To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provision he has made in respect of archive collections in the context of the merger of the Museum and Galleries Commission and the Library and Information Commission. [65303]

The funding allocations for the new Museums, Libraries and Archives Council for the years 2000–01 and 2001–02 were set out in the document "A New Cultural Framework" which was placed in the

Lead department	Project	Funding provided (£ million)
Scottish Office	Scottish legal database enabling electronic access within the public sector	0.210
	legislation and case law.
Scottish Office	Pilot project using multi-agency teams to identify young people at risk of	0.451
	offending
Scottish Office	Integration of planning and delivery of health and social services for	0.982
	community care clients
Scottish Office	Integration of probation and employment services for offenders	0.450
Northern Ireland Office	Criminal justice system IT information systems	0.800
Northern Ireland Office	Pilot prison to court video link for pre-trial, remand or bail hearings	0.050
Valuation Office	Electronic transfer of data from the Valuation Office to local authorities	0.120
Public Record Office	Developing a common specification for management of electronic records	0.133
	held by Government
Inland Revenue	Use of IT in selected cases to present documentary evidence in tax	1.936
	prosecutions
Inland Revenue	Project exploring the potential for an on-line self-service facility offering	0.210
	access to cross-governmental information
Home Office	Electronic links between authorised criminal justice agencies and the Police	1.320
	National Computer
Home Office	Electronic sharing of information by criminal justice agencies in Sussex	0.394
Health	Pilot joint call handling centres (police, ambulance, fire and rescue	7.800
	services)
DSS	Pilot of new ways of integrating the services provided to pensioners	0.804
DSS	Benefit fraud prevention, deterrence and detection pilot project	0.451
DSS	Investigation of the potential for the joint administration of a range of	0.135
	benefits provided by central and local government
Cabinet Office, Better Regulation Unit	IT system piloting one stop shop for regulatory services run by local	0.100
	authorities
Land Registry	Development of electronic database providing on-line information on land	3.273
	and property
DETR	Information systems links between Vehicle Inspectorate and Magistrates	0.092
	Courts
DETR	Two pilots testing out feasibility of allowing drivers to apply for vehicle	0.279
	tax disc applications by electronic means
ONS	Study exploring the role of a single business register across central and	0.440
	local government
ONS	Merger of Family Expenditure and National Food Surveys	0.355
DfEE	Single Work Focused Gateway	79.50
DfEE	Schools and local education authority information management strategy	0.225
DfEE	Pilot project testing the scope for delivering a range of Employment	2.912
	Service and Benefits Agency services through a call center
DfEE	Pilot programme developing an inter-agency response to the needs of	0.200
	disaffected young people and trialing the use of youth advocates
Ordnance Survey	Study of scope for standardising geospatial information held by	0.300
	government and making it accessible to other parts of government and the
	public

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what projects have secured funding from the Invest to Save Budget. [65564]

The Invest to Save Budget (ISB) was set up to help develop projects which bring together two or more public service bodies to deliver services in an innovative and efficient fashion. Overall provision for the ISB has been increased from £150m to £230m and, from that sum, £120m has been allocated to 33 projects following the first bidding round. The additional £80m allocated to the ISB will enable the programme to fund the new Single Work Focused Gateway. The full list of winning projects and the amounts allocated to each are set out in the following table:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has taken to the World Bank, as a member of its board, to provide protection for developing countries from financial speculators. [62768]

[holding answer 16 December 1998]: As Chairman of the G7 Finance Ministers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 30 October 1998 a far-reaching programme of reforms to strengthen the international financial system. On behalf of the G7, the Chancellor called on the World Bank, IMF and other international institutions to take forward work quickly on implementing these reforms, including the development by the World Bank of a code of general principles of good practice on social policy to ensure that governments have in place policies to tackle the social impact of sudden shocks to the financial system. In addition, the UK and other G7 countries committed themselves to strengthening in their own countries the regulatory focus on risk management in financial organisations, including in particular the implications arising from the operation of hedge funds and other highly leveraged financial organisations.These reforms agreed by the G7 are designed to modernise the financial system to enable us to meet the challenges of today's global economy, minimise the risks of disruption, and maximise the benefits of globalisation to deliver greater opportunity and prosperity for all. The Chancellor recently met James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, and Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the IMF, to discuss the implementation of these reforms and will continue to work closely with them on these issues.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if charges levied in respect of (a) road pricing and (b) workplace charging will be subject to VAT. [63640]

