To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what information his Department holds on the average weight of aeroplanes departing from UK airports in each of the last five years. (312502)

The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which websites his Department's staff are prevented from accessing from departmental networked computers. (311841)

The Department for Transport has an acceptable use policy that restricts unsuitable websites. It is not practical to list all individual blocked websites due to the numbers involved, but the main categories blocked by the Department and its agencies are as follows:

Adult or sexually explicit (including pornography, nudity and intimate apparel)

Crime and violence (including weapons, hate crime, historical revisionism and profanity)

Drugs, alcohol and tobacco

Gambling

Personal (including dating, social networking, chat, messaging, lifestyle and auctions)

Remote proxies

Entertainment/culture (including internet TV/radio, streaming media and media downloads/sharing).

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in 2008-09; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was; and if he will make a statement. (300566)

I refer the hon. Member to my answer given today to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott), which shows how many staff received a non-consolidated variable pay award, what proportion of the total work force they represented and what the total amount of non-consolidated variable payments was.

The largest single non-consolidated variable payment was £15,000.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much has been paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in each year since 2003. (306462)

An element of the Department for Transport’s overall pay award is allocated to non-consolidated variable pay related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award for members of staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, for example by exceeding targets set or meeting challenging objectives.

Non-consolidated variable pay awards are funded from within existing pay bill controls, and have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.

The following table details how many people were eligible for and received a non-consolidated variable pay award, awarded under the Department for Transport’s standard pay and performance management process for the last six performance years. It also details the wages and salaries as published in the departmental resource accounts.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in each of the last three years; and how much was paid in such bonuses in each such year. (307102)

I refer the hon. Member to my answer given today to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott), which shows how many non-consolidated variable pay awards were paid, and what the total amount of non-consolidated variable payments was for the last three years.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of 17 to 21-year-olds using motor vehicles on the road network without insurance in (a) West Chelmsford constituency and (b) Chelmsford local authority area. (312479)

No information is held on uninsured driving on a constituency or local authority area basis.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the earliest date is on which the First Capital Connect franchise can be terminated, assuming no exceptional intervention powers are invoked by his Department. (312500)

The First Capital Connect franchise can run until 31 March 2015. The Secretary of State may exercise an option to serve notice on First Capital Connect for the franchise to end at a notified date between 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2015. The franchise also contains provisions where the Secretary of State may terminate the franchise for an event of default.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will take steps to (a) cease allowing the Independent Penalty Fares Appeals Service (IPFAS) to be a subsidiary business of Southeastern and (b) make IPFAS wholly independent of the train operating companies. (311940)

There are no proposals to alter the status of the Independent Penalty Fares Appeals Service. Its accounts and management are wholly separate to Southeastern. There are two penalty fares appeal bodies. Their revenue is not dependent on success or failure of appeals. Each body is paid a specified amount for appeals, regardless of the outcome. Appeals are regularly successful.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department plans to sell off Government shares in National Air Traffic Services; and if he will make a statement. (312474)

On 8 December the Government published the Operational Efficiency Programme: Asset Portfolio.

The portfolio includes a section on NATS which notes that in light of the impending expiry of the restrictions on the transfer of shares for NATS, it is appropriate for Government to engage with other shareholders who are likely to consider the shareholding options available to them.

No decision has been made by Government with regards to reducing their shareholding. Any options considered would be required to best meet the needs of the Company and its workforce, as well as shareholders.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the written ministerial statement of 16 July 2009, Official Report, column 79WS, on the cost of ministerial cars for 2008-09, how many cars there were in 1996-97 for (a) Ministers and (b) senior civil servants; and what the annual cost was of providing the service. (312463)

The Government Car and Despatch Agency was formed in April 1997. Information before that date is not available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many journeys and what percentage of miles were made by each type of vehicle on (a) motorways and (b) dual carriageways in the UK in each of the last three years. (312493)

The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of journeys made each year by type of vehicle on motorways or dual carriageways.

