To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what recent estimate the Electoral Commission has made of levels of postal vote fraud. (215493)

The Electoral Commission informs me that in its view there is no reliable means of estimating levels of postal vote fraud. There are a number of offences which may encompass postal vote fraud and cases of such fraud cannot therefore be readily distinguished from other forms of electoral malpractice.

The Commission works closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, together with the prosecution services, to ensure that allegations of electoral offences are recorded and monitored.

The Commission informs me that in September 2008 it intends to publish an analysis of allegations reported to ACPO in relation to the May 2008 elections across England and Wales. The Commission also intends to update its analysis of Crown Prosecution Service files before the end of this year. These documents will be made available on the Commission's website at

www.electoralcommission.org.uk.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will place in the Library a copy of the new Great Britain-wide manual on registration sent to electoral registration officers by the Commission. (217790)

The Electoral Commission informs me that a copy of “Managing electoral registration in Great Britain: guidance for Electoral Registration Officers” is available in the Library. The document may also be found on the Commission’s website at:

www.electoralcommission.org.uk

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many staff are employed by the Commission in each Directorate; and how many staff are engaged in the Commission on work on the compliance with notification of political donations by hon. Members. (216830)

The Electoral Commission informs me that the number of staff employed in each directorate as at 30 June 2008, measured in full-time equivalents (FTE), was as follows:

Within the party and election finance directorate nine staff (as at 30 June 2008) work in the enforcement function. These staff deal with the rules on notification of political donations among other duties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the capital budget for Advantage West Midlands was in each of the last two years; what it is forecast to be in the current financial year; and what capital projects were carried out by Advantage West Midlands with a value over £1 million in that period. (214314)

The capital budget for the last two years and the forecast for 2008-09 are as follows:

The following list gives the capital projects that were carried out by Advantage West Midlands with a value over £1 million in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Project name

ZF Lemforder UK Ltd

Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE)

Mercia Technology Seed Fund 2

Hilton Cross Phase 2 (Mercury)

World Class Stratford the Waterfront

DSDA - James Bridge IMI Site

Burton - Investing in Inclusion

The Fort Mixed Birmingham

Fazeley Studios Digbeth

Eastside City Park

Franklin House Hereford

Blueschool House Hereford

Longbridge Nanomaterials Centre (LNC)

icentral Wolverhampton

Olympus Engineering

Relocation of City College Coventry to Learning Quarter

Property Regeneration Partnership

Blists Hill Victorian Town Development

Bankfield Road Wolverhampton

Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre

Granby Avenue (Garretts Green, Birmingham)

St. Clements Gate -Site Clearance Castle Street

Brierley Hill Central Core Land Remediation

Bromsgrove Technology Park

Coras Site

University Centre, Burton

Rural Broadband Access Project

Dudley Town Centre - 254-9 Castle St

Bilston Urban Village Phase 2

CSW HTC ACT (UK)

Belgrade Theatre Redevelopment

Worcester Sixways Development

Stoneleigh Park

Sandwell College Spon Lane

RRZ Enterprise Centre Network

Advantage Early Growth Fund

MG Rover Vocational Centre

Hereford Learning Village

CTB Technology Transfer Fund

Malvern Science and Technology Park

CSW HTC Serious Games Institute

North Solihull Learning Village

Lymedale Business Centre

Golden Hillock

Advantage Enterprise Innovation Fund

Mercia Technology Seed Fund 1

Advanced Sensors Innovation project

R and D Centre for Premium Automotive Extension

3 Elms Trading Estate, Hereford

Royal Shakespeare Co: Redevelopment

Keele University Science and Business Park

Chatterley Valley Phase 1

Malvern Hills Science Park Phase

CSW HTC 27 The Digital Laboratory

Energy Futures Programme - Hydrogen Energy Project

Icknield Loop Ladywood Birmingham

Advantage Media Production Fund

Ansty Park Strategic 11 Site

Longbridge

Rotherwas Future

Business Support Premises

R And D Centre For Premium Automotive

Aston Community Sports and Leisure

NW Birmingham Corridors of Regen

TP: Eastside Technology Park Programme

Wobaston Road South Staffordshire

Stoke Merged Scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what role the Better Regulation Executive will play in monitoring consistency with the principles of good regulatory practice of the forthcoming proposed maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; and whether the executive has been involved in discussions of the Working Groups of the Council of Ministers on these matters. (213449)

