To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what his Department's policy is on the use of the Gaelic language; and what plans his Department has to prepare and implement a Gaelic language scheme. [217091]

Action to support the Gaelic language is primarily the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of the Gaelic language in line with the UK's obligations under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill currently before the Scottish Parliament does not extend statutory obligations on UK public bodies in Scotland in relation to the preparation or implementation of Gaelic language plans. However, UK Departments and public bodies which operate in Scotland may—like comparable Scottish public bodies—have a role to play in facilitating the use of the language.

My Department has been working closely with colleagues in the Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive on the role we can play, voluntarily, in securing the status of Gaelic.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what value of court-imposed fines have been defaulted on in (a) each London borough and (b) England in each year since 1997. [212370]

Information on fines imposed and collected is provided by the 42 magistrates courts committees (MCCs) with the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (GLMCA) responsible for courts covering the Greater London area.

Data are collected on the value of financial penalties (including fines) imposed and outstanding. It is not possible to separately identify the number and value of court-imposed fines defaulted on in any one year.

Table 1 shows the national position since 1999 when payment rate collection began. There is no comparable data for previous years. Table 2 shows performance and payment rates prior to the establishment of the GLMCA in 2001 for the 22 magistrates courts committees (MCCs) that were subsequently amalgamated into the GLMCA. Data are not available centrally at borough level.

Table 1 -- Percentage

⁽¹⁾ Prior to 2001 the GLMCA did not exist as a single entity. It was created from the amalgamation of 22 magistrates courts committees (MCCs) on 1 April 2001 and therefore no earlier comparable figures exist. In addition, as a result of changes to the calculation of the payment rate in 2003–04, direct year-on-year comparisons arc not appropriate (see note⁽²⁾ ).

⁽³⁾ The Payment Rate is defined as the amount paid into court as a percentage of new amounts owed. As a result of the revisions in the method of calculating the payment rate (detailed as follows), direct year-on-year comparisons cannot be made.

Payment rate (September 1999 to March 2003)

The calculation for the payment rate until March 2003 was:

Payment rate = amount paid divided by new amount owed

(New amount owed includes legally cancelled plus civil plus confiscation orders)

Payment rate (April 2003 to December 2003)

The calculation for the payment rate between April 2003 and December 2003 was:

Payment rate = amount paid divided by new amount owed

(New amount owed excludes legally cancelled plus civil plus confiscation orders)

Payment rate (January 2004 onwards)

The payment rate is currently calculated as follows:

Payment rate = amount paid divided by new amount owed

(New amount owed excludes legally cancelled plus administratively cancelled plus civil plus confiscation orders)

Table 2: Payment rate for Greater London MCCs(now GLMCA) -- Percentage

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Chairman of the Inland Revenue will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes dated 20 December 2004 with regard to Mr. and Mrs. J Griffin of Brixham. [219812]

The Inland Revenue replied to the hon. Member on 1 March 2005.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many euro coins and notes have been produced (a) in and (b) for the United Kingdom in preparation for possible British membership of the euro; and what the cost of production has been. [220230]

No UK euro notes or coin have been produced for a possible changeover to the single currency.

Further details of the Government's Policy on how a cash changeover would be managed, should there be a UK changeover, is published in Chapter 5 of the "third outline National Changeover Plan, June 2003", which is available in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether bereavement grants are taxable. [219555]

Bereavement payment, made under s36 SSCBA 1992, is not taxable but the weekly bereavement allowance, paid under s39 SSCBA 1992, is taxable.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much UK corporation tax revenue was collected in each of the last 10 years, broken down by industry. [219439]

The following table shows the amount of Corporation Tax liability by industry for the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Corporation tax liability by financial year -- £ million

£ million

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the UK's five year rolling average growth rate has been in each year since 1992. [219556]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Willetts, dated 4 March 2005

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what the UK's five year rolling average growth rate has been in each year since 1992. (219556)

The rolling average growth rates of UK Gross Domestic Product, for each year since 1992, in nominal terms (current prices) and chained volume measures (constant prices) are summarised in the table below:

Growth rates of UK Gross Domestic Product

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the effect of migration on the underlying growth rate of the UK economy. [219561]

The Treasury's projection for the trend growth rate of the economy is built up from projections of growth for the different components that drive trend growth, one of which is the population of working age. As referred to in the 2004 pre-Budget report, the trend growth assumption is 2¾ per cent. over the current economic cycle, with growth in the working-age population contributing around ½ percentage point. Included in this ½ percentage point is a contribution from net migration of slightly over ¼percentage point. The paper "Trend Growth: Recent Developments and Prospects" published alongside Budget 2002 explained the Treasury's approach to assessing trend growth, and further relevant material is published in the economy chapter of each pre-Budget and Budget report.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Inland Revenue office in Alexandra House, Salisbury of the merger of the Inland Revenue with Customs and Excise. [219776]

Any decisions are dependent upon customer requirements and the development of the new HMRC business model. The plans for Alexandra House, Salisbury were made public in my written answer of 1 February 2005, Official Report, column 759W. Planning options continue to be explored for the staff affected.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) landlords and (b) tenants have participated in the rent-a-room scheme. [219553]

The Inland Revenue does not have central records of the numbers of landlords or tenants who have participated in the rent-a-room scheme, as many of those landlords do not have to complete tax returns.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the oral answer of 11 November 2004, Official Report, column 922, on tax credits, when the figures for overpayments of tax credits referred to will be published. [212358]

Statistics on overpayments and underpayments will be published in spring 2005 under National Statistics. In line with the National Statistics code of practice, the date of publication will be announced on the Inland Revenue website in due course.

