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12 Oct 2009 : Column 5W—continued
Olympic Games 2012: Cycling
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what discussions she has had with the International Olympic Committee on the number of cycling events to be open to (a) men and (b) women at the London 2012 Olympics; and if she will make a statement. [290665]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 9 September 2009]: I have not had direct discussions with the International Olympic Committee. However, the Minister for Sport and I have had discussions with the British Olympic Association and UK Sport. I have also spoken to British Cycling on this matter. The International Cycling Federation recently submitted a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for new cycling events to be included in the 2012 Olympic programme. The IOC Executive Board indicated that this could happen, especially if the new events increase the participation of women at the games and on condition that they replace events already on the programme. Current events can be replaced with new ones only if the total number of athletes is maintained. A final decision will be made at the IOC congress in October.
Olympic Games 2012: Employment
Alistair Burt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics (1) how many of the construction workers at the Olympic Park who are classified as local residents had lived in the area for less than (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) one year prior to their employment at the Olympic Park; [285107]
(2) what criteria are used to classify construction workers wishing to obtain employment at the Olympic Park as local residents. [285110]
Tessa Jowell:
Only workers who give a permanent address in one of the five host boroughs are counted as local. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has adopted
the definition used by HM Revenue and Customs and other public authorities which deems a person to be resident in an area from the day they move to a permanent and specific address. As there is no minimum period of residence required for a person to be classified as being a resident, the ODA does not report on this information.
Each worker on the Olympic Park must provide a recognised permanent address. As part of this process UK Border Agency (UKBA) staff work on site with the ODA and contractors to ensure that people employed on the Olympic Park are legally entitled to do so. UKBA have been on the site performing this role since April 2008.
The Government and the ODA are committed to creating a jobs and skills legacy for London and the UK from the London 2012 games. A whole range of measures has been put in place to ensure local people are well placed to benefit from employment and training on the Olympic site including being given 48 hours exclusive access to job vacancies through local brokerage services.
Olympic Games 2012: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what assessment she has made of the legacy to Hertfordshire from the London 2012 Olympics. [289431]
Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) on 1 September 2009, Official Report, columns 162W and 163W.
Olympic Games 2012: Paralympic Games 2012
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much funding under which budgetary headings will be allocated under the programme delivery budget for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. [284552]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 6 July 2009]: Of the public sector budget of £9.325 billion:
£8.099 billion, including contingency of up to £1.972 billion, is available to the Olympic Delivery Authority for the venues and infrastructure construction programme;
£290 million has been invested in maximising the benefit to elite and community sport of hosting the 2012 games;
£66 million is the Government's planned contribution to the cost of hosting the Paralympic games;
£32 million has been allocated to the Look programme;
£838 million, including £238m contingency, has been allocated to Security.
I refer the hon. Member to the January 2008 and January 2009 Annual Reports on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games and to the Quarterly Economic Reports on the Games published in May and July 2009, all of which contain more detailed information.
Olympic Games 2012: Plants
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what measures she has introduced to ensure that the provision of (a) plants, (b) trees and (c) shrubs for the London 2012 Olympics have a low environmental impact. [291685]
Tessa Jowell: All contracts for the supply of plants are let in accordance with the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) Sustainability Strategy which, among other things, sets standards for minimising energy, waste and water use, and includes transport miles.
As many of the trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and seeds as possible are specified in contract documents to be of British origin for ecological reasons. This is in order to meet the Olympic Biodiversity Action Plan targets for Games and Transformation as well as reducing transport and energy input. Peat-free composts are also specified in all the ODA's contracts for plant supply.
The ODA is also installing an irrigation system to ensure the establishment of all planting. It will use a non-potable water supply, designed to reduce water demand.
Advanced plant procurement has secured approximately 2,000 semi mature trees from a UK nursery. The contract has also been let for the advanced procurement of approximately 240,000 wetland plants from a UK supplier. Current work is ongoing to secure advanced growing of herbaceous plants for 2012 Gardens. Clauses included in the plant procurement contracts require certain environmental standards to be met for nursery stock production and supply of stock.
House of Commons Commission
Drinking Water
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what expenditure the House of Commons Commission incurred in commissioning the report on carbon comparison of water provision options for the House's committee rooms. [291459]
Nick Harvey: The cost of the report "A carbon comparison of water provision options for the House of Commons committee rooms" was £7,000.
East of England Regional Grand Committee
Bob Spink: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what expenditure under what budgetary heading was incurred in respect of the East of England Regional Grand Committee meeting of 8 September 2009. [291832]
Nick Harvey: The identifiable expenditure incurred in respect of the East of England Regional Grand Committee meeting of 8 September 2009 is expected to amount to around £1,600. The budgetary headings are travel and subsistence expenses for staff from the Department of Chamber and Committee Services (clerks, doorkeepers, Hansard sub-editors) and the provision of sound equipment by the House's contractors Ubiqus UK Ltd. (Westminster Sound Systems).
