport England's role within the PESSYP strategy is to increase quality and quantity provisions within a community setting.
| Exchequer | |
Television: Licensing
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the merits of proposals to allocate a proportion of licence fee receipts to other broadcasters. [205714]
Andy Burnham: The Government have as yet made no such assessment. The work of the Convergence Think Tank (CTT) will include a review of the future financial and institutional framework for the delivery of public service content. The CTT will report its conclusions early in 2009, building on the recommendations of Ofcom’s current review of public service broadcasting.
Television: Telephone Services
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the rules governing broadcasters’ use of premium rate telephone services in viewer competitions and voting; whether he plans to review them; and if he will make a statement. [205795]
Andy Burnham: I welcome the recent investigations into the compliance of premium rate services on television programmes—and the strengthening of regulation in this area. These reviews and investigations have been thorough and wide ranging and further investigations are ongoing.
The Government look to these new measures to provide a framework for effective regulation of this sector, ensuring that the highest standards are operated for all premium rate services and that consumers are fully protected.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the Ofcom inquiry into the use of premium rate services in television programming. [205796]
Andy Burnham: The inquiry is a matter for Ofcom. They are independent of Government and it would be inappropriate for me to make an assessment of Ofcom’s areas of responsibility.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will ask Ofcom to refer its case files on recent cases of television broadcaster misconduct in the use of premium rate telephone services in viewer competitions and voting to the Serious Fraud Office. [205797]
Andy Burnham: This is a matter for Ofcom, and the hon. Gentleman might like to raise the issue with them direct.
Tourism: Chelsea Flower Show
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if he will seek discussions with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on arrangements for securing the future of the Chelsea Flower Show as a major tourist attraction; and if he will make a statement; [203410]
(2) whether he has had discussions with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on the future of the Chelsea Flower Show as a major tourist event. [206070]
Margaret Hodge: The Chelsea Flower Show is a popular tourist attraction and will continue to be one for both domestic and international visitors.
I have no plans to meet with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government or representatives of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on this matter.
Justice
Airguns: Crime
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average fine has been of people fined on conviction for remote selling or hiring of an air weapon over the internet in each month since the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 came into effect. [206515]
Mr. Hanson: Selling a weapon by way of trade or business when transaction not face to face became an offence under section 32 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act.
This section of the Act came into effect on 1 October 2007.
Statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average fine has been of people convicted of possession of an air gun or imitation firearm in a public place without legal authority or reasonable excuse in each year since the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 came into effect. [206517]
Mr. Hanson: The requested information is contained in the following table:
Statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.
Bail Accommodation and Support Service: Gloucestershire
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are housed in bail hostels in Gloucestershire. [206615]
Mr. Hanson: I understand this question to refer to the bail accommodation and support service. These are not bail hostels. The service provides accommodation in flats and houses with up to five people sharing, and support for users. As at 15 May there were two defendants and one offender at the end of sentence in the service in Gloucestershire, where there is provision for five people.
Cannabis: Misuse
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) proceeded against, (b) found guilty and (c) imprisoned for dealing in cannabis in each of the last five years, broken down by age. [200551]
Mr. Straw:
The number of people proceeded against at magistrates courts for dealing in cannabis and subsequently found guilty at all courts, and sentenced to immediate custody broken down by certain age
groups in England and Wales for the years 2002 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
| N umber of people proceeded against at magistrates courts for dealing in cannabis and found guilty at all courts, and sentenced to immediate custody broken down by certain age groups in England and Wales for the years 2002 - 06( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3,)( )( 4) | |||||
| Age group | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Data include the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 4(3) [Class ‘B’ Drug]. Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) a controlled drug: Cannabis. Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) a controlled drug Class C Cannabis and Cannabis resin Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec.4(3). Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(3) [Class ‘B’ Drug]. Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis. Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply Class C Cannabis and Cannabis resin. Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Sec.5(3) (3) Cannabis was reclassified from a class B drug to a class C drug on 29 January 2004. The data in this table include offences relating to cannabis dealing whether reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform as a class B or a class C drug. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, other agencies, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Court proceedings data held by RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice | |||||
Courts: Speech Impaired
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what (a) procedures and (b) protections apply in (i) magistrates courts and (ii) the Crown court for defendants with a severe stammer. [205643]
Maria Eagle: The court has a duty to ensure that defendants can fully participate in the proceedings, which will include providing assistance where necessary to those with communication difficulties. This might include, for example, ordering the use of an intermediary to assist the defendant to give evidence. A judicial practice direction was issued on 25 April 2007 giving guidance to the Crown court and magistrates courts on the treatment of vulnerable defendants. The practice direction can be found at:
Departmental Energy
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to reduce its energy consumption in the last 12 months; and what his Department’s expenditure on energy was in (a) the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available and (b) the immediately preceding 12 months. [201738]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007 and has since produced a sustainable development action plan setting out how the estate intends to reach carbon neutral status by 2012. This involves reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency through sustainable building construction and operation. In addition, both HM prison service and HM courts service have developed BREEAM assessments that enables the procurement of sustainable and energy efficient new builds and major refurbishments.
The spend on energy in 2006-07 and 2007-08 was as follows:
| Spend (£) | |
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