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Mortgage Rates

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to deal with complaints about mortgages in the financial year 2001–02, with specific reference to dual mortgage rates. [69078]

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.

The financial ombudsman service has been established under the Financial Services and Markets Act to deal with complaints against financial services firms which the firms have been unable to resolve themselves. In 2001–02 it received 3,876 new complaints about mortgage loans, of which 575 were about dual variable rate mortgages.

Regulation

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she plans to take in response to the Commission's Action Plan for Better Regulation presented to the Seville European Council. [70103]

Mr. Alexander: I have been asked to reply.

Firstly, the Government will be producing a formal written response to the Commission's Action Plan on Better Regulation. Through this response, it will welcome the Commission's adoption of a strategy aimed at simplifying and improving the regulatory environment and call for full and timely implementation of the measures contained in the Action Plan. The Action Plan is a key element of the Lisbon economic reform process and its implementation is required if the EU is to achieve its Lisbon goal of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world.

Secondly, the Government will play an active role in the structures which are currently being established to monitor implementation of the Action Plan, attaching great importance to the involvement of member states in the monitoring process.

Thirdly, the Government will continue to work with the Community Institutions and other member states, at official and ministerial level, to promote better regulation

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within the EU, recognising that achieving progress in this area involves commitment and action by all parties which play a part in the EU's law-making processes.

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has (a) made to and (b) received from the Commission of the European Union regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Mandelkern report on better Regulation; and if she will make a statement. [70102]

Mr. Alexander: I have been asked to reply.

Since its publication in November 2001, the Government have been active in pressing for the full and timely implementation of the Mandelkern Report's recommendations. In particular, the Government have focused on encouraging the Commission to draw on the report as a solid basis for its Action Plan to improve and simplify the European regulatory environment, called for at the Lisbon European Council (March 2000). In January 2002 the Government issued a formal response to a Commission Communication on this issue, reiterating the need for the rapid implementation of the Mandelkern Report and informing the Commission of the action we are taking at the national level in line with the Report's recommendations.

For its part the Commission has responded by including the majority of the Mandelkern recommendations in its Action Plan, presented to the Seville European Council in June. The Government welcomes the Action Plan which sets out a clear strategy for better regulation at the European level and contains 16 specific measures with defined deadlines for implementation. We will now be working hard to ensure that it is swiftly and effectively implemented.

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Public Houses

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to reduce the regulatory burden on public houses. [68867]

Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.

Our plans for the modernisation of the alcohol and entertainment licensing regimes were set out clearly in the White Paper "Time for Reform" (Cm.4696) published on 10 April 2000. Alcohol and public entertainment licensing will be integrated into a single scheme. This will remove at a stroke a considerable amount of existing red tape and reduce licensing costs. Our estimate is that the existing costs of the licensing regimes to industry of around £4–5 billion over ten years would be reduced by £1.9 billion under the new regime. The reforms will be implemented by means of primary legislation to be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time permits.

Digital Services

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what deadline the Government have set for NTL to build a new cable and digital network to broadcast the channels of the Digital Terrestrial Alliance; and by what date NTL will put into operation their new digital and cable network. [69073]

Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.

The award of digital terrestrial television multiplex is a matter for the Independent Television Commission. On 4 July, the Commission announced that it had made a conditional decision to award the licences to the BBC and Crown Castle and not to the Digital Terrestrial Alliance, whose bid included a rebuild of the digital network by NTL.

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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Specialist Schools

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list (a) the new specialist schools announced on 4 July, (b) the schools short-listed but not successful and (c) the schools which applied but were not short-listed; and, in each case, (i) what specialism was applied for, (ii) what the category of school is, (iii) whether the school is (A) selective and (B) a non-selective school in an area with selective education and (vi) what other departmental awards have been won by the school in the last five years. [67631]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 8 July 2002]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will review the funding formula for specialist schools in respect of the threshold of 1,200 pupils; and if she will extend the funding so that every child attracts the same funding. [70613]

Mr. Miliband: There are no plans to increase specialist school recurrent grant to include funding for pupil numbers from 1,001 to 1,200.

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact on school transport and traffic congestion of the proposed increases in specialist secondary schools. [69543]

Mr. Miliband: No assessment of school transport or traffic congestion has been made in relation to the proposed expansion of the Specialist Schools Programme.

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance she has issued to specialist schools in respect of the processes and criteria to be (a) adopted and (b) avoided in the selection of pupils by aptitude; and what measures she has put in place to evaluate these selection processes. [68174]

Mr. Miliband: The flexibility for admission authorities to give priority to some pupils on the basis of aptitude is not restricted to schools in the Specialist Schools Programme, but does require the school to have a particular expertise or facility. The Code of Practice on school admissions provides guidance on what is and is not permitted under Section 102 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where the admission authority of a school with a specialism wishes to give priority to up to 10 per cent. of pupils who can demonstrate an aptitude for one of the prescribed subjects. The arrangements made are subject to local challenge and there has been no central evaluation of the processes.

Teacher Statistics

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher retirements due to (a) old age and (b) ill health there were in each Government office region, broken down by (i) last known sector of service and (ii) grade in the latest year for which figures are available. [69969]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

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Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualified teachers in each Government office region aged under 60 have never worked in teaching, broken down by (a) calendar year qualified, (b) sex and (c) age, at the latest date for which figures are available. [69968]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualified teachers aged under 60 were working outside the service in each Government office region, broken down by (a) last known employment, (b) calendar year of last employment, (c) sex and (d) age in the latest year for which figures are available. [69967]

Mr. Miliband: The information is not collected centrally.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will provide a breakdown of the ethnic group of (a) primary school teachers and (b) secondary school teachers by local education authority area at the latest date for which figures are available. [69970]

Mr. Miliband: This information is not available. For the short-term, information on the number of teachers in service by ethnic group will be collected via the Annual Survey of Teachers in Service. The next survey will be carried out in January 2003. In the longer term, ethnicity data for all the schools' workforce is likely to be collected through a proposed common dataset for adults, on which the Department has recently consulted.

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