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3 Feb 2009 : Column WA101
Written Answers
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Architectural Competitions
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which departments have held architectural competitions for new buildings in the public sector; and how many times that has happened in the past 10 years. [HL933]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting (Lord Carter of Barnes): Information on how many architectural competitions have been held by individual departments is not held centrally.
Armed Forces: Aircraft
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many A400M heavy lift aircraft they have ordered; and at what estimated cost. [HL709]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The UK has ordered 25 A400M aircraft. The estimated cost is £2,632 million as reported in the Major Projects Report 2008. This figure includes development, production and some training and initial support costs.
Armed Forces: Drugs
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there has been any widespread taking of Modafinil or other similar drugs by Armed Forces personnel for the purpose of enhancing mental alertness. [HL869]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): There is no evidence of widespread taking of Modafinil or similar drugs by Armed Forces personnel for the purpose of enhancing mental alertness.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any health and safety or public security policies govern the taking of Modafinil or other similar drugs for the purpose of enhancing mental alertness by (a) Armed Forces personnel; and (b) employees required to work long or irregular shifts. [HL870]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Health and Safety Executive, Ministry of Defence and the Home Office advise me that there are no health and safety or public security policies that govern the taking of Modafinil or similar drugs for the purpose of enhancing mental alertness at work.
HSE guidance on managing shift work, published in 2006, includes advice for shift workers on how to manage their own health and well-being. This advice acknowledges the availability of drugs that influence alertness, and advises that these drugs are not used by shift workers unless they are under medical supervision.
Armed Forces: Helicopters
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which agency or agencies within the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence are responsible for holding spare parts for helicopters; and what steps they are taking to ensure that spares are held and recorded by a process which allows access to the right spares at the right time. [HL892]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): Spares holdings are held in industry, in MoD depots, at main operating bases and in forward and deployed locations. Routine logistics processes throughout the spares supply chain ensure that the holding arrangements are constantly reviewed and optimised. All spares holdings are subject to formal processes to ensure they can be accounted for at all times. The optimum level of spares holdings is determined in conjunction with industry and is periodically refined based on information drawn from actual operating experience. The optimum numbers and locations for spares holdings vary with the nature of operations and are therefore subject to change.
Crime: Intellectual Property Theft
Question
Asked by Lord Corbett of Castle Vale
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they propose to reduce intellectual property theft in the audio-visual sector. [HL861]
The Minister of State, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Lord Drayson): The Government take the issue of intellectual property theft very seriously, and a great deal of work is already under way. Several initiatives will be of particular interest to the audio-visual sector.
The Intellectual Property Office has recently completed a consultation which considered the matching of online and physical copyright infringement (www.ipo.gov.uk/consult-gowers36.pdf). This included a proposed summary maximum penalty of £50,000 as deterrent. A report on this consultation will be published in the near future.
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The Government also recently published the submissions received on a consultation on unlawful P2P file-sharing, along with a top-level summary (www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/digitalcon/p2presponses/page49707.html). The consultation called for comments on a range of possible regulatory options to address unlawful file-sharing, which has a significant impact on the UK's creative economy and on music and film in particular.
The Government are also in active discussion with representatives of the cinema industry in relation to illegal copying of films in cinemas, particularly through the use of camcorders and other devices.
On-the-ground enforcement is also a major issue. The Fake Free London campaign aims to reduce the level of counterfeiting and piracy in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. Funded by the Intellectual Property Office, and carried out in partnership with the police, trading standards and the film industry, a series of enforcement operations were carried out in three of the London Olympic boroughs in late 2008.
Department for Communities and Local Government: Christmas Cards
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria are taken into account in identifying stakeholders to whom Christmas cards are sent by the Department for Communities and Local Government. [HL1037]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): There are no formal criteria. Christmas cards are sent at the discretion of Ministers and the board to stakeholders with whom the department engages.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of sending Christmas cards by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2008. [HL1038]
Baroness Andrews: The Christmas cards were sent out during normal course of business with other letters, and therefore no separate record was kept of the cost of mailing the cards. Post from the department is by default sent by second class post and we therefore estimate the cost of sending the department's Christmas cards at £216.
Disabled People: Football Grounds
Questions
Asked by Lord Faulkner of Worcester
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether replies have been received from the Premier League and the Football League to the letters sent by the Minister for Sport in April 2008 regarding the provision of facilities for disabled supporters at football grounds. [HL807]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting (Lord Carter of Barnes): I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on the 17 November 2008 (Official Report, col. WA 164).
