---

25 Jun 2003 : Column 775W—continued

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Graduates (Earning Differences)

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Minister for Women what recent assessment she has made of the differences in earnings between male and female graduates during their working lives and the reasons for such differences. [120515]

Ms Hewitt: The table shows recent analysis of the differences in earnings between male and female graduates in the UK.

Average annual earnings of graduates, 1999–2000

Age	Men (£)	Women (£)	Percentage by which average male earnings exceeded those with females
20 to 24	16,738	14,592	14.7
25 to 29	23,302	20,154	15.6
30 to 34	30,448	24,939	22.1
35 to 39	36,948	27,774	33.2
40 to 44	36,949	26,691	38.4
45 to 49	36,696	26,113	40.5
50 to 54	38,153	26,549	43.7
All ages under 60	32,555	23,630	37.8

Source:

Labour Force Survey, September 1999 to August 2000 (pooled data).

This is a complex area and recent surveys offer various opinions for such differences. Relevant factors which contribute to an earnings gap between men and women at the early stages of their careers include the different career choices made by men and women and their different academic backgrounds and skills. The largest recent survey of final year under graduates indicates that women have systematically lower expectations than men of the salaries they will earn, both in their first posts and five years later.

Earnings differentials widen with age. This can be explained to some extent by the differences in labour market participation rates, employment continuity records, longer hours worked by male than female full-time employees and women's greater likelihood of having worked part-time for some or all of their careers.

25 Jun 2003 : Column 776W

WALES

Departmental Ministers

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Ministers there were in the Welsh Office and Office of the Secretary of State for Wales in each year since 1996. [120985]

Peter Hain: The Welsh Office had one Secretary of State and two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State from 1996 until its demise in 1999; since then the Wales Office has had one Secretary of State and one Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

Foot and Mouth

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact of the foot and mouth epidemic and 11 September on tourism into Wales. [118526]

Peter Hain: None; responsibility for tourism is devolved to the National Assembly for Wales. However, figures released by the Wales Tourist Board for the Easter holiday weekend 2003, suggests that with 78 per cent. of the businesses contacted in the survey fully occupied, Wales has had a successful start to the 2003 tourist season.

Sub Post Offices

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sub-post offices there were in Wales in (a) 1997 and (b) 2002. [117520]

Peter Hain: In 2002 there were 1,355 sub-post offices in Wales.

No figures were collected for 1997.

Source:Royal Mail Group PLC

Wales Office

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the estimated (a) administrative costs and (b) budget for the Wales Office are for 2003–04; and how these have changed following the changes set out in the Prime Minister's statement of 18 June. [121479]

Peter Hain: The Wales Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2003–04 is £11.055 billion, within which the running costs of the Wales Office amounts to £4.154 million.

These figures have not changed since the 18 June statement.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his London office address is. [121476]

Peter Hain: Gwydyr House, Whitehall, London SW1A 2ER.

Welsh Affairs

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of his time he expects to spend on Welsh affairs following his additional responsibility as Leader of the House. [120787]

25 Jun 2003 : Column 777W

Peter Hain: I intend to spend as much time as is necessary to fulfil my responsibilities as Secretary of State for Wales, including spending the same proportion of time in Wales as has been the case previously.

SCOTLAND

Health Service

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much has been paid by Scottish NHS trusts to English trusts for the treatment of patients in NHS hospitals in England, broken down by trust areas, in each of the last five years; [114770]

25 Jun 2003 : Column 778W

(2) how many patients normally resident in Scotland have been treated in NHS hospitals in England, broken down by regional NHS trusts, in each of the last five years. [114772]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 20 May 2003]: The information readily available is outlined in the table.

The table shows the transfers since 1999–2000 to fund Scottish residents out of area treatment in English NHS hospitals. These transfers primarily relate to emergency admissions (for example, when a patient is on holiday) where no service level agreement exists in relation to a patient's treatment.

Out of area transfers from Scottish health boards to English NHS trusts£

Health board	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Argyll and Clyde	729,513	618,678	495,338	424,812	446,496
Ayrshire and Arran	764,038	585,990	682,494	489,166	514,135
Borders	131,897	228,943	164,756	198,718	208,861
Dumfries and Galloway	326,272	197,639	286,811	195,343	205,314
Fife	705,143	577,732	573,035	382,915	402,460
Forth Valley	400,443	296,704	417,482	255,692	268,744
Grampian	797,133	1,127,993	960,777	593,643	623,944
Greater Glasgow	1,414,425	1,394,629	1,104,867	836,195	878,878
Highland	391,627	621,367	345,01 1	238,979	251,177
Lanarkshire	649,313	636,880	714,627	411,806	432,214
Lothian	1,463,307	1,503,903	1,289,186	744,715	782,728
Orkney	25,423	21,078	33,982	66,005	69,375
Shetland	35,389	86,195	19,933	15,998	16,815
Tayside	806,135	889,940	625,825	423,813	445,446
Western Isles	33,343	76,394	17,566	54,827	57,625
Total	8,673,401	8,864,066	7,731,690	5,332,628	5,604,212

Note:

The information relating to 2002–03 and 2003–04 are estimates based on previous costs, rather than actual figures.

Information for the last five years on the number of episodes of admitted care for patients normally resident in Scotland treated in England, split by NHS trust in England, is available. Given the lengthy nature of this information, I have placed it in the House Library. This information relates to admissions to hospitals: treatment in accident and emergency clinics and outpatient attendances are not included.

Tax Credits

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when she last met the Paymaster General to discuss the implementation of the new system of tax credits. [118330]

Mrs. McGuire: My right hon. Friend and I have discussions, as the need arises, with the Paymaster General and our officials are in regular contact with the Inland Revenue to discuss implementation of the new Tax Credits.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment she has made of the number of tax credit claims outstanding in Scotland. [118331]

Mrs. McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General's remarks during the debate in Westminster Hall on 4 June 2003, Official Report, columns 120–22WH. No breakdown of the figures that my right hon. Friend gave is available below UK level.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

11-Year-olds

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 11-year-olds reached the level expected of their age in English in each year since 2000 in the Bury St. Edmunds constituency. [120428]

Mr. Miliband: The table shows the percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above in the Key Stage 2 English tests in maintained schools in the Bury St. Edmunds constituency between 2000 and 2002:

	Bury St. Edmunds	England
2000	79	75
2001	79	75
2002	77	75

A-Levels

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 19 May 2003, Official Report, column 550W, on A-levels, whether he has set a date for publishing the Memorandum of Understanding. [119911]

25 Jun 2003 : Column 779W

Mr. Miliband: The Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and QCA was published on QCA's website on 19 June. I placed a copy in the Library on 18 June.

---