To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what sum was awarded in grants to private woodland owners by the Forestry Commission in (a) 1998–99 and (b) 2002–03; and what proportion was funded from EU sources. [190917]

holding answer 18 October 2004

The value of grants awarded to private woodland owners in Great Britain by the Forestry Commission in:

(a) 1998–99 was £42.5 million of which £14.1 million was co-financed by the European Union; and

(b) 2002–03 was £37.8 million of which £12.6 million was co-financed by the European Union.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of Network Rail's permitted development rights on sites of special scientific interest. [192825]

pursuant to the reply, 21 October 2004, Official Report, c. 842W

The answer given did not reflect the most up-to-date position and should have read as follows.

No specific assessment has been made. In exercising its statutory functions on SSSIs in England, Network Rail must notify English Nature and unless it follows English Nature's advice, it must minimise any damage and restore the site as far as practical. In Scotland, these are matters for the Scottish Executive and Scottish Natural Heritage.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints were received by the tax credit office in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2004; what targets his Department has set for the number of errors reported in tax credit cases next year; what measures his Department is taking to ensure that the number of cases containing errors is reduced; and what compensation will be made to those people whose claims are dealt with incorrectly. [194495]

Details of the accuracy target up to 2004–05 for tax credits claims, renewals (for 2004–05 only) and changes of circumstance appear on page 29 of Inland Revenue's annual report for the year ending 31 March 2004. This can be found on the Department's website, www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk, at about/annual_ reps.htm. The target for 2005–06 has yet to be agreed.

The Inland Revenue's approach to compensation is set out in Code of Practice 1 "Putting things right". This is also available on the Department's website, at leaflets/c11.htm.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on (a) income to the Treasury and (b) the number of taxpayers in each band, (i) assuming no other changes and (ii) assuming consequential savings in benefits of tax credits, of (A) raising the single person's allowance to (1) £10,000, (2) £15,000 and (3) £20,000, and (B) raising other allowances and thresholds proportionately. [195105]

The information is given in the following table.

⁽¹⁾ The thresholds and allowances were increased by 211 per cent. (£10,000 divided by £4,475—the PA in 2004–05)

⁽²⁾ The thresholds and allowances were increased by 316 per cent. (£15,000 divided by £4,475)

⁽³⁾ The thresholds and allowances were increased by 421 per cent. (£20,000 divided by £4,475)

Notes:

1. The estimates are based upon the Survey of Personal Incomes 2001–02 and are in line with final budget assumptions.

2. The estimates relate to the year 2004–05.

There would be no savings from lower tax credits since tax credit entitlement is based on gross income.

The personal allowance is currently linked to the primary and secondary class 1 national insurance contributions thresholds and the class 4 lower profits limit. No cost has been included to increase these thresholds in line with the personal allowance.

The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response to the tax change, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct the office of Mr. J. Harra, Director, Inland Revenue, Tax Credit Office, Preston (a) to acknowledge without delay letters sent by hon. Members to him on behalf of their constituents and (b) to ensure that substantive replies are sent within 14 days. [195501]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 19 October 2004, Official Report, column 583W.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many IT consultants are currently contracted to work for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at Alexandra House, Southend-on-Sea; and if he will make a statement. [195712]

There are currently 102 IT consultants contracted to work for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at Alexander House, Southend-on-Sea.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the hourly rate of pay is of each IT consultant working on contract to Her Majesty's Customs and Excise; and if he will make a statement. [195713]

Her Majesty's Customs and Excise does not engage IT Consultancy on an hourly rate basis.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer

(1) how many sea containers entering each port have been found to be in contravention of British customs and immigration regulations in each year since 2001; [194701]

(2) what volume of cargo arriving at each airport has been found to be in contravention of British customs and immigration regulations in each year since 2001. [194707]

Her Majesty's Customs and Excise report against the prohibitions and restrictions they enforce in their annual and spring reports, which are available in the Library of the House.

Information is not held in the format requested. A breakdown of all the possible contraventions of British customs and immigration regulations at ports and airports for the last four years in respect of sea containers and air cargo could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) representations he has received regarding the exemption of and (b) plans he has to exempt regional casinos offering category A machines from EU laws on money laundering. [194654]

To inform our ongoing negotiations on the third EU Money Laundering Directive, HM Treasury held a wide-ranging consultation which has now closed. Representations have been received from a range of interested parties, including from the casino industry, and we are considering these.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of evasion of income tax. [195254]

As tax authorities around the world recognise, the tax gap in relation to tax on income and profits is very difficult to measure, and presently there is no reliable method for estimating it. Nevertheless, the Inland Revenue is continuing to develop methodologies for measuring the tax gap in relation to all direct taxes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27 October 2004, Official Report, columns 1244–245W, on national minimum wage, what the level of underpayment on the national minimum wage was in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in each year listed. [195725]

