To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial assistance her Department provides for research by the UK Institute of Arable Crops. [130455]

We do not provide financial assistance in the form of core funding for the Institute of Arable Crops Research (IACR). Funding is provided for specific research projects with agreed objectives which contribute to achieving our overall objectives and also under consultancy contracts.IACR is currently involved in 12 research projects with a total value of £2,355,599 which are wholly or partly funded from our Renewable Natural Resources research programmes. Most of these involve research collaboration with other institutions in the UK or overseas. It is not possible to disaggregate the share of funding received by IACR in the time available.IACR also has some involvement in an Indo-UK collaboration on oilseed crops funded from our India programme which includes research and technology transfer and has a total value of £2 million over eight years.In addition IACR has a contract to provide us with specialist advisory and diagnostic services in the field of tropical plant virology and in response to inquiries from our partner countries. The value of this contract is currently around £40,000 a year.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial assistance her Department provides for the UN Drugs Control Programme; and what this funding is earmarked for. [130451]

Over the last three years we have provided £2.377 million to UNDCP in support of alternative development in Bolivia, Peru and Pakistan; £1.550 million to UNDCP in support of demand reduction and education in Peru and East Asia; and £0.196 million in support of strengthening law enforcement in China and East Asia.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on the toolkit for assessing IT professional skills in departments, proposed in the e-Government strategy published in April. [130796]

The Central IT Unit in the Cabinet Office, with support from CCTA, has now developed the toolkit and I am today placing copies in the Libraries of the House, and on the Information Age Government website at www.iagchampions.gov.uk. The toolkit has been extended to cover both the IT professional and business system management skills needed to implement department's e-business strategies, as recommended in the report "Successful IT: Modernising Government in Action" that I published in May.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what percentage of the (a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which she has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129844]

Since I May 1997, my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office has appointed (or re-appointed) 90 men and 68 women to serve on the boards of non-departmental public bodies. Of these, 21 men (72 per cent.) and eight women (28 per cent.) were appointed to paid posts and 69 men (53 per cent.) and 60 women (47 per cent.) were appointed to unpaid posts.In addition, my noble Friend, Baroness Jay, the Minister for Women has appointed 16 women to serve on the Women's National Commission. Of these, one is a paid post.This Government are committed to increasing the representation of women in public life. In support of this, the Department has drawn up an action plan for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities holding public appointments. The latest plans, together with the Government's overall plan, were published on 24 May 2000 in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments 2000–2003", copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what has been the policy since 1989 on writing annually to those of her Department's staff who are paying reduced rates of National Insurance contributions, reminding them of the rules governing the payment of reduced rates, as recommended in the Inland Revenue guidance note on reduced rate National Insurance contributions for married women. [129492]

My Department has no policy for writing annually to staff who are paying reduced rates of National Insurance.

To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what account the Church Commissioners take of allowances paid to bishops by the House of Lords in setting their pay and allowances. [130404]

None. These allowances are paid to bishops to cover their overnight accommodation, subsistence, secretarial and travel costs incurred in the exercise of their duties as Members of the House of Lords. They are entirely separate from bishops' stipends and working costs paid by the Commissioners.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to award grants to new companies in the glass industry. [128951]

My right hon. Friend has no such plans at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the importance of gas in the UK's future energy needs. [128953]

Gas plays, and will continue to play, an important part in meeting the UK's energy needs. In 1999, gas accounted for 33.2 per cent. of UK primary energy requirements; and, from within that total, gas generation accounted for 38.5 per cent. of electricity supplied. A working paper produced by my Department suggests that the contribution of gas to primary energy demand in the year 2020 will be of the order of 47.5–49.2 per cent., and its share of fuel used for electricity generation to be in the range 57–64 per cent..

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to equip universities with entrepreneurial skills. [128954]

The Government's £25 million Science Enterprise Challenge initiative has established 12 centres of enterprise in UK universities.The Centres will:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to meet package holiday industry representatives to discuss their pricing policies. [128955]

I have no plans at present to meet with travel industry representatives to discuss their pricing policies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of increased carbon dioxide emissions consequent upon the rescheduling of closure of Magnox nuclear power stations. [128956]

The projections within "Energy Projections for the UK: Working Paper", issued by my Department in March, include assumptions on the timing of closure of Magnox stations. The projected levels of carbon dioxide release in the Kyoto target period are unaffected by the recent announcements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to propose extensions to the provisions of employment law with respect to information and consultation. [128957]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has no plans to propose extensions to the provisions of employment law with respect to information and consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken through procurement policies by public bodies to assist the UK clothing and textiles industry. [128958]

We shall be bringing together leading public purchasers of textiles and clothing to discuss how British companies can be more competitive when bidding for public contracts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to improve the long-term viability of manufacturing industry. [128959]

We are assisting manufacturing industry to improve its long-term prospects by providing a stable macro-economic framework and by pursuing policies that help firms to innovate and grow.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will publish the details of the financial package for post offices outlined in his statement on 28 June. [128960]

Funding provision for the measures in support of the post office network were referred to by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in his statement of 28 June 2000, Official Report, columns 907–09. The provision is being set aside and precise amounts will be announced once detailed proposals have been drawn up and approved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many parishes lost their sub-post office (a) in the period between 1 May 1997 and 30 April 2000 and (b) in the previous three years. [128964]

I understand from the Post Office that it does not hold data on the location of sub-post offices by parish. The total number of post offices closed between end March 1997 and end March 2000 was 850 and in the three years between end March 1994 and end March 1997 the total number was 277.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of sub-post office closures in each year since 1997 met the definition of unavoidable closures set out in the Performance and Innovation Unit's report into the post office network. [129419]

[holding answer 6 July 2000]: That information is not available as the PIU report gives a definition based on events which have not yet taken place.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post office closures in each year since 1990 were unavoidable as defined in his oral statement of 28 June 2000, Official Report, column 907–20, on the Post Office network. [129984]

