8. To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what paid posts in the offices of the Church Commissioners are subject to a test of religious belief in respect of (a) appointment and (b) promotion. (242329)

In relation to appointment, the posts of Secretary to the Church Commissioners and Chief Financial Officer both carry requirements that the post-holder be a practising Christian.

Religious belief is not a relevant factor in promotion (except to these two specific roles).

To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough,, representing the Church Commissioners, what matters the Church Commissioners expect to be raised at the forthcoming summit on church closures; and if he will make a statement. (242471)

Church of England staff have been meeting with officials from the Treasury, the Department for Culture Media and Sport, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Office of the Third Sector and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Both the Government and the Church of England recognise that enabling churches to become community resources is one of the best ways of safeguarding those buildings while helping meet the needs of their local communities. However, the full potential of churches as community resources and as part of schemes for social regeneration is undeveloped and unrealised.

By way of a statement, the main focus of these meetings has been, first, to examine the barriers currently faced by churches—of all denominations and faiths—who want to open up their buildings for the use of the wider communities; second, to look at how these barriers can be overcome; and, third, to identify national, regional and local sources of public funding programmes. A paper is being drawn up for a further meeting of Ministers and the Bishop of London in the near future.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what conclusions the Government Equalities Office has reached in fulfilment of its duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. (240993)

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) is a new Department which was established on 12 October 2007. We have recently finalised our GEO terms and conditions with trade union representatives and are currently consulting our staff and stakeholders on the content of our Equality Scheme which, among other things, sets out our steps to fulfil our obligations under the disability equality duty. The scheme will be published on the GEO website in due course.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality with reference to the Answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, columns 336- 37W, on Government departments: information and communications technology, which IP addresses are used by (a) her Department and (b) computers in the offices of its (i) Ministers, (ii) communications officials and (iii) special advisers. (241964)

The Government Equalities Office relies on IT systems provided by other Government Departments. To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard good information security practice for corporate IT systems, not to publish internal IP addresses. When accessing internet websites, the IP addresses of all of the Government Equalities Office’s computers are hidden behind the following IP addresses which are publicly available—195.92.40.49 and 62.25.106.209. These IP addresses are shared with other Government Departments that use the Government secure intranet.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office spent on Ministerial hospitality in each financial year since the Office was established. (241247)

No such hospitality costs have been incurred. Since its establishment on 12 October 2007 the Government Equalities Office has funded nine ministerial receptions. Details of these are shown on 19 November 2008, Official Report, column 473W and 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 4W. The cost of the receptions includes room hire and catering charges for refreshments for delegates but in accordance with usual departmental practice these costs are not classified as hospitality, which is taken to be lunch or dinner provided to visitors from outside the Department.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality with reference to the answer of 28 October 2008, Official Report, column 804W, on departmental ICT, what the (a) expected completion date and (b) expected cost was at the outset of the project. (242155)

The new GEO website is expected to be ready in January 2009. The expected cost at the outset of the project was £37,491, excluding VAT.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what progress has been made on provision of emergency funding for rape crisis centres. (240281)

Nineteen rape crisis centres have been awarded grants from the second and final round of this special fund, to a total of nearly £706,000, ensuring that they have been able to remain open.

The Government continue to step up action to tackle rape and bring offenders to justice. The latest figures show that in 2006 there were nearly 800 convictions for rape, compared to just over 500 in 1997, an increase of over 45 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many children died from each cause of death in each local authority in the last year for which data are available. (240759)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, December 2008:

As National Statistician. I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many children died from each cause of death in each local authority in the last year for which figures are available. (240759)

The table provides the number of deaths of children aged under 16 years, in total and for the five most common causes of death, for each local authority in England and Wales, for 2005-2007 (the latest year available). A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library. To allow breakdown by cause of death, figures have been given for the years 2005-2007 aggregated together. Figures of childhood deaths for all specific causes are not available for local authorities, as these data are judged to be too detailed to preserve anonymity in death statistics. A copy of the table has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many death certificates on which (a) MRSA and (b) clostridium difficile were mentioned were issued in England and Wales in each of the last three years. (240568)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many death certificates were issued in England and Wales on which (a) MRSA and (b) Clostridium difficile were mentioned in each of the last three years. (24G568)

The table attached provides the number of deaths where (a) MRSA or (b) Clostridium difficile was mentioned on the death certificate, in 2005 to 2007 (the latest year available).

