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WALES
Logos and Branding
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent by his Department on departmental and agency logos and associated branding since 1 May 1997. [152648]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office spent £2,728 on the design for a logo and associated art-work after its creation as a separate Department in 1999. The logo and house-style for the Wales Office, its predecessor Department, was put in place before 1997. Information on other logos commissioned by the Welsh Office or its associated agencies is not available centrally.
Foot and Mouth
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the meetings and conferences organised by his Department and agencies of his Department which have been (a) cancelled and (b) postponed owing to foot and mouth disease; and if he will make a statement. [155370]
Mr. Paul Murphy: None of the meetings arranged by my Department were in infected areas and access was entirely by metalled roads. In these circumstances, there was no need to cancel or postpone them.
My Department has no agencies and has not arranged any conferences.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been paid by his Department to (a) accountancy and (b) legal firms in each year since 1 May 1997 in relation to PFI projects. [153264]
Mr. Straw [holding answer 12 March 2001]: From the best information available, I list the money paid to accountancy and legal firms by my Department since 1 May 1997 in relation to Private Finance Initiative projects. All figures are excluding Value Added Tax.
(32) Excludes Quantum project (Prison Service Information Technology (IT) project) costs as these cannot be separately identified for the years in question.
Since 1999-2000, the Home Office has embarked upon a number of new major projects to modernise its IT systems, for example the Sirius and Quantum programmes, and its future accommodation the Home Office Central London Accommodation Scheme project (HOCLAS) which accounts for much of the year-by-year increases in costs.
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Representation Costs
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the costs of the change in the number of elected representatives in the United Kingdom since 1997. [153406]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 12 March 2001]: There has been no change in the number of elected representatives to Parliament at Westminster. The costs of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly are a devolved matter and are funded from within the budgets of the devolved Administrations.
Extradition
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extradition requests were (a) completed and (b) not completed, with non-completed cases, broken down by nature of reason for non- completion, in each of the last five years. [154639]
Mr. Straw: Information is not available for the full period or in the form requested. The position in relation to completed cases is as follows:
| Year | Requests made to United Kingdom | Requests made by United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 70 | 45 |
| 1998 | 90 | 59 |
| 1999 | 75 | 57 |
| 2000 | 77 | 40 |
As at 31 December 2000, 205 requests to the United Kingdom were outstanding. They fell into the following categories:
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| Awaiting a decision on the issue of an Authority to Proceed | 8 |
| Before the courts | 69 |
| Awaiting a decision as to surrender | 29 |
| Others | 99 |
Notes:
1. In the last of these categories were cases in which a fugitive has yet to be traced and arrested; and/or where we were in touch with the requesting jurisdiction. It also included cases where the fugitive was unable to be surrendered because he was serving a domestic sentence.
2. A reliable statistical breakdown in this form for earlier years is not available.
A further 99 extradition requests made by the United Kingdom to other countries were outstanding on 31 December 2000. Exact information is not available as to what stage each case had reached in the various jurisdictions to which those requests were made.
The figures provided do not include cases governed by the provisions of the Backing of Warrants (Republic of Ireland) Act 1965. Those are not collected centrally.
Coroner System Review
Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has decided on the terms of reference for the fundamental review of the coroner system. [155718]
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Mr. Boateng: In consultation with ministerial colleagues, it has been decided that the terms of reference should be as follows.
In respect of England, Wales and Northern Ireland:
- 1. To consider the most effective arrangements for identifying the deceased and for ascertaining and certifying the medical cause of death for public health and public record purposes, having regard to proposals for a system of medical examiners.
- 2. To consider the extent to which the public interest may require deaths to be subject to further independent investigation, having regard to existing criminal and other statutory and non-statutory investigative procedures.
- 3. To consider the qualifications and experience required, and the necessary supporting organisations and structures, for those appointed to undertake the duties for ascertaining, certifying and investigating deaths.
- 4. To consider arrangements for the provision of post mortem services for the investigation of deaths.
- 5. To consider the consequences of any changes arising from the above for the registration service and the role of coroners under the Treasure Act 1996, and to consider where departmental responsibilities for the arrangements should be located, having regard both to coherence for bereavement services and effective accountability.
We are now considering who should carry out the review and I hope to make a further announcement shortly.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
School Funding (Chatham and Aylesford)
Mr. Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will provide details of the financial assistance given to schools in the Chatham and Aylesford constituency since 1997. [154912]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Education Statistics (Northern Region)
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children there were in infant classes of over 30 children in the Northern Region in (a) 1996 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [155095]
Ms Estelle Morris: The information requested is shown in the table.
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Class size data were published in a Statistical Bulletin "Class Sizes and Pupil Teacher Ratios in England 2000" on 20 December 2000, copies of which are available from the Library, or alternatively can be accessed from the Department for Education and Employment statistical website www.dfee.gov.uk/statistics. Figures from this release show that in September 2000, there were just 30,000 infants in classes of over 30 compared with 485,000 in January 1998. Just 2 per cent. of infants are now in such classes compared with 29 per cent. in January 1998.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| January 1996 | 20,999 |
| January 1997 | 23,717 |
| January 1998 | 25,906 |
| January 1999 | 15,305 |
| January 2000 | 7,279 |
| September 2000 | 898 |
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much capital investment there has been in primary schools in the Northern Region since 1996. [155096]
Jacqui Smith: The table shows a breakdown of central Government capital investment of £314,026 million in all schools in the Northern Region from 1996-97 to 2000-01. Information at primary school level is not readily available.
These allocations include £88.060 million investment made so far in schools under the New Deal for Schools programme.
The New Deal for Schools was introduced as a new additional programme targeted specifically at addressing the backlog of urgent repairs in school buildings that had built up after 18 years of under funding under the previous Administration. It has been in addition to other capital funds made available in the Northern Region.
Nationally, investment in school buildings has tripled from £683 million a year in 1996-97 to over £2 billion in 2000-01. It will be £3.5 billion in 2003-04, including grant, credit approvals and Private Finance Initiative credits. There will be central Government investment of £8.5 billion in school buildings in total from 2001-02 to 2003-04.
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Note:
Northern Region defined as the Government Office Northern Region including Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland local education authorities.
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