To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the policy is of the Church Commissioners on the division of costs arising from an ecclesiastical court hearing into a planning application to site a mobile phone mast in a church spire. [82840]

The Church Commissioners have no involvement in decisions made in parishes about whether or not to site an aerial within a church building, or in determining responsibility for related costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures her Department has taken to organise support for the built heritage sector; and if she will make a statement. [83756]

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, together with the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, published its policy on the built heritage in "A Force for our Future" in December 2001. This was informed by "Power of Place", a review of the historic environment by the sector. We are now working closely with the sector to deliver this challenging agenda.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the performance of the funding councils for the performing and visual arts and for film; and if she will make a statement. [83760]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with the Chairman of the Arts Council, Gerry Robinson, and Baroness Blackstone as Minister of State for the Arts, has regular meetings with the Chief Executive, Peter Hewitt. In July the Secretary of State announced additional funding for the Arts Council reflecting her confidence in the restructuring of the Arts funding system currently taking place.When the Film Council was established in April 2000, it was set 13 goals for film which had been identified in the course of the Film Policy Review (1998). These goals have formed the basis of the Film Council's funding agreement with the Department. Progress against the funding agreement is reviewed regularly. In addition, both the Secretary of State and I, as Minister for film, have met the Chair and Chief Executive of the Film Council on other occasions to discuss performance.The Film Council has already made significant progress in delivering many of its goals, and I warmly welcome Sir Alan Parker's speech given earlier this month setting out the Film Council's vision for the future of the British film industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost of production was of the annual report 2002 of the National Endowment for Science and Technology; how many reports were produced; and if she will make a statement. [83779]

The cost of producing NESTA's annual report 2002 was £48,885 (excluding VAT) and 5,000 copies were produced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the New Audiences programme; and if she will make a statement. [83736]

This is a matter for the Arts Council of England who have been administering the programme since its inception. The programme does not finish until the end of this year and a full evaluation will be made by ACE in 2003.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of her Department's contribution to enabling access to the performing arts in (a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000, (c) 2000–01 and (d) 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [83738]

The grant-in-aid figures for the Arts Council for each of the above years was as follows:1998–99 £189.9 million; 1999–2000 £228.2 million; 2000–01 £237.2 million and 2001–02 £252.2 million. In July this year my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a further substantial increase in my Department's funding for the arts for 2004–05 to 2005–06. As a result of this Government funding for the arts will be £412 million in 2005–06, or 73 per cent, higher in real terms than in 1997–98.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her statement on 15 November, Official Report, column 336, what the basis was of her statement that 5,000 school playing fields were sold off between 1979 and 1997; and how many school playing fields have been sold since 1997. [82408]

No data were collected centrally on how many school playing fields there were in either 1979 or 1997. My estimate of about 5,000 playing fields comes from two sources. First, the Central Council of Physical Recreation published a paper in 1984 "Sports Fields at Risk", which indicated that some 3,630 areas of recreation land recorded on Land Registers were at risk of disposal. A more meaningful way of quantifying the area under threat at that time is to translate this figure into about 5,000 school playing fields of sports pitch size.Second, the then Department for Education and Employment estimated that an average 40 playing fields a month were sold subsequent to the previous Government encouraging the disposal of playing fields in April 1996 by relaxing the Local Authority Capital Finance Regulations. Even if disposals had been running at only half this rate from 1979–1997, the total would have approached 5,000 disposals.Data collected under this Government were announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport on 10 June this year,

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many internet connections there were in public libraries in the UK in (a) 1998 and (b) 2002; what proportion of public libraries in the UK had internet connections in June 2002; and if she will make a statement. [83751]

The £120 million lottery funded programme to connect public libraries in the UK to the Internet and provide ICT training for all library staff is proceeding well. In June 2002 there were 2,909 libraries connected to the internet and offering public access compared to just 215 libraries in 1998. This means that 70 per cent, of all UK libraries were online as of June 2002. The programme is expected to fulfil its original target of connecting libraries, wherever practical, to the internet by the end of 2002.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact which the UK's retention of the pound in preference to entering the Eurozone has had on tourist revenue; and if he will make a statement. [84099]

I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey) on 11 December 2001,

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions have taken place with US and British companies on the design and procurement of the aircraft carrier in relation to the carrier-borne aircraft. [83225]

During the course of normal project development for the United Kingdom's Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) and Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) programmes, numerous discussions have taken place between British and American companies. Lockheed Martin, the contractor for the United States Joint Strike Fighter programme, is also a member of both teams competing for the CVF project, which are led by BAE SYSTEMS and Thales. Personnel from the CVF project team also maintain contact with their opposite numbers in the US carrier programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost is to his Department of the Central London Road User Charging Scheme for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004. [81882]

[holding answer 19 November 2002]: Any additional costs to the Ministry of Defence as a result of the congestion charging scheme will be just one element within wider costs which have to be met from budgets for official travelling and other costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will write to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South, regarding his answer of 5 November 2002, Official Report, column 168W, concerning the disposal of the Gunwharf and HMS Vernon site in Portsmouth to Barclay Homes. [83819]

