To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what plans he has to (a) suspend and (b) terminate the use of manning control points; and if he will make a statement; (2) how many soldiers (a)...

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel have been employed in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2003, Official Report, column 785W, on reserve forces, what is being done to remedy the shortfall of reservists; what...

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will halt the disbandment of the three home battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment over the next three years; and if he will keep each battalion...

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which campaigns Territorial Army units have served since 1990; and what proportion of reservists (a) is committed and (b) was committed in (i) 1990...

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources his Department has allocated for the clearance of unexploded ordnance in Iraq.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what practices have been in place in the last 10 years to inform war widows of their right to backdate their war widows pension.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance she has issued to the State Veterinary Service on whether a deer missing a hind foot should be classified as...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with (a) biotechnology companies and (b) health and environmental campaign and...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessments have been made of applications for marketing consents to the EU of GM crops by (a) her Department and (b)...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) of 1 May 2003, Official Report, column 465W, on GM crop...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations her Department has received about planned restrictions on travelling hours for chickens; whether these...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many licences have been granted by the Environment Agency to extract water from rivers in 2003; what average length of...

To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment the Department has made of the latest report by the Global HIV Prevention Working Group; and if he will make...

To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what discussions he has had with the Government of Malawi concerning alternative care for AIDS patients outside acute...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what formal mechanisms there are for maintaining contact between HM Customs and Excise and the DTI on the issue of export controls.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Customs and Excise personnel are (a) employed to provide advice and assistance to the Afghan Transitional Administration and (b) employed to...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution the leisure and hospitality sector has made to the UK economy in each of the last five years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average weekly earnings (a) including and (b) excluding overtime are for full-time workers in (i) Scotland, (ii) each of the unitary local...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of full-time workers in (a) Scotland, (b) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (c) Great Britain earn (i) including and...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the Bridgwater constituency have experienced delays in receiving tax credits.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will compensate applicants for child tax credit and working tax credit who have incurred additional costs as a result of delays by Inland Revenue in...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent since last autumn on advertising and publicity for (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in (i) English, (ii) Welsh and...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advertising and publicity in Welsh there has been since last autumn to alert people to their entitlement to (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much in revenue collected from uniform business rates was distributed to the London borough of Havering within the Revenue Support Grant in 2002–03.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised from uniform business rates in (a) the London Borough of Havering and (b) each London borough in each of the last five years.

To ask the Minister for Women what action she intends to take about the gender pay gap within the public sector.

To ask the Minister for Women what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Equal Pay Act 1970.

To ask the Minister for Women, what recent consultations she has had with the Treasury regarding women's pensions.

To ask the Minister for Women what action she is taking to promote the role of women in the governance of Iraq.

To ask the Solicitor General if she will list the occasions on which her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed...

To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff in the Law Officers' Departments have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act...

To ask the Solicitor-General what her estimate is of the cost of (a) ministerial cars and drivers and (b) taxis for her Department in 2002.

To ask the Solicitor-General what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by the Law Officers' Department.

To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff in the Law Officers' Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are...

To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the statutory instruments issued by the Law Officers' Department since 17 April 2002.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of state-educated pupils in (a) Leeds, West constituency and (b) Leeds Metropolitan district receive free school meals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will meet the hon. Member for Croydon, South to discuss funding for (a) Woodcote High School, Croydon and (b) education funding in Croydon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which United Kingdom commitments arising from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (a) have been incorporated into the Department's...

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on progress towards achieving equal rights for transsexuals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of her staff retired on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of her staff have taken sick leave due to mental health problems in the last year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sick days were lost over the last year by her Department through staff mental health problems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to her answer of 9 April 2003, Official Report, column 278W, on ministerial meetings, if she will give the date of her last meeting with (a)...

