Order Book Part 1

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
Publications on the internet
The Questions Book

Part 1: Written Questions for Answer on
Monday 25 June 2007

Notes:
* Indicates a Question for Oral Answer.
+ Indicates a Question not included in the random selection process but accepted because the quota for that day had not been filled.
[N] Indicates a Question for Written Answer on a named day, i.e. the Member has indicated under S.O. No. 22(4) the day on which he wishes the Question to be answered.
[R] Indicates that a relevant interest has been declared.

Questions for Oral or Written Answer
beginning on Monday 25 June 2007
(the 'Questions Book')

Part 1: Written Questions for Answer on
Monday 25 June 2007

This paper contains only Written Questions for answer on Monday 25 June of which previous notice has been given in the Notices of Questions paper. They are arranged in alphabetical order of answering Department.

For other Written Questions for answer on Monday 25 June of which no previous notice has been given, see the Order Paper.

For Written and Oral Questions for answer after Monday 25 June see Part 2 of this paper.

Questions to Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

1
Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the merits of hypothecating monies from inheritance tax to pay for an individual's care costs, with particular reference to cost of accommodation in a care home when an individual has an estate above the inheritance tax threshold.

(145723)

2
Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the costs of early retirement to the economy in each of the last 30 years; what actuarial evidence is available to his Department on this matter; and if he will make a statement.

(145724)

3
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the IT system used for Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) was the same system used for family credit or a new system; and whether the system used for the new tax credits is the same as that used for WFTC.

(145085)

4
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11th June 2007, Official Report, column 830W, on welfare tax credits, if he will break down the figures given in table 4 of the publication Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, Take Up Rates, 2004-05 by those with (a) two working parents, (b) two parents, one of whom is working, (c) a single parent and (d) other family circumstances.

(145188)

5
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many home visits were made by HM Revenue and Customs staff to pensioners to provide assistance with completing self-assessment tax return forms in each of the last five years.

(145478)

6
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what total payments have been made to date to organisations awarded the contract to run the tax credits computer system.

(145627)

7
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the total amount of tax credits paid out due to error or fraud in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07 he estimates will never be recovered.

(145449)

8
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff are employed in the assisted adjudicator's office of HM Revenue and Customs dealing with tax credit disputes.

(145450)

9
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff are employed by HM Revenue and Customs to deal with tax credit disputes.

(145451)

10
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many 2005-06 tax returns have been lost.

(145452)

11
N Mr David Gauke (South West Hertfordshire):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18th June 2007, Official Report, column 1500W, on VAT: registration, how many VAT applications not processed within 21 days of receipt in March 2007 related to (a) mobile telephones, (b) other electrical equipment and (c) other activities.

(145175)

12
N Mr David Gauke (South West Hertfordshire):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18th June 2007, Official Report, column 1500W, on VAT: registration, how many such complaints were from companies seeking VAT registration to conduct business activities relating to (a) mobile telephones, (b) other electrical equipment and (c) other activities.

(145177)

13
N Andrew George (St Ives):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many stillbirths there were in each English region in each year since 1997.

(144286)

14
N Andrew George (St Ives):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many live births there were in each English region in each year since 1997.

(144287)

15
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the Ministerial directions of which his Department has been notified since May 1997.

(145200)

16
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library a copy of the schema for his Department's Combined Online Information System database.

(145201)

17
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library copies of all extant public expenditure survey (PES) papers; and if he will make it his policy to make PES papers publicly available on his Department's website.

(145202)

18
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the virements between different sections within (a) Request for Resources (RfR) 1: Provision of Defence Capability and (b) RfR 2: Conflict Prevention he (i) agreed and (ii) refused for financial years 2001-02 to 2006-07.

(145203)

19
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library a copy of the current HM Treasury financial delegation to the Ministry of Defence.

(145204)

20
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to paragraph 5.32 of Consolidated Budgeting Guidance 2007-08, what (a) arrangements for the control of non-cash to near-cash switches and (b) definition of near cash he has agreed with the Ministry of Defence.

(145205)

21
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what procedures are in place to ensure that letters notifying clients of the cessation of tax credits are not sent in error; and how many such letters have been sent in error since the system was established.

(145209)

22
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on tax credit computer system-generated errors following change of client circumstances.

(145210)

23
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the backlog of cases is in the Tax Credit Calculating and Scheduling Group; and how long cases took to resolve in the last period for which figures are available.

(145211)

24
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Ministry of Justice on the impact of the Legal Services Bill.

(145412)

25
Mr Boris Johnson (Henley):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the employment rate is of those who completed foundation degrees and did not go on to higher education in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

(145396)

26
Mr Boris Johnson (Henley):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the employment rate is of (a) women and (b) men of (i) white, (ii) Afro-Caribbean and (iii) Asian ethnicity who graduated in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

(145397)

27
N Mr David Jones (Clwyd West):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, at which locations in Wales free-of-charge ATMs are (a) installed and (b) yet to be installed under the Free Cash Machines in Low-Income Areas scheme.

(145496)

28
N Helen Jones (Warrington North):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in Warrington were unemployed (a) in April 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by (i) age group and (ii) local government ward.

(145467)

29
N Helen Jones (Warrington North):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Warrington residents were in employment (a) in April 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available.

(145468)

30
Sir Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to reply to the letter of 9th May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr and Mrs Iqbal.

(145739)

31
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his estimate is of the take-up of tax credits for those with incomes of between £10,000 and £20,000 per annum; and if he will make a statement.

(145241)

32
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total spending on all forms of tax credit publicity and advertising was in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07, broken down by each tax credit campaign; and if he will make a statement.

(145242)

33
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants appealing against overpayments exercised their right to attend an oral hearing by an appeal tribunal in each (a) month, (b) quarter and (c) year since April 2003; and if he will make a statement.

(145244)

34
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets have been set for reducing error and fraud in the tax credit system; and if he will make a statement.

(145245)

35
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many checks on tax credit awards before payment were made in each quarter from April 2001 to April 2007.

(145247)

36
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what checks are in place to ensure that migrant workers in receipt of tax credits do not continue to receive payments after they have returned to their home countries; and if he will make a statement.

(145248)

37
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the level of service from HM Revenue and Customs received by tax credit claimants; and if he will make a statement.

(145249)

38
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what checks are in place to validate claims of EU migrant workers for child tax credits in respect of children who live abroad; and if he will make a statement.

(145250)

39
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of child tax credit claims for migrant workers (a) were rejected in each year since 2003-04 and (b) have been rejected in 2007-08; what the principal reasons have been for the rejection of such claims; and if he will make a statement.

(145251)

40
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimates he has made of the proportion of tax credit overpayments which are caused by official error; and if he will make a statement.

(145403)

41
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which HM Revenue and Customs sites in the UK contain staff working (a) on tax credits policy, (b) on tax credit debt management, (c) in tax credit contact centres, (d) in tax credit enquiry centres, (e) in the tax credits office, (f) in the tax credit programme office, (g) on tax credit compliance, (h) on the tax credit IT live service and (i) in tax credit IT development; how many staff work at each site; and if he will make a statement.

(145404)

42
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland Administration.

(145909)

43
N Mr Angus MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what performance targets apply to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on the time taken to process claims for tax rebate from receipt of application to settlement of claim; what assessment he has made of recent levels of compliance with those targets; and what assessment he has made of the compliance of HMRC, Centre 1, East Kilbride with the targets in the latest period for which figures are available.

(144281)

44
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the funds allocated to the Scottish Executive for council tax benefit will continue to be made available for the equivalent purpose to the Scottish Administration if the Administration moves ahead with plans to replace council tax.

(145221)

45
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding his Department is providing for his proposed eco-towns programme.

(145222)

46
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Valuation Office Agency's target is for increasing the number of photographs of (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic properties held on its electronic database.

(145223)

47
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Valuation Office Agency spent on media training in each year since 2001.

(145224)

48
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the expected (a) gross and (b) net revenue is from VAT on (i) home information packs (HIPs), (ii) the home condition report element of a HIP and (iii) energy performance certificates.

(145228)

49
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether VAT will be payable on the entire contents of a home information pack.

(145229)

50
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings representatives of (a) his Department and (b) the Valuation Office Agency have had with (i) the company Hometrack and (ii) its representatives in the last 24 months.

(145230)

51
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations (a) his Department and (b) the Valuation Office Agency has received from the company Hometrack in the last 24 months.

(145231)

52
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the foreign countries which representatives of the Valuation Office Agency have visited on official business since 1st January.

(145234)

53
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of detached properties in (i) England and (ii) Wales which have a value above the inheritance tax threshold.

(145235)

54
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what new information attributes the 2007 Census Test is collecting on (a) individuals and (b) their properties.

(145236)

55
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26th April 2007, Official Report, column 1323W, on Valuation Office: contracts, if he will place in the Library a copy of the ASPIRE terms and conditions which relate to confidentiality.

(145343)

56
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27th April 2007, Official Report, column 1513W, on Valuation Office: manpower, what the reasons are for the change in staff numbers between 2000 and 2007.

(145344)

57
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27th March 2007, Official Report, column 1513W, on the Valuation Office: manpower, what the figure was in each year from 1990 to 1999.

(145345)

58
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the budget is for the eco-towns programme.

(145542)

59
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Confederation of British Industry on the position of small businesses.

(145543)

60
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial contribution (a) the UK and (b) each other member state is expected to make to the European Union in 2008.

(145546)

61
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax relief schemes are in place for members of the military serving overseas.

(145547)

62
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with officials from HM Revenue and Customs on the administration of tax credits.

(145548)

63
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help more first-time home buyers.

(145549)

64
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to recover tax uncollected by HM Revenue and Customs in the period 2005-06.

(145550)

65
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the UK contributed to the Central European Fund in 2006; and what the contributions made by other European member states were in that year.

(145551)

66
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the level of national debt is; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce it.

(145552)

67
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) financial aid and (b) assistance was provided by the Government to each of Her Majesty's Crown Dependencies in 2005-06.

(145718)

68
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145267)

69
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145302)

70
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145690)

71
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145697)

72
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months.

(145911)

73
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much VAT was raised from the sale of solar panels for the latest year for which figures are available.

(145884)

74
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much aggregates levy was raised from the construction of wind farms in the latest year for which figures are available.

(145885)

Questions to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

75
N Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells):To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to the Answer of 4th June 2007, Official Report, column 46W, on V, what definition she uses of a volunteering opportunity.

(145180)

76
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, if she will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between her Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145936)

77
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, what steps have recently been taken by officials (a) of her Department and (b) of the Better Regulation Executive to ensure that the Government's objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive are met.

(145632)

Questions to the honourable Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners

78
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the honourable Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what guidance has been provided on the implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in churches.

(145722)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

79
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the outstanding arrears of rent on council-owned (a) residential and (b) commercial property were in each London borough in (i) March 2005, (ii) March 2004, (iii) March 2003 and (iv) March 2002.

(145219)

80
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many malicious fire alarm calls were attended by the fire and rescue services in each London borough in each of the last five years.

(145220)

81
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many social housing properties were made available by property developers in each London borough in each of the last five years.

(145495)

82
N Mr Paul Goodman (Wycombe):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many empty properties designated for key workers were recorded in Wycombe constituency in each of the most recent three years for which figures are available.

(145454)

83
Mr Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19th June 2007, Official Report, columns 1673-4W, on Coastal areas: Hampshire, what the timetable is for the publication of the reviews of Hampshire's two shoreline management plans.

(145839)

84
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if she will estimate the likely impact on the number of houses in multiple occupation in (a) Peterborough and (b) local authorities in the Eastern Region of the migration of new EU member state citizens to these areas since 2004; and if she will make a statement.

(145306)

85
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to take into account the costs since 2004 of interpretation and translation services for local authorities in the Eastern Region when considering future grant settlements for those authorities; and if she will make a statement.

(145307)

86
N Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when she expects to make a substantive reply to Question 139884, on home information packs, tabled by the hon. Member for Aylesbury on 23rd May for named day answer on 4th June.

