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22 Jan 2007 : Column 1577W—continued
The information shown in the above table is taken from Table C of the quarterly Balance of Payments First Release. Data shown are consistent with the 2006 Q3 release published on 21 December 2006.
The ONS does not compile monthly estimates of trade in services with the EU. Therefore, the table shows the sum of the most recent four quarters e.g. 2005 Q4 to 2006 Q3.
Estimates of trade in goods and services with the EU are only available from 1999.
Gender Equality
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that all Departments receive guidance on how to implement the gender equality duty with the guidance issued to Departments for the comprehensive spending review 2007; [116259]
(2) what role his Department will play in promoting the gender equality duty to other Government Departments as part of the public service agreement process; and if he will make a statement. [116260]
John Healey: The Government will use the 2007 comprehensive spending review (CSR) to pursue its long-term goal of ensuring fairness and opportunity for all, which will be reflected in both the allocation of resources and the setting of new public service agreements (PSAs) for the CSR07 period.
To support this aim, the Treasury guidance to Departments on the CSR process and PSAs underlines their statutory responsibilities under the equality duties, and refers them to the detailed information on implementing the Gender Equality Duty published by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
HM Revenue and Customs
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many flights were made by HM Revenue and Customs managers to (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [116572]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 18 January 2007]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was created in April 2005, and incorporates the former departments of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise.
| Number of flights | |
Last year HMRC joined the Government’s carbon offsetting scheme for air travel and is planning to extend its offsetting arrangements to all travel by 2008. The Department promotes sustainable travel policies and the use of telephone and video conferencing as travel alternatives.
Household Numbers
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the difference in the estimated number of households in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) each Government office for the regions in England on the basis of (i) the figures provided by the 2001 census and (ii) the number of domestic dwellings on council tax/domestic rates valuation lists. [114367]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 January 2007:
As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the difference in the estimated number of households in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) each Government Office for the Regions in England on the basis of (i) the figures provided by the 2001 Census and (ii) the number of domestic dwellings on council tax/domestic rates valuation lists. (114367).
I can confirm that ONS has not made such an assessment.
KPMG
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid to KPMG (a) for work as internal auditors of the Office of Government Commerce and (b) for the full review of the Efficiency Programme. [116696]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 19 January 2007]: The Office of Government Commerce has not engaged KPMG as internal auditors. There has been no KPMG review of the Efficiency Programme.
The Office of Government Commerce’s Efficiency Team has however spent £76,752 with KPMG on consulting and interim management on the Efficiency Programme Performance Management System (EPPMS) in the current financial year.
Lean Programme
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid to Unipart for the Lean programme by his Department and its agencies. [115209]
Dawn Primarolo: The total amount spent to date since this contract began in December 2005 is £9.9 million. The contract requires Unipart experts to work alongside HMRC staff. The majority of this expenditure has gone on ensuring that skills are effectively transferred.
Population Statistics: Eastbourne
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) births and (b) deaths there were in Eastbourne constituency in each year since 1997. [116566]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 January 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) births and (b) deaths there were in Eastbourne constituency in each year since 1997. (116566)
The table below provides the number of (a) births and (b) deaths in Eastbourne parliamentary constituency for the years 1997 to 2005 (the latest available).
| Table 1: Births( 1) and deaths( 2) in Eastbourne parliamentary constituency( 3) , 1997 to 2005 | ||
| Number | ||
| Births | Deaths | |
| (1) Live births occurring in each year. (2) Deaths registered in each year. (3 )Using boundaries as of 2005 for all years shown. | ||
Procurement Projects
Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the 20 largest procurement projects initiated by his Department since May 1997 have been; what the
(a) original budget, (b) cost to date and (c) consultancy fees have been; and what the final cost was of each project which has been completed. [106605]
John Healey: The information requested is not available in the format required to answer the question, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Public Opinion Research
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on commissioning public opinion research in each of the last five years for which records are available. [105491]
John Healey: I refer to the answers given to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) on 4 December 2006, Official Report, column 196W, and on 25 July 2006, Official Report, column 1383W, and to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Weir) on 15 December 2005, Official Report, column 2265W. The cost to the Treasury of the joint poll for the Treasury and the Sutton Trust was £10,000. The joint survey with the Department for Communities and Local Government as part of the Lyons inquiry was commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Spending on public opinion research is not recorded as a separate category in the Treasury’s accounting system, so further information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Red Box Website
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Red Box hard copy teaching packs have been (a) produced and (b) distributed by (i) his Department and (ii) HM Revenue and Customs. [106542]
John Healey: The number of Red Box teaching packs produced and distributed was as follows:
(a) The number produced: 8,100
(b) The number distributed by HM Revenue and Customs and HM Treasury: 7,368
Rockall
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many oil and gas reserves previously under UK jurisdiction are outside UK territorial waters following the cessation of sovereignty of Rockall; and what the estimated value is of these reserves. [109496]
John Healey: The Treasury is not responsible for this matter.
However, I understand that there has been no cessation of sovereignty over Rockall.
Special Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, column 209W, on special advisers, on what date the donations for the (a) tickets and (b) DVDs were made to the respective charities. [105679]
John Healey: Donations were made on 21 June 2005 and 6 July 2005 with respect to the tickets received. Our records do not show the exact date on which the DVDs were donated, although they indicate it was in the month of January 2006.
VAT Registration
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when Aardvark Traffic Management Services of Worksop will obtain VAT registration following their November 2006 application. [116877]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 19 January 2007]: HMRC has a responsibility to balance efficient processing of applications with rigorous, risk-based safeguards. HMRC aims to process VAT applications quickly and efficiently—however, where necessary, additional checks can take time. It is therefore not possible to estimate how long any specific application for VAT registration will take.
Health
“A Stronger Local Voice”
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library copies of submissions her Department received in response to the document “A Stronger Local Voice”. [116456]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government response to “A Stronger Local Voice”, published on the 11 December 2006, summarises the key themes and issues that were raised in the submissions we received to “A Stronger Local Voice”. Once all submissions were received a rigorous process of analysis was undertaken to ensure all views, ideas and opinions were recorded and taken into account. It is not appropriate to publish the submissions themselves as many of these contain the views and experiences of individuals who may not wish their submissions to be made public.
Abortion
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long the average waiting time for an abortion was in each (a) primary care trust and (b) hospital trust in each year since 2000; and if she will make a statement. [117356]
Caroline Flint: Waiting times for abortion are not available as the majority of procedures take place in the independent sector, but we consider that gestation at procedure is a good indicator of waiting times. The latest data for 2005 show that progress is being made to increase early access: 64 per cent. of national health service-funded abortions took place at under 10 weeks—compared with 51 per cent. in 2002.
The earlier in pregnancy an abortion is performed, the lower the risk of complications. The Government are therefore working to ensure that women have access to abortion services as soon as possible. We have invested £8 million to improve early access and set a standard of a maximum waiting time of 3 weeks. Also,
primary care trusts’ performance in this area is being measured as part of their annual healthcheck.
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions took place in each month since the year 2000, broken down by (a) primary care trust and (b) hospital trust; and if she will make a statement. [117357]
Caroline Flint: Abortion data by primary care trust (PCT) of residence for 2002 to 2005 have been placed in the Library.
Data are not released by place of termination for reasons of confidentiality. In addition, data by PCT are not available prior to 2002.
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