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what proportion of working age adults were in employment in each local authority area in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. (240515)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, December 2008:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of working age adults were in employment in each local authority in each year since 1997. [240515]

The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.

Table 1 shows the number of working age persons in employment (Males aged 16-64. Females Aged 16-59) in each local authority for the 12 month periods ending in February, for 1998-2004, from the annual LFS, and for the 12 month periods ending December, for 2004-2007, from the APS. Estimates for April 2007 to March 2008 from the APS have also been included as being the latest available. Table 2 shows the percentage of persons of working age ill employment for the same periods and geographies as Table 1. A copy of the tables has been placed in the Library of the House.

As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of new additional jobs created since 1997 in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector. (241590)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the number of new additional jobs created since 1997 in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector. (241590)

The Office for National Statistics collects employment statistics for the public sector as part of the Quarterly Public Sector Survey and for the private sector as part of the Labour Force Survey. However, statistics related to job creation are not collected.

However we can provide the growth in employment within both sectors. The data are attached at Annex A.

Annex A

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which departments and agencies utilise the Government Procurement Card. (241760)

I have been asked to reply.

There are currently 1,153 UK public sector organisations utilising the Government Procurement Card Service. A full list has been deposited in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many suicides have been caused by the drug coproxamol in each of the last three years. (240754)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

As National Statistician. I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many suicides have been caused by the drug Co-proxamol in each of the last three years. (240754)

The table attached provides the numbers of deaths for which the underlying cause was suicide by drug poisoning and a paracetamol and dextropropoxyphene compound (co-proxamol) was mentioned on the death certificate either alone or together with other substances, from 2003 to 2007 (the latest year available).

Where more than one drug is mentioned on the death certificate, it is not always possible to tell which of them was primarily responsible for the death.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the conception rate was among girls aged under 18 years in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. (240377)

The information falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the conception rate was among girls aged under 18 years in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. (240377)

Available figures are estimates of the number of conceptions that resulted in a live birth, stillbirth or legal termination.

The number and rate of conceptions to girls aged under 18 in 2006 (the most recent year for which figures are available), for England and Wales are shown below.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people were employed in the (a) weaving, (b) spinning, (c) dyeing, (d) finishing and making-up and (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry at the latest date for which figures are available. (240416)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many people were employed in the (a) weaving, (b) spinning, (c) dying, (d) finishing and making-up and (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry at the latest date for which figures are available (240416).

Table 1, attached, shows the number of employee jobs in the weaving, spinning, finishing and making-up, and silk industries in Great Britain in 2006.

Estimates of employment are usually provided using the Labour Force Survey. However because of the interest in industrial sector, your question has been answered using the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), which provides estimates at the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC03) level.

'The ABI is a business survey which provides estimates of employment according to the number of jobs. The estimates exclude people who are self-employed workers in the industry sectors requested. Please note that dyeing employment estimates cannot be provided separately using 4-digit SIC03, and estimates for the silk industry are also included under weaving and spinning.

As with any sample survey, estimates from the Annual Business Inquiry are subject to margins of uncertainly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the (a) employment and (b) unemployment rate for (i) women, (ii) men and (iii) men and women aged (A) 16 to 24, (B) 25 to 34, (C) 34 to 49 and (D) 50 to 60 years was in each month of the last 10 years. (241444)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

As National Statistician. I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) employment and (b) unemployment rate for (i) women, (ii) men and (ill) men and women aged (A) 16 to 24, (B) 25 to 34. (C) 34 to 49 and (D) 50 to 60 years was in each month of the last 10 years. (241444)

The attached table provides estimated employment and unemployment rates for the categories requested, for each quarter since 1998. Monthly data is not available.

The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

The figures have been derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. Consequently, the figures from quarter 3 2006 are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on external (a) public affairs and (b) public relations consultants in each of the last five years. (242291)

[holding answer 10 December 2008]: In DEFRA, public relations covers a wide range of activity which forms an important element of a broader communications mix. This can include advertising, direct marketing, live events and publications. The following table shows what public relations activity was procured via DEFRA's Communications Directorate since FY 2004-05 using the COI Public Relations Framework.