I have replied today and a copy of my letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals there are to privatise the Defence Fire Service; and who would have control of the service if there were a major crisis. [83227]

The Airfield Support Services Project (ASSP) is seeking to achieve the most viable and cost effective solution for the provision of airfield support service to the Ministry of Defence world-wide with options that include both Public Private Partnership and in house solutions. There is also a complementary work stream, Fire Study 2000, that has looked specifically at the organisation and operation of the Defence Fire Service, which is to inform the Public Sector Comparator for ASSP.Bids from the three consortia involved in ASSP were received at the end of April and are now being evaluated. Main Gate approval is currently planned for the second half of 2003. No decisions have been taken at this stage. Whatever solution is taken forward, we would ensure that we preserve our ability to manage crisis situations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of magnetic profiling in searching for unexploded ordnance at military training areas; [83704](2) whether his Department uses

The Ministry of Defence has had, for a number of years, a magnetic profiling capability which is widely recognised as an effective method of establishing the degree of contamination within an area of land. The British Army does not currently employ geophysical instrumentation in ordnance clearance operations at military training grounds as it is not considered to provide the degree of accuracy required for the location of smaller types of ordnance. The Ministry of Defence currently possesses both Global Positioning System and magnetometry scanning capabilities. It is planned that more advanced equipment will be introduced in the next training year which will provide improved information on the presence of UXO within a given area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department has the capability to carry out airborne surveys of military training sites to detect (a) exploded and (b) unexploded ordnance. [83356]

Although we do not possess equipment designed specifically to detect unexploded ordnance from the air, the Ministry of Defence has used high-resolution photographic reconnaissance imagery to assist in explosive ordnance disposal work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hectares per day the British army clears of unexploded ordnance when they carry out clearing operations in Archers Post, Kenya. [83705]

Every British army unit conducting live firing activities on Archers Post conducts, on their completion, a clearance operation designed to ensure that all unexploded ordnance has, as far as possible, been marked and destroyed. In addition, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron of the Royal Engineers undertakes Exercise Pineapple annually in Kenya. The historical average, over the four-week period of the exercise, is that an area of up to three square kilometres is cleared, though this is subject to variation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has commissioned from McKinsey and Company in the past four years. [80973]

Since September 1998, Ministry of Defence records indicate that four contracts have been let to McKinsey and Company to produce the following reports:

• Consultancy support for the Smart Procurement Initiative.
• Support to Equipment Capability Customer Development.
• Re-energising the Ministry of Defence Change Programme—
• Assessment of Defence Information Infrastructure.
• Re-energising the Ministry of Defence Change Programme—
• Review and Adjust the DLO Business Change Programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what targets have been set in relation to his commitment to implement the recommendations of the Medical Manning and Retention Review; if he will publish (a) the Review recommendations and (b) the proposed pay scales for personnel in the Defence Medical Services; and if he will make a statement. [83467]

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 which firms are bidding for military vehicle contracts; and what is (a) the size of their work force and (b) the country in which they are based. [81694]

Current competitions for military vehicles include (a) HILLS (High Velocity Missile, Improved Medium Mobility, Lightweight Mobile Launcher, Shoulder Launch System) (b) Wheeled Tankers (c) Cargo Tracks and Wheeled Recovery Vehicles and (d) The Future Command Liaison Vehicle. I am withholding information relating to proposed purchases for Special Forces use under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which covers defence, security and international relations.

Project	Company	Workforce1	Country in which company based
HILLS	Automotive Technik Ltd.	Under 250	UK
Wheeled tankers	Marshall Specialist Vehicle Ltd.	Under 500	UK
Wheeled tankers	Oshkosh Truck Corporation	Under 250	USA
Support vehicles	Oshkosh Truck Corporation	Under 250	USA
Support vehicles	Stewart & Stevenson TV	Under 250	USA
Support vehicles	MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd.	2Under 2,000	UK
Support vehicles	Mercedes- Benz UK Defence	3—	UK
FCLV	Alvis Specialist Vehicles4	500	UK
FCLV	UDLP	—	5USA
FCLV	VDS	500	UK
1 Approximate UK work force numbers
2 Includes ERF Ltd. work force
3 Figure not available
4 Alvis have taken over VDS but at present there is a "Chinese wall" between the two competing components
5 UDLP are setting up a base in the UK. US work force numbers are 5,000

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times he has visited east Lancashire in his official capacity; and what the purpose was of each visit. [82403]

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will offer saliva tests to assess the extent of exposure to radiation experienced by British Service personnel and medical auxiliaries present at atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. [84258]

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 408W to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr Weir).

