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Civil Service (Job Losses)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which services within his Department will be (a) affected by and (b) subject to job losses consequent on the cuts in the civil service announced in the Spending Review. [189641]

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 16 September 2004, Official Report, column 1659W

Consultants

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) headhunters and recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [185531]

Maria Eagle: DWP was formed in June 2001 from the former Department of Social Security (DSS) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) including the Employment Service (ES). Consultancy procurement prior to the formation of DWP was the responsibility of the individual Agencies within DSS and DfES. The information requested was not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

During 2003–04, DWP spent £0.71 million on headhunters and recruitment consultants. During 2002–03, the latest year for which figures are available, expenditure on management consultancy was £47.57 million.

Headed Notepaper

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of printing departmental headed notepaper was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [185527]

Maria Eagle: In 2003–04, the latest year available, the Department for Work and Pensions spent £425,219 on headed notepaper. Headed notepaper is used for most external communications with our customers, who include most of the UK population, our suppliers and business contacts. Because the Department was formed in 2001 there are no comparable figures for 1996–07. Figures for 1996–07 for the Department's predecessor organisations, principally the Department of Social Security and the Employment Service agency are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

LandSecurities Trillium

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the projected annual costs of his Department's contract payments to LandSecurities Trillium are. [189417]

Maria Eagle: The total projected contract payment to LandSecurities Trillium for 2004–05 is £482.3 million.

Pension Payment Arrangements

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have opted for a
 
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(a) Post Office and (b) bank or building society account for the receipt of pension payments; and how many have still to make their preference known. [190286]

Mr. Pond [holding answer 13 October 2004]: As at 20 August we had written to almost 5.4 million pensioners. Almost 2 million have provided their bank account details, and almost 2.5 million have requested a Post Office card account.

Those customers who have not yet provided their account details will be contacted again to discuss their options, unless they have already advised the Department that they genuinely cannot open or manage an account.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Green Ministers

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many meetings of the Ministerial Sub-Committee of Green Ministers were attended by the Department's Green Minister in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [190850]

Estelle Morris: According to Cabinet Committee protocol, I can confirm only that I have represented the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on this committee since July 2003.

Television Licences

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will estimate the percentage of households in each of Northern Ireland's constituencies in possession of a valid television licence. [191628]

Estelle Morris: As explained in my reply to the hon. Member on 11 October 2004, Official Report, column 69W, TV Licensing do not record the numbers of licences issued by parliamentary constituency. It is therefore not possible to estimate reliably the percentage of households in each constituency in possession of a television licence.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what rights the television licensing authorities have to make pre-emptive calls upon the residents of newly built properties when there is no clarity as to whether they yet own a television; and if she will investigate correspondence issued by the authority with regard to this practice. [190210]

Estelle Morris: The BBC, as licensing authority, and its agent, TV Licensing, have the same rights and responsibilities in relation to newly built properties as in respect of any other property. Parliament has entrusted the administration of the television licensing system to the BBC and the Government have no power to intervene in operational matters of this kind. However, the BBC has explained that TV Licensing receives regular updates of the Postal Address File maintained by the Post Office. This information is checked against licensing data and, if an unlicensed property is identified, inquiries are made first by letter, then by telephone and if necessary by a home visit to establish if a television licence is required.
 
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Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households in the city of Glasgow are in receipt of the free television licence for over-75s. [191004]

Estelle Morris: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, 2001 Census data indicate that there are approximately 44,400 people aged 75 or over living in Glasgow.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine TB

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of incidence of bovine tuberculosis in deer; and how much her Department has spent on research into this in each of the past 10 years. [190107]

Mr. Bradshaw: Bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been confirmed in five of the six established wild and feral species of deer in GB.

Defra has carried out one research project in the last 10 years which has included work on isolating TB in deer and other mammalian wildlife species (excluding badgers). The wildlife survey, carried out by the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) in the South West of England, confirmed infection in four deer species—roe deer (1.0 per cent. of 885 samples), red deer (1.0 per cent. of 196 samples), fallow deer (4.4 per cent. of 504 samples) and muntjac (5.2 per cent. of 58 samples). The prevalence of infection was significantly higher in adult fallow and roe deer. The final report of the CSL research was published on the Defra website in July and can be viewed at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/project data/ DocumentLibrary/SE3010/SE3010 1628 FRP.doc

A breakdown of the costs for the Central Science Laboratory research are given in the following table:

	£
	Cost
1999–2000	104,418
2000–01	162,237
2001–02	195,822
2002–03	182,460
2003–04	117,686
Total	762,623

Note:
The CSL survey looked at TB in a number of mammalian wildlife species and did not focus specifically on deer.
While isolations of Mycobacterium bovis (the causative organism of bovine TB) from deer are a concern it is not clear what, if any, contribution any of the species examined in the study make to the problem of TB in cattle. We are currently considering the requirements for our future research programme.

Foot and Mouth Vaccine

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many doses of foot and mouth vaccine are immediately available for the type O virus which occurred in 2001. [191745]

 
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Mr. Bradshaw: Article 79.4 of Council Directive 2003/85/EEC on Community measures for the control of foot and mouth disease states that

"The information on quantities and subtypes of antigens or authorised vaccines stored in the national antigen and vaccine bank shall be treated as classified information and in particular shall not be published."

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