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3 Jun 2008 : Column 811W—continued
Nuclear Weapons: Finance
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on the UK nuclear deterrent programme, including the Atomic Weapons Establishment, in each year from 1998 to 2008, expressed in cash terms. [208183]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The annual expenditure for capital and running costs of the UK nuclear deterrent programme, including the costs of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, in each year from 1998 to 2008 is shown in the following table.
| £ billion at 2008-09 prices | |
Royal Navy Vessels
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) estimate he has made of the volume and (b) assessment he has made of the types of outputs that arise from treatment by pyrolysis of wastes from Royal Navy vessels at sea; how these outputs are treated; and if he will make a statement. [207512]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: A development programme for installing pyrolysis systems on to Royal Navy vessels,to process food and general waste, including paper, cardboard, tin cans, and plastic, is currently under way. During a successful period of shore-based testing, waste volume reductions in excess of 85 per cent. and mass reductions of 50 per cent. have been achieved.
Starting later this year, the pyrolysis system will begin a 12-month sea trial onboard HMS Ocean and it is anticipated that the typical daily volume of general waste produced on the vessel could be reduced by up to half. If the sea trials are successful, there are plans to fit the system to the other vessels in the Fleet.
There are two by-products of the pyrolysis process, a solid residue and waste gas. The solid residue cannot be discharged into the sea under MARPOL regulations so it will be sealed in steel pails and stored on board the vessel until it can be removed to landfill sites. The gas produced is well within the requirement of MARPOL regulations and the on-board processing unit will further refine it to bring it well within the parameters of more stringent land-based regulations, before release.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) assessment he has made of the types and (b) estimate he has made of the volume of residues from the treatment of wastes which were discharged at sea by Royal Navy vessels in each of the last five years. [207513]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Records of discharges of wastes from Royal Navy vessels are retained on board. The RN does not routinely collate or estimate the total volumes of waste streams which are discharged at sea. Wastes are discharged in accordance with IMO Marine Pollution regulations.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Banks
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will introduce legislation to give bank depositors the right to (a) appoint auditors, (b) receive accounts and (c) elect directors of a bank in which they hold deposits. [207899]
Mr. Thomas: I have no plans to do so. As outlined in the recent Draft Legislative Programme, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Darling) intends to bring forward legislation later this year to strengthen depositor protection, and deal with banks in difficulty.
Credit: Access
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of consumers of working age experiencing difficulties gaining access to consumer credit, excluding mortgages, from mainstream providers as a result of the state of the credit market. [206699]
Mr. Thomas: We do not have specific statistics relating to estimates of working age consumers experiencing consumer credit difficulties.
However, the Bank of England reports total debt write-off for 2007 of £6,807 million, a small increase on 2006 (£6,749 million). In the last quarter of 2007 (latest data available), a total of £1,616 million debt was written off compared to £1,986 million in quarter 4 2006.
We remain very concerned to help those suffering from debt problems. In the last spending period, over £50 million was spent on face-to-face debt advice, for those experiencing difficulties with consumer credit, by BERR and MOJ. This will increase to £90 million in the period April 2005 to March 2011. Help is aimed at the financially excluded, of whatever age, and so far around 120,000 over-indebted clients have been helped, up until the end of March. BERR and MOJ will also support the National Debtline this year with grants of £1.75 million.
Food
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much food waste his Department generated in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [208132]
Mr. Thomas: My Department’s food waste is 3 per cent. of turnover and has been budgeted at this level for the last five years. We monitor this by good ordering practices and portioning control when cooking and serving up.
Our caterers, Baxter Storey, constantly look at ways of reducing our waste. On 14 April 2008, we introduced a new waste system at our headquarters building, 1 Victoria street, which has been trialled and which involves all food waste being collected in bins, to be picked up weekly, and taken for composting.