Asked by Lord Faulkner of Worcester
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Carter of Barnes on 17 November 2008 (WA 164), whether the Minister for Sport has met the Premier League and the Football League to discuss their member clubs' obligations under disability discrimination legislation to ensure their stadiums comply with the Accessible Stadia guidance; and if so, what the outcome of any such meeting was. [HL808]
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will commission a survey of the extent to which member clubs in the Premier League and the Football League meet their obligations under disability discrimination legislation to ensure their stadiums comply with the Accessible Stadia guidance. [HL809]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what sanctions are available to enforce compliance with Accessible Stadia guidance by clubs in the Premier League and the Football League. [HL810]
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will issue guidance to the Football Licensing Authority to make the provision of facilities for disabled supporters a condition for granting a licence to admit spectators to designated football matches under Section 10(12)(d) of the Football Spectators Act 1989. [HL811]
Lord Carter of Barnes: The Minister for Sport met with the Premier League on the 29 January and is due to meet the Football League on 3 February.
The Accessible Stadia guidance document is an advisory document and is not intended to be prescriptive nor inhibit alternative and creative solutions. Therefore, as I indicated on 3 November 2008 (Official Report, col. WA 16), save where there are specific safety concerns, assessments on implementing the guide's recommendations are not a matter for government.
The Government strongly support the provision of facilities for disabled supporters that are in line with the recommendations made in the Accessible Stadia guide. However, they do not believe that enforcing the provision of these facilities through the conditions attached to a licence to admit spectators is the best means available. Football clubs, as service providers, are also already under a legal duty under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled supporters.
The Government do not collect any information on compliance with the recommendations of the Accessible Stadia guide.
3 Feb 2009 : Column WA105
Food: Pork and Bacon
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 19 January (WA 149—50), whether they will give statutory force to the Food Standards Agency voluntary guidance that bacon produced from imported pork should not be described as British. [HL1042]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): European Commission labelling rules are under revision and one of the proposals addresses tightening criteria around voluntary country of origin labelling on meat and meat products, a principle supported by the Government.
In the mean time, there are no plans to give statutory force to the Food Standards Agency voluntary guidance but Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers are currently holding a series of meetings with industry to promote uptake of the guidance.
Green Roofs
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will increase financial and other support to promote the use of green roofs on commercial buildings and private dwellings. [HL980]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The Government provide no direct funding to promote the development of green roofs. However, the Government are committed to moving towards more sustainable low-carbon buildings that are more energy and water efficient, and support our wider climate change and sustainability goals.
The Government are particularly supportive of the use of green roofs as they increase and facilitate the use of sustainable drainage systems (SUDS). SUDS provide an effective control of rainwater runoff at source, freeing up capacity for drainage in the below-ground system, as well as benefiting water resources through groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting and helping to improve water quality.
Those building homes to the sustainability standards set out in the code for sustainable homes may incorporate green roofs to achieve the surface water management, energy efficiency and ecology credits. Financial incentives available to encourage building to the code include the stamp duty land tax exemption for those who reach zero carbon/level 6. In addition, those new developments built on Homes and Communities Agency land or funded through the Government's national housing affordability programme are required to meet level 3 of the code for sustainable homes.
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Health: Epilepsy
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to appoint a national clinical director for epilepsy to address the gaps in NHS service provision alleged by Epilepsy Action's recent report, Epilepsy in England: ATime for Change. [HL1045]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): There are no plans to appoint a national clinical director for epilepsy.
Health: Research
Question
Asked by Lord Jenkin of Roding
To ask Her Majesty's Government which department is accountable to Parliament for improving the access of those conducting clinical trials to individual patient records; and when they expect improved arrangements for such access. [HL1004]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): It is the Government's policy that the National Health Service should do all it can to ensure that patients from every part of England are made aware of research that is of particular relevance to them. The department plans to put in place procedures to ensure that NHS patients are notified of opportunities to join in relevant ethically approved research and is currently working with its stakeholders to ensure that those procedures will be workable and acceptable.
Housing
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new domestic dwellings were built for letting in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, and (d) 2008; and how many new-build social housing units are planned in each year from 2009 to 2012 inclusive. [HL828]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The following table shows the number of new affordable homes built for social rent in England for each year from 2004-05 to 2007-08.
| Year | New build homes for social rent |
Data Source: Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System (IMS), and Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) returns and P2 house building returns submitted to CLG by local authorities.
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The Government remain committed to a substantial increase in social housing. The long-term aspiration remains to deliver 45,000 homes a year by 2010-11 and 50,000 a year during the next spending review period. These affordable homes will be funded mainly by the Homes and Communities Agency. It is too early, given current market conditions, to predict outputs in future years with certainty; however, delivery of social rented homes through the Housing Corporation is on trajectory for 2008-09.
Housing: Credit Card Payments
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to local authorities on whether to accept or encourage the use of credit cards for payment of arrears of council tax and rent. [HL935]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to local authorities on whether to accept the use of credit cards by housing tenants for payment of rent. [HL936]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to housing associations and other providers of social housing on whether to accept or encourage the use of credit cards for payment of rent and rent arrears. [HL937]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The Council Tax Collection Good Practice Report of 2004 summarises good collection practice for council tax. Annexe F to the report provides examples of good practice found in local authorities, including payment by credit card. The report is published on the Communities and Local Government website at www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/ctax/ goodprac.pdf.
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