To ask the Prime Minister what recent changes he has made to the practice and conventions relating to ministerial responsibility for replying to questions and adjournment debates in the House; and if he will make a statement. [42910]

I have made no such changes. Paragraph 1 of the Ministerial Code sets out Ministers' responsibilities in relation to Parliament and the public.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the extent of job sharing in his Office. [41012]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on Monday 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 780W.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) what measures were taken to ensure that the consultant advising on the installation of air conditioning in No. 10 Downing street, was aware of the Government's policy on the use of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in air conditioning; and if he will make a statement on the measures taken by the consultant to source practical and safe alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon-based air conditioning; [41168](2) whether an installer capable of installing not-in-kind air conditioning was invited to quote for the recent refurbishment contract for No. 10 Downing street; and if he will make a statement; [41170](3) which consultant was used to advise on the installation of air conditioning in No. 10 Downing Street. [41169]

A comfort cooling system was installed in parts of No. 10 during 2001. The Cabinet Office sought expert advice through its managing agent and appropriate appraisals were made including taking account of Government policy on the use of HFCs. The installed systems comply with all current relevant European standards on the use of HFCs and safety in the workplace.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the work being done by the social exclusion unit on transport. [40127]

The social exclusion unit's project is looking at how poor transport can prevent people from getting to jobs or key services such as health and education.A report will be published later this year.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the social exclusion unit's study into the role of transport in welfare to work policy and access to services. [40130]

The social exclusion unit was asked by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to look at the relationships between poor transport and social exclusion in April last year.The SEU project is looking at how poor transport can prevent people from getting to jobs or key services such as health and education.A report will be published later this year, with policies for improving access and preventing social exclusion.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role he and his office is playing in the review of the ministerial code of conduct and the code of conduct for special advisers. [40129]

A revised ministerial code was issued in July 2001. Since then, in response to a recommendation from the Public Administration Committee, the Government have agreed to amend paragraph 27 of the code. A revised model contract for special advisers incorporating a new code of conduct for special advisers was introduced for all appointments made after the election in June 2001.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what resources have been distributed by the Duchy of Lancaster benevolent fund during the past 12 months. [40131]

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has asked me to reply.Lord Macdonald is not a trustee of the Duchy benevolent fund. The Secretary of the fund has provided the following information. During the 12-month period 1 March 2001 to 28 February 2002 the Duchy of Lancaster benevolent fund has distributed approximately £285,000. The fund's annual report and accounts will be produced at the end of the financial year on 31 March 2002.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he next expects to meet members of the British-Irish Council to discuss investment in the border areas of Northern Ireland. [40132]

The British-Irish Council has agreed to take forward work in the following priority areas: drugs, the environment, the knowledge economy, social inclusion, transport, tourism and tele-medicine. There are no current plans to discuss the issue of investment. Responsibility for investment in the border areas of Northern Ireland lies with the Northern Ireland Executive.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to amend the ministerial code of conduct; and if he will make a statement. [40133]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend earlier today to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner), Official Report, column.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the proportion of ethnic minorities and women that have been appointed to public bodies in the past 12 months. [40134]

Information contained in Public Bodies 2001 which was published on 14 February 2002, shows that as at 31 March 2001, women held 34 per cent. of appointments made to the boards of public bodies, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds held 4.8 per cent. of appointments. This is an increase of one per cent. and 0.4 per cent. respectively on the previous year.In addition, also published on 14 February 2002 was "Public Bodies: Opening up Public Appointments 2002–05". This publication contains individual departmental plans to increase diversity in public appointments.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress have been made by the social exclusion unit in research into neighbourhood renewal. [40135]

Since the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy was published in January 2001, the Social Exclusion Unit jointly with Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, have published one further report related to neighbourhood renewal in July 2001: "Changing Fortunes: geographic patterns of Income Deprivation in the late 1990s". This sets out baseline information on income deprivation and recent social trends at the local level. It will be used in monitoring progress of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.Responsibility for implementing the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy moved to the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit in April 2001.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he intends to meet the Royal National Institute for Deaf People to discuss the employment in Government Departments of people with hearing impairments. [40136]

The Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to meet the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.The Government are committed to employing disabled people including those with hearing impairments and all Departments have targets to increase the number of disabled people they employ. 3.6 per cent. of staff in the civil service have declared themselves to have a disability. This includes 1.7 per cent. in the senior civil service.Action to support this commitment includes participation in the two-ticks disability scheme and sponsorship of Ready, Willing and Able which advertises a range of civil service vacancies.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the proportion of Government services delivered by Government agencies and other bodies operating at a regional level. [40137]

No such assessment has been made but Government policy stresses the importance of providing public services that respond to users' needs, including area-based programmes that tackle the problems of particular localities.There are currently 126 executive agencies providing a wide range of public services.In addition, a wide range of public bodies also have responsibilities for the delivery of particular services at a local, regional or national levels.The forthcoming White Paper on English Regional Governance will look at the relationships between some of these bodies and elected regional assemblies.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when his Department expects to publish a draft civil service Bill. [40139]

I refer the hon. Member to my earlier answer given to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), Official Report, column.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the contribution of regional Government offices to the development of child care services as part of social and economic regeneration. [40140]

This Government recognise that child care programmes can make an important contribution to social and economic regeneration. The Government offices for the regions are helping to improve the delivery of front-line services, for example sure start and other child care and nursery initiatives, by making effective connections between such programmes and the other programmes that they support.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he is taking to reduce poverty in the north-west. [40141]

In the north-west, around 230,000 people have gained from the national minimum wage; the working families tax credit makes work pay for nearly 180,000 families. The minimum income guarantee ensures single pensioners will receive £100 a week by 2003 and more than 1.4 million pensioners have seen the biggest rise in basic state pension for a generation.Following the Social Exclusion Unit's reports, local partnerships are harnessing the power of all the sectors to tackle the problems of deprived neighbourhoods supported by new minimum standards for mainstream services.The Government Offices for the Regions administer programmes to tackle deprivation and poverty. For example, the north-west receives £243 million through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the role of his Department is in tackling urban poverty. [40144]

The National Strategy for neighbourhood renewal action plan was published by the Social Exclusion Unit in 2001. Its goal is to ensure that no one is seriously disadvantaged by where they live within 10–20 years and to narrow the gap between the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest. Many of the most deprived neighbourhoods are in urban areas.The strategy addresses the wider causes of poverty and social exclusion with targets to improve employment levels, educational attainment, health and housing and to reduce crime in the most deprived neighbourhoods. This is backed up by substantial investment. The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, based in Department for Transport Local Government and the Regions, is responsible for taking this forward. The Government Offices for the Regions work with the NRU and other Departments to administer specific programmes like the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.The SEU continues to work with all Government departments to ensure that social exclusion issues are addressed.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff left the service of his Department and its agencies in the year ended 31 March 2001; how many left before attaining the formal retirement age of 60 years; and in respect of how many his Department and its agencies assumed responsibilities for making payments until retirement age. [37557]

Figures for (a) and (b) are in the table, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.The figures show the number of permanent staff in each Department reported to the Mandate database from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001.They are also based on the Departments as they were before structural changes were made after the election in 2001.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out for each civil service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies the (i) total number of staff employed, (ii) number aged (A) 16 to 25, (B) 26 to 35, (C) 36 to 45, (D) 46 to 60 and (E) over the age of 60 years, (iii) number of registered disabled and (iv) number of ethnic minorities. [39152]

The figures are in tables and represent the data reported to the Mandate database and supplied in manual returns as at 1 October 2001, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. Mandate is a central computer based record of information for almost all civil servants in the home civil service. For some Departments and agencies, summary figures are provided in a manual return, which may not always be fully consistent with Mandate information, for example, because of minor differences in timing. Breakdowns by age are purely figures reported to Mandate. Departments and agencies are responsible for their own grading structures, but these have been allocated to broad responsibility levels to give a common basis for tabulation.Figures are on a head count basis, for the number of permanent staff in each Department. The figures are based on the Departments following the structural changes made as a result of the 2001 election. Figures for total staff in each Department are rounded to the nearest 10 and figures by grade level are suppressed if less than five.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the expenditure was per campaign for the five most expensive media advertising campaigns his Department undertook in the past five parliamentary Sessions including the current parliamentary Session in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland; and for the last two parliamentary Sessions and the current Session, when each advertising campaign (i) began and (ii) ended in (A) Scotland, (B) England, (C) Wales and (D) Northern Ireland. [37392]

