To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on damage caused to the environment by animal agriculture. [164224]

The information is as follows.

(a)Defra has commissioned a wide range of studies on this topic. These programmes and their associated studies have been addressed by "pollutant" (eg greenhouse gas, ammonia, nitrate, phosphorus) rather than by farming sector (eg animal, arable). Full details of the numerous studies, both on-going and those completed in and after 1999, can be found on http://www2.defra.gov.uk/research/project_data/subject.asp?SCOPE=0. Most of this extensive research is listed under the policy areas "Environmental Protection (Agriculture)" and "Farmland Conservation". Some of the output of this research is summarised in National Inventories for Greenhouse Gases and Ammonia.

(b)Defra R&D programmes are subjected to periodic review (usually triennial). In addition, individual studies are subject to an expanding programme of peer review. An economic evaluation of the nitrate R&D programme was published in 2002 and can be found at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/evaluation/nitrate/default.asp.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the globalised beef market on deforestation in the Amazon basin. [166834]

The international beef export market is expanding and Brazilian production is rising to meet demand. The vast majority of Brazil's export trade is currently with countries outside the European Community.We have not undertaken our own assessment of the impact of the globalised beef market on deforestation in the Amazon Basin, but we are aware of work undertaken and published on 2 April 2004 by CIFOR (Centre for International Forestry Research), which suggests that Brazil's beef production contribute to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.The Government takes sustainable forest management seriously and is playing a leading role in international negotiations on forests in a number of fora, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), Forest Law Enforcement and Governance processes and the G8.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress her Department has made to manage the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments. [164328]

Defra has been in discussion with our Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) software provider and we have also been in communication with our sponsoring bank for BACS payments (The Bank of England). Defra will be migrating to BACSTEL-IP in accordance with the timetable issued by BACS Ltd. and guidance from The Office of the Paymaster General.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the latest evidence on the links between BSE and new variant CJD. [164072]

I have been asked to reply.The research referred to is published in international scientific literature, not by the Government.The two latest published findings are Asante E. A.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the factors accounting for the trend in UK carbon dioxide emissions since 1996. [165455]

UK emissions of CO² in 2003 were some seven million tonnes of carbon (MtC) lower than in 1996. Broadly speaking this can be accounted for by warmer temperatures in 2003 (-4MtC), greater economic output (+29MtC), lower energy consumption per unit of economic output (-26 MtC), and lower average carbon content of fuels per unit of energy consumption (-6 MtC). The figures in brackets indicate approximately the contribution of each effect, positive and negative signs indicating respectively a contribution to higher or lower emissions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will withdraw her request to the French competent authority for a variation in the conditions attached to the Part C consent for Chardon LL fodder maize. [166421]

[holding answer 21 April 2004]: No. The consent issued by the French Authorities applies to all types of maize genetically modified with the event known as T25, not just to specific varieties, such as Chardon LL.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate the Government has made of the annual costs to the insurance industry resulting from climate change. [165815]

According to the Association of British Insurers storm and flood insurance losses in the UK over the past five years have totalled £5 billion, twice that of previous years. At present, it is not possible scientifically, to attribute such changes and the associated weather events to climate change absolutely. However, what is clear is that the extreme weather events experienced in the UK over recent years (for example, the floods in 2000 and the hot summer in 2003) are typical of what is likely to be experienced with even greater frequency as a result of man-made climate change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to review the Environment Agency's pollution incident recording system. [166051]

I have no plans to review the Environment Agency's National Incident Recording System (NIRS).The Agency carries out an ongoing review of the effectiveness of the system and liaises with the user community, making changes where appropriate.Over the next five years, the Agency will be looking to move towards one fully integrated web-based tracking system to encompass incident reporting and enforcement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Treasury on the cost to the economy of environmental problems. [166670]

Officials and Ministers from Defra and the Treasury frequently discuss the cost to the economy of environmental problems and how best this can be mitigated. To inform these discussions and policy development more generally Defra undertakes analysis of the economic costs and benefits of policies to protect the environment, including a continuous programme of impact assessments and an annual national survey of environmental expenditure by businesses.Recent examples of such discussions include the development of proposals for returning the revenue from the new landfill tax escalator to business and consideration of the scope for cost savings through more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 March, Official Report, column 435W, on GM crops, whether the investigations were conducted by the Robert Koch Institute on behalf of the Syngenta Corporation. [166109]

The German Government has appointed the Robert Koch Institute as its competent authority under Directive 2001/18. The Institute's investigation was undertaken as the competent authority with the full co-operation of Syngenta, who hold the consent for marketing of Bt176 maize.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to deliver sustainable development within Government. [165657]

Sustainable development is the responsibility of all Government Departments, but one for which Defra takes the lead. Defra actively promotes sustainable development across Whitehall in many ways in line with the Department's primary Public Service Agreement. Current initiatives include:

Annual reporting on the Government's progress towards sustainable development in the UK since the launch of the 1999 strategy for sustainable development. The 2003 "Achieving a better quality of life" report updates progress on the UK Government's l5 headline indicators of sustainable development and gives an overview of the main strategic developments and actions.

