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Prisoners: Life Sentences
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many life prisoners are currently held beyond the tariff set by the trial judge; and what are the principal reasons for this. [HL2063]
6 Mar 2007 : Column WA42
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The latest available information on the detention of tariff-expired life sentence prisoners remains as set out in Lord Falconer's reply to you on 6 February 2003. Unfortunately, data relating to the number of such prisoners currently being held beyond the tariff expiry date are no longer held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The release of tariff-expired life sentence prisoners is a matter for the independent Parole Board. No life sentence prisoner can expect to be released unless and until the Parole Board is satisfied that continued detention is no longer necessary for the protection of the public. The main criterion governing the board's consideration is the risk of serious harm that the prisoner may pose to others.
Prisoners: Supervision
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prisoners are currently subject to supervision under the multi-agency public protection arrangements. [HL2064]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Within the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), the police, probation and prison services work together to assess and manage the risk presented by the most serious sexual and violent offenders in the community, so as to protect the public. Serving prisoners are not therefore subject to active MAPPA supervision. However, prisoners who need to be supervised within MAPPA on release from custody are assessed well in advance of their release date, in order that the MAPPA agencies may draw up risk management and supervision plans to take effect as soon as they are released.
National and local data on MAPPA offenders managed in the community are available in the Libraries of both Houses and at www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk/output/page30.asp.
Roads: School-related Traffic
Baroness Quin asked Her Majesty's Government:
What information or statistics they hold about the percentage of car traffic in urban areas in England in the morning rush hour which is school-related. [HL2233]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: According to the National Travel Survey in 2005 14 per cent of car trips between 8 am and 8.59 am in urban areas during term time in England were for “escort education”, mainly taking children to school.
6 Mar 2007 : Column WA43
Sport: 2006 European Athletics Championships
Lord Luke asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total amount spent on the British team's participation in the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, including both the funding received directly by the athletes and the funding spent on preparation, training camps and support staff. [HL2196]
Lord Davies of Oldham: As UK Athletics is a company limited by guarantee, neither the Government nor UK Sport, their lead agency for high-performance sport, are in a position to confirm the total amount spent on the British team at the European Championships in Gothenburg.
However, UK Sport is providing a total of £5,284,053 to UK Athletics between April 2006 and 2007, during which time the European Championships took place. This comprises £4,534,066 for UK Athletics’ high-performance programmes and operations, and £749,987 for athlete personal awards.
Sport: UK Athletics
Lord Luke asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people are currently employed by UK Athletics; and whether there are any plans to change this number. [HL2168]
Lord Davies of Oldham: UK Athletics is a company limited by guarantee and is not therefore directly accountable to Government for its day-to-day operations. For this reason, neither the Government nor UK Sport, their lead agency for elite sport, are in a position to provide this information.
Lord Luke asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their assessment of the comments made by Frank Dick, the former head of British Athletics, reported in the Evening Standard on 10 December 2006, on changes that need to be made to UK Athletics before the London Olympics in 2012. [HL2215]
Lord Davies of Oldham: UK Sport, the Government's lead agency for elite sport, is working closely with all national governing bodies for sport, including UK Athletics, to help them to deliver effective and efficient high-performance programmes. It welcomes any constructive comments on how the programmes can be improved in order to deliver the best possible performance across all Olympic and Paralympic sports in the run-up to 2012.
6 Mar 2007 : Column WA44
Taxation: VAT
Baroness Shephard of Northwold asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total number of outstanding claims against HM Revenue and Customs for the repayment of VAT allegedly charged improperly from 1970 to the present day. [HL2302]
Lord Davies of Oldham: There are 1,070 claims currently lodged with HM Revenue and Customs for repayment of VAT covering various periods from 1 April 1973 to the present day, of which 617 are subject to appeal before the VAT and Duties Tribunals.
Terrorism: Independent Reviewer's Report
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the second report of the independent reviewer pursuant to Section 14(3) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 by Lord Carlile of Berriew, dated November 2006, was not published until 19 February 2007. [HL2334]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Lord Carlile’s second annual report pursuant to Section 14(3) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 is dated January 2007, not November 2006. It was published as soon as practicable, given the February Recess. His additional report on the Secretary of State's quarterly reports to Parliament under Section 14(1) of the 2005 Act is dated November 2006; that was published in December 2006 and is also included as an annexe to his second annual report on the 2005 Act.
Transport: Spending
Lord Bradley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any assessment has been made of the comparative levels of spending on transport as a proportion of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom compared with other European Union countries; and, if so, what those comparative levels of spending are. [HL2305]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: No recent comparable figures are available on levels of public spending on transport in EU countries.
We are aware that Eurostat publishes data relating to consumption spending on transport for the EU 25. Data on the final consumption of households for transport are published in Energy and Transport in Figures (2006). We have not made an assessment of what this spending is as a proportion of GDP for these countries.
6 Mar 2007 : Column WA45
Turkey: Human Rights
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have made, or intend to make, representations to the Government of Turkey concerning the safety and welfare of the Kurdish human rights lawyer, Miss Rojbin Tugan. [HL2169]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): We are aware of the situation but have not made representations to the Government of Turkey regarding Ms Tugan's safety and welfare. However, our embassy in Ankara is in touch with Ms Tugan and we have assured her that we will do so, if she wishes us to.
Waste Management: Brofiscin Quarry
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps are being taken by the Environment Agency in Wales against individuals and companies
6 Mar 2007 : Column WA46
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: The Environment Agency Wales and the local authority, Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council, have been working in partnership with the local health board, the National Health Service in Wales and the Food Standards Agency to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the issue at Brofiscin Quarry.
While the investigations of the Environment Agency in Wales have confirmed pollution of deep groundwater and intermittent pollution of surface waters, they have found no detectable risk to drinking supplies. The agency will be publishing its latest report on this matter in the spring of this year, which will bring together all monitoring results taken to date and provide an interpretation of what is happening on site.
Assessment of what appropriate remedial action is necessary is ongoing. Investigations into identifying the “appropriate persons” responsible for the cost of these remedial works are also still ongoing.
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