---

8 May 2003 : Column 855W—continued

Criminal Offences

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, broken down by Act, the criminal offences created in legislation sponsored by his Department since 1997. [111791]

Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) on 16 May 2002, Official Report, column 808W. No relevant legislation has been enacted since then.

8 May 2003 : Column 856W

Middle East

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the reports from Israel that the terrorist responsible for the suicide bombing on 29 April in Tel Aviv and his accomplice were British citizens; and if he will make a statement. [111876]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Metropolitan Police Service Anti-Terrorist Branch is liaising very closely with the Israeli authorities and is carrying out inquiries into all relevant aspects of this case, including reports that the terrorist and his accomplice were British citizens. A team of UK officers travelled to Tel Aviv on 2 May to talk to the Israelis.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures have been put in place to exert pressure on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to comply with the roadmap for peace in the Middle East. [111324]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We expect both sides to work enthusiastically to implement the roadmap, recognising that the interests of both peoples are best served by ending the violence and negotiating a just and lasting settlement, in the way it sets out. Exerting external pressure at this early stage would, we believe, send quite the wrong message about the roadmap's intrinsic merits.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what independent monitoring mechanisms will be put in place to ensure compliance with each phase of the roadmap for the Middle East. [111327]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The roadmap contains provision for third party monitoring of the agreement. The quartet is currently in the process of drawing up a mechanism to achieve this. We shall expect all parties to co-operate with it fully and are ready to provide whatever assistance we can to ensure its success.

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from (a) the Israeli Defence Force and (b) the United Nations on the killing of Mr. Ian Hook; and if he will place these in the Library. [110909]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Israelis have reported privately to Mr. Hook's family on the findings of their investigation. A copy of the UN report has been passed privately to Mr. Hook's family. The UN has not published its report and has no plans to do so at this stage.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Enterprise Zones

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of enterprise zones; and whether he plans to bring forward a successor scheme when enterprise zones end in 2005. [111377]

Mr. McNulty: Enterprise Zones have been subject to continuous monitoring since 1981. Monitoring of the remaining zones will continue until the final

8 May 2003 : Column 857W

designations come to an end in 2006. To date there have also been three evaluation studies of Enterprise Zones. A final evaluation will be conducted in 2007. There are no plans at present to extend or replace the Enterprise Zone programme.

Fire Service (Somerset)

Mr. Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many man hours have been lost in the Somerset Fire Service as a result of strike action in the past 12 months. [111657]

Mr. Raynsford: Information on the exact number of man-hours lost in the Somerset Fire Service due to strike action is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, there are two shifts in a 24-hour period. Twenty shifts were severely affected by strike action by members of the Fire Brigades Union in November 2002, six in January 2003 and four in February 2003.

Housing

Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed withdrawal of Local Authority Social Housing Grant upon the number of new social housing starts in (a) inner London, (b) London and (c) England after the current transitional arrangements are withdrawn. [111759]

Mr. McNulty: Local Authority Social Housing Grant is being ended to allow the resources to be better targeted to achieve the objectives set out in "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future". No estimates have been made on the impact this will have on the number of social housing dwellings provided, either in total or in particularly locations. That will depend on a number of factors, including, in particular, the recommendations from the new Regional Housing Boards on what and where the available resources should be spent.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received about the Regulatory Reform (Housing Management Agreements) Order. [111733]

Mr. McNulty: Fifty three responses were finally received as a result of the consultation paper on the proposed changes in the Order. Responses had also been received from an earlier consultation, five of which were from persons different to those received from the consultation paper. Details of the majority of the representations can be found in the Explanatory Document on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at: http://www.housing.odpm.gov.uk/information/hma/index.htm.

Dr. Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what classes of workers are included in the category of key worker; [111010]

(2) what criteria his Department uses to identify key workers in relation to the provision of affordable housing; [111009]

(3) what plans he has to include prison officers in the category of key worker for the provision of affordable housing. [111011]

8 May 2003 : Column 858W

Mr. McNulty: The key worker groups prioritised for assistance under the Starter Home Initiative and the Challenge Fund are teachers, police, nurses and other essential health workers. This reflects the importance the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister attaches to addressing recruitment and retention problems in the key public services of education, health, and policing.

From 2004–05 funding for the provision of key worker housing will be integrated into the Housing Corporation's main affordable housing programme and will target key public sector workers. The Housing Corporation expects to invite bids for key worker housing schemes at the same time as bids for other affordable housing schemes, around September 2003. It will be made clear by that stage which key worker groups will qualify for assistance.

Parliamentary Boundaries (Wales)

Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress the Boundary Commission has made with its report on the new parliamentary boundaries for Wales; and when it is expected to complete its deliberations. [111591]

Mr. Leslie: The Boundary Commission for Wales announced the start of its review of parliamentary constituencies in Wales on 16 December 2002. It expects to publish draft recommendations for all the Welsh counties towards the end of this year; and to make its report to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister early in 2005.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many answers to (a) written and (b) oral parliamentary questions have required correction by his Department in each of the past two years. [103232]

Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. During the period from 29 May 2002 to 14 April 2003, one pursuant parliamentary question has been tabled by the Office.

People with Disabilities

Mr. Soley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his proposed planning legislation will require new developments to incorporate access rights for people with disabilities. [111254]

Mr. McNulty: Clause 38 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill requires those responsible for preparing regional and spatial strategies and local development documents to exercise those functions with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. Sustainable development will be defined in guidance, but is already clearly set out in the Government's statement on sustainable development 'A Better Quality of Life—A Strategy for sustainable development for the UK—May 1999'. This will mean that planning policy makers, developers, and decision makers at national and local levels must take full account of the social, economic and environmental impacts of proposed developments—including the needs of people with disabilities.

8 May 2003 : Column 859W

Another measure to help bring about accessible environments is for local planning authorities to engage in better quality and wider consultation with local communities, including disabled people, at the start of the planning process. The new planning legislation will require local authorities to prepare Statements of Community Involvement which will set out how they will consult with local communities on preparing their local development plans.

---