Written Answers of 21 July 2004

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

  Advertising
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money was spent on advertising and promotional literature for her Department's initiatives, broken down by year since 1997. [183810]

  Alun Michael
  The Department does not maintain separate records of its expenditure for advertising and promotional literature. The expenditure for publicity by Defra's Communications Directorate, includes marketing, advertising, publications, events, shows and direct mailings, and is recorded for the financial years since Defra's creation in June 2001 as follows:

  £million

  2001–02

  6.6

  2002–03

  4.7

  2003–04

  2.5

  This includes communications on a wide range of matters, much of it necessary or beneficial to the public and the wide range of industries in which Defra has an interest, together with local government, voluntary organisations and other bodies.

  Agricultural Wages Board
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the Agricultural Wages Board, with specific reference to the launch of the consultation on its status; and what discussions she has had with (a) farming organisations and (b) the TGWU on this subject. [184436]

  Alun Michael
  I can confirm that Ministers at Defra are fully committed to the continued operation of the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales. The Board plays an important role in protecting the interests of agricultural workers including the migrant workers employed on farms.

  The Agricultural Wages Board as a non-departmental public body was last reviewed in 1999. There is no longer a requirement to undertake reviews at regular intervals and further reviews will be undertaken by this Department as necessary to confirm that the Board is delivering high quality services efficiently and effectively.

  Following the last review of the Board we announced that some aspects of the Board s operation would be modernised. We plan to introduce these changes through a Regulatory Reform Order. We do not intend
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  to reduce the protection given to agricultural workers. However, one of our objectives will be to align the operation of the Agricultural Minimum Wage legislation and general employment law as closely as possible. This will lessen the burden on employers in agriculture and allow them to benefit from the more flexible approach available under the National Minimum Wage legislation (including the revised output work provisions that will be introduced in October).

  The Food and Farming Minister Lord Whitty met representatives of the NFU and the Transport and General Workers Union to discuss detailed proposals in January 2003 and November/December 2004. This issue was also raised in a meeting with members of the Transport and General Workers Union on 24 June. A consensus on the way forward is now emerging and we hope to bring forward more detailed proposals for changes to the Agricultural Wages legislation before the end of the year.

  Annual Report
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many copies of her Department's, and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the(a) publication costs and (b) sales revenue were. [183842]

  Alun Michael
  Defra does not have the information on how many copies were printed as the departmental report is published by The Stationery Office Ltd. which determines the print quantities, based on a commercial judgment, and receives all revenues.

  Defra is responsible for the design, editorial, typesetting and proofing of the document and the cost for these items since the formation of the department in 2001 are:

  £000

  2002

  17,512

  2003

  15,200

  2004

  16,993

  The report is available, free of charge, on the Department's website.

  Bottled Water
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the number of litres of bottled(a) sparkling and (b) still water consumed in the United Kingdom in each year since 2002; and what percentage was supplied in (i) plastic, (ii) glass and (iii) other materials. [184859]

  Alun Michael
  Figures published by Zenith International in the 2004 Sucralose Soft Drinks Report estimate that bottled water consumption in 2002 was 1,760 million litres, of which 83 per cent. was still and
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  17 per cent. sparkling, and 2,070 million litres in 2003, of which 85 per cent. was still and 15 per cent. sparkling. Figures published by Mintel in its Bottled Water Report in June 2003 indicates that 79 per cent. of bottled water is packaged in plastic bottles, 20 per cent. in glass bottles and 1 per cent. in cans.

  Business Fines
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the average fine imposed on businesses prosecuted by the Environment Agency was in each financial year since 1999–2000; [184850]

  (2) how many businesses were (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully prosecuted by the Environment Agency in each financial year since 1999–2000. [184851]

  Mr. Morley
  The following table gives figures relating to Environment Agency prosecutions of registered companies. It does not include sole traders, who cannot be distinguished from individuals on the agency's database.

  Prosecutions of registered companies by the Environment Agency

  Financial year

  Number of successful prosecutions

  Number of unsuccessful prosecutions

  Average fine (£)

  1999–2000

  286

  10

  7,575

  2000–01

  307

  12

  6,737

  2001–02

  317

  7

  7,354

  2002–03

  325

  5

  8,356

  2003–04

  271

  2

  7,229

  Cross Compliance
  Mr. Laurence Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will make a decision on cross compliance; and if she will make a statement. [185143]

  Alun Michael
  We will be making an announcement shortly on cross compliance conditions.

  Mr. Laurence Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to delay the introduction of cross compliance; and if she will make a statement. [185144]

  Alun Michael
  We will be making an announcement shortly on cross compliance conditions.

  £000

  Processing and marketing gram

  Rural enterprise scheme1

  Vocational training scheme

  East Midlands

  3,021

  3,541

  297

  East of England

  998

  2,297

  303

  North East

  670

  1,882

  52

  North West

  1,264

  2,477

  453

  South East

  962

  2,408

  246

  South West

  1,255

  3,948

  451

  West Midlands

  1,090

  3,112

  367

  Yorks and Humberside

  758

  2,318

  211

  1RES funds are also available to non-farming businesses.

  Curry Report
  Mr. Gray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate Sir Don Curry made of the funding necessary to implement his Food and Farming Report; what funding she is making available for it; by what mechanism those funds are to be allocated among rural areas; how much will be paid to each region; how much will be used in urban areas; and if she will make a statement. [182561]

  Alun Michael
  Sir Don Curry estimated that implementation of that; recommendations in the report of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food would cost in the region of an extra £500 million over the following three years.

  The Government's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food (SSFF), which builds on the work of the Curry Commission, was launched in December 2002. As part of the 2002 Spending Review, the Government announced a sum of £500 million to implement the strategy. This is in addition to existing spending by Defra and other Government Departments which is already being used to deliver aspects of the strategy.

  The additional funding provided covers a number of major aspects of the strategy. These include the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme (Entry Level and Higher Level) and the IT system to underpin all the England Rural Develop Programme (ERDP) schemes; improvements in livestock traceability and other major animal health and welfare measures; and new food chain initiatives such as the Food Chain Centre and English Farming and Food Partnerships.

  Regional delivery of the strategy will be facilitated by many public body and industry representatives and these organisations will work together with both resource and funding support to deliver the vision set out in the strategy. They are making use of Government grants, industry support and the resources of Government Offices and Regional Development Agencies, as well as other Government bodies participating in regional steering groups. Existing support programmes. including the ERDP have been targeted to deliver SSFF regional action plans. Hitherto, land-based scheme budgets have not been managed on a regional basis, but they will be in future when the new ERDP IT system is rolled-out next year. Budgets for the three ERDP project-based schemes are managed on a regional basis, and the following table summarises expenditure on these schemes in 2003–04:
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  Given the number of public and industry bodies contributing to regional delivery it is not possible to quantify precisely the level of support available to fund regional delivery. Implementation of SSFF is one of the core tasks of the Government Offices and Regional Development Agencies, and their funding from Defra reflects this. Funding for the Government Offices is provided directly by Defra. The current Defra contribution to the RDA 'single pot', administered by DTI, is to enable RDAs to address rural productivity issues, which are a key factor in achieving the outcomes of the national Sustainable Food and Farming Strategy. In addition, Defra is making a further £1.5 million available to the RDAs in the current financial year to assist with the implementation of regional delivery plans. New tasking arrangements for RDAs, which will take effect from April 2005, will include specific reference to contributing to delivering a customer-focused, competitive and sustainable farming and food industry.

  It is not possible to differentiate precisely between funds that will be spent in rural areas and funds that will be spent in urban areas, but it is clear that the vast bulk will be spent in rural areas.

  Dairy Cattle
  Mr. Paterson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total number of dairy cattle in England was for the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what the estimated figure is for 2004–05. [184819]

  Alun Michael
  The number of dairy cows and heifers that have calved in England is shown in the following table for 1994 to 2003. Provisional figures from the June 2004 census will be available in a statistics notice to be published on the 16 September 2004 on the Defra website.

  Number of dairy cows and heifers that have calved in England 1994 to 2003

  Dairy cows (Thousand)

  1994

  1,897.0

  1995

  1,809.3

  1996

  1,783.3

  1997

  1,700.3

  1998

  1,642.6

  1999

  1,659.2

  2000

  1,575.3

  2001

  1,490.2

  2002

  1,462.2

  2003

  1,434.7

  Note:

  Figures prior to 2000 are for main holdings only, 2000 onwards include main and minor holdings.

  Source:

  June Agricultural Census.

  Mr. Paterson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total number of dairy farms was in England for the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what the estimated figure is for 2004–05. [184820]

  Alun Michael
  The number of holdings in England whose predominant business dairy is shown as follows. Equivalent figures from the June 2004 census will be published on the Defra website in early 2005.
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  Number of dairy type holdings in England 1994 to 2003

  Number (Thousand)

  1994

  20.6

  1995

  19.6

  1996

  18.9

  1997

  18.0

  1998

  17.0

  1999

  16.3

  2000

  15.2

  2001

  14.1

  2002

  14.3

  2003

  13.6

  Note:

  Figures prior to 2000 are for main holdings only, 2000 onwards include main and minor holdings.

  Source:

  June Agricultural Census.

  Dairy Farm Workers
  Mr. Paterson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total number of farm workers employed on dairy farms in England was for the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what the estimated number is for 2004–05. [184818]

  Alun Michael
  The number of employees on holdings in England whose predominant business is dairy is shown in the following table for 1994 to 2003. Equivalent figures from the June 2004 census will not be available until early 2005.

  Number of employees on dairy type holdings in England 1994 to
  2003

  Employees (Thousand)

  1994

  26.4

  1995

  25.6

  1996

  24.7

  1997

  23.4

  1998

  21.0

  1999

  18.8

  2000

  16.0

  2001

  14.7

  2002

  14.7

  2003

  13.4

  Notes

  1. Employees exclude farmers, partners, directors and spouses if they work on the holding.

  2. Figures prior to 2000 are for main holdings only, 2000 onwards include main and minor holdings.

  Source:

  June Agricultural Census.

  Disposable Nappies
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many disposable nappies she estimates were(a) used and (b) disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) incineration and (ii) other means in each year since 2001. [184853]

  Mr. Morley
  We do not collect information on the amount of disposable nappies used nor of the disposal route.
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  The Strategy Unit Report "Waste Not Want Not" estimated that in 2000–01 nappies comprised around 2 per cent. of household waste, equivalent to 350,000 tonnes. In 2002–03 75 per cent. of our household waste was sent to landfill and 7 per cent. to incineration.

  Domestic Waste Sites
  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects her Department to publish the criteria for the treatment expected at the domestic waste sites which are to be allowed to accept cells containing treated toxic waste. [183796]

  Mr. Morley
  I assume the hon. Member is referring to the provision in the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 (as amended) that allows stable, non-reactive hazardous waste to be landfilled in a separate cell in a non-hazardous landfill site. The criteria for stabilised non-reactive granular hazardous waste are set out in part 3, paragraph 14 of Schedule 1 of the amended Regulations. Equivalent criteria for monolithic wastes are being developed and will shortly be issued for consultation.

  Eggs
  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the enforcement difficulties that led to the decision of the Council of Ministers to remove the derogation from marking for ungraded eggs. [184195]

  Alun Michael
  The Commission (supported by other member states, but not the UK), argued it was necessary to clamp down on fraudulent sales (eggs being sold other than by the producer) through markets. There is no evidence of any significant problems of this sort in this country.

  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact upon(a) egg producers, (b) small markets and (c) consumers of her proposed requirement for ungraded eggs to be marked. [184197]

  Alun Michael
  Defra has received over 3,000 inquiries from small-scale egg producers on the Registration of Laying Flocks Order and the Egg Marketing Regulations. All producers must register with departments in order to obtain an identifying code. Currently small producers with less than 350 birds are exempt from this requirement, provided that the eggs are ungraded and sold direct to the final consumer.

  Because of enforcement difficulties in other member states, it was agreed in November 2003 that part of the derogation from marking for ungraded eggs be removed. From 1 July 2005 farmers selling eggs from their own farms at local public markets will no longer be exempt from the requirement to mark their eggs, irrespective of the number of laying hens kept A Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment was prepared on this in November 2003.
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  The cost for small producers to purchase the necessary equipment is low. A hand stamp can be bought for around £30. The time required to register as a producer and then to stamp eggs is unlikely to be significant. The majority of small producers appear to be satisfied that the costs are reasonable and can be borne comfortably.

  Some producers with fewer than 350 laying hens will therefore have to register for the first time, in order to obtain a distinguishing number. This measure had the support of the majority of other member states. Sales in farm shops and door-to-door do however remain exempt.

  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what penalties she plans to impose for a breach of the proposed requirement for ungraded eggs to be marked. [184198]

  Alun Michael
  If prosecution is required under the Egg Marketing Standards, then any person who fails to comply with any requirement properly made to him by an authorised officer of the Minister or of a food authority under these Regulations, or contravenes or fails to comply with any Community provision, will be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 (currently £5,000) on the standard scale.

  We will encourage producers to comply with the new Regulations and provide any necessary advice. Our Egg Marketing Inspectorate will take a sensible and proportionate approach to enforcement. Prosecution will be taken only as a last resort.

  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 1 July 2004,Official Report, columns 361–62W, on egg stamping, what the (a) date and (b) nature was of the Council of Ministers meeting which agreed to remove the derogation from marking for ungraded eggs; and what legislation she plans to bring forward to implement the proposed requirement for ungraded eggs to be marked. [184199]

  Alun Michael
  The meeting at which the agreement was reached to remove the derogation from marking for ungraded eggs was an Agriculture and Fisheries Council which was held on 17 November 2003.

  The legislation anticipated to implement the proposed requirement would be The Eggs and Poultrymeat Marketing Standards (Enforcement) (England) Regulations. We hope to bring these Regulations forward later this year, following formal consultation.

  Energy Efficiency
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the external costs associated with waste disposal, with particular reference to the environmental costs. [184582]
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  Mr. Morley
  The Review of Environmental and Health Effects of Waste Management, published in May 2004 identified and quantified the health and environmental impacts of different municipal waste management options. A second related report, to be published shortly, will identify the economic values for the impacts identified in the Health and Environmental Effects review. Combined, these studies will provide a range of external costs for each municipal waste management option.

  Table C4. External costs and benefits of different waste management options

  Waste management option

  External cost estimate, £per tonne of waste, 1999 prices

  Landfill

  3

  Incineration (displacing electricity from coal-fired power stations)

  -17

  Incineration (displacing average-mix electricity generation)

  10

  Recycling

  -161

  Ferrous metal

  -297

  Non-ferrous metal

  -929

  Glass

  -196

  Paper

  -69

  Plastic film

  17

  Rigid plastic

  -48

  Textiles

  -66

  Fisheries
  Mr. Paterson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of fisheries management schemes employing individual transferable quotas and effort control, based on days at sea. [184817]

  Mr. Bradshaw
  The most recent evaluation of various alternative fisheries management systems was carried out by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and set out in their "Net Benefits" report published on 25 March 2004. We will be examining the Strategy Unit's findings in detail with stakeholders before settling how to take them forward.

  Flood Defences
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural. Affairs how much funding has been allocated for flood defences in(a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06. [184067]

  Mr. Morley
  The Government continue to recognise the importance of flood management and have agreed, as part of the recent Spending Review, to carry forward the significant increases in funding allocated in Spending Review 2002. Total Government funding of flood and coastal defence in England is planned to be £478 million in 2004–05 and at least £564 million in 2005–06.

  Fly-tipping
  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will propose to the Environment Agency that it establish a national enforcement squad to specialise in detection and prosecution of incidences of fly-tipping, especially of hazardous waste. [183231]

  Mr. Morley
  Defra has been working closely with the Environment Agency on proposals to help tackle fly-tipping. The agency already has a national enforcement
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  These studies look at the direct impact of different waste management activities, but do not employ a full life cycle analysis to take account of, for example, the benefits of recycling.

  Table C4 in Appendix B to Waste Strategy 2000 Part 2 provides estimates of the external costs and benefits of different waste management options (Source: adapted from Coopers and Lybrand (1997)).

  concordat and enforcement officers who deal primarily with tackling investigation of serious, larger incidents of fly-tipping.

  Defra will work closely with the agency on efforts to increase the enforcement of illegally disposed waste by ensuring they have a comprehensive toolkit of powers to deal with fly-tipping.

  The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 gave the Secretary of State power to issue statutory directions to the agency and local authorities on the division of responsibilities for using their clear up powers to tackle fly-tipping. Defra has recently consulted on the proposed directions, which will be issued shortly.

  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Environment Agency on fly-tipping; and what joint activities are being undertaken. [183707]

  Mr. Morley
  [holding answer 13 July 2004]Defra has been working very closely with the Environment Agency to tackle fly-tipping. Recent work has included bringing forward measures in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, which allowed the Secretary of State to issue statutory directions to the Agency and local authorities to clarify the division of responsibility for dealing with fly-tipping.

  The ASB Act also led to the development of the Flycapture database, which the Agency has developed on behalf of Defra. The system went live on 5 April 2004 and take-up has been encouraging, with around 90 per cent. of local authorities registered in the first month.

  Defra are currently exploring with the Agency the possibility of developing a comprehensive training package tailored for local authorities. This will allow the Agency to pass on their experience in enforcement to local authorities ensuring fly-tipping is prevented and penalised accordingly.
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  The Department will carry on working closely with the Environment Agency to ensure that they have a suitable toolkit of powers to properly tackle the illegal disposal of waste or fly-tipping.

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 to extend the requirement to report fly-tipping to fly-tipping on private land. [183226]

  Mr. Morley
  Section 55 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 set up a requirement for waste collection authorities and the Environment Agency to submit data to Defra on incidents of fly-tipping. The new database went live in April.

  Take up of the system has been excellent with over 90 per cent. of authorities registered but it is important to ensure that reliability and quality of current data sources is as good as possible before exploring extending the system. The requirements to report to Flycapture will be reviewed after the first year of operation.

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make fly-tipping an arrestable offence. [183232]

  Mr. Morley
  Under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 the illegal disposal of hazardous waste can incur imprisonment of up to five years on conviction on indictment. This automatically makes it an arrestable offence. Arrest without warrant can occur in relation to arrestable offences or in relation to nonarrestable offences in particular circumstances.

  It is open to question however, whether it would be possible to justify, by reference to the level of seriousness, making any act of fly tipping by itself an arrestable offence or one attracting a custodial sentence. However, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, has indicated his intention under the Police Reform Act 2002 to conduct a public consultation on modernising police powers, which includes the intention to rationalise the powers of arrest.

  Hazardous Waste
  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much additional expenditure the Environment Agency has allocated in 2004–05 to address unlawful depositing of hazardous waste. [183230]

  Mr. Morley
  The agency's expenditure on enforcement across all its activities amounts to £12 million per annum, funded through Grant in Aid. The Agency uses its judgment to prioritise its enforcement effort to deliver the best outcome to protect the environment and human health. Unlawful activity involving hazardous waste is an enforcement priority for the agency in 2004–5 and it will not hesitate to use its powers where evidence is obtained that may lead to prosecution in the courts.
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  Sue Doughty
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) businesses, (b) trade associations and (c) trade publications her Department has contacted to provide information on changes in the way hazardous waste is treated and disposed of from 16 July onwards. [184770]

  Mr. Morley
  [holding answer 16 July 2004]: The Department has taken, and will continue to take, a range of measures to inform businesses of incoming legislation and their legal obligations as producers of waste.

  It is not possible t0 give a precise figure of how many individual businesses and trade bodies have been reached as a result of Defra and Environment Agency communications on this subject. A recent Defra survey, carried out among a cross-section of small businesses, showed a 78 per cent. awareness of the Landfill Regulations and an 84 per cent. awareness of the forthcoming Hazardous Waste Regulations.

  The Department works closely with other organisations who are better placed to disseminate information to businesses on our behalf. For example, Envirowise has produced a Hazardous Waste Guide for Chief Executives of small businesses, which will be distributed to over 13,000 businesses.

  The Department has also produced its own smaller leaflet called "Hazard Alert", which has been distributed to a wide stakeholder audience. In addition a dedicated hazardous waste web portal is available at www.hazardouswaste org.uk.

  Sue Doughty
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what timetable(a) has operated until now and (b) has been set out for the future, for informing businesses of changes to the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste and the types of waste classified as hazardous, resulting from waste-related European Union Directives. [184771]

  Mr. Morley
  [holding answer 16 July 2004]The timetable for implementing changes resulting from European Union Directives usually takes several years, and businesses should expect and anticipate the regulatory changes from an early stage.

  To date, businesses have been informed about these changes through the negotiation of the Directives, via the consultation exercises undertaken on the implementation and regulatory amendments and also by means of stakeholder forums, such as the Hazardous Waste Forum.

  Since early 2004, a Defra communications strategy has been in place to inform businesses about the changes that are being introduced as a result of the Landfill and Hazardous Waste Directives over two years. As part of this function a dedicated website, widely distributed leaflet, a number of stakeholder events and relevant articles in the trade press have been produced.

  Communicating with businesses about these changes will continue while the waste-related European Union Directives are implemented.
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  Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (Manchester)
  Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in Manchester, Central have benefited from the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme. [184172]

  Mr. Morley
  The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme is now marketed as Warm Front. Between the launch of the scheme in June 2000 and the end of March 2004, approximately 2,889 households in Manchester, Central received assistance from the Scheme.

  Human Pesticide Poisoning
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the cases of human pesticide poisoning mentioned by the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Alun Michael) in his broadcast comments on Farming Today of 17 June; in each case(a) who was the investigating agency and (b) what information from medical practitioners was obtained; and whose conclusion it was that illness was found not to be due to the effects of pesticides. [184435]

  Alun Michael
  It would be quite wrong for me to release the individual case details of the 60 incidents referred to in my broadcast. They were investigated by the Field Operations Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and detail of individual incidents is presented to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides to inform the pesticides approvals process.

  Cases of alleged ill health caused by the use of a pesticide are investigated by the HSE or the Local Authorities. Reports are then submitted to the Pesticide Incidents Appraisal Panel (PIAP) for their assessment. The membership of PIAP includes medical practitioners and a representative from the Department of Health. PIAP considers individual incident and case reports to identify if there is a link between exposure and ill health which may indicate a trend to inform the regulatory system. Medical records are only obtained from GPs and hospital doctors with the consent of the subject. PIAP considers clinical information as it is recorded in medical files.

  The details of the results and conclusions are available in the latest PIAP annual report available at:http://www.hse.gov.uk/fod/pir0203.pdf

  Landfill
  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she applied for a derogation from the EU Landfill Directive for the years(a) 2006, (b) 2008 and (c) 2018. [182988]

  Mr. Morley
  Article 5(2) of the EC Landfill Directive sets three target years 2006, 2009 and 2016 by which member states must reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfills in proportion to the amount produced in 1995. Under the Directive there is a four-year derogation from these targets available to member states that sent to landfill more than 80 per cent. of their collected municipal waste in 1995. The UK qualifies for this derogation.
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  The UK does not need to apply to make use of the derogation. The Directive only requires member states to inform the Commission if it intends to make use of the derogation. The Government intend to make use of their derogation and will inform the Commission before each target year.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why the targets in the Landfill (Scheme Year and Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2004 are measured by weight instead of volume. [182989]

  Mr. Morley
  The Landfill (Scheme Year and Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2004 divide the UK's targets under Article 5(2) of the EC Landfill Directive between the four countries of the UK. The Directive limits by weight the amount of biodegradable municipal waste allowed to be sent to landfill from member states. The Regulations set the targets consistently with the way the UK's performance will be measured under the Directive.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the delays to the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. [182990]

  Mr. Morley
  The decision to delay the implementation of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme until 2005, announced by the Minister of State for Local and Regional Government on 19 November 2003, was made as part of Defra's contribution to helping to reduce spending pressures on local government in 2004–05.

  The decision reflected the views of local authorities, received through the consultation on implementing the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme, that more time was needed to prepare for this new scheme which is a significant departure from the normal operations of local authorities. The delay in starting the scheme will mean that waste disposal authorities will have to make steeper annual reductions in the amount of biodegradable waste they landfill in order to meet the first target year of 2010 but they will have more time to plan how to do this.

  The Government are using the additional time to raise awareness of the scheme within local authorities and to support those who plan to make use of its provisions. A series of regional events will be taking place later this month to explain the scheme to local authorities, waste management companies and other interested parties. In addition, workshops will be arranged early in 2005 to give local authority officers hands-on experience of operating a trading scheme. Written and electronic guidance material will also be made available.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's plans are to deal with biodegradable municipal waste which will not be permitted to be sent to landfill under the Landfill (Scheme Year and Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2004; and whether she plans to permit an increase in the number of incinerators in the UK as a consequence of the regulations. [182991]
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  Mr. Morley
  It is for individual waste disposal authorities to decide which waste management options to use to meet their statutory obligations in the light of local circumstances. The Government have no plans for the provision of any particular number of incinerators.

  Defra's Waste Implementation Programme provides waste disposal authorities with a package of support measures designed to help them meet their share of the national target for the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill. In particular its new Technologies Demonstrator programme aims to establish five plants by the end of 2005 with a further five initiated by the end of 2006. The 10 plants will cover at least four different technologies either not currently available in this country or new to the industry, with a target of diverting at least 240,000 tonnes/annum of biodegradable municipal waste away from landfill. This should encourage the faster development and take up of new and innovative technologies.

  The Statutory Instrument specifies the maximum amount of biodegradable municipal waste allowed to be sent to landfills; it does not impose a ban on land filling above these permitted levels. However, waste disposal authorities responsible for part or the whole of the UK exceeding the maximum amounts set out in the Instrument will be liable to a penalty.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what increased funding will be given to local authorities to cover their responsibilities under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. [182992]

  Mr. Morley
  The cost to local authorities of meeting Landfill Directive obligations was addressed in the main in Spending Review 2002, which included increases to the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) block and PFI credits for local authorities.

  The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme is designed specifically to enable local authorities to choose the most cost effective way to meet their Landfill Directive targets taking account of local circumstances.

  The Spending Review settlement 2004 announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 July incorporates additional targeted funding for waste management including an extra:
  £275 million in PFI credits for local authorities in 2006–07 and 2007–08; and
  £35 million in 2006–07 and 2007–08 for the new waste management Performance Reward Grant.

  These additional funds will enable further investment in sustainable waste management and encourage local authorities to meet their targets efficiently.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications of the Landfill (scheme year and maximum landfill amount) Regulations on incineration in England. [183035]

  Mr. Morley
  The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme requires local authorities progressively to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill. Incineration, with or without energy recovery, provides an alternative to landfill, as does recycling. It is up to local authorities to develop and implement a254W
  strategy for implementing the scheme to match their local circumstances, taking into account statutory recycling and composting targets and planning guidance, among other things.

  Waste Strategy 2000 provided five estimates of waste management options over the period 2000 to 2020. A 'base case' was modelled so that the additional cost of meeting the landfill targets for biodegradable waste and the waste strategy goals could be calculated. The other four models provided different mixes of recycling, composting and incineration and the additional capacity required for those facilities under each option.

  The actual figures for additional capacity can be seen in annex C in Part Two of Waste Strategy 2000 (table C8 on page 194). A copy of the strategy is in the House of Commons Library and can also be accessed through the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk)

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many waste landfill sites she expects to have received a permit to receive hazardous waste by 16 July. [183798]

  Mr. Morley
  Seven dedicated hazardous waste sites will have received a PPC permit to receive hazardous waste by 16 July. This figure comprises five merchant sites and two in-house sites.

  In addition to these, 12 sites are awaiting the final decision on their PPC permit application, but currently hold Waste Management Licences to receive hazardous waste. This figure comprises six merchant sites and six in-house sites. These sites will continue to be able to receive those hazardous wastes allowed under their Waste Management Licence.

  Landfill Tax Credit Scheme
  Mr. Flook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money raised under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme has been diverted from local environmental trust distributors to the Treasury. [184644]

  Mr. Morley
  As part of the reform of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, approximately £84 million, £92 million and £92 million was allocated to a new public expenditure programme in England (the Waste Implementation Programme) for the financial years 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06. The purpose of this programme is to take action to enable local authorities and others to meet the requirements of Article 5 of the EU Landfill Directive to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste landfilled.

  Under the reformed Landfill Tax Credit Scheme approximately £47 million a year continues to be available for spending on local community environmental projects in England.

  Mobile Phones/Printer Cartridges
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) mobile phones and (b) printer cartridges were

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  (i) recycled, (ii) reused overseas and (iii) disposed of within the UK waste stream in the most recent year for which figures are available. [184858]

  Mr. Morley
  The Government do not currently collect data on the numbers of mobile phones and printer cartridges that have been recycled, roused or disposed of in the UK waste stream.

  The Government will be collecting data on the amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), including IT and telecoms equipment, reused and recycled to report to the European Commission when the producer responsibility obligations of the WEEE Directive come into force from August 2005.

  National Trails
  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many National Trails there are in the UK. [185095]

  Alun Michael
  There are 15 National Trails in England and Wales and four Long Distance Routes in Scotland.

  Orchards
  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional assistance will be available for orchards following the introduction of single farm payment; and if she will make a statement. [183830]

  Alun Michael
  The Commission has confirmed that it will carry over into the single payment scheme land in dual use such as traditional grazed orchards to be considered as forage rather than orchard land, subject to some conditions still to be clarified, and so that they qualify for payments. We are in the process of drafting detailed guidelines for the application of this guidance with the assistance of English Nature and the Forestry Commission.

  Subject to approval by the European Commission, grants to farmers and other land managers for the conservation and restoration of traditional orchards will also be available under the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme, which is to replace the Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas Schemes in 2005.

  Packaging Regulations
  Dr. Whitehead
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to incorporate companies that fall below the minimum requirements only because of their franchise arrangements within the working of the packaging regulations. [183503]

  Mr. Morley
  This is a matter currently being considered by the Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP) and subject to their advice, the Government may 256W
  include proposals for amendments to the packaging Regulations in a packaging consultation document that we expect to issue next year.

  Dr. Whitehead
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to ensure that free videos are incorporated into the working of the packaging regulations. [183504]

  Mr. Morley
  This is a matter currently being considered by the Advisory Committee on Packaging's (ACP) "Free Rider" Task Force. The Task Force will submit a best practice document for the identification and detection of free riders to the ACP later this year. Subject to the Committee's advice, the Government will consider what further action is needed.

  Pay Systems
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library the most recent review of(a) her Department's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible and (c) the departmental equal pay action plan. [181346]

  Alun Michael
  Defra completed an Equal Pay Review and submitted this together with an action plan to Cabinet Office in April 2003. The review covered core-Defra and two of its agencies, Pesticides Safety Directorate and Veterinary Medicines Directorate, for which the core-department has pay remit negotiating responsibility.

  The review found that there were no significant pay gaps within the department provided that Defra's multi-year pay settlement was fully rolled out for future years up to and including 2005–06. Defra is now entering the third year of the four-year settlement.

  The Equal Pay Review has been published within Defra and has been accessible to staff via the departments' intranet, Defra Online. A copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  Senior managers will be considering the implications of Defra's Equal Pay Review Action Plan in conjunction with developing new pay arrangements for Defra for 2006 and beyond, following the end of the current multi-year pay settlement.

  Agencies

  Rural Payments Agency

  The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) submitted an Equal Pay Review and action plan to Cabinet Office in 2003 in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines. A further Equal Pay Review has now been completed together with a revised action plan. This review and implications of the action plan on RPA pay systems is currently being considered by senior managers and the Trade Unions. Senior managers will be asked to consider placing the review and action plan in the House of Commons Library when the action plan is agreed.
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  Central Science Laboratory

  The Central Science Laboratory completed its Equal Pay Review in April 2003 and the resultant action plan was submitted to the Cabinet Office in May 2003. The contents continue to be subject to consultation with the Trade Unions.

  Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

  In line with Cabinet Office guidance, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) completed an Equal Pay Review and submitted this together with an action plan to Cabinet Office in April 2003.

  The review found that there were no significant pay gaps as a result of gender difference. There were individual problems as a legacy from earlier pay arrangements; these were addressed in the action plan.

