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12 Feb 2009 : Column 2269W—continued
Teenage Pregnancy: Nottingham
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on measures to reduce levels of teenage pregnancy in Nottingham in the last 12 months. [255583]
Beverley Hughes: Each local authority receives funding within its Area-based Grant to support delivery of its local teenage pregnancy strategy. The amount each local authority receives is based on a formula that takes account of the number and rate of teenage pregnancies, ensuring that areas which face the greatest challenges receive the most funding. In 2008-09, Nottingham received £295,000 within its Area-based Grant to support its local teenage pregnancy strategy.
Regional teenage pregnancy co-ordinators based in Government offices provide support and challenge to the local areas within each region. £100,000 is allocated to each Government office to support that function. While only a proportion of this £100,000 will be used to support activity in Nottingham, Government offices have been directed to differentiate the support and challenge they provide so that support is targeted on areas—like Nottingham—which have made least progress.
As one of the 21 local areas with high and increasing rates of teenage pregnancy, Nottingham has also received support from the Department of Health's national support team (NST). In monetary terms, the support received from NST is estimated to be around £20,000.
In addition, mainstream delivery partners within the local area—PCTs, schools, youth services and social services—use a proportion of their budgets to provide services that support local teenage pregnancy strategies. For example, schools support local teenage pregnancy strategies through their provision of sex and relationships education and targeted work with vulnerable young people to raise aspirations. It is not possible, however, to put a monetary value on these contributions.
Young Offenders
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what process is employed in issuing a youth conditional caution. [256500]
Beverley Hughes: We propose to introduce the Youth Conditional Caution in stages. Pilots for 16 and 17-year-olds will begin in summer 2009. Evaluation of the pilot schemes will inform implementation decisions on national roll out of the Caution for 16 and 17-year-olds nationally and its application to 10 to 15-year-olds. The draft statutory code of practice governing use of the Youth Conditional Caution for 16 and 17-year-olds is in the final stages of preparation and consultation on it will begin shortly. I will ensure that the hon. Member receives copies of the consultation documents.
Young People: Sports
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much (a) Exchequer and (b) lottery funding will be spent on the Physical Education and Sport Strategy for Young People in each of the next four years; and how much will be allocated to the Youth Sport Trust. [255727]
Jim Knight [holding answer 10 February 2009]: £783 million of Exchequer funding has been committed to deliver the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People over the three years to 2010-11. This works out at £261 million per year. This does not include any lottery funding. However, lottery funding may support sporting programmes locally.
Total grant of £13,460,576 has been allocated to the Youth Sport Trust for 2008-09 to fund their work in helping to deliver the strategy and other related policy areas. Funding for the Youth Sport Trust beyond the current financial year is currently under consideration.
Young People: Unemployment
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether the planned pilot of the variant of the Activity Agreement to offer personalised learning to young people as soon as they become not in education, employment or training has commenced. [247253]
Jim Knight:
The White Paper ‘New Opportunities—Fair Chances for the Future’, published on 13 January 2009, announced the extension of activity agreements to March 2010. We will use this period to gather further information that will inform what support and incentives might be
needed as we raise the participation age from 2013. From April 2009, therefore, the Activity Agreement offer will be targeted on engaging the very hardest to reach.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Charities: Finance
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he is taking to promote the work of the Charity Research Support Fund in the context of the current national economic situation. [254703]
Mr. Lammy: HEFCE’s quality related (QR) block grant for research to higher education institutions includes a “charity support element”. This element is calculated by reference to charitable research income, but is distributed as part of the annual QR block grant rather than as a separate fund. It is for institutions that receive QR to determine how to use that funding in line with their own research priorities.
Olympics
Apprentices: Olympic Games 2012
Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many people are undertaking (a) trainee apprenticeships and (b) work placements at Olympic venues. [256096] [Official Report, 5 March 2009, Vol. 488, c. 11MC.]
