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Marketing of Fresh Horticultural Produce Regulations 2009

Questions

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach



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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): The issue of warrants with a three-month time limit for execution is already standard across government (see for example Section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (as amended)). Therefore, for reasons of consistency of legislation, and after consultation with the Home Office, the period of validity for warrants issued under Regulation 7(4) of the Marketing of Fresh Horticultural Produce Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/1361) was fixed at three months. In practice, however, the great majority of warrants will be executed shortly after their issue, although there may be operational reasons in certain circumstances why this is not possible.

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Lord Davies of Oldham: All the enforcement labels included in SI 2009/1361 contain both the logotype of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the logotype of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The RPA logotype is included because it is the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate of the RPA which enforces the marketing standards in England. The enforcement labels assist in quickly identifying the breach identified to all concerned. In the case of the regraded label, they indicate to the holder of the produce that the labels on the produce containing the class information required by the marketing standards need to be corrected. Once this has been done, the regraded enforcement labels can be removed.

National Parks

Question

Asked by Lord Berkeley

The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): Local traffic authorities are responsible for setting local speed limits including those in English national parks. The department provides authorities with guidance to ensure local speed limits are appropriately and consistently set. The latest guidance was published on 8 August 2006 in DfT Circular 01/2006, Setting Local Speed Limits. Paragraph 92 of the circular refers specifically to national parks.

NHS: Data Management

Questions

Asked by Lord Campbell-Savours



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Baroness Thornton: None.

Asked by Lord Campbell-Savours

Baroness Thornton: Procurement of the primary supplier contracts under the national programme for information technology (NPfIT) was completed between February 2003 and February 2004. Since that time there has been no renegotiation of these contracts, and no changes to their terms and conditions. There have, however, been resets of the contracts. Reset is a normal, repeatable process for contracts with a long lifetime to ensure that their ongoing delivery reflects progress to date, current priorities, and deployment plans for the future, and that they continue to support the evolving needs of the National Health Service. However, reset allows for the option of agreeing enhancements to existing services or functionality that does not effect a change in contract scope or risk allocation. The contracts contain provision for the termination of the whole contract or a part of the services provided by a supplier.

In 2008, the department finalised a range of framework contracts through open competition to provide additional capacity and capability in the supply of information technology (IT) services to the NHS. The contracts will enable the streamlined procurement of IT systems and services from suppliers who have demonstrated experience in the health sector and can be used to support both NPfIT-related work and wider IT-related projects. The procurement of the framework contracts was initiated with the publication of an OJEU notice in March 2007.

These contracts are not intended to replace the contracts already let for the National Programme for IT. They supplement the existing supply capacity, and enable new requirements to be met through a readily available approved framework, while mitigating any risk of existing suppliers being unable to meet contractual commitments.

The framework arrangements provide for NHS bodies with specific requirements to conduct a further competitions procedure, engaging suppliers who have been awarded a framework contract in the appropriate service category or categories. Should changes to requirements be necessary in due course there may be an opportunity to amend the defined terms and conditions of supply, depending on the scope and type of these changes.



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NHS: Feeding

Question

Asked by Lord Patten

Baroness Thornton: Nutrition is an important component of patient care and all National Health Service organisations must ensure:

patients whatever their age, are provided with a choice of food from a selection calculated to deliver a balanced and varied diet;vulnerable patients are assessed for nutritional status on admission, and if necessary, given special attention to ensure they consume a sufficient amount of food. Such patients must be weighed regularly;patients' individual nutritional, personal and clinical dietary requirements are met, including any necessary help with feeding;food must be available outside normal hours for those who need it; andwhere appropriate wards should consider protecting mealtimes from interruption so that patients can receive the attention they need and that meals are not missed.

Northern Ireland Office: Legal Fees

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and executive NDPBs, has spent the following on legal fees in the past five years:

Year£

2004-05

£6,977,043

2005-06

£7,840,223

2006-07

£11,396,639

2007-08

£12,030,884

2008-09

£8,643,821

Legal fees for the NIO rose substantially in 2006-07, mainly due to expenditure by the Public Prosecution Service on the Omagh bomb trial, and also on the trial of James Fulton and his associates, which proved to be the longest murder trial in Northern Ireland history. These two cases alone accounted for an increase in legal expenditure of £2 million. Scale fees for counsel increased in April 2006, the first increase in a number of years, and this also contributed to overall increase in 2006-07.



