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UK Presidencies (G8/EU)

Tom Brake: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the last 12 months on the priorities the Government intend to pursue when the UK assumes the presidencies of the (a) G8 and (b) EU. [156185]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe gave him today.

SCOTLAND

Devolution

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost was to public funds of setting up devolved government in Scotland, excluding the cost of building the new parliament building in Edinburgh. [154396]

Mrs. McGuire: It is not possible to determine the costs of setting up devolved government in Scotland. Any costs since 1 July 1999 are a matter for the Scottish Executive. There has been no increase in the Scottish block to meet additional costs of devolution.

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Department Branding

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department and its predecessors spent on branding the Department between 1997–98 and 2003–04, broken down by (a) consultancy fees, (b) design and orders for new stationery, (c) website design and (d) other material featuring new logos. [154070]

Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. Since then, there has been no expenditure on consultancy fees relating to branding the department and expenditure on new stationery or material featuring logos was minimal. The office spent £2,988 on branding in 1999–2000, relating mainly to new building signage. The Scotland Office website was set up in 1999 by departmental staff.

In the period 1 May 1997 to 30 June 1999, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency, now an agency of the Scottish Executive, spent £57,156 in respect of its agency logo and associated branding. Since 1 July 1999 expenditure on branding within the Scottish Executive or its agencies has been a matter for the Executive.

Publicity Campaigns

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department spent on (i) advertising and (ii) information campaigns in each year since 2002–03. [149915]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 22 January 2004]: The Scotland Office spent £10,390 on advertising in 2002–03. There has been no expenditure on advertising to date in 2003–04.

The Boundary Commission for Scotland spent £54,613 in 2002–03 on advertising statutory notices. Expenditure to date in 2003–04 is £62,557.

Recruitment Advertising

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's expenditure on recruitment advertising was in each of the last three years, broken down by publication; and what proportion of such expenditure was (a) to advertise vacant posts and (b) in the form of other general recruitment advertising. [155527]

Mrs. McGuire: There has been no expenditure on recruitment advertising by the Scotland Office.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Earnings Differentials

19. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Minister for Women what the latest statistics are on the differential between male and female earnings for (a) men in the upper 10 per cent. of male earnings and women in the upper 10 per cent. of female earnings, (b) average male earnings and average female earnings and (c) men in the bottom 10 per cent. of male earnings and women in the bottom 10 per cent. of female earnings. [156273]

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Jacqui Smith: The full-time hourly gender pay gap is 19.8 per cent. at the upper decile of the earnings distribution, and 9.11 per cent. at the bottom decile. The mean average hourly pay gap is 18.0 per cent. compared to a median average pay gap of 12.9 per cent.

Social Care (Female Employment)

20. Mr. Burns: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement on female employment in social care. [156274]

Jacqui Smith: Social care has a predominately female workforce. Employers need policies that recruit, develop and retain women in these important roles.

Domestic Violence

21. Mr. Willis: To ask the Minister for Women what steps she has taken to ensure the safety of children whose parents have separated as a result of domestic violence. [156278]

Ms Hewitt: Children who grow up in homes where there is domestic violence will always be affected by it. In, 'Every Child Matters', the government's consultation document, we outline proposals that will give:

Improved support to parents through better universal and targeted services for families.

Early intervention and protection, with improved information sharing between agencies, a common needs assessment framework, assignment of a lead professional in cases where a child faces multiple risk factors, and multi-disciplinary teams in and around schools.

Greater accountability and integration of services locally, regionally and nationally, with a Director of Children's Services in every local authority and Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

A workforce reform strategy which will help the recruitment and retention of key professionals.

Equal Pay

Mr. Denham: To ask the Minister for Women what action she proposes to close the pay gap between men and women in the south-east of England. [156277]

Jacqui Smith: The pay gap in the south-east is the second largest in Great Britain. This is in part because some men's earnings are particularly high there.

The pay gap problem is, however, a national one, and we are taking forward a number of measures to address it. These include the introduction of the national minimum wage, benefiting around one million women, and provisions in the Employment Act spreading good practice on equal pay.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister for Women how many days on average her Office took in Session 2002–03 to give a substantive answer to a parliamentary question for ordinary written answer; and what the greatest number of days taken to answer such a question was. [155930]

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Ms Hewitt: The Department's database has not separately identified figures for questions that I have answered as Minister for Women. Therefore, these figures are included in the answer to my hon. Friend's question 155390.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Energy Efficiency Industry

11. Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she last met leaders of the construction sector of the energy efficiency industry. [156263]

Nigel Griffiths: The Secretary of State attended the Better Buildings Summit on 21 October 2003 and met many people with an interest in energy efficiency issues and construction. In addition, in my role as Construction Minister I regularly meet with a range of organisations with an interest in this area including CIBSE, CPA and BSRIAS. Actions agreed at the Better Buildings Summit are being taken forward by the Sustainable Buildings Task Group. This includes action on energy efficiency.

Government Energy Targets

12. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the likelihood of reaching the Government's energy targets for 2010. [156264]

Mr. Timms: The Government remain confident that their target of 10 per cent. of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2010 will be met. The target is challenging but we have established a framework of policies and measures for expansion, and industry has responded favourably to these.

Balance of Trade (UK/EU)

13. Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the balance of trade with the EU was in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available; and what the balance was (a) five and (b) 10 years ago. [156265]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: In the year to the third quarter of 2003, the UK's balance of trade in goods and services deficit with the European Union was 2.5 per cent. of GDP. In 1998 and 1993, the deficits were 0.7 and 0.9 per cent. of GDP respectively.

Manufacturing (Yorkshire and Humber)

14. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on regional support for manufacturing in Yorkshire and Humber. [156266]

Jacqui Smith: The Government are committed to supporting manufacturing in the UK. The Government's Manufacturing Strategy (published in May 2002) focuses on building a strong and successful manufacturing sector—supporting good quality jobs. Within Yorkshire and the Humber, Yorkshire Forward, the Regional

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Development Agency for the region has made manufacturing a key priority in the Regional Economic Strategy.

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