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20 Mar 2009 : Column 1341W—continued
Playing Fields: Private Sector
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many playing fields owned by private companies there are; and how many such fields have closed in the last 10 years. [261437]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 6 March 2009]: Sport England has advised that as of January 2009 Active Places data show private companies own 391 sites containing 901 (grass) pitches.
At present, Active Places, which was set up in 2004, does not capture historical data on the number of fields owned by private companies which have closed in the last 10 years.
Sport England are in the process of collecting further data on public and privately owned facilities, including closures where possible, and hope to conclude that work by the end of 2009.
Sports: Anti-Semitism
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to tackle anti-Semitism in (a) football and (b) other sports; what recent representations he has received on the issue; what recent meetings he has had with the Football Association on the issue; and if he will make a statement. [259047]
Mr. Sutcliffe: While I have received no recent representations or held any recent meetings on the issue of tackling anti-Semitism in sport, I remain fully committed to a sporting landscape free from all forms of discrimination. To this end:
(a) Football treats anti-Semitism as an offence under the ground regulations, thereby empowering the clubs and police to take action if abuse occurs. The Football Association also provides funding for the Kick It Out campaign, which tackles anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination through the Equality Standard for professional clubs. In addition, the Football Association also jointly hosted a seminar on Tackling Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in April 2008, and the subsequently convened working group will report its findings to the FA board in April 2009.
(b) Other sports receiving Government funding through Sport England and UK Sport for the 2009-13 period will do so on the basis of their compliance with the Equality Standard for Sport. The standard forbids discrimination on the grounds of gender, marital status, race, colour, religion, disability, age, occupation, religion or political opinion.
Swimming
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provision for water safety will be included in the Free Swimming Programme; and if he will make a statement. [264538]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Free Swimming Programme will be delivered in pools owned by participating local authorities, on Health and Safety Executive-enforced premises. All operators are required to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of their operations and to identify necessary control measures. The Health and Safety Executive supplies extensive guidance to help them do this.
Tourism
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2009, Official Report, column 1556W on Tourism, on which dates the Minister for Tourism met heads of Tourism in the nine regional development agencies in the last 12 months. [257022]
Barbara Follett: I met the South West Regional Development Agency Chair on 8 January 2009 and 11 December 2008. A meeting with all the regional development agency tourism leads has been arranged for April 2009.
Tourism: South West
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has provided in respect of the tourism responsibilities of the South West Regional Development Agency in 2008-09. [264366]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 18 March 2009]: In the financial year 2008-09 DCMS allocated £3.5 million to regional development agencies for tourism. The South West of England Regional Development Agency have advised that their allocation was £403,000.
Northern Ireland
Security
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent assessment is of the security situation in Northern Ireland. [263874]
Paul Goggins: The level of threat from dissident republicans, as evidenced by attacks at Antrim and Craigavon, continues to be assessed as “Severe”. These are reckless and callous individuals who are seeking to drag Northern Ireland back to the misery of the past. The people of all communities are united in demonstrating that they will not be allowed to succeed.
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Housing
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost of the Special Purchase for Evacuated Dwellings scheme for police officers in Northern Ireland in 2008-09. [265183]
Paul Goggins: The Scheme for the Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings (SPED) is a matter for the devolved administration.
House of Commons Commission
Occupational Health
Dr. Gibson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will assess the adequacy of provision of occupational health and welfare services in the House for (a) hon. Members and their staff and (b) civil servants who work on the Parliamentary Estate. [264699]
Nick Harvey:
The Safety, Health and Wellbeing Service provides a comprehensive occupational health service to hon. Members, Peers, and staff employed by both Houses. Hon. Members are entitled to regular health screening on request and can also self-refer for a consultation with the occupational health adviser or physician, if they believe that their work is having a detrimental effect on their health. There is also an emergency GP service available locally to Members. Given that the House is not the employer of Members' staff, it does not routinely provide occupational health services to them. The Parliamentary Welfare Service is aimed at staff of both Houses and does not formally provide welfare services for Members or their staff; but Members and their staff can ask for informal advice and guidance on the best way to deal with issues of concern. There is
no provision for occupational health and welfare services for any civil servants who work on the Parliamentary Estate, as they have adequate access via their own employer.
Leader of the House
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Leader of the House how many questions tabled to each Department for written answer on a named day were (a) answered with a holding answer, (b) answered on the named day, (c) answered later than the named day and (d) not answered in each of the last four years; how many questions tabled to each Department for ordinary written answer were (i) answered within two weeks of tabling, (ii) answered more than two weeks after tabling and (iii) not answered in each such year; and what the (A) average and (B) maximum time taken by each Department to answer such questions was in each such year. [264432]
Chris Bryant: The information that the hon. Member has requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The statistics for written parliamentary questions tabled to the Leader of the House of Commons for the past four Sessions are detailed in the table.
| Session | Percentage of named day questions answered on the specified day | Percentage of ordinary written answered within five working days | Average number of sitting days to answer ordinary written questions |
Defence
Departmental Manpower
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) permanent, (b) agency and (c) temporary staff on contracts of (i) up to three months, (ii) between three and six months, (iii) between six and 12 months and (iv) 12 months or more there are in each directorate of his Department. [264313]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The figures for civilian staff, excluding Trading Funds and Locally Employed Civilians, are as follows (at 17 March 2009):
| Permanent staff by top level budget (TLB) | |
| Number | |
| Agency staff by TLB | |
| Number | |
| Temporary staff by TLB | ||
| Number | ||
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