Traffic data on dual carriageways are not available for Northern Ireland. However, the percentage of miles driven by type of vehicle in Great Britain on motorways and dual carriageways in 2006, 2007 and 2008 is shown in the following table.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the (a) percentage of UK-registered and (b) number of foreign-registered vehicles of each type which have used (i) motorways and (ii) dual carriageways in the last year. (312503)

The Department for Transport does not hold data on either the percentage of vehicles that have used motorways or dual carriageways, or the number of foreign registered vehicles that have used motorways or dual carriageways.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many and what proportion of drivers in each five-year age cohort were involved in a road traffic accident causing (a) death and (b) serious injury in each of the last three years for which figures are readily available. (311727)

The information requested is shown in the following tables.

It is not possible to identify if the same driver was involved in more than one accident so there may be some double counting in the number of drivers involved in accidents. This does not take into account people that drive without a licence, driving licence holders that do not drive or those under 17 years of age.

Due to the small sample size used in the National Travel Survey some age groups are shown in age bands larger than five years in the second table.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many (a) adults and (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents involving drivers who were under the influence of (A) drink, (B) drugs and (C) both drink and drugs in each of the last three years. (311866)

The estimated number of (a) adults and (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in reported drink drive accidents in each of the last three years with data available is shown in the following table:

The number of (a) adults and (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents where “driver impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)” was reported as a contributory factor in each of the last three years with data available, and the number where a driver also had “impaired by alcohol” reported as a contributory factor, are shown in the following table:

Contributory factors reflect the police officer's opinion at the time of reporting, and where some factors may have contributed to the cause of an accident it may be difficult for a police officer attending the scene after the accident to identify them, so these factors may be under-reported. Not all reported road accidents are included in the contributory factor analysis, only those where a police officer attended the scene and at least one contributory factor was reported.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, column 336W, on rolling stock, how many vehicles were offered to the Department where the purchase option was not pursued and the vehicles were subsequently exported. (311166)

Although sale of the vehicles is a matter for the rolling stock leasing companies I am aware that:

HSBC Rail (UK) Limited exported 77 Mark 2 vehicles (11 in 2006, 26 in 2007 and 40 in 2008). These vehicles were built by British Rail in the early 1970s, were around 30 years old when taken out of traffic and replaced by new Voyager and Pendolino trains from 2000, and were around 35 years old when offered to the Department.

Porterbrook sold 26 Class 87 locomotives to a UK company who subsequently sold them to Bulgaria, these locomotives also date from the early 1970s, were replaced by new Pendolino trains from 2002, and were around 35 years old when offered to the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department has spent on behavioural research consultants in the last five financial years. (310976)

The information requested could not be provided within the disproportionate costs threshold.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobs in her Department she plans to outsource in the next five years. (310975)

My Department's policy is to rigorously and continuously examine all of our activities and to apply our “contestability” policy which offers the opportunity to use external provision, using competition, to create incentives for continuous improvement in the cost and quality of services and to provide customers with greater choice.

Plans to determine the most efficient delivery model for the Department and its constituent agencies are therefore subject to this continuous review and the optimum balance of in-house provision and outsourced providers is sought.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of paper files held in her Department and its agencies; what the annual cost to each of monitoring a paper filing system is; what consideration she has given to alternative filing arrangements; and whether any changes to present practices are planned. (307037)

A full record storage and retrieval service is currently delivered to DWP by Capita plc. The current file-holding is in the region of 58 million files and the annual contract cost for 2008-09 was £21.2 million. In the main these paper documents form the legal basis on which applications to benefit are determined and must be retained for audit, review, appeal and other business related functions while the claim to benefit is current and for a period after termination of claim.

DWP is actively engaged in a range of initiatives to reduce paper e.g. a scanning solution for documents received from clients. These scanned images will be stored in and retrieved from a single Departmental Document Repository System.

