An increasing number of undergraduates have declared themselves bankrupt over the past eight years. In 1997 only one student informed the student loans company of their bankruptcy. This figure rose to seven in 2001 and 70 in 2004. This rise is attributed to media coverage of student bankruptcies, which may have encouraged more students to take the same route. Provisions were included in the Higher Education Act 2004 to prevent student loans being written off on discharge from bankruptcy.
Although no record of missing cutlery is kept, in 2005 the House of Commons Refreshment Department spent £10,630 on replacing damaged or lost cutlery.
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The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has spent £242,600 on works of art in the current financial year. The Government Art Collection (GAC) purchases art on behalf of other Government departments, and has an acquisition policy that is guided by a public body that includes directors of the Tate, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. The general public cannot gain open access to most of these works because of security issues in government buildings, but they may consult the GAC should they wish to see individual works of art.
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The average number of bicycle trips made per person in 2004 was 15. In that year, only one pedestrian fatality resulted from being hit by a cyclist. In both 2002 and 2003, four pedestrians died after being hit by cyclists. None of these pedestrian fatalities was hit by a cyclist on the pavement, but information on who was to blame for the incidents is not available.
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Since the power to issue fixed penalties for fly-posting and graffiti started in April 2004, 19 fixed penalty notices have been issued for graffiti and 57 for fly-posting in the period 2004-05. There were 2,329 notices issued for dog-fouling in the same period, a drop since 2003-04 when 2,742 penalties were issued.