[holding answer 10 July 2000]: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given above to the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning) today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress is being made by the Small Business Service in developing links with the Small Business Administration in the United States. [128961]

David Irwin, Chief Executive of the Small Business Service, and I visited the SBA in March this year. We went to see first-hand the work of the SBA and to identify lessons from it and other business support initiatives which could be applied to the SBS.As announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 5 July 2000 at the joint UK-US conference "Enterprise and Technology for All: Seizing the Opportunity" David Irwin is taking forward with Aida Alvarez, Head of the SBA, a number of initiatives for further collaboration such as staff twinning possibilities and liaison between the Small Business Council and the SBA's National Advisory Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of regulation of business. [128962]

According to the recent research by the OECD and the Economist Intelligence Unit the UK is already more lightly regulated than most of our competitors. We will continue to reduce the level of regulation on business wherever possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he is taking to simplify and reduce regulations affecting business. [128975]

We are continually looking for opportunities to reduce burdens on business. For example, we have increased the statutory audit threshold for companies from £350,000 to £1 million, benefiting up to 150,000 companies, with potential savings of up to £180 million a year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which EU applicant countries he or his predecessors have visited since May 1997. [128963]

DTI Ministers have visited a majority of the applicants since 1997 reflecting the importance of EU enlargement for business. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade has just returned from Hungary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the Civil Aircraft Research and Demonstration programme. [128965]

The Department's support for Civil Aircraft Research and Demonstration makes an important contribution to the competitiveness of the aerospace industry. Decisions on future funding will be made in the light of the Government's spending review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes he proposes to make to the Civil Aircraft Research and Demonstration programme. [128978]

The Department's support for Civil Aircraft Research and Demonstration makes an important contribution to the competitiveness of the aerospace industry. Decisions on future funding will be made in the light of the Government's spending review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the contribution of the creative and communications industries to the UK economy; and if he will make a statement. [128967]

The creative and communications industries contributed an estimated £25 billion to the economy in 1995. Work in this area is currently under review, with an update of its assessment planned for later this year. Early indications, drawing on National Statistics, are that the corresponding estimate for the most recently available data 1997 is £33 billion, accounting for approaching 5 per cent. of Gross Domestic Product. In addition the telecommunications services industry contributed 1.9 per cent. to GDP.The creative and communications industries are vitally important to the future economic prosperity of this country. We have joined together with DCMS and other Government Departments to try to help to maximise their competitive position. We have closely involved senior figures from the creative and communications industries in fora such as the Information Age Partnership, chaired by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and the Creative Industries Task Force, chaired by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the European charter for small firms. [128968]

The Government welcome the commitments in the European Charter for Small Enterprises agreed at the Feira Council to take action, both at the European and member state level, on areas such as better regulation, strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship, improving access to finance and enhancing business support. The Charter sends a clear signal of the European Union's positive attitude to enterprise and gives substance to the recent commitment to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress he has made in meeting retired miners health-related compensation claims. [128970]

The Handling Agreement for settling claims for respiratory disease were formally signed in September last year. To date we have received around 108,000 claims. So far over 52,000 spirometry tests, the first part of the medical tests, have been carried out. A further 12,000 appointments have been made at 34 centres nationwide. Together this represents over 90 per cent. of the total live claims received. Over 9,000 claimants have received full and final offers based on their spirometry result; of these 2,600 have been accepted. The remainder will progress to the full MAP.The full Medical Assessment Process, the second part of the tests, began in December. Healthcall, the Department's contractors, now have 26 centres operational. Initially some GPs and hospitals were uncertain about releasing the miners' medical records which are essential prior to making a MAP appointment. However we are now making appointments at a rate of 2,000 a month. We expect this to rise into the autumn. To date the Department has made damages payments totalling in excess of £63 million.We signed the Handling Arrangement for settling claims for Vibration White Finger in January last year. To date we have received some 80,000 claims. Nearly 15,000 claims have been settled, with damages totalling nearly £130 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases have been lodged to date by former miners living in Barnsley, East and Mexborough for compensation for (a) vibration white finger and (b) chronic bronchitis and emphysema. [129798]

In the Barnsley and Mexborough area, as at 10 July, the Department has lodged some 4,000 claims for vibration white finger and 5,200 for respiratory disease from former miners and their families. IRISC, the Department's claim handling agents, are not able to provide a breakdown for Barnsley, East.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on UK business activity in Thailand. [128972]

In 1999, Thailand was the UK's 39^th largest export market with exports of £468 million. Exports for the first four-months of 2000 have shown an increase of 59 per cent. over the same period of 1999. Top export products are electrical machinery, power generation equipment, industrial machinery and leather goods.The UK ranks as the 5

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the report of the Rover Task Force. [128973]

The Task Force Report has only recently been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to promote wider consultation with employees in small and medium-sized enterprises. [128974]

The Government are committed to promoting a strong partnership culture in the workplace—including in small and medium enterprises.To this end we have established the Partnership Fund which aims to promote the goal of better employee communications. The fund makes available £5 million over four years to assist with the development of workplace projects including improved consultation of employees. 18 such workplace projects, have received funding, involve SMEs.We are also working to promote best practice by spreading the message about the achievements of the best companies, whether large or small. Business Links are able to provide guidance to appropriate sources of advice. The independent Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) also produces guidance material and works with employers to help modernise their employment practices. The 1998 review of the Service identified this as a priority area for ACAS.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his policy is on increasing business formation in the North-east of England. [128976]