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the longest gap was between the submission of a written question in the last parliamentary session and his Department providing (a) a substantive reply, (b) a holding reply and (c) a "will write" response. [83252]

The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.Ministers aim to answer named day written questions on the day named and ordinary written questions within five working days.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice he has taken on whether the limitation of the right of under 18-year-olds to leave the armed forces if they consider that they have made a mistaken decision to join is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998. [83233]

All three services operate schemes which enable under 18-year-olds to leave the armed forces if they consider that they have made a mistaken decision to join. These schemes were not introduced as a consequence of the Human Rights Act 1998, and indeed the Royal Navy and Army schemes for 'unhappy under-18s' predate it. However, in common with other personnel policies, the schemes remain under review by the Ministry of Defence to ensure that they comply with extant legislation. The Ministry of Defence's position is that schemes do not in any way contravene the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998, given that under-18s, all of whom enter the amed forces voluntarily under their own informed will, have ample rights and opportunities to leave before reaching age 18.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advertising campaigns and public awareness campaigns have been undertaken by his Department in each year since 1997, and what the cost was of each company. [83415]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was set up on 29 May 2002. Since then the Office has undertaken two advertising and public awareness campaigns: one for fire safety under the title 'Make Your Plan Get Out Alive' at a cost of £2.4m; and one to remind the general public to be extra vigilant about fire safety during the current industrial action by the Fire Brigades' Union, under the title 'Get out, stay out and call 999' with a budget of up to £1.8m.For the total budget for the 'Fire Kills' campaign in this fiscal year, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on Tuesday 5 November 2002,

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has further to encourage use of brownfield sites; and if he will make a statement. [83418]

National planning policies encourage the reuse of suitable brownfield sites. Through Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (PPG3) we have introduced new measures, including an urban brownfields first policy, to meet the country's housing needs in the most sustainable way. Planning policies for land recycling are backed by a package of fiscal measures to secure the regeneration and renewal of communities worth £1 billion over 5 years.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans there are to help with match funding in areas that receive Objective 2 funding. [83388]

There are a large number of potential sources of match funding in Objective 2 areas. In addition to central Government programmes such as the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, other sources are also available including the RDA single pot, local authorities, voluntary and community sector and private sector sources also provide match funding. A publication listing out the many sources of match funding is widely circulated by Government Offices.Clearly as and when new Government programmes are introduced, they can provide additional sources of match funding for projects.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many emergency calls in the last 12 months to fire brigades were related to (a) fires and (b) other incidents. [83254]

In 2000, the last year for which data are available, of the 1,135,000 emergency calls attended by UK fire brigades, 476,000 (42 per cent.) were related to fires and 658,000 (58 per cent.) were related to other incidents.The other incidents category comprises false fire alarms (460,000 or 41 per cent, of all emergency calls) and special services incidents, including road traffic accidents and lift rescues (198,000 or 17 per cent of all emergency calls).The figures shown here differ very slightly from those given in answers to two earlier parliamentary questions (

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) statutory and (b) other role fire brigades have in relation to (i) risk reduction and risk management in relation to non-fire emergencies, (ii) community fire safety and fire reductions, (iii) fire safety enforcement and (iv) emergency preparedness against terrorist, biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear threats. [83255]

The roles that fire authorities have in relation to the activities listed include:

(i) Under section 3(l)(e) of the Fire Services Act 1947 a fire authority may "employ the fire brigade maintained by them, or use any equipment so maintained, for purposes other than fire-fighting purposes for which it appears to the authority to be suitable …". In the exercise of this power fire authorities take into account the deployment of resources to manage and reduce risk in relation to non-fire emergencies.

(ii) Among other duties of fire authorities under section 1(1) of the 1947 Act, section l(l)(f) makes it a duty to secure "efficient arrangements for the giving, when requested, of advice in respect of buildings and other property in the area of the fire authority as to fire prevention, restricting the spread of fires, and means of escape in case of fire". In addition, authorities undertake on a non-statutory basis such activities as fire safety education, community-based risk assessments, arson reduction initiatives and smoke alarm installation programmes.

(iii) Fire authorities currently enforce the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended by the Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999. Under the 1971 Act fire authorities are empowered to issue fire certificates that relate to categories of premises designated by the Secretary of State in two orders. The first covers hotels and boarding houses and the second deals with factories, offices, shops and railway premises Under the 1997 Regulations, as amended, fire authorities are empowered to assess the adequacy of the fire risk assessment made by an employer in respect of the employer's premises. Fire authorities are also consulted on the adequacy of fire precautions by local authorities, which are the enforcing authorities for licensing purposes and in respect of houses in multiple occupation.