Drawing up new UK sustainable development strategy, including a strategic framework covering both domestic and international dimensions, co-owned and agreed by the devolved Administrations and the UK Government. The consultation was launched on 21 April.

Development of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. This is the main vehicle for improving the way in which Government Departments manage their business operations.

Ensuring that domestic and international sustainable development is an important consideration in HM Treasury's Spending Review 2004.

Pursuing, along with other Government Departments, implementation of the commitments stemming from the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on her Department's Sustainable Development Strategy. [165658]

Progress towards meeting the targets listed in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate is detailed in the Sustainable Development in Government report published in November 2003.Sustainable development, as the Department's overarching aim, also underpins Defra's work, which is reported in the departmental annual reports.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1621W, on hazardous waste, if she will make a statement on the (a) detection and (b) prosecution rates she expects the Environment Agency to achieve. [165295]

It is not possible to predict detection and prosecution rates for hazardous waste. However, Environment Agency data for prosecutions brought relating to illegal waste activity as a whole is available for the years 1999–2003 as follows:

Year (financial)	Number of prosecutions
1999–2000	366
2000–01	446
2001–02	484
2002–03	511

The Environment Agency takes enforcement action against incidents and breaches of permit conditions in accordance with its enforcement and prosecution policies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many press officers were employed in her Department in each year from 1990–91 to 2003–04; what the total cost was in each year; and if she will make a statement. [162852]

Defra was not set up until June 2001. Figures relating to numbers of press officers employed by the organisations whose functions were subsumed into the new department would not correspond accurately to the distribution and scope of the present work areas.The number of press officers employed at Defra has been as follows:

	Number
June 2001	22
June 2002	22
June 2003	22
As at 18 March 2004	19

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Airs what the budget for administration was for each non-departmental public body for which she is responsible that are in the following categories (a) public corporation, (b) executive, (c) advisory and (d) tribunal non-departmental public bodies in financial year 2002–03. [164460]

Details of the administration costs of executive, tribunal and advisory NDPBs and public corporations are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management will take evidence from the relevant bodies in (a) Sweden, (b) Finland and (c) the USA. [159024]

CoRWM is an independent Committee and will gather information from any organisations it considers relevant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many formal complaints were made against the Rural Payments Agency's Northallerton office in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [164597]

Complaints against the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) are interpreted as complaints in respect of decisions made under the Common Agricultural Policy schemes which it administers. Such complaints are therefore recorded against scheme type and not on a site by site basis.

Defoliation of all species by classes and class aggregates (2002)
Participating Countries	Area surveyed (1,000 ha)	No. of sample trees	0 none	1 slight	2 moderate	3+4 severe and dead	2+3+4
Albania	1,028	—	—	—	—	—	—
Austria	3,481	7,029	60.2	29.6	8.5	1.7	10.2
Belarus	7,845	9,690	34.9	55.6	8.2	1.3	9.5
Belgium	691	3,079	38.7	43.5	16.1	1.7	17.8
Bulgaria	3,314	5,303	24.1	38.8	29.9	7.2	37.1
Croatia	1,175	1,910	38.4	41.0	18.6	2.0	20.6
Cyprus	138	360	30.8	66.4	2.8	0.0	2.8
Czech Republic	2,630	7,013	11.6	35.0	52.7	0.7	53.4
Denmark	468	480	61.5	29.8	7.3	1.4	8.7
Estonia	2,249	2,169	45.9	46.5	6.6	1.0	7.6
Finland	15,006	8,593	54.6	33.9	10.5	1.0	11.5
France	13,100	10,355	40.1	38.0	20.3	1.6	21.9
Germany	10,264	13,534	35.1	43.5	20.0	1.4	21.4
Greece1	2,512	1,768	42.1	37.0	16.6	4.3	20.9
Hungary	1,804	26,921	38.1	40.7	16.0	5.2	21.2
Ireland	399	424	43.9	35.4	16.0	4.7	20.7
Italy	7,699	7,165	20.3	42.4	33.4	3.9	37.3
Latvia	2,902	8,682	19.8	66.4	12.0	1.8	13.8
Liechtenstein	2—	2—	2—	2—	2—	2—	2—
Lithuania	1,858	5,162	16.4	70.8	9.6	3.2	12.8
Luxembourg	84	2—	2—	2—	2—	2—	2—
Rep. Of Moldova	318	11,489	25.2	32.3	32.6	9.9	42.5
The Netherlands	210	231	57.1	21.2	20.4	1.3	21.7
Norway	12,000	7,421	35.0	39.5	22.0	3.5	25.5
Poland	6,868	24,580	8.8	58.5	30.7	2.0	32.7
Portugal	3,233	4,350	47.8	42.6	8.9	0.7	9.6
Romania	6,244	104,366	62.7	23.8	12.0	1.5	13.5
Russian Federation3	6,315	4,144	37.9	51.2	10.2	0.7	10.9
Serbia/Montenegro4	—	1,104	80.8	15.3	3.7	0.2	3.9

