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iii) The different Christian categories which would be required in Wales were there an expanded religion question have not been ascertained from Census users. However they are likely to include non-conformist chapels such as Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists and Methodists since, in Wales, their memberships are higher than those of the Anglican or Catholic Churches.

iv) Some Census users expressed a requirement for information that would break down the Muslim category but there is no evidence of difficulty with a single category for religions other than Christianity.

v) It is not possible to comment on what form of equality monitoring and service planning that users of Census statistics may undertake in relation to Christian and Buddhists-respondents to our consultations generally articulated their need for religion data in general rather than with reference to specific groups. In addition to meeting legal obligations, users emphasised the use of data on religion to enable better understanding of the social and economic position of different religious and ethnic groups, to help identify cases of social exclusion, and to aid decisions relating to the provision of services in areas such as health, housing and education.

Climate Change: Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Question

Asked by Lord Lea of Crondall



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Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Jil Matheson, National Statistician, to Lord Lea of Crondall, dated November 2009.

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for a time series of the statistical relationship between gross domestic product growth and emissions of carbon dioxide (HL6080).

ONS Environmental Accounts produce estimates of air emissions, including carbon dioxide annually.

The ONS Environmental Accounts measure greenhouse gas emissions on a UK resident basis, in order to be comparable with National Accounts economic data. Therefore, they include emissions generated by UK residents in the UK and emissions from UK residents' transport and travel activities abroad. They exclude emissions generated by non-residents' transport and travel in the UK.

As such, these data are on a different basis from estimates published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change under the UK's Kyoto Protocol obligations. The Kyoto Protocol basis covers emissions from UK territory only and excludes emissions from international aviation and shipping.

The most recent publication was on 12 June 2009 and statistics for the period 1990 - 2007 are available on the National Statistics website at the following address.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/environmental/.

Consistent with this publication, the annex presents an index of carbon dioxide emissions created per unit of output by the UK economy (excluding households) between 1990 and 2007.

Annex
Index of carbon dioxide emissions created per unit of outputby the UK economy (excluding households) between 1990 and 2007
YearIndex of CO2 emissions per unit of output1 1990=100

1990

100.0

1991

101.3

1992

98.4

1993

92.7

1994

87.3

1995

84.4

1996

84.3

1997

79.0

1998

76.8

1999

72.5

2000

71.5

2001

71.8

2002

68.3

2003

68.6

2004

67.2

2005

66.5

2006

63.7

2007

61.1



3 Nov 2009 : Column WA38

Common Agricultural Policy: Single Farm Payment

Question

Asked by Baroness Byford

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): RPA does not hold information in a readily accessible manner on the number of changes to mapped areas that have been challenged by farmers and as a result have been changed. This information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Compensation

Question

Asked by Lord Laird

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The assessment of general damages in personal injury cases in Northern Ireland is a matter for the independent judiciary. The guidelines are a matter for the Northern Ireland Judicial Studies Board, as the judicial-led body responsible for judicial training in Northern Ireland. The guidelines are already subject to regular review by the board and the Government have no plans to consult them in this regard.

Courts: Fees

Question

Asked by Lord Lucas

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The fees chargeable by a High Court enforcement officer are contained in Schedule 3 of the High Court Enforcement Officers Regulations 2004. The regulations provide for reasonable costs to be charged as the individual circumstances of the case dictate. Any such reasonable costs can be the subject

3 Nov 2009 : Column WA39

of detailed assessment upon application to the High Court. The Ministry of Justice is undertaking a detailed examination of the cost of High Court enforcement with the intention of setting a new fee structure with the implementation of Schedule 12 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

Cyprus: Peacekeeping Operations

Question

Asked by Lord Kilclooney

The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): As at 27 October 2009 there were 288 personnel deployed on Operation TOSCA, the UK contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The cost for this deployment is charged to the tri-departmental (FCO, MoD and DfID) peacekeeping budget. In the financial year 2008-09 the cost was £16 million. The United Nations reimburses the UK £2.5 million for our contribution to UNFICYP.

Disabled People: Benefits

Question

Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Baroness Thornton: Detailed decisions on how the funding options would work have not yet been taken.

Electoral Register

Question

Asked by Lord Norton of Louth

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Government remain committed to holding a public consultation to establish how removing the provisions that govern the edited register would impact not just on individuals but the economy as a whole. The precise date of publication has not yet been finalised but it is our intention to do so shortly.



3 Nov 2009 : Column WA40

Embryology

Question

Asked by Earl Howe

Baroness Thornton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) assesses all research licence applications for the production of embryos with both animal and human material and determines whether the proposed embryos fall within the definition of "human admixed embryo" (as outlined in Section 4A(6) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended)). In the case of the chimaeric embryos described, the authority would assess whether or not animal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is predominant, based upon the particular research proposed. In making this decision, the authority would bear in mind the House of Lords debate of 29 October 2008 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. 1624), in particular the assumption that "predominant" refers not only to the percentage of DNA but also to its location and functionality.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Questions

Asked by Lord Dholakia

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): The commission's annual report and accounts for 2008-09 is currently with the National Audit Office for clearance. Once this has been completed the commission will proceed with formal approval at its board meeting followed by publication.

Asked by Lord Dholakia

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The commission's forecast spend on interim and agency staff in 2009-10 is £6.6 million. £1.8 million of this represents an increase over the initial budget because of increased cost of

3 Nov 2009 : Column WA41

interim staff who were employed to support the delivery of its strategic priorities. The forecast spend on consultants is £2.3 million. This includes advisory consultancy services, research and the provision of other services to the commission.

EU: Farming Support

Question

Asked by Lord Vinson

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham): The issues raised in the NAO report reflect the legacies of the problems faced by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in implementing the single payment scheme (SPS) in 2005. Ministers have apologised to the House for those past issues. Subsequent improvement in RPA's performance has been evidenced by the significant speeding up of SPS payments to farmers. The successful negotiation and implementation of the new EU scheme rules arising from the CAP health check last year also signifies an increased capacity to manage change. But, as highlighted in the NAO report, costs are still too high and work to recover overpayments has been proved more difficult than anticipated. Those are some of the drivers for the current review of the RPA that the department announced in September which will seek to identify where the agency may be able to make further improvements and efficiencies in its activities.

Gypsies and Travellers

Question

Asked by Baroness Whitaker

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): One of the key objectives of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women Councillors' Taskforce programme was to ensure that a diverse range of delegates from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and communities were able to participate and attend the outreach awareness raising events. Overall 53 per cent of people who attended the BAME outreach events provided details about their ethnic background. Of those that responded, 4 per cent reported being from the "other ethnic group", and of these, two respondents (0.4 per cent) reported being from the Gypsy and Traveller community. We have no information on the ethnic background of the remainder of people who were at these events and did not complete a feedback form (47 per cent of attendees).



3 Nov 2009 : Column WA42

The outreach events were promoted widely and included engagement with the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as organisations and networks with links to the Gypsy and Traveller community such as Voice 4 Change and the Travellers Advocacy Service. Two women from the Gypsy and Traveller community who attended the Leicester outreach event were also invited to participate in the follow-up evaluation which took place on Thursday 10 September 2009.


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