(iv) The Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1993 give the metropolitan fire and civil defence authorities, including the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, the function of assisting the boroughs in their emergency planning arrangements, specifically by assisting with training and exercises. The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 places fire and civil defence authorities under a duty to prepare and maintain emergency plans to deal with the off-site effects of a major accident. Fire authorities generally participate in co-ordinating emergency response with other agencies. In addition, under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and the Department of Health in January 2002, fire authorities were encouraged to secure effective co-operation with health service agencies on mass decontamination: each fire authority was asked to draw up a local agreement facilitating the delegation of operations from the local ambulance service.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his policy that fire resources should be co-ordinated on a regional or sub-regional basis. [83256]

Fire services are provided locally by 50 fire authorities in England and Wales. We actively encourage wider collaboration, both between fire authorities and with other emergency services.The Independent Review of the Fire Service under the chairmanship of Professor Sir George Bain will, as part of its terms of reference, inquire into and make recommendations on the future organisation and management of the fire service. We await the report which Sir George hopes to be able to publish in December 2002.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the recent firemen's strike. [82219]

My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made statements to the House on 22 October, Official Report, column 125, 14 November 2002, Official Report, column 140, 21 November, Official Report, columns 885–86 and 26 November 2002, Official Report, columns 165–68. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will keep the House of Commons fully informed.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the terms of reference for the Bain Review of the Fire Service took into account the findings of the Pathfinder trials; and if he will make a statement. [82452]

Yes. The terms of reference of the Independent Review of the Fire Service require it, among other things, to inquire into and make recommendations on the future organisation and management of the Fire Service to undertake the full range of responsibilities that are appropriate to it; to enable it to respond effectively to all the operational demands that may be placed upon it; and to enable the responsibilities of the Fire Service to be delivered with optimum efficiency and effectiveness.The Fire Service needs to take an integrated approach to reducing and mitigating the risks from fires and other emergencies. Pathfinder trials have been undertaken in 11 brigades to develop working procedures and to assess the practicality and cost of implementing risk-based fire cover and greater flexibility of response. The findings of the trials have been made available to the Review.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of fire cover requirements where the risk to life is rated higher than that to property, before establishing the Pathfinder trials. [82454]

No such assessment could be made. The Pathfinder trials were commissioned to see what would be involved in practice in moving to a risk-based system of fire cover. The methods of risk assessment were developed as part of the trials, not before.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures have been taken to strengthen the parish tier of local government. [83508]

Recent measures to strengthen the parish tier of local government include:

increasing the amount local councils can spend per elector under Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972, on matters that will have a direct benefit on their communities, from £3.50 to £5.00;

£2 million Government funding over three years to help the Countryside Agency and NALC develop a national training strategy for parish councillors and clerks;

reducing the accounting and audit burden on parishes following the introduction of the "lighter touch" audit;

the introduction of a new ethical framework, including new codes of conduct to promote the highest standards of conduct in parish and town councils; anda wide-ranging consultation on proposals for a Quality Parish and Town Council scheme which we are now working with NALC and others to establish.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued on the remuneration of parish clerks. [83507]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not issued any guidance on the remuneration of parish clerks, which is a matter for each local council.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which Minister has responsibility for parish councils; and if he will make a statement. [83411]

My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister assisted by my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich and I are responsible for policy and legislation on English parish and town councils. We share these responsibilities with our Right Honourable and Honourable Friends who have responsibility for those service and policy objectives which parish councils can help to deliver.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many mobile phone masts have been constructed in England and Wales, in each year since 1997 in each local authority area. [83412]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold the information requested centrally.However, all mobile phone antennas are registered with the Radiocommunications Agency. Information on the location and ownership of the antennas is available on the Agency's Site Finder database at www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk The site is updated every three months.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what procedure an applicant must undertake to seek the permanent closure of areas of the public highway to prevent use by motorised vehicles; and what action is open to opponents to seek to prevent such an order being granted. [82466]

[holding answer 25 November 2002]: I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to him today (PQ ref. 82465).

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on the use of public funds to support campaigns for (a) referendums on regional government and (b) a particular outcome in a referendum campaign. [83847]

This is a matter for the Electoral Commission under the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (sections 108–110 and schedule 12); or, if pertaining to a local authority publicity campaign relating to regional referendums, a matter for the Code on Local Authority Publicity which my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has issued under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the headquarters for a regional government in the North West of England; and what the breakdown of this sum is broken down by budget heads. [83786]

The Government has made no estimate of the cost of a headquarters for a regional government in the North West of England. As paragraph 6.7 of the Government's White Paper on Regional Governance says, it will be for an assembly to decide on the best way to meet its accommodation requirements, including the location of its headquarters.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the initial start-up costs of regional government in the North West of England; and what the breakdown of this sum is broken down by main budget heads. [83787]

The costs of establishing elected regional assemblies will vary from region to region, mainly because of different sizes of their electorates. We expect them all to fall in a range around £15 million to £30 million a region, including the costs of a referendum and of the first assembly elections. The North West is likely to fall towards the upper end of this range.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) holding and (b) promoting a referendum on regional government in the North West of England. [83788]

Paragraph 69 of the Explanatory Notes to the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill says that the cost of a referendum may range from about £2m in the North East to about £6m in the South East.With regard to the costs associated with the promotion of a referendum in the North West, that would be a matter for the Electoral Commission under the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (sections 108–110 and schedule 12); or, if pertaining to a local authority publicity campaign relating to regional referendums, a matter for the Code on Local Authority Publicity which my Rt. Hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has issued under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the administrative costs of (a) regional development agencies, (b) government offices for the regions and (c) regional chambers were, in each region in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03. [83815]

