To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to announce the Government's choice of programme integrator for the aircraft carrier project. [210690]

The process to select the physical integrator for the future aircraft carrier project is ongoing, and we anticipate announcing the outcome shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cash machines are currently provided on (a) bases and (b) other property owned, rented or otherwise used by his Department; how many of these cash machines (i) levy a surcharge for withdrawing cash and (ii) are free to use; whether any of the machines which are free to use are in areas that are only accessible by officers; and if he will make a statement. [204981]

There are 268 machines on military bases in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Germany. Of these, 257 levy a surcharge, leaving 11 machines that are free to use. The free machines are mainly located where troops are confined to base in some way, either for training or security reasons. At Brize Norton, the air base used by those returning from deployment around the world, including Iraq, there are two free machines to facilitate easy access to cash as soon as the troops reach the UK. There are no machines that are accessible by officers only.

Information on cash machines at other property owned, rented or otherwise used by the Ministry of Defence, is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence

(1) if he will place all (a) documents, (b) e-mails and (c) memoranda (i) produced and (ii) received by his Department concerning technical faults discovered in the Chinook HC2 helicopter in the Library; [210373]

(2) on how many occasions in each year since 1990 reviewing officers' conclusions differed from those of the President of an RAF Board of Inquiry. [210640]

The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library all factual material produced by civil servants in his Department relating to the costing of policies and pledges of Opposition parties since 1997. [206698]

holding answer 21 December 2004

Officials are occasionally asked to provide factual information to allow Opposition party policies to be costed. Such work is carried out in accordance with the guidance set out in Volume One of the Directory of Civil Service Guidance.

Since 1997, examples have included information to support costing of Opposition policies for defence in Scotland in 1999, Conservative policies on increases in the size of the regular Army and the Territorial Army in 2000 and Conservative policies on changes to the infantry structure in 2004.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on (i) improving the reliability of cluster munitions and (ii) finding militarily-adequate alternatives to cluster munitions; and if he will make a statement. [200298]

No research has been commissioned in respect of air launched cluster munitions as they are gradually being withdrawn from service over the next five years. Recent statistics show an overall failure rate which is in line with expectations. For Ground Launched systems, the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) is due to be replaced by the future GMLRS Area Effects Munition (AEM) with a planned in service date of early 2007. The new system has bomblets fitted with a self destruct faze giving a failure rate of less than 1 per cent. Whilst the Shell 155mm HE L20A1 Extended Range Bomblet Shell (ERBS) has a maximum failure rate of 2 per cent. at the 95 per cent. confidence level the bomblet fuze has a self destruct mechanism. Analysis shows that for a significant percentage of likely targets the bomblet remains the most effective munition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been signed by his Department's Disposal Services Agency in the calendar year 2004 for equipment directly sold on a government-to-government basis; and if he will list (a) the equipment concerned and (b) the country to which it has gone or is going. [208779]

The Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency (DSA) signed contracts with the Dutch Air Force for one ex-Qinetiq Hercules aircraft (to be delivered in 2005) and with the Norwegian Defence Forces for a quantity of Stingray torpedoes and depth charges (delivered in December 2004).

The DSA also signed contracts in 2004 for the supply of equipment to Jordan. These equipments have been sold in support of the Al Hussein Project, which has been established under an inter-governmental memorandum of understanding to facilitate the transfer of ex-MOD surplus Challenger 1 Tank assets. All of the following are sales agreements for support equipments:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence

(1) whether he intends to invite BAE Systems to underwrite the through life costs of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer; [204832]

(2) what his latest estimate is of the in-service date for the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer; [204833]

(3) what the main provisions of the gain share agreement between his Department and BAE Systems in respect of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer are; [204834]

(4) what design changes the Integrated Project Team for the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer proposes to make; [204836]

(5) what he expects the through life costs of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer to be. [204837]

(6) when he expects to sign the contract for the (a) development phase and (b) production phase of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer. [204838]

We expect the Hawk 128 Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft to cost approximately £3.5 billion Through Life", which amounts to some 20 years. The aircraft will be procured conventionally and paid for by the taxpayer, therefore there is no requirement for BAE Systems to underwrite the Through Life Costs (TLC).

The Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems have defined and agreed a mature Hawk 128 aircraft specification. We do not envisage any significant design changes to the specification during the Design and Development phase.

Gain share incentivises a Company to reduce costs and in return receive financial benefit. This information is commercially sensitive and it would be inappropriate to comment further.