We do not collate expenditure under the heading ‘public affairs’.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date he last used a train in the course of his official duties. (242602)

All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code. My latest official duty outside London was on 28 November, when I attended the meeting of the Cabinet in Leeds. I travelled to and from Leeds by train.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Environment Agency's first flooding engineers to graduate from university and take up positions in the agency. (241507)

The first Environment Agency Foundation Degree students in flood and coastal engineering graduated from the University of the West of England in 2006. To date, 75 students have graduated and over 90 per cent. are employed by the Environment Agency as technician engineers.

There are currently 138 engineering graduates and students training with the Environment Agency under a national development programme that includes the Foundation Degree students, Masters Degree students from various universities and graduates under professional training agreements. The Environment Agency expects that 50 engineering staff will join its business each year by 2010 through this programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on repairs of critical infrastructure which is at risk from flooding. (241499)

Ministers have had discussions with the Environment Agency on this and other matters. The agency has held a significant number of discussions with local resilience forums and emergency services about the critical infrastructure in their areas. The agency has also provided extensive advice to operators of critical national infrastructure and is currently working closely with them to identify their sites at risk and provide them with appropriate flood warnings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 19 November 2008, Official Report, column 476W, on public relations: Forestry Commission, if he will break down the indicative cost for 2007-08 by category of services provided. (242088)

[holding answer 10 December 2008]: The nature of the Forestry Commission's activities means that individual staff deal with several aspects of communications as part of a single project and it is therefore not possible to break down costs into discrete communications activities. An indicative breakdown can be given for the broad areas of activity.

Promotion of the public forest estate, including advertising and marketing of events, promotion of visitor facilities and attractions and literature for walks, cycling facilities etc., amounted to £316,000.

Press, media and internet communications carried out by Forestry Commission staff and external agencies working on the Commission's behalf amounted to £544,000.

Corporate publicity, which includes the promotion of sustainable forestry policy and practice, grants and licences literature, events and trade shows amounted to £120,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 15 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1218-22W, on non-departmental public bodies, how the budget savings over the period (a) 2007-08 to 2008-09 and (b) 2008-09 to 2010 of (i) Natural England, (ii) Carbon Trust, (iii) Encams, (iv) RPA Operations and (v) the Marine and Fisheries Agency break down among spending areas. (240842)

[holding answer 8 December 2008]: The budgets for Natural England, Carbon Trust, Encams, RPA Operations and the Marine and Fisheries Agency, split between resource and capital spending areas are provided in the following table. A comparison between years is also provided.

Budgets are set annually, based on forecast workloads contained in business plans. Budget savings are managed in-year through normal budget monitoring and management procedures and the outcome reported in the relevant bodies' annual reports and accounts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department plans to take on regulation of pesticide spraying following the recent High Court ruling by Mr. Justice Collins on the matter. (241062)

This is a complex judgment and we need to consider it carefully.

The protection of human health is paramount. Pesticides used in this country are rigorously assessed to the same standards as the rest of the EU and use is only ever authorised after internationally approved tests. These explicitly include impacts on people who live next to fields, consumers who eat treated crops and farmers who do the spraying.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what bonuses were paid by his Department in 2007-08; to which members of staff; and for what purposes. (240795)

The Department makes bonus payments to its staff for two purposes: (a) special bonuses to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations; and (b) performance bonuses linked to the end of year staff appraisal, which are awarded to staff who have had a highly successful performance over a whole year.

The following table shows the breakdown of the bonuses awarded:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what records his Department maintains of its expenditure on (a) official hospitality and (b) alcohol for official hospitality. (240463)

My Department currently keeps records of expenditure on all official receptions held.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many hours per week the proposed Chairman of the Electoral Commission will be expected to work; and if he will make a statement. (242322)

The Speaker’s Committee decided in December 2007 that in future the post of Chairman of the Electoral Commission should be filled on a part-time basis. Accordingly, the panel appointed by Mr. Speaker to select a candidate for the appointment advertised it in March 2008 on the basis of a time commitment of typically three days a week. The precise terms and conditions are to be agreed between the new Chairman and the Commission.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what consideration the Electoral Commission has given to the arrangements which would be necessary to elect members of police authorities. (242328)

