To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what IT (a) infrastructure and (b) systems his (i) Department and (ii) its agencies use. (240410)

The Department currently has about 140,000 desktops, around 7,000 encrypted laptops, 2,500 servers and 21 mainframes serving its 149 major application systems. The infrastructure falls into three broad categories of services delivered by third party suppliers, desktop (PCs) hosting (mainframe computers and application servers) and network/telephony. The IT systems or applications are linked to two major data centres.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the asset register of his Department's IT infrastructure and systems. (240411)

The Department's IT suppliers provide the IT infrastructure used by the Department and own the assets required to deliver the IT services the Department has specified contractually. Consequently, the Department does not maintain a register of those assets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average useful economic life of departmental IT infrastructure. (240412)

The Department has a large and complex IT infrastructure consisting of 21 mainframes, 2,500 servers and 149 major applications which it renews and refreshes as necessary. It makes no single estimate of useful economic life.

The Department purchases IT services from suppliers on a consumption basis in order to maximize value for money. Its IT suppliers provide IT infrastructure components as part of these services and have contractual obligations to maintain and refresh these components.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2008, Official Report, column 77W, on Employee Assistance Programme, how many requests from staff for services have been received by the Department’s Employee Assistance Programme in each category of reason recorded in each year since the programme was established; and if he will make a statement. (241265)

I refer the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central to the answer given on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1970W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit claimants there were in the South West Bedfordshire constituency in November 2008. (240406)

The available information is for May 2008, when there were 2,850 claimants of incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance in South West Bedfordshire constituency.

Notes:

1. The figure is rounded to the nearest 10.

2. This figure is published at www.nomisweb.co.uk.

Source:

DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what date the review of the closure plan for Jobcentre Plus offices will be completed; and if he will make a statement. (240413)

I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to him on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1979W.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics if she will place in the Library copies of the agendas, minutes and supporting documents considered by the Olympic Board at its last six meetings. (240441)

I have agreed to provide Parliament with six-monthly progress updates and quarterly financial updates. The next Government Annual Report on the Games will be published in January 2009 and will provide both progress and financial updates.

Summaries of Olympic Board meetings are placed on the London 2012 Organising Committee website

http://www.london2012.com/en/ourvision/Olympic+Board.

Agendas, minutes and papers of the Olympic Board are not publicly available.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics what effect the reduction in the number of (a) apartments and (b) bed spaces has had on the construction costs of the Olympic village. (240323)

At this time, both apartment and bed space numbers have not yet been finalised, with final numbers subject to Olympic Board agreement. It is, therefore, not yet possible to comment on the impact of any potential reduction in accommodation on construction costs.

As we have stated previously, we are seeking to reduce costs by only building what is necessary for the Games. Therefore, apartment numbers have reduced, with the number of athlete bed spaces remaining as required by London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the same time we are preserving quality and confident we will meet IOC requirements. We are in discussion with our partners and will set out our plans shortly.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics what exclusivity agreements are in force in relation to the Olympic village; and for how long each is to be in force. (240324)

There are a number of exclusivity agreements within the overall Olympic Village deal, the principal one being that between the Olympic Delivery Authority and Lend Lease as developer. The exclusivity agreement officially expires at the end of the year but there is an option to extend to March 2009.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics when she expects to publish the KPMG report on Olympic venues. (240439)

As announced after the Olympic Board in November, the KPMG report will be published subject to ensuring that it does not contain any commercial sensitive material. However, we do not yet have a final copy of the report. I am not therefore in a position to confirm the timing of its publication.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics what the cost to the public purse will be of the KPMG report into the suitability of the Olympic venues. (240440)

The review by KPMG is not yet concluded with work ongoing on certain elements of the report. I am therefore not yet in a position to confirm what the full costs of the report will be.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics what the largest build cost per square foot of the Olympic village is; and how this compares to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors index. (240320)

Commercial negotiations are ongoing regarding the costing of the various elements of the Olympic Village. Therefore, at this stage, it is not possible to provide build cost information whilst commercially confidential negotiations continue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he plans to make a decision about funding for a museum for the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation. (240507)

Northern Ireland officials are currently considering the finalised business case for a police museum which the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation submitted to them in November 2008. Decisions on funding will await a full analysis of this business case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effects of the increase in air passenger duty on the levels of air passenger traffic between the Highlands and islands of Scotland and the rest of the world; whether his Department has performed an economic impact assessment of the amended air passenger duty rate; and if he will make a statement. (240678)