The Design and Development Contract (DDC) was awarded to BAE Systems. on 22 December 2004. Final aircraft numbers, delivery schedule and In-Service Date will all be set at the main investment decision point which is planned for Spring 2006. at which time approval will be sought to place a Production Contract.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Her Majesty's Government have made a decision regarding the stationing of interceptor missiles in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [210412]

No request has been made and no decision is necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK doctors are working in (a) detention centres and (b) prison centres in Iraq. [209282]

The only United Kingdom detention facility in Iraq is the military Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) in Basrah. There is one military doctor allocated full-time to the DTDF. We do not hold information about UK civilian doctors or other detention facilities in Iraq.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have been killed while on military exercises in each of the last three years. [205922]

Between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2003 (the last three years for which validated figures are held), nine Service personnel have died from injury or poisoning-related causes whilst on military exercises. Of these, six died in 2001, two in 2002 and one in 2003.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 12 January 2005, Official Report, column 574W, on the procurement budget, how the figure of £300 million is comprised; from what sources he has calculated that figure; and if he will make a statement. [209953]

Our estimate that some £300 million annually is saved to the defence procurement budget has been constructed using information received from the defence industry on the value of export orders won, and on the share of fixed overhead costs in defence exports. Defence exports comprise services as well as goods, and the estimate also reflects an assumption that the value of non-equipment exports contain no fixed overhead costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what means he communicated his decision to disband the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment to serving officers and men. [208829]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps were taken to inform members of the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment that they would be disbanded in advance of the commanding officer's televised announcement. [209193]

As the professional head of the Army, the Chief of the General Staff had responsibility for communicating the decision to disband the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment down the chain of command. On the morning of the announcement, the Chief of the General Staff personally telephoned the Colonel Commandant of the Prince of Wales's Division and, in this instance, also the Colonel of the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment to inform them of the decision and pending announcement. This was then relayed to the rest of the regiment by the Regiment's Commanding Officer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many submarines are in service in the Royal Navy; and what the age is of each vessel. [210311]

The Royal Navy has four Vanguard class (SSBN) and 11 Swiftsure and Trafalgar class (SSN) submarines in service. Based on their in service dates the age of each boat in 2005 is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) financial and (b) other assistance the Government has (i) made available and (ii) promised to the community of Boscastle in Cornwall following the flood last year; and if she will make a statement. [209781]

Defra has overall policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk in England. Defra funds most of the Environment Agency's flood management activities in England and provides grant aid on a project by project basis to the other flood and coastal defence operating authorities (local authorities and internal drainage boards) to support their investment in improvement projects to manage flood and coastal erosion risk.

The Government are assisting, in whatever ways they can, local efforts to help the community of Boscastle recover from the flooding on 16 August.

A Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance to North Cornwall District Council (NCDC) has been announced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in respect of the immediate action the Council took to safeguard life and property and the clear up costs it has incurred. NCDC has submitted a claim and the ODPM made an interim payment on 20 January 2005.

Business Link (operated by the Small Business Service, an Agency of the DTI) is providing a dedicated Business Adviser to Boscastle for a 12 month period and has made arrangements to cover interest and administration charges for any affected small or medium-sized enterprise requiring additional bank borrowing as a consequence of the floods.

The Government Office for the South West, Regional Development Agency, Business Link and other local agencies are working through a Boscastle Regeneration Steering Group to consider and address the short and longer term regeneration needs of the community and support for its businesses. Objective 1 funding has been offered towards a £20,000 Framework Plan commissioned by North Cornwall District Council for the regeneration needs of the area and £93,000 towards a £300,000 tourism recovery initiative.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the latest figures are for the incidence of bovine TB, broken down by holding. [211080]

Bovine tuberculosis surveillance data are not available on a holding basis. However, detailed TB statistics, broken down by county in areas of high TB incidence, or by Animal Health Divisional Office (AHDO) in other areas, are published each month on the Defra website at:

www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/index.htm

The published data include the number of TB herd breakdowns in each county or AHDO area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the devolved administrations concerning the content, frequency and timing of television advertisements placed by her Department on UK-wide satellite television channels. [201322]

Defra has never placed television advertisements on UK-wide satellite television channels.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the fees charged for the administration and supervision of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. [209846]

The subsistence charging amendments to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations went out to consultation in October last year (22 October–3 December). Approximately 30responses from companies have been received. Defra will be publishing a response to some of the questions raised on its website shortly, and the consultation responses will be made available in the Defra library in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or what reasons she does not envisage a level playing field for the implementation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme for shipping and aviation. [202198]

We do envisage a level playing field for intra-EU aviation flights and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. As outlined in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper, The Future of Air Transport", the Government are actively pursuing the inclusion of intra-EU aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and progress on this policy will be a priority for the UK Presidency of the EU in 2005. If the UK is successful, it is hoped that intra-EU aviation could be included within the second phase of the Scheme, from 2008 or soon after.

Dealing with all matters maritime, including emissions from ships, is a competence at IMO (the International Maritime Organisation). The nature of international shipping is such that it needs to be treated very differently to all other modes of transport. This is important, as most ships are registered outside of the EU (e.g. Panama). We continue to lobby member states of the IMO to tackle this issue. To date this has met with little success, as the political discussions surrounding environment issues are often blocked outright.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the EU Emissions Trading Scheme will enter into force. [209848]

The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations (2003) state:

No person shall carry out a Schedule 1 activity resulting in specified emissions after 1 January 2005, except under and to the extent authorised by a greenhouse gas emissions permit."