  The Equal Pay Review has been published within CEFAS and the results made known to staff. Implementation of the action plan is the subject of ongoing discussions with the Trade Unions.

  A copy of the Review will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  Veterinary Laboratories Agency

  The Veterinary Laboratories Agency completed its Equal Pay Review in April 2003 and the resultant action plan was submitted to Cabinet Office in May 2003. The review found that there were no significant pay gaps as a result of gender difference. Implementation of the action plan is the subject of ongoing discussion with the Trade Unions. A copy of the review will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  Non-departmental public bodies

  Non-departmental public bodies were not included in the Government commitment to carry out equal pay reviews by April 2003, although several have done so.

  Pesticides
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to extend post-marketing surveillance to pesticide products in the same way as for new medicinal products. [184449]

  Alun Michael
  The pesticide approvals process requires all approval holders to report any adverse effects to the Pesticides Safety Directorate. In addition a range of monitoring activities are carried out to ensure that pesticide products are formulated and used correctly. These activities include formulation analysis of pesticide products, label checks, and the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme. In addition a number of investigations are carried out by the Health and Safety Executive and local authority Trading Standards officers. Therefore, the Government have no plans to extend the post marketing surveillance of pesticide products.
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  Recycling
  Sue Doughty
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her strategy is to encourage the use of recycled fibre in the private sector. [184954]

  Mr. Morley
  Government recognise that it is not only important to collect materials for recycling, but to make good use of them. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) was set up by Government and the Devolved Administrations to help in this area. Their aim is to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products and to remove the barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling.

  Over the past three years WRAP have been working with a wide variety of businesses to encourage the use of recycled materials and also to find new uses for recycled materials.

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total tonnage of waste collected by community recycling organisations was in England in each year since 2000. [183187]

  Mr. Morley
  According to Defra's latest annual Municipal Waste Management Survey of local authorities in England, the total tonnages of voluntary organisation recycling are:

  Thousand tonne

  2001–01

  35

  2001–02

  35

  2002–03

  37

  However, these figures are likely to be an underestimate as not all recycling carried out by community organisations is reported to local authorities.

  The results of the survey are based on information supplied by local authorities in England for the financial year 2002–03, the latest year for which data are available. A summary of the survey was published on the Defra website in April this year and can be accessed through this link: http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2004/ 040429a.htm

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total value of contracts between community recycling organisations and local authorities was in England in each year since 2000. [183188]

  Mr. Morley
  The Department does not collect this information.

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many community recycling organisations were registered in England to collect waste in each year since 2000. [183189]

  Mr. Morley
  This information is not available. All organisations involved in waste collection are required to have a Waste Carrier's Licence or an Exemption to that requirement. The Environment Agency (EA) issues
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  and regulates the licensing system but its records do not differentiate between commercial organisations, charities, community groups or individuals.

  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to tackle false claims of recycling achievements by the packaging industry. [183703]

  Mr. Morley
  [holding answer 13 July 2004]The Department, in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Northern Ireland administration, the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland has commissioned fact-finding exercises to establish whether there is any substance to the allegations of inappropriate issuing of Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Waste Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) by some packaging waste reprocessors and exporters.

  The first fact finding exercise took place last year and investigated the wood packaging waste sector. On completion of the exercise, the fact finding team presented their findings in a report which can be found on the Department's website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/ topics/packaging/index.htm

  During the course of the exercise the team established that there were no inappropriate operations of the kind that might warrant criminal proceedings. However, some assumptions were being made, for example about the tonnages of packaging waste in mixed loads, that were unrealistic or were made on the basis of insufficient evidence. The team therefore recommended that the amount of wood packaging waste recycled in 2002 should be reduced by 76,400 tonnes. This was done.

  The second fact finding exercise is currently focusing on the plastic packaging waste sector and the findings will be announced shortly.

  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to increase the amount of recycling in London. [184279]

  Mr. Morley
  In common with all local authorities in England, London boroughs were set statutory national recycling and composting targets for 2003–04 and 2005–06.

  To help support achievement of these targets over the last two years, Defra has allocated £24.9 million from the National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund to the London Recycling Fund, for a range of sustainable waste management schemes in London. A further £20.55 million has been awarded for 2004–05 to 2005–06.

  Twenty-two London boroughs included a sustainable waste management target in the first round of local Public Service Agreements (PSA). The second round of local PSA negotiation is now under way and four London boroughs have proposed sustainable waste management targets.

  I have also written to all local authorities offering direct consultancy support on waste management projects up to the value of £20,000.
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  Set Aside
  Mr. Laurence Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will advise farmers of the rules for(a) set aside, (b) uncultivated fields and (c) permanent pasture; and if she will make a statement. [185145]

  Alun Michael
  With regard to set-aside, we will be advising farmers before the 1 August deadline. We will be making an announcement shortly on cross compliance conditions.

  Single Farm Payments
  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to allow farmers to receive single farm payment in Euros; and if she will make a statement. [185233]

  Alun Michael
  The Government are committed in principle to providing farmers with the option of receiving grants and subsidies in Euros. The computer systems at the Rural Payments Agency that will deliver the single payment are being developed with that in mind, and I will make an announcement in due course.

  Stored Departmental Publications
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located. [183871]

  Alun Michael
  Defra regularly publishes reports, consultations and publicity material. The current list of titles published by the department and available to the public numbers 1,595, of which 438 are stored digitally and printed on demand. Publications are stored at Defra Publications, based in East Kilbride, Scotland.

  Additionally, The Stationery Office publishes a number of publications on behalf of the department and for these publications retention and storage is a matter for the publisher.

  The titles available are listed on the Defra website.

  Toxic Waste Disposal
  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the cost to business of the stock-piling of toxic waste in the six month period following 16 July owing to the short-term shortfall of disposal capacity. [183797]

  Mr. Morley
  None. It is Government policy to ensure as smooth a transition as possible of the implementation of the requirements of the Landfill Directive and to avoid the need for storage of hazardous waste over and above that which normally occurs.

  Waste
  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department will launch a public information campaign alerting businesses to their legal obligations as producers of waste. [183197]
  261W
  Mr. Morley
  The Department is taking a range of measures to inform businesses of their legal obligations as producers of waste. Defra has issued a code of practice and information leaflet covering the duty of care requirements which are set out in Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. We are currently reviewing the duty of care regime which will result in a consultation later in the year and should assist in raising public awareness.

  With the forthcoming changes to the management of hazardous waste, a dedicated hazardous waste web portal will be available at www.hazardous waste.org.uk from the 16 July 2004. Other measures to inform businesses of these changes include leaflets, updated and signposted Defra. Environment Agency and Envirowise websites, press releases, case study material and a communication network, established primarily through the Hazardous Waste Forum.

  The Envirowise programme, which is partly funded by Defra, offers businesses in the UK advice on their legal obligations relating to waste, together with a range of support and guidance on waste minimisation.

  Defra and the Department for Trade and Industry are informing businesses of their obligations under the Packaging Regulations and the forthcoming Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations and End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulations. For example, during the implementation of the WEEE directive the Government have organised over 50 workshops to alert stakeholders to the regulations.

  Defra also supports the Environment Agency-led NetRegs project, which provides businesses with an online plain English guide to the environmental legislation that applies to them. and how to comply with it.

  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if(a) her Department and (b) the Environment Agency will establish an online database to monitor flows of wastes and other materials through the economy. [183229]

  Mr. Morley
  Good quality data on waste is vital to monitor and evaluate performance, underpin planning and investment decisions and formulate strategy and specific policy interventions. Defra's Waste Implementation Programme has established a data work-stream to ensure effective co-ordination, provision and dissemination of reliable data on different waste streams, through the development of a national three-year data strategy.

  Already in place is the development of a web-based intranet and central database to provide quarterly data on municipal waste. Waste Dataflow (www.wastedataflow.org) has been established by Defra together with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, and is widely supported. The system will provide more timely, efficient and accessible data than is currently available, helping to monitor progress against landfill directive targets. The Environment Agency has played an important role in helping to steer this project.

  Our medium-term aim is to develop an accessible central database of current (and where available historic) data on all waste streams, working closely with the Environment Agency.
  262W
  Richard Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance her Department issues to business producers of waste on how to discharge the statutory duty under section 34 of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act and the extent of due diligence required of such a producer in discharging its duty. [183228]

  Mr. Morley
  Defra has produced "Waste Management The Duty of Care Code of Practice" to offer guidance on complying with section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This is available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/ management/doc/pd f/waste_man_duty_code.pdf

  Defra has recently re-issued a leaflet entitled "Waste and Your Duty of Care" which can also be accessed online at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/management/doc/index.htm

  A comprehensive review of the duty of care regime is currently under way which will result in a consultation and an updated code of practice.

  Water Voice Office (Exeter)
  Linda Gilroy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is Government policy to close the Water Voice office in Exeter; and if she will make a statement. [185276]

  Mr. Morley
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]The Government's policy in relation to Water Voice regional offices is to take forward the recommendations made by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in its report on the organisational and regional structure of the Consumer Council for Water that was published in January 2004, and for an Implementation Steering Group, which includes representatives from Defra, WaterVoice and Ofwat, to decide on the location of merged regional offices for the new Consumer Council for Water.

  PwC recommended that the offices in Exeter and Bristol currently serving the South West and Wessex should be merged in to one office and located either in Exeter, Bristol or at a new site in Taunton. Following consultation with staff in Exeter and Bristol, the Steering Group agreed that the merged office should be located in Bristol.

  Waterways
  Mr. Bill O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans does she have to ensure that the programme of investment on waterway infrastructure will meet the target of seven million tonnes of freight being transported on British Waterways navigations by 2010; and if she will make a statement. [183684]

  Alun Michael
  The target referred to is one set by British Waterways itself, rather than the Government. It is an ambitious target but that is greatly to the credit of British Waterways.

  We encourage British Waterways to facilitate waterway transport by encouraging the transfer of freight from roads to water where this is practical, economic and environmentally desirable. The Government will continue to provide grant in aid to support British Waterways' Corporate Plan and in

  263W
  particular to help it address its backlog of maintenance and so enable it to meet its freight and other objectives. British Waterways is also eligible for grants from the Department of Transport's freight facilities grant programme towards infrastructure investments that will lead to identifiable transfer of lorry movements from roads.

TRANSPORT

  Aviation (State Aids)
  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has made to the US Administration about state aid for the US aviation industry; and if he will make a statement. [183294]

  Mr. McNulty
  The issue of state aid has been raised in the negotiations between the European Community and the United States over a transatlantic Open Aviation Area. The new EU regulation on protection against subsidisation and unfair pricing practices by third country carriers, which has recently entered force, is designed to address unfair competition arising from subsidies to non-EU airlines.

  Canteen Facilities
  Andrew Selous
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of running the Department's canteen facilities was in(a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [185244]

  Mr. McNulty
  In 1996–97 the Department's restaurant services were provided by an outside contractor and the contract attracted a subsidy of £25,000. The Department also paid the accommodation and utilities costs. These were borne within the overall costs for the building (so separate figures are not available). The contract was re-let in 2000, it was let on a self-financing basis. This gave the contractor freedom to operate commercially and it obviated the requirement for a cash subsidy. The Department still pays the accommodation and utilities costs. Another contract has recently been let still under the same self-financing principle.

  Civil Aircraft (Safety)
  Mr. Lazarowicz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many(a) incidents and (b) complaints regarding the safety of civil aircraft the UK aviation authorities received in (i) 2004 to date, (ii) 2003 and (iii) 2002, broken down by (A) airline, (B) aircraft type and (C) country of registration. [184129]

  Mr. McNulty
  Neither we nor the CAA maintain a central record of complaints about the safety of particular airlines. We receive very few complaints from the public about the safety of airlines and these are dealt with as they arise. Appropriate action is taken if a complaint reveals any non-compliance with required standards.

  Article 117 of the Air Navigation Order establishes a Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) scheme for safety related incidents. The purpose of the scheme is to
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  ensure that the CAA is advised of hazardous or potentially hazardous incidents and defects, and that knowledge of these occurrences is disseminated so that other persons and organisations may learn from them. This enables an assessment to be made by those concerned of the safety implications of each occurrence.

  Occurrence reports are an important part of our open reporting culture and the fact that an occurrence report has been made is not necessarily an adverse indication about the safety standards of an airline. The MOR scheme aims to ensure the safety of the UK industry but some reports, mainly relating to occurrences en route in UK airspace, do involve foreign aircraft.

  The tables, which have been placed in the Libraries of the House, set out the number of aircraft the subject of mandatory occurrence reports by state of registry and aircraft type for the years 2002 to 2004. Slight discrepancies exist between the figures because of the way data is recorded. Section 23 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 constrains the Civil Aviation Authority's ability to release information relating to individual companies that it receives under the MOR scheme. I therefore consider that it would be inappropriate for me to undermine those constraints by publishing a list of airlines whose aircraft have been the subject of mandatory occurrence reports.

  Diabetic Retinopathy (Driving Licences)
  Mr. Sanders
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the minutes of the Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Visual Disorders' special forum on progressive and non-progressive retinopathy. [184634]

  Mr. Jamieson
  The minutes of the meetings of the Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Visual Disorders are published regularly on the DVLA website. At the last meeting the Panel suggested that a useful area of research would be a workshop on retinopathy. We are currently considering whether this initiative should be included in the Department's research programme.

  If approved the results of the workshop will be published.

  Headed Notepaper
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost of printing departmental headed notepaper was in(a) 1996–97 and (b) the last year for which figures are available. [185235]

  Mr. McNulty
  [holding answer 19 July 2004]: The Department does not retain records of the former Department of Transport's expenditure, and to investigate the costs of printing its headed notepaper in 1996–97 could be done only at disproportionate cost.

  The Department for Transport's expenditure on headed notepaper for 2003–04 was £1,424.

  Network Rail
  Mr. Fallon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how, under his proposals of 15 July, the borrowing of Network Rail is guaranteed. [185425]
  265W
  Mr. McNulty
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: Network Rail's borrowing benefits from support arrangements provided by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). As announced to the House by the Secretary of State for Transport on 15 July 2004, the SRA is to be closed. Its financial obligations, including those in support of Network Rail's borrowing, will be transferred to the Department for Transport, subject to the passage of the necessary legislation. In the meantime, the existing SRA support arrangements will continue.

  Pay Systems
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the most recent review of(a) his Department's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible and (c) the departmental equal pay action plan. [181356]

  Mr. McNulty
  A copy of the Department's equal pay action plan will be placed in the Libraries of the House once it is finalised.

  Transport Statistics
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average journey time between central London and the centre of(a) Manchester, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Bristol and (d) Newcastle by (i) air, (ii) rail, (iii) lorry and (iv) car, including, in the case of air, check-in time at the airport. [182376]

  Mr. McNulty
  Data on journey times by mode between these cities are not held centrally.

  Travel Costs
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the travel costs were of civil servants in(a) his Department, (b) its predecessor Department and (c) its related agencies in each year since 1997. [183892]

  Mr. McNulty
  The Department for Transport came into existence on 29 May 2002 following Machinery of Government changes. The total travel and subsistence costs for civil servants in the Department for fiscal year 2002–03 were £1,606,589, and for 2003–04 were £1,919,678. Information for earlier years can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  The totals for the Department's agencies in the same years were £18,696,176 (2002–03), and £21,975,803 (2003–04).

  All travel undertaken by civil servants in the Department for Transport complied with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code.

DEFENCE

  Iraq
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British troops charged with torture or mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq could be tried in an Iraqi court under Iraqi law. [183244]
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  Mr. Ingram
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave on 1 July 2004,Official Report, column 432W, to the right hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram). British troops serving in Iraq have immunity under Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17.

  United Kingdom armed forces, wherever they operate in the world, are subject to English criminal law. They can be tried by court martial for acts committed overseas if those acts would constitute a criminal offence if committed in the UK.

  Sir Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and in what circumstances Ministers were first informed of the practice of hooding; what the nature of the practice was; and what the reasons were for its abandonment. [183944]

  Mr. Ingram
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The hooding of detainees for the purposes of arrest or transit was a standard procedure for United Kingdom troops prior to Operation Telic and, as such, was not specifically brought to the attention of Ministers. The UK believes that hooding during arrest and transit is acceptable when there is a strong military reason, for example to offer security to our own forces and locations or to provide protection to the detainee (through the prevention of identification by other detainees).

  Military commanders became aware that the practice of hooding could be harmful to prisoners, especially if it was applied inappropriately. They judged that these concerns outweighed the military justification for the continued use of hooding as a means of blindfolding, and that the most prudent, immediate response was to introduce a ban.

  Mr. Pope
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment were(a) awarded medals and (b) mentioned in despatches following their recent deployment in Iraq. [184500]

  Mr. Caplin
  Following their recent deployment to Iraq (from June 2003 to November 2003), four personnel from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment were awarded medals and two were Mentioned in Despatches.

  Adam Price
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 7 July 2004,Official Report, column 721W, on Iraq, why he decided to publish the extracts from the document. [185600]

  Mr. Hoon
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The extract contained the relevant information.

  Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether he was informed in July 2003 that the SIS had, in that month, withdrawn reporting from a source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable; [185656]

  (2) when he was informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting from the source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable. [185691]
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  Mr. Hoon
  I first became aware that SIS had withdrawn the reports as a result of the Butler Review.

  European Rapid Reaction Force
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the costs of participation in the European Rapid Reaction Force. [185202]

  Mr. Hoon
  There is no standing European Rapid Reaction Force. National forces declared under the Helsinki Headline Goal are made available to European Union operations on a voluntary, case-by-case basis, as for NATO or United Nations operations. United Kingdom contributions to such operations are provided from within existing forces.

  Management Groups
  Mr. Keith Simpson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the responsibilities of the(a) Defence Housing Executive, (b) Defence Medical Training Organisation, (c) Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency, (d) Policy Director, (e) Deputy Chief Defence Staff (Equipment Capability), (f) Chief of Defence Intelligence, (g) Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, (h) Internal costs, (i) Programme Account and (j) Nuclear Management Groups. [181747]

  Mr. Caplin
  The responsibilities of the management groupings requested are listed as follows:

  (a) This organisation ceased to exist on 31 March 2003 when it was absorbed into Defence Estates.

  (b) This organisation ceased to exist on 31 March 2003 following the formation of Defence Medical Education and Training Agency (DMETA).

  (c) This Agency, owned by the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff Personnel (DCDS(Pers)), contributes to operational effectiveness through the provision of pay and administration services to Service personnel. In addition, the Agency provides direct support to the mobilization of reservists and the deployment of improved Operational Manpower systems.

  (d) The Policy Director is responsible for future defence policy and international security policy.

  (e) The Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Equipment Capability) heads the Equipment Capability Customer organisation. whose role is to develop an integrated and affordable equipment programme that meets Defence capability requirements, and to drive the delivery of new and enhanced military capability.

  (f) The Chief of Defence Intelligence is responsible for the provision of defence intelligence to the MOD, the armed forces, wider Government and allies. His areas of responsibility encompass the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) including its agencies, the Defence Geographic and Imagery Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre.

  (g) Training in security, languages, intelligence and photography takes place at the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, who also provide advice on intelligence and security policy.

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  (h) This Management Group was discontinued with effect from 31 March 2004. It has been merged with (i) Programme Account.

  (i) The responsibilities of the Programme Account Management Group are: the purchase of new equipment systems and associated weapons including major upgrade programmes and system procurement expenses such as studies and the management and funding of Defence Procurement Agency staff, accommodation and all related activities.

  (j) The responsibilities of the Nuclear Management Group are; to sustain a safe and effective Nuclear Warhead capability and to discharge MOD's liabilities for waste management and decommissioning at the sites of BNFL and UKAEA.

  Further information on individual defence agencies is available in the Library of the House of Commons.

  Mr. Keith Simpson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the responsibilities of the(a) Fleet, (b) General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), (c) Field Army, (d) 1st (UK) Armoured Division, (e) 2nd Division, (f) 3rd Division, (g) 4th Division, (h) 5th Division, (i) UK Support Command (Germany), (j) Joint Helicopter Command and (k) Land Support management groups. [181779]

  Mr. Caplin
  The responsibilities of the management groupings requested are listed as follows:

  (a) The Commander-in-Chief Fleet ensures the Royal Navy carries out its responsibilities by delivering an effective and capable Fleet based on flexible support, the continuous development of people, organisations and capability and through the most efficient use of resources.

  (b) It is the responsibility of the GOC NI to implement policy in accordance with Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of General Staff Directives and to support the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the defeat of terrorism and in the maintenance of Public Order in order to assist HMG's objective of returning to normality.

  (c) Exercising operational command of the Field Army and training designated forces for war and other operations in order to provide military capability in the right place, at the right time in the most cost effective manner.

  (d) 1st (UK) Armoured Division is to maintain and where possible enhance the Division's capabilities with emphasis on war in order to set the conditions for future success on operations.

  (e) 2nd Division is to provide the most effective regional command and infrastructure support to all formations and units within Scotland and the North of England in order to enable Commander Regional Forces to deliver the required military capability and infrastructure support to CinC LAND.

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  (f) 3rd (UK) Division is to exercise operational command, train designated forces for war and other operations, and conduct operations as directed in order to provide military capability within readiness.

  (g) 4th Division is to deliver, and where possible enhance, both military capability and the provision of infrastructure support to designated formations and units.

  (h) 5th Division is to provide the most effective regional command and infrastructure support to all formations and units within its geographical area in order to enable Commander Regional Forces to deliver and, where possible, enhance the required military capability and infrastructure support to CinC LAND.

  (i) The mission of United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) is to deliver, and where possible enhance, both military capability and the provision of infrastructure support to designated formations and units.

  (j) Commander Joint Helicopter Command's primary role is to deliver and sustain effective Battlefield Helicopter and Air Assault assets, operationally capable under all environmental conditions, in order to support UK's defence missions and tasks.

  (k) Land Support Management Group exists to effectively manage the resources of Headquarters Land Command, and the overall Communication Information Systems requirement for Land Command.

  Missiles
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many nations he estimates have(a) air, (b) land and (c) submarine-launched (i) cruise and (ii) skim missiles with a range of more than 20 nautical miles. [185574]

  Mr. Hoon
  The Ministry of Defence does not hold the information requested on all countries.

  Entry level 1 and 2(%)

  Entry level 3(%)

  Level 1 (%)

  Level 2+(%)

  Sample size

  Literacy

  England

  5

  11

  40

  44

  7,874

  North East

  8

  14

  41

  37

  877

  Northumberland

  8

  21

  38

  33

  182

  Tyne and Wear

  7

  15

  42

  36

  310

  County Durham

  5

  10

  39

  46

  191

  Tees Valley

  10

  15

  43

  33

  294

  Numeracy

  England

  21

  26

  28

  25

  8,040

  North East

  28

  27

  25

  21

  894

  Northumberland

  41

  23

  22

  15

  182

  Tyne and Wear

  24

  26

  24

  26

  317

  County Durham

  23

  24

  28

  25

  192

  Tees Valley

  31

  30

  24

  15

  303

  1please note the small sample size

  Countryside Interpretation Centres
  Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what programmes his Department has established for collaboration between schools and independent countryside interpretation centres. [185548]
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  The United Nations Register of Conventional Arms has seven categories of conventional arms for nations to report against, int hiding Section VII—Missiles and Missile Launchers. However returns are made on a voluntary basis and the UN does not hold all this information either.

  Prisons
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training is given to police officers employed in British-run military and civilian prisons in Iraq; and how long it lasts. [177245]

  Mr. Ingram
  There are no British-run civilian prisons in Iraq. The only British detention facility in Iraq is the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility in Shaibah. Internees are guarded by soldiers of the Military Provost Staff who are trained to Home Office standards. No civilian prison or police officers are employed in Shaibah.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

  Basic Skills Agency Data
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will update the data prepared for each English constituency by the Basic Skills Agency in 2000; and what the updated information is for each constituency in the North East Region. [185169]

  Mr. Ivan Lewis
  In May 2004 the DfES commissioned work to produce local level estimates of literacy and numeracy in England based on the results of the Skills for Life survey (published in October 2003). The survey mapped skill levels to the National Standards for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. These estimates will update those provided by the Basic Skills Agency and will be available via the DfES's website in autumn 2004.

  At the current time, based on the Skills for Life survey findings, we can provide estimates of literacy and numeracy levels for the North East and its constituent Learning and Skills Council areas:

  Mr. Charles Clarke
  We welcome collaboration between schools and independent countryside interpretation centres and would encourage schools to develop relationships with them.

  More specifically, our Growing Schools programme has worked with 12,000 schools and 40 partner

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  organisations which specialise in the field of outdoor education to assist teaching about food, farming and the countryside both within and beyond the school grounds. The programme is now further developing an accreditation scheme for countryside centres such as estates, farms, woodlands, parks, gardens and outdoor museums.

  Our London Challenge programme has commissioned the Field Studies Council to provide outdoor learning experiences for London pupils over a three year period.

  Dentistry
  Mr. Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many dental clinical academics hold honorary consultant contracts. [181642]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  I have been asked to reply.

  Detailed information has been published by the Council of Heads of Medical Schools and the Council of Deans of Dental Schools in "Clinical Academic Staffing Levels in UK Medical and Dental Schools", May 2004. A copy has been placed in the Library.

  Departmental Staff
  John McDonnell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many(a) consultants and (b) advisers his Department employs; and what the annual cost is of their employment; [184739]

  (2) how many (a) consultants and (b) advisers his Department has employed for more than six months in the last year; and what projects they were assigned to; [184741]

  (3) how many (a) consultants and (b) advisers are currently paid from departmental programme budgets; and what the total associated costs are; [184742]

  (4) how many (a) consultants and (b) advisers have been taken out of schools to work on his Department's projects. [184743]

  Mr. Charles Clarke
  Working in partnership and involving front line practitioners in policy thinking and system change is fundamental to our vision for managing the transformation of the education system. We consult regularly with schools and take advice from headteachers and teachers to support the development of our policies.

  Authority to use consultants and advisers is delegated to Directorates and data on numbers is not recorded centrally. The cost of consultants charged to administration budgets in 2003–04 was £4.7 million. The cost charged to programmes is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  Education (Nottingham)
  Alan Simpson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many teachers and teaching assistants posts will be lost at the end of the current school year in Nottingham City maintained schools; [184654]
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  (2) how much money Nottingham local education authority lost from its formula allocation by the imposition of a funding ceiling; and how many of the lost teaching posts this could have saved; [184655]

  (3) what assessment he has made of the change in teacher numbers in Nottingham on educational standards in city schools; [184656]

  (4) if he will make a statement on the funding of primary and secondary schools in Nottingham in 2005–06. [184657]

  Mr. Miliband
  The Department collects statistics on numbers of teachers and support staff in January each year and will be publishing the figures for January 2004 by local education authority in the autumn. These show an increase in full-time equivalent regular teachers in Nottingham City between 1999 and 2003 of 210 (10 per cent.). Schools make changes in their staffing levels every year in response to a range of issues including changing pupil numbers, new school priorities and the resources available to them.

  The calculation of the Education Formula Spending Share has a floor and ceiling component which ensures that all authorities see a minimum increase per pupil which is in part funded by having a ceiling which imposes a maximum increase per pupil. In 2004–05 Nottingham City local education authority received the ceiling increase (6.8 per cent. per pupil) which reduced its Education Formula Spending Share by £2.8 million.

  The funding allocation for each local education authority for 2005–06 will be announced in the provisional local government finance settlement in the autumn. However, every authority will receive an increase in the Schools Formula Spending Share of at least 5.5 per cent. per pupil. [Primary and nursery schools will receive a minimum funding increase per pupil of 5 per cent. and secondary schools of 4 per cent. where pupil numbers do not change.]

  Grammar Feeder Schools
  Mr. Chaytor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many eligible feeder schools there were in each of the last five years in(a) the state sector and (b) the independent sector for grammar schools subject to the feeder school provisions of the grammar school ballot regulations, broken down by local education authority in England. [184748]

  Mr. Miliband
  Responsibility for identifying qualifying feeder schools for the purpose of petitions and ballots to decide the future admission arrangements of grammar schools falls to the designated ballot administration company, Electoral Reform Services. Consequently, the Department does not collect this data.

  Oversubscribed Schools
  Mr. Brady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the oral answer of 8 July 2004,Official Report, column 1022, if he will publish the guidance and regulations which require schools wishing to expand to take account of (a) the local situation, (b) other schools in the area, (c) the adjudicator and (d) other factors. [185598]
  273W
  Mr. Miliband
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The current statutory guidance to decision-makers and those wishing to publish proposals is available on the Department's website and hard copies are sent to interested parties on request. In deciding proposals for the expansion of schools, School Organisation Committees and Adjudicators are required to consider a range of factors including relevant local issues, the impact on neighbouring schools and the effect on standards in the area, though there is a "strong presumption" in favour of popular and successful schools being able to expand.

  The Five Year Strategy document announced plans for a new fast track process to enable popular and successful schools to expand more quickly. We will consult on amendments to regulations, procedures and guidance in September. We intend that the decision on proposals will continue to be for the School Organisation Committee (SOC) or, where they cannot agree unanimously, the schools adjudicator. Decision-makers will continue to decide proposals on their merits, taking into account all relevant factors. The current strong presumption that proposals should be approved will be reinforced in revised guidance.

  Partnership for Schools
  Mr. Hoban
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the Board Members of Partnership for Schools indicating the other public sector appointments each member holds. [182506]

  Mr. Miliband
  The Board Members of Partnerships for Schools are all officials of the Department:

  Stephen Crowne

  Peter Stanton-Ife

  Lorraine Chapman

  The first two are also directors of Partnerships for Church of England Schools.

  Post-16 Education (Stalybridge and Hyde)
  James Purnell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much will be spent per learner in Stalybridge and Hyde in(a) school sixth-forms and (b) further education colleges in 2004–05. [185364]

  Alan Johnson
  The Department does not collect information on the level of funding per pupil in school sixth-forms and further education colleges at the local level. Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's Chief Executive will write to the hon. Member with details of funding provided for(a) school sixth-forms and (b) further education colleges in 2004–05 in the local area covering Stalybridge and Hyde. A copy of his letter will be placed in the House Libraries.

  James Purnell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to provide specific funding to help further education colleges in Stalybridge and Hyde refurbish and rebuild their estates. [185365]

  Alan Johnson
  All of the Department's post-16 learning and skills sector capital investment is allocated to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The Department does not provide a specific budget to the LSC for rebuilding and refurbishing property in further 274W
  education colleges at either the local or regional levels. It is for the LSC to determine for itself the right level of capital investment is further education colleges. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.

  Private Finance Initiatives
  Mr. Wood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what provision has been made to protect schools against the risk of financial failure on the part of a private finance initiative contractor. [185399]

  Mr. Miliband
  Most PFI deals involve stand-alone special purpose vehicles (SPVs) with other investors and contractors, plus bank financing. It is a usual feature of PFI projects that the banks have the opportunity to step in and find a new contractor in the event of insolvency and we would expect the banks to do this. The Department for Education and Skills is not party to schools PFI contracts; these are between the local authority and the relevant consortium. Officials are ready to assist and advise local authorities if this should prove necessary.

  School Admissions
  Mr. Andrew Turner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the education budget of(a) school admissions and appeals, (b) the School Adjudicator and (c) school admissions policy staff in his Department in the last year for which figures are available. [185242]

  Mr. Miliband
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The Department does not collect data on expenditure by each local authority on the administration of school admissions and appeals. However, for the financial year 2004–05, LEA net planned budgets to cover this expenditure totals £46 million, or approximately £307,000 per local authority. This includes budgets for funding delegated to governing bodies of schools that are their own admission authority and administer the system themselves.

  For the financial year 2003–04, outturn figures showed the total cost of the Schools Adjudicators and their support staff to be £637,572 and the total cost of school admissions policy staff to be £530,287.

  School Meals
  Mr. Edwards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what encouragement is given to(a) local education authorities and (b) schools to source locally grown produce for school meals; and if he will make a statement. [185281]

  Mr. Stephen Twigg
  In 2003 the Department produced a purchasing guide for schools and LEAs that encourages them to source locally grown produce for school meals. In addition, there are case studies of good practice available on the Teachernet website at http:// www.teachernet.gov.uk/.

