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16 Jun 2005 : Column WA139
Written Answers
Thursday, 16 June 2005.
Deputy Prime Minister: Dorneywood
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many nights the Deputy Prime Minister has spent at his official country residence, Dorneywood, in each of the past seven years; and what are the terms of the Dorneywood trust under which he uses the residence. [HL438]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Baroness Andrews): The information on how many nights my right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister has spent at Dorneywood in each of the past seven years is not held centrally. The use my right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister's makes of Dorneywood is consistent with the terms of the Dorneywood Trust. The Dorneywood Trust is a registered charity and is not accountable to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Dorneywood is not owned by the Government, and therefore there is no cost to public funds.
Immigration Advisory Service
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will increase the funds available to the Immigration Advisory Service, particularly in relation to asylum applicants. [HL374]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The Legal Services Commission (LSC) currently has no plans to provide the Immigration Advisory Service with additional funding to carry out asylum work.
The LSC has already awarded contracts to suppliers for this financial year, based on anticipated need for legal services. If, during the course of the year, it becomes apparent that additional services are required, any further funding that is made available would be awarded following a competitive bid round.
Gangmasters Licensing Authority
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the anticipated running costs of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority; and how much funding has been earmarked for its first year of operation. [HL443]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): A provisional budget of £1.3 million has been made available to fund the operation of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in its first year of operation. The authority will be expected to recover this through licence fee income once the licensing arrangements become operational. The authority's first-year budget and financial requirements for future years are being kept under continual review. Final budget allocations will be confirmed once decisions have been taken on the conditions to be attached to a licence, audit arrangements and the way the licensing scheme will operate. The authority will be consulting on these issues over the next few months.
Defra will meet the one-off costs associated with establishing the authority and will be meeting the cost of enforcing the criminal sanctions in the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. These costs will not be recovered through the licence fee.
Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations (S.I. 2005/717) could have been made under the Environment Act 1995; and whether the decision to make the regulations under the European Communities Act 1972 was taken because there would then be no requirement to lay them in draft for approval by each House. [HL444]
Lord Bach: The explanatory note which accompanied the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations (S.I. 2005/717) explained the reasons for making the regulations under the pow ers in Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.
As noted there, the Government could have made the amendments to the packaging regulations under the powers in the Environment Act 1995, but were faced with calls for very quick action in amending the regulations. In light of the (at the time) impending election and the associated restriction in the actions that can be taken, the Government considered that the quickest way to respond to the calls for rapid action was to make the changes using the powers in Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.
Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether polymerase chain reaction testing is considered to be unsuitable for the detection of bovine tuberculosis in badgers; and, if so, whether this applies to fresh faecal matter and saliva as well as blood testing. [HL447]
Lord Bach: The detection of mycobacterium bovis directly from live badgers and their excretions using techniques based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is difficult largely because of the low levels and intermittent nature of excretion of m. bovis by infected animals.
We are developing procedures to do this at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in collaboration with Imperial College, London. The results are encouraging but the test needs to be fully validated prior to use in the field for routine diagnosis.
Crossrail Bill
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Crossrail hybrid Bill procedure paper posted on the Department for Transport's website on 2 June.
(a) why they consider Crossrail to be a project of national, as opposed to regional, importance; and whether a new underground railway line through Birmingham or Manchester would be treated in the same way; and
(b) why the Transport and Works Act 1992 procedure is not available for Government schemes; and.
Lord Davies of Oldham: The strategic transport improvements that Crossrail will bring will be felt across the country and the scheme will be a catalyst for safeguarding a national economy that is strongly related to the performance of London. The same is unlikely to be the case for a new underground railway in Birmingham or Manchester. The Secretary of State exercises quasi-judicial functions under Part I of the Transport and Works Act 1992 and this only provides for orders relating to government schemes in the limited circumstances set out in Section 7 of the Act (concerning defence purposes and the interests of safety). A government scheme for these purposes is simply one promoted directly by the Secretary of State. So, where the Secretary of State decides to promote a railway scheme, such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link or Crossrail, he must do so by means of a hybrid Bill.
Olympic Games 2012: London Bid
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will provide details of the tax exemptions required by the International Olympic Committee's host city contract; and whether, in the event of a successful London bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, new legislation will need to be introduced to deliver these exemptions. [HL375]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The International Olympic Committee's host city contract for the 2012 Games requires revenues generated in relation to the 2012
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Games, received or paid by the IOC or any third parties owned and/or controlled by it, to be exempted from tax.
The host city contract further requires that Olympic competitors should either be exempt from tax on any financial or other rewards received as a result of their performance in the games or else reimbursed to cover any tax liability. Finally, it requires that all persons who are temporarily in the host country carrying out Olympic-related business (for example, persons working for broadcast rights holders and other commercial partners, or team doctors) should be exempted from tax in relation to work they undertake in connection with the games.
In the event of a successful London bid, the UK Government will ensure that tax issues will not have a significant impact on the games. Any fiscal measures will be introduced in a future Finance Bill.
International Sports Committee
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
How often the International Sports Committee, as identified in Game Plan, has met in the past three years; which organisations attended each meeting; and what progress has been made towards increasing British representation on international sporting federations. [HL377]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The International Sports Committee has met six times in the past three years. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Sport, UK Trade and Investment, the British Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have attended all the meetings. At the most recent meeting, the sports councils for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the devolved administrations, the British Olympic Association, the Football Association and the Central Council for Physical Recreation were also represented.
In the past three years there has been considerable progress towards increasing British representation on international sporting federations.
UK Sport has developed a dedicated, password-protected information portal for the UK's representatives in international federations. They also held an international postholders' conference with London 2012 in January 2005, while a follow-up conference is planned for 24 and 25 October 2005 in London.
UK Sport also provides assistance to sports' national governing bodies and individual officials during international federation elections by subsidising foreign travel and subsistence costs for election candidates (through the International Representatives Grant Aid Programme); helping national governing bodies to host key AGMs for international federations in the UK through grants; providing advice, translation and printing services for election manifestos; and assisting with the creation of key candidates' election websites.
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