(145602)

87
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if she will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between her Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145944)

88
Anne Milton (Guildford):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to fire authorities on the need for fire risk assessments in (a) single unit and (b) multiple unit self-catering properties for tourists.

(145894)

89
Anne Milton (Guildford):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what actions her Department has taken to ensure the consistent interpretation and enforcement by fire authorities of fire risk assessments undertaken in respect of self-catering tourist providers; and if she will make a statement.

(145895)

90
John Penrose (Weston-Super-Mare):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to change the planning laws so that Network Rail has the same requirements to seek planning permission from local communities when erecting GSM-R communication masts as commercial mobile telephone operators.

(145190)

91
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what meetings her Department's special advisers had with the Association of Home Information Providers in the last 12 months.

(145183)

92
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the causes of the recent trends in the level of home ownership.

(145225)

93
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations she has received from local authorities on the manner in which migrant numbers are calculated for the purposes of local government funding; and if she will make a statement.

(145226)

94
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) home inspectors and (b) energy inspectors have been officially accredited.

(145227)

95
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 21st March 2007, Official Report, column 996W, on the Valuation Office Agency, if she will list the sources which the Valuation Office Agency uses to obtain such information.

(145481)

96
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath of 26th March 2007, Official Report, column 1321W, on community development: expenditure, what the public expenditure has been on the Millennium Communities programme excluding the Greenwich Peninsula site.

(145482)

97
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath of 29th March 2007, Official Report, column 1731W, on housing: valuation, whether (a) greenhouses and (b) sheds are classified as outbuildings for the purposes of dwellinghouse code 14.

(145483)

98
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27th March 2007, Official Report, column 1419W, and 15th January 2007, Official Report, column 848W, on business rate valuations, whether the explanatory work has been completed; and what conclusions have been reached on the feasibility of using automated valuation modelling for business rate valuations.

(145484)

99
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether (a) home and (b) energy inspectors will be required to produce photographic identification to enter a domestic dwelling.

(145519)

100
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether a permanent greenhouse is considered by the Valuation Office Agency when establishing the capital value of a domestic dwelling during a valuation.

(145520)

101
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding is being allocated to local authority trading standards officers to enforce the home information pack regulations.

(145521)

102
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many best value performance indicators in total have been required of local authorities in each year since the introduction of Best Value.

(145522)

103
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the Government's target is for the number of new domestic dwellings to be built in each year in England.

(145523)

104
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the Government's target is for the number of new homes to be built in each year under its sustainable communities programme.

(145524)

105
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been built in each year under the Sustainable Communities Plan since its inception.

(145525)

106
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many domestic dwellings were completed in England in each year since 1996-97.

(145526)

107
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what liability tenants with an equity stake under the Social Homebuy scheme have to meet all or part of the costs of repairs for that dwelling.

(145527)

108
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the Government's target is for the number of (a) homes with an excellent building regulations energy efficiency rating and (b) zero-carbon homes to be built in each year in England.

(145535)

109
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of local government revenue expenditure was financed by specific grants in each year since 1997-98; and what the estimated figure is for 2007-08.

(145536)

110
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the funding arrangements will be for arm's length management organisations after the Decent Homes Standard period has passed in 2010; and if she will make a statement.

(145537)

111
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which (a) special grants and (b) specific grants were paid to local authorities in England in 2006-07.

(145538)

112
Mr Gordon Prentice (Pendle):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of absentee private landlords in (a) Pendle and (b) East Lancashire; and how many there were in (i) 2002 and (ii) 1997.

(145740)

113
Mr Gordon Prentice (Pendle):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have brought in schemes to license private landlords in designated areas.

(145741)

114
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff surveys her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145254)

115
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145270)

116
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was spent by staff in her Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145287)

117
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what percentage of staff in her Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145675)

118
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by her Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145711)

119
N Mark Williams (Ceredigion):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have appointed a disability access officer.

(145004)

120
N Mr David Winnick (Walsall North):To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if she will ensure that the District Auditor's report on the dismissal by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council of Peter Francis and related matters is published by the end of June 2007; and if she will make a statement.

(145187)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

121
N Danny Alexander (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the impact of additional Lottery funding for the London Olympics on future Lottery funding in Scotland.

(144662)

122
N Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset & North Poole):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what provision she is making for providing Dorset Police Authority with full funding for any security arrangements they provide for the Olympic Games held in Dorset.

(145593)

123
Ms Dawn Butler (Brent South):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward plans for a national debate on proposals for a slavery memorial day.

(145286)

124
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what advice she gave to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the issuing of a visa to the Chairman of the Zimbabwean Cricket Union Peter Chingoka to attend the International Cricket Council conference at Lords between 24th and 29th June.

(145787)

125
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions (a) she and (b) her officials had with the England and Wales Cricket Board on the granting of a visa to Peter Chingoka to attend the International Cricket Council conference at Lords between 25th June and 29th June.

(145792)

126
Robert Key (Salisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will list the grants to the International Council on Monuments and Sites in each of the last five years.

(145585)

127
Robert Key (Salisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons annual grants are made to the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

(145586)

128
Robert Key (Salisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will list the UK members of the International Council on Monuments and Sites; and by whom each was (a) nominated and (b) appointed.

(145587)

129
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between her Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145943)

130
Anne Milton (Guildford):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on fire risk assessments in respect of tourist industry facilities; and if she will make a statement.

(145896)

131
Anne Milton (Guildford):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance (a) her Department and (b) Visit Britain has issued to accommodation providers in the tourism industry on fire risk assessments; and if she will make a statement.

(145897)

132
N Richard Ottaway (Croydon South):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a statement on the future of the Tote.

(144658)

133
N Hugh Robertson (Faversham & Mid Kent):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many consultants have been employed by (a) her Department, (b) the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and (c) the Olympic Delivery Authority to work on the London 2012 Olympics in (i) the last 12 months and (ii) 2006-07.

(145077)

134
N Hugh Robertson (Faversham & Mid Kent):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will place in the Library copies of (a) submissions made by bodies for which she is responsible to the IOC Co-ordinating Commission and (b) the IOC Co-ordinating Commission's final report.

(145081)

135
N Hugh Robertson (Faversham & Mid Kent):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much was distributed to sports clubs (a) to pay Lottery awards and (b) to meet administrative costs by each of the five sports Lottery distributors in 2006-07.

(145082)

136
N Hugh Robertson (Faversham & Mid Kent):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many sports clubs there were in England in each of the last 10 years.

(145083)

137
N Hugh Robertson (Faversham & Mid Kent):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18th April 2007, Official Report, column 639W, on the London Olympics, whether the breakdown of planned expenditure provided corresponds to the budget headings of the revised budget provided to the IOC Co-ordinating Commission.

(145084)

138
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff surveys her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145255)

139
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145271)

140
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much was spent by staff in her Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145288)

141
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what percentage of staff in her Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145676)

142
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by her Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145710)

143
N Mr Hugo Swire (East Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of construction workers on the Olympic site who will receive healthcare benefits.

(144899)

144
Mr Hugo Swire (East Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much National Lottery arts funding (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) England received per capita in each of the last five years.

(145398)

145
Mr Hugo Swire (East Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of tourists visiting (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) England during the 2012 Olympics.

(145399)

146
Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to reclassify the ceramics industry as a creative industry; and if she will make a statement.

(145352)

147
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many community sports coaches there are in (a) West Bromwich East constituency, (b) the West Midlands region and (c) England; and what steps she is taking to increase the number of community sports coaches.

(145394)

148
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a statement on the future of the British Film Institute.

(145418)

149
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding was provided to Sports England West Midlands in each of the last five years; and what the projected funding allocation is for the 2008-09 financial year.

(145419)

150
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses were received to the Sports Ground Safety Legislation Consultation; and when she expects the results to be published.

(145420)

151
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to tackle the production and sale of counterfeit Olympic products before the 2012 Olympics.

(145421)

152
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding was provided to the British Film Institute in each of the last 10 years; and what the projected funding allocation is for 2007-08.

(145427)

153
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has held on the future of Formula One motor racing at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, with particular reference to its future after 2009; what steps she is taking to support the British motor racing industry; and if she will make a statement.

(145428)

154
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 13th June 2007, Official Report, column 1038W, on the Public Arts Centre in West Bromwich East constituency, what recent discussions the Minister for Culture has held on the Public Arts Centre; and if she will make a statement.

(145464)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Defence

155
Mr Douglas Carswell (Harwich):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the operational ability of Lynx helicopters serving in the Persian Gulf has been affected by high air temperatures.

(145574)

156
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) logistical and (b) other support his Department provides to BAE systems for its involvement with US industrial partners in contributing to the development of missile defence technology.

(145390)

157
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in developing a Space Based Infra-Red System (a) for the United Kingdom and (b) in collaboration with the United States.

(145391)

158
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Defence Export Services Organisation staff work for the Saudi Armed Forces Project; what management fee was received from Saudi Arabia to cover the cost of the project in financial years (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; what in addition to salaries this fee covered; and if he will make a statement.

(145424)

159
Philip Davies (Shipley):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department paid to Common Purpose in each of the last five years; for what purpose; and what the outcome of the expenditure was.

(145342)

160
Mr Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to prolong the operational life of the Vanguard class submarine beyond 30 years.

(145840)

161
Mr Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to order an eighth SSN.

(145841)

162
Mr Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for making a decision on whether to order the seventh and eighth Type-45 destroyer.

(145842)

163
N Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where he expects the mental health pilot schemes to be held; and what criteria will be used to assess their performance.

(145195)

164
N Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make available the most recent review by the Defence Dental Services of dental treatment for service families in the UK, and place a copy of the review in the Library.

(145196)

165
N Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many helicopters are dedicated for medical lift in Afghanistan.

(145197)

166
N Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the average time for medical evacuations in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan.

(145198)

167
N Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the capacity of medical facilities and supplies in Afghanistan to respond to an event with significant numbers of casualties.

(145199)

168
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the latest version of JSP 462, Financial Management Policy Manual.

(145206)

169
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding Combat Stress received from his Department in each of the last five years; and what funding is expected to be provided in each of the next three years.

(145207)

170
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations have been made to the Australian government on the sending of tritium-contaminated compasses to the UK.

(145208)

171
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects to publish an updated version of his Department's technical note on efficiency.

(145604)

172
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, under what circumstances discharged service personnel can be classed as vulnerable service leavers and eligible for priority housing.

(145712)

173
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service families have been moved from Modern Housing Solutions-maintained accommodation into temporary private accommodation in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

(145713)

174
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many gas leaks have been reported in Modern Housing Solutions-maintained accommodation in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

(145714)

175
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, from which countries buyers (a) have been and (b) will be invited to the Defence Systems and Equipment International exhibition at the ExCel Centre in September.

(145715)

176
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on which days the Defence Systems and Equipment International exhibition will be open to (a) overseas customers, (b) the press and (c) the public; and what estimate he has made of the number of visitors expected at the event.

(145716)

177
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated cost of the Defence Systems and Equipment International exhibition is to the public purse.

(145717)

178
Nick Harvey (North Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much depleted uranium ammunition has been used by British forces in (a) Operation Telic and (b) Operation Herrick since 2003.

(145952)

179
N Mr Greg Knight (East Yorkshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans' badges have been issued to servicemen and women who participated in the Falklands campaign.

(145006)

180
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145942)

181
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a statement on the Government's plans to review and amend the council tax liability of members of the Armed Forces on active service abroad.

(145233)

182
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145256)

183
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145272)

184
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145289)

185
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145677)

186
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145709)

187
N Mr Ben Wallace (Lancaster & Wyre):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the future rapid effect system programme will include a tracked variant of the (a) utility, (b) reconnaissance and (c) heavy vehicles.

(144761)

188
N Mr Ben Wallace (Lancaster & Wyre):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of future rapid effect system vehicles will be required to be manufactured in the UK.

(144762)

189
N Mr Ben Wallace (Lancaster & Wyre):To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what role he intends (a) the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operataion (OCCAR) and (b) the EU Defence Agency to play in the future rapid effect system project.

(144763)

Questions to the Deputy Prime Minister

190
N Norman Baker (Lewes):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what gifts he received on his recent visit to the West Indies.