Decisions on taxes are a matter for the Chancellor. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my hon. Friend, the Exchequer Secretary, to question number 240702.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions, on what dates, he had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the contents of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties (Surcharges) and Tobacco Products Duty Order 2008 (S.I. 2008, No. 3026) and the assessment that no impact on the private or voluntary sectors was foreseen. (240686)

My right hon. Friend has regular discussions with the Chancellor on a range of issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK overseas development aid was (a) committed and (b) disbursed (i) in total and (ii) under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Assistance Committee creditor reporting system (A) agricultural codes (31110 to 31195), (B) basic nutrition (12240), (C) food aid/food security (52010) and (D) emergency food aid (72040) codes in 2007. (241201)

The Department for International Development’s (DFID) total bilateral programme in 2007-08 was £2,962 million. Details on the amount of DFID’s bilateral expenditure provided in support of each sector in 2007-08 are shown in the following table.

The data in the table do not include support to these sectors delivered through General Budget Support and core contributions to multilateral organisations, civil society organisations and general humanitarian funds, such as the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid he has given to Kenya to assist the resettlement of individuals displaced internally in that country since the elections in 2007. (241328)

The Department for International Development (DFID) is not committing funds directly to the resettlement of internally displaced people in Kenya.

Resettlement is complex and should be handled with care, in line with international guidelines. To address the problems of those internally displaced and prevent future dislocations, the underlying issues of economic and ethnic inequality, land distribution and the culture of impunity in relation to political violence need to be tackled.

DFID is working with the international community and the Government of Kenya to address these underlying issues. This includes the implementation of key activities agreed in the Peace Accord brokered by Kofi Annan, to which DFID is the main donor. DFID has also provided £1.5 million to date in support of the national land reform programme, including the development of a new land policy. In addition, DFID committed £2.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Kenya for those displaced by the crisis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has taken steps to assess the level of contamination by the industrial chemical melamine in dairy exports from China to the UK. (240685)

The import of milk and milk products from China is prohibited under Commission Decision 2007/275/EC of 17 April 2007 concerning lists of animals and products to be subject to controls at border inspection posts under Council Directives 91/496/EEC and 97/78/EC.

In response to the contamination of milk with melamine the European Commission introduced additional measures restricting the import of products from China containing milk or milk products. These measures require any product containing more than 2.5 mg/kg melamine to be removed from the market and destroyed. Testing by Port Health Authorities and local authorities has found a few products, containing more than 2.5 mg/kg melamine, which, although not considered to be a risk to public health, have been destroyed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many problematic drugs users were estimated to be residing in London in the last year for which figures are available. (240585)

The estimated number of problem drug users¹ in the London government office region, aged between 15-64, is 74,822. This figure for the latest period available 2006-07.

¹ Problem drug use in this context refers to use of opiates and/or crack cocaine, including those who inject either of these drugs. It does not include the of cocaine in powder from, amphetamine, ecstasy or cannabis, or injecting by people who do not use opiates or cocaine.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each local authority spent per head of population on taking and analysing samples for food standards purposes in the last 12 months. (240401)

The decision on how much each local authority spends on taking and analysing samples for food standards purposes is decided by each local authority in accordance with the requirements of the Food Law Code of Practice issued in June 2008.

Each authority is required to publish a food sampling policy and make it available to businesses and consumers. The policy sets out the authority's general approach to food sampling and its approach in specific situations such as process monitoring, inspections, complaints, special investigations and national, regional and local co-ordinated programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on salaries and wages for (a) general and senior managers, (b) nurses and midwives and (c) administrative and clerical staff within each primary care trust in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08. (240749)

Tables have been placed in the Library showing the amount spent by each primary care trust in England on salaries and wages for:

total managers and senior managers;

total nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff; and

total administrative and clerical staff

in the years 2006-07 to 2007-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the annual savings accruing to his Department as a result of expatriates resident in Australia meeting the cost of their healthcare. (240681)

The Department does not hold data on the cost of health care for United Kingdom expatriates resident in Australia. The UK does not fund the healthcare costs of British citizens resident in non-European countries and therefore does not consider these to be cost savings. It is the responsibility of individuals to make their own healthcare arrangements when they move to Australia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will designate the air route from London Gatwick to Inverness under Public Service Obligation protection; and if he will make a statement; (240679)

