Written Answers to Questions
Monday 11 May 2009
Prime Minister
Intelligence and Security Committee
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether the name of the Clerk of the Intelligence and Security Committee will be published in the next edition of the Civil Service Yearbook; and if he will make a statement. [273996]
The Prime Minister: The name will be published in the usual manner.
Intelligence Services: Publications
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what facilities were afforded to Gordon Thomas by or on behalf of (a) the Security Service, (b) the Secret Intelligence Service and (c) others in the security and intelligence services in his research for his book, Inside British Intelligence; and if he will make a statement; [273999]
(2) at what level, and in what circumstances, members of the security and intelligence services were authorised to give interviews or other assistance to Gordon Thomas in the preparation of his book, Inside British Intelligence; and if he will make a statement. [274000]
The Prime Minister: This is not an official publication.
Culture, Media and Sport
British Grand Prix
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions his Department has had with third parties on the proposed relocation of the British Grand Prix from Silverstone to Donington; what support he plans to offer for such a move; and if he will make a statement. [274606]
Mr. Sutcliffe: On 4 July 2008, Formula One Management signed a 10 year contract with Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd. (DVLL) to host the British Formula One Grand Prix at Donington from 2010. This was a commercial agreement between the parties concerned.
Ministers continue to discuss the hosting of the British Grand Prix with various parties and I recently visited Donington to discuss progress with the owners.
It is the Government’s ongoing wish to see a British Grand Prix in this country and we continue to facilitate and support this where we can.
Departmental Pay
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time staff employed by (a) his Department in London, (b) historic royal palaces and (c) the National Gallery earn less than £15,944 per annum. [274167]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There are no full-time staff employed in DCMS who earn less than £15,944 per annum. We do not hold records centrally about pay for staff in the historic royal palaces or the National Gallery.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff employed in London on work contracted out by his Department earn less than £7.45 per hour. [274168]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There are 28 staff employed in London on work contracted out by the Department that earn less than £7.45 per hour.
Scotland
Departmental Air Conditioning
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of his Department’s buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report. [272121]
Ann McKechin: Scotland Office buildings are not equipped with any air conditioning systems with greater than 250kW output.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007. [272124]
Ann McKechin: £3,099 has been spent by the Scotland Office in carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 for Dover House. The regulations do not apply to our Edinburgh office.
Northern Ireland
Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent to date on administrative costs associated with the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. [260151]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office budget is split into two cost areas—programme and administration. In relation to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, administration costs are the costs relating to the salaries and other associated costs of the civil servants staffing the inquiry, and various costs associated with the running of the inquiry's offices. I am advised that the Bloody Sunday inquiry has spent £11.5 million on such administration costs since its establishment to the end of March 2009. Programme costs, which relate more directly to the costs of the inquiry itself (e.g. IT infrastructure costs, legal fees, tribunal costs etc.) are not included in this figure.
House of Commons Commission
Disabled Staff
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will make an estimate of the effect of the proposed transfer of hon. Members’ staff to become direct employees of the House on its targets for the number of disabled people it employs. [274322]
Nick Harvey: The House of Commons Commission has been asked by the House to make recommendations on the implementation of the proposal that staff who work for hon. Members should be employed by the House. In its consideration of this proposal, a number of aspects of employment law, including that relating to disability, will need to be taken into account.
Parliament: Internet
Mr. Amess: 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 audio recordings, what progress has been made in setting up a history area of the Parliament website; whether any decision has been made on sound recordings planned for inclusion in that area; and if he will make a statement. [273897]
Nick Harvey: A new area of the Parliament website is due to be launched this summer which will focus on Parliament’s heritage. This will replace and expand on the historical information that is currently available on the site and cover the building and its collections, the evolution of Parliament and key pieces of legislation that have transformed society. This area will also provide the opportunity to embed or link to a variety of different content including relevant audio files. Having run a successful pilot the web centre is planning to release a number of podcasts over the coming financial year. These recordings will cover, among other topics, the history, art and architecture of the Houses of Parliament.