The Inland Revenue does not maintain separate records for the areas specified.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residential properties sold in England and Wales during 2003 attracted stamp duty at (a) 0 per cent., (b) 1 per cent., (c) 3 per cent. and (d) 4 per cent.; and what the average price paid for a house during 2003 was in each of those stamp duty bands. [194327]

The estimate of the number of residential property transactions in each of the stamp duty bands for 2003 and the corresponding average prices are given in the following table. The 0 per cent. band includes transactions between £60,000 and £150,000 in value that have qualified for disadvantaged area relief.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of financial concessions to the UK shipping industry through the tonnage tax scheme in financial year 2003–04. [194052]

The latest estimates, for 2002–03 and 2003–04, of the Exchequer cost of the tonnage tax regime can be found on the Inland Revenue's website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/tableb1.pdf.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what procedures are in place (a) to check the criminal records of civil servants in his Department and agencies responsible to his Department, including the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, who have access to computer databases containing confidential information on the public and (b) to ensure that there can be no improper use of computer databases containing confidential information on the public; and if he will make a statement. [194598]

All DfT and Agency staff, including DVLA, undergo a Basic Check on recruitment, which includes a self-declaration regarding criminal convictions. Human Resources carry out criminal record checks on all DfT posts that require security clearance, and serving staff are required to declare/report any criminal charges/convictions.

To ensure that there can be no improper use of computer databases containing confidential information on the public, DfT and Agencies enforce the "need to know" principle. Appropriate access controls to systems, comprehensive auditing and tracking are also carried out and staff are instructed on computer misuse policies and made aware of current legislation including the Data Protection Act etc.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what volume of cargo has arrived at each British airport in each year since 1997. [194705]

The amount of freight that has arrived at airports in Great Britain with at least one thousand tonnes of freight arriving each year since 1997 to 2003 is set out in the table.

Freight arrived at airports in Great Britain, 1997–2003 -- Thousand Tonnes

Source:

Civil Aviation Authority, http://www.caaerg.co.uk.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of publications issued by his Department are available in (a) Braille, (b) autoprint, (c) large print and (d) easy read format. [194288]

The Department's policy is to make publicity material available in alternative formats on request. Our rationale for this is based on: budgetary considerations; the fact that many publications are for small, specialist audiences; and that all are placed on the DfT website, which complies fully with accessibility standards. This policy means that of 886 DfT titles held at our distribution centre, 14 are in Braille, 15 are audio cassettes and one is large print.

We also allow anyone to reproduce and distribute our material in alternative formats free of the need for copyright permission.

For the future, we shall be making all major public consultation documents and white papers available in audio and easy read formats.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take action to ensure that unmanned pedestrian level crossings of main rail lines are closed where (a) pedestrian usage is low and (b) alternative safe crossings by bridge or tunnel are already available to pedestrians; and if he will make a statement. [194930]

It is for Network Rail, as infrastructure manager, to make applications for orders to close crossings and then for local highway authorities to consider and approve such applications. Highway authorities consider applications for level crossing closures on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport under the Highways Act 1980.

One of the continuing main aims of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) policy for reducing risks at level crossings is to seek the closure or upgrade of level crossings where this is reasonably practicable; HSE does not support the construction of new level crossings other than in exceptional circumstances. Local people should be consulted on such plans.

This approach is supported fully by the National Level Crossing Safety Group, which includes HSE, the police, the Rail Safety and Standards Board, Network Rail, railway operators, local authorities, highway authorities and organisations representing level crossing users. Network Rail has produced a level crossing policy and strategy that sets out to reduce the risks associated with level crossings through a variety of methods including a programme of risk assessment to identify reasonably practicable risk reduction measures. Network Rail's overriding principle is to ensure that no new permanent crossings are constructed, other than in exceptional circumstances and it seeks to close existing crossings where this is feasible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus drivers employed within the Greater London area were subjected to physical attacks in the last 12 months. [193477]

Over the period 2003–04, there were 1,270 attacks on bus drivers within the Greater London Area. Data on the nature of assaults are not kept.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library copies of risk assessments that have been prepared on overcrowding (a) on train services between Worcestershire and Birmingham and (b) on station platforms in (i) Worcestershire and (ii) Birmingham. [194520]

Responsibility for the day-to-day safety, welfare and convenience of passengers using the railway and stations rests with Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and Network Rail. Network Rail, which is responsible for Birmingham New Street station, has undertaken a risk assessment at this station. This risk assessment is an internal Network Rail document. As such it is for them to determine whether to disclose its contents.