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many times she has met the Chairman of Scottish Enterprise in each of the last five years; and when her last meeting was.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many employees in Scotland are (a) entitled to and (b) in receipt of working tax credit; (2) how many families in Scotland are (a) entitled...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations she has received concerning competitiveness from representatives of the manufacturing sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the change in the number of manufacturing jobs since 1997 in Shrewsbury and Atcham.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on current levels of bilateral trade with the United States of America.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Department of Health on the effect of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with Corus and the unions on redundancies in the steel industry announced last month; and if she will make a...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress of the Post Office's urban reinvention programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to extend the National Minimum Wage to 16 and 17-year-olds.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2003, Official Report, column 460W, on British Business Assistance, in what format she holds the information;...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which areas within the Chorley constituency (a) have been and (b) have not been connected to broadband.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with BT (a) in relation to the roll-out of broadband and (b) on ensuring that all areas receive broadband...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when funding from her Department was first made available to the Cambridge-MIT Institute; how much funding her Department gave to the...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on (a) the development and (b) the benefits of coastal wind farms on the north-west coastline.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what recent representations she has received from consumer bodies about credit card cheque books; (2) what discussions she has had with...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to increase the amount of energy crops being grown for use by electricity generators.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what Government assistance is available for the development of market-based production of energy using renewable sources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2003, Official Report, column 462W, on environmental impact assessments, if she will list (a) the support...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was given in grants by the Department for research and development relating to (a) the environment and (b) waste in the years 1998 to...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 16W, on the renewable energy initiative of the ECGD, when she expects a...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the latest (a) discussions held and (b) agreements reached concerning the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on the import of products that would be illegal if they had been produced in the United Kingdom; what records are kept of...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her Department's (a) total managed expenditure, (b) total spending on Information Technology and (c) spending on Information Technology...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on recent discussions she has held with (a) the UN, (b) the EU and (c) the United States Government on the...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many requests for assistance with tendering for business in Iraq her Department has received from UK companies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of her Department's contribution to assisting UK businesses who have registered interest in contracts for the...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which companies her Department has assisted in winning contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for International Development, (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (c)...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the setting up of the medical review panel on miners' compensation; and when the panel will begin its work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on the recommendations contained in the Government's Near Earth Object Taskforce Report; how much money has been...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to tackle trade barriers (a) between African countries and the United Kingdom and (b) between African countries;...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Office of Fair Trading fact-finding study into the UK liability insurance market will be published.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the Competition Commission inquiry into the supply of prescription-only veterinary medicines; and if she will...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry with which bodies she has had discussions on the recommendations contained in the Competition Commission Report, Veterinary Medicines: A...

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which industries her Department has identified as the major users of wood residue in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff have been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of the Department in each of the last two years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the target is for efficiency savings in 2003–04 expressed (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provisions of the Licensing Bill will apply to individual musicians performing in pubs; and if she will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many charities in the Birmingham, Erdington constituency have (a) applied for and (b) claimed awards from the Heritage Lottery Fund...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) measures she has taken and (b) resources she has committed to promote the (i) writing, (ii) reading and (iii) archiving of...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money has been given in each of the last five years for which figures are available to support local temporary radio...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of (a) current and (b) projected use of voice recognition in the production of closed caption...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment has been made by her Department of the (a) literacy and (b) other benefits of the provision of closed caption television...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment VisitBritain has made of the impact of holding the Olympic Games in London on (a) visitor numbers in London, (b) visitor...

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she plans to review the Government's decision not to rejoin the World Tourism Organisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's policy towards funding youth orchestras in Sefton.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in meeting his Department's targets on eliminating child poverty.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will break down by category of expenditure the total net administration costs for disability for 2003 set out in Table Five of the Annual...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to reform the capital rules on means-tested savings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken on pensions to ensure that all those potentially eligible for the pension credit are individually advised of their...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pension credit direct mailing packs have been distributed; and of those, how many pension credit applications have been received via...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether pensioners who do not make a pension credit application using the pension credit hotline will be able to request an application form;...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) employers and (b) pension providers issuing combined pension statements to their employees and policy holders.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the threshold for payment of compensation for delays in processing retirement pensions was set at eight months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to increase pension provision in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the proposed EU constitutional structure in the draft constitution is federal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the United Kingdom negotiating objectives are when discussing the draft European constitution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to make reform to the fishing settlement a condition for accepting a new EU constitution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom Parliament would need EU approval before legislating in areas of EU competence under the present...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the retention of the phrase, "ever closer Union", in the draft EU constitution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome was of the General Affairs and External Relations Council held on 19 to 20 May; what the Government's stance...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in negotiating a bilateral treaty for impunity from the International Criminal Court for American nationals, he has...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many scientists and other personnel linked to Saddam Hussein's regime have been identified by the Coalition as key figures...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether his Department has been given access to Iraqi documents seized by supporters of the Iraqi National Congress; (2)...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he held with his US counterparts (a) before and (b) during the Gulf conflict on the desirability of seizing...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 8 May 2003, Official Report, column 853W, on Iraq, if he will name those invited to the Nassiriya...