A stable economic climate is vital to stimulate development. The DTI aims to promote enterprise and innovation and is particularly keen to support successful, sustainable business start-ups. It has set up the Small Business Service (SBS) specifically to champion and service the needs of small business and act as a strong voice on their behalf within Government. The Chief Executive of the SBS, David Irwin, has 20 years experience in the North-east of helping people to start up and grow their businesses. Small businesses make up nearly 99 per cent. of all businesses in the UK and employ more than half the total workforce. The North-east has fewer than its fair share of new start-ups. This fact is recognised by the Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, who have published their Regional Economic Strategy. One of the key objectives is to address this problem and the new European objective 2 Single Programming Document will be an important vehicle to drive this forward.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with employers organisations about promoting family friendly employment policies. [128977]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has so far discussed the review of maternity pay and parental leave with the Confederation of British Industry, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Chief Executive of the Small Business Service. Officials from my Department have additionally discussed the review with the Federation of Small Businesses, the Forum for Private Businesses, the Engineering Employers' Federation, Opportunity Now, the Industrial Society, the Employers' Organisation for Local Government, the National Health Service and the Institute of Personnel and Development. They have also met a wide range of other interested organisations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to create a right for people who purchase time shares to dispose of them at a later date. [128979]

There is no need to introduce new legislation. There is already a marketplace for timeshare resales and many existing contracts include cancellation clauses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the costs to industry and commerce of the adoption of the euro by the United Kingdom. [128969]

The cost of a changeover would depend on the detailed approach taken and the extent to which the euro had been considered in investment decisions prior to joining.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the implications for the competitive balance of the internet of the proposed merger between MCI WorldCom and Sprint. [129438]

This case fell to the consideration of the EC competition authorities under the EC Merger Regulation (ECMR). The Commission prohibited the proposed deal and announced this in a press notice on 28 June.The Commission's analysis in this case will be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the report from the European Commission's business environment simplification task force of July 1998. [130056]

The Government welcome the recommendations of the BEST task force, particularly those on regulatory simplification and reform, and now looks forward to the first Annual Report on BEST which will be issued by the Commission later this year. Policies on business environment simplification are currently being developed under initiatives such as the proposed Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship for 2001–05 and the recently adopted European Charter for Small Enterprises.The Commission's draft Multiannual Programme proposes the introduction of a new BEST procedure, based on the identification and adoption of best practice in the enterprise field, with work towards simplification and regulatory reform being driven forward as part of the follow-up arising from the Lisbon Special Summit earlier this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to make credit reference agencies accountable to Parliament. [130057]

I have no plans to introduce additional controls on the activities of credit reference agencies.Businesses which provide credit reference information about consumers already require licences issued by the Director General of Fair Trading under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Director General has to satisfy himself that a licensee is a fit person to engage in the activities covered by the licence and he can vary, suspend or revoke licences where he considers that licensees have engaged in practices that appear to him to be deceitful or oppressive, or otherwise unfair or improper (whether unlawful or not). He therefore monitors the complaints he receives about licence holders and he has demonstrated that he is ready to take the necessary licensing action to protect consumers where he considers it justified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of correctly presented bills were paid by his Department in (a) 1998–99 and (b) 1999–2000 within 30 days of receipt of (i) goods and services, (ii) a valid invoice and (iii) other agreed payment terms. [130040]

[holding answer 11 July 2000]: (a) I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Burgon) on 23 July 1999, Official Report, columns 677–78W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost to British traders of the law requiring goods to be sold in metric units. [130267]

[holding answer 12 July 2000]: A compliance cost assessment was published by the Department of Trade and Industry in 1994, when the legislation was made to require loose goods to be sold in metric weights after 31 December 1999. The main cost for traders was identified as the conversion or replacement of imperial weighing machines. The average cost of conversion was estimated to be £100 per machine. The starting price for replacement was estimated to be £450 per machine. It was further estimated that 80 per cent. of machines were capable of conversion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what the total cost to his Department will be in the financial year 2000–01 of the salaries of the trading standards officers employed by his Department to enforce the law requiring the sale of goods in metric units; [130268](2) how many trading standards officers are employed by his Department to enforce the implementation of the law requiring the sale of goods in metric units. [130271]

[holding answer 12 July 2000]: The Department of Trade and Industry is not responsible for enforcing the use by traders of prescribed units of measurement for the sale of goods. Enforcement is undertaken by the local authorities, as part of their wider responsibility for trading standards. Each authority decides how many staff it will employ on trading standards work, and the allocation of staff time (and therefore of staff costs) between the different areas of enforcement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on (a) the seizure of weighing equipment by trading standards officers of his Department from traders whom they believe to be in breach of the law requiring goods to be sold in metric units and (b) the procedures available to them to obtain the restitution of their property from his Department. [130269]

[holding answer 12 July 2000]: Weights and measures legislation includes powers for local authority inspectors of weights and measures to seize and detain equipment in circumstances where they believe the equipment is liable to be forfeited. This would apply, for example, to equipment being used without a valid stamp on it, to equipment which is false or unjust, or which was being used in the commission of fraud.Where prosecution followed, it would be for the courts to determine whether the equipment should be forfeited. Otherwise it would be returned to the owner.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of the (a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which he has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129855]

[holding answer 12 July 2000]: Of the appointments I have made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997:

(i) 54 were women to positions which received some remuneration (29.3 per cent. of remunerated appointments)

(ii) 42 were women to unpaid positions (19.6 per cent. of unpaid appointments).

