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12 Mar 2010 : Column 483W—continued
Lord Ashcroft
Alun Michael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether guidance was provided to members of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee on the interpretation by that committee of the undertaking given by Lord Ashcroft in 2000. [320804]
Tom Levitt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum referred to in the statement by Lord Ashcroft of 1 March 2010 on official confirmation from the Government on the interpretation of the first undertaking he made to the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee. [320917]
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) whether ministerial approval was given for the definition of long-term resident to be used by the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee for the purposes of its consideration of Lord Ashcroft's nomination for a peerage; [321311]
(2) whether guidance was sought from HM Revenue and Customs on the interpretation of the undertaking given by Lord Ashcroft to the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee in respect of the definition of his status as a long-term resident of the UK. [321384]
Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office will be responding to a request by the Public Administration Select Committee that it should supply a brief written statement describing the nature of the dialogue referred to by Lord Ashcroft in his statement of 1 March 2010. The date of that hearing is to be confirmed. The matters raised by the hon. Members will be dealt with in that response.
Political Honours Scrutiny Committee
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2009, Official Report, column 3W, on the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee, when the criteria will be determined for (a) the destruction and (b) the preservation of records of the Committee. [320919]
Angela E. Smith: Papers relating to the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee will be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Public Records Acts.
Unemployment
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she made of the number and proportion of people of working age who were classified as underemployed in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) England and (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 1980. [322151]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply. A copy of their letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence his Department has on the proportion of antisocial behaviour that is alcohol-related. [321147]
Mr. Alan Campbell: According to the 2008-09 British Crime Survey in 47 per cent. of violent incidents the victims believed the offender was under the influence of alcohol.
The data can be found at the following weblink:
Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the review process for the EU Animal Experimentation Directive; what assessment he has made of the implications of that review for the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; and if he will make a statement. [320523]
Meg Hillier: In November 2008 the European Commission published its proposal for a new directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes to replace EU Directive 86/609/EEC. The European Parliament adopted its first reading report on the Commission's proposal in May 2009. The Council of Ministers has not yet adopted an agreed position. However, discussions between the Swedish presidency, the Commission and the European Parliament completed in December 2009 made significant progress towards agreement of a common compromise text.
The only provisions remaining to be agreed relate to the arrangements for delegated and implementing acts introduced by articles 290 and 291 of the Lisbon Treaty, the operational details of which are still being negotiated.
Once these provisions are agreed, the way should then be clear for the new Directive to be adopted. Our current expectation is that this will be in the first half of 2010 and that the final implementation date for the measures set out in the new directive, after transposition into UK law, will be 1 January 2013.
We believe the compromise text provides a sound basis for the future regulation of animal research in Europe. The text is more flexible and less prescriptive than the Commission's initial proposal and, overall, provides a regulatory framework which, we believe is balanced and will allow the United Kingdom to maintain high standards of welfare and animal protection after transposition and implementation without the imposition of unnecessary bureaucracy.
Pathways to Work: Greater Manchester
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in (a) the City of Manchester and (b) Manchester Central constituency have (i) started Pathways to Work and (ii) made recorded job starts under Pathways to Work in each year since the inception of the programme. [321066]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 8 March 2010]: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not published and could be made available only at disproportionate cost.
Shops: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent attacks against shopkeepers were reported in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) West Yorkshire in the last 10 years. [321282]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information on the profession of victims of violent offences is not collected centrally.
Communities and Local Government
Audit Commission: Manpower
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many employees the Audit Commission had in each year since 1997. [322156]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 12 March 2010:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.
The Audit Commission's full time equivalent (FTE) staffing levels at each year end since 1997 were:
| FTE | |
| Note: The Commission changed its financial year end in 1997 from March to October therefore there are two sets of accounts for that year. Our financial year end was changed again in 2004, so the period 2002-04 is for 17 months, from November 2002 to March 2004. | |
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Council Housing: Finance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) when he plans to publish the responses to the Reform of Council Housing Finance consultation; [321909]
(2) how many responses from (a) local authorities and (b) other bodies to the Reform of Council Housing Finance consultation were received by his Department; [321910]
(3) when he plans to announce his Department's proposals for replacement of the council housing finance system. [321911]
John Healey: I intend to make a further announcement and publish a summary of responses to the consultation shortly.
Fire Services: Manpower
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire service personnel there were per 100,000 population in (a) Chesterfield, (b) Derbyshire and (c) England in each year since 2006. [321596]
Mr. Malik [holding answer 11 March 2010]: Numbers of fire and rescue service personnel are held centrally only by fire authority, thus the data in the table are for Derbyshire and England only.
| Number of fire and rescue service personnel per 100,000 population | ||||
| Total fire and rescue service personnel | Fire and rescue service personnel per 100,000 population | |||
| As at 31 March each year | Derbyshire | England | Derbyshire | England |
| (1) 2009 population estimates not yet available. Mid-year 2008 population used. Sources: 1. Annual returns from Fire and Rescue Services to Communities and Local Government 2. Mid-year population estimates, Office for National Statistics | ||||
Housing Revenue Accounts
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) whether his further proposals on reform of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system will include recommendations in respect of the (a) revenue and (b) capital elements; [321710]
(2) whether he expects his further proposals for reform of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system to increase the total housing debt of local authorities; [321711]
(3) whether his further proposals on reform of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system will enable local authorities to (a) borrow against existing housing stock and (b) develop a long-term sustainable business plan. [321712]
John Healey: I intend to make an announcement and publish a summary of responses to the consultation shortly.
Olympics
Departmental Correspondence
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many (a) emails her Office has responded to and (b) telephone calls her Office has answered from members of the public since 2008. [321459]
Tessa Jowell: E-mails and telephone calls regarding the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are logged by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). 533 e-mails were responded to and 50 telephone calls were received in the period 1 January 2008 to 9 March 2010.
Figures for my private office are not held.
Departmental Responsibilities
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her official engagements are in March 2010. [321458]
Tessa Jowell: I have many engagements in connection with my official duties.
Culture, Media and Sport
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many contracts the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment had with (a) local authorities, (b) Government departments and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last three years. [321554]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not held by my Department and relates to matters that are the responsibility of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).
Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of CABE to write direct to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield.
Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding, other than in grant in aid, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment received from public bodies in each of the last three years. [321562]
Mr. Bradshaw: The amount of funding received by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment from public bodies apart from grant in aid in each of the last three financial years is set out in the table.
| Financial year | Amount received from public bodies( 1) (£) |
| (1 )Excluding grant in aid. | |
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