  Surplus Places Rule
  Mr. Gibb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the surplus places rule was abolished. [184632]
  275W
  Mr. Miliband
  There has been no formal surplus places rule. In the past, local authorities bid for capital support for new pupil places in areas where there was pupil growth, to meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places. In assessing the bids, my Department took account of places in surrounding schools in coming to a view on how many additional places to support each year. However, capital funding for school buildings can come from a number of sources, including other capital programme authorities' own resources and agreements with developers.

  From 2004–05, against a background of rising capital investment in school buildings, and in order to simplify the process for allocating resources on pupil places criteria, we have moved to making allocations by formulae.

  In addition, from 2003-04 we have set up a dedicated capital stream and issued guidance that has a strong presumption in favour of expansion to enable successful and popular schools to expand.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  Departmental Annual Report
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many copies of his Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the(a) publication costs and (b) sales revenue were. [183883]

  Gareth Thomas
  DFID's first departmental report was produced in 1998.

  Between 1998 and 2002 publication of DFID's departmental report was handled by The Stationery Office Limited (TSO). The cost of production was met by DFID. The cost of printing was met by TSO. TSO provided an agreed number of copies to DFID and retained revenue from sales.

  The following table includes the number of copies supplied to DFID, the number of copies issued by TSO and the production costs met by DFID. The total number of reports produced is not available, nor is the revenue earned by TSO.

  Copies supplied to DFID

  Copies issued by TSO

  Cost of production met by DFID (£)

  1998

  1,500

  605

  33,672

  1999

  2,662

  531

  65,051

  2000

  3,842

  509

  98,000

  2001

  5,000

  547

  81,576

  2002

  3,500

  531

  61,235

  From 2003 the arrangements with The Stationery Office Limited (TSO) were changed. DFID handled both the production and print of the report itself, providing the required number of copies to TSO. TSO retain the revenue of any copies sold. The report is also available to download, free of charge, from DFID's website.

  This second table includes the number of copies produced, the additional number of copies issued by ISO, and the cost of printing and production met by DFID.
  276W

  Copies produced by DFID

  Copies issued by TSO

  Cost of printing and production by DFID (£)

  2003

  3,000

  440

  76,480

  2004

  3,050

  1351

  45,000

  1To date.

  Haiti
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Haiti. [184330]

  Mr. Gareth Thomas
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: DFID is addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Haiti primarily through its contribution to the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and through its shareholding in the World Bank. Both organisations provide grants to Haiti's National Programme for HIV/AIDS.

  The Global Fund approved two grants to Haiti amounting to US $25 million in late 2002. As a result, the National Programme accelerated its delivery of treatment and care to a target group of 500,000 poor people. So far, US $17 million has been disbursed.

  The World Bank agreed a US$ 2.9 million grant to Haiti in early 2003 for the prevention and control of infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS. The grant is being implemented with the support of the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). In addition, DFID has provided support to WHO/PAHO to help kick-start the provision of affordable Anti-Retro-Viral medicines globally, from which Haiti will benefit.

  HIV/AIDS
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures he proposes to cater for women affected by AIDS and their children. [185547]

  Mr. Gareth Thomas
  The UK Government's new strategy, 'Taking Action: The UK's Strategy for Tackling HIV and AIDS in the Developing World', launched by the Prime Minister on 20 July 2004, prioritises women and young people. Chiefly, the UK Government will:Support comprehensive programmes for women that address not only their access to sexual and reproductive health and rights but also access to education, employment and social protection.
  Support efforts to promote girls' education and work to support programmes tackling gender violence and stigma and discrimination.
  Strengthen the links between AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health programmes.
  Make support for orphans and vulnerable children a cornerstone of our response, by dedicating at least £150 million over the next three years to address their needs, including through:
  securing international commitment to UNICEF's Strategic Framework;
  reflecting our commitment in the Country Assistance Plans in all affected countries; and

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  working on a range of interventions to assist keeping children productively in school, secure access to health care and social protection.
  Support prevention and treatment programmes that meet the needs of marginalised groups.
  Promote the greater involvement of people with HIV and AIDS—including women, young people and marginalized groups—in planning and delivering programmes.
  Ensure the human rights of marginalised and vulnerable groups, including women and children, are given proper attention, including:
  supporting legislative reform to improve the human rights environment—including anti discrimination legislation, legislation to regulate the conduct of public institutions like the police, and to guarantee individuals access to services.
  Working with the formal justice sector to make justice systems more responsive to human rights concerns and more accessible to vulnerable groups.

  The UK Government will also support research to build the evidence base and contribute to effective AIDS programmes worldwide. DFID will work to help coordination and information sharing between the various research initiatives concerned with the delivery and the impacts of HIV treatment. In particular DFID will support research efforts, which address access to treatment by the poorest and most vulnerable, including women and children.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures he proposes to take to tackle AIDS in Asia. [185581]

  Mr. Gareth Thomas
  DFID currently funds major HIV and AIDS programmes in eight countries in Asia1, and supports regional initiatives to reduce the spread of infection and provide services for vulnerable groups. Fuller details are set out in the table on page 20 of the recently launched "Taking Action, the UK's Strategy for Tackling HIV/AIDS in Developing Countries".

  DFID will continue to strengthen political leadership and public support for action in all the Public Service Agreement countries in Asia. DFID will intensify its support to national programmes including through non-Government organisations, for example, by supporting India's National AIDS Control Organisation and targeting vulnerable groups in Vietnam and Bangladesh.

  DFID will assist the Chinese Government to expand the delivery of services for high risk populations in the poorest provinces of China, and to replicate the approach on a national basis.

  1Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Vietnam.

  International Aid (Water and Sanitation)
  Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development by how much and by what proportion UK international aid spending on water and sanitation will change in the next three years. [185473]

  Mr. Gareth Thomas
  Total bilateral expenditure on water and sanitation represents approximately 6 per cent. of the Department for International Development's (DFID's) total bilateral aid budget about £85 million per year over the last three years. DFID channels a significant proportion of its assistance 278W
  through multilateral channels such as the European Union, the World Bank and UN organisations (£1.3 billion in 2001–02): of this DFID's contribution to water and sanitation is estimated at around £40 million per annum. DFID supports international initiatives aimed at raising the profile of water and sanitation and achieving better coordination. These include the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council; the Water and Sanitation Programme (attached to the World Bank); and the Global Water Partnership.

  DFID does not budget on a sectoral basis. DFID's work and resource allocation is shaped by developing country priorities, notably through support to their poverty reduction strategies; by what other donors are doing; and by our comparative advantage. It is therefore not possible to predict with accuracy water and sanitation sector expenditures for future years. DFID recently published a Water Action Plan that outlines our commitment to ensuring that the water and sanitation targets are given the same international priority as the other MDGs.

  Kenya
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial assistance, health and medical advice is being given to Kenya to combat HIV/AIDS; and if he will make a statement. [185018]

  Hilary Benn
  DFID is planning to spend £7.1 million during the next financial year to tackle HIV/AIDS. Most of this is to support the Government of Kenya's National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS. This strategy will work alongside non-governmental agencies to ensure that HIV/AIDS concerns are considered in all relevant Government activity. Among other initiatives, DFID is supporting the equitable delivery of Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART), including a communication strategy to reduce misuse, and Home Based Care especially for orphans. Alongside the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), DFID is also funding the social marketing of condoms, especially in rural areas.

  In education, DFID has been training teachers to teach children about HIV/AIDS. This programme was found to delay the age at which both girls and boys have sex and increased the use of condoms by girls. DFID is therefore increasing this activity and expects to cover 5,000 schools over the next year.

  Tom Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial assistance is being given to Kenya; and for which projects. [185019]

  Hilary Benn
  Last year, DFID's development assistance to Kenya was £29 million. This year our allocation has increased to £37 million. DFID's Country Assistance Plan makes provision to increase our development assistance to £50 million by 2005–06, but final decisions will depend on progress on the Kenyan Government's Economic Recovery Strategy, including its efforts to tackling corruption.

  The following is a list of projects in Kenya that have approved funding for this year through bilateral assistance. There are a number of additional programmes that an, being developed.
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  £million

  Project description

  Allocation

  Forecast spend 2004–05

  ABLH Smallholder Marketing

  2,819,000

  406,423

  Smallholder Dairy Project

  2,007,000

  322,968

  Farm Africa—Goat Project II

  1,453,000

  355,892

  Farming Systems Kenya

  433,000

  86,008

  Sustainable Rural Livelihoods

  120,000

  34,385

  Support to Kenya Land Reform

  472,000

  114,150

  Sabatia Food Security Project

  462,289

  33,801

  Kwale Rural Support

  2,100,000

  300,000

  Assistance Road Sector Reform

  400,000

  54,439

  Financial Sector deepening

  11,370,000

  2,035,914

  Approtech Micro-Irrigation

  1,700,000

  192,796

  Business Partnerships Programme

  2,000,000

  146,889

  Enabling Environment

  2,900,000

  620,000

  Business Services Market Dev

  2,700,000

  600,000

  Support for Private Sector Dev

  400,000

  150,000

  Strengthening Govt Finance

  1,030,000

  110,935

  Assist, to Population Census

  2,140,050

  624,537

  Political Empowerment Project

  7,340,000

  825,000

  Legal Sector Reform

  3,000,000

  1,712,591

  Monitoring and Evaluation

  150,000

  75,091

  Environmental Governance Prog.

  2,200,000

  816,868

  Poverty Reduction (PROLOGS)

  6,600,000

  1,271,945

  Public Expenditure Mgmt

  950,000

  350,000

  CBS Statistical Data

  250,000

  450,000

  Ndhiwa Health Education

  908,785

  44,582

  WaterAid Dev

  725,971

  66,551

  ASAL Water

  1,000,000

  113,189

  CARE Garissa Water

  405,693

  127,253

  Kitui Sand Dams

  353,059

  50,739

  Education for Employment

  450,000

  44,090

  SPReD III Prim. Education

  4,390,000

  690,902

  HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Ph 3

  34,895,419

  6,000,000

  Safe Motherhood

  2,054,000

  197,376

  Anti-Malarial Treatment

  573,081

  100,000

  Malaria Control in Kenya

  6,163,820

  2,502,773

  Decentralisation of Health Sery

  3,500,000

  1,011,260

  Social Marketing of Bednets

  27,800,000

  5,800,000

  Social Marketing of Condoms

  8,636,000

  1,100,000

  Oxfam Programme Partnership Agreement

  425,000

  425,000

  ActionAid Programme Partnership Agreement

  3,000,000

  1,100,000

  Reduction of Conflict

  250,000

  250,000

  Turkana Emergency Relief Programme

  653,000

  653,000

  Total

  31,957,347

  Mr. Gregory Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress being made to assist Kenya in the provision of(a) the roads network and (b) water distribution in the North West of the country. [185122]

  Hilary Benn
  DFID supports development work in North West Kenya through partners such as Oxfam and Water Aid Kenya (locally known as Maji na Ufanisi). This work includes long-term development and short-term humanitarian assistance carried out in close collaboration with the Kenya authorities and with local communities. The long-term development approach involves strengthening local organisations to press the Government to provide basic services, including roads and water, and at the same time building community capacity to provide services such as bore hole maintenance at local level.

  Part of Oxfam's current work in response to the famine in the North West (which is supported by DFID) is the provision of water for domestic use (construction and rehabilitation of bore holes and pan/dams, well protection and other water points) for both domestic and livestock use. As a result of this, the pressure on water in the North West has been reduced even during this period of drought and famine.
  280W
  Mr. Tynan
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement about the accounting, auditing and anti-corruption safeguards in place in respect of schemes run by his Department in Kenya. [185666]

  Hilary Benn
  DFID's programme in Kenya is subject to the same rigorous safeguards as all our development assistance. These are intended to ensure that funds are spent sensibly, in line with our objectives and with minimal risk of fraud or misappropriation. For this reason, DFID is unable at present to provide poverty reduction budget support to the Kenyan Government, since we are not yet convinced that the Government are seriously committed to fighting corruption and are making good progress on their overall reform programme. However, we can make progress on the Millennium Development Goals by supporting specific sectors and projects.

  DFID is also supporting the central Government systems that are intended to ensure that public financial resources are monitored and used more effectively.

  DFID, alongside other donors, are also working to strengthen key institutions that are directly involved in fighting corruption. There is to be increased support to the Director of Public Prosecution, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and civil society organisations, such as Transparency International, that work to improve the transparency of public resources.

  In continued dialogue with the Government, the UK has made clear to the Kenyan Government that allegations about unsatisfactory tendering and contracting procedures are serious and need to be fully investigated. DFID has remained categorical that firm action should be taken against those found to have acted corruptly. DFID has continued to press the Government to pass important legislation including the Public Procurement Bill, the Public Financial Management Bill, and the appointment of a credible Head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority.

  Mr. Jenkins
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to suspend aid to the Kenyan Government. [185852]

  Hilary Benn
  I am keeping the situation under close review, but have no plans to suspend our assistance to Kenya. Our assistance is designed to support long term change in Kenya that will lead to improved governance, and to help Kenya to make sustainable progress towards the MDGs. The faster the pace of reform, and the more conducive the environment, the faster progress we will make.

  DFID's Country Assistance Plan (CAP), launched with the Government of Kenya last month, makes clear that we want to support the implementation of Kenya's Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS). Tackling corruption is a major priority of the ERS. DFID's CAP makes provision to increase our development assistance to £50 million by 2005-06, but final decisions will depend on ERS progress, including tackling corruption.

  Palestinian Authority (Funding)/Territories
  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures his Department
  281W
  is taking to ensure transparency and accountability of (a) European Union and (b) other international funding to the Palestinian Authority. [185093]

  Hilary Benn
  Substantial progress has been made since 2002 in improving the transparency and accountability of the Palestinian Authority's (PA) financial management systems. This has largely been driven by the Palestinian Finance Minister with donor encouragement.

  DFID supported a World Bank Country Financial Accountability Assessment which endorsed the major improvements made. It also identified key actions needed to further improve the systems. The recently established World Bank Public Financial Management Reform Trust Fund will also encourage further financial reform.

  Disbursement of funding is conditional on the PA's achievement of certain agreed benchmarks. DFID has contributed, and the EC plans to contribute, to the trust fund. The World Bank and donors will carefully monitor the use of donor funds. This benchmark approach was also successfully used by the EC in its earlier budget support to the PA. Allegations about the misuse of these funds have been looked at in great detail, but no evidence has been found that EC funds have been used for anything other than their original purpose.

  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to monitor the extent of poverty in the Palestinian Territories. [185092]

  Hilary Benn
  Poverty in the Palestinian Territory has increased dramatically since the intifada started in September 2000. According to the latest World Bank report approximately 50 per cent. of Palestinians are living in poverty on less than $2.1 per day. 16 per cent. of the total population currently live in deep or absolute poverty on less than $1.5 per day. DFID monitors the situation closely through our engagement with, and support to, Palestinian partners and like-minded donors who seek to analyse and find ways of addressing the deepening crisis.

  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid his Department has given to the Palestinian Territories. [185094]

  Hilary Benn
  DFID provides technical and financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, and Palestinian civil society. It aims to enhance the prospects for peace, make Palestinian governance and institutions more effective and accountable, and encourage more harmonised delivery of humanitarian and development assistance. DFID plans to spend £28.5 million on support to Palestinians in the current financial year.

  South America (Aid)
  Tony Baldry
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will restore development aid to South American countries, with particular reference to Peru. [184887]
  282W
  Mr. Gareth Thomas
  DFID will continue to provide development assistance to South America through our contributions to multilateral institutions; through a regional bilateral programme, which will include support for Brazil and the Andean region to be managed out of our office in La Paz (from which Peru will benefit); and through central DFID support for nongovernmental organisations working in the region. DFID remains committed to supporting poverty reduction in Peru through all these channels.

  Sudan
  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the United States Agency for International Development about joint approaches to other nations to seek contributions to humanitarian relief in Darfur. [185583]

  Hilary Benn
  The Department For International Development has a good working relationship with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is in frequent contact, both in-country and between capitals, to ensure a co-ordinated approach when encouraging other donors to contribute to the humanitarian relief effort in Darfur. DFID plans to continue working with USAID on a donor lobbying strategy.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of displaced women in Darfur, Western Sudan. [185584]

  Hilary Benn
  The United Nations has estimated the total number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Western S Alan at 1.2 million. UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are currently on the ground assessing the food, shelter and sanitation needs of these people. However, at this time the exact ratio of male to female IDPs is unknown.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of deaths resulting from bombing by Sudanese Government aircraft of locations in Darfur near Chadian border towns in the first three weeks of June. [185586]

  Hilary Benn
  At present there is no information to confirm the bombing by Government aircraft of locations in Darfur near Chadian border towns. The ongoing deployment of the African Union-led Ceasefire Commission, to which DFID has contributed £2 million, should help increase the information from the ground.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of villages in Darfur, Western Sudan, that have been destroyed by Sudanese Government forces and Janjaweed militias. [185587]

  Hilary Benn
  DFID is not able to verify which settlements have been destroyed by the Government of Sudan, Janjaweed militias, Sudanese Liberation Army
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  (SLA) or Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) forces. The Humanitarian Information Unit of the United States Department of State currently estimates the total number of villages destroyed at approximately 347. A further 96 are estimated to have been damaged but not destroyed.

  It is not possible at this stage to determine the ethnicity of the people that occupied destroyed or damaged settlements. The African Union has begun

  £000

  Project or sector aid

  Programme aid

  Technical cooperation

  Aid and trade provision

  Grants and other aid in kind

  Humanitarian assistance

  1997–98

  137

  —

  369

  —

  491

  4,337

  1998–99

  115

  —

  176

  —

  413

  23,497

  1999–2000

  106

  —

  15

  —

  319

  2,755

  2000–01

  97

  —

  14

  —

  309

  4,491

  2001–02

  93

  —

  34

  —

  322

  5,149

  2002–03

  87

  —

  407

  —

  2,696

  16,032

  2003–04

  90

  —

  291

  —

  3,445

  20,836

  DFID debt relief

  Total DFID programme

  CDC investments

  Other

  Total gross public expenditure

  1997–98

  342

  5,677

  —

  —

  5,677

  1998—99

  —

  24,201

  —

  —

  24,201

  1999–2000

  —

  3,196

  —

  —

  3,196

  2000–01

  —

  4,912

  —

  —

  4,912

  2001–02

  —

  5,598

  —

  —

  5,598

  2002–03

  —

  19,222

  —

  —

  19,222

  2003–04

  —

  24,663

  —

  —

  24,663

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the Government of Sudan about(a) the ratification of the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Prohibition and Elimination of the Worst Form of Child Labour and (b) the reflection of that ratification in national legislation. [185592]

  Hilary Benn
  Sudan ratified the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Prohibition and Elimination of the Worst Form of Child Labour on 7 March 2002. DFID's embassy in Khartoum raises human rights issues on a regular basis both bilaterally and multilaterally as part of the EU-Sudan dialogue.

PRIME MINISTER

  Honours
  Andrew Mackinlay(a)(b)
  To ask the Prime Minister whether his Office and members of the general public are able to identify numbers of honours recipients by postcode; and if he will make a statement. [185271]

  The Prime Minister
  Details of honours recipients, including postal addresses are held centrally for administration purposes. However, full postal addresses are not made publicly available.

  Cabinet Secretary
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Prime Minister what future role in security and intelligence matters he intends to give the Cabinet Secretary. [185635]
  284W
  investigations into reported infringements of the ceasefire. These investigations will help determine who is responsible for such infringements.

  Mr. Bercow
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what(a) financial and (b) other support has been provided by his Department to Sudan in each year since 1997. [185588]

  Hilary Benn
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to the following table.

  The Prime Minister
  The Butler Review makes no specific recommendation on this point. Existing arrangements will continue.

  Cyprus
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Prime Minister when he last visited the Republic of Cyprus; and which Cypriot politicians he met during that visit. [185017]

  The Prime Minister
  I have not visited the Republic of Cyprus.

  Iraq (Briefing Papers)
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Prime Minister who commissioned the briefing papers on Iraq, referred to in paragraph 610 of the Butler Report; who decided not to circulate them to Cabinet Ministers; and for what reason. [185634]

  The Prime Minister
  Material on a range of issues related to Iraq was commissioned by the Cabinet Office Overseas and Defence Secretariat. The resulting papers were circulated to the Departments involved.

  Iraq (Intelligence)
  Adam Price(a)(b)
  To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether the head of MI6 and the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee were informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting in July 2003 from a source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable; [185688]
  285W
  (2) whether (a) members of the Cabinet Office and (b) the Intelligence and Security Committee was informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting in July 2003 from a source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable; [185689]

  (3) whether members of (a) his and (b) Cabinet Office staff were informed in July 2003 that the Secret Intelligence Service in that month had withdrawn reporting from a source who claimed that the production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable. [185788]

  The Prime Minister
  We have nothing further to add to the remarks that were made in yesterday's debate on Iraq.

  Adam Price
  To ask the Prime Minister when he was informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting from the source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable. [185690]

  The Prime Minister
  As my Official Spokesman made clear on 16 July, it was as a result of the Butler Review.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Business Link
  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the market penetration of business link operators. [185454]

  Nigel Griffiths
  Business Link Operators were used by around 606,000 customers in 2003–04 comprising 435,000 existing firms (representing a 40 per cent. growth in use by existing firms between 2002–03 and 2003–04) and 171,000 pre-start businesses. Expressed as a ratio of the Inter-Departmental Business Register of around 1.8 million firms (the largest official count), this is a market penetration rate of 34 per cent. in 2003–04.

  A more detailed table is provided:

  BLO usage—all customers, in-year cumulative

  Percentage

  2001–02

  2002–03

  2003–04

  Existing Businesses 1

  14

  17

  24

  Pre-starts1

  2n/a

  2n/a

  10

  Total customer usage

  —

  —

  34

  VAT Registrations 1995–2002

  Thousand

  1995

  1996

  1997

  1998

  1999

  2000

  2001

  2002

  All industries

  165.8

  171.0

  187.7

  187.5

  181.4

  184.0

  174.6

  175.8

  Agriculture, fishing

  4.4

  4.6

  4.7

  4.1

  3.7

  3.6

  3.3

  3.8

  Mining, energy, water

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  Manufacturing

  14.5

  14.7

  14.4

  13.4

  12.7

  12.0

  10.8

  10.1

  Construction

  15.8

  15.4

  19.7

  18.5

  18.2

  17.8

  18.3

  18.9

  Wholesale, retail, repairs

  37.8

  37.7

  37.5

  36.9

  37.1

  36.1

  31.3

  32.7

  Hotels, restaurants

  15.6

  16.1

  17.0

  16.8

  17.8

  18.2

  19.1

  19.2

  Transport, communication

  8.5

  8.4

  9.2

  9.2

  9.4

  9.5

  9.3

  9.3

  286W

  BLO usage—all customers, in-year cumulative

  Number

  2001–02

  2002–03

  2003–04

  Existing Businesses

  245,342

  309,665

  435,293

  Pre-starts

  2n/a

  2n/a

  170,749

  Total customer usage

  —

  —

  606,042

  1Rate per 100 VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses.

  2 Pre-start users not available as an annual figure prior to 2003–04.

  Business Regulations
  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the levels and cost of regulations imposed on business by her Department since 1997. [185536]

  Nigel Griffiths
  I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 5 January 2004, Official Report, column 124W.

  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new regulations her Department has introduced in the last year. [185537]

  Nigel Griffiths
  The number of statutory instruments (Regulations, Orders and Rules) introduced by the Department in 2003 was 145. A listing of DTI statutory instruments produced between 1991 and 2003 has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

  During 2003 they include: The Enterprise Act 2002 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2003, The Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2003 and The Insolvent Companies (Disqualification of Unfit Directors) Proceedings (Amendment) Rules 2003.

  Business Start-ups
  Mr. Norman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new business start-ups there were in each year since 1995, broken down by industry. [185331]

  Nigel Griffiths
  Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 115,000 business start ups in England and Wales in the fourth quarter of 2003. The latest yearly figures show 465,000 business start ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before.

  DTI figures based solely on UK VAT registrations by main industry group are shown as follows for the period 1995 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in Autumn 2004.
  287W

  VAT Registrations 1995–2002

  Thousand

  1995

  1996

  1997

  1998

  1999

  2000

  2001

  2002

  Finance

  1.5

  1.7

  1.8

  1.8

  1.8

  1.9

  1.6

  1.2

  Business services

  48.4

  54.6

  64.7

  69.3

  63.3

  66.9

  63.1

  63.2

  Education, health

  1.8

  2.0

  2.2

  2.1

  2.3

  2.2

  2.2

  2.3

  Other services

  17.4

  15.6

  16.3

  15.3

  14.9

  15.7

  15.5

  15.0

  Source:

  Business Start-ups and closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php

  VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1995. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.

  Business Support
  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she has taken to evaluate the impact on skills of each of the business support products her Department launched in April. [183685]

  Ms Hewitt
  As part of its Review of Business Support, DTI carried out a review of evaluations of previous schemes and identified key success factors. This included assessment of the impact on skills, and on other drivers of productivity growth. The successful elements of previous schemes have been incorporated into the new business support products.

  The new products are also subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation, which includes measurement of the impact on skills.

  Mr. Stephen O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the overlap between the provision of business support products administered(a) directly by the Department and (b) by regional development agencies. [185457]

  Ms Hewitt
  The complex array of more than 100 DTI business support schemes that existed at the time of the DTI Review in 2001 has been replaced with a tighter, more targeted package of support based on nine business support products. The Department's work to transform its support to business specifically looked at the issue of overlap and duplication and this was addressed so that the new product set are broad in their scope and avoid duplication. The Department's externally led Investment Committee continues to provide independent scrutiny to ensure our investments in business support products deliver the economic and customer benefits we intend, and that we take action to address any weaknesses identified through rigorous evaluation. This work extends to ensuring that there is no overlap or duplication in DTI's business support offering.

  With regard to regional development agencies (RDAs), DTI and the RDAs are working together with the specific aim of avoiding any over lap on the provision of business support products. RDAs have committed themselves to ensure that any new business support schemes or initiative they create will not duplicate or
  288W
  overlap existing DTI business support products. RDAs will seek to build on national DTI products by co-funding and tailoring them to meet regional needs where possible.

  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many business support schemes are currently supported by her Department. [185491]

  Mr. Timms
  DTI has a set of nine business support products.

  These are:

  Support area

  Products

  Succeeding through innovation

  Knowledge transfer networks Collaborative research and development Grant for investigating an innovative idea Grant for research and development Knowledge transfer partnership

  Achieving best practice in your business

  Access to best business practice Support to implement best business practice

  Raising finance

  Small firms loan guarantee

  Regional Investment

  Selective finance for investment in England

  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public funding has been spent on business support agencies in the last year. [185475]

  Nigel Griffiths
  The main business support agencies funded directly by the DTI are the Business Link Operators (BLOs) who provide services to small businesses.

  In 2003–04 BLOs received Core Services grants from the Small Business Service totalling £139.5 million.

  Most BLOs sub-contract the delivery of some of their services to Enterprise Agencies and other service deliverers as do other Government Departments, RDAs, and local authorities. European funds are also available in certain areas. The level of funding varies from BLO to BLO based on local needs, priorities and access to additional funding streams. The SBS does not systematically collect information on the level of service provision sub-contracted by BLOs.

  Coal
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total tonnage of coal mined in England and Wales was during the last 12 months for which figures are available. [185336]
  289W
  Mr. Timms
  The information available on the amount of coal produced in England and Wales for the 12 months ended March 2004, in millions of tonnes, is as follows:

  Tonnes million

  Deep mine

  Opencast

  England

  14.1

  3.7

  Wales

  0.6

  1.1

  A further 6.8 million tonnes, all from opencast mines, was produced in Scotland in the same period.
  Source:
  Coal Authority data as published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2004 to be published on 29 July 2004 and accessible through the DTI website. Output is the tonnage declared by operators to the Coal Authority, including estimated tonnages.

  Corporate Environmental Engagement Index
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the findings of the corporate environmental engagement index published by Business in the Community. [184555]

  Mr. Timms
  The Department has not made an assessment of the findings of the Business in the Community (BITC) corporate environmental engagement index. However BITC have published a report on the main sector trends from both the Business in the Environment and Corporate Responsibility Indices as "Benchmarking Responsible Business Practice" (www.bitc.org.uk).

  The department contributes financially to the work on the Corporate Responsibility Index.

  Departmental Audit
  Mr. Stephen O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will commission an independent audit of the activities of her Department and its sponsored agencies and non-departmental bodies between 1997–98 and 2003–04 with the purpose of establishing what proportion of the total departmental spending was inefficient over that period; [185458]

  (2) what proportion of the reductions in core civil service posts in her Department by 2007–08 will be relocated to sponsored agencies in the regions. [185500]

  Ms Hewitt
  Sir Peter Gershon's report on his review of public sector efficiency, "Releasing Resources to the Front Line", sets out agreed efficiency targets for all Government Departments including DTI.

  Procurement

  DTI will aim to achieve savings by improving procurement through a combination of developing and implementing better purchasing practice, making better use of resources within technical and economic research, centralising marketing operations and moving to e-procurement, and savings on rent increases and building service costs by rationalising DTI's estate. This rationalisation involves reducing headquarters in London from six to three buildings over the Spending Review period.
  290W
  Back Office Rationalisation and Abolition of Posts

  My Department hits developed plans that will enable it to deliver mor:. efficiently DTI's priorities and responsibilities, as reflected in the spending plans announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week. These plans will drive forward efficiencies in all areas of my Department's work, including:
  the rationalisation and streamlining of all our 'back office' services, including the processing of routine financial and personnel work and a reduction in the number of office support service posts following rationalisation of the Department's London estate from six buildings to three; and
  the adoption of a new approach to policy work involving the more effective prioritisation of policy projects and the centralised handling of routine policy enquiries and correspondence.

  In conjunction with our estate rationalisation strategy, staff will also operate within a flexible workspace arrangement whereby there will be eight desks available for every 10 staff.

  Business Support

  DTI has conducted a review of its Business Support schemes ahead of the Spending Review with a view to working to clear high-level strategic objectives, increasing value created through the investment of taxpayers' funds, rigorous monitoring and evaluation, and improving the customer experience in dealing with DTI. Over 100 schemes have been rationalised into 10 new products, the List one of which will be introduced in 2005. The effectiveness of the new products and resultant efficiency savings will be realised over the Spending Review period.

  Savings in the order of £20 million are projected by the end of the Spending Review period, as a result of closing inefficient schemes.

  In addition, DTI is rationalising its use of third party contractors to deliver the new Business Support products. By consolidation of the contractor portfolio and more effective procurement. further cost savings of approximately £4 million a year are anticipated over the Spending Review period as the DTI's commitment to legacy schemes is exhausted. The level of support provided to business is expected to remain unchanged at around £500 million per annum.

  Agencies and NDPBs

  All of DTI's agencies and non-departmental public bodies are tasked with delivering efficiency gains over the Spending Review 2004 period. Over the Spending Review period, DTI expects the agencies and NDPBs to achieve some £15 million savings, the majority of which is cashable. It is anticipated that these savings will be achieved through a combination of continued delivery and increased output within a climate of reduced funding, reduced estate expenditure and reduced unit cost.

  As Companies House, Patent Office are trading funds, and NWML is a net funded agency, they do not appear on DTI's Expenditure Limit and their savings are not claimed against the Department's 2.5 per cent. annual efficiency savings target. These bodies are, however, still expected to generate efficiency gains which

  291W
  they intend to achieve through a number of measures i.e. e-delivery, reduced staff costs, and increased output/reduced processing times.