[holding answer 15 December 1998]: As the recent consultation document "Breaking the logjam" issued by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions said, there may be VAT implications for road user and workplace parking charges. A case is to be heard by the European Court of Justice on the VAT treatment of toll charges, and the outcome of this case will determine whether road user charges should bear VAT.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the period which will be required for the UK economy to demonstrate sustainable convergence before entry into a single currency can take place. [65098]

[holding answer 11 January 1999]: In his statement to the House of Commons on 27 October 1997, Official Report, columns 583–606, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that, barring some fundamental and unforeseen change in economic circumstances, there is no realistic prospect of the UK economy having demonstrated, before the end of this Parliament, convergence which is sustainable and settled rather than transitory. It is essential that Government and business prepare during this Parliament, to create a genuine option of joining a successful single currency early in the next Parliament.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families, broken down by family income, are likely to receive both the working families tax credit and housing benefit. [64674]

Estimates for 1999–2000 of the number of families in receipt of both the Working Families Tax Credit and Housing Benefit are given in the table.

Gross weekly family income	Number of families
Less than £60	50,000
£60–£99.99	75,000
£100–£149.99	50,000
£150 and over	50,000
Total	225,000

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the numbers of families who will be eligible for the working families tax credit, and their average net pay, comprising (a) a male as the main earner and their partner and (b) a female as the main earner and their partner, with in each case (i) one child, (ii) two children, (iii) three children and (iv) four or more children under eight years of age. [64227]

I regret that estimates at this level of detail are not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the provisions of the Value Added Tax (Sport, Sports Competition and Physical Education) Order 1998 to resolve the different VAT treatment of private and proprietary golf clubs. [65161]

The Order, which was designed to prevent tax avoidance, was withdrawn and an announcement about a replacement will be made as soon as possible. The Government understand the problems of both types of golf club and have arranged for HM Customs and Excise to discuss these with the European Commission, in the light of the recent European Court of Justice ruling in Commission of the European Communities vs the Kingdom of Spain (Case C-124/96, Judgment of the Court, Sixth Chamber, of 7 May 1998).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims for compensation are outstanding under each option in the large and small calibre firearms compensation schemes; what is the average amount of time taken to process a claim under each option; when he expects all claims under each category to have been completed; and if he will make a statement. [64953]

Payments under Options A and B of the compensation schemes for large calibre handguns and small calibre pistols have been completed, apart from a small number of cases still under inquiry, in an average processing time of 21 weeks. The average processing time for claims processed so far under Option C of the schemes is 58 weeks. There are around 16,500 claims awaiting payment offers under Option C, and the aim is to complete these by the end of March if at all possible. In the great majority of these cases, payments have already been made under Options A and B.I outlined the measures we are taking to speed the processing of these compensation claims in my reply to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) on 28 October 1998,

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms have been surrendered under the terms of the Firearms (Amendment) Acts 1997; and what has been the cost to the Exchequer to date. [65237]

A total of 162,198 large and small-calibre handguns were surrendered, £67.2 million has so far been paid in compensation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the prison population was under the age of 21 years on 30 December. [65290]

The currently available information relates to the population on the last day of November 1998. On that date, 16 per cent. of the prison population in England and Wales were aged under 21 years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the education facilities that are available to young people of school age who are serving sentences in prisons in England and Wales. [65288]