Expenditure on media advertising campaigns by parliamentary Session and country is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was of media advertising in each of the past five parliamentary Sessions including the current Session, for his Department in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland; and for the last two parliamentary Sessions and the current parliamentary Session, what the media advertising expenditure was per month in (i) England, (ii) Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland. [37405]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 939W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received in the last 12 months from the National Assembly for Wales regarding the Comprehensive Spending Review. [43225]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1004W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) press releases, (b) guidance notes and (c) publications his Department issued in each month since July 1999. [43227]

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the job title of each member of staff in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales. [43230]

I refer the hon. Member to figure seven on page 17 of the Departmental Report 2001 (Cm 5121) which is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the Public Service Agreement targets which have been revised and those which have been introduced since the publication of the 2001 departmental report. [43254]

My Department does not have a Public Service Agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number and expected cost to his Department of special advisers in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [43274]

I refer the hon. Member to answers I gave the hon. Members for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) and for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) on 23 January 2002, Official Report, columns 856–57W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends to answer the question of 13 February from the hon. Member for Buckingham regarding staff involvement in union duties. [41574]

I have answered today, at columns 1074–75 below.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales on measures being taken to encourage school children in coalfield areas to stay on in full-time education beyond age 16. [40541]

I have regular discussion with the First Secretary and his Cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues affecting Wales.The Assembly is committed to widening access to education for all those who have the ability to benefit from it. Their 10-year plan, "The Learning Country" which was published in September, includes specific targets to increase the participants in post-16 education and training and to attract larger numbers of students into higher and further education, helped by substantial new provision for access funds.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the official visits within the UK outside London made by each Minister in his Department in 2001, giving for each (a) the origin and destination and (b) the mode of travel used; and what guidance is provided to Ministers in his Department on choice of mode of travel for official visits; [38184](2) if he will list the official visits to

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 6 March 2002, Official Report, column 421W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are allocated; and what has been the cost to public funds in each of the last four years. [36209]

There has been one staff member elected as union representative with an allocation of eight days per annum to undertake union duties since the creation of the Wales Office in July 1999. The Department has no agencies or NDPBs.Information for the former Welsh Office is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when she intends to review the operation of the Retailer Code of Practice; [42167](2) what measures are in place to monitor the operation and impact of the Retailer Code of Practice. [42166]

[holding answer 11 March 2002]: The Code of Practice on supermarket/supplier relations comes into force on 17 March.The Director General of Fair Trading is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the operation of Fair Trading Act orders and undertakings. His office has been in contact with relevant trade associations to ensure that the code operates effectively. In addition, the code provides for the independent dispute mediator to supply the Director General with an annual return of his work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the outcome was of the Internal Market, Consumer and Tourism Council on 1 March; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement. [40765]

There was a presentation from the Commission on its Cardiff report on economic reform, followed by a debate. Conclusions were adopted on the outcome of this year's Cardiff process, which are to be submitted to the Barcelona spring council. The council also adopted conclusions on the Commission's proposal to set up a computerised system (SOLVIT) to help improve the handling of complaints from citizens and businesses facing problems caused by the misapplication of internal market rules. The Council also adopted a resolution on the labelling of video and computer games.There was a Presidency briefing on the Community Patent followed by a lunchtime discussion. There was a Commission presentation on its newly published proposal on computer implemented inventions (software patents), which aims to clarify the law in this area.The Presidency initiated an exchange of views on the changeover to the euro from a consumer perspective and there was also a Presidency progress report on work during its term so far of simplifying, clarifying and updating the EC procurement directives.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent advertising Business Link services in the past five years; what the nature of this advertising has been; and what the assessed outcome of each campaign has been. [41461]

Information on advertising spend prior to the set-up of the Small Business Service in April 2000 is not available.Since April 2000, £4.2 million has been spent advertising the Business Link services at a national level. This includes two years of publicity activities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which advertising agency was consulted with regard to the Business Links advertising campaign in October 2001; what the remuneration of the company was; and what the assessed outcome of the campaign has been. [41458]