(145028)

191
N Norman Baker (Lewes):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what progress he has made in co-ordinating the development of Government policy since May 2006.

(145092)

192
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 19th June 2007, Official Report, column 1671W, on what date the Deputy Prime Minister last attended a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee.

(145474)

193
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145273)

194
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards since establishment.

(145290)

195
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145678)

196
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department since its establishment; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145708)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills

197
N Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset & North Poole):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19th June 2007, Official Report, column 1701W, on children: work permits, when he proposes to issue guidance on child employment; and what steps he is taking to consult key stakeholders.

(145350)

198
N Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset & North Poole):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many schoolchildren were injured whilst at work in England in each of the last four years.

(145485)

199
Lorely Burt (Solihull):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what steps he is taking to prevent the verbal or physical abuse of children in faith-based learning environments before the implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Scheme in 2008.

(145413)

200
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what assessment he has made of (a) delays caused in adoption to fostered children going through the court process without a care order under section 31 of the Children's Act 1989 and (b) the disruption in the care provided to such children caused by such delays; and if he will make a statement.

(145730)

201
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the disruption to the care provided to fostered children going through the court process for adoption.

(145731)

202
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what assessment he has made of the impact of a child not being subject to a care order under section 31 of the Children's Act 1989 on the adoption process; and if he will make a statement.

(145808)

203
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the value is of the unitary payments of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by his Department over the lifetime of the contract expressed in 2007-08 prices and discounted to present value.

(145870)

204
N Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will place in the Library a copy of his submission to the Charity Commission on review of public benefit concerning independent schools.

(145140)

205
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many children were forcibly removed from their parents by social services in each London borough in each of the last five years.

(145218)

206
Mr Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many GCSEs are a (a) GCSE short course, (b) GCSE double award, (c) intermediate level GNVQ, (d) GCE AS-level, (e) GCE A-level, (g) BTEC, (h) NVQ, (i) level 2 basic skills certificate, (j) level 2 key skills certificate, (k) Cache Foundation Award in Caring for Children and (l) international GCSE considered to be equivalent for the purposes of GCSE performance tables.

(145726)

207
Mr Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many pupils at the end of key stage 4 were entered for a Cache Foundation Award in Caring for Children in each of the last five years.

(145727)

208
N Mr John Hayes (South Holland & The Deepings):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many people have (a) started and (b) completed the Train to Gain programme in each region of England since its inception; and what the targets are for each region.

(145141)

209
N Mr John Hayes (South Holland & The Deepings):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the per capita cost is of each qualification gained under (a) the Train to Gain programme since its inception and (b) the Employer Training Pilot programme in each region of England.

(145142)

210
N Mr John Hayes (South Holland & The Deepings):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the evidence is for increased employer investment in workforce training arising from the Train to Gain programme.

(145143)

211
N Mr John Hayes (South Holland & The Deepings):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, whether he plans to review progress of employer delivery of the skills pledge in 2010 as outlined in the final report of the Leitch review of skills.

(145144)

212
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what total expenditure has been allocated by his Department to the development of the Diploma; and how much funding has been given to the Sector Skills Councils to develop the Diploma content.

(145872)

213
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, whether he has undertaken an assessment of the impact of regulations applying to the provision of nursery education which have been introduced since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

(145305)

214
Mr Boris Johnson (Henley):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many and what percentage of (a) women and (b) men of (i) white, (ii) Afro-Caribbean and (iii) Asian ethnicity received (A) first class, (B) upper second class and (C) lower second class degrees in English universities in the last five years for which figures are available.

(145395)

215
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145941)

216
Anne Milton (Guildford):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will place in the Library a copy of the agreement and consent given by his Department to St Thomas of Canterbury School in Merrow, Guildford to sell part of its playing fields.

(145892)

217
Anne Milton (Guildford):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what conditions were attached to the permission given by his Department to St Thomas of Canterbury School in Merrow, Guildford to sell part of its playing fields; and whether any minimum (a) sale price and (b) capital value was specified.

(145893)

218
Mr John Randall (Uxbridge):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the costs of the Pathways study have been to date; what further expenditure on the study is planned; and how many staff in his Department are working on the study.

(145720)

219
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what (a) mechanisms and (b) data are provided to employers for the purposes of checking the authenticity of academic qualifications claimed by job applicants.

(145906)

220
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145257)

221
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145274)

222
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145291)

223
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145679)

224
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145707)

225
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how much was spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months.

(145912)

226
N Sarah Teather (Brent East):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, when the extension of the Bookstart scheme announced in the 2006 Pre-Budget Report to deliver books to five and 11 year olds is planned to come into effect.

(145446)

227
N Sarah Teather (Brent East):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how much more his Department expects to contribute to the Bookstart scheme via the Booktrust charity to fund the extension of the scheme to deliver books to five and 11 year olds.

(145447)

228
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what assessment he has made of the merits of changing the timings of (a) GCSE and (b) A-level examinations, with particular reference to the effect on seasonal allergic rhinitis sufferers.

(145431)

229
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what proportion of the (a) Train to Gain, (b) 19+ FE and (c) 19+ work-based learning budget was spent on (i) first full Level 1, (ii) first full Level 2, (iii) first full Level 3 and (iv) spending outside these categories in the most recent year for which figures are available.

(145426)

230
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many higher education institutions have offered degrees in Chinese; and what the total number of students in each of the last 10 years has been.

(145886)

231
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how much (a) his Department and (b) the Higher Education Funding Council for England has allocated to universities for the teaching of Chinese in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

(145887)

232
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many students went to university from a (a) state comprehensive school, (b) state grammar school, (c) state secondary modern school, (d) other state secondary school, (e) further education college, (f) state sixth form college and (g) independent school or college in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

(145891)

233
Stephen Williams (Bristol West):To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many students at (a) state comprehensive schools, (b) state grammar schools, (c) state secondary modern schools, (d) other state secondary schools, (e) further education colleges, (f) state sixth form colleges and (g) independent schools and colleges were taking at least two A-levels in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

(145947)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

234
N Danny Alexander (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had on merging the Environment Agency and Natural England; and if he will make a statement.

(144766)

235
Mr James Arbuthnot (North East Hampshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of heavy goods vehicle traffic on (a) air quality management areas, (b) special protection areas, (c) sites of special scientific interest and (d) sites of importance for nature conservation.

(145725)

236
Lorely Burt (Solihull):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the availability of Warm Front grants in (a) England and (b) Solihull; and how many people took up those grants in each area in the last period for which figures are available.

(145599)

237
Mr Dai Davies (Blaenau Gwent):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the senior management and (b) the trades union representatives of the Environment Agency on the implications for (i) pollution control and (ii) employment of field inspectors of the proposed changes in the pollution monitoring and control regime.

(145850)

238
N Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make a statement on the grant settlement received by the Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty from Natural England for 2007-08; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the grant on the establishment of the Cotswolds Conservation Boards.

(144887)

239
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had on water supply infrastructure to Peterborough with (a) the Department of Communities and Local Government, (b) Anglian Water and (c) Rutland County Council; and if he will make a statement.

(145384)

240
Mr David Jones (Clwyd West):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of water-based mechanical-biological treatment systems in the processing of solid urban waste.

(145506)

241
N Mr Greg Knight (East Yorkshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the health of domestic pets of radiowaves from home wireless broadband systems; and if he will make a statement.

(145009)

242
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145937)

243
John Mann (Bassetlaw):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how Warm Front has drawn up its pricing structure for the installations of new boilers and central heating systems; and whether his Department was (a) consulted or (b) involved in other ways in the development of the structure.

(145851)

244
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for the implementation of the proposals in his Department's waste review.

(145232)

245
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial contribution was made by the Waste and Resources Action Programme to each local authority in England in each of the last three years.

(145239)

246
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the Waste and Resources Action Programme has provided to local authorities on the size of wheelie bins for collections of household waste.

(145240)

247
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16th April 2007, Official Report, column 77W, on domestic waste, and the Answer of 30th April 2007, Official Report, column 1430W, on domestic waste: Norfolk, when he will publish an amended list of local authorities.

(145346)

248
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16th April 2007, Official Report, column 77W, on domestic waste, what records the Waste and Resources Action Programme holds of local authorities intentions relating to the introduction of alternate weekly collections later in 2007.

(145347)

249
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the comments made by the Minister of State for Sustainable Farming and Food on 10th May 2007, House of Lords Official Report, column 1534, what estimate his Department has made of the increase in fly-tipping resulting from the move to alternate weekly collections of household rubbish.

(145348)

250
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, further to the comments made by the Minister of State for Sustainable Farming and Food on 10th May 2007, House of Lords Official Report, column 1534, what requirements local authorities who move to alternate weekly collections of household rubbish will have to take extra steps to tackle fly-tipping.

(145349)

251
Mr Gordon Prentice (Pendle):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of sewers there are in (a) Pendle and (b) East Lancashire; what percentage is over 100 years old; and if he will make a statement.

(145335)

252
N Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what EU rules exist on regulation of the use of mercury in (a) barometers and (b) lightbulbs; and if he will make a statement.

(144765)

253
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many zoos there are in England.

(145530)

254
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what public funds were made available to the Institute of Zoology in each of the last five years.

(145553)

255
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the conservation of polar bears.

(145554)

256
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Japanese environment ministers regarding the international ban on whaling.

(145556)

257
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the conservation of whales.

(145557)

258
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in (a) England and (b) Wales have been prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in 2007.

(145560)

259
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government takes to ensure that animals kept in zoos are not culled unnecessarily.

(145561)

260
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government takes to ensure that the production of foie gras in England does not contravene UK animal welfare laws.

(145562)

261
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the production and sale of foie gras.

(145563)

262
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure clear labelling of eggs produced from battery cage hens.

(145564)

263
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what public funds have been made available to the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens in each of the last five years.

(145721)

264
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the regulatory framework is for those companies that offer carbon-offsetting services; and if he will make a statement.

(145903)

265
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the environmental effectiveness of the services offered by carbon-offsetting companies.

(145904)

266
Alan Simpson (Nottingham South):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed in the Department's Genetic Modification Inspectorate in each of the last five years.

(145351)

267
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145258)

268
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145275)

269
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145292)

270
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145680)

271
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145706)

272
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been spent on advertising the Department's climate change campaign Act on carbon dioxide; and how much has been spent on (a) online advertising and (b) television advertising.

(145432)

273
Bill Wiggin (Leominster):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas' fishing quota advice for 2008; and if he will make a statement.

(145463)

274
Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers his Department has (a) to advise, (b) to encourage and (c) to compel businesses to minimise energy and electricity consumption during non-business times in order (i) to improve energy efficiency, (ii) to minimise environmental damage and (iii) to reduce light pollution.

(145513)

275
N Derek Wyatt (Sittingbourne & Sheppey):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans the public consultation on the transfer of private sewers to water companies to begin.

(145607)

276
N Derek Wyatt (Sittingbourne & Sheppey):To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many reviews and consultations there have been since 1997 on transferring private sewers to water companies.

(145608)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

277
N Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what restrictions are in place on Iraqi citizens wishing to travel to the British Embassy in Amman, Jordan, to obtain a visa for travel to the UK; and if she will make a statement.

(144783)

278
N Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when she will respond to the (a) letter of 13th June 2006 and (b) e-mail of 29th January 2007 from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield.

(144986)

279
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with EU partners in the week commencing 18th June on Israeli settlement building on the E1 plan and elsewhere in the West Bank; and if she will make a statement.

(145810)

280
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with the government of Israel in the week commencing 18th June on the demolition or planned demolition by Israel of homes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and if she will make a statement.

(145811)

281
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with the government of Israel during the week commencing 18th June on the (a) labelling and (b) claiming of trade preferences on goods produced in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and imported to the EU; and if she will make a statement.

(145858)

282
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with the government of Israel in the week commencing 18th June on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

(145859)

283
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) contribution of EUCOPPS to the promotion of law and order in Palestine and (b) constraints on the work of EUCOPPS caused by (i) conflict amongst Palestinian groups, (ii) actions of the government of Israel and (iii) policies pursued by the international community; and if she will make a statement.