There is a statutory requirement to provide prisoners under the age of 17 years with 15 hours academic education including English, mathematics, life skills relevant to their age, and information technology together with a minimum of 5 hours physical education.Prison education for all prisoners focuses on the core curriculum of basic educational skills (literacy and numeracy), life and social skills and computer skills.The Prison Service is currently developing new regime standards for young people under the age of 18. They will include the development of a broader education curriculum for young people under school leaving age which will take into account their particular learning difficulties, especially dyslexia, attention deficits and hyper-activity disorder and any statement of educational needs. The comprehensive spending review has made additional funds available for achieving the new standards.The Prison Service is also planning to introduce an individual programme for each young person. It will be based on a thorough assessment and will include an action plan and programme suited to individual needs, ability and aptitude.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded incidents there were in prisons in England and Wales of inmates causing self-harm in the last years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [65289]

The number of self-harm incidents reported by Prison Service establishments in the three years between 1995–96 and 1997–98 is set out in the table. Some caution is required in interpreting the table. A number of factors influence the pattern of figures across establishments and time. For instance, there would be a higher volume of prisoners associated with local prisons and a single disturbed prisoner can be responsible for a large number of self-harm incidents in any one year.The Prison Service is developing a range of measures to reduce levels of self-harm including: reviewing screening processes to identify those at risk; sharing good practice; improving cell design to produce a safer environment; and conducting research into suicide and self-injury.The Government take a particular interest in this important area of work. My noble Friend Lord Williams chairs a regular meeting between the Prison Service and a range of representatives from groups interested in prison suicides. These include: the Samaritans; Howard League; Prison Reform Trust; Inquest and the Board of Visitors. The meetings are held to discuss how the Prison Service and these groups can work more closely together to try to reduce the rate of suicides and instances of self-harm.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had from (a) the Runnymede Trust, (b) the Maimonides Foundation and (c) the Calanos Foundation about increased racist attacks following military action against Iraq. [65375]

I have received no representations from the Runnymede Trust, the Maimonides Foundation or the Calanos Foundation on this matter.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on current practice concerning the return of passports to those who make applications. [65167]

The Immigration and Nationality Directorate's (IND) normal practice is to return passports by second class post when the application has been decided. Applicants may of course ask for passports to be returned earlier, to collect them personally, or may stipulate and pay for alternative delivery arrangements. As the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) explained in his letter of 18 November last to hon. Members, IND is currently undergoing major organisational changes aimed at improving the way it handles casework. Urgent work, including the return of passports to applicants for travel, has continued to receive priority treatment during this transitional period, but the upheaval associated with the process of change has impacted upon the service IND is able to provide to applicants. IND is currently unable to expedite the cases of applicants wishing to travel; passports required urgently for travel during the brief transitional period will therefore be returned unendorsed.Passports submitted to the Passport Agency for renewal are returned to applicants having been cancelled when their applications have been processed. These are returned by first class post unless the applicant requests and pays for delivery by registered post. In exceptional circumstances applicants are not required to leave behind their existing passports while obtaining a renewal. If they call into an Office the passport can be checked and handed back. When the new passport is collected the existing one can be cancelled. New passports are normally sent out using first class post. The passports of customers calling in person at the Agency's Offices are returned by first class post except when applicants are travelling urgently and prefer to collect their passports. The Passport Agency asks customers to apply for passports at least one month ahead of their travel dates although normally properly completed applications are processed within 10 working days of receipt.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were lost by the Home Office in 1998 and what compensation was paid as a result. [65166]

The available records show that ex-gratia payments totalling £11,256 were made or offered in 1998 in respect of 69 claims for passports or other documents lost in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the (a) publication and (b) availability of literature which encourages drugs misuse. [63745]

Encouragement of the misuse of drugs is always to be deplored. The publication of material which incites its readers to misuse drugs may constitute an offence under section 19 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.If the hon. Member is aware of any literature which may constitute an offence, if he refers it to me, I will draw it to the attention of the appropriate authorities.

To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee how much was spent on prepaid envelopes for hon. and right hon. Members in each financial year since 1980. [65640]

This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms; I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee whose decision it was to offer free Christmas lunches to parliamentary staff. [65081]

It was the decision of the Director of Catering Services to offer a free Christmas lunch to all passholders taking lunch in Refreshment Department Cafeterias. I endorse fully her decision, as I consider it to be a small gesture by which to thank all staff, whether House or of hon. Members, for their help and support throughout the year.

