Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Scotland
Defence Procurement: Fife
6. Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the awarding of defence procurement contracts to companies operating in Fife; and if he will make a statement. [263303]
Ann McKechin: The awarding of defence procurement contracts are a matter for the Secretary of State for Defence. Contracts are awarded in accordance with public procurement policy.
Banking
7. Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with representatives of banks on the future of banking in Scotland. [263304]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I am in regular discussion with bank representatives. The Government's Recapitalisation and Asset Protection Scheme will help in stabilising the banking system.
9. Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues and the Scottish Executive on the state of the banking sector in Scotland. [263307]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I am in regular discussion with ministerial colleagues and the Scottish Executive. The Scottish banking system is now well placed to combat these difficult times after the significant intervention by this Government to stabilise the market.
Road Bridge: River Forth
8. Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on Government funding for the second road bridge over the River Forth. [263305]
Mr. Jim Murphy: My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and I met Scottish Government Ministers on 4 March. We had a very positive and constructive meeting. I convened a successful meeting between the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Scottish Government Finance Ministers to discuss funding of the new Forth river crossing.
Energy Generation
10. Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on support for the generation of energy in Scotland. [263308]
Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend and I hold regular discussions with ministerial colleagues across Government about a wide range of issues.
Businesses
11. Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister on the prospects for businesses in Scotland. [263309]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Last week I had a constructive meeting with the First Minister, together with the CBI and STUC, where we discussed a range of issues with the aim of providing a coherent Scottish response to the economic downturn.
Business Support
12. Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the support from central Government required by businesses in Scotland during the recession. [263310]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I maintain a regular dialogue with business leaders in Scotland on the economy to inform my membership of the National Economic Council. Since the start of the year the Government have introduced a range of measures to help increase liquidity and ease credit conditions for business.
Economic Conditions
13. Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his most recent assessment is of the state of the Scottish economy. [263311]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Scottish economy has not been immune from the global economic difficulties. In response the UK Government delivered a £2 billion fiscal boost as part of the Chancellor's pre-Budget report last year, which is in addition to the continued substantial interventions to support the Scottish banks.
Economic Growth
14. John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister on the level of economic growth in Scotland. [263312]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I had constructive and helpful talks concerning the Scottish economy with the First Minister last week at a meeting also attended by representatives from CBI Scotland and STUC.
Broadcasting: Conferences
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland where his Department’s broadcasting summit scheduled to take place on 19 March 2009 will be held; which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have been invited to attend; whether it will be open to the public; what the agenda items are; and who the speakers will be. [264079]
Ann McKechin
[holding answer 16 March 2009]: The Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will hold a meeting
at the Glasgow Science Centre, Pacific Quay, Glasgow, with representatives from various broadcasting organisations, production companies and interested stakeholders, including from STV, BBC Scotland, Channel 4, ITV plc., MG Alba, Ofcom, Scottish Enterprise and relevant trade unions.
The event is by invitation only. The event will provide an opportunity to help forge a public service broadcasting culture fit for future challenges.
Departmental Absenteeism
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff of his Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on (a) 2 February 2009 and (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate he has made of the (i) cost to his Department and (ii) number of working hours lost as a result of such absence; and what guidance his Department issued to staff in respect of absence on those days. [260569]
Ann McKechin: Information on the number of staff who were absent for non-medical reasons on 2 February 2009 and 3 February 2009 is not available. The Scotland Office, which is part of the Ministry of Justice, does not hold records centrally of non-medical absences.
General guidance was issued on the day to all managers and staff about the disruption caused by the extreme weather conditions where normal travel arrangements were affected by the weather.
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [263123]
Ann McKechin: No property has been reported as lost or stolen in the last 12 months.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of letters sent by his Department were given to (a) the Royal Mail and (b) another postal services provider for delivery in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [259977]
Ann McKechin: The Royal Mail carried the great majority of letters and parcels sent by the Scotland Office in the last 12 months. A precise breakdown is not available.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Floods: Property Development
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers the Environment Agency has to waive restrictions on building in flood risk areas; and if he will make a statement. [264360]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency has no powers either to restrict or waive restrictions on building in flood risk areas. The Environment Agency is a consultee in the planning process, providing technical advice and information on the flood risk implications of development proposals. The Environment Agency may object to developments that do not comply with Planning Policy Statement 25—Development and Flood Risk, but the final planning decision rests with the local planning authority.
Landfill Tax
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will increase the amount that is given to voluntary organisations from landfill tax receipts. [263690]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
Decisions on the value of the Landfill Communities Fund for 2009 and beyond will be taken as part of the Budget process.
National Parks
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department plans to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. [263388]
Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 16 March 2009]: We intend to hold a number of events throughout the year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949—the first of which will take place on 16 March when the Secretary of State will open the Broads Authority's new offices in Norwich.
The aim of the programme will be to celebrate and to increase awareness of the contribution our protected landscapes and access rights to our national well-being, as well as highlighting how they can contribute to future challenges such as climate change.
Noise and Air Pollution
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what datasets on (a) noise and (b) air pollution which contain data by (i) constituency, (ii) local authority area, (iii) county and (iv) region his Department maintains. [262936]
Huw Irranca-Davies: On noise, my Department commissioned a national noise incidence study in 1990 which surveyed the environmental noise levels based on 24-hour noise measurements outside 1,000 dwellings in England and Wales. This study was repeated in 2000-01 when DEFRA and the devolved Administrations commissioned an extended survey of 1,020 dwellings and included Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Other noise pollution datasets held by the Secretary of State are those created to fulfil the first round mapping requirements of Directive 2002/49/EC (Relating to the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise). The datasets include modelled noise levels from roads and railways in the 23 first round agglomerations (defined as urban areas with populations greater than 250,000 and a certain population density), major roads
elsewhere in England with greater than six million vehicle passages per annum; major railways in England with more than 60,000 train passengers annually and major airports with more than 50,000 aircraft movements annually (except for training on light aircraft). In addition, mapping was carried out for some other airports close to first round agglomerations and for larger industrial installations within first round agglomerations.
The mapping was completed in 2007 and the maps are available on the website:
The datasets are not currently broken down by constituency, local authority area, county or region.
On air, data from air pollution monitoring sites, calculated statistics and exceedance statistics relating to Air Quality Strategy objectives and EU Limit Values are available via
at the following administrative levels:
Local Authority
UK Zone
UK Agglomeration
Government Region
Country.
Data are not currently listed by constituency.
In addition, maps of air pollution are available individually for each local authority. These are made available at:
Finally, the annual air quality assessments undertaken for the EU air quality directives are reported by zone, which correspond to Government office regions in England if the relevant agglomerations are included back in.
Rodents: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reports of rodent infestation there have been in Lancashire in each of the last three years. [264142]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA does not collect statistics on the number of reported infestations of rodents. This information should be available from the local authorities concerned.
Wales
Performing Arts
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether his Department has engaged any (a) actors, (b) musicians and (c) other performers to support its initiatives over the last five years. [264054]
Prime Minister
Ministers: Pay
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to reclaim redundancy payments made to Ministers leaving the Government if they are subsequently appointed to a ministerial position in the same Parliament. [264337]
The Prime Minister: Severance pay is payable in accordance with section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991.
Defence
Armed Forces: Charter Flights
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times private charter companies have been used to transport armed forces personnel to and from operations in each of the last three years; and how much was spent on this in each of those years. [263834]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information available is provided in the following table:
| FY | ||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| (1) Estimate Note: Each flight constitutes a single journey. | ||
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