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e-Government

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to pay grant to (a) provide e-voting pilots and (b) help local authorities achieve the vision of e-Government set out in their implementing electronic Government statements. [47163]

Mr. Raynsford: As part of the package of funding previously announced under the #350 million Local Government On-Line (LGOL) Programme, I have today laid before the House a Special Grant Report

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containing powers for my Department to Pay #4.1 million of grant to provide 15 e-voting pilots, #200,000 to each local authority that has submitted a satisfactory Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) Statement (to support the work set out in that Statement), and a further #200,000 to authorities that submit a satisfactory updated IEG and that demonstrate they have used the first #200,000 to good effect.

The Report will also enable #50,000 of grant to be paid to fund the dissemination of best practice from the e-government pathfinders, and allow the 24 LGOL funded e-government pathfinders to continue, where necessary, past 31 March 2002 in order to complete their pioneering work.

Arms-length Management

Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much his Department estimates the average local authority will spend in setting up an arms-length management organisation, with specific reference to (a) employment or purchase of legal and other professional, (b) new accommodation, (c) new staff and (d) regrading of existing posts. [46371]

Ms Keeble: We have made no estimates of these costs, which will depend on each authority's circumstances. In 2001 a working group chaired by the Local Government Association, in which my Department participated, developed and published model legal documentation for arms length housing management organisations (ALMOs), so helping to reduce authorities' individual legal costs. We will continue to work closely with authorities and the local government associations to ensure that ALMOs are established and operate efficiently.

Departmental Leak Inquiry

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the leak inquiry being undertaken by the Permanent Secretary has been completed; and if he will publish the findings. [45978]

Mr. Byers [holding answer Monday, 25 March 2002]: The internal investigation into apparent leaks from DTLR between 11 and 14 February has been completed. Reports on internal investigations are not published. Consideration is being given to whether disciplinary action should be taken against any member of staff as a result of this investigation in accordance with procedures in the DTLR Staff Handbook.

Self-funding Safety Camera Project

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many statements his Department has issued to counter mis-reporting of its self-funding safety camera project in the media, since it was launched in April 2000. [46245]

Dr. Whitehead: There have been two press releases (on 13 August 2001 and 3 December 2001) which mention the results from the pilot scheme of camera funding.

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No record is kept of oral statements made by the press office to the media.

Research and Policy Programmes

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what changes to the management of research and policy programmes in his Department (a) have taken place since May 1997 and (b) are planned. [46337]

Mr. Jamieson: The Department continues to modernise and improve the approach taken to the management of research and policy programme, through a wide variety of means. It is not possible to list separately, all projects which contribute to this aim over the period specified.

Public Engagements

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list his public engagements since 8 October 2001. [45450]

Mr. Byers: I have carried out engagements across the country and in Europe.

Ministerial Meetings

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he last met (a) Ian McAllister and (b) Ian Coucher. [45357]

Dr. Whitehead: It is not the normal practice of the Government to release details of meetings or discussions with private individuals or companies.

Reports

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2002, Official Report, column 1090W, on reports, if he will place a copy of the standard terms and conditions referred to in the Library. [45676]

Dr. Whitehead: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

HSE

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what technical support contracts were awarded by the Health and Safety Executive between 1 January and 31 December 2000. [45657]

Dr. Whitehead: HSE has a number of Framework Agreements with various suppliers of technical support services. These are listed in Annex 1 together with the number of jobs and the value of work undertaken by the supplier(s) for HSE during the specified period.

In addition to the work carried out under these Framework Agreements, a number of individual pieces of technical support work were contracted during the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2000 and are listed at Annex 2.

Both Annexes have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

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Correspondence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the target time will be in 2002–03 for (a) ministers to reply to letters from hon. Members and (b) officials in his Department to reply to letters received directly from members of the public. [44950]

Dr. Whitehead: This Department's target for 2002–03 is for Ministers to respond to 76 per cent. of letters from hon. Member within 15 working days and 90 per cent. within 20 working days. For letters received directly from members of the public, the target for the centre of the Department for 2002–03 is for officials to respond within 15 working days. Our executive agencies also have a 15 working days target for such correspondence, with the exception of the Rent Service (five days), the Fire Service College (seven days) and the Driving Standards Agency (10 days).

Human Rights Act

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many cases have been brought against his Department under the Human Rights Act 1998; and what has been the cost in (a) legal fees to defend cases and (b) compensation payments. [45067]

Dr. Whitehead: We do not collect central records of all cases in which the Human Rights Act 1998 is relied on. Human rights are now integrated in the general law and are rarely the sole basis for a challenge. We do monitor centrally those cases which we consider may be of particular significance to this department. We have recorded 68 cases to date.

We do not collect information centrally about the costs to public funds, legal fees or compensation payments in cases that include a human rights issue. In most cases it will be difficult to single out associated costs relating to the human rights element.

Public Service Agreement

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which public service agreement targets scheduled to be met in 2002 will not be achieved by the due date. [44818]

Dr. Whitehead: Information about progress on PSA targets will be published in the department's 2002 Departmental Annual Report.

New Deal

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people employed by his Department under the New Deal for Young People in each of the last four years have subsequently (a) found unsubsidised employment for more than 13 weeks and (b) returned to jobseeker's allowance or other benefits. [44907]

Dr. Whitehead: This information is not held by this Department.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people have been employed by his Department in

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each of the last three years under (a) the New Deal for Young People, (b) the New Deal for the Over 50s and (c) the New Deal for Lone Parents; and at what cost, listed by category, to public funds. [44926]

Dr. Whitehead: This Department and its agencies have employed 77 New Dealers to date. Records are not kept centrally of the separate categories.

New Deal recruits take up existing vacancies so extra costs to public funds are limited to the subsidy, where appropriate, and any additional training and development which may be needed. These amounts are not held centrally.

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