(145860)

284
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she had with EU partners in the week commencing 18th June on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

(145861)

285
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with EU partners during the week commencing 18th June 2007 regarding the effectiveness of EU arrangements for monitoring the importing into the EU of goods produced in Israeli settlements built in the Palestinian territories but labelled as made in Israel; and if she will make a statement.

(145862)

286
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with the government of Israel during the week commencing 18th June 2007 on the future of the EU-Israel Association agreement; and if she will make a statement.

(145863)

287
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she had with the (a) Palestine Liberation Organisation and (b) Palestinian Authority in the week commencing 18th June on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

(145864)

288
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with the government of Israel in the week commencing 18th June 2007 on the impact of Israel's actions on the effectiveness of association agreements between the EU and Palestine; and if she will make a statement.

(145865)

289
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she held discussions with EU partners during the week commencing 18th June 2007 on the EU-Israel Association agreement; and if she will make a statement.

(145866)

290
N Mr William Cash (Stone):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons a copy of the Report by the German Presidency of the EU released on 19th June 2007 on the mandate for discussion at the summit was not placed in the Library on that day.

(145005)

291
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if she will urge the Israeli government to stop the construction of the fence/wall inside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

(145386)

292
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if she will make representations to Israel on its obligation as an occupying power to provide for the protection and welfare of the Palestinian population.

(145387)

293
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that the Middle East peace process includes concrete provisions to address human rights issues.

(145388)

294
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government takes (a) to comply with Article 1 and (b) to prosecute breaches under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

(145389)

295
Mr Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment she has made of the security of British nationals in Pakistan following statements by Pakistani ministers on Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday Honours.

(145933)

296
N Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the Eritrean government on the detention of Christians, including children, in that country by the Eritrean Security Forces.

(145465)

297
N Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the Eritrean government on reported human rights violations against Christians in that country; and if she will make a statement.

(145466)

298
N Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports she has received on the nature of the death of the former Sudanese Vice President.

(145184)

299
N Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports she has received on the recent deaths at the Kajbar Dam in Sudan.

(145185)

300
N Mr Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made in assisting the Nigerian authorities to develop the capacity to tackle e-mail fraud and other financial crime as referred to in the Answer to the hon. Member for Huddersfield of 23rd November 2005, Official Report, column 2133W, on Nigeria.

(144989)

301
N Mr Roger Gale (North Thanet):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4th June 2007, Official Report, column 238W, on Ilois: resettlement, whether she plans to petition the House of Lords for leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal on 23rd May; and if she will make it her policy to abide by that decision.

(145088)

302
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her French counterpart on that government's proposal for an international peace conference for Darfur; and if she will make a statement.

(145813)

303
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what date has been agreed with the Sudanese government for the (a) initial and (b) full deployment of the AU-UN hybrid force.

(145814)

304
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans are in place for the funding of the AU-UN hybrid force recently accepted by the Sudanese government.

(145815)

305
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what timescale is envisaged for the deployment of the AU-UN hybrid force recently accepted by the Sudanese government; and what agreements have been reached on (a) the composition of its troops and (b) the chain of command.

(145816)

306
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if she will make a statement on proposals to abolish the UN Human Rights Council envoy posts charged with reporting on (a) Belarus, (b) Cuba, (c) North Korea, (d) Burma, (e) Somalia, (f) Sudan and (g) Uzbekistan.

(145817)

307
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what military equipment has been provided by the UK to President Abbas's security forces; and if she will make a statement.

(145818)

308
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Egyptian counterpart on steps to secure its border with Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

(145819)

309
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether she has discussed the current closure of the Karni crossing with her Israeli counterpart; and if she will make a statement.

(145820)

310
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations have been made to the government of Pakistan on action by the Pakistani national assembly in response to the awarding of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie; and if she will make a statement.

(145821)

311
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4th June 2007, Official Report, column 249W, on Sudan: international assistance, what discussions have been held with the representatives of countries that have yet to fulfil their pledges of assistance to the African Union in Sudan; and if she will make a statement.

(145823)

312
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment she has made of the risk of violence against Christians in Iraq.

(145212)

313
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of civilians killed and injured in Jammu and Kashmir as a result of armed conflict since 1989; and if she will make a statement.

(145584)

314
Mr David Jones (Clwyd West):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the Pakistani government on the suspension of Christian students and teaching staff at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences nursing school in Rawalpindi.

(145867)

315
Mr David Jones (Clwyd West):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the Pakistani government on the death sentence for blasphemy imposed on Younis Masih.

(145868)

316
N Mr Greg Knight (East Yorkshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the 10 largest missions abroad are; and how many (a) UK-based and (b) locally-engaged personnel are employed in each such mission.

(145007)

317
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if she will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between her Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145940)

318
N Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the government of Sri Lanka on the expulsion from Colombo of 376 ethnic Tamils; and if she will make a statement.

(145146)

319
N Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment she has made of the likelihood of (a) free and fair elections in Uganda in 2011 and (b) implementation of the recommendations of the European Union and Commonwealth Election Observers in that country; and if she will make a statement.

(145173)

320
N Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Stroud of 23rd May 2007, Official Report, column 1315W, on Robert Mugabe, what reports she has received on the intentions of the government of Uganda with respect to inviting President Mugabe to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government; and if she will make a statement.

(145174)

321
N Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with Commonwealth representatives on the implementation of their election observer recommendations for the Ugandan authorities; and if she will make a statement.

(145176)

322
N Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the government of Uganda on President Museveni's (a) support for President Mugabe's land policies and (b) statement that Britain was responsible for the economic and social problems in Zimbabwe; and if she will make a statement.

(145178)

323
N Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Commonwealth countries have a policy seeking their prior approval before their citizens are gazetted for a UK honour; and if she will make a statement.

(144401)

324
Mr Edward O'Hara (Knowsley South):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the operation of the Green Line regulation adopted by the EU for trade between the two communities in Cyprus; and if she will make a statement.

(145945)

325
Mr Edward O'Hara (Knowsley South):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what her policy is on the status of (a) Famagusta and (b) the port at Famagusta.

(145953)

326
Mr Edward O'Hara (Knowsley South):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22nd May 2007, Official Report, column 1215W, on Cyprus, what recent progress has been made on a UN-brokered solution to the situation in Cyprus.

(145954)

327
Mr Edward O'Hara (Knowsley South):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports she has received of the (a) destruction of orthodox cultural heritage in Northern Cyprus, (b) demolition of houses belonging to Greek Cypriots in the Karpass area, (c) appropriaton of land belonging to Greek Cypriots in the northern part of Cyprus, (d) agreement of 8th July 2006 between President Papadopoulos and Mr Talat, (e) opening of crossing points in Nicosia and Kato Pyrgos and (f) measures announced by the government of the Republic of Cyprus on 21st May 2007 in relation to bi-communal programmes and enterprises.

(145955)

328
N Mr Gordon Prentice (Pendle):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations she has made to the government of Pakistan on the reported views of its Minister of Religous Affairs on Sir Salman Rushdie; and if she will make a statement.

(145340)

329
Mr Gordon Prentice (Pendle):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which UK diplomatic representation has been (a) downgraded and (b) ended since 1997.

(145341)

330
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her colleagues at the Ministry of Defence on how long she expects a British military presence to remain in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

(145509)

331
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her colleagues at the Ministry of Defence on how long she expects a British military presence to remain in Iraq; and if she will make a statement.

(145510)

332
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce opium (a) production and (b) export from Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

(145515)

333
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Saudi Arabia on tackling the expansion of Islamic (a) extremism and (b) terrorist activity in the Gulf region.

(145516)

334
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her (a) Japanese and (b) Icelandic counterparts on reducing and stopping the hunting of whales in international waters.

(145517)

335
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to assist the Yemeni government in fighting terrorism.

(145518)

336
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to assist international conservation efforts with regard to Antarctic krill.

(145555)

337
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any progress has been made on recovering the wreckage of HMS Sussex off the coast of Gibraltar.

(145565)

338
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her (a) Moroccan counterparts and (b) counterparts at the United Nations on the disputed area of Western Sahara; and if she will make a statement.

(145566)

339
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether her Department has offered (a) financial and (b) other support to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas; and if she will make a statement.

(145569)

340
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many cars her Department owns.

(145571)

341
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports she has received of North Korea's most recent testing of a short range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan; and if she will make a statement.

(145573)

342
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Russian counterparts on reducing the trade in small arms to Africa; and if she will make a statement.

(145576)

343
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps her Department is taking on the international trade in conflict diamonds; and what discussions she has had with her counterparts in the (a) Liberian and (b) Sierra Leonean governments on the matter.

(145577)

344
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Ministerial colleagues at the Ministry of Defence on the length of time she expects a military presence to remain in (a) Bosnia and (b) Kosovo; and if she will make a statement.

(145578)

345
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff surveys her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145259)

346
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145276)

347
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much was spent by staff in her Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145293)

348
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what percentage of staff in her Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145681)

349
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by her Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145705)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Health

350
Mr David Amess (Southend West):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who within her Department is responsible for championing the implementation of the musculoskeletal services framework.

(145847)

351
Mr David Amess (Southend West):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether her Department plans to audit progress in relation to the objectives established in the musculoskeletal services framework.

(145848)

352
Mr David Amess (Southend West):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many primary care trusts have established clinical assessment and treatment services as encouraged by the musculoskeletal services framework.

(145849)

353
Mr David Anderson (Blaydon):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what facilities and treatment are available for sufferers of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

(145497)

354
N Gregory Barker (Bexhill & Battle):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of MRSA have been detected at the Conquest Hospital in East Sussex; and if she will make a statement.

(144772)

355
N Mr John Baron (Billericay):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate she has made of the expenditure by the NHS on temporary nursing in each of the last seven years; and what proportion of expenditure on nurses this represents.

(145469)

356
N Mr John Baron (Billericay):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of the effect on patient safety of temporary nursing in the NHS.

(145470)

357
N Mr John Baron (Billericay):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps she is taking to help NHS trusts (a) plan and (b) manage their demand for temporary nursing staff.

(145471)

358
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of the unitary payments of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by her Department over the lifetime of the contract, expressed in 2007-08 prices and discounted to present value.

(145869)

359
Derek Conway (Old Bexley & Sidcup):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the occupation costs were for each of the six hospital trust sites in South East London in each of the last three years.

(145948)

360
Derek Conway (Old Bexley & Sidcup):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS care trusts in London have provided the BCG vaccination to all children following the July 2005 issue of the Chief Medical Officer's Directive on national BCG vaccinations; and what the incidence of tuberculosis was in each trust area in the latest period for which figures are available.

(145949)

361
Derek Conway (Old Bexley & Sidcup):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each NHS primary care trust allocated to each district general hospital within its boundaries in each of the last three years; what proportion of each trust's budget that represented in each year; and what the projected figures are for 2007-08.

(145950)

362
Derek Conway (Old Bexley & Sidcup):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding was provided, net of Department of Health penalties and top-slicing clawback (a) in total and (b) by head of population to each NHS care trust in London in each of the last five years.

(145951)

363
David T. C. Davies (Monmouth):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance has been issued by her Department on the covert monitoring of parents while on hospital premises for the detection and prevention of child abuse.

(145889)

364
David T. C. Davies (Monmouth):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance is issued to local NHS bodies on claiming money from foreign nationals who use NHS services.

(145890)

365
N Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when she will answer Question 139039, tabled on 21st May 2007 by the hon. Member for Bournemouth East, on Bournemouth Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department.

(144760)

366
N Tim Farron (Westmorland & Lonsdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what her Department's overall expenditure was on public consultations in 2006-07.

(145582)

367
N Tim Farron (Westmorland & Lonsdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many public consultations were carried out by NHS trusts in 2006-07; and in how many of these consultations the relevant trust's board chose an option which did not have majority public support.

(145591)

368
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many mental health patients moved on to independent living in each London borough in each of the last five years.

