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Pension Protection Fund
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is possible for the Pension Protection Fund to take an equity stake in a company whose pension liabilities it assumes; if so, what is the legal basis for that power; and whether any restrictions on this power exist [HL228]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The board of the Pension Protection Fund may invest for the purposes of the prudent management of its financial affairs, as provided by Section 113 of the Pensions Act 2004. While the Board is obliged by Section 114 of the Act to produce a statement of principles governing determinations about investments made by or on behalf of the board, it is for the board to determine what those governing principles should be. There are no statutory limits or restrictions on the board's power to determine its own investment policy.
When the board of the Pension Protection Fund assumes responsibility for a pension scheme the property, rights and liabilities of the scheme are transferred to the Board. This is made clear in Section 161 and Schedule 6 to the Pensions Act 2004.
If the board assumes responsibility for a pension scheme the assets of which include an equity stake in the company which used to be its sponsoring employer, then this equity stake would transfer to the board of the Pension Protection Fund.
During a PPF assessment period, while the PPF is assessing whether it must assume responsibility for a scheme, the board of the Pension Protection Fund takes over the role of creditor of the employer on behalf of the trustees of the scheme. This is a power the board has under Section 137 of the Pensions Act 2004. During this time the board may be involved in negotiations with the employer in respect of the debt owed to the scheme. As part of these negotiations the board may agree that the scheme make take an equity stake in the employer's business.
Nuclear Warheads
Lord Garden asked Her Majesty's Government:
7 Jun 2005 : Column WA58The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): As stated in NATO's Strategic Concept (paragraph 63):
"nuclear forces based in Europe and committed to NATO provide an essential political and military link between the European and North American members of the alliance. The alliance will therefore maintain adequate nuclear forces in Europe."
Numbers of US nuclear weapons in the UK can and do vary, and the capability for deployments of such weapons to and from the UK remains extant regardless of the particular number of weapons in the UK at any given time.
It is NATO and national policy not to comment on the detail of such nuclear deployments.
NATO: Force Capability
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made by NATO in establishing a single adaptable database of military forces available from member states for the purpose of force generation, as agreed at the Istanbul Conference. [HL47]
Lord Drayson: At the Istanbul Summit in 2004, it was agreed that changes should be made to NATO's defence planning and force generation processes, with the intention of linking political agreement to launch an operation to the provision of forces required to carry it out. One aspect of this was agreement that, subject to further clarification and development, defence planning questionnaire data should be requested in a common or compatible database. This work is subject to the wider review that is being conducted as a result of the Istanbul-mandated comprehensive political guidance for all alliance capabilities issues and planning decisions.
Helicopters
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the arrangements for advice about further helicopter capabilities for the Armed Forces will avoid any conflicts of interest and be conducive to open competition and best value. [HL50]
Lord Drayson: Competition and the pursuit of value for money remain the cornerstones of our procurement policy. This applies to our future rotorcraft capability requirements, as elsewhere. For helicopters in particular we are aiming to provide significant efficiency and effectiveness improvements in how we support our helicopter fleet. To this end the department has agreed a heads of agreement with Agusta Westland which commits us to exploring the possibility of working together towards a long-term partnering and business transformation arrangement. The terms of any such partnering arrangement are still being negotiated, but
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will be consistent with our procurement policy in terms of avoiding conflicts of interest and pursuing value for money.
Army Restructuring: 1 (UK) Armoured Division
Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total number of personnel and vehicles on the current war establishment of 1 (UK) Armoured Division; and what the total will be once the future Army structure has been fully implemented. [HL106]
Lord Drayson: The current numbers of personnel and vehicles on the war fighting establishment of the lst (United Kingdom) Armoured Division are: manpower 23,154 and vehicles 7,123. These numbers take into account early changes under future Army structures work. There will, however, be further changes and the final figures have yet to be settled.
Royal Air Force Centrifuge
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 7 April (WA 147), whether the announcement by Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC) made in the United States on 8 February that the company had resolved its dispute in relation to contract number AESIA/279 with a payment of £2.5 million by the Ministry of Defence is correct; and whether this represents the resolution of the dispute to which reference is made in the Answer. [HL260]
Lord Drayson: The statement by ETC that a dispute in relation to contract number AESIA/279 had been resolved was correct. A payment of £2.5 million was made by the MoD to ETC in full and final settlement of the legal dispute and covered additional work on the contract that supplied Integrated Avionics Maintenance Trainers (IAMT) to the Royal Air Force in 2002.
Young Mothers: Physical Activity
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they collect statistics on how many young mothers participate in physical activity; and, if so, whether they will publish those statistics. [HL143]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Health Survey for England 2002, which focused specifically on children and young people aged 16 to 24, showed that only 22 per cent of young mothers (aged 16 to 24) met the Department of Health Chief Medical Officer's recommendations (participation in at least 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity on five or more days a week) compared to 29 per cent of females of the same range who are not mothers. This difference is statistically significant.
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It also measured those who took less than 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity once a week. This showed that young mothers were more likely to be sedentary than those of a similar age range who are not mothers, at 30 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. This difference is also statistically significant.
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are taking action to increase the number of young mothers participating in physical activities. [HL144]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The government-funded Local Exercise Action Pilot (LEAP), based in the five most deprived wards in Hastings, is testing interventions to increase the number of young mothers aged 16 to 25 participating in physical activity. An interim evaluation of the scheme will be completed by mid-June 2005.
Sport: Equality
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consider that equality of opportunity between men and women currently exists in school sport, community sport and high performance sport. [HL171 ]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government are committed to promoting equality of opportunity in sport for men and women and are implementing a range of measures.
In schools, the National Strategy for PE and School Sport is reaching out to all pupils and the target is to ensure that 85 per cent of five to 16 year-olds doing at least two hours' high-quality PE and school sport each week by 2008. At local level, we expect school sport partnerships to make provision for targeting girls, where that is necessary, by broadening opportunities and tailoring delivery to girls' needs.
To date, more than 1,200 secondary schools have benefited from the Youth Sport Trust/Nike Girls in Sport initiative. This seeks to encourage greater participation by girls through changing or relaxing kit specifications, extending the range of activities and improving showers and changing rooms. All schools in school sport partnerships are encouraged to adopt these principles.
For community sport, we know that participation in sport and physical activity by women is lower than for the population as a whole. For example, the General Household Survey 2004 reported that during 2002 36 per cent of women had taken part in at least one activity other than walking, four weeks prior to being interviewed. This compared with 51 per cent of men.
We have a specific PSA target to increase participation within priority groups, including women, by 3 per cent by 2008. We are tackling access issues for women through various initiatives. An example is the Horton Grange project in Bradford (supported by the Sport Action Zone). This is aimed at increasing opportunities
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for Asian women with health and weight problems to participate in sport and physical activity and get advice on healthy lifestyle choices.
The Equality Standard for Sport, launched last year, is a framework to guide sports and community organisations towards achieving equality. Its aim is to widen access and increase the participation and involvement in sport and physical activity from under-represented individuals, groups and communities.
With regard to elite sport, UK Sport has co-ordinated the development of the UK Strategy Framework for Women and Sport, its main principle being to "change sporting culture in the UK to one that values the diversity of women and enables their full involvement in every aspect of sport". The framework will cover participation, performance and excellence, as well as leadership issues for women within sport.
In terms of athlete numbers, the latest figures show that (as at 24 May 2005) 40 per cent of athletes on the UK World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) are women. However, it is important to acknowledge that athletes are selected for inclusion on the WCPP on performance grounds alone, with the same standards applying to male and female athletes.
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