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Paediatric Pathologists

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist paediatric pathologists are employed by each health authority; and how many specialist paediatric pathologist posts are vacant in each authority. [151945]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 6 March 2001]: The information requested is not held centrally.

Body and Organ Disposal

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give guidance to health authorities on the disposal of bodies and organs in the health service. [152425]

Mr. Denham: Following the publication of the Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry Report, the Retained Organs Commission has been established to oversee the cataloguing and return of organs and tissue retained at post mortem. Guidance will be issued to National Health Service trusts shortly which will enable them to begin to provide information to relatives once the Commission has validated their information systems.

Air Quality

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's total spend has been in the last three years on research into the health impact of outdoor air quality. [152541]

Yvette Cooper: The Department has contributed around £1.4 million to research on the health impact of outdoor air pollution over the last three years.

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), Air and Environment Quality Division have also contributed around £25 million to research on air pollution over the past three years. Other Divisions

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within DETR, as well as other Government Departments, have also contributed to air pollution research programmes.

Asthma

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths were caused by traffic-related air pollution in the last year for which figures are available; and, of those, how many were related to (a) asthma and (b) other respiratory disease. [152543]

Yvette Cooper: The Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) published a report "Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollution on Health in the United Kingdom" in 1998 that included estimates of the number of people affected by the effects of air pollution each year. One of the pollutants studied in the report was particulate matter (PM _{1 0} ), a major pollutant related to traffic. The report concluded that 8,100 people in 1995 were likely to have their deaths brought forward as a result of exposure to this pollutant. Levels of particles have fallen since 1995 and not all particulate matter is derived from traffic so this will be an overestimate of current effects.

The above calculations relate to deaths from all causes. COMEAP did not recommend separate calculations for different causes of death.

New Lymington Hospital

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria will be used to determine whether the New Lymington hospital project proceeds as a wholly publicly funded or a PFI project. [151383]

Mr. Denham: Before a decision on the funding of a new hospital can be made we must determine which approach presents the best option for the local community. We must consider whether a scheme would be better value for the National Health Service and the taxpayer

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under private finance initiative than it would be under the equivalent publicly funded alternative. Support for the scheme from key local stakeholders and the ability of local health authorities and those that commission services to meet the overall cost of that scheme would also be key factors.

A project board has been established to oversee the process of reviewing the service and funding options for the new hospital.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Athletics Facility (Pickett's Lock)

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what timetable he envisages for the completion by autumn 2004 of a new international athletics facility at Pickett's Lock. [152518]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2001]: The Lee Valley Athletics Centre is timetabled to be ready in good time for the 2005 World Athletics Championships.

Athletics Championships (Funding)

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he last met representatives of Manchester 2002 Ltd. to discuss the funding of the Commonwealth Games 2002. [152517]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2001]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any meetings with Manchester 2002 Ltd. specifically to discuss funding. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office heads the Government's liaison with Manchester 2002 Ltd., the organisers of the Games. He is in regular contact on a wide range of issues. I have met the Chairman of Manchester 2002 to discuss sporting aspects of the Commonwealth Games.

Wembley Project

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money the Government have contributed to the new Wembley project through (a) Sport England or (b) National Lottery money. [152511]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2001]: No exchequer funding has been committed to Wembley National Stadium Ltd. Sport England have awarded £120 million from the Lottery Sports Fund to the stadium project. Wembley National Stadium Ltd. and the Football Association have agreed to return £20 million of the lottery funding following the removal of the obligations to stage athletics events.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role Ministers played in the appointment of the Wembley board. [152631]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2001]: None; the Wembley National Stadium Ltd. board comprises 12 non- executive directors, seven of whom are nominated by the Football Association with the remaining five nominated by the English National Stadium Trust.

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Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions his Department has had, with which organisations, about the re-opening of Wembley Stadium for future major sporting events. [152512]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2001]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I met Sir Rodney Walker on 10 January and 1 February and on each occasion received a progress report from him on the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if his Department was consulted in relation to financial payments being made to the new Chairman of the Wembley Holding Company; and if he will make a statement. [152510]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2001]: My Department was not consulted about payments to the new Chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd.

Television Licences

Mr. Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when regulations will be laid to bring into effect the television licence fee increases due to come into force on 1 April. [153351]

Mr. Chris Smith: On 26 October 2000, Official Report, columns 176-77W, the Government announced that, from 1 April 2001, the fee for a colour television licence would increase from £104 to £109 and the black and white licence fee would rise from £34.50 to £36.50. I have today laid before the House the regulations necessary to bring these fees into force.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION

National Audit Office

Mr. Love: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission if the Commission has appointed new auditors for the National Audit Office. [152876]

Mr. Sheldon: Yes. The Commission has appointed the firm of BKR Haines Watts. The appointment will be for a fixed term of three years from 1 April 2001. The appointment is renewable for a further two years at the discretion of the Commission.

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

People's Peerages

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council how many meetings of the Appointments Commission have been held since its establishment; and how may of these were used to interview applicants for a people's peerage. [151660]

Mrs. Beckett: I understand that the Appointments Commission has held 10 formal full meetings since its establishment in May 2000. Interviews have not taken place at formal full meetings of the Commission.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council, pursuant to her answer of 28 February 2001, Official Report, column 714W, on people's peers, for what

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reason the provision of information including the first part of the post codes of applications would breach the requirement to treat applications in confidence. [152277]

Mrs. Beckett: I have nothing to add to my answer of 28 February.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will list (a) the publications and (b) the costs of the advertisements soliciting applications for a people's peerage and the responses generated by each title. [152501]

Mrs. Beckett: The Appointments Commission decided to use other methods than newspaper advertising for publicising its work and soliciting applications. It set up an easily accessible website and produced 15,000 information packs, many of which were distributed to organisations and individuals who might be interested in making a nomination, at a cost of approximately £25,000. It also undertook four regional roadshows, at a cost of about £12,000. There were just over 3,000 applications by the deadline of 17 November.

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