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20 Jan 2010 : Column 326W—continued
House of Commons Commission
Bars
Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2010, Official Report, columns 825-6W, on bars, when staff assigned to duties in Bellamy's Bar, Bellamy's Club Room and the Astor Suite were informed of the proposed closure of these facilities; and whether the House of Commons has consulted associations representing those staff on the matter. [311891]
Nick Harvey: The director of catering and retail services met staff employed in the Bellamy's catering facilities on Wednesday 16 December 2009 to announce the Commission's decision on Monday 14 December to convert Bellamy's Bar, the Club Room and the Astor Suite into a children's nursery.
Staff trade union representatives were present at the staff meeting at the invitation of the director. Formal consultation between management and trade union representatives will be commenced as soon as an outline timetable for the closure of the affected facilities has been drafted.
House of Commons: Taxation
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the cost to the public purse was of the residence on the parliamentary estate occupied by (a) the Serjeant at Arms and (b) Clerk of the House in the last financial year; and what arrangements are in place for the payment of tax on those residences. [311417]
Nick Harvey: The identifiable direct costs in 2008-09 of the official residences for the Clerk of the House and Serjeant at Arms were £11,989 and £8,464 respectively. This includes maintenance costs and utilities. Both individuals pay towards utility costs. The House pays an income tax and national insurance charge on these residences.
Members: Allowances
Sir Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 959W, on Members: allowances, how many days work Sir Thomas Legg
undertook on his review; whether he was required to declare other remunerated positions which he may have held during the course of the review; and if he will make a statement. [311741]
Nick Harvey: The information requested on number of days worked is commercially confidential. The standard contractual terms on which Sir Thomas was engaged required him to notify the House Administration of any directorships, conflicting interests or any interests in contracts or other transactions which may be relevant.
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: West Midlands
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what steps she is taking to ensure the west midlands obtains a legacy from the London 2012 Olympics. [309660]
Tessa Jowell: The Government and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games established the Nations and Regions Group to ensure UK-wide engagement and to maximise the legacy of London 2012. This group works directly with representatives from each of the nations and English regions to maximise the sporting, commercial, cultural and other benefits of the 2012 Games.
So far 193 tenders for services relating to the 2012 Games have been won by companies based in the west midlands via CompeteFor, the electronic brokerage service which enables businesses to compete for contract opportunities linked to London 2012, and facilitates access to focused business support.
Over £6 million has been secured to support an extensive programme of events and cultural activity across the west midlands in the run up to 2012. There are over 845 schools registered on 'Get Set', LOCOG's domestic education programme for London 2012.
The west midlands has also identified opportunities to host a range of pre-Games training camps and has confirmed that both the American and Jamaican athletics teams will be based in Birmingham in the run-up to the Games.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Batteries: Waste Disposal
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure the recycling of waste industrial and automotive batteries. [310832]
Ian Lucas: I have been asked to reply
The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 (SI 2009 No.890) transpose certain provisions of the Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive (2066/66/EC), including measures that relate to the recycling of waste industrial and automotive batteries. The Regulations place responsibility on producers of such batteries, from
1 January 2010, to ensure that they are recycled when becoming waste, but also allow other licensed operators to continue to carry out this function if they so choose.
Waste industrial and automotive batteries may only be recycled by approved battery treatment operators, or exported for recycling by approved battery exporters. The Regulations also prohibit the disposal of waste industrial and automotive batteries by landfilling or incineration.
Departmental Food
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the quantity of food waste generated by his Department in each year for which figures are available. [310819]
Dan Norris: DEFRA endeavours to send as much of its biodegradable waste as possible for environmentally-friendly treatment (generally, composting) rather than to landfill, although we do not keep a separate record of the component of this that is made up of food. The total amount of biodegradable waste (food and garden waste) sent for treatment in this way, reported as part of the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate reporting process is presented in the following table.
| Waste composted (tonnes) | |
The increase year on year is largely due to the introduction of the food waste recycling scheme across the London Estate. This has diverted food waste from landfill and increased the volume of waste sent for composting.
Additional food waste, which has not been quantified, may have entered the residual waste stream and been sent to landfill.
A case study highlighting DEFRA's food waste composting programme was published by the OGC in July 2009 and can be found on the OGC website:
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/case_studies_sustainable_ procurement_and_operations_case_studies.asp
Waste Management
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is his policy to identify waste streams that should not be disposed of (a) in landfill and (b) by incineration. [311182]
Dan Norris: The Government consider that landfill should be the last resort for most wastes where more sustainable options are available but recognise that landfill may continue to have a role in the disposal of certain hazardous wastes and as a means of restoring exhausted mineral workings.
Some types of waste are already banned from landfill under EU legislation. The EU Landfill Directive bans the landfilling of liquids, wastes which are explosive, corrosive, oxidising, highly flammable or flammable, hospital and clinical wastes and whole or shredded used tyres.
The Landfill Directive further limits the waste that may be disposed of at individual landfill sites by classifying them into one of three types, inert, non-hazardous or hazardous.