This Government are committed to increasing the representation of women in public life. In support of this, the Department has drawn up an action plan for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities holding public appointments. The latest plan, together with the Government's overall plan, was published on 24 May 2000 in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments 2000–2003", copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to uprate the national minimum wage. [128952]

As indicated in the reply I gave to my hon. Friend on 30 March 2000, Official Report, column 237W, we have now asked the Low Pay Commission to continue to monitor and evaluate the impact of the minimum wage and to consider whether there is a case for a further increase in the rate next year. The commission will report by July 2001 and any further increase will be introduced in October 2001.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to consult local authorities concerning GM trial sites. [127794]

Current legislation does not at present include provision for consulting local authorities over the location of GM trial sites.However, the Government have made clear their commitment to an open and transparent process for informing people about the trials. Locations of all proposed sites for research trials are advertised before sowing commences. Full details of the locations of farm scale evaluation sites are on the DETR website, along with detailed information about the programme. A number of public meetings were held during the spring, to which parish and ward councillors with a trial site in their area were invited. We remain committed to making as much information available to local people as possible and are currently drawing on lessons from the spring in planning for future planting rounds, including earlier notification.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Harrogate and

Seconding organisation	Grade of post	Work area in DETR
CRE Group Limited	7	Seconded out to EC DG Environment
Bank of Scotland	7	Railways, Economics and Finance
Unilever	7	Environment and Business
District Audit	7	Local Government Capital Finance
Kvaerner Construction	7	Construction Industry Sponsorship
OVE Arup	7	Construction Industry Sponsorship
Crown House Engineering	7	Construction Industry Sponsorship
British Gas	7	Construction Industry Sponsorship
Bovis Construction	7	Export Promotion Construction Materials
Kvaerner Cementation Foundations	7	Export Promotion Construction Materials
Geoffrey Reid Associates	7	Construction Industry Sponsorship
Marks and Spencer	7	Planning Directorate
Bellway Urban Renewal	7	Regeneration Directorate
KPMG	7	Regeneration Directorate
Building Research Establishment (2)	7	One to Export Promotion Construction Materials, one seconded out to EC DG Enterprise
IPPR	7	Sustainable Development Unit
ABROS	HEO	Regeneration Directorate
Boots the Chemist Limited	7	Planning and Regeneration Directorates
Hyder	7	Regeneration Directorate
OPM	7	Regeneration Directorate
Institute for Fiscal Studies	7	Central Economics and Policy
Buro-Happold	7	Construction Industry Sponsorship
Christiani and Nielsen	6	Construction Industry Sponsorship
Development Trust Association	7	New Deal for Communities
Homeless Network	7	London Rough Sleepers Unit

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much money has been (a) offered to and (b) taken up by the Mersey Partnership from public funds over each of the last five years; and from what sources. [129598]

Public funds offered to and administered by the Merseyside Partnership in the last five years are as follows.

[holding answer 29 June 2000]: Secondments and attachments are part of the Interchange Initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All sectors of the economy are involved: Voluntary, Education, Health, Public and Private. Interchange is a key component of the reform agenda. The Modernising Government White Paper committed us to increasing interchange, in particular by bringing in more people on secondment and seconding more of our people out. Before an Interchange can occur, all parties must be satisfied that no conflict of interest arises.From the organisations cited in the answer of 9 February 2000,

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he has taken to set up regional resource centres for urban development as recommended in the Rogers report, "Towards an Urban Renaissance". [129599]

The Government agree with the Task Force about the importance of improving urban development skills.At the national level we have commissioned a feasibility study of a recommendation made by the Social Exclusion Unit's Policy Action Team 16 (Learning Lessons), for the creation of a National Centre for Neighbourhood Renewal. This would provide the training, knowledge and skills needed to support neighbourhood renewal activity and would help to achieve many of the same ends as the Task Force's proposed Regional Resource Centres. Consultation meetings are taking place later this month on the results of the feasibility study.At the regional level there is also a great deal happening on the ground to improve urban development skills particularly in response to the Continuing Professional Development initiative. Academic institutions across the country are now getting together with regeneration practitioners and professional institutions in putting together relevant good practice guidance and training packages for everyone from existing professionals to community volunteers.The Government are also working closely with the professional institutions and local government to improve training in urban design skills and are considering, with the Local Government Association, the way resources can be deployed more effectively in the pursuit of excellence in this area. A skills seminar is being held by the Minister for Housing and Planning on 13 July to take this forward.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received on varying the discounts available under the Right-to-Buy Scheme in areas of high demand for housing; and if he will make a statement. [129471]

I am aware of no such representations to date, though we published our Housing Green Paper "Quality and choice—a decent home for all" earlier this year and we are considering responses as they come in. The Green Paper said that we do not intend to make any further substantial changes to the Right-to-Buy Scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress to date with the airport study for the South-east. [129591]

As the then Minister for Transport announced on 11 March 1999, the South-east and East of England Regional Air Services (SERAS) study has started from the position that nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the earliest date will be that planning authorities near Gatwick Airport will be able to consider planning applications following the conclusion of the airport study of South-east airports. [129590]

The South-east and East of England Regional Air Services study (SERAS) is expected to be completed by spring or summer 2001, to be followed by public consultation. The results will feed into an Air Transport White Paper, which is intended to provide a framework for the future development of aviation and airports in the United Kingdom.Once the White Paper is published, regional planning guidance and local development plans will need to be reviewed to take account of policies that emerge from the White Paper.In the meantime, before the SERAS study has been completed and the White Paper published, planning applications for development in the Gatwick Airport area will be subject to normal provisions of the planning system and will be determined against existing national, regional and local policies.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many changes he has made to the system of revenue grant distribution to local authorities since 1997; and if he will give details of the changes. [129938]

There were 15 changes in the method of determining Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) for the 1998–99 Local Government Finance Settlement; and 20 changes for the 1999–2000 Local Government Finance Settlement.The July 1998 Local Government White Paper announced a 3-year review of Revenue Grant Distribution. It said that the Government did not expect to make fresh changes to the method of calculation of SSAs except where there are changes in the functions of councils, or the funding of particular services.In 2000–01 there were therefore only limited adjustments to SSAs to accommodate the establishment of the Greater London Authority and related changes, most notably those arising from the alterations to the boundary of the Metropolitan Police District and the Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the

