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Universities
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the implications for government policy towards universities of the projected drop in the number of 18 year-olds in the United Kingdom from 2010.[HL7395]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Adonis): We expect demand for higher education to continue as attainment at age 19 rises and as universities increasingly engage with employers to offer degree-level training for adults already in the workforce. The Government are also committed to widening participation in higher education, so that more young people and adults from families and communities who have not, traditionally, undertaken higher education have the opportunity to do so and to enjoy the benefits that result. The Government want to see increases in the numbers of people with higher level skills because this is essential to economic competitiveness and supports social justice.
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
For each of the years since 1997, how many students (a) were in full-time university education; and (b) dropped out from full-time university education, expressed both as totals and percentages of drop-outs.[HL7396]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Adonis): The latest information on student numbers is given in the table.
Since 1996-97, information on projected non-completion rates for higher education students has been published annually, initially by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and latterly by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), in Performance Indicators in Higher Education. The latest available figures giving overall non-completion rates for students starting full-time first degree courses in England are shown in the table. Figures published in 2005 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that in 2003 the UK had one of the lowest higher education non-completion rates among OECD countries.
Visas
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
What representations they have made to the Government of the United States about extending to the European Union member states that joined in 2004 the early visa waiver system used for the original 15 members.[HL6966]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The UK is not directly involved in matters of EU visa policy because of our policy of retaining national control over our borders and immigration. However, in our role as president of the EU (June-December 2005), the UK was involved in negotiations with the USA about extending the visa waiver programme to the 10 new member states that joined the EU in May 2004. We continue to support the principle of extending the visa waiver programme to all EU member states.
Waste Management
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to Section 47 of the Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/937), whether the maximum volume of waste that can be spread per hectare during a 24 hour period is the same as the volume that can be spread over a period of one month.[HL7090]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Yes. We are considering whether to amend the general rules as part of the current review of exemptions for agricultural waste.
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Environment Agency is set to charge £3,500 per site for the implementation of the integrated pollution and prevention control regulations; and whether they have made an assessment of the charges per site in other European Union member states, in particular in Belgium where the charge is £250.[HL7126]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Since the implementation of the pollution prevention and control (PPC) regime in 2000, the Environment Agency has been charging for applications for permits and annually for compliance. The level of charges depends on the activities carried out at the installation. The charging scheme is subject to annual public consultation and ministerial approval.
These charges are set according to the “polluter pays principle” whereby the agency is obliged to fully recover all its costs of regulation from those it regulates, without public subsidy.
We have not carried out an assessment of the charges in other member states. Furthermore, direct comparisons across a wide range of sometimes complex installations in different member states can be very difficult.
Nevertheless, we are aware that other EU member states have different mechanisms for recovering their costs, including through higher general taxation. It is for the individual member state to decide the most appropriate way of recovering these costs.
Lord Lewis of Newnham asked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they are taking to combat the emission of dioxins and furans resulting from domestic combustion of waste products and bonfires; and [HL7363]
What percentage of the United Kingdom's emissions of dioxins and furans is caused by (a) incinerators, and (b) domestic combustion of waste products and bonfires.[HL7364]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (referred to collectively as dioxins here) are a group of 210 closely related toxic chemicals that can be formed as by-products in some chemical processes and in various combustion processes.
The most recent available data on the emissions of dioxins to air are from 2003 and are available from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory funded by Defra (www.naei.org.uk). Estimated emissions of dioxins from municipal waste incineration made up less than 1 per cent of the UK’s total emissions for that year, while residential combustion plants made up approximately 1.5 per cent. However, it should be noted that emission factors from open burning, bonfires and domestic combustion are known to be particularly uncertain.
Measures that have already been taken to reduce dioxin emissions include controls on industrial processes such as incineration, on open agricultural burning and on emissions from vehicles. Such measures have led to substantial decreases in the levels of dioxins in the UK over the past 10 years.
The UK is in the process of developing a UK dioxins action plan which will set out the current situation on dioxins and will identify priorities for future actions. The action plan will be based on the results of a public consultation carried out by Defra in 2002 on dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in the UK environment (available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/consult/dioxins/index.htm), and input from a dioxins strategy group which was established to inform its development.
The dioxins action plan will form a substantial part of the UK's national implementation plan for the Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants. This is a global treaty which aims to protect human health and the environment from exposure to certain substances and includes dioxins. The Government intend to go to public consultation on the UK national implementation plan later this year.
Waterways Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 134), under what employment regulations the director of marketing and communications of Waterways Ireland was appointed; and whether those regulations would allow this appointment to be made on the basis of a promotion.[HL7050]
Lord Rooker: Following the establishment of Waterways Ireland, functions were transferred to it from existing statutory bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To facilitate the staffing of Waterways Ireland, enabling legislation in each jurisdiction provided for the designation and transfer of staff to the body.
Following his designation from the former Department of Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands, the director of marketing and communications was appointed by the chief executive of Waterways Ireland with effect from April 2002 under the relevant legislation. The appointment is dealt with at Appendix 1.4 of the joint statement on the investigation at Waterways Ireland issued by sponsor departments on 4 April 2005, which is available in the Library.
Wealth Distribution
Lord Whitty asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of national wealth was owned by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review.[HL7341]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: Estimates of quintile values for the period requested are not available. Published information on the wealth distribution between 1976 and 2003 can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal_wealth/table13_5.pdf
Lord Whitty asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of national income was received by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review.[HL7342]
Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what proportion of national income was received by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review. I am replying in her absence. (HL7342).
National income commonly refers to income generated by the production of goods and services by the whole economy, only some of which is distributed to households. As such, it is not possible to allocate national income to household quintile groups. However, it is possible to do this for income received by households and estimates have been provided in the table below.
These estimates are based on the ONS analyses The effects of taxes and benefits on household income. The latest analysis for 2004-05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12 May 2006 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
“Equivalised” household disposable income is adjusted to take into account the different size and composition of households. This equivalised income can then be used as a comparable measure of living standards for all households.
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