Written Answers of 30 April 2003

PRIVY COUNCIL

  Age Discrimination
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the President of the Council what steps the Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination. [109450]

  Dr. John Reid
  My Department has a commitment that there should be no unfair treatment of staff on the basis of age. The Privy Council Office has implemented the recommendations of the Performance and Innovation Unit report, "Winning the Generation Game", in particular that permanent staff can stay on up to the age of 65 subject to operational requirements.

  My Department currently employs two staff who are beyond retirement age. Both are fee paid and employed for their skills and to meet the needs of the Department. My Department has also taken advantage of the New Deal for Over 50s.

  Sickness Absence
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the President of the Council how many staff in his Department were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109252]

  Dr. John Reid
  The Privy Council Office is fully committed to Government targets on reducing sickness absence. The sickness levels of all staff are monitored monthly to ensure that the Department is on target to meet, and maintain, this commitment.

  Due to the size of my Department, I am unable to provide the hon. Member with the information requested as it may lead to the identification of individuals.

TREASURY

  Accountancy Services
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03. [109487]

  Ruth Kelly
  This information is not held in the format required and any further examination would be of a disproportional cost.

  Benefits Uprating
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to adjust the index by which pension and other benefit levels are uprated. [110236]
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  Ruth Kelly
  The Government made a commitment to raise the full basic state pension by the higher of the September RPI or 2.5 per cent., based on the RPIX, for the remainder of this Parliament.

  Budget Data Sources
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a file of Budget data sources. [110230]

  Dawn Primarolo
  The "Budget 2003 technical annex: data sources, and economy charts and tables", is in both Libraries of Parliament, and is available on the Treasury website.

  Charitable Organisations
  Mr. Stephen O'Brien
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which charitable organisations his Department has funded in each year since 1997. [105684]

  Ruth Kelly
  The Government supports causes of a charitable nature (such as international development, help for elderly people and animal welfare) through the relevant Departments, whose programmes include work through the voluntary sector. The Government has also demonstrated its support through the Budget 2000 'Getting Britain Giving' package of tax reliefs to encourage charitable giving, and further reforms in Budget 2002. Tax reliefs are now worth £2 billion a year to charities.

  The Treasury itself supports charities through practical means. Both Treasury and the Inland Revenue have provided secondments to the Giving Campaign which is also funded jointly by the Inland Revenue and the charitable sector; we have opened the Payroll Giving scheme to our own staff; and we are considering donating life-expired computer equipment for use in developing countries.

  Furthermore, on Wednesday 30 April HM Treasury will—in conjunction with the Compact Working Group on relations between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector-publish a consultation on the use of the £125 million fttfi/rebuilders fund announced as part of the 2002 Spending Review. The fund is intended to enable the voluntary and community sector to help deliver public services, and as such the proposals were developed jointly with the voluntary and community sector.

  Corporation Tax
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the basis for his calculations of increased corporation tax receipts, as summarised in paragraph C46 of Budget 2003. [110228]

  Mr. Boateng
  The increase in corporation tax receipts shown in Budget 2003 is largely due to the expectation that financial company profits will return to their medium-term trends as recovery in the world economy becomes more firmly established and gathers pace.

  Early Retirement
  Mr. Gardiner
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on economic
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  modelling conducted by his Department to show the impact of early retirement on the economy for the next 10 years. [110405]

  Ruth Kelly
  No macroeconomic modelling has been done of the impact of early retirement on the economy over the next 10 years. Increased early retirement in the near future would tend to reduce the supply of labour available to employers and so, all other things equal, potentially reduce the growth of employment and output in the near future. However the recent pensions Green Paper explained that the average UK age of withdrawal from the labour force of retirement is relatively high compared to most other EU member states, and set out a range of measures to enable those wishing to work for longer to do so.

  Energy Efficiency
  Mr. Yeo
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement, in relation to his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible, on(a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures, and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years. [108856]

  Ruth Kelly
  The information has been placed in the Library.

  EU Committees
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list(a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU committee on the harmonisation of the compilation of gross national product at market prices, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110275]

  Ruth Kelly
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

  Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 30 April 2003:
  As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the GNP Committee of the EU. (110275)
  The GNP Committee is made up of representatives from each member state and chaired by the Commission. The UK is usually represented by the Director of National Accounts Coordination Division of the Office for National Statistics (Senior Civil Service Band 1) accompanied by the Head of Europe and Dissemination Branch (SEO equivalent grade).
  Since January 2002 the Committee has met twice; on 24 June 2002 and 5 November 2002.
  The main work of the Committee is in ensuring the harmonisation of GNP for Member States and consistency with the conventions of the European System of Accounts (ESA). During 2002, the Committee received reports on the progress of the Commission's work on their detailed examination of the methods for estimating GNP in each member state. It also considered the best approach to complying with the ESA in the areas of consumption of fixed capital, insurance, reinvested income on foreign direct investment, artistic originals and illegal
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  activities. The committee also gave its opinion on the completion of the questionnaires on annual GNP estimates completed by member states.
  The Committee took a range of procedural decisions in 2002 which did not require communication to the House of Commons.

  Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent consultations he has had with(a) the Governor and (b) officers of the Bank of England on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices. [110232]

  Ruth Kelly
  The Chancellor regularly meets with the Governor of the Bank of England to discuss a wide range of issues. The Treasury representative to the MPC and other Treasury officials also regularly discuss economic issues with counterparts in the Bank of England.

  Income Tax Regulations
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the Income Tax (Sub-contractors in the Construction Industry and Employments) (Amendment) Regulations. [109971]

  Dawn Primarolo
  No representations have been received regarding these Regulations.

  Inflation Indicator
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on(a) the progress and (b) the scope of the Treasury's review of the detailed implications of changing the indicator of inflation from RPIX to HICP; and whether the Treasury's review will consider the implications of replacing RPIX with an adapted version of HICP. [110235]

  Ruth Kelly
  There are several measures of inflation published monthly by the ONS, including RPIX and HICP. The Chancellor made clear in his Budget statement that the Treasury would continue to examine the detailed implications of adopting the HICP. The Government intends that measures of inflation based on the RPI will continue to be published.

  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the(a) current and (b) future use of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices as a measure of inflation in the United Kingdom. [110233]

  Ruth Kelly
  The Chancellor said in his Budget statement that the Treasury would continue to examine the detailed implications of changing the inflation target to an HICP basis. He reaffirmed the symmetrical inflation target based on the current RPIX measure for this financial year of 2.5 per cent.

  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contingency plans he has to adjust the inflation target for the Monetary Policy Committee in the event of a move from RPIX to HICP. [110234]

  Ruth Kelly
  The Chancellor reaffirmed the inflation target for this financial year at 2.5 per cent. on the current RPIX measure.
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  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of(a) the European Union, (b) EU member states and (c) the European Central Bank regarding a possible change from using RPIX as the indicator of inflation to using HICP. [110237]

  Ruth Kelly
  While Treasury officials have regular discussions with counterparts in the European Commission, other member states and the European Central Bank on a wide range of issues, the Bank of England Act (1998) gives the Treasury responsibility for specifying what price stability is taken to consist of in relation to the monetary policy objectives of the Bank of England.

  Oil Price
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil at the time of each budget since 1997. [110240]

  John Healey
  For the purposes of the public finance projections, the following audited assumption has been adopted since the 1999 pre-Budget report:"The oil price will be based on the average of independent forecasts for one year ahead. If the average of independent forecasts shows a fall in the oil price, that price in real terms will be used for the remainder of the five year forecast period. If the average of independent forecasts for one year ahead shows a rise, then the previous convention that oil prices would be close to their current levels in nominal dollar terms over the coming year, and remain flat in real terms thereafter, will be adopted."

  Between Budget 1997 and the 1999 pre-Budget report it was assumed that oil prices remained close to recent levels in the short term and thereafter remained flat in real terms. These assumptions are set out in more detail in Audit of Assumptions for the pre-Budget report November 1997 (HC 361, Session 1997–98), Audit of the Future Oil Price Convention for the November 1999 pre-Budget report (HC 873, Session 1998–99) and Audit of Assumptions for the 2002 pre-Budget report (HC 109, Session 2002–03).

  The starting per barrel oil price assumed in each budget since 1997 is listed in the following table.

  $

  Budget 2003

  26.6

  Budget 2002

  21.5

  Budget 2001

  24.4

  Budget 2000

  22.4

  Budget 1999

  11.0

  Budget 1998

  14.5

  Budget 1997

  18.8

  Retirement Benefit Schemes Order
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about The Retirement Benefit Schemes (Indexation of Earnings Cap) Order. [110511]

  Dawn Primarolo
  We have received no representations about The Retirement Benefit Schemes (Indexation of Earnings Cap) Order 2003 (SI 2003 No. 843).

  Savings
  Mr. Gardiner
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes there have been over the last decade in the amount of money placed in private savings by those aged between 20 and 30 years of age. [110407]

  Ruth Kelly
  In order to provide a complete picture of changes in saving patterns over time, one would need disaggregated household data covering all asset classes—from liquid financial savings to longer-term investments such as pensions and housing—as well as debt. Such a comprehensive survey of assets and debt does not currently exist in the UK. However, as the recent pensions Green Paper made clear, it is essential to develop good-quality data about people's saving over time; their overall assets; and the savings and assets of partners. Action is being taken to address these issues. The Office for National Statistics recently reviewed pension contribution statistics. This review highlighted a number of new data sources that are currently planned or under way, including a survey of assets and wealth.

  Sickness Absence
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109258]

  Ruth Kelly
  The number of staff who had a period of sick absence lasting more than 30 working days is as follows:

  Number of staff

  2002

  24

  2001

  23

  2000

  14

  1999

  10

  1998

  5

  Tax Credits
  Mr. Truswell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps he is taking to address hardship caused by delays in the payment of child tax credit to claimants previously in receipt of working family tax credit; [109369]

  (2) what action he is taking to minimise delays between the final payment of working families tax credit and the first payment of child tax credit to claimants; [109337]

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why some taxpayers who were previously receiving working families tax credit are experiencing delay in receiving payments of child tax credit; how many cases of delay are occurring; and when it is expected that the new system of child tax credits will be working properly and handling claims expeditiously. [109374]

  Dawn Primarolo
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The Inland Revenue asked people to make claims for the Child Tax Credit by the end of January to ensure that as many claims as possible could be processed in time for first payment in April or May. Whether first payment of
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  the Child Tax Credit is due in April or May depends on whether people are due to receive it weekly or four weekly. Two thirds of all claimants are due to receive their direct payments of tax credits every four weeks. If they sent their claim to the Inland Revenue by the end of January, and there are no outstanding enquiries, they can expect to receive their first tax credit payments no later than 2 May.

  The vast majority of those opting to be paid weekly and who claimed by the end of January should have received their money already. Claimants are being contacted in the small minority of cases where further information is needed to process their claims.

  Claims received after the end of January are being processed as quickly as possible. Claims from former recipients of Working Families' Tax Credit and Disabled Person's Tax Credit are being prioritised.

  In the tiny minority of cases where a payment is due and has not been received, as an alternative to phoning the helpline, claimants may want to visit their local Inland Revenue office. Local offices can check the status of a claim and, where appropriate, can arrange an emergency payment of tax credits.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many families are receiving(a) child tax credit and (b) amounts equivalent to child tax credit through income support or jobseeker's allowance who will be automatically transferred on to child tax credit before October 2004; [110474]

  (2) what the take-up rate was for working families' tax credit in each year since 1999; what target he has set for the take-up rate for working tax credit; and what estimate he has made of the likely take-up rate of working tax credit. [110475]

  Dawn Primarolo
  I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) on 28 April 2003,Official Report, column 162W.

  Tax/Social Security Changes (Budget)
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the basis for his calculations of increases in net taxes and social security contributions as a percentage of GDP in the years to 2007 as summarised in Table C10 of Budget 2003. [110227]

  Mr. Boateng
  Changes in net taxes and social security contributions as a percentage of GDP, as shown in Table Cio of Budget 2003, are due to a number of factors, including:The return to trend of financial company profits from their current levels;
  Normal fiscal drag; and
  Measures announced in Budget 2002.

  Taxation
  Mr. Howard
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has commissioned into the relationship between(a) direct and (b) indirect taxation and an individual's incentive to work; and if he will publish the results. [108461]
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  Dawn Primarolo
  The Government is committed to developing a wider base of knowledge to help evaluate the effect of measures and inform the effect of possible future policies on work incentives. Policy advice, analyses and research is being used to develop our understanding of the interaction of reform to the tax and benefit system arid work incentives.

  No research has been commissioned that looks at the effect of indirect taxes on work incentives.

  Two-year Test
  Mr. Webb
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 14 April 2003, ref. 109148, on the two-year test, if women on the reduced rate of national insurance contributions who were out of work for more than two years had to make a claim to be treated as full-rate contributors. [110170]

  Dawn Primarolo
  No claim is required. The election to pay reduced rate contributions is automatically terminated.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

  Departmental Annual Report
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the annual report of her Department will be published. [107885]

  Alun Michael
  The spring 2003 Departmental Reports are to be published between 28 April and 16 May 2003. We will publish our Departmental Report within this window.

  Departmental Events
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the(a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) other conferences sponsored by her Department and which took place on non-Departmental premises in the last 12 months, broken down by title, purpose, date and cost. [104270]

  Alun Michael
  The following is a list of the events commissioned centrally by Defra and which were part of the Department's publicity programme. The events, incurred by Defra's centralised publicity budget were commissioned at a cost of £1.2 million.

  The information for each agency and non-departmental body for which Defra is responsible could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.

