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Domesday Book: MoD and NHS Sports Facilities
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether Ministry of Defence sports facilities and National Health Service sports grounds will be listed in the Domesday Book of sports facilities.[HL331]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Ministry of Defence and National Health Service sports facilities will be recorded in the Domesday Book, provided they fall under one of the categories of facilities which are to be included in the book.
Facilities to be included are sports halls; swimming pools; indoor tennis facilities; indoor bowls facilities; athletics tracks; synthetic turf pitches; health and fitness facilities; playing fields; and golf courses.
Playing Pitch Strategies
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many, and which, (a) district councils; (b) county councils; and (c) unitary councils have in place playing pitch strategies.[HL332]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The number of district, county and unitary councils with playing pitch strategies in place is increasing. While no definitive list exists, a number of measures have recently been introduced that should ensure that the number of councils adopting effective playing pitch strategies continues to increase.
The Government are advocating the assessment of local needs for sport and recreation facilities and this is emphasised strongly in PPG 17, the Planning Guidance for Open Space, Sport and Recreation published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in July 2002.
In addition, the New Opportunities Fund Green Spaces programme, managed by Sport England, provides funding for local authority studies of sporting needs. Sport England has also produced revised guidance which makes the carrying out of local authority sporting assessments easier.
Export of Works of Art: Reviewing Committee's 2002–03 Annual Report
Baroness David asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will publish the 2002–03 annual report of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art.[HL486]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The 49th report of the reviewing committee on the Export of Works of Art for 2002–03 was laid before Parliament earlier today. The reviewing committee provides independent advice to the Minister of State for the Arts on whether cultural objects that are the subject of applications for export licences are of outstanding national importance, using the Waverley criteria. During the year, following recommendations from the reviewing committee, temporary bars were placed on the export of 23 items, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, armour and jewellery. Of these, 11 items valued at £4.2 million, were purchased by institutions in the UK. The report contains the reviewing committee's comments on policy matters relating to the operation
of the export control and the protection of cultural objects and details of each case considered during the reporting year 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003.The review will also be available on the DCMS website http://www.culture.gov.uk.
Fishing Licences: Spanish Interests
Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which fishing and trawler licences have been sold and transferred to Spanish trawlers during each of the past 10 years both from individual sales and fishing groups. [HL157]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): The only fishing vessels licensed by the Government and the devolved administrations are those registered in the United Kingdom by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen or by the relevant authorities in Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey. Comprehensive records on the beneficial ownership of such vessels are not maintained but based on advice from coastal fisheries offices it is estimated the following number of vessels have been part or wholly owned by Spanish interests in each year since 1996.
| Number | |
| 1996 | 107 |
| 1997 | 107 |
| 1998 | 97 |
| 1999 | 81 |
| 2000 | 71 |
| 2001 | 75 |
| 2002 | 69 |
| 2003 | 66 |
Information on the individual licensing transactions affecting these vessels is not readily available but the overall number of licences held by Spanish interests will have fallen broadly in with the decline in vessel numbers.
The Duke of Montrose asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Whitty: The UK intends to publish a draft National Allocation Plan (NAP) for consultation in January 2004. The draft NAP will set out the total quantity of allowances which the UK intends to issue, a list of installations and their indicative allocations of carbon allowances or the duration for the first phase of the scheme, together with details on the treatment of new entrants.
The EU Emissions Trading Directive requires all member states to submit their national allocation plans to the European Commission by the end of March 21004 and to make final decisions on the allocation of allowances by the end of September 2004.
The Duke of Montrose asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Whitty: The EU Emissions Trading Scheme is due to begin in 2005. The UK intends to publish a draft National Allocation Plan (NAP) for consultation in January 2004; in which the method for allocating carbon allowances will be set out.
The EU Emissions Trading Directive requires that the total level of emissions reductions required from the scheme is consistent with member states achieving their Kyoto Protocol emissions targets and with their national climate change policies. Therefore, historic levels of emissions, output or input metrics may be used to allocate this total level of emissions to sectors and installations.
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Whitty: In the period 1 July 1996 to 28 September 1998 6,388,549 cattle births were registered and passports issued by UK authorities.
Since the opening of the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) the annual GB birth registration and first issue of passport figures have been:
When they expect to issue their draft plan for the implementation of the European Union carbon emissions trading arrangements.[HL277]
Whether the proposal for the licensing of carbon emissions would begin with actual historic levels or would be calculated on the basis of actual historic levels.[HL278]
How many cattle passports have been issued each year since the start of the scheme.[HL343]
1998 614,147 (28 September–31 December)
1999 2,946,717
2000 3,025,859
2001 2,680,928
2002 2,869,511
2003 2,841,378 (to 3 December 2003)
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the total cost of the cattle passport scheme in each year since its inception; and what is the breakdown for each year of (a) staff costs; (b) developing and maintaining the necessary software; (c) the associated hardware; and (d) any other costs.[HL344]
17 Dec 2003 : Column WA158
Lord Whitty: The British Cattle Movement Service was set up in 1998 to administer the cattle passport scheme. The staff costs for the service since that time are as follows:
| £ million | |
| 1998–99 | 2.66 |
| 1999–2000 | 6.56 |
| 2000–01 | 6.67 |
| 2001–02 | 7.75 |
| 2002–03 | 8.85 |
The cattle passport scheme is administered using the cattle tracing system which cost £14.3 million to develop. In the past two years, maintenance of the Cattle Tracing System has cost £1.1 million and £1 million respectively and software to support the scheme cost £2.88 million and £5.5 million respectively. Non-pay costs in the years 2002–03 were:
Prior to 1998, the cattle passport scheme was administered by regional offices of the then MAFF. Figures for this period are not available as they are incorporated into the running costs of other schemes. Development costs before 2002 were administered from budgets outside of the service.
Lord Roberts of Conwy asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: Audit arrangements in Scotland are governed by the provisions of the Scotland Act 1999 and the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 (PFA). The post of Auditor-General for Scotland was established under Section 69 of the Scotland Act and Audit Scotland was established under Section 10 of the PFA. The board of Audit Scotland consists of the Auditor-General, the chairman of the Accounts Commission and three other members. Audit Scotland supports the Auditor-General and the Accounts Commission to secure the audit of relevant accounts and to ensure that organisations spending public money in Scotland use it properly, efficiently and effectively.
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
claire
Lord Davies of Oldham: There are no plans to change the following roundabouts to grade separated junctions:
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Davies of Oldham: The estimated cost per route mile for each motorway scheme in the current motorway widening programme is as follows:
£ million
1998–99 2.76
1999–2000 5.49
2000–01 6.58
2001–02 6.49
2002–03 6.94
What are the audit arrangements in Scotland corresponding to those proposed for Wales in the Public Audit (Wales) Bill.[HL215]
Which roundabouts on the A1 trunk road they have no plans to change to grade separated junctions; and when they expect to have such plans for each roundabout concerned.[HL202]
A1 Buckden
A1/A421 Black Cat
A1/A603 Sandy
A1/A6001 Biggleswade North
A1/A6001 Biggleswade South
A1 Berwick Bypass at Scremeston, East Ord and Highfield
17 Dec 2003 : Column WA160
What is the estimated cost per mile for each motorway of the current motorway widening programme.[HL415]
£ million
M1 Junctions 6A–10: 22.9
M1 Junctions 10–13: 25.4
M6 Carlisle—Guardsmill Extension: 17.1
M25 Junctions 12–15: 19.7
M60 Junctions 5–8: 24.4
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