Jobcentre Plus has also set up a Paper Reduction Programme to consider opportunities to reduce the amount of paper that is used and moved around its business.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will consider the merits of automatically placing individuals with (a) Huntington's disease and (b) certain other conditions on employment support allowance. (312484)

Entitlement to employment and support allowance does not depend on an individual's diagnosis or condition, but on how severely a condition impacts on an individual's ability to function. This is in recognition of the fact that individuals with the same condition can experience varying functional effects. Accordingly, the assessment for benefit entitlement accurately identifies individuals for the most appropriate benefit and support, by focusing on the functional effects of a condition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria are for qualification for employment support allowances. (312485)

The basic qualification conditions for employment and support allowance are that the customer:

Has limited capability for work;

Is at least 16 years old;

Has not reached pensionable age;

Is in Great Britain;

Is not entitled to Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance.

There are additional conditions to determine if a customer is entitled to contributory and/or income-related employment and support allowance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to her Department's White Paper on Building Britain's Recovery, whether people currently on (a) incapacity benefit and (b) employment and support allowance will be eligible for the new specialist back to work support for the over 50s; and when she expects that support to be available. (312241)

The White Paper announced five new back-to-work measures for the over 50s, principally designed for those on jobseekers allowance (JSA). However, early access (day one of a claim) to work trials will extend equally to customers on incapacity benefits and employment and support allowance. The new specialist contracted support for over 50s will be delivered as part of the Jobcentre Plus Support Contract (JCPSC), which is an important tool for advisers and an integral part of the JSA customer journey.

The new JCPSC provision for over 50s will be open to people claiming JSA and New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP), New Deal for Partners (NDP) and Work Focused Support for Carers (WFSC) participants. People in receipt of IB will be able to access the JCPSC provision where they meet the eligibility criteria as a NDLP participant. Partners of customers in receipt of ESA/IB will be able to access the JCPSC provision where they meet the eligibility criteria as a NDP participant.

We are working to introduce the over 50s measures in spring this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps her Department has taken to develop the profiling tool for jobseekers referred to on page 108 of her Department's White Paper, Building Britain's Recovery; when she expects trials of that tool to start; where such trials will be undertaken; and recipients of what benefits will be included in those trials. (312239)

We are currently conducting a trial that builds upon the Jobseekers Classification Instrument which is a questionnaire used in Australia to determine the level of service a jobseeker needs in order to find work. The trial has already started, is taking place across Great Britain via telephone interview and will cover 5,000 people making a new jobseeker's allowance claim.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people were employed in each area where the Future Jobs Fund is operating in each month since its introduction. (311721)

Information on Future Jobs Fund starts is not currently available, but will be made available from spring 2010 through a statistical release that is planned to cover the whole of the Young Person's Guarantee. This is normal practice for DWP employment programmes and it allows time for input from the UK Statistics Authority and for the information to be collected, understood, verified and reported.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her most recent estimate is of the number of people in receipt of income support on the ground of disability. (312240)

The information is not available in the format requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make it her policy to increase pension credit payment levels to compensate for the effects of lower interest rates on the income of pensioners. (309699)

From November 2009 the amount of capital completely ignored in the calculation of pension credit was increased from £6,000 to £10,000. This change was made in response to the impact of falling interest rates on pensioners and means that around 88 per cent. of pension credit recipients have all of their capital ignored.

From April 2010 the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit is due to increase by 2 per cent. This means that, from April, no single pensioner need live on less than £132.60 a week and no couple on less than £202.40 a week. The above earnings increase in the pension credit guarantee underlines the Government's ongoing commitment to tackling pensioner poverty.

We have a good track record of reducing pensioner poverty. In 2007-08 there were 900,000 fewer pensioners in relative poverty than in 1998-99 (measured as below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income after housing costs). Pensioners are less likely to be living in poverty, as measured by relative low income after housing costs, than the population as a whole.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate she has made of the average income of a recipient of (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance who is over 65 years or over. (309336)

In 2007-08 the median income of individuals in receipt of attendance allowance was £12,900 per year and the median income of disability living allowance recipients aged 65 years or over was £12,200 per year. However, to look at the living standards of recipients of disability living allowance and attendance allowance, it is more appropriate to use equivalised household incomes (where household incomes are adjusted for household size and composition) as presented in the Department for Work and Pensions Households Below Average Income report. Results on this basis are given in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Braintree constituency are in receipt of each type of benefit administered by her Department. (312079)

