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Lone Parents (Accommodation)

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many lone parents aged 16 and 17 years are resident in local authority accommodation with (a) on-site support, (b) floating support and (c) no specialist support. [177542]

Keith Hill: Information obtained from the 2002–03 Housing Investment Programme (HIP) statistical returns shows that on 1 April 2003 the following number of lone teenage parents under 18 were occupying local authority non self-contained accommodation: 201 in accommodation with on site support; 393 in accommodation with floating support. There were 2,869 lone teenage parents in supported accommodation provided by a housing association. The HIP returns for 2002–03 show that 1,242 lettings were made to lone teenage parents under the age of 18 in unsupported accommodation.

Ordnance Survey

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will examine whether there is a conflict of interest in the Government's adviser on geographic information being Chief Executive of the Ordnance Survey. [148478]

Yvette Cooper: Ordnance Survey is a Government Department. As the National Mapping Agency it has an aim, agreed with Government, to satisfy the national interest and customer need for accurate and readily available geospatial data and maps of the whole of Great Britain in the most effective and efficient way.

It is entirely appropriate that the Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey should be adviser to Government on matters of geographic information.

Proposals for a wider advisory panel as recommended by the Select Committee are currently under consideration.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 28 April, Official Report, column 1141W, on the Advisory Group on Home Buying, how much the minimal cost was which he refers to for financial years (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [179025]

Keith Hill: Meetings of the Home Buying and Selling Advisory Group are hosted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which take place in one of our buildings and the costs fall within our general administration and staff budget. The Group met once in each of the years 2002–03 and 2003–04. We estimate that the staff costs were approximately £1,000 per meeting. The catering costs were £41.40 per meeting.
 
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Following a reorganisation of the structure for stakeholder involvement in the home buying and selling reform programme, the Advisory Group has now been replaced by two new groups: the Home Buying and Selling Forum which represents all stakeholder interests and; and the Central Stakeholder Group which comprises representatives of the main industry and consumer groups most affected by the reform proposals.

Planning Decisions

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of planning decisions were delayed by more than eight weeks in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [178530]

Keith Hill: For district planning authorities in England, the average percentages of planning decisions determined outside of eight weeks from the date of receipt of application in 2001, 2002 and 2003 were:

2001: 36 per cent.

2002: 34 per cent.

2003: 29 per cent.

Telecommunications Masts

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons the recommendations of the Stewart Report on the Precautionary Approach on the placement of masts near schools have not been carried forward, with particular reference to recommendation 1.42; and if he will make a statement. [172312]

Yvette Cooper: The Government gave careful consideration to recommendation 1.42 on the beam of greatest intensity. We have sought to address the concerns that the Stewart Group identified in the following ways.

Planning Policy Guidance Note 8 on Telecommunications recognises that when operators are siting mobile phone base stations schools must be given special consideration. It makes clear that, where it is proposed to install, alter or replace a mobile base station near a school or college, operators should discuss the proposed development with the relevant body of the school or college concerned before submitting an application for planning permission or prior approval to the local authority.

Department for Education and Skills has issued advice to local education authorities and schools about base stations in and around school premises and the use of mobile phones by children. Where parents and/or schools wish to know whether the beam of intensity falls on school grounds or buildings, the school should contact the base station's operator. The operators have agreed to provide schools with information on the level of intensity of radio frequency radiation. If there is major concern from the school or parents, they could ask the network operator to adjust the antenna.
 
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Another recommendation (1.41) of the Stewart Report was the auditing of emissions from base stations particularly near schools and other sensitive sites. In an ongoing audit, OFCOM (formerly the Radiocommunications Agency) has measured exposures around nearly 300 base stations to date (www.ofcom.org.uk). In all cases exposures have been below, and mostly thousands of times below, the guidelines.

TREASURY

Overseas Aid

16. Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the comprehensive spending review with regard to a timetable to reach the 0.7 per cent. of gross national income target for development aid by 2008. [179138]

John Healey: We remain committed to reaching the 0.7 per cent. target as demonstrated by our record on aid spending since 1997. This includes the largest ever increase of UK development assistance to nearly £5 billion by 2005–06.

We will announce in the 2004 Spending Review what we will do up to 2007–08, but at this stage I cannot pre-empt the final announcement.

18. Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the comprehensive spending review with regard to the timetable to reach the overseas development assistance target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national income by 2008. [179140]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Maryhill, (Ann McKenchin) earlier today.

International Finance Facility

17. Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Chancellor of Exchequer, what progress has been made on the international finance facility. [179139]

John Healey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave to the hon. Member for Bristol West, (Valerie Davey) earlier today.

Poor Countries (Debt Relief)

19. Mr. Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress he has made in persuading the G8 to support his plans for further debt relief for the poorest countries. [179141]

John Healey: Further cancellation of debt for the world's poorest countries was an important item of discussion at the recent G8 Summit in Sea Island.

The UK pressed for, and secured, G8 support for the extension of the HIPC initiative by another two years, potentially allowing another 10 countries to benefit from debt relief in excess of $30 billion.

Finance Ministers will report back by the end of the year on progress, and on further measures to ensure that the poorest countries have a sustainable exit from debt.
 
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Consumer Price Index

20. Mr. Forth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the current level of the consumer price index. [179142]

Ruth Kelly: Thanks to the macro-economic reforms this Government put in place upon coming to power, the UK economy is enjoying the longest period of sustained low inflation for 49 years.

CPI inflation stood at 1.5 per cent. in May. The 2004 Budget forecast is for it to rise back to its symmetrical 2 per cent. target by the second half of next year.

Efficiency Review

21. Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence regarding the efficiency review being conducted by Sir Peter Gershon. [179143]

Mr. Boateng: Treasury Ministers meet their Ministry of Defence counterparts frequently to discuss a range of issues, including the Efficiency Review. The Ministry of Defence is working closely with Sir Peter Gershon and his team to maximise the benefits of the efficiency review for front-line services.

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