http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/updates/updating_figures_2003_1.htm

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer

(1) what safeguards are in place to ensure individuals do not suffer financial hardship through the recovery of overpayment of tax credits by the Inland Revenue; [219531]

(2) what factors are taken into account before the Inland Revenue takes a decision on the level of repayment an individual should make towards recovery of overpayment of tax credit; [219532]

(3) what steps the Inland Revenue takes to discuss affordability with individuals in advance of imposing deductions to recover overpayments of tax credit. [219533]

The Inland Revenue's Code of Practice 26 ("What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?") sets out their approach to handling overpayments of tax credits. It describes a number of measures the Revenue has put in place to protect against hardship being caused by the recovery of an overpayment, which I can summarise as follows:

Where possible, the Inland Revenue will collect an overpayment from a previous year from a continuing award. There are automatic limits on the amounts that will be deducted from payments and these are designed to prevent hardship.

Where a claimant's circumstances change, the Inland Revenue adjust their payments for the rest of the year with the aim of paying the right amount of tax credits for the year as a whole. The Inland Revenue may make additional tax credits payments to prevent hardship where payments are reduced following the adjustment of an award. The effect of these payments is that only part of an expected overpayment being collected is recovered by the end of the year, leaving the balance to be recovered in later years.

In exceptional cases, where claimants still feel that recovery of an overpayment is causing hardship, the Inland Revenue will consider the facts of the case and may decide not to collect all or part of the overpayment, or allow more time to pay.

Where claimants have no award for the current year, they receive a "Notice to Pay". This advises them to contact the Inland Revenue if they want to arrange to pay back their overpayment in 12 monthly instalments, or to request repayment over a longer period.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Northavon of 5 January (PO Ref: 1/38019/2005) regarding the tax credits position of a constituent; and if he will ensure that the constituent receives emergency giro payments of tax credits at the earliest possible opportunity. [219743]

I wrote to the hon. Member on 2 March.

The Inland Revenue sent the hon. Member's constituent a payment on 1 March.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a giro for an underpayment of tax credits for the 2004–05 tax year will be sent to Mr. David Crawford of Galmpton; why it has not been issued to date; and if he will make a statement on the tax credit computer system problems which are preventing giros being issued. [219809]

The Inland Revenue wrote to the hon. Member on 3 March 2005.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will investigate the reasons for working family tax credit being reclaimed from Ms Deborah Porter of Paignton; and for what reasons the Tax Credit Office have not replied to her letters. [219810]

The Inland Revenue replied to the hon. Member's constituent's letters on 3 December 2004 and 3 March 2005. Their Code of Practice 26 "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credits?" outlines the approach they take in dealing with overpayments of tax credits.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the annual saving to the Exchequer of the introduction of (a) self-assessment tax returns and (b) online filing of self-assessment tax returns. [212348]

Self-Assessment was introduced in 1996 to modernise and simplify the assessment and payment processes. The new system also produced staff savings worth over £450million within the first four years. The success of the project was confirmed in an independent post-implementation review.

Since 1996 many improvements and changes have been made in the light of experience and they have also produced savings. One of the most significant has been the ability to file online (via the internet or the electronic lodgement service). More than 1.6 million online tax returns have been received in 2004–05 (for tax year 2003–04). These will generate targeted savings of more than £14 million in 2005–6, which as take-up continues to rise will increase to over £40 million per annum from 2011–12.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many random checks on (a) self-employed and (b) small business tax returns there were in (i) 1997, (ii) 2001 and (iii) the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of these random checks identified (A) major and (B) minor errors or omissions. [212349]

I can inform that hon. Gentleman that in every year since 1997 the Inland Revenue has undertaken roughly 2,600 random enquiries into the tax returns of self-employed individuals and roughly 250 random enquiries into the tax returns of small businesses. In the tax year 1997–98 adjustments were made to the returns in 32 per cent. of all random enquiries. The last year for which the Inland Revenue has produced complete analysis is 1998–99. In 1998–99 adjustments were made to returns in 30 per cent. of random enquiries.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of random checks of self-assessment tax returns in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) the last year for which figures are available. [212350]

The Inland Revenue has not undertaken any research into such costs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the tax fee insurance being offered by accountancy firms to cover costs in the event of a random audit by the Inland Revenue; and if he will make a statement. [212351]

The Inland Revenue has not made any assessment of these insurance schemes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average costs borne by an individual facing a random audit of their income tax return; whether financial assistance will be made available to cover the costs for those individuals who are found to have filed their return correctly; and if he will make a statement. [212352]

The Inland Revenue has not undertaken any research into the costs concerned and has no plans to offer to reimburse such costs in any inquiry case.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there is a difference in the average cost for the Inland Revenue when undertaking a random audit of an individual's income tax return when the Inland Revenue deals with (a) an accountant representing the individual and (b) the individual themselves. [212353]

The Inland Revenue has not undertaken any research into the relative costs concerned.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the impact (a) in total and (b) as a percentage on (i) total Government revenue, (ii) income tax take, (iii) corporation tax take, (iv) national insurance take and (v) revenue from duties of an increase in Scottish gross domestic product of (A) 0.5 per cent., (B) 1 per cent. and (C) 1.5 per cent. on his most recent estimate for UK gross domestic product growth. [212356]

The information requested is not available. The overall impact on revenues of stronger relative Scottish growth would depend upon the composition of the extra growth.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the impact (a) in total and (b) as a percentage on (i) total Government revenue, (ii) income tax take, (iii) corporation tax take, (iv) national insurance take and (v) revenue from duties of a medium-term fall in Scotland's population of (A) 100,000, (B) 250,000 and (C) 500,000. [212357]

The information requested is not available. The impact on total government revenues from a fall in the population of Scotland would depend in part on the effects on the age profile and income distribution of the population.

