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19 Sept 2002 : Column 206W—continued

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's advocacy of a 60 per cent. carbon dioxide reduction by 2050. [71525]

Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

The Government will respond formally to all the recommendations in the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's twenty-second report—"Energy—the Changing Climate"—alongside publication of the Energy White Paper, which is due around the turn of the year.

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will formally reply to the RCEP's recent proposals. [71527]

Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

The Government will respond formally to all the recommendations in the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's twenty-second report—

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"Energy—the Changing Climate"—alongside publication of the Energy White Paper, which is due around the turn of the year.

Johannesburg Summit

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to offset the carbon emissions (a) she personally and (b) the British Government delegation will account for in their attendance at the forthcoming earth summit in Johannesburg. [71774]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 22 July 2002]: I have been asked to reply.

The carbon emissions caused by the government delegation's travel to and attendance at the World Summit on Sustainable Development have been offset through our participation in the Johannesburg Climate Legacy Project.

TREASURY

Working Families Tax Credit

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) investigations, (b) penalties and (c) prosecutions have been instituted since 31 December 2001 in respect of working families tax credit fraud. [67777]

Dawn Primarolo: During the period 1 January 2002 to 30 June 2002, 13,305 investigations have been opened by the issue of the Inland Revenue's Code of Practice on enquiries, 334 penalties determined and 25 prosecutions instituted in respect of Working Families Tax Credit and Disabled Persons Tax Credit.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 25 June to the hon. Member for Havant, Official Report, column 763W, on Working Families Tax Credit, when the Inland Revenue completed its compliance benchmarking exercise; when it began to analyse it; when he expects to receive it; and what the administrative cost was of the benchmarking exercise. [67935]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue began analysing the results of compliance benchmarking exercise on Working Families' Tax Credit in February 2002 and that work is continuing. It is not possible to ascertain the specific costs of this exercise because the work was undertaken as part of routine compliance casework.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the extent of fraud in the child care element of working families tax credit; and how many (a) investigations and (b) prosecutions have been instituted into fraud in the childcare element of WFTC since 31 December 2001. [67773]

Dawn Primarolo: The childcare element is only one component of both Working Families' Tax Credit and Disabled Person's Tax Credits (WFTC and DPTC). During the period 1 January 2002 and 30 June 2002, 13,305 investigations of WFTC or DPTC awards were opened by the issue of the Inland Revenue's Code of

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Practice on enquiries, but it is not possible to say how many of these were in relation to childcare charges. During the period, one of the twenty-five prosecutions was instituted as a result of the falsification of childcare documentation.

Physical Activity

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment has been made of the success of the Public Service Agreement with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to raise significantly the average time spent on sport and physical activity by those aged five to 16 years. [72466]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 23 July 2002]: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Richard Taylor) on 23 July, Official Report, column 975W.

WALES

Regulations (Cost-effectiveness)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Minister about the cost effectiveness of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (Electronic Communications) (Wales) Regulations. [60984]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, this question was missed. I can, though, now provide you with a full answer:

These are matters for the National Assembly for Wales. Section 65 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 provides for an appraisal of the costs and benefits of complying with Assembly general subordinate legislation to be carried out before a draft of the statutory instruments is laid before the Assembly.

Public Consultations

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the public consultations undertaken by his Department since 1997, indicating for each consultation (a) if copies were available online, (b) if copies were available in print, (c) the date the time period given for responses opened and (d) the date the time period given for responses closed. [69799]

Mr. Paul Murphy: It was necessary to check through a number of files to obtain the relevant details and the final pieces of information did not arrive until after the deadline for responses on 24 July. I can, though, now provide a full answer to your question as follows:

Since its creation in July 1999 my Department has undertaken consultation on the following:

"Greater Protection and Better Management of Common Land in England and Wales". Copies were available online and in print. Consultation ran from 15 February to 26 July 2000.


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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Crime Reduction Directors

Brian Cotter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the amount allocated to each of the regional crime reduction directors. [71217]

Mr. John Denham: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Robert Spink), on 22 July 2002, Official Report, column 863W.

Retail Crime

Brian Cotter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will list for each Government office in the regions what proportion of the office's annual spend for 2001–02 was allocated to combating retail crime; [71224]

Mr. John Denham: I have been asked to reply.

The attached table shows the amounts spent by regional crime reduction directors specifically on retail crime reduction initiatives in 2001–02 and shows these as a proportion of their total spending on crime reduction initiatives. These figures do not include funding spent on

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non-specific schemes, such as town centre Close Circuit Television (CCTV), which may also benefit retailers in the areas where they operate.

The Home Office does not record the amounts spent on retail crime partnerships in each of the 376 statutory crime and disorder partnerships.

Column 1Column 2Column 3
RegionSpend on retail crime projects in 2001–02 (£)Column 2 as a proportion of annual spending of regional crime reduction directors in 2001–02 (per cent.)
Eastern132,2621.0
East Midlands221,0641.4
London336,2251.1
North East248,6682.2
North West561,8642.3
South East251,5001.4
South West94,5490.7
Wales132,2621.6
West Midlands469,1992.6
Yorkshire and Humber325,1281.7

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