To ask the Prime Minister when he intends to visit the Lancaster and Wyre constituency. [63766]

I have no immediate plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister what contact he has had with Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates about the bombing raids on Iraq. [65383]

I sent messages to Sheikh Zayed once military action had started and once it had ended, explaining our thinking on Iraq. Our Embassy in Abu Dhabi remained in close contact with key members of the UAE Government throughout the period of military action.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is for each county in Wales the percentage increase in external support for revenue programmes from 1998–99 to 1999–2000. [65302]

The percentage increases in external support towards standard spending assessments between 1998–99 and 1999–2000 are shown in the following table.

Percentage increase in external support towards Standard Spending Assessments between 1998–99 and 1999–20001,2
	Percentage
Isle of Anglesey	3.7
Gwynedd	2.9
Conwy	6.6
Denbighshire	5.8
Flintshire	5.6
Wrexham	4.9
Powys	5.5
Ceredigion	4.1
Pembrokeshire	5.7
Carmarthenshire	5.3
Swansea	4.2
Neath Port Talbot	4.4
Bridgend	5.7
The Vale of Glamorgan	5.9
Rhondda Cynon Taff	4.7
Merthyr Tydfil	5.1
Caerphilly	5.1
Blaenau Gwent	4.2
Torfaen	5.8
Monmouthshire	5.9
Newport	4.4
Cardiff	7.6
All county and county boroughs	5.2
1External support towards standard spending assessments includes revenue support grant, re-distributed non-domestic rates and council tax reduction scheme grant.
2Increases are between external support towards standard spending assessments for 1998–99, as set out in the Local Government Finance (Amendment) Report (Wales) 1998–99 which has yet to be debated by the House of Commons, and provisional 1999–2000 figures as announced by the Secretary of State for Wales on 14 December 1998.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the total cost to local government in Wales in 1999–2000 of the 2 per cent. increase in employees' pension contribution rates; and if he will make a statement. [65262]

No. Any increase in costs will depend on individual authorities' decisions on staffing levels. My right hon. Friend has taken into account local government's own view of need to spend in 1999–2000 in making his proposals for local government revenue spending; details of which were announced on 9 December 1998, Official Report, columns 229–30, and 14 December 1998, columns 390–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will indicate (a) what has been the total cost to date, including legal costs, of devising a compensation scheme for miners suffering from chronic bronchitis emphysema, (b) when he expects a scheme to be operative and (c) what is the number of cases currently formally lodged with solicitors. [64700]

[holding answer 11 January 1999]:(a) Since the judgment was handed down in January last year some £900,000 has been incurred by Department advisers, including principally Counsel, external solicitors and medical experts. The costs of DTI staff and of staff working for IRISC, the Department's claim handler, on this work cannot be separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will state (a) what has been the cost to date, including the legal costs, of devising a compensation scheme for miners suffering from vibration white finger, (b) when he expects a scheme to be operative and (c) what is the number of cases currently informally lodged with solicitors. [64699]

[holding answer 11 January 1999]:(a) Since the judgment was handed down in September 1997 some £1.1 million has been incurred by Departmental advisers, including principally Counsel, external solicitors and medical experts. The costs of DTI staff and of staff working for IRISC, the Department's claim handler, on this work cannot be separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will consult with local authorities on revising UK assisted areas. [65164]