[holding answer 20 January 2010]: The information requested is in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps she has taken to reduce levels of unemployment in Leeds, West constituency amongst lone parents since 2001; and if she will make a statement. (306951)

Lone parents in Leeds, West have access to a wide range of pre-employment and in-work support, including the new deal for lone parents, dedicated personal advisers, working tax credits and in-work credit. Lone parents claiming jobseeker's allowance also have access to support available to other jobseekers, such as to self-employment support, provisions such as work-focused training and recruitment subsidies available as part of the six month offer, the flexible new deal, and access to Local Employment Partnerships, where available.

According to the Household Labour Force Survey, the employment rate of lone parents in West Yorkshire was approximately 50.2 per cent. in 2001 (Quarter 2) and approximately 52.8 per cent. in 2009 (Quarter 2). West Yorkshire is the smallest region which includes Leeds, West for which the Department has employment data for lone parents.

7. To ask the hon. Member for South-West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Commission is taking to minimise the risk of fraud in the general election. (312133)

The Electoral Commission informs me that it is working with police forces, electoral registration officers and returning officers to establish a network of single point of contact officers for electoral matters and has delivered training seminars for police forces and electoral administrators on electoral fraud.

The Commission has also, with the Association of Chief Police Officers, published guidance for electoral administrators and police forces on tackling electoral malpractice, and has established performance standards for electoral registration officers and returning officers on how to identify fraudulent activity.

9. To ask the hon. Member for South-West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what information the Electoral Commission holds on the number of election counts that are not planned to commence on the evening of polling day in the general election. (312135)

The Electoral Commission informs me that it has asked all returning officers to provide information about their current plans for counting ballot papers at the next UK parliamentary general election. This information has been made available in the House of Commons Library.

In summary, as of 7 January, returning officers for 586 out of 650 constituencies had provided information. Of these, 52 currently do not plan to count ballot papers on the evening of polling day at the general election. A further 17 have indicated they may defer counting in the event that the general election is combined with local authority elections, and 187 were still undecided.

To ask the Solicitor-General how many iPODs have been bought by the Law Officers’ Departments since 2005; and at what cost. (311893)

The Crown Prosecution Service is a devolved organisation. To obtain this information would require local managers to review all paper procurement records and would incur disproportionate cost.

The remaining Law Officers’ Departments have not purchased any iPODs during this period.

27. To ask the Leader of the House when she plans to bring forward proposals for the House to decide on the recommendations of the Select Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons. (312143)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the House gave to the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson) in oral questions today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with (a) Welsh Assembly Government Ministers, (b) ministerial colleagues and (c) representatives of Bosch to discuss the closure of Bosch operations in Wales; what the date of each such meeting was; and who attended each; (312250)

I have had discussions with a range of interested parties, including the First Minister and Unite.

Last October Bosch announced that it was holding a 90 day of consultation on the future of the plant, either to cut 300 posts or to close the site completely. On 14 January, Bosch management confirmed that it was recommending the closure of the factory, phasing out production and all jobs by the summer of 2011.

Although the consultation period continues until the end of February, we are already working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government to provide the support and assistance necessary to help those affected to find new opportunities and get them back into work as quickly as possible.

To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2009, Official Report, column 547W, on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of machinery of government changes; and whether he has made such an assessment since 5 June 2009. (310345)

The machinery of government is kept under constant review.

To ask the Prime Minister what severance payments have been made to Ministers who have left office since May 2007. (311198)

Severance pay is payable in accordance with section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991.

To ask the Prime Minister how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Office are planning to attend the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February 2010; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such attendance. (310842)

Since 1999 the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. From 2007-08 the list was extended to include all Ministers. The list also provides information on the number of officials who accompany Ministers. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2009-10 will be published as soon as the information is available.

All travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Civil Service Management Code respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many employment tribunals relating to his Department have been held in each of the last five years; and what the total cost to his Department was of such tribunals in each such year. (309940)

DEFRA and its executive agencies have been taken to an employment tribunal 14 times in the last five years. Of these 14 cases, five cases were found in favour of the individual and DEFRA incurred costs. As the number of employment tribunals upheld in each of the last five years is such a small number, we cannot give further details because of the possibility of identifying individuals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the flycapture fixed penalty notice dataset for each local authority for 2008-09; (311485)

DEFRA collects information from local authorities, on fixed penalty notices for a range of environmental offences, including litter, graffiti, abandoned vehicles and waste receptacles. These are published on the DEFRA website:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/local/legislation/fpn/index.htm

The most recent complete year is 2006-07—the first year many of the FPNs came into being. The return indicates that 43 out of 354 English local authorities (12 per cent.) issued a total of 988 fixed penalty notices for waste receptacle offences.

Figures for 2007-08 and 2008-09 are being collected from local authorities and these will be published on the DEFRA website shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Forestry Commission plans to sell any of the land it holds. (312490)

The Forestry Commission has an ongoing programme of asset sales, the proceeds of which are re-invested in the management and development of the public forest estate.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2010, Official Report, columns 825-6W, on bars, for what reason the House of Commons Commission decided not to consult the Administration Committee on possible sites for location of nursery facilities; and if he will make a statement. (312365)

The Commission considered it important to have the planned nursery facility operating early in the new Parliament, before new Members had made other childcare arrangements. This is a challenging timescale, given the need for listed building consent and consent for change of use, the time required to make the premises ready and the requirement to pass the Ofsted inspection and be registered with Ofsted. In view of the time constraints, the Commission decided it was not feasible to consult the Administration Committee.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will bring forward arrangements to ensure that legislation introduced in the House is published on the internet in the format recommended by mysociety.org in its Free Our Bills campaign. (312170)

The House Administration is currently considering, together with its counterpart in the House of Lords, a proposal for a Procedural Data Programme to update the IT systems holding data about the proceedings of the House, including Bills and amendments to them, so that the data is made available in an open standardised electronic format. The programme would aim to produce Bills and amendments in an electronic format which both complies with open standards and is readily re-usable so that it can be exchanged between parliamentary systems and made available to the public for further processing by others. This output would be similar to what is being requested in the Free our Bills campaign, and also to what is referred to by the House of Lords Information Committee in its recent report “Are the Lords Listening? Creating Connections Between People and Parliament (HL Paper 138—1, 2008-09)”. The work would be undertaken in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Office of Public Sector Information (responsible for publishing Acts) and the Cabinet Office.

Staff are working with the existing software supplier to improve the quality of the XML output from the Bill drafting software. In addition, staff are examining the possibilities of using Bill data in its existing form to publish improved information on the parliamentary website, such as by linking Bill texts to existing Acts of Parliament which the Bill would amend. Some Bill texts showing the amendments made at Committee stage are already published on the parliamentary website (for example, the Financial Services Bill).

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission with reference to the answer of 12 November 2009, Official Report, column 622W, on “Members: email”, whether PICT has had discussions with representatives of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) to find a technical fix to allow PGP software to be used on hon. Members' computers in a way which is not incompatible with Parliament's current version of VPN (remote access) software. (312432)

No. PICT provide support to an alternative encryption software product which is deemed to be completely satisfactory. However, Members are not restricted to using the encryption product that PICT offer and support, and can choose to use other products, including PGP.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission with reference to the answer of 12 November 2009, Official Report, column 622W, on “Members: email”, if the House of Commons Commission will ask PICT to undertake a further evaluation of whether Pretty Good Privacy software can be used by hon. Members following the introduction of new versions of the PGP email proxy and the Infoexpress VPN client. (312433)

No, there is no need to do so. Members are not restricted to using the encryption product that PICT offer and support.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire of 29 October 2009, Official Report, columns 517-8W, on the “Olympic Games 2012: construction”, if she will list the construction contracts which have been awarded to firms based on each region. (309302)

Full details of Olympic Delivery Authority's direct suppliers, including a map showing benefits to each region is available on London 2012's website at:

www.london2012.com/get-involved/business-network/oda-suppliers/index.php

Details of companies which have construction contracts through the supply chains of ODA's tier one contractors are also provided on the website, this includes the region they are from.

