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9 Dec 2008 : Column 36W—continued
Olympic Games 2012: Security
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many buildings are under consideration for the headquarters of the security function for the London 2012 Olympics; and what criteria will apply to the selection of such headquarters; [240315]
(2) how much of the £600 million London 2012 security budget has been provisionally allocated for the headquarters’ building. [240325]
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much of the £600 million security budget for the London 2012 Olympics has been provisionally allocated for the headquarters building; [241283]
(2) how many buildings are under consideration to house the headquarters of the security function for the London 2012 Olympics; and by what criteria the buildings under consideration will be judged. [241284]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 8 December 2008]: Work is continuing to finalise the strategy and plans for the security of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. No decisions have been made on the headquarters of the security operations and no funds have been provisionally allocated for this purpose.
Any decisions will need to take account of the operational needs of the police and other security agencies, affordability with the total funding envelope and the need to secure value for money.
Police: Finance
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to remove the system of floors and ceilings in the distribution of Government grant funding to police forces. [240343]
Mr. Coaker: The Government made clear in the Green Paper ‘From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our communities together’ their intention to move to full implementation of the funding formula at the fastest pace that is compatible with ensuring the financial stability of all police authorities.
Proscribed Organisations
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many activists of organisations proscribed under terrorism legislation have been (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) convicted for offences under that legislation in each year since its introduction; and if she will make a statement. [241069]
Mr. Coaker: We are currently unable to provide the information requested.
The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General's Office are currently working with the National Coordinator for Terrorist Investigations to improve the quality of data relating to those arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned under terrorist legislation and under other legislation but considered terrorist related. As soon as this is complete a Statistical Bulletin covering this information will be published by the Home Office.
This Statistical Bulletin will include figures from 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008 showing the number of people arrested under section 41, of the Terrorism Act 2000 or under other legislation where the arrest is considered terrorist related. Arrest statistics cannot be broken down further into the alleged offence being investigated against each arrestee.
The bulletin will provide a breakdown of charges and convictions of terrorism related offences. It will show the numbers of people charged and convicted for the range of proscription offences as covered by sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, since 2001.
In addition we will not be able to provide information on the convictions the police consider investigating at the time of arrest. All individuals arrested for terrorism offences are arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Terrorism: Detainees
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people suspected of offences under anti-terrorism legislation were held for more than 14 days before being charged in the last three years. [240928]
Mr. Coaker: To date 11 individuals have been held for over 14 days pre-charge detention. Six of these 11 have been held for the maximum 27 to 28 days, three of which were charged and three released without charge.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have spent on Christmas (i) cards, (ii) parties and (iii) decorations in the last 12 months. [240321]
Huw Irranca-Davies: In the last 12 months, core-DEFRA has not used paper Christmas cards, opting instead for a selection of e-greetings cards. The cost of the designs for these cards was £166.00. Everything else was produced in house; therefore there were no other direct charges.
In 2007, Christmas trees and decorations for the main public areas of the DEFRA’s estate were donated by Carillion, who were providing facilities management services to DEFRA at that time. To date in 2008, DEFRA has not received any donations or paid for any Christmas trees or decorations.
DEFRA does not pay for Christmas parties for staff.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on (a) flat screen televisions, (b) DVD players and (c) stereo equipment in each of the last three years. [240386]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The information is as follows:
(a) Flat screen televisions: £2,698.94
(b) DVD players: £509.96
(c) Stereo equipment: £0
(a ) Flat screen televisions: £4,707.00
(b ) DVD players: £412.00
(c ) Stereo equipment: £12,572.00
(a ) Flat screen televisions: £6,837.00
(b ) DVD players: £0
( c ) Stereo equipment: £0
Flooding Lessons Learned Review
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he intends to implement the recommendations of the Pitt Review. [240509]
Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 8 December 2008]: The Government's detailed response and a prioritised action plan will be published shortly.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) which of the recommendations contained in Sir Michael Pitt's final report on the 2007 floods have been, or are in the process of being, implemented; [240886]
(2) when he expects to publish the full programme for implementation of the Pitt Report; and if he will make a statement; [240958]
(3) which of the recommendations contained in Sir Michael Pitt's interim report on the 2007 floods (a) have been and (b) are in the process of being implemented. [241089]
Huw Irranca-Davies: We have already taken a number of steps in response to Sir Michael Pitt's findings and will be publishing a detailed response together with a prioritised action plan shortly.
