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Asian Tsunami

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which aid to tsunami victims has reached the poorest people affected by the disaster; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that aid reaches such people. [10320]

Mr. Thomas: The immediate response to the tsunami has been widely acknowledged as an effective response to all who suffered from the disaster and needed rapid support. We channelled the bulk of our immediate relief and recovery support through experienced humanitarian organisations whose targeting of beneficiaries will have helped ensure that the vulnerable and poor received assistance.

DFID has allocated up to £65 million to meet reconstruction needs. From this allocation £31 million has been committed to the Multi Donor Trust Fund in Indonesia, of which £6 million has so far been paid out. A further £5 million has been committed for technical assistance in Indonesia to help ensure timely, accountable and equitable provision of reconstruction assistance and rebuilding of livelihoods. A total of £2 million has been committed to Sri Lanka to help speed up implementation of reconstruction programmes and to ensure equitable distribution of assistance, and £3 million to India to provide technical assistance aimed at ensuring effective, transparent and equitable programming of tsunami reconstruction efforts. The remaining £24 million of the £65 million allocation for reconstruction has not yet been committed.

UN Convention Against Corruption

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions his Department has had with other EU countries regarding UK ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption; and if he will make a statement. [8388]

Mr. Thomas: DFID has regular discussions in many fora with our EU partners about anti-corruption measures, including the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). These fora include the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) where DFID has been leading the development of a set of principles to promote stronger donor action and collaboration against corruption, using UNCAC as the policy framework.

The UK very much hopes to ratify the UNCAC by the end of this year. Ratification now depends on Orders in Council. We are committed to introducing Orders in Council under Part Eleven of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 by October. Orders in Council are also required
 
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under the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 and should be introduced by December 2005. Scotland and Northern Ireland will need to produce corresponding orders before full ratification.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Purchasing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the companies from which her Department has purchased goods and services of a total value above £1 million in each of the last three years; and how much was spent in respect of each company. [11736]

Mr. Caborn: DCMS has only contracted with one company regarding goods and services in excess of £1 million in the last three years and that company is our Information Technology provider, Atos Origin (previously Schlumberger Sema). The amounts are as follows:
£

	Amount
2002–03	3,639,562
2003–04	3,922,710
2004–05	5,244,474

Historic Houses

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what steps are being taken to reduce the coincidence of regulation from different Government agencies which impacts on the management and operation of historic houses open to the public; [11211]

(2) what steps are being taken to co-ordinate efforts across Government Departments to support the historic environment and the work of organisations which work to preserve the built heritage, with particular reference to the Historic Houses Association. [11212]

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 12 July 2005]: With ODPM, Defra and DfES and HMT, we work closely with the historic and built environment sectors, including the Historic Houses Association. We are well aware of their concerns about the impact of regulation on private houses open to the public.

Licensing

Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what complaints she has received from licence applicants under the Licensing Act 2003 concerning the requirements for statutory plans of premises. [9456]

James Purnell: I know that some applicants have concerns about meeting the requirements for plans to accompany licence applications under the 2003 Act. These issues have been formally raised in the High Level
 
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Group of senior stakeholders which we established to monitor the implementation of the 2003 Act and identify actions to help ensure a smooth transition. As a result of discussions at the High Level Group, I recently wrote to all chief executives of local authorities to express the Group's hope that authorities would look favourably at using or amending existing plans and, where necessary, be as flexible as possible about allowing alternative scales.

Plundered Material

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether it is her policy to legislate to enable the return of plundered material from the Second World War held in UK museums and galleries if advised to do so by the Spoliation Advisory Panel. [11661]

Mr. Lammy: Ministers are now considering their response to the Spoliation Advisory Panel's recent recommendation that the Government should legislate to enable the return of objects within the panel's Terms of Reference. Any legislation would be the result of extensive discussions with the museum sector and, particularly, with the National Museum Directors' Conference as well as with other interested parties and the panel itself.

Sports (Participation)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimates her Department has made of drop out rates for participation in sport among 16 and 17-year-olds in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [10868]

Mr. Caborn: My Department does not have exact figures for each year since 1997. However, we can estimate that participation for young men drops from 91 per cent. to 81 per cent. between the 15 to 16-year-old age group and 16 to 19-year-old age group. For young women it drops from 78 per cent. to 65 per cent.

These figures are derived from Sport England's Young People and Sport Survey 2002 and The General Household survey 2002. Definitions of participation are slightly different across the two surveys but are broadly comparable to having taken part on at least one occasion in the previous four weeks.

TRANSPORT

Crossrail

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much office space is occupied by Cross London Rail Links Ltd.; and what rent has been paid for office space for this purpose in each year from 1997. [10364]

Derek Twigg: This is a matter for Cross London Rail Links Ltd. (CLRLL). I understand from CLRLL that it currently occupies 1,900m ² of office space; and that, since the company's formation in 2001, it has paid the following rent for office space:
 
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	£
2001–02	878,000
2002–03	626,000
2003–04	746,000
2004–05	1,907,000

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to his Department of the Crossrail project, broken down by (a) wages, (b) office costs and (c) other costs was in the last year for which figures are available. [10365]

Derek Twigg: The unit that deals with Crossrail sponsorship in the Department, which includes the Crossrail hybrid Bill team, had wage costs in the financial year 2004–05 of £642,267; office costs of £77,870; and other costs (primarily consultancy) of £1,937,094.

The Department provided £154 million to the Crossrail development company, Cross London Rail Links Ltd. in 2001.

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