No risk assessments have been undertaken for stations in Worcestershire. However as part of its safety monitoring and enforcement responsibilities Her Majesty's Rail Inspectorate (HMRI) has asked Central Trains to provide it with information about how it manages overcrowding risks at stations and on trains. HMRI will write directly to the honourable Gentleman once it has concluded its investigation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on security inspections undertaken at British sea ports. [194697]

A compliance regime inspection programme is underway to monitor and evaluate compliance with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code that came into force on 1 July 2004.

Both announced and unannounced inspections are undertaken by Department for Transport Security Directorate (TRANSEC) inspectors to ensure port and ship compliance with the new security requirements.

It is not our policy to comment in detail on how many or which ports have been inspected, but our current programme of compliance inspection visits covers over 560 UK port facilities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to hold a public inquiry into the Potters Bar rail crash. [194169]

The Secretary of State expects to be in a position to take a decision on whether or not to hold a public inquiry after the Health and Safety Executive's investigation team has reported its conclusions to the Investigation Board and to him in November 2004 and decisions have been taken on prosecutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when decisions will be made on the awarding of the (a) East Coast Mainline and (b) Integrated Kent Franchises; and whether these decisions will be made by the (i) Strategic Rail Authority and (ii) Department for Transport. [192601]

The information is as follows:

6 October the SRA issued an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the new InterCity East Coast franchise inviting the four pre-qualified companies to submit detailed bids. An announcement on a Preferred Bidder will be made early next year,(a) On (b) Invitations to tender for the Integrated Kent Franchise will be issued to the four pre-qualifying bidders later in the autumn. The franchise is expected to commence in late 2005.

Decisions on new or replacement franchises are currently taken by the Strategic Rail Authority with regard to the Directions and Guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

The Rail White Paper, "The Future of Rail", proposes the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority. The strategic and financial responsibilities of the SRA will pass to the Department for Transport. Implementing this will require primary legislation and we will introduce a Bill as soon as parliamentary time permits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost is of producing regional transport plans. [195126]

We do not hold information on the cost of producing regional transport strategies, which are prepared by Regional Planning Bodies as part of Regional Spatial Strategies. Such information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 11 October, Official Report, column 6W, on ship inspections, whether inspections take place to enforce compliance with the International Ship and Port Facilities Code. [195692]

An inspection programme exists to monitor and evaluate compliance with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code. This involves both port facility and ship inspections. Enforcement action, if required would be taken on the basis of the results of the inspection.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 11 October, Official Report, column 6W, on ship inspections, what follow-up action is being taken in respect of those ships issued with non-compliance letters. [195694]

The respective Flag States were informed that control measures had been imposed on their ships. Further enforcement action on such ships has not been necessary because on subsequent return to the UK they have been found to be compliant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport

(1) if he will make a statement on the Rail Safety and Standards Board review of the use of train horns and noise pollution; [194928]

(2) in what circumstances the use of train horns will be restricted on approaching unmanned pedestrian level crossings. [194929]

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is responsible for specifying the requirements for when and where train horns must be used and Network Rail is responsible for deciding how train operators comply with them. The RSSB's Review concluded with a number of recommendations which come into effect on 6 November 2004.

The main recommendations are that the minimum permissible level for train horns will be reduced by up to eight decibels and the sounding of train horns when entering a tunnel and at frequent intervals when passing through long tunnels will no longer be necessary.

It will still be necessary for train drivers to sound horns at all times, day or night, whenever anyone is seen on or near a line on which a train is travelling; when approaching any pedestrian crossings; where shunting movements are taking place and staff may be on the line; during failures of signalling equipment or other degraded operations and in an emergency.

The sounding of horns between the hours of 2330 and 0700 is not permitted, when drivers are approaching an automatic level crossing or an open level crossing except as an emergency.

These standards take into account the need to ensure effective safety management whilst also aiming to alleviate the noise disturbance experienced by residents living near railway lines.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many transfer passengers passed through UK airports last year. [195096]

The number of transfer passengers at surveyed UK airports in 2003 was 32 million.

Transfer passenger statistics for 2003 are available only for those airports where the Civil Aviation Authority ran the Departing Passenger Survey. These were Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Exeter, Gatwick, Heathrow, Liverpool, London City, Luton, Manchester and Stansted. Transfer statistics for some of these airports are for the 2003–04 financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many tsars have been appointed with responsibilities which cover part of the work of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [191921]

None.