The Electoral Commission informs me that it is aware of proposals in the July 2008 Policing Green Paper for directly elected crime and policing representatives in England and Wales. It plans to give further consideration to the administrative arrangements for such elections, including the time scales for implementing new elections and the funding provided for their administration, when more detailed proposals are published.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the effect on levels of congestion on the Dartford-Thurrock toll crossing consequent on the introduction of the revised tariff for a car from £1.00 to £1.50; and if he will make a statement. (241097)

The Highways Agency is closely monitoring the impact of the new charging regime on traffic. It is too soon to draw firm conclusions as traffic levels on particular days can be influenced by other factors, for example incidents on neighbouring parts of the network and promotional days at nearby retail centres. However early indications are that there has been some switching of traffic from the charged period (6 am to 10 pm) into the free night-time period.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 116WS, on the cost of Ministerial cars for 2007-08, which Ministers and senior civil servants had use of a Government Car and Despatch Agency vehicle in 2007-08. (242050)

The Ministerial Code sets out who is entitled to use an official car provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the working group on the Severn Bridge is expected to present its findings. (240342)

The working group presented its findings in early October to the Highways Agency’s chief executive.

The working group established that, in principle, it is feasible to accept credit/debit cards as a method of toll payment at Severn Crossings. A number of detailed operational, technical, financial and contractual issues need to be considered.

Negotiations with the Concessionaire began on 20 October and the Concessionaire has since commenced detailed financial discussions with the banks and equipment suppliers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government has spent on capital transport infrastructure projects in the north- east in each year since 1997. (242384)

The funding allocation provided by the Department for Transport for capital transport infrastructure projects in the north-east in each year since 1997 is as follows.

Funding allocations made prior to Local Transport Plan Funding.

Since April 1997 the Government have also provided specific capital funding for the Tyne and Wear Metro amounting to £65.626 million. Up to and including 2004-05 this was provided solely as revenue support although Nexus were able to use this for capital spending on the Metro.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many unique visitors have used the Directgov website in each of the last five years. (242522)

Directgov's core usage measure is visits rather than unique users. Monthly visits for 2008 are shown as follows:

Directgov has unique user statistics for part of our site but does not yet measure unique users for all our sub domains.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which sub-sites of the Directgov website have (a) received the most direct visitors and (b) recorded the most online transactions in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the performance of each sub-site against objectives in creating two-way engagement between the citizen and government. (242531)

The Directgov Motoring section and electronic vehicle licensing (eVL) were the sub-sites that received the most direct visitors and recorded the most online transactions in the last 12 months.

We are looking at how we might make citizens who complete a transaction on one of these sub-sites aware of what else Directgov has to offer. This is relatively simple to do but requires the Departments who manage the content or own the transaction on the sub-sites to include the necessary changes to allow us to advertise other services.

One area in which we have seen a degree of success is the Act on CO₂ campaign. The offline advertising calls for citizens to search online for the campaign without mentioning Directgov. Yet we know that about a fifth of people accessing the Act on CO₂ campaign site have come from a promotion on the main Directgov website suggesting that they found the campaign while looking at something else on Directgov.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of running the Directgov website was in each of the last five years. (242521)

Expenditure on the Directgov website since its launch in 2004 has been as follows:

In addition, the following expenditure was incurred on non-web channels (i.e. kiosk, DTV and mobile):

Expenditure for the current year (2008-09) is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the Directgov website is being promoted to the public. (242520)

Directgov is promoted to the public through a variety of online and offline channels. Online promotion includes partnership arrangements with sites such as AOL and MSN. Directgov also undertakes search engine optimisation and pay per click activity with search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo.

Offline channels include an ongoing PR programme plus partnership activities with intermediaries such as Jobcentre Plus and UK Online Centres.

Directgov also undertook a month long marketing campaign in February 2006 and again in March 2008 which focused on the depth and breadth of the Directgov offer, new transactional content on the website, and on Directgov's multi-channel presence.

Looking ahead, as Directgov becomes the main point of entry to public services online, there is an imperative to generate a higher level of awareness of Directgov and its services to the public. Therefore Directgov is planning a national marketing campaign to run over the next three years, starting in January 2009. It will be a multi-media campaign, using TV, radio, print, partnerships, ambient and online channels to increase understanding of the depth and breadth of information and services available through Directgov on the web, mobile and DiTV. The aim is to demonstrate relevance to citizens and increase propensity to use Directgov, with consequential increase in brand awareness and visitor numbers to Directgov. This will help Departments to realise the benefits from Directgov by increasing use of the online channel.