The Food Standards Agency leads negotiations for the United Kingdom on this issue. It is developing the impact assessment on the setting of maximum and minimum permitted levels and will consult fully on European Commission proposals which are now expected in early 2009. The Better Regulation Executive continues to work with the agency to help them ensure the UK negotiating position is developed in line with better regulation principles.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the contribution of family businesses to the economy. (216502)

The Department estimates that there are 3.3 million SME family businesses in the UK (74 per cent. of all SMEs), of which around 820,000 have employees. It is estimated that family businesses contribute around £860 billion in turnover and £230 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy (63 per cent. of the SME total contribution).

These estimates are based on the BERR Annual Small Business Survey 2006/07, the BERR SME Statistics for the UK 2006 and ONS Annual Business Inquiry 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for what reasons the furniture industry was not included on the list of industries eligible to receive EU structural funds in the UK. (216592)

[holding answer 7 July 2008]: The rules governing the EU structural funds for 2007-13 do not require a list of eligible industries to be produced. The UK National Strategic Reference Framework, published in October 2006, sets out the Government’s priorities for the funds in accordance with the European regulations governing their operation. These address key drivers of productivity and environmental and community sustainability, with environmental sustainability and equality as cross-cutting themes.

Within this framework, operational programmes have been drawn up for each fund by the relevant managing authorities to address their specific priorities. The programmes are available on:

England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF):

http://www.erdf.communities.gov.uk/

North West:

http://www.erdfnw.co.uk/

Yorkshire and Humber:

http://www.yorkshire-forward.com/www/view.asp?content_id=7662&parent_id=17

North East:

http://www.onenortheast.co.uk/page/erdf/index.cfm

West Midlands:

http://www.advantagewm.co.uk/working-with-us/eu-structural-funds.aspx

East Midlands:

http://www.eastmidlandserdf.org.uk/

East of England:

http://www.eeda.org.uk/erdf_3657.asp

South West:

http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/what-we-do/policy/european-prog/european-programmes.shtm

London:

http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/nav.001001003001

South East:

http://www.seeda.co.uk/work_in_the_region/european_initiatives/european_regional_development_fund/South_East_ERDF_Competitiveness_Programme/index.asp

England European Social Fund:

http://www.esf.gov.uk/

Scotland:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/support/17404/StructuralFunds2007-201

Lowlands and Uplands:

http://www.esep.co.uk/

Highlands and Islands:

http://www.hipp.org.uk/new/

Wales:

http://www.wefo.wales.gov.uk/default.asp?Lang=en

Northern Ireland:

http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/european-funding

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the budget for the Minimum Wage bus campaign is. (215494)

The cost of the nine week national minimum wage outreach bus campaign was £249,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will list the (a) location and (b) date of each visit made by the Minimum Wage bus. (215495)

The national minimum wage bus tour began on 9 January 2008 and ended on 9 March 2008. Locations visited during the nine week tour are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which post offices in each parliamentary constituency were originally proposed for closure under the network change programme but have since been decided will not be closed; and what the reason for keeping each open is. (216515)

This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate Post Office Ltd. has made of the net annual saving to it which will arise from the closure of Hinton St. George Post Office; and if he will make a statement. (215967)

This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much the (a) Yorkshire and Humberside (b) North West, (c) North East, (d) South East and (e) South West Regional Development Agency spent on tourism support in each of the last five years. (215405)

I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 25 June 2008, Official Report, column 330W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what funding (a) the Core Cities Group and (b) the Thames Gateway London Partnership will receive from the regional development agencies in 2008-09. (215068)

The information is as follows.

(a) None of the regional development agencies will be providing funding to the Core Cities Group in 2008-09.

