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30 Jun 2009 : Column 123W—continued
Radioactive Fallout: Exemptions
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will allocate funds to pay the subsistence and accommodation expenses of the expert stakeholders invited to attend the workshop on proposals for a future exemptions regime under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 and draft Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010, to be held in Manchester on 9 July. [282434]
Mr. Kidney: The Department will reimburse reasonable travel costs and will consider accommodation costs on a case by case basis. The timing and location of the workshop has been chosen to help stakeholders participate from across the UK.
Warm Front Scheme
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average waiting time between successful application to the Warm Front scheme and the installation of the efficiency measures was in each year since the scheme was established. [266158]
Joan Ruddock
[holding answer 24 March 2009]: The average waiting times since the start of the current Scheme in 2005 until 28 February 2009 are detailed in
the following table. These waiting times are within the Department’s contractual guidelines, which state that heating measures will be installed within 120 days of survey and insulation measures within 40 days.
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
Culture, Media and Sport
Digital Broadcasting: Derbyshire
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been allocated for broadcasting in West Derbyshire to implement proposals contained in the Digital Britain White Paper. [283197]
Mr. Simon: The White Paper sets out various proposals in respect of broadcasting. The Government will shortly be consulting on how to secure and fund essential public service content and it is too early to say how this will be allocated or which regions may benefit.
National Lottery: Merseyside
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Lottery funding has been allocated to organisations in (a) Merseyside and (b) Crosby in each of the last five years; and which organisations received such funding. [282524]
Mr. Simon: The following table shows the value of lottery grants awarded to organisations in Merseyside and Crosby in the same years, along with the total amount of lottery grants awarded in the last five years. Merseyside is taken to be the boroughs of Knowsley, Liverpool, St. Helens, Sefton and Wirral.
| £ | |
These statistics have been prepared using the Department's lottery grants database. The database is searchable at:
and uses information on lottery grants supplied by the lottery distributors.
I have arranged for a list to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses of organisations in Merseyside and Crosby that received lottery awards in those years.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Billing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1411W, on departmental billing, how much his Department’s non-departmental public bodies spent in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years. [282330]
Mr. Woodward: This is an operational matter for the non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) of the Northern Ireland Office, which operate independently of Government. I would encourage the hon. Gentleman to write to the NDPB chief executives.
A list of these NDPBs is available on page 7 of the Northern Ireland Office departmental report, published in June 2009.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which official is responsible for the energy efficiency of his Department’s estate. [280552]
Mr. Woodward: The Director of Resources, Anthony Harbinson, takes responsibility for sustainable development matters, including energy efficiency.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on the maintenance of his Departmental website in each year since 2007. [282275]
Paul Goggins: The cost of maintaining the Northern Ireland Office website (www.nio.gov.uk) is detailed in the following table.
| Northern Ireland Office website maintenance costs | |
| £ | |
Departmental Recruitment
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether it is his policy to seek to increase the number of Catholic staff in his Department. [282290]
Mr. Woodward: All appointments to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) are made on merit.
The Northern Ireland Office’s Diversity Delivery Plan 2008-10 includes:
“Our aim is to ensure that representation of Protestants and Catholics in the NIO is comparable to the wider NI civil service.”
The plan highlights the fact that Catholic representation has continued to make steady progress from 25 per cent. in 1997 to 35 per cent. in 2008.
Departmental Training
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training courses have been attended by special advisers in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what cost. [279394]
Mr. Woodward: In the past 12 months the Northern Ireland Office special advisers have not attended any training courses.
Northern Ireland Act 2009
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many letters his Department received (a) in favour and (b) against the Northern Ireland Bill of Session 2008-09 before its enactment. [282292]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office did not receive any letters either in favour or against the Northern Ireland Act 2009 before it was enacted.
Parades
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with the Parades Commission on parades to take place on 12 July 2009. [282301]
Mr. Woodward: I hold regular discussions with the Parades Commission on a range of parades related matters, including forthcoming parades. The Parades Commission remains the final arbiter of parades and is independent of Government.
Work and Pensions
Business: Government Assistance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to her Department’s press notice of 6 April 2009, on recruitment and training subsidies, how many businesses have received a recruitment subsidy; and how many individuals have returned to employment as a result. [274247]
Jim Knight: The recruitment subsidy was introduced on 6 April 2009 and data are only starting to feed through. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics from autumn 2009.
Carers Benefits: Pensioners
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of people of pensionable age who are eligible for carers allowance but disqualified because of the overlapping benefit rule; and what the estimated cost is of paying the allowance to them. [280496]
Jonathan Shaw: The number of people over state pension age who are entitled to carer's allowance but not receiving any payment because of the overlapping benefit rule is 362,350. The estimated maximum annual cost of paying carer's allowance to pensioners who are subject to the overlap is around £1 billion.
Notes:
1. This estimate does not include people who do not make a claim for carer's allowance, as we have no way of calculating how many there are.
2. It should be noted that unless major changes to rules on how carer's allowance is treated within pension credit were to be introduced, the overall Exchequer cost of such a measure would be smaller due to the offsetting reduction in pension credit expenditure.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many breaches of information security there have been at (a) her Department and (b) its agencies in the last five years. [281063]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), on 23 June 2009, Official Report, columns 815W-16W.
Departmental Food
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the (a) meat, (b) fruit and (c) vegetables procured by her Department in the last 12 months was produced in the UK. [281936]
Jim Knight: The Department has a contract for the provision of fully serviced accommodation with Telereal Trillium which includes catering and food procurement. Annually, 63 per cent. of meat, 33 per cent. of fruit (100 per cent. when seasonably available) and 62 per cent. of vegetables procured by the Department's supplier is produced in the UK.
EC Law
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which her Department is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of
obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available. [281858]
Jim Knight: To date during the 2008-09 session, the Department has been responsible for 61 Statutory Instruments and two Government Bills (including six S.I.s from the Health and Safety Executive), some of which consolidated and revoked previous instruments. The Department estimates that around 5 per cent. of these (three Statutory Instruments, including one from the Health and Safety Executive) give effect to obligations arising from EU legislation.
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