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are being implemented by the Environment Agency to ensure that all timber used on the construction sites of new offices will come from legal and sustainable sources, and if she will list those sites. [166717]

The procurement by the Environment Agency of sustainably managed timber is reported publicly at quarterly Board meetings and in the Agency's Annual Environmental Report. Preliminary indications are that in 2003–04, all of the timber used was from a sustainably managed source.The Agency is currently having a new leasehold office built to its requirements at Wallingford, near Oxford.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of trees (a) had full crowns, (b) had slight defoliation, (c) had moderate defoliation, (d) had severe defoliation and (e) were dead in the most recent survey of tree health in Europe under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, broken down by country. [165742]

The results of the 2002 Large-scale Survey of Forest Condition in Europe is published by the UNECE and European Commission are shown in the table. The report did not separate the 'severe defoliation' and 'dead' categories.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on projects her Department supports which aim to produce road fuel from waste material. [162255]

The Department does not support financially any projects which aim to produce road fuel from waste material.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the effect of new legislation on current methods of disposing of farm waste plastics. [162256]

Plastic packaging waste from farms is already subject to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) which encourage the reuse of packaging where possible and require businesses to recover and recycle packaging waste to target levels.Waste from premises used for agriculture is currently excluded from national waste management controls by section 75(7)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Draft regulations and an associated consultation document are being drafted for publication later in the spring and the consultation will include proposals for a producer responsibility scheme for increasing the collection and recycling of non-packaging agricultural waste plastic.Currently the majority of agricultural waste plastic is disposed of by burial in un-licensed "farm tips" or by unregulated open burning with consequential risks to the environment and human health. The proposed regulations will prohibit the on-farm disposal of agricultural waste without a waste management licence or a registered licence exemption. Waste agricultural plastic will have to be disposed of or recovered in appropriately licensed or registered sites in line with other sectors of industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether comprehensive simulation of the airspace management implications of possible runway development options for the south east of England was undertaken prior to the publication of the Aviation White Paper on 16 December 2003; and what plans (a) National Air Traffic Services and (b) the Civil Aviation Authority have to undertake such a simulation. [166544]

Pursuant to my answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 307W, I referred to the level of airspace modelling work that the Department commissioned CAA-DAP and NATS to carry out as part of the SERAS Study in advance of the White Paper. The primary objective of this work was to simulate several airport development scenarios to assess whether the London airspace system could accommodate runway capacities of the order envisaged by the development options.However, now that the White Paper has been published, it is necessary to move from simulations to develop a comprehensive redesign of London's airspace. Paragraph 12.26 of the White Paper confirms that the Government looks to CAA to make early progress in bringing forward a structured programme for this work. The White Paper also makes it clear that CAA will need to involve NATS in working up its detailed proposals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many liquefied petroleum gas refuelling depots there were in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [167233](2) how many compressed natural gas refuelling depots there were in the UK in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [167234]

The following table shows, for the UK, the number of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refuelling sites in the last five years and the number of publicly accessible compressed natural gas refuelling sites in the last three years.

Year	Liquefied petroleum gas refuelling sites1	Compressed antural gas refuelling sites2
1999	285	N/a
2000	610	N/a
2001	1000	13
2002	1200	14
2003	1272	19
1Liquid Petroleum Gas Association
2Natural Gas Vehicle Association

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes there have been to the amount of vehicle kilometres travelled over the last five years within (a) the North Somerset local authority and (b) Weston-super-Mare. [167526]

Traffic estimates for counties and unitary authorities have been published on my Department's web site. These show that there was an estimated 14 per cent. increase in vehicle kilometres in North Somerset between 1997 and 2002, the latest year for which figures are available. The corresponding information for district authorities, including Weston-super-Mare, is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money her Department has invested in renewable energy in Liverpool from 1997 to 2003. [166954]

In 2003 the Department awarded a capital grant of £10 million to Seascape Energy towards the costs of developing the Burbo Bank offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay.In 1999, Mersey Docks and Harbour Company were awarded a contract under the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) arrangements for electricity to be generated from six 600 kW wind turbines in Seaforth Dock.A grant of £94,647 was awarded under the DTI's PV Domestic Field Trial to CDS Housing for a project at Pinehurst Estate, Liverpool.A grant of £11,759 was awarded to Cosmopolitan Housing Association under stream 1 of the DTI's Photovoltaic (PV) Major Demonstration Programme for a project in Liverpool.A grant of £1,250 was awarded to Liverpool county council under the DTI's Clear Skies scheme for a community project in Liverpool.Some initiatives relating to the North West region as a whole may result in benefits for Liverpool. In 2000–01, the DTI contributed £50,000 towards a study of the potential for renewable energy throughout the North West region. Between 2002–04, the DTI contributed £208,060 towards a regional renewable energy planning facilitation fund administered through the Government Office for the North West.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to differentiate between offshore and onshore wind farms in the subsidy system for selling renewable obligation certificates. [165518]