UK Regulators have issued about 1,150 permits, and conditions under those permits require installations covered by the Scheme to monitor and report their emissions of carbon dioxide.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish proposals for the public disclosure of Common Agricultural Policy payments at a farm level; and if she will make a statement. [208024]

Requests for information about subsidy payments made to farmers in the past will be considered by the Rural Payments Agency. In reaching a decision account will have to be taken of the resource implications of gathering the information and of assessing the balance between the public interest and the commercial or privacy implications for the subject. We are still considering these implications in light of requests received and hope to be able to make the position clear in the near future.

For the new single payment we are minded to publish information as a matter of course, when it becomes available, but we are still considering the options for doing so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farm plastics recycling schemes are in place. [211079]

Currently, there is one recycling scheme for farm plastics in place to my knowledge. However, Chapter 8 of the consultation paper on the draft Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 discusses the introduction of a voluntary or statutory producer responsibility scheme for the collection and recovery of non-packaging plastic waste from farms. The consultation paper was published on 9 December 2004 and is available in the Library of the House and on my Department's website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/agwaste-regs/index.htm. Views are invited by 18 March 2005. Plastic packaging waste from farms and elsewhere is already the subject of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended).

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures she has put in place to respond to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to disclose the level of EU and domestic support made available to individual agricultural producers and landowners. [208265]

Requests for information about subsidy payments made to farmers in the past will be considered by the Rural Payments Agency. In reaching a decision account will have to be taken of the resource implications of gathering the information and of assessing the balance between the public interest and the commercial or privacy implications for the subject.

For the new single payment, being introduced this year, we are minded to publish information as a matter of course but we are still considering the options for doing so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the dampening effects of global dimming on mean temperatures (a) in the UK and (b) worldwide. [210973]

Aerosol pollution cools the climate and partially offsets some of the warming due to greenhouse gases but we don't know with certainty by how much. Defra's Climate Prediction Programme at the Hadley Centre has been investigating the impacts of aerosol on climate change and the risks of acceleration of climate change for some time. Good climate models already include the effects of aerosol and look at how climate change could be affected if the whole range of uncertainty in aerosol is included in model calculations. The result is an increase to the uncertainty range of climate sensitivity both globally and in the UK.

The climate change could therefore be greater than previously thought, with changes in global temperature of up to10°C by 2100, compared to 6°C as represented by the IPCC. However, this is based on the highest emissions scenario, so should be seen as being at the extreme end of the projected range of future climate change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the consumption of antibiotics used to promote farm animal growth was in England in the most recent year for which figures are available. [210845]

The VMD collects and publishes figures annually on the UK sales of veterinary antimicrobials, including those sold for use as growth promoters. It is reasonable to assume that there is a close correlation between these figures and the quantities used in the UK. The figures are supplied by the manufacturers on a voluntary basis. The reports are available on the VMD website at www.vmd.gov.uk under the publications and general tabs or from Dr. Kay Goodyear (telephone 01932 338409).

The most recent figure for sales of antimicrobial growth promoters in the UK is 36 tonnes of active ingredient in 2003.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

(1) how many lead water supply mains and pipes have been replaced since 2000; [208879]

(2) how many kilometres of water distribution mains have been renovated since 2000 to reduce problems associated with discolouration of water. [208883]

To deal with water quality problems, including discolouration, water companies renovated 15,460 kilometres of water distribution mains between 2000 and the end of 2003.

Water companies no longer have lead water supply mains. They replaced some 314,000 lead communication pipes between 2000 and the end of March 2004. The communication pipe is the water company owned section of pipe which conveys water from the supply main to the curtilage of a consumer's premises where it connects to the consumer's supply pipe.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many households within the Greater London area use metered water. [211048]

Figures on water customers are collected by water company supply area, not by administrative area. The Office of Water Services (Ofwat) forecast is that 656,500 households who are customers of Thames Water will have a metered water supply in 2004–05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will discuss with mobile telephone operators the potential for using mobile phone masts to disseminate warnings of severe weather or other disasters that require localised warning messages. [209140]

The Environment Agency is responsible for developing and operating the service to warn of possible flooding from watercourses and the sea in England.

It is technically feasible to use mobile phone network providers to disseminate localised warning messages, but certain agreements and procedures would be required. I understand the agency is discussing this possibility with mobile phone network providers.

Additionally, the agency will introduce Floodline Warnings Direct later this year. The £9.4 million warning system will enable the agency to use a range of new channels and technologies to simultaneously warn more homeowners, businesses, emergency services and local authorities of the threat of flooding.

It will be the country's first multi-channel warning system and will exploit current and emerging technologies to deliver warning messages simultaneously via telephone, mobile phone, pager, e-mail and fax and, in due course, SMS text messaging, digital TV and radio.

Members of the public who choose to receive the new service will be able to elect to receive warning messages via their mobile phones (voice and/or text) if they provide the agency with their contact numbers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what volume of (a) low level, (b) intermediate level and (c) high level nuclear waste has gone missing in each of the last five years; and what percentage has been recovered. [210270]

None.

