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30 Apr 2009 : Column 1434W—continued
Natural Gas: Canvey Island
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Environment Agency is taking to investigate the circumstances of the spillage at Calor Gas’s Canvey Island site on 25 October 2008. [266774]
Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency is not aware of a separate incident that occurred at the Calor Gas site at Canvey Island on 25 October.
However, an incident on 27 October 2008 involved the spillage of liquid petroleum gas following the failure of pipework. The Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are the joint competent authorities for the site. The Environment Agency and the HSE agreed that the HSE would lead the investigation with assistance from the Environment Agency if required.
As a result of the HSE led investigation, the Environment Agency has not entered into discussions with the company concerning the specific circumstances surrounding the spillage. However, the Environment Agency continues to undertake its normal regulatory activities at the site.
Recycling: Schools
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what financial support his Department offers (a) local authorities and (b) schools to assist in the setting up of recycling schemes on school sites; [271657]
(2) what financial support his Department provides to schools to enable them to set up recycling facilities. [271658]
Jane Kennedy: There is no direct funding from DEFRA to local authorities to set up recycling schemes or facilities in schools, as these would be funded from the local authorities’ overall waste budget.
Water: Meters
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many domestic properties in England with a water supply (a) have and (b) do not have individual water meters. [271744]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales.
The latest metered and unmetered figures (2007-08) for domestic properties are:
Metered—approx 6,779,369;
Unmetered—approx 13,764,754.
These figures are for meters that are billed and do not include figures for Welsh Water or Dee Valley Water as the majority of their customers are based in Wales. However, because there is some overlap of water companies’ supply areas between England and Wales it has not been possible to separate out all the meters that may be fitted in Wales.
Home Department
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2479W, on the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre: Government Departments, how much it cost her Department to hire the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre for its leadership away day; and for what reasons the event was not held in departmental buildings. [249149]
Mr. Woolas: The Government's London estate has limited conference facilities and so from time to time the Home Office and other Departments are required to hire external venues for events.
We are not able to reveal the cost of the booking as this is a commercially sensitive issue between the Home Office and the QEII Centre.
The QEII Centre is owned by the Crown (Department for Communities and Local Government).
House of Commons Commission
14 Tothill Street
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009, Official Report, column 26W, on 14 Tothill Street, what the length of the lease on 14 Tothill Street is; and what the annual rent will be when it is fully operational. [271163]
Nick Harvey: The lease is for 16 years from October 2007 with a break after eight years. The House of Commons share of the annual rent is £2.1 million plus VAT.
Justice
Court Funds Office
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much is held in cash deposits on behalf of Court of Protection clients by the Court Funds Office. [271507]
Bridget Prentice: The Court Funds Office holds approximately £3 billion of funds on behalf of clients of the Court of Protection (correct as of 1 April 2009).
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much interest the Court Funds Office paid at the (a) standard and (b) special interest rate in the last year for which information is available. [271508]
Bridget Prentice: The Court Funds Office (CFO) holds approximately £4.6 billion of funds on the basic and special accounts. Interest is paid to CFO accounts bi-annually to accounts earning the special rate of interest in May and November and to accounts earning the basic rate of interest in March and September.
Until 1 February 2009, interest was paid at a rate of 6 per cent. on the special account and 4 per cent. on the basic account. On 1 February 2009, interest rates changed to 3 per cent. and 2 per cent. respectively.
For the last full year in which accounts are available (2007-08) the amount of interest paid to CFO special and basic account clients was £260,033,000.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average size is of a Court of Protection client's deposit with the Court Funds Office. [271509]
Bridget Prentice: The Court Funds Office holds approximately £3 billion of funds on behalf of approximately 18,000 Court of Protection clients, which equates to an average of £169,000 per account.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect on clients of the reduction in the special interest rate paid by the Court Funds Office. [271510]
Bridget Prentice: As part of the administration of funds in court the Lord Chancellor regularly reviews the interest rates paid on client accounts. In reviewing and setting the rate paid, the Lord Chancellor takes into account a number of factors including the amount of interest received on funds against the amount of interest paid to clients, the changing level and mix of funds held by CFO and administration costs.
Income generated on the client funds is influenced by the Bank of England rate. In light of recent movements in the Bank of England rate it has been necessary to reduce the level of interest paid on the special and basic accounts. Interest rates were reduced on 1 February from 6 per cent. to 3 per cent. on the special account and from 4 per cent. to 2 per cent. on the basic account. It has become necessary to reduce CFO’s rates further and from 1 June the special account rate will be 1.5 per cent. and the basic account 1 per cent.
There are currently around 119,000 deposits in the special account: 101,000 held on behalf of young people with damages awards and 18,000 belonging to Court of Protection clients. The financial impact of the recent reduction in the special account rate on children and Court of Protection clients varies, as the latter tend to hold larger sums of money in the special account.
CFO rates compare favourably to most rates offered on instant-access accounts by banks and building societies. For example, for a deposit of £25,000 placed in a bank or building society savings account, the average rate of interest offered by some 464 different types of account is 0.71 per cent. gross AER (information taken from the FSA’s comparative tables (www.fsa.gov.uk/tables) as at 17 April 2009 Financial Services Authority.)
It is important to stress that the purpose of the CFO and its special account is not to compensate or make financial provision for a client’s situation—that is the role of the court or the welfare system as appropriate. The role of the special account is to provide a safe place for client’s funds and to provide a reasonable rate of return. All special account clients continue to benefit from safeguards offered by this account.
The majority of deputies representing Court of Protection clients should have the ability to withdraw funds from the CFO and place them elsewhere if they believe this is in the best interests of the person they represent. Litigation friends representing children have the ability to apply to court for permission to remove funds.
The Lord Chancellor will be keeping the rates under review and should he consider it appropriate, further changes to the special account rate may be necessary in light of the recent and future Bank of England rate changes.
The CFO will continue to monitor the impact this has on clients.
Debt Collection
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many licensed bailiffs there are in each parliamentary constituency. [271815]
Bridget Prentice: HM Courts Service does not collect numbers of bailiffs in each parliamentary constituency. The following table sets out the numbers of certificated bailiffs who hold currently valid certificates which have been granted by county courts in England and Wales. My officials regularly update these data on the basis of information provided by the county courts. These data are a snapshot of those returns received at any one point in time and those presented as follows are the latest available figures.
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