(b) The LDA is providing £100,000 of funding for the Thames Gateway London Partnership to stage a series of 2012 Games promotional and engagement events and activities in the 10 TGLP boroughs in 2008-09. This is part of a broader general offer made to sub regional partnerships to raise awareness of the broader benefits of the games to all of London’s diverse communities.

None of the other regional development agencies will be providing any funding to the Thames London Gateway Partnership in 2008-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what proportion of businesses are small businesses in (a) Cornwall, (b) each parliamentary constituency in Cornwall, (c) the south-west and (d) England. (213799)

At the start of 2007, there were 19,835 VAT-registered enterprises in Cornwall, of which 2,865 were in Falmouth and Camborne, 5,415 in North Cornwall, 3,900 in South East Cornwall, 3,765 in St. Ives, and 3,885 in Truro and St. Austell. In total there were 183,420 VAT-registered enterprises in the south-west region, and 1,670,500 in England. It is estimated that the majority (98 per cent.) of these will be small (0 to 49 employees).

Regional and national data are also available on a different basis, including estimates of businesses operating outside the VAT regime. At the start of 2005, there were 417,505 businesses in the south-west region and 99.4 per cent. (or 415,035) were small. There were a total of 3,775,015 businesses in England and 99.3 per cent. (3,747,150) were small.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small businesses there were in (a) Cornwall, (b) each parliamentary constituency in Cornwall, (c) the south-west and (d) England in each year since 1979. (213800)

Data are available for Cornwall from 1994 onwards. In Cornwall, there were 18,360 VAT-registered enterprises in 1994, 18,040 in 1995, 17,625 in 1996, 17,545 in 1997, 17,785 in 1998, 17,905 in 1999, 18,045 in 2000, 18,220 in 2001, 18,410 in 2002, 18,695 in 2003, 19,010 in 2004, 19,195 in 2005, 19,435 in 2006 and 19,835 in 2007 (start of each year). Data for each parliamentary constituency covering the period 1994 to 2007 will be placed in the House of Commons Library. It is estimated that the majority (98 per cent.) of these VAT-registered enterprises will be small (fewer than 50 employees).

Regional and national data are available for 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005, including estimates of businesses operating outside the VAT regime. In south-west region, there were 368,955 small businesses in 1998, 358,330 in 1999, 346,700 in 2001, 377,360 in 2003, and 415,035 in 2005. In England, there were 3,151,795 small businesses in 1998, 3,188,125 in 1999, 3,235,155 in 2001, 3,450,675 in 2003, and 3,747,150 in 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of items of mail posted by (a) large companies, (b) domestic consumers and (c) small and medium-sized enterprises in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effects of the introduction of market competition in the postal service on each category of user. (214141)

In recognition of the changes that where taking place in the postal market, which include Royal Mail letter volumes falling by 2.1 per cent. in 2006-07 followed by a 3.2 per cent. fall in the mail volumes handled by Royal Mail in 2007-08, the Secretary of State announced an Independent Review of the Postal Sector on 17 December 2007. The review is looking at the impact of competition on all consumers (and Royal Mail and other postal operators), future trends in the market and how to maintain the universal postal service. The review published its “Initial Response to Evidence” on 6 May. The review is now considering possible solutions to the issues identified in its paper and will be reporting to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State later in the year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what representations he has received on the law on temporary and agency workers from representatives of the recruitment industry in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. (215785)

BERR officials are in regular contact with representatives of the recruitment industry and have received a number of representations on the law regarding temporary and agency workers. Most recently, BERR has received representations from the industry with regard to the recent political agreement on the EU agency workers directive.