An inventory of UK radioactive waste stocks is produced periodically by my Department. The latest edition was published in 2002 providing information on sources, quantities and properties of waste stocks as of 1 April 2001. Work on a 2004 inventory is currently under way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of oil leaks on land in each of the last four years contaminated (a) sources of drinking water and (b) water used for recreation; what requirements exist to report such occurrences; what powers exist to require remedial action to be taken; and what the estimated cost was to public funds of such occurrences. [210356]

With respect to the proportion of oil leaks on land over the last four years, these data are not available. However, the Oil Care Campaign has commissioned research (sponsored by the oil industry) to review all sources of information on the causes of oil pollution. The conclusions of this work, including provisional data for 2004, are due for publication in the next two months.

There are no general requirements for such spillages to be reported, although the Environment Agency (EA) encourages their reporting and has an emergency hotline for this purpose. In addition, the water companies are required to notify the Drinking Water Inspectorate of any incident which affects drinking water quality or where there may be a risk to consumers' health. This includes all instances of chemical contamination including oil leakage/spillage.

The EA has the power to serve a Works Notice in order to prevent the immediate threat of water pollution or to ensure that remedial action is taken following an incident. However, in most cases, the necessary action is secured without recourse to the formal issuing of a notice.

The estimated cost of such incidents to public funds is not readily available. However, the EA expects to be able to provide some indicative costs at the same time as the incident data.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the change in use of large moveable pens for the rearing of pheasants following the removal of the chemical DMZ; and whether these pens are subject to (a) planning permission and (b) business rates. [207308]

DMZ (dimetridazole) is the active ingredient in an antiprotozoal that was indicated for use in game birds for blackhead. Its use in food producing animals was banned by the European Commission for food safety reasons. An alternative way to prevent blackhead is to change husbandry practices such as rearing each year's birds on new pasture. We have not made any assessment of the changes made by producers to help prevent blackhead. Defra is not responsible for the rules governing planning permission and business rates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure was made by (a) her Department and (b) agencies for which her Department is responsible on research projects by companies with headquarters in (i) the UK, (ii) other EU member states and (iii) non-EU states in each year since 2001–02. [206989]

The Department does not keep this level of information on the organisations at which it funds research.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what percentage of her Department's expenditure went on research and development in each year between 2001–02 and 2003–04. [207004]

The figures are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many research and development procurement opportunities were disseminated by the Department to small and medium-sized enterprises registered through the Small Business Research Initiative in each year since 2001–02 to date; and what the value of such opportunities was in each case. [207011]

Defra fully supports the Small Business Research Initiative and all Defra research competitions are open to small businesses. Since 2002–03, when Defra began recording this information, our records show that we have funded research with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (both as main contractor and sub-contractor) as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 17 January 2005, Official Report, column 713W, on tax credits, whether the fareshare scheme, previously funded under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, is eligible for funding under the Waste Implementation Programme; and if she will make a statement. [210978]

In November I announced details of theCommunity Sector Support Programme, which is being administered by the Waste Implementation Programme. This funding package includes one year of grant support in 2005–06 for projects dealing with municipal waste, for which the deadline for applications was 4 January.

To ask the Secretary of State forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are being taken to divert wood from landfill to(a) coal-fired and (b) non-coal burning power stations. [210895]

The Government are committed to reducing the UK's reliance on landfill, in order to reduce its environmental impact and because landfilling is a missed opportunity to recover value from waste. This commitment applies to waste wood as it does to any other waste material. Using wood as a fuel in power stations is one alternative to disposal in landfills and, under the forthcoming review of the Renewables Obligation, the case for amending eligibility rules regarding electricity generated from mixed wastes, including wood, will be considered.

There are other ways of diverting wood from landfill, such as re-using or recycling it as a raw material in construction or for manufacturing wood based products. To encourage this, wood is one of the priority materials under the Government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which was established to create markets for recycled materials. By 2006 WRAP are aiming for a 150,000 tonne increase in the recycling of waste wood into added-value end markets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the amount of wood which is disposed of in landfill sites; and what action she plans to take to reduce that amount. [210896]

The Government have no basis for estimating the amount of wood being disposed of in landfills. However, they are committed to reducing the UK's reliance on landfill, in order to reduce its environmental impact and because landfilling is a missed opportunity to recover value from waste. This commitment applies to wood as it does to any other waste material. As a result, the Government encourage the re-use or recycling of wood as a raw material in construction or in manufacturing wood based products or used as a fuel, rather than being sent to landfill. In particular, wood is one of the priority materials under the Government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which was established to create markets for recycled materials. By 2006 WRAP are aiming for a 150,000 tonne increase in the recycling of waste wood into added-value end markets.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the occasions when his special advisers have made appearances before parliamentary select committees. [210504]

Alastair Campbell, my former Director of Communications and Strategy, gave evidence to the Public Administration Select Committee on 23 June 1998 and to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on Wednesday 25 June 2003.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he plans to meet the new Minister for Health and Social Services of the National Assembly for Wales to discuss dental services in Wales. [209965]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Congleton (Ann Winterton). As I said then, I have already met the Assembly's new Health Minister and we plan to have further meetings and discussions in the coming weeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with his secretaries in the National Assembly for Wales on the availability of pupil referral units in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [209966]

I regularly meet Assembly Ministers to discuss a range of issues, including education.