The information is as follows:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received on the likely effect of the draft Regional Planning Guidance on the Warrington area; and if he will make a statement. [83892]

My right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) Proposed Changes to Draft Regional Planning Guidance for the North West were published in May 2002, and the closing date for comments was 16 August 2002, 201 organisations responded to the consultation, and a total of 1.825 individual comments were made on the whole of Draft RPG Of this total, 38 comments were on the Warrington area. Organisations that responded included the North West Development Agency, North West Regional Assembly, Warrington Borough Council, Council for the Protection of Rural England, and the Omega Joint Venture Partnership.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the number of second homes claiming a council tax discount in each local authority area in (a) Devon, (b) Cornwall, (c) Somerset and (d) Dorset. [82969]

The following tables set out the number of second homes (defined as furnished and no-one's main residence) entitled to the 50 per cent, council tax discount as at November 2001, as reported by local authorities.Some authorities have been unable to report reliable information on their number of second homes. These authorities are indicated in the tables by 'no estimate'.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households are in the registered social housing landlord sector. [83408]

Housing associations registered with the Housing Corporation house 3,037 million tenants in 1.6 million dwellings.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many offices the South West Regional Development Agency has outside the UK; how many people are employed in these offices; and what the annual budget is for the overseas offices operated by the agency. [82603]

I have been asked to reply.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Swaminarayan Hindu Mission concerning their dispute with Brent Council; and if he will make a statement. [82359]

I am not aware of any representation received by the office of the Deputy Prime Minister from the Swaminarayan Hindu mission.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the retained capital receipts from the sale of council houses by Wakefield metropolitan district council at May 1997; how much has been released since that date and what the value is of unreleased receipts. [83162]

The cumulative net selling price of council housing stock reported by Wakefield MDC between April 1980 and March 1997 was some £118 million. Under capital finance regulations, 25 per cent, of capital receipts arising from stock sales (excluding the value of any related local authority mortgages) are classified as a usable, while the balance is required to be 'set aside' as provision for credit liabilities. Between April 1997 and March 2002, Wakefield reported a further £54 million generated by stock sales.Allocations to Wakefield under the Capital Receipts Initiative between 1997–98 and 1999–2000 totalled £9.652 million. In addition, Wakefield applied £9.671 million of its usable housing capital receipts (including those arising from the sale of other assets) to fund its housing capital programmes between 1997–98 and 2001–02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the capital requirements of higher education institutions. [81979]

There have been three linked studies into the capital requirements of higher education institutions, covering science research infrastructure, teaching and learning, and arts and humanities. These reports concluded that there were shortfalls of £3.2 billion of investment in science research, £5.3 billion in teaching and learning and £0.5 billion in arts and humanities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the value of target-setting in primary schools. [81980]

The value of target setting is evident from the part it has played in the unprecedented success of primary schools in raising standards of literacy and numeracy. Since the introduction of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies schools have achieved a 10 per cent, point improvement in the number of 11-year-olds achieving the expected level in English, and 14 per cent, point improvement in mathematics. This year's results taken together were the best ever.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his policy on the introduction of top-up fees for higher education. [81981]

I refer the hon. Member to the oral reply given earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Mr. Illsley), Official Report, column 448.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his policy on school exclusions. [81982]

The Department's Circular 10/99— Social Inclusion: Pupil Support contains the Secretary of State's guidance on the appropriate use of exclusion— both fixed term and permanent, procedures to be followed on exclusion and provides guidance on the duties and roles of those involved in the process. My right hon. Friend will issue revised guidance when new arrangements for exclusions are put in place under the Education Act 2002.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress towards the Government's targets for recruiting trainee mathematics teachers in 2002. [81983]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis), on 18 November 2002, Official Report, column 32W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to assist United Kingdom universities to become centres of excellence. [81984]

There is already excellence within our universities— in research, teaching, linking with business and working in the community. We want to make sure that excellence is recognised, incentivised and rewarded. Our Strategy Document, to be published in January, will set out in detail how we propose to do this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations he has received about the special payments to universities in respect of pupils resident in specified postcode areas. [81994]

My right hon. Friend receives representations about a range of higher education issues. Universities and colleges incur additional costs in recruiting, teaching and supporting students from non-traditional backgrounds. The funding they receive from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in respect of these costs is the 'postcode premium'. HEFCE is currently reviewing this funding and has consulted on a range of options.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to change the minimum full time salary level paid to a university lecturer after five years service. [81995]

The pay of higher education staff is negotiated between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. This is not an issue for the Government, but in the spending review for the years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 we provided £330 million to underpin universities' human resource strategies. This was to help institutions recruit, retain and develop the staff they need to improve further the quality of teaching and learning and to modernise management and reward systems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he will take to ensure that there is an increase in the number of university students from low income backgrounds. [81997]

