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World Trade Organisation

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people made up the UK delegation to the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Cancun in September; and what the cost to public funds was of its attendance. [149112]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.

There were 41 in the UK delegation to the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Cancun last September.

Final accounts for the delegation are currently not available. Once the costs have been finalised, we will inform the House.

WALES

Civil Servants

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much space, expressed in square metres, the Office occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) Greater London. [150281]

Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office occupies 494.25 square metres in central London for the offices of civil servants. It has no office space in Greater London.

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Higher Education Bill

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether, under the provisions of the Higher Education Bill, English universities will be able to charge top-up fees to students resident in Wales; and what assessment he has made of the funding shortfall if such fees are not charged. [150116]

Mr. Touhig: Subject to their having an access agreement with the Office for Fair Access English HEIs will be able to charge variable fees. Welsh domiciled students will be charged a variable fee on the same basis as English domiciled students.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether, under the provisions of the Higher Education Bill, Welsh universities will be able to charge top-up fees to students resident in (a) England and (b) Scotland; and what assessment he has made of the funding shortfall if such fees are not charged. [150117]

Mr Touhig: The provisions of the Higher Education Bill transfer to the Assembly responsibility for student support for students resident in Wales and HE tuition fee levels.

The Assembly Education and Lifelong Learning Minister has given a commitment that variable fees would not be introduced in Wales during the lifetime of the second Assembly. This means no student from England or Scotland entering a Welsh Higher Education Institution in academic year 2006–07 will be charged a variable fee, for the duration of his or her course. Funding of Higher Education Institutions in Wales is a matter for the Assembly.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether, under the provisions of the Higher Education Bill, students resident in England will have to pay up-front fees if attending a Welsh university; whether they will be entitled to claim bursaries while attending a Welsh university; and what assessment has been made of funding methods for such bursaries. [150118]

Mr. Touhig: Fee deferment is an integral part of the new package of student support for which the HE Bill provides. English domiciled students studying in Wales will be eligible for loans for fees from the Department for Education and Skills on the same basis as a English domiciles studying in England.

Bursary provision by English HEIs will be directly connected with the terms of access plans with the Director of Fair Access which permit them to charge variable fees. The Welsh Assembly has said that it will not introduce variable fees during the lifetime of the second Assembly, therefore Welsh Higher Education Institutions will not need to provide access bursaries on similar terms to those being provided in England.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether, under the provisions of the Higher Education Bill, students resident in Wales will have to pay upfront fees if attending an English university; whether they will be entitled to claim bursaries while attending English universities; and what assessment he has made of funding methods for such bursaries. [150119]

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Mr. Touhig: The Assembly has given a commitment that should tuition fee and student support powers be transferred from 2006, Welsh domiciled students studying in England will be eligible for a loan for fees and therefore will not have to pay upfront fees. It will be for English institutions to set out the details of their own bursary schemes, but we would expect these to be equally available to Welsh students.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the estimated cost is of compensating universities in Wales for lost revenue if top-up fees are not charged. [150120]

Mr. Touhig: The Higher Education Bill will transfer to the Assembly the responsibility for student support for students resident in Wales and Higher Education tuition fee level.

The Assembly has given a commitment that Higher Education Institutions in Wales will not be disadvantaged by not being allowed to charge variable fees in 2006–07. The Assembly will meet the costs of this commitment.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Obesity

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were recorded as obese in Northern Ireland in (a) 1985, (b) 1990, (c) 1995, (d) 2000 and (e) each year since 2001; what steps he is taking to reduce these figures; and if he will make a statement. [150685]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is working with relevant departments and other agencies to tackle obesity through action plans on food and nutrition and physical activity.

Political Parties (Donations)

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on the exemption of political parties in Northern Ireland from (a) the requirement publicly to declare donations received from individuals, organisations and businesses and (b) statutory restrictions on accepting donations from foreign and anonymous sources. [150629]

Mr. Spellar: The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (Disapplication of Part IV for Northern Ireland Parties, etc.) Order 2001 exempted the Northern Ireland political parties from the requirement to comply with Part IV of the Act for four years. Part IV imposes restrictions on the source of donations so as to prohibit foreign and anonymous donations to political parties.

The Order expires February 2005. However, in line with a commitment made to Parliament during the passage of the Order, it is being reviewed ahead of that. The result of this review will be announced by way of a parliamentary statement.

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TRANSPORT

Transport for London

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what the reasons were for the change in the level of funding by his Department for Transport for London in 2005–06 compared with 2004–05; [149579]

(2) what assessment he made, when allocating funds to Transport for London for (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06 and (c) 2006–07, of the investment required in London Underground to maintain services at their current level; [149580]

(3) what assessment he made, in determining his Department's funding for Transport for London in (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06 and (c) 2006–07, of the effect upon inward investment of (i) increasing, (ii) maintaining the existing level and (iii) decreasing the level of funding for the transport infrastructure in London. [149595]

Mr. McNulty: Government funding for Transport for London in 2004–05 and 2005–06 is expected to be £2,224 million and £2,142 million respectively. These allocations are based on an assessment of London's transport priorities, taking into account affordability following the 2002 spending review. They also take account of the investment needed to deliver a 12 per cent. capacity increase for London Underground by 2012 under the PPP. This is an increase of over 85 per cent. in funding levels from the equivalent provision in 2001–02, and a significant increase in the overall amount available for investment in transport infrastructure, including an unprecedented funding commitment for London Underground, averaging more than £1 billion a year to at least 2010–11. The overall provision for 2006–07 is subject to the current spending review, which is due to be completed this summer.

Vehicle Excise Duty

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the yield from vehicle excise duty was for each local authority area in England, based on the address of the licence holder, for the most recent year for which figures are available. [149378]

Dr. Howells: The net total raised from vehicle excise duty in the financial year 2002–03 was £4,825,741.000. Data based on local authority areas in England are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Aircraft (Carbon Dioxide Emissions)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect on carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft by (a) 2010, (b) 2020, (c) 2030 and (d) 2050 arising from the proposals in the Aviation White Paper. [148587]

Mr. McNulty: The Department will publish a paper, "Aviation and Global Warming", in due course, which will include an analysis of the impact on emissions from the proposals in the Aviation White Paper.

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