To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many fire alarms have gone off in Portcullis House in each of the last two years; how many were found not to have been caused by a fire; what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest period was that the building was closed; and if he will make a statement. [219696]

In 2003, detecting devices were triggered in Portcullis House on 73 occasions, of which 18 were caused by fire and smoke, 17 were activated for other reasons such as steam, and 38 were faults in the system. The corresponding figures for 2004 are 86, 18, 14 and 54. The fire alarm sounded and as a result there was a full evacuation of the building on two occasions in 2003 and seven in 2004. Records are not kept of the length of each evacuation.

To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) fraud, (b) forgery, (c) gun crime, (d) internet crime, (e) robbery, (f) snatch theft and (g) alcohol-related violent offence cases the Crown Prosecution Service has brought in (i) Essex and (ii) England and Wales in each year since 1997; and how many of these resulted in (A) conviction and (B) acquittal. [210455]

Gun crime, internet crime and alcohol-related violent offences are offences which cannot be separately identified on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database. Snatch theft is categorised as theft from the person. The table sets out the relevant figures for the other requested categories. The figures relate to persons for whom these sentences were for the principal offences for which they were found guilty. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty at all courts and acquitted at crown courtsfor various offences—Essex police force area and England and Wales, 1997 to 2003 ⁽⁴⁾

⁽⁴⁾ These data are on the principal offence basis.

To ask the Solicitor-General what her policy is in respect of the publication (a) on the departmental website and (b) by placing copies in the Library of (i) all or (ii) a selection of the information disclosed in response to Freedom of Information requests since January. [215220]

Where a response is likely to be of general interest, I have arranged for the information to be placed on the departmental website. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

This is consistent with Guidance on Publication Schemes issued by the Department of Constitutional Affairs in July 2002, which recommended that where information is disclosed to an individual in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, Departments should consider whether the information disclosed is of general interest and include released information in the Publication Scheme where appropriate.

I do not intend as a general rule to make such information available in the Library, as placing it on the website makes it available to a wider audience.

To ask the Solicitor-General what plans she has to improve the prosecution attrition rate in rape cases. [215577]

The HMCPSI and HMIC joint thematic inspection into the investigation and prosecution of cases involving allegations of rape was published in April 2002. The report set out concerns regarding levels of victim satisfaction, high attrition rates and low conviction rates in cases of rape.

In July 2002, the Government published a Rape Action Plan. It accepted nearly all the recommendations put forward by the HMCPSI and HMIC report.

Implementation of these recommendations has been ongoing since the publication of the Rape Action Plan. The measures implemented by the Crown Prosecution Service following the Rape Action Plan include each CPS Area having a rape co-ordinator to provide and disseminate good practice within and across areas; that rape cases are reviewed by specialist lawyers; that decisions to drop or substantially reduce the prosecution case, or to advise the police to take no further action, are discussed with a second specialist lawyer before a final decision is made; that instructions are given to prosecuting advocates that offensive and seemingly irrelevant cross-examination should be challenged, and inappropriate cross-examination about previous sexual experience should be challenged; and that the Crown Prosecution Service has published its policy statement on rape explaining to the public how the Crown Prosecution Service deals with rape cases.

There will be an audit of the Rape Action Plan of police forces and CPS areas by a working group comprised of Home Office, CPS and ACPO officials. The audit of the Rape Action Plan will take into account forthcoming research in attrition rates and other recent publications, both in terms of assessing progress, and identifying any further recommendations that may follow. It is planed to carry out this audit in the spring/summer of this year.

The work of the audit will tie in with the Home Office research planned to look in detail at the decline in detection rates in rape and sexual assault cases and current variation in detection rate performance.

An audit of the Rape Action Plan will enable the Government to identify what is working and what remains to be done to tackle attrition in rape cases, which has been identified by the Inter-departmental Ministerial Group on Sexual Offending as a key priority.

To ask the Solicitor-General what the reasons were for the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions not to proceed with charges arising from events associated with the Whiterock Parade in July 1993. [216317]

Arising out of an incident at Whiterock, Belfast, on 28 June 2003, the Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland received a police file in respect of an alleged breach of a Parades Commission's Determination of 28 June 2003. Following consideration of the file the police were asked to commence proceedings against one individual for an offence contrary to section 8(7) of the Public Processions Act (Northern Ireland) 1998. This is an offence that can only be tried in the magistrates court and proceedings must be commenced within six months of the alleged offence having been committed. The administrative steps required to initiate the proceedings were a matter for the police.

The absence of formal confirmation of commencement of proceedings was noticed by the Department on 23 December 2003 and the police were asked to confirm that proceedings had in fact been commenced. The Department was assured that proceedings had been commenced. In February 2004 the Department was informed that through administrative error, proceedings had not in fact been commenced by police within the statutory time period. As more than six months had elapsed at that stage proceedings were by then statute barred and it was not possible to take any further action.

The Police Service for Northern Ireland referred the matter to the Police Ombudsman for investigation.

To ask the Solicitor-General what powers of investigation are granted to the Crown Prosecution Service to check the credibility and reliability of witnesses, in addition to the initial investigations by the police. [218870]

On 20 December 2004, the Attorney-General published his report on "Pre-trial Interviews with Witnesses". The Attorney recommended that, in certain circumstances, a crown prosecutor should in the future have the ability to hold pre-trial interviews with witnesses.

