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31 Jan 2007 : Column 334W—continued


31 Jan 2007 : Column 335W

Constitutional Affairs

Carbon Emissions

Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when her Department began to measure its carbon emissions; what the volume of those emissions was in the last period for which figures are available; when her Department started to offset those emissions; what the cost is expected to be of offsetting her Department’s emissions in 2006-07; and if she will make a statement. [116381]

Vera Baird: My Department has been monitoring and reporting on carbon emissions since 1999, the last periods figures for travel and building emissions can be found at:

My Department started to offset emissions for air travel from April 2006, figures for the first year’s operation are still being calculated, and this exercise will be extended in line with the cross-Government target for central office estate to be carbon neutral by 2012.

CORE Electoral Database

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether a privacy impact assessment was produced for the CORE electoral database project. [112571]

Bridget Prentice: A privacy impact assessment has not been produced for the CORE project, as it is not expected that CORE will impact on individuals’ privacy. The CORE information system will mirror the information held on local registers and access will be subject to the same regulations as for access to the local registers.

Data Protection

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if her Department will introduce legislation to require companies to disclose fully the details of any loss of personal data about their customers as soon as possible after the loss has occurred. [112167]

Vera Baird: All data processing that takes place in the UK must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. At a European Union level, the regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services is currently under review; this review includes public consultation on proposals to require telecommunications network and service providers to notify regulators and customers of all breaches of their data security. The next stage of the review is the EU response to the consultation which is to be published in summer 2007. The Department of Trade and Industry organised a parallel consultation, involving a wide range of stakeholders, to the EU review and responded to the EU consultation on behalf of the United Kingdom on 27 October 2006. The Government will consider carefully the EU response to this consultation and this will help to inform our on-going consideration of relevant domestic legislation.


31 Jan 2007 : Column 336W

Departmental Offices

Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what area of office space her Department and its agencies used in central London in (a) 2004 and (b) 2006; and if she will make a statement. [112184]

Vera Baird: In 2004 the Department occupied 45,986.12 sq m of leasehold office accommodation in central London, whilst the total for Her Majesty’s Court Service was 1,642.58 sq m. For 2006 the figures were 44,393.16 sq m and 4329.89 sq m respectively. From 1 April 2006 the newly created Tribunals Service became an agency of the Department with leasehold office accommodation totalling 5,226.00 sq m in central London.

In 2004 neither the Department nor its agencies owned the freehold to any of their London properties. Since 2006 Her Majesty’s Court Service has held the freehold to 2297.00 sq m of office accommodation in London as a result of the transfer of work from the magistrates courts.

Electoral Administration Act

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the provisions in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 relating to (a) signatures being required in polling stations and (b) regulation of loans in Northern Ireland will be implemented; and what the reasons are for the time taken to bring these provisions into force. [117658]

Bridget Prentice: Provisions relating to signatures being required in polling stations have not been commenced as the wording in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 does not provide for a clear sanction to withhold a ballot paper. Consequently, to avoid confusion, it has been decided not to commence this provision until the legislation can be amended to remove any uncertainty. With regard to the regulation of loans in Northern Ireland, these provisions have not been commenced as different arrangements exist in Northern Ireland in relation to the funding of parties. Consequently, the detail of the secondary legislation dealing with this matter will be complex and technical, and requires further development and consultation before it can be put in place.

Exeter Small Claims Mediation Scheme

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she is taking in response to the conclusion of her Department’s research unit in its report on the Exeter Small Claims Mediation Scheme on (a) appeal or complaints procedures and (b) other mechanisms for accountability; and if she will make a statement. [112581]

Vera Baird: These concerns were addressed when the original Exeter small claims mediation scheme was relaunched in June 2005, as one of three small claims pilots that the Department set up to test mediation in small claims—in Exeter, Reading and Manchester.
31 Jan 2007 : Column 337W
Evaluations of all three pilots showed that the scheme based at Manchester county court gave the highest combination of customer satisfaction and settlement rates. As a result, the Department has put in place an implementation strategy to roll out further schemes based on the Manchester model with effect from March 2007.

Freedom of Information Requests

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2007, Official Report, column 688W, on freedom of information requests, what information was requested in each freedom of information request which was exempt under section 36. [117564]

Vera Baird: The DCA monitors the frequency of use of exemptions as part of its FOI monitoring regime. Information on the subject of a request when an exemption is used is not collected.

Parliamentary Boundaries

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2007, Official Report, column 631W, on parliamentary boundaries, whether the Boundary Commission (a) has sought and (b) plans to seek the award of costs against those who brought the review. [117676]

Bridget Prentice: The Boundary Commission did seek and was awarded costs against the claimants in respect of the acknowledgement of service and summary grounds of opposition.

Prisoner Voting

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2007, Official Report, column 632W, on prisoner voting, what length of time allows a remand prisoner to be regarded as a resident and therefore allowed to vote in the constituency where the prison is located. [117677]

Bridget Prentice: The term 'sufficient' is not defined in electoral law. The electoral registration officer is required to determine whether the anticipated length of time a person is detained on remand is sufficient to allow entry onto the register in the constituency where that person is held.

Scottish Members’ Voting Rights

Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 5 December 2006, Official Report, column 352W, on Scottish Members’ voting rights, what research her Department has undertaken on the likely effect of changing the voting rights of hon. Members for Scottish constituencies on public confidence in the parliamentary process. [112243]


31 Jan 2007 : Column 338W

Bridget Prentice: The Government believe that there is no case for altering the fundamental principle of the constitution that all MPs have equal rights and can therefore vote on any matter before them. It has therefore not undertaken any research into the public impact of such a change.