(145505)

369
N Andrew George (St Ives):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent on (a) the NHS, (b) NHS hospital and community health services and (c) NHS maternity services in the 2006-07 financial year.

(144288)

370
N Andrew George (St Ives):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS workforce in England was represented by midwives in 2006, expressed in terms of (a) headcount and (b) whole-time equivalent.

(144289)

371
N Andrew George (St Ives):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans she has to require independent midwives to obtain professional indemnity insurance; and whether there is any requirement by the European Commission for her Department to compel independent midwives to obtain such insurance.

(144363)

372
Justine Greening (Putney):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate her Department has made of the number of round 2 interviews that will take place via the Medical Training Application Service recruitment process; and if she will make a statement.

(145662)

373
Justine Greening (Putney):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate her Department has made of the number of round 1 (a) offers made and (b) interviews held through the Medical Training Application Service to date; and if she will make a statement.

(145663)

374
N Helen Jones (Warrington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the commitment by the Minister of State of 20th February 2007, Official Report, column 62WH, in a debate on NHS Commissioning, when the Minister of State will visit the Warrington Campus of the University of Chester.

(145377)

375
N Mr Greg Knight (East Yorkshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of the potential effects on the health of (a) adults and (b) children of radio waves from home wireless broadband systems; and if she will make a statement.

(145008)

376
N Mr Mark Lancaster (North East Milton Keynes):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance her Department provides to hospitals on provision of parking permits to community nurses.

(144759)

377
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between her Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145938)

378
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many 999 calls for Sussex Ambulances have been received in each of the last five years.

(145826)

379
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Category A incidents have been attended by Sussex Ambulances in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority district.

(145827)

380
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much money has been spent on preparing West Sussex Primary Care Trust's Fit for the Future consultation exercise; and how much more is budgeted.

(145828)

381
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of hospital acquired infections have been reported at (a) Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, (b) Worthing Hospital and (c) St Richard's Hospital, Chichester in each of the last five years.

(145829)

382
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been employed by South East Coastal Strategic Health Association and its successor organisations in each of the last five years.

(145830)

383
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many accident and emergency patients were treated at the Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in each of the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years; and how many of them were subsequently admitted to hospital.

(145831)

384
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Sussex County Hospital has been put on red alert in respect of patient influx in the last three years.

(145832)

385
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the most recent waiting time levels were in accident and emergency departments in all Sussex hospitals.

(145833)

386
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when she first saw the proposed consultation document produced by West Sussex Primary Care Trust on reconfiguration of hospital services.

(145834)

387
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget is for West Sussex Primary Care Trust in the current year; and what its anticipated budget is in each of the next two years.

(145835)

388
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been employed by West Sussex Primary Care Trust and its predecessor organisations in each of the last five years expressed as (a) full-time equivalent and (b) headcount.

(145836)

389
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many births took place at (a) Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, (b) Worthing Hospital, (c) St Richards Hospital, Chichester, (d) the Conquest Hospital, Hastings, (e) Eastbourne Hospital and (f) Princess Royal, Haywards Heath in 2006; and what the peri-natal mortality rate was for children born at each of the above hospitals in each of the last three years.

(145844)

390
Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the projected financial position is of (a) Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, (b) Worthing and Southlands Hospital, (c) Princess Royal, Haywards Heath and (d) St Richards Hospital, Chichester for the end of the financial year 2007-08; and what the financial position of each was at the end of the last financial year.

(145845)

391
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will make a statement on hospital ward closures in North Yorkshire.

(145657)

392
Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of the impact on delivery of nicotine replacement therapy within prison establishments of (a) prison staff levels, (b) competing workload demands and (c) prisoner transfers between establishments across the Prison Estate; and if she will make a statement.

(145269)

393
Dr Doug Naysmith (Bristol North West):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prescriptions of (a) benzodiazepine drugs and (b) antidepressants were dispensed in the community in England in 2006.

(145414)

394
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will place in the Library copies of her Departmental employee surveys for (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007.

(145628)

395
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures are in place to prevent the NHS treating illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers in circumstances where they have no entitlement to such treatment.

(145629)

396
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps officials based in British embassies to other European Union member states are taking to ensure that the Government's objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive are met.

(145630)

397
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the staff of the UK Permanent Representative in Brussels are taking to ensure that the Government's stated objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive are met.

(145631)

398
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of which companies (a) have direct experience of managing a healthcare commissioning budget in the UK or internationally of at least £300,000,000 and (b) have supported commissioning for populations over 90,000.

(145633)

399
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps she is taking to establish a new consensus for a new, fair and sustainable settlement in social care as stated by the Minister for care services; who the key partners will be in such a consensus; and what definition she uses of (a) fair and (b) sustainable.

(145634)

400
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her statement that the NHS IT programme is the largest civilian IT programme in the world, which non-civilian IT programmes are larger; and which civilian IT programme is nearest in size to the NHS IT programme.

(145635)

401
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the changes in funding for (a) the Opportunities for Volunteering fund and (b) section 64 grants.

(145636)

402
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the departmental publication Opportunities for Volunteering Scheme 2007 cost to produce.

(145637)

403
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12th June 2007, Official Report, column 1004W, on NHS: ICT, when the (a) engineering-based timetables , (b) plan of key milestones and (c) evidence-based development plans will be (i) completed and (ii) made publicly available.

(145638)

404
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when she will publish the Ambulance Trust performance data for 2006-07.

(145639)

405
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12th June 2007, Official Report, column 1008W, on prescriptions: fees and charges, how many prescriptions were dispensed in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; and how many in each year were marked evidence not seen.

(145640)

406
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 15th June 2007, Official Report, column 1391W, on NHS: finance, which organisation collects data on the number of practices receiving component two of the payment.

(145641)

407
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who the parties are to the service level agreement referred to in the Answer to Official Report, column 817W, on recombinent factor VII of 3rd July 2006.

(145642)

408
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when Ministers from her Department last met with representatives of the government of the Bailiwicks of (a) Jersey and (b) Guernsey; whether medicines legislation was discussed; and if she will make a statement.

(145643)

409
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations she has received from consumers on the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive; and what steps she plans to take to ensure her objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Directive are met.

(145644)

410
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings have been held by (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department and associated agencies with (i) representatives of the European Commission, (ii) governments of other member states and (iii) officials of other member states on the Food Supplements Directive (vitamins and minerals); what the date was of each meeting; what points were raised at each; and what conclusions reached.

(145645)

411
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when she last met Commissioner Markos Kyprianou to discuss the impact on consumer choice and the specialist manufacturing and retail sector of the implementation of the Food Supplements Directive and the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in supplements under article 5 of that Directive; what the outcome was of that meeting; and when next she plans to meet the Commissioner further to discuss these issues.

(145646)

412
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of whether emergency medical technicians are able to deliver the same level of care as paramedics in the case of callouts to patients with epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

(145666)

413
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) executives, (b) non-executives and (c) officials in her Department's arm's length bodies have declared political affiliations to (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrat Party and (iv) other political parties; and whether declaration of political affiliation forms part of the application process for such posts.

(145667)

414
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) executives, (b) non-executives and (c) officials in her Department's arm's length bodies have previously worked for (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrat Party, (iv) other political parties and (v) trades unions.

(145668)

415
Mr Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25th January 2007, Official Report, column 2046W, on the Pregnancy Book, if she will make available the initial report on screening for kernicterus.

(145888)

416
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether her Department has issued advice to local education authorities and schools on the use of Wi-Fi.

(145502)

417
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what requirement churches and other places of worship have to display no-smoking signs once the public smoking ban is introduced in England.

(145503)

418
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed as (a) regional tobacco control managers and (b) their associated support staff.

(145507)

419
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what total budget has been allocated to fund regional tobacco control managers in 2007-08.

(145508)

420
N Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many officials within her Department are responsible for lymphoma policy and implementation, broken down by grade.

(144767)

421
N Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of the role of patient involvement in the National Institution for Health and Clinical Excellence's appraisals of new lymphatic cancer treatments.

(144768)

422
N Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans her Department has to continue funding for pump-primed lymphoma nurse specialist positions; and if she will increase expenditure on such positions.

(144769)

423
N Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when she expects the £20 million extra capital expenditure on new position emission tomography and computed tomography facilities announced on 12th October 2005 to come on stream in clinical practice.

(144771)

424
Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people received treatment for the management of chronic kidney disease in each year since 2000.

(145359)

425
Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people likely to receive renal replacement therapy over the next 10 years.

(145360)

426
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff surveys her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145260)

427
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145277)

428
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent by staff in her Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145294)

429
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what percentage of staff in her Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145682)

430
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by her Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145704)

431
Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of admitted pathways in (a) gastroenterology, (b) cardiology and (c) neurosurgery (i) at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and (ii) in England were completed.

(145570)

432
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will make a statement on the decision to close the National Blood Service Centre in Birmingham; and what discussions she has held with the (a) Unison and (b) Unite trade unions concerning the decision.

(145429)

433
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS ambulance trusts issue their paramedics with stab proof vest protection; what discussion she has held on stab proof vest protection for paramedics; what assessment she has made of the merits of providing stab proof vest protection for paramedics; and if she will make a statement.

(145430)

434
Hywel Williams (Caernarfon):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Health Minister on a mental health measure for Wales.

(145605)

435
N Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 15th June 2007, Official Report, column 1381W, on blood: safety, on what date her Department plans to release the next batch of documents identified in the Review of Documentation relating to the safety of Blood Products 1970 to 1985; and if she will make a statement.

(145479)

436
N Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12th June 2007, Official Report, column 988W, on blood: contamination, what correspondence her Department has had with (a) the UK Haemophilia Centre Doctors' Organisation and (b) clinicians on the inquiry chaired by Lord Archer into contaminated blood and blood products; and if she will make a statement.

(145480)

437
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4th June 2007, Official Report, columns 279-80W, on blood: imports, how much was spent on commercially imported AHG concentrate/factor VIII blood products by health authorities under arrangements centrally negotiated by her Department in each year from 1977 to 1990; and if she will make a statement.

(145528)

438
N Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4th June 2007, Official Report, columns 279-80W, on blood: imports, what records her Department holds on centrally negotiated arrangements for the purchase of commercially imported AHG concentrate/factor VIII blood products for health authorities in the 1970s and 1980s; and if she will make a statement.

(145529)

439
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many blood donations were used to prepare AHG concentrate/factor VIII blood products in the UK in each year from 1977 to 1985; and if she will make a statement.

(145540)

Questions to the Secretary of State for the Home Department

440
N Mr John Baron (Billericay):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department expects to respond to the letter of 14th March from the hon. Member for Billericay on Mr I. Clarke of Billericay.

(145612)

441
N Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset & North Poole):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations he has received on anti-social behaviour orders imposed on children and young people with (a) mental health problems and (b) other special needs.

(144773)

442
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value is of the unitary payments of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by his Department over the lifetime of the contract expressed in 2007-08 prices and discounted to present value.

(145732)

443
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) sentenced for bicycle thefts in each of the last five years.

(145442)

444
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how bicycle thefts were reported in each police authority in each of the last five years.

(145443)

445
Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been spent from the public purse on the protection of Salman Rushdie in each year (a) since the fatwa was announced and (b) since its removal.

(145825)

446
N Martin Horwood (Cheltenham):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which European Economic Area law, as referred to in fax reference M1016235 dated 18th April 2007 from the Border and Immigration Agency MPs' hotline to the hon. Member for Cheltenham, regulates the processing of leave to remain applications; what the maximum time allowed under this law is for an application to be processed; whether this law requires passports to be processed within the specified time; and how many applications have taken longer than the specified time in each of the last five years.

(144920)

447
N Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14th June 2007, Official Report, column 1240W, on police: disciplinary proceedings, what steps he is taking to address the level of suspensions of (a) full-time police officers and (b) police community support officers; and if he will make a statement.

(144784)

448
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18th June 2007, Official Report, columns 1518-20W, on stop and search: vehicles, when the figures on vehicle stop and searches for (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07 will be available; whether these figures are available for the Metropolitan Police; and if he will make a statement.

