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29 Apr 2009 : Column 1294W—continued
Leader of the House
House of Commons: Right of Access
Mr. Amess: To ask the Leader of the House if she will bring forward proposals to reintroduce a Sessional Order to require the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis to ensure that hon. Members are not obstructed in going to and from the parliamentary estate. [271253]
Chris Bryant: It is important that both hon. Members, staff and the general public are not prevented or hindered from attending the House by demonstrations or other assemblies around Parliament, and that people have the right to engage in legitimate protest.
The Sessional Order did not grant the police any additional powers to maintain access to the parliamentary estate. The draft Constitutional Renewal Bill contained provisions relating to the policing of protests around Parliament. The Government are considering how best to take this matter forward in the light of the Joint Committee’s recommendations.
Private Members’ Bills
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Leader of the House if she will bring forward proposals to provide more time for consideration of private Members’ Bills. [271084]
Chris Bryant: We have no current plans to do so.
Wales
Newspaper Office Closures
8. Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on the effect of the closure of newspaper offices on levels of employment in the media industry in Wales. [270725]
Mr. David: I recognise the valuable role played by local newspapers within our communities and any office closures are of course regrettable. The Secretary of State and I are working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government and ministerial colleagues to ensure that a way forward is found for the media industry in Wales as a whole.
Energy Policy
9. Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues and the Welsh Assembly Government on energy policy affecting Wales. [270726]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I have regular meetings with the First Minister at which we discuss a number of issues including energy policy.
I have also recently met with a number of representatives of the energy sector to discuss projects and issues relating to Wales.
Private Security Industry
10. Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the use of registered and unregistered workers in the private security industry working on contracts with public sector bodies in Wales. [270727]
Mr. David: I am not aware of any instance when any unregistered workers are illegally employed on contracts with public sector bodies in Wales. As the hon. Gentleman is no doubt aware, the Private Security Industry Act of 2001 states that security companies can only operate with employees who hold a Security Industry Authority Licence.
Bilingual Juries
11. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the use of bilingual juries in courts in Wales. [270729]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I have discussed this issue with the Secretary of State for Justice and with the First Minister and an announcement will be made shortly.
Sheep Farming
12. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on the likely effect on the sheep farming industry in Wales of compulsory electronic ear tagging. [270730]
13. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next expects to meet representatives of the National Farmers Union in Wales to discuss proposals for the electronic tagging of sheep. [270731]
Mr. David: My right hon. Friend and I have regular meetings with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on a range of issues including farming in Wales. In addition my right hon. Friend attended the Royal Welsh Show in July last year and met farmers’ unions.
Business: Government Assistance
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on support for businesses in Wales in the economic downturn. [270719]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Working in close partnership, the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government are doing all we can to help Welsh businesses and households through these challenging times.
Culture, Media and Sport
Archaeological Sites: Planning Permission
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to devolve to local authorities the power to grant planning consents in respect of archaeologically important sites. [270794]
Barbara Follett: This can only be taken forward through primary legislation. We hope to introduce the Heritage Protection Bill at the earliest opportunity, subject to the availability of parliamentary time.
Battles
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has had recent discussions with representatives of the Battlefields Trust on the protection of sites of historic battles in England; and if he will make a statement. [271050]
Barbara Follett: I am having discussions with the Battlefields Trust on how these sites can contribute to tourism and become educational learning resources.
English Heritage, the Government’s statutory adviser on the historic environment, is also working closely with the Battlefields Trust to protect the 43 registered battlefields in England. For example, English Heritage has just offered the trust a grant to support its conservation work, including expanding its network of volunteers to create local champions for every registered battlefield in England.
Conservation Areas
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will bring forward proposals to merge the process of gaining conservation area consent with that for gaining planning permission. [270793]
Barbara Follett: This can only be taken forward through primary legislation. We hope to introduce the Heritage Protection Bill at the earliest opportunity, subject to the availability of parliamentary time.
Cultural Heritage: Seas and Oceans
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will bring the registers for listing, scheduling, registration and designation of marine sites together into one register. [270791]
Barbara Follett: This can only be taken forward through primary legislation. We hope to introduce the Heritage Protection Bill at the earliest opportunity, subject to the availability of parliamentary time. In the interim, as part of the non-statutory heritage protection reform programme, English Heritage will bring together all of these separate registers on to a fully accessible, integrated, searchable online database.