To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire representing the House of Commons Commission

(1) how many lifts there are on the Parliamentary Estate; and how much energy was consumed by these lifts in each of the last three years; [194332]

(2) what measures are in place to ensure that lifts on the Parliamentary Estate minimise energy use by only moving to a floor when requested to by a user; [194333]

(3) how many escalators there are on the Parliamentary Estate; how many of these are potentially motion-activated; and how much energy was consumed by escalators in the last year for which figures are available; [194334]

(4) for what reasons the escalators connecting Portcullis House with the main building are no longer motion-activated. [194335]

There are 66 passenger and heavy goods lifts on the parliamentary estate. The optimal balance between energy efficiency, short waiting times and emergency provision is subject to an engineered solution in each location. There are three escalators on the estate and all have the potential to be motion activated. The escalators at Portcullis House are not currently motion activated for reasons of safety and the high traffic rate during working hours. They change to manual control outside sitting hours. The lifts and escalators do not have individual electricity meters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many antisocial behaviour orders have been breached in Wales in each year since their introduction. [195697]

The available information is given in the following table.

The number of convictions of breach for within Wales, by period, from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2002 1

⁽⁴⁾ Breach data are compiled from breaches reported on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database. Home Office are reviewing the breach methodology and Data for 2003 has yet to be published.

Note:

Individuals breaching their ASBO more than once in the same year are counted only once for that year. Individuals breaching more than once, but in different years, are counted separately for each year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list by police area in Wales the number of antisocial behaviour orders in force; and if he will make a statement. [195776]

Data are not collected centrally on the number of ASBOs in force at any given time.

The number issued from 1 April 1999 to 30 June 2004 was as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many police officers there were in Wales in each year since 1996. [195677]

Police officers in Wales in each year since 1996 are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each month of 2004; and if he will make a statement. [195448]

The Wales Office has issued the following number of press releases for each month of 2004 thus far:

These figures do not include operational notes or contributions to joint press releases with other organisations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much each local authority in Greater London spent on tackling teenage pregnancy in (a) 1997, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [194898]

Figures are not available for years before the launch of the Government's teenage pregnancy strategy in 1999. Details of the teenage pregnancy local implementation grant allocated to each local authority in Greater London for 2002–03 and 2003–04 are provided in the following table. Where indicated, figures for 2003–04 include monies to support young parents through the Sure Start Plus pilots operating in authorities with the highest under-18 conception rates.

£

⁽⁵⁾ Includes allocation for Sure Start Plus pilots

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of assertive discipline. [194770]

The Department has not carried out an assessment of the effectiveness of assertive discipline. However, the Key Stage 3 Behaviour and Attendance strand has provided training and support for all secondary and middle schools since September 2003. Schools use an audit tool to identify their key priorities for action and use a range of materials and measures to address these.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the financial contribution that local education authorities made to school funding from council tax in England in 2004–05. [194694]

The funding for local authorities is in the form of general revenue grant and covers education, social services, transport, and other local services. It is administered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The formula takes into account each authority's relative need to spend on each service and each authority's ability to raise resources. The authority decides how much resource to raise locally and what budget to set for each service. The budget for each service is not divided up into central Government resource and council tax.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in Ilford north constituency are receiving education maintenance allowances. [194119]

By the end of September 677 young people from the Redbridge local authority area had received an EMA Notice of Entitlement. Of those, 482 had enrolled for EMA at a school or college and 397 had received an EMA payment. These figures continue to improve as those who applied late have had their applications assessed and are enrolled for payment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of pupils attending (a) state and (b) independent schools who are from an ethnic minority. [194195]

In January 2004, 16.9 per cent. of pupils (of compulsory school age and above) in maintained primary and secondary schools were classified as minority ethnic origin.

Information on pupils' ethnic origin is not collected from independent schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many times during the Greek presidency of the EU (a) the Advisory Committee on veterinary training, (b) the Advisory Committee on training in architecture and (c) the Committee on the second general system for the recognition of professional education and training met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present at each meeting; what (i) technical and (ii) financial issues were raised by the UK Government expert at each meeting; what recommendations each Committee produced during that period; what actions were (A) proposed and (B) taken by (1) the EU and (2) the UK Government as a result of each Committee's recommendations; and if he will make a statement. [194350]

There have been no meetings of the EU Advisory Committee on veterinary training or the EU Advisory Committee on training in architecture during the Greek presidency.

A meeting of the committee established under the second general system for the recognition of professional education and training was held on 25 June 2003 at which technical amendments were discussed. The following amendments to Annex C of that directive were adopted in respect of:

Germany: change title of "occupational therapist" to "occupational therapist/ergotherapist"

Italy: delete the profession of "chiropodist"

Austria: insert the profession of "bookkeeper"

UK: insert the profession of "listed veterinary nurse".