Data for Wales indicate a significant rise in the number of referral unit places and pupils. The number of pupil referral units has risen from 24 in 1997 to 31 in 2004 and the number of pupils registered in the units has also risen from 49 to 1,058 in the same timescale.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the state of the manufacturing industry in Wales. [209967]

Manufacturing remains subject to intense global competitive pressures but, despite this, the sector in Wales still makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy accounting for 21 per cent. of Gross Value Added and employing around 180,000 people, or 16 per cent. of the workforce.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on the implementation of the child trust fund in Wales. [209969]

I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, including the Child Trust Fund. The Chancellor and the Assembly First Minister have met with the Child Poverty Tax Group and End Child Poverty Network to discuss ways of ensuring the CTF makes a maximum contribution to tackling child poverty in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on tackling pensioner poverty in Wales. [209970]

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on tackling pensioner poverty in Wales. [209963]

I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues including tackling pensioner poverty in Wales.

The Government are tackling pensioner poverty with an extra £10 billion to be spent on pensioners in 2005–06. The Assembly is also making £10 million available to 2006–07 for its strategy for Older People in Wales. The strategy will plan for an ageing society and improve services for older people in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what categories of information are available under Freedom of Information legislation that have not been provided in written parliamentary answers by his Department in the last three years. [207818]

The Freedom of Information Act does not make specific categories of information available, but operates on the presumption that all information held by public authorities should be available, subject to the 24 exemptions of the Act.

Whether or not information is exempt under the Act requires the exercise of judgment in each case. The majority of the exemptions also require that the public interest in releasing the information should be weighed against the public interest in withholding it. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweigh the public interest in withholding it the information must be disclosed. The assessment of the public interest has to be made in all the circumstances of the case, on a case by case basis as far as each request is concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effects of the Chancellor's proposals in the pre-Budget report on the economy in Wales. [209968]

Regular ones. As a result of the pre-Budget report, an additional £38.5 million will be invested in Wales, measures to improve skills, productivity and entrepreneurship and Council tax support.

To ask the Leader of the House from which Government agencies letters in response to parliamentary questions are (a) published in Hansard and (b) placed in the Library; and what criteria are applied in deciding which answering mechanism should be used. [210337]

All letters from Government Agencies in response to parliamentary questions should be sent to theOfficial Report for printing, unless they contain personal or confidential information. If the letter is longer than the Official Report would normally publish (a maximum of four A4 pages in length in material received), notification will be printed that the response is available in the Library of the House. The response will be available to Members in the Library and on application to the House of Commons Information Office.

To ask the Solicitor General how many prosecutions were undertaken by the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) Essex and (b) Southend-on-Sea in each year since 1997; and how many resulted in (i)conviction and (ii) acquittal. [209473]

Cases prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service do not all conclude in a conviction or an acquittal. The difference between the number of defendant files prosecuted and the number of defendants resulting in conviction or acquittal will reflect the defendants that did not proceed to trial or conviction. They will be classed under the Area's performance figures as defendant cases resulting in a discontinuance or discharged committal, or defendants that are on a warrant or have been written off.

Cases undertaken by CPS Essex since 1997

Cases undertaken by Southend-on-Sea Criminal Justice Unitsince 1997

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of Palestinian economic regeneration. [210700]

Prospects for Palestinian economic regeneration are bleak unless the underlying causes of economic decline and poverty are addressed. The Government of Israel need to ease the system of restrictions on the movement of people and goods imposed since the beginning of the intifada". The Palestinian Authority also needs to invigorate its programme of governance reforms in order to create an internal environment more attractive to private investors. The UK is working closely with international partners on both these issues. Economic issues will be a key theme of the London meeting on 1 March. This will be an opportunity to support the new Palestinian leadership in strengthening its institutional capacity and will also help stimulate progress on the Road Map towards a settlement which will allow the Palestinian economy to grow again.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the number of pensioners eligible for free bus passes and travel; and what percentage of the pensioner population this represents. [208970]

In England, there are five areas where older people (men and women aged 60 and over) are offered free concessionary travel on local bus services. These are the London boroughs, Merseyside, Crawley, Redditch and Thurrock. Reading and the West Midlands offer free local bus travel to residents aged 65 and over. Free local bus travel is also offered by Bournemouth and Plymouth to residents aged 80 and over and by Rossendale to residents aged 90 and over.

We estimate that 1.96 million older people are eligiblefor free bus travel in these areas, representing 18.9 per cent. of older people in England. The remaining 8.42 million older people in England are entitled to at least the statutory half-fare minimum requirement on bus services, with no charge for the pass, though local authorities can offer more generous schemes and many provide concessions between half fares and free travel, such as flat fares. There are 9.19 million pensioners in England (men aged 65 and over, women aged 60 and over) of which 1.79 million are eligible for free local bus travel. This represents 19.4 per cent. of pensioners in England.