I have had a number of meetings with representatives from the recruitment industry. Most recently I met industry representatives at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC) One In A Million Awards annual event last month where I gave the keynote speech.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what method was used to compile the list of approved suppliers of electoral management services to the trades union sector in the Trade Union Ballots and Elections (Independent Scrutineer Qualifications) Order 1993 (Amendment) Order 2002; how regularly the list is reviewed; and what plans he has to review the order. (216977)

The list was drawn up following a public competition, where applicants were interviewed and assessed against a set of published criteria. There are no statutory time limits for reviewing the lists. The last review took place about nine years after the preceding one. We have no immediate plans to undertake a further review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in the most recent year for which figures are available; and at what cost. (215560)

The following table shows the number and cost of domestic air flights within Great Britain from April 2007 to March 2008 by (a) the Department (b) agencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on (a) new capital investment and (b) refurbishment of property in each of the last 10 years, broken down by project. (212872)

The information is as follows:

(a) New Capital Investment

There has been no expenditure by the Department, excluding its Agencies and NDPBs, on the purchase of buildings within the last 10 years.

(b) Refurbishment of Property

The NIO does not record expenditure under the specific heading of refurbishment, and so to provide this information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much sick pay to staff in his Department cost in the last five years for which figures are available. (212006)

The NIO maintains an occupational sick pay scheme. It is not possible to isolate these costs from other pay costs without incurring disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average sentence handed down by courts in Northern Ireland was for people convicted of motoring offences that resulted in a fatality in each of the last three years. (215008)

The following table gives the number sentenced to immediate custody and the average custodial sentence length (in months) for motoring offences causing death.

Data cover the calendar years 2004 to 2006 (the latest available years) and are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effect of the rising cost of fuel on front line police services; and if he will make good any shortfall of funds allocated for fuel. (215502)

Budgets will be closely monitored in order to ensure that pressures are addressed at an early stage. The rising cost of fuel will not affect the provision of front line police services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many copies of the Morning Star publication his Department and each of its agencies subscribes to each week; and at what cost. (215658)

The Northern Ireland Office and its agencies do not subscribe to the Morning Star publication.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what tariffs apply to telephone calls made by prisoners in each prison in Northern Ireland. (216817)

National calls are charged at a minimum fee of 10p, allowing 55 seconds, followed by 1p for every further 5.5 seconds (11p per minute) in all establishments. Calls to UK mobiles cost between 37.5 and 63p per minute depending on the time of day the call is made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been prosecuted for benefit fraud on (a) more than one occasion and (b) more than two occasions in each of the last five years. (215003)

Data relating to prosecutions for benefit fraud in Northern Ireland are held by the Department of Social Development and information should be requested from that Department.

To ask the Leader of the House whether the Government will (a) provide evidence to and (b) co-operate with any inquiry undertaken by the Committee on Standards in Public Life into hon. Members' allowances. (218009)

The Committee on Standards in Public Life have not announced any such inquiry. The Government will consider all requests for evidence when they are received.

To ask the Leader of the House how much resettlement grant would be payable to each hon. Member if he or she left the House in (a) May 2010 and (b) May 2014 calculated on current salary levels under the terms of (i) the current resettlement grant scheme and (ii) the resettlement grant scheme proposed by the Members Estimate Committee in recommendation 15 in its Third Report of Session 2007-08 HC 578-I. (217173)

The House agreed on 3 July 2008 to recommendation 15 of the Members Estimate Committee report (HC578). The intention is that from the general election after next the calculation of the amount of resettlement grant payable to hon. Members will alter to that set out in paragraph 252 of the report. Eligibility for the grant will remain as now.

The maximum resettlement grant of 100 per cent. of salary is currently payable to those aged between 55 and 64 with at least 15 years continuous service in the House. From the general election after next the maximum will be payable to those aged between 50 and 54 with at least 17 years service.

The overall change to the basis of the calculation is broadly cost neutral.

To provide information on all individual Members on the basis requested could be done only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) what monitoring checks are in place to prevent search results on the parliament.uk website directing users to subscriber-only content; (217568)

The purpose of the parliamentary website is to inform the public of the work and role of Parliament and virtually all the material available on the site is content created by Parliament. However, in response to feedback from the public, the House also subscribes to two external services that add value for users of the site. These services provide a facility whereby members of the public can find out who their MP is by entering their postcode, obtain details of how to contact their Member, a link to their Member's website, where one is available, and a link to published biographical reference information about their Member. These services have proved very popular with over 650,000 searches carried out in 2007-08.