	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Austria	2.22	2.21	2.30	2.38	2.34	2.56	2.58	2.70	2.86	2.77	2.71
Belgium	2.48	2.54	2.55	3.44	3.28	3.23	3.20	3.33	3.25	3.30	3.56
Denmark	2.09	2.14	2.64	2.54	2.46	2.47	2.14	2.08	2.15	2.44	2.42
Finland	2.66	2.70	2.83	2.96	2.99	3.08	3.28	3.69	3.65	3.63	3.51
France	5.84	5.78	5.80	5.92	6.23	5.92	5.37	5.10	4.97	4.69	4.46
Germany	4.56	4.52	4.38	4.58	4.59	4.24	4.08	4.01	3.80	3.76	3.83
Greece	1.12	1.18	1.14	1.44	1.22	1.27	1.14	1.27	1.40	1.91	n/a
Ireland	1.66	1.75	1.76	1.79	1.62	1.64	1.70	1.74	1.57	2.02	n/a
Italy	3.14	3.30	3.54	3.27	3.23	3.30	3.57	3.09	2.93	2.92	n/a
Luxembourg	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Netherlands	4.59	4.85	4.69	4.82	5.17	4.23	4.14	4.06	4.14	4.39	4.31
Portugal	1.32	1.58	1.45	1.54	1.78	1.93	1.93	2.38	n/a	n/a	n/a
Spain	1.54	1.78	1.98	2.28	2.40	2.39	2.29	2.13	2.15	2.29	2.36
Sweden	3.40	3.65	3.70	3.50	3.44	3.60	3.53	3.50	3.38	3.49	n/a
United Kingdom	4.60	4.36	4.13	3.95	3.74	3.53	3.35	3.44	3.18	3.37	3.35

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Chief Executive of the Military Survey Defence Agency for 1998–99. [65252]

The role of the Military Survey Defence Agency is to ensure the provision of geographic support to defence operations, planning and training. The Key Targets for the Agency for the 12 months from April 1998 are:

During the public consultation period on the review of Assisted Areas, my Department consulted with local authorities, and other key bodies. We are currently considering their responses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of Government expenditure in each EU country has been on scientific research for each year since 1986–87. [64842]

Separating out the cost of scientific research from the overall research and development figure is not possible. However, the percentage of central government expenditure used to support research and development in each EU country over the period 1986 to 1996, derived from OECD data, is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the circumstances in which missiles landed on the Hail Adel residential district of Baghdad during the recent raids on Iraq. [65382]

No missiles were fired by UK forces in the course of Operation Desert Fox. Questions relating to the circumstances of individual missile attacks are therefore a matter for the US authorities. Throughout Desert Fox the greatest care was taken to avoid any collateral damage and I am confident that any that did occur was limited.However, the US authorities believe that a US cruise missile may have been shot down on the night of 16–17 December and landed in the Al Karradah area of Baghdad, which is immediately adjacent to the Hail Adel district. They assess that it did not cause any significant damage. The missile was not targeted on a residential area.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in concluding the Country Policy Plan for Montserrat. [66004]

The Country Policy Plan (CPP) negotiations took place on Montserrat between 16–20 November between a joint DFID/FCO team and the Government of Montserrat (GoM). My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State has today in Montserrat formally signed the agreement with Chief Minister Brandt.The CPP sets out (a) GoM's commitment to open and transparent goverment and to key democratic principles and (b) the general principles guiding HMG's relations with its Overseas Territories and specific commitments to Montserrat including the £75m available through DFID's bilateral programme for the period 1998–99 to 2000–01.The CPP contains a series of policy matrices which set out objectives and timebound actions for each sector. These include both the commitment to implement existing policies and to take decisions on outstanding policy issues. The most important include:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been found placements under the New Deal scheme in each constituency in Scotland. [63428]

[holding answer 15 December 1998]: The information is not available for Parliamentary Constituencies; information for units of delivery, based on local enterprise company areas, is set out in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many trees have been planted in England and Wales on Forestry Commission land in each of the last three years. [64292]

The subject of the question relates to matters undertaken by Forest Enterprise. I have asked its Chief Executive, Dr. Bob McIntosh, to arrange for a reply to be given.

