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30 Jan 2003 : Column 1013W—continued

Protection of Children Act

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what actions he has taken to inform voluntary organisations of the scope of the Protection of Children Act 1999. [93394]

Jacqui Smith: Guidance on the Protection of Children Act 1999 was published in September 2000 and distributed to a large range of statutory and voluntary child care organisations. The guidance continues to be made available and is published on the Department of Health website for easy access.

30 Jan 2003 : Column 1014W

Hospital Waiting Lists/Times

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust area were waiting for in-patient treatment on the latest available date. [92067]

Jacqui Smith: As at 10 January 2003, the number of patients waiting for in-patient and day case treatment at the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust was 9,322.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people waited 13 weeks or more for an out-patient appointment in Hull and the East Riding in each of the last three quarters for which figures are available. [92912]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the table.

Waiting times for first out-patient appointment, NHS trusts and PCTs within North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire StHA area—provider based—number of GP written referral requests seen during the quarter who waited 13 weeks or more

Code	Name	March 2002	June 2002	Sept 2002
RWA	Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust	5,727	3,950	4,634

PRIVY COUNCIL

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Allen: To ask the President of the Council what representations he has received about bringing forward proposals for making the rise of the House the time for the shuffle for oral questions; and if he will make a statement. [94583]

Mr. Robin Cook: I have only received one such representation, and that was from my hon. Friend. I have no plans to change the time for the shuffle.

Service Delivery Agreement

Tony Wright: To ask the President of the Council when the Privy Council Office's service delivery agreement for 2003 to 2006 will be published. [94209]

Mr. Robin Cook: The Privy Council Office is not required to have a service delivery agreement.

A new business plan is, however, being prepared, and will be published on the Privy Council Office website (www.privycouncil.gov.uk) later this year. The plan will include our main performance targets, and when it is published, I will write to my hon. Friend to let him know.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Local Authority Housing

Mr. Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to expand the use of Arms Length Management Organisations. [93831]

30 Jan 2003 : Column 1015W

Mr. McNulty: Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) for local authority housing are one of the Government's key options for improving service delivery for tenants and achieving the decent homes target. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's commitment to ALMOs is set to continue and we will be announcing the level of resources available for the next three years of the programme shortly.

Business Co-ordination Unit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff work for the Business Co-ordination Unit; how many worked for the unit in each year since it was formed; and what the running costs of the unit are in 2002–03. [92576]

Mr. Leslie: There are currently three staff employed in the Business Co-ordination Unit, with two vacant posts. In 2000 when the unit was set up there were four members of staff, this increased to five in April 2002. The running costs budget for the unit in 2002–03 is £300,000.

Deprivation Indices

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to ensure that the calculation of deprivation indices take account of local crime rates. [94521]

Mrs. Roche: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently engaged in a project to consider options for updating the Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID 2000). As part of this project, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investigating the potential for constructing a Crime and Social Order domain, which would measure the deprivation people face as a result of crime or as a result of living in an area with high rates of crime and social disorder. Discussions are currently taking place with officials in the Home Office over the scope, availability and quality of data.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has always recognised that it would be important to include a crime/social order domain in the ID 2000 but were previously prevented from doing so because of a lack of robust data.

Development Grants

Mr. Burnett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the projected total sum is in the United Kingdom of the (a) approved development programme and (b) Challenge Fund for (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05. [94414]

Mr. McNulty: In 2002–03 the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP) in England is £921 million. There is no Challenge Fund for this year. The funding for 2003–04, announced on 18 September, is £l,286 million of which £200 million is for the Challenge Fund.

My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will be making a statement shortly about how the additional funding in the 2002 Spending Review will be used; it will include figures for 2004–05.

The ADP and Challenge Fund operate in England only.

30 Jan 2003 : Column 1016W

Mr. Burnett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the proposed allocation within the regions of the UK is of the (a) Challenge Fund and (b) approved development programme for (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05. [94415]

Mr. McNulty: The published allocation between regions of the Housing Corporation's approved development programme in England for 2002–03 and 2003–04 is tabled as follows:

£ million

	2002–03	2003–04
Region	Actual	Indicative
London	420.4	482.0
South East	113.9	134.1
South West	61.8	74.3
East Midlands	40.5	48.3
East of England	63.8	74.1
West Midlands	64.6	79.3
Yorks and Humberside	49.3	59.7
North East	22.9	33.8
North West	57.7	69.0
Merseyside	25.4	30.4
HQ	1.0	1.0
Challenge Fund	n/a	200.0
Total	921.2	1,286.2

The ADP and Challenge Fund operate in England only.

My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will be making a statement shortly about how the additional funding in the 2002 Spending Review will be used; it will include figures for 2004–05.

The allocation of Challenge Fund bids between regions is tabled as follows:

	£ million
London	109.6
South East	84.0
East of England	6.4

These allocations by the Housing Corporation are provisional and subject to confirmation of costs and timing.

Electronic Government

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he intends to introduce an e-participation component as a requirement of Implementing Electronic Government statements. [93865]

Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently considering the format of the third round of Implementing Electronic Government (IEG3) Statements. It is probable that we will be asking councils to provide information on specific components of the local e-government programme. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is also in the process of developing a proposal for a National Project on e-participation. If this project is approved a return in this area in the IEG3 statements could be included.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes to publish draft guidelines on IEG3 before Easter and the final guidance in June.

30 Jan 2003 : Column 1017W

House Condition Survey

Mr. Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish the results of the 2001 English House Condition Survey. [93830]

Mr. McNulty : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) on 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 165W.

Affordable Housing (South-West)

Mr. Burnett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the aims are of the long-term housing allocation resource plans; what he estimates the effect will be on the division of resources for low-cost affordable housing within the South West Region; and if he will make a statement. [94413]

Mr. McNulty: In his statement to the house about sustainable communities on 18 July 2002, Official Report, column 438, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister promised to return to the house with a comprehensive long term programme of action to achieve a step change in the Government's policies for building successful, thriving and inclusive communities in all regions. The statement, which will be made shortly, will set out how the additional funding announced in the 2002 spending review will be used. It will cover the provision of affordable housing in areas of shortage.

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