Tessa Jowell: In addition to the existing commitment for 2,000 trainee, apprenticeships and work placements over the life of the project (of which 180 would be apprenticeships), the Prime Minister announced last month that 250 additional apprenticeships would be created on the Olympic Park and Village.
At the end of December 2008, of the 303 people undertaking training on the Olympic Park site:
(a) 27 people were registered as apprentices (on a recognised framework)
(b) 41 were on trainee work placements.
Contracts: Olympic Games 2012
Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether an independent value for money audit of the bid by Lend Lease to build the Olympic Village was conducted prior to the award of the contract. [256116]
Tessa Jowell: Lend Lease was selected to be the preferred developer for the Olympic Village as a result of a competitive Official Journal of the European Union procurement. The detailed contract is still under negotiation. Before the contract is finalised, an assessment of the value for money of the proposed deal will be considered by the ministerial Funders Group.
Departmental Public Appointments
Mr. Maude:
To ask the Minister for the Olympics which of the public appointments for which her Office is responsible are due to be (a) renewed and (b) filled in the next 24 months; what the (i) remit, (ii) salary,
(iii) political restriction, (iv) eligibility requirement and (v) timetable for each appointment is; and what records her Office keeps in respect of such appointments. [254248]
Tessa Jowell: Information on public appointments to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and the Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD) is published in the DCMS Annual Report and also on the DCMS website:
The ODA and OLD also provide detailed information about appointments in their own annual reports. Public appointments vacancies are advertised on the DCMS website and the Cabinet Office Public Appointments website at:
The process for making a public appointment, including guidance on political activity and eligibility criteria, follows the Cabinet Office publication ‘Making and Managing Public Appointments’. For appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the appointments process also complies with the ‘Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies’. Copies are in the Libraries of the House.
Fairtrade Initiative: Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Moore: To ask the Minister for the Olympics if she will bring forward plans to ensure that the 2012 London Olympics sources all relevant products on a fair trade basis; if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for International Development on the matter; and if she will make a statement. [255734]
Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 18 February 2008, Official Report, column 115W, in which I set out the action that my officials and I had undertaken with other Government Departments, including DFID, in this regard.
In November 2008 the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) published a sustainable sourcing code setting out that it will seek to procure products and services for London 2012 that have been certified as ethically sourced, where they represent value for money and do not compromise other sustainability objectives. This code will be kept under review and DFID is one of many organisations which LOCOG will consult in that process.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) also seeks to work with suppliers which have a good track record in human rights and use goods and materials produced ethically.
Havering
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics when she last visited the London borough of Havering. [256568]
Tessa Jowell: I have not yet had the opportunity to visit the London borough of Havering in my position as Minister for the Olympics. I would be delighted to hear about ways in which the hon. Members constituents are engaging with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.
Mass Media: Olympic Games 2012
Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Olympics who the owner of the media centre planned for the London 2012 Olympics will be once it has been completed. [255363]
Tessa Jowell: The International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre are being built on land owned by the London Development Agency, which will retain ownership after completion of the buildings.
Olympic Games 2012: Construction
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics for what reason problems with the foundations and ground conditions for the Olympic velodrome were not identified earlier; and if she will make a statement. [256480]
Tessa Jowell: Initial site investigation studies on the site of the Velopark were carried out throughout 2007 and continued into 2008, when the poor ground conditions were identified. As part of the review of the Masterplan for the Olympic Park, undertaken in 2007, the Velodrome was moved slightly to the west to help with the design and layout of the wider cycling facilities to be built in legacy. This movement exacerbated the ground conditions problem.
The July 2008 London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games update report identified a £40 million cost pressure against other Olympic park venues, part of which was for the Velopark. The level of contamination on this site was more extensive than originally assessed and this contributed to the overall increase of £25 million in the Velopark budget to £105 million. Once the full extent of the ground conditions was known, design and ground modelling studies were undertaken which produced an accurate estimate of the potential costs.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans there are for the use of the (a) handball venue, (b) sailing facilities and (c) aquatics venue after the end of the London 2012 Olympic games. [256569]
Tessa Jowell: Business plans are currently being developed for the legacy use of all permanent London 2012 sporting venues.
