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7 Jul 2004 : Column 731W—continued
Social Care Students
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial assistance is available for students of social care. [182630]
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Dr. Ladyman: All social work students who ordinarily reside in England receive a non-means tested bursary of an average of £2,500, plus £500 towards the practice placement travel costs. Tuition fees are also met.
Social work students are entitled to apply for the student loan and if they have special needs may also be entitled to allowances from the local education authority.
For social work students who hold a first degree, there is a means tested additional graduate bursary they can apply to for further funds.
Water Act
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when his Department last discussed the draft regulations to be made under the Water Act 2003 on arrangement for public consultations with (a) strategic health authorities, (b) the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare, (c) patient interest groups, (d) the National Pure Water Association, (e) representatives of the water industry and (f) the British Fluoridation Society; and if he will make a statement; [181035]
(2) when he expects to publish the draft regulations under the Water Act 2003 on arrangements for public consultations; and if he will make a statement. [181036]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 28 June 2004]: We are shortly to publish a draft of the regulations to be made under the Water Act 2003 for consultation and intend that all the bodies to which the hon. Member refers should be included in the consultation.
Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether private finance initiative payments at Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust are tied to interest rates set by the Bank of England. [181434]
Dr. Ladyman: The unitary payment at Worcestershire National Health Service Acute Trust escalates with the retail prices index each year during the contract period.
TREASURY
Landfill Tax
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his plans to increase the landfill tax. [182987]
John Healey:
The Finance Act 2003 increased the standard rate of landfill tax by £1 per tonne to £15 per tonne from 1 April 2004. Budget 2003 announced that the rate would be increased by £3 per tonne in 2005–06, and by at least £3 per tonne in the following years, to reach a medium to long-term rate of £35 per tonne.
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The lower rate of landfill tax, which applies to inactive waste, was frozen at £2 per tonne in Budget 2004.
Lone Parent Employment Rate
Denzil Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the lone parent employment rate is as a percentage of the total employment rate in Wales. [181799]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Denzil Davies, dated 6 July 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about lone parent employment rate. I am replying in his absence. (181799)
The table below gives the latest available information. Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
| Population | Number in employment | (9)Employment rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All persons | 1,748 | 1,272 | 72.8 |
| Lone parents | 102 | 56 | 54.9 |
| Lone parents as percentage of all persons | 5.8 | 4.4 | — |
(8) Covers men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
(9) The employment rate is the number in employment expressed as a percentage of all working age people in the relevant group.
PFI/PPP Contracts
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts have been let by his Department in each financial year since 2001–02 to (a) PriceWaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst & Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case. [182257]
Ruth Kelly: No contracts for advice on private finance initiative or public private partnership contracts have been let by the core Treasury or the Debt Management Office in the period since 1 April 2001. However, during the period, PriceWaterhouseCoopers were paid £1,910 plus VAT for training courses on PFI/PPP.
Departmental Estate
Norman Lamb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total floor space area of buildings
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owned or leased by (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department has been in each year since 1997 to date. [181848]
Ruth Kelly: The available information is set out as follows in the form in which the Chancellor's Departments and agencies have been able to compile it without having to incur disproportionate costs.
At the commencement of April 2001, the Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue transferred most of their estate to the STEPS contractor, and have occupied the space since then under separate PFI arrangements, as set out in the following table:
| Net area occupied (sq m) | |
|---|---|
| Position at April 2001 | 1,470,366 |
| Year April 2002 | 1,489,821 |
| Year April 2003 | 1,490,986 |
| Year April 2004 | 1,511,449 |
Note:
Information for earlier years is not available.
The Office for National Statistics does not hold historic information on the size of its buildings but currently owns or leases property totalling 86,000 sq m.
| Sq m | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owned | Leased | Total | |
| 1997 | 41,349 | 1,000 | 42,349 |
| 1998 | 4,139 | 1,000 | 42,349 |
| 1999 | 46,093 | 1,000 | 47,093 |
| 2000 | 46,093 | 1,000 | 47,093 |
| 2001 | 46,093 | 1,000 | 47,093 |
| 2002 | 46,137 | 1,000 | 47,137 |
| 2003 | 46,137 | — | 46,137 |
| 2004 | 46,233 | — | 46,233 |
| Sq m | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 0 |
| 1998 | 492.55 |
| 1999 | 492.55 |
| 2000 | 492.55 |
| 2001 | 1,311.09 |
| 2002 | 1,311.09 |
| 2003 | 1,311.09 |
| 2004 | 1,311.09 |
National Savings and Investments have three sites, the total figure of floor space owned or leased has remained constant since 1997 at 94,500 sq m.
Data for the Government Actuaries Department are not available prior to July 2003. Since then, the Department has owned or leased 2,897 sq m.
Office Government Commerce was established in 2000.
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The use of space by the Treasury has remained constant since 1997 at 32,000.00 sq m.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what parts of his Department's estate will not be covered by the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [181851]
John Healey: Virtually all of the estate is covered by the commitments with the minor exception of a small number of Customs' buildings for which information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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