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Inflation

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what investigation National Statistics is making into evidence of appreciable differences in inflation rates between regions; and if he will make a statement. [69245]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Matthew Taylor, dated 15 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on what investigation National Statistics is making of evidence of appreciable differences in inflation rates between regions. I am replying in his absence. (69245)
There is currently no official research being conducted into the differences in inflation rates between regions. The data required to make such calculations to an appropriate degree of accuracy are not currently available to National Statistics from either the national Retail Price Index (RPI) or other official sources.

Exchange Rates

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the effect on the UK economy of long-term exchange rate stability. [69372]

Ruth Kelly: It is difficult to separate the effect of exchange rate movements on the economy from the effects of other factors. The most recent assessment of the UK economy was published in Budget 2002, and the next assessment will be published in PBR 2002.

Consumer Complaints

Brian White: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what actions are available to consumers when the FSA and PIA Ombudsman bureau do not take action on their individual grievance. [69315]

Ruth Kelly: Firms that have been authorised by the FSA are required to have their own internal complaints arrangements for their customers. Where a firm is unable to resolve a complaint itself, the customer can pursue the complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service, which replaced the PIA Ombudsman Bureau on 1 December 2001. An ombudsman's decision is binding on the firm if the customer accepts it. If the FOS is not able to resolve the complaint to the customer's satisfaction, this does not affect the customer's legal rights to go to court.

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Software

Brian White: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is towards using open source software; and what percentage is used in his Department. [69320]

Ruth Kelly: It is planned to publish the Government's policy for open source software in summer 2002. The draft policy was made available for consultation from December 2001 until 12 March 2002.

The Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and the Treasury use of open source software will follow the Government policy when it is published. The policy references the European Commission's initiative "eEurope—An Information Society for all".

At present there is minimal use of open source software in the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and Treasury although the new technical architectures in IR and C7E are substantially compliant with the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) which mandates open standards and specifications.

The policy of all three Departments is to select the most appropriate software to support its business needs taking account of functionality, cost, reliability and ease of support. IT procurements will include open source software solutions alongside proprietary ones.

The draft Government policy can be viewed at http:// www.govtalk.gov.uk/rfc/rfc_document.asp?docnum=429

National Statistics Code of Practice

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to (a) publish and (b) implement the final version of the National Statistics Code of Practice; and if he will make a statement. [69243]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Matthew Taylor, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on when the National Statistics Code of Practice is expected to be published and implemented. (69243)
I published my first draft of the Code of Practice in December 2001 to mark the start of a three-month public consultation. I will submit my proposals for final publication within a month. These will reflect both the broad level of support received for the first draft, as well as more detailed suggestions for change.

PISA 2000

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if pupils in a pupil referral unit (a) were eligible for selection for PISA 2000 from their original school and (b) permitted by their original school to sit the test. [69992]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning if pupils in a pupil referral unit (a) were eligible for selection for PISA 2000 from their original school and (b) if selected, permitted by their original school to sit the test. (69992)

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The rules for school and student level exclusions in PISA are published in Appendix A of the ONS report, published in May 2002: Student Achievement in England-Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study and will be more fully treated in the OECD Technical Report on PISA.
The report is available free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures were undertaken to ensure that the list of pupils provided by the schools selected for the PISA 2000 survey was the full list. [70010]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what measures were undertaken to ensure that the list of pupils provided by the schools selected for the PISA 2000 survey was the full list. (70010)
The sampling frame contained information on the numbers of students in a school who were within scope for PISA. Where the list provided differed significantly from the number expected this was investigated with individual schools. All sampling procedures were subject to approval by the international sampling referees.
The report on PISA is available free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the figure of 927 into refusals and absentees in the PISA 2000 survey. [70011]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if the figure of 927 for refusals and absentees in the PISA 2000 survey could be broken down. (70011).
The information requested is currently unavailable. I will write to you in the near future.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the figure of 233 pupils in the category labelled left/no longer attending school or exempt from PISA between (a) left/no longer attending and (b) exempt from PISA. [69993]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if the 233 figure of pupils in the category labelled left/no longer attending school or exempt from PISA between (a) left/no longer attending and (b) exempt from PISA could be broken down. (69993)
The information requested is currently unavailable. I will write to you in the near future.

Employment Statistics

Mr. Challen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the number of jobs that have been

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created over the past six years in (a) Leeds, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) London expressed as a percentage of the work force in each of those areas. [69949]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Colin Challen, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of jobs created in Leeds, Yorkshire and the Humber and London. (69949)
There are no figures for job gains or job losses but an indication can be obtained by comparing the annual surveys of employee jobs. The latest available figures are from the 2000 Annual Business Inquiry. The 2001 results are due to be published in December 2002. No annual survey was undertaken in 1994 so the 1995 Annual Employment Survey has been used. The percentages requested are as follows:

Number of jobs created in Leeds, Yorkshire and the Humberand London

Area	Net percentage change between 1995 and 2000
Leeds	7.6
Yorkshire and the Humber	6.5
London	17.4

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