On 24 June a fault was detected by a member of the public who, when searching the site, was misdirected to the supplier's subscription information page rather than to the appropriate biographical reference data. This was the result of a technical error. The supplier was notified immediately and fixed the fault. Measures have since been put in place to prevent any recurrence of this problem in the future.

The website's search engine is configured only to index content on:

www.parliament.uk

and its associated sub-sites so no external content will be included in search results, other than the services described above. As a result of this incident, daily checks have been put in place to ensure that the information services on the website provided by third parties are operating correctly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of his Department in the most recent year for which figures are available; and at what cost. (215559)

There were 546 individual domestic flights at a cost of £83,253 in 2007-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers in his Department in each of the last 10 years. (215222)

The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. Direct payments to special advisers were:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with telecommunication service providers on the upgrading of internet services to Scottish island communities; and what recent representations his Department has made to (a) BT and (b) other telecommunication service providers in Scotland on this matter. (217159)

I have been involved in discussions with my ministerial colleagues on a number of matters concerned with digital technologies and broadband availability in Scotland; however, broadband policy is a devolved matter, and as such lies with the Scottish Executive to take forward upgrading internet services to island communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the factual paper being prepared on the Barnett formula. (216898)

The Treasury's forthcoming Barnett formula paper will be factual in nature, reflecting experience of the operation of the Barnett formula since the formula was introduced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if she will introduce measures to require local authorities to increase the provision of allotments in their areas; (217560)

It is the Department's policy that allotments should be provided in relation to local need.

Section 23 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 places a duty on local authorities (except for inner London boroughs) to provide a sufficient number of allotments where they consider that there is a demand for them in their area.

Local authorities are best placed to determine the level of provision of allotments and all types of open space within their area, based on detailed audits and assessments of community needs in accordance with ‘Planning Policy Guidance Note 17: Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation, 2002’.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will consider introducing measures requiring local authorities (a) to keep figures on (i) the number of allotment sites in their areas and (ii) the length of waiting lists for an allotment and (b) to provide an annual return to Parliament incorporating such data. (217561)

Local authorities are already responsible for maintaining information about their allotment sites, including figures on the number of sites available and the length of waiting lists.

The Secretary of State does not have any plans to ask local authorities to provide an annual return to Parliament on the number of allotments sites and the length of allotment waiting lists in their area. This would run counter to the commitment the Government have made in the 2006 Local Government White Paper, ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities’, to reduce the number of performance indicators against which local authorities must report to central Government under 200.

We are however currently developing a green space database which will provide us with a more comprehensive information base on green spaces, including allotments. The green space database will be available later this month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will consider initiating an allotment survey with mandatory participation on the part of local authorities. (217563)

There are no plans to initiate an allotment survey.

The Department is developing a green space database which will provide us with a more comprehensive information base on green spaces, including allotments. This will be an interactive mapping tool which will bring together several datasets and provide the opportunity for local authorities, and other users, to access and input information on quality and provision of green space, including allotments. We believe that this is a better approach for local authorities than asking for mandatory participation in a survey. The green space database will be available later this month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to review the formula which determines the number of allotments which local councils are required to provide for the use of local residents. (217564)

There is no precise formula to determine the number of allotments which local authorities provide for their residents. Instead, section 23 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 places a duty on local authorities (except for inner London boroughs) to provide a sufficient number of allotments where they consider that there is a demand for them in their area.

Furthermore ‘Planning Policy Guidance Note 17: Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation, 2002’ encourages local authorities to make provision for all types of open space including allotments, and undertake robust assessments of local needs and audits of existing open space and to establish standards for new provision and ascertain what is sufficient for their local area.

Given this framework, provided by statute and guidance, we do not have any plans to review how local authorities determine the number of allotments they provide for their residents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households lacking (a) one bedroom and (b) two or more bedrooms were registered for a housing transfer in each London local authority in 2007-08. (216666)

The information requested is not available. However information is available on the bedroom requirement of households on local authorities’ waiting lists, excluding existing local authority tenants seeking a transfer. This information is presented in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the East Midlands Development Agency has spent on internal administration and running costs in each of the financial years for which figures are available. (214774)

I have been asked to reply.