The advertising agency used was Ogilvy and Mather. Ogilvy and Mather were paid £170,538 for the October campaign, which represents 8 per cent. of the £2.1 million total spend on national newspaper, television, and online advertising at this time.Evaluation and tracking is carried out for the campaign, and the effectiveness of the campaign is also measured by the results of the National Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses, which showed significant increases in both prompted and unprompted awareness of Business Link:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff have been employed by Business Links in each region in each of the past five years. [41459]

Business Links are independent autonomous organisations and figures on the number of staff they employ are not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance with disaster planning she provides to small businesses. [40115]

The Government have established the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) to improve the UK's resilience to disruptive challenges at every level through improved anticipation, preparation, prevention and resolution.The SBS and its business link network can also advise companies on a number of disaster management issues. Companies should contact their local business link operator. The business link website: http://www.businesslink.org will put small firms in touch with their local provider.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will make a statement on measures to improve public awareness of the roles of regional development agencies; [41903](2) if she will make a statement on the costs of measures to raise public awareness of the roles of regional development agencies over the next three years. [41904]

Significant developments in the role of the regional development agencies have been and will continue to he publicised through departmental Press Notices. In addition the DTI maintains information on the RDAs on its website. Ministers will continue to raise public awareness of the role of RDAs through speeches and in other ways. There are no specific plans to hold additional events to raise public awareness.It is for the RDAs to ensure that they maintain a sufficient public profile in their regions to fulfil their role as the champions of regional economic development, and to ensure public awareness of their activities. Press Notices, publication of their various strategies, their corporate plans and their annual reports, and maintaining websites are some of the ways in which they do this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will take steps to improve the capacity of clients of debt management companies to obtain compensation after receiving bad advice from such companies. [35796]

The Director General of Fair Trading issued guidelines for debt management companies last December to ensure they deal fairly and openly with their customers. The guidelines require debt management companies to respond promptly and fairly to complaints about their services. They also require that a contract should set out the circumstances in which a consumer may withdraw and receive a refund and should not include any term which says or implies that there are no circumstances in which a consumer is entitled to a refund.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the administrative costs of each of the organisations which were merged into the South West Regional Development Agency in each of the final three years of their independent life. [41878]

These costs are not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate costs to assemble the information requested. The administrative budget of the South West Regional Development Agency in 1999–2000 was £7.086 million, but this reflected the total administration of the agency, not just the costs of the legacy organisations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what state aid has been received by UK Coal plc in the last two years in the aggregate; and how this was apportioned to each colliery. [42221]

UK Coal plc has received £75 million under the UK Coal Operating Aid Scheme in the last two years. These sums have been awarded in respect of four collieries, apportioned as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what communications she has had with UK Coal plc in relation to their decisions on shareholder dividends over the last two years. [42222]

There have been no communications between my Department and UK Coal plc in relation to their decisions on shareholder dividends over the last two years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what approaches have been made to her Department by UK Coal plc with a view to extending the state aid scheme of deep-mined coal subsidy beyond its present expiry date. [42220]

I have received no formal request from UK Coal plc for an extension of the UK Coal Operating Aid Scheme, although the matter has been raised informally in meetings with officials.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what communications she has had with UK Coal plc relating to the possibility of continued state aid for the Prince of Wales Colliery beyond the present expiry date for state aid; and what her estimate is of (a) accessible coal reserves at the Prince of Wales colliery and (b) the cost of accessing these reserves. [42223]

No state aid has been paid in respect of the Prince of Wales Colliery, and I have received no request for such aid.IMC Group Consulting Ltd undertook a detailed review of the Prince of Wales Colliery on behalf of the DTI in January. This examined the extent of reserves and the costs of their access in a number of possible development scenarios. It concluded that there were no areas that would sustain long-term viable production. The report is available on the DTI website on http://www2.dti.gov.uk/energy/pow/pdf.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what conclusions she has drawn from the results of the company law review; and if she will make a statement. [42065]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter) on 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 982W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the role of councils in the planning process in the next five years. [41906]

I have been asked to reply.The Government have set out in the Planning Green Paper "Planning: delivering a fundamental change" proposals to significantly simplify the arrangements under which County, District and Unitary councils are responsible for preparing and adopting development plans. We will put forward firm proposals once we have considered the responses to consultation, which finishes on 18 March. Thereafter implementation will depend on the making of necessary changes to primary legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the future of the Mersey Basin Trust. [37115]