New planting and restocking programmes achieved during the year
	New planting		Restocking		Total
	Hectares	Quantities (Thousand)	Hectares	Quantities (Thousand)	Hectares	Quantities (Thousand)
England
1995–96
Conifer	25	80	1,907	6,137	1,932	6,217
Broadleaved	15	8	275	153	290	161
1996–97
Conifer	4	12	1,989	5,968	1,993	5,980
Broadleaved	0	0	246	158	246	158
1997–98
Conifer	5	13	2,119	6,670	2,124	6,683
Broadleaved	11	8	206	149	217	157
Wales
1995–96
Conifer	0	0	1,519	4,117	1,519	4,117
Broadleaved	0	0	130	265	130	265
1996–97
Conifer	0	0	2,002	5,509	2,002	5,509
Broadleaved	0	0	148	302	148	302
1997–98
Conifer	5	10	1,763	5,056	1,768	5,066
Broadleaved	8	2	166	287	174	289

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many councilors are (a) men and (b) women in each local authority in Scotland. [65304]

	Total number of:
Council	All Councillors	Male Councillors	Women Councillors	Women Councillors (percentage)
Aberdeen City	50	35	15	30.0
Aberdeenshire	47	33	14	29.8
Angus	26	21	5	19.2
Argyll & Bute	33	30	3	9.1
Clackmannanshire	12	10	2	16.7
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	30	27	3	10.0
Dumfries & Galloway	70	62	8	11.4
Dundee City	36	27	9	25.0
East Ayrshire	30	24	6	20.0
East Dunbartonshire	26	20	6	23.1
East Lothian	18	15	3	16.7
East Renfrewshire	20	17	3	15.0
Edinburgh, City of	58	39	19	32.8
Falkirk	36	28	8	22.2
Fife	92	59	33	35.9
Glasgow City	83	58	25	30.1
Highland	72	61	11	15.3
Inverclyde	20	17	3	15.0
Midlothian	15	14	1	6.7
Moray	18	11	7	38.9
North Ayrshire	30	24	6	20.0

The information in the table was compiled and supplied by the Scottish Local Government Unit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement urgently on the condition of accident and emergency wards in London. [64907]

We recognise the importance of improving the standard of facilities and equipment in accident and emergency departments. In response to Sir Leslie Turnberg's review, we are taking action to ensure that all Londoners have access to high quality hospital services, with appropriate accident and emergency provision. £30 million from next year's modernisation fund for capital has been earmarked for investment in accident and emergency departments of which £4.367 million has been allocated to London. These resources will be used to provide improved services for patients and a safer working environment for staff. Funds will be allocated across a range of schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are being treated for interstitial cystitis; what estimate he has made of the cost of their treatment; and what research is currently taking place on this illness. [64562]

The majority of patients with interstitial cystitis are treated in primary care or in outpatients. Information on the numbers of such patients is not collected centrally. A minority of patients require treatment in hospitals and in 1997/98 there were 2,136 admissions in which the primary diagnosis was recorded as interstitial cystitis. The cost of treating these patients cannot be separately identified. There are various studies and reports relating to interstitial cystitis published in the medical journals associated with urology and gynaecology, and a range of surgical and non-surgical treatments available or on trial. The Department is not currently funding any specific research in this area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will backdate the pension arrangements for widowers of female doctors to align them with the pension arrangements for widows of male doctors. [65114]

The National Health Service Pension Scheme provides equal survivor benefits for legal spouses on service from 6 April 1988. A scheme was available until June 1989 which allowed female members to purchase widowers' cover for earlier service, the costs being shared with NHS employers. The capitalised cost of backdating widowers' cover, updated to take account of pay rises, is now estimated to be in the order of £500 million. These costs would have to be paid in full by the whole membership and there is no indication that they would be willing to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what has been spent to date on legal, financial and other consultancy costs for the public/private partnership for London Underground. [64573]

London Transport employs a number of firms to provide advice on implementing the PPP, jointly to LT and the Government. this innovative arrangement ensures that LT and the Government receive the best advice, while minimising the overall cost of implementing the PPP.I understand from London Transport that their expenditure on external consultants, from 20 March 1998 (the date of the Government's announcement) to 2 January 1999, for work on the PPP and restructuring London Underground was £9.85 million. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, it is not possible to give figures for the costs of employing individual firms. For the future, I intend to publish updated figures at the end of the financial year and, therefore, at six-monthly intervals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of (i) men and (ii) women resident in Britain (1) in total and (2) between the ages of (a) 17 and 34 and (b) 35 and 60 years hold a current UK driver's licence. [64764]