  Shows 2002–2003

  Agrivision At the National

  Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh

  Towards Tomorrow's Countryside

  Sprays and Sprayers 2002

  Lincolnshire Show

  Tatton Park Flower Show 2002

  Fruit Focus 2002

  Pig and Poultry Fair

  Devon County

  Grassland (and MUCK)

  Beef 2002

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  Royal Bath and West

  Royal Cornwall

  South of England

  Cereals

  Three Counties

  East of England

  BBC Gardener's World Live

  Royal Norfolk

  Royal Show

  Hampton Court Flower Show

  Great Yorkshire

  CLA Game Fair

  New Forest and Hampshire

  Sheep

  Royal Lancashire

  Northumberland Show

  National Scrapie Plan Stand

  The Royal Welsh Show

  Agrivision Roadshow 2002–2003

  The Royal Smithfield Show

  Discover Dogs

  Town and and Country Show 2002

  The Supreme Cat Show 2002

  The National Cat Club Show

  Scientific Advisers Presentations

  British Equine Event November 2002

  Sustainability In Public Service

  E-nabling Defra Conference

  The Daily Mail Ideal Home Show

  Events 2002–2003

  Eight Regional Events On Sustainable Food and Farming

  European Dairy Event

  Career Fair and Welcome Events

  Sustainable Development Strategy Launch

  British Equine Event

  Abbotts Hall Farm (Agri-Environment)

  Skill City

  International Food and Drink Exhibition 2003

  Brockhole Visitors Centre

  Wildlife Crimes Unit

  Marine Stewardship Event

  Launch of New Atlas of British and Irish Flora

  Enabling Defra Event

  Communications Directorate Diversity Workshops

  Community Renewable Initiative Workshop

  DEFRA Hunting Hearing

  OECD Launch

  ESC Study Group Meeting (EU)

  Public Appointments Seminars

  Sustainable Development

  Conferences and Seminars 2002–2003

  Bio Energy Conference

  Flood and Coastal Management Conference

  Countryside Stewardship Campaign, 10th Anniversary

  Conference

  Noise Forum Conference

  Creating the Future 2002

  Employment Relations Act
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff 380W
  in her Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999. [108338]

  Alun Michael
  Defra has contractual arrangements in place which are generally more generous than those provided for by the Act. Such arrangements apply to all staff irrespective of grade or working pattern and form part of Defra's wider commitment to have arrangements in place which allow staff to create an appropriate work/life balance. The Department does not keep a separate record of the number of staff who have had time off work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

  Letter from Peter Greig-Smith to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply on behalf of CEFAS to your question concerning how many staff have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
  The information is not collated centrally within the Agency and could only be collected at disproportionate cost from individual personnel records.
  The Secretary of State has also asked me to reply to your question regarding how many staff have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
  There have been no requests for parental leave under the provisions of this Directive.

  Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John Bercow, dated 11 April 2003:
  I have been asked to respond directly to your two recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the Employment Relations Act 1999 and the Parental Leave Directive.
  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department have taken time off work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
  Reply: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has policies in place which allow for special leave for staff to attend to domestic incidents. Responsibility for authorising and monitoring such leave is devolved to individual management units and can only be collated at disproportionate cost.
  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
  Reply: The RPA is fully committed to helping employees achieve a better balance between home and work through family friendly policies Accordingly, the RPA has policies in place to allow for Parental leave but the information required is not held centrally and cannot be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.

  Letter from Steven Edwards to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many staff in her Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
  For the period 1/4/02 to 31/3/03 approval was given in 43 cases for staff to attend to domestic incidents. There were a further 13 cases of paternity leave which is also provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999. (Figures for earlier years are not held.) The VLA has contractual arrangements in place which are generally more generous than those provided for by the Act. Such arrangements apply to all staff irrespective of Pay Band or working pattern and form part of the VLA's wider commitment to have arrangements in place which allow staff to create an appropriate work/life balance.
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  Letter from Mike Roberts to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003.
  The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, with respect to the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning how many staff have taken time off work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
  CSL offers both paid and unpaid special leave to staff faced with urgent domestic crises. No claims for unpaid leave have been received since the introduction of this entitlement.
  A number of applications have been made for paid special leave in these circumstances and the overwhelming majority have been granted. However, the details of these claims for paid leave are not held centrally and the information could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

  Nuclear Waste
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cubic metres of low-grade nuclear waste from decommissioned power stations have recently been identified by the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee. [109621]

  Mr. Meacher
  The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's (RWMAC's) Advice to Ministers on the Management of Low Activity Solid Radioactive Wastes Within the United Kingdom was published in March 2003. What the Committee pointed out is that as nuclear site decommissioning plans, including those on which nuclear power stations have operated, progress, and radioactive contamination is identified and characterised, substantial volumes of building rubble and soil with levels of contamination at the bottom of the low level waste activity range—of the order of that of the very low level wastes produced by small users—are being identified. Initial estimates of volumes are set out in Annex 4 of the RWMAC report and amount in total to more than 3,300,000 cubic metres, of which more than 3,000,000 cubic metres is attributed to the Sellafield site. The Committee believe that a substantial proportion of this very low activity waste from nuclear site decommissioning and clean-up activities has not been included in past inventories, although they acknowledge that, at this stage, estimates are very approximate.

  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition of nuclear waste was used as the criterion for inclusion in the Government inventory of nuclear waste. [109622]

  Mr. Meacher
  The latest 2001 United Kingdom Radioactive Waste Inventory describes four categories of waste—high level wastes, intermediate level wastes, low level wastes and very low level wastes. The definitions of these categories correspond with those given in the 1995 White Paper, "Review of Radioactive Waste Management Policy: Final Conclusions" (Cm2919). The inventory records total UK stocks and projected future arisings under the first three of these categories, based on latest estimates provided by those responsible for the wastes. The fourth, the very low level wastes category, which is intended to apply in particular to wastes produced by "small users" of radioactivity—such as hospitals, universities, research laboratories 382W
  and non-nuclear industries—contains very little radioactivity, and no central records of arisings are compiled or contained in the inventory.

  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what method is to be used to dispose of the low-level nuclear waste recently identified by the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee. [109623]

  Mr. Meacher
  This is a matter for those responsible for the waste to propose, and to secure, regulatory agreement. All disposals of radioactive waste must be the subject of application to, and authorisation by, the environment agencies—the Environment Agency in England and Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in Scotland—operating under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 and in accord with current UK Government and Devolved Administration radioactive waste management policy.

  Organic Farmers
  Mr. Grogan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many organic farmers have been registered in North Yorkshire in each year since 1997. [109010]

  Mr. Meacher
  According to our latest records there are currently 71 organic farms registered in North Yorkshire. Information for earlier years, broken down by county, is not available.

  Parental Leave
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in her Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive. [108358]

  Alun Michael
  Departmental figures for parental leave show that four people took leave in 2002 followed by a further two in 2003 to date. Defra came into being in 2001 for which no figures are available.

  The Department is committed to having arrangements in place which allow staff to create an appropriate work/life balance and the unpaid parental leave entitlements sit alongside a range of alternative working patterns and contractual entitlements many of which offer some form of paid absence. They are offered to staff irrespective of grade or working pattern.

  Letter from Peter Greig-Smith to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply on behalf of CEFAS to your question concerning how many staff have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
  The Information is not collated centrally within the Agency and could only be collected at disproportionate cost from individual personnel records.
  The Secretary of State has also asked me to reply to your question regarding how many staff have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
  There have been no requests for parental leave under the provisions of this Directive.
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  Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John Bercow, dated 11 April 2003:
  I have been asked to respond directly to your two recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the Employment Relations Act 1999 and the Parental Leave Directive.
  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
  Reply: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has policies in place which allow for special leave for staff to attend to domestic incidents. Responsibility for authorising and monitoring such leave is devolved to individual management units and can only be collated at disproportionate cost.
  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
  Reply: The RPA is fully committed to helping employees achieve a better balance between home and work through family friendly policies Accordingly, the RPA, has policies in place to allow for Parental leave but the information required is not held centrally and cannot be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.

  Letter from Steven Edwards to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many staff in her Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
  There has been only limited take-up of this facility in the VLA. Figures for parental leave show that one person took leave in the period 1/4/02 to 31/3/03. Figures for earlier years are not held.
  The VLA is committed to having arrangements in place which allow staff to create an appropriate work/life balance and the unpaid parental leave entitlements sit alongside a range of alternative working patterns and contractual entitlements many of which offer some form of paid absence. They are offered to staff irrespective of Pay Band or working pattern.

  Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, with respect to the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning how many staff have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive.
  CSL allows staff to apply for unpaid Parental Leave. These claims are recorded centrally and records show that since the Parental Leave rights were announced in 1999, a total of 12 requests for unpaid Parental Leave have been received and all have been granted. The periods of leave range from 3 to 20 days.
  CSL is committed to the continued use of family-friendly working practices and views Parental Leave as merely one aspect of an organisational approach to flexible working that includes flexible working hours, part-time working, job-share, special leave, annual leave, tackling 'long hours' cultures, etc.

  Sickness Absence
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109260]

  Alun Michael
  There is no central definition of what constitutes long-term sickness absence, but this Department, as part of its ongoing commitment to the effective management of sickness absence routinely records and monitors all sickness absence and automatically refers cases to its Occupational Health Adviser when an absence has reached 90 days.
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  Defra was created in 2001 and the following figures reflect such referrals and cover staff in the core Department and Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Pesticides Safety Directorate Agencies, for absences beginning in the years listed:

  Year

  2001

  127

  2002

  107

  Responsibility for attendance matters within the Central Science Laboratory Agency, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the Rural Payments Agency and the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Agency has been delegated to Chief Executives and they have been asked to reply direct on this issue.

  Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John Bercow, dated 15 April 2003:
  I have been asked to respond directly to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning sick leave absence.
  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.
  Information on the number of staff who were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years is not available for the Rural Payments Agency. RPA is a relatively new organisation formed in October 2001. RPA is still developing a computerised Personnel System to provide sickness absence data of the kind requested. Specific information on numbers of staff on long term sick leave could only be obtained at disproportionate administrative cost and time, but the Agency refers cases to the Medical Adviser as appropriate.
  RPA is committed to managing sickness absence effectively and to meeting targets for reducing sickness absence as set out in the Agency's Business Plan for 2003–04.
  RPA has developed a sickness absence management policy and procedures, that includes a revised strategy for managing long term sickness absence, for implementation from May 2003.

  Letter from Peter Greig-Smith to Mr. J. Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply to your question regarding how many staff were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. I am replying on behalf of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).
  For CEFAS staff, a review point of 60 days (i.e. 2 months or more) is used to define long term absence. During the past five years, the numbers of staff on long term absence were as follows:

  Year

  1998

  2

  1999

  3

  2000

  10

  2001

  9

  2002

  7

  CEFAS has successfully introduced a scheme for 'Return to Workplace' interviews and is fully committed to managing attendance effectively. We are on target for achieving the reduced levels of sickness absence we have set out for the Agency.
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  Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Mr. John Bercow, dated 15 April 2003:
  The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, with respect to the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning how many staff were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years.
  CSL has no formal definition of what constitutes "long-term" sick leave but does automatically refer to Occupational Health all staff who are absent for more than 90 days. Our records show that the numbers of staff on long-term sick leave (i.e. exceeding the 90-day absence referral point) were as follows:

  Year

  1998

  2

  1999

  4

  2000

  3

  2001

  7

  2002

  7

  CSL has been successful in managing sickness absence through innovations such as recruiting a dedicated Occupational Health professional, running regular health awareness campaigns and carrying out all-staff health surveys. The organisation remains committed to the continued effective management of sickness absence.

  Letter from Steven Edwards to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many staff in her Department were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years.
  There is no central definition of what constitutes long-term sick absence. VLA has adopted a pro-active stance to monitoring attendance with earlier and speedier referrals to the Occupational Physician.
  The following figures cover staff within VLA for absences beginning in the years listed:

  Year

  1998

  10

  1999

  20

  2000

  20

  2001

  15

  2002

  20

  VLA is committed to the effective management of sickness absence and to meeting sickness absence reduction targets.

  TB Tests
  Andrew George
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what efforts her Department makes to trace the source of a bovine TB reactor in cases where the cattle was(a) not born on the holding and (b) brought onto the holding since the last bovine TB tests. [108767]

  Mr. Morley
  Where there is evidence, following epidemiological investigation, that bovine tuberculosis has been introduced by the movement of infected cattle onto the premises, such movements are traced back and, where appropriate, the originating herd is tested for TB.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Budget (Scotland)
  Annabelle Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the statement in paragraph 3.22 of the Budget report encompasses Scotland. [110154]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]Paragraph 3.22 of the Budget report does not encompass Scotland; the paragraph describes the position in relation to England. Pharmacy control of entry regulations are devolved and Devolved Administrations made their own announcements regarding their responses to the OFT's recommendation on pharmacy entry controls on 26 March 2003.

  Gibraltar
  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had on marking Gibraltar's 300th anniversary with a commemorative stamp issue for 2004; and what representations were received on the issue. [109552]

  Mr. Timms
  None. The stamp programme is a matter for Royal Mail, which as I understand, had a number of representations on this issue.

  Special Advisers
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the salary bill was for special advisers in her Department in 2002–03; and what it is expected to be in 2003–04. [108492]

  Ms Hewitt
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 28 April 2003,Official Report, column 45W.

  Supermarkets
  John Mann
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect on the UK economy of the growth of multinational supermarket chains. [105899]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  As part of the process of globalisation and greater integration of the world economy, there has been a trend by some of the largest food retailers, in the UK and other countries, to expand their business beyond the borders of their country of origin. We welcome overseas investment that improves competition in markets, which is to the benefit of consumers and the UK economy as a whole.

  Trading Standards Professionals
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many scholarships were awarded to Trading Standards professionals under the Department of Trade and Industry's Modernisation Fund in(a) 2001 and (b) 2002; and how many scholarships have been budgeted for (i) 2003 and (ii) 2004. [110419]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  As part of the Modernisation Fund for consumer protection, extra funding has been provided to support the training and development of Trading Standards professionals by funding scholarships, which help local authorities increase the
  387W
  number of staff they train. In 2001–02, 167 candidates were supported by scholarships, and in 2002–03, 216 candidates received funding.

  £1 million has been made available in 2003–04 to continue to support the training of Trading Standards personnel.

WALES

  NHS Dentistry
  Mr. Edwards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet the First Secretary to discuss NHS dentistry. [109794]

  Mr. Touhig
  I meet the First Secretary regularly to discuss a range of issues including health care in Wales.

  Digital Terrestrial Television
  Michael Fabricant
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to meet colleagues in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to discuss the roll out of digital terrestrial television in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [109796]

  Peter Hain
  None—but I maintain close contact with my ministerial colleagues on matters affecting Wales.

  Our Digital Television Action Plan aims to ensure the widest range of consumer choice, quality, affordability and accessibility.

  Departmental Report (Objective 3)
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings he attended in 2002–03 to secure objective 3 of the Wales Office as set out in the departmental report for 2002. [109797]

  Peter Hain
  I meet my colleagues regularly, both collectively and bilaterally. Our discussions cover a wide range of matters including many where I am able to represent the Welsh interest.

  CAP Reform
  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary on the impact of CAP reform in Wales. [109798]

  Mr. Touhig
  My right hon. Friend has regular meetings with the First Secretary and I meet the Assembly Agriculture Secretary and DEFRA Ministers to discuss a variety of issues, including Common Agriculture Policy Reform.

  Agriculture
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales regarding agriculture in Wales. [109799]

  Mr. Touhig
  My right hon. Friend has regular meetings with the First Secretary and I meet the Assembly Agriculture Secretary and DEFRA Ministers to discuss a variety of issues, including the future of the agriculture industry in Wales.

  Barnett Formula
  David Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary on reform of the Barnett formula. [109788]

  Peter Hain
  None. The Government has no plans to replace the Barnett formula.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  British Citizenship Applications
  Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) successful and (b) unsuccessful appeals there were against a refusal of British citizenship in each of the last five years. [109607]

  Beverley Hughes
  There is no statutory right of appeal against a refusal to grant British citizenship.

