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28 Jan 2009 : Column 538Wcontinued
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on transport projects in each local authority area in England in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [251840]
Paul Clark: Most transport projects in local authority areas are the responsibility of the relevant local transport authority. The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities for general capital investment in transport services. This funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities.
Where authorities wish to pursue major schemes they may seek additional funding from the Department, subject to prioritisation of their proposal by the region. Certain other projects may also be eligible for specific grants from time to time.
Details of the capital funding made available to each local transport authority in local transport settlements are available at:
The Department spends funds on the strategic road network through the Highways Agency (HA). The HA's reporting systems do not record actual expenditure for local authority areas; expenditure is recorded by project and activity. Estimates are compiled for regional expenditure to supplement data reported in the Department's annual report.
Likewise, funding for other transport projects in England, such as rail projects, is not available on the basis of local authority boundaries.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what transport projects have been announced by the Government and subsequently cancelled in each year since 1997; how much has been spent on each such project prior to cancellation; and if he will make a statement. [252056]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not collect this information.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Prime Minister with reference to his answer of 19 March 2008, Official Report, column 922, at Prime Ministers questions, what consideration he has given to the case of Ms Adela Mahoro Mugabo. [252398]
The Prime Minister: I wrote to the hon. Member on 4 April 2008 on this matter.
Justine Greening: To ask the Prime Minister what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence he and officials in No. 10 Downing Street have had with representatives from BAA since 3 October 2008; when each meeting took place; who attended each meeting; and what the subject of each meeting was. [252708]
The Prime Minister: My officials and I have meetings and correspond with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a range of subjects.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost of hotel accommodation for the tour undertaken by Ministers between 7 and 9 January 2009 was; and in which hotels accommodation for the tour was booked. [251070]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 January 2009, Official Report, column 1429W.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Prime Minister whether new procedures for (a) the analysis and (b) the publication of intelligence material have been put in place since he became Prime Minister; and if he will make a statement. [246282]
The Prime Minister: Since I became Prime Minister the arrangements for the analysis and publication of intelligence material put in place, and the appointments made, have been consistent with the recommendations of Lord Butlers Review.
I announced to the House in my National Security Statement on 25 July 2007, Official Report, columns 841-45, the separation of the position of JIC Chairman from policy adviser to the Government to ensure that assessments are formulated independently and that the Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis role created following Lord Butlers Review would be fulfilled by the JIC Chairman. Last year I also published the National Security Strategy and the National Risk Register.
Following resolutions in both Houses, appointments to the ISC are now made on the basis of nominations by Parliament. Debates on ISC reports will in future take place in both Houses and will be introduced by the Chairman of the ISC or the appropriate ISC member. Arrangements have been made to strengthen further the ISCs ability to scrutinise financial matters and the process of recruiting a general investigator has begun.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many staff in each pay grade work on the No. 10 Downing Street YouTube video platform; [250329]
(2) how many staff work to (a) maintain and (b) supply content for the Ask the PM YouTube channel; [250330]
(3) how much has been spent on website designers to design the Ask the PM YouTube video platform; [250331]
(4) how many (a) hits and (b) unique visitors the Ask the PM YouTube channel has received since its establishment; [250335]
(5) how many video submissions from members of the public have been (a) received and (b) answered since the launch of the Ask the PM YouTube channel. [250336]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1481-82W. Further information requested is available on the Downing street YouTube channel at:
A copy of this webpage has been placed in the Library of the House.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Prime Minister (1) which websites are operated by his Office in addition to its main website; and what the operating budget for those websites is; [251213]
(2) which websites were operated by his Office in addition to its main website in the last five years. [251419]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1481-82W.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister how many people whom he has appointed as Government Ministers in the (a) House of Lords and (b) House of Commons accepted their appointment on the basis that their service in Government would be time-limited. [249610]