Some other authorities offer the choice of free travel with a charge for the annual concessionary travel pass as an alternative to the statutory minimum half fare with a free annual pass. Some local authorities also extend their concessionary fare schemes to cover other forms of public transport—including the free schemes in the London boroughs, Merseyside, and Crawley and the partially free scheme in the West Midlands.

Figures are based on Office of National Statistics 2003 population estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fines were issued to drivers for failing to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about a change of address in each of the last five years. [210165]

The offence of failure to notify a change of address or personal details is normally taken into account as part of investigations into other more serious driving and traffic offences.

Any penalties subsequently imposed by courts for major offences may incorporate a penalty for non-notification, but the court statistics only record the prime offence(s). There are no statistics available for this specific offence of failure to notify changes.

Some 2.7 million replacement driving licences are issued annually by DVLA in response to notifications from drivers of changes to their personal details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on energy costs incurred by his Department in each of the last two years. [202413]

Pursuant to my answer of 15 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1094–96W the revised energy costs recorded by the Department for the periods 2002–03 and 2003–04 are as follows:

£

Overall the decrease in costs from 2002–03 to 2003–04 is 4 per cent. although the figures for costs alone can be misleading if not placed within the wider context of changes in unit price, areas measured, levels of consumption and improved record keeping. The DfT estate comprises some 1,680 properties of varying size, use and nature of occupation and is therefore not possible to make any comprehensive or definitive statements about energy cost changes on such a diverse estate, which may be attributable to these and other factors.

Increases and decreases in unit charges and area occupied can also mask efforts to improve energy efficiency so a better measure of performance is consumption at those properties where energy monitoring is both possible and carried out where the overall usage was down 2.2 per cent. over the same period. For more details on consumption I would refer the hon. Member to my answer of 20 October 2004, Official Report, columns 687–88W to the hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Green).

The Department will continue to aim to reduce energy consumption and meet other energy targets set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development in the Government Estate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the running costs of the Department were in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) electricity, (b) water, (c) gas, (d) telephones, (e) mobile telephones and (f) televisions. [206679]

The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002 and as a result the information provided relates only from the years 2002–03 onwards.

The Department's running costs for the items requested are shown in the following table:

£000

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what categories of information are available under Freedom of Information legislation that have not been provided in written parliamentary answers by his Department in the last three years. [207813]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Leslie) on 24 January 2005, Official Report, column 140W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the likely growth in passenger numbers on the rail network over the next (a) five and (b) 10 years, broken down by (i)national rail network, (ii) First Great Western franchise area and (iii) First Great Western Link franchise area. [210440]

The information is not available in the form requested. The Strategic Rail Authority's (SRA) Capacity Utilisation Policy: Network Utilisation Strategy" document, published in June 2003, states that their planning assumption is that demand growth between 2001–02 and 2010–11 will be in the region of 20–30 per cent. The SRA's Great Western Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy" consultation document, published in January, states that overall passenger growth for the Great Western Main Line area is forecast to be around 18 per cent. between 2002–03 and 2011–12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library advice which he received from (a) the Highways Agency and (b) departmental officials on determining priorities between road schemes, prior to his recent announcements on road spending. [208216]

We have no plans to do so at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the people working within his Department on secondment from the private sector, broken down by (a) the organisation or industry they came from and (b) the policy responsibilities they have been given. [208622]

The information requested is as follows:

Department for Transport and the Agencies

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ban single-hulled tankers from operating in UK coastal waters; and if he will make a statement. [208686]

The UK has played a key role in both the International Maritime Organisation (MO) and the EU in negotiating an acceleration of a programme to phase out single hull tankers from world trade, while ensuring continuity of energy supply. The IMO has recently agreed to an accelerated programme, under which the large majority of single hull tankers will have been phased out by the end of 2010. Single hull tankers which will be under 25 years of age at the end of 2010 will be allowed to continue in service until the end of 2015, or on reaching age 25 if earlier, but only if they first pass a rigorous assessment of their condition. Based on the IMO agreement, there is a EU Regulation, now in force, which prohibits single hull tankers entering or leaving EU ports and anchorages when carrying heavy grades of oil as cargo.

The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, to which the UK acceded in 1997, gives rights of innocent passage though territorial waters for ships which comply with internationally agreed standards governing their construction and use, which includes single hull tankers which have yet to reach their phase out date. Secretary of State has no powers to curtail such rights, which benefit UK ships when participating in world trade.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what duties are placed on (a) headmasters and (b) governors of independent schools to report suspicions of child abuse by members of staff. [210441]

holding answer 24 January 2005

The duty to report suspicions of child abuse by members of staff in independent schools is placed on proprietors rather than head teachers and governors. Proprietors are required to make a report to my Department when they have ceased to use a person's services, or when a person has ceased to provide their services, on grounds that they are unsuitable to work with children, on grounds of misconduct, or on grounds relating to the person's health where issues are raised about the safety or welfare of children.

Proprietors of independent schools have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at their school and must ensure that their school has procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff which comply with locally agreed inter-agency procedures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) registered childminders and (b) registered childminder places were available in 2004. [210747]

At 31 December 2004 the numbers of registered childminders and registered childminder places in England were 71,000 and 318,100 respectively.