The following table shows how much EMDA have spent on salary and administration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the percentage of houses built in Chorley Borough in the last two years which are (a) affordable homes, (b) occupied on a part rent/part buy basis and (c) used as rented accommodation. (217843)

There were 625 homes built in Chorley between 2005-06 and 2006-07, 11 per cent. of which were affordable dwellings.

Of these 34 (49 per cent.) were part rent/part buy and 35 (51 per cent.) were rented accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to improve housing for families with disabled children; what meetings Ministers and officials in her Department have held with representatives from Every Disabled Child Matters on the subject; and if she will make a statement. (217133)

In 2004 the Government launched a cross-departmental review of the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) programme. As part of the review Bristol University were commissioned to carry out an independent study of the programme and make recommendations for change.

An immediate change as a result of the review was that means testing for children was ended in 2005. This removed the disincentive to work for parents, and ended the delay that is harmful to children’s life chances and which helps to improve the health of both parents and children.

A consultation on proposals to change the programme was carried out between January and April and 2007. Over 250 organisations fed in their views on how the programme could be improved.

In February 2008 my Department published a Package of Changes which was laid before Parliament in April which included:

Maximum grant limit raised

The DFG ceiling was increased in May to £30,000 to help an increasing number of people (particularly children) with complex disabilities which has made the current ceiling inadequate in meeting the full costs of the required adaptations. This change will help speed up delivery of cases above the current maximum, which have often suffered delays due to obtaining the extra funding from another source. An increase also addresses the increased costs of carrying out DFG work.

Improvements to the means test

The means test will be changed so that working tax credit and child tax credit are disregarded as income. This change will help those working on low incomes (and in receipt of tax credits) with non disabled children. Those on council tax benefit, housing benefit and tax credits for those on low incomes are now passported through the means test process.

Access to garden

Access to garden was not an explicit grant usage, and not all authorities have used DFG to provide access to gardens. The regulations changed in May to ensure that access to gardens is a specific entitlement for grant, where reasonable and practicable. This change helps raise the quality of life for all people in receipt of DFG including families with disabled children.

Ongoing work to modernise the programme

Further work in the coming year will be carried out to improve the delivery of the programme with an overhaul of the means test and application form to help speed up the process. Other changes include the removal of the ring fence to increase flexibility in the provision of adaptations while continuing to ensure they are provided by retaining the mandatory nature of the grant.

CLG will continue to work with its stakeholders in helping to modernise the Disabled Facilities Grant programme. We are interested to hear from our stakeholders including Every Disabled Child Matters as to how the programme could be made to work more efficiently as a part of this ongoing process.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assessment she has made of the availability of affordable housing in the Peak District National Park Authority area; and if she will make a statement; (216564)

Planning Policy Statement 3 “Housing” (PPS3) expects local planning authorities and regions to take a positive, plan-led approach to providing market and affordable housing in rural areas. In particular, it requires authorities to assess local need for affordable housing so that they can set appropriate targets for the amount of housing to be provided in their plans, including specifying the size and type of housing that, in their judgment, is likely to be required. It is the responsibility of the Peak District National Park Authority, as the local planning authority, to take this work forward.

It is recognised that many rural communities are faced by particular challenges in relation to housing affordability and that these challenges can be emphasised in areas such as the National Parks where land supply is constrained. That is why the Prime Minister has asked the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor), to conduct a review on how land use and planning can better support rural business and deliver affordable housing. The hon. Member will present his review to the Minister for Housing and Planning and the Secretary of State for Rural Affairs shortly.

In February we announced a national target for the Housing Corporation to deliver at least 10,300 affordable home completions in settlements of less than 3,000 inhabitants over the period 2008-11.