  Very few individuals seek to challenge the refusal to grant British citizenship by way of application for judicial review—an estimated average of one case per year over the past 10 years. No figures are kept on the number of unsuccessful applicants who make informal representations—either in person or via an MP or other intermediary—against refusal. It is estimated that less than a quarter of those refused citizenship subsequently make representations against the refusal. The outcome of such challenges varies from case to case.

  99,825 decisions on applications for British citizenship were made in 2001, of which 9,530 (10 per cent.) were refusals. 88,995 decisions on applications for British citizenship were made in 2000, of which 6,785 (8 per cent.) were refusals.

  Information on decisions of applications for British citizenship are published regularly in "Persons Granted British Citizenship United Kingdom, 2001", a copy of which is available from the Library. It is planned that information relating to decisions made in 2002 will be published at the end of August 2003.

  Correspondence
  Mr. Kaufman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 4 March 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Paul Kirby. [109366]

  Beverley Hughes
  I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 29 April 2003.

  Immigration Removal Centres
  Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff there were at each immigration removal centre in the UK in each of the last five years, broken down by grade. [109508]

  Beverley Hughes
  The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the ban on paid employment for immigration detainees held in removal centres. [109510]
  389W
  Beverley Hughes
  We have no plans to provide paid employment to persons detained in immigration removal centres. Immigration detainees are able to participate in a wide range of constructive activities during their detention based on education, sport, recreation, physical education and religion.

  Insurance
  Mr. Alan Duncan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies his Department has undertaken on the impact of the withdrawal of public indemnity insurance liability by insurance companies on the voluntary sector; and if he will make a statement. [109718]

  Beverley Hughes
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]I am aware of the problems being experienced by those in the voluntary and community sector, as a result of the volatility in the insurance market since 11 September 2001. It is deeply worrying that small groups of volunteers who are making a real contribution to their communities are being faced with such difficulty.

  The Active Community Unit in the Home Office has set up the "Insurance Cover Working Group (ICWG)" to look into the situation and advise on practical solutions. The ICWG has engaged external specialists to undertake a study into the current position regarding the provision of insurance for the voluntary and community sector, including public indemnity liability, and to make practical recommendations that will bring relief to the problems.

  The consultants report is to be delivered to the ICWG on 16 June 2003 when the Government will be better placed to consider actions and initiatives to address the issue of rising premiums and the withdrawal of insurance cover, that is in some cases affecting the voluntary and community sector's ability to deliver services.

  Once the recommendations of the report have been considered, decisions will be taken to implement agreed practical solutions in partnership with the voluntary and community sector, the insurance industry, local authorities and Government Departments.

  Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act
  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with(a) the Department for Education and Skills, (b) the Local Government Association and (c) representatives of local education authorities on the implementation of provisions contained in sections 36 and 37 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and if he will make a statement. [109518]

  Beverley Hughes
  Discussions with the Department for Education and Skills continue on a regular basis. Representatives from local education authorities for the areas where accommodation centres have been proposed and from the Local Government Association attended meetings with officials from the Home Office and Department for Education and Skills on 20 August, 20 September, 14 October and 15 January.

  Passports
  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports have been mislaid by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate over the past three years; and how many of these have subsequently been found. [108291]

  Beverley Hughes
  [holding answer 14 April 2003]The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. In 2002, the Integrated Casework Directorate issued 390 lost passport letters for documents that could not immediately be found. However, a range of measures, including secure holding areas and early return of sponsors' passports, is being taken to improve performance.

  Study Visas
  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas have been issued for children of parents who have been given permission to study in the UK in each of the past 10 years. [109727]

  Beverley Hughes
  I regret that the information requested is not available.

  Information on whether visas have been issued for adults or children is not collated centrally. It is therefore not possible to identify separately the number of visas issued for children.

DEFENCE

  Biological Agents (Testing)
  Mr. Cameron
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence analytical laboratories in the UK have the(a) equipment and (b) expertise to provide a testing service for (i) anthrax, (ii) botulism, (iii) staphylococcus enterotoxin B, (iv) ricin, (v) plague and (vi) smallpox. [109290]

  Dr. Moonie
  The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down is the only defence laboratory within the United Kingdom that possesses this capability.

  Service Personnel (Deaths)
  Mr Wray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial and other assistance is available to the families of servicemen who have died in combat or training; if he plans to increase support; what assistance is available to non-married partners of servicemen; and if he will make a statement. [110024]

  Dr. Moonie
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 3 April 2003,Official Report, columns 781–82W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) and to my written ministerial statement of 20 March 2003, Official Report, column 54WS.

  The proposals for the new Armed Forces Pension Scheme would result in substantial improvements in benefits for family and dependents. This will be achieved

  391W
  at no additional cost through re-balancing the benefits elsewhere in the scheme. The new arrangements would not, however, be introduced before 2005–06.

  With regard to wider assistance, on the repatriation of a deceased Service person to the United Kingdom, facilities are made available to host close relatives and associates who wish to attend the arrival of the aircraft and any accompanying ceremony. A package of allowances is available for the family which includes travel and subsistence costs.

  Familes of Service personnel who occupy Service family accommodation are able to stay in the accommodation for as long as they feel they need to assess their longer-term housing requirements.

  Where children are at boarding school, boarding school allowance (BSA) continues for the school term immediately following the date on which the death occurs, provided that there is a liability to pay boarding school fees for that term. When the child has embarked on and is within two years of taking GCSE or GCE A Level examination or an academic equivalent, BSA will continue up to and including the term in which the examination is taken.

  In every case an officer is appointed to provide wider emotional and administrative support and assistance to the family in the following days and months. There is no time limit on this support, which continues for as long as necessary.

  Civil Contingency Planning
  Mr. Keetch
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's(a) responsibilities and (b) assets with regard to civil contingency planning; what funds are committed; what action he is taking within his Department to improve such planning; and what action he is taking in collaboration with other Departments. [102627]

  Mr. Ingram
  I refer the hon. Member to the written statement given on 3 March 2003,Official Report, columns 72–77WS by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Blunkett) on civil contingencies as part of the debates on the approval of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, Order 2003 and the Intelligence and Security Committee Report on the Bali bombing. The statement refers to the Lead Government Department Paper which the Cabinet Office placed in the Library of the House on 23 July 2002, and which sets out the role of the lead Government Departments in planning for and managing crises.

  I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 21 March 2003, Official Report, coilumns 957–58 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander).

  The Ministry of Defence does not take the lead in any area, but regularly provides support to lead agencies and Departments in responding to civil contingencies through the provision of Military Assistance to the Civil Authorities (MACA). In doing so, the Department draws on its military, scientific, and technical expertise. The Department plays a similar supporting role in preparation and planning the response to these
  392W
  contingencies. With the exception of a small number of specialist operations, however, no assets are dedicated to the task. Support draws on those resources available at the time. Unless life is in danger, the civil authorities are charged for this support.

  The MOD has recently conducted a detailed review of its response to the threat from international terrorism. The Home Office and other Departments and agencies were involved in this work, and the MOD actively sought the views of the public. The results were published in the White Paper, "The Strategic Defence Review: A New Chapter" (CM5566 volume 1), presented to Parliament on 18 July 2002. These include improvements to the regional command and control mechanism across the United Kingdom, the formation of 14 Civil Contingencies Reaction Forces (drawing on the Armed Forces Reserves) and an enhanced role for 2 Signal Brigade. All of these improvements are designed to enhance the MOD's capacity to provide support in the event of a serious terrorist incident in the UK. These enhancements are currently being implemented, at an estimated cost to the defence budget of £60 million over four years.

  Cluster Bombs
  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the use of cluster bombs in urban areas of Iraq; how many cluster bombs have been used by British forces in the campaign; and what efforts are being made to minimise the risk to civilians of the use of cluster bombs. [108808]

  Mr. Hoon
  [holding answer 14 April 2003]On the use of cluster bombs in urban areas in Iraq, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 14 April Official Report, column 571W to the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Mr. Price), which also explains the provisions in international law to minimise the risk to civilians. On efforts to minimise the risk to the civilian population, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 11 April Official Report, column 423W to my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Mr. Caton).

  As of 9 April, United Kingdom Forces have dropped some 66 RBL755 cluster bombs in Iraq.

  Defence Medical Services
  Mr. Keetch
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the exit rates were for(a) GPs, (b) consultants and (c) trainees in each of the defence medical services in each year since 1981 (i) at the end of a short service commission, (ii) at immediate pension point, (iii) through premature voluntary retirement, (iv) through redundancy and (v) in total; and if he will make a statement. [109324]

  Dr. Moonie
  It is only possible to provide detailed information on the exit rates of medical officers for the last 10 years. Medical officers may leave the Defence Medical Services for various reasons, but the only breakdown of the exit rates available centrally is for those leaving due to Premature Voluntary Retirement (PVR) or on the completion of their commission. This information is provided as follows:
  393W

  Percentage

  PVR

  Completed commission

  Other

  Total

  Short service commission1

  1993–94

  1.7

  8

  1.2

  10.9

  1994–95

  3.6

  11.5

  2.1

  17.2

  1995–96

  2.8

  14.4

  1

  18.2

  1996–97

  1.2

  5.9

  1.1

  8.2

  1997–98

  1

  7.9

  1.1

  10

  1998–99

  0.8

  5.2

  0.4

  6.4

  1999–2000

  1.2

  5.3

  0.2

  6.7

  2000–01

  2.3

  3.2

  0.4

  5.9

  2001–02

  1

  2.5

  1.3

  4.8

  Medium/long commission2

  1993–94

  2.3

  3.2

  0.1

  5.6

  1994–95

  5.4

  2.7

  1.5

  9.6

  1995–96

  4.8

  4.5

  4.2

  13.5

  1996–97

  5

  2.9

  8.4

  16.3

  1997–98

  4.3

  2.2

  0.4

  6.9

  1998–99

  2.9

  1

  0.5

  4.4

  1999–2000

  4.8

  2.9

  1.1

  8.8

  2000–01

  5

  1.2

  0.2

  6.4

  2001–02

  3.3

  1.7

  0.4

  5.4

  1 Figures represent percentage outflow against the total strength of medical officers on Short Service Commissions at the start of each financial year.

  2 Figures represent percentage outflow against the total strength of medical officers on Medium/Long Commissions at the start of each financial year.

  Iraq
  Mr. Keetch
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British officials will serve in the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. [109330]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  I have been asked to reply.

  British officials are being seconded from a range of Government Departments to help the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. So far 19 have been identified with appropriate expertise and we are looking to increase this number. At this early stage there is no set ceiling.

  Dr. Tonge
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department is taking to ensure the International Committee of the Red Cross gain access to all prisoners of war in Iraq. [109707]

  Mr. Ingram
  The Ministry of Defence has been working closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since the start of military operations in Iraq. The ICRC has had full and free access to all United Kingdom-held prisoners of war, and at its request, visited UK prisoner of war camps on numerous occasions. The ICRC also has access to all UK prisoners held in US theatre internment facilities.

  Liew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment is being made of the quantity of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being emitted as a result of UK military activities in the invasion of Iraq. [107605]

  Mr. Ingram
  None, though an assessment carried out by the Meteorological Office of 1992 Gulf War concluded that the carbon dioxide emitted during that operation had a negligible effect on the global climate.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  Secondments
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many individuals have been seconded to her Department from(a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, in each case listing (i) from which organisation and (ii) dates of secondments, in each year since 2000. [108079]

  Clare Short
  The following statistics relate to secondments started in each financial year.

  Seconded to Dfid

  Private Sector

  NGO

  Other

  Organisations

  Total

  2000–01

  —

  —

  1

  1 Other Government Dept

  1

  2001–02

  —

  1

  6

  1 International Alert

  7

  2 Other Government Dept

  1 Metropolitan Police

  1 Crown Agents

  2 European Commission

  2002–03

  —

  —

  15

  14 Other Government Dept

  15

  1 European Commission

  2003–04

  1

  —

  1

  1 Rio Tinto

  2

  1 Other Government Dept

  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many civil servants have been seconded from her Department to(a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, broken down by (i) grade of civil servants seconded, (ii) location and (iii) dates of secondments, in each year since 1997–98. [108080]

  Clare Short
  The following statistics relate to secondments started in each financial year. The statistics for years 1998–99 to 2000–01 are based on annual returns to Cabinet Office, and detailed information on location is not available in these returns.

  Dates

  Private Sector

  NGO

  Other

  Location

  Grades

  Total

  1997–98

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1 Band A: 2

  2

  1998–99

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Band A: 9

  10

  2 Band B: 1

  1999–2000

  —

  —

  —

  —

  SCS: 2

  10

  Band A: 8

  2000–01

  —

  —

  —

  —

  SCS: 4

  16

  Band A: 10

  Band B: 2

  2001–02

  —

  1

  29

  England: 5

  SCS: 3

  30

  Scotland: 1

  Band A: 25

  Wales: 1

  Band B: 2

  N. Ireland: 0

  EC: 10

  Other: 13

  2002–03

  1

  —

  39

  England: 14

  SCS: 7

  40

  Scotland: 1

  Band A: 24

  Wales: 1

  Band B: 7

  N. Ireland: 0

  3 Band C: 2

  EC: 8

  Other: 16

  2003–04

  —

  —

  3

  England: 2

  Band A: 2

  3

  Scotland: 0

  Band B: 1

  Wales: 0

  N. Ireland: 0

  Other: 1

  1 Band A = SEO-G6

  2 Band B = EO/HEO

  3Band C = AA/AO

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Accountancy Services
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03. [109496]

  Mr. Rammell
  The total cost to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for accountancy services in 2002–03 was £1,772,000.

  British Embassy (Dubai)
  Keith Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the reasons for Raul Fernandes' dismissal from his employment at the British Embassy in Dubai on 5 March 2002. [108632]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  Raul Fernandes has filed his case at the UK employment tribunal. We should not comment until the conclusion of the legal proceedings.

  EU Committees
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list(a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU committee on the introduction of a uniform format for visas, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110278]

  Mr. Rammell
  The Visa Working Party does not have a fixed membership, but consists of delegates drawn from each of the 15 European Union member states. Since 17 April 2003, delegates from the 10 EU accession states have also been invited to attend most EU committees, including the Visa Working Party, as active observers. The Visa Working Party holds a regular meeting once a month, and occasional extraordinary meetings are held as necessary. It discusses a range of EU-related visa matters relating mainly to the development of a common visa policy under the Schengen acquis, including the introduction of a uniform format visa. This forms part of the process of negotiation which culminates in legislative proposals being considered by the Council of Ministers. Domestically, such legislative proposals are submitted to Parliament under established scrutiny procedures and are considered and reported on by the House of Lords European Union Committee, the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee, and the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland.