In December 2005, the Department for Transport published guidance on the circumstances under which it would consider imposing a Public Service Obligation (PSO) to protect domestic air routes to London airports. A copy is available on the Department's website at:

www.dft.gov.uk/aviation/psoguidance

Under the guidance, it is for local bodies such as devolved administrations, regional development agencies or local authorities to make the case for a PSO to the Department. No such applications have been received since the guidance was published.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been provided to each local authority to run the national concessionary bus fares scheme in 2008-09; and what estimate his Department has made of the expenditure which will be incurred by each authority on the scheme in that year. (240408)

The additional funding provided to each Travel Concession Authority (TCA) to run their schemes following the introduction of the England-wide concession on 1 April is published in the Special Grant Report (No. 129). A copy is in the Library of the House. In total, £212 million of additional funding is available to TCAs in England in 2008-09. The special grant allocation is based on generous assumptions around fares, pass take-up, extra journeys and additional costs, and the distribution of the grant was consulted on in detail. This grant is in addition to the bulk of the funding for statutory concessionary travel which remains within the overall local Government formula grant settlement.

The Government are providing around £1 billion each year to support the England-wide concession and is confident this is sufficient in total to meet the cost to TCAs. We will continue to monitor the impact of England-wide statutory concessionary travel but final data on expenditure for 2008-09 is unlikely to be available before autumn 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the number of cars that are not (a) insured and (b) taxed. (240434)

The Department for Transport does not hold estimates of the number of cars that are not insured or taxed.

However, the Department's latest estimates of vehicle excise duty evasion suggest that there were around 589,000 unlicensed vehicles in Great Britain in 2007.

In addition, the latest estimate of uninsured driving, based on a 2005 comparison of the DVLA vehicle register and the motor insurance database, suggests that about 2.1 million licensed vehicles are being driven by uninsured drivers.

Measures have already been introduced to tackle uninsured driving including police powers to seize vehicles used on the road uninsured and improved police access to information contained in the insurance industry's database. The Road Safety Act 2006 introduced a new offence of being a registered keeper for which there is no valid motor insurance. Further regulations are required to bring in the provisions into force and the detail of this scheme for continuous insurance enforcement will be subject to consultation later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what his most recent estimate is of the number of uninsured drivers who renewed their car tax (a) online, (b) by telephone and (c) in person in the last 12 months; (240432)

No such estimate has been made, as valid insurance must be in place before a vehicle licence can be issued.

A vehicle licence cannot be issued unless valid insurance is in place.

When a vehicle is licensed in person at the Post Office or a DVLA local office, a paper certificate of insurance must be produced. This will be scrutinised to ensure that the person taking out the licence, the registered keeper, is covered by the insurance policy.

When a licensing application is made online or over the telephone, the same check is made electronically via the motor insurance database before the application is processed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to announce the (a) timings and (b) business case for the additional 182 vehicles for Northern Rail. (240923)

The updates to the Department of Transport's Rolling Stock Plan published in July 2008 stated that the indicative rolling stock numbers will only be substituted by different numbers when the Department contracts with the relevant train operator. In the case of Northern Rail this is expected to be in 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in discussions on the preparation and delivery of additional rolling stock vehicles to Northern Rail. (241075)

Discussions with Northern Rail are at an early stage. Our current view is that they should conclude during 2010, although this is clearly subject to the progress of the commercial negotiations between the parties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) fatalities, (b) serious injuries and (c) other outcomes there were in road traffic accidents reported to his Department in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England in each month in each of the last five years. (240691)

The number of casualties resulting from reported personal injury road accidents for each month in Cornwall and England, for each of the last five years is given as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many body scanners his Department operates in (a) airports, (b) ports and (c) railway stations; and where each is located. (241784)

The Department for Transport has been involved in trials of body scanner technology at Luton and Heathrow airports, and at Paddington railway station, as part of joint industry and Government effort to further improve the security of the travelling public in the UK. Currently there are no body scanners deployed for transport security purposes at airports, ports and railway stations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what recent discussions his Department has had with the shipping industry on reducing incidental noise from commercial shipping operations in the marine environment; and if he will make a statement; (240967)

Shipping is a global industry and the regulation of international shipping is best taken forward in the forum of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) met in October and, following discussion of a submission from the USA, MEPC agreed a new work programme item aimed at minimising the introduction of incidental noise from ships into the marine environment.

