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31 Jan 2003 : Column 1056W—continued
Recruitment of Ambulance Staff
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS ambulance trusts have stopped recruitment of ambulance staff. [85787]
Mr. Hutton: The recruitment of ambulance staff is a local matter and, as such, the Department does not hold this information centrally.
The Department does, however, collect data on the total numbers of ambulance staff recruited. There has been an increase in the total numbers of ambulance staff from 15,280, or 14,480 whole time equivalents employed in 1995, to 16,920 or 16,320 whole time equivalents, employed in 2001.
Residential Care (Children)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children there were in residential care in (a) England and (b) Haltemprice and Howden in each year since 1997 for which figures are available. [93839]
Jacqui Smith: The information available on looked after children in residential care is shown in the table. Figures for East Riding of Yorkshire council have been provided, as data for Haltemprice and Howden are not available.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 7,900 | 8,500 | 8,300 | 8,900 | 8,500 | 8,600 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 25 | 45 | 35 | 45 | 35 | (3)— |
(2) Includes children in secure units, children's homes and hostels, residential schools and other residential settings.
(3) 2002 figures for East Riding of Yorkshire are not yet available.
Note:
All figures are rounded—national figures to the nearest 100 and local authority figures to the nearest 5.
Waiting Lists (Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were on in-patient waiting lists for (a) Hull Royal Infirmary and (b) Castle Hill hospital in the last month for which figures are available. [92851]
Jacqui Smith: At the end of November 2002 there were 9,913 patients waiting for in-patient treatment at Hull and east Yorkshire hospitals national health service trust.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
International Atomic Energy Agency
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will increase the United Kingdom's donation to the International Atomic Energy Agency to assist the international inspection and safeguards regime. [93886]
Nigel Griffiths: In addition to its assessed contributions to the regular budget of the IAEA, the
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UK makes a number of voluntary contributions to it for specific activities, including those carried out by the Agency's Safeguards Department.
The agency is now discussing with member states proposals that it has put forward for the regular budget for 2004 and 2005. These proposals include a significant increase in funding for safeguards. The UK has welcomed the proposal that the budget be increased to enable the agency to better carry out its statutory and other obligations. We believe that, if a convincing case is made for an increase in the safeguards budget, member states must ensure that the extra resources are made available.
Ammunition Manufacturing
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether her Department regulates the manufacture of ammunition. [93584]
Nigel Griffiths: DTI has no specific responsibility for regulating the manufacture of ammunition.
BNFL
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list assets and liabilities of BNFL which will be (a) transferred to the Liabilities Management Authority, (b) retained by BNFL and (c) shared between each. [94973]
Mr. Wilson: Paragraph 5.5 of The White Paper 'Managing the Nuclear Legacy—A Strategy for Action' (Cm5552) sets out the aims and basic framework for restructuring BNFL and transferring assets and liabilities to the LMA. Those aims remain unchanged. Details of the restructuring will be finalised in due course.
Business Link
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many telephone inquiries the Business Link national 0845 telephone number received per week in (a) September 2002 and (b) December 2002; how many inquiries per week led to appointments for Business Link advisers; and if he will make a statement about the different categories of enquiries received between September and December 2002. [93106]
Nigel Griffiths: The information requested is as follows:
(a) September Weekly Telephone Inquiries to Business Link 0845 number
| Date | Total |
|---|---|
| 1—7 September 2002 | 1,061 |
| 8—14 September 2002 | 1,120 |
| 15—21 September 2002 | 2,053 |
| 22—30 September 2002 | 1,924 |
| September | 6,158 |
Note:
Active Publicity campaign in progress throughout September, hence higher call volume.
(b) December Weekly Telephone Inquiries to Business Link 0845 number
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| Date | Total |
|---|---|
| 1—8 December 2002 | 1,061 |
| 9—15 December 2002 | 1,159 |
| 16—22 December 2002 | 909 |
| 23—31 December 2002 | 267 |
| December | 3,570 |
Callers are directed via the 0845 link to their local Business Link Operator (BLO) who then treats each case individually. Adviser support is provided where the BLO judge that course best fits customer need. SBS does not require BLOs to retain detailed, constant monitoring information on such referrals.
Call Centres
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many call centres are contracted or operated by her Department and its agencies. [93798]
Ms Hewitt: My Department and its agencies have a number of call centre operations in place as well as specific inquiry number helplines which will vary in number at any given time to reflect particular initiatives we are engaged in.
The number of call centres currently in use across the Department and its agencies is 11. These involve a mix of 0800, 0870, 0845 and STD (e.g. 020) numbers and are either operated direct by the Department or its agencies or as a managed service on our behalf.
Information is not available centrally on the current number of inquiry helplines but at the last review in 2001 some 33 departmental and 25 agency helplines existed. These generally utilise STD numbers but some 0800 and 0845 numbers are also used.
Car Sales
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1)what recent study she has made of new car prices in (a) the UK and (b) other EU countries; [92814]
- (2) whether her Department monitors the regulations designed to ensure that private buyers receive the same level of discounts on new car purchases as fleet buyers; and what research she has undertaken as to whether the regulations are ensuring that private car buyers do not subsidise fleet buyers. [92756]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Office of Fair Trading is responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Supply of New Cars Order 2000. The Order is one of several factors influencing car prices. These include a renegotiated block exemption from EU competition rules for vehicle supply and servicing introduced on 1 October 2002.
The EC publishes a six-monthly study of list prices of new cars, across a range of countries and across a range of models. In the UK, the Alliance & Leicester in conjunction with What Car?, publishes a monthly survey of new car prices.
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The DGFT has a statutory duty to keep the Order under review. At the beginning of last year the DGFT published a report on an investigation into alleged breaches of the Order by three major car suppliers following a complaint from the National Franchised Dealer Association and the Consumers Association. This concluded that the anti-discrimination rules of the Order covering sales to fleet customers and sales to dealers had not been broken.
Debt Taskforce
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Task Force on Tackling Over-Indebtedness cost (a) to establish and (b) to run in each year since its establishment. [92713]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 22 January 2003]: The members of the Task Force have not been remunerated. DTI staffing costs, have amounted to a total of 119,900. (October 2000 to January 2003).
Energy White Paper
Mr. Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Energy White Paper will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses. [94412]
Mr. Wilson [holding answer 30 January 2003]: The White Paper will be published shortly.
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