Such interviews should be conducted for the purpose and the extant that, in the view of the prosecutor, such an interview is necessary in order to assess the reliability of or clarify a witness's evidence. This will inform the decision to prosecute or to continue with a prosecution that has already been commenced. The intention is not to gain or obtain new evidence, although further evidence upon which the prosecution would seek to rely may be revealed during the course of the interview. In such circumstances, a police officer will be asked to take a further statement.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has commissioned work to take forward the recommendations of the report and to see how the recommendations can best be piloted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of refurbishing each ministerial private office was in the last two years. [202416]

The cost of works in 2002–03 to restore four ministerial suites, the offices of the Permanent Secretary and two Special Advisers and associated private office areas (including those for the ministerial support unit and the parliamentary branch) was £145,660 plus fees plus VAT. This work was undertaken as part of a consolidation package to co-locate Ministers and DfT staff in the same building and has resulted in an annual saving of some £220,000 in accommodation costs to the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport

(1) if he will press for measures to ensure that deaf and other disabled people are not refused carriage by foreign airlines operating in the UK unless there are legitimate safety grounds; [220213]

(2) if he will request that Iberia Airlines apologise to, and compensate, the party of deaf UK passengers, for refusing to carry them on 22 July 2004. [220214]

In light of the incident on the Iberia Airlines flight last summer we have referred the issue of restrictions on the number of disabled people who are carried on particular aircraft to the European Civil Aviation Conference's Facilitation Sub Group on air travel for persons with reduced mobility (PRM). The term PRM is used in European fora to refer to disabled and, in some cases, also to other mobility impaired people.

The ECAC group has agreed to look at the issue with a view to seeing what, if any, changes might be needed to current recommended practices and policies. That work item has been included in the progamme for this year.

We have no basis on which to ask Iberia Airlines to apologise to, or to compensate those involved in last summer's incident.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has earmarked for growth areas to ensure that they have the resources required to meet the demands of a growing population. [218332]

Apart from the new £200 million Community Infrastructure Fund for transport projects to facilitate new housing development, my Department has taken account of the benefits that particular projects would have for the four growth areas when considering individual proposals, rather than set aside specific parts of national budgets to spend in those areas.

Our latest estimate of recent and planned expenditure on local authority and Highways Agency major transport projects that will support the growth areas is about £3.5 billion. This includes, for example, the cost of a number of Local Transport Plan projects that have been provisionally accepted for DfT funding and therefore assumes that they will obtain all necessary statutory approvals as well as satisfying the Department's detailed scheme assessment requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what undertakings the Government have given to the London bid team on meeting shortfalls in the budget for the London 2012 bid; and who will be responsible for meeting a shortfall in the budget to deliver a 2012 London bid. [216081]

London 2012 have stated that they are not budgeting for a shortfall on the bid and they have received no assurances from the Government on meeting any shortfall on the bid should one arise. London 2012 and its directors are responsible for ensuring that it has sufficient income to meet its costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Transport for London on special arrangements to control the flow and numbers of passengers using the London Underground system during the visit of the International Olympic Committee evaluation team to London in February. [216093]

I have had no such discussions. The operation of the London Underground is the responsibility of Transport for London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with (a) local authorities, (b) businesses and (c) representatives of users of public roads regarding the use of synchronised traffic lights and other special measures during the visit of the International Olympic Committee evaluation team in February. [216094]

I have had no such discussions, although officials are aware that some measures were considered by Transport for London. The management of traffic signalling in London is the responsibility of Transport for London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on promoting London's bid for the 2012 Olympics; how much has been spent in London; and if she will make a statement. [216002]

As stated in the Command Paper Cm 5867 laid before the House in June 2003, the Mayor and I agreed that DCMS and the London Development Agency (LDA) should contribute to the costs of the bid organisation and associated planning in equal shares to a combined limit of £30 million.

Included within this sum is an agreed grant, with a limit of £20 million and financed in equal part from the DCMS and LDA, to the bid company "London 2012", which oversees the majority of the work associated with promoting the London bid. A cost breakdown of what proportion of this money has been spent in London is not readily available.

The further £10 million is a bid support budget jointly funded and managed by DCMS and the LDA. Costs committed under this budget to date are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence

(1) what the date is for the deployment of 12 Mechanised Brigade to Iraq; [219524]

(2) what training in prisoner handling 12 Mechanised Brigade will receive before their deployment to Iraq. [219525]

holding answer 3 March 2005

12 Mechanised Brigade (12 Mech Bde) will deploy to Iraq in the next few months. I am withholding the precise date as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our forces.

Prisoner handling training for 12 Mech Bde will be covered by the following methods: all soldiers receive initial training on handling of prisoners through Individual Training Directive No 6: "Law of Armed Conflict", which is then repeated on an annual basis; all personnel will receive a legal brief on the handling of prisoners during Central Pre-Deployment Training; additional legal training to be undertaken by commanding officers and key staff will include a study period on search and detention; and a number of other personnel will attend a specific course on prisoner handling and tactical questioning. In addition, aspects of prisoner handling will be practised on 2 Field Training Exercises prior to the Brigade's deployment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the reasons were for the decision to drop assault charges against the six Royal Marines instructors based at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone; on what date the decision was taken; and whether further complaints against officers are awaiting consideration. [218574]

I have been asked to reply.