Date	Location	Line	Cause	Initial delay (mins)
3 January 2000	Baker Street/Finchley Road	Metropolitan & Circle	Object on track	274
6 January 2000	Baker Street	Metropolitan & Circle	Computer system failure	290
19 January 2000	Edgware Road sidings	Metropolitan & Circle	Train derailment	355
20 January 2000	Gunnersbury	Non LUL	Fire/smoke alert	277
20 January 2000	Baker Street/Edgware Road	Metropolitan & Circle	Signal problems	400
26 January 2000	Baker Street	Metropolitan & Circle	Computer system failure	473
5 February 2000	Stratford	Jubilee	Computer system failure	271
12 February 2000	Liverpool Street	Central	Person on track	319
13 February 2000	Aldgate	Metropolitan & Circle	Train derailment	401
23 March 2000	Blackfriars/Temple	District	Flooding	259
29 March 2000	Turnham Green/Richmond	Railtrack	Loss of traction current	241
9 April 2000	Aldgate/Liverpool Street	Metropolitan	Points failure	430
19 April 2000	Waterloo	Waterloo & City	Track circuit failure	278
15 May 2000	Roding Valley/Woodford	Central	Person under train	556

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber in assisting regeneration projects in the region. [128642]

[holding answer 12 July 2000]: The Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber (GOYH) continues to contribute effectively to maximising competitiveness and prosperity in the region, and supporting integrated policies for an inclusive society. In particular it has worked closely with Yorkshire Forward (the Regional Development Agency) to support it in its first full year of operation.During the past year GOYH has managed and developed the wide range of Government programmes and initiatives that contribute to the regeneration of the region. Examples include:New Deal for Communities (NDC): Bradford and Hull have each received £50 million and £55 million respectively over 10 years under the first round of NDC and Doncaster and Sheffield have been invited to submit bids for schemes.Housing Investment Programme: £207 million was allocated to local authorities for 2000–01, 46 per cent. more than the previous year.Regional Selective Assistance (RSA): RSA to the value of over £15 million was offered to businesses. This is expected to lead to capital investment of £207 million and the creation/safeguarding of over 6,200 jobs.European Funding: GOYH has worked hard with regional partners to ensure that all available resources under the last round of European funds were committed

unscheduled line closures on the London Underground that have occurred since 1 January; and if he will set out the

[holding answer 11 July 2000]: This is an operational matter for London Underground who have supplied details of unscheduled line closures (defined for this purpose as delays of more than four hours) as set out in the following table.by the closing date of 31 December 1999. Over £560 million of funding has been committed to support a wide range of projects that maximise the benefits to the region. GOYH continues to work closely with partners to ensure that the new European programmes for 2000–06 are ready to start in 2000.Local Transport: Last year the region's local authorities received a total allocation of £109 million for their provisional local transport plans (LTPs). GOYH has continued to support the local authorities with the preparation of their full LTPs, which will cover the five years to 2005–06.Working with Local Government: GOYH has continued to support the modernisation of local government and has contributed to the assessment process for Beacon council and Invest to Save applications from local authorities.In looking to the future, the Government Office will continue to work closely with Yorkshire Forward and other partners to deliver the shared vision of "A world class, prosperous region".

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he proposes to introduce to assist motorists in rural areas with fuel costs. [130406]

The Government recognise that transport provision is particularly important to people in rural areas because jobs and services are more widely dispersed than in urban areas. In the 10-Year Plan for transport, we are developing a package of measures to improve transport provision in rural areas and we shall be developing our ideas further in the forthcoming Rural White Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what directions he is making to the Strategic Rail Authority to ensure that all new rail franchises require the operators to make adequate flexible space for bicycles available on their trains. [130532]

The Deputy Prime Minister gave Instructions and Guidance to the Franchising Director on 29 September 1999 about rail franchise replacement asking him to promote the use of bicycles by seeking the provision of reasonable facilities on board new rolling stock and at stations. The replacement franchise agreements will contain provisions relating to both the carriage of bicycles on trains and the provision of storage facilities for bicycles at railway stations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish (a) the minutes of his meeting with Regional Development Agency heads in Birmingham in June and (b) each of the business plans subsequently presented by those heads. [130438]

The Deputy Prime Minister and other Ministers met the Regional Development Agency Chairmen in Birmingham on 23 June, to launch a consultation document, "The RDAs as Strategic Drivers of Economic Development". A copy of the document has been placed in the Library of the House.It has been the practice of successive Administrations not to disclose confidential communication between departments and public bodies, consistent with Section 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. We will, therefore, not be publishing the minutes of the meeting. The production of a business plan by each RDA is unrelated to this meeting. Two have been published and others are at various stages of preparation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the future role is of the Government Offices for the Regions; and what (a) are their proposed budgets and (b) were their budgets in each of the last five years. [130437]

Following the publication of the PIU Report "Reaching Out" we are developing the role of Government Offices (GOs) to ensure strengthened co-ordination of policy initiatives with a regional and local impact. The GOs are being given the lead role in bringing together other Departments' and Agencies' involvement at the local level, ensuring activities are complementary. All Departments whose responsibilities affect regional or local activities are committed to better co-ordination of key policies by involving Government Offices.On the issue of proposed budgets and budgets in each of the last five years, I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 12 July 2000,

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what urban regeneration funds have been made available from agencies under the control of his Department for the Millennium Dome and its environs; how such funds have been used; and what estimate he has made of the sale proceeds which will be recredited to his Department; [130439](2) how much public funding through English Partnerships has been spent on the Millennium Dome and its environs. [130436]

English Partnerships, which is under the control of my Department, purchased the Greenwich Peninsula site from British Gas in 1997. Since then it has used part of its regeneration funding grant from my Department to remediate the site, provide roads, footpaths, services, landscaping, river wall walks, improvements to the A102 and permanent facilities such as a park. The part of the peninsula directly associated with the Millennium Dome covers land north of the Jubilee line and North Greenwich Transport Interchange. English Partnerships' expenditure for this area amounts to £15.53 million. The sales proceeds returning to the Department will be determined in the light of the Dome Legacy Competition.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when, and in what form, the Government will respond to the recent vote by SERPLAN rejecting his house building numbers for the South-east. [130440]

