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Nuclear Discharges
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what steps he plans to take to return technetium 99 discharges to pre-1994 levels; and if he will make a statement; [59919]
- (2) pursuant to the statement by the Environment Agency of October in relation to the commissioning of the mixed oxide fuel plant at Sellafield, what plans he has to reconsider and extend the remit currently available to the Environment Agency; [59920]
(3) what action he is taking to direct the Environment Agency to reassess the fundamental justification for licensing the mox plant in the light of environmental and safety issues; [59921]
(4) what account he intends to take of the international agreement reached at the OSPAR conference in July at Sintra in responding to the Environment Agency's statement relating to liquid discharge limits. [59918]
Mr. Meale:
The Agency's proposed decisions were received in my Department on 2 November. Requests have been made to Ministers to call in the applications for their own determination. These requests are being considered carefully and my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will announce their decision as soon as they are able to do so.
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Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received in response to the statement by the Environment Agency on 23 October relating to the Sellafield MOX plant and variations to BNFL's site discharge authorisations. [59917]
Mr. Meale:
In response to the statement by the Environment Agency on 23 October, 4 letters relating to the Sellafield MOX plant and 2 letters relating to the variations to BNFL's site discharge authorisations have been received.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the Trade Secretary in respect of environmental considerations applying to the terms of reference of the recently commissioned KPMG report exploring future options for Sellafield. [59922]
Mr. Meale:
None, but KPMG have met my officials to discuss various aspects of their review for the Government of the options for BNFL's future.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to direct English Nature to revise its criteria for inclusion on the inventory of ancient woodland to cover smaller woods; and if he will make a statement. [59923]
Mr. Meale:
There are practical difficulties associated with extending the scope of the inventory, which already identifies ancient woodland of higher than average value for wildlife in England.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to require English Nature to compile inventories of unimproved grassland; and if he will make a statement. [59924]
Mr. Meale:
English Nature completed a programme of compiling inventories of lowland semi-natural grassland for all English counties in 1997. English Nature intend to update these periodically.
World Heritage Sites
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the Government are doing to ensure that natural World Heritage sites are represented in the list of new tentative sites that will be put forward to UNESCO. [59374]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I will carefully consider the responses to the recent Consultation Paper, which included suggested natural sites to be included in a new Tentative List of potential UK World Heritage Sites, before reaching a final decision on which natural heritage sites should be included.
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Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the money which the New Opportunities Fund will receive during the licence period to September 2001 will be allocated to providing children with sporting opportunities at after- school clubs. [59936]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The New Opportunities Fund will commit £400 million to out of school hours activities during the current licence period to September 2001. Within this, £180 million will be committed to education activities, £200 million to childcare, and £20 million to integrated projects combining both childcare and education.
Out of school hours education projects should involve at least half of all secondary schools, at least a quarter of all primary schools, and at least half of all special schools by 2001. Out of school childcare projects should provide childcare places catering for 865,000 children by 2003.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister recently announced an extra £400 million for the New Opportunities Fund between now and 2001. We are consulting on how this money should be spent and propose that part of the additional amount should be committed to an expansion of the existing out of school hours initiative, to enhance the contribution made by summer schools not only to literacy, numeracy and opportunities for arts, but also to sport.
No specific amount has been earmarked for providing children with sporting opportunities at after-school clubs, but activities offered may include sporting and outdoor learning activities, and structured, learning-oriented play. The amount allocated for sport will be determined by the New Opportunities Fund in response to the applications received.
Mr. McCabe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how the coverage of terrestrial television services throughout the United Kingdom is planned. [60233]
Janet Anderson:
The BBC and Independent Television Commission (ITC) are jointly responsible for arrangements for the transmission of terrestrial televisions services across the UK under the terms of the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996 and the Royal Charter and the Government's Agreement with the BBC. This includes planning coverage of BBC and commercial television services in accordance with general Government directions on the use of the television broadcasting spectrum. I have placed in the Libraries of both Houses a copy of the Government's guidance note to the BBC and ITC on the use of spectrum between 470 and 854 MHz which has been assigned to television broadcasting.
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Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the registers held by her Department which are open for inspection by (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public. [59739]
Mr. Foulkes:
The Department for International Development does not hold any registers which are open for inspection by (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what childcare provision is
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made available by her Department for the use of staff; what is the cost to parents of this childcare; how many parents used the facilities in the financial years (a) 1996-97 and (b) 1997-98; and what proportion of total staff used these facilities in the financial years (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 1997-98. [59729]
Mr. Foulkes:
The Department for International Development provides holiday playschemes at both Headquarters sites.
The site in East Kilbride operates under a three-way partnership made up of DFID, Inland Revenue and Scottish Nuclear. The site in London is part of the Whitehall Holiday Playscheme, run by the Cabinet Office at three sites in central London and open to a large proportion of Government Departments.
The figures requested are as follows:
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| East Kilbride | London | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to parents | £10 annual registration fee per family £7.00 per child per day | £16.11 per child per day paid by DFID of which £8.05 per child is paid by the parent |
| Number of parents using the facilities: | ||
| 1996-97 | 19 | 20 |
| 1997-98 | 15 | 17 |
| Proportion of total staff in DFID using facilities: | ||
| 1996-97 | 3.8% | 3% |
| 1997-98 | 3.3% | 2.8% |
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Providing access to the holiday playschemes is only one of a range of family friendly policies that are available to staff. Other benefits include paid maternity leave at full pay, paternity leave, extended career breaks (up to a maximum of five years) and special leave for domestic emergencies. To help staff balance work and family life, they are also able to apply to work part-time or flexible hours, to job-share or to work from home.
Vocational Educational Training
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the importance of vocational educational training in eradicating poverty; and if she will make a statement. [59876]
Mr. Foulkes: This Department has in the past carried out a number of reviews of training, much of which has been of an academic or technical nature. Vocational educational training has been shown to contribute best to poverty eradication when it is closely targeted on the needs of poor individuals and related to the conditions in which they are living. We are in the process of designing a 'Skills for Development' programme which will address the needs in developing countries for a variety of skills including policy level, management, technical and livelihood skills.
Work currently under way includes a project in India which will investigate and provide for the skills needs of poor people to improve their employability in local industries and enterprises, via a non-formal community college whose work is firmly rooted in the local context. The project incorporates a management partnership
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between Bilston College in Staffordshire and the Community College in Madras. We intend that this initiative will be assessed for its impact on poverty and growth in the local economy.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what departmental resources are currently allocated to vocational educational training programmes; and if she will provide details of the programmes. [59877]
Mr. Foulkes:
The information requested is not readily available. I will reply by Monday 23 November with the information requested, and will send a copy to the Library of the House.
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