  European Constitution
  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of the draft European Constitution's proposals on the area of freedom, justice and security for Britain's Schengen opt-out; and if he will make a statement. [109553]
  396W
  Mr. Straw
  The Future of Europe Convention's proposals on justice and home affairs do not have any implications for the Protocols attached to the current Treaties. Article E of Part Three (General and Final Provisions) of the draft Constitution provides that the protocols shall remain an integral part of the new Treaty. The question of reconsidering these protocols has not been raised in the Convention. The Government position on the protocols relating to our frontier controls has not changed. We will maintain controls at the UK's frontiers.

  Interfaith Initiatives
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money has been allocated annually to interfaith initiatives in each year since the inception of this policy; and what projects have been supported under this initiative. [110353]

  Mr. Rammell
  The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, both in London and overseas, actively supports and promotes religious freedom and interfaith relations in a number of ways. This includes the Global Conflict Prevention Pool, the FCO's Sponsored Visits Scheme, and the Human Rights Project Fund, which spent over £57,000 last financial year on projects to promote religious freedom. The Religious Freedom Panel, held twice a year, also helps foster interfaith links and promotes mutual understanding.

  The FCO does not have a separate, specific budget for interfaith initiatives.

  Iraq
  Joan Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the terms of reference are for the US Office of Humanitarian Assistance and Reconstruction in Iraq; and if he will list the people appointed, their nationalities and their gender. [109304]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) was established by the US Department of Defence to provide transitional civilian authority for post-conflict Iraq, under coalition control. ORHA continues to recruit specialist staff as the scope of the reconstruction of Iraq becomes clearer.

  Joan Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the organisations invited by the USA to attend a conference to discuss the Iraqi Interim Authority; and which are women's organisations. [109320]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  [holding answer of 28 April 2003]The US organisers issued invitations to individual Iraqis, not organisations, to participate in a meeting in Nasiriyah on 15 April. Six Iraqi women were invited; four are reported to have attended and three spoke publicly. The Coalition is committed to promoting the inclusion of women in all phases and at all levels of the reconstruction of Iraq in line with UN Resolution 1325 (October 2000).
  397W
  Joan Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the people flown back to Iraq by the US to work with Ahmad Chalabi are women. [109739]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  [holding answer 29 April 2003]We have no information on how many of Chalabi's group are women.

  Public Relations
  Mr. Swire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what budget in financial year 2002–03 his Department has for outside public relations and marketing. [93868]

  Mr. MacShane
  The Foreign and Commonwealth Office budgeted £327,529 (including VAT) for outside public relations and marketing in FY 2002–03.

TRANSPORT

  Aeroplane Noise
  Mr. Colman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to encourage aviation companies to replace older and noisier aeroplanes with aeroplanes with the latest technology low-noise engines through(a) financial incentives, (b) legislative measures and (c) other incentives. [110458]

  Mr. Jamieson
  Government plans for the future of aviation in the UK are currently the subject of comprehensive review in preparation for a White Paper it is hoped to publish later this year. These plans will be decided in the light, inter alia, of the outcome of current discussions with stakeholder groups on the appropriate use of economic instruments for encouraging the aviation industry to limit aircraft noise and its other environmental impacts. Regulations to transpose EU Directive 2002/30/EC, which sets out rules and procedures for introducing noise-related operating restrictions at Community airports, are in preparation. It is hoped to lay them before the summer recess.

  Air Transport (Consultation)
  Andy King
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will publish a summary of responses to the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK, broken down by(a) region and (b) subject matter, with reference to partial planning blight; [110420]

  (2) how many representations he has received concerning domestic property prices as a result of the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK. [110421]

  Mr. Jamieson
  We have not yet analysed all the responses but we will produce a summary after the consultation closes.

  Firstgroup Rail Franchise
  Bob Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the reasons for excluding the Firstgroup rail franchise from bidding for the new Greater Anglia rail franchise. [109891]
  398W
  Mr. Jamieson
  This is a matter for the Strategic Rail Authority.

  Meole Brace Post Office
  Mr. Paul Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to increase the level of public transport provision for those people affected by the closure of Meole Brace post office in Shrewsbury to travel to other post offices. [109664]

  Mr. Jamieson
  This is a matter for Shropshire County Council as the Local Highway Authority to determine. However, I understand that there are no plans to increase the service currently operated by Arriva Midlands on behalf of Shropshire County Council.

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Blunt
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many PFI contracts his Department or its agencies(a) have with and (b) are being tendered for by (i) Amey plc and (ii) consortia involving Amey plc; what the total value is of those contracts; what the average length is of the contracts or proposed contracts; and what assessment his Department has made of the financial position of Amey plc and the implications for his Department. [108329]

  Mr. Jamieson
  Amey plc retains no sole interest awards in PFI contracts for the Department for Transport or its agencies.

  Amey plc retains an interest in three PFI contracts awarded to consortia by the Department for Transport and its agencies. These contracts have a total capital value of £5,705 million; two of them are for 30 years and the other for 99 years.

  Neither the Department for Transport nor any of its agencies have any PFI contracts out to tender with Amey plc.

  The PFI procurement process includes an assessment of the financial robustness of bids. In most cases the bids involve more than one party and this adds to their financial strength.

  The Government does not maintain an exhaustive list of which companies have financial interests in particular projects. Such interests vary both in degree and over time and do not necessarily impact on the quality, continuity or the ongoing viability of the project concerned.

  It would be inappropriate for Government to comment on the financial position of particular companies, which is a matter for the shareholders concerned.

PRIME MINISTER

  Air Transport
  Andy King
  To ask the Prime Minister how many representations have been received by 10 Downing Street on the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK. [110363]
  399W
  The Prime Minister
  Since October 2002, I have received over 6,000 letters, campaign cards and petitions about air transport, the majority or which relate to the current consultation on the Future Development of Air Transport in the UK. The consultation responses have been forwarded to the Department for Transport for inclusion in the formal consultation process.

  Gibraltar
  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Prime Minister what plans the Government have to celebrate Gibraltar's 300th anniversary(a) in the UK and (b) in conjunction with the Government of Gibraltar. [109554]

  The Prime Minister
  We shall consider carefully the question of UK Government participation in commemorative events. So far, there have been some informal exchanges between officials about the 300th anniversary.

  Iraq
  Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister how many United Kingdom and United States inspectors have been deployed in Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction; what expertise those from the United Kingdom have to conduct the inspections; from what budget they are being paid; and if he will(a) place in the Library and (b) post on the 10 Downing Street website daily updates on the work of the US-UK Iraqi inspection teams. [110113]

  The Prime Minister
  As I said in the House on 14 April, a specialised team is beginning work and we are in discussion with allies and the UN as to what the future role of the UN in such a process may be.

  The initial United Kingdom contribution centres around a number of dedicated survey teams, totalling around 120 personnel, including nuclear, chemical and biological specialists, explosive ordnance disposal personnel; experts in forensic science and evidence-gathering, debriefing and interviewing specialists; and, supporting functions. This initial activity is being funded as part of the overall additional military costs of the operation as a whole. The funding of the United States contribution is a matter for the Government of the United States.

  We will aim to release information concerning evidence of Iraqi WMD programmes when and where appropriate, as we did before the conflict began.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  New Millennium Experience Company
  Keith Vaz
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list appointees on the New Millennium Experience Company. [109406]

  Mr. McNulty
  The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) is in voluntary, solvent liquidation. Richard Heis and Stephen Treharne of KPMG are the 400W
  appointed liquidators of the company. The directors of NMEC, who surrendered their powers to the liquidators when the company was placed in liquidation, are:

  David James

  David Quarmby

  Len Duvall

  Sir Brian Jenkins

  Bob Hewes

  Planning Policy Guidance 22
  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has and over what time scale to revise Planning Policy Guidance 22. [109833]

  Mr. McNulty
  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently preparing the revised planning guidance on renewable energy (PPG22) following informal consultation with a number of interested parties and publication of the recent Energy White Paper. We intend to consult on a draft later this year.

  Public Indemnity Insurance
  Mr. Alan Duncan
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to prevent the closure of services provided in association with local government by the voluntary sector due to the unwillingness of insurers to provide public indemnity insurance; and if he will make a statement. [109720]

  Beverley Hughes
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]I have been asked to reply.

  I am aware of the problems being experienced by those in the voluntary and community sector, as a result of the volatility in the insurance market since 11 September 2001. It is deeply worrying that small groups of volunteers who are making a real contribution to their communities are being faced with such difficulty.

  The Active Community Unit in the Home Office has set up the "Insurance Cover Working Group (ICWG)" to look into the situation and advise on practical solutions. The ICWG has engaged external specialists to undertake a study into the current position regarding the provision of insurance for the voluntary and community sector, including public indemnity liability, and to make practical recommendations that will bring relief to the problems.

  The consultants report is to be delivered to the ICWG on 16 June 2003 when the Government will be better placed to consider actions and initiatives to address the issue of rising premiums and the withdrawal of insurance cover, that is in some cases affecting the voluntary and community sector's ability to deliver services.

  Once the recommendations of the report have been considered, decisions will be taken to implement agreed practical solutions in partnership with the voluntary and community sector, the insurance industry, local authorities and Government Departments.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

  Child Contact Centres
  Mr. Watson
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many child contact centres are in operation; and what plans he has to extend the use of child contact centres as neutral venues for children to meet their non-resident parent. [110371]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  A survey of child contact services in England and Wales last year identified 522 private law child contact centres. 83 per cent. of these are affiliated to either the National Association of Child Contact Centres or NCH. We are working closely with key providers and users to extend service provision and develop service standards. The Government is providing £2.5 million over the next three years from the Children's Fund for child contact services. This includes developing new supervised child contact services in parts of the country with no such service. We are also working with Sure Start and local authorities, through the Local Government Association, to utilise public law contact facilities.

  Contact Orders
  Mr. Watson
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what measures his Department has taken to combat the breach of contact orders between separated parents. [110370]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  Deliberate refusal to obey any court order (breach) is contempt of court that can be punished with a fine or imprisonment. The court might also consider a change in the child's place of residence. Imposing a fine or imprisonment must be balanced against their likely impact on the child at the centre of the dispute. The Government considered the recommendations contained in the report of the Children Act Sub-Committee of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Board on Family Law, "Making Contact Work" and published its initial response on 6 August 2002. An expert group has been considering alternative enforcement mechanisms. A full response to the report will be published in the summer.

  Criminal Defence Service
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations she has received about the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment) Order. [109970]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  None.

  Special Advisers
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the salary bill was for special advisers in her Department in 2002–03; and what it is expected to be in 2003–04. [108505]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 28 April 2003,Official Report, column 45W.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

  Connexions
  Mr. Brady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representatives from local business are members of management boards for each of the Connexions partnerships. [110197]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The current position is:15 of the 47 partnerships had two or more employer representatives
  26 of the 47 partnerships had one employer representative
  6 of the 47 partnerships had no employer representative

  Mr. Hendry
  TO ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received from(a) teachers and (b) organisations representing teachers on the work of Connexions. [109721]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]While the Secretary of State receives a number of representations from teachers and organisations representing teachers these are not collated in any particular form.

  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how he monitors the success of Connexions in meeting service targets and objectives; and if he will make a statement of Connexions' success in meeting those targets and objectives to date. [109722]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The Connexions Service National Unit (CSNU) has put in place a performance management framework to monitor the success of Connexions in meeting targets and objectives. Key elements of this are:

  (a) management information, collected by Connexions Partnerships and other agencies dealing with young people;

  (b) quarterly reviews of performance between Connexions Partnerships and Government Offices;

  (c) local and national evaluation to provide both quantitative and qualitative information on the impact of the Service at national and local level;

  (d) Inspections of Connexions Partnerships by Ofsted. Full inspections began in September 2002, and it is expected that Partnerships will be inspected on a four yearly cycle.

  Priority to date has been to establish Connexions across the whole of England

  This has now been achieved, with nearly 9000 Personal Advisers and front line delivery staff in post at the end of February 2003. Increasing numbers of young people are being helped by Connexions, and partner agencies are reported to be working more closely together. Ofsted findings are being analysed nationally to inform future planning at national and local level. Evidence from the first wave of evaluation at national level should be available from summer 2003.

  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the Connexions service is marketed; what the total expenditure on marketing the
  403W
  Connexions service has been to date; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the marketing of Connexions. [109723]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The Connexions Service is marketed primarily at local level through the 47 Connexions Partnerships. This is for two reasons—the local nature of the delivery of the Service and the incremental roll out of the Service, which meant that it was not available nationally until April 2003. (The first partnerships went live in April 2001 and the last in April 2003.)

  The Connexions Service National Unit has supported that local activity with two bursts of nationally funded marketing in areas where Connexions was live, using media that could be bought regionally. The marketing focused on raising awareness of the Service's existence among young people. The bursts were:
  February to March 2002 (advertising on radio and outdoor poster sites)
  November 2002—January 2003 (advertising at local cinemas, on local radio stations and on outdoor poster sites)

  Other marketing activity has been focused on communicating with stakeholders, practitioners and the wider public via specialist, sector arid regional press.

  At a national level, the total expenditure on the above nationally funded marketing to date has been £3,446,898.21.

  Individual partnerships receive grant funding from the Department to provide services for young people. Part of that grant is spent on marketing. The National Unit does not require partnerships to provide information on spend to the level of detail that would allow a meaningful figure to be provided for the total expenditure for all partnerships to date.

  The effectiveness of Connexions' national marketing is evaluated in two ways tracking research conducted pre and post advertising activity and quarterly media evaluation to assess the effectiveness of our media activity and penetration across our target audiences.

  Tracking research was conducted for both bursts of advertising to assess its effectiveness by monitoring levels of awareness of Connexions among 13–19 year olds. Following the February to March advertising campaign, awareness of Connexions among young people rose from 27 per cent. to 36 per cent. Pre-advertising research also showed that 32 per cent. of young people didn't know what Connexions was—this figure fell to 19 per cent. following the advertising.

  Research conducted before the second burst of advertising in November 2002 recorded awareness levels of 35 per cent.. Following the advertising this figure increased to 51%. Young people also reported that their use of the Service during the period of the advertising rose from 9 per cent. to 16 per cent.

  Separate ongoing evaluation of media coverage for the Connexions Service is also conducted. The latest report (to the end of January 2003) shows that reach among adults in England is at 39 per cent. with 100 per cent. of articles appearing in the last quarter as strongly or slightly favourable.
  404W
  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many clients of the Connexions service are aged(a) 13, (b) 14, (c) 15, (d) 16, (e) 17, (f) 18, (g) 19 and (h) over 19; and what percentage of the total number of clients this represents in each case. [109724]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]Information in the following table has been taken from data supplied by the 46 operational Connexions Partnerships at the end of February 2003.

  Information on young people who are of compulsory education age is collected by school year group, rather than the age of the individual, this data is not currently available by each year group but only as a total of all those in years 8 to 11. Information on those who have completed compulsory education is collected by the age of the individual.