We are determined to encourage more young people from lower income backgrounds to enter higher education. Our secondary school reforms will help raise participation and attainment levels so that more young people will be eligible to benefit from higher education. We have committed over £190 million over three years to the Excellence Challenge to raise aspirations and attainment of young people in some of the most deprived areas of the country. This includes making available 25,000 Opportunity Bursaries to encourage young students from low-income families into higher education. Young people in schools and further education colleges in Excellence Challenge areas continue to benefit from the AimHigher road show, which was launched earlier this year to promote higher education.Our review of higher education which will be published in January will reflect our continued commitment to widening participation in higher education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he next expects to meet representatives of teacher unions to discuss the burden of regulation in schools. [81985]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with teachers' representatives on the number of directives issued to schools since 1997. [81992]

I will be meeting representatives of teacher unions shortly to discuss our work force proposals. These include the establishment of an Implementation Review Unit, featuring a panel of experienced serving practitioners, to improve policy implementation and reduce bureaucratic burdens.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice he has given schools in order to accommodate the particular needs of young carers, while at the same time, pursuing their careers at schools. [81986]

Advice on how to support young carers at school has been provided to schools in DfES circular 10/99.It recommends that schools:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for the funding of higher education. [81987]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for funding of universities. [81989]

We will publish a strategy document setting out our 10-year vision for the development and reform of higher education in January. It would not be right for me to say now exactly what is or is not planned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) average amounts paid to English local authorities and (b) amount paid to Leeds education authority per pupil were in respect of (i) educational standard spending, (ii) standards fund and (iii) other special and specific grants in each of the last three years. [83472]

The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools he expects to apply for new freedoms under the Education Act 2002; and if he will make a statement. [81988]

The Department has no preconceived idea of the number of applications for new freedoms that will be received. It is intended that schools should be in the lead in making proposals.We have always made clear that we intend to consult widely on the criteria for exemptions related to school performance before regulations are laid. Subject to consultation, we envisage linking the criteria to those that Ofsted propose to use for standard inspections.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the levels of staff turnover in schools in the South East in the last 12 months. [81990]

The table shows the latest available turnover and wastage data for the South East Government Office Region.

Turnover and wastage rates of qualified teachers, 1999–2000 (provisional)
Percentage
	Full-Time		Part-Time1
	Turnover rate2	Wastage rate3	Turnover rate4	Wastage rate5
South East
Government
Office
Region	17.2	10.4	32.1	27.8
10–20 per cent, of part-time teachers may not be included in the data.
2Full-time turnover is defined as all teachers in full-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in full-time service in the same establishment on 31 March 2000. Turnover therefore includes wastage, transfers to other establishments within the maintained schools sector and teachers leaving to part-time service. Not all employers record all movements between their schools so turnover rates may be underestimated.
3Full-time wastage is defined as all teachers in full-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in full-time service anywhere in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 2000. This includes teachers leaving to part-time service.
4Part-time turnover is defined as all teachers in part-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in part-time service in the same establishment on 31 March 2000. Turnover therefore includes wastage, transfers to other establishments within the maintained schools sector and teachers leaving to full-time service.
5Part-time wastage is defined as all teachers in part-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in part-time service anywhere in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 2000. This includes teachers leaving to full-time service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will introduce Food Technology into the National Curriculum; and if he will make a statement. [81991]

Food technology is part of the design and technology curriculum and is therefore already a statutory entitlement for all primary pupils within the National Curriculum. They learn practical food handling skills, including food hygiene, and are encouraged to develop positive attitudes to food. At Key Stage 3, the Government strongly encourages secondary schools to offer pupils the opportunity to study food technology, and nearly 90 per cent, do so. Food, nutrition and healthy eating are also taught within science and personal, social and health education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the variation in school transport costs between different local education authority areas in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [81993]

The variation in spend on home to school transport between local education authorities was considered in papers to the Education Funding Strategy Group at its meetings on 31 January 2002, and 13 March 2002. In both instances data from 2001–02 were used to develop a formula for the distribution of funding for home to school transport in the new LEA funding system, to be introduced for 2003–04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new schools have been built in coalfield communities since 1997; and how many are planned. [81996]

We do not have this information. Local education authorities determine the need for additional places in the maintained sector and, where necessary, build or support the provision of new schools. The Department makes available capital funding for new school places; many of these are provided in existing schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on Sure Start in Gloucester. [81998]

There is one Sure Start programme operating in Gloucester, a Round Two programme in Barton, Tredworth and White City that was approved in October 2000, with a catchment area covering 934 children under four.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the average lifetime earnings of (a) graduates and (b) non-graduates. [81999]

We estimate that the average lifetime earnings of a graduate with a first degree are just over £1 million.This is based on current labour market conditions, using data from the Labour Force Survey.The estimated average for the working population as a whole is around £675,000, and it would be significantly lower than this for non-graduates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on private finance initiatives in school buildings in Cheshire. [82000]

Cheshire County Council signed a schools PFI contract with the Eric Wright Group on 22 October, covering a number of schools in Ellesmere Port. The project will rebuild or modernise five primary schools, provide sports and drama facilities at one secondary school and provide additional community facilities. The project is supported by £16.1 million in PFI credits from the Department for Education and Skills for the educational facilities, and by £1 million in PFI credits from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the community facilities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of English students completed upper secondary education in the last year for which figures are available. [83202]

[holding answer 25 November 2002]: The information available is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many extra sixth form higher education and further education places will be required in England by 2010 to meet the EU education benchmarks. [83203]

[holding answer 25 November 2002]: The structure and organisation of education systems is the responsibility of individual EU member states. There are no education benchmarks at EU level that we are required to meet. Education Ministers will consider next year whether or not to use some existing international indicators and/or benchmarks to help share and spread best practice in education.