Allied to this, we are looking at how we can use alternative channels such as branded ‘widgets’ and applications to deploy content onto third party sites in the future.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Directgov website; and what criteria have been established to assess its effectiveness. (242523)

Directgov has a benefits framework covering two customer groups: the citizen and Government Departments. Within each of these groups, performance is determined with reference to five benefits categories. Each of these benefit categories is evidenced by KPIs drawn from a variety of sources.

The effectiveness of Directgov is then monitored through regular reporting against these supporting KPIs. The main sources of information include:

Customer surveys (citizen)—conducted quarterly

Stakeholder surveys (Government Departments)—conducted every six months

Web metrics—available continuously

Brand research—conducted annually (in addition before and after the marketing campaign).

Performance against the framework is assessed on a quarterly basis and reported to the Directgov board.

Currently Directgov is performing well against the target KPIs in each category.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many registered blind people receive the (a) low and (b) middle rate mobility component of the disability living allowance (i) in each (A) region and (B) constituency and (ii) nationwide. (241003)

I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave her on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1969W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what employment programme lone parents with children under the age of 12 years will be eligible to take part in once the flexible new deal has been implemented nationally and employment zone contracts have ended; and if he will make a statement. (241007)

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 2002-003W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of abolishing the single room rent and paying housing benefit claimants the same rate of benefit irrespective of their age in the last 12 months. (241011)

I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave her on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1975W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 9 July 2008, Official Report, column 1685W, on lone parents: income support, what progress has been made towards developing a communications strategy to support the changes to the eligibility rules for income support coming into effect in (a) October 2008, (b) October 2009 and (c) October 2010; and if he will make a statement. (241044)

A communication strategy to support the changes to the eligibility rules for Income Support affecting lone parents is currently being implemented.

The strategy has a very clear focus on the need for timely and accurate communications to (1) customers affected by the changes, (2) Jobcentre Plus staff in roles impacted by the changes, and (3) external stakeholders involved in giving accurate advice to customers.

Key objectives of the communications strategy are to ensure that the following audiences receive co-ordinated, timely and tailored messages, as follows:

Existing lone parent customers and those making new or repeat claims to Income Support—understand the changes and how they will be affected

Advisers working with customers—know how the changes will impact on them and their lone parent customers

Stakeholders external to Jobcentre Plus—are clear on these changes and the effect they will have upon them and their customers.

To meet these objectives the strategy includes the following:

Mailshots sent direct on 6 October 2008 to specific lone parent customers, which outline the effect that the changes may have on them, including new requirements for quarterly attendance at work-focused interviews and how their claim to disability premium could be affected (where relevant).

A further mailshot in on 24 November 2008 to lone parents affected, confirming that the changes have been approved by Parliament. This will be supported by local mailshots to offer voluntary interviews 6 weeks prior to the end of the lone parents' Income Support.

Providing lone parent customers with detailed information factsheets that clearly outline the changes for them and the action they may need to take with the support of their adviser.

A leaflet and poster campaign to explain in visual format the steps each lone parent will take as the changes impact them.

Local 'Options and Choices' events for lone parents that explain the changes and offer advice and guidance in preparing for work (these have been in place since April 2008).

Publication of details of the changes on both the DWP and Jobcentre Plus Internet sites.

A range of products available to Jobcentre Plus staff to ensure that they are able to deliver the correct messages to customers including briefings, desk aids, presentations, key messages, links to guidance and supporting articles in internal publications. This also includes roadshows delivered to senior managers to ensure understanding of the changes.

Numerous presentations to key external stakeholders and close engagement with external lone parent voluntary groups.

The same approach is proposed for introduction of Phase 2 of the changes in 2009 and Phase 3 in 2010. However, in spring 2009 we will evaluate the Phase 1 communications and feed these findings into communication plans for the next phases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in (a) crisis loans, (b) budgeting loans and (c) community care grants to people in (i) each Jobcentre Plus district and (ii) each region in each month since April 2003; and if he will make a statement. (240516)

I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to her on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 2027W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Jobcentre Plus districts underspent their allocations for (a) crisis loans, (b) budgeting loans and (c) community care grants in each year since 2003; how much and what proportion of the budget for each such district the underspend represented; and if he will make a statement. (240517)

I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to her on 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 2026-027W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) benefit payments and (b) pension payments were issued by giro cheque in each (i) constituency and (ii) region in each of the last three years. (241063)

The number of benefit and pension accounts paid by cheque in each constituency for each of the last three years will be placed in the Library.