The Secretary of State will carefully consider all the views expressed by SERPLAN and in more than 900 other representations received on regional planning guidance for the South-east, before he reaches any conclusions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what monitoring his Department undertakes of private finance initiative contracts undertaken by local government; and if he will make a statement. [130277]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 July 2000, Official Report, column 116W.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the net present cost is of each project undertaken in his Department under the private finance initiative; what the value is of their public sector comparators in (a) pre-risk and (b) risk-adjusted terms; what risks have been identified as having been transferred; and if he will place information on other relevant costs for each private finance initiative project in the Library. [130255]

The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what clawback mechanisms exist under private finance initiative contracts within his Department in respect of (a) refinancing and (b) other contingencies; and if he will place copies of each private finance initiative contract in the Library. [130210]

General provisions exist within all the private finance contracts for payments to be made by the contractor in relation to termination on contractor default. The contract for the Croydon Tramlink includes an incentive share agreement whereby Transport for London will share in any refinancing benefits. Transport for London would also receive a share of any excess revenues obtained by the concessionaire. A refinancing of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) would benefit the Government by reducing the requirement for operating subsidy. In addition the CTRL contract allows Government to share in any construction cost underrun as well as a positive cashflow after 2021.The MOT computerisation contract includes provision for value for money reviews to be conducted at predetermined intervals which will examine profit compared with predicted profit which could result in payments back to the Vehicle Inspectorate. This contract also enables the Vehicle Inspectorate to share in the profits of any value added services deriving from the contract.In accordance with Treasury Taskforce Policy Statement No 5 (Provision of Information to Parliament), which sets out best practice in relation to departments' obligations to disclose information to Parliament, my Department has not deposited any information in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the average cost to public funds is of external advisers in the negotiation of private finance intiative projects for roads projects expressed as a proportion of each contract's value. [130258]

Figures for individual contracts are not available. For the eight privately financed trunk road contracts awarded in England the cost of external advisers expressed as a proportion of the contracts' value is less than one per cent. of the net present value of expected payments over the 30 year life of contracts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the last meeting of Green Ministers took place; what was discussed; and which departments were represented by (a) Ministers and (b) officials. [131071]

Green Ministers held their second meeting of this year on 6 July. We discussed progress on integrating the environment into policy and the feasibility of reporting on transport emissions on the Government Estate. The Green Minister for the Department of International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes), spoke about the sustainable development priority (within the Government's National Strategy) of

"working with others to achieve sustainable development internationally"

and the Green Minister for the Department of Trade and Industry, the Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce, outlined progress on DTI's Sustainable Development Strategy.The Committee also reviewed plans for a pilot on the public procurement of paper goods, including recycled paper, as announced in the Waste Strategy 2000 and considered the format for the 2

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) core and (b) non-core training and training support activities and services which will be included in the competition to seek a long-term strategic partner to run the Army Training Estate; and if he will indicate the website where these competitions have been advertised. [124362]

[holding answer 5 June 2000]: The Department's core and non-core training and training support activities and services provided in support of the Army Training Estate are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the cost of the personal role radios that his Department intends to buy; [127608](2) if staff requirement (L) 4083 vehicle integrated communications and information system continues to form part of the BOWMAN requirement; [127607](3) if he intends to hold a competition for the BOWMAN requirement; [127609](4) if the personal role radios to be procured will be compatible with both section and platoon nets; [127606](5) what

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of (a) Beating the Retreat and (b) Trooping the Colour for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [128787]

[holding answer 3 July 2000]: Costs were not collected for the Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) and Beating the Retreat until 1996 and were not identified separately until this year. The total costs between 1996 and 1999 were:

£
1996	33,400
1997	34,300
1998	35,200
1999	36,000

For this year, the cost of the Queen's Birthday Parade was £31,200 and for Beating the Retreat £7,420, giving a total of £38,620.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees of his Department and its agencies have been recruited from the New Deal; and what percentage this represents of total staff. [129093]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney) on 6 July 2000, Official Report, column 286W.The number of New Dealers within my Department and its executive agencies represents 0.06 per cent. of total civilian staff.During the financial year ending March 2000, a target of 1 per cent. in respect of the recruitment of New Deal candidates into the appropriate grades was set. Actual achievement was 2.3 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Tornado GR4's capability to launch Sea Eagle missiles; how much has been spent on enabling the Tornado GR4 to launch Sea Eagle missiles; and if this element of the upgrade programme is planned to continue. [129805]

Software development work to allow the Sea Eagle missile to be launched by Tornado GR4 aircraft was incomplete at the time the missile was withdrawn from service and further work was halted. This development work was part of the overall software upgrade programme for the GR4 and the costs are not separately identifiable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the facilities (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere which (i) manufacture the chain gun and (ii) are capable of manufacturing the chain gun. [129669]

[holding answer 7 July 2000]: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what investigations his Department's police fraud squad is conducting into allegations of accounting irregularities and financial malpractice on the Tornado maintenance programme; when the investigations began; when they will be completed; and if he will make a statement. [129043]

This is an operational policing matter. I understand however that the Ministry of Defence Police Fraud Squad began investigating allegations of malpractice connected with the Tornado maintenance programme last month. At this stage it is not possible to say when the investigation will be completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the proposed Centre for Defence Medicine will be sited; when the centre is due to open; and if he will make a statement. [130092]

The Centre for Defence Medicine will be located in Birmingham and is being developed in association with the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust (UHB) and its academic and clinical partners. The Centre is due to open as planned on 1 April 2001. Defence medical personnel will be working at the UHB's Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak sites and some will be working very closely with the University of Birmingham and other academic partners. We continue to be extremely pleased with the way the project is developing and with the enthusiasm and commitment of our partners in Birmingham.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which ships have fulfilled the role of the West Indies guard ship in the past 18 months; and if he will list the dates during which the ships have been on station. [130447]

The ships that have fulfilled the role of the Atlantic Patrol Task (North) (previously known as the West Indies Guard Ship) in the past 18 months are as set out:

