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Ministerial Visits

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the travel costs incurred by (a) his Department and its predecessors and (b) each Minister within his Department, for each of the last 10 years. [175653]

Mr. Touhig: In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost and in some cases will no longer be held. Information for 2003–04 will be published in due course.

My hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office has asked Nick Matheson, Chief Executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency to write to the right hon. Member with details of the cost of ministerial vehicles provided to this Department.
 
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The Wales Office was established on 1 July 1999, and I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Mr. Flight) on 17 November 2003, Official Report, column 478, for prior year information on travel costs.

Excluding the costs of overseas visits and the Government Car Service, which are detailed elsewhere, the estimated travel costs incurred by the Wales Office in 2003, for both Ministers and officials, were £125,085.

Information relating to individual Ministers for this period is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

NHS Funding

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Secretaries on the effects of funding for the NHS in Wales on reducing waiting times. [181925]

Mr. Hain: I regularly meet the Assembly First Minister and the health service in Wales is one of the topics that we frequently discuss.

Outdoor Activity Industry (Safety)

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the Health and Safety Executive to discuss safety in the outdoor activity industry in Wales. [181918]

Mr. Touhig: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with a range of Government agencies. Although we have not recently met the Health and Safety Executive to discuss this issue, I do recognise the
 
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important role HSE plays in promoting best practice and educating the outdoor activities sector on health and safety matters.

Policing

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales on the devolution to the Assembly of further powers with regard to policing. [181922]

Mr. Hain: The Government have no plans to devolve policing powers to the National Assembly.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Fire Brigades Union

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met the executive or representatives of the Fire Brigades Union. [178464]

Phil Hope: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister last met representatives of the Fire Brigades Union executive on 20 March 2003.

Housing

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much central Government funding has been (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on housing in each financial year since 1999–2000. [172881]

Keith Hill: Central Government provides capital support for housing expenditure by local authorities and registered social landlords. Data on the total amounts spent and the mainstream funding made available by central Government since 1999/2000 are set out as follows. Funding for day-to-day costs of providing housing are largely met from rents and are not included in the figures.
Capital (£ million)

	Local authorities(2)		RSLs
	Spend2, 3	CG funds	Spend	CG funds
1999–2000	2,418	1,405	966	1,127
2000–01	2,778	2,103	1,117	1,142
2001–02	3,129	2,569	1,186	1,320
2002–03	3,425	2,671	1,486	1,565
2003–04 (RSL provisional)	3,760	2,719	2,013	2,006
2004–05 (LA estimate)	3,723	2,891	—	—

⁽²⁾ Covers capital funding provided through housing annual capital guidelines, the Major Repairs Allowance (from 2001–02), the Capital Receipts Initiative (1999–2000 only), the Arms Length Management Initiative and for Disabled Facilities grants.
⁽³⁾ The local authorities spend figure is for total spend (i.e. from local authorities own resources and central Government funding). We only collect data in this format and are unable to disaggregate the two.
⁽⁴⁾ ACG/SCER is not ring fenced so local authorities are free to spend this resource on any capital project.

Helen Southworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will take steps to increase the provision of affordable housing in locations where housing prices are high in the north-west. [182487]

Keith Hill: Identifying land for affordable housing is a task for local authorities, which are best placed to assess local needs. Government's advice to local authorities on this issue is currently under review.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Civil Service Relocation

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants and what percentage of the total Civil Service workforce in her Department will be relocated over the next five years (a) outside the M25, (b) to the West Midlands and (c) to Staffordshire. [180173]

 
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Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 22 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1292–93W.

Corporate Identity Theft

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is planning to introduce to calculate the costs to UK (a) companies and (b) consumers of corporate identity theft. [181014]

Jacqui Smith: No measures are currently planned to calculate the costs to UK companies or consumers of corporate identity theft.

Home Working

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when the Government intend to ratify the International Labour Organisation document on homework; [182418]

(2) what action is being taken to ensure that home workers have access to the same statutory rights as other employees. [182432]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government are keen to ensure all workers, including home workers, have appropriate rights and protections. We have introduced new legislation for fair piece rates for home workers, to take effect this October, thereby addressing problems over access to the national minimum wage; and the Working Time Regulations apply to all workers. The Employment Relations Bill also contains provisions extending the coverage of trade union rights to all workers. More broadly, the Government are aware that some home workers are not aware of employment rights they already enjoy, and we are providing funding to the National Group on Home Working, to help to raise awareness among home workers of their rights, and support and advise them in asserting their rights. The measures that we have already taken bring the UK closer to the equal treatment principles articulated in the ILO Convention on Home Work.

Internal Market for Electricity Directive

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to comply with Article 23/47 of the European Directive on the Internal Market for Electricity Directive 2003/56/EC. [181679]

Jacqui Smith: The Department is of the view that Great Britain already complies with Articles 23(4) and 23(7), but is currently considering what further measures are required to implement Articles 23(5) and 23(6), with which we are currently partially compliant.

The Department published a consultation document on compliance with the whole Directive on 9 February 2004, and in the light of responses received we will issue a second consultation document in mid-July that will set out how we intend to ensure full compliance with Articles 23(5) and 23(6). Once we have considered the responses, we will then make any necessary changes to current arrangements. We estimate that we will be in full compliance in October.
 
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Respondents to our first consultation document also requested clarification of how Great Britain complied with Article 23(4). We will provide this in our second consultation document.

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