The Mersey Basin Trust is a registered charity and as such its future is a matter for its Trustees to determine in the first instance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether (a) the conditions precedent, as referred to at http://www.railways.dtlr.gov.uk/lunderground/factsheets/safety/index.htm and as published by his Department on 11 February, are signed and (b) other conditions, which must be satisfied before the final contracts on the London Underground PPP, include the contractual safety cases for each infrastructure company. [40340]

I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 4 March 2002, Official Report, column 88W and 11 March 2002 Official Report, columns 735–36W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what percentage of deep sub-surface line mileage on Britain's roads is subject to speed restrictions; and by how much this has changed in the last five years. [41608]

I understand that the hon. Member is referring to deep and sub-surface lines on London Underground. This is an operational matter for London Underground who have provided the information in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the charging of boundary fees by local authorities for the shipment of dead bodies. [40291]

Local authorities do not charge boundary fees for the transport of dead bodies between local authority areas. However some authorities charge higher fees for the burial of those from outside their area. This is in accordance with the Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether he was informed on 15 February of the conditions mentioned in Sir Richard Mottram's statement of 25 February upon which Mr. Martin Sixsmith had agreed to resign. [40404]

[holding answer 5 March 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by Sir Richard Mottram, the Permanent Secretary of my Department, on Monday 25 February 2002. A copy of this is available in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reason the road link to North Wales envisaged in the Essen agreement did not follow existing routes via the M6 and the dual carriageway along the North Wales Coast. [41736]

The M6 and the North Wales coast road (A55) are part of the Ireland/United Kingdom/Benelux road link. The decision to include the A5 and A483 in that link was taken by the previous administration and approved by the European Council on 23 July 1996. I will write to the hon. Member on that aspect.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of local authorities received grant increases of retail prices index for 2002–03. [41676]

All English local authorities received grant increases at least as large as the annual increase in the RPI.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to bring in a third party right of appeal against planning decisions. [41902]

As indicated in our Planning Green Paper, published on 12 December, a third party right of appeal against the grant of planning permission could add to the costs and uncertainties of planning. We cannot accept that prospect. We believe that the right way forward is to make the planning system more accessible and transparent and to strengthen the opportunities for community involvement throughout this process. Proposals to achieve this were set out in the Green Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the costs of introducing new planning obligations set out in the Planning Green Paper. [41905]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) on 11 February 2002, Official Report, column 31W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assumptions have been made about building cost inflations in his Department's assessment of business plans for stock transfers in Coventry, Walsall and Birmingham. [41952]

The business plans for housing transfers are commercially sensitive documents that are considered by the Housing Corporation as part of the transfer process. Each housing transfer will make its own assumptions for building cost inflation over future years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had with Birmingham City Council about the impact of the proposed demolitions over the next five years on homelessness in the city; and if he will make a statement. [41951]

The Government's priority is that all social housing should be made decent by 2010. Birmingham has a plan to achieve this through a housing transfer. Where the appropriate course of action involves demolition of properties this should be based on an assessment of likely future demand, the rate at which properties will be relet and where necessary proposals for new build.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what contribution the Government are making for stock transfer purposes towards the payment of (a) Walsall's housing attributable debt and (b) Walsall's debt breakage costs; and what is the contribution to each from (i) Walsall MBC and (ii) Walsall Housing Group. [41949]

The contributions from the Department, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council and Walsall Housing Group towards the repayment of Walsall's housing attributable debt will not be known until a final valuation is agreed for Walsall's housing stock.The Department does not contribute to a local authority's debt breakage costs. The local authority redeeming the debt usually meets this cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what basis he expects the successor body to Railtrack to raise funds on commercial markets. [41950]

Railtrack's successor needs to be financially sound with a strong investment grade credit rating sufficient to finance the required expenditure efficiently. It is for bidders for Railtrack to propose to the Administrator how they will raise funds in commercial markets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the successor company to Railtrack in administration will be in the private sector. [42816]

[holding answer 12 March 2002]: It is for the Administrator to consider all proposals for the transfer of Railtrack plc's property rights and liabilities put to him, and for me to approve any transfer scheme put to me by the Administrator under Schedule 7 of the Railways Act 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what consultation with hon. Members is planned over the future of English Partnerships. [41793]

