Chiswickite - formerly The Croydonian

Andrew Rosindell has taken a break from enquiring about the remaining pink bit on the map / our four-legged friends (his usual topics) to wheedle out something of huge import for the nation:

"Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many swimming pools he has visited on official business in the last 12 months. [267030]

Andy Burnham: In the last 12 months I have visited five swimming pools on official business".

I hope Burnham fell in at least once, that way we could have discovered whether his mascara is water-proof.

Elsewhere, Frank Field (PBUH) wanted to know this:

"To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate was for incidents of violence against the person reported to the police in each month in the last two years".

Data was forthcoming, and would appear to suggest that London's, Cleveland's, Thames Valley's etc finest are at their most effective in the colder half of the year:

Perhaps sunstroke interferes with operational efficiency, or summer criminals are smarter than winter criminals. Campbell caveated 'From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed a very small limited set of circumstances', but the seasonal point stands.

Elsewhere, Miliband and Clinton have not been talking about the DPRK:

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the US administration on the political situation in North Korea. [265398]

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has regular conversations with the US Secretary of State, but they have not discussed North Korea recently.

I anticipate a denunciation at KCNA ere long.

Francis Maude came up a question more likely to prompt teeth grinding from the response:

"Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much had been spent from the Union Modernisation Fund on grants to each trade union at the latest date for which figures are available; and how much of the available funding had not been allocated".

Replies Mr. McFadden [holding answer 13 March 2009]: Projects under rounds 1 and 2 of the Union Modernisation Fund have been allocated from a commitment of £6,393,024. Round 3 of the UMF, which is open to applications until 5 June, has an indicative budget of £3 million, the allocations will be determined once the round has closed and the process to assess the bids has taken place and awards have been made to successful bids.

In 2007-2008 the various unions have contributed £20.5m, so getting roughly one pound back for every three they donate is not a bad deal. If I have the time I will compare donations with grants union by union later.

Labels: Parliament, Unions

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 9:28 am. You can skip to the end and leave a response.