Ship	On station
HMS Marlborough	29 January 1999 to 17 June 1999
HMS Northumberland	17 June 1999 to 23 November 1999
HMS Manchester	15 February 2000 to 26 June 2000
HMS Cardiff	26 June 2000 to est. end November 2000

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the current industrial dispute involving the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. [130448]

The current industrial dispute involving Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary commenced in February this year following their rejection of the 1999 pay offer, which has subsequently been implemented by administrative action. The issue at the centre of the dispute is a demand by the RMT for additional Earned Voyage Leave. While nothing further can be done for 1999, RMT members have been guaranteed improvements to leave in addition to pay both for the current year and in years to come. It is disappointing therefore that they are continuing the action.RFA vessels that are directly involved in front-line operations or on humanitarian relief tasks have been exempted from the individual action by the RMT. Changes are being made to other vessels' movements and deployments when necessary to minimise the effect of such action. RMT members are however now taking continuous action. This will mean that ships in port will be prevented from sailing, as happened with Sir Geraint on 11 July. In these circumstances, my Department has no alternative other than to apply appropriate sanctions.The Ministry of Defence remains ready to talk to the RMT with a view to solving the dispute by negotiation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to disband University Royal Navy units. [130445]

There are no plans to disband University Royal Naval Units.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the future role of HMS Sheffield will be. [130444]

HMS Sheffield will continue to fulfil a wide range of general purpose and specialist roles in support of UK interests worldwide. In order to maintain her capability across a variety of defence missions, her weapons and sensor suites, including the Sea Wolf AAW missile system and her combat management system, will receive upgrades during the course of her next refit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Sport Action Zones there are in the Greater London area. [129790]

There is currently one Sport Action Zone in Greater London: London South Central, which covers the areas of North Southwark and North Lambeth. It is one of the first 12 Sport Action Zones announced in January this year. It is eventually intended to designate 30 Zones across the country.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what reports he has received from English Heritage concerning whether the former Baltic Exchange building can be rebuilt; what conclusions were reached by English Heritage; and if he will place a copy of the reports in the Library. [R] [129708]

[holding answer 7 July 2000]: My Department has seen a copy of a recent letter sent to the City Corporation, in which English Heritage sets out its view on the current planning and listed building consent applications relating to the Baltic Exchange site. In forming that view English Heritage has had regard to (among other considerations) the extent to which the original building could be reconstructed. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance his Department has offered to the United Kingdom football associations for (a) recent and (b) future bids to host international football competitions in Britain. [129926]

No financial assistance was offered by my Department to the FA in respect of the bid to hold the European Championship Finals of 1996. However, my Department made a commitment to providing funding totalling £400,000 for the cultural programme which ran alongside the tournament in the eight host cities. Following the success of the 1996 bid, this amount was paid through the Association for Business Sponsorship for the Arts and the Sportsmatch scheme.Direct costs to the Government have arisen in respect of the previous Minister of Sport's visits to a number of countries in support of the bid. The cost of these visits was £102,780, although some other Government business was also conducted.My Department committed a total of £20,000 to assisting the FA's bid to hold the 2006 World Cup. That amount is in respect of the travelling expenses of the Prime Minister's Special Envoy, and £10,000 has been paid to date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the adequacy of cricket training facilities for young people outside school hours. [130105]

Outside school hours the largest providers of cricket training facilities are cricket clubs, and of the 6,600 affiliated clubs, around 4,100 have junior sections. In 1999 there were 157,000 youngsters who participated in these clubs.Funding is also available to cricket through the Lottery Sports Fund, one of whose priorities is young people. The Fund has made 527 awards to cricket facilities, worth a total of over £61 million, towards project costs of over £107 million.The ECB spends 11 per cent. of the £26 million per annum it receives from broadcasting revenue for the development of cricket. Approximately 2,000 coaches per year are qualified through the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Coach Education Scheme and the majority of these go on to work with young cricketers in clubs. The ECB is investing £450,000 on Inner City Projects this year to increase the opportunities for young people to play cricket.Junior cricket is also eligible for funding from Sportsmatch, the Government's sports sponsorship incentive scheme. Since its inception in 1992 Sportsmatch has made 336 awards worth a total of over £2.08 million to grass roots and junior cricket applications in England, attracting a similar amount in commercial sponsorship.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people have been successfully prosecuted for the theft of works of art and artifacts from the national collections since 1990. [130061]

I have asked my officials to contact the National Museums and Galleries which are sponsored by DCMS to request information for a reply to my hon. Friend's question. I will write to him as soon as this is available, placing copies of my letter in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the latest edition of "Households Below Average Income" will be published. [130923]

"Households Below Average Income" for 1994–95 to 1998–99 has been published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) when Fresco Interiors will receive payment of their invoice of 14 May for flooring work undertaken at his Department's offices at Quarry Hill in Leeds; [130461](2) if the contract for the maintenance of his Department's premises at Quarry House in Leeds contains a clause requiring the contractor, and any sub-contractors, to make prompt payment to suppliers for work undertaken; and if he will make a statement; [130462](3) what his Department's policy is regarding prompt payment of sub-contractors used by contractors responsible for the maintenance of his Department's buildings; and if he will make a statement. [130463]

The contract for the flooring work undertaken at Quarry House is between Fresco Interiors and G. S. Hall, the sub-contractor of Trillium who supply the Department with serviced accommodation. Payment of the invoice is therefore a matter for G. S. Hall.The Department does not have a universal set of standard terms and conditions for contractors and sub-contractors simply because different contracts, some of which can be very complex, require different provisions. We do however ensure that, wherever possible, contracts include provision for payment of all sums within a specified period not exceeding 30 days from the date of receipt of a valid invoice. As a Department, we fully support the Government's prompt payment initiative and aim to pay all our bills on time and will endeavour to ensure that all contractors do likewise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what costs have been incurred, in each of the most recent three years for which figures are available, in making payments for industrial injury benefits to those suffering organophosphate poisoning from sheep dips. [130400]

The information is not available in the format requested.The table shows the number of people in the last three years who were first diagnosed as having prescribed disease C3 (Poisoning by phosphorus or an inorganic compound of phosphorus or poisoning due to the anti-cholinesterase or pseudo anti-cholinesterase action of organic phosphorous compounds) which includes poisoning from sheep-dip.