A Commission Decision of 28 January 2004 published these amendments in theOfficial Journal of the European Union.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will publish an assessment of the implications for traffic levels arising from the implementation of the Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners. [192230]

The Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners aims to clarify the context for reform, to set the goals we strive to deliver, and to lay out the priority initiatives to get us there, across the early years, primary and secondary education, adult skills and higher education sectors.

There are no plans at this stage to publish a detailed assessment of the implications for traffic level arising from the implementation of the Five Year Strategy.

With regard to schools, we recognise that there may be traffic implications as a result of the new patterns of learning outlined in the strategy and we have already put a number of measures in place to address these. In September 2003, DfES and DfT jointly launched the Travelling to School initiative with the aim of creating conditions which will enable more children to walk, cycle or travel by public transport in safety. By the end of the decade we want every school to draw up a travel plan which, through consultation, identifies the issues of concern—including trips during the school day—and details how and by when these will be addressed.

DfES and DfT are jointly providing £7.5 million per annum to fund a network of school travel advisers to support schools in developing travel plans. DfES has also allocated up to £20 million pa in capital grants to state funded schools which draw up robust plans, which they can spend on items like lockers and secure cycle storage. In addition, the School Transport Bill, will give the flexibility local authorities require to design travel schemes for the 21st century.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who is responsible for the education of pupils subject to fixed term exclusion orders. [194769]

The governing body of the school that the pupil attends is responsible for ensuring the pupil receives suitable education during the fixed period exclusion. This responsibility is usually discharged by setting work for the pupil to do at home. For longer fixed period exclusions, although schools still have a responsibility to provide education, we expect them to work with the local education authority, where possible, to do this and to plan for the pupil's reintegration into school at the end of the exclusion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills

(1) what assistance he is providing to (a) head teachers and (b) local education authorities to combat the carrying of knives and other bladed weapons in schools; and if he will make a statement; [193038]

(2) if he will review advice given to (a) local education authorities, (b) head teachers and (c) school governors over disciplinary action to be taken over pupils found carrying knives and other bladed weapons in schools; and if he will make a statement. [193039]

My Department's guidance makes it clear that head teachers can permanently exclude pupils for a range of first or one-off offences, including actual or threatened violence and the criminal offence of carrying an offensive weapon on school premises. Police have long-standing powers to enter schools and conduct personal searches of pupils where they have reasonable suspicion that a pupil may be carrying an offensive weapon.

Over 20 recommendations by the Working Group on School Security on improving school security have been acted on. The group continues to advise DfES. The Department keeps the advice under review and whether further measures would assist in dealing with this problem.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what schemes are available to assist families of children who have been permanently excluded from school. [194771]

The Department funds the Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) to provide a telephone helpline for parents of excluded pupils. Some local education authorities have schemes, often delivered through partnership and multi-agency working, to assist the families of children who have been permanently excluded from school. Information on the number and location of such schemes is not held centrally. If the local education authority consider that parenting is a factor in the misbehaviour leading to exclusion, they may provide support to the parent by offering a parenting contract or applying for a parenting order.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what remedies are available to an independent appeals panel which decides that a pupil has been wrongly excluded from a school. [194772]

There are two remedies available to an independent appeal panel if it decides that a pupil has been wrongly excluded. It may direct that he or she is to be reinstated either immediately or by a date specified in the direction, or it may decide that, because of exceptional circumstances or for other reasons, it is not practical to give a direction requiring his or her reinstatement, but that it would otherwise have been appropriate to give such a direction.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance the Department issues on the education of children with special educational needs who have been permanently excluded from school. [194773]

Under the Education Act 1996, local education authorities have a duty, where necessary, to identify, assess and arrange suitable provision to meet the special educational needs of children from their areas for whom they are responsible, whether they are in or out of school. When doing so they must have regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice which gives guidance on meeting children's special educational needs. The Code of Practice is available to those who make provision for excluded children.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost of providing school uniform and other required clothing is for a child starting (a) primary and (b) secondary school. [194357]

The information my hon. Friend has requested is not collected by the Department for Education and Skills.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent by each local education authority in the Greater London area on promoting responsible sexual behaviour in (a) 1997, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [194899]

Information about individual local education authority expenditure on promoting responsible sexual behaviour is not collected by the Department.

