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Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on providing financial guarantees to the successor company to Railtrack; and if he will make a statement. [11336]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Preston (Mr. Hendrick)

8 Nov 2001 : Column: 341W

on 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 195W, and to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) on 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 671W.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what changes he has made in the financial provision for transport services as a result of Railtrack's going into administration. [11339]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Lawrie Quinn) on 17 October 2001, Official Report, column 1230W.

WALES

Objective 1 Money

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of current allocated Objective 1 money has been spent in Wales; and what percentage is committed to projects in Wales. [11121]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The operation of Objective 1, and the allocation of its funds, is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings he has attended in the last 12 months on Objective 1 money with (a) HM Treasury, (b) the Department of Trade and Industry, (c) the European Commission, (d) the National Assembly for Wales and (e) the Welsh Development Agency. [11120]

Mr. Paul Murphy: In the course of the last 12 months I have had meetings with representatives of all the bodies listed to discuss Objective 1 funding, among other issues.

Departmental Publications

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many publications were issued by his Department in each of the last four years. [11820]

Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department was established on 1 July 1999 and issued no publications in 1999, one in 2000 and has issued one so far this year.

Joint Committee of Health Ministers

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central (Mr. Jones), on 17 October 2001, Official Report, column 1153, what the conclusions were of the joint committee of Health Ministers from the UK Government and the devolved administrations held on 22 October. [12883]

Mr. Touhig: JMC (Health) provides a forum for Ministers responsible for health services in all parts of the United Kingdom to work together on areas of shared interest to deliver improved health services for the people they serve. At the meeting on 22 October, the Health Ministers exchanged experiences on their respective modernisation agendas and affirmed the importance of continuing to share best practice, working in partnership on issues where they had similar aims and values for improving the patient experience of healthcare.

8 Nov 2001 : Column: 342W

Computer Crime

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2001; and on how many occasions in those years computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (A) within and (B) outside his Department. [13136]

Mr. Paul Murphy: None.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

World Athletics Championships

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 10 July 2001, Official Report, columns 449–50W, on the World Athletics Championships, what indications she received from Mr. Gyulai regarding the IAAF's continuing commitment to holding the World Athletics Championships in London; and if they discussed a contingency plan for the games to be held outside the UK. [5383]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 19 July 2001]: It has been my priority to keep the International Association of Athletic Federations IAAF fully informed at every stage about the review of the UK's arrangements for the 2005 World Athletics Championships. My Department has had the following contact with the IAAF prior to the decision to withdraw support for the Lee Valley project.

2 July: I spoke to Istvan Gyulai, General Secretary of the IAAF by telephone to inform him that Sport England had commissioned Patrick Carter to review the Lee Valley project and to advise him that the Government were committed to staging the 2005 World Athletics Championships.

6 August: My right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport met Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF, and Istvan Gyulai at the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton.

25 September: At my request, a senior DCMS official spoke to Istvan Gyulai to inform him that the Government were considering Patrick Carter's report and that we would advise him of the position as soon as the Government, Sport England and UK Athletics had reached a conclusion on staging the World Athletics Championships.

During these discussions the question of switching the Championships outside the UK was not specifically raised. Once the decision to withdraw support from the Lee Valley project had been taken, David Moorcroft, Chief Executive of UK Athletics and I spoke to Lamine Diack and Istvan Gyulai on 4 October by telephone to let them know of our decision that Lee Valley was not viable and to say that we wanted to suggest to the IAAF that the Championships be switched to Sheffield. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport and I met Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF, Istvan Gyulai and Robert Stimpson, IAAF Treasurer on 5 October. This meeting was also attended by David Hemery and David Moorcroft from UK Athletics, Patrick Carter and by officials from DCMS and Sport England.

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Millennium Dome

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many parliamentary written questions regarding the Millennium Dome have been tabled since 1 May 1997; and how many answers to such questions have been subject to commercial confidentiality. [10620]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 26 October 2001]: Of some 1,360 questions that have been answered on Dome and Millennium Experience issues since May 1997, 78 questions have been answered by my Department on which information requested has been subject to commercial confidentiality. This represents 5.73 per cent. of all questions answered.

In addition, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions has answered 21 questions relating to the Millennium Dome in which commercial confidentiality has been cited.

Television

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the commercial value of the spectrum which will become available following the switch-off of analogue television. [12340]

Dr. Howells: The value of the spectrum will depend on a range of issues including the amount of spectrum that may become available, what the spectrum can be used for and how it might be packaged into licences for an award process, together with prospective licensees' own perception of the value of the resource at the time of award in the context of their business plans. It is not possible to anticipate these issues. However, to help consideration of the spectrum planning issues, we will shortly release a consultation document, as a strand of the Draft Digital Television Action Plan published recently, seeking views on the various ways that the spectrum might be ordered after switch over.

European City of Culture

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications she has received for membership of the advisory committee on the selection of the European City of Culture 2008; how many of the applicants are resident in Wales; when she expects to announce the membership of the panel; and if she will make a statement. [12848]

Dr. Howells: We have received 47 nominations and applications for membership of the independent advisory panel on the selection of the UK nomination for European Capital of Culture 2008. Of these, four are resident in Wales. We are also identifying possible candidates from the DCMS and Cabinet Office public appointments databases, which include many more people resident in Wales. We expect to announce the membership of the panel by March 2002. It will include at least one member from each of the four countries of the UK.

Consultation Documents

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many consultation documents were issued by her Department and its predecessors from

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(a) 15 October to 14 January, (b) 15 January to 14 April, (c) 15 April to 14 July and (d) 15 July to 14 October in each year from 1996. [12899]

Dr. Howells: My Department consults the public in a variety of ways, not simply through the publication of documents. Since 1998 we have, for example, held ministerially-led seminars in connection with our Departmental Spending Review; used specialist working groups to help formulate our national tourism strategy Tomorrow's Tourism; put consultation documents on our internet site, and issued press releases seeking views on whether particular buildings should be listed.

No central record of every consultation document issued since October 1996 is held, but the approximate figures for DCMS and its predecessor, the Department of National Heritage, are:

From	To	Number of documents issued
15 October 1996	14 January 1997	0
15 January 1997	14 April 1997	0
15 April 1997	14 July 1997	1
15 July 1997	14 October 1997	2
15 October 1997	14 January 1998	0
15 January 1998	14 April 1998	2
15 April 1998	14 July 1998	2
15 July 1998	14 October 1998	2
15 October 1998	14 January 1999	2
15 January 1999	14 April 1999	1
15 April 1999	14 July 1999	2
15 July 1999	14 October 1999	0
15 October 1999	14 January 2000	3
15 January 2000	14 April 2000	0
15 April 2000	14 July 2000	4
15 July 2000	14 October 2000	3
15 October 2000	14 January 2001	5
15 January 2001	14 April 2001	4
15 April 2001	14 July 2001	1
15 July 2001	14 October 2001	4
15 October 2001	7 November 2001	1

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