The review of English Partnerships was announced to both Houses on 16 October 2001. During stage one of the review, a number of hon. Members have taken the opportunity to write to Ministers and to the review team on issues of concern. These letters have been taken into account in coming to a conclusion on stage one of the review.Stage two of the review, the remit for which will be published as part of the stage one outcome, will offer hon. Members further opportunities to make their views known.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what criteria are being used to determine whether the coalfield programme be maintained by English Partnerships or the regional development agencies. [41791]

In determining whether the coalfield programme should continue to be maintained by English Partnerships or the regional development agencies, a judgment will be made as to which approach offers the most efficient and effective method of delivering the national coalfield programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) within what time scale an agreement will be reached between English Partnerships and the East Midlands Regional Development Agency over the infrastructure works and marketing of the former Manton pit site; [41790](2) what the budget is for English Partnerships to bring the former Manton pit site to the market. [41792]

To date £4.35 million has been committed by English Partnerships to allow the reclamation and marketing of the Manton pit site by the East Midlands Regional Development Agency. Reclamation and agreed infrastructure work has been completed and the site is currently on the market.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what his estimate is of the cost to the taxpayer so far of running mayoral referendums in local authorities in England; [42233](2) what his estimate is of the cost to the taxpayer of introducing new executive structures on local authorities. [42232]

Information to estimate the costs and savings of introducing new executive arrangements, including the holding of mayoral referendums, is not currently available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the administrative costs were of local government reorganisation in each local authority that has been restructured since 1990 in (a) cash and (b) real terms, expressed in 2002 prices. [42231]

This information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to introduce annual elections for local government in England. [42230]

We have no plans to introduce annual local government elections in England. As stated in our White Paper 'Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services' we will be inviting the Electoral Commission to propose options to simplify the current cycle of local elections.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish figures for the number of empty council houses, broken down by region, in England, for each year since 1997. [42227]

The number of council houses reported as being empty in each year since 1997 by region in England is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer on 5 March 2002, Ref: 39179, what information he collates on the funding of non-Governmental organisations by his Department, with particular reference to those operating on a regional level; and if he will make a statement. [41829]

The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions does not hold information centrally on the proportion of its various budgets which go to organisations operating in the charity/voluntary sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what provisions have been made to maintain access to public footpaths after the construction of the A6 Rothwell/Desborough bypass; [41966](2) what provisions have been made to reduce the noise impact of the A6 Rothwell/Desborough bypass. [41967]

I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the elderly personal social services standard spending assessment per person aged 65 and over for Stoke-on-Trent adjusted for inflation each year since 1998–99. [41909]

The table shows the data requested, together with a year-on-year percentage change after adjusting for changes in the function and funding of services:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in how many cases the British Transport police have acted on the basis of out-of-date arrest warrants since 1999; and if he will make a statement. [41883]

The British Transport police have advised that no record is kept of when an arrest is made using an invalid warrant, but since 1999 three civil claims have been made against the force for unlawful arrest regarding the arrest warrant used.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many rail freight services have been cancelled as a result of the SNCF channel tunnel restrictions. [42739]

EWS advise that over 1,700 rail freight services have been cancelled since November.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many and what proportion of the staff of his Department are (a) job sharing, (b) term working and (c) engaged in another form of flexible working. [42423]

I refer the hon. Member to my answer given on 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 742W. Information specifically on job sharers, term working and other forms of flexible working is not held centrally and can be produced only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on energy costs incurred by his Department in each of the last 10 years. [42441]

The annual energy cost for DTLR's predecessors is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress he has made in introducing the national minimum half-fare scheme for pensioners with respect to coach travel; and if he will make a statement. [42719]

We are currently considering next steps in the light of our discussions so far with the industry on the introduction of this scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans the Government have to stop the practice of gazumping. [42612]

We believe the answer to the problems caused by gazumping lie in increasing transparency and speeding up the home buying and selling process. That is what our proposals for sellers' packs will achieve. Sellers' packs will bring about earlier certainty and reduce the period of time during which gazumping can occur. The necessary legislation for this will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total expenditure to date has been from the budget of the new deal for communities in Kings Norton; and what have been the main achievements. [42682]

Kings Norton NDC has been awarded £54 million for its 10-year life of which £4,293,399 has been so far spent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the results have been of the pilot schemes for local authorities to assume responsibility for the clamping and removal of untaxed vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [42555]

Pilot schemes for local authorities to act as DVLA contractors to clamp and remove unlicensed vehicles have been conducted in Newham and, on a much smaller scale, in Lewisham. Between 9 April 2001 and 28 February 2002 Newham clamped 1,682 vehicles of which 610 were declamped after payment, 160 released from the pound after removal and payment, and 589 were crushed. The number of vehicles reported as abandoned in Newham fell by 10 per cent. between November 2001 and February 2002.In Lewisham 51 vehicles were clamped between August 2001 and January 2002, with 21 crushed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the results were of the consultation on the removal and disposal of vehicles regulations; and if he will make a statement. [42563]

My right hon. Friend expects to make an announcement shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is proposing to implement the European end of life vehicles directive; and if he will make a statement. [42554]

I have been asked to reply.The responses to our consultation paper on options for implementing the Directive are being assessed, along with the recommendations of the Trade and Industry Committee, with a view to adopting the approach which best suits the UK's circumstances. Our policy is to achieve the environmental objectives of the Directive using a light regulatory touch and without putting UK business at a competitive disadvantage. We also aim to ensure that there is an adequate network of treatment facilities to deal with all end-of-life vehicles properly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what other nation states use the supplementary vote electoral system used for electing directly-elected mayors. [42779]

The information requested is not held by my Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans the Government have to review the electoral system used for electing directly-elected mayors in England and Wales. [42778]

We have no plans to review the electoral system used for electing directly-elected mayors in England and Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which fire authorities are involved in local strategic partnerships in their area; and what their role is in regard to such local strategic partnerships. [42923]

Fire authorities have a valuable role to play as members of local strategic partnerships. As with other public sector organisations fire authorities' participation in LSPs allow the development of an integrated approach to local service delivery in consultation with the local community. We do not have specific information as to the number of fire authorities on LSPs. It is for each LSP to consider its membership in view of local circumstances and priorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many rescues from (a) road traffic accidents, (b) underground, (c) collapsed structures and (d) floods were undertaken by the fire service in the last year for which records are available; and what the cost of each of these operations was. [42927]

The information is not held centrally. However, information is available on the number of incidents where persons were extricated from vehicles. For last year this was 9,638. Other rescues involved the release of 8,531 individuals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many unfilled posts there are within the fire service, broken down into (a) civilian and (b) fire fighting positions. [42930]

Based on annual returns submitted to HM Fire Service Inspectorate, the figures for the establishment and strength of the fire service in England and Wales, as at 31 March 2001, were as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the members of the Maritime Vision for Shoreham steering group and their attendance record at meetings. [42909]

The members of the Maritime Vision for Shoreham steering group consist of Adur district council, Brighton and Hove city council, the Government Office for the South East, Shoreham Port Authority, the South East England Development Agency, Sussex Enterprise and West Sussex county council. Although the Government Office for the South East is a partner of the steering group, it is not within the remit of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions to publish details of the members' attendance at the meetings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2002, Official Report, column 373W, on Shoreham Port Authority, for what period he is able to provide information about declined reappointments. [42965]

Information is readily available for the past seven years. In this period we have declined to reappoint just one member of the Shoreham Port Authority board. This was an appointment arising in January 2002 and I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 11 February 2002, Official Report, column 24W. There have been no occasions when we have declined to confirm the appointment of nominated candidates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the progress of the Maritime Vision for Shoreham Harbour. [42967]

The Shoreham Maritime Steering Group was set up in 1997 and the Maritime Vision for Shoreham Harbour was published in December 1999. Since then, the Steering Group have been meeting regularly in order to implement this vision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the dates on which vacancies on the board of Shoreham Port Authority were advertised in the local media. [42966]

These vacancies were advertised on the 8, 9, 14 and 15 of November 2001.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he has taken to co-ordinate policies in departments to ensure that electoral boundary changes do not debar areas from eligibility for deprivation-related funds. [40138]