Six members of the training staff at Lympstone Marine Commando Training Centre were originally charged with offences including disgraceful conduct, ill-treatment of men of inferior rank and conduct prejudicial to military discipline. On receipt of fresh evidence pertaining to the case, and in accordance with its duty to keep the prosecution under constant review, the Army Prosecuting Authority reviewed the charges against the six accused. Applying the tests of sufficiency of evidence and public interest contained in the Code for Service Prosecutors, the APA decided to discontinue all proceedings against one accused on 31 January and then, following the receipt of further evidence, against the remaining five accused on 2 February 2005. The Army Prosecuting Authority is not aware of any further complaints against these servicemen.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of infantry armoured artillery was deployed at 1 January. [219048]

Around 15 per cent. of Infantry units, 20 per cent. of Royal Armoured Corps units and 21 per cent. of Royal Artillery units were deployed on operations on 1 January 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the (a) Black Watch, (b) King's Own Borderers and (c) Scots Guards were recruited from Lancashire in the last year for which figures are available. [219051]

The information requested for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004, the last full financial year for which figures are available, is shown in the following table.

Recruited from Lancashire during financial year 2003–04

It should be noted that Infantry recruits are enlisted into a Division and not a specific Regiment. The results in this table may not, therefore, be fully accurate as it reflects those recruits who specified The Black Watch, The King's Own Royal Border Regiment and the Scots Guards as a "Preferred Capbadge" on enlisting as recorded on the database of Headquarters Recruiting Group, who oversee the Army's recruiting offices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

(1) how many prosecutions have been brought in courts outside the UK against (a) UK nationals and (b) UK bodies for breach of the embargo on sales of arms to Sudan; [216465]

(2) how many (a) UK nationals and (b) UK bodies are under investigation but have not yet been charged for possible breaches of the embargo on sales of arms to Sudan. [216466]

I have been asked to reply.

Customs are not aware of any prosecutions in courts outside the UK of UK nationals or UK bodies for breaches of the embargo on the supply of arms to Sudan.

Customs made inquiries into allegations concerning two UK nationals supplying the Government of Sudan with military equipment. As a result of those inquiries Customs concluded that there was insufficient evidence to commence criminal proceedings and they intend to take no further action unless new information comes to light.

The release of further information regarding any inquiries in this area would prejudice law enforcement or the prevention and prosecution of crime. However, it is normal policy that Customs will look into all significant allegations and intelligence in relation to breaches of arms embargoes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, when she expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 2 February concerning the malfunction of pensioners' PIN cards. [219530]

I replied to my hon. Friend's letter on 17 February 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the (i) Advisory Committee for the Technical Adaptation of the Community Procedure to Improve the Transparency of Gas and Electricity Prices Charged to Industrial End-users and (ii) Committee for the Implementation of the Series of Guidelines for Trans-European Energy Networks met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [218434]

A "Task Force on Gas and Electricity Prices", composed of experts from member states looked into the new methodology for the data collection of gas and electricity prices for both the industrial and domestic sectors. It reported prior to the Italian, Irish and Dutch presidencies of the EU, which spanned the period July 2003 to December 2004. Subsequently, the Energy Statistics Committee Working Group with senior statisticians from member states, discussed the conclusions of the Task Force in May 2004.

The Trans-European Networks Financial Assistance Committee for the Energy Sector met once during the Italian presidency of the EU, on 15 July 2003, and once during the Dutch presidency, on 12 November 2004. Both meetings took place in Brussels. The Committee did not meet during the Irish presidencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of proposals in the International Atomic Energy Agency publication, Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (infcirc/640), in respect of the conversion of the Sellafield and Dounreay reprocessing facilities to international ownership and management. [219450]

The Government believes this publication will provide a valuable contribution to the nuclear debate. It is too early for any detailed assessment on the implication of the report for the UK nuclear industry. However the Government will, as the report recommends, be giving attention to the approaches set out in the report to investigate their practicality, feasibility and usefulness, and be playing a full part in the international discussions which follow.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what mechanisms are used to monitor and track nuclear waste materials; and if she will make a statement. [218821]

holding answer 28 February 2005

The majority of UK radioactive waste stocks are recorded in a UK Radioactive Waste Inventory prepared jointly by The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and United Kingdom Nirex Ltd (Nirex) approximately every three years. The last published inventory, for a stock date of 1 April 2001, was published in October 2002. The next, for a stock date of 1 April 2004, will be published towards the end of this year. But the inventory is not used to specifically track waste materials, nor does it list all such materials.

The UK's civil nuclear sites apply stringent security measures regulated.by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS). OCNS also regulate security for the transportation of civil nuclear materials. Security at nuclear sites and during transportation of nuclear material is kept under regular review in the light of the prevailing threat.

In addition, Euratom Safeguards are applied to the nuclear material content of certain types of nuclear waste and these involve reporting to and inspection by the European Commission.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what provisions are made for those who withdraw their pension using the Post Office account card and forget their pin; and if she will make a statement. [218608]

Where a customer has forgotten their PIN when in the Post office branch they are asked to call the customer service helpline 08457 22 33 44 to order a replacement PIN. The account holder should receive a replacement PIN within four working days. The terms and conditions document for the card account which customers are required to read before opening an account also gives this information.