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects of recent trends in investment in renewable energy upon residents of Burnley. [168305]

Recent trends in renewable energy investment have been highly encouraging. More new capacity has been constructed in the last few years than in the previous decade, and a significant amount is currently in the pipeline. This covers a wide range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass.Whilst this investment has not translated into capacity within Burnley itself, there are wind farm developments, both constructed and proposed, in the surrounding area. There is the 9.6 MW 24 turbine development at Coal Clough, built in 1992. The application for the Hameldon Hill wind farm, a 3 turbine 5 MW development has recently been approved on appeal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will break down the UK's trade figures with (a) China and (b) Taiwan in the past 12 months into (i) imports and (ii) exports. [165860]

Information on UK imports and exports of goods, from and to China and Taiwan, is given in the following table.

align="right">£ million1
	China		Taiwan
	UK imports	UK exports	UK imports	UK exports
2003
February	601	150	185	68
March	626	153	185	65
April	657	191	175	87
May	675	181	186	68
June	684	157	176	65
July	622	155	181	74
August	723	165	187	68
September	745	134	180	78
October	749	180	182	82
November	773	149	170	87
December	794	193	175	82
2004
January	791	128	182	72
1Seasonally adjusted
>Source:					>Business Monitor MM24, Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics, ONS

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the post offices which have been closed since 1907 in the Carshalton and Wallington constituency; and when each closed. [167649]

Decisions on post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to make an announcement on the future of the rural post office network subsidy. [168226]

The Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) report on the future of the post office network recommended that the Postal Services Commission should advise the Government on the main options for the policy framework after 2006. The Government is currently considering the advice and will take decisions on the shape of the rural post office network after 2006 in good time to allow for a smooth transition from the current support arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) rural and (b) urban post offices have (i) closed and (ii) been opened since 1997. [168227]

I understand from Post Office Ltd. that details of net post office closures in the United Kingdom, recorded by urban/rural classification are only available from March 2000 and are as follows:

Post office closures
	Urban	Rural
2000–01	106	441
2001–02	68	194
2002–03	1230	115
1Includes 102 closures under the urban network reinvention programme.

Post Office Ltd. is yet to report a detailed breakdown of closures for the financial year 2003–04. The latest quarter for which information on post office closures is available (December 2003)—reveals that net closures were as follows:

2003–04–to end of December 2003
Urban	Rural
1642	132
1Includes 592 closures under the urban network reinvention programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of rural post offices protected from closure by the rural network subsidy. [168228]

No such estimate has been carried out. All rural sub-post offices benefit from the Government's package of support which is used to maintain the 'Assigned Office Payments' to sub-postmasters and to fund the front-line services necessary for each and every post office to operate—for example IT and cash. Without Government support, large parts of the rural network would have faced closure.The funding ensures that, at least until 2006, Post Office Ltd. can maintain the rural network and prevent avoidable closures. Nevertheless, some closures are inevitable, for example where a sub-postmaster or sub-postmistress retires and no one can be found to take on the service. However, where a rural office closes permanently, alternative forms of providing the post office service in that area will be explored.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for compensation were made and how much Royal Mail Group paid in compensation in each year since 1997 in respect of (a) first class, (b) second class, (c) special delivery next day, (d) special delivery 9.00 am, (e) recorded signed for and (f) standard parcels mail which was (i) delayed and (ii) severely delayed; and how many claims were made, and how much was paid in compensation, in each year since 1997 for (A) damage to valuable mail, (B) consequential loss and (C) delay to bulk mailings. [168671]

Compensation claims are an operational matter for Royal Mail Group and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints were received by Energywatch on switching energy suppliers in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [167772]

During 2003, 3.1 million domestic gas customers and 4.2 million domestic electricity customers changed their suppler. In that period, Energywatch received 22,437 complaints from domestic consumers about the transfer process, including complaints about both erroneous transfers and problems in switching supplier. The gas and electricity industry, with the involvement of the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and Energywatch, and with the encouragement of DTI, is currently engaged in a three-stage programme to establish the causes of difficulties within the transfer process and identify and implement solutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which sea-going vessel procurements she is considering; when she plans to issue invitations to tender; and whether the procurement will be limited to the UK for strategic reasons. [166539]

I have been asked to reply.The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) are developing proposals for the procurement of two multi-function tenders and a rapid response vessel to replace three of the GLAs1 current tenders. It is too early to know when invitations to tender will be issued or how and when the build contract will be placed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money has been provided in capital grants to (a) off-shore and (b) onshore wind farms since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [168055]