The work done by Rural Housing Enablers is funded in a wide variety of ways across the country. The clear vision for their long-term funding has always been that it should be supported at local level by the very local authorities and Housing Associations whose rural delivery they exist to support. I am pleased to note that in many areas across the country this is happening. Ultimately however, these are decisions for local delivery agents to take in the light of local needs and circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to encourage the development of disused barns in rural areas for the purposes of residential provision, with particular reference to such barns in remote locations. (217662)

The policy approach in Planning Policy Statement 3 “Housing” (PPS3) and Planning Policy Statement 7 “Sustainable Development in Rural Areas” (PPS7) allows for the conversion of disused farm buildings such as barns for housing, in certain, suitable locations. Annex A of PPS7 advises that one of the circumstances in which isolated residential development may be justified is when accommodation is required to enable agricultural, forestry and certain other full-time workers to live at, or in the immediate vicinity of, their place of work.

Local planning authorities should include appropriate policies in their local plans which will help deliver the amount of housing they need and decide where that housing should be located. It is for them to determine individual planning applications, such as those for the development of disused barns for new housing, in accordance with their local plans, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who owns the land to the rear of number 86 Carleton Road, Great Knowley, Chorley, PR6 8TQ. (217815)

Land ownership falls under the auspices of the Land Registry, who have the responsibility for registering title to land in England and Wales.

Initial inquiries of the Land Registry in Lancashire reveal that some of the land to the rear of the property in question is registered and some is unregistered—a more specific pinpointing of the exact location would therefore have to be made by my hon. Friend.

This request should be made directly to the Land Registry who are obliged to provide the information under the terms of their publication scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to establish a national geo-portal for spatial data held by public bodies; and whether the geo-portal will include cadastral data held by public bodies. (217853)

We have no plans to establish a national geo-portal for spatial data held by public bodies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to facilitate greater cohesion between community strategies and planning strategies in rural areas, with particular reference to National Park areas. (217552)

In June we published revised Planning Policy Statement 12 ‘Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities though Local Spatial Planning’ setting out policy on local development frameworks. In particular, it states that

“spatial planning objectives for local areas, as set out in the Local Development Framework, should be aligned not only with national and regional plans, but also with the shared local priorities set out in Sustainable Community Strategies where these are consistent with national and regional policy”.

This applies to all local authorities in the country, whether they are rural (including National Parks) or urban.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she has issued to local authorities on the inclusion of extra-care sheltered housing in (a) C2 and (b) C3 planning use categories. (215428)

Local planning authorities can refer to “ODPM Circular 03/2005—Changes of Use of Buildings and Land” for guidance in relation to Class C2: Residential Institutions and Class C3: Dwelling Houses, of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).

It is for local planning authorities to determine to which class a particular premises belongs on the basis of fact and degree, and taking into account the particular circumstances of each case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued on the optimal size in terms of (a) area and (b) number of pitches of Traveller sites. (217826)

The Department published ‘Designing Gypsy and Traveller Sites, Good Practice Guidance’ in May 2008. The guidance is not prescriptive, but includes information on the household possessions for which a pitch will need to cater, and notes the experience of site residents and managers that sites of up to 15 pitches provide a comfortable environment conducive to good management. The publication is available on the Communities and Local Government website at:

www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/designinggypsysites.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what procedures his Department uses to ensure equal opportunities in relation to staff secondments to the Department. (214669)

Secondments into the civil service to promote the exchange of ideas and experience are an exception to the principle that appointments to the civil service must be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. However in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport our current secondments have been made on the basis of fair and open competition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many places of worship applied for Heritage Lottery Fund grants in each year since 1997; and what percentage were successful in each year. (210254)

The information requested, as provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is set out in the following table.

These figures include capital and non-capital projects. The percentage of successful applications in later years may change slightly once assessment of 53 outstanding applications is completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Chinook Mk3 helicopters his Department plans to order in the next three years; and when such helicopters are expected to enter service. (216973)

We have no plans to order any additional Chinook Mk3 helicopters in the next three years. We expect the eight Chinook Mk3 helicopters, currently being modified for support helicopter use, to enter service commencing late 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department's IT (a) systems and (b) services conform to the ISO 27001 standard. (216056)

I can confirm that the Ministry of Defence's IT systems and managed services are compliant with ISO 27001.