As with most card accounts, Post Office card account customers can change the PIN originally allocated to them to a set of numbers that they might find easier to remember.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many wind turbines she anticipates will be erected in the UK by 2010. [217348]

The Government's target of renewable energy sources contributing 10 per cent. of our electricity by 2010 is for all forms of renewables, not just wind, although it is clear that wind will make the main contribution. At this stage it is difficult to predict precise numbers. There are already just under 1,200 wind turbines currently in operation. Generating 10 per cent. of UK electricity from renewables could mean an increase of possibly another one and half times that number. There will also be a rather smaller number of offshore turbines.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many complaints the Commissioner for Local Administration in England has received concerning schools in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. [212345]

The Department for Education and Skills does not keep a record of the number of complaints the Commissioner for Local Administration has received concerning schools in Sittingbourne and Sheppey.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action the Commissioner for Local Administration in England has taken in relation to complaints that he has upheld concerning schools in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. [212346]

The Department does not keep a record of any action taken by the Commissioner for Local Administration in relation to complaints that he has upheld about schools in Sittingbourne and Sheppey and on which he expects the organisation to provide a suitable remedy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of young people in York continuing in education and training after GCSE was in (a) each year since 1996–97 and (b) 2004–05. [220284]

Information for 16-year-olds (i.e. the first year of post compulsory education) in education and work based learning (WBL—including apprenticeships) by local education authority (LEA) is currently only available as at the end of the calendar year 2001.

The number of 16-year-olds participating in education or WBL in York LEA at end 2001 was around 1,900, or 88 per cent.

Figures for end 2002 and end 2003 will be published, alongside an historic time series, on 31 March 2005 on the Department's website.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students at education institutions in York are receiving education maintenance allowances; what the average weekly value of those allowances is in York; and what the total expenditure on the allowances in York is expected to be in the 2004–05 academic year. [220283]

At 1 March 2005 a total of 916 young people who are studying in institutions in York LEA area have received at least one EMA payment since the start of the 2004/05 academic year.

Data is not available at LEA level as to the actual expenditure. Payments are, and vary between £10, £20 and £30 per week according to household income, and are dependent upon whether the student has attended college or school in each week. There are also bonuses, which are linked to progression and retention. Taking account of these factors, and applying national averages, the estimated expenditure on students in York for the 2004/05 academic year is around £915,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what change there has been in the level of unsatisfactory behaviour leading to permanent exclusions since 1997. [220102]

We are unable to indicate what change there has been in levels of behaviour leading to exclusion since 1997 as schools use a range of measures to tackle poor behaviour before it reaches a point where exclusion is the only appropriate response. There were 12,668 permanent exclusions in 1996/97. In 2002/03, the last school year for which we have data, exclusions had fallen to 9,290, which is around 25 per cent. below the 1996/97 peak. The following table provides information on the levels of permanent exclusion from 1996/97 to 2002/03:

Permanent exclusions 1996/97 to 2002/03 for England

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary school teachers were on permanent contracts in London in September in each year since 1997; and how many unfilled vacancies there were in each of these years. [212374]

Information on the numbers of teachers employed on permanent contracts in primary schools is not collected centrally.

The following table provides the number of nursery and primary teacher vacancies in London in January of each year from 1997 to 2004, the latest information available.

Note:

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Source:

DfES annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies (Form 618G Survey).

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what security measures are implemented in pupil referral units; and what the costs of those measures were in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by (a) costs of security personnel, (b) costs of security features including alarm systems, metal detectors, fencing and CCTV cameras and (c) other costs. [218044]

Security measures in schools, including in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), are arranged locally. The Department for Education and Skills does not collect implementation details or figures showing the security costs in PRUs. Money made available to local authorities in England (as Grant 317) or from the Capital Modernisation Fund from 1997–08 to 2002–03 could be used to improve security in PRUs as well as in other maintained schools. Ring-fenced funding totalled £120 million and was all drawn down.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which schools in each borough in Greater London ran a budget deficit in the year ended 31 March 2004; and how much this deficit was for each school. [219749]

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what support the Government are giving to school playground schemes. [218004]

pursuant to the reply, 24 February 2005, Official Report, c. 756W

The funding being provided by the Big Lottery Fund (BLF), towards playground improvements in England, is around £8.1 million. This is distributed through the New Opportunities for Physical Education and Sport programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department is taking to encourage head teachers who have not applied for specialist status for their schools to do so. [212315]

Within the framework of the Specialist Schools Programme it is for individual schools to decide on whether to apply for specialist school designation. We fund the Specialist Schools Trust and the Youth Sport Trust to offer advice and to support schools wishing to apply for specialist status.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills

(1) how many children in North Durham have benefited from the Sure Start programme since its inception; [214673]

(2) how much money has been spent on the Sure Start programme in North Durham since its inception. [214674]

Durham North has two Sure Start local programmes; Sure Start Stanley and Sure Start Chester-le-Street.

Sure Start Stanley was approved as a local programme in October 2000 and supports around 940 young children and their families living in the Stanley area of North Durham. The local programme provides a wide range of services to support local families including: access to good quality and affordable childcare, crèche provision, playgroups and parent and toddler groups; improved local health care and family support and an extensive range of training and work related courses.

Since opening Sure Start Stanley has worked toward improving the quality of life for local families. The number of women smoking during pregnancy has fallen from 36 per cent. to 28 per cent.; the usage of libraries by young children and their families is 7 per cent. above the national average; there has been a significant improvement in the personal and social development of children at school-age. The programme has contacted 869 children out of the total of 943 under 5s in the catchment area and has seen 100 per cent. of newborns within two months of birth.

There is strong parental involvement in this programme through the Parent Communications Group, (a decision-making group of 18 parents), training programmes facilitated by Sure Start Stanley (340 training places taken up by parents) and parents involved as volunteers delivering a range of Sure Start activities and services.