Church Commissioners
Church of England: Finance
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the value of (a) securities available for lending, (b) securities lent and (c) securities lent to hedge funds by the Church Commissioners was in each of the last three years. [273444]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Commissioners commenced a securities lending programme for the first time in 2008. At the end of the year, £4.2 million of securities were lent to seven investment banks but none were on loan directly with hedge funds. There is an upper limit amounting to 10 per cent. of total securities that can be lent at any time.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what proportion of the Church Commissioners’ listed securities were invested overseas in each of the last three years. [273445]
Sir Stuart Bell: At the end of 2006 the Commissioners’ exposure to overseas equities stood at 36 per cent. of total equities exposure. At the end of 2007 the percentage was 37 per cent. and at the end of 2008 it had grown to about 53 per cent. (fully audited figures will be published later this week).
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how much of the Church Commissioners’ assets were held in real estate in (a) the UK and (b) overseas in each of the last three years. [273446]
Sir Stuart Bell: The figures requested by the hon. Gentleman are as follows:
| £ million | |||
| Total real estate | Overseas real estate | UK real estate | |
2008 figures will be published later this week.
Church of England: Vehicles
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many vehicles the Church Commissioners (a) own and (b) operate. [273353]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Commissioners operate 101 vehicles, one of which they own (the rest being held under a leasing agreement).
Transport
Aviation
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the latest unconstrained demand forecast for UK air travel in 2030 is taking account of (a) the errata published on 17 March 2009 to the January 2009 UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts and (b) the revised gross domestic product forecasts contained in the 2009 Budget Report. [272409]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Department for Transport’s latest forecasts of unconstrained demand in the UK in 2030 are given in table 2.10, page 44 of “UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts” published in January 2009. The central estimate is 465 million passengers per annum (mppa). Table 2.10 of the report also reports the
Department’s forecasts of unconstrained demand under a range of sensitivity tests, including one which reflects the GDP forecasts announced at the time of the 2008 pre-Budget report (referred to as ‘PBR Nov 2008 GDP forecast’).
The Department published the errata on 17 March 2009 following the discovery of an input error to the ‘PBR Nov 2008 GDP forecast’ sensitivity test. The corrected forecast of UK unconstrained demand in 2030 for this sensitivity test given in the errata is 435 mppa (revised down from 445 mppa, given in the published report). The central case forecast and other sensitivity tests were not affected by the errata.
The Department has not yet updated its forecasts to reflect the 2009 Budget report. It aims to publish updated forecasts when there is a policy need, as it did recently alongside the announcement of policy decisions on the future development of Heathrow airport.
Aviation: Greater London
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many flights there were over London airspace in each year since 1997; and how many there are projected to be in (a) 2010, (b) 2020, (c) 2030 and (d) 2040. [274418]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport does not hold this information.
Airspace management in the UK is an operational matter for the air traffic control provider, NATS. The following link to the NATS website provides an overview of traffic volumes handled by NATS from their various centres and flights handled at major UK airports:
Further information may be obtained by contacting NATS directly:
External Communications Department, 4000 Parkway, Whiteley, Fareham, Hants, P015 7FL.
Driving Offences: Fines
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fines have been issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for failure to comply with the provisions of section 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 in each year since the Act came into force. [274031]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of out of court settlements (OCS) issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for failure to comply with the provisions of section 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are as follows:
| Number | |
Motor Vehicles: Fuels
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of cars in the UK were (a) diesel, (b) unleaded petrol, (c) hybrid, (d) electric and (e) other in each year since 1997. [274417]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers (in thousands) and percentages of cars of different propulsion types licensed in Great Britain in each year since 1997 were as follows:
| Thousand/percentage | ||||||||||
| Diesel | Petrol | Hybrid electric | Electric | Other | ||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| ‘—’ is given where the value is negligible (less than half the final digit shown). | ||||||||||
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