Consequently, at future sessions of MEPC there will be an agenda item entitled ‘Noise from commercial shipping and its adverse impacts on marine life’. This Department and its Maritime and Coastguard Agency will take part in the work under this agenda item, including the IMO correspondence group which is being coordinated by the USA.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of speed cameras deliberately damaged or destroyed in Essex in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. (241334)

The Department for Transport has not made any such estimate. This information may be held by Essex police who take such criminal behaviour seriously and seek to prosecute anyone caught committing such acts.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the economic impact of the revised rates of air passenger duty on air travel (a) to, (b) from and (c) within the Highlands and Islands of Scotland; and if he will make a statement. (240702)

The existing scope of, and exemptions from, air passenger duty will remain in place, including the exemption for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There will be no economic impact of the revised rates of air passenger duty on the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department were engaged in preparatory work for the recent assessment of the UK's performance against the five economic tests for joining the euro. (240964)

The Chancellor announced in Budget 2008 that,

“the Government do not propose a euro assessment to be initiated at the time of this budget”.

The Treasury will again review the situation at Budget time next year as required by the Chancellor's June 2003 statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effects on sterling of the scale of bank deposits and other short-term instruments held by non-residents. (240262)

Exchange rates are determined by a range of factors. The Government’s objective is for a stable and competitive exchange rate in the medium term, consistent with meeting the inflation target.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of income tax receipts were paid by the wealthiest (a) one per cent., (b) five per cent., (c) 10 per cent., (d) 25 per cent. and (e) 50 per cent. of the population in the most recent year for which figures are available. (241144)

The information can be found in Table 2.4 “Shares of total income (before and after tax) and income tax for percentile groups” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:

http://wvw.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/menu.htm

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to establish a means-tested hardship fund for policyholders following the near-collapse of Equitable Life. (241143)

As my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, told this House on 3 December 2008, Official Report, column 38, there will be a statement on Equitable Life before the House rises at Christmas.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for Walsall North's letter of 16 October 2008, regarding a constituent, ref: 2/01966/2008. (240354)

The Financial Services Secretary will respond to the hon. Member shortly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter dated 24 September 2008 and subsequent correspondence from the hon. Member for Billericay regarding a constituent, Mr D. Randall. (240682)

I have today replied to the hon. Member.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions have been made on the net present value of public-private partnership projects for the purposes of preparing the pre-Budget report for 2008. (241355)

HM Treasury uses departmental returns as the basis for its statistics on public-private partnerships published at each pre-Budget and Budget report. These are in turn based on HM Treasury's Green Book, which can be found on the Treasury's website at

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/data_greenbook_index.htm

and which sets out guidance for the calculation of net present value.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions are made by his Department when estimating the effects of inflation on future public-private partnership costs. (241356)

HM Treasury uses departmental returns as the basis for its statistics on public-private partnerships published at each pre-Budget and Budget report.

Departments are required to factor the inflation assumptions set out in their PPP contracts into their estimates of future unitary charge payments.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discount rate of capital is used when determining the net present value of public-private partnership projects; and what risk premium is included in that rate. (241357)

HM Treasury's Green Book, which can be found on the Treasury's website at

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/data_greenbook_index.htm

sets out guidance for the calculation of net present value.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to change the designation for VAT purposes of products designed to protect children from the sun; and if he will make a statement. (240290)

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my predecessor gave him on 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2327W.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will meet with representatives of the School Wear Association in order to discuss VAT on school uniforms; (240447)

Treasury officials, in the first instance, would be happy to meet the representatives of the School Wear Association to discuss VAT.

Under the VAT agreements with our European partners, signed by successive Governments, we can retain our existing VAT zero rates, but we may not extend them or introduce new ones. It is therefore not possible to extend the present zero-rating for children’s clothing to clothing designed for children older than 13.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the effect of the changes in value added tax announced in the Pre-Budget Report 2008 on the financial services sector. (240444)

The reduction in the standard rate of VAT from 17.5 per cent. to 15 per cent. between 1 December 2008 and 31 December 2009 will benefit the financial services sector because it will incur less irrecoverable VAT (in respect of its exempt supplies).

There may be compliance costs for those parts of the financial services sector making taxable supplies. The Impact Assessment can be found on the HM Treasury website at the following address:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr08_vat_1845.pdf

To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether he authorised under the terms of the Wilson Doctrine the interception of telephone or other electronic communications of the hon. Member for Ashford (a) before and (b) after his recent arrest; (240503)

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary (Jacqui Smith) during her statement on 4 December 2008, Official Report, column 143.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality with reference to paragraph 3.11 of the Carers at the Heart of 21st Century Families and Communities report, how much of the £150 million funding for breaks for carers of disabled children will be provided by the Government Equalities Office over each of the next two years. (240813)

The £150 million fund will be provided entirely by the Department of Health and will increase the support available for all carers, not just those that care for disabled children.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on alternatives to imprisonment for women. (240282)

