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Anti-Doping Tests: Accredited Laboratoriesin UK
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many laboratories in the United Kingdom are accredited to analyse anti-doping tests.[HL172]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The UK has one laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency/International Olympic Committee at King's College London which analyses anti-doping samples for prohibited substances.
Voluntary Sports Clubs: VAT
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What communication they have had with the European Commission regarding VAT being levied on voluntary sports clubs. [HL195]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government have had no discussions with the European Commission about VAT being levied on voluntary sports clubs. The Commission's proposals on reduced rates of VAT do not affect the VAT treatment of club membership subscriptions.
Sport: Taxation Revenue
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will provide an estimate of the revenue to the Exchequer from the taxation of sport. [HL198]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The figures are not available in the format requested. They would only be available at disproportionate cost, would require the yield from sporting activities to be inferred from across
a range of more broadly defined leisure activities and would require assumptions about tax incidence that could render the results misleading.Hazard Industries: HSC Classifications
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what basis the Health and Safety Commission classes the railways, along with gas conveyance, explosives, offshore and nuclear installations, as major hazardous industries; and why they do not include road transport in this category. [HL6]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): The Health and Safety Commission classes major hazard industries as those industries where a failure to eliminate, control or mitigate the main hazards arising in those industries could lead to a catastrophic incident occurring. Such industries are characterised by potentially dangerous operations involving complex management control arrangements and complex technical processes. Road transport is not the same. The main hazard is human error, which road transport legislation is designed to minimise.
Older Workers
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they agree with research conducted for Saga which showed that the proportion of people working past statutory retirement age will rise to 13 per cent by 2020.[HL10]
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: There is no statutory retirement age, only a state pension age. This is the date from which a person can receive state pension, regardless of whether they have retired or remain in work.
We are committed to extending choice and opportunities for older workers, and to introducing age discrimination legislation. In addition, we are promoting employment among those aged 50 and over and helping people over pensionable age to remain in work where they wish to do so. Our Age Positive Campaign is encouraging employers to adopt non-ageist employment practises, and studies show that there has already been a marked reduction in the number of companies using age in recruitment.
The Department for Work and Pensions does not produce projections of future levels of employment; however, recent reseach by the department shows that a fifth (33 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men) of the workforce aged 50 and over plan to continue working beyond state pension age. The report of this research, Factors Affecting the Labour Market Participation of Older People, was published in November and a copy is available in the Library.
Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How the effectiveness and efficiency of the Health and Safety Commission is monitored and when the National Audit Office last carried out a review of the commission.[HL82]Rebo
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) formally submits its proposed annual business plan to Ministers for their approval. Progress against the plan is monitored in regular meetings between the chair of the commission and Ministers. The Comptroller and Auditor-General audits the HSC's annual report and the accounts of the Health and Safety Commission and Executive before these are laid in Parliament.
The National Audit Office has not reviewed HSC. However, it has reviewed a number of aspects of the work of the executive.
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How the Health and Safety Commission exercises its corporate governance role over the Health and Safety Executive; and, in particular, how it assures itself that the executive is effective and efficient in its work.[HL83]
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The roles of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are defined by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Corporate governance issues are addressed in greater detail in the Framework of Accountabilities, the HSC and HSE response to the code of practice for board members of public bodies and the guide for non-departmental public bodies.
These arrangements are kept under review and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has agreed to proposals from the chair of the commission to further strengthen the commission's role from April 2004.
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