The handball venue will be a flexible, multi-use sports venue in legacy, with a capacity of up to 6,000. Through the provision of retractable seating, it will be possible to increase the field of play and reduce the seating capacity to 3,000. Facilities will include a field of play able to accommodate up to three basketball courts or 12 badminton courts, and a health and fitness centre. The venue will have the capacity to be used for a variety of indoor sports including volleyball, handball, badminton, netball, football and basketball at both community and high performance level. Further sporting uses are also being pursued.
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) will benefit from the improved facilities that the games will leave behind, providing a state-of-the-art facility for elite training, competition and local community use. Enhancements—which were completed in November
2008—include a new 250m slipway, race-boat parking, and lifting and mooring facilities. These provide an early legacy of world-class facilities for elite athletes and the local Dorset community to use.
The Aquatics Centre will have a capacity of 2,500 in legacy, increasing to 3,500 for major events. It will provide two 50m pools (for which there is an identified strategic need in London), a dive pool with multiple level dive tower, and facilities such as a crèche, cafe and dry side training. This is a state of the art building that will make use of sophisticated technology including moveable floors and booms. It will be a permanent elite and community swimming resource for east London that will be used by an estimated 600,000 visitors a year after the games.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans there are for the use of the North Greenwich Arena (a) 1 and (b) 2 after the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games. [256572]
Tessa Jowell: North Greenwich Arena 1 is an existing privately owned arena and will be used for a temporary period to stage 2012 Olympics events. Post-games it will continue to be operated by the owners. North Greenwich Arena 2 was intended to be a new, temporary arena. Further to the recommendations of a report in December 2008 by KPMG, a review is being undertaken to consider suitable alternative existing venues and Arena 2 is part of that review. It is anticipated that decisions will be taken on remaining venue locations in March 2009.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans there are for the use of the Olympic Stadium after the end of the London 2012 Olympic games. [256573]
Tessa Jowell: A business plan is currently being developed for the legacy use of the stadium. The stadium will be converted from an 80,000 to a 25,000 seat venue in legacy. Athletics will provide the core sporting legacy use, as promised to the IOC, at both community and high performance level. The stadium will be used to host domestic athletic events and as a world-class facility will enable the UK to bid for international events. This will be complemented by a range of other educational and sporting uses including a school with a sporting focus, the National Skills Academy for Sport and Leisure, and a high performance centre operated by the English Institute of Sport (including sport science and sport medicine services).
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans there are for the use of the velopark after the end of the London 2012 Olympic games. [256574]
Tessa Jowell:
A business plan is currently being developed for the legacy use of the Velopark. The Velopark will be a unique cycling hub, incorporating all cycling disciplines and hosting events from world-class to community level. The Velodrome will retain its Olympic seating capacity of 6,000 in legacy. Other facilities on the Velopark will include a mountain biking track, BMX track, one-mile road cycle circuit and a cycle speedway, used for community and high performance level activities. The venue will be operated in legacy by the Lee Valley Regional Park
Authority. British Cycling has been involved in the development of the Velopark and will use the facilities available.
Olympic Games 2012: Expenditure
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much had been spent on the handball venue at the latest date for which figures are available; and what the estimated final cost of the venue is. [256586]
Tessa Jowell: The contractor that will build the handball arena has not yet been selected and so it is not appropriate to announce budget or cost details while the procurement process is continuing.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what cancelled expenditure items are contained under the headings (a) other transport capital projects and (b) other transport operating expenditure, in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Annual Report 2009, Table 2, page 49; and if she will make a statement. [256412]
Tessa Jowell: The two potential reductions in transport forecast expenditure included in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Annual Report 2009, Table 2, page 49, represent opportunities for savings—not reductions, omissions or cancellations of work.
These potential savings have been identified during contract negotiations and will be confirmed in due course once terms have been fully concluded. Due to the commercial element of the ongoing discussions, it is not possible to provide further details at this time.
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