Statistics on the number of childcare places registered in England were published on 19 January 2005 in a report by Ofsted Registered Childcare Providers and Places in England, 31 December 2004". The report is available on the Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) childminders and (b) childminder places were registered in Stoke-on-Trent in 2004. [210860]

At 31 December 2004 the numbers of registered childminders and registered childminder places in Stoke on Trent local education authority area were 300 and 1,300 respectively.

Statistics on the number of child care places registered in England were published on 19 January 2005 in a report by Ofsted Registered Childcare Providers and Places in England, 31 December 2004". The report is available on the Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of her Department's staff is based in London. [208036]

Information on regional distribution of staff is available in the Libraries of both Houses, and also at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management information/statistical_information/statistics/contents_ for_civil_service_statistics_2003_report/index.asp

Table D shows the numbers of staff by regional distribution. Figures relating to 1 April 2004 are due to be published during February 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions her Department has had with the European Commission on the supporting, co-ordinating and complementary action that may be taken by the EU in the field of vocational training under article I-17 of the proposed EU constitution. [209585]

None. The Treaty has not yet been ratified by the United Kingdom and several other member states and is therefore not yet in force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on (a) higher and (b) further education in Stoke on Trent in each year since 1997. [209911]

Public funding for Staffordshire university from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is shown in the first table.

Recurrent funding for Staffordshire university^{1, 2, 3} -- £000

⁽¹⁾ HEFCE is not able to provide data on funding allocated in respect of students ordinarily resident in Stoke on Trent.

2 HEFCE data is provided for Staffordshire university and its partner colleges in the Staffordshire University Regional Federation (SURF), who are funded by HEFCE through the university. The figures therefore include funding not just for Staffordshire university's Stoke campus and Stoke-on-Trent College, but for the university's other campuses in Stafford and Lichfield and its various partner FE Colleges across Staffordshire and Shropshire. We are not able to disaggregate funding for these constituent parts as the university and its partners are funded as a single entity through a block grant.

3 Funding figures show HEFCE recurrent grant for teaching and research only. They exclude other HEFCE grants such as for capital and other special initiatives. They also exclude funding from other public sources, such as the NHS, TTA, LSC, research councils etc.

4 Constituent parts may not add to total due to rounding.

5 Funding for rewarding and developing staff was first allocated for 2001–02 and transferred into teaching grant in 2004–05.

Source:

HEFCE

In addition HEFCE provided £549,987 of recurrent funding for teaching to Stoke on Trent college in 1999–2000. From 2000–01 onwards this was transferred to the HE provision for Staffordshire university.

Data on public expenditure paid to students at Staffordshire university and Stoke on Trent college by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in respect of grants, income-contingent loan cash outlay, and tuition fees for academic years 1999/2000 to 2004/05 (provisional) are shown in the second table. Data are not available at the level requested prior to academic year 1999/2000.

SLC expenditure on grants, income-contingent loan cash outlay, and tuition fees paid to students studying at Staffordshire university and Stoke on Trent college Academic years 1999/2000 to 2004/05 (provisional) -- £ million^{(2)(03)(4)(5)(6)}

⁽²⁾ Up to and including academic year 2003/04, data on grant expenditure for student support scheme students relates to additional allowances/grants available to eligible students for extra help depending on their circumstances, e.g. students with disabilities, students with dependents, single parent students, those incurring certain travel costs, and those who have recently left care. In addition, data for 2004/05 include expenditure on the Higher Education grant which was introduced for new students in 2004/05 to help cover the cost of participating in Higher Education.

⁽³⁾ Students domiciled in England and Wales.

⁽⁴⁾ Students domiciled in England, Wales and the EU.

⁽⁵⁾ Data also include planned expenditure.

⁽⁶⁾ Provisional (as at 19 January 2005)

Data on public expenditure for mortgage style loans, hardship loans, part-time fee grants and part-time course grants are not readily available at the level requested. I will include details of these expenditures in the House of Commons Library when available.

Data on discretionary funding at Staffordshire University Regional Federation (SURF) are shown in the third table.

Discretionary funding at SURF1, 2 from 1997/98 to 2004/05 -- £000

n/a = not applicable.

⁽⁷⁾ Data include funding for Staffordshire university's Stoke campus, Stoke-on-Trent college and the university's other campuses in Stafford and Litchfield and its various partner FE colleges, all of which are funded by HEFCE through the university.

⁽⁸⁾ As lead institution, Staffordshire university receive discretionary funding for all of the members of the consortium and the consortium decide how the allocation is administered.

⁽⁹⁾ From 2003/04 administration funding was paid as an integral part of the Access to Learning Fund allocation.

There are two Further Education colleges located within the parliamentary constituency of Stoke on Trent Central, namely Stoke on Trent college and the City of Stoke on Trent sixth form college. Public funding for these from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and its predecessor the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) is shown in the fourth table.

£ million

Notes:

1. These figures represent allocations of funding for FE provision that was actually paid (but may have been adjusted subsequently for under or over performance) and do not include any non-FE funding that the colleges may have received.

