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Early Years Education
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list for (a) England and (b) each local education authority in Hampshire the number of additional free early years education places that would be required to meet the Government's target of free places being available for 66 per cent. of three-year-olds by 2002. [115965]
Ms Hodge [holding answer 23 March 2000]: We shall have created 190,000 new free early years education places for three-year-olds by March 2002, at a cost of £390 million over three years. This will meet the national target of providing 66 per cent. of all three-year-olds in England with a free place.
The following table shows the estimated number of new places required in the local education authorities in the county of Hampshire to take the number of free places available in their areas to the level of the national target.
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| Hampshire | 9,174 |
| Southampton | 1,080 |
| Portsmouth | 828 |
PRIME MINISTER
Interception of Communications
Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his policy in relation to information derived from interception of communications of United Kingdom citizens where that has been undertaken by foreign powers, and where Her Majesty's Government's policy would not have allowed such an interception to have been initiated by any of the security and intelligence agencies. [116902]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 30 March 2000]: The Interception of Communications Acts make clear that the interception of communications on a public telecommunications network in the United Kingdom may not lawfully be carried out without a warrant signed by a Secretary of State. These arrangements will be enhanced by the provisions in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill, now in Standing Committee.
It would be unacceptable for our Security and Intelligence Agencies to ask foreign agencies to undertake on their behalf interception which our agencies could not lawfully carry out themselves. They do not do this.
Paternity Leave
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Prime Minister what considerations underlie his policy on paternity leave; and if he will make a statement. [117292]
The Prime Minister: The Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 give both employed parents of a child born or placed for adoption after 15 December 1999 a minimum entitlement of 13 weeks unpaid parental leave during the first five years of parenthood. These regulations implement the Parental Leave Directive and reflect the Government's wish to help the parents of young children strike a better balance between their work and family commitments. The Government encourage employers to improve on these minimum requirements where this accords with the needs of employees and is compatible with the efficient running of the business.
Council of Ministers
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to publish the agenda of the Council of Ministers and make a statement to the House in advance of Council summit meetings. [116722]
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The Prime Minister:
We give the House each month a forecast of EU business in the months ahead, including details of the agenda of Council of Ministers meetings when available. We will maintain established procedures for briefing Parliament before and after European Councils.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the comments concerning the future of BNFL posted on the Speakers' Corner section of the Downing street interactive website. [116998]
The Prime Minister:
The comments have been noted.
Mr. Norman:
To ask the Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter of 13 March from the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells regarding the Deputy Prime Minister. [117789]
The Prime Minister:
My office has passed the hon. Member's letter to the office of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister for reply. My right hon. Friend has asked for advice from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and will reply to the hon. Member when he has received that advice.
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the personnel who attended the European Council in Lisbon on 23 to 24 March, indicating their functions in each case. [117115]
The Prime Minister
[holding answer 3 April 2000]: The composition of the United Kingdom Delegation was as follows:
Staff from the British Embassy in Lisbon and UKREP Brussels provided further support to the Delegation. I, and my colleagues, were supported by the usual number of administrative, security and secure telecommunications staff associated with a visit abroad by the Prime Minister or a senior Cabinet Minister. This is in line with the practice adopted by previous Administrations.
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Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Prime Minister using what mode of travel, and when, (a) he, (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (c) the Foreign Secretary returned to the UK from the European Council in Lisbon on 24 and 25 March. [117141]
The Prime Minister
[holding answer 3 April 2000]: I returned to the UK by air on Friday 24 March 2000. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer returned to the UK by air on Thursday 23 March. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs accompanied his French counterpart on a French aircraft for a meeting in Paris on Friday 24 March and returned to London by air that evening.
All travel was undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the "Ministerial Code" and "Travel by Ministers", copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Maclennan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the expenditure incurred by his Department, agencies and non- departmental public bodies on (a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics that have been covered, (ii) the current average number of hits per month and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [116202]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The Department's new website www.culture.gov.uk was launched on 28 February.
It is designed to meet customer requirements--allowing new and regular visitors to discover more about the cultural assets of this country and the role of the Department within Government. It is a portal site which guides the browser through an array of governmental, public body and other cultural and sporting sites. The Department's news releases, publications, consultation papers and extensive contact information are all available on the site.
The site cost £80,000 to redevelop. This included costs for:
The operation of the site was within the budgeted £40,000.
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The new site averages 34,000 hits per day, or just under 1,000 visitors per day.
Myself
The Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Minister for Europe (Mr. Vaz).
In addition to HM Ambassador to Lisbon and the UK Permanent Representative to the European Union, the delegation comprised five No. 10 officials and one Special Adviser, six Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials, five HM Treasury officials and a single official from each of the Cabinet Office, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security. An official from the Northern Ireland Office also travelled with the delegation for my bilateral meeting in the margins of the Council with the Taioseach. A further British official attended the European Council in his capacity as President of the Economic Policy Committee.
tendering the work;
site redesign and development;
the introduction of a text only version of the site to help users with visual disabilities;
the introduction of a search engine; and
the incorporation of a previously separate lottery site which allows browsers to have access to information about every lottery award made since the introduction of the National Lottery.
The cost of the site redevelopment was met from the Department's 1999-2000 publicity budget--which was within budget for the year.
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