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3 Mar 2009 : Column 1402W—continued
Fisheries
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will meet representatives of the small and under-10 metre fishing fleet from the Thames Estuary and East Anglia Coast to discuss his Department’s policy on inshore fishing. [259609]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Following the December announcement on a package of measures designed to bring short-term stability to the English inshore fleet, a project—Sustainable Access to Inshore Fisheries (SAIF)—is now under way in DEFRA to develop a strategy for the fleet’s long-term sustainability. Through the SAIF project, DEFRA officials and I will engage with a wide range of industry and community representatives over the next few months. We intend to arrange a series of meetings around the coast, and I would be pleased to include the Thames estuary and East Anglian coast as areas for inclusion in the meeting schedule.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew: Fees and Charges
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the retail prices for (a) entry and (b) guided tours have been reduced at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a result of the December 2008 reduction in value added tax. [258387]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew reviews its prices regularly, using other, similar visitor attractions as a benchmark. Initial plans to raise entry prices by 50 pence for this year have now been deferred, with prices held instead at 2008 levels. This is to reflect the recent reduction in value added tax.
Guided tours at the Royal Botanic Gardens are either free of charge or specifically priced to meet individual customer requirements.
Sewers: Fats
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if his Department will introduce measures to require commercial hot food premises to have a grease control system to prevent the entry of fats, oils and greases into the sewerage system; [259319]
(2) what steps his Department and its associated public bodies are taking to prevent the discharge of fats, oils and greases into the sewerage system from commercial hot food premises; and if he will make a statement; [259317]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of local voluntary schemes for installing control measures in commercial hot food premises as a
means of preventing the discharge of fats, oils and greases into the sewerage system. [259318]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
There is a general requirement in building regulations, and more generally other public health legislation, that drains should be constructed in such a way as to minimise the risk of blockage. Grease from hot food premises is acknowledged as a significant cause of drain blockages. Drainage is dealt with in part H of the Building Regulations and when the guidance was comprehensively revised in 2002 additional guidance was added about the provision of grease control measures to hot food premises. Where drains malfunction, building legislation provides local authorise with enforcement powers to ensure that the problem is remedied.
In order to test the effectiveness of the above measure my department was party to a joint research project with the water industry. The outcome of this research has enabled water companies and local authorities to be more confident in their enforcement measures and has enabled some pilot projects to deal with some particularly troublesome cases and bring them to a satisfactory conclusion.
Welsh Language
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many members of staff at each grade in his Department identify themselves as Welsh speakers. [257792]
Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 23 February 2009]: DEFRA does not monitor the number of staff at each grade in the Department who identify themselves as Welsh speakers. DEFRA does however provide a Welsh language service for our customers through our customer call centres and through our telephone helplines.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Art Works
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 54W, on departmental art works, what the (a) title, (b) artist and (c) Government Art Collection reference number is of each Government Art Collection item reported as stolen in each year since 1997-98. [258586]
Barbara Follett: The following Government art collection works have been stolen since 1997-98:
Departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2008, Official Report, column 880W, on Departmental non-departmental public bodies, how many times bodies for which his Department is responsible asked (a) his Department and (b) the Treasury to approve (i) capital projects of £6 million and above, (ii) gifts and non-statutory contingent liabilities of £100,000 and above, (iii) spending which exceeded limits set out in the relevant financial memoranda and (iv) spending which could have potentially set an expensive precedent, caused repercussions for others or which was novel or contentious in each of the last three years. [248884]
Andy Burnham: A survey of the last three financial years to date has indicated that my Department’s non-departmental public bodies made the following requests, which are set out in the following tables. This may not be a complete list, however further information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| (a) Requests for which DCMS approval is required | |
| Spending which exceeded limits set out in the relevant financial memoranda | |
Economic Situation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) summits, (b) conferences and (c) seminars his Department has hosted since January 2008 at which a primary subject of discussion was the effect of the economic situation on matters within his Department’s responsibility. [259751]
Andy Burnham: The Department has held regular internal discussions on responding to the economic situation, including discussions with its Advisory Board. The Department is also working closely with its sponsored bodies to help our sectors continue to function effectively and manage the risks which the present economic situation presents.
Recent external meetings on this issue included a tourism summit in Liverpool on 9 January 2009 convened by VisitBritain, which considered ways to help support the tourism industry through the downturn and beyond. The Creative Economy Programme Ministerial Steering Board received a presentation by Will Hutton in December on the impact of the economic downturn on the Creative Economy.
Olympics
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her Office’s average response time to a letter received from (a) an hon. Member and (b) a member of the public was in each year since its establishment. [251450]
Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members correspondence. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008, Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Information for 2008 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it is ready. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. General correspondence to the Minister for the Olympics on Olympic issues is responded to by officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport aims to respond to letters from the public within 20 working days of receipt. Statistics on the percentage responded to within this target are available in the Department’s annual reports. I am informed that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport could provide information on average response times to letters from the public only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much has been spent by her Office on staff reward and recognition schemes in each year since its inception. [248721]
Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office the hon. Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) to him on 24 February 2009, Official Report, column 578W.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much (a) her Office and (b) the Olympic Delivery Authority has spent on recruitment agencies in each of the last three years. [250268]
Tessa Jowell: In each of the last three financial years, Government Olympic Executive (GOE) has spent the following on recruitment agencies. This has supported the recruitment of six senior managers, including the director general and the director of build and finance:
| £ | |
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)
The ODA’s spend on recruitment reflects the requirement to recruit quickly at all levels to a newly established organisation while maintaining the delivery programme for the venues and infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics Games. In each of the last three financial years, the ODA has spent the following on recruitment agencies, for the recruitment of 220 personnel at all levels of the organisation:
| £ | |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department holds on estimates by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities on the number of people who died as a result of illegal abortions in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [259039]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
In 2007 the World Health Organisation (WHO) published estimates, on behalf of all UN agencies, of the incidence of unsafe abortion and associated deaths for the year 2003. This report which includes detailed information on the methodology used in calculating estimates can be found on the WHO website:
Given the clandestine nature of abortion in many settings and the difficulties in collecting data, it is likely that the true levels of unsafe abortion and related mortality are higher than estimated.
Worldwide an estimated 19-20 million unsafe abortions are estimated to occur each year. Millions of women and girls suffer complications following unsafe abortion and around 67,000 die as a result of these complications. Most of these abortions, complications and deaths could be prevented if people who wished to had access to family planning and if abortion services had been legally available and affordable everywhere. Progress to achieve Millennium Development Goal number five, Improve Maternal Health, cannot be made unless we are prepared to do something to reduce the death and disability caused by unsafe abortion.
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