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Rural Population

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2002, Official Report, column 798W, on the rural population, if he will estimate (a) the number of population increase and (b) the number of households projected in (i) deep rural and (ii) mixed rural areas by 2016. [58779]

Ms Keeble: The latest sub-national population projections for England to 2016 are the 1996-based projections prepared by the Office for National Statistics. Between 1996 and 2016 the population in those local authorities categorised by my Department as "deep rural"

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is projected to rise by 0.26 million and the number of households by 0.21 million. Over the same period, the population in those local authorities categorised by my Department as "mixed rural" is projected to rise by 0.77 million and the number of households by 0.67 million.

Starter Home Initiative

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2002, Official Report, column 799W, on the starter home initiative, how many key workers will receive financial support in small rural settlements with a population of (a) 3000 or less, (b) 3001–5000 and (c) 5001–10,000. [58778]

Ms Keeble: Information is not available in the form requested.

Starter home initiative funding has been allocated to schemes which propose to help around 360 key workers in rural settlements with a population of 10,000 or less. This is a correction to the answers I gave on 9 May 2002, Official Report, column 278W and 16 May 2002, Official Report, column 799W.

PFI Housing Schemes

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what advice he provides to local authorities on developing their outline business case for submission in bidding rounds for PFI housing schemes. [57928]

Ms Keeble: The Department offers advice to local authorities at each stage of the housing private finance initiative (PFI) process. At the bidding stage the Department sends a letter to all authorities inviting them to submit expressions of interest. That letter is accompanied by guidance on issues to cover in submissions. The guidance is available on the Department's housing website.

Following the expression of interest stage, the Department assesses the bids. The successful authorities are invited to develop their outline business case (OBC), and my officials offer advice to authorities on an individual basis during this stage. In addition, guidance is available from the Public Private Partnerships Programme (the 4Ps), with whom the Department is working closely in developing PFI for social housing. The OBC has to be endorsed by the inter-departmental Project Review Group (PRG) which is chaired by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) who also provide general guidance on PFI procurement.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what criteria are used by the inter-departmental Project Review Group in assessing bids from local authorities for PFI housing schemes. [57927]

Ms Keeble: The assessment of bids for private finance initiative (PFI) housing schemes is carried out by my Department, with the help of the Government Offices for the Regions. In our recent bidding round schemes were assessed on the following criteria:

value for money and whether an options appraisal had been carried out;


evidence of housing demand and fitting in with the council's wider strategy;

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risk transfer;


stakeholder and council consultation;


meeting the general PFI criteria (e.g. innovation, sustainability and design quality);


management and timetable.

In order for a scheme to proceed, it also has to be endorsed at a later stage by the Project Review Group (PRG), who ensure that the projects which local authorities take into procurement are deliverable. PRG's assessment of all PFI schemes is based on the following criteria:

affordability;


output specification;


bankability of the scheme;


key terms and conditions;


use of appropriate comparators;


suitability of proposed advisers;


indicative timetable;


project team;


commitment of the sponsors;


statutory process.

Construction Industry

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what further self-certification schemes are being planned for the construction industry; and whether they will be subject to public consultation. [59188]

Dr. Whitehead: A number of organisations have contacted my Department with proposals for self- certification schemes. Each of these schemes will be reviewed on their merits. As there have been two public consultations on self-certification, we do not intend to issue a further public consultation before recognising schemes for work already controlled by the Building Regulations. Individual trade and professional bodies may undertake some consultation, depending on the nature of the schemes they are developing.

The hon. Member may wish to note that my Department issued a consultation document on 20 May entitled "Proposals for new safety requirements for electrical installation work in dwellings", which makes reference to self-certification by competent persons as a means of alleviating some of the financial and administrative burdens the proposed extension of the Building Regulations might create.

Millennium Dome

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the cost of maintaining the Millennium Dome, including security costs, has been (a) since its closure and (b) in each of the last three months for which figures are available. [58605]

Ms Keeble: Since 31 December 2000, when the Millennium Experience ended, the cost of management, maintenance and security of the Dome has been £3.9 million, of which £1.9 million was incurred by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) and £2 million by English Partnerships (EP). This includes the final figures for expenditure in December 2001, January and February 2002, which are £266,000, £251,000

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and £287,000 respectively. However, the January and February figures exclude telecommunications costs, which await final confirmation due to on-going delays by the service provider particularly in transferring accounts formerly held by NMEC to EP.

Costs incurred by NMEC have been paid from the grant already approved by the Millennium Commission. EP costs are from their normal budget and will be recovered from eventual sale proceeds.

English Regions

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if it is his policy that regional tourist boards should remain independent of regional assemblies created under proposals outlined in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions. [58602]

Mr. Raynsford: Regional tourist boards will remain separate bodies from elected regional assemblies, but the assemblies will allocate funding from their block grants for the regional tourist boards and will provide direction on how this should be used.

Groundwork

Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress in establishing a Lancashire-wide groundwork. [57607]

Ms Keeble: The Department is currently considering the proposal from Groundwork for a Lancashire-wide trust. A final decision is yet to be taken.

Mobile Phones

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to commission research into the dangers posed by the use of hands-free mobile phones while driving. [58202]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 20 March 2002, Official Report, column 362W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Janet Anderson).

In-flight Air Quality

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to meet the airlines to discuss the quality of cabin air in domestic and international flights. [58206]

Mr. Jamieson: The issue of cabin air quality was comprehensively addressed by the House of Lords inquiry into air travel and health. Since publication of the House of Lords findings, discussions between Government and the airline industry have been pursued through meetings of the Aviation Health Working Group. The Aviation Health Working Group was established to advise Ministers on all issues relating to aviation health.

Permanent members of the group are the Department for Transport Local Government and the Regions (chair), the Department of Health, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Health and Safety Executive. Representatives from the airlines, as well as consumer groups and other interested parties such as medical specialists, are regularly

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invited to participate in selected meetings. At present we have no plans to meet airlines to discuss the quality of cabin air in domestic and international flights, but European Union funded research into cabin air quality is currently under way and my Department will continue to monitor this work closely.

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