  Other than a very small number of Office of Science and Technology posts moving to the Research Councils in Swindon, there are no plans to meet DTI staff reduction targets by relocating posts from the core Department to sponsored agencies

  Audit of inefficient spend

  DTI is committed to ensuring that all aspects of the Department, including its agencies and non-departmental bodies operate efficiently both now and going forward. We have just completed an efficiency project, reviewing efficiency in DTI, which was scrutinised by the Gershon Review. We continually review our activities as part of annual business planning to deliver greater value for money. We therefore have no plan to commission an in-depth audit of past activities—to do so would be an inefficient use of resources.

  Departmental Expenditure
  Mr. Randall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much her Department spent on(a) mobile phone costs, (b) hospitality and (c) taxi costs in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [185377]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]:
  Information on spend for 1996–97 would be available only at disproportionate cost.

  The latest information available is for 2003–04. Against a Department Expenditure Limit of £5.6 billion, spend on mobile phone costs was £279,000; spend on hospitality and entertainment costs was £1,121,000 and spend on taxi costs was £171,000. These figures are taken from the Department's financial records, and are subject to audit.

  Mr. Randall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost of refurbishments to the fabric of buildings owned by the Department has been since May 1997. [185379]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: My Department undertakes a wide variety of projects as part of ongoing maintenance and improvements of its current stock. The total capital cost of minor works, maintenance, and renovation projects involving significant works to the building services and fabric, since 1997 are as follows:

  Financial Year

  £million

  1997–98

  2.0

  1998–99

  2.0

  1999–2000

  2.15

  2000–01

  1.8

  2001–02

  4.75

  2002–03

  2.20

  2003–04

  2.30

  The additional expenditure incurred in Financial Year 2001–02 was due to the project to extend the conference facilities and associated services at 1 Victoria Street.
  292W
  Mr. Swayne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much her Department spent on press officers in(a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by grade. [185383]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The information is not held in the form requested and could be recovered only at disproportionate cost.

  Environmental Impact Assessments
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requirements are(a) in place and (b) proposed for businesses to provide an account of the (i) environmental and (ii) social impact of their activities. [184556]

  Mr. Timms
  We encourage business to provide information to a wide range of stakeholder interests on their social and environmental performance. To help business report on their environmental impacts we have published a series of voluntary guidelines, which cover subjects including greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water. We also support the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index and the ACCA Annual Sustainability Reporting Awards.

  We published draft Regulations on the Operating and Financial Review for consultation in May 2004. These proposals will require quoted companies to provide a narrative report giving a discussion and analysis of the company's business and the main trends and factors underlying the results and financial position of the business and likely to affect performance in the future. Where necessary to an understanding of the business, directors will need to include information on employees, the environment and social and community issues.

  Export Credits Guarantee Department
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) pursuant to the statement of 1 July 2004, Official Report, column 22WS, regarding the Export Credits Guarantee Department, if she will make a statement on the(a) financial objectives and (b) aims of the Trading Fund's Realisations account; [182760]

  (2) which unrecovered claims outstanding with the Export Credits Guarantee Department will be transferred to the Trading Funds Realisations account; who the debtor is in each case; what the amount of outstanding debt is in each case; and what the project type is in each case. [182761]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The objective of the Realisation Account will be to maximise the asset value of the Account consistent with Government strategy on international debt. Details will be worked out during the pilot Trading Fund.

  The unrecovered claims to be vested in the Realisations Account are those currently reported under Account 1 of ECGD's Resource Accounts, except that Account 1 unrecovered claims on heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) are to be omitted. These will be handled outside the Trading Fund under the auspices of the Government's strategy on international debt.
  293W
  As explained in my recent answers of 15 June 2004, Official Report, column 818W and 13 January 2004, Official Report, columns 696W, it is not possible to provide all the details that have been requested. However, I am able to supply, as follows, a market-by-market breakdown of all the unrecovered claims that ECGD will transfer to its Realisations Account.

  £sterling1

  Market

  Unrecovered claims

  Algeria

  100,209,724.83

  Antigua and Barbuda

  2,745,763.44

  Argentina

  31,705,354.61

  Bahrain

  69,465.62

  Bosnia and Herzegovina

  902,966.24

  Brazil

  147,578,918.84

  Canada

  786.95

  Croatia

  46,475,237.64

  Cuba

  52,146,568.31

  Cyprus

  454.00

  Ecuador

  26,841,427.89

  Egypt

  134,073,410.89

  France

  83,801.01

  Gabon

  74,718,999.71

  Greece

  120,555.67

  Grenada

  957,608.78

  Indonesia

  99,656,279.35

  Iran (Islamic Republic of)

  28,766,647.48

  Iraq

  621,894,072.68

  Italy

  71,063.06

  Jamaica

  1,138,927.55

  Jordan

  216,358,944.62

  Korea, Democratic People's Republic

  5,864,356.17

  Kuwait

  1,350,264.38

  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

  8,972,335.50

  Macedonia

  2,401,002.75

  Morocco

  19,846.714.94

  Nigeria

  1,655,102,497.14

  Peru

  54,255,361.16

  Philippines

  6,150,721.69

  Poland

  360,214,998.71

  Portugal

  1.00

  Russian Federation

  572,046,141.98

  Saudi Arabia

  1,305,765.53

  Serbia Republic

  150,035,718.87

  Seychelles

  8,866.35

  Singapore

  5,326.27

  Spain

  64,866.50

  United States

  3,207,078.66

  Zimbabwe

  987,401.12

  1 As at 30 June 2004.

  Capitalisation for ECGD's Trading Fund has been based upon data related to 31 March 2003 and will be updated prior to inception of the Trading Fund.

  Gershon Review
  Mr. Stephen O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what processes she aims to use to achieve the savings through improved procurement as part of Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review into public services; and what parts of her Department's estate she intends to rationalise; [185023]

  (2) what the estimated recyclable savings are that she anticipates making from her Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies as part of Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review into public services; and through what mechanisms she intends to achieve those savings; [185024]
  294W
  (3) which back office functions she intends to rationalise as part of the implementation plan agreed as part of Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review into public services; [185025]

  (4) what measures she has put in place to increase the effectiveness of her Department's business support products; and what savings she expects to make from this activity as a result of the Gershon review of public sector efficiency; [185026]

  (5) if she will provide details of the present activities of the posts in her Department due to be abolished as a result of the Gershon review of public sector efficiency. [185027]

  Ms Hewitt
  Sir Peter Gershon's report on his review of public sector efficiency "Releasing resources to the front line" sets out agreed efficiency targets for all Government Departments including DTI.

  Procurement

  DTI will aim to achieve savings by improving procurement through a combination of developing and implementing better purchasing practice, making better use of resources within technical and economic research, centralising marketing operations and moving to e-procurement, and savings on rent increases and building service costs by rationalising DTI's estate. This rationalisation involves reducing headquarters in London from six to three buildings over the Spending Review period.

  Back Office rationalisation and abolition of posts

  My department has developed plans that will enable it to deliver more efficiently DTI's priorities and responsibilities, as reflected in the spending plans announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week. These plans will drive forward efficiencies in all areas of my Department's work, including:
  the rationalisation and streamlining of all our "back office" services, including the processing of routine financial and personnel work and a reduction in the number of office support service posts following rationalisation of the Department's London estate from six buildings to three; and
  the adoption of a new approach to policy work involving the more effective prioritisation of policy projects and the centralised handling of routine policy inquiries and correspondence.

  In conjunction with our estate rationalisation strategy, staff will also operate within a flexible workspace arrangement whereby there will be eight desks available for every 10 staff.

  Business Support

  DTI has conducted a review of its Business Support schemes ahead of the Spending Review with a view to working to clear high-level strategic objectives, increasing value created through the investment of taxpayers' funds, rigorous monitoring and evaluation, and improving the customer experience in dealing with DTI. Over 100 schemes have been rationalised into 10 new products, the last one of which will be introduced in 2005. The effectiveness of the new products and resultant efficiency savings will be realised over the Spending Review period.
  295W
  Savings in the order of £20 million are projected by the end of the Spending Review period, as a result of closing inefficient schemes.

  In addition, DTI is rationalising its use of third party contractors to deliver the new Business Support products. By consolidation of the contractor portfolio and more effective procurement, further cost savings of approximately £4 million a year are anticipated over the Spending Review period as the DTI's commitment to legacy schemes is exhausted. The level of support provided to business is expected to remain unchanged at around £500 million per annum.

  Agencies and NDPBs

  All of DTI's agencies and non-departmental public bodies are tasked with delivering efficiency gains over the Spending Review 2004 period. Over the Spending Review period, DTI expects the agencies and NDPBs to achieve some £15 million savings, the majority of which is cashable. It is anticipated that these savings will be achieved through a combination of continued delivery and increased output within a climate of reduced funding, reduced estate expenditure and reduced unit cost.

  As Companies House, Patent Office are trading funds, and NWML is a net funded agency, they do not appear on DTI's Expenditure Limit and their savings are not claimed against the Department's 2.5 per cent. annual efficiency savings target. These bodies are however still expected to generate efficiency gains which they intend to achieve through a number of measures i.e. e-delivery, reduced staff costs, and increased output/ reduced processing times.

  Other than a very small number of Office of Science and Technology posts moving to the Research Councils in Swindon, there are no plans to meet DTI staff reduction targets by relocating posts from the core Department to sponsored agencies

  Audit of inefficient spend

  DTI is committed to ensuring that all aspects of the Department, including its agencies and non-departmental bodies operate efficiently both now and going forward. We have just completed an efficiency project, reviewing efficiency in DTI, which was scrutinised by the Gershon Review. We continually review our activities as part of annual business planning to deliver greater value for money. We therefore have no plan to commission an in-depth audit of past activities—to do so would be an inefficient use of resources.

  Internet Drug Sales
  Clive Efford
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action her Department has taken to prevent companies from abroad advertising via the internet drugs for sale that are only available in the UK with a prescription from a general practitioner. [183495]

  Mr. Timms
  The responsibility for regulating medicines lies with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is an Executive Agency of the Department of Health. Accordingly, my officials will write to the Chief Executive of MHRA Professor Kent Woods asking him 296W
  to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

  Manufacturing
  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Government are taking to promote manufacturing sector jobs(a) in Havering and (b) in the UK. [184250]

  Jacqui Smith
  With the Government's Manufacturing Strategy—the first for over 30 years—which we developed in partnership with industry, trade unions, and other stakeholders, we are taking a range of actions to create a modern manufacturing sector with a highly skilled, highly paid workforce. We published a review of the Government's Manufacturing Strategy on 15 July 2004, highlighting what has been achieved since the Strategy was established in May 2002. Details of the review are available at http://www.dti.gov.uk/manufacturing.

  Manufacturers in Havering benefit from the actions the London Development Agency is taking to ensure a strong and sustained manufacturing base through its support of the London Production Industries Commission, and the London Manufacturing Advisory Service which has handled over 2,200 enquiries and added value of nearly £3 million a year to manufacturing companies in London in its first two years. The Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence in Dagenham also provides educational and training opportunities for local industry, including that of Havering, with access to leading edge technology through links with Ford, their suppliers and other local and international companies.

  Metric Standardisation
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects on the UK of metric standardisation in terms of trade with(a) Europe and (b) the rest of the world; and if she will make a statement on the impact on British competitiveness of the transition to metric standardisation. [182741]

  Mr. Sutcliffe
  It is Government's understanding that many business sectors undertook metric standardisation in the 1960s and 1970s. The Department has no recent information on the extent to which particular sectors may not have undertaken metric standardisation.

  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to promote the completion of the UK's transition to metric standardisation. [182742]

  Mr. Sutcliffe
  The Government do not see a need to promote metric standardisation. All business sectors are free to undertake metric standardisation where they see benefits in doing so.

  National Grid
  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has held with representatives of National Grid Transco regarding the maintenance of the grid system. [185453]
  297W
  Mr. Timms
  As part of the regular contracts Ministers and officials have with National Grid Transco, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with Roger Urwin the company's Chief Executive on 9 February 2004. A range of issue were discussed at the meeting including those arising from the Engineering Inspectorate's investigation following the major power failures last year. Maintenance and repair were factors that were looked at as part of the investigation.

  Nuclear Power Stations
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the age of each nuclear power station in the UK. [185338]

  Mr. Timms
  British Energy and BNFL's operational stations commenced operations in the following years:

  British Energy

  Year commenced

  Station

  1976

  Hinkley Point B

  1976

  Hunterston B

  1983

  Dungeness B

  1983

  Heysham 1

  1983

  Hartlepool

  1988

  Heysham 2

  1988

  Torness

  1995

  Sizewell B

  BNFL

  Year commenced

  Station

  1966

  Dungeness A

  1966

  Sizewell A

  1968

  Oldbury

  1971

  Wylfa

  Post Offices
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many(a) post offices and (b) sub-post offices have closed within the Greater London area during each of the last five years. [185340]

  Mr. Timms
  Data for Greater London are available from March 2000. The net closure figures for the London region are:

  Year to end March

  Number

  2001

  10

  2002

  16

  2003

  144

  2004

  2155

  1Including 11 under the urban reinvention programme.

  2 Including 142 under the urban reinvention programme.

  Hugh Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of people who use post offices threatened with closure at(a) The Green, Bearsted, (b) The Spires, Downswood and (c) Roseacre, Bearsted. [185159]

  Mr. Timms
  [holding answer 19 July 2004]: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
  298W

  Privacy
  Mr. Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to require the manufacturers of phones with camera and video functions to incorporate an audible beep or ring when these functions are used in order to safeguard the privacy of those being photographed. [185627]

  Mr. Timms
  The Government have no plans to make this a policy requirement. Some mobile phone manufacturers already set their handsets to make a noise particularly when the camera function is used. We are aware that other manufacturers are reviewing their position in the light of concerns expressed by consumers etc.

  Regional Development Agencies
  Mrs. Spelman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the(a) running costs and (b) total expenditure of each of the regional development agencies in England was for each year since each was established. [185008]

  Jacqui Smith
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) on 11 May 2004,Official Report, column 247W.

  Renewable Energy
  Mr. Bellingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the prospects for achieving the 2010 renewables energy target. [185545]

  Mr. Timms
  The target is challenging but we believe it remains achievable We have worked hard to put an attractive system for new investment in place and the industry is responding.

  There are many areas where there is still a great deal of work to be done such as the planning system both onshore and offshore and the development of the grid network. However, we are working closely with all the relevant interests, for example, via mechanisms such as the Wind Energy and Civil and Military Aviation Working Group, to ensure that any outstanding issues are resolved in a timely fashion.

  The review of our primary support mechanism, the Renewables Obligation, will enable us to assess progress towards the target and consider in detail the points on incentives made by the final report of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, on the practicalities of renewables.

  Special Advisers
  Mr. Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in her Department announced in the spending review will be of special advisers. [185482]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 190W.
  299W

WALES

  Departmental Annual Report
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many copies of his Department's and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the(a) publication cost and (b) sales revenue were. [183880]

  Mr. Touhig
  The costs for annual and departmental reports were as follows:

  £

  Cost

  2004

  Annual Report

  11,515

  2003

  Departmental Report

  20,200

  2002

  Departmental Report

  19,697

  2001

  Departmental Report

  23,933

  Note:

  Information on 1999–2000 is not readily available and providing this information would require disproportionate cost. The Department only came into existence in 1999 so there were no reports prior to this.

  The Wales Office produces 250 copies of the report each year for its own use and to lay in the House Libraries. The Wales Office does not sell copies of the report and as such does not receive any revenue from such sales.

  The number of sale copies printed is a matter for The Stationery Office. The Wales Office receives neither revenue from these copies, nor sales figures for the report.

  Departmental Publications (Storage)
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located. [183863]

  Mr. Touhig
  The Wales Office have published a Departmental Report and a Departmental Resource Accounts Report annually from 2000 to 2003 through The Stationery Office. Copies of these reports are held in the London and Cardiff Offices.

  In 2004, the Wales Office has published an Annual Report, replacing the Departmental Report, and a further Departmental Resource Accounts Report, both through The Stationery Office, as well as the Office's Welsh Language Scheme, which was produced internally. All of these are also held in the London and Cardiff offices.

  Employment Tribunals
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases against his Department and its predecessor organisations have been brought to employment tribunals in each year since 1997 in relation to(a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race
  300W
  discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal; how many cost awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants; and how much has been spent (A) settling and (B) contesting claims. [181467]

  Mr. Touhig
  The former Welsh Office records show that one case was brought against them in 1998 by an employee in relation to the Disability Discrimination Act, but the claim was not upheld. Information on how much was spent can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  No claims have been brought against the Wales Office since its establishment on 1 July 1999.

  EU Funding
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps his Department has taken to increase the rate of implementation of EU funding programmes in Wales. [183023]

  Mr. Hain
  None. Responsibility for implementing the structural funds programme is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.

  Health/Education Services
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what cross-border measures he is undertaking to improve(a) health and (b) education services in Wales. [183175]

  Mr. Touhig
  I will answer this question in two parts:

  (a) Whether a patient is resident in England or in Wales, they are offered NHS care at the most clinically and geographically appropriate location for their treatment. In border areas there are numerous examples of long established relationships between health commissioning bodies and treatment providers across the border.

  (b) Pupils who live in England and attend schools in Wales are required to follow the national curriculum for Wales and vice versa. Schools on both sides of the border are free to choose examinations and qualifications from any of the awarding bodies irrespective of where those bodies are located.

  Job Losses (Civil Servants)
  Mr. Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the comprehensive spending review will be of special advisors. [185468]

  Mr. Touhig
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 20 July 2004, column 190W, by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

  Pay Systems
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library the most recent review of(a) his Department's pay systems and (b) the departmental equal pay action plan. [181354]
  301W
  Mr. Touhig
  Staff serving in the Wales Office have been on secondment or loan from other Government Departments—predominantly from the National Assembly for Wales. Their pay is therefore set by their home Departments rather than by the Wales Office.

  Department for Constitutional Affairs staff working at the Wales Office since our merger in June 2003 fall under the DCA pay system and so are paid in accordance with the pay scheme of the DCA.

  Richard Commission
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether changes in the constitutional position of Wales consequent on the report of the Richard Commission will be subject to a referendum. [183022]

  Mr. Hain
  The Richard Commission reported to the Welsh Assembly Government, which has not yet approached the Government with any representations concerning the report. When we receive such representations, we will give them full consideration, including whether they require a referendum.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

  Cultural Objects
  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has held in relation to the creation of a national database of stolen or otherwise tainted cultural objects in the last six months, with particular reference to discussions with(a) the Home Office, (b) the police, (c) bodies in the cultural sector and (d) other organisations; and if she will make a statement. [185678]

  Estelle Morris
  Officials within the Department worked jointly on a Home Office funded Options Appraisal, carried out by independent consultants. As part of that appraisal process, the police, bodies in the cultural sector, and other organisations, such as commercial providers of cultural databases, were invited to discuss their views. We are still considering how best to move forward in light of the findings of the report.

  Departmental Expenditure
  Miss Kirkbride
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost of running her Department's canteen facilities was in(a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [185983]

  Mr. Caborn
  The information is as follows:

  DCMS did not have a canteen in 1996–97.

  A catering facility was opened in 2001 and in the 2003–04 year cost £67,431.

  Miss Kirkbride
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost of refurbishments to the fabric of buildings owned by her Department has been since May 1997. [185984]

  Mr. Caborn
  DCMS does not own any buildings; all buildings occupied by the Department are leased from commercial landlords.
  302W
  Miss Kirkbride
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost of printing departmental headed notepaper was in(a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [185985]

  Mr. Caborn
  A record of expenditure at this level of detail within the overall stationery budget for 1996–97 is no longer available. The expenditure on headed notepaper in 2003–04. the last full year for which information is available, was £3,500

  Miss Kirkbride
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent on(a) mobile phone costs, (b) hospitality and (c) taxi costs in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [186003]

  Mr. Caborn
  The information requested is included in the table. All expenditure on official hospitality is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government guidance. The hospitality expenditure figure for 2003–04 reflects the changes made in 2002–03 in the way hospitality expenditure was captured to include associated staff costs following the contracting out of the hospitality service. Figures for 2004–05 are not available at present.

  £000

  1996–97

  2003–04

  Mobile telephones

  1—

  35,000

  Hospitality

  41,000

  278,144.29

  Taxi costs

  16,914.69

  221,878.36

  1It is not possible to provide an expenditure figure for mobile telephones in 1996–97 save at disproportionate costs.

  2 Provisional total pending finalisation of annual accounts.

  Libraries
  Mrs. Lait
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to extend the Lending Time project to other library services using volunteers. [185498]

  Estelle Morris
  The Framework for the Future Action Plan contains a strategic objective to develop an inclusive library service that reflects and helps build cohesive communities. Volunteering is an integral component of this. Lessons will be drawn from the Community Service Volunteers (CSV) Lending Time project along with other experience of community engagement and used to develop a work programme which will take a wider approach to community engagement. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) are currently considering a proposal from CSV to provide, expert advice and support through a national post funded by Framework for the Future. This person would work with a group of key partners as an advisory group to the work programme.

  Mrs. Lait
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to implement the recommendations made in Shared Intelligence, the evaluation report of the Lending Time project. [185510]
  303W
  Estelle Morris: The recommendations from the Shared Intelligence evaluation report will be used by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to develop a work programme widening the library approach to community engagement. The experiences from the Lending Time project will be used to ensure that volunteering will be an integral part of this work programme. Funding will come from the Framework for the Future Action Plan and a plan is currently being considered to include a national post at MLA for a member of Community Service Volunteers (CSV), who led the Lending Time project, to provide expert advice and support to the work programme alongside an advisory group of experts.

  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has for a second phase of the Lending Time: Volunteers in Libraries initiative. [185769]

  Estelle Morris
  Lending Time was an agreed three-year project and has now come to an end. The lessons drawn from the project and the recommendations from the evaluation report will be used by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to support the development of a wider strategy of community engagement for libraries. This will encompass volunteering within a range of initiatives and will be funded through the Framework for the Future Action Plan. In order to utilise the experiences from the Lending Time project further, MLA are currently considering funding a national post for a member of Community Service Volunteers (CSV) to support and advise the development of this strategy.

  Recruitment and Employment Costs
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will publish the(a) recruiting and (b) salary and other employment costs associated with the post of (i) Chairman of die UK Film Council, (ii) Chairman for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and (iii) Chairman of the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council. [184372]

  Estelle Morris
  The direct costs associated with the three public appointments referred to are set out as follows. The average cost of officials' time in running an appointments process, based on 2003–04 figures, was £2,500 per campaign.

  (i) UK Film Council
  Cost of advertising—£14,491.74
  Chair's remuneration—The post is unpaid. However, £198 per day may be claimed, plus travel and subsistence. The time requirement for the post is four days on average per month.

  (ii) Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
  Cost of advertising—£14,093.81
  Chair's remuneration—£45,000 per annum plus reasonable expenses.

  (iii) Museum, Libraries and Archives Council
  Cost of advertising—£12,477.06
  304W
  Chair's remuneration—£32,640 per annum plus reasonable expenses.

  School Athletics
  Mr. Alan Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what support her Department gives to the English Schools' Athletic Association; [185878]

  (2) what representations her Department has received regarding the future of the English Schools' Athletic Association; [185879]

  (3) what action her Department has taken to promote athletics in schools. [185880]

  Mr. Caborn
  This Department provides no funding support to any schools sport association. It is Government policy that schools sport associations work closely with, and receive their core funding from, the governing bodies for their sports. DCMS officials and Ministers have held regular discussions with officers of the English Schools Athletic Association and UK Athletics over the past year about the future of competitive schools athletics. This is an issue that will be taken forward over the coming months by UK Sport and Sport England as part of the Foster Review implementation.

  DCMS, the Department for Education and Skills and Sport England are supporting the secondment of a Development Manager to the National Council for School Sport. He is working with schools sport associations—including athletics—to embed competitive school sport in governing body one-stop/whole sport plans and to ensure that schools competition structures dovetail with the new infrastructure being established under the national strategy for PE, School Sport and Club Links.

  The results of the 2003/04 PE, School Sport and Club Links Survey showed that athletics is the fourth most popular sport in school sport partnership schools (provided in 90 per cent. of schools) and the fourth most popular in terms of links between schools and clubs (32 per cent. of schools with links to clubs). Athletics is one of 22 sports receiving funding from the Club Links programme to increase the number of such links.

  Special Advisers
  Mr. Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in her Department announced in the Spending Review will be of special advisers. [185478]

  Mr. Caborn
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 190W.

  Tourism
  Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the work of regional development agencies in developing tourism in Manchester Central. [184170]

  Mr. Caborn
  The North West Development Agency (NWDA) is working closely with Marketing Manchester, the nominated Destination Management
  305W
  Organisation (DMO) for Manchester. DMOs are effectively mini tourist boards that will ensure a strong visitor and market focus to all that is done within the region, and aim to strengthen the connection that exist within the region between businesses and other organisations that make up the tourism sector.

  Marketing Manchester also has a key role in securing funds for tourism development from the NWDA. Hence any funding for Manchester Central would need to be secured via that route. During 2003–04 Marketing Manchester received £898,000 to promote and develop tourism within the sub region. A similar amount has been identified to support their work during 2004–05.

  Unfortunately at this stage NWDA cannot show a specific breakdown of funding provided to Manchester Central but the impact of NWDA funding to Marketing Manchester will certainly have been beneficial to the Manchester Central tourism product.

  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many visitor attractions have signed up to the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme. [186034]

  Mr. Caborn
  The Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS) has accredited 510 visitor attractions.

  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the rate of productivity in the tourism industry has been in each of the last 10 years; and what criteria are used to measure these rates. [186036]

  Estelle Morris
  The Department estimates the rate of change of labour productivity in Tourism.

  Data is derived from the Annual Business Inquiry, carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This takes the form of estimates of Gross Value Added and numbers in employment. Productivity is estimated as the ratio of Gross Value Added to numbers in employment, and the rate of change from one year to the next is calculated.

  Information has been collected in its present form only since 1998. The latest figures are those for 2002.

  The figures are as follows:

  Percentage

  1998–99

  + 3.1

  1999–2000

  + 4.0

  2000–01

  + 2.5

  2001–02

  + 4.6

SCOTLAND

  Departmental Annual Report
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many copies of his Department's and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the(a) publication cost and (b) sales revenue were. [183882]

  Mrs. McGuire
  The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
  306W
  The Scotland Office has had 150 copies of its Annual Report printed each year since 1999. The report is also available on the Office's website.

  The printing costs to the Scotland Office were as follows:

  £

  1999–2000

  1,020

  2000–01

  3,160

  2001–02

  3,869

  2002–03

  4,036

  2003–04

  4,119

  Other costs of printing and publication of the report are met directly by the publisher, The Stationery Office Limited (TSO), and did not fall to the Government. TSO recoups these costs through sales and uses its commercial judgment as to the number of copies printed. The numbers sold and the revenue from sales are matters for the publisher.

  Departmental Staff
  Mr. Bacon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland who the Finance Director of(a) the Scotland Office and (b) the Registers of Scotland is; what accountancy qualifications each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts in each of the last five years. [183456]

  Mrs. McGuire
  [holding answer 14 July 2004]: The Scotland Office a distinct entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The Head of Finance at the Scotland Office is Norman Kernohan. He does not hold a professional accountancy qualification but he has full access to advice from professionally qualified staff in both the DCA and the Scottish Executive. The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999 and since that date none of its accounts have received a qualified opinion.

  Questions about the Registers of Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Executive.

  Public Relations
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the salary costs to the Department were for employees working in public relations and publicity in each year since 1997. [183859]

  Mrs. McGuire
  The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The Office has no staff working solely on public relations or publicity. The cost of press office staff was as follows:

  £

  1999–2000

  1,244,078

  2000–01

  139,705

  2001–02

  134,702

  2002–03

  299,166

  2003–04

  3111,202

  1 Part year cost from 1 July 1999.

  2 Part year cost because of vacancies.

  3 Estimated.

  307W

  Travel Costs
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the travel costs were of civil servants in(a) his Department and (b) its predecessor Department in each year since 1997. [183891]

  Mrs. McGuire
  The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

  The following table shows the overall expenditure costs of civil servants in the Scot Land Office and the Office of the Advocate-General on travel and subsistence since that date.

  £

  1999–2000

  1179,669

  2000–01

  318,858

  2001–02

  330,496

  2002–03

  346,373

  2003–04

  2264,407

  1 Part year: the Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

  2 Financial year 2003–04 costs are provisional, pending finalisation of Annual Accounts.

  All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in the Civil Service Management Code.

  Departmental Publications (Storage)
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located. [183860]

  Mrs. McGuire
  Most of the publications for the Scotland Office and the Office of tire Advocate-General are produced on our behalf by commercial publishers, such as The Stationery Office. The retention and storage

  £000

  Financial Year from 1 March

  Region

  Location

  1999–2000

  2000–01

  2001–02

  2002–03

  2003–04

  South West

  Bristol/Exeter

  422

  397

  407

  502

  526

  West Midlands

  Birmingham

  488

  391

  437

  456

  439

  Scotland

  Glasgow

  396

  382

  435

  498

  531

  Yorkshire and the Humber

  Leeds

  —

  283

  393

  448

  425

  North West

  Liverpool/Manchester

  1,097

  644

  584

  689

  611

  Northern Ireland

  Belfast

  334

  228

  255

  281

  305

  North East

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  367

  360

  390

  401

  349

  Central Southern

  Southampton

  421

  412

  457

  499

  446

  Wales

  Cardiff

  407

  349

  383

  452

  407

  East Midlands

  Nottingham

  355

  323

  336

  400

  355

  South East and East Anglia

  Cambridge

  299

  412

  440

  519

  468

  London

  London

  69

  259

  280

  332

  286

  Total

  —

  4,656

  4,442

  4,799

  5,477

  5,150

  Childcare Tax Credit
  Mr. Willetts
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for the childcare tax credit have been(a) rejected and (b) initially paid and then rejected as invalid. [185695]

  Dawn Primarolo
  This information is not readily available and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Willetts
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what his estimate is of the average time between submission of an application for a childcare tax credit and the first payment; [185702]
  308W
  of items published commercially are matters for the publishers. Policy divisions with the Office retain small quantities of publications for working purposes. Details of recent publications are on the Scotland Office website, www.scottishsecretary.gov.uk.

TREASURY

  Amateur Sports Clubs
  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further benefits for community amateur sports clubs he plans to introduce; and if he will make a statement. [185012]

  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further benefits for community amateur sports clubs he plans to introduce; and if he will make a statement. [185012]

  John Healey
  The 2004 Spending Review has made increased funding available to sport. The benefit to Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) will depend on the spending plans of the Department for Culture Media and Sport. The Government are keen to ensure that as many eligible amateur sports clubs as possible benefit from the tax and other reliefs available to CASCs. The Chancellor will continue to keep the scheme under review in the context of the annual Budget process.

  Bank of England (Regional Offices)
  Mrs. Spelman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the Bank of England's regional offices; and what their annual expenditure was in each of the last five years. [184976]

  Ruth Kelly
  The following table provides the annual expenditure of the Bank's regional agencies for the last five years:

  (2) what the length is of the average claim for childcare tax credit. [185704]

  Dawn Primarolo
  Claims for the childcare element of the working tax credit are made as part of a single claim for child and working tax credits. For the time taken to process such claims, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on 8 September 2003,Official Report, columns 21–22W.

  Departmental Accounting Practice
  Mr. Bacon
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the Finance Director of(a) the Treasury, (b) the

  309W
  Inland Revenue Trust, (c) Customs and Excise, (d) the Government Actuary's Department, (e) the Crown Estate, (f) the Royal Mint, (g) the Office of National Statistics, (h) National Savings and Investments and (i) Inland Revenue is; what accountancy qualifications

  Department

  Finance Director

  Accountancy qualifications

  HM Treasury

  Mrs Hilary Douglas (Managing Director, Corporate Services)

  None, but supported by a fully qualified Head of Finance

  Customs and Excise

  Ms Mary Keegan (from 1 September 2004)

  Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants

  Ms Alison French

  None, but supported by a qualified and experienced team

  Government Actuary's Department

  Mrs Kirn Clegg

  Associate, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

  The Crown Estate

  Mr John Lelliott

  Fellow, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

  The Royal Mint

  Mr Huw Edwards

  Associate, Institute of Chartered Accountants

  Office for National Statistics

  Mr Peter Murphy

  None

  National Savings and Investments

  Mr Trevor Bayley

  Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants

  Inland Revenue and The Inland Revenue Trust

  Mr Stephen Jones

  None

  As to the qualification of the accounts of the Chancellor's departments, I refer the hon. Member to the accounts themselves.