When individual departments contact us for advice on using the Indices of Deprivation 2000 we explain that it is based on 1998 ward boundaries. Our advice is that if departments wish to target resources using the ward based element of the ID 2000 then this should be based on the wards as they were constituted in 1998.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what predicted traffic rates over the next (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 20 years the multi-modal studies are using. [39841]

The multi-modal studies do not use a pre-determined rate of traffic growth. Each study makes its own estimate of how traffic will grow in its study area over the study period. In each case, account is taken of study-specific factors such as changes in the numbers and location of households and workers, the level of current and future congestion, the availability of alternative modes of transport and the implementation of local demand restraint measures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions under what rules his Department must operate when (a) tendering, (b) awarding contracts and (c) commissioning (i) work, (ii) research and (iii) advice to ensure (A) that any (1) advice and (2) reports published remain independent of the Department's own views and (B) that reports published remain unaltered from the original. [42119]

[holding answer 11 March 2002]: When the Department commissions work for research and advice the standard terms and conditions are used. Included within these is a condition that deals with the ownership of the material produced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will make a statement on how the Government plans to tackle homelessness. [43232]

I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses a report to me on homelessness entitled "More than a Roof' together with my response to it.The serious and growing problem of homelessness needs to be addressed if this Government is to achieve our aim to ensure that everyone has access to a decent home.Although many members of the public think homeless people are only those they see on the streets, homelessness is more complicated. As this new report makes clear, it is more than simply being without a roof.There are still some people sleeping on the street but there are even more people living in night shelters and hostels, and there are thousands of families living in temporary accommodation.Over 6,000 families are bringing up their children in bed and breakfast hotels. The damage caused to those children may live with them into adult life. But certainly living in a cramped room without anywhere to do their homework or to play does not give them the start in life they deserve.To tackle this we need a new approach. One that concentrates as much on the people as on the places that they live. That is what "More than a roof' proposes. We accept it. There are six key objectives that underpin our new approach.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will publish the first annual revision to the Transport 10-year Plan. [42627]

[holding answer 12 March 2002]: There will be periodic reviews of the 10-year Plan for Transport. The first review is expected to be published in July 2002.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total external spending by his Department was on public-private partnership consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PPP consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [43190]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 448W.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department's press office have received (a) termination and (b) redundancy payments in each of the last four years. [41081]

No press office staff have received termination and no redundancy payments have been made in the last four years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the extent of the gender pay gap among staff in his Department. [41000]

In response to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Task Force "Just Pay" report, the Government have committed Departments and agencies to review their pay systems by April 2003 and prepare action plans to close any equal pay gaps. The Cabinet Office issued comprehensive guidance in January 2002 to assist Departments and agencies in carrying out these reviews. All Departments and agencies have until April 2003 to complete an equal pay review and prepare any necessary action plans to close any equal pay gaps.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were employed by the National Probation Directorate (a) on 1 April 2001 and (b) at the latest available date; what the budget was of the service; and if he will make a statement. [41152]

As of 1 April 2001, there were 109 members of staff employed by the National Probation Directorate. This increased to a total of 205 members of staff at the end of January 2002, when the latest figures were collected.This figure has been taken from the Staff-in-Post returns, which are completed on a regular basis and includes all full time permanent staff, temporary staff and secondments from other services.At the latest available date, the budgetary cost for these members of staff was £8.264 million. This takes into account the increase of staff from April 2001 until January 2002.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to establish a pay review body for the National Probation Service. [41151]

There are no plans to establish a review body for the National Probation Service. The Service has longstanding joint arrangements at national level for negotiating the pay and conditions of staff employed by the Probation Boards.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to address the shortage of probation officers in (a) Norfolk and (b) England and Wales. [41334]

We are actively recruiting Trainee Probation Officers in all parts of England and Wales. This is carried out by annual recruitment drives and as a consequence recruitment of trainee probation officers has trebled in size.The next recruitment drive will commence on 18 March 2002 and will be advertised in the National Press. We are expecting to recruit 1,000 trainees across the whole Probation Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the fire prevention and fire safety arrangements at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution. [40843]

Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution is subject to the requirements of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended in 1999. Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 call for risk assessments to be conducted and these have been completed for all premises in the establishment. In addition the establishment has been inspected by officers from the Crown Premises Inspection Group of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services.