---

30 Apr 2004 : Column 1362W—continued

Mobile Phones

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resources he has devoted to enforcing new laws to combat driving while using mobile phones. [169027]

Caroline Flint: The new, specific, offence of using a hand-held phone while driving is intended to provide a simple, objective offence the enforcement and prosecution of which does not depend on judgments of degree of control or carelessness. The Association of Chief Police Officers have welcomed it as a straightforward method of dealing with this dangerous behaviour. The allocation of resources is a matter for individual chief officers and the police will enforce the offence as operationally appropriate.

NCIS

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he or his Department have had from (a) Greater Manchester police, (b) South Wales police and (c) the UK Immigration Service regarding their future working relationship with the National Criminal Intelligence Service or the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. [166601]

Ms Blears: None.

Serious Organised Crime Agency

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the proposed new powers of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency on client confidentiality in relation to the work of tax advisers and accountants. [167513]

Ms Blears: We have invited comments on the proposals in the White Paper, One Step Ahead, A 21st Century Strategy to Defeat Organised Crime, by 30 July. We will consider those comments carefully before introducing any new powers.
 
30 Apr 2004 : Column 1363W
 

Substance Abuse

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answers of 19 April, Official Report, column 116W, on substance abuse, what mechanisms he uses to gauge the level of misuse of volatile substances by young people. [168597]

Caroline Flint: Information on the use of volatile substances among young people aged 11–15 years is collected in an annual national survey of secondary schoolchildren commissioned by the Department of Health. "Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2003" was based on 10,000 completed questionnaires from 321 schools in England. The survey showed eight per cent reported taking volatile substances in 2003, compared with six per cent in 2002 and seven per cent in 2001. The Home Office also produces its own statistics on general drug usage through its British Crime Survey. The last figures published were for the year 2002–2003.

Under-12s Concession

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the decision was made to withdraw the concession for under-12s to join a parent in the UK; and when the information was posted on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website. [167969]

Mr. Browne: Following careful consideration, my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Beverley Hughes), decided on 13 March 2003 to withdraw the Under 12 Concession with effect from 29 March 2003.

The section of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website relating to children was updated on 12 August 2003. However, a different section of the website relating to spouses and maintenance and accommodation was found to contain a reference to the concession only recently and was amended on 13 April 2004.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Water Services

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what change in water consumption was achieved by the rationalisation of water services undertaken in 1999–2000 in (a) actual and (b) percentage terms. [169858]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The rationalisation of water services was designed to improve water quality and meet required legal standards. It was not a consumption saving measure. There was therefore no change in water consumption as a result of this rationalisation.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Official Photographs

Bob Spink: To ask the Leader of the House if he will place in the Library the most recent set of official photographs taken in the House while it was sitting. [168878]

 
30 Apr 2004 : Column 1364W
 

Sir Archy Kirkwood: I have been asked to reply.

I understand that Mr. Speaker will be considering this matter shortly.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Mobile Telephone Industry (Hacking)

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the mobile telephone industry to reduce the vulnerability to hacking of Bluetooth-enabled telephones and wireless headsets. [169237]

Mr. Timms: DTI officials are in regular contact with mobile industry bodies and have raised this issue with them.

All Bluetooth devices adhere to the Bluetooth technical specification in order to ensure worldwide compatibility. Action to address the vulnerability of Bluetooth enabled devices to hacking would therefore need to be taken at the international level to be effective across all devices. However, not all Bluetooth devices are vulnerable to this security threat.

I understand that the industry is working both to address the vulnerability of all new devices (of the type affected) to hacking, and to tackle the present threat.

Civil Partnerships

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2004, Official Report, column 861W, on civil partnerships, whether legal rights and benefits to which married couples are entitled have not been included in the Civil Partnership Bill. [169142]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 28 April 2004]: The purpose of the Civil Partnership Bill is to establish a new legal relationship for same-sex couples and to enable those couples who register as civil partners of each other to access many of the legal rights and responsibilities to which married couples are entitled. The Government have therefore aimed to provide parity of treatment for civil partners.

Departmental Entertainment

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her latest estimate is of the amount spent by her Department on official entertainment in each year from 1996–97 to 2004–05. [168998]

Ms Hewitt: The following table shows the expenditure on entertainment by the Department of Trade and Industry in each year between 1999–2000 and 2003–04.

	£000
1999–2000	887
2000–01	1,089
2001–02	1,165
2002–03	1,311
2003–04	1,110

Notes:
1.   The expenditure represents less than 0.016 per cent. of the Department's total gross expenditure.
2.   The Department expects expenditure for 2004–05 to be of a similar order.
3.   Figures for earlier periods are not available on a consistent basis.




 
30 Apr 2004 : Column 1365W
 

Post Office Closures

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions a decision to close a post office in Scotland as part of the urban reinvention programme was reversed following the six week consultation in the last five years. [169902]

Mr. Timms: Decisions on post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make electronically accessible the Royal Mail's estimates of delivery times for the Isle of Wight under the single delivery reforms, broken down by postcode. [169730]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 29 April 2004]: Delivery times are the operational concern of Royal Mail Group and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

---