  Departmental Annual Report
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many copies of his Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the(a) publication costs and (b) sales revenue were. [183884]

  Ruth Kelly
  Publication of HM Treasury's Departmental Report is handled by The Stationery Office Ltd. (TSO), who are responsible for determining print runs and for selling copies of the report. Sales figures for the previous seven years are as follows:

  Edition

  Copies issued by TSO

  1998

  589

  1999

  524

  2000

  484

  2001

  547

  2002

  465

  2003

  426

  2004

  306

  Printing and publication costs for the Treasury Departmental Report are met by The Stationery Office Ltd. (TSO) and in recent years the document has been designed in-house by members of the Treasury's publishing unit.

  For information on direct publication costs incurred by the Treasury in previous years, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Brent South (Mr. Boateng), to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) on 24 July 2002, Official Report, column 1190W.

  Employment (Over-65s)
  Mr. Hepburn
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people over 65 years have been in work in 310W
  each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts of each in the last five years. [183419]

  Ruth Kelly
  The answer is as follows.

  (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [184519]

  Ruth Kelly
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

  Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Stephen Hepburn dated 21 July 2004:
  The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking about the number of people over 65 in employment in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. I am replying in his absence. (184519)
  The attached table gives estimates of the number of people aged 65 and over in employment in Tyne and Wear and the United Kingdom for the three months ending in May of each year from 1997 to 2004. However, the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS) sample size is too small to give reliable estimates for the Jarrow Parliamentary Constituency and the South Tyneside Unitary Authority.
  As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling Variability.

  People 65 and over in employment

  £000

  3 months ending May each year

  UK

  Tyne and Wear

  1997

  432

  4

  1998

  444

  3

  1999

  464

  3

  2000

  459

  4

  2001

  421

  3

  2002

  477

  3

  2003

  525

  3

  2004

  540

  6

  Source:

  ONS Labour Force Survey.

  Fuel Taxation
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce fuel taxation. [185204]

  John Healey
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 13 July 2004,Official Report, column 1014W.
  311W
  Mr. Wiggin
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to use funds raised from road and fuel taxes specifically for road construction and improvement projects. [185205]

  John Healey
  Revenue from any particular tax is not generally earmarked to any particular part of the public spending programme. However, the Government have a commitment to ring fence any revenue from fuel duty increases above inflation to improving public transport and modernising the road network.

  Government Offices (East Midlands)
  Mr. Dorrell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent employees of the Inland Revenue in the east midlands there were in each year since 1997. [185493]

  Dawn Primarolo
  The numbers of full-time equivalent employees of the Inland Revenue in the Government East Midlands region on 1 April each year since 1997 were:

  Number

  1997

  3,714

  1998

  3,807

  1999

  3,951

  2000

  4,010

  2001

  4,060

  2002

  4,080

  2003

  4,385

  2004

  4,368

  The reasons for changes in staff numbers in a single Government region are difficult to accurately measure as they do not reflect organisational divisions within IR or changes in organisational design over the period. Nationally, Inland Revenue growth, since 1997, of which a proportion will be reflected within East Midlands, can be attributed to workload growth, spend to save initiatives, programmes such as the Grabiner review of the informal economy, mergers with the contribution and benefit agencies and the introduction of new tax credits work.

  Green Minister
  Mr. Horam
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the activities of the Green Minister in the Department in financial year 2003–04. [185130]

  John Healey
  As the Treasury's Green Minister, I am committed to improving the environmental impact of the Department's operations, to integrating environmental considerations across policy areas, and to improving the economic analysis underpinning the Government's environmental initiatives.

  In the financial year 2003–04, as the Treasury's Green Minister my work included the development of a range of environmental policy measures including those announced in the pre-Budget report on 10 December 2003 and Budget on 17 March. It also included membership of the Ministerial Sub-Committee on Green Ministers and the Sustainable Development
  312W
  Taskforce, and meetings with representatives of non-governmental organisations and other key stakeholders on topics ranging from climate change to waste to aviation.

  MRSA (Frimley Park Hospital)
  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will investigate the practice at Frimley Park Hospital of not recording MRSA on death certificates where it was the cause or a contributory cause of death; and if he will make a statement. [184667]

  Ruth Kelly
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General for England and Wales, who has been asked to reply.

  Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew Mackinlay, dated 21 July 2004:

  As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking if the Chancellor will investigate the practice at Frimley Park Hospital of not recording MRSA on death certificates where it was the cause or a contributory cause of death. (184667)

  The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 places an individual responsibility on the medical practitioner in attendance on the deceased to certify the cause of death to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, rather than on any organisation. The Registrar General has no specific power to instigate an inquiry into an accusation of this nature. Coroners can only investigate where a death is referred to them.

  The Government published a position paper on death certification and Investigation in March 2004 outlining proposals for reform. In the interim, the General Register Office will be issuing guidance to all doctors on the best practice for death certification under current legislation. This will remind them of their duty to certify the cause of death to the best of their knowledge and belief, recording each condition which contributed to the death.

  There were 7 deaths in Frimley Park Hospital in the years 2000 to 2002 where the cause of death was wholly or partly attributable to MRSA1.

  1Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993–2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15–22.

  Objections to Ministerial Decisions
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list occasions since 1992 when a Permanent Secretary in his or her role as accounting officer has lodged a note of dissent formally objecting to a ministerial decision. [185628]

  Ruth Kelly
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Norman Baker) on 24 March 2004,Official Report, column 839W.

  Office for National Statistics
  Mrs. Spelman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated expenditure by the Office for National Statistics in compiling regional-level statistics and indicators was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [184977]

  Ruth Kelly
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
  313W
  Letter from Colin Mowl to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 21 July 2004:

  The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what the estimated expenditure by the Office for National Statistics in compiling regional-level statistics and indicators was in the most recent year for which figures are available. I am replying in his absence. (184977)

  The estimated expenditure relating to the Regional and Local Division and the Regional Accounts branch of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was £1.1 million 2003/04. These work areas have responsibility for the production of a range of statistics and analyses at Government Office region level (including sub-regional figures as appropriate).

  There is also significant expenditure by ONS on the Neighbourhood Statistics programme, which primarily addresses the need for statistics for smaller local area, to inform neighbourhood renewal initiatives.

  In addition, many work areas in ONS produce regional-level statistics as part of their routine statistical outputs. However, an estimate of the total expenditure across ONS on the production of regional-level statistics would be very approximate and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

  The Allsopp Review of Statistics for Economic Policy Making, whose final report was published in March 2004, made a number of recommendations for improving regional statistics in the UK. In the Government's recent 2004 Spending Review ONS was given the objective of implementing the recommendations of the Allsopp Review. As a result a higher level of ONS's resources will be allocated to regional statistics work than has been the case in recent years.

  Oil Price
  Mr. Chaytor
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made in recent economic forecasts of the price per barrel of oil in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [184744]

  Ruth Kelly
  The assumption underlying the public finance projections, audited by the NAO is stated in Box C1, page 251 of the 2004 FSBR.

  Pension Schemes (Public Sector)
  Mr. Willetts
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many workers have joined each public sector pension scheme in each year since 1997–98. [185710]

  Ruth Kelly
  This information is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

  Policy (Environmental Impact)
  Mr. Horam
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new policy proposals or significant changes in policy were produced in(a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; how many of these were screened for their environmental impacts; and how many were the subject of separate environmental appraisals. [185100]

  John Healey
  Chapter 7 of the 2003 and 2004 Budget books (HC 500 and HC 301) shows how budget measures sit alongside other policies as part of the Government's approach to the environmental elements of sustainable development and sets out the environmental impacts of measures introduced in recent 314W
  Budgets that have a significant effect on the environment or which serve an environmental purpose (Tables 7.1 and 7.2)

  A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is produced for all major Budget measures. From spring this year the RIA includes a requirement to consider environmental impacts.

  Regional Productivity Growth
  Mr. Stephen O'Brien
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to measure productivity growth by region following the 2004 Spending Review Key Performance Agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry to make sustainable improvements in the economic performance of all English regions. [185509]

  Ruth Kelly
  The 2002 Spending Review introduced a joint target for the Treasury, Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to improve the growth rate in every English region and over the long term reduce the persistent disparities in growth rates between the regions. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland regional development is substantially devolved.

  The Technical Note published after the 2002 Spending Review, available on the Departmental websites, sets out how this target will be measured, looking at regional Gross Value Added per head figures produced by the Office for National Statistics. The 2004 Spending Review has reaffirmed this target, and an updated Technical Note will be published on 31 July.

  It was also announced that the Office for National Statistics will implement the recommendations of the Allsopp Review in full, which in its final report in March, set out the implications of the regional agenda for economic statistics.

  In addition, the Treasury and DTI published a consultation document, Productivity in the UK 5, in March on how progress against productivity, and the drivers of productivity, could best be monitored. A full response to Productivity 5 will be made available soon.

  Stamp Duty (Residential Property)
  Mr. Prisk
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue implication of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of(a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £120,000 or less, 2 per cent. on sales revenue between £120,000 and £249,999, 5 per cent. on sales revenue between £250,000 and £499,999, 8 per cent. on sales revenue of £500,000 and above, (b) 0 per cent. on property sales of £120,000 or less, 3 per cent. on sales revenue between £120,000 and £249,999, 5 per cent. on sales revenue equal to £250,000, 8 per cent. on sales revenue of £500,000 and above and (c) 0 per cent. on property sales of £120,000 or less, 3 per cent. on property sales between £120,000 and £249,999, 5 per cent. on sales revenue of £250,000 and 7 per cent. on sales revenue of £500,000 and above. [185385]

  Ruth Kelly
  The estimated revenue cost, in 2005—06, of restructuring stamp ditty on residential property sales
  315W
  according to the three schemes described in the question is given in the following table:

  Price of residential property

  Tax regime 1 Marginal rates

  Tax regime 2 Marginal rates

  Tax regime 3 Marginal rates

  £0 to £119,999 (percentage)

  0

  0

  0

  £120,000 to £249,999 (percentage)

  2

  3

  3

  £250,000 to £499,999 (percentage)

  5

  5

  5

  £500,000 and above (percentage)

  8

  8

  7

  Revenue Cost (£ million)

  1,020

  430

  570

  This does not include any allowance for behavioural changes.

  Tax Credits
  Lynne Jones
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what circumstances backpayments of(a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit are paid as a series of regular payments rather than as a lump sum. [185683]

  Dawn Primarolo
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Members for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) and Northavon (Mr. Webb) on 17 July 2003,Official Report, columns 465–66W.

  Alan Simpson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer of 13 July,Official Report, columns 1014–15W, on tax credits, when figures for 2003—04 will be available. [185389]

  Dawn Primarolo
  The timing of complete figures on overpayments in 2003–04 will depend on the timing of the replies to the Annual Review, the time taken to obtain any extra information needed to process them, and the proportion of replies containing provisional income data.

  West Sussex (Demographic Population)
  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the demographic population breakdown of West Sussex; [185514]

  (2) how many people moved into the Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust area in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; [185515]

  (3) what the population of the south-east region is, broken down into those (a) under the age of 20 years, (b) between 20 and 60 years and (c) over the age of 60 years. [185521]

  Ruth Kelly
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

  Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Tim Loughton dated 21 July 2004:

  The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions concerning the number of people that moved into the Adur, Arun and Worn-ling Primary Care Trust area in 2003 and 2004 and also the pop elation breakdown of the South East and the demographic breakdown of West Sussex. I am replying in his absence. (185515, 185514, 185521)
  316W
  Unfortunately I am not able to answer your question regarding the number of people moving into the Primary Care trust, as statistics on population flows for Primary Care Trust areas are not currently available. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will be publishing population estimates by Primary Care Organisation area for the first time on 21 October for 2001, 2002, and 2003.

  The first of the two attached tables shows a demographic population break down for West Sussex based on mid-2002 population estimates. The second table shows mid-2002 population estimates for those who are aged under 20, 20 to 59, and those aged 60 years and over in the South East govrnment office region.

  As announced by ONS on 8 July, revised mid-2002 population estimates are due to be released on 9 September. Information about the revisions can be found at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ downloads/theme_population/PEU announcement_08Jul.pdf

  Mid-year 2002 population estimates for West Sussex

  Thousand

  Age bands

  Male

  Female

  Total

  0–19

  91.4

  85.9

  177.3

  20–59

  189.1

  197.1

  386.2

  60+

  81.7

  110.6

  192.4

  0–4

  21.1

  20.3

  41.4

  5–9

  23.4

  22.0

  45.4

  10–14

  24.7

  23.4

  48.2

  15–19

  22.2

  20.1

  42.3

  20–24

  17.7

  18.1

  35.8

  25–29

  18.2

  19.4

  37.6

  30–34

  23.6

  25.7

  49.4

  35–39

  28.8

  29.2

  57.9

  40–44

  26.7

  27.3

  54.0

  45–49

  24.6

  25.2

  49.9

  50–54

  24.9

  26.1

  51.1

  55–59

  24.5

  26.1

  50.6

  60–64

  18.7

  20.3

  39.0

  65–69

  17.6

  20.0

  37.6

  70–74

  16.4

  20.1

  36.5

  75–79

  13.2

  18.5

  31.7

  80–84

  9.2

  15.5

  24.7

  85–89

  4.6

  9.9

  14.5

  90+

  2.0

  6.4

  8.4

  Note: Figures may not add exactly due to rounding.

  Source:

  Office for National Statistics.

  Population for the South East, Mid-year2002

  Thousand

  Age bands

  Male

  Female

  Total

  (a) 0–19

  1,017.7

  959.5

  1,977.3

  (b) 20–59

  2,167.1

  2,184.8

  4,351.9

  (c) 60+

  747.5

  961.7

  1,709.2

  Source:

  Office for National Statistics.

  Working Tax Credit/Child Tax Credit
  Mr. Simmonds
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parents were in receipt of the lone parent element of the working tax credit in 2003–04. [185717]

  Dawn Primarolo
  Information is contained in the various issues of "Child and Working Tax Credits. Quarterly Statistics", which can be found on the Inland Revenue website at:
  www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm

  Mr. Simmonds
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the budgetary cost of the lone parent element of the working tax credit was in 2003–04. [185718]
  317W
  Dawn Primarolo
  It is not possible to provide a split of total spending between the different elements of the working tax credit. The amount of award payable is reduced as family income increases, and this reduction is applied to the total value of all the elements taken together.

  Andrew Selous
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of disregarding maintenance payments for the purposes of calculating working tax credit and child tax credit. [181838]

  Mr. Willetts
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest estimate is of the cost of disregarding maintenance payments for the purposes of calculating working tax credit and child tax credit. [182117]

  Dawn Primarolo
  I refer the hon. Members to my answer to the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on 19 July 2004,Official Report, column 44W.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

  Growth Areas (Infrastructure Projects)
  Mrs. Anne Campbell
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action his Department is taking to ensure that infrastructure projects can be funded in growth areas. [185312]

  The Deputy Prime Minister
  In the statement I gave to the House on Tuesday 13 July following the Spending Review Settlement I announced that funding for the growth areas outside the Thames Gateway would double by 2007–08. I hope to announce the full details of the allocation when the House returns in September.

  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also established a new Community Infrastructure Fund to provide transport infrastructure in all growth areas, providing £200 million over the SR04 period.

  Private investment, captured through developer contributions in areas of high land value will also play an important part in supporting the development of the Growth Areas.

  Housing (Hertfordshire)
  Barbara Follett
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to improve the availability of(a) social and (b) affordable housing in Hertfordshire. [185313]

  Phil Hope
  Through the Housing Corporation, Hertfordshire will gain around 1,170 homes for rent and low cost home ownership over this year and the next. This is a very significant increase on the 273 homes completed in 1997–98.

  Following the Spending Review, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced that an extra 10,000 social rented homes a year will be provided, in England, by 2007–08. Over the next three years, the
  318W
  Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will provide more than 40,000 affordable homes for essential public sector workers and others in need.

  Right-to-Buy System
  Sandra Gidley
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he is taking to prevent abuses of the right to buy system. [185314]

  Mr. Raynsford
  In March 2003 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister reduced right to buy discounts in 41 local authority areas under the greatest housing market pressure and we have included provisions in the Housing Bill to tackle exploitation of the scheme.

  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also made it easier for landlords in rural areas to restrict the resale of ex-Right to Buy homes to local people. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends shortly to lay an Order before Parliament in accordance with section 157 of the Housing Act 1985, designating Test Valley as a rural area for this purpose, in addition to the 30 other areas already designated.

  Sustainable Communities (Student Areas)
  Lynne Jones
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on developing sustainable communities in student areas of major towns. [185315]

  Phil Hope
  Student populations can bring real benefits to local neighbourhoods. However, universities and local authorities need to work together more closely to reduce potential problems in areas of high student populations. Last month we agreed to fund a project between Universities UK and the Local Government Association to improve the way that students are housed in local communities.

  Planning Inspectorate
  Mr. Ben Chapman
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the role of the Planning Inspectorate. [185316]

  Keith Hill
  The Planning Inspectorate serves The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), the Welsh Assembly Government and other Government Departments by dealing with appeals, development plans and other casework under planning, housing, environment and allied legislation.

  Its mission is:
  "To use our impartial expertise in planning and land use to help shape well planned environments."

  Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
  Ms Christine Russell
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has for the development of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. [185317]

  Mr. Raynsford
  On 12 July we announced, as part of the Spending Review 2004, that a further £525 million of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) resources would be made available in each of the years 2006–07 and 2007–08. We expect to make a further announcement on the distribution of these resources later in the year.
  319W

  Polluted Land (Investment)
  Dr. Gibson
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to promote investment in cleaning up polluted land for new house building. [185318]

  Keith Hill
  The Government have a wide-ranging package of fiscal measures to support regeneration including a contaminated land tax. credit designed to encourage the reuse of contaminated land. The Office has also negotiated a state aid approval from the European Commission that allows public sector support for the remediation of derelict and contaminated land. Furthermore, the Office is working closely with English Partnerships to develop a National Brownfield Strategy to ensure the best use of previously developed land, including contaminated land.

  Market Renewal Pathfinder Programme
  Jim Dobbin
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Market Renewal Pathfinder programme in Heywood and Middleton. [185319]

  Phil Hope
  The Middleton area of Rochdale is included in the Oldham Rochdale Partners in Action (the Market Renewal Pathfinder). Following submission of their strategic scheme, the pathfinder has been allocated £53.5million Housing Market Renewal Funding up to March 2006. Some of this will contribute to the funding of a comprehensive regeneration programme in the right hon. Gentlemen's constituency area of Middleton including works:o refurbish over 800 homes to a decent homes standard, construction of over 300 private new homes and providing safe and secure off road parking for more than 3,000 homes.

  Regional Assemblies
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on progress towards establishing regional assemblies. [185320]

  Allocations: 2004–05 and 2005–06

  Social rent

  Low cost home ownership

  Units

  Percentage of total

  Units

  Percentage of total

  Camden

  230

  54.2

  49

  11.6

  City of London

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Hackney

  458

  37.1

  287

  23.2

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  325

  48.5

  136

  20.3

  Haringey

  488

  54.3

  154

  17.1

  Islington

  369

  37.5

  39

  4.0

  Kensington and Chelsea

  170

  66.9

  0

  0

  Lambeth

  635

  62.4

  193

  19.0

  Lewisham

  301

  62.6

  129

  26.8

  Newham

  525

  46.1

  205

  18.0

  Southwark

  425

  49.2

  155

  17.9

  Wandsworth

  41

  12.3

  132

  39.8

  Westminster

  215

  56.1

  47

  12.3

  Total for London

  9,877

  51.8

  3,510

  18.4

  320W
  Mr. Raynsford
  The House is debating this afternoon three Orders to enable referendums to take place. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation has already considered Orders on the date for those referendums and the local government options in the three regions where referendums are proposed.

  Following a 'yes' vote in any one of those regions we will move as soon as possible to introduce legislation that will enable us to establish regional assemblies.

  Fire and Rescue Service Equipment (Purchasing)
  Ann Winterton
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes his Department has implemented to the purchasing of fire and rescue service equipment. [185321]

  Phil Hope
  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been working with fire and rescue authorities and suppliers to develop a National Procurement Strategy that aims to deliver improved cost effectiveness, to maintain competition and stimulate innovation. In the meantime, fire service circulars issued in 2003 and 2004 gave advice on the arrangements to be used pending publication of the strategy.

  Affordable Housing
  Ms Oona King
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many and what proportion of the affordable housing to be built in(a) Camden, (b) the City of London, (c) Hackney, (d) Hammersmith and Fulham, (e) Haringey, (f) Islington, (g) Kensington and Chelsea, (h) Lambeth, (i) Lewisham, (j) Newham, (k) Southwark, (l) Wandsworth and (m) Westminster in (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 2005–06 will be (A) social housing for rent, (B) low cost home ownership stock, (C) low cost home ownership stock for key workers and (D) intermediate rented housing for key workers. [185255]

  Keith Hill
  Allocations for funding by the Housing Corporation through its Approved Development Programme for schemes due to start in 2004–05 and 2005–06 in the London boroughs specified are set out in the following table. The data include the numbers of units for social rent, low cost home ownership for key workers and others and intermediate rent for key workers.
  321W

  Key Workers Low Cost Home Ownership

  Key workers intermediate rent

  Units

  Percentage of total

  Units

  Percentage of total

  Total units

  Camden

  67

  15.8

  78

  18.4

  424

  City of London

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Hackney

  398

  32.2

  93

  7.5

  1,236

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  175

  26.1

  34

  5.1

  670

  Haringey

  203

  22.6

  54

  6.0

  899

  Islington

  275

  27.9

  302

  30.7

  985

  Kensington and Chelsea

  43

  16.9

  41

  16.1

  254

  Lambeth

  169

  16.6

  20

  2.0

  1,017

  Lewisham

  45

  9.4

  6

  1.2

  481

  Newham

  241

  21.2

  168

  14.7

  1,139

  Southwark

  226

  26.2

  58

  6.7

  864

  Wandsworth

  107

  32.2

  52

  15.7

  332

  Westminster

  45

  11.7

  76

  19.8

  383

  Total for London

  3,872

  20.3

  1,820

  9.5

  19,079

  Ms Oona King
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many units of affordable housing for(a) rent and (b) sale were built with funding generated by recycled capital grant in 2003–04, broken down by Government office region; [185256]

  (2) what reports he has received of recycled capital grant being used for purposes other than investment in new affordable housing. [185259]

  Keith Hill
  Information is not currently available on the number of affordable housing units provided with recycled capital grant in 2003–04.

  Provisional reports from the Housing Corporation indicate that for 2002–03, a total of 2,733 units were completed using recycled capital grant. Of this amount, 400 units were for social rent, 426 units were for shared ownership, while 1,907 units were re-improvements to existing stock.

  English Partnerships
  Sue Doughty
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what share of its budget for remediation costs English Partnerships has brought forward into the first three months of the 2004–05 financial year to allow works to be undertaken before the implementation of the next phase of the Landfill Directive. [184946]

  Keith Hill
  Less than 1 per cent. of English Partnerships' total projected remediation costs for 2004–05 were brought forward into the first three months of the financial year to allow works to be undertaken before implementation of the Landfill Directive.

  Sue Doughty
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister by what(a) amount and (b) percentage English Partnerships has increased the allowance for remediation costs in (i) the Thames Gateway and (ii) the coalfields in its 2004–05 budget to meet anticipated additional costs arising from the implementation of the ban on co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. [185090]

  Keith Hill
  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not had to provide any additional funding to English Partnerships in 2004–05 for increased remediation costs arising from the ending of the co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. English Partnerships is committed to best practice and sustainability in regeneration and has always made 322W
  allowances for remediation costs on the presumption of seeking the most economic waste treatment solution that minimises the removal of material to landfill. These efforts have been strengthened with the approach of the directive trigger date and English Partnerships has worked on a project level to mitigate cost effects on individual sites including examining feasibility for and effecting in-situ bio remediation.

  Government Office of the East Midlands
  Mr. Dorrell
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many full-time equivalent employees of the Government Office of the East Midlands there have been since the establishment of its structure. [185496]

  Phil Hope
  The table below sets out the number of full-time equivalent employees of the Government Office for East Midlands at annual intervals since May 2000:

  Date

  Number of full-time equivalent employees

  May 2000

  213.5

  March 2001 (nearest available figures)

  204.2

  May 2002

  209.6

  May 2003

  240.4

  May 2004

  298.7

  Figures prior to 2000 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  The increase in the number of full-time equivalent employees reflects th! fact that since 2000, staff from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office have joined the Government Office. The increased numbers between 2003 and 2004 reflect, in particular, growth in the Community Cohesion, Crime Reduction and Sustainable Communities teams.

  Home Ownership Task Force
  Ms Oona King
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 2 February,Official Report, column 739W, on the Home Ownership Task Force, if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Department's discussions with the Housing Corporation on the Home

  323W
  Ownership Task Force's recommendation of greater transparency in the setting of rent and other charges for shared ownership housing. [185257]

  Keith Hill
  Greater transparency in rent setting and other charges continues to be discussed with the Housing Corporation as part of the implementation of the Government's response to the Home Ownership Task Force which was announced on 6 May 2004.

  Housing (North-west)
  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of current demographic trends in the north-west on the region's housing stock. [185284]

  Keith Hill
  This issue will be addressed in the forthcoming full review of regional planning guidance for the north-west.

  Planning Applications (Wandsworth)
  Tom Cox
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many planning applications approved by the London borough of Wandsworth have been opposed in each of the last three years. [185345]

  Keith Hill
  Assuming that the question is about call-in of planning applications by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister for his own determination following a public inquiry, the answer is as follows:

  2001—None;

  2002—Three;

  2003—None;

  Call-ins take place when my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State considers it necessary to call in the planning application to determine himself, instead of leaving the decision to the local planning authority. He will, in general only take this step if planning issues of more than local importance are involved. It would not be correct to regard call-in as an indication of his opposition to the proposals.

  Regional Planning Guidance (North-west)
  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of regional planning guidance on the affordability of homes in the north-west. [185283]

  Keith Hill
  This issue will be addressed in the forthcoming full review of regional planning guidance for the north-west.

  Shared Ownership
  Ms Oona King
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total amount of capital receipts from shared owners staircasing up their equity share was in each year since 1997. [185258]

  Keith Hill
  The following table shows the total amount of capital receipts from shared owners staircasing up their equity share in each year since 1997.
  324W

  Recycled capital grant fund (RCGF) shared ownership staircasing analysis

  Number of units involved

  Amount (£ million)

  1997–98

  1,913

  26.144

  1998–99

  2,043

  28.287

  1999–2000

  3,321

  52.223

  2000–01

  3,210

  49.394

  2001–02

  3,603

  58.828

  2002–03

  4,554

  79.986

  Total

  18,644

  294.862

  Ms Oona King
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 5 July 2004, Official Report, columns 458–59W, on shared ownership housing, what the average rent and service charge was on the 50 per cent. stake held by the registered social landlord in a(a) one-bed, (b) two-bed and (c) three-bed shared ownership property in (i) Tower Hamlets, (ii) the eastern sub-region, (iii) London and (iv) England in the latest year for which figures are available. [185254]

  Keith Hill
  The following table shows the average rent and service charges for shared ownership properties where a 50 per cent. stake is held by the registered social landlord, broken down by the number of bedrooms, in Tower Hamlets, the east London sub-region, London and England in 2003–04.

  Shared ownership sales during 2003–04

  Average monthly rent and service charges for those who purchased a 50 per cent. stake

  Number of sales

  Monthly rent (£)

  Monthly service charge (£)

  One bedroom

  Tower Hamlets

  7

  123.90

  38.11

  East London

  27

  151.15

  57.43

  London

  165

  155.55

  58.66

  England

  339

  139.83

  50.30

  Two bedrooms

  Tower Hamlets

  5

  209.84

  51.36

  East London

  120

  198.01

  53.30

  London

  331

  189.36

  49.47

  England

  1,420

  142.50

  34.26

  Three bedrooms

  Tower Hamlets

  2

  164.30

  0.00

  East London

  39

  201.63

  26.88

  London

  89

  197.24

  25.16

  England

  682

  152.79

  19.27

  Because the buyer took a 50 per cent. stake, the average price paid by the buyer represents one-half of the property.

  The figures include the following schemes:

  Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership, Shared Ownership for the Elderly, Leasehold Schemes for the Elderly, Ordinary Shared Ownership Schemes

  East London sub-region 1 is an amalgamation of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Waltham Forest

  Source:

  Housing Corporation, CORE Sales
  325W

  Starter Home Initiative
  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many(a) social workers and (b) nurses were assisted by the Starter Home Initiative in 2003–04. [185520]

  Keith Hill
  Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004, the Starter Home Initiative helped nearly 100 social workers and over 1,200 nurses into home ownership.

WORK AND PENSIONS

  Access to Work Scheme
  Mr. Gerrard
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled people in London are receiving help with fares to work under the access to work scheme. [185472]

  Maria Eagle
  Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004, Access to Work helped 364 new customers in London with travel to work costs. A further 802 customers who had applied for assistance prior to 1 April 2003 continued to receive assistance during the same period.

  Appointees
  Mr. Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of applications for appointeeship(a) involve an interview with the claimant and (b) rely on the discussion with a carer or professional alone; [182699]

  (2) what monitoring takes place to ensure that appointees spend the benefit in the best interests of the claimant; [182701]

  (3) how many cases there were in 2002–03 where concerns about appointeeship were brought to the attention of the Department; how many were investigated; and in how many cases the appointeeship was revoked. [182702]

  Maria Eagle
  Appointees are normally interviewed by a visiting officer to ensure their suitability and awareness of their roles and responsibilities; a visit will also be made to the customer, although exceptions may be made where the customer is in hospital.

  While formal monitoring of appointeeships is not carried out thereafter, officers acting on behalf of the Secretary of State can revoke the authority of appointees where there are concerns that they are not acting in the interests of the person claiming benefit.

  Information regarding the numbers and types of interviews carried out, and how many cases were investigated, is not available as statistics are not collected centrally.

  Attendance Allowance (Over-80s)
  Mr. Colman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in London aged(a) 80 years and over, (b) 85 years and over and (c) 90 years and over are in receipt of attendance allowance. [184876]

  Maria Eagle
  The numbers of attendance allowance recipients in London by age are set out in the table.
  326W

  Thousand

  All

  123.1

  Under 80

  48.4

  80 to 84

  31.5

  85 to 89

  24.5

  90 and over

  18.7

  Note:

  Figures taken from a 5 per cent. sample at 29 February 2004.

  Source:

  AD information Centre.

  Computer Systems
  Mr. Webb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of computer systems which support the delivery of pensions and income support have been replaced since 2000. [185058]

  Jane Kennedy
  None of the computer systems supporting the delivery of pensions and income support have been replaced. They are however subject to upgrading to reflect legislative changes and procedural improvements as required.

  Departmental Annual Report
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many copies of his Department's and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the(a) publication cost and (b) sales revenue were. [183878]

  Maria Eagle
  The Department for Work and Pensions was created in June 2001 with a specific new purpose of promoting opportunity and independence for all. The Department has published three annual reports, in spring 2002, 2003 and 2004. Information on the number of copies produced and publication costs falling to the Department are shown in the table.

  Year of publication of Departmental Report

  Number of copies printed

  Publication costs falling to Department for Work and Pensions (£)

  2002

  2,000

  94,940

  2003

  2,500

  73,089

  2004

  1,500

  40,752

  Other costs associated with sales and distribution are met directly by the publisher, The Stationery Office Ltd. (TSO), and do not fall to government. Information on the number of copies;old and sales revenue are matters for the publisher.

  The Department of Social Security printed 1,075 copies of its annual report in 2001 at a cost of £66,537. Information on previous years is not available. As an agency of the Department for Education and Employment, the Employment Service was included in the annual reports of that department.