I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on this matter in my capacity as Ministerial Champion for Women in the Criminal Justice System and through the inter-ministerial group on reducing re-offending and the ministerial sub-group on Corston. The Government are fully committed to providing appropriate alternatives to custody for women who are not violent or dangerous, in line with recommendations set out in Baroness Corston’s review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. A progress report one year on from the Government’s response to Baroness Corston’s review will be published later this month and will outline progress and future plans on this important issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding from each regional development agency project budget for 2008-09 was reallocated to the Homebuy Direct scheme. (241327)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), on 30 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1271-272W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what percentage of households of each (a) type of tenure, (b) size, (c) income level and (d) ethnicity in each region in England are estimated to be overcrowded. (240882)

The following estimates of the number of overcrowded households are based on the Bedroom Standard definition of overcrowding and are derived from the Survey of English Housing.

(a) Estimates of the number and percentage of overcrowded households by tenure for each region in England are given in Table 1.

(b) Estimates of the number and percentage of overcrowded households by household size for each region in England are given in Table 2.

(c) Estimates of the number and percentage of overcrowded households by income level for each region in England are given in Table 3.

(d) Estimates of the number and percentage of overcrowded households by ethnicity by broad region in England are given in Table 4. Due to very small sample sizes for overcrowded ethnic minority households in some regions it is not possible to provide estimates for individual regions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) mean and (b) median monthly mortgage payments were (a) for all households and (b) for households at each level of disposable income in (i) England and (ii) each region in England in each of the last five years. (240884)

Estimates of the mean monthly mortgage payment for all households taking out a new mortgage for house purchase during the year, in (i) England and (ii) each region in England in each of the last five years are given in the following table.

Estimates for median monthly mortgage payments and data for households at each level of disposable income are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions have taken place between Ordnance Survey and Google on the use of Ordnance Survey licence data on Google maps; and if she will make a statement. (240501)

In recent weeks Ordnance Survey has held a number of discussions with Google™ UK, including a face to face meeting with a representative of the company, to discuss the terms and conditions under which users of the Google Maps UK applications programming interface (API) may overlay and display their own and third party intellectual property onto the API.

Ordnance Survey is concerned that these terms and conditions require a user to grant Google a

“perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute Your Content through the Service and as search results through Google Services”.

These terms and conditions grant Google these rights over any data or information posted onto the API by a user, including the users' own intellectual property and the intellectual property of any third party whose information they use. This includes any Crown copyright information which a user posts onto the Google Maps API. This grant of rights to Google goes beyond the terms of the user's licence with Ordnance Survey.

As a result of Ordnance Survey's representations, Google has changed the terms and conditions on two occasions within the past month. However each revised version retains the particular clause of concern. Ordnance Survey continues to work with Google to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) mean and (b) median monthly expenditure on private rent after deduction of housing benefit was of (i) all private rented households and (ii) private rented households at each level of disposable income (A) in England and (B) in each region in England. (240881)

The mean and median monthly expenditure on private rents (after deduction of housing benefit) by private renting households is set out in Table 1 for each Government office region and for England. The figures represent an average over the three-year period 2004-05 to 2006-07 and are derived from the Survey of English Housing. Figures based on a period of less than three years would not be sufficiently reliable.

Table 2 shows the mean and median monthly rents (after deduction of housing benefit) disaggregated by the gross weekly income accruing to the main householder and partner (if any): below £200 per week; £200 to below £500 per week; and £500 per week or more. The figures represent an average over the three-year period 2004-05 to 2006-07 and are derived from the Survey of English Housing. Figures based on a period of less than three years would not be sufficiently reliable.

The rental figures that were included in the derivation of the figures in Tables 1 and 2 included a number of “zero” rents. These cases arose because the rent for the accommodation was fully covered by the amount of housing benefit received—so the rental expenditure net of housing benefit was zero.

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many Australian nationals were engaged in full-time study at UK universities at the latest date for which figures are available. (240852)

In the 2006/07 academic year there were 1,040 Australian domiciled students enrolled on full-time courses at UK Higher Education Institutions. Comparable figures for the 2007/08 academic year will be available in January 2009.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the monetary value of trade between the UK and Australia was in each of the last five years. (240850)

The data requested are shown in the following table

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the monetary value of trade between the UK and the Isle of Man in each of the last three years. (240874)

For the purposes of the Overseas Trade Statistics, ‘UK’ is defined as Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the UK part of the continental shelf. Therefore the Overseas Trade Statistics do not cover trade in goods between these places.

Consistent estimates of trade in services are not available for all three years. ONS data published in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2008 were: