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10 Mar 2006 : Column 1788W—continued
Travel to School
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of (a) primary and (b) secondary school children get to school by (i) walking, (ii) cycling, (iii) travelling by bus, (iv) travelling by car and (v) another method. [54989]
Ms Buck: Data from the National Travel Survey on the percentage of trips in 2004 made by children travelling to and from school by mode and age are given in the following table.
| Mode | Age five to 10 | Age 11 to 16 |
|---|---|---|
| Walk | 50 | 44 |
| Cycle | 1 | 3 |
| Local/private bus | 7 | 29 |
| Car/van | 41 | 22 |
| Other method | 1 | 3 |
DEFENCE
Lisbon Agenda
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policies his Department has adopted to assist the United Kingdom's fulfilment of the Lisbon Agenda criteria. [55687]
John Reid:
The Government strongly support the renewed Lisbon focus on "jobs and growth" as the best way to meet the challenges of globalisation and boost prosperity and living standards for all. The UK National Reform programme details the Government's policy response to these challenges. The Defence Industrial Strategy reflects our commitment to this. We expect the spring council in March to emphasise the importance of implementation of national commitments to reform.
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QinetiQ
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors influenced the decision to sell the initial stake in QinetiQ in 2002 to Carlyle, as opposed to other major bidders. [44180]
John Reid: A range of factors were taken into account in the assessment of the bids, but the main criterion was value for money for the taxpayer. Carlyle offered the best combination price and a low level of equity holding in the company, as well as offering a strategy for value creation that was consistent with the Ministry of Defence's overall objectives for the public private partnership.
Royal Air Force
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment and (b) actual strength is of the Royal Air Force, broken down by trade. [54882]
Mr. Touhig: The establishment and actual trained strength of the Royal Air Force by trade as at 1 January 2006 is given in the following table:
Notes:
1. All figures of 50 or more have been rounded to the nearest 10 with figures ending in five rounded to the nearest 20. Figures less than 50 have been rounded to the nearest five.
2. Totals and subtotals have been rounded after summing so may not appear to be the sum of their constituent parts.
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Spring
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Meteorological Office has changed the date on which spring is recognised as beginning. [55751]
Mr. Touhig [holding answer 3 March 2006]: The Met Office has not changed the date on which the start of spring is commonly defined and widely recognised. The Met Office definition of spring, unchanged for at least 90 years, agrees with the current first listed Oxford Dictionary definition. This is based on vegetation changes through the year.
In meteorology the seasons are taken to be as follows: spring: March, April and May; summer: June, July and August; autumn: September, October and November; winter: December, January and February.
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UKHO
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of potential conflicts of interest arising from the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office's (UKHO) acquisition of SevenCs, with regard to (a) the market share accruing to UKHO as a result of the acquisition and (b) the impact of the UKHO's commercial distribution of marine data products on its statutory role in safeguarding life at sea. [53043]
Mr. Touhig: The acquisition has had no noticeable effect on the UKHO's share of the market for data used in marine navigation. No additional share of that market has accrued to the UKHO as a result of the acquisition. Therefore no potential conflict of interest is perceived as arising from the acquisition.
The UKHO's commercial distribution of marine data products does not give rise to any conflict of interest in relation to safeguarding life at sea.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 514W, on SevenCs, if he will make a statement on the relationship between the UK Hydrographic Office's obligations under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea and its responsibility to ensure an open system. [53253]
Mr. Touhig: The UK's obligation under the convention is to make available data that meet the convention's carriage requirements, so enabling the mariner to comply with the regulations applicable to UK waters and to UK-flagged shipping. This is best achieved where open systems exist.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 514W, on SevenCs, what is his assessment of what the barriers to an open market in the digital navigational industry were prior to the acquisition of SevenCs by the UK Hydrographic Office. [53254]
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Mr. Touhig: Prior to acquisition the route to market for digital navigational data was open, via the SevenCs software. The acquisition means that the UKHO can ensure that it remains so.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Child Poverty
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of children in poverty (a) whose parents were in work and (b) whose resident parent was in work lived in (i) lone parent households and (ii) non-lone parent households in each year for which figures are available. [43824]
Margaret Hodge: We recognise that work is the best way out of poverty for all families, including lone parent households. Our successful labour market policies have contributed to a lone parent employment rate of 56.6 per cent., a record high, up 11 percentage points since 1997.
The seventh annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators. Significant progress has been made and since 1997 the number of children in relative low-income has fallen by 700,000 on an after housing costs basis and the number of children in workless households has fallen by 400,000. Detailed information about the number and proportion of children living in low income households is published in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95–2003/04", available in the Library.
Information is not available on the number and percentage of children whose parents are in work, because our data source does not collect sufficient information on non-resident parents.
The number and composition of children living in low-income households where (i) the resident parent was in work and lived in a lone-parent household or (ii) the resident parent was in work and lived in a couple household or (iii) where no resident parent works, for incomes reported on the before housing costs and after housing costs measures of income are contained in the following tables:
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Notes:
1. Relative low income here is defined using the below 60 per cent. of contemporary median low income threshold.
2. A parent-child relationship here is a parent-son/daughter relationship which includes adopted children. It excludes step-children and foster children.
3. A lone-parent household is defined here as one containing a single person with a dependent child (that is it includes households containing other individuals).
4. Full information on inter-household relationships is only available from 1997–98.
Source:
Family Resources Survey (FRS).
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