Floods and Water Bill: Draft
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will publish a draft Floods and Water Bill. [240510]
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to publish the draft Floods and Water Bill. [240957]
Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 8 December 2008]: The current timetable is for the draft Bill to be published in spring 2009 for pre-legislative scrutiny and public consultation. The final Bill will then be available for introduction in a later parliamentary session.
Forestry Commission
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to page 119 of the pre-Budget report Cm 7684, what options there are for delivery of public value from the state in the long term in respect of the Forestry Commission; and if he will make a statement. [240393]
Huw Irranca-Davies: A study of the public forest estate in England was announced by written ministerial statement on 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 37WS.
This study will take approximately 12 months to complete and will include a full public consultation.
As outlined in the pre-Budget report this study will also contribute evidence to the Operational Efficiency Programme as findings emerge.
Ivory: China
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with overseas counterparts on the illegal ivory trade in China; and if he will make a statement. [240969]
Huw Irranca-Davies: No formal discussions have occurred since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Standing Committee meeting, held during July 2008 in Geneva, approved the one-off sale of legally stockpiled ivory in an attempt to reduce the demand for illegal ivory. We have been monitoring the lead up to the auctions of the legally stockpiled ivory, which took place at the end of October and beginning of November and will continue to keep in touch with the CITES Secretariat to assess its effects on the illegal trade in ivory.
Marine Management Organisation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the effects of the proposed relocation of the London headquarters of the Marine Management Organisation on the services provided. [241137]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Much of the work undertaken by Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) HQ is of a specialised nature, and includes meeting EU obligations. For these reasons, an Marine Management Organisation (MMO) skeleton body will be set up to start running from autumn 2009 to run in parallel with the MFA until 31 March 2010 to mitigate any risks to the current high standards of service, and provide the opportunity for knowledge transfer between new and existing staff.
To ensure there is no loss in knowledge and skills from the MFA between now and autumn 2009, I will be announcing a decision on the MMO HQ’s location as soon as possible. This is to ensure we have sufficient staff to cover the business over the transition period. We will ensure that existing staff work closely with both the MFA’s senior management team and the MMO implementation team to capture knowledge and pass it to MMO staff who will begin to populate the skeleton body.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 21 October 2008, on value added tax on flood defences. [241382]
Huw Irranca-Davies: A reply to the hon. Member's letter was given on 8 December.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Minister of State plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 14 October 2008, on climate change. [241384]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Minister for Sustainable Development and Energy Innovation, Lord Hunt, replied to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire on 24 November 2008.
Poultry: Death
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average mortality rate is of chickens bred and reared in captivity for meat. [241214]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA does not hold data on average mortality rates for chickens raised for meat.
Sewers
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what progress his Department has made towards implementing recommendation 21 from Sir Michael Pitt on flooding regarding risk-based standards for public sewerage systems; [241292]
(2) what progress his Department has made towards implementing recommendation 22 from Sir Michael Pitt on flooding regarding industry pricing reviews and the sewerage network. [241293]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government's detailed response and a prioritised action plan will be published shortly.
Water Charges
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with Ofwat on the role of climate change adaptation in the Ofwat Price Review 2009; and if he will make a statement. [241185]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Ministers have regular discussions with Ofwat on a range of issues, including the 2009 Price Review. DEFRA has issued statutory Social and Environmental Guidance to Ofwat. This provides Ofwat with a steer on the key social and environmental policies that the Government expect it to contribute to in carrying out its role as the independent economic regulator of the water industry. This includes adaptation to climate change. The report is available on the water pages of the DEFRA website.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department’s position is on the priorities to be achieved by the Ofwat Price Review 2009. [241187]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA’s priorities for the 2009 Price Review are set out in its Statement of Obligations to water companies and regulators and its statutory Social and Environmental Guidance to Ofwat. Copies of both documents are available on the water pages of the DEFRA website.
Work and Pensions
Autism
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of employees in his Department have been diagnosed with autism-specific disorders. [241983]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department does not collect data on the number of its staff with autism-specific disorders, and to provide information on this could be only at a disproportionate cost. Staff are encouraged to declare whether they consider themselves disabled, but are not asked to state the nature of the disability.
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