The Prime Minister: As was the case under previous Administrations, ministerial appointments are in the gift of the Prime Minister.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008, Official Report, column 470W, on Members' interests, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the annual statement of Ministers' interests. [250117]
The Prime Minister: The list will be published in the near future.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister what the pension arrangements are for the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton. [250537]
The Prime Minister: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 30 October 2007, Official Report, column 1070W.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Prime Minister what arrangements the Cabinet Secretary plans to establish for talks between permanent secretaries of Government departments and the Official Opposition ahead of the next general election; whether the arrangements will differ from those in previous parliaments; and what discussions he has had on the timetable for such talks. [250310]
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister who made the decision to offer meetings with senior civil servants before the next general election to the Liberal Democrats. [250514]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 14 January 2009, Official Report, column 754W.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will recommend to Her Majesty the Queen that the knighthood awarded to Sir Fred Goodwin for services to banking be withdrawn. [251016]
The Prime Minister: The authority to grant and cancel honours is contained in the Statutes of the various Orders of Chivalry.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Prime Minister on what dates he has met (a) Ministers and (b) UK Sport to discuss the £100 million of private sponsorship for elite athletes announced in the 2006 Budget; and if he will make a statement. [250265]
The Prime Minister: My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a range of subjects.
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many television sets are operationally available on the House Estate, broken down by building; and how many such sets are available in hon. Members' offices. [247807]
Nick Harvey: The number of annunciator (TV) sets available on the House of Commons estate is as follows:
Number | |
All Members' offices are fitted with annunciators, and these are included in the above figures. Records are not kept separately of the number of annunciators which are in Members' offices.
Jo Swinson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) by what date the House of Commons Commission expects the process of scanning and redacting the receipts for hon. Members' expenses since 2004 to be completed; [251845]
(2) by what date the House of Commons Commission expects to place the details of hon. Members' expenses since 2004 in the public domain. [251846]
Nick Harvey: The scanning and editing of Members' claims, receipts etc. for the years 2004-05 to 2007-08 is well advanced. Once this work is complete, individual hon. Members will need to check the records relating to them, and further editing may then be required. A date for publication cannot yet be set.
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission for what reason backdated details of hon. Members' expenses have not yet been published; what factors account for the delay; and if he will ensure that all relevant information will be placed in the public domain by the end of February 2009. [249218]
Nick Harvey: The task of scanning and editing for publication a very large amount of information has proved more difficult than originally envisaged when the proposed arrangements for disclosure of Members' expenses down to receipt level were announced last summer. Ensuring that hon. Members' legitimate security and privacy concerns were taken into account has been complex and has required careful attention to over 700,000 individual records. Once scanning and editing has been completed, individual hon. Members will need to check the records relating to them, and further editing may then be required. This process will not be complete by the end of February 2009 and a date for publication cannot yet be set.
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent steps the House authorities (a) have recently taken and (b) plan to take to improve the heating within 1 Parliament Street; and if he will make a statement. [248143]
Nick Harvey: The heating in 1 Parliament street is controlled by means of a computerised building management system (BMS). This allows the heating and cooling in each office to be individually monitored and controlled. The original system, installed in 1990, had become obsolete and was replaced by a modern system. The hardware was installed in the 2008 summer recess and the installation of a new control network was completed in November 2008. The arrival of the cold weather in the autumn highlighted a number of software problems which took longer than anticipated to resolve due to the lack of a network, which meant revisiting every office. At the same time, the opportunity was taken to replace any faulty heating or cooling valves and as a result some 50 cooling and 20 heating controls were replaced.
Now that the new BMS is installed, the method of heating control will be modified from a fixed time based method to the more efficient and accurate optimised start method which ensures that the heating is switched on earlier if the outside air temperature is lower. In addition, a survey of the heating capacity of the boilers and associated pipe-work is planned for the 2009 summer
recess. This will identify the heating capacity of the boilers and pipe-work, should larger radiators be required in some offices.
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