  Departmental Re-branding
  Mr. Willetts
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost was of re-branding the Department in 2001. [185534]
  327W
  Maria Eagle
  The total cost of re-branding my Department to accommodate its name change in 2001 was £232,044, which includes the application of the logos to key items such as stationery, building signs and electronic media.

  Departmental Staff
  Mr. Goodman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people haw. left employment in his Department because of(a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997. [175680]

  Maria Eagle
  Information is not collected on the number of resignations or dismissals from the Department resulting from anxiety, stress, depression, or other mental health reason.

  The number of medical retirement certificates issued for mental health reasons over the last four financial years is in the table.

  Number of certificates

  2000–01

  81

  2001–02

  85

  2002–03

  64

  2003–04

  55

  Notes:

  The figures relate only to the number of medical retirement certificates issued. These may not all have resulted in medical retirements taking place.

  DWP was formed in June 2001. Figures for 2000–01 and April and May 2001 relate to the former Employment Service and Department of Social Security.

  Figures were not collected prior to April 2000.

  The Department is committed to providing a safe working environment for all of its staff and has a range of support in place to help identify and tackle the causes of work related stress, anxiety and depression. This includes both preventative policies, such as the use of the HSE's Management Standards, and policies to help manage those cases that have resulted in individuals taking time off work. For example, an Attendance Management policy, a confidential employee assistance counselling service, and an occupational health provider service who provides advice on medical conditions including mental and behavioural disorders.

  Disability Discrimination Act
  Mr. David Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to promote the development of(a) supported employment opportunities and (b) intermediate labour market solutions to help those who are blind or partially-sighted. [182539]

  Maria Eagle
  Like all jobless people, where they meet the eligibility criteria, disabled people or those with health problems can access the full range of Government employment programmes, including intermediate labour market initiatives.

  Workstep provides support in jobs for disabled people who have more complex barriers to finding and keeping work but who, with the right support, are able to make a valuable contribution in their job and where appropriate develop and progress to open employment. Workstep providers are required to work with all clients
  328W
  on a qualifying benefit, including clients who are blind or partially sighted. Remploy, which is the largest provider of the Workstep programme, supports over 230 people with visual impairments in a variety of jobs.

  A number of organisations with their roots in helping people who are blind or partially sighted are also directly involved with Workstep as providers. These organisations include: Action for Blind People, Royal London Society for the Blind, Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries, the Royal Aberdeen Workshops for the Blind and Disabled and Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind. In line with the Workstep ethos, these organisations deliver support to clients with a range of disabilities.

  The Access to Work programme is open to disabled people already in employment (including self-employment), people changing jobs and unemployed people about to start work. It helps towards the additional employment costs resulting from disability, for example, help with the costs of travelling to work, adaptations to premises and special equipment.

  Health and Safety Executive
  Mr. Webb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many enforcement notices were issued by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last seven years. [184681]

  Jane Kennedy
  Over the last seven years the Health and Safety Executive has issued the following number of enforcement notices. The figures for 2003–04 will be publicly available in the Offences and Penalties report, due for release in late October 2004.

  Year1

  2 Total enforcement notices issued

  1996–97

  37,444

  1997–98

  38,911

  1998–99

  10,900

  1999–2000

  11,340

  2000–01

  11,056

  2001–02

  11,082

  2002–03

  13,324

  1Year refers to operational year, which runs 1 April to 31 March.

  2 The table refers to total enforcement notices issued in Great Britain and includes improvement and prohibition notices.

  3 In 1996–97 and 1997–98, HSE issued "Notices of Intent" that required a satisfactory outcome be secured within two weeks so as to avoid serving an improvement notice. As a result, some improvement notices were not issued. If the notices of intent were not issued, the number of enforcement notices would have been about 540 higher in 1996–97 and 630 higher in 1997–98. This system is no longer used.

  Incapacity Benefit
  Mr. Chaytor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to ensure that no recipient of incapacity benefit suffers a reduction of net weekly income due to withdrawal of income support and related benefits; what assessment he has made of the number of individuals whose net weekly income is reduced in this way; and if he will make a statement. [184745]
  329W
  Maria Eagle
  We have made no estimates of the number of incapacity benefit (IB) recipients who have experienced a reduction of net weekly income due to withdrawal of income support and related benefits.

  In most cases, people will be better off receiving incapacity benefit than an income-related benefit. In addition, as the position of those who lose entitlement to income support is no different from that of any other person whose income is above income support levels, it would be unfair to introduce special arrangements for people in these circumstances.

  New Deal for Lone Parents
  Mr. Simmonds
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents were on the New Deal for Lone Parents in 2003–04; and what the associated budgetary cost was. [185719]

  Jane Kennedy
  Between April 2003 and March 2004, 226,2801 individuals participated on New Deal for Lone Parents. The estimated outturn spend on the programme is £66 million.

  1Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

  Pay Systems
  Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library the most recent review of(a) his Department's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible and (c) the departmental equal pay action plan. [181357]

  Maria Eagle
  The Department for Work and Pensions looks at its pay systems every year to inform the annual pay award process. There is no review report; the outcomes are captured in the pay offer we make to staff. Of the five non-departmental public bodies (NDPB), which the Department is responsible for, two—Remploy and the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority?complete a yearly review, which they will place in the Library by the end of August 2004. Both the Disability Rights Commission and the Health and Safety Executive are currently reviewing their pay progression arrangements. The outcomes of both these reviews will be placed in the Library when completed. The Rent Service's most recent review was completed in 2002, and we will arrange for a summary to be provided for the Library by the end of August 2004.

  The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to reviewing its pay policies to ensure that they are compliant with the current equal pay legislation and do not either directly or indirectly discriminate against any group of employees.

  An Equal Pay Audit was completed in January 2002 in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance. This was based on details from the agencies which formed the Department for Social Security. Following the creation of DWP and the consequent alignment of pay policies, the findings from this report are now out-of-date. The Department is currently undertaking an Equal Pay Audit to review existing DWP policies and to inform the further development of its reward strategy. Once this is complete, a copy of the action plan will be placed in the Library.
  330W
  Although non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) are not committed to completing an equal pay review, they are encouraged by the Department to conduct them. NDPB's staffed by civil servants follow the Cabinet Office commitment (e.g. HSE). Of the five NDPB's that the Department is responsible for, two (the Disability Rights Commission and The Rent Service) have conducted equal pay reviews, and the relevant documents will be put into the library by the end of August 2004. The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority has no current plans to complete an equal pay review, as they will cease to exist from 5 April 2005. Remploy will be making plans to complete an equal pay review on appointment of their new HR Director on the 26 July 2004.

  The final NDPB, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), submitted a draft equal pay action plan to Cabinet Office in 2003. When a finalised version has been agreed that incorporates the findings from a current review of pay progression arrangements it will be placed in the Library.

  Pension Centre (Swansea)
  Mr. Caton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his plans for the pension centre in Swansea. [185329]

  Malcolm Wicks
  Since the Budget announcement, detailed planning has been taking place across the Department. This has included discussions on the future size and shape of The Pension Service. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions issued a written statement on 29 June 2004,Official Report, columns 8–9WS announcing the first phase of that transformation.

  Planning continues across the Department and we will inform the House when firm decisions are made.

  Mr. Caton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the quality of work carried out at Swansea Pension Centre. [185330]

  Malcolm Wicks
  The Pension Service deploys quality support teams to assess the accuracy of payments made by pension centres. These teams sample pension credit payments and state pension payments for Swansea Pension Centre three times per year. Swansea Pension Centre also conducts a monthly survey of its customers to measure their satisfaction with the service provided.

  Swansea Pension Centre is currently achieving all key performance targets.

  Pension Credit
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the take-up of pension credit. [185418]

  Malcolm Wicks
  I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement by my hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 15 July 2004,Official Report, columns 77—78WS.
  331W
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of pensioners he estimate will not be claiming pension credit by 2006. [185422]

  Malcolm Wicks
  The information is not available in the form requested. The Department has set a Public Service Agreement target for at least three million pensioner households, corresponding to around 3.7 million individuals, to be in receipt of pension credit by March 2006 and is on course to achieve this. A projection based on available data suggests that approximately 3.85 million households, corresponding to around 5 million individuals, are likely to be eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain in 2005–06. This projection, rounded to the nearest 50,000 households or individuals, includes a number of assumptions which will be sensitive to change. It is subject to a wide margin of error and should be used as a broad indication of the likely eligible population only.

  Sickness Absence
  Mr. Webb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working days per 100,000 workers were lost for reasons of work-related injury and ill-health in each of the last seven years. [184675]

  Jane Kennedy
  The information is not available in the form requested. Estimates of the number of working days lost as a result of work-related injury are obtained every three years through the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The latest estimate, for 2000–01, is 27,900 working days lost per 100,000 workers, compared with an estimate of 25,800 in 1997–98.

  For work-related illness, the only available estimate in the seven-year period is bared on information obtained from the 2001–02 LFS. The survey estimated that 140,000 working days per 100,000 workers were lost as a result of self-reported work-related ill-health.

  A combined estimate for work-related injury and ill-health, covering 2003–04, will be published later this year.

CABINET OFFICE

  Job Losses (Civil Servants)
  Mr. Evans
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the comprehensive spending review will be of special advisors. [185470]

  Mr. Alexander
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to Her Majesty's Treasury (Mr. Boateng), on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 190W.

  Lord Birt
  Norman Baker
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what areas of work Lord Birt is engaged upon. [182247]
  332W
  Mr. Alexander
  Lord Birt is the Prime Minister's unpaid strategy adviser and works alongside the Strategy Unit on a range of issues. He is also an external member of the Cabinet Office Strategy Board. The nature of Lord Birt's work is to provide private internal advice to the Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers. This advice is not disclosed under Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

  Public Meetings (Access)
  Brian Cotter
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what action is being taken to encourage(a) central and (b) local government departments and agencies to ensure that public meetings are accessible for those with disabilities. [180912]

  Maria Eagle
  I have been asked to reply.

  Where central and local government departments and their agencies are holding public meetings as a service to the public, they are covered by the service provider provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and have legal duties under Part 3 of the Act to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to make use of them. In some instances, public meetings may form part of the function of a central or local Government department or its agencies. Currently, the access duties under Part 3 of the DDA do not extend to functions of public bodies. However, a proposal in the draft Disability Discrimination Bill would bring all such functions within the scope of Part 3 of the Act.

  The Government are currently running a campaign to remind service providers of their duties under the DDA. The campaign focuses on the new duties being introduced from 1 October 2004, which require service providers to make reasonable adjustments to physical features of premises which make access to the service impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people.

  The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), which is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Work and Pensions, published a revised statutory Code of Practice in 2002 explaining the service provider provisions, including the new duties from October 2004. In addition, the DRC has been working in partnership with the Local Government Association to raise awareness of the implications of the service provider duties for local authorities and to develop guidance on implementing the DDA duties within local authority service provision.

  Security Vetting
  Llew Smith
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what representations he has received on the merits of re-establishing an inter-departmental committee of security vetting authorities. [184398]

  Mr. Alexander
  The most recent periodic review of the Government's personnel security system recommended the creation of a new official committee focusing on this area. That was accepted and that committee will work to ensure the continued effectiveness of personnel security policy and practice throughout Government, and in those organisations with which Government works in partnership.
  333W

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Ammonium Nitrate
  Patrick Mercer
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department keeps on file records of thefts of ammonium nitrate;(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) on farms within the United Kingdom. [172743]

  Mr. Blunkett
  In England and Wales, numbers of thefts of ammonium nitrate are not collected separately from other thefts. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Alun Michael) on 27 April 2004,Official Report, column 857W. Ammonium nitrate in itself is not classified as an explosive.

  Asylum Seekers
  Annabelle Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals whose application for asylum had been rejected absconded in each year since 1997. [183924]

  Mr. Browne
  Information on the number of asylum applicants who have absconded is not available except by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.

  Some asylum seekers who have "absconded" may have left the UK voluntarily; others may remain in the UK illegally. Applicants do not always inform the Immigration Service prior to leaving the UK. The Immigration Service's policy on contact management, the means by which the Home Office maintains contact with asylum seekers throughout the process, was introduced in 2002. The policy is being continuously enhanced with the proposed expansion of the detention estate; the development of more static reporting centres; the development of Immigration Service staff based at police stations; the rollout of induction centres at the beginning of the asylum process and the piloting of biometric reporting i.e. voice recognition, tagging and kiosk based reporting.

  Annabelle Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances individuals are required to wear an electronic tagging device. [183925]

  Mr. Browne
  Individuals in England and Wales are required to wear a tag when sentenced by a court to a curfew order or curfew requirement with electronic monitoring; on release from prison under the Home Detention Curfew Scheme; or as a requirement of a bail or licence condition.

  Individuals who are liable to detention under immigration legislation may, in future, be required to wear an electronic tagging device if a Chief Immigration Officer, adjudicator or judge of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission considers, following an individual risk assessment, that the risk of absconding can be managed through the additional safeguard of electronic monitoring by tagging as an alternative to detention.

  Mr. Hepburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support is being offered to failed Iraqi asylum seekers being returned to Iraq. [184516]
  334W
  Mr. Browne
  Since July last year the Home Office has been facilitating, the return of small numbers of Iraqi citizens who want to return home through the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Individuals returning under this programme receive independent advice and practical assistance with travel arrangements.

  Enforced returns to Iraq will begin as soon as the practical arrangements for the returns programme are in place. The details of the returns programme have not yet been finalised, but are likely to include a package of support for returnees.

  Failed asylum seekers of any nationality, including Iraqis, who are destitute and unable to leave the UK immediately for reasons entirely beyond their control may seek accommodation from National Asylum Support Service (MASS) under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Those who do not otherwise meet the eligibility criteria but who are willing to register with the IOM for a voluntary departure would be eligible for accommodation under section 4 while they are waiting for their voluntary return to be arranged.

  Greater Manchester Police
  Mr. Chaytor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) police officers and (b) community support officers there were in the Greater Manchester Police in each of the last 10 years; and what his projections are for the next three years' spending period. [184746]

  Ms Blears
  The information requested is set out in the table. The Greater Manchester Police had record police strength at the end of December 2003.

  We have made no projections for force strength over the next three years. It is for the Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police to determine the mix of officers and support staff within the budget set by the police authority over the next three years.

  As at 31 March

  Police Officer strength

  Police (support) staff strength

  Community Support Officer strength

  1993–94

  6,967

  2,638

  —

  1994–95

  7,037

  2,674

  —

  1995–96

  6,938

  2,749

  —

  1996–97

  6,922

  2,612

  —

  1997–98

  6,949

  2,661

  —

  1998–99

  6,810

  2,623

  –

  1999–2000

  6,795

  2,822

  —

  2000–01

  6,909

  2,858

  —

  2001–02

  7,217

  3,135

  —

  2002–03

  7,343

  3,173

  160

  2003–04

  17,770

  Not available

  2185

  1Police officer strength as at 31 December 2003.

  2 CSO strength as at 31 March 2004.

  Correspondence
  Kate Hoey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his officials at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will answer letters dated 22 February and 19 May from the hon. Member for Vauxhall about a constituent, reference number: S1003233. [184698]
  335W
  Mr. Browne
  I wrote to my hon. Friend on 21 July 2004.

  Heathrow
  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration staff were 336W
  employed at each of Heathrow airport's four terminals at 1 January in each year since 1997. [183301]

  Mr. Browne
  The following table sets out the number of full-time equivalent immigration officials employed at Heathrow airport, Terminals 1–4, at 1 January for the last eight years.

  1997

  1998

  1999

  2000

  2001

  2002

  2003

  2004

  TN1

  187.1

  209.2

  189.8

  194

  179.4

  203.1

  210.3

  234.9

  TN2

  231.7

  225.7

  201.6

  192.5

  188.2

  208.8

  205.7

  193.1

  TN3

  1_

  278.5

  270

  269.8

  277.5

  326.7

  332.6

  308.2

  TN4

  199.2

  186.9

  179.6

  180

  187.2

  186.9

  195.4

  196.9

  Total

  618

  900.3

  841

  836.3

  832.3

  925.5

  944

  933.1

  1Figures are unavailable for Heathrow Terminal 3 for the years 1997. 1998 figure is for 1 February 1998 for Terminal 3.

  In addition since 1 January 2004 127 officials have been trained or allocated training places for deployment at Heathrow airport.

  Identity Cards
  Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the race impact assessment of the identity card scheme. [182298]

  Mr. Browne
  The identity cards scheme will be an inclusive scheme, designed to cover everyone who has the right to be in the United Kingdom. It will show that everyone belongs to our society whether they were born here, have chosen to make their home here or are just staying for a while to study or work. It will help people prove their identity to access services such as free health treatment or benefits and give everyone confidence that legal migration will not result in increased fraudulent use of hard-pressed public services. If our communities have confidence in our immigration controls, they will be more welcoming of new arrivals, helping to promote a more cohesive society.

  The identity cards scheme itself is non-discriminatory as it is intended to cover everyone in the United Kingdom for longer than a specified period (three months). The scheme will not, in general, require people to obtain a specific, additional document as it will be designed to make use of existing documents that will be designated as identity cards. Most members of the identity cards "family" will be enhanced versions of existing identity documents which are very widely held familiar documents that are already used as proof of identity.

  A partial race impact assessment was published with the draft Bill (CM 6178). This was developed following consultation with representatives of black and minority ethnic groups and research undertaken with these groups. Further assessments will he made as the design of the scheme develops, focusing mainly on how the introduction of ID cards affects the use of existing police powers, how the scheme is administered and its use in relation to access to services and employment.

  Immigration
  David Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the Indian passport and travel documents were sent to the constituent of the hon. Member for Walsall, North without explanation or information on how to proceed, ref 5773882. [185289]

  Mr. Browne
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: I understand that on the occasions that my hon. Friend's constituent applied for a No Time Limit (NIL) endorsement, his documents were returned to him with a covering letter explaining that a further endorsement cannot be placed in his passport whilst he is in possession of a valid travel document endorsed with an NIL stamp.

  National Asylum Support Service
  Mr. Brady
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacant homes in the borough of Trafford are held under contract to the National Asylum Support Service, broken down by(a) local authority, (b) private landlords and (c) housing association properties; and at what cost. [182000]

  Mr. Browne
  Details of the properties and costs of accommodation contracted to the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) cannot be disclosed since this information is part of the contract between NASS and the provider and must be treated as commercial in confidence.

  Racist Visitors
  David Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on allowing into the UK those with well-known racist and anti-semitic views who intend to speak at public meetings; and if he will make a statement. [183118]

  Mr. Browne
  [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The Immigration Rules make provision for a person to be refused entry if their presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good. Each case is considered on its individual merits. Once admitted to the UK a person is expected to abide by UK law.

  UK Passports Service
  Mrs. Ellman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the efficiency of Special Mail Services in delivering United Kingdom passports; and if he will make a statement. [182803]

  Mr. Browne
  The United Kingdom Passport Service assesses the performance of Special Mail Services (SMS) on a regular basis. Since the new arrangements for secure delivery of UK passports commenced on 9 February SMS have successfully delivered just over
  337W
  3 million passports and have surpassed their key performance target of delivering 97 per cent. of passports on the next working day. On current information recorded losses of passports total 219 over the five month period.

  Based on the first five months of contract performance SMS and UKPS have identified a number areas of SMS's performance including the security of their premises and vetting of their staff where arrangements need to be strengthened. UKPS will be closely monitoring the implementation of planned improvements to their performance over the next few months.

  The SMS contract was awarded following a competitive tender and the payments made to SMS are in line with the contract, delivering the anticipated value for money for passport customers.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is the practice of the UK Passports Service to cash cheques for passport applications before processing the application itself. [184201]

  Mr. Browne
  Yes, all payments for passport services are processed as soon as the application is received. There are good reasons for this. On security grounds, so that large sums of money are not held at passport offices. On grounds of regularity, so that passports are only issued to customers who have paid in full and for process efficiency. In processing over 5 million passport applications annually it would be impossible to keep payments with applications throughout the whole issuing process.

  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether compensation is payable for(a) delay and (b) distress in the case of an error by the UK Passports Service in transposing an incorrect photograph onto a passport application. [184218]

  Mr. Browne
  The compensation policy of the UK Passport Services (UKPS) which reflects good practice guidance issued by the Cabinet Office and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, is to reimburse the reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred by customers as a direct consequence of clear errors or omissions by its staff. It is not UKPS's normal policy to make compensation payments for loss of enjoyment, distress or inconvenience arising from such errors. Each claim is treated on its merits, and for audit purposes documentary evidence is needed to confirm significant additional expenditure incurred by a passport applicant.

  In the case of an error by the UKPS in inserting an incorrect photograph in an issued passport, under the terms of its policy, if additional costs have been incurred by the customer as a result of such an error, this would provide a basis for a claim on UKPS for compensation.

  V2 Rocket Incidents
  Mr. Gerrard
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether document reference number H0198/105, relating to V2 rocket incidents from September to December 1944, has been(a) retained by his Department and (b) withheld from the public domain. [182975]
  338W
  Mr. Blunkett
  The document (piece) has not been formally retained at the Home Office. It appears to have been lost after halving been temporarily retained for administrative purposes when related records were transferred to The National Archives in 1972. The National Archives catalogue will be amended to show the piece is missing.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Anti-terrorism Measures
  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress was made at the recent talks at Hassop Hall with his European counterparts on anti-terrorism measures. [184265]

  Mr. Blunkett
  I hive been asked to reply.

  This question has been referred to me as I hosted the meeting at Hassop Hall with my Interior Ministry counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We discussed a range of issues that relate to cooperation on counter-terrorism. It was a very useful meeting covering a number of areas of joint interest.

  ID cards can allow travel throughout the EU, so we need to ensure that security standards are on a par with those relating to EU visas, residence permits and passports.

  We felt that it would be important to look at strengthening ID card security, specifically measures on the incorporation of biometric identifiers, and methods to ensure a more robust issuing procedure.

  Following on from this we felt that strong support should be given to the Commission's proposals for further action in facilitating the exchange of information on lost, stolen and forged passports between member states and Interpol. This would be on a basis consistent with G8 and ICAO initiatives.

  We discussed how there could be benefits in Europol focusing on a number of clearly defined tasks in the counter-terrorism field. This could be in addition to its main role on organised crime. Analyses of the links between organised crime and terrorism, and the flows of finances that support terrorist organisations were considered. We particularly welcomed presidency ideas concerned with the disruption of these flows.

  Ensuring our security through co-operation is a key goal for all member states. I believe that through discussion and working together closely we can give impetus to these important areas of work in the EU and deliver real practical outcomes.

  Departmental Expenditure
  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Foreign Office spent on(a) recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [184503]

  Mr. Straw
  The figures for 1996–97 could be established only at disproportionate costs.
  339W
  Expenditure on external consultants in general is reported annually in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Departmental Report, available in the Library of the House and on the FCO's website: www.fco.gov.uk. Expenditure specifically on management consultants is not categorised separately and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

  Expenditure on consultants, the bulk of this being expenditure associated with our major Information and Communications Technology and estate construction programmes, for 2002–03 (the latest figures available) totalled £23.7 million. Out of that total the FCO spent £1.31 million on recruitment consultants.

  Detention/Imprisonment Principles
  Adam Price
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government recognises the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. [184829]

  Mr. Rammell
  The UK supported the adoption of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment by the United Nations in 1988.

  The Principles are not specifically embodied in UK domestic legislation. However, they are effectively applied by means of existing legislation and procedures governing the detention of individuals, and by the system of independent checks of places of detention by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons, as well as by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

  Diego Garcia
  Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of all his Department's(a) legal, (b) environmental and (c) economic studies on Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands; and what correspondence has taken place between Her Majesty's Government and the United Si ales Administration since November 2000 on Diego Garcia. [184389]

  Mr. Rammell
  Reports of studies relating to the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) are placed in the Library of the House if they are likely to be of parliamentary or public interest. For instance the study into the feasibility of resettlement of the outer islands of the Territory was deposited in the Library in July 2002. Correspondence between the UK and US Governments about Diego Garcia is confidential to the two Governments and is withheld under exemption 1(c) of Part 2 the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

  Sir Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on(a) dredging and (b) the expansion of naval facilities at Diego Garcia since 1980. [184966]

  Mr. Straw
  The US Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia, which had been established pursuant to an agreement between the two Governments of February 1976 as a development of the previous US naval communications facility there. Following an Exchange of Notes between the Governments of the UK and the 340W
  US in August and September 2001 the US Naval Support Facility was designated as a Bomber Forward Operating Location and various infrastructure upgrades to the facility were agreed. The 2001 Exchange of Notes recorded the understanding of the two Governments that this was consistent with the scope and purpose of the facility as provided for in the 1976 agreement. Further infrastructure upgrades were similarly approved by the two Governments in July 2002. In addition, an Exchange of Notes between the two Governments in June and July 1999 recorded their agreement to the construction and operation on Diego Garcia of a monitoring facility, primarily for inclusion in the International Monitoring System, established under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty of 1996.

  As regards dredging, it will be necessary to obtain this information from the authorities on Diego Garcia. When it has been received, I will write to the right hon. Gentleman and place copies in the Library of the House.

  European Constitution
  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what effect the European Constitution will have on the UK's existing international treaties. [184257]

  Mr. MacShane
  None.

  Guantanamo Bay
  Mr. Lyons
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the ages are of the UK citizens in custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [183302]

  Mr. Mullin
  The ages of each of the four British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay are 24, 24, 31 and 36.

  Mr. Best
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide an update on the situation of the British Guantanamo detainees. [183318]

  Mr. Mullin
  The Government have consistently sought to resolve the position of the British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay. Our position is that the British detainees should either be tried fairly in accordance with international standards or returned to the United Kingdom.

  Following discussions with the US Government, led for the Government by my noble Friend the Attorney-General, we concluded that the US military commission process would not provide sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards. The Government therefore asked that all nine British detainees be returned to the UK. Five were returned in March.

  Following a visit by officials to Washington in May, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister repeated our request that the remaining four detainees be returned to the UK. We continue to work to resolve their situation.

  India
  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to(a) the Indian

  341W
  Government and (b) the Chief Minister of Orissa concerning the arrest of Pastor Suresh Samal and five other Christians from the village of Kilipal; [184988]

  (2) what representations he has made to (a) the Indian Government and (b) the Chief Minister of Gujarat concerning (i) the kidnap and suspected rape of a Christian woman, Manulaben Dinana, by a gang connected with Hindu militant groups and (ii) the recent destruction of a Christian graveyard by officials in Ahmedabad; [184990]

  (3) what representations he has made to (a) the Indian Government and (b) the Chief Minister of Tripura concerning the attack on Pastor Letthang Gangte, of the Evangelical Congregational Church of India and his family on 19 April in the village of Rajghat, West Tripura. [184991]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  We have not raised these specific incidents with the Government of India. We do however monitor reports of attacks against minorities and raise these issues with the Government of India. We continue to urge the Indian authorities to ensure the right to freedom of religion is upheld, and to raise our concerns about incidents of religious intolerance in India, including attacks against Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians; and to urge that those responsible should be brought to justice. In this context, we welcome the commitment by Dr. Manmohan Singh to maintaining communal harmony at all costs in India.

  Iran
  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with Iran in recent months as regards its nuclear programme. [184238]

  Mr. MacShane
  The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) unanimously adopted a Resolution on 18 June calling for Iran to co-operate more actively with IAEA inspectors and to resolve outstanding questions regarding its nuclear programme.

  Together with our French and German partners, the Government is urgently engaged in seeking to persuade Iran to re-engage fully with the IAEA, and to honour its commitments made in the Tehran Declaration of 21 October 2003.

  We will continue to monitor developments closely.

  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what issues were raised at the recent EU/Iran Human Rights Dialogue meeting; and what assessment has been made of the progress being made by Iran on these issues. [185437]

  Mr. Rammell
  Discussions at the fourth meeting of the EU/Iran Human Rights Dialogue, held in Tehran on 14–16 June, covered a range of human rights issues in Iran. The EU delegation raised particular concerns about Iran's judicial and penal systems, the situation of religious and ethnic minorities, freedom of expression and assembly, discrimination against women and the conduct of this year's Majlis elections. The EU also raised the cases of a number of individuals in Iran. We are deeply disappointed that on many issues of concern there has been little or no progress in recent months.
  342W

  Mr Sandy Mitchell
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Mr. Sandy Mitchell on the exchange of prisoners with the Saudi Arabian Government and the US Administration; and if he will make a statement. [182977]

  Mr. Mullin
  The release of Saudi detainees from Guantanamo is a matter for the US and Saudi Governments. It would not be appropriate for either Ministers or officials to discuss this matter with Mr. Mitchell.

  Ministers, including my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, have spoken to Mr. Mitchell since his return to the UK. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials remain in contact with him. We were relieved that he was released and returned to the UK. This was something we worked very hard for.

  North Korea
  Mr. Rosindell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with North Korea in recent months as regards its nuclear programme. [184239]

  Mr. MacShane
  The six-party talks process, the aim of which is the creation of a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, is continuing. While the United Kingdom is not involved in the talks we do fully support the process, and carefully monitor developments. We welcome the constructive approach that North Korea is taking towards the process.

  Public Relations
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the salary costs to the Department were for employees working in public relations and publicity in each year since 1997. [183855]

  Mr. Mullin
  Foreign and Commonwealth Office costs in relation to 2003–04 are not yet available. The salary costs to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of employees working in public relations and publicity came to £1.8 million in 2001–02 and £2.1 million in 2002–03. These figures exclude the salary costs of employees working on public diplomacy (the objective of which is to promote the UK overseas), recruitment advertising, provision of public information such as travel advice, and production of annual reports. They also exclude costs associated with Press and Public Affairs Officers at overseas posts, which could be provided only at disproportionate costs. Figures for previous years are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

  Rwanda
  Mr. Ivan Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the current situation in Rwanda. [184999]

  Mr. Mullin
  Rwanda has made impressive political and economic progress since the 1994 genocide and is on track to meet the targets outlined in its Poverty Reduction Strategy. But there is now a need to open up political space and build greater democratic
  343W
  accountability. We continue to press the Rwandan Government on the need to improve human rights and democratic openness and we continue to monitor their progress.

  Spending Review
  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 12 July 2004,Official Report, columns 1129–39, on the spending review, what the total value is of his Department's assets, broken down by those held (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad. [185005]

  Mr. Straw
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The total book value as at 31 March 2004 for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's fixed assets (i.e. non-current assets) is approximately £1,223 million.

  Of this approximately 16 per cent. is UK based with the balance being located abroad:

  £ million

  UK

  195

  Overseas

  1,028

  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 12 July 2004,Official Report, columns 1129–39, on the spending review, whether the £51 million combined increase for the World Service and the British Council is included in the 1.4 per cent. departmental increase. [185006]

  Mr. Straw
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: Yes.

  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 12 July 2004,Official Report, columns 1129–39, on the spending review, which assets his Department has identified (a) in the United Kingdom and (i) abroad which will be sold off. [185007]

  Mr. Straw
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no property assets for sale in the United Kingdom.

  Assets to be sold

  Abidjan

  Offices

  Beirut

  House

  Bilbao

  Land

  Bratislava

  House

  Bucharest

  House

  Budapest

  Two flats plus garage

  Buenos Aires

  Two flats

  Canberra

  House

  Caracas

  Office and house

  Copenhagen

  House

  Dublin

  House

  Kuala Lumpur

  House

  Kampala

  Land

  Kiev

  Flat

  Lima

  Offices

  Lusaka

  Office

  Paris

  Flats

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  Assets to be sold

  Port Louis

  House

  Rio de Janeiro

  Flat

  San Salvador

  Office and residence

  Santiago

  House plus flat

  St. Georges (Grenada)

  House

  Tel Aviv

  House

  The Hague

  House

  Tashkent

  House

  Tunis

  Land

  Wellington

  House

  The FCO will continue to keep its estate holdings under review, and will participate in consultations with Sir Michael Lyons in due course.