Since 1997, the Government have committed £117 million in grant support to early off-shore wind farm development. No direct grant support has been provided for on-shore wind farm development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on ensuring that the Airfield Support Services Project solution is compatible with the modernisation agenda for fire services. [167251]

There have been no formal discussions between the Ministry of Defence and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the compatibility of the Airfield Support Services Project (ASSP) with the modernisation agenda for the Fire and Rescue Service.The ASSP will be sufficiently flexible to adapt to any changes that might be brought about as a result of the modernisation programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) resource and (b) capital expenditure was vired from RfR1 to RfR2 in the most recent financial year for which figures are available, in (i) cash and (ii) resource terms. [167047]

Outturn for 2003–04 is not yet available. No funds were vired from RfR1 to RfR2 during 2002–03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the amounts of reparations that have been paid to Iraqis. [166927]

Reparations are the compensation extracted as an indemnity from a defeated nation by the victors. Neither Iraq nor the United Kingdom has sought or paid reparations to the other.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has evaluated on genetically modified cress that changes colour when it comes into contact with landmine explosives. [166846]

The Ministry of Defence is not currently involved in any research into mine detection using genetically modified cress.A Danish company, Aresa Biotechnology, has developed a genetically modified cress plant that changes colour in response to nitrogen dioxide, which is sometimes a by-product of degrading explosives, in soil. The colour change has the potential to indicate the presence of mines, although not in all cases.The MOD continues to monitor the progress of this research as it develops.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Burnley have received child tax credit. [167906]

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean) on 15 March 2004, Official Report, column 98W.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to the answer of 30 March 2004, Official Report, columns 1350–51W, on Gift Aid, how many responses his Department received to the original consultation that followed the pre-Budget report; [166990](2) whether an assessment was made of the additional income that would be raised from the proposed changes to Gift Aid rules on clay memberships, based on the responses received from charities in the original consultation that followed the pre-Budget report. [166991]

Inland Revenue received 57 responses during the original consultation period. These came from charities, representative bodies and associations and other interested parties.Tax reclaimed on so called "day memberships" using the Gift Aid scheme is not differentiated from tax reclaimed on other Gift Aid donations, so it is not possible to estimate the saving to the Exchequer of ending Gift Aid on admission charges. Information supplied during the original consultation would not enable an assessment to be made. However, the purpose of this measure is not revenue-raising, but is about maintaining the principles of Gift Aid as a scheme designed to encourage donations to charity.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in Manchester Gorton qualified for the 10p rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [167472]

Reliable information is not available. The sample size of pensioners living in the Manchester Gorton constituency is relatively small compared to other constituencies in the Survey of Personal Incomes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Burnley have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment. [167907]

The information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department issues to individuals who make a mistake when completing an on-line self assessment tax return because of misunderstanding whether the form P60 refers to gross or net income. [160102]

The Inland Revenue provides no specific guidance to individuals who make a mistake when completing an on-line self assessment tax return because of misunderstanding whether the form P60 refers to gross or net income but online help is available when completing the boxes relevant to information on P60.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints he has received over problems with the operation of the on-lint self assessment tax return form. [160103]

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has received four complaints in connection with the operation of the on-line self assessment tax return form since 6 April 2003.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has carried out of the amount of tax due in respect of taxpayers who have failed to return self-assessment forms over the last five years. [166420]

It is not possible to calculate an accurate figure of the amount of tax due in respect of taxpayers who have failed to re turn self-assessment forms. The Inland Revenue have launched a three-year initiative to recover outstanding tax returns and any associated tax due from taxpayers who have failed to file, concentrating on cases where, on past history, there appears likely to be tax due.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in Burnley qualified for the 10p rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [167905]

All income taxpayers benefit from the 10p starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about 4,000 and 5,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the Burnley constituency in 2000–01 and 2001–02 respectively. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Manchester Gorton have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment. [167474]

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax returns have been issued to trustees of pension schemes who carry no tax liability or refund in each tax year since 1997. [167584]

This information is not available.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many injunctions for antisocial behaviour from tenants have been requested by Merseyside's local authorities in the past 12 months. [165916]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not request that local authorities supply information on the number of injunctions they seek relating to the antisocial behaviour of tenants.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the buildings occupied by his staff, including agencies, which require (a) remedial work on and (b) the removal of asbestos; what that work will cost; what budgets are available for this work for (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005; and what budget is available for future asbestos surveys. [159363]

Asbestos surveys undertaken in accordance with the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 have revealed that the following buildings occupied staff of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, including agencies, contain asbestos-based materials:

Ashdown House, Victoria Street, Westminster.

Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.

Government Office for London, Riverwalk House, Westminster.

Government Office for the North East—Wellbar House, Newcastle.