Number of pupils not in school and being otherwise educated 1998–2002
	Somerset Local Education Authority			England
	Pupils aged 5–10	Pupils aged 11–15	Pupils aged 16+	Total	Pupils aged 5–10	Pupils aged 11–15	Pupils aged 16+	Total
1998	71	234	9	314	2,462	10,587	545	13,594
1999	83	308	5	396	2,232	11,351	422	14,005
2000	93	344	3	440	2,825	12,264	585	15,670
2001	24	337	1	362	3,037	12,843	427	16,307
2002	64	119	19	202	3,361	15,187	386	18,934

The available figures record for each local education authority the number of pupils not in school and being otherwise educated under arrangements made by the authority. As well as covering pupils taught at home, this includes but does not separately identify, traveller children and asylum seekers at further education colleges or with voluntary providers. It does not however include pupils who are being educated at home through parental choice and independent of local education authority arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his officials have made of the (a) number and (b) cost of children in this country receiving state education (i) who do not have the legal rights to settle in the UK and (ii) whose parents are illegal immigrants. [80957]

The requested information is not collected centrally.All children are entitled to education regardless of their immigration status.Local education authorities receive funding for these children in the same way that they do for other children on school rolls. Other financial support is available through the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant for help with the provision of English as an additional

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the additional spending required in England to meet EU educational benchmarks. [83204]

[holding answer 25 November 2002]: The structure and organisation of education systems is the responsibility of individual EU member states. There are no education benchmarks at EU level that we are required to meet. Education Ministers will consider next year whether or not to use some existing international indicators and/or benchmarks to help share and spread best practice in education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils of school age were educated at home in each age group in (a) Somerset and (b) Taunton in each of the last five years. [82612]

The available information is shown in the table:language and through a one-off grant for children of asylum seekers supported by schools in the dispersal areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many and what percentage of members of (a) each local learning and skills council and (b) the National Learning and Skills Council declare a record of political activity, broken down by party. [80990]

Appointments to the LSC have been made through fair and open competition, in complete accordance with guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). Working with the LSC we have sought to attract applications from individuals with a wide range of appropriate experience, regardless of any political affiliation they may have. Information is provided in the table below and shows those Council members who have declared a political interest. This does not necessarily mean that individuals are or have been politically active; they have simply declared an affiliation to a political party. These figures exclude the Executive Directors of LLSCs since they were not required to declare political activity when applying for these posts.

Local LSC	Labour	Conservative	Liberal democrat	Others
North East
County Durham	1	—	—	1
Northumberland	1	—	—	—
Tees Valley	4(1)	1	—	—
Tyne and Wear	3(1)	—	—	—
East Midlands
Derbyshire	6(2)	—	—	—
Leicestershire	3	—	—	—
Lincolnshire and Rutland	1	—	1(1)	1
Northamptonshire	1(1)	1(1)	—	—
Nottinghamshire	3(2)	1	—	—
Yorkshire and Humberside
South Yorkshire	4(2)	—	—	—
North Yorkshire	—	2(2)	—	—
Humberside	1(1)	—	—	—
West Yorkshire	3(1)	—	—	—
West Midlands
Birmingham and Solihull	5(1)	—	—	—
The Black Country	2(1)	—	—	—
Coventry and Warwickshire	2(1)	—	1	—
Herefordshire and Worcestershire	2(1)	—	—	—
Shropshire	2	—	1(1)	1
Staffordshire	4(1)	—	—	—
North West
Cheshire/Warrington	—	—	1	—
Cumbria	2(1)	—	—	—
Lancashire	4(1)	—	—	—
Greater Manchester	4(1)	—	—	—
Greater Merseyside	4	—	1(1)	—
South West
Devon and Cornwall	—	—	1(1)	—
Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole	—	—	2(1)	—
Gloucestershire	2	—	—	—
Somerset	1	1	1(1)	—
Wiltshire and Swindon	1(1)	2(2)	1	—
The West of England	2(1)	—	—	—
East of England
Bedfordshire and Luton	4(1)	—	—	—
Cambridgeshire	—	—	1(1)	1
Essex	3(1)	2(1)	1	—
Hertfordshire	1	1(1)	—	—
Norfolk	2(1)	1	—	—
Suffolk	3(2)	1(1)	—	—
South East
Berkshire	None Declared
Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and IOW	1	—	—	—
Kent and Medway	2(1)	3(1)	—	—
Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Bucks	3(1)	—	—	—
Surrey	1	1(1)	—	—
Sussex	2(1)	—	—	—
London
London Central	3(1)	3	—	—
London East	4(2)	—	—	—
London North	3(1)	—	—	—
London South	2	1(1)	—	—
London West	3	—	—	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many modern apprenticeship places were taken up in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001; and how many were left vacant. [83725]