  England

  Proportion (percentage)

  Young people of compulsory education age

  Years 8–1 1

  2,083,123

  49.2

  Young people who have completed compulsory education

  16

  334,740

  7.9

  17

  596,123

  14.1

  18

  586,794

  13.9

  19

  572,824

  13.5

  20+

  57,232

  1.4

  Total

  4,230,836

  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what involvement young people have had in the design and delivery of services provided by Connexions; and through what mechanisms this involvement has occurred. [109730]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  One of the key principles of Connexions is that Partnerships will listen to, and take account of, the views of young people in the design, delivery and evaluation of the service. In the first operational year over 18,000 young people were involved in shaping the service through local activity and at a national level. All Partnerships employ at least one person with responsibility for youth participation and they support youth forums and other activities.

  Connexions has involved young people in a variety of ways. Young people from all backgrounds and ages have been involved. They have undertaken specific roles, ranging from consultation to peer research.

  Young people have played a key role in the selection of Partnership staff up to and including Chief Executives.

  Young people have also helped to develop guidance for Connexions Partnerships on such subjects as involving young people in the governance of Connexions Partnerships, developing Connexions Youth Charters and involving 'hard to reach' young people.

  Their feedback has directly influenced policies and procedures. Over 200 one stop shops have been established as a result of young people's views.
  405W
  The achievements of Connexions in actively involving young people were recognised in December 2002 by being awarded runner up status in the Young People's category of the Institute of Public Policy Research/Guardian Public Involvement Awards.

  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what strategy the Connexions service has to enhance the effectiveness of voluntary organisations working with young people. [109732]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  In October 2002, the Connexions Service National Unit published its "Strategy for Engaging the Voluntary and Community Sector in Connexions". That strategy includes many actions which will enhance the effectiveness of voluntary organisations working with young people. Examples include the creation of "VCS Liaison Officer" type posts to encourage the participation of smaller organisations and to provide information and support; VCS representation on Connexions Boards and other local fora; establishment of a Good Practice Database; development of a set of clear goals and performance indicators for Connexions Partnerships working with the VCS and newsletter and electronic mailing.

  Connexions Partnerships will decide how to implement the strategy locally, including any grant awards for capacity building.

  In addition the Department for Education and Skills' National Voluntary Youth Organisation (NVYO) Grant Scheme is the only source of direct Government support for the voluntary youth sector. The current cycle of grants to the headquarters of 90 NVYOs supports a total of 98 projects.

  DfES has also made allocations from the "Transforming Youth Work Development Fund" to the NVYOs. £2 million was allocated in 2002–03 and £1 million in 2003–04.

  A further aspect of the DfES' strategy is the Neighbourhood Support Fund (NSF). The NSF supports local (and often small) voluntary and community organisations to provide innovative projects, and aims to create and develop local capacity to address the issues associated with the hardest to reach young people. There are currently around 650 NSF projects within 40 of the most deprived local authority areas with a total budget of £60 million (until September 2003). In the next phase we plan to embed NSF fully into Connexions.

  Mr. Brady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken to encourage the participation of local businesses in the delivery of Connexions. [110193]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  Our guidance to connexions partnerships requires them to involve employers on their Boards. In some cases the independent Chair has a business background. We also encourage the inclusion of local employers on local management committees.

  A number of Connexions Partnerships manage Education Business Partnership activities, which helps facilitate work experience for year 10 and 11 pupils, enabling employers to directly influence the future
  406W
  career decisions of young people. The Connexions Service also works closely with local employers to help them recruit young people to local vacancies.

  Mr. Brady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what safeguards are in place to ensure confidentiality for young people who share information with Connexions service personal advisers. [110195]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  Connexions Partnerships are required to operate within the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act. Bespoke personal adviser training and guidance to partnerships on the professional conduct of personal advisers and the assessment of young people's needs cover confidentiality. They make it clear that personal advisers should work with the informed consent of the young person.

  Nannies (Registration Scheme)
  Vera Baird
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to introduce a comprehensive registration scheme for nannies. [108428]

  Maria Eagle
  There are no current plans to introduce compulsory registration for nannies. However, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sure Start has received a number of proposals and representations on this issue which she is looking at.

  Accessibility Strategies
  Jim Dobbin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which Local Education Authorities in England and Wales have not published accessibility strategies and accessibility plans under subsections (2) and (9) of section 28D of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [R] [109419]

  Mr. Miliband
  The Planning Duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 require local education authorities (LEAs) in England to develop accessibility strategies and schools to develop accessibility plans. LEAs must make their strategies available for inspection to interested parties at reasonable times. Schools must publish information about their accessibility plans in their governors' report to parents. LEAs strategies and school plans were required to be in place by 1 April 2003.

  The Department for Education and Skills does not collect the information requested centrally. However, as part of their regular inspections of LEAs and schools, Ofsted will monitor the implementation of these Planning Duties. The National Assembly is responsible for the implementation of the Planning Duties in Wales.

  Accountancy Services
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03. [109486]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  The total of costs classified as accountancy services in the accounts of the Department in 2002–03 is £69,584.00.

  City Academies
  Mr. Willis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills where the accounts of city academies will be recorded. [110056]

  Mr. Miliband
  As Academies will be registered charities as well as companies, their accounts will be recorded with both Companies House and The Charity Commission. Academies will also keep a record of their accounts at their registered offices.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have become City Academies in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110140]

  Mr. Miliband
  Three Academies opened in 2002 in Bexley, Haringey and Middlesbrough. Nine further Academies will open in September 2003. These are in Brent, Bristol, Ealing, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Walsall and two in Southwark.

  Class Sizes
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size in(a) primary and (b) secondary schools, broken down by school year and LEA, was in each year since 1997. [110214]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  The available information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

  Departmental Funding
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many bodies received some or all of their funding from his Department; how much funding was received by each body; and who the chief executive of each body was in each year since 1997. [110134]

  Mr. Charles Clarke
  The information on funding of executive non- departmental public bodies is published annually in the Departmental Report. Information on the chief executives is contained in the individual annual reports published by each of the executive non-departmental public bodies. Information on other bodies is not available, except at disproportionate cost.

  Departmental Staff
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff are employed by his Department. [106279]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 4 April 2003,Official Report, column 891–92W.

  Domestic Repair Work
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of state for Education and skills how many(a) plumbers, (b)joiners and (c) electricians were employed doing domestic repair work in Greater London in 1993; and how many there are now. [108383]
  408W
  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  Figures for those employed solely doing domestic repair work in the occupations listed are not collected.

  However, the Labour Force Survey estimates the numbers employed for all types of work undertaken in London in 1993 were 11,000 plumbers, 19,000 joiners and 19,000 electricians; and in 2003 there are 16,000 plumbers, 18,000 joiners and 23,000 electricians.

  Education Spending
  Mr. Bacon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total budget was for each school in(a) Norfolk, (b) Suffolk, (c) Kingston-upon-Hull and (d) Durham in each year since 1977. [110253]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

  Mr. Bacon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total budget is for each school in(a) Norfolk, (b) Suffolk, (c) Kingston upon Hull and (d) Durham for the financial year 2003–04; and what the projected total budget is for each school in Norfolk, showing projected deficits for the subsequent financial years in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06 and (iii) 2006–07. [110254]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested is not yet available. The Department is in the process of collecting the data relating to the 2003–04 financial year. I shall write to the hon. Member when the information for 2003–04 is to hand.

  The information requested for financial years 2004–05 to 2006–07 is not due to be collected by the Department until March of those years.

  Mr. Bacon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the amount spent per pupil is in the financial year 2003–04 for each school in(a) Norfolk, (b) Suffolk, (c) Kingston upon Hull and (d) Durham. [110256]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested is not yet available. The Department is in the process of collecting the data relating to the 2003–04 financial year. I shall write to the hon. Member when the information for 2003–04 is to hand.

  Mr. Bacon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total budget was for each local education authority in England for each year since 1997, showing(a) the amount and (b) the percentage of the total LEA budget held at the centre in each case, and (i) the amount and (ii) the percentage of the total LEA budget handed on to schools. [110257]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

  Examination Results
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (1) the breakdown of grades achieved by students who sat the GCSE(a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) science examination prior to reaching school year 11 was in each year since 1997; [110091]
  409W
  (2) how many children sat the GCSE examination in a foreign language prior to reaching school year 11 in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) school year and (b) local education authority; [110092]

  (3) how many children sat the GCSE (a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) science examination prior to reaching school year 11 in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) school year and (ii) local education authority; [110093]

  (4) what the breakdown of grades achieved by students who sat a GCSE examination in a foreign language prior to reaching school year 11 was in each year since 1997. [110099]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information has been placed in the Library.

  Excellence in Cities
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many excellence in cities projects in England(a) opened, (b) closed and (c) were operating in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110143]

  Mr. Miliband
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The EiC programme was launched in 1999—there were no programmes running in either 1997 or 1998. No EiC partnership has closed.

  The programme was introduced in three phases.

  Phase 1 began in September 1999 with 25 LEAs. These were Knowsley, Liverpool, Manchester, Salford, Bradford, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield, Birmingham, Camden, Corp of London, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster.

  Phase 2 in September 2000 extended the programme to 23 additional authorities: Halton, Rochdale, Sefton, St. Helens, Wirral, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Kingston upon Hull, Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester, Nottingham, Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Ealing, Bristol

  Phase 3 in September 2001 again extended the programme to include 10 additional authorities: Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Oldham, Barnsley, Doncaster, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Luton, Enfield, Hounslow.

  September 2001 also saw the inclusion of Excellence Clusters in the programme to tackle smaller pockets of deprivation. Further Clusters have since been established in the following authorities:

  2001

  Lancashire(2), Tameside, Cumbria, Kirklees(2), Walsall, Coventry, Croydon, Portsmouth, Kent,

  2002

  Thurrock, Barnet, Durham, Cheshire, Derby, Buckinghamshire, Hillingdon, Lancashire, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Peterborough, Stockport, Wigan. In addition Preston Education Action Zone transformed to a cluster.
  410W
  2003

  From September further clusters will be created in the following authorities: Kent(3), Lincolnshire(3), Northamptonshire, Essex, Derbyshire, Havering, Bexley, Swindon and North Lincolnshire. The current Phase 2 Solihull Partnership will convert to a cluster.

  In addition:

  Five Education Action Zones will transform into clusters:
  Croydon (New Addington), Grimsby, Herefordshire, Trafford and Weston.

  2004

  In January a further six Zones will transform into clusters:
  East Basildon, East Brighton, Halifax, Plymouth, Thetford and Wigan.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding has been provided to each Excellence in Cities project in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110145]

  Mr. Miliband
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The main Excellence in Cities programme now covers 58 local education authority areas. Smaller pockets of deprivation are covered by Excellence Clusters in 37 authorities.

  The tables which have been placed in the Library show the funding allocated to LEAs since the programme began in 1999 for:
  EiC phase 1, 2 and 3 partnerships, and
  LEAs with an Excellence Cluster.

  Faith Schools
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) primary and (b) secondary schools that select some or all of their pupils on the basis of faith have (i) opened and (ii) closed in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110137]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) primary and (b) secondary schools selected some or all of their pupils on the basis of faith in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110138]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

  General Teaching Council
  Vernon Coaker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to review the categories of teachers exempted from the General Teaching Council fee payable as a result of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [109998]

  Mr. Miliband
  Current regulations authorise the General Teaching Council to charge a registration fee and to decide whether there should be exceptions where
  411W
  a fee is not charged. The Council has not exercised its powers to exempt any registered teacher from paying the fee. We have no plans to review these regulations.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding was received by the General Teaching Council from his Department in each year since its creation. [110130]

  Mr. Miliband
  Funding provided by this Department to the General Teaching Council (GTC) is as follows:

  £

  GTC

  2000–01

  14,000,000

  2001–02

  9,024,000

  2002–03

  3,735,000

  2003–04

  1,443,000

  1 Grant in aid payments to the GTC began in September 2000. Funding in 2000–01 therefore covered the period September 2000 to March 2001 inclusive.

  Learning Support Units
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many learning support units in England(a) opened and (b) closed in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110144]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The Department does not collate information on the number of LSUs which have opened and closed each year in each LEA.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding each learning support unit has attracted in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110146]

  Mr. Miliband
  [holding answer 28 April 2003]The Department does not collect data on the funding of all Learning Support Units (LSUs). Decisions on funding arrangements for LSUs are taken at local level.

  A number of DfES initiatives have made funding available to support LSUs. LSUs are also funded through the overall resources available to Local Education Authorities and schools.

  Parental Choice
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children failed to gain a place at the school of their choice in(a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) special schools and (d) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110125]

  Mr. Miliband
  The Department does not keep statistics on how many children fail to gain a place at the school of their choice at primary, secondary and special schools. Individual local education authorities may have information. Collecting reliable data is difficult, because many parents apply for places at more than one school and it may not be clear which is their first preference. Research published by the Department in June 2001 suggested that, nationally, 96 per cent. of parents receive an offer of a place at at least one of the schools for which they express a preference.

  Prince's Trust
  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department has spent on schemes operated by the Prince's Trust in each of the past 10 years. [109728]

  Mr. Charles Clarke
  Information held for financial years before 1999–2000 can be provided only at disproportionate cost. I list in the table the amounts paid to the Prince's Trust in the years 1999–2000 to 2002–03 inclusive. All payments were for activities carried out in respect of the European Social Fund. This function has now transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions.

  £

  Financial Year

  Amount

  1999–2000

  1,236,397.74

  2000–01

  351,239.00

  2001–02

  200,611.00

  2002–03

  444,952.00

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Blunt
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many PFI contracts his Department or its agencies(a) have with and (b) are being tendered for by (i) Amey plc and (ii) consortia involving Amey plc; what the total value is of those contracts; what the average length is of the contracts or proposed contracts; and what assessment his Department has made of the financial position of Amey plc and the implications for his Department. [108330]

  Mr. Miliband
  The Department for Education and Skills does not itself have any PFI contracts. It has a PPP arrangement for the provision of the Connexions Card but this does not involve Amey pic. The Department does not have any agencies but is responsible for a number of Non Departmental Public Bodies which are separate contracting authorities. Schools PFI contracts in England are between Local Authorities and the private sector and 56 such contracts have been signed to date. Typically they are contracts for between 25 and 30 years. Two of these contracts involve consortia including Amey pic. However, since contract signature Amey has sold its equity stake in these projects although it continues to deliver support services. The position of equity holders in projects can vary over time but this does not necessarily impact on the quality, continuity or the ongoing financial viability of the project itself. The procurement process includes an assessment of the financial viability of bids to ensure they are robust over the long term and the contracts include arrangements for dealing with possible early termination.

