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Private Finance Initiative

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible create the minimum of environmental damage; [181391]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the (a) sustainability and environmental impacts of private finance initiative projects and (b) capacity of the private finance initiative process to deliver environmentally sustainable projects; [181392]

(3) what plans he has to make private finance initiative contracts more accountable and transparent in terms of environmental sustainability. [181393]

Mr. Pond: Under the private finance initiative, the estate of the former DSS was transferred to the private sector in April 1998 for the provision of fully serviced accommodation. Following the formation of the Department for Work and Pensions, the estate of the former Employment Service became subject to the same partnership contract in December 2003. Within the contract, there are specific clauses that cover environmental impacts and encourage the private sector partner to develop environmental improvements. The Department's Estates partner, Land Securities Trillium, whose Environmental Management System is accredited to International Standard ISO 14001, works closely with the DWP corporate Sustainable Development Team to identify opportunities for environmental improvements. The Sustainable Development Team contract manages this element of the partnership and continually assesses performance. Regular partnership meetings are held between the Department and Land Securities Trillium to monitor progress.

The partnership approach has enabled innovative measures to be developed—such as the use of spend to save projects designed to improve energy and water efficiency across the estate, and a programme to maximise the recycling of paper waste. Full details of all measures can be found within the annual DWP Sustainable Development Report, to which Land Securities Trillium make a full contribution.

The current Departmental Approvals process includes sustainable development as an overarching commitment that all change programmes need to incorporate into their plans. This will ensure that any future private finance initiatives include sustainable development issues, as PRIME did successfully from the outset.
 
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State Second Pension

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many employees (a) contracted out of and (b) contracted into the second state pension in 2003–04, broken down by sex and age; and what information he gives older workers on contracting into the state second pension. [181947]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department for Work and Pensions does not specifically provide information to older workers on contracting back into the State Second Pension. It does however publish information leaflets that contain guidance on both State and private pension provision. This guidance stresses how important it is that people regularly review their pension arrangements including decisions about whether to contract in or out, to make sure that they have the income that they need when they retire; and that they should consider taking independent advice if they feel it necessary to do so. Estimates on the number of employees contracted out of and contracted into the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) in 2000–01 (the latest year for which the information is available) broken down by age and gender, are in the following table.
Thousand

Age group	Number contracted out		Number with SERPS membership
	Men	Women	Men	Women
Under 20	30	27	467	372
20–29	236	243	1,563	1,302
30–39	238	242	901	825
40–49	165	171	678	900
50–59	105	75	851	742
60 and over	15	—	247	—

Note:
Figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample of the Lifetime Labour Market Database2 and are shown to the nearest thousand.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions' Data Services Unit.

Winter Fuel Payments

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many winter fuel payments have been made in each of the last three years, broken down by region. [181927]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of winter fuel payments made in the last three years broken down by region is in the table.

	Total for winter
Region	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Great Britain	11,201,900	11,348,045	11,389,335
England	9,585,755	9,709,940	9,745,255
North East	513,460	516,755	516,740
North West	1,336,465	1,349,470	1,354,445
Yorkshire and the Humber	982,460	992,680	995,750
East Midlands	831,630	847,435	855,095
West Midlands	1,043,580	1,059,210	1,066,130
East of England	1,090,720	1,110,685	1,119,655
London	1,080,460	1,082,290	1,071,220
South East	1,594,805	1,619,275	1,626,490
South West	1,112,180	1,132,140	1,139,730
Wales	619,720	629,025	632,475
Scotland	996,420	1,009,080	1,011,605

Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
3. Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run so they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid in late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). Since most of the payments made in late payment runs are to people who are not receiving another benefit from DWP and whose claims had not been received by the qualifying week, most are to men aged 60.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. data.




 
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the oil output in Iraq was being metered up to the point of the dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority. [181758]

Mr. Rammell: When the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) took office there were no functioning meters in the Iraqi oil system. Successive UK members of the CPA oil team had been pressing for meters to be installed as a matter of urgency, but as of 28 June—when the CPA dissolved—the issue remained outstanding. However, oil exports, either by pipeline to Ceyhan in Turkey or by tanker through the Arabian Gulf, are metered as they pass into the receiving tanks.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has pledged to women's organisations operating in Iraq; and how much has been distributed since March 2003. [181081]

Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has pledged £100,000 for Women and Youth Good Governance Projects.

In addition, the FCO has pledged and distributed £30,000 to the Iraqi Refugee Aid Council for a women's project in Sadr city, and £11,000 (US$20,000) for two projects by the Assyrian Women's Union.

The FCO also supported an Iraqi women's conference, held successfully in Cairo during June.

The Department for International Development also provides funding for women's projects in Iraq.

Civic Education

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information he has about civic education programmes under way and planned to encourage women to participate in future democratic elections in Iraq; and whether his Department is (a) funding and (b) planning to fund such programmes; [181542]

(2) what programmes are being developed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq to promote women's human rights; and whether his Department is giving support in this area. [181575]

Mr. Rammell: Women's rights in Iraq have been furthered by the creation of a Minister of State for
 
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Women's Affairs in the Interim Iraqi Government, and by the passing of an electoral law designed to achieve the goal of one-quarter representation by women in the elected Transitional National Assembly. Six out of 31 Ministers and seven out of 28 Deputy Ministers in the new Interim Iraqi Government are women.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is working closely with the Department for International Development to promote women's rights in Iraq, and has funded a number of projects involving women and women's groups across Iraq. For a complete list of projects funded by the FCO I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) today (UIN 181081).

UN support has also come from UNIFEM, which has engaged in numerous projects in Iraq, including workshops and conferences for women.

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