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Questions

Asked by Lord Selsdon

To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under “Communities and Local Government” in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration. [HL1798]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): This information is not held centrally. Information on board membership and remuneration is published in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.

Asked by Lord Selsdon

To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under “Food Standards Agency” in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration. [HL1841]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The Food Standards Agency is responsible for seven non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), six of which are covered by the report for the period up to 31 March 2008. A seventh NDPB was established in April 2008. There were and are no Peers appointed to any of these NDPBs.

Public Expenditure

Question

Asked by Lord Tebbit

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Myners on 13 January (WA 137) concerning the definitions of public sector current expenditure and public sector net investment, whether they will disaggregate pay and other current expenditure when referring to total spending on programmes such as social security, education and health care. [HL1039]

The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): Public spending by both function and economic category has now been published on the Treasury's website at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pes _function.htm.

Functional categories are based on the UN classification of the functions of government (COFOG), the international standard. Economic categories are based on the treatment of spending in the national accounts. These figures differ from departmental spending analyses because they include local government and public corporations as well as central government, and devolved Administrations as well as English departments.

Not all public spending can be allocated to a function so these figures are based on an aggregate called total expenditure on services. This is spending within total managed expenditure (TME) that can be allocated by function. It covers most expenditure included in TME but excludes some accounting and other adjustments that cannot be allocated to a function. More information on total expenditure on services can be found in appendix E of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2008—PESA—available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pespub_pesa08.htm.

Questions for Written Answer

Question

Asked by Lord Jopling

To ask the Leader of the House what new steps she has taken to ensure that Questions for Written Answer are answered within the target two weeks; and what were the total numbers which did not meet the target for each day in the week beginning 23 February. [HL1761]

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The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): I place the utmost importance on ensuring that Questions are answered in a timely manner, and have taken the matter up personally with Front-Bench colleagues and relevant Permanent Secretaries. My office wrote recently to departmental private offices to reinforce that message.

During the week of 23 February, the following numbers of Questions were unanswered:

Monday 23 February	Tuesday 24 February	Wednesday 25 February	Thursday 26 February
Total due for answer = 37	Total due for answer = 28	Total due for answer = 55	Total due for answer = 53
Total unanswered = 25	Total unanswered = 13	Total unanswered= 35	Total unanswered = 28

Science: Chemistry Grants

Question

Asked by Lord Dykes

To ask Her Majesty's Government what conclusions they have reached following discussions with chemical scientists on countering falls in the number of successful first-time chemistry grants in the United Kingdom. [HL1811]

The Minister of State, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Lord Drayson): The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has,

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in response to concerns from the research community, reintroduced a financial cap on its first grants scheme so as to be able to support more researchers early in their careers. This follows an increase in demand for these grants and in the average amount of funding being sought. Further details about this change are available at www.epsrc.ac.uk/Content/News/FirstGrantsChanges.htm.

St Andrews Agreement

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 11 February (WA 206) concerning provisions in the St Andrews agreement relating to cross-border implementation bodies, whether the review outlined in paragraph 19 of Annex A has taken place; if so, what was the result; or if not, when it will take place. [HL1716]

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: I understand that a review, as set out in paragraph 19 of annexe A of the St Andrews agreement, is currently taking place. This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government.

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