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25 Jun 2009 : Column 1051W—continued
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Billing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1405W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies have paid in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years. [282323]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Interest payments made by all our non-departmental public bodies under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 are not recorded centrally, and therefore can be identified only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Location
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on relocation costs for new members of staff in each of the last three years. [280776]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department has reviewed the payroll and finance system and no employee (new or existing) has received any allowance for resettlement or cost of excess fares following a move to this Department. All new members of staff are required to self-finance any resettlement costs incurred.
Departmental Lost Property
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many laptop computers belonging to (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years. [281070]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department has had no laptop computers lost or stolen over the last five years. Our only agency, Royal Parks, lost one laptop in 2004 which did not contain any personal information.
Departmental Nurseries
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what crèche facilities his Department provides for its employees working in Whitehall. [282231]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not provide any crèche facilities for employees.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) paid and (b) unpaid graduate internships his Department has awarded in each of the last six months. [281513]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not directly co-ordinate or offer paid or unpaid graduate internships. These are co-ordinated through HM Treasury. The Department has not offered any paid or unpaid internships in the last six months.
Rugby: Drugs
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will investigate allegations of illegal drug consumption by individuals associated with rugby football. [281777]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Investigations into allegations of illegal drug possession is a matter for the police, who must prioritise resources towards tackling crime, including drugs crime with a focus on those offences which cause the most harm.
Any prohibited substance found in a rugby union footballer's bodily specimen that is collected as part of the National Anti-Doping Organisation's testing programme will be fully investigated in line with the anti-doping rules of the sport. Any illegal drug consumption that is suspected and indeed detected as part of a sport's illicit drug programme (akin to employee drug testing) remains within the remit of the National Governing Body to action.
Taking Part Survey
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects the results of the Taking Part Survey for 2008-09 to be published. [282253]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Data from Taking Part for the full 12 months of the 2008-09 survey will be published on 13 August 2009.
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: Finance
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her latest estimate is of the cost of hosting the London 2012 Olympic cycling events at the VeloPark. [280509]
Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic games including cycling events at the VeloPark.
The VeloPark is being constructed by the Olympic Delivery Authority, and in the latest London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games Quarterly Economic Report (May 2009), the current anticipated final cost (AFC) of the venue is reported at £94 million (net of external funding contributions and anticipated VAT savings totalling £11 million).
The direct costs associated with staging the events at the VeloPark come from LOCOG’s revenues which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse.
There will be attributable costs to the public purse from London 2012 venues, including the VeloPark. However, these costs such as in security and transport systems have not yet been identified separately for individual events and will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.
Northern Ireland
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many antisocial behaviour orders were applied for in Northern Ireland in each year since 2004. [280637]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office only collects data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders made. It does not record the detail of applications.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many antisocial behaviour orders Carrickfergus borough council applied for in each year since 2004. [280644]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office only collects data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders made. It does not record the details of applications that have been adjourned, withdrawn or where a final decision has not been made by the court.
The hon. Gentleman may wish to write to the chief executive of the council for this information.
Northern Ireland Compensation Agency: Manpower
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people work for the Compensation Agency for Northern Ireland. [282300]
Paul Goggins: As of 31 March 2009, the Compensation Agency had 74.4 FTE (full-time equivalent) permanent staff in post.
Northern Ireland Forensic Science Agency: Manpower
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people work for Forensic Science Northern Ireland. [282308]
Paul Goggins: As of 23 June 2009, Forensic Science Northern Ireland has 203 permanent staff and 14 temporary staff in post.
Electoral Commission Committee
Postal Votes
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many forms of ballot paper are used for postal voting in elections. [282086]
Mr. Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that for each type of election the form of the ballot paper is prescribed in law. The form of the documents sent to postal voters, including the postal voting statement, voting instructions, ballot paper envelope and return envelope, is also prescribed in law and is the same for all elections.
The Commission has issued guidance on the production of ballot papers and postal voting materials, but it is the responsibility of each returning officer to ensure that the documents sent to postal voters comply with the law. The Commission understands that returning officers adopt a variety of approaches to the stationery and packaging for postal ballot packs.
Work and Pensions
Chondrocalcinosis
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent research has been commissioned by (a) her Department and (b) its agencies on whether chondrocalcinosis can result from industrial accidents. [282187]
Jonathan Shaw: Neither the Department nor its agencies have commissioned any research into chondrocalcinosis in the context of industrial accidents.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport used for administrative operations by her Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [281038]
Jonathan Shaw: The estimate of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport for administrative operations by my Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff are:
| Department for Work and Pensions—carbon dioxide emissions from road-based transport | ||
| (a) 2006-07 | (b) 2007-08 | |
|
(ii) CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent member of staff (tonnes) | ||
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in her Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [281039]
Jonathan Shaw: The estimate of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff by the Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff are:
| Department for Work and Pensions—carbon dioxide emissions from air travel | ||
| (a) 2006-07 | (b) 2007-08 | |
|
(ii) CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent member of staff (tonnes) | ||
Disability Living Allowance
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many UK citizens resident in other EU countries who are entitled to receive disability living allowance payments have claims outstanding; and what estimate she has made of the time which will be taken to (a) assess and (b) make payment in respect of such claims. [281660]
Jonathan Shaw: Since the judgment by the European Court of Justice on 18 October 2007, the Department has made payments to around 1,400 disability living allowance, attendance allowance and carer’s allowance customers who now reside in other European economic area (EEA) states or Switzerland.
The Department started to process claims to disability living allowance from other EEA states and Switzerland following a written ministerial statement on 24 February 2009, Official Report, column 22WS, and are working
to clear all outstanding claims—around 1,000—as quickly as possible. We do not know how many of these will be entitled to receive disability living allowance payments until we have processed their claims.
The Pension, Disability and Carers Service aims to process claims for Disability Living Allowance within an average of 38 working days for customers who reside in Great Britain. This includes assessing and making payments in respect of these claims. Claims from people residing in the EEA or Switzerland can take longer to process for a number of reasons, such as post taking longer in transit between the Department and the customer and, for example, the processes involved to obtain supporting medical evidence from abroad, where this is required.
Industrial Health and Safety
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance her Department issues to the relevant authorities on the extent of areas in which persons are liable to be affected by a major accident occurring at (a) large-scale petrol storage depots and (b) onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations. [280621]
Jonathan Shaw: Under Regulation 10 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (as amended) (‘COMAH’) the duty to supply local authority emergency planners with the information necessary for them to prepare an off-site emergency plan, including the extent of areas in which persons are liable to be affected by a major accident, rests with the site operator.
To assist operators and others in complying with their duties under COMAH the competent authority has published the following guidance:
L111—“A guide to the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 (as amended)”;
HSG 191 “Emergency planning for major accidents”; and,
“COMAH—What you should know”—a public information leaflet available on the HSE website.
Jobseeker’s Allowance: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point received JSA in each of the last five years. [281848]
Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point received JSA in each of the last five years. (281848)
The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The length of a claim has been defined as the time between the start of an individual's claim and that claim ending. Table 1 shows the median length of completed claims during the May count period of the last five years.
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