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20 May 2004 : Column 1143W—continued

Renewal Areas (Physical Activity)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress his Department's Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has made on developing a toolkit for delivering sport and physical activity in renewal areas; and if he will make a statement. [173707]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to launch a multi-agency toolkit showing how best to deliver sport and physical activity in renewal areas on its good practice website, renewal.net. in summer 2004.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Department's Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has spent on sport and physical activity, and who has received grants from that spending, broken down by (a) year and (b) region. [173709]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is unable to provide a breakdown of how much its Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has spent on sport and physical activity.

The NRU does not allocate funding specifically for sport and physical activity, but funding can be used in this way to meet local priorities in delivering the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal.

Stamp Duty

Mr. Watson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people live in areas that are exempt from stamp duty on properties up to the value of £150,000, broken down by local authorities in England. [174464]

Keith Hill: The selection of areas eligible for stamp duty exemption was based on the 15 per cent. most deprived wards in England as determined by the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 (IMD 2000). This index was based on ward boundaries in existence in April 1998. Using the IMD 2000 there are just over 11 million people living in these wards. A table with the breakdown of this population by local authority district has been made available in the Library of the House.

Thames Gateway

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made by the Thames Gateway Strategic Executive with the Environment Agency on the production of working maps of environmental and flooding constraints for the zones of change in the Thames Gateway; and when he expects these maps to be published. [174360]

Keith Hill: In the Thames Gateway and elsewhere, the Environment Agency provides local planning authorities with information on flood risk for use in local planning processes. In summer 2004 the Environment Agency will be issuing local planning authorities with flood zone maps, which show the different zones of flood risk as set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 25 on 'Development and Flood Risk'. These flood zone maps will be incorporated into the Flood Map on the Agency's website in the autumn. Updates to the Flood Map (which also includes information on flood defences) will be provided to local planning authorities every three months.
 
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The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with the Environment Agency on the management of flood risk in the Thames Gateway. As elsewhere, new development is expected to comply with guidance on flood risk as set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 25. In addition, all Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's funded local delivery vehicles in the Thames Gateway zones of change are required to ensure the production of flood risk assessments for their area so that the appropriate siting and design of development is considered. Where we are funding individual projects in the Thames Gateway this will also be conditional on an appropriate flood risk assessment being carried out.

CABINET OFFICE

Emergency Communications Network

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has (a) to upgrade and (b) to modernise the Emergency Communications Network. [172750]

Mr. Alexander: Departmental officials are currently exploring options for modernising Emergency Communications.

EU Regulations

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the EU regulations which have taken effect in the UK since May 1997; and which such regulations have subsequently been (a) revised and (b) repealed. [171440]

Mr. MacShane: I have been asked to reply.

Based on the records in the Official Journal of the European Union (copies available in the Library of the House) we assess that the number of EC, ECSC and Euratom Regulations made was as follows:

	Number
1997	2,339
1998	2,852
1999	2,802
2000	2,882
2001	2,600
2002	2,125
2003	2,176

We also assess that the number of EU directives issued was as follows:

	Number
1997	85
1998	109
1999	100
2000	91
2001	83
2002	159
2003	134

All the data covers the period from December (of the preceding year) to November of that year inclusive.
 
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The number of regulations subsequently revised and repealed is not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate costs to supply such a figure.

WALES

Early Retirement

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in his Department took early retirement, and at what total cost, in the last financial year. [171866]

Mr. Touhig: None.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will discuss with the National Assembly for Wales the procedure for applying for Education Maintenance Allowance. [173110]

Mr. Touhig: The National Assembly Wales are currently collaborating with the Northern Ireland Office on a single delivery system for Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for both countries.

The introduction of EMAs in Wales is following the success of the pilot schemes in England and Scotland over the last three years. Wales and Northern Ireland will now join the scheme on a common basis for the UK. The criteria and eligibility for young people throughout the UK wishing to apply for the EMA is already available on the DfES website, and is outlined in the Assembly Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning's press notice of 27 April.

Although full details of the workings of the Welsh system are not yet available, they will be in place in time for young people aged 16 starting full-time education in September this year.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will discuss with the National Assembly for Wales the timetable for enabling people in Wales to apply for Education Maintenance Allowance. [173111]

Mr. Touhig: The Assembly Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning announced on 27 April the introduction of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in Wales for the academic year starting in 2004.

The Assembly is currently working on their system for the delivery of EMAs for young people in Wales aged 16–19 and aims to have detailed information on their website as soon as possible. Young people will be able to apply when they return to their chosen education path in the new academic year in September.

Welsh Development Agency

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the annual running costs of the Welsh Development Agency were over the last three years; and how much inward investment has been attracted and how many new jobs have been created over this period. [174722]

 
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Mr. Hain: The Welsh Development Agency provides this information in its latest annual report. A copy of which can be found on its website at www.wda.co.uk.

DEFENCE

Falklands War

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether veterans of the Falklands War will be eligible for grants under the 'Hero's Return' scheme to enable them to return to the Falkland Islands to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the War. [173788]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 17 May 2004]: The 'Heroes Return' scheme is part of a special lottery programme called Veterans Reunited, set up to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the events that led to the end of the Second World War. For this reason, only veterans of the Second World War and their widows are eligible. It is too early to say whether there will be similar programmes in the future to commemorate other conflicts.

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