  Pupil Absences
  Mr. Brady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential liability incurred by schools or local education authorities in the event of pupils coming to harm while absent from school without authorisation, but in a situation where their absence has been encouraged or condoned by a teacher. [109415]
  413W
  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  None. Such assessments would be for schools and local education authorities to consider.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the number of half days missed through (i) unauthorised and (ii) authorised absence in (A) primary and (B) secondary schools; and if he will make a statement. [110121]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The Department commissions the national pupil absence survey each year which collects the total number of authorised and unauthorised half days missed from all primary, secondary and special schools in England. Departmental evaluation of this data informs our strategies to improve attendance and tackle truancy in all schools.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many children have played truant in each month of this academic year, broken down by local authority; [110094]

  (2) what figures he has collated on the number of children who have played truant in each academic year since 1997, broken down by (a) gender, (b) LEA and (c) ethnic group. [110109]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The data for the national pupil absence survey is collected at school level once a year after the spring term. No data for 2002/03 will be available until the autumn and this will only show the overall number of children that actually missed at least one half day due to unauthorised absence for the academic year from September 2002 to May 2003. The data cannot be broken down by month.

  The national pupil absence survey only collects one set of figures for each school and information on the characteristics of individual pupils cannot be deduced from this to provide breakdowns by (a) gender or (c) ethnic group. The information collected at school level for the academic year September to May, is as follows:
  Total number of sessions
  Number of sessions missed due to authorised absence
  Number of pupils absent for at least one session due to authorised absence
  Number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence
  Number of pupils absent for at least one session due to unauthorised absence
  Each session represents one half day.

  This information is then collated at LEA level for both maintained primary and maintained secondary schools and at national (England) level for all schools. The LEA breakdown showing the number of pupils absent for at least one session due to unauthorised absence is shown in a table which has been placed in the Library.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many officials in his Department are employed on projects and initiatives to reduce truancy. [110097]
  414W
  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The Department for Education and Skills has ten officials working exclusively on the coordination and implementation of projects and initiatives to reduce truancy and improve attendance. The work of many other officials within the Department — and in other Departments—also contributes to these aims.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent on projects and initiatives to reduce truancy in schools since 1997. [110101]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  A wide range of national and local projects and initiatives to reduce truancy has been introduced since 1997, involving schools, local authorities and many other stakeholders. It is therefore not possible to calculate overall expenditure on measures of this sort.

  Pupil Setting
  Mr. Gibb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 3 April 2003,Official Report, column 818W, on pupil setting, by what measures his Department has encouraged the use of setting to meet the learning needs of more able pupils. [109021]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  Guidance to Excellence in Cities partnerships lists several approaches they might wish to consider, including:"adopting setting in 'linear' subjects like maths, science and modern foreign languages, to make the teaching of the able pupil cohort more manageable. While setting gives able pupils the opportunity to work at a faster pace, it must be operated flexibly, so that pupils can move into and out of sets when appropriate".

  Mr. Gibb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 3 April 2003,Official Report, column 818W, on pupil setting, what the frequency was of the use of setting in (a) mathematics, (b) science, (c) modern foreign languages and (d) English at (i) Key Stage Two, (ii) Key Stage Three and (iii) Key Stage Four level in schools inspected by Ofsted in 2001–02. [109610]

  Mr. Miliband
  Data collected by Ofsted during school inspections shows:

  Percentage of set lessons as observed by Ofsted during 2001–02

  Percentage

  Key stage 2

  Key stage 3

  Key stage 4

  Mathematics

  31

  82

  92

  Science

  3

  59

  86

  Modern foreign languages

  —

  58

  70

  English

  17

  46

  58

  Pupil:Teacher Ratio
  Mr. Paterson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pupil to teacher ratios are for(a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) North Shropshire and (ii) England. [110072]
  415W
  Mr. Miliband
  The data requested is shown in the table.

  Maintained primary and secondary schools1: pupil teacher ratio January 2002

  Primary

  Secondary

  North Shropshire Parliamentary Constituency

  22.6

  16.9

  England

  22.5

  16.9

  1 Includes middle schools as deemed

  Source:

  Annual Schools' Census

  Public Appointments
  Joyce Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made by his Department towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by his Department since the publication of the White Paper. [108558]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  Vacancies for public appointments are publicised routinely by my Department in a range of national and local media, including its own website (www.dfes.gov.uk) and the new website (www.publicappts-vacs.gov uk) launched by the Cabinet Office in March 2003.

  All public appointments are made on merit. In the period since the publication of the White Paper on 14 May 2002 up until 31 March 2003, my Department made 48 new appointments to non-departmental public bodies. The distribution by residence of those appointed is detailed below.

  English region/country

  Number of new appointments

  North East

  2

  North West

  2

  Yorks and Humberside

  2

  East Midlands

  2

  West Midlands

  3

  East

  3

  South West

  3

  London

  12

  South East

  15

  Northern Ireland

  1

  Scotland

  2

  Wales

  1

  Joyce Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress the Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work(a) in and (b) outside London and the South East. [108568]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  My Department is currently reviewing the deployment of its staff resources in the regions, with the aim of improving value for money. The review is about to report, and its recommendations will be considered in May.
  416W
  My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget plans to examine relocation of public services with the aim of achieving best value for money. He has asked Sir Michael Lyons— Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at Birmingham University— to advise on relocation by the next Spending Review.

  Joyce Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress his Department has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of(a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in civil service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices and the Government offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the civil service and organisations in the regions. [108578]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  The Minister of State, Cabinet Office will be answering this question giving an overall civil service perspective.

  Since the publication of the White Paper in May 2002, there has not been any specific development of this Department's training and development programmes to raise awareness of devolution and regional awareness, but the recent launch of "Delivering Through People: A Human Resource Strategy for DfES" commits the Department to developing HR action plans to maximise the contribution of each of our four sites in delivering the Department's business.

  Interchange is the exchange of staff between the civil service and other public and private sector organisation in the regions for periods of a few weeks up to five years. Interchange promotes better understanding between organisations and is a practical and effective form of personal development as it gives staff first hand experience of a different work environment and the issue and challenges which the people working in it face. Secondees have an opportunity to learn new skills, new ways of working, and new ways of dealing with problems. The DfES is actively committed to making interchange available to peoples at all levels as it can be a real benefit to the individual and to the Department as a whole.

  From 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 interchange between HQ an organisations in the regions was 368, an increase of 9 per cent. on the previous year.

  School Curriculum
  Mr. Willis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hours pupils spent on average per week studying(a) English, (b) mathematics, (c) physical education, (d) music and (e) history broken down by school year group, in each year since 1997. [110051]

  Mr. Miliband
  The amount of time spent on each National Curriculum subject is for individual schools to decide. Schools are required to cover the programme of study for each subject during the relevant key stage but are free to organise their timetable as they wish. The Department does not collect comparative data which relates to the average amount of time spent per week on a particular subject.
  417W
  In order to help schools plan their own timetable the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has produced non-statutory guidance suggesting how much time should be spent on each National Curriculum subject per week at key stages 1, 2 and 3.

  Mr. Paul Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what figures he has collated on the percentage of children who learn about poverty in developing nations at school. [109677]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  The Department does not collect data centrally on the percentage of children who learn about poverty in developing nations at school. Through Citizenship, a statutory requirement in secondary schools from September 2002, pupils study global issues, including the political, social and economic implications. Through geography, a statutory requirement for 5 to 14-year-olds, pupils learn about different countries, their peoples and culture, including the concept of interdependence.

  School Exclusions
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) temporary arid (b) permanent exclusions were made by (i) primary, (ii) secondary schools and (iii) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110135]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The available information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

  Information on pupils suspended (excluded for a fixed period) is not collected centrally. Following a review of data collected on exclusions, the Department is planning to collect information from local education authorities on both fixed term and permanent exclusions on a termly basis from this summer.

  School Sixth Forms
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have(a) opened and (b) closed sixth forms since 1997. [110108]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested is not collected centrally. The Annual Schools' Census can be used to estimate the number of schools with a sixth form and this information is shown in the table.

  Maintained secondary schools: number of schools with a sixth form 1997–2002

  Position in January each year

  1Number of schools with a sixth form

  1997

  1,740

  1998

  1,771

  1999

  1,777

  2000

  1,781

  2001

  1,763

  2002

  1,747

  1 A school is considered to have a sixth form if it has eight or more 16 year old pupils and eight or more 17 year old pupils (age as at 31 August)

  Schools Access Initiative
  Jon Trickett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which schools in the Hemsworth 418W
  constituency benefited from the Schools Access Initiative in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03; and how much each school was awarded. [109864]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The Schools Access Initiative (SAI) provides resources to help mainstream schools become accessible to pupils with disabilities. £220 million has been made available for the Initiative during the last three financial years, including £100 million for 2003–04, and the Government have recently announced a further £100 million per annum for 2004–05 and 2005–06. The funding is allocated to local education authorities and it is for each authority to decide its priority schemes.

  Wakefield local education authority, which includes the Hemsworth constituency, has received £1,029,428 in total through the SAI in the years 2000–03. The Authority has reported that the following schools in the Hemsworth constituency have received SAI funding as follows:
  2000–01
  Crofton High School: £47,093
  St. Wilfred's Catholic High School: £2,235
  Featherstone High School: £9,075
  Badsworth C of E Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School: £11,587.
  A sum of £58,011 was used to provide equipment to improve physical and curriculum access in schools across the authority.
  2001–02
  St. Thomas A Becket Catholic Comprehensive School: £84,445;
  St. Wilfred's Catholic High School: £5,599;
  Crofton High School: £4,396;
  Featherstone High School: £937;
  Badsworth C of E Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School: £60;
  Northfield Junior and Infant School: £500;
  Ackworth Howard C of E First School: £401.
  A further £80,000 was spent providing equipment to enable access to the curriculum in schools across the authority.
  2002–03
  Local education authorities are not due to report on their SAI expenditure for 2002–03 until 25 July 2003.

  Skilled Workers (Hemsworth)
  Jon Trickett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) plumbers, (b) joiners, (c) electricians and (d) gas installers were employed doing domestic repair work in the Hemsworth constituency in 1993; and how many there are now. [109861]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  Figures for those employed solely doing domestic repair work in the occupations requested are not collected. Figures for the occupations requested are also not available for parliamentary constituency area. Occupational classifications do not differentiate between plumbers and gas fitters—they are grouped together within the classification for plumbers, heating and ventilating engineers.

  The Labour Force Survey estimates the numbers employed for all types of work undertaken and within the UK regions. In 1993 there were 11,000 plumbers (including heating and ventilating engineers), 26,000 joiners and 32,000 electricians in Yorkshire and

  419W
  Humberside; and in 2003 there were 16,000 plumbers (including heating and ventilating engineers), 27,000 joiners and 24,000 electricians in Yorkshire and Humberside.

  Special Educational Needs
  Jon Trickett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases concerning schools in the Hemsworth constituency were heard by Special Education Needs Tribunal in 2001–02; and in how many cases the Tribunal ruled that additional support should be provided for children with special needs. [109865]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  The Tribunal does not collate statistics based on the location of schools named in appeals or the schools attended by children who are the subject of appeals. However, it does collect information by local education authority (LEA). Of the 19 appeals against Wakefield LEA in 2001/02, five concerned the school to be named in the child's statement. Parents requested a special school placement in three of these appeals and a mainstream placement in the other two.

  Parents withdrew 10 of the 19 appeals and the LEA conceded a further four. The remaining five all concerned the detailed provision to be made for children, and in all of these the Tribunal ordered amendments to the provision specified in statements.

  Specialist Schools
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many former grant-maintained schools have gained(a) specialist, (b) beacon and (c) city academy status in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110139]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have become specialist schools in each year since 1997, broken down by(a) specialism and (b) local education authority. [110142]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested is provided in a table which has been placed in the Library.

  Staff Salary Costs
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the salary costs were for each LEA of(a) all staff, (b) all school staff, (c) school teaching staff and (d) school non-teaching staff in each year since 1997. [110096]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information requested is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.

  Student Loans Company
  Mr. Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many errors in the repayment of student loans have been lodged with the Student Loans Company by(a) members of the public and (b) hon. Members in each of the last three years. [105180]
  420W
  Margaret Hodge
  The complaints received by the Student Loans Company (SLC) about the repayment of student loans from members of the public and hon. Members in the last three years is detailed as follows. The number of complaints needs to be set against the fact that by the end of February 2003 approximately 2.3 million borrowers were due to repay loans. The SLC investigates each complaint to see if an error has been made. The company cannot determine the number of complaints in which errors actually occurred without manually checking each individual complaint received.2000–01 financial year

  (a) members of the public — 171

  (b) Members of Parliament — 1

  2001–02 financial year

  (a) members of the public — 239

  (b) Members of Parliament — 7

  2002–03 financial year to date

  (a) members of the public — 288

  (b) Members of Parliament — 23

  Teachers
  Jon Trickett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many supply teachers are working in(a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) England; [109862]

  (2) what percentage supply teachers represent of the total number of teachers in (a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) England. [109863]

  Mr. Miliband
  The information is not available at constituency level.

  Occasional teacher numbers (teachers on contracts of less than a month who were in service for the whole of the survey date) in the maintained schools sector in England are shown in table 17 of the January 2002 edition of Statistics of Education: School Workforce in England. This table shows data for January 2002, the most recent available. A copy of this volume has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/VOL/v0380/456-t17.htm.

  The following table shows occasional teachers as a percentage of the full-time equivalent number of teachers in the maintained sector at January 20021. The table shows figures for Wakefield local education authority because constituency level figures are not available.

  1 January 2002 is the most recent information currently available.

  Wakefield

  England

  Regular teachers1

  2,750

  419,620

  Occasional teachers2

  50

  17,470

  All teachers

  2,800

  437,100

  Occasional teachers as percentage of all teachers

  1.8

  4.0

  1 All teachers (FTE) on contracts of a month or more in service on the survey date (17 January 2002).

  2 Teachers on contracts of less than one month in service for the whole of the day on the survey date.

  Note:

  Teacher numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

  Source:

  DfES annual 618G survey.
  421W
  Mr. Willis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many supply teachers were provided each month, broken down by(a) LEA and (b) teacher supply agency in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002 to present. [110055]

  Mr. Miliband
  This information is not collected centrally.

  Occasional teacher numbers (teachers on contracts of less than a month who were in service for the whole of the survey date) in the maintained schools sector in England are shown in table 17 of the January 2002 edition of Statistics of Education: School Workforce in England. This table shows data for January 2002, the most recent available. A copy of this volume has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DBA/OL/v0380/456-t17.htm.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of teachers in England employed in(a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools are (i) under and including the age of 35 and (ii) over the age of 35 years. [110128]

  Mr. Miliband
  The proportion of full time teachers in the maintained sector by age1 and phase at March 20011 are given in the following table.