The Budget allocated for asbestos removal and remedial action is:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and (b) software standard packages used in his Department. [166360]

Plans to update computer hardware and software packages used by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are covered by our Corporate Information and Communications Technology Strategy and underpinned by Service level Agreements with our IT suppliers.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out a timetable for the revision of planning guidance notes into planning policy statements; what his policy is on reallocation of land zoned for employment, industrial and commercial development into residential land; and what action he is taking to ensure that each authority provides sufficient affordable housing. [166944]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to make an announcement shortly on the timetable for the revision of Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPG) into Planning Policy Statements (PPS).In July 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published the consultation document 'Supporting the delivery of new housing'. This proposed to add new policy to PPG3: Housing requiring local planning authorities to consider favourably applications for housing development on allocated unneeded industrial and employment sites unless it can be demonstrated that the site is still needed for that purpose or that it would undermine the planning for housing strategy. This would complement paragraph 42 of PPG3 which expects local authorities, when revising their plans, to review all their non-housing allocations, including those for employment, and consider whether some of this land might better be used for housing or mixed use developments.The consultation closed on 31 October 2003. Our aim is to publish the final policy in the summer, alongside practice guidance to help local planning authorities in reviewing employment land allocations.The "Sustainable Communities Plan" (published on 5 February 2003) set out a comprehensive programme of action to increase the provision of affordable housing, including a large increase in expenditure. £3.3 billion is being provided for the Housing Corporation's programme over the next two years (2004–06). This will provide funding for 67,000 new affordable homes for both rent and low cost home ownership.Also in July 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published the consultation document 'Influencing the size, type and affordability of housing'. It proposed that local planning authorities should address the housing requirements of the whole community by ensuring a better match between a community's housing needs and supply, and that all local planning authorities must have policies on affordable housing to help deliver affordable housing where it is needed. We aim to publish the final update in the autumn, alongside practice guidance.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2004, Official Report, columns 1440–1W, on homelessness, if he will introduce best value performance indicators on (a) homelessness prevention and (b) tenancy sustainment. [166128]

A review of the Best Value Performance Indicators is currently being taken forward in order to ensure that they reflect the key national and local priorities, and accurately inform Comprehensive Performance Assessment ratings. As part of that review, we are considering whether there is a need for extra homelessness related performance indicators in addition to those which are already in place.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the actual expenditure of the Housing Corporation was over the last 10 years; and what its budget is for the next three years. [166894]

The expenditure by the Housing Corporation over each of the past 10 years is tabled as follows, together with the indicative budget for 2004–05 and 2005–06. The figures do not include spending on the Housing Corporation's administration.

Housing Corporation Expenditure
Total (£ million)
1993–94	2,297.80
1994–95	2,038.40
1995–96	1,722.60
1996–97	1,608.20
1997–98	1,298.80
1998–99	1,217.00
1999–2000	1,300.00
2000–01	1,374.20
2001–02	1,387.40
2002–03	1,712.90
2003–04 (Provisional outturn)	2,059.95
2004–05 (Budget)	1,660.61
2005–06 (Budget)	1,680.74
Note:
Figures for 2001–02 to 2003–04 include expenditure on the Starter Home Initiative and the Safer Communities Supported Housing. Budgets for 2006–07 are subject to the outcome of the 2004 Spending Review. The Housing Corporal ion Final Accounts for 2003–04 are expected to be published in June.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of local authorities are able to undertake land searches electronically; and when this is expected to be extended to all authorities. [166892]

For land searches to be carried out electronically, local authorities must first have set up electronic Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPGs). All authorities in England have been encouraged to set these up as part of their individual programmes to electronically enable 100 per cent. of their priority services by 2005. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Local e-Government programme is helping local authorities to achieve this target, in particular by allocating a flat rate grant of £200,000 per annum in 2002 and 2003 to each authority submitting a satisfactory Implementing e-Government (IEG) statement. The IEGs submitted in 2003 indicated that on average every authority would have electronically enabled 66 per cent. of their priority services by March 2004; most authorities indicated that they would have electronic LLPGs by that date.Local authorities have also been encouraged to have automated links with the National Land Information Service (NLIS), which is an electronic search engine intended to be a one-stop shop for information about land and property in England and Wales. It was developed in the 1990s by a group of public sector bodies, but was transferred in 2000 to the Local Government Information House (LGIH), a private, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), to take forward. The IDeA has told us that by January 2004, two-thirds of authorities in England and Wales had enabled electronic responses to searches via NLIS. It is important to note, however, that authorities do not have to be linked to NLIS to offer searchers an electronic search option.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total amount of section 106 payments for the last year in which figures were available was; what his estimate is of the percentage of section 106 payments likely to be transferred to the new tariff system when it is introduced; what his estimate is of the compliance cost of the new tariff system; and when he expects to publish all of the regulations relating to the tariff system. [166888]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not currently collect statistics centrally for total amounts secured through section 106 payments, and could therefore provide this information only at disproportionate cost. It is not possible to say what percentage of planning obligations will be covered by the proposed optional planning charge, as it will be for individual applicants to choose whether or not they want to pursue this option. While we accept that setting up a charge system could lead to an increased burden on local planning authorities in the short term, this should be more than, offset by the longer term pay-off in being able to process individual planning obligations much more quickly and efficiently.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last used a train in connection with his ministerial duties. [167422]