To ask the Minister for the Olympics what commitments the Government Olympic Executive has received from other Government bodies in relation to support for the London 2012 Olympics; and what budget is attached to each such commitment. (312343)

As part of the £9.325 billion public sector funding package for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), and the Department for Transport (DfT) are providing funding to the Olympic Delivery Authority for venues, infrastructure and Olympic Park security. As part of that package, the Home Office is providing £600 million for the wider policing and security of the games, and there is a further £238 million as a security contingency. CLG is providing £2.851 million and DfT £1.016 million.

In total 19 Government Departments are engaged in delivering the games and the Government Olympic Executive (GOE) is currently working closely with those Departments to help them develop their plans and confirm the associated costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding the Big Lottery Fund has provided to Developing Discrimination Advice Regional Events in 2009-10. (311801)

The information requested is not held by my Department and relates to matters that are the responsibility of the Big Lottery Fund.

Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund to write direct to the hon. Member.

Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions members his Department have had with the National Lottery Commission on Camelot’s proposed entry into the commercial market for bill payments and mobile telephone payments; and whether the Commission has made any assessment of the potential effect of such an entry on the commercial market in the area. (312249)

My officials and I have regular meetings with the National Lottery Commission about the full range of National Lottery Regulation issues, and the possibility of Camelot providing ancillary services has been discussed in that context.

The approval of the National Lottery Commission is required to allow the National Lottery operator to undertake such services and the Commission is currently considering proposals from Camelot.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the likely effects of digital switchover under the provisions of the Digital Economy Bill on the ability of local commercial radio stations without a digital path to continue to broadcast on the analogue spectrum. (312081)

No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the radio provisions set out in the draft Digital Economy Bill on local commercial stations remaining on FM after the digital radio switchover. However, these provisions, and the proposals in the Digital Britain White Paper, were made following 18 months of consultation with the radio industry, which included representatives of small local commercial stations.

I am continuing this dialogue with the industry with the specific purpose of ensuring that local radio can continue to thrive on FM after the digital radio switchover.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of Scottish households are able to receive digital radio services; what plans his Department has to increase coverage for digital radio in Scotland before 2015; what the cost of implementing those plans will be; and who will pay for the implementation. (311894)

The Spectrum Planning Group, which formed part of the Digital Radio Working Group, reported in November 2008 that 77.8 per cent. of the population in Scotland had access to indoor Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).

Coverage of digital radio broadcasting in the UK continues to increase and both the commercial and the BBC’s national multiplexes now reach about 90 per cent. of the UK population. The Digital Radio Upgrade programme will require new investment in building and improving DAB coverage and reception. To this end we will be working with the BBC and commercial operators to ensure coverage of DAB is comparable to FM by the end of 2014.

The Digital Britain White Paper was clear that the investment need to increase coverage will need to come from both commercial operators and the BBC.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of households in Scotland receive (a) digital commercial radio and (b) BBC digital radio services. (312104)

The Spectrum Planning Group, which formed part of the Digital Radio Working Group, reported in November 2008 that 76.2 per cent. of the population in Scotland had access to digital commercial radio services, while 77.8 per cent. of the population in Scotland has access to BBC digital radio services. Figures are based on indoor coverage.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether written health and safety advice is issued to each new employee in his Department. (311375)

While a written document is not provided to new staff, they are directed towards the departmental intranet on starting which outlines in detail the procedures and guidance on this matter. They are also given an emergency contact card which encourages them to read the evacuation procedures and provides them with key essential numbers for internal security, NHS Direct and other such contacts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Estonian military personnel are serving with British Forces in Afghanistan; and in what capacity. (311355)

There are 155 Estonian military personnel serving in Afghanistan. An Estonian Infantry company operates with British forces in Task Force Helmand.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sub-contracts have been awarded in his Department’s aircraft carriers procurement programme; and what the monetary value is of each such sub-contract. (311746)

As at 21 December 2009, a total of 93 sub-contracts had been placed by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance to support the build of the two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers. A detailed list of these sub-contracts will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to introduce a lapel badge for those who worked in the munitions factories during the Second World War. (305243)

I have been asked to reply.