(145415)

449
N Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18th June 2007, Official Report, column 1478W, on deportation, and with reference to the letters of 9th February 2006 and 3rd April 2006 from his Department's Immigration and Nationality Directorate to the hon. Member for Aylesbury, on what date his Department provided to HM High Commission, Kingston, the notice of refusal and associated papers in the case of Mr E. A., husband of Mrs J. A. of Aylesbury (reference A505053); and if he will make a statement.

(145087)

450
N Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he expects to make a substantive reply to Question (a) 138530 and (b) 138531, on asylum cases, tabled by the hon. Member for Aylesbury on 16th May for named day answer on 23rd May.

(145601)

451
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145939)

452
N Chris McCafferty (Calder Valley):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which 10 sponsoring companies were issued the largest number of work permits for IT workers in each year since 2000; and how many such permits were issued to each company in each year.

(145014)

453
N Chris McCafferty (Calder Valley):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the Home Office Work Permits Section carried out into complaints of work permits abuse in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006.

(145078)

454
N Chris McCafferty (Calder Valley):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the Home Office Work Permits Section carried out into complaints of work permits abuse in the IT, communications and electronics sector in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006; and how many resulted in a penalty or sanction against (i) the employing organisation and (ii) the work permit holder in each year.

(145079)

455
N Chris McCafferty (Calder Valley):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many IT, communications and electronics work permits were withdrawn due to non-compliance with the terms of the scheme in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006.

(145080)

456
Mr Owen Paterson (North Shropshire):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12th June 2007, Official Report, column 977W, on speed limits: cameras, by what means his Department estimates the time spent by police on road policing in each year.

(145658)

457
Mr Owen Paterson (North Shropshire):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12th June 2007, Official Report, column 977W, on speed limits: cameras, what estimate he has made of the overall proportion of time spent by traffic police on each of the five main objectives; and whether there has been any change in the priorities over the last 10 years.

(145659)

458
Mr John Randall (Uxbridge):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of the repairs and refurbishment of Harmandsworth Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) was following the fire earlier this year; and whether the centre is planned to remain in use as an IRC.

(145719)

459
N Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were employed in his Department in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

(144756)

460
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost has been to public funds of keeping dogs held by the Metropolitan Police Service under the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

(145558)

461
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many dogs are being held by the Metropolitan Police Service under the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

(145559)

462
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the financing from the UK of Tamil Tiger terrorists in Sri Lanka.

(145575)

463
N Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the estimated costs are of policing the Special Labour Party Conference on 24th June in Manchester; and who will meet the costs.

(144988)

464
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff surveys his Department has undertaken in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145261)

465
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many public consultations his Department has undertaken in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145278)

466
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145295)

467
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of sexual assault were reported in (a) England and (b) each of the regions (i) in total and (ii) in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last three years.

(145458)

468
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of sexual assault were reported in Wales (a) in total and (b) in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last three years.

(145460)

469
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of serious sexual crimes reported in Wales resulted in conviction in the courts in each of the last three years.

(145461)

470
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145683)

471
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145703)

472
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to promote the Fullbright Fellowship in Police Studies scheme.

(145417)

473
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what advice he has received on the legality of automatic number plate recognition systems.

(145434)

474
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the merits of the pilot scheme Operation Laser using automatic number plate recognition; which police forces are participating in the pilot scheme; and if he will make a statement.

(145435)

475
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make a statement on the Police High Potential Development Scheme.

(145436)

476
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance he has issued to police authorities on the procurement of police helicopters; and if he will make a statement.

(145437)

477
N Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Department expects to complete its analysis of the Auditor's final report on funding for the National Black Police Association; if he will place copies of the Auditor's final report in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

(145438)

478
N Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers are employed in police air support units in each police authority area.

(145439)

479
N Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police authorities operate shared police air support units.

(145440)

480
N Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding was provided for police air support units in each police authority area in each of the last five years.

(145441)

481
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23rd April 2007, Official Report, column 976W, on the National Appropriate Adult Network: finance, what steps he is taking to support the work of the Association of Panel Members; and if he will consider meeting the Chair of the Association of Panel Members.

(145455)

482
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23rd April 2007, Official Report, column 976W, on the National Appropriate Adult Network: finance, if his Department will consider the merits of providing similar departmental funding to the Association of Panel Members.

(145477)

483
Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations applied to mount protests in Whitehall on the afternoon of 15th June 2007; when the applications were (a) made and (b) approved; and if he will make a statement.

(145793)

484
Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) Metropolitan and (b) British Transport Police officers were deployed to police the protests in Whitehall on 15th June 2007; what operational instructions they were given to assist the public in accessing Whitehall and public transport; and what comments and complaints by members of the public were noted by police officers during the operation.

(145794)

485
Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when Transport for London was informed of the protests taking place in Whitehall on 15th June; and what operational instructions or guidance were given to Transport for London ahead of the organised protests in order to minimise disruption to the travelling public.

(145795)

486
Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the level of disruption to traffic, public transport and the flow of pedestrians during the protests in Whitehall on the afternoon of 15th June 2007.

(145796)

487
Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield):To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what monitoring was undertaken of the individual participants in the protests held on 15th June in Whitehall; what assessment he has made of the nature of the protest placards in terms of relevant statutory restrictions on inciteful language; and if he will make a statement.

(145797)

Questions to the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission

488
N Malcolm Bruce (Gordon):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether there are any plans to replace the visitor stickers issued to visitors on the Parliamentary Estate with another form of temporary pass.

(145572)

489
N Malcolm Bruce (Gordon):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps are being taken to address the littering caused by discarded visitor stickers in and outside the immediate vicinities of the Parliamentary Estate; and if he will make a statement.

(145579)

490
N Malcolm Bruce (Gordon):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps are being taken to address the environmental impact of discarded visitor stickers on the Parliamentary Estate.

(145580)

491
N Malcolm Bruce (Gordon):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many visitor stickers were used on the Parliamentary Estate in each of the last 12 months.

(145581)

492
N Mr Frank Doran (Aberdeen North):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether a report has been received from Sir Kevin Tebbit's review of the management and services of the House.

(144770)

493
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many television licences are held across the Commons Parliamentary Estate.

(145664)

494
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West):To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, for how long the Commission expects Commons Court to be used for contractors' buildings.

(145665)

Questions to the Secretary of State for International Development

495
N John Barrett (Edinburgh West):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will take steps to facilitate the provision of healthcare free at the point of access in (a) Ethiopia and (b) Liberia.

(144757)

496
N John Barrett (Edinburgh West):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support his Department provided to health systems in (a) Liberia and (b) Ethiopia in each of the last five years.

(144758)

497
N John Barrett (Edinburgh West):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will take steps to facilitiate the provision of healthcare free at the point of access in (a) Zimbabwe and (b) Rwanda.

(145590)

498
N John Barrett (Edinburgh West):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support his Department provided to health systems in (a) Zimbabwe and (b) Rwanda in each of the last five years.

(145650)

499
N Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will support the deployment of a human rights monitoring mechanism across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

(145385)

500
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of his Department's locally employed staff in India are of Dalit origin; and at what level they are employed.

(145423)

501
N Mr Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the impact of UK aid to Pakistan on levels of (a) anti-British extremism, (b) violations of religious freedom and (c) freedom of speech in Pakistan.

(145583)

502
N Mr Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much aid his Department gave to Pakistan in each of the last five years; and what planned expenditure is for the next three years.

(145606)

503
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK-funded support has been made available to aid groups in Thailand assisting those displaced from their homes in Burma in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

(145217)

504
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment has been made of the humanitarian requirements of the displaced people in the Gereida region of Darfur following the recent withdrawal of independent aid agencies; and if he will make a statement.

(145812)

505
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government budgeted to spend on the reconstruction of Iraq.

(145532)

506
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government has spent on rebuilding the infrastructure in Iraq since the fall of Saddam.

(145534)

507
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what financial aid and assistance each British Overseas Territory received from the UK Government in 2005-06.

(145544)

508
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what financial aid and assistance Zimbabwe received from his Department in 2005-06.

(145545)

509
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145262)

510
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145279)

511
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145296)

512
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145684)

513
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145702)

Questions to the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

514
N Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset & North Poole):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the total legal aid bill for family law cases was in each of the last four years.

(145589)

515
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many people were found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving in each of the last 10 years; and what the average sentence imposed was in each year.

(145445)

516
Mr Andrew Dismore (Hendon):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, which barristers received the highest sums from the Legal Services Commission in respect of legal aid cases for (a) civil and (b) criminal work in each of the last three years; and how much each was paid in each year.

(145472)

517
Mr Andrew Dismore (Hendon):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, if she will bring forward proposals for the reform of court dress, with particular reference to wigs.

(145473)

518
Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, whether the Government is reviewing the cap placed on the level of compensation which victims of the 7/7 bombing may gain from public funds; and if she will make a statement.

(145448)

519
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the Government's policy is on the provision of funding to cover the start-up costs of regulatory bodies overseeing the legal professions.

(145411)

520
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many magistrates are employed in courts in Wales; how many of those are expected to leave the magistracy in 2007-08; and how many magistrates her Department expects to recruit to courts in Wales in 2007-08.

(145511)

521
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many law firms in Wales have not signed new contracts with the Legal Services Commission.

(145512)

522
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 14th June 2007, Official Report, column 60WS, on the Supreme Court, how much will be spent on (a) professional adviser fees and (b) the non-capital element of the fit out costs, including (i) loose furniture, (ii) IT services and (iii) library books.

(145843)

523
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, if she will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between her Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145935)

524
N Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many and what percentage of people whose names are entered on UK electoral registers are (a) UK citizens, (b) citizens of the Irish Republic, (c) Commonwealth citizens and (d) European Union citizens.

(144388)

525
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many new staff she expects to be employed at HMP Haverigg as a result of the expansion programme.

(145378)

526
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the staff levels are at HMP Haverigg.

(145379)

527
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the recommended ratio is between staff and inmates in HM Prison Service.

(145380)

528
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, if she will consider the possibility of further expansion of HMP Haverigg, following completion of the current expansion programme.

(145609)

529
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the maximum inmate capacity is of HMP Haverigg; what she expects the capacity of HMP Haverigg to be following the completion of the expansion programme; and how many inmates are housed at HMP Haverigg.

(145610)

530
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many inmates at HMP Haverigg will be eligible for early release under the recently announced measures.

(145611)

531
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how much the Government budgeted to spend on the construction of new prisons in 2006.

(145533)

532
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the average sentence handed down by courts in Wales for rape was in each of the last three years.

(145456)

533
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what the average sentence handed down by courts for rape was in (a) England and (b) each of the regions in each of the last three years.

(145457)

534
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of sexual offences in Wales (i) in total and (ii) broken down by offence in each of the last three years.

(145459)

535
Mr Hugo Swire (East Devon):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, how many inmates have absconded from prison in each year since 1997, broken down by individual prison.

(145824)

536
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, what discussions she has held on the funding arrangements for the Association of Panel Members; and if she will make a statement.

(145422)

Questions to the Leader of the House

537
Mr Dai Davies (Blaenau Gwent):To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Answer of 8th March 2007, Official Report, column 2147W, on written questions, when he expects to complete his assessment of whether to publish in the Official Report letters written to hon. Members in lieu of written parliamentary answers.

(145809)

538
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Leader of the House, how much was spent by staff in his Office via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145297)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

539
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many firearms certificates were (a) held, (b) granted and (c) extinguished in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

(145252)

540
Mr Boris Johnson (Henley):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many and what percentage of (a) women and (b) men of (i) white, (ii) Afro-Caribbean and (iii) Asian ethnicity received (A) first class, (B) upper second class and (C) lower second class degrees in Northern Irish universities in the last five years for which figures are available.

(145400)

541
Andrew Rosindell (Romford):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many zoos there are in Northern Ireland.

(145531)

542
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145263)

543
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145280)

544
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145298)

545
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many cases of sexual assault were reported in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years (a) in total, (b) in each parliamentary constituency and (c) in each council area.

(145336)

546
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what percentage of serious sexual crimes reported in Northern Ireland resulted in conviction in the courts in each of the last three years.