  Sudan
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will propose to the UN Security Council the invocation of Chapter VII of the charter with regard to Sudan. [178784]

  Mr. Mullin
  We have made clear that UN Security Council action will be needed if the Government of Sudan does not honour the commitments it has given to improve humanitarian access and security. Discussion of a US draft Security Council Resolution, which invokes Chapter VII of the UN Charter, is on-going.

  Turkey
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what issues were raised at the UK/Turkey Human Rights Dialogue meeting on 15th July; and what progress has been made on these issues. [185438]

  Mr. MacShane
  At the fourth UK/Turkey Human Rights Dialogue on 15 July the following issues were raised: Turkey's bid to open accession negotiations with the European Union; fundamental freedoms, including of expression, religion, demonstration, and association; torture and ill treatment; women's rights; functioning of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies; the situation in the Southeast and cultural rights; measures taken within the UK to combat terrorism; implementation of European Court of Human Rights judgments; co-operation in international organisations; and bilateral project assistance. In addition, we passed a list of specific cases of concern to the Turkish delegation.

  The UK side congratulated the Turkish side for the enormous progress made by Turkey and encouraged them to maintain the momentum of reform, indicating the areas where we saw a need for further progress. The Turkish delegation undertook to consider the points raised.

  US/UK Entry Bans
  Mr. Ancram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Foreign Office officials are in regular contact with their US counterparts concerning the co-ordination of intelligence on persons banned from entering the United Kingdom and the United States. [183775]
  345W
  Mr. Straw
  [holding answer 14 July 2004]: The US and UK co-ordinate closely on intelligence matters. It is the longstanding practice of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence and security matters. The security and intelligence agencies are outside the scope of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (paragraph 6, part 1).

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Area Child Protection Committees
  Ms Shipley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when legislation will be introduced to give area child protection committees in Northern Ireland a statutory basis. [183587]

  Angela Smith
  The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is currently developing a Strategy for Children and Young People in Need which will consider a wide range of child protection matters including placing Area Child Protection Committees on a statutory footing. Decisions on the need for primary legislation will follow on from the completion of the strategy.

  Care Workers
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals he has to provide minimum guaranteed hours of employment to home helps and care workers. [184935]

  Angela Smith
  In Northern Ireland, decisions about minimum hours of employment for home helps and analogous staff are a matter for HSS Trusts in the context of presenting need, resources and service priorities.

  The primary objective for HSS Trusts is to deliver effective, efficient and flexible community care services to persons in need. However, HSS Trusts do endeavour to allocate sufficient work to home helps and the other home care staff they employ that give viable work opportunities while seeking to manage the presenting demand for these services.

  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken in Northern Ireland(a) to make conditions of employment more attractive for and (b) otherwise to reward the dedication and service provided in the community by care workers and home helps. [184936]

  Angela Smith
  The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is currently negotiating with representatives of local Social Services Staff with the aim of including this group of staff in the new pay system for Health Service staff, Agenda for Change. This is a major initiative being undertaken jointly by all four UK Health Departments in partnership with the main trade unions representing staff to modernise the NHS and HPSS Pay System. The objective of the new pay system is to ensure equal pay for work of equal value and to provide opportunities for staff to develop their knowledge and skills.
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  The new pay system is currently being tested within 12 sites in the NHS in England, and is scheduled to be introduced within the HPSS in Northern Ireland with effect from October 2004.

  Electoral Fraud
  Mr. Tony Clarke
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many(a) arrests and (b) convictions for electoral fraud there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the last four years. [184560]

  Mr. Pearson
  Information is not available on the number of arrests nude for electoral fraud. The most recent courts data available is 2002 and in the four years up to then there have been two convictions recorded for election offences in Northern Ireland:In 2001 there was one conviction for "corrupt practice at local election"
  In 2002 there was one conviction for "personation at a Westminster election"

  Fisheries Conservancy Board Vessel
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated cost of repairs to the new Fisheries Conservancy Board vessel have been since 5 May. [184831]

  Angela Smith
  No repairs have been made to the vessel since 5 May. Regarding the incident that occurred on 7 July 2004 when the vessel hit a submerged object at sea, an estimate of the cost of repairing it is not yet available. An assessor from the Fisheries Conservancy Board's insurance company has inspected the vessel and his report is awaited.

  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons the new Fisheries Conservancy Board vessel has needed repairs since it was launched. [184832]

  Angela Smith
  The vessel sustained damage to its propellers as a result of striking a submerged object while on patrol off the North Coast on 7 July 2004.

  Flags Regulations 2000
  Lady Hermon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Equality Commission about the effectiveness of the Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000. [185085]

  Mr. Spellar
  There has been no such recent contact.

  Juvenile Justice Centre
  Lady Hermon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many juveniles, broken down by gender, have been locked up in the Juvenile Justice Centre for(a) 20 hours, (b) 21 hours, (c) 22 hours, (d) 23 hours and (e) 24 hours in each month of this year. [185086]

  Mr. Spellar
  The Juvenile Justice Centre for Northern Ireland does not collect this information routinely at present. The information is contained in paper records. The cost of obtaining this information would be significant and disproportionate. The Centre has
  347W
  recently amended its recording systems to collect information on single separation and the Centre is planning to store all such information on a database.

  MRSA
  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in what circumstances hospitals in Northern Ireland are required to provide strict isolation for MRSA sufferers; and if he will make a statement. [184775]

  Angela Smith
  The Government recognise that the emergence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) over the last twenty years represents a serious threat to the prevention, control and successful treatment of infection. It is committed to taking forward a wide range of actions to reduce the emergence and spread of MRSA and its impact on the treatment of infection.

  In Northern Ireland, the Chief Medical Officer has issued guidance to health and social service trusts on MRSA and the management and control of hospital infection, and on resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, in 1999 and 2000, respectively.

  The guidance requires hospitals to carry out a risk assessment on a patient found to be colonised or infected with MRSA. The result of the assessment determines how the patient is managed and the type of isolation required, if any.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what surveillance has been undertaken by hospitals in Northern Ireland in respect. of MRSA; and if he will make a statement. [184776]

  Angela Smith
  It has been a mandatory requirement for acute trusts to report MRSA bacteraemia rates since 2002 to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Northern Ireland. The Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Centre (HISC) based at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast since 2001 was formed to assist acute trusts in Northern Ireland to undertake nosocomial infections surveillance at local level. HISC commenced its work on orthopaedic surgical site infections and is developing further modules.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many MRSA eases were recorded by the Northern Ireland equivalent of the Public Health Laboratory Service in each year from 1983; and if he will make a statement. [184778]

  Angela Smith
  Information on MRSA infection in Northern Ireland has only been available from 2001 when a pilot exercise on bacteraemias was undertaken prior to the introduction of the mandatory reporting system in April 2002. The following numbers of patient episodes of such MRSA infection were recorded:

  Number

  2001–02

  228

  2002–03

  218

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what independent inspections are 348W
  undertaken of hospital hygiene management programmes in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [184779]

  Angela Smith
  The responsibility for cleaning and inspection of hospital hygiene lies with each of the Trusts and information relating to independent inspections is not held centrally on behalf of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS). However DHSSPS is aware that some Trusts do carry out internal inspections on their hygiene management programmes. Hospital hygiene management programmes in Northern Ireland are not inspected independently on behalf of DHSSPS.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance has been given since 19 March 1997 to the(a) development and (b) use in hospitals in Northern Ireland of new (i) paints and (ii) cleaning products able to kill known microbes; and if he will make a statement. [184780]

  Angela Smith
  The responsibility for refurbishment and cleaning of hospitals in Northern Ireland lies with each of the hospital trusts. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety does not hold information on the use of paints and cleaning products able to kill known microbes centrally.

  New build facilities are however constructed to the standards specified in the NHS Estates, Health Building Notes, which provide for anti-microbial paint finishes in specialist sterile areas such as operating theatres.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken in Northern Ireland to implement the guidelines for combating MRSA set out in the report of the working party headed by Mr. G. Duckworth since its publication in 1990; and if he will make a statement. [184781]

  Angela Smith
  The 1990 guidance, revised in 1998, is followed in Northern Ireland. A combined working party made up of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Hospital Infection Society and the Infection Control Nurses Association are currently revising the guidelines.

  On receipt of the revised guidelines, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety will take forward the development of appropriately revised local protocols.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he proposes to introduce to tackle MRSA in nursing homes in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [184782]

  Angela Smith
  The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety issued guidelines for residential and nursing home staff for the management of residents with MRSA in 1996. These are in the process of being revised and updated. The Department's Regional Advisory Committee on Communicable Disease Control is currently considering a report commissioned on an infection control nursing strategy for Northern Ireland. It deals with the service to the statutory sector including community and secondary care services, the independent sector including nursing homes, and primary care.
  349W
  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which hospitals in Northern Ireland stock antibiotics against strains of MRSA; and if he will make a statement. [184783]

  Angela Smith
  All acute hospitals in Northern Ireland have access to antibiotics effective against strains of MRSA.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which antibiotics are deemed by his Department to be effective against strains of MRSA; and if he will make a statement. [184784]

  Angela Smith
  The majority of MRSA strains are sensitive to the following antibiotics: vancomycin, teicoplanin, linezolid, synercid, rifampicin, fucidin and the tetracyclines.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the percentage change in the incidence of MRSA was in Northern Ireland in each year since 1989; and if he will make a statement. [184785]

  Angela Smith
  Information on the incidence of MRSA bacteraemias in Northern Ireland is available only from 2001. These figures showed a reduction of 10 cases, 4.4 per cent., between 2001–02 and 2002–03. Figures for 2003–04 are not yet available.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance he gives to the Ambulance Service in Northern Ireland on(a) combating MRSA and (b) infection control generally; and what additional resources he plans to make available for this purpose. [184786]

  Angela Smith
  The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service developed a protocol for the management of MRSA patients during transportation, which was agreed by the relevant local specialists in infection control and local hospitals. The protocol was issued to all staff in 1999.

  Training in general precautions and management of MRSA patients during transportation is provided to all operational staff during their basic training and as appropriate and necessary during their regular post proficiency training. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is currently reviewing this training and its compliance with the recently published Controls Assurance Standards for the Control of Infections.

  The funding for this training is provided from within the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service annual training budget.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of deaths in Northern Ireland were caused by MRSA, or had MRSA as a contributing factor, in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by hospital; and if he will make a statement. [184787]

  Angela Smith
  The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. The number and percentage of deaths contributed to by MRSA in Northern Ireland, for this year are given in the following table. Information broken down by hospitals is not provided to prevent the possible disclosure of information on individuals. Work is under way to introduce specific codes for antibiotic 350W
  resistance in conjunction with the World Health Organisation. Active efforts to automate mortality statistics also continue.

  Number of registered deaths where the death certificate mentioned MRSA

  2003 (provisional data)

  All deaths

  14,462

  MRSA

  30

  Percentage of deaths which mention MRSA

  0.21

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the isolation procedures set down by the Department of Health to combat MRSA in England and which were operative as at 19 March 1997 are operative in Northern Ireland; when the procedures were last brought to the attention of hospitals; and if he will make a statement.[184788]

  Angela Smith
  The isolation procedures used to combat MRSA in England are also in use in Northern Ireland. The most recent Departmental guidance (HSS(MD)9/2000), "the Management and Control of Hospital Infection", was issued to the Health and Personal Social Services in Northern Ireland in April 2000.

  Andrew Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he has instigated with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure that(a) there is correct and consistent reporting of deaths caused by MRSA, or where it is a contributory factor, in Northern Ireland, and (b) death certificates in Northern Ireland are completed as directed by the Government. [184790]

  Angela Smith
  In the UK, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is used to classify causes of death. ICD does not have a specific code for Methicillin Resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) but statistics on deaths where MRSA was a contributing factor can be obtained. This is done by identifying all deaths with specific ICD codes likely to be linked with MRSA and then manually checking the cause of death written on the death certificate. This is consistent with the approach taken in England and Wales.

  Doctors are required to complete the cause of death medical certificate to the best of their knowledge and belief. Guidelines on completing death certificates are included at the front of every book of certificates. Certificates are not available without these instructions. Medical students receive training in their final year on completion of death certificates.

  Public Housing
  Mr. Gregory Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of public housing stock was classified at each level of unfitness in each parliamentary constituency in the most recent year for which figures are available. [185117]

  Mr. Spellar
  The information is not available in the format requested. The rate of unfitness for all housing at the Northern Ireland level was 4.9 per cent. in 2001. The rate of unfitness in the Housing Executive and housing
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  association sectors was around 1 per cent. While it is not possible to provide a robust and precise figure below the Northern Ireland level because of the sample size, it is unlikely that there is any significant variation across parliamentary constituencies.

  Traffic Calming Measures
  Mr. Gregory Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public money has been spent on providing traffic calming measures in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years. [185116]

  Mr. Spellar
  The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.

  Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Gregory Campbell dated 20 July 2004:
  You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how much public money has been spent on providing traffic calming measures in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years. I have been asked to reply as the issue raised falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

  The table as follows indicates the actual expenditure spent on Traffic Calming Measures from 1999/2000 to 2003/04.

  £k

  Expenditure

  1999–2000

  1,208

  2000–01

  1,027

  2001–02

  1,545

  2002–03

  1,859

  2003–04

  2,011

  You may be aware that the Regional Transportation Strategy for Northern Ireland, published in Jule 2002, envisages a large increase in the amount of funding available over the next 10 years for road safety related works. It proposes a doubling of funds for traffic calming and a 50 per cent. increase in funding for collision remedial schemes. The actual funding allocated over the RTS period will, of course, depend on the outcome of the normal budgetary processes.

HEALTH

  Drug Treatment Services
  Mrs. Helen Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that local partnerships with voluntary sector and drug agencies are not adversely affected under regional
  commissioning; [184893]

  (2) what evidence he has collated on whether regional commissioning of drugs or alcohol services lead to economies of scale. [184892]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The national treatment agency (NTA) for substance misuse is developing guidance on models of regional commissioning, to enable implementation of regional systems for the commissioning of residential drug and alcohol misuse specific services (Tier 4). Clear and concise guidance setting out recommended models for regional commissioning of Tier 4 services will be available 352W
  shortly. This will be used by NTA regional teams to implement local commissioning mechanisms by the end of December 2004.

  The regional commissioning implementation is part of the NTA's Tier 4 work programme which has been widely consulted on by key stakeholders in the substance misuse field, including voluntary sector agencies. The consensus in consultation was that regional commissioning would lead to more effective and efficient commissioning of Tier 4 treatment, and would improve client access. Although not directly targeted at alcohol specific services, this work is applicable for all substance misuse services.

  The Tier 4 work programme is advised by an advisory group consisting of a broad range of representatives involved in Tier 4 treatment provision, including voluntary and statutory sector service providers, commissioners and service users.

  Food Labelling
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prosecutions were launched for wrong or inadequate food information labelling over the last year, broken down by local authority. [184441]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  I am informed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that the latest available information is for the calendar year 2001. Local authority data reported to the FSA shows that, during 2001, 137 premises were prosecuted for food labelling and presentation issues in England. The local authorities which took the prosecutions and the number of premises subject to prosecution by each authority are shown in the table.

  Local authorities taking food labelling and presentation prosecutions for the year 2001

  Local authority

  Number of premises prosecuted for food labelling and presentation issues

  Barnet

  1

  Bedfordshire

  1

  Buckinghamshire

  4

  Burnley

  1

  Coventry

  5

  Derby City

  2

  Dorset

  1

  Dudley

  3

  Durham

  1

  Ealing

  1

  East Yorkshire

  4

  Essex

  9

  Forest of Dean

  1

  Gloucestershire

  1

  Hampshire

  4

  Harlow

  3

  Hounslow

  4

  Kent

  7

  Lancashire

  3

  Leeds

  2

  Lincolnshire

  1

  Manchester

  4

  Milton Keynes

  1

  Newbury (West Berkshire)

  2

  Newcastle-upon-Tyne

  4

  Newham

  1

  North East Lincolnshire

  2

  North Yorkshire

  4

  353W

  Local authorities taking food labelling and presentation prosecutions for the year 2001

  Local authority

  Number of premises prosecuted for food labelling and presentation issues

  Northamptonshire

  12

  Nottingham City

  3

  Plymouth City

  1

  Reading

  1

  Salford

  1

  Shropshire

  3

  Somerset

  4

  South Oxfordshire

  1

  Southampton

  1

  St. Helens

  1

  Stockport Stockton-on-Tees

  1

  Stoke-on-Trent

  2

  Surrey

  2

  Tameside

  1

  The Wrekin

  3

  Tower Hamlets

  1

  Warwickshire

  1

  West Sussex

  3

  West Yorkshire

  14

  Westminster

  1

  Total

  137

  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his discussions with the Trading Standards Institute on food information labelling. [184442]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  Food labelling as part of the enforcement of food law is the responsibility of local authorities. The Food Standards Agency provides advice, information or assistance relating to enforcement of food law generally and liaises regularly with the Trading Standards Institute and its members on such issues.

  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on progress being made by the European Union on the implementation of a common system of food information labelling; [184443]

  (2) what discussions the Food Standards Agency had on the issue of food information labelling, with specific regard to the evolution of a common EU approach. [184444]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  Food labelling rules are agreed at European Union level. Directive 2000/13/EC and the Nutrition Labelling Directive 90/46/EC provide the legislative framework. The European Commission is currently carrying out a comprehensive review of both these directives. It has said that it expects to adopt a proposal for amendment of 90/46/EC later this year and has asked member states for views on issues to be tackled in the review. The Food Standards Agency is currently consulting stakeholders before responding to this request.

  Lager
  Julie Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies he has made of(a) the purity of lager that is sold and (b) additives to lager. [184835]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  There is no specific United Kingdom legislation governing the purity of lager or other beers. Any food must comply with the 354W
  requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990, which makes it an offence to sell food that does not comply with food safety requirements or which is not of the nature or substance or quality demanded by the purchaser.

  Only a small number of additives are authorised to be used in lager and these have all been subjected to a rigorous safety assessment. No surveys have been conducted on the use of these additives in lager.

  Allergy Service
  Mr. Best
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on allergy services in England; [183319]

  (2) what the average length of time is that a patient has to wait to see a NHS allergy specialist. [183319]

  Dr. Ladyman
  The national health service improvement programme, "Putting People at the Heart of Public Services", sets out the commitment that the NHS will build a responsive service tailored to people living with long-term conditions including allergies. There are already substantial initiatives which will help patients with long term diseases, including:The development of standards for better health.
  The expert patient programme.
  The chronic disease management programme.
  Food Standards agency work on food allergy.
  The new general practitioner contract.

  It is the role of primary care trusts, in partnership with local stakeholders, to decide what services to provide to meet the health needs of their populations, including those with allergies. They are best placed to understand local health care needs and commission services to meet them.

  Information on the average length of time a patient waits to see a NHS allergy specialist is not held centrally. This is because a patient with an allergy can be seen by a range of specialists including dermatologists, immunologists and respiratory disease physicians, as well as allergists. We expect that any patient being referred for a first outpatient appointment by their general practitioner should be seen within the national 17 week maximum waiting time.

  Assisted Reproduction
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the Human Fertilisation and Embrylogy Authority inspects clinics outside the United Kingdom involved in egg and sperm collection; and if he will make a statement: [185015]

  (2) how much the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority spent on overseas visits for (a) inspection and (b) public relations purposes in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement; [185030]

  (3) which overseas fertility clinics the Human Fertilisation and Embrylogy Authority (a) visited in each year since 1997 and (b) plans to visit for inspection purposes; and if he will make a statement. [185031]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) does not inspect treatment or research establishments outside Great
  355W
  Britain and Northern Ireland. Members and senior officers of the HFEA do make overseas visits to learn more about practice in other countries and to attend and speak at international conferences. They have also visited overseas establishments to investigate issues relating to the provision of treatment services within the United Kingdom. These included Cryos International Sperm Bank in Aarhus, Denmark in November 2003 and Global ART in Bucharest, Romania in July 2004.

  The cost to the HFEA of overseas visits since 2003 are shown in the table:

  Costs of overseas visits by HFEA members and staff 2003–04

  Cost (£)

  20031

  5,481

  20041,2

  10,039

  1Includes attendance of a number of HFEA staff at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual conference to meet requests for information and provide speakers for the main conference and fringe events.

  2 Figures from 1 January to 19 July 2004.

  Figures from 1997 to 2002 can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the sale of(a) human eggs and (b) human sperm is permitted in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [185016]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The sale of human gametes (sperm and eggs) is prohibited in the United Kingdom. Under section 12 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, no money or other benefits shall be given or received in respect of the supply of gametes unless authorised by directions from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). These directions authorise a maximum payment of £15.00 per donation plus reasonable expenses. The HFEA's code of practice gives guidance to clinics on what claims could be considered as reasonable expenses.

  Biochemical Assay
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions, in each of the last five years, NHS medical staff working within the chemical and laboratory facilities associated with the National Poisons Information Service hive sent biological samples from patients for biochemical assay to agrochemical companies; which companies were used; for what exposures; and whether independent checks were carried out on the results. [184452]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  No biological samples have been sent by the National Poisons Information Service associated laboratories for assay by the agrochemical industry. It may be possible that other national health service laboratories have sent such samples, but no central register is held.

  Cancer
  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who will suffer from cancer in(a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2020. [185508]
  356W
  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The Government has made no long-term estimate of the future numbers of people who will be diagnosed with cancer.

  Care Homes
  Mr. Swire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes(a) closed and (b) opened in east Devon in each of the past five years. [182048]

  Dr. Ladyman
  Information on the number of homes opening and closing is not centrally available. The table shows the number of care homes in Devon as at 31 March for the years 1999 to 2001. Data on the number of care homes in east Devon is not centrally available.

  Number of care homes1 in Devon2, 1999 to 2001

  Rounded numbers Number1

  1999

  1,380

  2000

  1,300

  2001

  1,220

  Notes:

  1Nursing data includes general nursing homes, mental nursing homes and private hospitals and clinics.

  2 Residential data refers to Devon council with Social Services Responsibilities, Nursing data refers to north and east Devon and south and west Devon health authorities.

  Source:

  RA and Rh(N) form A.

  The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) is responsible for collecting information on care homes in England from 1 April 2004; and previously the National Care Standards Commission from 1 April 2002. I understand from the chair of the CSCI that for technical reasons CSCI cannot currently provide sub-national data on the numbers of care homes.

  Coronary Heart Disease
  Mr. Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes there were for(a) paediatric, (b) adolescent and (c) adult coronary heart disease treatment in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority in each year since 1996. [184101]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The information requested has been placed in the Library.

  Delayed Discharges
  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many delayed discharges were recorded in the South East in(a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [185506]

  Dr. Ladyman
  Figures for delayed transfers of care have been supplied for every quarter in 2002–03 and 2003–04, at primary care trust level and are available in the Library, including the latest figures for 2003–04, quarter 4 (March 2004). Nationally, the total number of patients of all ages occupying an acute bed with a delayed transfer, fell from 4,100 in March 2003 to 2,821 in March 2004.
  357W

  Dentistry
  Mr. Hurst
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the provision of dental treatment under the national health service in Essex. [184496]

  Dr. Ladyman
  The health economy in Essex has received an additional £1.5 million access funding from the Department, which primary care trusts (PCTs) will use to commission additional national health service dental capacity from existing practices and to provide new dental practices.

  To ensure that more people can see a NHS dentist when and where they need, the equivalent of 1,000 dentists nationally will be recruited by October 2005.

  In addition, NHS dentistry will benefit from unprecedented investment:
  the Government will fund 170 extra undergraduate dental training places in England from October 2005, a 25 per cent., increase. Revenue costs for this will reach £29 million by 2010–11.
  capital investment of £80 million over four years to support this expansion.
  by 2005£06, NHS dentistry will receive extra funding of over £250 million a year, an increase of 19.3 per cent., compared with spending in 2003–04.
  in recognition of the additional work and training dentists and their practice staff will need to prepare for changes, an extra £9 million will be provided to help dental practices prepare.

  Additionally reforms will be introduced to modernise the dentistry profession for the 21st century through:
  a new dentists contract making it possible for them to spend more time with patients and encourage preventative care.
  using the skills of the entire dental team more efficiently with new roles for hygienists and dental nurses.
  local PCTs, including those in Essex, will use the £1.6 billion devolved budget to ensure that local expenditure on dentistry is sustained.

  Mr. Hurst
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of national health service dental treatment was in(a) the County of Essex in each year from 1974 to 1998 and (b) the County of Essex and the boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea in each year from 1998 to 2003. [184497]

  Dr. Ladyman
  The gross and net fees paid to dentists for the provision of general dental services (GDS) represent the main element of primary dental care costs and are the data most readily available by health authority area. Data since 1992–93 are shown in the table. These figures exclude some payments to dentists such as commitment payments, maternity and seniority payments as well as superannuation payments made on their behalf. There is a discontinuity in the figures in the middle of 2002–03 because of the change in health administration areas.

  Community, personal and hospital dental services have not been included in this table; these are directly commissioned by individual health authorities from locally managed resources rather than funded from a central national budget as is the case with the GDS.
  358W

  NHS dental service: Gross and net fees paid by the GDS March ending each year

  £ million

  Health authority/primary care trust

  Gross fees

  Net fees1

  1992–93

  Essex HA

  38.6

  25.9

  1993–94

  Essex HA

  37.2

  24.7

  1994–95

  Essex HA

  39.9

  26.4

  1995–96

  Essex HA

  39.8

  26.4

  1996–97

  Essex HA

  40.6

  26.9

  1997–98

  Essex HA

  41.4

  27.1

  1998–99

  Essex HA

  45.1

  29.1

  1999–2000

  Essex HA

  47.3

  30.6

  2000–01

  Essex HA

  51.0

  32.8

  2001–02

  Essex HA

  51.8

  33.1

  2002–03

  First half

  Essex HA

  36.6

  27.0

  Second half

  Essex SHA

  26.3

  16.9

  Southend-on-Sea PCT

  3.1

  2.1

  Thurrock PCT

  1.7

  1.2

  1Excludes patient charge.

  Mr. Hurst
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients received dental treatment from the national health service in(a) the County of Essex in each year from 1974 to 1998 and (b) the County of Essex and the boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea in each year front 1998 to 2003. [184498]

  Dr. Ladyman
  The information in the table shows the number of people registered with a general dental service dentist in Essex at 30 September year from 1992 to 2003 and for Thurrock and Southend-on Sea for 2002 and 2003.

  Registration started in October 1990 and the numbers did not stabilise until 1992. Registrations lapse if patients do not return to their dentist within 15 months and so the registration figures exclude patients who have not been to their dentist within the past 15 months. The figures also exclude patients who receive dental treatment from other national health service dental services including dental access centres and those patients who choose not to register and who seek treatment on an occasional basis.

  General dental service: number of registered patients September each year (thousand)—Essex family health services authority (FHSA), health authority (HA) and strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trusts (PCTs)

  Number

  FHSA

  1992

  636

  1993

  643

  1994

  642

  1995

  612

  Essex HA

  1996

  829

  1997

  821

  1998

  737

  1999

  764

  2000

  787

  2001

  774

  Essex SHA

  2002

  778

  2003

  767

  359W

  General dental service: number of registered patients September each year (thousand)—Essex family health services authority (FHSA), health authority (HA) and strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trusts (PCTs)

  Number

  Southend-on-Sea PCT

  2002

  83

  2003

  81

  Thurrock PCT

  2002

  43

  2003

  45

  Source:

  Dental Practice Board.

  Mr. Hurst
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists undertook national health service treatment in(a) the County of Essex in each year from 1974 to 1998 and (b) the County of Essex and the boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea in each year from 1998 to 2003. [184499]

  Dr. Ladyman
  The information shown in the table is for the number of general (GDS) and personal dental service (PDS) dentists in Essex in e3c h year from 1974 to 2003 and for Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas for the:gears 2002 and 2003, which covers the period that the two PCTs have been in existence.

  General and personal dental service: number of dentists at September each year

  Essex family practitioner committee (FPC), family health services authority (FHSA), health authority (HA), SHA and primary care trusts (PCTs)

  Number

  FPC

  1974

  284

  1975

  291

  1976

  308

  1977

  320

  1978

  305

  1979

  319

  1980

  339

  1981

  344

  1982

  366

  1983

  384

  1984

  389

  1985

  405

  1986

  405

  1987

  413

  1988

  414

  1989

  430

  FHSA

  1990

  418

  1991

  441

  1992

  438

  1993

  460

  1994

  465

  1995

  472

  HA

  1996

  476

  1997

  497

  1998

  513

  1999

  532

  2000

  560

  2001

  566

  360W

  General and personal dental service: number of dentists at September each year

  Essex family practitioner committee (FPC), family health service authority (HA), SHA and primary care trusts (PCTs)

  Number

  SHA

  2002

  556

  2003

  542

  Southend-on-sea PCT

  2002

  56

  2003

  56

  Thurrock PCT

  2002

  39

  2003

  37

  Note:

  PDS figure covers dentists not already working in the GDS.

  Source:

  Dental Practice Board

  Expert Patients Programme
  Dr. Murrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the Expert Patients Programme for the UK. [184566]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The implications of setting up an expert patients programme in the United Kingdom were assessed by the expert patients taskforce set up in 2000. It concluded that such a programme had the potential to create a cadre of expert patients—people who have the confidence, skills, information and knowledge to play a central role in the management of life with chronic diseases and to minimise the impact of disease on their lives. From the evidence base available it also concluded that the tangible benefits would include:reduced severity of symptoms;
  significant decrease in pain;
  improved life control and activity;
  improved resourcefulness and life satisfaction.

  A copy of the report can be found at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/ PublicationspolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4006801&chk = UQCoh9

  An independent evaluation of the programme is being conducted by the national primary care research and development centre at the University of Manchester and the centre for health economics at the University of York. A copy of their report of a preliminary survey of patients to identify barriers to establishing functional self-management programmes in the National Health Service can be found at: http://www.nperdc.man.ac.uk/ PublicationDetail.cfm?ID = 105

  Fairer Charging Policies
  Mr. John Randall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he plans to review the impact of the Fairer Charging Guidance; [183776]

  (2) what examples of best practice he has identified in using income from charging for personal care to improve services for (a) people with disabilities and (b) older people; [183777]
  361W
  (3) what assessment he has made of the effect of charging for personal care on community care services; [183778]

  (4) what proportion of income derived from charging for personal care services has been spent on services for (a) people with a disability and (b) older persons; [183779]

  (5) what plans he has to monitor the impact of the fairer charging policies for home care and other non-residential social services in England. [183812]
  362W
  Dr. Ladyman
  We plan in due course to monitor and evaluate the impact of the guidance. "Fairer Charging Policies for home Care". Information on council's use of income from charging is not held centrally

  Fairfield Hospital, Bury
  Mr. Chaytor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) support staff were employed by Fairfield Hospital, Bury, in each of the last 10 years. [184747]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The information requested is only available from 1995 onwards and is shown in the table.