Educating young people about sexual health and safer sex are key elements of the Government's sexual health strategy. The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy has a multi-faceted approach which includes helping young people resist pressure to have early sex, improving sex and relationship education and access to effective contraception and sexual health services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schoolchildren played truant in schools in East Sussex in each of the past five years; and how many days in total were lost through truancy in the county in each of those years. [193703]

holding answer 25 October 2004

The available published information is as follows:

Number of pupils that missed at least a half day session due to unauthorised absence in schools in East Sussex LEA⁽⁶⁾

Number of pupils that missed at least a half day session due to authorised absence in schools in East Sussex LEA⁽⁶⁾

Number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence in maintained schools in East Sussex⁽⁶⁾

Number of sessions missed due to authorised absence in maintained schools in East Sussex⁽⁶⁾

Number of pupils of compulsory school age in East Sussex

⁽⁶⁾ A session equates to half a day.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many youth clubs have been run (a) by local authorities and (b) by voluntary organisations in each of the past seven years. [194817]

holding answer 1 November 2004

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new health centres linked with sports facilities are being developed under local investment finance trust projects. [195012]

This information is not held centrally across all LIFT schemes. The East Lancashire LIFT project has a proposal for a joint Health and Leisure Centre at St. Peter's, in Burnley. I would like to commend my hon. Friend for the commitment and support he has shown to this project, which will transform access to health and leisure services in the centre of Burnley.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the availability of pneumonia vaccinations for elderly people. [195015]

The pneumococcal immunisation programme for older adults is being introduced over a three-year period. From April this year, all those aged 75 years and over become eligible to receive the vaccination. From 1 April 2005, the programme will be extended to all people aged 65 years and over.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health's report, "Second-hand Smoke: A Review of Evidence since 1998"; and if he will make a statement. [195016]

The SCOTH report will be published alongside the White Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the work undertaken by his Department's Green Minister in the last three months. [195017]

As the Department's Green Minister, I have a number of responsibilities that contribute to sustainable development goals. These include tackling health inequalities, healthy eating and physical activity. Our public health consultation, Choosing Health? which ran until the end of June, will also make an important contribution to the sustainable development agenda.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his assessment is of the effectiveness of the foundation hospital policy. [195019]

The first 20 NHS Foundation Trusts were established in April and July of this year. I am informed by the Chairman of Monitor (whose statutory name is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts) that they are using their freedoms to raise additional capital to invest in improved services for patients.The Healthcare Commission is currently undertaking its review of NHS Foundation Trusts policy. It is our expectation that the report of the outcome of the review will be published next summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number of accident and emergency admissions at the Worcestershire Royal hospital in each of the last five years. [195021]

The data requested are not collected for individual hospitals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the assistance provided to national health service trusts which have received a zero star rating. [195022]

Zero star trusts receive support from their Strategic Health Authorities and the Modernisation Agency's Performance Development Team. Some 40 of the 51 trusts who received support improved their star rating. Independent evaluations have confirmed the effectiveness of the support provided, which is focussed mainly on organisational and cultural change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role he plans for pharmacists in (a) promoting health care and (b) providing information to patients. [195023]

The new contractual framework for community pharmacists, subject to a ballot of contractors, should go live from April 2005. Nationally, it comprises a range of services which all pharmacists will provide, including helping patients make better use of medicines through repeat dispensing, promoting public health, providing information and support to patients, as well as signposting them to other healthcare providers. Primary care trusts will be able to commission a range of additional services from community pharmacists to meet specific patient needs locally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time is for radiotherapy treatment for people diagnosed with breast cancer for each strategic health authority. [195274]

holding answer 1 November 2004

Data on waiting times for radiotherapy are not collected centrally. The national health service cancer plan set out maximum waiting time targets for cancer treatment, which may include radiotherapy where this is given as a first definitive treatment. From December 2001, there is a one month maximum wait from diagnosis to first treatment for breast cancer and from 2002, there is a maximum two month wait from urgent referral to treatment for breast cancer. Both these targets are being achieved for 97 per cent. of patients. Further information on cancer waiting times performance is available on the Department's website at www.performance.doh.gov.uk/cancerwaits/.

To tackle radiotherapy waiting times, we are increasing the numbers of therapy radiographers in post and in training, making better use of existing staff, making unprecedented investment in new radiotherapy equipment and streamlining the patient journey.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce regulations requiring mandatory labelling on homemade cakes, biscuits and jams sold in aid of charity; and if he will make a statement. [193879]

There are no such plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage (a) of all patients, (b) of patients aged 65 years and over and (c) of patients with mental health problems were seen and treated within four hours at the Chesterfield and north Derbyshire Royal Hospital's Accident and Emergency department, in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [194781]

The information is shown in the following tables. However, this data has only been collected centrally by the Department since 2002–03. It should be noted that the information in relation to patients over 65, or for patients with mental health problems is not collected centrally.

