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12 Jun 2006 : Column 1051W—continued
Postal Voting
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate the Government have made of the number of electors who registered for postal votes in each election in each year since the Representation of the People Act 2000 came into force, excluding elections with all-postal voting. [70598]
Bridget Prentice: The Government holds the following information on the number of postal voters in each election held since the RPA 2000 came into force:
UK general election 2001—1,758,055 electors
English local elections 2002 (non pilot regions)—4.9 per cent.(1)
Scottish parliamentary elections 2003—3.6 per cent.(1)
National Assembly for West Wales elections 2003—6.9 per cent.(1)
UK European parliamentary and local elections 2004 (excluding pilot regions)—2,507,272 electors(2)
UK general election 2005 - 5,362,501 electors(2)
2006 local elections—not yet available.
(1 )No statistic showing the precise number of electors available.
(2 )Provided by the Electoral Commission.
Public Transport (Incentives)
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what incentives are available to encourage members of her staff to use public transport for travelling to and from work. [75100]
Vera Baird: The Department for Constitutional Affairs offers interest free loans for the purchase of season tickets for travel to work by public transport and for bicycles (including safety equipment) which are available to all employees that have at least 2 months service. These advances are repayable in equal monthly instalments within the life of the ticket or over a maximum of 12 months for the purchase of the bicycle.
reimbursement of a Young Persons Railcard for employees under the age of 24.
reimbursement of standard public transport fares for new entrants under the age of 21 taking up an initial appointment who have to live away from home because of their workplace.
three free journeys by public transport to the parental home each year for single employees under 21, who are appointed or transferred from a post where they lived with their parents to a post beyond reasonable travelling distance and who live in lodgings.
Small Change Big Difference Campaign
Anne Milton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department has taken following the launch of the Government's Small Change Big Difference Campaign. [72008]
Bridget Prentice: Over the past year the Department has been engaged in, and is developing, several activities that support this initiative. There has been a series of articles produced for the in-house magazine on a range of health topics, including diabetes and migraine, and more are planned including ones on healthy living and exercise. The Department runs stress courses to offer tips and strategies for managing stress. The occupational welfare team provides a range of information on health issues. The Department is also working towards implementation of the smoking ban in line with the impending legislation and, through the welfare team, has committed to providing information and support to those wishing to give up, both in the run up to and after implementation. As the programme of work on this initiative develops the Department of Health will be working across all of Government to ensure the programme joins up to promote maximum impact. DH is leading the implementation for the initiative as part of its cross-government commitment to deliver the public health “White Paper Choosing Health”.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals against statements of special educational needs there have been in the most recently recorded 12 month period; how many were successful; and what percentage of successful appeals had involved legal representation. [75513]
Ms Harman: In 2004-05 the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal registered 1,592 appeals from parents against the contents of statements of special educational needs. The Tribunal has decided 744 of these appeals and upheld 647 (41 per cent.), at least in part. Parents had legal representation in 229 (35 per cent.) of the upheld appeals.
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