My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister travels by train regularly on official business. He last travelled by train on official business from London to York on Thursday 22 April 2004.All travel by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the "Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers", copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the value of the contract given to the National Evaluation Team for the New Deal for Communities was; and if he will make a statement on its work. [166908]

The value of the contract between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and a consortium led by Sheffield Hallam University for the interim phase of the national evaluation of the New Deal for Communities programme is £16.4 million. The contract covers work on the national evaluation to the end of September 2005.The national NDC evaluation is supporting the work of the 39 individual NDC Partnerships, the nine respective Government Offices and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit by providing evidence about how well the NDCs are delivering against their outcome targets.For each of the 39 NDCs, the evaluation is providing an initial baseline household survey, a follow-up survey two years later and annual detailed reports on a wide range of process issues, such as community engagement and mainstreaming. In addition, the evaluation is providing NDC-area specific analysis of administrative data from DWP, DH, DfES and the Home Office, among others The annual NDC reports inform the Government Office reviews of the Partnerships and are collated into an annual NDC programme-wide report. The 2002–03 NDC evaluation report was published in October last year.The report of the interim evaluation, due in mid-2005, will provide detailed evidence of how much progress each of the 39 NDCs has made in closing the gap between conditions in the partnership neighbourhood and the wider district and identify the critical success factors and barriers to performance.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many non-domestic hereditaments with a rateable value of (a) less than £8,000, (b) between £8,001 and £25,000 and (c) over £25,001 there were in each billing authority in the last year for which figures are available. [167502]

The information requested has been made available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average amount of time taken by his Department to give permission for planning to go ahead was in (a) 2003 and (b) 1997. [168276]

The average time taken to grant planning permission was 24 weeks in 2003 and 25 weeks in 1997.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the valuation of public lavatories is affected by (a) usage and (b) takings. [165936]

The valuation for rating of public conveniences is normally reached taking account of the cost of construction and making allowance for obsolescence, expense of upkeep and location.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the (a) dates and (b) venues of all meetings open to members of the public or by special invitation held in the (i) North East, (ii) North West and (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber organised by the relevant Government regional offices to discuss the Government's proposals to establish regional assemblies at which a Government Minister spoke; what the cost was of holding each meeting; how many (A) members of the public and (B) invitees attended; what the schedule is for future meetings; and what the budget is for each meeting in each of the relevant regions. [165977]

Date	Venue	Region	Public	Invitees	Cost (£)
4 March 2004	Ewood Park, Blackburn	North West	210	40	5,400
4 March 2004	Berwick Community High School, Berwick	North East	55	65	6,600
18 March 2004	Pennine Theatre, Sheffield Hallam University	Yorkshire and the Humber	68	67	10,300
25 March 2004	University of Newcastle	North East	132	88	9,700
1 April 2004	Windsor Suite, Quality Royal Hotel, Hull	Yorkshire and the Humber	180	170	6,900
5 April 2004	Liverpool Marriott City Centre Hotel	North West	126	42	12,400
15 April 2004	Stonecross Manor Hotel, Kendal	North West	179	31	5,100

Ministers have attended public meetings in Middlesbrough and Halifax on 22 April at estimated costs of £11,400 and £7,700 respectively.Future meetings are being scheduled, but details of these meetings have yet to be finalised.

Date	Venue	Region	Public	Invitees	Cost (£)
3 November 2003	Durham Castle	North East	—	100	Total of 25,000
3 November 2003	St. William's College, York	Yorkshire and the Humber	—	57
4 November 2003	The Village Hotel, Warrington	North West	—	80
1 December 2003	The Door, Hanover St, Liverpool	North West	—	15	—
4 December 2003	Town Hall, Barnsley	Yorkshire and the Humber	—	31	—
22 January 2004	Midland Hotel, Manchester	North West	—	400	3,200
23 January 2004	West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds	Yorkshire and the Humber	—	240	6,000
23 January 2004	Vermont Hotel, Newcastle	North East	—	120	6,200
29 January 2004	Speke, Parklands Youth Centre,	North West	—	25–30	44
	King George V College, Sefton	North West	—	20
25 February 2004	North Manchester Chambers of Commerce, Bolton	North West	—	30	—

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total spending relating to the proposed elected regional assemblies by regional chambers has been in the (a) North West, (b) North East and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber; and, for each of these regions, what the total anticipated spending is for the period up to the regional referendums. [166561]