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens have been killed in road accidents in (a) Italy and (b) Germany in each of the last five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what implications Resolution 1422 of the Security Council has for compliance with other international agreements, with...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many agency workers have been employed by the Department in each of the last two years; and at what cost to public funds.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 28 April, Official Report, column 207W, on the anti-social behaviour White Paper, if he will list the formal...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial assistance is available from his Department for initiatives to divert young people from anti-social behaviour; and if he will...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has held with the Deputy Prime Minister on the effect of the provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Bill upon the duties...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a summary of the discussion he has had with his counterparts in (a) Albania and (b) elsewhere on deciding...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers are (a) operating and (b) centrally funded in each (i) Government office region and (ii) police force...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter dated 7 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Tahir Ahmed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrestees in (a) Haltemprice and Howden, (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (c) the Humberside police authority area tested...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers per head of population were in post in Merseyside in each year since 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers and civilian support staff additional to the complement on 1 May 1997 have been appointed to Humberside police in...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the group dealing with domestic violence perpetrators within the police force has met; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received the Treasury documents relating to the five economic tests and the 18 background studies; what discussions he has held with...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on (a) the police resources which have been made available and (b) the strategy being implemented for reducing...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts his Department has awarded to KPMG since 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 645W, on Nadhmi Auchi, for what reasons he did not issue his authority to...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those police forces which operate anti-gun crime initiatives similar to Operation Trident in the Metropolitan police; and...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the star system for measuring the performance of prisons was introduced; what criteria it employs; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Department has taken to publicise its Public Service Agreement targets; and at what cost to public funds.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of the Terrestrial Trunk Radio (TETRA) base stations required to provide full national radio coverage (a) have not yet found a...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to which locations individuals making asylum applications at Stranraer and Cairnryan ports have been removed, and in what numbers, in each...

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which United Kingom commitments arising from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (a) have been incorporated into the Department's...

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the electronic document and electronic record management systems which have been procured by the public authorities listed in Parts I to V of...

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of local housing units constructed in each region between 1997–98 and 2002–03 were built to Lifetime Homes Standards.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of proposed new homes in the South East will be built on (a) brownfield sites and (b) green belt.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new dwellings per hectare are proposed for the South East.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is planning to take to ensure that the proposed Regional Housing Board housing allocations include environmental, social and financial...

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many sick days were lost in the last year by his Department through staff mental health problems; (2) how many of his staff have taken sick leave due...

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the way PPG17 contributes to the development of sporting infrastructure in England and Wales.

Mr. Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what building regulations concerning sprinkler systems are (a) in place and (b) planned for (i) houses of multiple occupation, (ii) care homes, (iii)...

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the costs incurred by the Standards Board for England were during its first year of operation.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was of travel by train by staff in his Department in 2002.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans his Department has to provide accommodation for traveller communities whilst ensuring that settled communities are not deprived of essential services.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what policy on (a) core hours and (b) flexible working hours is operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to monitor the progress on accidental injury reduction targets in "Our Healthier Nation" after the closure of the home accident surveillance...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the people appointed to ad hoc posts within his Department bearing the titles of advocate, tsar, adviser, champion and comparable titles...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each hospital trust in England spent on agency recruitment in (a) nurses and (b) doctors in (i) the last 12 months and (ii) each of the previous...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will (a) list and (b) publish the directions he has issued to the National Care Standards Commission since its inception.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much additional central funding has been allocated this year to the health and ambulance authorities in Nottinghamshire to provide improved personal...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ambulance service staff in the East Midland Region have been issued with the newly designed protective suit for use in response to nuclear,...

asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether there is a target timescale for the answering of written parliamentary Questions in the House of Lords by the Northern Ireland Office; if so, what it is;...

asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether the approved minutes of the Ulster-Scots Agency, part of the Language Implementation Body, are received by the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts...

asked Her Majesty's Government: Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Privy Seal of 25 March (WA 72) and 30 April (WA 101) concerning set-up costs for Waterways Ireland, why the figures...

asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will publish the responses to the consultation paper on the reform of the disclosure process.

asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will publish the annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain.

asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will publish the Criminal Records Bureau's Corporate Plan for 2003–04.

asked Her Majesty's Government: With particular reference to their commitment to NePAD (the New Partnership for Africa's Development), what will be their specific objectives at the G8 Summit in...

asked Her Majesty's Government: With particular reference to their commitment to NEPAD (the New Partnership for Africa's Development), what will be their specific objectives at the G8 Summit in...

asked Her Majesty's Government: What is the latest position as regards the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.

asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether the provisions of the Fire Services Bill are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

asked Her Majesty's Government: What are the projected costs to government departments of the Office of the e-Envoy charges for improvements to e-government services when the Capital...

asked Her Majesty's Government: Following the recent publication of its 5th version, when they anticipate that the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) will be updated to allow for...

asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will announce the membership, terms of reference and timetable for the Employer Task Force on Pensions.

asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they will give the figures for the proportion of students entering Oxford and Cambridge universities from independent and state schools respectively every...

asked Her Majesty's Government: Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 10 March (WA 152), what evidence they have that the use of slug pellets is increasing in United Kingdom gardens.

asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will publish the guiding principles of Lord Haskins's Rural Delivery Review.