Health Services
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether his Department provides health or social care services out of public funds, with reference to the statement by the Minister of State, Department of Health, in the Health and Social Care Bill Committee, of 17 January 2008, Official Report, column 327. [200220]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform does not provide health or social care services out of public funds, with reference to the statement made by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Health, in the Health and Social Care Bill Committee, of 17 January 2008, Official Report, column 327.
Wales
Departmental Postal Services
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on sending mail overseas in each year since 2001, broken down by delivery company. [208526]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Our records give no analysis by destination of our mail, but no more than a handful of letters will have been sent overseas.
Non-domestic Rates
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether rates collected from owners of commercial buildings in Wales left unoccupied for more than six months are hypothecated for use in Wales. [207832]
Mr. Paul Murphy: All business rates liable on commercial property in Wales are collected and paid in to the Assembly's non-domestic rates pool. They are then redistributed back to local authorities as part of the local government revenue settlement each year.
Culture, Media and Sport
Advertising: Food
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he will complete the work on producing codes of conduct governing the advertising and promotion of unhealthy foods to children online or via mobile telephones, as outlined in the Prime Minister's speech of 7 January 2008. [207791]
Andy Burnham: Both the Government and industry recognise that the advertising regulatory system must remain effective in the digital age.
The advertising industry has therefore set up a Digital Media Group to develop proposals for extending the remit of the self-regulatory system, which currently has robust rules governing food advertising to children, to all types of mobile and online advertising.
The Government have committed to reviewing the work of the Digital Media Group in spring 2009.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) whether he plans to ask Ofcom to strengthen its restrictions on adverts on television for foods high in fat, sugar and salt which appear adjacent to programmes produced for children; [207792]
(2) whether he plans to further restrict adverts for foods high in fat, sugar and salt which occur when the highest number of children are watching television; [207793]
(3) whether he plans to impose further restrictions on the promotion of foods high in fat, sugar and salt across all broadcast and non-broadcast media. [207794]
Andy Burnham: As set out in the “Public Health White Paper” and the recent obesity strategy, the Government are committed to reviewing the food advertising regulations across all media. Furthermore, in July 2008 Ofcom will begin its own review of the impact of the current broadcasting restrictions on food promotion to children.
The findings of these reviews into the effectiveness of the food advertising codes will be taken into account in formulating and enforcing revised codes, if so needed.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish the results of Ofcom's review of the advertising of unhealthy foods to children; and whether he is considering further restrictions in this area. [207796]
Andy Burnham:
Both the Government and Ofcom are committed to reviewing the impact of the current restrictions on food promotion to children. Ofcom will begin its own review in July 2008 and will report its
early findings as soon as possible. The findings of these reviews into the effectiveness of the food advertising codes will be taken into account in formulating and enforcing revised codes, if so needed.
Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many times the maximum fine was levied against a licensee for persistently selling alcohol to under-age people in each of the last two years. [193464]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
The offence of persistently selling alcohol to children under section 147a of the Licensing Act 2003 was commenced in 2006. As yet there are no data available for this offence.
The following table covers the offence of selling etc. intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 for consumption on the premises.
Departmental NDPBs
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list (a) his Department's non-departmental public bodies and (b) those non-departmental public bodies for which his Department has agreed new funding agreements for the next (i) year and (ii) three years. [207783]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 2 June 2008]: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is directly responsible for 54 non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), of which there are 42 executive NDPBs, 11 advisory NDBPs and one tribunal NDPB. These are as follows:
Arts Council England
Big Lottery Fund
British Library
British Museum
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
Culture East Midlands
Culture North East
Culture Northwest
Culture South East
Culture South West
Culture West Midlands
English Heritage
Football Licensing Authority
Gambling Commission
Geffrye Museum
Horniman Public Museum and Public Park Trust
Horserace Betting Levy Board
Imperial War Museum
Living East
Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
National Gallery
National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Lottery Commission
National Maritime Museum
National Museum of Science and Industry
National Museums Liverpool
National Portrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
Olympic Delivery Authority
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