  Percentage of teachers by age

  Phase

  34 and under

  35 and over

  Nursery and primary

  34

  66

  Secondary

  30

  70

  1 Age as at 31 March.

  Notes:

  1.Figures are rounded.

  2. Data are provisional. 2001 is the most recent year for which these data are available.

  Mr. Paul Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were subjected to(a) verbal and (b) physical attacks in schools in Shrewsbury and Atcham in the last year. [109673]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  The Department does not collect this information. Recording of such incidents will depend on local reporting procedures.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have been attacked by(a) pupils and (b) parents, broken down by education authority, in each academic year since 1997. [110123]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 October 2002,Official Report, column 385W.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have been dismissed from their posts since June 2001. [110126]

  Mr. Miliband
  This information is not collected centrally.
  422W
  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) head teachers, (b) deputy head teachers, (c) teachers and (d) classroom assistants have been suspended for misconduct from (i) primary, (ii) secondary, (iii) special and (iv) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110120]

  Mr. Miliband
  The Department does not collect this information.

  Mr. Damian Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what estimate his Department has made of the amount of time spent by(a) deputy head teachers and (b) classroom assistants (i) reading and (ii) acting on circulars issued by his Department in each year since 1997; [110115]

  (2) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by head teachers dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by head teachers, in each year since 1997: [110116]

  (3) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by classroom assistants dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by classroom assistants, in each year since 1997; [110117]

  (4) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by teachers dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by teachers, in each year since 1997; [110118]

  (5) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by deputy head teachers dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by deputy head teachers, in each year since 1997. [110119]

  Mr. Miliband
  My Department does not hold the information requested.

  The National Agreement on workload and standards, which was signed in January 2003, was a landmark event in terms of tackling teachers' and head teachers' workload; and enabling them to focus on the core professional activities that make the most impact in raising standards in schools. The signatories to the Agreement, including unions and employers, are now ensuring that it becomes a reality in schools. From this September, for example, a range of administrative activities that have routinely been undertaken by teachers will be transferred to support staff and information and communications technology. Resources are being made available to enable schools to recruit at least an additional 50,000 full-time equivalent support staff over the lifetime of this Parliament.

  We are committed to streamlining the flow of information to schools. We have put in place rigorous controls on the number of documents automatically sent to all schools and have achieved significant reductions. We plan to cut mailings by a further 50 per cent. in the 2002–03 academic year.
  423W
  In addition, we recently announced the establishment of an Implementation Review Unit. Made up of front line practitioners—the great majority serving head teachers—the Unit will review the workload implications of Government policies, and seek to remove any unnecessary paperwork and bureaucratic burdens.

  University Tuition Fees
  Mr. Wray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what levels of support are available to students in serious financial difficulty; and what proportion of students did not pay tuition fees in each year since its introduction. [106085]

  Margaret Hodge
  In addition to loans of £4,815 in London (£3,905 elsewhere), students in serious financial difficulty can currently apply for discretionary help through Hardship Loans of up to £500 each year and grants from the Hardship Fund (where the average grant paid to a full-time undergraduate student in 2001/02 was £677).

  The cash amount set aside for Hardship Loans for students in institutions in England and Wales in 2002/03 is £26 million. The amount allocated through the Hardship Fund for students in institutions in England in 2002/03 is £59 million. This compares to total discretionary funding of £22 million provided through the Access Funds in 1997/98. From September 2004, we are replacing Hardship Loans and the Hardship Fund with discretionary grants via a single Access to Learning Fund.

  In England and Wales students on full-time undergraduate courses and their families are expected to make a contribution towards the cost of their tuition only if they can afford to do so. The percentage of students in England and Wales in academic years 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01 (latest year for which data are available) who have been assessed to make a nil contribution towards the cost of their tuition is 45 per cent., 45 per cent. and 42 per cent. respectively. The percentage of students making a partial contribution towards the cost of their tuition in academic years 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01 is 20 per cent., 20 per cent. and 19 per cent. respectively.

  Voluntary Aided Schools
  Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that voluntary aided schools and LTCs are included in the London wide admissions programme; and if he will make a statement. [110218]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  LEAs have been given a statutory duty to co-ordinate the admissions process for all maintained schools in their area; this is first mandatory for applications for admission to schools in September 2005. From that time, all maintained schools —including voluntary aided schools—will have a duty to comply with the co-ordination 'scheme' for their area.424W
  I assume that by LTCs', you are referring to City Technology Colleges (CTCs). As independent schools, CTCs are not bound by admissions legislation, but my Department has written to each of them to strongly encourage their participation in coordinated arrangements.

  Young Carers
  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have specially identified teachers to respond to the needs of young carers on their school register. [109938]

  Mr. Miliband
  This information is not collected centrally.

HEALTH

  Medicines (Access)
  Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what he is doing to help poor people get access to essential medicines. [110482]

  Mr. Lammy
  The addition to the extensive arrangements under which people are entitled to free Prescriptions the grounds of their age or medical condition, there are specific arrangements to help those on a low income. People who receive income support or income based on jobseekers allowance, or are entitled to or are named on an National Health Service Tax Credit exemption certificate are automatically entitled to free prescriptions. Other people on a low income can seek help under the NHS low income scheme.

  People who do have to pay charges and who need frequent prescriptions may benefit from purchasing a prescription prepayment certificate which will save patients money if they need more than five items in four months or 14 items in 12 months.

  Beta Interferon and Glatiramer
  Mr. Paul Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of HSC 2002/004 regarding the prescription plus scheme for Beta Interferon and Glatiramer; and if he will list the representations he has received from(a) NHS trusts, (b) strategic health authorities, (c) primary care trusts, (d) NGOs, (e) members of the public and (f) hon. Members regarding the scheme. [109711]

  Mr. Lammy
  There are 64 specialist neurology centres designated to initiate treatment under the risk-sharing scheme and the majority are now doing so. We estimate that around 300 new patients each month are starting to receive a drug treatment for their multiple sclerosis. Since May 2002, the Department's records indicate that we dealt with 28 parliamentary questions, 16 letters from hon. Members and Peers, 24 letters from the public and one letter from a primary care trust about the scheme. Officials have also dealt directly with written and telephone inquiries from a variety of sources.

  Accountancy Services
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03. [109497]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Department's accounting system does not collect information in the form requested.

  Age Discrimination
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination. [109445]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Department of Health is committed to transforming the health and social care system so that it produces faster, fairer services that deliver better health and tackle inequalities. For example, we have established a young people's reference group as part of the Quality Protects Programme so that we can hear the contemporary views of young people as we develop policy affecting them. In March 2001 we published a national service framework (NSF) for older people, which sets as a priority the elimination of age discrimination in access to, and quality of, health and social care services offered to older people. The NSF provides a programme of actions and milestones to be achieved over the next 10 years.

  On age discrimination in employment, age has been integrated into equal opportunities policies for Department of Health staff. The Department has taken action to tackle negative attitudes towards older staff through training on valuing diversity being rolled out to all staff and through the monitoring of recruitment, selection and appraisal statistics. The Department is discussing the recommendations of the Cabinet Office document "Winning the Generation Game" with the relevant trade unions.

  The NHS Plan, published in July 2000, makes clear that every member of staff in the National Health Service is entitled to work in an organisation which can prove that it is investing in improving diversity and tackling discrimination and harassment.

  The Department is considering the age issues in the European Employment Directive 2000/78/EC and is working to ensure that the Department and NHS employers will comply with the new legislation on age discrimination in employment and vocational training when it comes into force in 2006.

  Ambulance Trusts
  Chris Grayling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2003,Official Report, column 76W, on ambulance trusts, what information in relation to A&E waits by ambulances his Department has requested trusts to collect; and where that information is held. [107721]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Department has asked ambulance trusts to provide information on the number of delays of 15 minutes or more between the time of arrival of an ambulance at accident and emergency (A&E) and the hand-over of the patient to the care of the A&E staff.
  426W
  This information is fast track internal management information only and is not validated and is of poor quality. Coverage is not complete and interpretation of the definition is inconsistent and it is therefore not appropriate for publication under exemption 11 of the code of practice on access to Government information.

  Asthma
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in identifying a vaccine to help asthma sufferers. [110317]

  Jacqui Smith
  The National Heart and Lung Institute at the Imperial College, London is currently researching the development of a vaccine for asthma. The Institute has developed a prototype vaccine for people with an allergy to cats, which could eventually be applied to a range of allergens, including pollen and dust mites. 60 patients have received the prototype vaccine, with promising results. More work has to be done however, including extensive clinical trials. It will be necessary to establish whether the vaccine will pass the rigorous tests involved in the development of a new medicine.

  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on Government policy towards sufferers from asthma. [110335]

  Jacqui Smith
  We recognise that asthma is a distressing and debilitating condition for individuals, their carers and their families. Asthma is the commonest chronic disease in the United Kingdom and affects all age groups. Its cause, despite much research world-wide, is still not known.

  The national service framework (NSF) for children is being developed to set standards for the care of children and young people to ensure all children and young people have access to good quality care. We have agreed that asthma, as one of the most common childhood conditions, should be used as one of the exemplars which will accompany the main NSF framework report. These will illustrate how the standards should be applied to ensure that services delivered to children are effective and meet their needs.

  Schools also need to be involved in a child's asthma care plan. For this reason, the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health jointly issued "A Good Practice Guide—Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs", which encourages local education authorities and schools to draw up medical support policies and put in place effective management systems to support pupils with medical needs, such as asthma.

  In addition, we have welcomed guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) on inhalers for children under five in September 2000 and for older children, aged five to 15, on April 11 2002. The NICE recommendations provide clear evidence based on guidance on the most suitable inhalers for children.

  Management of asthma mainly takes place in primary care. The chronic disease management programme, introduced in July 1993, provides arrangements for health promotion under the general practitioner

  427W
  contract. Participating GPs, around 94 per cent. of the total, receive a fixed annual payment for running organised programmes of care for patients with asthma.

  A new general medical services contract agreement was launched on Friday 21 February 2003 which, if accepted by the profession, will lead to an unprecedented level of new investment in general practice to deliver a wider range of high quality services with better clinical outcomes for all patients.

  People with asthma will also benefit from the expert patients programme. The programme will provide, through the national health service, training in self-management skills for people with long-term chronic conditions. Expert patients can reduce severity of their symptoms, decrease their pain and increase their quality of life. 26 primary care groups or trusts are taking part in a pilot phase. One of these pilots—Medway Primary Care Trust, formerly Rainham and Gillingham Primary Care Group, in Kent—is proposing to focus self— management activity on people with asthma. The programme will be extended nation-wide by 2007.

  The NSF for older people has made a commitment to develop a service model on respiratory diseases in older people within the 10-year framework. The development of this service model will apply for all those who need these services regardless of their age, in a way similar to the current NSF service models on stroke and dementia.

  Control and Restraint Techniques
  Mrs. Helen Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results of the review by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence of the control and restraint techniques used in health settings will be(a) complete and (b) put into practice. [109316]

  Jacqui Smith
  The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has commissioned the National Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Supportive Care to develop a clinical guideline on the short term management of disturbed (violent) service users in adult inpatient psychiatric settings. The guideline will cover, among other areas, the use of physical restraint. The guideline is expected to be complete by August 2004. Clinicians are expected to take NICE guidance fully into account once it is published.

  East Kent Acute Hospital Services
  Mr. Brazier
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the terms of reference are of the referral of the future of East Kent acute hospital services to the independent reconfiguration Panel. [108810]

  Ms Blears
  The independent reconfiguration panel has been asked to provide advice about the future of acute hospital services in East Kent under the following terms:Whether it is of the opinion that the proposals for change set out in the decision of 25 March 2002 will ensure the provision of safe, effective and accessible healthservices for the people of east Kent. And if not, why not.
  Any other observations the anel may wish to make in relation to the proposals for change.
  The panel's advice as to how to proceed in the speediest and most efficient manner
  in the interest of local people.
  To submit its recommendations by 1 2 June 2003.
  428W
  The terms of reference for the independent reconfiguration panel are available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/configuringhospitals

  Market Testing
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated level of saving to the Department is from the use of market testing in 2002–03. [107761]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Department has not undertaken any market testing exercises in 2002–03.

  MLX 291
  Nick Harvey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research his Department has undertaken on the implementation of MLX 291 by the Medicines Control Agency and its effect on(a) morbidity and (b) mortality in patient groups; and if he will make a statement; [109529]

  (2) what assessment he has made of the possibility of MLX 291 causing medicines to be decanted into unsuitable containers, with particular reference to those more easily accessible to children; and if he will make a statement; [109531]

  (3) what representations he has received on MLX 291; and if he will make a statement. [109530]

  Mr. Lammy
  Consultation letter MLX 291 contained proposals to introduce new regulations relating to paracetamol, aspirin and iron supplements in order to take account of the British Standard on Child Resistant Packaging for non reclosable packaging for pharmaceuticals—BS 8404. It also proposed that medicines containing more than 24mg of elemental iron per unit does as well as liquid paracetamol preparations will also, for the first time, i.e. current requirements applying to reclosable containers of solid dosage and paracetamol.

  The proposals contained in MLX 291 were based on advice from the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) which considered published data from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) for England and Wales and from Hospital Accident Surveillance System (HASS) data, from the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTIs) consumer safety unit. The aim of the amended legislation is to reduce or prevent toxicity from accidental drug overdose in children, which results in nearly 150 hospital admissions per week.

  The existing requirements for child resistant packaging in the Medicines (Child Safety) Regulations 1975 (as amended) already contain a provision to allow patients to receive these medicines in a container which is not child resistant, if they wish to do so and make a specific request to a pharmacist or doctor to that effect. The proposed new regulations include an extended adult test on accessibility for those up to 75 years rather than 60 years of age under the old standard. There is currently no proposal to remove the existing provision to dispose these medicines in non child resistant containers given the many and various ways in which elderly patients now receive their medication, including home delivery from the pharmacy.
  429W
  The public consultation on the proposals started on 26 November and closed on 18 February 2003. A large number of responses have been received and the Medicines Commission will be consulted shortly. Once this process is complete, in accordance with the terms of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, the Agency intends to make copies of replies received publicly available.

  Parkinson's Disease
  Mr. Paul Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people suffer from Parkinson's disease in Shrewsbury and Atcham. [109680]

  Mr. Lammy
  Neither national nor local statistics are collected on how many people suffer from Parkinson's disease in Shrewsbury and Atcham.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the incidence of Parkinson's Disease in the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years. [110323]

  Jacqui Smith
  The information that is available is shown in the table and relates to finished consultant episodes (FCEs) involving Parkinson's Disease. A FCE s defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease, as one person may have several episodes within a year.

