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Tourism

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has had discussions recently with the Welsh Assembly Government on the tourist and leisure industries in the South Wales valleys; and if he will make a statement. [55199]

Mr. Hain: I have regular meetings with the First Minister to discuss a variety of issues, including tourism and leisure industries.

The South Wales valleys have received nearly £1 million from the Wales Tourist Board to encourage and promote tourism within the area.

Under the heads of the valleys programme, the aims of which include improving the potential for tourism, the Welsh Assembly Government also intends investing £140 million by 2020 that will lead to a further £360 million of private sector investment.

Transport Schemes

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what investment in transport infrastructure schemes to support economic regeneration is being considered in objective 1 areas in Wales; what the schemes are; what the amount of public investment is; and when he expects decisions to be made. [54946]

Mr. Hain: A number of transport schemes have been supported under priority 6 measure 1 of the current (2000–06) objective 1 programme. Details of individual projects and the grant they have received are available under the approved projects section of the WEFO website (www.WEFO.Wales.gov.uk). Two further transport projects are currently under appraisal—Llandudno Interchange (requesting £1.189 million objective 1 grant) and Swansea Westway Corridor (requesting £1.35 million objective 1 grant).

For the period 2007–13, West Wales and the valleys will qualify for full convergence funding. The programme should be of a similar scale to the current objective 1 programme (which is circa £1.3 billion over seven years). The draft UK national strategic reference framework, which includes a Welsh chapter, is currently out to consultation. There are six priorities proposed for West Wales and the valleys, one of which is creating a favourable business environment, including transport, ICT and environmental infrastructure.

Wind Farms

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has had discussions recently with the Welsh Assembly Government on the scale of proposed wind farm developments in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot; and if he will make a statement. [55200]

Mr. Hain: I have regular discussions with Assembly colleagues on a range of matters, including wind farms.
 
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I understand that in Neath Port Talbot there is currently one wind farm under construction and one at the planning stage. Ffynnon Oer, when built, will have a capacity of 32 MW. Mynydd y Gwrhyd in Pontardawe would be 14 MW and is undergoing a planning appeal.

The Assembly Government's Technical Advice Note8 identifies a number of strategic locations around Wales suitable for onshore wind developments. Parts of Neath Port Talbot are covered by Pontardawe and Coed Morgannwg TAN8 Strategic Search Areas.

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the relationship between wind farms and tourism and leisure in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [55201]

Mr. Hain: I have regular discussions with Assembly colleagues about a range of matters, including wind farms and tourism.

The impact of wind farm developments on local tourism is addressed as part of the local planning process. There is no evidence to suggest that wind farms deter tourists, indeed some wind farms are themselves tourist attractions. For example, the UK's first commercial wind farm in Cornwall received 350,000 visitors in its first eight years of operation.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Genetic Use Restriction Technologies

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had at which varietal genetic use restriction technologies were discussed since 1 January 2005; what the date of each meeting was; and who the participants were in each case. [56595]

Mr. Thomas: DFID officials met with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) officials on 20 January 2006 to discuss a UK position on this subject.

India

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has made to the Indian government on (a) caste and (b) gender discrimination. [57008]

Mr. Thomas: My Department engages with the Government of India at many levels on issues of caste and gender discrimination.

One example of this is DFID's support to the Government of India's Programme for achieving universal primary education; Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. One objective of this programme which was launched in September 2004, is to narrow the gaps that exist between the enrolment of girls and boys, and children from castes and tribes that have historically been excluded. These are known as scheduled castes and tribes.

The recent Mid Term Review of this programme indicates that it has been very effective in increasing the enrolment of girls and scheduled caste children. Gender
 
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parity has improved by 3 per cent. and girls now represent 47 per cent. of the school population at primary level. The proportion of scheduled caste children has increased from 19 per cent. in 2003 to 21.3 per cent. in 2005. This exceeds the proportion of scheduled caste children in the general population. This success has been achieved through a range of strategies that have helped to tackle discrimination at all levels.

Polio (India)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State forInternational Development whether he expects the wild poliomyelitis virus to be eradicated in India in 2006. [57009]

Mr. Thomas: Global Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis (GCC) criteria state that countries can only be certified as polio free when they can demonstrate the absence of wild poliovirus transmission for at least three consecutive years in the presence of excellent surveillance. We expect India, one of only four remaining polio-endemic countries in the world, to interrupt transmission of the virus in 2006 and be certified polio free in 2009.

The India Expert Advisory Group on polio eradication (IEAG) meeting in December 2005, attended by officials from the Department for International Development (DFID) reported that India has made its most important progress towards eradication to date in 2005. As a result of an intense eradication programme, polio cases in India fell by 50 per cent. in 2005 to 66; the lowest annual total ever, from 134 cases in 2004 (and 35,000 cases in 1995). Innovative immunisation, surveillance and community mobilisation approaches have reduced polio to its lowest geographical extent ever, with cases occurring mostly in western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Bihar. However, the recent onset of cases (seven confirmed so far in 2006) has demonstrated that progress is fragile and that strong political and financial commitment will be essential to finishing the job".

United Nations Industrial Development Organisation

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his assessment of the effectiveness of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. [55920]

Mr. Thomas: The United Nations Industrial Development Organisations (UNIDO)'s contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)s, is in areas of trade capacity building, energy and environment, and non-agricultural industrial development.

Under the previous Director General, Carlos Margarinos, UNIDO implemented a number of reforms to improve its effectiveness including establishing a strategic framework with clear priorities, and a results based management system to monitor its performance against these.

The challenge for UNIDO's new Director General Kandeh Yumkella, will be to ensure that UNIDO continues this progress and fully engages in the UN Secretary General's efforts to bring greater overall coherence to the UN operational system.
 
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