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External Reports

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to her Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by her Department in each year since 1997. [103724]

Ms Hewitt: I have understood an external report to be a report produced at the request of government by a person, group or organisation external to the department and which is publicly available. To distinguish the external reports produced by my Department, and provide their commissioned authors or organisations, could only be done at disproportionate cost, as this information is not held centrally.

However a list of all DTI publications produced since 12 February 2002, which have been notified to my Department's Publications Unit, has been placed in the Libraries of the House. For publications produced prior to this date I refer the hon Member to the answer given to the hon Member for Buckingham on 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 849W.

The listing includes the total production cost to the Department of each publication (where notified centrally), and excludes publications for internal use.

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The subject of each publication could not be included in the list without disproportionate cost, but the subject of most publications is clear form the title.

Market Testing

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated level of saving to the Department is from the use of market testing in 2002–03. [107771]

Ms Hewitt: The Department of Trade and Industry has not undertaken any market testing in the year 2002–03.

Pensions/Benefits Payments

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list telephone services operated by her Department in order to provide advice or services relating to changes in the method of paying pensions and benefits; and if she will place in the Library copies of the scripts used by the people answering the telephones. [107596]

Ms Hewitt: The customer telephone helpline services, concerning changes to the payment arrangements for benefits and pensions, are operated by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Street Works

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions her Department has had with the UK broadband industry regarding proposed changes to the legislative framework regulating street works. [107808]

Mr. Timms: There have been discussions with a number of telecoms operators at ministerial and official level regarding the proposed street works legislation.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Document Classification

Harry Cohen: To ask the Minister for Women how many documents are held by her office that are subject to security classification, broken down by category of classification. [107350]

Ms Hewitt: It is not possible to provide the requested statistics without incurring disproportionate cost.

EU Funding

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women what recent EU funding her Department has received from the Daphne programme; and what specific projects were supported by such funding. [107517]

Ms Hewitt: To date, there has been no funding bid submitted to the Daphne programme by this Department. We are currently liaising with non-governmental organisations so that they are aware of the opportunities offered by the new Daphne programme.

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TREASURY

Crown Estate

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 31 March, Official Report, column 560W, on the Crown Estate, when a Minister from the Treasury last met Crown Estate representatives; and what issues were discussed. [108196]

Mr. Boateng: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 11 February 2002 Official Report columns 114–115W.

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his Answer of 31 March, Official Report, column 560W, on the Crown Estate, what assessment has been made of the impact of Crown Estate charges levied for use of the seabed on those who pay it. [108197]

Mr. Boateng: Rents charged by The Crown Estate for use of the seabed are established by professional valuers in negotiation with users and where appropriate involve consultation with the relevant industry or interest groups. The rents are set at levels appropriate to the market conditions and must not take advantage of any monopoly interest. Any tenant may have the level of rent independently evaluated by the Valuation Office.

Departmental Catering Services

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of (a) the in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Department in 2002. [104254]

Ruth Kelly: The cost of the staff restaurant and associated facilities provided by the Treasury's caterers during 2001–02 was £156,126. The cost of other catering services was £198,048.

Inspectorates

Mr. Norman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) staff and (b) staff engaged in inspection work have been employed by (i) HM Customs and Excise and (ii) the Inland Revenue in each year since 1997. [105872]

John Healey: The information is as follows:

(a) Total Staff

Details of how many staff were employed by HM Customs and Excise are contained in the HM Customs and Excise Spring 2002 Departmental Report, published in June 2002. Inland Revenue figures can be found in two publications: the "Inland Revenue Government Expenditure Plans 2000–02", published in April 2000; and the "Inland Revenue Government Expenditure Plans 2002–04", published in June 2002. Copies of these reports are available in the Library of the House.

(b) Staff Engaged in Inspection Work

Customs staff engage in a variety of activities which can include the inspection of goods, documents, accounts, electronic files, vehicles and premises. It is not possible to give the information requested, as the question is formulated in too general a manner—Exemption 9 of the Open Government Code applies.

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The Inland Revenue undertakes a variety of activities to monitor and ensure compliance. Chiefly, this concerns inquiries into the tax returns of individuals, businesses and companies, and reviews of employer compliance. Though figures for earlier years are not available, the number of staff engaged in this work was 12,622 in 1999–2000, 12,439 in 2000–01 and 13,130 in 2001–02. This involves staff at different levels working in local offices, the Large Business Office and the Special Compliance Office.

Staff Taxis

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent in 2002 on providing taxis for staff. [105618]

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 28 March 2003]: The Treasury meets the cost of taxis necessarily used by its staff for official business. When a member of staff is required to work until after 9pm, it will also meet the cost of a taxi home. In 2002, total expenditure on the Department's taxi and courier contract was £111,000. Of this, some £3,500 was in respect of taxis home.

Sunset Clauses

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the sunset clauses included in legislation from his Department since 1997. [106939]

Ruth Kelly: No substantive provision of post-1997 legislation for which the Chancellor's Department is responsible lapses automatically after a specified period of time or ceases to have effect on a particular date.

However, some of the transitional provisions connected with the coming into force of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 cease to have effect on a certain date.

In addition, certain provisions in legislation for which the Treasury is responsible cease to have effect on the occurrence of a particular event. For example, legislation which implements United Nations Security Council Resolutions which call on the UK to impose financial sanctions generally provide that if the United Nations Security Council cancel the operation of the relevant Resolution, the Order ceases to have effect.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Apples and Pears

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress is being made over proposals to amend the EC marketing standard for apples and pears. [108069]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 April 2003]: The EU Commission tabled further proposals to amend the marketing standard for apples and pears at a meeting of member states' experts on 28 March. Our Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate is consulting widely on these proposals.

Conservation Boards

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her

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answer of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 641W, on conservation boards, what steps conservation boards could take to avoid paying VAT. [108005]

Alun Michael: As I explained in my previous reply, I am considering the options. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

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