  NHS hospital public health medicine and community health services: Medical and dental and non-medical staff by specified staff group in each specified NHS Trust–30 September each specified year

  Headcount

  1995

  1996

  1997

  1998

  1999

  2000

  2001

  2002

  2003

  Bury Health Care NHS Trust

  Medical and dental staff

  171

  183

  183

  193

  202

  215

  220

  —

  —

  Qualified nurses

  906

  874

  881

  878

  907

  944

  997

  —

  —

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  738

  724

  690

  738

  762

  775

  892

  —

  —

  Support to doctors and nurses

  674

  657

  620

  658

  678

  698

  805

  —

  —

  Support to ST&T

  64

  67

  70

  80

  84

  77

  87

  —

  —

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  348

  333

  316

  311

  313

  333

  340

  —

  —

  Central functions

  119

  119

  112

  117

  114

  135

  145

  —

  —

  Hotel property and estate staff

  208

  192

  186

  175

  180

  178

  175

  —

  —

  Managers and senior managers

  21

  22

  18

  19

  19

  20

  20

  —

  —

  North Manchester Health Care NHS Trust

  Medical and dental staff

  235

  416

  331

  329

  387

  386

  379

  —

  —

  Qualified nurses

  1,068

  1,078

  1,184

  1,195

  1,103

  1,085

  885

  —

  —

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  870

  893

  1,109

  1,152

  1,053

  1,057

  966

  —

  —

  Support to doctors and nurses

  794

  817

  1,035

  1,048

  942

  946

  855

  —

  —

  Support to ST&T

  76

  76

  74

  104

  111

  111

  111

  —

  —

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  617

  595

  497

  449

  448

  455

  494

  —

  —

  Central functions

  264

  257

  250

  225

  226

  244

  282

  —

  —

  Hotel property and estate staff

  309

  295

  208

  184

  190

  178

  173

  —

  —

  Managers and senior managers

  44

  43

  39

  40

  32

  33

  39

  —

  —

  Oldham NHS Trust

  Medical and dental staff

  194

  209

  232

  245

  243

  251

  242

  —

  —

  Qualified nurses

  1,213

  1,229

  1,185

  1,191

  1,203

  1,292

  1,296

  —

  —

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  778

  899

  974

  970

  1,028

  1,115

  1,226

  —

  —

  Support to doctors and nurses

  655

  771

  841

  839

  875

  955

  1,017

  —

  —

  Support to ST&T

  123

  128

  133

  131

  153

  160

  209

  —

  —

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  476

  462

  450

  491

  497

  532

  603

  —

  —

  Central functions

  167

  159

  159

  182

  191

  208

  187

  Hotel property and estate staff

  275

  269

  262

  278

  274

  291

  375

  —

  —

  Managers and senior managers

  34

  34

  29

  31

  32

  33

  41

  —

  —

  Rochdale NHS Trust

  Medical and dental staff

  167

  179

  182

  180

  195

  187

  182

  —

  —

  Qualified nurses

  990

  983

  1,001

  1,040

  859

  1,015

  915

  —

  —

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  868

  952

  908

  936

  1,183

  1,065

  1,300

  Support to doctors and nurses

  788

  859

  811

  836

  1,063

  953

  1,180

  —

  —

  Support to ST&T

  80

  93

  97

  100

  120

  112

  120

  —

  —

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  389

  401

  400

  395

  406

  392

  507

  —

  —

  Central functions

  168

  171

  170

  176

  189

  176

  150

  —

  —

  Hotel property and estate staff

  218

  217

  217

  206

  196

  197

  309

  —

  —

  Managers and senior managers

  3

  13

  13

  13

  21

  19

  48

  —

  —

  Tameside and Glossop Community and Priority Services NHS Trust

  Medical and dental staff

  79

  76

  90

  97

  89

  86

  40

  —

  —

  Qualified nurses

  802

  905

  911

  928

  892

  903

  664

  —

  —

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  387

  458

  490

  465

  438

  495

  337

  —

  —

  Support to doctors and nurses

  344

  416

  449

  423

  378

  429

  271

  —

  —

  Support to ST&T

  43

  42

  41

  42

  60

  66

  66

  —

  —

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  156

  191

  201

  196

  258

  262

  246

  —

  —

  Central functions

  105

  118

  120

  114

  114

  111

  114

  —

  —

  Hotel property and estate staff

  49

  70

  72

  74

  132

  127

  108

  —

  —

  Managers and senior managers

  2

  3

  9

  8

  12

  24

  24

  —

  —

  363W

  NHS hospital public health medicine and community health services: Medical and dental and non-medical staff by specified staff group in each specified NHS Trust—30 September each specified year

  Headcount

  1995

  1996

  1997

  1998

  1999

  2000

  2001

  2002

  >2003

  Bury PCT

  Medical and dental staff

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  19

  21

  Qualified nurses

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  240

  243

  Support to clinical staff–Total

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  181

  184

  Support to doctors and nurses

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  164

  163

  Support to ST&T

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  17

  21

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  152

  179

  Central functions

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  119

  139

  Hotel property and estate staff

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  11

  11

  Managers and senior managers

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  22

  20

  Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  963

  746

  Medical and dental staff

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  963

  746

  Qualified nurses

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  2,922

  3,221

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  3,162

  3,430

  Support to doctors and nurses

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  2,724

  2,974

  Support to ST&T

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  438

  456

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,856

  1,707

  Central functions

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  714

  610

  Hotel property and estate staff

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  987

  959

  Managers and senior managers

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  155

  138

  Pennine Care NHS Trust

  Medical and dental staff

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  76

  93

  Qualified nurses

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  637

  797

  Support to clinical staff—Total

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  714

  1,031

  Support to doctors and nurses

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  674

  989

  Support to ST&T

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  40

  42

  NHS infrastructure support—Total

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  187

  221

  Central functions

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  67

  91

  Hotel property and estate staff

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  92

  95

  Managers and senior managers

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  28

  35

  Notes:

  1. The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was formed in 2002 following the merger of Rochdale NHS Trust and the Oldham NHS Trust.

  2. The Pennine Care NHS Trust was formed in 2002 following a merger of North Manchester Health Care Trust and Bury Health Care NHS Trust.

  Source:

  Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census

  Health Food Supplements
  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Secret, try of State for Health what plans he has to meet members of the health food supplements industry; what recent progress has been made with European Union directives which affect this industry; and if he will make a statement. [184297]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  I met with representatives of the health food supplements industry on 20 and 21 July.

  European Directive 2002/46/EC came into force on 12 July 2002. It has been implemented by The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 and similar legislation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which come into force on 1 August 2005.

  HIB Vaccine
  Dr. Stoate
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a booster dose of HIB vaccine for young children; and if he will make a statement. [184986]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  Following the recent "Haemophilus influenzae" (Hib) booster campaign, the rate of Hib disease in children aged one to four has fallen by 87 per cent.
  364W
  Before we can consider whether a booster dose of Hib should be offered routinely as part of the routine immunisation programme, an evaluation of the impact of the recent Hib campaign will need to be assessed and advice sought from the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation.

  Intermediate Care
  Mr. Horam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospital trusts provide intermediate care facilities. [185003]

  Dr. Ladyman
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]: This information is not collected centrally.

  Manchester, Central
  Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public money has been spent on health in Manchester, Central in each of the last seven years. [184171]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The information is not available in the format requested. Expenditure per weighted head in the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area, which includes the constituency of Central Manchester, has increased from £582.33 in 1997–98 to £992.61 in 2002–03 (the latest year
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  available). This does not represent the total expenditure per head, as an element of health expenditure cannot be identified by SHA area.

  Mental Health
  Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the financial position of the Manchester Mental Health Trust. [184738]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The information requested on the financial situation of the Manchester Mental Health Care Trust is not available in-year.

  David Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the total number of NHS in-patients is comprised of mental health in-patients who have been in hospital for more than a year. [185558]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  [holding answer 20 July]: There were 7,4401 inpatients under the care of a mental illness consultant with a length of stay of a year or longer on 31 March 2003. On the same day, the estimated number of unfinished episodes in National Health Service hospitals for all specialties was 117,5501,2.

  Therefore, the estimated percentage of the total number of all national health service inpatients on 31 March 2003 comprised of by mental health inpatients who had been in hospital for more than a year is 6.3 per cent.
  1The information is from Hospital Episode Statistics.
  Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
  2 Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).

  David Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many in-patients have been in NHS hospitals under the care of mental health consultants for more than a year, excluding those with(a) dementia and (b) learning difficulties. [185559]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  [holding answer 20 July 2004]:
  This information is not available, as centrally held data on unfinished hospital episodes cannot be broken down by diagnosis.

  Myasthenia Gravis
  Mrs. Humble
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on myasthenia gravis; and what support is available for sufferers of the disease in Blackpool north and Fleetwood constituency. [184115]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  Myasthenia gravis is a neurological condition characterised by fluctuating levels of muscle weakness. There is no cure but treatment includes medication, surgery and palliation.

  The national service framework (NSF) for long term conditions will focus on improving services for people with neurological conditions. While the NSF will not cover myasthenia gravis specifically, it will recommend improvements in standards, care and support that will benefit everyone with a neurological condition. We are committed to publishing the NSF as soon as possible.

  Primary care trusts, in partnership with other local stakeholders, determine how best to use their funds to provide health services for their populations, including those with myasthenia gravis.
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  Neuro Disability Centre (Newcastle)
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the business case for a new neuro disability centre in Newcastle upon Tyne has been approved; and when he expects Hunters Moor hospital to close. [185560]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  An outline business case for a new neuro disability centre in Newcastle upon Tyne was agreed by Northumberland Tyne & Wear Strategic Health Authority in September 2003. Work is now taking place on the full business case. This is expected to be completed in the autumn of this year.

  It is expected that Hunters Moor hospital will close in late 2006.

  Personal Care Charges
  Andy King
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list examples he has collated of best practice in councils income front charging for personal care to improve services for(a) disabled people and (b) older people. [183820]

  Dr. Ladyman
  We plan in due course to monitor and evaluate the impact of the guidance, Fairer Charging Policies for Home Care. Information on councils' use of income from charging is not held centrally.

  Pesticides
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health for which Pesticides Safety Directorate and Health and Safety Executive approved pesticides and biocides there are no assays for biological samples in human poisoning cases held by the NHS. [184451]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) does hold analysis methods for many of the active ingredients contained in the products licensed by them as pesticides.

  There are currently no biocides approved by the Health and Safety Executive under the biocidal products directive.

  Pesticide assays for biological samples are not offered routinely by most national health service laboratories. Assays for paraquat are available from a selected group of NHS laboratories. In exceptional circumstances, NHS laboratories are able to test for other compounds.

  Schizophrenia
  Ann Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of(a) research linking the regular consumption of cannabis with schizophrenia and (b) the effects of cannabis use on schizophrenia sufferers; and if he will make a statement; [184428]

  (2) if his Department will commission further research into (a) the possible link between the regular smoking of cannabis with schizophrenia and (b) the effects of cannabis on schizophrenia sufferers; and if he will make a statement. [184429]
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  Miss Melanie Johnson
  A number of recent Department funded policy research projects have been completed that have contributed to informing the Department's assessment on the scale and impact of the use of cannabis in those with mental health problems.

  The Department has kept under review the national and international epidemiological and other research on these topics and has obtained expert advice on interpreting the research base.

  The Department has no plans at present to commission further research into the possible link between the regular smoking of cannabis with schizophrenia. The Department has recently commissioned, jointly with the Medical Research Council, a multi-site, randomised controlled trial, "Evaluating a Psychological Intervention for clients with Schizophrenia and Co-morbid Substance Abuse". The Department is also currently considering commissioning additional work in this area.

  The Department also monitors national and international research and has a range of expert advisers to inform policy.

  Sleep Apnoea
  Mr. Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes there were for(a) paediatric and (b) adolescent obesity-related sleep apnoea treatment in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority in each year since 1996. [184100]

  Dr. Ladyman
  The information requested has been placed in the Library.

  Solvent Abuse
  Mr. Gray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to require further warnings on aerosol cans of the dangers of solvent abuse. [184586]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The Department has no immediate plans on placing further warnings on aerosol cans advising of the dangers of solvent abuse. Although voluntary, the British Aerosol Manufacturing Association estimates that approximately 90 per cent. of all cans carry warnings.

  Mr. Gray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met(a) Solv-It and (b) Re-Solv to discuss solvent abuse. [184588]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Yvette Cooper) met with ReSolv in November 2001 to discuss volatile solvent abuse. Departmental officials have continued to meet with Re-Solv.

  Mr. Gray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the health effects of solvent abuse. [184589]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  Adverse effects vary greatly with the specific substance and mode of administration.

  There is a wide range of immediate physical health effects reported including: flushed face and neck; cold sweats; loss of balance, unsteadiness, lack of coordination; fainting; headache; nausea and vomiting;
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  confusion, dizziness, disorientation; tachycardia, palpitations; drowsiness, sedation, unconsciousness and risk of accidental injury while intoxicated.

  There is a range of potential immediate psychological adverse effects reported including: confusional states, disorientation; distorted perceptions, delusions, hallucinations, pseudo-hallucinations, and aggression, agitation or fear.

  A number of immediate socially significant adverse effects have been reported including: accidents (road traffic accidents, swimming accidents, fires, falls); disinhibition, possibly leading to engagement in high risk behaviour (dangerous driving, unsafe sexual practices), or the risk of becoming a victim of crime; acute intoxication that may possibly result in aggressive and violent behaviour, or disorderly conduct; relationship problems and impairment of educational achievements in adolescents.

  Adverse effects of longer-term use that have been reported include: peripheral neurological damage and brain damage; renal failure; hepatotoxicity; severe gastrointestinal upset; muscle damage, and in the very long term, for example, 10 years or so, lasting impairment of brain function—affecting especially control of movement. Some of these effects may be reversible on stopping use.

  Fatal toxicity varies greatly with the specific substance, and the causes of death can be unclear. A number of causes of death through solvent abuse have been described including: most commonly, cardiac arrhythmia or accident; loss of consciousness and death through choking on vomit; suffocation, for example, if a plastic bag is placed over the head to inhale and asphyxiation from blocked airways, (due to intense cooling in mouth) and laryngeal spasm caused by squirting lighter fuel down throat.

  Combining use with alcohol and other central nervous system depressants will bring increased risk of asphyxiation and death.

  Solitary use in potentially dangerous settings may increase risk of injury.

  Tuberculosis (Asylum Seekers)
  Dr. Murrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of UK induction centres offer asylum seekers screening for tuberculosis. [184846]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  There are two induction centres operating in the United Kingdom: one in East Kent and the other in Yorkshire and Humberside. Both offer screening for tuberculosis.

  Ungraded Eggs
  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made by the Food Standards Agency of the possible risks to human health of allowing ungraded eggs to be sold unmarked. [184196]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  The microbiological status of eggs does not affect whether they are graded and marked.
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  The sale of ungraded eggs, whether marked or not, is subject to the same food safety rules that apply to graded eggs, and in the circumstances, no particular assessment has been made of the possible risks to public health of allowing ungraded eggs to be sold unmarked.

  Women's Health
  Diana Organ
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS locations perform(a) hydro thermo ablation, (b) microwave ablation, (c) balloon ablation and (d) uterine fibroid embolisation for the treatment of menorrhagia or uterine fibroids; [181139]

  (2) how many people in the last year suffering from menorrhagia or uterine fibroids were treated by (a) hydro thermo ablation, (b) microwave ablation, (c) balloon ablation and (d) uterine fibroid embolisation. [181140]

  Miss Melanie Johnson
  Information in the form requested is not available. Data from hospital episode statistics (HES) giving counts of admissions to national health service hospitals is shown in the table.

  Primary diagnosis (ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes D25, N92,-, N95.0). Selected combinations of main operations and secondary
  operations.

  Count of finished admission episodes. NHS Hospital, England, 2002–03

  Operation

  Total episodes

  Endoscopic, theraputic and ther operations on uterus

  9,923

  b) Microwave ablation

  1,116

  c) Balloon ablation

  1,317

  d) Uterine fibroid embolisation

  286

  Notes:

  1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one.

  2. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).

  3. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.

  4. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode.

  5. Diagnosis Codes

  The ICD10 codes for menorrhagia and uterine fibroids are:

  Primary Diagnosis

  N92.- Excessive, frequent and irregular menstruation.

  N95.0—Postmenopausal bleeding.

  D25.-Leiomyoma of uterus.

  Procedure Codes.

  a) Hydro thermal ablation

  No specific OPCS4 code but would be in either Q16.-or Q17.-(data above provided as background).

  b) Microwave ablation

  Main Operation

  Q16.8 Other specified, other vaginal operations on uterus. Or

  Q17.4 Endoscopic destruction of lesion of uterus nec.

  Secondary operation

  Y11.4 Radiofrequency controlled thermal destruction of organ noc.

  c)Balloon ablation

  Main Operation

  Q16.8 Other specified, other vaginal operations on uterus.

  Secondary operation

  Y11.8 Other specified, other destruction of organ.

  d)Uterine fibroid embolisation

  Main Operation
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  L71.3 Percutaneous Transluminal embolisation of artery nec.

  Secondary operation

  Z38.8 Specified terminal branch of aorta nec.

  Source:

  Hospital episode statistics, Department of Health.

  Information relating specifically to hydro thermal ablation is not available. However, this would be included in the count under the heading "Endoscopic, therapeutic and other operations on uterus".

  117 trusts performed hydro thermo ablation, microwave ablation, balloon ablation or uterine fibroid embolisation for the treatment of menorrhagia or uterine fibroids, Information on which trusts performed hydro thermo ablation for the treatment of menorrhagia or uterine fibroids is not available.

  Yellow Card Scheme
  Mr. Burstow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the validity of criticisms of the Yellow Card scheme published in the "International Journal of Risk and Safety of Medicine" (2003, 16, 3–17); what account he has taken of the view of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on the matter; and what steps he has taken(a) to ensure that there has been no significant miscoding and misinterpretation of Yellow Card adverse drug reaction reports for paroxetine and (b) to ensure that there has been effective follow-up of reports relating to suspected paroxetine-induced suicidal behaviour. [178431]

  Tim Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency criticisms of the Yellow Card scheme published in the "International Journal of Risk and Safety of Medicine" (2003, 16, 3–17); and what assessment he has made of(a) the adequacy of the coding and interpretation of Yellow Card adverse drug reaction reports for paroxetine and (b) the effectiveness of the follow-up of reports relating to suspected paroxetine-induced suicidal behaviour.[178696]

  Ms Rosie Winterton
  The Yellow Card scheme was recently subject to an independent review led by Dr. Jeremy Metters and the recommendations of the review are out to consultation, apart from the recommendation to introduce direct patient reporting, which has been accepted in principle.

  The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has carefully reviewed the criticisms made in the article by Medawar and Herxheimer in relation to follow up and coding of reports of suspected adverse reactions associated with paroxetine (Seroxat) received through the yellow card scheme. Professor Herxheimer and Mr. Medawar contributed to the Metters review.

  Yellow cards submitted by health care professionals are held as scanned images and coded data are transposed onto the adverse drug reactions online information tracking (ADROIT) system. This is a relational database of around 500,000 reports, which enables complex analyses to be performed to detect new or changing drug safety hazards. Data from the yellow

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  card scheme cannot be used to quantify the risk of an adverse reaction. Standard operating procedures are in place which ensure quality control of data.

  Errors in transposition onto the database occur at a low rate and are kept to a minimum by quality checks. These transposition errors do not impact on signal detection and risk evaluation.

  The standardised terms used for coding were based on what has become the internationally adopted standard in drug regulation, MedDRA—the medical dictionary for regulatory activities. The ADROIT classification procedure reflects as closely as possible the words used by the reporter rather than introducing further interpretation of the reporter's words. The image of the original yellow card is available alongside the electronic record. This enables the MHRA to assess the totality of the yellow card data, which are routinely examined when risk assessment is undertaken, along with other data sources.

  The MHRA will respond directly to the authors of the article and a copy of that reply will be placed in the Library.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

  Clinical Negligence
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) how many legal aid funded clinical negligence cases were successful in each year since 1997; [185043]

  (2) in how many clinical negligence claims legal costs exceeded damages paid to patients in each year since 1997; [185044]

  (3) if he will list the (a) legal costs and (b) damages awarded for clinical negligence cases in each year since 1997. [185045]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Legal Services Commission is unable to provide the information necessary to answer the questions immediately. I will write to the hon. Member once the information becomes available.

  Community Legal Service
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what areas of activity are covered by the Community Legal Service. [185151]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Community Legal Service (CLS) provides access to legal advice and representation across a number of common categories of law: family, housing, welfare benefits, debt, immigration and nationality, employment, mental health, consumer and general contract, clinical negligence, personal injury, actions against the police, education, community care, and public law.

  These categories relate to all in the community but particularly focus on the problems that face some of the most vulnerable members of society.
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  Support is provided for a range of services within these categories including legal help, help at court, legal representation, family mediation, help with mediation and general family help.

  Community Legal Services
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how the new Community Legal Services Directory line will be monitored for(a) quality of advice, (b) access to advice and (c) capacity. [185262]

  Mr. Lammy
  The new Community Legal Service (CLS) Direct telephone has been designed to produce management information that will enable all key aspects of service to be monitored closely.

  Advice delivered through the telephone service is subject to the same CLS specialist quality mark assurance that applies to CLS-funded face to face advice. There is also an additional set of quality requirements that apply solely to telephone advice, and telephone contractors are audited against these criteria. A sample of the advice given by the telephone contractors will also be subject to peer review by recognised experts, to ensure that it is of high standard.

  The statistics generated relating to CLS Direct will give the Legal Service (LSC) an excellent new method of surveying where and how advice is accessed, the areas where demand for advice is greatest, and how this compares with supply. Telephone advice offers an easy means of accessing advice for people with disabilities, people in remote areas and people who have caring responsibilities. The LSC uses client feedback surveys to monitor whether telephone advice is effectively reaching these groups.

  The number of calls received and cases opened will be monitored to establish trends. The telephone service can be easily scaled up to keep pace with demand. Advice providers within CLS Direct are contracted to deliver an agreed volume of advice hours per year, and one of the criteria the LSC used to select contractors was their ability to expand their number of advice hours if required.

  Housing
  Mr. Webb
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [182151]

  Mr. Lammy
  There are no empty houses on the departmental estate.

  Individual Case Contracts
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what savings have been made since the introduction of individual case contracts for very high cost criminal cases. [185037]

  Mr. Lammy
  From September 2003 the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has been bringing all new eligible cases under contract. Research prior to the introduction of VHCCC contracts suggested that savings of about 30 per cent. might be achieved. The LSC is conducting
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  a survey of non-contracted VHCCC cases in order to establish a benchmark to compare with contracted VHCCC cases. However VHCCC cases are by their nature, long and complex and their attributes vary greatly from case to case. It will therefore be some time before a sufficient number of contracted cases have been completed before sensible comparisons can be made between contract and non-contract cases and before a reliable estimate of the savings can be made. However, the LSC calculates that during 2003–04 savings of around £26.5 million were achieved.

  Prior to 2003–04 a pilot scheme was operated. While relatively few contracts were managed during this period the LSC estimates that savings of around £7 million were realised.

  Judicial Appointments Commission
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whom the Judicial Appointments Commission will consist of. [185022]

  Mr. Leslie
  Schedule 12 of the Constitutional Reform Bill provides that the Commission will consist of a lay chairman, five judicial members, two professional members (a barrister and a solicitor), five lay members, a tribunal (or similar) member and a lay justice.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the planned costs are of the proposed Judicial Appointments Commission. [185040]

  Mr. Leslie
  Our estimate for the annual running cost of the Judicial Appointments Commission is –8.5 million per year, reducing to £8 million, from 2008–09 due to its planned partial relocation out of London and the south-east.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Judicial Appointments Commission will be set up. [185041]

  Mr. Leslie
  The timetable for the setting up of the Commission is dependent on the passage of the Constitutional Reform Bill through Parliament. If the Bill receives Royal Assent by spring 2005, we would aim to launch the Commission in spring 2006.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the proposed establishment of an independent Judicial Appointments Commission. [185042]

  Mr. Leslie
  The Constitutional Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, will establish a Judicial Appointments Commission for England and Wales. The Commission will be responsible for selecting candidates for judicial appointment. The manner in which the Commission does so will be for it to determine, subject to the overriding criterion that selection must be on merit, and subject to any guidance which the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs may issue, for example, in requiring the Commission to seek to expand the pool of candidates from which a selection may be made.
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  Legal Adviser Costs
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Government has paid to(a) profit-making and (b) not-for-profit legal advisers for legal aid cases in each year since 1997. [185035]

  Mr. Lammy
  Payments made in each year since 1997 to(a) profit-making and (b) not-for-profit legal suppliers for legal aid work were as follows:

  £ million

  Payment to profit-making agencies1

  Payments to not-for-profit-making agencies1

  1997–98

  1,948.6

  12.9

  1998–99

  2,039.8

  17.3

  1999–2000

  1,950.6

  18.5

  2000–01

  2,035.4

  29.2

  2001–02

  2,065.2

  47.5

  2002–03

  2,189.0

  56.9

  2003–04

  2,316.0

  58.1

  1 All payments are gross of contributions paid by funded clients and costs and damages paid by other parties.

  Legal Aid
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost of post-charge legal aid has been in each year since 1997. [185033]

  £ million

  1997–98

  609.1

  1998–99

  651.0

  1999–2000

  640.7

  2000&3x2013;01

  705.3

  2001–02

  810.7

  2002–03

  907.8

  2003–04

  985.4

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what reforms are planned for post-charge legal aid. [185036]

  Mr. Lammy
  My Department published the Draft Criminal Defence Service Bill together with a consultation paper on 17 May 2004, copies of which were placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The proposals set out in the Bill fall into two parts. Firstly, the transfer of the reponsibility for grant of criminal legal aid from the courts to the Legal Services Commission, and secondly the re-introduction of the means test.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what categories of charge the Government plans to abolish post-charge legal aid. [185928]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Government is not planning to abolish post-charge legal aid for any category of charge.
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  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost was of providing legal aid in immigration cases in each year since 1997. [185047]

  Mr. Lammy
  The overall costs for immigration and asylum advice, assistance and representation since 1997 in England and Wales were as follows:

  £million

  1997–98

  35

  1998–99

  53

  1999–2000

  61

  2000–01

  81

  2001–02

  129

  2002–03

  176

  2003–04

  200

  The Legal Services Commission cannot separate the cost of immigration and nationality cases from asylum cases, but the vast majority are thought to relate to asylum. The substantial increase in legal aid expenditure has been due, in large part, to the introduction of legal aid for representation at appeal, efforts to reduce the backlog of asylum cases and increases in asylum seeker numbers. Cash figures are expected to remain high in 2004–05 as work continues to clear immigration and asylum backlogs.

  We expect that costs will fall in subsequent years as a result of the current lower intake of asylum seekers and measures to control spending.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many(a) not for profit organisations and (b) private practice firms are undertaking legal aid work; and what fields of work are covered by the former organisations. [185038]

  Mr. Lammy
  414 Not for Profit (NfP) agencies and 5,033 solicitors' offices had a contract with the Legal Services Commission at 31 March 2004. Some solicitors' offices hold contracts in both civil and criminal work.

  The total number of offices with General Civil Contracts at 31 March 2004 was 4,715. Of this figure, 4,301 were solicitors' firms and 414 were NfP agencies.

  2,669 solicitors' offices were operating under Criminal Defence Services (CDS) contracts on 31 March 2004. As at 1 July 2004, on the introduction of the new General Criminal Contract, 2,525 firms had signed the contract.

  NfP agencies undertake civil legal aid work in a range of categories within the civil category of law. In 2004 NfPs agencies held contracts in the following categories: family, community care, consumer, debt, education, employment, housing, immigration, mental health, public law and welfare benefits.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many firms have stopped doing legal aid work in each year since 1997. [185039]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Legal Services Commission is able to provide figures for the number of solicitors' offices in England and Wales that have had civil contracts withdrawn each financial year since 2000, as follows:
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  Number

  April 2000 to March 2001

  700

  April 2001 to March 2002

  539

  April 2002 to March 2003

  408

  April 2003 to March 2004

  633

  The figures above do not distinguish between firms withdrawing from the legal aid scheme and those that have had their contracts terminated, as the Commission's systems do not make this distinction.

  Contracting for criminal legal aid began in April 2001 with 2,931 suppliers. During 2001–02, 146 contracts were terminated and 151 were terminated in 2002–03. Between April 2003 and March 2004, 317 suppliers had criminal contracts terminated.

  Figures prior to the introduction of contracting in 2000 are not available, as under the previous advice and assistance scheme there was no method of calculating how many firms stopped legal aid work.

  Legal Services Commission
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans there are to charge interest on sums owed to the Legal Services Commission. [185032]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Legal Services Commission already attaches interest to the majority of debts attributable to it. Cases relating to the statutory charge have since 1988 attached interest. The rate of interest is linked to the Bank of England base rate and currently stands at 5 per cent. simple interest. £50 million of the gross debt due to the Commission relates to interest.

  Of other debts due to the Commission interest is not sought as they are normally payable immediately. Where it is necessary to pursue them through the issue of court proceedings interest at the standard debt rate (8 per cent.) is claimed.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will break down by type of debt the money owed to the Legal Services Commission. [185950]

  Mr. Lammy
  The break down by type of debt of the money owed to the Legal Services in 2003–04 is as follows:

  £

  Amount

  Contribution due from funded clients

  29,509

  Costs to be recovered

  25,431

  Statutory charge

  263,896

  Damages

  12,904

  Amounts due from suppliers

  31,718

  Recovery of defence costs orders

  1,722

  Accrued income European social fund

  82

  Prepayments and other accrued income

  404

  Total

  365,666

  Legal Services Direct
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many
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  telephone advisers will provide advisory services for Community Legal Services Direct (a) in total and (b) at any one time. [185150]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Community Legal Service (CLS) Direct helpline has 50 'full time equivalent' advisers. 41.5 advisers offer advice in three categories of law (debt, welfare benefits and education) in England and Wales and 8.5 advisers are contracted to offer advice in housing and employment law in particular targeted areas. There are also non-qualified call centre agents, providing services within the CLS Direct telephone system in relation to the CLS Directory and leaflets. Four more advisers, focusing on debt, benefits and housing advice in Wales, are planned to come on stream in late summer.

  There is no fixed number of advisers present at any given time. The national helpline service has been designed to be able to react to demand and the Legal Services Commission monitors the distribution of calls throughout the day working with its contractors to ensure that the number of advisers available is proportionate to demand.

  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Government grant to Legal Services Direct is for the next financial year. [185218]

  Mr. Lammy
  No separate allocation for Community Legal Service Direct has been allowed in the total funding for the Legal Services Commission for 2005–06.
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  The overall cost of Community Legal Service Direct in 2004–05 is expected to be £6.5 million.

  This is made up of the cost of the national telephone service, the website (formerly JustAsk!), CLS Directory and CLS information leaflets.

  It includes all payments made to technical contractors, contracted telephone advisors, all staffing and management costs within the Community Legal Service Direct team, and associated promotional costs.

  Solicitors
  Mr. Djanogly
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Government has for reducing unproductive time spent by defence solicitors in(a) courts and (b) police stations. [185034]

  Mr. Lammy
  The Government are anxious to ensure that solicitors' time is spent productively at court and at police stations. Last year we consulted on proposals to focus both the court duty solicitor scheme and the police station duty solicitor scheme on those cases where an individual's liberty was at real risk or where an individual's interests could be properly advanced. These changes were introduced in regulations and in the General Criminal Contract on 17 May 2004. The Fundamental Legal Aid Review (FLAR) is looking at the efficiencies of the processes for defence solicitors in police stations, as is the Effective Trial Management Programme (ETMP) for the courts.

  Afghanistan: Provincial Reconstruction Teams
  Afghanistan: Provincial Reconstruction Teams
  Armed Forces: Deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan
  Armed Forces: Deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan
  Universities: Japanese and Chinese Studies
  Universities: Japanese and Chinese Studies
  Higher Education: Diploma Supplement
  Higher Education: Diploma Supplement
  Higher Education: Erasmus Mundus
  Higher Education: Erasmus Mundus
  Local Authority Building Control Departments
  Local Authority Building Control Departments
  Focus Groups
  Focus Groups
  Road Safety
  Road Safety
  UK Olympic Medals
  UK Olympic Medals
  Women's Cricket
  Women's Cricket
  Playing Fields: Planning Applications
  Playing Fields: Planning Applications
  School Sport
  School Sport
  Olympic Games 2012: London Bid
  Olympic Games 2012: London Bid
  Sport: Priority Groups
  Sport: Priority Groups
  Paralympics
  Paralympics
  Athletics: World Class Performance Funding
  Athletics: World Class Performance Funding
  Athletics Commission
  Athletics Commission
  Sport: National Governing Bodies
  Sport: National Governing Bodies
  Endangered Species: Imports
  Endangered Species: Imports
  European Parliamentary Elections
  European Parliamentary Elections
  Speed Cameras: Installation Criteria
  Speed Cameras: Installation Criteria
  A27
  A27
  Segway Human Transporter
  Segway Human Transporter