All in-service IT systems and managed services are designed and constructed to take full account of the Department's policies and procedures for information security management which have been confirmed to be fully compliant with the controls in ISO 27001. As part of the normal departmental review of procedures, these are continually checked against existing and new controls contained in ISO 27001.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's staff have access to the Department's IT infrastructure at home. (216369)

The MOD recognises the statutory right of its staff to request flexible working, which could involve authorised staff having access to MOD IT infrastructure from home. Currently, 11,316 staff have the facilities to access the IT infrastructure securely when working away from the Department. We do not have a precise number for those staff who work solely from home but the majority of these staff, who work flexibly, split their time between MOD offices, industry and home. Approximately a further 10,000 staff work externally to the Department and many are seconded to work with other organisations as liaison officers or as members of joint teams. Most of these staff do not need regular access to internal IT systems, but secure arrangements are being put in place for limited secure electronic access to employee ‘self service’ personnel administration systems, in some cases from their homes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Force Answerable to EU (FAWEU) European military forces there are; what the title is of each; and how many British troops participate in each. (217266)

FAWEU stood for ‘Force Answerable to the Western European Union’. All the operational aspects of the Western European Union (WEU), including its capacity to plan and conduct crisis management operations, were transferred to the EU following the establishment of the European Security and Defence Policy in 1999. The only remaining active component is the WEU Parliamentary Assembly which provides collective inter-parliamentary oversight of European defence issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the average number of (a) planned and (b) actual flying hours for aircraft was in each year since 2001; (216235)

There is no requirement to hold data on average flying hours. The planned and actual flying hours for fixed wing aircraft from all three services in each year since 2001 are broken down as follows:

All figures included in this table relate to in-service aircraft, and does not include any pre-service flying. Figures for each helicopter type are being provided by Land Forces in the answer to PQ 216251. Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), Contracted aircraft, and gliders have not been included. The Harrier figures have been collated as a combined total after FY 2005-06, and therefore it is not possible to split them into separate figures for GR7 and GR9 as the information is not held in that format.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much was spent on (a) military and (b) naval bands in each year since 1997; (207258)

Officials are currently collating the information requested. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Andrew Murrison:

I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 2 June 2008 (Official Report, column 688), about how much had been spent on military and naval bands in each year since 1997 and how many engagements involving the recovery of costs had been undertaken on military and naval bands for the same period.

For total expenditure on bands, data is only available for the Army since the formation of Regional Forces (from Financial Year 2003-04) and from Financial Year 2004-05 for the Navy. It has proven to be extremely difficult to obtain data going back to 1997 as you requested due to disbandments and amalgamations over a number of years and changes to financial structures and reporting. The data held is shown in the tables below:

For band cost recoveries, data is available dating back to 1997 in some cases. There is a caveat in that some Army bands have reported complete data back to 1997 whereas others have only been able to do so for more recent years. This, again, is due to disbandments and amalgamations. The information held is shown in the tables below and reflects Category IV engagements which are events where the organiser is charged the full commercial musician rate and the service provided as a fee-paid event:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what IT contracts her Departments and its agencies have entered into in the last two years. (215161)

A list has been placed in the Libraries of the House showing IT contracts entered into by the Department for Transport and its agencies in the last two complete financial years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff have access to her Department's IT infrastructure at their home. (216385)

The number of staff in the Department and the agencies who have access to IT infrastructure at home is set out in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many permanent staff in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies are classed as (i) staff without posts and (ii) part of a people action team. (215567)

The central Department and its agencies have recorded a figure of five or fewer occurrences of permanent staff (i) without posts and (ii) working as part of a people action team. In such instances our response is suppressed on grounds of confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers in her Department in each of the last 10 years. (215237)

The Department for Transport was formed in 2002 under Machinery of Government changes. The amounts claimed by special advisers as reimbursable expenses in subsequent years are as follows:

Procedures for reimbursing staff expenses are set out in the Department’s Staff Handbook, and are in line with the provisions set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by her Department on subscriptions for magazines, newspapers and other publications in each of the last 24 months. (215206)