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Stolen Equipment

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2002, Official Report, column 698W, on stolen equipment, what criminal proceedings have been undertaken for cases of theft against her Department, stating in each case (a) whether the proceedings (i) led to a criminal conviction and (ii) were unsuccessful, (b) the cost incurred by her Department in pursuing a conviction and (c) the value of items recovered; and if she will make a statement. [41586]

Clare Short: It is our practice to report thefts to the police. In the absence of any evidence as to who was responsible no criminal proceedings have been taken, nor have we recovered any of the items.

Departmental Contracts

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the 30 largest contracts awarded by her Department from (a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999, (c) May 1999 to April 2000, (d) May 2000 to April 2001 and (e) May 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available, stating in each case the values of the contracts and the companies with which the contracts were placed. [43669]

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Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for International Development gave on 28 February 2002, Official Report, column 1464W.

Departmental Functions

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the functions of her Department that have been (a) market tested and (b) outsourced in each of the last five years, specifying the (i) money saving and (ii) percentage saving in each case. [42995]

Clare Short: DFID has not market tested or outsourced any functions in the last five years.

Food Security

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many responses have been received to the consultation document, "Eliminating Hunger: DFID food security strategy and priorities for action". [43081]

Clare Short: We have received 27 written responses on the consultation document. In addition, verbal feedback has been received from a number of other organisations, which intend to provide a written response in due course.

Public Service Agreements

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the public service agreement targets which have been revised and those which have been introduced since the publication of the 2001 departmental report. [43261]

Clare Short: No public service agreement (PSA) targets have been revised or newly introduced since the publication of DFID's 2001 departmental report. We will report on progress against targets under the 1999–2002 and the 2001–04 PSAs in our 2002 departmental report, which will be published next month.

Cuba

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid the UK Government have provided to Cuba in each of the last five years and for what projects. [42906]

Clare Short: Total bilateral aid to Cuba for the years 1996–97 to 2000–01 is detailed in Table 7.2 (on page 89) of DFID's report, "Statistics on International Development" (2001 edition), which is available in the Library of the House. A list of projects will be placed in the Library of the House.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND

THE REGIONS

London Underground

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will

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make a statement on the level of Government guarantees being provided to Metronet and Tube Lines for debt raised to fund investment in the underground. [36317]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on Monday 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 786W. No Government guarantee is being issued to Metronet and Tube Lines in respect of the debt they are raising to fund investment.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) for what percentage of the debt on the moneys borrowed under the PPP for the London Underground he is prepared to offer a letter of comfort; [37212]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on Monday 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 786W. Ernst and Young were aware of the terms of the proposed letter when they produced their value for money report.

Civil Servants

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will set out for each Civil Service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies the (i) total number of staff employed, (ii) number aged (A) 16 to 25, (B) 26 to 35, (C) 36 to 45, (D) 46 to 60 and (E) over the age of 60 years, (iii) number of registered disabled and (iv) number of ethnic minorities. [39156]

Dr. Whitehead: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 13 March 2002, Official Report, column 1072W.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 782W, how much Coucher Pender Ltd. is being paid for the services rendered. [39159]

Mr. Jamieson: The amount of payment will depend on how long the process continues and whether the CLG bid is successful or not.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many new carriages have been brought into use by train operating companies on the UK network in the last six months; and how many new carriages have been ordered since Railtrack went into administration. [44235]

Mr. Spellar: Approximately 270 vehicles have entered service on the national rail network in the last six months and 603 new vehicles have been ordered since Railtrack went into administration on 7 October 2001.

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Transport Budgets

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of total local government grant provided by central Government have been allocated to local transport plans and budgets in each of the past six years. [39429]

Ms Keeble: The information is not available in the form requested.

Resignations

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what severance package was offered to Mr. Martin Sixsmith as a result of his resignation. [40177]

Dr. Whitehead: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by Sir Richard Mottram, the permanent secretary of my Department, on 25 February 2002. A copy of this is available in the Libraries of the House.

Press Releases

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many press releases were issued by his Department or its predecessor (a) between 1 May and 31 December 1997 and (b) in each year from 1998 to 2001 inclusive. [40043]

Dr. Whitehead: The infomation is as follows:









Correspondence

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for electoral law written to the hon. Member for Lichfield dated 12 February, ref: AW/001457/02. [40685]

Dr. Whitehead: I have arranged for a copy of this letter to be placed in the Library of the House.

Melton Borough Council

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans his Department has to remit the payment to Melton borough council under the Government's Pathfinder scheme owing since October 2001. [40845]

Dr. Whitehead: Melton borough council have had up to date funds paid to them against claims made in connection with their work on the local government online pathfinder scheme. Under the conditions laid out in the Special Grant Report to Parliament, release of such funding is subject to satisfactory performance. Additional

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funding for dissemination activities will be paid to all pathfinder authorities following the completion of their projects, subject to the approval of Parliament.

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