  Finished consultant episodes with main diagnosis "Parkinson's disease"—NHS hospitals England 1991–92 to 2001–02

  Number

  1991–92

  12,031

  1992–93

  11,483

  1993–94

  10,764

  1994–95

  9,731

  1995–96

  10,627

  1996–97

  10,855

  1997–98

  11,281

  1998–99

  10,389

  1999–2000

  10,099

  2000–01

  9,495

  2001–02

  9,420

  Notes:

  1. ICD10 codes G20-G22 have been used from 1995–96, ICD9 code 332 was used in previous years.

  2. Data in this table is grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data, except for 2001–02 which are ungrossed.

  3. The main diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the HES data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital during the episodes.

  Source:

  Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

  Prescription Charges (Fraud)
  Dr. Evan Harris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the total cost to the NHS in England of(a) prescription charge evasion fraud and (b) measures to help reduce prescription charge evasion, including payments to pharmacists, in real terms, in each year since prescription charges were introduced; and if he will make a statement. [109544]

  Mr. Lammy
  The National Health Service Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (NHS CFSMS) has an on-going programme of highly accurate 430W
  risk measurement exercises (accurate to plus or minus 1 per cent.) designed to reveal levels of losses and, through repeated exercises, reduction in such losses. The National Audit Office have audited this process and are satisfied to its accuracy. Phase one of these exercises (examining patient fraud losses) included pharmaceutical patient fraud. The following table details the results.

  Pharmaceutical patient fraud

  £ million

  Year data selected

  Fraud losses

  1998–99

  117

  1999–2000

  69

  A statistically valid sample of those prescriptions prescribed during March 2003 has been taken for a further measurement exercise to be completed. Further fraud reductions are anticipated and the figures will be produced later this year.

  There was no accurate measurement of pharmaceutical patient fraud prior to the commencement of these exercises in 1998–99.

  Point of dispensing (PoD) checks were introduced in all community pharmacies on 1 April 1999 to help deter this type of fraud. The check requires pharmacists to ask patients, who are claiming free prescriptions, if they have evidence to support their claim to exemption from prescription charges.

  In 1998–99, pharmacists received an addition to their global sum, of £1.85 million, for set-up costs to enable PoD checks to commence. In 1999–2000, a sum of £12.25 million, (at 1998–99 prices) for undertaking PoD checks was incorporated within the overall figure, representing 1.67 per cent. of the global sum. This sum covers pharmacists' NHS remuneration and has been uprated annually since then. The proportion for PoD checks is not separately identified.

  Where a patient wrongly fails to pay any amount in respect of NHS charges or obtains goods or services to which they are not entitled, the amended National Health Service Act 1977 (sections 122A and 122B) provides for a civil penalty charge to be imposed. The penalty charge is calculated as five times the recoverable amount, up to a maximum of £100, in addition to the original charge. In cases of non-payment a surcharge of up to £50 may be imposed. Between 1 August 2001 and 31 March 2003 £1,362,000 has been recovered through the penalty charge system.

  Regions White Paper
  Joyce Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress his Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work(a) in and (b) outside London and the South East; [108573]
  431W
  (2) what progress the Department has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of (a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in Civil Service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices, and the Government Offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the civil service and organisations in the regions. [108583]

  Mr. Lammy
  In the Department of Health, over 40 per cent. of the Department's 4,900 staff are now based outside London and the south-east, including nearly 1,000 headquarters staff in Leeds. The Department's regional directors of public health and their teams are based in the Government offices of the regions. In addition, from October 2002, 28 strategic health authorities—located around the country—have assumed a range of functions previously undertaken by the Department. Further progress towards effective decentralisation is a major component of the Department's current change programme, which will in turn be reflected in training and development priorities. In the meantime, staff awareness of regional and devolution issues is being raised by a variety of means, including intranet sites, staff interchange, and extensive day-to-day contact with regional and local services.

  Shrewsbury Hospital Merger
  Mr. Paul Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the respondees to the consultation on merger between the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal Hospitals were(a) in favour of and (b) against merger. [109698]

  Mr. Lammy
  The consultation on the proposed merger between the Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals National Health Service Trust and the Princess Royal Hospital NHS Trust resulted in a total of 321 responses. Fifty three of these responses were letters and 268 responses were received on the response slip attached to the consultation document.

  Primary Diagnosis (ICD10 COO-D48) Cancer (neoplasms) Main operation (OPCS4 W37 to W39) Hip Replacement Operations, (OPCS4 KOI to K71) Heart Operations & Procedures. Cumulative Count of Finished In Year Admission episodes, admissions from waiting list and booked cases by waiting time group NHS Hospitals, Suffolk HA 1997–98 to 2001–02 by Trust

  Trust Code

  Trust

  Diagnosis/Operation

  Under 3 months

  More than 3 months

  More than 6 months

  More than 9 months

  More than 12 months

  1997–98

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  24

  22

  21

  16

  15

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  50

  —

  —

  —

  —

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  42

  137

  112

  88

  63

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  6

  36

  24

  17

  3

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  10

  —

  —

  —

  —

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  27

  160

  108

  65

  31

  1998–99

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  21

  31

  25

  11

  7

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  69

  1—

  —

  —

  —

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  55

  147

  111

  85

  59

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  10

  40

  26

  14

  9

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  8

  1—

  1—

  1—

  1—

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  33

  158

  107

  61

  36

  1999–2000

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  17

  31

  26

  18

  11

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  55

  12

  1—

  —

  —

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  60

  147

  120

  88

  54

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  15

  34

  28

  26

  18

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  19

  —

  —

  —

  —

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  23

  151

  131

  104

  60

  432W
  Thirty three written responses and 230 response slips supported the merger proposal. Eleven written responses and 38 response slips opposed the merger.

  A further nine written responses were received which gave a qualified support to the proposal.

  Shrewsbury Prison (Healthcare Manager)
  Mr. Paul Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the appointment by Shropshire primary care trust of a healthcare manager from HM Prison Shrewsbury. [109695]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Shropshire County Primary Care Trust reports that it has not made such an appointment. The PCT is in discussion with Her Majesty's Prison Shrewsbury about provision later this year of mental-health in-reach services, but no appointments have yet been made.

  Tuberculosis
  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with(a) the Indian Government and (b) the National Asylum Seekers Service on tackling tuberculosis. [106563]

  Ms Blears
  No discussions have taken place with the Indian Government. Discussions have been held between Department of Health and National Asylum Support Service officers in relation to providing health assessments and tuberculosis screening for asylum seekers soon after their arrival.

  Waiting Times
  Mr. Ruffley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients waited more than(a) three months, (b) six months, (c) nine months and (d) 12 months for (i) heart operations, (ii) cancer treatment and (iii) hip replacements in each NHS hospital trust in Suffolk in each year since 1997. [108776]

  Mr. Lammy
  The information is shown in the tables.
  433W

  Primary Diagnosis (ICD10 COO-D48) Cancer (neoplasms) Main operation (OPCS4 W37 to W39) Hip Replacement Operations, (OPCS4 KOI to K71) Heart Operations & Procedures. Cumulative Count of Finished In Year Admission episodes, admissions from waiting list and booked cases by waiting time group NHS Hospitals, Suffolk HA 1997–98 to 2001–02 by Trust

  Trust Code

  Trust

  Diagnosis/Operation

  Under 3 months

  More than 3 months

  More than 6 months

  More than 9 months

  More than 12 months

  2000–01

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  44

  39

  27

  21

  18

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  86

  6

  1—

  —

  —

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  53

  195

  137

  1ll

  85

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  27

  62

  54

  44

  36

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  26

  1—

  1—

  —

  —

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  22

  191

  167

  136

  90

  2001–02

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  125

  210

  167

  132

  101

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  86

  1—

  —

  —

  —

  RGQ

  Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  54

  217

  178

  140

  107

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Cancer (Neoplasms)

  72

  181

  145

  115

  93

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Heart Operations

  22

  —

  —

  —

  —

  RGR

  West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust

  Replacement of Hip Joint

  26

  193

  154

  118

  95

  due to reasons of confidentiality, figures below 5 have been suppressed.

  1. The main operation is the first of four operation fields in the HES data set, and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode.

  2. The primary diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the HES data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.

  3. Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data.

  Waiting time statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and waiting times for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment at a given point in time and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the waiting time as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.

  The data has been cumulated from grouped waiting time counts of admissions. An admission classified in the category 'more than 6 months' would also be counted in the 'more than 3 months' category. Total in year admissions from waiting list and booked cases can be calculated as the sum of the counts for 'under 3 months' and 'more than 3 months'.

  Source:

  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

WORK AND PENSIONS

  Child Support
  Mr. Tynan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether the Child Support Agency is able to make deduction from earnings orders against liable persons where their address is not known but their employer is known; and in how many cases this has been done; [109888]

  (2) whether the Child Support Agency is able to make deduction from earnings orders against liable persons rot resident in the United Kingdom but employed by a company based or registered in the United Kingdom; and in how many cases this has been done. [109889]

  Malcolm Wicks
  To make a deductions from earnings order the Child Support Agency needs only to know the name and address of the employer which must be registered in the UK; not necessarily based in the UK. Before the Deductions from Earnings Order is made the non-resident parent must be notified of his child support maintenance liability and any arrears. This may be done via his employer, for example if no home address is known. The non-resident parent must also be notified by his employer of the amounts to be deducted from earnings.

  We do not have information available to identify such cases. There are around 9,000 non-resident parents with a deductions from earnings order for whom the agency does not hold a valid postcode, these will include cases where the non-resident parent lives abroad.
  434W
  Mr. Tynan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what procedures are in place to claim child support from liable persons not resident in the United Kingdom; and in how many cases these have been applied. [109890]

  Malcolm Wicks
  A non-resident parent who is not habitually resident in the United Kingdom but works for a company whose payroll is based in the UK may be liable for child support under the Child Support Act 1991. Wholly reliable information is not available; the best estimate is that in 2002–03 the Child Support Agency was able take such action in fewer than 200 cases. In other cases child maintenance can be applied for through the relevant courts in the country where the non-resident parent resides.

  Housing payments
  Ms Buck
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of local authorities spent their total allocation for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2001–02; how many claimants applied for assistance; how many were awarded DHPs; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the scheme. [105970]

  Malcolm Wicks
  Discretionary Housing Payments replaced exceptional hardship and exceptional circumstance payments from 2 July 2001. The scheme is funded in part by a central Government contribution to each local authority and any unspent contribution is returnable. Authorities may also spend more than the Government contribution, up to an overall limit.
  435W
  406 local authorities provided expenditure figures for the period 2 July 2001 to 31 March 2002, of which 3.9 per cent. spent their total Government contribution or more. Figures are not collected centrally on the number of people who apply for or receive Discretionary Housing Payments. However, statistical returns from 404 authorities show that a total of 20,563 awards were made between 2 July 2001 and 31 March 20021.

  We have commissioned the University of Birmingham to carry out a research project on how the Discretionary Housing Payment arrangements are operating. This will help us to determine a more effective mechanism of setting and distributing the Government's contribution to Discretionary Housing Payments for future years. The project is expected to report its findings later this year.
  1 Awards may be a single payment of a series of payments and more than one award may be made to an individual, for instance a person may receive separate awards to supplement Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

  Note:
  Returns from local authorities may be subject to revision.

  Source:
  Discretionary Housing Payment final claim form returns from local authorities to DWP, 2001–02.

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the expected saving to public funds from the private finance initiative schemes due to become operational in 2003. [105727]

  Malcolm Wicks
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 10 April 2003,Official Report, column 400W.

  Regions White Paper
  Joyce Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress his Department has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of(a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in Civil Service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices and the Government Offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the Civil Service and organisations in the regions. [108579]

  Maria Eagle
  Staff within The Department are expected to be knowledgeable about the requirements and features of local labour markets, social trends and patterns and any legislative or funding issues which affect their region. Managers at various levels in our regional and district structure frequently obtain briefings, statistics concerning local labour market and other social trends. In addition, Policy makers and other Senior Managers are expected to maintain very close links and nurture relationships with Regional Development Agencies and other Government bodies and NGOs. This helps supplement knowledge gained from other sources, such as briefing information.
  436W
  Arrangements have been developed, as part of the programme of work to establish the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), to facilitate movement of staff between the component businesses of DWP. These Regional Change Implementation Programme Executive (RECIPE) arrangements ensure that migration of staff between and within businesses is effectively managed to avoid surpluses and shortfalls of staff, including movement of staff between headquarters and regional offices. RECIPE groups also liaise with other government departments and the Government Office in their region to ensure, for example, a. coordinated approach to recruitment, and to facilitate inter-departmental moves.

  DWP is an outward facing department and encourages its staff to. undertake interchange with a wide range of organisations, in particular those at a regional and local level, many of whom are our partners in the delivery of our business. Centrally held interchange records do not provide detailed breakdowns of all interchange activity and records of activity undertaken during 2002–03 are still to be collated from the regions and businesses. There have been positive moves undertaken by the DWP central Interchange Team to work with Government Offices on encouraging interchange between this department and the regions. The team has attended Interchange events in Government Office—North East and in London. In addition, the team has presented DWP Interchange proposals at the Heads of Personnel Forum in GO South West. Very recently the team has engaged with GO North East Staffing Forum to encourage interchange between our department and civil service departments in the region. Finally the DWP central team has developed strong working relationships in establishing opportunities for interchange with a number of government departments including: the Inland Revenue, Home Office and Cabinet Office.

  Third Age Service
  Jim Knight
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the progress his Department has made in respect of the Third Age Service. [108881]

  Maria Eagle
  The Government aims to deliver the Manifesto commitment to improve services for older people by better integrating health, housing, benefits and social care into a "third age service". To this end we are now managing the 6 Care Direct pilots in the South West to identify good working practices and incorporate them into improved local services.

  The Department has also been making considerable progress in working with other service providers e.g. Department of Health, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Local Authorities and the Voluntary Sector (Age Concern, RNIB, NACAB), assessing current services and identifying opportunities for integration. Partnership working is being developed between The Pension Service, Local Authorities with social care responsibilities, Primary Care Trusts and the Voluntary Sector.
  437W
  We are also looking at other opportunities beyond the Care Direct pilots to deliver services which can offer face to face contact for customers unable to use the telephone. These will build on existing initiatives offering a single point of contact through local surgeries or home visit.

  Winter Fuel Allowance
  Mrs. May
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals against decisions on the payment of winter fuel allowance have been heard in each financial year since its inception; how many appeals have been upheld; and what the breakdown was of reasons for granting the appeals. [107162]

  Maria Eagle
  Information on the number of appeals is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is given in the table.438W

  Appeals for winter

  Number heard

  Number upheld

  2000–1

  1008

  17

  2001–2

  163

  12

  Source:

  Winter Fuel Payment Centre records

  No appeals have yet been held for this winter (2002–03) but there are two awaiting allocation of dates for a tribunal hearing.

  The 29 appeals which were allowed concerned late claims. The tribunals' reasons varied according to the circumstances of the individual case but generally they found, on the evidence presented and in accordance with their interpretation of the relevant regulations, that some of the claims were made on time and others should have been paid automatically.

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