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Afghanistan

13. Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures are in place to reduce the production of heroin in Afghanistan. [132051]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Afghan Transitional Administration have produced the Afghan National Drug Control Strategy and the UK Government are working in support of that strategy. The UK has committed to provide £70 million over the next three years to target opium poppy cultivation and heroin production. This funding will be used for law enforcement, alternative livelihoods, institution building and research. DFID are providing funding for a range of alternative livelihoods activities designed to provide those involved in opium poppy cultivation with other ways of earning a living.

World Trade Organisation (Cancun)

14. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the impact on developing countries of the outcome of the fifth ministerial round of the World Trade Organisation meeting at Cancun. [132052]

Hilary Benn: The failure of the WTO ministerial talks in Cancun was a setback for the Doha Development Agenda and a blow to developing and developed countries alike. I believe that this failure will disadvantage the world's poorest countries most. Developing countries stand to get a better deal through multilateral negotiations in the WTO—where developing countries make up two thirds of the membership—than through a multitude of regional and bilateral agreements with bigger economic players.

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NORTHERN IRELAND

Arts Council

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the membership of the Steering Group for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's research project on the Arts of Irish and Ulster-Scots includes equal representation from both cultural communities. [100446]

Angela Smith: In setting up the Steering Group the Arts Council of Northern Ireland invited nominations from Foras na Gaeilge, Iontaobhas Ultach/Ultach Trust and Tha Boord o Ulster Scotch. These are the bodies partnering with the Arts Council in funding the research. A nomination was also invited from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure as the Arts Council's sponsoring Department.

The Steering Group consists of seven members: three nominees of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and one nominee from each of the above organisations. The single criterion for appointing members of the Steering Group was status as a funding partner. In this context, ensuring numerically equal representation from both cultural communities has not been a consideration for the Arts Council.

Cross-departmental Policies

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what cross-departmental policies are in place to tackle (a) sex and (b) racial inequality in Northern Ireland. [131522]

Mr. Spellar: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 9 September 2003, Official Report, column 298W.

Pre-school Education

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Pre-school Education Advisory Group places have been allocated to each nursery school and playgroup in Newtownards for 2003–04, broken down by electoral ward pupils live in who have been allocated a Pre-school Education Advisory Group place. [129898]

Jane Kennedy: I understand from the Chief Executive of the South Eastern Education & Library Board that the playgroups in Newtownards have received the following allocations of PEAG places for 2003–04.

Ward	Provider	Places allocated 2003–04
Glen	Bees Nees Early Years Centre	18
Loughries/ Carrowdore	Chuckles Playgroup	19
Scrabo	Little Doves Community Playgroup	15
Movilla	Movilla Abbey Playgroup	26
Movilla	Play-a-Way Childcare Centre	20
Central Ards	St. Finian's Playgroup	18
Scrabo/Loughries	The Playcentre at Manor Court	24
Total		140

The final enrolment in voluntary and private sector pre-school centres is still subject to changes as allocated

15 Oct 2003 : Column 238W

places are sometimes not taken up and have to be reallocated. I will write to the hon. Member once the information on final allocations is available. Details of the electoral wards in which the children live are not currently available but will be collected and included in my reply when the information on final allocations is available.

Only voluntary and private sector pre-school centres are eligible for PEAG places. Statutory nursery schools and units have a standard complement of 26 pupils per class. The four statutory settings have the following capacities:

School name	Total capacity
Abbey Primary School	52
Glenbrook Nursery School	78
Newtownards Nursery School	78
West Winds Primary School	26
Total	234

TRANSPORT

Grosvenor Square (Street Closure)

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what application he made for a street closure order in relation to the event at Grosvenor Square on 11 September 2003; and for what period the street closure was requested. [131410]

Mr. McNulty: None. I understand that the road closure was made under Metropolitan Police powers.

Cycling Safety

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps his Department is taking to promote the wearing of helmets by cyclists; [132082]

(2) what representations he has received about making the wearing of helmets by cyclists compulsory; if he will make it his policy to introduce such legislation; and if he will make a statement; [132083]

(3) what assessment he has made of the benefits of cyclists wearing helmets; and if he will make a statement. [132084]

Mr. Jamieson: We have a large body of material on cycle safety aimed at younger children promoting the use of cycle helmets as well as other cycle safety messages. We have also developed a Cycle Sense campaign, aimed at teenagers, that was launched on 21 May this year. The campaign encourages teenagers to wear cycle helmets and consists of posters and a new cycle sense website.

A study commissioned by the Department to look into the effectiveness of cycle helmets, published in November last year, found that overall, the evidence suggests that cycle helmets are effective at reducing the severity of brain and upper facial injuries for all ages, and especially children. This reinforces our view that helmets should be worn by children.

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We have had correspondence from members of the public asking for helmets to be made compulsory, as well as The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust and Headway, the brain injury association.

When considering compulsion, we have to take wearing rates into consideration. A survey undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory measuring wearing rate in 2002 found that the rate for all cyclists on built-up major roads was 25 per cent. The wearing rate is continuing to increase, but at this level, making helmets compulsory could cause enforcement difficulties, and without greater public acceptance, could have an effect on levels of cycling. We will continue to monitor wearing rates and review the option of compulsory wearing from time to time.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what recent assessment he has made of the benefits of wearing a bicycle helmet for the prevention of injuries; [132258]

(2) what plans he has to introduce legislation enforcing the wearing of bicycle helmets for those under 16; and if he will make a statement. [132259]

Mr. Jamieson: A study commissioned by the Department to look into the effectiveness of cycle helmets, published in November last year, found that overall, the evidence suggests that cycle helmets are effective at reducing the severity of brain and upper facial injuries for all ages, and especially children. This reinforces our view that helmets should be worn by children.

A survey undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory measuring wearing rates in 2002 found that the rate for all cyclists on built-up major roads was 25 per cent. The wearing rate is continuing to increase, with the exception of boys under 16, where the rate has reduced from 16 per cent. in 1994 to 12 per cent. in 2002. At these levels, making helmets compulsory would cause enforcement difficulties, and without greater public acceptance, could have an effect on levels of cycling. We are making special efforts to persuade adolescents, and especially boys, to wear helmets. We will continue to monitor wearing rates by all ages and review the option of compulsory wearing from time to time.

Rail Services (Merseyside)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the stations in Merseyside (a) which will receive improvements through the Strategic Rail Authority's MFAS programme and (b) which are expecting improvements via the Local Transport Plan on the Merseytravel Passenger Transport Authority and Executive; and what the nature and cost of the improvements are. [132334]

Mr. McNulty: Merseyside Stations which will receive improvements through the MFAS programme are: Aintree, Aughton Park, Bebington, Birkenhead Central, Bootle New Strand, Bootle Oriel Road, Bromborough, Formby, Freshfield, Green Lane, Hightown, Hillside, Hooton, Moreton, Old Roan, Orrell Park, Sandhills, Spital, Town Green, Waterloo and West Kirby. The improvements are now waiting rooms and Customer Information Systems (CIS) costing £7 million.

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At the moment, 40 of the 80 stations are fully accessible. Under the current LTP programme there are plans to upgrade up to 25 more stations, making them fully accessible to all wheelchair users and all other travellers. The plan is then to finish the remaining 15 in the next LTP round. The amount spent on each station depends on the work needed.

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