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23 Jun 2008 : Column 126W—continued
Heads of Government Summit
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) Government officials and (b) special advisers attended the Heads of Government Summit held on 5 April. [211784]
Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
76 Government officials, which included six special advisers and a number of support staff, were accredited prior to the summit.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) people and (b) nights accommodation were booked by Government officials at The Grove in connection with the Heads of Government Summit held on 5 April 2008. [211678]
Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
Individual delegations were responsible for booking their own accommodation. 10 Government officials stayed at The Grove for the night of 4 April.
Home Information Packs
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether home information packs have been commissioned by (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) its agencies to market a residential property. [211927]
Phil Hope: The Cabinet Office is not marketing any residential property and no home information packs have been commissioned.
Life Expectancy: Lincolnshire
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent estimate he has made of average life expectancy for (a) men and (b) women in (i) Cleethorpes, (ii) Great Grimsby, (iii) Brigg and Goole and (iv) Scunthorpe in (A) 1995, (B) 2005 and (C) at the latest date for which figures are available. [211975]
Mr. Watson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 23 June 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what recent estimate has been made of average life expectancy for (a) men and (b) women in (i) Cleethorpes, (ii) Great Grimsby, (iii) Brigg and Goole and (iv) Scunthorpe in (A) 1995, (B) 2005 and (C) at the latest date for which figures are available. (211975)
Period life expectancies at birth for (a) males and (b) females for all local authority districts and unitary authorities in England and Wales, for rolling three-year periods from 1991-93 to 2004-06, are published on the National Statistics website at:
Life expectancy figures at parliamentary constituency level are not readily available.
Lord Ashcroft
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many freedom of information requests relating to assurances given by Richard Ashcroft on his residency status prior to his elevation to the peerage (a) have received refusals to supply the requested information, (b) are, or have been, subject to internal Cabinet Office review and (c) have been referred to the Information Commissioner. [186626]
Mr. Watson: The Cabinet Office has received three requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act relating to the assurances given by The Lord Ashcroft on his residency status prior to his elevation to the peerage. The requested information has been refused in all three cases, two of which are now the subject of an internal review. Information about cases referred to the Information Commissioner is not a matter for the Cabinet Office.
Olympic Games
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department plan to attend the Beijing Olympic Games; to what purpose in each case; and what estimate he has made of the cost. [212110]
Edward Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Olympics and London on 19 May 2008, Official Report, columns 5-6W.
Skin Cancer
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many cases of skin cancers were diagnosed in each of the last five years. [212242]
Mr. Watson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 23 June 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many cases of skin cancers were diagnosed in each of the last five years. [212242]
The most recent available figures for newly diagnosed cases of malignant melanoma of skin registered in England are for the year 2005. Figures for the years 2001 to 2005 are in the table below.
| Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of malignant melanoma of skin( 1) , by sex, England, 2001-05 | ||
| Male | Female | |
| (1) Malignant melanoma of skin is coded to C43 in the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) Source: Office for National Statistics | ||
Television: Prime Minister
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) from what budget the cost of the television licence fee for the Prime Minister's official residence is met; [211595]
(2) whether cable or satellite television is provided in the Prime Minister's official residence in Downing street at public expense. [211645]
Phil Hope: There is no cost to the public purse.
Treasury
Biofuels: Subsidies
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on subsidies for biofuel production in the UK in each of the last three years. [211878]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
Over the last three years, the Government's main support for the production of biofuels has been in the form of the 20 pence per litre duty rate reduction for biodiesel and bioethanol. Since April 2008, support has been focused through the renewable transport fuel obligation. This support has been available to both domestic and imported biofuels and information is not available on the amount spent on each category.
Farmers can receive the single payment for biofuel crops grown on set-aside and non set-aside land. However, as data on the end use of arable crops are not collected, it is not possible to give the amount spent specifically on biofuel crops.
Farmers can also claim the EU's €45/ha energy aid payment where energy crops are grown on non set-aside land with a contract for energy end use. However, this does not differentiate between crops grown for biofuels or the generation of heat and power. The cost of this support for the last three years is as follows:
| £ | |||
| England | Wales | Scotland | |
| (1 )There are a few claims still to be processed. | |||
Capital grants have also been provided by the Regional Development Agencies for the construction of processing plants.
Corporation Tax: Tax Avoidance
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of corporate tax avoided in the last year for which figures are available. [212343]
Jane Kennedy: In March 2008 HMRC released details of analysis from 2005 that attempted to derive estimates of the direct tax gap at the start of the decade; see
Departmental Home Working
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department are authorised to work from home. [212514]
Angela Eagle: We do not collect this information centrally.
Departmental Inquiries
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what independent inquiries have been commissioned by his Department in the last five years; what the (a) purpose and (b) cost was of each; and what steps were taken following each such inquiry. [212315]
Angela Eagle: The Treasury has commissioned no independent inquiries in the last five years.
Departmental Trade Unions
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which trades unions represent members of staff in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies. [212471]
Angela Eagle: The information is detailed in the following table:
Export Credits Guarantee Dept: Sustainable Development
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Export Credits Guarantee Department is taking to promote environmental sustainability. [210846]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
In its statement of business principles, published in December 2000, ECGD stated that its activities would
“take into account the Government's international policies, including those on sustainable development, environment, human rights, good governance and trade”.
ECGD set out in its case impact analysis process (CIAP) how it would assess the environmental and social impacts of the goods or services to be exported and the overseas projects for which it has received applications for support. This document describes ECGD's approach to assessing those impacts and states that projects which comply with the relevant international standards will normally be considered to be acceptable on environmental and social impact grounds.
In the ‘Sustainable Development and Human Rights’ section of its statement of business principles, ECGD stated that it would:
“press for the establishment of a multilateral framework of common guidelines for assessing environmental and social issues related to project implementation”.
ECGD played an instrumental role in securing agreement within the OECD in 2004 to the OECD Council Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits (the Common Approaches). This recommends that OECD members, before taking decisions on officially supported export credits, should apply common approaches for identifying and evaluating the environmental impacts
of projects and existing operations that benefit from officially supported export credits. The text of the Common Approaches was revised in June 2007; this brought the OECD recommendation closer into line with ECGD's existing practices.
In 2006, ECGD was also instrumental in obtaining agreement at the OECD on improvements in the terms under which OECD export credit agencies can provide support for exports to renewable energy projects.
The texts of ECGD's business principles and of its CIAP are available through ECGD's website:
The text of the 2007 Common Approaches is available from the OECD at:
Financial Services Authority: Publications
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) policy papers and (b) consultation papers have been issued by the Financial Services Authority in each of the last 10 years. [213107]
Kitty Ussher: The matter raised in this question is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), whose day to day operations are independent from Government control and influence. I have asked the Chief Executive of the FSA to write to the hon. Member on the issue she raises.
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