While I gratefully acknowledge the important contribution made by the munitions workers in the Second World War, there are no present plans to introduce a lapel badge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of each helicopter type in the (a) Army Air Corps, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force is (i) in service and (ii) fit for purpose. (311896)

Operational capability is measured in terms of flying hours rather than the number of airframes available. All rotary wing operational requirements are currently being met.

“In-Service” has been taken to mean the effective fleet which covers all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared surplus or awaiting disposal. Aircraft in the Forward Fleet are those aircraft that are available to Front Line Commands for Operational and training purposes. ‘Fit for purpose’ has been taken to mean which are ‘Available’. This is defined as those aircraft within the Forward Fleet that are considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date. The number of helicopters available varies from day to day, primarily due to routine maintenance requirements.

All aircraft in the Forward Fleet which are not Available are classified as Short-Term Unserviceable, because they may be undergoing first-line maintenance, other minor works or being prepared for transportation. Aircraft which are Short-Term Unserviceable can usually be made Available relatively quickly.

The Departmental Fleet comprises effective and non-effective aircraft. Non-effective aircraft are those aircraft still on the Military Register which are declared surplus and awaiting disposal and are no longer expected to be flown. Effective aircraft comprise those in the Depth Fleet and those in the Forward Fleet.

Aircraft in the Depth Fleet are those which are undergoing modification, depth maintenance and repair; in storage (including attrition aircraft); surplus aircraft awaiting classification as ‘ineffective’; or Trials aircraft.

The information requested is shown in the following table. The figures are averages for December 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to reply to the letter of 30 November 2009 from the hon. Member for Billericay regarding a constituent, Mr. J. Dodd. (312248)

I will reply to the hon. Member for Billericay before 30 January 2010, responding to the letter from his constituent, Mr J. Dodd.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy ships are located in the Caribbean; and whether any are being tasked to assist with humanitarian efforts in Haiti. (312573)

There are no Royal Navy ships in the region at this time. The Ministry of Defence is sending a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, RFA Largs Bay, to carry vital relief goods to Haiti. This is a high priority task and I trust it will be seen as a significant contribution by HMG to the international aid effort.

In addition, an eight-strong Royal Military Police protection team has been deployed to assist the FCO's consular Rapid Deployment Team, and we have sent a 12-man Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team to assess whether further specialist UK military support is required.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) area and (b) estimated value is of (i) vacant and (ii) occupied office space (A) owned and (B) rented by his Department. (310523)

The area and annual rental costs for vacant and occupied office space rented by the Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service and the Crown Solicitor's Office is shown in the following table.

The area and net book value for vacant and occupied office space owned by the Northern Ireland Office is shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many iPODs have been bought by his Department since 2005; and at what cost. (311911)

There have been no iPODS bought by the Northern Ireland Office, including its arm’s length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and NDPBs, since 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children in the London borough of Bexley were treated by a dentist providing NHS services in the last 12 months. (311563)

Information is not available in the format requested. The proportion of child patients seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months in Bexley Care Trust is 59.1 per cent. as at 30 September 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to issue guidance to NHS bodies on the provision of information to blind and partially-sighted people at the time of their diagnosis with another condition or illness. (311288)

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, service providers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This may include producing information about the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in different formats, depending on an assessment of the person's needs. It is up to individual service providers as to how they make any necessary reasonable adjustments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many wards operated by Southend Hospital Trust have been closed during January 2010; and for what reason. (312489)

The information requested is a matter for Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to John Bruce, Chair of Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member's inquiries. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons were recorded as having contracted seasonal influenza in each year since 1998; and how many persons were recorded as having contracted swine influenza in the last 12 months. (312496)

Data on the total numbers of cases of seasonal influenza are not collected.

At the start of the swine flu pandemic, all suspected cases were investigated by laboratory testing. As of 1 July 2009 there were 6,929 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United Kingdom.

