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Mental Health Services

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Secretary for Health regarding the legislative framework for mental health services in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [67877]

Mr. Touhig: The draft Mental Health Bill is currently out to public consultation, as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.

It has been the subject of a long process of consultation by the Government, starting with the Green Paper Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983 published in November 1999. The Assembly are statutory consultees, and will respond formally in due course.

New Deal

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about the operation of the New Deal in Wales. [67882]

Mr. Touhig: My right hon. Friend meets Cabinet colleagues regularly to discuss a range of issues, including the operation of the New Deal in Wales. I am also pleased to have had the opportunity to discuss the operation of the New Deal with the Wales New Deal Task Force, at the meeting in Brecon on 16 May.

New Deal has been a huge success in Wales, particularly in helping young people back into work. 24,800 young Welsh people have secured jobs through New Deal since its launch and 80 per cent. of those have retained their jobs for 13 weeks or more. Today's labour market statistics show that there has been a 67 per cent. fall in youth JSA claimants since the launch of the New Deal programmes in Wales.

0870 Telephone Numbers

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his policy is on using 0870 telephone numbers for inquiries by the public to the Department and its agencies. [66197]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I do not currently envisage any need for my Department to use 0870 numbers.

Planning

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if she will make a statement regarding the planning powers of the National Assembly for Wales. [64711]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999, as amended, sets out the land use planning powers of the National Assembly

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which were formerly vested in the Secretary of State for Wales. They include: the determination of policies; the issue of guidance to local authorities; the determination of planning appeals; and the 'calling-in', where necessary, of planning cases for decision by the Assembly.

Performance Targets

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the (a) cost and (b) saving has been from the Department's pursuit of service delivery agreement targets in each year since they were introduced. [61639]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The Department's service delivery agreement was published in November 2000. It sets out the Department's agreed strategy for delivering its objectives and the necessary internal procedures to achieve the best value for money. It is not possible to measure in a quantifiable and meaningful way (a) costs or (b) savings to the Department from pursuing service delivery agreement targets.

EU Directives

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the EU directives relating to his Department which have been (a) amended and (b) repealed in 2002; [64948]

(2) if he will list the EU directives and regulations that have been implemented through his Department in 2002; and what was the cost of each to public funds. [64997]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 11 April 2002 (volume 383, column 522). My Department has not had responsibility for the implementation, amendment or repeal of any European Union directives since its creation in July 1999.

PRIME MINISTER

Government Scrutiny

Q11. Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has to strengthen the scrutiny of Government by the legislature arising from his meeting on 16 July with the Liaison Committee; and if he will make a statement. [67912]

The Prime Minister: I was pleased to answer questions from the Liaison Committee yesterday on a range of matters.

Channel Tunnel

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 10 July 2002, what action the Government will take against the French Government if a full and reliable service of 100 freight trains each way each week through the channel tunnel is not restored by September. [70034]

The Prime Minister: Both Governments are determined to see freight traffic returning to normal out of Calais Frethun rail depot by September. To help achieve that, the SRA will contribute around half of the euro 7.5 million cost of fixed security installations at the site. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will visit

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Frethun in September with his French colleague to confirm the effectiveness of security measures taken to ensure normal services.

Seaside Resorts

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden) of 10 July, on visitor costs to seaside resorts, to what consultation he referred; and which options cover the question raised. [70297]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Raynsford) gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Mr. Clark) on 8 July 2002, Official Report, columns 680–81W. The specific options can be found on pages 65 and 66 of the consultation document.

Sustainable Energy

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Prime Minister what action he has taken to establish a cross-Government sustainable energy unit. [70225]

The Prime Minister: The Government launched a consultation on energy policy on 14 May, following the publication of the Energy Review by the Cabinet Office's Performance and Innovation Unit earlier this year. The Government plan to publish an Energy White Paper around the turn of the year. The consultation is being carried forward by a team drawn from DTI, DEFRA, and other Government Departments

The work on the White Paper will include further consideration of the PIU's recommendations for a Sustainable Energy Policy Unit and decisions on this will be made in the context of broader decisions on the White Paper as a whole.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Departmental Waste

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee, what the total volume of waste produced by the House was in each year since 1995, broken down into (a) paper, (b) plastic, (c) aluminium and (d) other; what proportion of waste from the House was (i) recycled, (ii) composted and (iii) re-used; and what plans she has to increase these proportions. [65618]

Mrs. Roe: The annual quantities of domestic waste removed from the parliamentary estate were as follows:

	Total waste(7) (tonnes)	Recycled	Recovered (percentage)
1995–96	—	684 tonnes	—
1996–97	—	777 tonnes	—
1997–98	—	818 tonnes	—
1998–99	—	874 tonnes	—
1999–2000	1,333	30%	100
2000–01	1,493	30%	100
2001–02	1,274	32%	100

⁽⁷⁾ The total amount of waste was not recorded until financial year 1999–2000.

Under the contract which has operated since 1999–2000, paper, glass and cooking oil are separated for recycling. Other waste is incinerated to generate electricity; metals are extracted from the ash, which itself is used for road construction.

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The House Administration has set the following targets for the financial year 2002–03:

	Percentage of total waste
All recycling	37
Paper and cardboard recycling	26
All recovery	100

For April 2002, the most recent month for which full information is available, the figures were:

	Tonnes	Percentage of total waste
Paper and cardboard recycling	19.9	22
Glass recycling	10.4	11
Oil recycling	0.6	0.7
All recycling	30.9	34
All recovery	91.4	100

Mr. Allen: To ask the Chairman of the Committee of Selection, if he will take steps to provide for those hon. Members who request it notification by e-mail of their nomination to serve on standing committees. [69762]

Mr. McWilliam: The Committee of Selection recently agreed to establish on a trial basis arrangements for notifying hon. Members by e-mail of the meetings of forthcoming Standing and Select Committees to which they have been appointed. The trial encompasses the First Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation, European Standing Committee A and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee and its Sub-Committees. The purposes of the trial are to test the effectiveness, and acceptability to hon. Members, of using e-mail to notify them of Committee meetings and to assess the technical and resource implications of wider e-mail use. Recipients of e-mail notification messages have continued to receive notification cards, as before. I will invite the Committee of Selection to discuss the outcome of the trial and decide how to proceed early in the new session.

In addition, hon. Members can already receive e-mail notification of meetings of Standing Committees to which they have been appointed, on request to the Clerk of the Committee of Selection.

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