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Regulatory Reform

14. Mr. Pike: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if his Department proposes to publish a regular progress list on items being considered under the regulatory reform procedure. [9294]

Mr. Leslie: The Government set out last week their plans for regulatory reform order-making for the period up to the new year in the memorandum responding to the Deregulation Committee's 4th Report of last session.

Government Office for the North-West

16. Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the operational priorities for the Government office for the north-west. [9298]

Mrs. Roche: The Government office for the north-west's overall aim is to work with regional partners and local people to maximise competitiveness and prosperity in the region, and to support integrated policies for an inclusive society. A complete list of their objectives are contained in the Government office for the north-west's document 'Corporate Objectives 2001–02', a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Departmental Co-ordination

17. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to improve co-ordination between Government Departments, the Prime Minister's office and his Department. [9299]

The Deputy Prime Minister: It has been the traditional role of the Cabinet Office to serve Ministers collectively under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and co-ordinate business between Departments. This continues to be the case. The creation of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the restructuring of the Cabinet Office after the election have strengthened our ability to help ensure that all Departments are able to deliver the Government's key priorities.

31 Oct 2001 : Column: 693W

Kyoto Protocol

19. Linda Gilroy: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Office what role his office is playing in promoting the implementation of the Kyoto protocol. [9303]

The Deputy Prime Minister: I continue to play a role in international climate change discussions and negotiations on behalf of the Prime Minister, which includes promoting the implementation of the Kyoto protocol.

British-Irish Council

20. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Office when the British-Irish Council last met; and what was on the agenda for that meeting. [9304]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The British-Irish Council meets in different formats. Since the first summit meeting held in London in December 1999, a number of meetings have taken place in different sectoral areas at ministerial and official level.

The most recent meeting of the Council took place in Dublin on 13 September last. Officials discussed the issue of misuse of drugs, the area of work for which Ireland is the lead Administration within the Council.

The Irish Government will host the next British-Irish Council summit. The drugs issue will be the main item for discussion at the Summit. Progress in the other areas of work of the Council will also be reviewed. The Government also look forward to further meetings taking place in the agreed areas of work.

Government Office for the East Midlands

21. Judy Mallaber: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what are the operational priorities for the Government office for the east midlands. [9305]

Mrs. Roche: The Government office for the east midlands has three strategic aims: to achieve a lasting better quality of life for people and communities in the east midlands socially, economically and environmentally; to encourage and enable people and communities suffering from, or vulnerable to, social exclusion to fulfil their potential; and to help the region, its people and its businesses continuously improve their capability to compete successfully. Details of these aims and other operational priorities are in the Government office for the east midlands annual report 2000–01, available on line through their website.

Government Office for the East of England

22. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met representatives of the east Anglia Government office; and if will make a statement. [9306]

Mrs. Roche: The Deputy Prime Minister last met GO-East officials on 13 March. Since then I have met them on 19 July and 18 October.

Modernising Government White Paper

23. Brian White: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made in achieving the Government targets as set out in the modernising Government White Paper. [9308]

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Mr. Leslie: The Government made significant progress towards the targets set out in the White Paper before the last election. Improved delivery and public service reform is a key priority for this Parliament.

Civil Service Pay

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to audit civil service pay to assess the impact of pay policy on (a) men and (b) women. [9292]

Mr. Leslie: Under civil service reform, Departments and agencies are reviewing their pay systems. By April 2003 they should have prepared an action plan for addressing any equal pay gaps.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Regional Development Agencies

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in implementing Recommendation 17 of the report, Strategy Development and Partnership Working in the RDAs. [10932]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 29 October 2001]: The RDAs have taken on board Recommendation 17 of the DETR report on Strategy Development and Partnership Working in the RDAs. The principles for successful partnership working used in the original development of the Regional Economic Strategies are now reflected in the preparation of RDA Action Plans and the revision of their RESs. Under a new fund worth £15 million over three years, the regional chambers have been awarded a total of £5 million in 2000–01 to enhance their RDA scrutiny role and thus strengthen regional accountability. Part of that scrutiny will be a closer involvement in the revision of strategy process.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the report "Reaching Out The Role of Central Government at Regional and Local Level" that there should be (a) a review of the regional development agencies' first year performance and (b) a review of the relationship between the strategies of the regional development agencies and regional planning guidance. [10931]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 29 October 2001]: Ministers took the RDA's first year performance into account in determining the framework of targets the RDAs should follow under the Single Programme Budget, which was announced on 9 March 2001. The RDAs' Regional Strategies and the Regional Planning Guidance are being treated as equal and complementary documents.

Computer Crime

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft her Department has recorded in 2000 and 2001; and on how many occasions in 2000 and 2001 computer systems in her Department have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (i) within and (ii) outside her Department. [10999]

31 Oct 2001 : Column: 695W

Ms Hewitt: Records of IT security incidents reported within my Department for the period in question show:

	2000	2001
Hacking incidents	0	0
Fraud	0	0
Theft	11	16

There have been no recorded incidents in 2000 or 2001 of my Department's computer systems being illegally accessed by computer hackers within or outside my Department.

Petrol Retailers

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many petrol retailers (a) are in operation and (b) have been closed and sealed since 1990, classed in the categories (i) oil company sites, (ii) main retailer sites, (iii) supermarket sites, (iv) smaller retailer sites and (v) other unbranded sites; and if she will make a statement. [10462]

Mr. Wilson: The Institute of Petroleum's (IP) annual "UK Retail Marketing Survey" (last published in March 2001) provides data on the total number of petrol retail outlets in operation in the UK.

The following table, using the IP data, shows the number of petrol retail outlets in operation in the UK in 1990 and 2000, broken down by the specific categories outlined in the question.

Site category	1990	2000
Oil company sites	16,044	8,420
Main retailer sites	2,819	2,483
Supermarket sites(8)	58	1,027
Smaller retail sites(9)	40	247
Other unbranded sites	504	866
Total	19,465	13,043

⁽⁸⁾ In 1990, some supermarket sites displayed oil company brands and the IP subsumed these sites within the oil company site and main retailer site totals. The total number of supermarket sites retailing petrol in 1990 was 294

⁽⁹⁾ The smaller retail site category accounts for those companies with 50 petrol retail sites or less

Data on petrol station sites that have been sealed after closure are not collated centrally.

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