The Government are assessing the case for introducing further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable wastes. DEFRA and the devolved Administrations have commissioned further research on the environmental, economic and practical impacts of introducing further restrictions. We aim to consult on the options for introducing further restrictions early this year.
In addition, the EU Batteries Directive introduced a ban on disposing of automotive and industrial batteries both via landfill and incineration.
In line with the waste hierarchy set out in the Government's Waste Strategy 2007 and the Revised Waste Framework Directive, it is preferable to prevent, reuse and recycle waste. However, recovering energy from residual waste via a combination of complimentary processes, including incineration, is preferable in both environmental and economic terms to landfill. The waste must be treated in a facility compliant with the Waste Incineration Directive. This applies stringent regulations to emissions from incineration to protect health and the environment. Landfill sites and incinerators are subject to the requirement for an environmental permit, the terms and conditions of which may further restrict the types and quantities of waste that may be handled.
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Environment Agency on amendments to Section 1.1 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, with particular reference to recognition of the end-of-waste concept. [311867]
Dan Norris: In recent months DEFRA officials have discussed the possible amendment of Section 1.1 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 with Environment Agency officials. This was in the context of the development by the Environment Agency of draft end-of-waste protocols which, if finalised, might justify further consideration of amendment.
Northern Ireland
Offensive Weapons and Drugs: Schools
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils in Northern Ireland were found to be in illegal possession of (a) a weapon and (b) drugs on school premises in 2008-09. [312317]
Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the chief constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.
Terrorism
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his estimate is of the number of terrorist sleeper cells in Northern Ireland. [311954]
Mr. Woodward: It has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment upon matters of national security.
Scotland
Departmental Billing
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in December 2009. [311263]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office paid 98.8 per cent. of invoices from suppliers within 10 days of receipt in December 2009.
Departmental Internet
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent on (a) strategy and planning, (b) design and build, (c) hosting and infrastructure, (d) content provision and (e) testing and evaluation for his Department's websites in each of the last three years; and what budget has been allocated for such activities in 2009-10. [309907]
Ann McKechin: We do not hold the information in the format requested.
Figures are only available for each year as a total amount spent on web maintenance.
| Financial year | Cost (£) |
| (1) The increase in 2008-09 can be split down into the following areas: Part 1-website rebuild by CIVIC-£12,880 a complete redesign, redevelopment a new hosting package for the website a full content management system which allows staff in-house to manage the site content. Part 2-whitespace-£3,431 Addition of a blog Hosting Website update Part 3-Arbuthnott website-£1,198.50 Website, CMS development and hosting Part 4-OAG contact forms-£1,782.50 (2) The anticipated spend for 2009-10 is £3,500 for hosting arrangements. Note: The costs represents the hosting, updating and development of the site. | |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Reconstruction
Daniel Kawczynski:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 182W, on Afghanistan: reconstruction, what the purpose of the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan project is; for what reason his Department decided to fund the project; how much it received from his Department in
its first year of operation; for what reason its funding was reduced in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and how much it received from his Department in each such year. [310157]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) project is intended to support the CNPA's development as an effective counter narcotics law enforcement institution through the provision of training, mentoring and equipment.
The project received UK funding of £601,732 in 2006-07, £1,333,000 in 2007-08, £593,629 in 2008-09 and we expect to contribute £300,000 in 2009-10. We assess that the project has had a positive impact in increasing the CNPA's operational capacity and effectiveness. In Project evaluations in 2007-08 and 2008-09 showed that, given the CNPA improvements achieved, continued expenditure at the respective level each year would not have had the same impact as earlier on in the project.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 182W, on Afghanistan: reconstruction, what the purpose of the Criminal Justice Task Force project is; for what reason his Department decided to fund the project; how much it received from his Department in its first year of operation; for what reason its funding was reduced in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and how much it received from his Department in each such year. [310158]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The aim of the Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF) project is to support the development of an Afghan-owned system for dealing with serious narcotics cases in Afghanistan that deters involvement in the industry through the handling and prosecution of a sustained number of influential individuals. The CJTF received £1.63 million of funding in 2006-07, £2,142,180 in 2007-08, £1,375,532 in 2008-09, and we expect to contribute £1,275,600 in 2009-10.
The CJTF project required significant investment in one-off start-up costs in financial year 2007-08. Costs were lower in subsequent years as Afghan capacity increased, allowing Afghans to take on more of the roles and better value for money. This ongoing project is meeting its programme goals and is contributing to UK strategic objectives. It has seen a year on year increase in quality convictions, and last year successfully prosecuted its first high-level trafficker, who was sentenced to 20 years, imprisonment.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 182W, on Afghanistan: reconstruction, what the purpose of the Support to Afghan National Police project is; for what reason his Department decided to fund the project; how much it received from his Department in its first year of operation; for what reason its funding was reduced in 2009-10; and how much it has received from his Department in that year to date. [310163]
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