The number of benefit and pension accounts paid by cheque in each region for the same period is shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance has been issued to Jobcentre Plus staff in relation to the time allowed to interview claimants by Jobcentre Plus. (241644)

[holding answer 9 December 2008]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what guidance has been issued to Jobcentre Plus staff in relation to the time allowed to interview claimants by Jobcentre Plus. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

Jobcentre Plus conducts a wide range of different interviews to meet both business and customer needs. Guidance to staff outlines the purpose and content of each interview type and the average length of time these should take to complete. Each interview takes into account the time required to undertake activities that must be covered in every interview and those that are only required as and when individual customer circumstances dictate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related emergency admissions to hospitals there have been in (a) the London Borough of Bexley, (b) the London Borough of Greenwich and (c) the London Borough of Bromley in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex of patients admitted. (242905)

The number of alcohol-related finished admissions in the London boroughs of Bexley, Greenwich and Bromley for each year since 2002-03 to 2006-07 can be found in the following table. Data for earlier years are not available. 2006-07 is the latest year for which data are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding was made available by his Department for allergy research in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. (241766)

[holding answer 9 December 2008]: The available information is shown in the following table.

The departmental figures relate to national research programme expenditure. They do not include the significant expenditure on allergy research from the research and development allocations that have over the last 10 years been made annually to national health service providers. That information is not held centrally.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support biomedical research. The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. It funds a large portfolio of allergy research.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of prescribing anti-depressant drugs in the London Borough of Bexley in each of the last five years. (242904)

The British National Formulary (BNF) classifies anti-depressant drugs within section 4.3. The following table shows the net ingredient cost for drugs within this section that have been prescribed in Bexley Care Trust, which covers the London borough of Bexley. As this information is available for the most recent 60 months at any one time, figures exist only for four complete financial years (April to March inclusive).

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps his Department has taken to bring about an increase in levels of breastfeeding. (241346)

The Government are committed to the promotion of breastfeeding and the prevalence of breastfeeding at six to eight weeks is a key indicator in the Child Health and Well-being Public Service Agreement. ‘Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives’ a cross-government strategy for obesity (January 2008) aims to reverse the rise in childhood obesity and breastfeeding plays an integral role in this. A copy has already been placed in the Library.

Key actions to increase levels of breastfeeding include the investment of £4 million for the primary care trusts (PCTs) to develop local interventions to promote breastfeeding, including the training of frontline staff; the provision of easily accessible and timely advice to breastfeeding mothers through the national breastfeeding helpline; the recently launched breastfeeding DVD “From bump to breastfeeding” given to all new mothers in England via their midwives and health visitors.

Other key activities include the development of a care pathway for the frontline health professionals; the provision of commissioning guidance for PCTs; and the establishment of a regional and local network to promote breastfeeding.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress has been made on the implementation of the vascular checks programme; and if he will make a statement; (241535)

Phased implementation of the programme will begin in April 2009 and on 13 November we published a “Next Steps” guide to help primary care trusts (PCTs) to commission the service. A copy has been placed in the Library. We will continue to work with our statements to provide advice and support on the implementation and delivery of the vascular checks programme.

The funding for the vascular checks programme is included in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 PCT revenue allocations, announced on 8 December.

Funding is allocated to PCTs on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. A weighted capitation formula is used to determine each PCT’s target share of available resources, to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need.

The components of the formula are used to weight each PCT’s ‘crude’ population according to their relative need (age, and additional need) for health care and the unavoidable geographical differences in the cost of providing health care (market forces factor).

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths in care homes were attributed to each notifiable infectious disease in each year since 1997. (240770)

The information requested is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, Health (1) how many home visits on average a child considered to be at (a) low risk and (b) high risk received from an allocated health visitor in the first two years following assessment in each London borough in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement; (241902)

The information requested is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of its capacity to adapt to climate change; and what plans he has to publish a climate change adaptation strategy. (241181)

The cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change Programme increases Government’s capacity to adapt by ensuring a co-ordinated approach across all Departments and the public sector. This includes implementation of the adaptation aspects of the Climate Change Act, such as development of the national climate risk assessment. Information about the programme can be found at

www.defra.gov/adaptation.

