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Government Websites

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to her answer of 28 October, Official Report, column 1379W, on Government websites, whether it is the office's policy to deem Government websites to be covered by Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [198010]

Ruth Kelly: The Cabinet Office considers that the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Part III, as explained in the Disability Rights Commission's supporting Code of Practice on Rights of Access—Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises (published in 2002) applies equally to all websites accessible to the public and therefore includes those owned and managed by or on behalf of the Government.

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to her answer of 28 October, Official Report, column 1379W, on Government websites, what steps she has taken to ensure that all .gov.uk websites meet the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines adopted by the Government in 2001. [198011]

Ruth Kelly: The Guidelines for UK Government websites (published in 2002) contains an extensive interpretation on the application of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The Cabinet Office uses every opportunity available through public and private conferences and workshops to promote the Guidelines and raise awareness of web accessibility within both the Government web manager and web developer communities. We have recently updated the terms and conditions for the use of .gov.uk domain names to require all new websites to maintain the high level of accessibility detailed in the Guidelines for UK Government websites.
 
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It is the responsibility of individual Government departments and agencies to ensure that their public facing websites are built and maintained to comply with the accessibility guidelines.

Internet

Mr. Allan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how much her Department has spent on the Delivering on the Promise internet content management system; and how much it plans to spend in the financial year 2005–06; [193266]

(2) which Government departments and agencies have made a commitment to use the Delivering on the Promise internet content management system; [193267]

(3) which Government departments and agencies have evaluated the Delivering on the Promise internet content management system against alternatives and decided not to use it; [193268]

(4) what standards for access by disabled people are incorporated in the Delivering on the Promise internet content management system. [193269]

Ruth Kelly: Since its inception, the Cabinet Office has spent the following on Delivering on the Promise (DotP) internet content management systems; £5.5 million in 2002–03, £18.3 million in 2003–04 and expects to spend £11.3 million in 2004–05. This includes development, implementation, hosting and operating costs of the system.

Planned expenditure for 2005–06 is not available as Cabinet Office is currently reviewing its budgets and plans for that year.

As at 1 October 2004 the following departments and agencies have committed to use the content management system Department of Health, Healthcare Commission, HM Revenue and Customs (specifically Child Trust Fund), Cabinet Office (specifically e-Government Unit and Directgov).

The use of DotP was evaluated against alternatives and not selected for four Departmental applications (Northern Ireland Departments, Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Trade and Industry (Businesslink). In addition DotP did not meet the particular technology requirements of four other Departmental applications (National Patient Safety Agency, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Foreign Office EU Presidency Unit, ODPM Regional Co-ordination Unit) and HM Revenue and Customs (introductory overarching website), and alternatives have subsequently been sought.

The world wide web consortium develops and publishes internet standards by making recommendations, which were adopted by the Government in 2001. The design of DotP allows each individual website to meet its compliant obligations for accessibility under the Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines published by the world wide web consortium at www.w3c.org.
 
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PCS Strike

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment she has made of the impact on the provision of Government services of the PCS strike on 5 November. [197892]

Ruth Kelly: The strike by members of the Public and Commercial Services union caused some inconvenience to the public but did not cause significant disruption to most Government services. This was partly because departments and agencies had effective contingency arrangements in place to protect services, particularly those essential to security or welfare, and partly because of low levels of support for the strike in a number of areas.

Public Service Agreements

Brian White: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which senior civil servant has responsibility for each of her Department's public service agreements. [195181]

Ruth Kelly: Six Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets were agreed in the course of the 2002 Spending Review for the period to 2005–06. Details of the PSA targets can be found in the Departmental Report (Cm 6226), copies of which are available in the Library.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the PSA. The Managing Director and Permanent Head of the Department, Colin Balmer, is responsible for assuring the delivery of each target.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is jointly responsible for the delivery of target 2.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Balai Directive 92/65/EEC

Mr. Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many premises in the UK are (a) registered and (b) approved under the Balai Directive 92/65/EEC. [197042]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 8 November 2004]: In the UK, there are 544 premises that are registered under the Balai Directive (Directive 92/65/EEC), of which 40 premises have the higher status of being approved.

Bees

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to consult the beekeeping industry on her proposals concerning future levels of support for the industry. [196970]

Alun Michael: My officials are already in touch with beekeeping associations on our future plans for the bee health programme. A meeting is taking place later this month.

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the incidence of European foul brood in the bee population in England and Wales. [196971]

 
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Alun Michael: The inspection programme is targeted towards areas and apiaries which are thought to be at greatest risk from European foul brood and other notifiable diseases. In 2004 the disease was confirmed in 691 colonies, 2.7 per cent. of the 26,000 inspected by the National Bee Unit's inspectors. Most of these cases were found in the Midlands and in southern areas of England and Wales.

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what programme of inspection of bee colonies for (a) European foul brood and (b) American foul brood is planned following the proposed removal of statutory control on European foul brood. [196972]

Alun Michael: Following a firm decision to remove statutory controls on European foul brood inspections would no longer be targeted on this disease, although inspectors would continue to offer advice on its control as they do at present for other serious but non-statutory diseases. The inspection programme would be planned to maximise control of American foul brood which is more serious, less widespread and unlike European foul brood does not lend itself to control through husbandry techniques.

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money has been allocated to the proposed Central Science Laboratory Training Scheme on identification of bee diseases. [196973]

Alun Michael: Training is an integral part of the National Bee Unit's work . Some £164,000 was spent in 2004 on 736 talks, demonstrations, lectures and apiary tours, benefiting more than 15,600 beekeepers in England.

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will commission an independent assessment of the effectiveness of (a) shock swarming as a means of controlling foulbrood and (b) the proposed test kits for the diagnosis of European foulbrood. [196974]

Alun Michael: The National Bee Unit studies on the shook swarm technique have already been subject to independent scientific peer review, as will be the data on effectiveness of test kits for diagnosis of European foul brood.

Mr. Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to combat European foulbrood since the change in the policy of compulsory destruction to one of treatment with antibiotics. [197181]

Alun Michael: The effectiveness of measures to control European foul brood is subject to continuous assessment by the National Bee Unit and details of the incidence and treatment of the disease are published annually on its website. The use of antibiotic treatment has proved successful in many circumstances and colonies have recovered which would previously have been destroyed. Experimental use of the "shook swarm" technique, which does not use antibiotics, shows considerable promise for future control.
 
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