Sure Start Chester-le-Street was approved as a local programme in April 2001 and has a semi rural catchment area. It supports around 800 young children living in the Chester West area and surrounding villages. The local programme provides a range of services from its main centre including: high quality daycare, parent and toddler and crèche facilities; successfully integrated health services and a wide range of work based training courses.

Sure Start Chester-le-Street is working toward delivering a rotating service to the outlying villages within its boundary to ensure regular access to Sure Start activities and services for those families living in remote areas.

The local programme has been successful in improving the quality of life for young children and their families. Following the programme being established, breastfeeding has increased by 5 per cent., a storyline and Bookstart service has promoted the use of libraries by 100 per cent. and a successful baby massage service has led to an extension of the programme to include baby yoga and training for parents for them to deliver the service in the future.

There is strong parental involvement in Sure Start Chester-le-Street. A Parents' Committee (14 elected parents) is represented on the Management Committee (two parents) and Partnership Committee (two parents), the decision making bodies for this local programme. Parents are actively involved in a childcare NVQ level 2/3 training programme run jointly by Sure Start Chester-le-Street and The Bridge, a local women's charity.

Durham North has six neighbourhood nurseries. Durham city council is developing four children's centres from these settings that are delivering 169 integrated early learning with childcare places. Around 700 three-year-olds and 830 four-year-olds are receiving free nursery education in maintained nursery and primary schools and other maintained schools.

The Sure Start local programmes have received DfES funding of £2,286,323 revenue and been allocated £2,075,000 in capital grants since being opened in October 2000 and April 2001 respectively. The neighbourhood nurseries have been allocated a total revenue grant of £777,062 and have received a total of £255,528 in capital grants.

These programmes are developing into children's centres and will contribute towards achieving our goal of a children's centre in every community by 2010.

A well thought-through careers advice service has enabled 49 parents to complete the Parent Employability Programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many half-days have been lost owing to unauthorised absence of pupils in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each year since 2002–03 (i) in absolute terms and (ii) as a proportion of the total number of half-days. [220108]

The information requested is shown in the following table:

Unauthorised absence in primary and secondary schools in Greater London

Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. It includes pupils who are late or who take time off with parents' consent—for example for a holiday which the school will not authorise.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on progress with the business rate property revaluation. [219780]

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has successfully completed the revaluation of all business properties. The draft rating lists were published, as planned, on 1 October 2004. At the same time, as part of a comprehensive programme to make more information available to ratepayers, a summary valuation (an explanation of how the valuation is determined) was issued for the bulk of the properties. This was sent to many ratepayers and made available on the VOA website. Final lists have been given to billing authorities enabling them to issue the rate bills for 1 April 2005 using the new valuations.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Kingston-upon–Hull, North constituency, the effects on Kingston-upon–Hull, North of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [211811]

Along with other Government Departments, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to improving the lives of people across the whole of the UK. For example, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is determined that everyone should have the opportunity to have a decent home, and since 1997 we have reduced the number of non-decent homes nationally by one million.

North Hull Housing Action Trust, which operated between 1991 and 1999, invested £109 million of public funds to modernise 2,083 homes, provide community facilities and services, promote training and employment initiatives and undertake environmental improvements in the North Hull area.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provides grant funding that benefits the Kingston-upon–Hull, North constituency through a number of programmes.

For example over the period 2001–06, Kingston-upon-Hull has been allocated over £39 million Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) resources to help the local authority, in collaboration with the Local Strategic Partnership, improve services in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the area.

More broadly, since 1997 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been able to increase the total amount of government grant given to local authorities by £22.6 billion. This is a 33 per cent. increase in real terms. Kingston-upon-Hull has received an average annual increase in formula grant since 1997 of 3.7 per cent.

The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at: http://neighbourhood.statistics. gov.uk./.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he gives to local authorities regarding the funding of voluntary projects run by churches and religious groups. [220267]

Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not formally guide local authorities on funding of voluntary projects run by churches and religious groups, its position on this issue remains as outlined in the Local Government Association's "Faith and community—a good practice guide for local authorities". The "Compact: Community Groups Code" also sets out a position on funding for faith communities agreed within the Compact process which the Government endorses.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many units were built as part of each affordable housing scheme funded in Reading, West in each of the last three years; and how many units in each scheme are for key workers. [219498]

The Housing Corporation records affordable housing schemes by type of funding, Housing Association, site and whether or not the housing is for key workers. Thus key worker housing and non-key worker housing are identified as separate schemes even if they are built in close proximity in the same or different years.

A summary of affordable dwellings built in Reading local authority area, which includes Reading, West, for the last three years for which data are available is given in the following table.

Affordable housing in Reading 2001–02 to 2003–04

Source:

Housing Corporation South East

In 2001–02 and 2002–03 the key worker housing was constructed under the Starter Homes Initiative and individual dwellings were recorded as separate schemes. In 2003–04 the key worker housing built in the local authority area consisted of 94 dwellings under the Starter Homes Initiative and recorded as separate schemes together with 155 dwellings built in 10 schemes using Challenge Funds. These 10 schemes consisted of between eight and 26 dwellings. Funding for affordable housing for non-key workers are through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme, Challenge Fund, and Local Authority Social Housing Grant.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on funding plans for key worker housing in Reading, West. [219499]

Affordable housing assistance for eligible key workers within the Reading, West area is available through the £690 million Key Worker Living programme.

As at the end of January 2005, a total of £3,885,366 had been spent to assist 102 key workers in Berkshire to purchase homes through the "Homebuy" element of the programme. "Homebuy" allocations for 2005–06 within the Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Zone are still subject to confirmation.

