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Rural White Paper

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which of the measures relating to agriculture included in the Rural White Paper had not previously been announced. [144259]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 8 January 2001]: The Rural White Paper includes a number of new initiatives such as targeted help for small and medium-sized abattoirs, consultation on transitional rate relief for farm diversification and a new review group on

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assessing public benefits of rural land uses. A number of the non-agricultural measures in the Rural White Paper will also benefit the farming community.

Special Advisers

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what categories of submissions from civil servants to Ministers, other than those relating to (a) intelligence and (b) personnel matters, are not circulated to Special Advisers; [143798]

(2) what categories of submissions from civil servants are submitted to Special Advisers before being seen by Ministers. [143799]

Ms Quin: Special Advisers in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have access to material produced by permanent civil servants in accordance with paragraph 14e of the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".

Veterinary Drugs

Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if Ministers in his Department and in the Department of Health have determined the fees to be paid by merchants and saddlers for registration in 2001-02 with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain under the Medicines (Exemptions for Merchants in Veterinary Drugs) Order 1998. [145155]

Mr. Nick Brown: With the consent of the Treasury, the Schedule of Fees for registration, retention and restoration have been determined. This is given in the table.

Fees

Application in respect of each premises	Previous fee (£)	New fee (£)
Agricultural Merchants
1. For registration under article 5	197	224
2. For retention of registration under article 5	122	133
3. For restoration of registration under article 5	166	190
Saddlers
1. For registration under article 5	123	127
2. For retention of registration under article 5	73	78
3. For restoration of registration under article 5	107	107

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Fuel Efficiency

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research the Government have commissioned on the impact of petrol and diesel prices on (a) miles travelled, (b) the sales of more fuel-efficient vehicles and (c) the design and promotion by manufacturers of fuel-efficient vehicles. [143171]

Mr. Hill [holding answer 18 December 2000]: Government research over many years has helped to assess the impact of fuel prices on traffic levels and the development and purchase of more fuel-efficient vehicles and has contributed to the Government's strategic transport and environmental modelling capacity. Recent

10 Jan 2001 : Column: 565W

research by DETR, described in Annex C of 'Modelling using the National Road Traffic Forecasting framework for "Tackling Congestion and Pollution" and "Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan" ' published in December, has assessed the impact of changes in fuel prices on car traffic levels. Current DETR research includes analysis of the factors influencing both customers' new car purchasing decisions and future fuel efficiency improvements.

Data showing trends in fuel consumption and emissions of CO ₂ from road transport are published in a variety of sources including the "UK Air Emissions Inventory, Climate Change--The UK Programme" and "Transport Statistics Great Britain".

Vehicle Excise Duty

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for North Essex on 14 December 2000, Official Report, column 201W, on implementation of VED rates for commercial vehicles, (a) if rebates on existing vehicles and (b) the revised rates of VED on re-registered vehicles will be available to vehicle operators before 1 January 2001; and if it is his policy (i) to increase VED rates immediately and (ii) to delay the implementation of VED reductions until the Budget. [144091]

Mr. Hill: Application forms for operators to apply for the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rebates announced in the pre-Budget Report are currently being sent out to operators by DVLA. A number of payments have already been made. It is expected that payments will be despatched no more than four weeks after receipt of the completed application form by DVLA. The deduction of rebates from the statutory VED rates at source has meant that those taking out licences from December 2000 have, in effect, been paying the new VED rates announced in the pre-Budget Report. This reflects our intention to implement both the new rates and the payment of rebates at the earliest opportunity after the announcement of the pre-Budget Report.

The Government have issued a consultation paper on the future VED for goods vehicles, seeking views on a number of proposals including fewer VED rate bands, greater flexibility of vehicle configuration within each rate band, better environmental signals and reduced tax on vehicle ownership. The consultation closes on 12 January.

Repetitive Strain Injury

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what information the Health and Safety Executive collates on the number of people suffering from work-related cases of RSI; and if he will make a statement. [144568]

Mr. Meacher: The Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recognise that RSI (or upper limb disorders, which is a more accurate term) is a serious problem, and we are taking steps to tackle it. The Health and Safety Commission proposes to include a specific programme on work-related musculoskeletal disorders in its strategic plan for 2001-04.

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The HSE information sheet 1/00/EMSU, "Work-related upper limb disorders statistics information sheet", contains the most up-to-date information collated by HSE on this topic. I am placing a copy in the Library.

Special Advisers

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what categories of submissions from civil servants to Ministers, other than those relating to (a) intelligence and (b) personnel matters, are not circulated to Special Advisers; [143820]

(2) what categories of submissions from civil servants are submitted to Special Advisers before being seen by Ministers. [143821]

Ms Beverley Hughes: Special Advisers in this Department have access to material produced by permanent civil servants in accordance with paragraph 14e of the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Special Advisers

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what categories of submissions from civil servants are submitted to Special Advisers before being seen by Ministers; [143833]

(2) what categories of submissions from civil servants to Ministers, other than those relating to (a) intelligence and (b) personnel matters, are not circulated to Special Advisers. [143832]

Mr. Chris Smith: Special Advisers in this Department have access to material produced by permanent civil servants in accordance with paragraph 14e of the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".

Sports Participation

Ms Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to increase the number of people participating in sport in this country. [145173]

Mr. Chris Smith: The Government made a clear commitment to widen access to sporting opportunities in "A Sporting Future for All". Since its publication in April last year, we have announced a number of initiatives which will go a long way towards meeting this commitment. £750 million will be made available through the New Opportunities Fund for sport projects in, around and for schools; £130 million is being spent on multi-use facilities in primary schools; £120 million will provide a network of 1,000 School Sport Co-ordinators to improve physical education and sporting opportunities for schoolchildren and the local community.

Tomorrow, we will announce further steps which the Government will take to increase opportunities--not only as participant or competitor--to enjoy sport and the benefits it can bring.

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TREASURY

Employment Statistics

Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many adults are aged between 18 and 24 years; and if he will estimate the number of these who are (a) employed, (b) self-employed, (c) in full-time education and (d) in other categories of economic activities. [144355]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 8 January 2001]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 10 January 2001:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of 18 to 24 year olds and their number in various categories of economic activity (144355). I am replying in his absence.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the main source of labour market data on individuals used by National Statistics. There were 4,942,000 people aged 18 to 24 in the UK in summer (June to August) 2000 of which (a) 3,451,000 were in employment, (b) 1,165,000 were full-time students and (c) 965,000 were in other categories of economic activities.

People aged 16 or over are classed as in employment by the LFS if they have done at least one hour of paid work (as an employee or self-employed) in the week prior to their LFS interview or if they have a job that they are temporarily away from. People who do unpaid work in a family business and people on government- supported training and employment programmes are also included according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

Full-time students are those people aged over 16 who are still at school or in some other form of full-time education, including sandwich courses.

The other category comprises the unemployed and the economically inactive, excluding students.

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