The number of male and female full licence holders in Great Britain in total and by age band, as at October 1998 is as follows:

Million
	Male	Female
Total 16 and over	18.714	13.903
17–34	5.402	4.610
35–60	9.387	7.260

The latest estimates available for the Great Britain resident population (Office for National Statistics) relate to 1997, and a comparison of the total full licence holder figures for 1997 with these population figures for those aged 16 and over gives the following results:

	Male	Female
Licence holders (million)	18.657	13.672
Resident population (million)	22.171	23.468
Percentage licence holders	84.2	58.3

Due to inconsistencies in the data there are difficulties in providing a break-down of these overall percentages by age group. My noble Friend the Minister for Roads and Road Safety will write to the hon. Member with further details.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list all local authority housing authorities specifying in respect of each whether the chair is a man or a woman. [65318]

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will report on the progress of the Government's review of the legislation surrounding problems caused by leylandii trees; and when an announcement is expected to be made. [65277]

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Colchester (Mr. Russell) on 17 November 1998, Official Report, column 473.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will provide a breakdown of the changes to the criteria for calculating the Social Services SSA block in the local government settlements for 1999–2000. [65035]

The changes proposed to the method of calculating standard spending assessments for 1999–2000 are:

(i) Changing the formula for children's social services on the basis of research carried out by the University of York, and including an allowance for the higher costs of foster care in some areas;

(ii) Changing the formula for elderly residential social services to: include claimants of disability living allowance; update gross costs and income from charges to allow for the effects of community care; and change the measure of elderly population to exclude people living in institutions rather than in private households; and

(iii) Changing the formula for elderly domiciliary social services to include an allowance for sparsity of population to distribute 0.5 per cent. of the total of this element of the SSA; and to adjust the cost allowance of each elderly domiciliary client to take account of each authority's potential to raise income from charges.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will announce the outcome of the Review of the UK National Air Quality Strategy. [65561]

I am pleased to announce today our proposals to amend the UK National Air Quality Strategy. Cleaning up the air that we breathe and delivering on the right to clean air is one of the top priorities of this Government. There is still some way to go to protect our health and the environment from the effects of air pollution. The proposals that I am announcing today deliver on our pre-election commitment to the right to clean air. But improving air quality is not just for Government, or industry, we all have a responsibility to do our bit to improve the quality of our air.The National Air Quality Strategy was first published in March 1997 fulfilling the requirement under the Environment Act 1995 for a national air quality strategy setting out policies for the management of ambient air quality. The Government endorsed this Strategy in July 1997, but announced that it would be reviewed at the earliest opportunity in order to look at the prospects for delivering cleaner air more quickly. The Government accordingly brought forward to the end of 1998 the previously announced review, and as a result we have been able to make rapid progress on delivering our commitment to the right to clean air.The Strategy sets health-based objectives for 2005 for the eight air pollutants which have the greatest impact on health. Our aim in the review was to look at the prospects for meeting the objectives sooner or introducing tougher objectives where feasible and justified. This has been a thorough and wide-ranging review, during which we considered the legal framework, the scientific, economic and technical basis for decision-making on air quality policy, and the case for changes to the scope and content of the Strategy. My Department has worked closely with the Scottish Office, Welsh Office and Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland and we have consulted widely with stakeholders in producing our proposals.We have now completed the review and propose to tighten the objectives for five pollutants; for benzene, 1,3-butadiene and carbon monoxide we propose to bring forward the date for achieving the objectives; for lead we propose to bring forward the date for achieving the existing objective and to introduce a new tougher objective based on the most recent health advice; for nitrogen dioxide we propose to introduce a tougher hourly objective, while retaining the current annual objective. Action is in progress at EU level on ozone and we have concluded that it makes sense to await the outcome of that before deciding how to move forward on this pollutant. On particles (PM

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress has been made in his revision of the current Planning Guidance Note for Sport and Recreation (PPG17). [65431]