Internet: Registration
Mr. Hurd: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what guidance has been given on using computer facilities in the House to register domain names. [288682]
Nick Harvey: No guidance on using computer facilities within the House of Commons to register domain names has been issued.
Members: Email
Mr. Hurd: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 24 April 2009, Official Report, column 948W, on Members: email, what the cost is of the encryption software recommended by Parliamentary Information and Communication Technology service. [288674]
Nick Harvey: The cost of the software per user is £63 excluding VAT.
Members: Parking
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many hon. Members have a parliamentary car parking pass. [291988]
Nick Harvey: There are currently 329 hon. Members with valid parking permits.
Outreach Officers: Manpower
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many outreach officers the House employs; and what cost in 2008-09. [289459]
Nick Harvey: The Parliamentary Outreach service currently employs eight outreach staff, six of whom are regional outreach officers. The regional outreach officers work mainly with community and voluntary groups and in the museums, libraries and archives sector. They also support select committees.
Parliament's Education Service employs four educational outreach officers, who work in schools and train and support teachers in the delivery of the political literacy element of the citizenship curriculum and the politics curriculum.
Both these services are bicameral, the House of Lords paying for 30 per cent. of the costs. Current annual staff costs, including pension and national insurance contributions, as at July 2009, are as follows:
| Annual cost of outreach, as at July 2009 | ||
| £ | ||
| Total cost | House of Commons share | |
Parliamentary Network: Computer Viruses
Mr. Hurd: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what steps are being taken to prevent future infections of the parliamentary network by computer viruses. [288679]
Nick Harvey: PICT frequently reviews and updates systems, in line with industry standards and practices, to manage the risk of computer infections.
Leader of the House
Departmental Training
John Mason: To ask the Leader of the House how many external training courses were attended by staff of her Office in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each course. [289608]
Barbara Keeley: Training courses are just one aspect of the development opportunities open to civil servants in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, and every member of staff discusses their personal development as part of their appraisal process.
Information on courses attended is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, during the past 12 months members of staff participated in training provided by external training organisations and internal training courses which are provided by the Cabinet Office free of charge.
Empty Dwelling Management Orders: Legal Costs
Robert Neill: To ask the Leader of the House if she will issue guidance on the reclamation of legal fees from the Additional Cost Allowance incurred in challenging an Empty Dwelling Management Order. [290421]
Barbara Keeley: The Leader of the House does not issue guidance on the rules relating to the use of allowances.
Hon. Members may seek advice on allowances from the Department of Resources.
Impact Assessments
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Leader of the House for what reasons an impact assessment was not produced to accompany the Draft Legislative Programme for 2009-10. [289807]
Barbara Keeley: The Draft Legislative Programme set out the broad content of 11 bills which the Government are proposing to take through Parliament in the 2009-10 parliamentary session. Three of those bills have recently been introduced (Equality, Child Poverty and Constitutional Reform and Governance) and a further two have been published in draft (Bribery and Flood and Water Management). Each of those five bills is accompanied by full impact assessments. The remaining six bills are new proposals for consultation and, if they are introduced, they will also be accompanied by full impact assessments.
Electoral Commission Committee
Electoral Commission: Publicity
Justine Greening:
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission how much the Electoral Commission spent on (a) television, (b) radio and (c)
poster advertisements promoting (i) voting and (ii) voter registration in the period up to the (A) 2005 general election and (B) 2009 elections to the European Parliament. [281365]
Mr. Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it ran public information campaigns for both elections. Each campaign comprised two phases, the first to provide information on registration, the second on voting.
Expenditure on buying advertising for the 2005 general election campaign was as follows (figures rounded to the nearest thousand):
| £ | ||
| Registration phase | Voting phase | |
The Commission spent a further £496,000 on producing advertising for this campaign.
The Commission's expenditure on buying advertising for the 2009 elections to the European Parliament was as follows (figures rounded to the nearest thousand):
| £ | ||
| Registration phase | Voting phase | |
The Commission spent a further £533,000 on producing advertising for this campaign.
Justine Greening: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission how much the Electoral Commission plans to spend on (a) encouraging voter registration and (b) encouraging voting through (i) television, (ii) radio and (iii) poster advertisements in advance of the next general election. [281366]
Mr. Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it currently plans to spend approximately £2.2 million on advertising for its campaign in advance of the next general election. It is not yet possible to break down this expenditure in the way requested as this will depend on when an election takes place and on the amount of notice given of an election.
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