The number of starts on modern apprenticeships (Foundation and Advanced) in 2000 and 2001 are shown in the table:

	AMA	FMA
26 December 1999 to 24 December 2000	76,900	94,200
25 December 2000 to 23 December 2001	64,400	110,500

Numbers of Modern Apprenticeships left vacant are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to increase the take-up of modern apprenticeships. [83726]

The Government and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) are wholly committed to modern apprenticeships (MA) as a quality work-based learning route for young people. We have adopted a challenging Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for MA entrants by 2004—28 per cent, of young people to begin an MA by the age of 22.The Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and the Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council have announced a new modern apprenticeship task force which will take a key role in promoting MA to employers and thereby contributing to increased take-up.All parties involved in the initiative are working together to increase the take-up of MAs. The LSC is running a marketing and promotion campaign with a range of measures to reach employers and key influencers, following its successful campaign targeting young people. Connexions Partnerships are delivering improved advice and guidance to young people on the opportunities available in their communities. New and developing sector skills councils also play a key role by supporting promotion to employers in their sectors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for which pilot and pathfinder schemes the Isle of Wight council was eligible to apply. [81267]

No LEAs were invited to participate in the schools Peer Mentoring Pack pilot, as it is school based. However, Medina High School (Isle of Wight) is involved in piloting the schools peer mentoring pack during the school year 2002–03. Also, Carisbrooke High School (Isle of Wight) will be invited to take part in the second round of the peer mentoring pilot. The second phase of the roll-out will take place in the new year.No schools in the Isle of Wight fell within the definition for Schools Facing Extremely Challenging Circumstances, therefore, none have been invited to participate in the project, nor have any been invited to participate in the Zoneparcs project, as none met the deprivation criteria for this project.Isle of Wight LEA was not invited to participate in the Excellence in Cities programme, which covers Learning Mentors, enhanced opportunities for the Gifted and Talented and the Excellence in Cities Primary Pilot. Appropriate LEAs were identified by the Department, there was no application process.As the Isle of Wight did not meet the defined criteria it is not participating in the Pupil Learning Credits pilot, nor was the Isle of Wight council invited to participate in the School Partnerships for Improvement pilot, or the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilot scheme, as no schools met the defining criteria.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what activities are being undertaken by his Department to promote the take-up of education in prisons; what incentives exist within the penal system to encourage the take-up of education by prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [82457]

[holding answer 25 November 2002]: We are improving both the quality and quantity of prison education to bring more prisoners into learning and to ensure they benefit from it. The prison education budget will rise to £87 million next year— an increase of almost 50 per cent, in real terms over last year. This includes investment of £20 million capital over the next two years to support the modernisation of education and training provision including transforming prison libraries so that they become learning resource centres. And it includes a further £2 million in computer training opportunities to help prepare prisoners for the demands of the modern labour market. We are also helping prison establishments to expand the range of environments in which they can offer learning.Governors have to ensure that the rates of pay they set do not discourage prisons from participating in activities, which are part of their sentence or learning plan. Through the "Incentives and Earned Privileges" scheme, some Governors have developed ways of incentivising and rewarding educational progress and achievement. At the same time, the Prison Service order on "Education in Prisons" sets out the statutory requirement on how education must be provided. It states that all prisons must provide activities in a range of ways, which respond to the individual needs of the learners.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will rank education authorities in England the most recent pupil/teacher ratios for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools. [80597]

The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the likely impact on education in Warrington of each of the five options in the consultation on the review of revenue grant distribution. [83893]

The Government has been carefully considering all the suggestions put to us in response to the consultation, including the F40 Group's suggestion of an Option 5. We will announce decisions on the new funding system early next month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were excluded from schools in Essex in each year since 1997. [80892]

The available information on permanent exclusions is shown in the table. Figures are not available centrally on fixed-term exclusions.

Number of permanent exclusions in primary1, secondary1 and special schools in the academic years 1996–97 to 2000–01— Essex Local Education Authority
	Essex2	Essex3
1996–97
Number of permanent exclusions	276	4—
Percentage of the school population	0.12	4—
1997—98
Number of permanent exclusions	4—	207
Percentage of the school population	4—	0.11
1998–99
Number of permanent exclusions	4—	191
Percentage of the school population	4—	0.10
1999–2000
Number of permanent exclusions	4—	182
Percentage of the school population	4—	0.09
2000–01
Number of permanent exclusions	4—	198
Percentage of the school population	4—	0.10
1 Includes middle schools as deemed
2 Before Local Government Reorganisation
3 After Local Government Reorganisation
4 Not applicable