The Department of Health recognises that climate change will affect the health of UK citizens and in February, this year (2008) updated its 2001-02 report on the “Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK”. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.

Climate impacts affect many departmental responsibilities. We have worked closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to develop the adaptation sections of the Climate Change Act. There are therefore no plans at present to publish a separate climate change adaptation strategy as this would be seen as a duplication of the work that DEFRA are taking forward.

The key areas for the national health service in adapting to climate change include adapting the health and social care infrastructure (hospitals, nursing homes) to be more resilient to the effects of heat and floods; development of local ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Flood’ plans for coping with disasters; and increasing awareness of how people can adapt to changes in climate.

One of the effects of climate change already encountered in this country is the increased frequency of heat waves. The devastating heat wave across Europe in 2003 led to the Department of Health first launching its National Heatwave Plan in 2004, in which a ‘Heat-Health Watch’ system operates in England during the summer months, with advice from the Met Office, with four levels of response and appropriate advice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each primary care trust have received continuing care in each quarter per 10,000 population (a) since the application of the national framework for continuing care and (b) for two years prior to the application of the national framework for continuing care; and how many people per 10,000 population met the eligibility criteria for continuing care for the first time (i) since the application of the national framework for continuing care and (ii) in the two years prior to the application of the national framework for continuing care. (241436)

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were receiving continuing care in the last quarter for which figures are available, broken down by (a) primary care trust and (b) the length of time for which they had been receiving continuing care. (241500)

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Information on the length of time in receipt of continuing care is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many invoices submitted to his Department in the last month for which figures are available were paid within 10 days of receipt; and how many remained unpaid after 28 days. (242664)

During November 2008 the Department received 14,890 invoices, of which 14,663 were paid within 10 days this equates to 98.5 per cent.

Only 43 payments were made after 30 days and this equates to 0.29 per cent. The remaining 184 invoices (1.24 per cent.) were paid between 10 and 30 days.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people diagnosed with mild or moderate depression in the London borough of Bexley in the last 12 months. (242906)

The information requested is not held centrally.

Most people with depression are seen and treated in primary care. However, data on the number of people with individual conditions seen in primary care—such as depression—are not held centrally. While data are available on the total number of people admitted to the care of a consultant in secondary care with depression, they are likely to exclude many patients diagnosed with mild to moderate depression.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which trigger offences lead to drug testing as part of his Department's drug intervention programme; and whether he plans to include further offences within that definition. (240589)

I have been asked to reply.

The trigger offences are set out in Schedule 6 to the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. These are the offences which have been shown to have the clearest link with drug misuse, particularly the misuse of heroin and cocaine/crack and are listed.

Trigger offences with effect from 1 August

1. Offences under the following provisions of the Theft Act 1968 are trigger offences:

section 1 (theft)

section 8 (robbery)

section 9 (burglary)

section 10 (aggravated burglary)

section 12 (taking motor vehicle or other conveyance without authority)

section 12A (aggravated vehicle-taking)

section 22 (handling stolen goods)¹

section 25 (going equipped for stealing, etc.)

2. Offences under the following provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 are trigger offences if committed in respect of a specified Class A drug:

section 4 (restriction on production and supply of controlled drugs)

section 5(2) (possession of controlled drug)

section 5(3) (possession of controlled drug with intent to supply)

3. Offences under the following provisions of the Fraud Act 2006 are trigger offences²

section 1 (fraud)

section 6 (possession etc. of articles for use in frauds)

section 7 (making or supplying articles for use in frauds)

3A. An offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 is a trigger offence, if committed in respect of an offence under

(a) any of the following provisions of the Theft Act 1968¹

section 1 (theft)

section 8 (robbery)

section 9 (burglary)

section 22 (handling stolen goods, or

(b) section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006 (fraud)³

4. Offences under the following provisions of the Vagrancy Act 1824 are trigger offences¹

section 3 (begging)

section 4 (persistent begging)

¹ Offences added to the trigger offences in Schedule 6 to the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 by The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (Amendment) Order 2004, (S.I. 2004/1892), which came into force on 27 July 2004.

² Offences added by the Fraud Act 2006, which came into force on 15 January 2007