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Questions

Asked by Lord Berkeley

The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): The budget for the Research and Radionavigation Directorate in 2009-10 was £2,227,000. The budget for 2010-11 will be determined in the light of ongoing discussions between the Department for Transport and the General Lighthouse Authorities as part of the normal process of reviewing budgets for the next financial year.



3 Nov 2009 : Column WA52

Asked by Lord Berkeley

Lord Adonis: The Research and Radionavigation (R&RNAV) Directorate of the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) has taken forward development projects including the solarisation of aids to navigation, LEDs, automation of lighthouses, differential global positioning system and the vessel automatic identification system. While a cost benefit analysis has not been carried out, it is estimated that over the past 10 years the GLAs have, partly as a result of these advances in technology, been able to cut light dues as well as the costs to ship owners associated with AtoN provision by £167 million.

Shipping: General Lighthouse Authorities

Questions

Asked by Lord Berkeley

The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): There are 12 people currently employed in the General Lighthouse Authorities' Research and Radionavigation Directorate.

The directorate's staff complement for 2009-10 and 2010-11 is 14.

Asked by Lord Berkeley

Lord Adonis: Personnel from the General Lighthouse Authorities' Research and Radionavigation Directorate visited the United States on business relating to the e-Loran project once during 2008, and twice in 2009. No visits were made in 2007. The total cost was £21,393.

No further trips are currently planned for the rest of 2009 or during 2010.



3 Nov 2009 : Column WA53

Somalia: Pirates

Question

Asked by Lord Tebbit

The Minister for International Defence and Security (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): Suspected pirates detained by the Royal Navy, and for whom it was assessed there was sufficient evidence upon which to prosecute, have been transferred to Kenya and are currently on trial.

Tax Credits

Question

Asked by Lord Ouseley

The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): The tax credits system provides significant support to working parents with childcare costs. 470,000 families currently benefit from the childcare support available through the childcare element of working tax credit; 15 times more families than were helped by comparable support in 1997. The majority of claimants receive 80 per cent of their childcare costs; the average amount of support that each family receives is £68 per week.

Violent Extremism

Question

Asked by Lord Ouseley

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Prevent, which is our long-term strategy to stop people becoming or supporting violent extremists, is an essential element of our counterterrorist strategy, CONTEST. We do not accept that it fosters division, mistrust or alienation.

We are currently reviewing the report and will be providing a detailed response in due course.

Young People: Custody

Question

Asked by Lord Dholakia

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The decision on whether to grant bail or remand a defendant to custody is one for the courts to make, in each case, in line with the statutory framework primarily set out in the Bail Act 1976. The table below sets out the number of remand episodes in each year since 2001. Earlier data are not available.

The number of remand episodes for young people in each year 2001-08
Year20012002200320042005200620072008

Total

4813

5638

5513

5721

5605

5512

5368

5102

These figures have been supplied by the Youth Justice Board and have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.


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