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7 Feb 2007 : Column WA137
Written Answers
Wednesday 7 February 2007
Aviation: Gibraltar Flight Safety
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham on 16 January (WA 134), what is their response to passenger reports that there was a military Chinook helicopter not, as stated in the Answer, in the air, but on the runway when they left their British Airways flight. [HL1822]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: We can confirm that there was a Chinook helicopter on the runway at the time that the passengers were disembarking from the British Airways aircraft. This helicopter had been holding three nautical miles south of the airfield while the British Airways aircraft made its approach and landing at Gibraltar. It was cleared to land immediately after the British Airways flight.
BBC: Licence Fee
Lord Bradley asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the percentage increase in the cost of the television licence fee in each of the past 10 years; and what was the percentage increase in the number of licence fee payers in each of the past 10 years. [HL1624]
| Year1 | Annual increase in the licence fee | Annual increase in the number of licences in force |
| 1 Licences in force are recorded as at 31 March each year; fee increases come into effect on 1 April. | ||
Benefits: Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance
Baroness Hollis of Heigham asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 17 January (HL604, 605 and 606), what is their estimate of the number of people of working age who currently do not
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton):
a) Analysis of the Family Resources Survey shows that, of those people currently caring for at least 20 hours a week, around 120,000 are not building entitlement to the basic state pension and around 240,000 are not accruing entitlement to state second pension. It is possible that some of these will be caring for individuals with lower rate disability living allowance or on incapacity benefit, but due to data limitations it is not possible to say precisely how many.
b) We estimate that of those people caring for at least 20 hours a week in 2025 around 220,000 may not be building entitlement to the basic state pension and around 330,000 may not be accruing entitlement to state second pension. It is possible that some of these will be caring for individuals with lower rate disability living allowance or on incapacity benefit, but due to data limitations it is not possible to estimate how many. Others may be caring for individuals who are awarded the middle or highest rate care component disability living allowance, attendance allowance or constant attendance allowance and therefore could qualify for the basic state pension or state second pension through the (proposed) new carer's credit from 2010.
Notes: Figures are based on the Family Resources Survey of the number of people who currently report themselves to be caring for 20 hours or more a week and who are not otherwise qualifying for basic state pension and/or the state second pension. 2025 estimates also reflect demographic trends and the department's carer's allowance caseload projections.
Copyright
Lord Pendry asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in light of the ongoing review of the European Commission's recommendation on cross-border copyright licensing, published in October 2006, they have any plans to implement the recommendation into European Union law. [HL1673]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Truscott): There is no requirement for the recommendation to be implemented. However, the Government do not believe it appropriate at this time to press for legislative action. Industry is working to implement the recommendation and needs time for this to take effect before legally binding instruments are considered.
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Energy: Marine Generation
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney is making progress in its elaboration of marine-based electric generation prototypes. [HL1847]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Truscott): The European Marine Energy Centre does not develop marine generation technologies but provides purpose-built testing facilities for marine energy device developers.
Last year the centre was extended to include a new tidal-stream testing facility. To date the centre has hosted the testing of a single wave device.
Enterprise Capital Funds
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
What sums have been allocated to, and invested by, each of the six enterprise capital funds selected by Government since the 2006 Budget. [HL1693]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Truscott): As a result of the competitive pathfinder round for enterprise capital funds (ECFs), five funds have been launched (as set out in the table below). One fund withdrew from the process.
As the ECF funds have only recently launched, data on investment activity are not yet due and we are therefore unable to confirm the sums invested by any fund at present.
| Fund | Legal Agreement Signed | Total Size (Private Investor & Government Commitment) | Total Government Commitment |
Gambling: Casinos
Viscount Astor asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the evaluation proposed on the impact of the 17 new casinos announced by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 30 January will be undertaken by the Casino Advisory Panel. [HL1802]
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Lord Davies of Oldham: No. The role of the Casino Advisory Panel was to advise the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the areas where the one regional, eight large and eight small casinos permitted by the Gambling Act 2005 should be located, and it has now completed that task.
Viscount Astor asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the evaluation proposed of the new casinos will include an evaluation of existing casinos. [HL1803]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The primary purpose of the evaluation will be to assess the social and economic impact of the new casinos. While the methodology for the evaluation has not yet been finalised, it may include some assessment of existing casinos for comparative purposes.
India: Dalits
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Department for International Development (DfID) office in India has made an assessment of the proportion of Dalits in India who are below the poverty line in comparison with the general population; and what priority the DfID office in India gives, in its pursuit of the millennium development goals, to political advocacy on behalf of Dalits suffering from discrimination. [HL1650]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): The DfID office in India regularly assesses progress on poverty reduction and other millennium development goals (MDGs) in India. These assessments are based on official Government of India (GoI) statistics.
The most recent assessment of progress at the national level was undertaken in September 2004. The estimate of Dalits (also known as scheduled castes) below the poverty line is 35 per cent in rural areas, as compared with 21 per cent among other groups, and in urban areas 39 per cent of Dalits are below the poverty line as compared to 21 per cent among other groups. This is based on the most recent large-scale national sample survey of the GoI carried out in 2000. The overall proportion of the population living in poverty was assessed as 35 per cent according to the international (dollar a day) poverty line, or 360 million people.
DfID's programme in India operates in support of the GoI's efforts to combat caste and ethnic discrimination and social exclusion in all its forms, including by strengthening programme design and monitoring to ensure that the benefits of development reach Dalits and other minority populations. DfID does not support particular programmes aimed at minority communities but promotes social inclusion in all its programmes.
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In education, DfID supports India's national programme for achieving universal primary education (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan—SSA). One of the objectives of this programme, which was launched in September 2004, is to narrow the gap that exists between the enrolment of scheduled caste and other children.
Special efforts are needed to ensure that Dalits are able to exercise their rights to access mainstream services. In health, for example, where child mortality (under five years) among the Dalits is 83 per 1,000 live births as compared to 22 for the general population, DfID has committed £252 million in support of the GoI's national programme to promote reproductive and child health (RCH2). The programme aims to reduce all disparities in maternal and infant mortality and has specific indicators for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, women and children. There are financial incentives in RCH2 for reaching the hard-to-reach groups. The programme will improve the data available (at the national level) to track progress and make informed decisions to achieve better health outcomes for Dalits and Adivasi (scheduled tribes) women and children.
Jobcentres: Customer Care Officers
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many customer care officers are now on site on a average day in jobcentres in the United Kingdom; how many individual jobcentres have on average (a) one; (b) two; (c) three; or (d) four or more customer care officers on site. [HL1630]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): Currently there are a total of 1,542 customer care officers (CCOs) deployed across 595 jobcentres.
Jobcentres with two CCOs = 172
Jobcentres with three CCOs = 116
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