2. The LSC was established in April 2001 and prior to that the FE sector was administered by the FEFC.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the real-term funding guarantee for (a) school sixth forms, (b) sixth form colleges and (c) further education colleges is in the 2004–05 financial year; and if she will make a statement. [210750]

In the academic year 2004/05, the Learning and Skills Council increased its funding rates by 4 per cent. for school sixth forms, in line with the per pupil guarantee funding increase for schools. Funding rates for sixth form colleges and further education colleges meeting their targets increased by 5 per cent. in 2004/05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will instruct the Learning and Skills Council to fund school sixth forms and further education colleges at the same level for capital investment projects. [210751]

Capital funding for school sixth forms is part of the devolved funding for schools which the local education authority administers.

Capital funding for further education colleges is the responsibility of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which has sole discretion in how and where it allocates capital support.

In our five-year strategy we set out plans to establish a new 16–19 capital fund combining school and further education resources to support coherent investment in new 16–19 provision.

The fund is expected to come into effect from 2006–07, and will be administered by the LSC.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the level of funding available to further education colleges to implement the Increased Flexibility Programme for 14 to 16-year-olds. [210756]

The Department allocates funding to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to deliver the Increased Flexibility Programme. Funding of up to £100,000 per partnership has been made available to support activity in 2004–06. The allocation of funding is decided locally between the partners.

The Department has not assessed the funding available to partnerships to implement the Increased Flexibility Programme, but the LSC has commissioned a study into this. Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with details of the study. A copy of his letter will be placed in the House Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the per capita funding for 16 to 18 year olds in Stoke-on-Trent was in (a) school sixth forms, (b) the sixth form college and (c) other further education colleges in each of the past five years. [210863]

The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-six learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council. The Department does not collect information on the level of per capita funding for 16 to 18 year olds in school sixth forms and sixth form and further education colleges at the local level. Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's Chief Executive will write to the hon. Member with details of the level of per capita funding for 16 to 18 year olds in(a) school sixth forms (b) sixth form colleges and (c) further education colleges in each of the past five years in the Stoke-on-Trent area. A copy of his letter will be placed in the House Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students aged 16 to 18 years are in receipt of education maintenance allowance in each institution in the Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Learning and Skills Council area. [210744]

EMA is available in 2004–05 to eligible young people aged 16 on 31 August 2004 in the Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire LSC area. As at 19 January 2005 3,260 young people in the Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire LSC area had received an EMA payment.

A document showing how many young people are receiving EMA in individual educational institutions in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire LSC area is shown in the table:

EMA students by School/College⁽¹⁰⁾

⁽¹⁰⁾ Data to 19 January 2005

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Government's priorities for the Education, Youth and Culture Council will be during the United Kingdom's Presidency of the European Union; and if she will make a statement. [209555]

The Operational Programme of the Council for 2005 submitted by the incoming Luxembourg and United Kingdom Presidencies and based on the Multi-Annual Strategic Programme for 2004–06 sets out priority areas of work in all policy areas, including education, youth and culture. A copy of the Annual Operation Programme for 2005 is available in the Library of the House.

The focus of the programme is on the on-going handling of EU business. What will fall to the UK Presidency depends on the progress made by the Council, European Parliament and Commission under the Luxembourg Presidency. The programme reflects the main UK Presidency objectives and provides the basis for us to take forward our priorities.

Key issues for the UK Presidency generally are likely to include progressing the delivery of the Lisbon agenda of more and better jobs, sustainable economic growth and greater competitiveness. In the Education part of the Council, we will aim to make good progress on the proposed new Integrated Lifelong Learning programme 2007–13. We will also begin work on the preparation of a report to the 2006 Spring European Council on the implementation of the detailed work programme 2010 for education and training systems agreed at Barcelona in spring 2002. In the Youth part of the Council, we will continue our negotiations on the Youth in Action programme for 2007–13. In the Culture and Audiovisual part of the Council, we will seek to move towards agreement on the proposed new culture programmes (2007–13) and the new Media programmes (2007–13). We will also seek to make progress on priority initiatives flowing from the new Culture Council work plan, in particular those on digitisation of cultural heritage and mobility of museum collections. In addition, we will take forward the preparatory work for a review of the Television without Frontiers (TVWF") directive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Hartlepool have benefited from free nursery places since the policy was introduced. [210649]

All four-year-olds in England have been entitled to a free part-time early education place since September 1998. All three-year-olds in England have been entitled to a free part-time early education place since April 2004.

The available information on the numbers of free part-time early education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Hartlepool local education authority area is shown in the table.

The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 39/2004 Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2004 (final)", which is available on the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.

Number of free nursery education places taken up 3 and 4-year-olds, Hartlepool local education authority area⁽¹¹⁾

n/a = Not available.

⁽¹¹⁾ Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.

⁽¹²⁾ Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.

⁽¹³⁾ Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.

⁽¹⁴⁾ Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.

⁽¹⁶⁾ Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Stoke-on-Trent have taken up free nursery places in each year since the policy was introduced. [210865]