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Manufacturing

12. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary about manufacturing industry in North Wales. [116433]

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Peter Hain: We have discussed how the down turn in the global economy has effected some sectors in North Wales and how the long-term future of other sectors is good particularly with the growing trend towards high-tech high-skilled industries and centres of excellence such as Airbus, Broughton.

Bovine TB

13. Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings he has held with secretaries in the National Assembly for Wales about the Government's efforts to prevent the spread of bovine TB. [116434]

Mr. Touhig: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with the First Secretary, whilst I meet the Assembly Agriculture Secretary and DEFRA Ministers to discuss a variety of issues, including the issue of bovine TB.

Agriculture Department

14. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Secretary about the work of the National Assembly for Wales' Agriculture Department. [116435]

Mr. Touhig: My right hon. Friend and I have regular meetings with the First Secretary to discuss a variety of issues in relation to agriculture.

Advertising

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total expenditure on advertising by the Department was in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and what the level of planned expenditure is for (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05. [114429]

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my predecessor gave him on 15 April 2002, Official Report, column 750W.

Civil Service (People with Disabilities)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in the Department. [110523]

Peter Hain: My Department has only one Senior Civil Service post and so a target cannot be meaningfully applied.

In total, my Department has two people (equivalent to about 4 per cent. of its staff) with a disability.

Efficiency Savings

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the target is for efficiency savings in 2003–04 expressed (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's expenditure limit. [114113]

Peter Hain: My Department seeks maximum efficiency in every spending decision it takes; it does not have a fixed annual target.

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Legal Deposit Libraries Bill

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has held with (a) Secretaries in the National Assembly for Wales and (b) ministerial colleagues regarding the Legal Deposit Libraries Bill. [115059]

Peter Hain : I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues and with Ministers in the Welsh Assembly Government on matters affecting Wales. Officials in the National Assembly have been involved in detailed discussions with those in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Mental Health

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of his staff retired on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year. [111944]

Peter Hain: Staff of my Department are all on secondment or loan from other Departments. Any retirement would therefore be taken from the Home Department rather than from the Wales Office.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in the Department have been on long-term sick leave in each of the last two years. [115858]

Peter Hain: In my Department there has been only one staff on long-term sick leave in each of the last two years.

Long-term sick leave is defined as continuous sickness absence of 30 days or more.

Sponsorship

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of his Department's projects have received sponsorship in the last financial year; who the sponsor was in each case; what the nature of each project was; what time period was covered by each project; what the total cost of each project was; how much money was involved in each sponsorship deal; and if he will make a statement. [112392]

Peter Hain: None.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Literacy

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many adults are illiterate; and what percentage of adults this represents. [116011]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Moser Report (1999) indicated that around 7 million adults in England have poor literacy skills (equivalent to 21 per cent. of the population aged 16–65), and that even more have a problem with numbers. The Department has commissioned a new representative sample survey of working age adults in England to provide an up-to-date assessment of the scale of literacy and numeracy need.

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These estimates will be mapped to the new national basic skills standards and will be published in September 2003.

Playing Field Sales

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to reduce the number of school playing field sales. [114690]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Prior to October 1998, there was no regulation of the sale of playing fields at local authority controlled schools. If a local authority wanted to sell a school playing field there was nothing to stop it. No central records were kept of how many school playing fields were sold before October 1998.

Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced on 1 October 1998 to stop the indiscriminate sale of school playing fields that occurred in the 1980s and early to mid 1990s. Local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools now need the Secretary of State's consent before they can dispose of a playing field or any part of a playing field.

Applications to dispose of school playing fields are assessed against three main criteria. These are:

(i) schools' needs: that playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school making the disposal, and at other schools in the local area, will be met;

(ii) community needs: that community use of school playing fields is taken into account, with alternative facilities made available if necessary, and

(iii) finance: that any sale proceeds are reinvested to provide new or improved sports facilities, or are used otherwise to help raise standards by providing better educational facilities.

All applications made since 16 July 2001 have been scrutinised by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel. The Panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association. The Panel provides advice on the extent to which applications meet the published criteria. In 1999 the Government approved 42 applications to sell school playing fields larger than a sports pitch; 32 applications were approved in 2000, 22 in 2001 and 23 in 2002.

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school playing fields have been sold in the last 10 years. [115777]

Mr. Miliband: Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced on 1 October 1998 to stop the indiscriminate sale of school playing fields that occurred in the 1980s and early to mid 1990s. Local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools now need the Secretary of State's consent before they can dispose of a playing field or any part of a playing field. Applications to sell school playing fields are only approved where it is clear that they meet the published criteria and, in particular, that any proceeds will be used to improve school sports provision or education facilities.

There are no central records of how many school playing fields were sold before October 1998. Between October 1998 and December 1998, the Government

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approved 7 applications to sell school playing fields larger than a sports pitch; 42 applications were approved in 1999, 32 in 200, 22 in 2001 and 23 in 2002.

Publicity Photographs

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he (a) sought and (b) obtained agreement to pupils being photographed for publicity purposes on the occasion of his announcement on pupil testing on 20 May from (i) their parents, (ii) the school governors, (iii) the head teacher and (iv) the local education authority. [116234]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: I can confirm that permissions were sought. The Department has clear guidelines setting out when permission needs to be sought and how it is to be sought.

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