Chesterfield and north Derbyshire Royal Hospital National Health Service Trust—Major accident and emergency

All A&E/minor injuries units/walk in centres

⁽⁷⁾ Data against the four hour A&E performance target has only been collected since quarter 2 in 2002–03. Quarterly data, rather than annual information, has therefore been provided.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average length of continuous service for civil servants within the Department is. [194402]

The average length of continuous service for civil servants within the Department and its agencies is nine years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account he will take of recent statements by the right hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain) on complementary therapies when developing policy on health care. [195013]

I always take account of the comments of my right hon. Friend. National health service access to complementary therapies is at the discretion of individual trusts and clinicians.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the population of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is registered with the general dental service. [194417]

At 31 August 2004, the latest data available, registrations with general dental service dentists in the Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust (PCT) area were 36.7 per cent. of the population in the PCT area. People may attend a dental surgery in a different area from the one in which they live.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase the number of dentists treating NHS patients in Heywood and Middleton. [195014]

Each Primary Care Trust has been asked to draw up an action plan setting out how they are using their proportion of the £59 million additional funding we have allocated to improve access to NHS dentistry. Heywood and Middleton PCT has been allocated £83,000, which will improve access for at least 5,000 new patients this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on providing geriatric hospital beds covering the Greater London area; how many geriatric beds there are in such hospitals; and if he will make a statement. [194133]

The provision of hospital beds is for local determination by strategic health authorities (SHAs) with primary care trusts and national health service providers. Information on the number of geriatric beds within the London SHA areas is shown in the table.

Average daily number of available beds in the geriatric sector—SHAs in London, 2003–04

Source:

Department of Health form KH03, published 15 October 2004.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that school children develop a thorough knowledge of healthy eating and living. [194235]

I have been asked to reply.

Children learn about healthy eating and living through a range of National Curriculum subjects, principally Food Technology, Science, Personal, Social and Health Education and Physical Education.

In September 2004 schools received a Healthy Living Blueprint, a practical guide on promoting healthy living including using the full capacity and flexibility of the curriculum. The Blueprint and a supporting web portal bring together for schools the range of Government and non-Government initiatives and support which contribute to healthy lifestyles.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Department has to introduce national guidance on diet and lifestyle to combat heart disease. [195499]

In March 2000, the Department published the national service framework (NSF) for coronary heart disease (CHD), which set out modern standards and service models for the national health service for the prevention and treatment of CHD. The White Paper on improving health, due for publication later this year, will also contribute to the prevention and treatment of CHD.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial support the Government are giving to hospices in the Greater London area. [194633]

There is no centrally collated information on how much money the national health service gives to hospices. The level of NHS funding provided to local hospices is a matter for discussion and agreement between the hospice and the appropriate primary care trust.

The Government pledged in the NHS Cancer Plan (2000) to increase NHS investment in specialist palliative care, including hospices, by an extra £50 million per annum by 2004. This pledge has been met. Working in partnership with all local stakeholders, including those in the voluntary sector, each cancer network has drawn up and agreed plans for the use of their allocation from the £50 million. The national partnership group for palliative care assessed all local plans and is now monitoring the use of this funding. The £50 million represents an increase of nearly 40 per cent., in the amount of funding provided by the NHS for specialist palliative care over 2000 levels.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on hospital-acquired infections. [195018]

We are actively implementing the plans set out in "Winning Ways and Towards Cleaner Hospitals". Once these measures, particularly the new target to reduce MRSA blood stream infections year on year, start to have an impact we expect to see infection rates decline.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the variation in rates of hospital-acquired infection between hospitals. [195020]

The only information which is collected across all of the NHS is for methicillin resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections. Rates are generally highest in specialist trusts. This is not surprising as these trusts are likely to have more vulnerable patients and undertake more invasive and high-risk specialist care.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for introducing a revised version of the British National Formulary for children. [194253]

The British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, who produce the British National Formulary (BNF), expect the first edition of the BNF for children to be available during the summer of 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been referred to Hillingdon Mental Health Trust from Heathrow airport in each of the last three years. [194726]

The information requested is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his Department's policy to increase provision of community care for mentally ill mothers with babies; and if he will make a statement on the introduction of home treatment teams. [194373]

Specialised perinatal psychiatric services, including the provision of mother and baby units, have been considered by an expert group chaired by the national director for mental health and the conclusions from that group are expected to be published early in the new year.

Local delivery plans produced by strategic health authorities show that they have plans to establish 335 crisis resolution teams in England by the end of 2004. These teams are designed to respond quickly to people in crisis to provide assessment and treatment wherever they are, and prevent unnecessary admissions to psychiatric in-patient care.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the vacancy rate is for midwives for each hospital trust. [195272]

holding answer 1 November 2004

Information on the rate of vacancies lasting three months or more for midwives in each national health service trust has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he has received on (a) the diagnosis, treatment and management of myasthenia gravis and (b) support for patients and carers; and if he will make a statement. [194875]

Myasthenia gravis is a neurological condition, characterised by fluctuating levels of muscle weakness. There is no cure, but treatment includes medication, surgery and palliation.

