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Nuclear Reprocessing

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the relative costs of (a) reprocessing 50-year cooled PWR spent reactor fuel and (b) reprocessing five-year cooled fuel at Sellafield using THORP. [109077]

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Mr. Wilson: The Government have made no such estimate. It is for the owners of spent fuel to make judgments about the relative merits of reprocessing spent fuel on an early timescale in currently available reprocessing facilities as compared to other spent fuel management options that might be available. It can be noted that, should an owner choose to store spent fuel for an extended period pending future decisions on its final management, the option to reprocess the fuel would be dependent upon the necessary reprocessing facilities then being available. The United Kingdom's only PWR power station is Sizewell B, owned by British Energy, which has been in operation since 1995.

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the relative costs of (a) non-reprocessing spent reactor fuel followed by encapsulation and (b) storage at a reactor site with the reprocessing, vitrification and storage as currently practised at Sellafield. [109078]

Mr. Wilson: The Government have made no estimate of the relative costs of different spent fuel management options. It is for the owners of spent fuel to make judgments about the relative merits of reprocessing spent fuel as compared to other spent fuel management options that might in future become available such as direct disposal.

One NorthEast

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on (a) the involvement of One North East in the decision-making process which preceded Budget 2003 and (b) One North East's role in delivering commitments made in Budget 2003. [111248]

Alan Johnson: (a) The Agency was asked, along with Government Office to feed in our Regional priorities for the Budget, in the context of the delivery of the Regional Economic Strategy and the Productivity in the UK report. We did this in January 2002.

The Agency also responded to Treasury consultations on cross cutting issues, in particular Science and Industry.

(b) One NorthEast's role in delivering commitments made in Budget 2002.

The 2002 budget delivered excellent new flexibilities for all RDAs, through the establishment of a single budget for uncommitted resources. The activities funded by the Agency are agreed with Government through the Corporate Plan. One NorthEast's total gross expenditure for 2002–3 was 228 million. The provisional figures for 2002–03 show that the Agency has exceeded all of its targets.

The RDA is also charged with leading the Region to ensure the delivery of Regional output targets, derived directly from Departmental PSA targets, and therefore directly contributing to the delivery of the Budget.

The Regional Outcome targets are included in the Corporate Plan a copy of these has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

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Pharmacies

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many representations she has received from members of the public regarding the proposed deregulation of the pharmacy industry; and if she will make a statement. [110706]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We have received numerous representations from members of the public and other stakeholders regarding the OFT report on the control of entry regulations and retail pharmacy services in the UK.

In relation to England, the Government have said that we favour change to open up the market and improve quality and access without diminishing the crucial role that pharmacies play, especially in poorer and rural areas. The Government intend to come forward with a balanced package of proposals for consultation before the summer recess.

The regulations on pharmacy entry controls are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the devolved Administrations announced their responses to the OFT's recommendations on 26 March.

Postal Services

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices have been (a) proposed for closure by the Post Office, (b) referred to Postwatch on appeal, (c) recommended by Postwatch to remain open, (d) recommended by Postwatch to close and (e) subject to a closure decision by the Post Office under the Post Office urban reinvention programme. [110793]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 1 May 2003]: Data on the numbers of closure proposals put out to public consultation under the urban network reinvention programme and any subsequent Postwatch referrals and recommendations are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the distance criteria governing closure is being adapted under the Post Office urban reinvention programme to take account of (a) gradients of slope facing pedestrians, (b) the number of road crossings and traffic flows, (c) parking availability at remaining post offices and (d) expected waiting times at remaining post offices. [110794]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 1 May 2003]: The factors taken into account in formulating specific closure proposals put out to public consultation under the urban network reinvention programme are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Public Service Agreement

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (a) how many and (b) what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of the Department. [109463]

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Ms Hewitt: Monitoring progress towards the Department's PSA targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels of the organisation, including the Department's Permanent Secretary and Directors General who receive regular updates, as members of the Executive Board, on progress towards the PSA targets.

Selby Coalfield

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from the National Union of Mineworkers concerning the Selby coalfield. [110216]

Mr. Wilson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry met representatives of the NUM on 12 February 2003 and was given a copy of a report commissioned by the NUM from National Economic Research Associates (NERA) entitled "Keeping the Selby Complex Open".

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the reviews of deaths in cases of domestic violence she has undertaken; and what her conclusions were in each case. [110671]

The Solicitor-General: I asked Chief Crown Prosecutors outside London to carry out domestic violence murder reviews in six suitable cases as an informal pilot scheme.

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The Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence has been considering the issue of murder reviews. The issue was included in the White Paper "Justice for All" published in July 2002 and will be picked up as part of the wider Consultation Paper on domestic violence that is to be published soon.

Stevens Inquiry

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Solicitor-General on what dates files have been forwarded to the Northern Ireland Director of Public Prosecutions as a result of the inquiry being conducted by Sir John Stevens; how many files were forwarded in each case; in what proportion of cases the DPP has initiated a prosecution; and how many have been successful. [110865]

The Solicitor-General: Sir John Stevens' inquiries began in September 1989. Since then the Stevens' team has forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland a substantial number of reports relating to named individuals.

During the course of the three inquiries, 9,256 statements have been taken, 10,391 documents recorded (totalling over one million pages) and 16,194 exhibits seized. To date, 94 persons have been convicted and 57 separate reports submitted to the Director for his consideration. The Director has been informed that further reports will be submitted. Further information could be provided only following an individual examination of each report and at a disproportionate cost.

This information is also available in the Report published by Sir John Stevens on 17 April 2003.

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HOME DEPARTMENT

Anti-terrorism Publicity

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls have been received by the Metropolitan police anti-terrorism hotline; and how many people are employed in the running of the Metropolitan police anti-terrorism hotline. [109513]

Mr. Blunkett: 2,597 calls were received on the hotline between 17 March and 14 April 2003. The line is staffed 24hrs a day 7 days a week and has sufficient staff to deal with the volume of calls. All calls received are answered. For operational reasons, the Metropolitan police do not disclose staffing levels in its anti-terrorist branch or how they are deployed.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent by the Metropolitan police on (a) the Life Savers anti-terrorism advertising campaign and (b) the anti-terrorism hotline. [109514]

Mr. Blunkett: £410,000 in total was spent on the design, printing and advertising costs for the Life Savers anti-terrorism advertising campaign. Costs for the Anti-terrorism hotline are dependent on the volume of calls received and are covered by existing budgets.

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