The Regional Chambers have not spent, and will not spend, any Government grant money campaigning for, publicising or promoting the case for an elected regional assembly. They are prohibited from doing so under the terms of their funding agreements, by which they receive Government grant.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) council houses and (b) registered social landlord houses he anticipates will be built in each of the next three years. [166890]

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister set out in the Sustainable Communities action plan proposals to tackle the issues including the supply of affordable housing.£5 billion is being invested in housing over the next two years (2004–06) and the role of the regions is being strengthened to ensure this investment is targeted more effectively on local and regional investment priorities.Registered Social Landlords are the main providers of affordable housing and £3.3 billion finding was recently agreed for the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme for 2004–05 and 2005–06 to

The dates, venues, audience size and cost of the Hearings in the regions attended by Ministers so far are tabled:In addition, the dates, venues, audience size and cost of previous meetings with an invited audience attended by Ministers, as indicated in the written statement on 3 November 2003 are tabled as follows:provide homes for both rent and low cost home ownership. This funding will provide around 67,000 new affordable homes in England. The number of homes to be provided in 2006–07 will be the subject of the outcome of the Spending Review 2004.The number of council houses built has fallen with only a small number of dwellings being provided in recent years. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not have estimates of the number of homes that will be provided by councils over the next three years. It is estimated from local authority housing investment returns that some 260 were planned to be built in 2003–04.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from English Heritage on development in the Thames Gateway; and if he will make a statement. [167221]

Officials at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have met with representatives from English Heritage to discuss the Historic Landscape Characterisation assessment of the Thames Gateway that English Heritage has commissioned. The aim of this work is to help planners, developers and regeneration agencies to understand the rich historic environment that exists in the Thames Gateway, to identify the capacity that specific places have to accommodate change, and to ensure that the historic environment can be integrated into the design of new development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met representatives of the Scottish fishing industry. [165968]

I regularly meet representatives of a wide range of organisations in Scotland, and I keep in close touch with developments affecting the Scottish fishing industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the benefits to Scottish fishermen of continued membership of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. [165969]

The effects of the Common Fisheries Policy are regularly monitored by the Fisheries Departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many (a) solely state-financed and (b) public-private partnership and private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible have been launched in each region in each of the last 10 years; [160967](2) how much was spent by

Since its inception in 1999 the Scotland Office has been responsible for no such projects. Responsibility for solely state-funded major projects in Scotland was previously dispersed across the various Departments and agencies of the former Scottish Office and a number of Non-Departmental Public Bodies sponsored by the former Scottish Office, and subsequently transferred to the Scottish Executive. No central record of these conventionally procured projects has been kept. Information on signed private finance initiative projects is available from the HM Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats.cfm

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to make bodies which distribute arts (a) capital and (b) revenue funding more democratically accountable to the regional community in which they operate. [167288]

Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from the Exchequer and the National Lottery. The arts funding system in England has already reorganised along the lines of the Government's regional plans. On April 1 2002 the Arts Council and the 10 independent regional arts boards joined together to create a single organisation for the arts in England. Six to eight members of the 15–20 membership of the Regional Arts Councils are local authority nominees and the Chairs of the nine Regional Arts Councils are members of the National Council and form the majority of its membership of 15. This restructuring has given the regions real empowerment in decision-making and the delivery of the arts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Newcastle, East and Wallsend constituency, the effects on Newcastle, East and Wallsend of her Department's policies and actions since 1997. [166878]

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport seeks to improve the quality of life for everyone through improved access to the best in cultural and sporting activities. The Department also champions the tourism, creative and leisure industries. The Department's policies and actions have had a significant impact on the constituency of Newcastle, East and Wallsend since 1997. For example, Arts Council England funds a diverse range of arts organisations and projects in the constituency, such as Tyneside Disability Arts, Monster Productions and the Foolsyard Theatre. The constituency has received the following grants from Arts Council England since 1997¹:

£
Financial year	Number of grants	Total amount
1997–98	18	38,849
1998–99	3	4,710
1999–2000	17	63,124
2000–01	21	71,029
2001–02	13	31,282
2002–03	11	50,267
2003–04	2	110,000
Total	85	369,261

Since 1997, English Heritage has offered the following grants to the Newcastle East and Wallsend constituency

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money the Government has allocated for libraries in Liverpool, Walton in each year since 1997. [166976]

Core funding for public libraries is paid to the 149 Library Authorities in England as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement administered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. It is not ring-fenced.The figures show the amounts allocated to Liverpool city council, or to library consortiums of which Liverpool city were partners, from the DCMS-Wolfson Foundation Reader Development Fund. These awards cannot be broken down to district level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money the Government has given to (a) museums, (b) libraries and (c) public archives in each of the last 10 years. [166725]

The funding given by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to museums, libraries and archives is set out in the table.