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Overseas Visits

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the overseas trips on departmental business that have been undertaken in each of the last five years by officials in his Department; and what the (a) cost, (b) purpose and (c) result was in each case. [68726]

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Mr. Murphy: All overseas travel by officials in my department is undertaken in accordance with the principles set in Chapter 8 of the Civil Service Management Code. Detailed information about individual trips is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Political Appointments

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many political appointments he has made in the Welsh Office since taking office. [64547]

Mr. Murphy: In accordance with the Ministerial Code, I have two Special Advisers. Since 1999 I have made 3 appointments to these posts.

In addition I have one Parliamentary Private Secretary, and since 1999 have appointed two Members of Parliament to this post.

Job Location

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many jobs under the remit of his Department in (a) the core department, (b) non-departmental public bodies, (c) executive agencies and (d) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by his Department and other such organisations, are located in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, excluding Greater London, (iii) Greater London, (iv) Wales, (v) Northern Ireland and (vi) overseas, broken down by (A) whole time equivalent jobs and (B) the percentage per individual department, body or organisation. [72737]

Mr. Murphy: My department's structure currently contains 48 permanent posts, 9 of which are based in Cardiff and the remainder of which are based in central London. It has no NDPBs, agencies, or other related bodies.

Overseas Profile

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent steps he has taken to extend the profile of Wales abroad. [71772]

Mr. Murphy: I and my colleague the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales undertake a regular programme of activities with the aim of extending the profile of Wales abroad. This programme includes: visits to the European institutions; bilateral visits overseas; meetings with key national and regional politicians, both in the UK and abroad; attendance at international conferences and events; support for trade missions overseas; and meetings with UK based representatives of Wales' overseas partners.

In the past twelve months, our programme has included visits to Brussels, Strasbourg, Spain and the Czech Republic and other activities with partners from the USA, Ireland, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovakia. Future meetings are planned with Danish and Japanese representatives.

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Civil Courts

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Home Office concerning the Government's proposals for improvement of civil courts. [71771]

Mr. Murphy: I have regular discussions with colleagues about matters affecting Wales.

The Court Service Report "Modernising the Civil and Family Courts" is the responsibility of my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor. This involves a major programme of investment, which will enable the Court Service to change radically the way that the courts across all jurisdictions work, and provide a significantly improved overall level of service to its customers. I understand that the National Assembly for Wales was consulted about the programme.

Monetary Union

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government colleagues concerning the impact of possible monetary union on Wales. [71768]

Mr. Murphy: I have regular discussions with the First Secretary and his Cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues affecting Wales including Monetary union.

Tuberculosis

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales concerning the backlog in processing the results of TB tests; and if he will make a statement. [68920]

Mr. Murphy: The interim programme of action to tackle TB in Wales announced on 29 May 2002 gives priority to tackling the backlog of overdue tests. The State Veterinary Service in Wales has already acted to minimise the spread of TB through the introduction of movement restrictions on herds in annual testing parishes with overdue 6 and 12-month check tests. Prioritisation has also been given to those herds with tuberculosis tests that are overdue. Significant progress has been made. In Wales the number of overdue tests has reduced from 5,135 at 30 November to 3,450 at 30 June 2002.

Software

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his policy is towards using open source software; and what percentage is used in his Department. [69326]

Mr. Murphy: IT services are provided to my department by the National Assembly for Wales under a Service Level Agreement. The system does not use open source software.

HEALTH

Correspondence

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter of 11 February

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from Councillor Carole Paternoster of Aylesbury Vale District Council about the provision of hospital beds in the Aylesbury area. [70861]

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 22 July 2002]: The Department has no record of receiving this correspondence. The Ministerial Correspondence Unit is seeking a copy of this correspondence.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will obtain for the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton a reply to the letter regarding Ms M. Allcock which the right hon. Member sent to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 27 May and which the Secretary of State fowarded to the Medicines Control Agency for reply. [72139]

Mr. Milburn: A reply was sent on 24 July.

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for Broxbourne will receive a reply to her letters of 12 March, 11 April, 9 May, 6 June and 4 July 2002 relating to her constituent, Mr. Gordon Thorne of Hoddesdon. [68384]

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 9 July 2002]: A reply was sent 24 July.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letters from the hon. and learned member for Harborough regarding (a) St Luke's Hospital and the Coventry Road Hospital in Market Harborough, dated 7 February, (b) Mrs. C Foreman of Wigston, dated 10 January and (c) a constituent and Leicester City Social Services Department concerning allegations of child abuse dated 30 July 2001. [59883]

Jacqui Smith: Replies were sent to the hon. Member's letters on 24 June, 2 July and 24 July respectively.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 25 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Miss Irene Boyd. [70347]

Mr. Milburn: A reply was sent on 18 July.

Waiting Lists

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes have been made since May 2001 in the way waiting lists are compiled; and whether NHS trusts in England apply the same criteria. [56276]

Mr. Hutton: The NHS Plan set waiting time targets for first outpatient appointments following general practitioner (GP) referral and for inpatient treatment. Waiting list data are collected from National Health Service trusts to monitor progress against these targets. NHS trusts are required to compile their waiting list returns according to criteria and guidance set out by the Department and the NHS information authority.

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Further to recommendations made in the national audit office report "Inappropriate Adjustments to NHS Waiting Lists", guidance setting out the main rules for recording waiting list or waiting time information, and some related technical guidance prepared by the NHS information authority, will be sent to trust directors of information shortly. The NHS and social care bulletin number 21 issued on 18 July 2002 referred to this forthcoming guidance and also reminded chief executives of their duties of reasonableness to patients and honesty to the public when reporting waiting list information.

Premature Retirements

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what amounts have been provided for in 2002–03 (a) primary care trust budgets and (b) strategic health authority budgets for the cost of premature retirements. [56290]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 14 May 2002]: No funding has been earmarked in allocations to health authorities and primary care trusts in 2002–03 to meet the costs of premature retirements. National Health Service organisations meet such costs from their general allocations.

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