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Government Finance

Ian Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will outline the Government's financing plans for 2002–03. [43888]

Ruth Kelly: The Government's preliminary financing plans for 2002–03 can be found in the "Debt and Reserves Management Report 2002–03". In order to comply with the requirement outlined in "The Code for Fiscal Stability" that a debt management report be published every financial year, the "Debt and Reserves Management Report 2002–03" has been published today. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library. Additionally, it is also available on HM Treasury and the Debt Management Office websites www.hm-treasury.gov.uk and www.dmo.gov.uk, respectively. An update of the financing plans will be published in this year's Budget papers on 17 April.

Pensions

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what reports his Department publishes on public sector pension schemes; [43347]

(2) what reports were published by Government Departments from their agencies dealing primarily with public sector pension schemes in the last five years. [43346]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Responsibility for administering individual public sector pension schemes and accounting for them rests with the bodies responsible for the schemes, not the Treasury, which does not keep lists of all related publications. Reports on individual schemes, on matters such as actuarial valuations and scheme accounts, are

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published by the body responsible for the scheme or, in the case of NHS and teachers pension scheme valuations, the Government Actuary's department. In July 2000 the Treasury published the report of the Government review of ill-health retirement in the public sector, which was a Treasury-chaired review.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Theatres

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many theatres there are in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) coalfield constituencies. [41325]

Dr. Howells: We have contacted the Arts Council of England to request the information required, and my noble Friend the Minister for the Arts will write to my hon. Friend as soon as it is available, placing copies of her letter in the Libraries of both Houses.

Cinema Screens

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many cinema screens there are in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) coalfield constituencies. [41810]

Dr. Howells: I understand from the Cinema Exhibitors Association that there are 2,954 cinema screens in the UK. Figures are not kept by coalfield constituency.

Public Libraries

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many functioning public libraries there were, broken down by local authority, in England in each year since 1997. [42238]

Dr. Howells: This information is not readily available. However, we can extract and then represent the required data from the 149 English Library Authorities from existing reference sources. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as this has been done, placing copies of my letter in the Libraries of both Houses.

Ministerial Design Champions Group

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Ministerial Design Champions Group will publish an annual report; and if she will make a statement. [41965]

Dr. Howells: The Ministerial Design Champions Group will not publish an annual report. However, each Ministerial Design Champion is committed to producing an Action Plan about what his or her Department is doing to promote better public buildings. My noble Friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Chair of the Design Champions Group, has asked Departments to report progress on their Action Plans at the next ministerial meeting in May.

Energy Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on energy costs incurred by her Department in each of the last 10 years. [42433]

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Dr. Howells: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not have figures going back 10 years. The costs for the last eight years are:

Financial year	Energy cost (£)
1994–95	114,428
1995–96	114,847
1996–97	117,437
1997–98	121,916
1998–99	106,634
1999–2000	(11)132,908
2000–01	(11)134,527
2001–02	(12)132,825

⁽¹¹⁾ Includes part year occupation of a building.

⁽¹²⁾ Figures for 2001–02 are costs to date.

Parental Leave Directive

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the (a) financial costs and (b) benefits to her Department of the parental leave directive. [42485]

Dr. Howells: To date no staff in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have taken parental leave. We estimate future costs to be minimal as parental leave is currently unpaid. The Department already offers paid and unpaid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, career breaks, paid and unpaid special leave and a range of flexible working patterns, so we do not envisage the current parental leave arrangements to be of significant benefit to the Department.

Age Discrimination

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's policy is towards age discrimination. [42582]

Dr. Howells: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is committed to providing a working environment where no one is disadvantaged. Our policy is not to discriminate against staff or eligible applicants for posts on the grounds of gender, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation. Staff are treated equally and fairly and decisions are based solely on objective and job related criteria.

Verulamium

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will withdraw consent for ploughing on the archaeological site of Verulamium in Hertfordshire until an agreement on compensation is reached. [41840]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 11 March 2002]: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State is aware of the concerns that have been expressed about the impact of ploughing at Verulamium. Officials are currently exploring with English Heritage a number of issues relating to this site including possible compensation.

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Ethiopian Artefacts

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the Ethiopian artefacts that remain in British possession from the raid on Mogdala in 1868. [42723]

Dr. Howells: There have been no requests for return from the Ethiopian Government for any of the objects in question. With regard to the manuscripts in the British Library, microfilm copies have been deposited in Addis Ababa, and scholars have access to the originals at the Library. We understand that the Ethiopian Government are content with these arrangements.

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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Municipal Waste

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much, and what proportion, of municipal waste has been (a) landfilled, (b) incinerated, (c) composted and (d) re-cycled in the United Kingdom in each year since 1990; and if she will make a statement. [42562]

Mr. Meacher: Data on municipal waste are available from the Department's Municipal Waste Management Survey 1999–2000. The results for England and Wales are as follows:

	1996–97		1997–98		1998–99		1999–2000
	Thousand tonnes	Percentage	Thousand tonnes	Percentage	Thousand tonnes	Percentage	Thousand tonnes	Percentage
Landfilled	21,969	85	23,110	85	23,005	82	23,714	81
Incinerated	2,060	8	1,690	6	2,163	8	2,285	8
Composted and recycled(13)	1,803	7	2,127	8	2,601	9	3,218	11
Other disposal methods	147	1	238	1	143	1	115	0
Total municipal waste	25,979	100	27,166	100	27,912	100	29,332	100

⁽¹³⁾ Separate figures for composted and recycled waste not available.

Data for earlier years are not available. 2000–01 data are currently being collected from local authorities. Totals and percentages may not add, due to rounding. Municipal waste in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The Government's vision for sustainable waste management and their plan of action for achieving that vision are set out in its waste strategy for England and Wales, 'Waste Strategy 2000'. The strategy sets out the Government's targets for dealing with household waste: to recycle or compost at least 25 per cent. of household waste by 2005, 30 per cent. by 2010 and 33 per cent. by 2015. To ensure that all local authorities contribute to achieving the Government's targets, local authorities have been set challenging individual statutory performance standards for recycling and composting.

The Government have also set out the 'waste hierarchy' for municipal waste, whereby minimising the amount of waste produced is the preferred option wherever possible, with re-use, recycling and composting as preferable to incineration and landfill.

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