Digital Technology
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the Digital Britain Interim Report, how much his Department has budgeted for the planned National Media Literacy Plan. [271208]
Andy Burnham
[holding answer 27 April 2009]: In response to the Interim Digital Britain Report, Ofcom convened a working group which has made recommendations for a National Media Literacy Plan.
This was published on 16 April and is available on Ofcom’s website (www.ofcom.org.uk). No decisions have yet been taken on their recommendations and therefore no budget has yet been allocated.
We shall respond in the final Digital Britain report which will be published in the summer.
Listed Buildings
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to grant owners of properties a right to appeal against a listing decision taken in respect of their property. [270795]
Barbara Follett: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport cannot introduce a formal right of appeal against a listing decision without primary legislation. A mechanism already exists that enables people to seek a review of a listing decision if they consider a decision about a building has been wrongly made. Anyone can write to the Listing Branch at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5DH requesting that a decision be reconsidered. This should be done within 28 days of notification of the listing decision. An example of a wrongly made decision would be where there has been a factual error or some irregularity in the process, which has affected the outcome.
Overseas Visitors: Statistics
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for what reason the publication of statistics on foreign visitor numbers to the UK for the first quarter of 2009 was delayed. [271209]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 27 April 2009]: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publication of the numbers of foreign visitors to the UK. They advise that their Overseas Travel and Tourism First Release document, which was due to be published on 16 April 2009, has been cancelled. This was to allow further quality assurance work to be carried out on the newly designed survey and processing system being used on the International Passenger Survey in 2009.
The ONS will next publish the Overseas Travel and Tourism figures on 14 May 2009 and this will include the figures for January, February and March 2009.
Public Libraries: Inspections
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what inspections the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council undertakes of local authority libraries. [271227]
Barbara Follett: The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) does not have a statutory role to undertake inspections, but it does provide guidance and advice on best practice to local authority library services. These can include peer reviews of individual services. As the Government’s strategic adviser on libraries, the MLA feeds back intelligence and advises on library policy.
Swimming
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidelines his Department issues to county councils on the provision of swimming facilities. [271413]
Andy Burnham: Sport England have advised that guidelines regarding the strategic planning and development of swimming pools is available from their website at:
In addition, the Amateur Swimming Association also provides advice on swimming pool development in general, and specifically on technical and operational issues.
Tourism: Transport
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department of Transport on support for the domestic tourism industry through (a) the rail network, (b) public bus services and (c) road construction. [271605]
Barbara Follett: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport worked with the Department for Transport on the development of our “Sustainable tourism in England: A framework for action—meeting the key challenges” document, which we published in March 2009. An electronic copy of this has been deposited in the House Library.
In addition, we will be convening a joint meeting of ministerial colleagues shortly, including one from the Department for Transport, to discuss cross-cutting issues relevant to the promotion of the visitor economy.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many farmers transferred their entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme in each year since 2005; [270897]
(2) what the monetary value of transferred entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme has been in each year since 2005; [270898]
(3) how many transferred entitlements under the single payment scheme from each year since 2005 are awaiting payment; and what estimate he has made of the monetary value of such outstanding payments in each such year. [270899]
Jane Kennedy: The number of farmers who have transferred entitlements and the total monetary value of entitlements transferred under the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) for each scheme year is:
| SPS scheme year | Number of farmers | Total value (euros) |
Farmers were only permitted to transfer entitlements for the 2006 SPS year onwards.
There are approximately 300 farmers involved in transfers for 2006, 2007 and 2008 whose entitlements are still undergoing correction which may affect these figures.
The total number of transfers for the 2009 SPS year will not be available until the processing of all transfer applications has been completed. To date, for 2009 around 2,000 farmers have transferred entitlements with an estimated valued of 22 million euros.
It is not possible to estimate the number or the monetary value of outstanding payments. Even though an entitlement has been transferred, the farmer receiving the entitlement may not necessarily have activated it on his SPS claim. An entitlement that has not been activated will not attract a payment for that scheme year. Therefore transfers of entitlements do not correlate directly into payments under the SPS.
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