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Concordats

Mr. David: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the concordats which have been agreed between UK Government Departments and the National Assembly for Wales. [25470]

Mr. Paul Murphy: In addition to the multilateral, "overarching" concordats (European policy issues; international affairs; assistance to industry; statistics) the Assembly has concordats with: Cabinet Office; Her Majesty's Treasury; Department of Health; Department for Work and Pensions; Lord Chancellor's Department; Ministry of Defence; Department of Trade and Industry; Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions; Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Health and Safety Executive; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Home Office; and also with the Wales Office.

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Children's Commissioner for Wales

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the criteria the Government use to evaluate the performance of the Children's Commissioner for Wales in carrying out his prescribed tasks and functions. [25469]

Mr. Paul Murphy: That is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

New Opportunities Fund

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will publish the criteria by which LEAs have been assigned the new opportunities fund for sport allocation. [26288]

Mr. Caborn: Further to my answer to my hon. Friend of 4 December 2001, Official Report, columns 155–56W, the new opportunities fund determined the formula for these allocations by relating 50 per cent. of the funding available to the number of school pupils in an area and 50 per cent. to the deprivation of that area defined by the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Swimming Pools

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what plans she has to provide the funding to refurbish and repair the United Kingdom's swimming pools; [26885]

(2) what plans she has to ensure that every major city in the United Kingdom has an Olympic-size swimming pool. [26886]

Mr. Caborn: Swimming has benefited from substantial lottery funding over recent years. Up to September 2001, the sport had received £383 million in project development costs, making swimming the largest single beneficiary of Sport England lottery funding among sports to date.

Sport England has worked closely with the Amateur Swimming Association to identify areas of need, and has agreed in principle to fund the development of eight new 50 metre pools in England. Funding has already been made available for 50 metre pools in Leeds, Liverpool and Loughborough.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND

THE REGIONS

London Underground

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will name those persons working within central Government on aspects of the public-private partnership for London Underground who have within the past five years (a) served on the board of, (b) been employed by and (c) had a material connection to any of the companies which make up the consortia which have been accorded preferred bidder status for the public-private partnership for London Underground. [14607]

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Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 13 December 2001]: Primary responsibility for this matter within my Department rests with the London Underground task group, which maintains a register of interests. No staff within the group have such connections.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he received the proposed final draft contracts between London Underground and the private infrastructure companies; and if he will make a statement. [26434]

Mr. Jamieson: London Underground is responsible for managing the competition for the contracts to modernise the tube infrastructure. Bids for the modernisation contracts were received by London Underground on 4 January, as expected.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the latest date is by which he estimates that London Underground will take delivery of new rolling stock. [26295]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 19 December 2001, Official Report, columns 497–98W.

Jubilee Line

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the problems with the signalling system on the Jubilee line; and what measures will be taken to resolve them. [23551]

Mr. Jamieson: This is a matter for London Underground. I have asked the Managing Director to reply and will place a copy of the letter in the House Library.

Housing Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of how many people were evicted by (a) private landlords and (b) social housing landlords because of local authority delay in paying housing benefit in 2001. [25035]

Ms Keeble: Such information is not available centrally. The Department for Work and Pensions is working with local authorities to reduce delays in processing housing benefit claims, including measures to involve landlords in verification of claims and to allow agency staff to determine claims. Draft national performance standards encourage local authorities to co-operate with landlords who are seeking information about the progress of housing benefit claims made by their tenants.

Plumbers and Electricians

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he has collated on the number of prosecutions against contractors for dangerous plumbing and electrical work in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [25839]

Dr. Whitehead [holding answer 9 January 2002]: The Health and Safety Executive is the main enforcing authority for health and safety legislation in the work

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place. In the most recent year for which they have complete figures, April 2000 to March 2001, they were able to identify only one contractor who was prosecuted for dangerous electrical work. There may be other cases involving contractors in which electrical safety was a minor element which have not been identified. They were unable to identify any prosecutions for dangerous plumbing.

HSE has a complete record only of prosecutions it has carried out under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and related legislation dealing with health and safety in the workplace. HSE is not the sole enforcing authority. Health and safety in some premises, including shops, offices and warehouses, is enforced by local authorities. HSE does not have full information on the prosecutions carried out by these authorities.

Road Accidents

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of road accidents took place in 30 mph limits in the last three years for which figures are available. [26466]

Mr. Spellar: Injury accidents on roads with a 30 mph limit accounted for 65 per cent. of all injury road accidents in each of the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. No information is available regarding the proportion of damage only accidents which took place on roads with a 30mph limit.

Speed Limits

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what legal powers local authorities have to introduce 20mph speed limits. [26469]

Mr. Spellar: From 1999 local authorities have powers to introduce 20mph speed limits without the consent of the Secretary of State.

The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (Amendment) Act Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1608) removed the consent requirement for local authorities to make 20mph speed limits. The legislation came into force on 16 June 1999.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what legal restrictions there are on road signage relating to speed limits. [26467]

Mr. Spellar: The designs and sizes of signs to be used for signing speed limits are specified in the Traffic Signs Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/1519 Part I). Conditions for their placing are specified in the Traffic Signs General Directions Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/1519 Part II as amended by SI 1995/2769).

Trains (Disabled Access)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the likely impact of providing disabled and disability access on the capacity of trains. [26307]

Ms Keeble: There is no evidence to suggest that providing access for disabled people has any impact on the overall capacity of trains. There may be some effect on the number of fixed seats but this will depend on the

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type of rolling stock, on its interior design and on other factors not related to access. However, it is possible to mitigate seat loss, for example, by the use of tip up seats in wheelchair spaces.

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