In addition it is anticipated that a further £11,306,959 will be spent on producing 396 new build units by March 2007. The following table breaks down these figures by local authority:

Key workers may also benefit from the shared ownership and Homebuy programmes funded by the Housing Corporation to help existing social tenants and those on waiting lists into home ownership.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will break down the expected building costs of building the Government's planned £60,000 homes by each estimated unit construction cost. [219656]

In the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's "Homes for All" public service plan, launched on 24 January 2005, a competition was announced that would invite organisations to bid for the right to construct one or more new developments on English Partnerships owned sites. This "Design for Manufacture" competition aims to demonstrate that it is possible to build a home that reaches good standards of accessible design and environmental performance for £60,000.

This target cost of £60,000 for constructing a home relates solely to construction costs. In setting this target, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister looked at a series of data sets, including those produced by RICS Building Costs Information Service and the Tender Price Index of Social Housing, as well as real-life case studies, to identify what might be a challenging but achievable figure for the core costs of constructing a home.

One of the main purposes of the competition is to encourage greater efficiency in the construction process. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister anticipates that the creativity and innovation that exists within the industry will mean that this could be achieved in different ways. Thus it is not possible at present to break down anticipated dwelling building costs.

It is important to note that competition entries will be expected to include a range of dwellings of different types and sizes. While it is anticipated that approximately 30 per cent. of all the dwellings built through the competition will meet a target construction cost of £60,000, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will expect all of the dwellings built through the competition to achieve equivalent cost-efficiency.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many complaints were received by the Local Government Ombudsman in the last year for which figures are available; and how many were upheld. [219491]

In 2003–04, the last complete year for which figures are available, the Local Government Ombudsman received 18,982 complaints. Of the cases in which determinations were made, local settlements (where the council agrees to take action which the Ombudsman considers is a satisfactory response to the complaint) were made in 3,188 cases. Maladministration was found to have occurred in 180 cases. No or insufficient evidence of maladministration was found in 5,418 cases. In the remainder of cases, the complaints were not pursued, for example, because the complaint was outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction, or the council had not first been given a reasonable opportunity to deal with the complaint.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria Ordnance Survey uses in deciding whether to include school names on maps it produces. [219815]

Ordnance Survey (OS) routinely records all school names within its national large-scale mapping. On smaller scale OS Explorer and OS Landranger map series, textual information is reduced to maintain clarity and legibility, and school names are not normally shown unless space permits or unless a school constitutes a tourist attraction.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the reason was for the delay in (a) determining the appeal against refusal to grant consent to fell an oak tree at 8 Langley Close, St. Ives, Ringwood, Hampshire and (b) publication of the decision letter. [219774]

Tree preservation order appeals are processed by officials in the Government Offices for the Regions, who issue the final decision on behalf of the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. There are several stages in the process, including an exchange of written representations between the appellant and the local planning authority, and arranging a site visit. In this case the appeal was submitted on 16 April 2004 and the site visit took place on 3 September 2004. There is currently a non-statutory timetable for appeal decisions to be issued within 16 weeks of the site visit. In this case a Planning Officer from the Government Office for the South West carried out the site visit on 3 September 2004, and he submitted his report on 9 November, with the decision being issued on 26 November, some 12 weeks after the site visit. While Government Offices would hope to be able to issue decisions within a shorter timescale whenever possible, this cannot always be achieved. In this particular case I do not consider there was any undue delay in determining the appeal.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason the inspector who carried out a site visit in connection with a tree preservation order appeal at 8 Langley Close, St. Ives, Ringwood, Hampshire on 3 September 2004 did not retain any notes taken during his visit; and if he will make a statement on the standard practice required in relation to the retention of site notes by the Planning Inspectorate. [219775]

The inspector who held the site visit on 3 September was a Planning Officer from the Government Office for the South West (GOSW). Any notes that he took following the site visit were incorporated directly into the body of his report. He therefore decided that there was no longer any need to retain his notes once the appeal decision including the report had been issued. Government Office officials carrying out such site visits will in future be instructed to retain their site visit notes at least until the period for challenging the decision in the High Court has expired.

It is the standard practice for Inspectors of the Planning Inspectorate to retain their notes of any site visit for one year.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent progress has been made towards achieving the Public Service Agreement target to ensure that stable resources are available to local government. [219196]

The local government Public Service Agreement targets require the improved delivery and value for money of local services. A key part of this will be to ensure that authorities are able to plan their budgets effectively. The introduction of the three-year settlements for individual authorities from 2006–07 onwards, as announced in Spending Review 2004, will greatly assist this process. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting on the implementation of three-year settlements and will announce the outcome later this summer.

It is also clear that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister should review some aspects of the grant distribution system before the 2006–07 settlement in order to ensure that the system continues to distribute grant in a fair way between authorities. We will be conducting this review in partnership with local government.

The existing spending plans for 2006–07 onwards provide continued investment in local government which reflect the work to identify pressures and enable local government to deliver high quality services with low council tax increases. It builds on the 33 per cent. real terms increase in Government grant which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been able to provide to councils since taking Office. We will continue to work closely with local government to ensure that levels of central grant are based on a realistic assessment of the service commitment pressures faced by councils.

To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 194W, on Miscarriages of Justice, if he will place a copy of the transcript in the Library. [220082]

Due to an administrative error, the date to which I referred should have been Wednesday 9 February. I have placed a copy of the press briefing in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the towns and cities in the UK he visited in 2004 in an official capacity; and what the purpose of the visit was in each case. [220229]

In 2004, I undertook the following official visits within the UK: