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Estimates of mean annual averages for English and Welsh over 10 metre vessels fishing in the Channel, Western Approaches, Celtic Sea, and Irish Sea are 24,628 tonnes discarded, with 46,572 tonnes retained (35 per cent discarded) between the years 2003-06.
Defra, NERC, the Royal Society and the EC have funded research into the impacts of fishing on the seabed and marine life. These studies have been conducted in UK shelf seas and off the shelf edge and have assessed impacts on marine habitats, vulnerable fish and invertebrate species, seabirds and marine mammals. Research on seabed impacts has shown that the relative impacts of fishing depend on the balance between fishing and natural disturbance. Thus seabed habitats in deep areas with low natural disturbance are much more vulnerable to fishing impacts than shallow areas of mobile substrate where natural disturbance is higher. Research on marine life has shown that the impacts of fishing depend on the abundance, life history and distribution of a species and the type and intensity of fishing activity. The more vulnerable species tend to be slow-growing, have limited distributional ranges and are taken in targeted fisheries or as bycatch. The less vulnerable species tend to be fast-growing and widely distributed.
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Crime: Age of Responsibility
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 21 April (WA 23), whether they plan to increase the age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland. [HL3928]
Lord Rooker: There are no current plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland.
Crime: Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many foreign nationals (except nationals of the Republic of Ireland) in each of the past five years have been (a) charged with, and (b) convicted of, murder or manslaughter in Northern Ireland; and which countries they are from. [HL4595]
Lord Rooker: The following table gives the number of foreign nationals charged with murder or manslaughter and their former country of residence for the financial years 2003-04 to 2007-08.
Data relating to the number of foreign nationals convicted are only available for 2006. During this period there were no foreign nationals convicted of murder and one Chinese foreign national who was convicted of manslaughter.
| Number of foreign nationals charged with murder and manslaughter and former country of residence 2003-04 to 2007-08. | |||
| Murder | Manslaughter | Former country of residence | |
| Source: PSNI Central Statistics Unit | |||
Dartford Crossing
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much additional funding is given by the Department for Transport to local authorities in the Dartford crossing area in recognition of the impact of the crossing on local transport infrastructure. [HL4697]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Since 2003, the Department for Transport has made available about £1.75 million to £2 million per year of additional funding to Thurrock Borough Council and Kent County Council. This is to help deliver local transport projects in recognition of the impact of the Dartford Crossing on local residents.
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Ministers recently announced that local residents using the Dartford Crossing would be entitled to a discount. The discount scheme is likely to start in autumn 2008. When it begins, it will replace the additional funding.
The additional funding supplements the local transport block capital allocation for Thurrock Borough Council and Kent County Council, which in 2008-09 totalled £3.030 million and £36.905 million respectively.
Department for Transport: Parking Fines
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much money was spent on parking fines incurred by vehicles belonging to the Department for Transport and its subsidiary agencies in each of the past three years. [HL4603]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport and its agencies maintain the policy that all road traffic violations such as parking tickets remain the responsibility of the individual, and are not reimbursable from public resources.
The main exception to this is the Government Car and Despatch Agency which pays parking fines incurred operationally in circumstances where the overriding security requirements of high-profile passengers or secure or sensitive documents necessarily dictate the choice of parking location. The agency spent £7,540 on such fines in 2006, £11,928.16 in 2007, and £13,930 in 2008.
In addition, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency will pay parking fines under exceptional circumstances such as court appearances. The agency spent £122.14 on such fines in 2006, and £75.00 in 2008.
Elections: Weekend Voting
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Statement by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 24 June (WS 93—5) on weekend voting in elections, what consideration has been given to splitting voting hours across Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. [HL4607]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Government have not taken a firm view on polling hours in the event that elections are moved to the weekend. The Election Day: Weekend Voting consultation paper invites views on the question as part of the Government's consultation on the issues and the Citizens' Summit will also be considering this. The Government will give consideration to the noble Lord's suggestion as part of this process.
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Energy: Renewables
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have calculated the relative cost of producing 1 per cent of the energy required by the United Kingdom annually by 2020 in each of the following ways: (a) off-shore wind turbines; (b) on-shore wind turbines; (c) photovoltaic installations on dwelling; and (d) solar panels on dwellings and, if so, what the totals are. [HL4493]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): The cost of producing 1 per cent of the UK's energy in 2020 using these different technologies is given in the table below. Costs are resource costs, estimated on the basis of 1740TWh final energy demand in 2020. Resource costs are the levelised costs of individual technologies, net of the cost of a counterfactual technology. Costs do not include costs of additional network investment, or other hidden costs (eg transaction costs). Costs assume that this level of production of each technology is technically feasible, and does not take account of potential barriers to development, nor does it make assumptions as to the cost of any financial incentive that might be required to bring forward development.
| Resource Cost of 1% Final Energy in 2020, by Individual Technologies | ||
| Cost of 1% energy in 2020 £billion (1) | ||
| Low | High | |
- (2) Onshore and offshore wind are based on assumptions from Redpoint et al (2008). http://renewableconsultation.berr.gov.uk/related_documents. The range for onshore and offshore wind reflects the range of assumptions as to capital costs, discount rates and site characteristics.
- (3) Solar Photovoltaic costs are based on independent research from Element Energy (2008) www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/sustainable/microgeneration/research/page382 08.html.
- The range for photovoltaic installations reflects the difference between retrofit and new-build costs, though note that it is unlikely that there will be sufficient domestic new-build before 2020 to deliver 1 per cent of the UK's energy requirement in 2020 using PV panels on new-build alone. The counterfactual for domestic photovoltaic installations is assumed to be grid electricity and counterfactual costs are based on projected domestic electricity prices.
- (4) Solar thermal costs are based on independent research by NERA (forthcoming) and Enviros (2008) http://renewableconsultation.berr.gov.uk/related_documents. The range approximates the difference between new-build and retrofit costs, though note that it is unlikely that there will be sufficient domestic new-build before 2020 to deliver 1 per cent of the UK's energy requirement in 2020 using solar panels on new-build alone. Resource cost depends heavily upon the counterfactual heating technology. Assumed shares of electrical heating and boilers displaced are based on the NERA/ Enviros analysis.
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First World War
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to mark or celebrate the 90th anniversary of the end of First World War. [HL4734]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): I refer the noble Lord to my Written Statement of 22 May 2008 (Official Report, col. WS 102).
Food: Supermarkets
Lord Rana asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Food Standards Agency has addressed the issue of supermarkets discarding food because of faulty or damaged packaging. [HL4503]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Food Standards Agency (FSA) deals only with the labelling, not the packaging of food. The issue of supermarkets discarding food because of faulty or damaged packaging is a commercial issue and not something that falls under the remit of the FSA.
Government: Regional Offices
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total annual budget of each of the regional government offices for each of the past five years. [HL4497]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): Each government office for the regions has specific responsibility for an administration running cost budget and a capital budget.
Programme budgets administered by the government offices are the responsibility of the Secretaries of State for the relevant sponsor departments. The departments delegate authority to the regional directors to spend against their programmes, though all expenditure incurred is recorded in the accounts of the department concerned.
The administrative costs of each government office for the five years in question are as follows:
| GO | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
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