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26 Jun 2008 : Column 438W—continued
Child Maintenance
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward amendments to regulations governing child support so that payments received in lieu of a company car are treated in the same way as the provision of a company car in calculating the level of child maintenance. [213551]
Mr. Plaskitt: Payments made in lieu of a company car are treated as income within the child maintenance calculation, in the event that such payments are subject to tax. There are no plans to amend regulations in this respect.
However, under child support legislation, expenses incurred by persons “wholly, exclusively and necessarily” in the course of their employment are disregarded as income when the child maintenance liability is calculated. In some cases this can include expenses relating to company cars.
Cycling
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to extend the cycle to work scheme to employees in his Department. [212616]
Mrs. McGuire: It is this Department’s policy to extend the cycle to work scheme for our employees. The scheme will be launched in autumn 2008.
Industrial Accidents: Vehicles
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons fatalities involving at-work vehicles are not included in the fatalities of workers recorded annually by the Health and Safety Executive; and if he will make a statement. [212851]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 20 June 2008]: Fatalities recorded by the HSE are notified under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR), which only require employers to notify HSE of fatal accidents that occur within the workplace or when they involve a specific road side activity.
The police are responsible for the investigation of fatalities that occur on public roads, whether or not the vehicle is involved in a work activity, and collect information which is used by the Department for Transport to compile their Annual Statistics on Road Casualties.
Industrial Health and Safety: Redcliffe Bay
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether a risk assessment of the Redcliffe Bay oil storage depot site near Portishead has been completed by the Health and Safety Executive. [211491]
Mrs. McGuire: The Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA), as the operator of the Redcliffe Bay fuel storage depot has the duty under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH), to conduct and complete a risk assessment for the site.
The COMAH Regulations are enforced in England and Wales by a competent authority comprising of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environmental Agency (EA).
OPA has produced a safety report which included the main results and arguments of the hazard analysis and risk analysis, and submitted this to the competent authority for assessment as required by COMAH. In the safety report, OPA was required to demonstrate that it has taken all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and to limit the consequences to people and the environment of any that might occur. The HSE has completed its part of the competent authority's assessment of the Redcliffe Bay Safety report, and this has been included in the competent authority's conclusions on its overall determination of the case for safety made by OPA in the report.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to reply to the letter of 20 May from the hon. Member for Walsall North on home responsibilities protection awards to pensioners. [213958]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: A reply was sent to my hon. Friend on 23 June 2008.
Women and Equality
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many (a) new builds and (b) major refurbishments for a cost in excess of £0.5 million were completed by the Government Equalities Office since its establishment. [213763]
Departmental Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much was spent on (a) new furnishings, (b) art and (c) new vehicles by the Government Equalities Office since its inception. [213531]
Departmental Home Working
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many people in the Government Equalities Office are authorised to work from home. [212511]
Barbara Follett: Subject to line management approval and operational need, all staff in the Government Equalities Office can be authorised to work from home.
Departmental Trade Unions
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality which trade unions represent members of staff in the Government Equalities Office. [212473]
Barbara Follett: The trade unions who represent staff in the Government Equalities Office are Public and Commercial Services (PCS), FDA and Prospect.
Wood
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much timber and timber products were procured by the Government Equalities Office originating from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed FLEGT partner since its establishment; and at what cost. [213762]
Solicitor-General
Crown Prosecution Service: Wales
Chris Ruane: To ask the Solicitor-General how many Crown Prosecution Service personnel are employed in (a) Rhyl and (b) Colwyn Bay. [214143]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not have an office in Rhyl. Cases originating from this area are dealt with by staff based in Colwyn Bay. There are 42 members of staff working in the Colwyn Bay office.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Solicitor-General what the (a) date, (b) venue, (c) total cost and (d) per capita cost of all internal staff parties held by (i) the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and (ii) other agencies in her Department have been in the last 12 months. [211781]
The Solicitor-General: There has been only one internal staff party held by the Attorney-General’s Office and its superintended Departments in the last 12 months. This was held by the Serious Fraud Office on 5 October 2007 at the Serious Fraud Office, Elm House. The total cost was £685.59, the per capita cost was £4.66.
Prisons: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General how many reports of assaults on prison staff by inmates, made with a view to prosecution, the Crown Prosecution Service received in each of the last five years for which records are available; and how many such cases were prosecuted. [213840]
The Solicitor-General: The central records maintained by the Crown Prosecution Service include no information on either the employment of victims of crime or the custodial status of defendants. To obtain this information, by reference to individual case files, would incur disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, part 2, clause 9).
Northern Ireland
Departmental Inquiries
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [212318]
Mr. Woodward: The Robert Hamill inquiry, the Rosemary Nelson inquiry, and the Billy Wright inquiry are independent public inquiries which have been established by my office in the last five years. Their terms of reference, announced on 16 November 2004, are:
To inquire into the death of Robert Hamill with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary facilitated his death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of his death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations.
To inquire into the death of Rosemary Nelson with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Northern Ireland Office, Army or other state agency facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether
attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of her death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations.
To inquire into the death of Billy Wright with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the prison authorities or other state agencies facilitated his death, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; and to make recommendations.
The costs to the end of May 2008 of each public inquiry are:
| £ million | |
The inquiries have not yet completed.
Devolution
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what discussions took place regarding the Irish language at recent talks between the Government, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party; [213114]
(2) what discussions took place on the devolution of criminal justice and policing at recent talks between the Government, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party; [213115]
(3) what subjects were discussed at his talks with the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin at the time of the establishment of the new Northern Ireland Executive; what the outcomes were of such discussions; and if he will make a statement. [213120]
Mr. Woodward: The recent talks between the Government and the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers covered a number of issues including the forward investment strategy for Northern Ireland, the economic situation, devolution of policing and justice, continuing concerns around paramilitary organisations, parades, sites, the Irish language and education.
The First and deputy First Ministers have confirmed that these discussions will continue in Belfast, involving all the parties in the Assembly.
Equality
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to establish a strategy to tackle age discrimination and promote age equality in the provision of goods and services by the Department; and if he will make a statement. [210465]
Mr. Woodward: As responsibility for equality matters in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (stemming from statutory obligations arising from Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998) has been devolved to a local administration, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has no direct responsibility for the development of proposals to tackle age discrimination and promote age equality in the provision of goods and services.
Irish Language: Broadcasting
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the purposes are of the £6 million allocated by his Department for Irish language broadcasting; and if he will make a statement. [213118]
Mr. Woodward: The additional money is being provided to enable the Irish Language Broadcast Fund to continue beyond its current end date of 2009 to the end of the CSR period.
The fund was established in response to the Joint Declaration of 2003 for the purpose of providing financial support for Irish language film and television production.
Water Charges
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes are to be made to the financial arrangements regarding water charges following recent talks between the Government, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party. [213116]
Mr. Woodward: Policy on water is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive within the context of the UK public expenditure system.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) cautioned, (b) prosecuted and (c) given a penalty notice for disorder for selling alcohol to people under the age of 18 years in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007. [191297]
Mr. Coaker: The number of persons issued with; a caution, penalty notice for disorder and proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to selling alcohol to people under the age of 18-years-old in England and Wales for 2006 can be viewed in the following tables 1 and 2.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
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