(145462)

547
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made in the investigation into the murder of Robert McCartney.

(145475)

548
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of sexual offences in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years, broken down by offence.

(145486)

549
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average sentence handed down by courts in Northern Ireland for rape was in each of the last three years.

(145487)

550
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145685)

551
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145701)

Questions to the Prime Minister

552
N Norman Baker (Lewes):To ask the Prime Minister, by what date he expects to respond to the letter dated 17th May from the hon. Member for Lewes on the disposal of gifts he has received.

(145027)

553
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North):To ask the Prime Minister, who accompanied him on his recent visit to Libya; and which company or organisational affiliation each person had.

(145425)

554
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Prime Minister, what representations (a) he and (b) his officials in 10 Downing Street have received from (i) the government of Saudi Arabia and (ii) its representatives on the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into defence orders for Saudi Arabia; and if he will make a statement.

(145401)

555
N Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock):To ask the Prime Minister, which people who received honours in Her Majesty the Queen's birthday honours are (a) citizens of the Irish Republic, (b) citizens of Commonwealth countries, other than the UK and (c) citizens of non-UK countries other than the Irish Republic or Commonwealth countries.

(144400)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland

556
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many complaints were lodged with returning officers in respect of people not receiving their postal ballot papers in time to vote in the recent Scottish elections in May, broken down by Scottish (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) region.

(145652)

557
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has met Scottish Ministers to discuss the Electoral Commission's statutory review of the Scottish parliamentary elections.

(145653)

558
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he was consulted on the final ballot papers adopted for the Scottish parliamentary elections in May which were issued to voters.

(145654)

559
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what level of consultation was undertaken with political parties about the design and format of ballot papers used in the Glasgow and Lothian regions for the recent Scottish Parliamentary elections.

(145655)

560
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145264)

561
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145281)

562
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145299)

563
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145686)

564
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145700)

Questions to the Solicitor General

565
Mr Don Foster (Bath):To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 13th June 2007, Official Report, column 1047W, on Terry Lloyd, by what date he expects the Crown Prosecution Service to make a decision on the prosecution of those responsible.

(145946)

566
N Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Solicitor General, when he expects to provide a substantive reply to Question 127180, on the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, tabled on 8th March by the hon. Member for Aylesbury for named day answer on 12th March.

(145600)

567
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Solicitor General, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

(145934)

568
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Solicitor General, what percentage of staff in the Law Officers' Departments were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145687)

569
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Solicitor General, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145694)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

570
N Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what additional cost he expects to be added to the retail price of (a) traditional incandescent light bulbs and (b) energy saving light bulbs as a result of the implementation of the Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.

(144915)

571
N Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many in-store take back schemes the Government expects to be set up as a result of the implementation of the Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.

(144916)

572
N Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what income UK Trade and Investment received from charging businesses for its services in each of the last five years.

(144917)

573
N Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what estimate his Department has made of the total proportion of UK (a) electricity and (b) energy which will come from renewable sources by (i) 2010, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2020.

(144918)

574
N Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what the cost was of the banners in the window of his Department's building at 1 Victoria Street.

(144919)

575
Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, whether he expects the Environment Agency to hire external consultants to carry out the process of pre-authorisation for new nuclear power stations.

(145852)

576
Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, by what date he expects the first design consent to be granted following the process of generic design assessment for new nuclear power stations.

(145853)

577
Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, by what date he expects the first pre-authorisation consent for new nuclear power stations to be granted by the Environment Agency.

(145854)

578
Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what budget his Department has allocated to the (a) Health and Safety Executive and (b) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to carry out the process of generic design assessment for new nuclear power stations.

(145855)

579
Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what budget his Department has allocated to the Environment Agency to carry out the process of pre-authorisation for new nuclear power stations.

(145856)

580
Mr Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many proposed designs the (a) Health and Safety Executive and (b) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate had received for generic design assessment by 22nd June.

(145857)

581
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he will assess the likely effects of the proposals in the Government's White Paper on Energy on the planning of the 90 per cent. carbon free power station at Peterhead.

(144900)

582
Mr William Hague (Richmond (Yorks)):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the Answer of 18th June 2007, Official Report, columns 1492-3W, on Iran: export credit guarantees, when the arrangement that Ministers should be consulted before export credit cover is provided to Iran was made; and if he will make a statement.

(145822)

583
Paul Holmes (Chesterfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how much debt is owed to UK companies by Burma; in relation to which (a) companies and (b) projects the Export Credits Guarantee Department has taken over this debt; and in each case when the guarantees were given.

(145338)

584
N Susan Kramer (Richmond Park):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he will break down by area of planned expenditure the provision for (a) new and renewable sources of energy and (b) capital grants to the private sector in relation to renewable energy recorded under function D on page 185 of his Department's Departmental Report 2006, Cm 6826.

(144785)

585
N Susan Kramer (Richmond Park):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what research has been undertaken (a) by and (b) on behalf of his Department into the use of smart meters in non-residential properties.

(145075)

586
N Susan Kramer (Richmond Park):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the Answer of 15th June 2007, Official Report, column 1419W, on Royal Mail: Government assistance, what the independent sources are that have verified the status of Government support to Royal Mail.

(145076)

587
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland Administration.

(145907)

588
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, why his Department has cut the maximum limit for grants offered to householders through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme; and if he will make a statement.

(145238)

589
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what the budget is for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07; and what the forecast budget is for 2007-08.

(145498)

590
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what steps the Government has taken since 1997 to encourage mortgage lenders to offer flexible types of loan.

(145499)

591
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what steps the Government has taken since 1997 to encourage mortgage lenders to develop and market insurance policies to protect buyers and sellers against gazumping and gazundering.

(145500)

592
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what recent discussions he has had on the potential to amend his Department's guidelines on the conditions to be satisfied for research and development tax relief to include expenditure on the design process.

(145905)

593
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145265)

594
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145282)

595
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145300)

596
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145688)

597
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145699)

598
Mr Mike Weir (Angus):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what methodology was used by Ofgem to assess the Beauly Denny transmission line; and what account was taken of the grid reinforcement to accommodate intermittent generation, with particular reference to (a) the increase in capacity made available through the installation of equipment to permit operational intertripping and (b) the use of hydro-electricity as a balancing service when economically justified.

(145182)

599
Mr Mike Weir (Angus):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what work was undertaken by Ofgem in assessing the Beauly Denny transmission line to compare the merits of the proposed line and the use of transmission capacity from North West Scotland on mainly existing transmission lines along the Beauly-Blackhillock-Kintore-Tealing route.

(145186)

600
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how much was spent under phase one of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (a) in total and (b) in each region in the UK in each month since the scheme began; and if he will make a statement.

(145539)

601
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how much has been spent to date under phase two of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (a) in total and (b) in each region in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

(145541)

602
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans his Department has to increase funding under phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme; and if he will make a statement.

(145728)

603
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central):To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans the Department has to raise the cap on grants per household under phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings programme; and if he will make a statement.

(145729)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport

604
Mr James Arbuthnot (North East Hampshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate the change in noise level adjacent to an (a) A class road and (b) motorway arising from an additional traffic volume per day of (i) 400, (ii) 600, (iii) 800 and (iv) 1,000 heavy goods vehicle movements.

(145734)

605
Mr James Arbuthnot (North East Hampshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the increase in expected wear rate of an (a) A class road and (b) motorway is for an additional traffic volume per day of (i) 400, (ii) 600, (iii) 800, and (iv) 1,000 heavy goods vehicle movements.

(145735)

606
Mr James Arbuthnot (North East Hampshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the full emissions profile per mile is, both laden and unladen, for (a) 38 tonne heavy goods vehicle (HGV), (b) 44 tonne HGVs, (c) transit type vans and (d) family saloons.

(145736)

607
Gregory Barker (Bexhill & Battle):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the construction of the A21 upgrade between Flimwell and Hurst Green; and if he will make a statement.

(145660)

608
Gregory Barker (Bexhill & Battle):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has provided for the construction of the A21 upgrade between Flimwell and Hurst Green.

(145661)

609
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who took (a) no, (b) one, (c) two, (d) three or four and (e) five or more single or return flights (i) in total, (ii) to UK destinations, (iii) to European destinations and (iv) to worldwide destinations in the last 12 months, broken down by (A) income quintile and (B) classification of residential neighbourhoods.

(145237)

610
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value is of the unitary payments of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by his Department over the lifetime of the contract expressed in 2007-08 prices and discounted to present value.

(145871)

611
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much income was derived by local authorities from parking (a) charges and (b) penalties in the most recent financial year available, broken down by region.

(145358)

612
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cycling proficiency tests were (a) taken and (b) passed in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority.

(145416)

613
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of cycling fatalities which would have been avoided in each of the last five years if a helmet had been worn by the cyclist.

(145444)

614
Ms Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the financial details of the procurement process for the Scotrail franchise were made available by the Scottish Rail Authority to the (a) Scottish Executive and (b) Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority, during the refranchising process.

(145567)

615
Ms Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the final costs were of the tendering process for the current Scotrail franchise; and on which date the figure was reached for the final cost of the tendering process for the current franchise.

(145568)

616
N Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the availability of ticket machines at unstaffed stations.

(144282)

617
N Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what performance targets train operating companies are set on ticket sales at stations.

(144283)

618
N Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the rail industry on the sale of tickets at stations.

(144284)

619
N Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Government subsidy was provided to each train operating company in each year since 1997.

(144285)

620
Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the aviation industry's progress towards its aim of improving fuel efficiency by 50 per cent. from 2000 to 2020.

(145743)

621
Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what change there was in the aviation industry's fuel efficiency per seat between 2000 and 2005; and what assessment he has made of the implications of this trend for the possibility of meeting future targets.

(145744)

622
Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is the Government's policy to support the inclusion of EU aviation within the Emissions Trading Scheme.

(145745)

623
Mr David Evennett (Bexleyheath & Crayford):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to address noise generated by (a) road traffic, (b) trains and (c) aviation.

(145597)

624
Mr David Evennett (Bexleyheath & Crayford):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on noise nuisance generated by (a) aviation and (b) road traffic.

(145598)

625
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding for which his Department is responsible was allocated to each London borough in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

(145214)

626
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled in each of the last 12 months, broken down by region.

(145215)

627
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much central government funding was allocated to each London borough for road improvements in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

(145216)

628
N Mr Roger Gale (North Thanet):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has estimated the cost of subsidy by South East Trains of free rail transport for Kentish passengers seeking to join Eurostar at Ebbsfleet.

(145647)

629
N Mr Roger Gale (North Thanet):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of the expected change in the (a) passenger miles and (b) carbon footprint which will result from passengers having to join Eurostar for Brussels at Ebbsfleet rather than at Ashford.

(145648)

630
N Mr Roger Gale (North Thanet):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the reduction in journey time from London to Ramsgate via Ashford that he expects to follow the introduction of fast link trains on domestic routes.

(145649)

631
N Mr Paul Goodman (Wycombe):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11th June 2007, Official Report, column 727W, on Ministers: official cars, how many cars are allocated to Ministers in each Government Department, broken down by (a) Minister and (b) car model given in the Answer.

(145453)

632
N Justine Greening (Putney):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff his Department employs who previously worked for BAA; and if he will make a statement.

(145381)

633
N Justine Greening (Putney):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of his Department's employees left the Department to take up employment by BAA in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

(145382)

634
N Justine Greening (Putney):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of his Department's staff are seconded to BAA; how many were seconded in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

(145383)

635
Mr Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cycle routes or paths are available in (a) Portsmouth, (b) Southampton and (c) Hampshire; what their total length is; and what targets there are for future provision.

(145837)

636
Mr Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on the (a) provision and (b) maintenance of dedicated cycle routes or paths in (i) Hampshire, (ii) Southampton and (iii) Portsmouth in each of the last three years; and how much he expects will be spent in each of the next three years.

(145838)

637
Robert Key (Salisbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the tunnelling machine used in the A3 Hindhead Improvement can be used in future road improvement schemes.

