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21 Jul 2005 : Column 1935W—continued

Wind Farms

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the (a) environmental and (b) economic (i) cost and (ii)benefit of wind farms. [13383]

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the Energy White Paper of 2003, and the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the recent consultation on the Renewables Obligation Review which highlight the wider case for supporting renewable forms of electricity generation.

The recent Sustainable Development Commission Report Wind Power in the UK" also gives authoritative Information about wind farms including their environmental and economic impacts.

PRIME MINISTER

Correspondence

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Prime Minister how many letters to his Office from hon. Members in session (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are (i) one month old, (ii)two months old, (iii) three months old, (iv) four months old and (v) over six months old. [13846]

The Prime Minister: In total, I have received over 650,000 items of post since November 2004 including a number of campaign cards. My Office deals with all correspondence as efficiently as possible,

I received 513 letters from Members of Parliament for the 2004–05 session, and to date have received 266 letters from Members of Parliament for the 2005–06
 
21 Jul 2005 : Column 1936W
 
session, including invitations and requests concerning constituency matters, which were dealt with as appropriate. Information regarding the dates on which individual pieces of correspondence were answered is not held in the format requested.

Departmental Staff

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many full-time equivalents have worked for his Office for each of the last five financial years for which figures are available. [11488]

The Prime Minister: For these purposes my Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to Table C of The Civil Service Statistics 2004", copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Downing Street (Improvements)

Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister how much has been spent on (a) maintaining, (b) decorating and (c) otherwise improving 10 Downing street since 1 May 1997; how much (i) has been spent on wallpaper since 1 May 1997 and (ii) was spent on wallpaper between 1992 to 1997; and what plans there are for further such spending. [9743]

The Prime Minister: Refurbishment and maintenance at 10 Downing street is part of a continuing programme of work. The Downing street complex is maintained to standards appropriate to its Grade 1/2 listed status in consultation with English Heritage. The building also fulfils an important representational role.

For details of maintenance, decorating and otherwise improving 10 and 11 Downing street between May 1997 and 2000–01, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 24 July 2002, Official Report, columns 1370–71W.

Subsequent figures for the whole Downing street complex are:
£

	Amount
2001–02	802,658
2002–03	319,177
2003–04	179,424

The expenditure in 2001–02 was partly attributable to the installation of comfort cooling across the complex. It also covered maintenance, conversion of rooms into office accommodation, modernising of a meeting room, replacement of the water tank, replacement staircase carpeting and the continuing upkeep of the State Rooms. Only a small proportion relates to work on the Prime Minister's personal accommodation.

Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available.

Expenditure on wallpaper is not separately recorded within the overall costs of redecoration works.
 
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Office Costs

Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister how much his Office cost to run in each year since 1997; and what the cost was in each of the preceding 10 years. [10471]

The Prime Minister: For figures before 2002–03 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 25 March 2003, Official Report, columns 125–27W. Figures since then are set out in the table.

Before 2001–02 the infrastructure costs for the Prime Minister's Office were managed from central Cabinet Office budgets and could be made available only at disproportionate cost. To enable a direct comparison with the previous answer the costs from 2002–03 onwards have been shown both including and excluding the infrastructure element.
£ million

	Running costs excluding infrastructure	Running costs including infrastructure
2002–03	13.6	14.2
2003–04	14.6	15.1
2004–05	15.8	17.0

Publications

Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the publications issued by his Office in each of the last eight years; and what the (a) circulation, (b) cost and (c) purpose of each was. [10470]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 February 2002, Official Report, column 260W to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow).

The cost of other publications produced by my Office since then total £6,994.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Dr. David Kelly

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the current status is of the inquest into the death of Dr. David Kelly. [12850]

Ms Harman: On 16 March 2004 the Oxfordshire coroner decided not to resume the inquest which he had adjourned pending Lord Hutton's public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. David Kelly.

Election Registration

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to alter the registration procedures for voting in elections. [13669]

Ms Harman: We are currently considering how the electoral registration system in Great Britain might be improved both to improve security and increase access. This consideration is being informed by the recent
 
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Constitutional Affairs and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee report Electoral Registration and by the various Electoral Commission reports on the subject. Additionally, my Department recently published a policy paper for discussion, which invited comments on some aspects of electoral registration. This paper is available in the House Library.

We intend to bring forward legislation on this issue when parliamentary time allows.

Endowment Mis-selling

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to regulate firms who handle claims for compensation for endowment mis-selling; and if she will make a statement. [13967]

Bridget Prentice: The Government plan to provide for the introduction of statutory regulation of claims management companies in the Compensation Bill. We are currently considering the scope of regulation.

Family Law Act 1996

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to bring into force section 60 of the Family Law Act 1996; and if she will make a statement. [6175]

Ms Harman: There are no plans to implement section 60 of the Family Law Act 1996. Provisions to protect victims from domestic violence are provided for in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004.

Freedom of Information Act

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many Freedom of Information Act 2000 applications to see sections of the 1911 decennial census for England and Wales have been (a) received and (b) rejected by the National Archives since 1 January. [13576]

Ms Harman: In the period from 1 January to 15 July 2005, The National Archives received 72 applications. After consultation with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as the transferring department, 47 of these applications have not been granted, because they are covered by s.41 of the FOI Act. The remaining 25 applications are currently being considered on a case by case basis in consultation with ONS.

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