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Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What were the occupancy rates for both elite sport and community sport of sites under the auspices of the English Institute of Sport.[HL1059]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: In order for the network of EIS facilities to be sustainable they have been underpinned by regional and community use when not being used by elite athletes. In general the usage split is 80 per cent community use and 20 per cent elite. This balance gives elite athletes the dedicated training time they need while ensuring that the centres are viable and are also a real community asset, motivating young athletes to aspire to high standards of performance. However, where EIS facilites are based at university sites, where there are relatively large numbers of elite athletes, then the split between elite and non-elite use is 40 per cent elite and 60 per cent student/community.
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to monitor the performance of the English Institute of Sport.[HL1060]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: As a wholly owned subsidiary of Sport England, performance of the English Institute of Sport (EIS) will be monitored in line with the wider modernisation programme of Sport England. Sport England is in the process of agreeing key performance indicators with the EIS, which when allied to the post-Athens sports' reviews, will allow Sport England to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the EIS operation to deliver a successful sporting nation.
Pension Contributions
Lord Taylor of Warwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What action they are taking in response to the announcement by the Office for National Statistics that it had experienced difficulties calculating pension contributions because double counting
- errors could be more serious than previously thought.[HL1120]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Mr Len Cook, to Lord Taylor of Warwick, dated 23 February 2004.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the calculation of pension contributions (HL1120).
The ONS Pensions Contributions Statistics Review (published in October 2002) identified a lack of clarity with how insurance companies record data on pensions contributions in the ONS survey of insurance companies and pension funds, and recommended a study into how insurance companies are completing the survey questionnaire. The results of this study confirm past expectations of double counting and extended the range of possible reasons. As a result, the Office for National Statistics has reviewed the questionnaires. The study provided no information about the total level of double counting, or any ways in which this might be offset by under-coverage. The revised questionnaires include more detailed guidance for insurance companies and ask for more detailed data. New questionnaires have been prepared for use from the first calendar quarter of 2004 and for the 2003 annual survey.
The quarterly results will be reported on the new basis during 2004. The effect of any double counting will not be known precisely until early in 2005 when the annual survey for 2003, using the new questionnaire, can be compared with the original quarterly results for that year.
Manufacturing: Employment
Lord Chadlington asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many manufacturing jobs there are currently; and what were the corresponding figures for 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.[HL1132]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Mr Len Cook, to Lord Chadlington, dated 23 February 2004.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about jobs in the manufacturing industry (HL1132).
The latest available data from the Workforce jobs series is for September 2003. The attached table details the number of employee and self-employed jobs in the UK manufacturing sector in September for each year from 1996 to 2003.
| Year | Number of Jobs |
| September | |
| 1996 | 4,449 |
| 1997 | 4,462 |
| 1998 | 4,499 |
| 1999 | 4,308 |
| 2000 | 4,178 |
| 2001 | 4,001 |
| 2002 | 3,837 |
| 2003 | 3,734 |
Source:
Workforce jobs
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Playing Fields Monitoring Group was set up by DCMS in April 2000, and has met on the following dates:
In addition to this, the Government also published the document Planning for Play: Playing Fields and Positive Gains for Sport 2001–02 in July 2003, which includes statistics for playing applications relating to playing fields made between April 2001 and March 2002.
The Government will be publishing planning application figures for the year 2002–03 shortly.
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government have received representations from various sporting bodies about the proposal to raise the minimum pension age to 55 by 2010. Having considered these, the Government propose to allow sports-people and others in pension schemes at 5 April 2005 (A Day) to keep any existing right to take benefits before the new minimum pension age. This is subject to those rights being tested against a reduced lifetime allowance and
However, the Government continue to believe that the new minimum pension age of 55 should apply to all pension schemes by 2010. So, sports-people and others not covered by above relaxation, and who believe their career is likely to end before they reach the new minimum pension age, will need to make financial provision in addition to their pension savings to cover the cost of retraining and other needs.
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The proposal to raise the minimum pension age to 55 by 2010 is part of a package of proposals that will give the vast majority of people the opportunity to save more for their retirement. The Government already spends around £13 billion (net) a year on pension tax relief and the additional cost of the simplification proposals will be around £300 million a year within five years of implementation.
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: As part of the review of the UK Anti-Doping Programme, the appointed consultants are holding discussions with a wide range of interested parties. This includes interviews with the governing bodies of professional sports, both Olympic and non-Olympic.
Lord Northbourne asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Government have no immediate plans to issue vouchers for parenting education.
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Mr Len Cook, to Lord Marlesford, dated 13 February 2004.
The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what is the estimated number of Roma people who are United Kingdom citizens and are currently resident in this country. I am replying in his absence (HL1213).
Information in relation to England and Wales has been compiled from the 2001 Census. The 2001 Census question on ethnic group did not include a tick box for 'Roma' but provided the opportunity for people to describe their ethnic group in any way they wished if they considered that none of the tick box categories was appropriate to them. There were 1,710 persons usually resident in England and Wales who wrote in descriptions of themselves as 'Gypsy' or 'Romany' in response to the question on ethnic group. There were a further 509 persons who described themselves as 'Traveller'. These figures have been taken from Commissioned Table M221. It is not possible to identify how many of these were United Kingdom citizens, since the Census did not ask a question on citizenship.
Commissioned tables can be obtained from Census Customer Services at the Office for National Statistics (email: census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk).
Similar information has not been compiled in relation to Scotland and Northern Ireland, where separate Censuses are conducted.
When the Playing Fields Monitoring Committee was set up; on what dates it has met; and on what dates it has published its findings.[HL1163]
10 July 2000, 6 October 2000, 12 January 2001, 14 June 2001, 26 September 2001, 17 December 2001, 15 January 2002, 11 April 2002, 6 November 2002, 29 January 2003 and 21 May 2003.
The Playing Fields Monitoring Group published the document Playing Field Statistics and Protecting Playing Fields in July 2002, together with the accompanying leaflet Protecting Playing Fields.
What assessment they have made of the impact of the proposals to prevent professional footballers from drawing their pensions at the age of 35.[HL1192]
What estimate has been made of the savings to Her Majesty's Treasury arising from any decision to remove the ability of professional sportsmen to draw their pensions at the age of 35.[HL1193]
Whether they, officials from UK Sport or consultants appointed by UK Sport to review the United Kingdom Anti-Doping Programme, have held discussions with governing bodies of professional sport to assess the impact of professional governing bodies of sport establishing their own anti-doping policies and procedures separate from the Anti-Doping Programme run by UK Sport.[HL1194]
Whether they will consider issuing with each child trust fund a voucher entitling both of a child's parents to five free sessions of parenting education.[HL1198]
What estimate they have made of the number of Roma people who are United Kingdom citizens and are currently resident in this country.[HL1213]
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