(145693)

638
N Mr Mark Lancaster (North East Milton Keynes):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, why a vehicle inspection is required for a vehicle over 15 years old before a cherished number plate transfer can take place.

(145588)

639
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland Administration.

(145908)

640
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on (a) air, (b) bus and (c) rail passenger hand baggage policy.

(145898)

641
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to transfer responsibility for setting allowances for the number and weight of passenger hand baggage to airports and airlines.

(145899)

642
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with airlines on the current hand baggage restrictions in the last three months; and if he will publish the minutes of such meetings.

(145900)

643
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of the hand baggage regulations on the airline industry.

(145901)

644
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with airports and airlines on the (a) implementation of, (b) amendments to and (c) alleviation of the current restrictions on the number of pieces of hand baggage allowed per passenger in the last three months.

(145902)

645
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has the power under merchant shipping legislation to block ship-to-ship oil transfers; and what the Government's response is to the environmental and public concern raised on the proposal for ship-to-ship oil transfer in the Firth of Forth.

(145656)

646
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a regulatory impact assessment was produced on the provisions of the Road Safety Act 2006 which repealed Section 75 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

(145501)

647
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the project on the sustainability of land use and transport in outer neighbourhoods has been completed.

(145596)

648
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) community and voluntary sector groups and (b) county councils of the repeal of Section 75 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

(145651)

649
Mr Gordon Prentice (Pendle):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many thefts of (a) luggage and (b) other items were reported on (i) the East Coast and (ii) West Coast main lines in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available.

(145742)

650
Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on dropped (a) kerbs and (b) central refuges to accommodate cyclists.

(145010)

651
N Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Highways Agency on the provision of dropped (a) kerbs and (b) central refuges to accommodate cyclists; and if he will make a statement.

(145011)

652
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to set a target of having real time data entry in the Motor Insurance Database of insurance polices by the end of 2008.

(145392)

653
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to encourage young drivers who are driving without insurance to take out an insurance policy.

(145393)

654
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to review the penalties available to magistrates in dealing with uninsured drivers.

(145405)

655
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to address the issue of uninsured driving by eliminating abuse of the current practice of allowing a 14 day grace period for renewal of car insurance policy after the policy lapses.

(145406)

656
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has met the recommended target date set by the Greenaway report for reducing the permitted interval between an insurance policy being issued and details uploaded in the Motor Insurance Database from 14 days to seven days by the end of 2006.

(145407)

657
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of motor insurance providers' capacity to comply with the requirements of rapid data entry to the Motor Insurance Database.

(145408)

658
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to raise awareness of the requirement for third party insurance and the consequences of not obtaining insurance.

(145409)

659
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to improve the recording of information by insurance providers on claims settled directly in connection with incidents involving uninsured drivers, as recommended by the Greenaway report.

(145410)

660
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to introduce school-based programmes highlighting the risk of uninsured driving.

(145788)

661
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals for more severe penalties for insurance providers who do not comply with permitted interval period between an insurance policy being issued and details uploaded to the motor insurance database.

(145789)

662
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to require motor insurance providers to notify the motor insurance database and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency immediately of any insurance policy cancellation.

(145790)

663
Paul Rowen (Rochdale):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will require every motor insurance policy issued to contain information on both the insured driver and the vehicle they are insured to drive.

(145791)

664
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145266)

665
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145283)

666
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145301)

667
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145689)

668
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145698)

669
N Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make changes to the slip road off the A38 at Lee Mill as a matter of urgency to reduce the risk of motorists entering it from the wrong direction.

(145191)

670
N Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure greater safety at the Deep Lane junction at Plymouth on the A38.

(145192)

671
N Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to assess the safety of the informal junctions on the A38 at Lyneham, Cadleigh and Choakford as a matter of urgency.

(145193)

672
N Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an urgent assessment of the safety of the Devon Expressway between Marsh Mills and Ivybridge.

(145194)

673
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East):To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents involving (a) large aircraft, (b) light aircraft, (c) ultralight aircraft and (d) helicopters occurred in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

(145433)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Wales

674
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145268)

675
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145284)

676
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145303)

677
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145691)

678
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145696)

Questions to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

679
N Danny Alexander (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4th June 2007, Official Report, column 26W, on disability living allowance, in what format the information referred to is recorded.

(144764)

680
N Mr Stephen Byers (North Tyneside):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children living in poverty were in (a) single parent households and (b) two parent households in each year since 1997.

(145339)

681
N Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his recent correspondence with the hon. Member for Christchurch, in what ways the report to him from Jobcentre Plus suggested that the closure of the Christchurch Jobcentre Plus office would enable his Department to provide a better service to the residents of Christchurch than it had previously been able to provide; and what assessment he made of the conclusions of that report before making his decision to go out to consultation on the closure of that office.

(144987)

682
N Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of (a) 5th June 2007, Official Report, column 350W, on low incomes and (b) 10th May 2007, Official Report, column 465W, on personal income, if he will place in the Library the datasets corresponding to the Households Below Average Income income distribution graphs, figures 2.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1.

(145179)

683
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidelines are issued to Access to Work staff on the provision of communication support professionals for deaf and hard of hearing employees; and how they are enforced.

(145592)

684
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what level of proficiency is expected of a sign language interpreter booked through Access to Work; and how his Department ensures that this standard is met.

(145594)

685
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Access to Work scheme will pay for the use of more than one sign language interpreter for deaf British sign language users attending meetings lasting more than two hours.

(145595)

686
N Mr David Drew (Stroud):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19th June 2007, Official Report, column 1745W, which pension funds now eligible for the Financial Assistance Scheme had previously declared a pensions holiday.

(145376)

687
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unprocessed cases in each London borough were held by the Child Support Agency in each of the last 12 months.

(145213)

688
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provisions have been made in the workplace to allow for deaf employees to carry out their work efficiently in the last five years.

(145504)

689
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many participants there were on the New Deal for Young People in each month since 1998; and how many of them left the scheme for sustainable employment in each month.

(145145)

690
Mr David Jones (Clwyd West):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent representations he has received from voluntary organisations on the ease of use of carer's allowance claim forms DS700(1) and DS700(2).

(145846)

691
N Helen Jones (Warrington North):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on benefits for unemployed people in Warrington (a) for the year ending March 1997 and (b) in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by type of benefit.

(145476)

692
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the cost of removing the gainfully employed rule which prevents carers from earning over £87 a week if they are claiming carer's allowance.

(145243)

693
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his estimate is of the cost of the most expensive organised fraud against the benefit system since 1st May 1997; and if he will make a statement.

(145246)

694
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the number of people in (a) contracted in and (b) contracted out (i) defined benefit and (ii) defined contribution pension schemes in each year from 1997-98 to 2020-21; if he will break down his estimate for defined contribution schemes between (A) occupational schemes and (B) personal pensions; and if he will make a statement.

(145361)

695
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was collected in maintenance by the Child Support Agency in each year since 1993-94; what the cost of running the agency was in each year; how much he expects it to collect in 2007-08; what the expected cost is of running the agency in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

(145362)

696
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total staff numbers at the Child Support Agency were in each quarter since 1997; what he expects the total staff numbers at the agency to be in each quarter to 2010; and if he will make a statement.

(145363)

697
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what budget will be allocated to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission to allow it to assist parents in making their own private arrangements for child maintenance; and if he will make a statement.

(145364)

698
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his estimate is of the cost of repealing sections 6 and 46 of the Child Support Act 1991; and if he will make a statement.

(145365)

699
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his estimate is of the average level of maintenance payments for two children (a) through the existing Child Support Agency on the new scheme and (b) through the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission; and if he will make a statement.

(145366)

700
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of child maintenance cases under the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission are expected to be calculated using HM Revenue and Customs gross income figures for the previous year; and if he will make a statement.

(145367)

701
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of child maintenance cases which will have (a) overpayments and (b) underpayments under the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission; how such under and overpayments will be managed; and if he will make a statement.

(145368)

702
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provision there will be for those paying maintenance under the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission to request in-year reviews of their maintenance liabilities when their income changes; and if he will make a statement.

(145369)

703
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the Child Support Agency's maintenance arrears were collected in each (a) month and (b) quarter since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

(145370)

704
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total caseload of the Child Support Agency was in each (a) quarter and (b) year since 2003; what he estimates the caseload of the Agency and its successor will be in each (i) quarter and (ii) year to 2014; and if he will make a statement.

(145371)

705
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders the Child Support Agency (a) applied for and (b) obtained in each (i) year and (ii) quarter since 1997; how many of the original orders were inaccurate; and if he will make a statement.

(145372)

706
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) third party debt orders and (b) charging orders were (i) sought by and (ii) granted to the Child Support Agency in each (A) quarter and (B) year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

(145373)

707
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) were sent to prison and (b) lost their driving licences for failing to co-operate with the Child Support Agency in each (i) quarter and (ii) year since April 1997.

(145374)

708
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18th June 2007, Official Report, column 1540W, on national insurance contributions: rebates, for what reasons the Government is expecting the number of people in contracted out defined benefit pension schemes to fall from between 2006-07 and 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

(145375)

709
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Sea Containers, based in Bermuda, properly funds its UK-based pension schemes; and if he will make a statement.

(145402)

710
Mr David Laws (Yeovil):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents paid maintenance through the Child Support Agency only by deductions of up to £5 per week from benefits in each quarter since 2000-01.

(145494)

711
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland Administration.

(145910)

712
N Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many deductions from earnings orders were (a) applied for and (b) successfully implemented by the Child Support Agency in each month since March 2003.

(144786)

713
N Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many deductions from earnings orders sought by the Child Support Agency were (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully appealed in each month since March 2003.

(144787)

714
N Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of incorrect (a) old scheme and (b) new scheme child maintenance assessments made in each month since March 2003 were incorrect to within (i) 1p, (ii) 10p, (iii) £1, (iv) £5, (v) £10 and (vi) £20 or more of the correct amount.

(144788)

715
N Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) old scheme and (b) new scheme child maintenance assessments made in each month since March 2003 were incorrect.

(144789)

716
N Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what value of vaccine damage payments was paid out in each of the last 10 years.

(145089)

717
N Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals have received vaccine damage payments in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

(145090)

718
N Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost of administering vaccine damage payments was to (a) his Department and (b) the public purse in the last financial year for which figures are available.

(145091)

719
N Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants there were for vaccine damage payments in each of the last 10 years.

(145337)

720
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

(145253)

721
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

(145285)

722
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

(145304)

723
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years.

(145692)

724
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year.

(145695)

725
David Simpson (Upper Bann):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months.

(145913)

726
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of workplace deaths of non-British nationals resulted in (a) prosecution and (b) conviction in each of the last five years.

(145623)

727
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average fine was imposed on employers for breaches of health and safety regulations in the last period for which figures are available.

(145624)

728
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of workplace deaths in the construction industry resulted in (a) prosecution and (b) conviction in each of the last five years.

(145625)

729
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of workplace deaths resulted in (a) prosecution and (b) conviction in each of the last five years.

(145626)

730
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Freedom of Information requests were submitted to the Health and Safety Executive in the last 12 months; how many were refused; and on what basis each was refused.

(145669)

731
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employer representatives were given custodial sentences for offences relating to their failure to comply with health and safety law in each of the last five years.

(145670)

732
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures are being taken to ensure health and safety policy in the workplace is effectively communicated to non-English speakers.

(145737)

733
Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with (a) the Health and Safety Executive and (b) trade unions on health and safety concerns related to the employment of non-English speaking nationals in the building and construction industry.

(145738)

734
Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of eligible pensioners in Stoke-on-Trent who do not claim council tax benefit; and what steps he is taking to reduce this number.

(145353)

735
Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve the child maintenance and support arrangements for parents with responsibility for care in situations where the non-resident parent is unemployed and is unable to provide full maintenance payments.

(145514)

736
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a new IT system was commissioned for the introduction of pension credit.

[Transferred] (145086)

737
N Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 6th June 2007, Official Report, column 520W, on children: poverty, if he will break down the figures given by those with (a) two working parents, (b) two parents, one of whom is working, (c) a single parent and (d) other family type.

[Transferred] (145189)

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Revised 25 June 2007