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PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what proportion of recent letters and e-mails he has received are (a) in favour and (b) against military action against Iraq. [100039]

The Prime Minister: Since January, I have received over 80,000 letters and cards about the subject of Iraq. Given the volume of correspondence I receive, over one million letters in the last year covering a broad spectrum of issues, my office records the numbers of letters received on a subject rather than by the view expressed. However, I know that many people have written to me expressing concerns about the action against Iraq and I reiterate what I have said that no decision has been made to take military action and military action is not inevitable. My office works hard to ensure that all the letters receive appropriate responses.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Prime Minister what the procedure was for approving and publishing the dossier entitled Iraq—Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation; and which Minister had ultimate responsibility for its contents. [100285]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 10 February 2003, Official Report, column 583W and Prime Minister's Questions on 12 February 2003.

Oil Contracts

Andrew Selous: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his statement to the House of 25 February 2003, Official Report, columns 123–140W, what contingency plans he has in place relating to the honouring of current oil contracts between Iraq and France and Russia. [99968]

3 Mar 2003 : Column 850W

The Prime Minister [holding answer 28 February 2003]: Contracts for the export of Iraqi oil under the Oil for Food programme continue to be honoured, with Iraq exporting 11.9 million barrels in the week beginning 15 February. Our policy is that the sanctions regime should be complied with.

United Nations Security Council

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the leaders of other members of the United Nations Security Council with whom he has had contact since 1 February 2003 broken down by date and purpose of communication. [100075]

The Prime Minister: I am in regular contact with other world leaders, including heads of state and government of other members of the UN Security Council, on a wide range of international issues.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Children and Family Court Advisory andSupport Services

Simon Hughes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the databases inherited by CAFCASS on 1 April 2001 will no longer be required. [99544]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The databases inherited by CAFCASS from its predecessors will no longer be required when CAFCASS has alternative service-wide systems in place. User consultation has taken place and CAFCASS is currently examining its options for the most appropriate IT solution to its organisational requirements.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how long it takes to make a file on a CAFCASS client available on request, and at what cost. [99545]

Ms Rosie Winterton: CAFCASS clients have access to documents in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 and associated rules and regulations, including those governing court proceedings. CAFCASS applies the standard DPA provisions to the timescale for the release of information—aiming to complete all requests within 40 days. Relevant documents are made available on payment of a fee of £10.

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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Sure Start

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent on Sure Start projects in each of the last five years. [96108]

Maria Eagle: The annual spending on Sure Start for the last five financial years is shown in the following table.

	£ million
1997–98	n/a
1998–99	n/a
1999–2000	5
2000–01	56
2001–02	134

Class Sizes

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) five, (b) six and (c) seven-year-old children in Nottingham, North were taught in class sizes of 30 or more (i) in 1997 and (ii) in the latest period for which figures are available. [98327]

Maria Eagle: Information on the age of pupils within classes is not collected centrally.

The available information on the number of pupils in designated nursery classes and other classes of 31 or more in maintained primary schools in Nottingham, North parliamentary constituency is shown in the table.

Maintained primary schools⁽²⁰⁾: number of classes of 31 or more and the number pupils within them⁽²¹⁾ Nottingham, North parliamentary constituency

	Taught by one teacher
Position as		Nursery classes			Other classes
at January each year	Number of pupils	Number of classes	Number of pupils	Number of classes
1997	563	14	3,502	107
1998	529	13	3,052	93
1999	617	16	2,633	79
2000	527	13	2,388	72
2001	493	12	1,763	53
2002	524	13	1,443	44

⁽²⁰⁾ Excludes middle schools as deemed.

⁽²¹⁾ Classes as taught during the one selected period in each school on the day of the census.

Source:

Annual Schools' Census

Demountable Classrooms

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many demountable classrooms there were at primary schools in the Colchester constituency in May 1997; how many there are; and how many have been replaced with permanent accommodation since May 1997. [99654]

Mr. Miliband: As part of the data collected through the appraisal of sset management plans, the Department for Education and Skills has some information on the overall area of temporary accommodation at schools, but it is not possible from these data to identify with any

3 Mar 2003 : Column 852W

precision the actual number of temporary classrooms. The Department does not hold information on numbers of replacement temporary classrooms.

Departmental Phone Directories

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the most recent internal phone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [100092]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department's internal directory is held electronically and updated constantly. We are discontinuing printed versions but will, however, provide the House Library with a CD-Rom version and update that quarterly.

Education Fees (Contribution)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of students in each local education authority (a) contributed and (b) partly contributed to fees in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) 2001–02; and what his estimate is for the current academic year. [99141]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 25 February 2003]: In England and Wales students on full-time undergraduate courses and their families are expected to make a contribution towards the cost of their tuition only if they can afford to do so.

The percentage of students in England and Wales in academic years 1999–2000 and 2000–01 (latest year for which data are available) who have been assessed to make a full or partial contribution towards the cost of their tuition is shown in the table:

		All students(percentage)(22)
Academic year	1999–2000	2000–012
Partial contribution towards the cost of tuition from student/parents/spouse/partner	20	19
Full contribution towards the cost of tuition from student/parents/spouse/partner	35	39

⁽²²⁾ Contributions towards the cost of tuition are assessed by local education authorities in England and Wales for students normally domiciled in their area and studying in the UK.

⁽²³⁾ 2000–01 data are provisional.

Source:

F503G survey of local education authorities

National level data are published annually in the Department's Statistical First Releases (SFRs) (SFR 18/2001 and SFR 08/2002 for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 respectively). Data are collected from the local education authorities (LEAs) to produce national estimates and the data collection exercise does not allow the production of firm figures at the individual LEA level. National data for academic year 2001–02 will be available at the end of April 2003 and that for the current year 2002–03 will be published in spring 2004.

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