Treasury

Anti-retroviral Drugs

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what discussions he has had with the German Government on the inclusion of funding for universal access to anti-retroviral drugs on the agenda for the G8 finance ministers meetings in 2007; [117565]

(2) if he will put forward plans for an international agreement on funding for anti-retroviral drugs at the G8 finance ministers meetings in 2007. [117621]

Ed Balls: The Government are fully committed to playing their part in turning the tide against AIDS. That is why we made AIDS a centrepiece of our 2005 G8 and EU Presidencies, leading to an international commitment to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010. As UNAIDS recently said, if this target is to be met, donors must deliver on the Gleneagles commitment to provide an additional $50 billion in aid by 2010.

The Government have been working with Germany to ensure their presidency of the G8 builds on the progress made in 2005. And we strongly welcome Angela Merkel's recent announcement that addressing the impact of AIDS on women and children will be a top priority under the German presidency. We will continue to work with the German Government at all levels on this and the wider Gleneagles agenda, including aid volumes and support for mechanisms such as the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria and UNITAID, both of which provide funding for anti-retroviral drugs.

Asset Sales

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down by Department the estimate and projection for central Government asset sales in 2006-07 and 2007-08 in table B21 of his 2006 pre-Budget report. [111929]

Mr. Timms: The estimate of annual asset disposal proceeds is made at central Government level only.

Bank Services: Fees and Charges

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with representatives of the banking industry on the impact of excessive bank charges on social exclusion among low income families. [112459]


31 Jan 2007 : Column 339W

Ed Balls: Treasury Ministers and officials hold discussions with the banking industry on a wide range of issues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the target time is for providing a substantive response to hon. Members’ correspondence by the Claimant Compliance section of HM Revenue and Customs in Preston. [112128]

Dawn Primarolo: The Claimant Compliance section of HM Revenue and Customs aims to answer 80 per cent. of all correspondence, including that from MPs, within 15 days.

Ann Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Congleton of (a) 27 June, (b) 28 July, (c) 9 August, (d) 8 September, (e) 5 October, (f) 22 November and (g) 6 December 2006, on levying VAT on charitable goods. [117524]

Dawn Primarolo: This issue is being considered and I hope to be in a position to respond shortly.

Employee Exit Survey

Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2007, Official Report, column 1339W, on the employee exit survey, if he will place in the Library a copy of the report on open ended responses to the exit survey referred to in the exit questionnaire report. [111914]

John Healey: The responses to the open-ended comments section of the exit survey contain information which is confidential and could be used to identify specific individuals. It would be inappropriate for this information to be in the public domain.

English Language Teaching

Ms Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax revenue from (a) the English for speakers of other languages teaching industry and (b) fees paid by foreign students learning English. [117563]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available.

Fees and Charges Guide

Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to approve the updated version of the Fees and Charges Guide. [112017]


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Mr. Timms: Guidance on Government fees and charges policy will be incorporated into the updated version of Government Accounting—to be published in summer 2007.

Government Departments: Budgets

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the settlement letter sent by his Department to the Home Office agreeing its budget for the years covered by the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review following the 2006 pre-Budget report; [111935]

(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the settlement letter sent by his Department to the Department for Education and Skills agreeing its capital budget for the years covered by the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review following the announcement in the 2006 pre-Budget report. [111936]

Mr. Timms: Details of the Home Office settlement for the Comprehensive Spending Review are available in the 2006 Budget. Details of the Department for Education and Skills capital settlement for the CSR are available in the 2006 pre-Budget report. As is usual practice, further details of the settlements will be published in the CSR White Paper in 2007. Details of both Departments’ financial plans will be available in the central Government supply estimates, which are published in February, November and May of each year. Further details of Home Office and Department for Education and Skills spending can be found in their departmental reports.

Health Care-acquired Infections

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from (a) Clostridium difficile and (b) meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus in each year since 1997, including neonates, broken down by Government office region. [112363]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 31 January 2007:


31 Jan 2007 : Column 341W

31 Jan 2007 : Column 342W
Table 1: Number of death certificates where Clostridium difficile( 1) was (a) mentioned and (b) recorded as the underlying cause of death( 2) , by Government office region, 1999 and 2001-2004( 3,4)
1999 2001 2002 2003 2004
(a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b)

North East

54

29

65

35

78

35

102

51

125

72

North West

134

67

154

87

178

86

219

105

278

138

Yorkshire and the Humber

60

26

87

43

115

57

115

56

155

74

East Midlands

63

40

67

33

65

35

95

58

137

90

West Midlands

86

42

116

68

142

69

223

115

282

149

East of England

82

46

147

87

186

102

227

126

245

138

London

138

80

189

115

210

139

220

134

239

145

South East

164

97

173

102

210

106

307

166

336

182

South West

137

72

152

91

154

80

194

101

358

199

Wales

56

31

63

29

88

46

85

46

88

55

(1) Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics (2005) Report: Deaths involving Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 1999-2004. Health Statistics Quarterly 30, 56-60.
(2) Excludes neonatal deaths.
(3) Deaths registered in 1999, deaths occurring in 2001 -2004.
(4) Data for 1997-98 and 2000 are not available. The reason for this is explained in the above report and in background note 1.

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