The national service framework for long term conditions will focus on improving services for people with neurological conditions. While the framework will not cover myasthenia gravis specifically, it will recommend improvements in standards, care and support that will benefit everyone with a neurological condition.

We are committed to publishing the framework as soon as possible.

It is for health authorities, in partnership with other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to provide health services for their populations, including those with myasthenia gravis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on NHS administration in each year since 1980 in real terms. [192786]

Real terms expenditure on administration in the national health service was not collected prior to 1996. Expenditure from then is shown in the following table.

⁽⁸⁾ Expenditure pre 1999–2000 is on a cash basis.

⁽⁹⁾ Expenditure tables from 1999–2000 to 2002–03 are on a Stage 1 resource budgeting basis (and consistent with figures published in table 3.4a of the Departmental Report 2004).

⁽¹⁰⁾ Not available.

⁽¹¹⁾ Expenditure for 2003–04 is on a stage 2 resource budgeting basis (and consistent with figures published in table 3.4b of the Departmental Report 2004).

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the functioning of the NHS Bursary Department (a) hotline, (b) e-mail system and (c) correspondence facility and how many letters of complaint he has received on this issue. [194358]

holding answer 1 November 2004

The NHS Pensions Agency student grants unit deals with very high volumes of inquiries from students, universities and other organisations. The unit's work is seasonal by nature peaking from June to October. Throughout the majority of the year, the unit deals effectively with all customer inquiries but they acknowledge that during their busiest period many callers have had difficulty contacting them within a reasonable time.

Work is ongoing to improve the unit's customer service both in the short and long term. This includes extra helplines to deal specifically with clinical placement travel claims, disabled student allowances and the new child care allowance. In addition, a new website has been set up where a dedicated team will answer frequently asked questions.

Between April and September, the unit processed 41 complaints.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine whether patients may (a) opt out of and (b) anonymise entries in the national programme for IT in the NHS. [195078]

holding answer 1 November 2004

Good clinical management requires that healthcare professionals keep a record of key information about their patients and about individual treatment episodes. The national programme for information technology is incorporating stringent security controls and safeguards that will mean patients have more control over who has access to their information than is possible with existing systems. A fundamental principle in the implementation of the national health service care records service (NHS CRS) is that confidentiality and privacy of sensitive patient information must not be compromised.

Patients will have the right to specify that detailed information recorded at the point of contact with the NHS should not be available to other NHS organisations via the summary record held on their NHS care record. They will also have the right to define some information as especially sensitive and only accessible under terms of explicit consent. This reinforces the key statutory safeguards set out in the Data Protection Act 1998, with which all information users must comply. These facilities have been designed in to the NHS CRS.

The Data Protection Act also provides patients with a right, where they are suffering substantial damage or distress, to object to processing of their data, including to prevent their data being held at all in an identifiable form, though this is expected to be a very rare event. We are currently considering how this right should apply to implementation of the NHS care record.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average amount of NHS spending per head of population of people living in the Greater London area has been in each of the last three years. [194629]

Figures are shown in the table which relate to expenditure by national health service bodies which were, or are, within the five existing London strategic health authority (SHA) areas.

Expenditure per weighted head of population

Notes:

1. Expenditure is taken from audited health authority (HA) accounts and primary care trust (PCT) summarisation schedules, which are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from cash allocations in the year. The expenditure is the total expenditure by the relevant HAs and the commissioner costs of the PCT.

2. The total NHS expenditure cannot be identified by health authority area, because the majority of general dental services expenditure is not included in the individual health authority accounts or PCT summarisation schedules and is separately accounted for by the Dental Practice Board. The majority of pharmaceutical services expenditure is accounted for by the Prescription Pricing Authority and not by HAs or PCTs.

3. Figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04, based on strategic health authority (SHA) areas, have been adjusted to eliminate expenditure which would be double counted where an authority acts as a lead in commissioning healthcare.

Sources:

Audited HA summarisation forms 2001–02.

Audited SHA summarisation forms 2002–03 and 2003–04.

Audited PCT summarisation schedules 2001–02 to 2003–04.

Weighted population figures.

2003–04 data remains provisional.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have died waiting for an organ transplant in each year since the organ donation register began. [194263]

Details of the number of patients dying while registered for an organ transplant in the United Kingdom during each 12 month period since the start of the national health service organ donor register is shown in the table.