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A large case which carried forward into 2007-08 contributed to the increase in this year.

There may be some associated costs included within these figures that are not legal fees but these could only be disaggregated at disproportionate cost.

Northern Ireland Office: Taxis

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The invoiced expenditure on taxi fares for the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and executive NDPBs, from 1 September for a 12-month period for each of the past five years is shown in the following table.

YearAmount

1 September 2004-31 August 2005

£24,163

1 September 2005-31 August 2006

£31,059

1 September 2006-31 August 2007

£23,254

1 September 2007-31 August 2008

£68,717

1 September 2008-31 August 2009

£74,767

Changes to transport arrangements in 2007-08 have generated overall savings even after allowing for the increase in taxi costs. These figures exclude taxi fares paid by employees and reimbursed as miscellaneous expenses. These costs can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The NIO keeps the cost of travel on official business under regular review. Departmental guidance requires all staff to use the most efficient means of transport taking account of travel costs, time and incidental expenses, for example, the cost of car parking.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Details on the Northern Ireland Office non-departmental public bodies that have received outside funding in the past three years, and the amounts received, are listed below.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (in addition to funding from Atlantic Philanthropies):2008-09-£6,000 from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland towards a joint research project into human trafficking.

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2007-08-£5,124 income from a conference organised by the commission in partnership with the Irish School of Ecumenics, entitled "Rights and Righteousness", to consider the relationship between faith and human rights. The income relates to delegate fees and a contribution to the costs of the event from the Irish School of Ecumenics.2006-07-£53,480 grant from the United Nations to host an International round table on "The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations".The Northern Ireland Policing Board:Financial assistance towards a pilot programme to develop the capacity of the district policing partnerships to engage with the community, received from the International Fund for Ireland as shown in the following table.
2008-092007-082006-07

£162,647

£8,776

Nil

Olympic Games 2012: Costs

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

Lord Davies of Oldham: Barking was considered only as a possible fallback option for the shooting events. However, the Olympic board decided that shooting events would remain at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich.

Olympic Games 2012: Transport

Questions

Asked by Lord Berkeley

Lord Davies of Oldham: The ODA undertook a transport assessment as part of the planning process in 2007. The assessment considered the effects of the proposed Olympic Park project on the highway network through the phases of construction, Games time and transformation. The assessment concluded that the effects on local air quality would not be significant.



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The ODA focuses its activities on making sure that vehicles entering the site meet the very stringent Euro-standards for vehicle emissions. The ODA will also continue to monitor the local air quality throughout the construction project.

Asked by Lord Berkeley

Lord Davies of Oldham: The ODA's code of construction practice requires that all commercial road vehicles and construction plant comply with any legislative requirements, including the London-wide emissions zone and the European emissions standards. This requirement is set out to all contractors operating on the site and audits are undertaken by the ODA's delivery partner across the Olympic Park.

The ODA is committed to reducing the number of lorry movements to the site. To date the ODA has moved 58 per cent of the construction materials to the Olympic Park site, by weight, by rail and water. The ODA's target of recycling or reusing over 90 per cent of demolition material is being exceeded, thereby reducing the need to import and export material from the site.

Olympic Games: Employment

Question

Asked by Lord Ouseley

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is committed to an open and transparent procurement process and seeks to ensure that inclusivity underpins all its work. It promotes equality and inclusion both within the organisation and through its supply chains.

The ODA does not collect data on women, black, Asian or minority-ethnic (BAME) or disabled-led businesses. Information about the ownership of businesses is provided to the ODA by its contractors through self-evaluation and on a voluntary basis; therefore some suppliers have chosen not to disclose this information or have chosen not to respond to date. The table provides ownership details for the ODA's current suppliers:



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Business Ownership

Ownership Gender

Equal male and female ownership

45

Female majority ownership

52

Male majority ownership

298

Not known/undisclosed

668

Disabled Ownership

Equal disabled and non-disabled

3

Non-disabled majority ownership

384

Disabled majority ownership

12

Not known/undisclosed

664

Ownership Ethnicity

White majority ownership

379

Black, Asian or Minority Ethnicity

23

Equal white majority ownership and black, Asian and minority ethnic

8

Not known/undisclosed

653

Totals

1063


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