From July, however, as case numbers rose rapidly, only a small proportion of suspected cases were laboratory confirmed. From that point onwards, estimates of case numbers were made by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), with the aim of providing an indication of the trend in the occurrence of the disease in the population. It was recognised, however, that there was considerable uncertainty in the case number estimates and, in order to allow for this, wide ranges around the estimates were provided.

A total of 845,000 cases of illness due to influenza infection were estimated to have occurred in the population of England during the pandemic in 2009 based on the published, weekly, HPA estimates up to 20 December 2009 (range 415,000 to 1,662,000). This is recognised to underestimate the true number of people infected due to the occurrence of infection in many others who had either very mild illness or infection with no illness at all.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been inoculated against influenza in (a) West Chelmsford constituency and (b) Chelmsford local authority area in each of the last five years. (312487)

Data on the number of people who have received influenza vaccine are available nationally and at the strategic health authority and the primary care trust (PCT) levels. No data are available for individual parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

Data on the total number of people vaccinated against influenza during the influenza season (winter) of the years 2005-06 to 2009-10 are given in the following table for the PCT that have included the West Chelmsford constituency and Chelmsford local authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which NHS charities which have NHS bodies as corporate trustees have submitted requests to change to independent trustees in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement; (311760)

Three national health service bodies submitted a request to appoint independent trustees. Two have since indicated that they do not want to proceed at this stage.

It is not possible to identify individual NHS charities that will be required to consolidate their accounts into those of their relevant NHS body under the new International Accounting Standard 27 in April 2010, as application of the accounting standard will be determined locally taking into account the materiality of charitable funds. Our best estimate is that this may be around 30, which amounts to around 10 per cent. of those who are currently governed by a corporate trustee.

However, we are continuing to work with the Treasury, the Charity Commission and other stakeholders to seek ways to strengthen the independent governance of NHS charities to enable us to meet the standard without invoking the requirement for consolidation.

Although accounts may be consolidated for reporting, the charity’s funds would remain wholly independent from NHS budgets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the NHS arising from incidents attributable to weather conditions in January 2010. (311773)

This is a matter for the local national health service. The NHS, as part of its planning process, ensures operational challenges, such as adverse weather are factored into local contingency plans, including the cost of treating patients.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the pre-Budget report, which budgetary headings of NHS spending will comprise (a) the 95 per cent. of NHS frontline spending due to rise in line with inflation and (b) the 5 per cent. that will not. (311995)

National health service frontline spending is defined as 95 per cent. of the NHS near-cash expenditure limit in 2010-11. This covers all NHS spending that supports patient care.

The remaining 5 per cent. covers a large number of budgets that do not directly contribute to patient care in the NHS including areas like consultancy and administrative budgets for the Department, arm’s length bodies and strategic health authorities.

Full details will be set out in the next spending review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS benefits and pensions sub-departments spent on information technology in the last three financial years; how much of this was spent on (a) software development and testing and (b) application including (i) staff training, (ii) the cost of new hardware and software and (iii) the cost of launching into the live environment. (311383)

NHS Pensions, a division of the Business Services Authority, administers the NHS Pension Scheme on behalf of the Department. They are unable to breakdown the costs of launching into the live environment because these costs are not broken down to this level within their accounts. These particular costs are therefore included in the overall development and testing costs in section 1 of the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS IT projects have been outsourced to companies based overseas in the last three years; and what the monetary value is of each such contract. (311384)

Within the national programme for information technology (IT), no discrete system or service projects have been outsourced to companies based overseas during the period. Comprehensive information is not held centrally about local IT procurements by national health service organisations outside of the national programme, and could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has allocated for the (a) procurement, (b) maintenance, (c) compliance testing and (d) security of IT systems in 2010-11. (311385)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of clinical negligence which were funded by conditional fee agreements were closed in each of the last five years; in how many such cases damages were paid (a) by agreement to settle and (b) by award; what the total cost was of defending each such case where damages were paid; how much was paid to claimants in legal costs in (i) total, (ii) base costs and (iii) success fees; and in such cases where damages were paid, how much was paid in after-the-event insurance premiums. (312528)