Industrial injuries Disablement Benefit. Number of cases first diagnosed as having prescribed disease C3 1997–1998 to 1999–2000
		Percentage assessment1
Period covered	Total number	Less than 14 per cent.	14 per cent. or more
April 1997–March 1998	3	1	2
April 1998–March 1999	4	0	4
April 1999–March 2000	4	2	2
1Benefit is payable for a 14 per cent. or more disablement assessment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which pilot projects undertaken by his Department since 1997 have involved random assignment elements; and what assessment he has made of their effectiveness in promoting more effective policy making. [130311]

The Pensioner Income Support Pilots (poorest pensioners) used the random assignment approach.The pilot ran for a year from May 1998. Four different approaches to encourage entitled non-recipient pensioners to claim Income Support were tested in nine areas. Pensioners identified as possible eligible non-recipients were randomly allocated to one of the four approaches. The pilot was fully evaluated and findings were published in December 1999 in the DSS Research Series (report no. 105).Findings from the evaluation informed the current Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) take-up campaign.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what plans he has to require local authorities to spend a greater proportion of their budgets on Housing Benefit exceptional hardship payments; and if he will make a statement; [130241](2) what plans he has to prevent local authorities from retaining money unspent from their Housing Benefit exceptional hardship payment budgets; and if he will make a statement; [130242](3) what plans he has to introduce an independent element to the review process for local authority Housing Benefit exceptional hardship payments; and if he will make a statement. [130245]

Using provisions in the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Bill, we propose, from April 2001, to replace the current system of exceptional hardship and exceptional circumstances payments with a new scheme of purely discretionary payments to meet housing costs, which are not part of the Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit schemes.Under these provisions, local authorities will be provided with a sum of money from central Government towards this expenditure, and we propose that they will be required to return any of the money that is not spent. Since local authorities will not be able to keep anything they do not spend, this should encourage them to use the money for the purpose intended.Although claimants will not be able to appeal the decisions made by local authorities on these discretionary payments, they will have an internal right of review. Local authorities will be able to revisit decisions and take account of representations made.Once these provisions are in place, we will be involving the Local Authority Associations in discussions on how we can ensure that the right criteria for payment are set and claimants made aware of their entitlement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 2000, Official Report, column 843W, on housing benefit, (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the introduction of the housing benefit verification framework on delays in paying housing benefit; and if he will make a statement; [130068](2) what plans he has to monitor the impact of the introduction of the housing benefit verification framework on delays in paying housing benefit; and if he will make a statement. [130069]

The verification framework sets out what local authorities should be doing to safeguard the gateway into benefit.We recognise that implementing the framework may create some short term administrative delays in those local authorities which have not previously operated an adequate verification or checking system.The Department has commissioned in-depth research to provide more information on authorities' experiences of setting-up and operating the framework. This will include information on the impact on the time taken to determine claims.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the difficulties that claimants may have accessing Housing Benefit offices during their opening hours in order to comply with the requirements of the Housing Benefit Verification Framework; and if he will make a statement. [130065]

The administration of Housing Benefit is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. The provision of adequate access to services is a matter for individual local authorities.The Verification Framework does not require that clients must attend a benefit office in order to verify their entitlement to benefit. The Framework is flexible enough to allow each authority to provide the services most appropriate to its own area and clientele. These can include dealing with evidence gathering by post or by visiting, as well as by clients calling at an office. It is open to councils to provide alternative venues for clients who wish to produce documents in person. For example, some councils have trained staff in neighbourhood offices and libraries to collect and verify evidence on behalf of their benefit colleagues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 4 July 2000, Official Report, column 155W, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost, (b) technical difficulties and (c) improvement in accuracy of increasing the sample size of the area benefit reviews. [130175]

The estimated cost of the current Housing Benefit review programme is £1.5 million for 1999–2000. This represents set up costs of the project and costs associated with staff recruitment. The project is expected to cost £2.1 million per year thereafter at current prices.

Real terms (1999–2000 prices)
£ million
	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98
Child Benefit	7,048	7,095	7,190	7,477
Lone Parent addition within Child Benefit	—	—	—	334
One Parent Benefit	333	347	344	5
Family Credit	1,661	1,949	2,262	2,456
Working Families Tax Credit1	—	—	—	—
Children's Tax Credit2	—	—	—	—
Estimated Income Support expenditure on children3	2,271	2,353	2,345	2,269
GDP	792,228	810,915	833,333	862,671

	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
Child Benefit	7,481	8,216	8,344	8,401
Lone Parent addition within Child Benefit	306	141	108	75
One Parent Benefit	—	—	—	—
Family Credit	2,491	1,957	—	—
Working Families Tax Credit1	—	900	4,792	5,152
Children's Tax Credit2	—	—	—	1,622
Estimated Income Support expenditure on children3	2,215	2,380	2,905	3,120
GDP	882,095	903,761	925,183	944,602

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was, or is expected to be, the real terms cost at 1999–2000 prices of (a) Child Benefit, (b) One Parent Benefit and, following Table 2 in the DSS report and Expenditure Plans, the element for Lone Parents, included for Child Benefit from April 1997, (c) Family Credit and Working Families Tax Credit, (d) Children's Tax Credit and (e) the estimated cost included in Income Support for children, and, applying the Government Actuary's assumptions of both 1½ per cent. and 2 per cent. earnings growth, each of the above as a percentage of gross domestic product in each of the years 1994–95 to 2001–02. [130059]

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.