house of lords official report - United Kingdom Parliament

WA 215 Written Answers
[17 JUNE 2009]
Written Answers
WA 216
Population Statistics
Question
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they
supply the United States Census Bureau with United
Kingdom population statistics; and, if so, in what
form and how frequently.
[HL4053]
Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls
within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority.
I have asked the authority to reply
Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to
Lord Taylor, dated June 2009.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply
to your Question asking whether Her Majesty’s
Government supply the United States Census Bureau
with United Kingdom population statistics; and, if so,
in what form and how frequently. (HL4053)
Population statistics are published on the ONS
website where they are available publicly for all users
at www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=
601&More=N.
No other Census or other population statistics are
supplied to the United States Census Bureau.
Public Bodies
Question
Asked by Lord Laird
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recourse
they have if a body set up by an Act of Parliament
exceeds its brief.
[HL3544]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness
Royall of Blaisdon): There are a wide range of public
bodies set up by Acts of Parliament. Any concerns
about the actions or performance of a particular
public body should be raised with the chairman of the
body concerned and/or the relevant sponsor department.
Public Sector: Contracts
Question
Asked by Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures
are in place in the process for tendering public
sector contracts to protect local specialist providers
of services from exploitation by prime contractors.
[HL4103]
The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury
(Lord Myners): The Office of Government Commerce
has issued guidance which encourages departments to
seek effective management of supply chains by their
prime contractors.
This guidance will be reviewed and updated as part
of a programme of work to implement the
recommendations of the Glover Advisory Committee,
which published its report Accelerating the SME economic
engine; through transparent, simple and strategic
procurement in November 2008. That work includes a
project to help ensure small businesses and other firms
acting as sub-contractors obtain contract conditions,
for example, promptness of payment, that are comparable
to those applied to the prime contractor.
Within central government it is mandatory for major
new construction projects to adopt the principles set
out in OGC’s Guide to Best Fair Payment practices.
That requires departments to adopt the principles of
OGC’s Fair Payment Charter for their construction
supply chains.
Questions for Written Answer: Websites
Question
Asked by Lord Laird
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they
refer to websites to answer parliamentary questions
instead of supplying the information, and whether
they will ensure that in future answers are provided
in full in the Official Report.
[HL4003]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness
Royall of Blaisdon): The presumption should be that,
unless it is of such size and complexity that it would
not be practicable to do so or would involve
disproportionate cost, requested information which is
readily available should be provided in the relevant
Written Answer itself, in addition to referring the
Member to the published sources. I will be reminding
departments of the need to do so.
Shipping: Ferry Operators
Questions
Asked by Lord Laird
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the
Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 9 June (WA 147-8),
whether the agency issued a temporary passengercarrying
certificate on or about 12 September 2008
for MV “CANNA”.
[HL4221]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the
Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 9 June (WA 147-8),
whether a temporary passenger-carrying certificate
was requested from the agency on or about 5 September
2008 for MV “CANNA”. [HL4223]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the
Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 9 June (WA 147-8),
what was meant by “had the MCA issued the
correct paperwork, the passenger certificate would
have been valid for a full year through to 18 September
2008”. [HL4226]
The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis):
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) issued
a short-term passenger certificate, valid for one month,
for the MV “CANNA”on 12 September 2008, following
an in water survey. No request was made to the MCA
for a temporary passenger-carrying certificate in
September 2008.
An error occurred in the re-issue of passenger
certification in July 2008 to take account of a change
of operator to the current operator. This certification
should have reflected previous changes, unrelated to
the current operator, which would have confirmed
that the certification was valid until 18 September
2008, rather than 31 August 2008.
On 5 September 2008 the operators of the
MV “CANNA” informed the MCA that the vessel
could not be surveyed out of water before 18 September