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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of her Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997.

Asked by

Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

7 February 2005

For answer on

7 April 2005

Answered on

7 April 2005

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [215977] Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take my right hon. Friend directly to the service: http://statistics.defra. gov.uk/esg/default.asp. In addition the Office for National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http:// www.statistics.gov.uk. Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Witney constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office for National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ geography/default.asp. In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149-50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity. Common Agricultural Policy Payments to farm based schemes in the Witney constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £13,661,576.34. The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe). Other benefits The following information may also help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Witney through a selection of activities which have taken place in Oxfordshire. Applications for the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) have been received from within the County of Oxfordshire. As at 2004 Oxfordshire had 594 agri-environment schemes which is the highest number of any other county in the region. Grant paid under the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme and Farm Woodland Scheme since 2000 is £1.2 million and £112,000 has been under the Habitat Scheme since 2001. £565,000 has been paid under the Project Based Schemes since 2001. Clinics for the promotion of good quality applications under the ERDP are held regularly by the Defra Rural Development Service in Reading and Guildford. West Oxfordshire is one of five areas in the South East region that has funding under the LEADER + programme, with European Union support, for experimental development of rural projects and community initiatives. Over 20 projects have, or are being funded, through the programme in Oxfordshire with further projects due to start this year. Projects aim to improve quality of life and particularly target younger and older people, women, rural business and workers affected by rural restructuring. The Countryside Agency is supporting a number of projects in the area. The Vital Villages Programme began in 2001 and provides financial support for rural transport projects, projects to enhance and establish key rural services and to assist parishes with producing a parish plan. Funding for this programme in West Oxfordshire exceeds £1 million. Defra has worked to implement the vision of the Rural White Paper to support vibrant rural communities through the proactive work of Oxfordshire rural community council which delivers support and services on the ground to rural communities. In the three years from 2001-04 over £800,000 has been invested in supporting rural transport, rural retail services, the provision of affordable homes in rural communities, community development work and work with socially excluded groups in rural areas across Oxfordshire. The money channelled by Defra through the RCC for this work, has also been instrumental at a local level, in levering other sources of finance to support rural communities. Defra is funding a pilot study which aims to increase the local food content (fresh, seasonal ingredients) of school meals. Several schools are involved across the pilot area covering Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The findings are due this April. The South East Rural Affairs Forum was set up following recommendations in the Rural White Paper. The forum held a conference involving stakeholders across the region on 7 September 2004 and was attended by several stakeholders from Oxfordshire.

Date

7 April 2005

Reference

432 c1656-8W;432 c1651-3W; 215977

House

House of Commons

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Witney constituency, the effects on Rochdale of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997.

Asked by

Lorna Fitzsimons (Labour)

Answering body

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

18 February 2005

For answer on

17 March 2005

Answered on

17 March 2005

Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Witney constituency, the effects on Rochdale of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [217366] Yvette Cooper: Along with other Government Departments, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to improving the lives of people across the whole of the UK. For example, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is determined that everyone should have the opportunity to have a decent home, and since 1997 we have reduced the number of non-decent homes nationally by 1 million. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provides grant funding that benefits the Rochdale constituency through a number of programmes. For example, over the period 2001-06 Rochdale has been allocated £20.7 million of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund resources to help the local authority, in collaboration with the Local Strategic Partnership, improve services in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the area. More broadly, since 1997 we have been able to increase the total amount of Government grant given to local authorities by £22.6 billion. This is a 33 per cent. increase in real terms. Rochdale council has received an average annual increase in formula grant since 1997 of 5.3 per cent. The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics. gov.uk./.

Date

17 March 2005

Reference

432 c364-5W;432 c362-3W; 217366

House

House of Commons

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc figures and ref to http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk./.

Asked by

Brian Sedgemore (Labour)

Answering body

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

22 February 2005

Reference

216014; 431 c581W;431 c577W

House

House of Commons

Dept for Education and Skills

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of her Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc tables.

Asked by

Brian Sedgemore (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Education and Skills

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

8 February 2005

For answer on

21 February 2005

Answered on

21 February 2005

Mr. Sedgemore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [216019] Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Witney constituency lies within Oxfordshire local education authority. The most recent Key Stage 2 and GCSE and equivalents Achievement for pupils attending schools in Witney are given in the following tables. Key Stage 2 Achievements of 11-year-old pupils attending schools in the Witney constituency. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Percentage of pupils gaining level 4 and above 1997 2004 Percentage point improvement 1997-2004 Witney--English1 71 80 9 Witney--maths1 66 79 13 National average--English2 63 78 15 National average--maths2 61 74 13 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Pupils attending schools in Witney constituency. 2 The average for all schools in England (including independent schools). GCSE and equivalents1 Achievement of 15-year-old pupils2 attending schools in the Witney constituency. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Percentage of 15-year-olds gaining 1997 2004 Percentage point improvement 1997-2004 Witney--5 + A*-C 53.3 60.3 7.0 Witney--5 + A*-G 91.9 93.6 1.7 National average--5+ A*-C 45.1 53.7 8.6 National average--5+ A*-G 87.0 88.8 1.8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 For 2004 only results incorporate GCSEs, GNVQs and a wide range of other qualifications approved pre-16. Prior to 2004 results are based on GCSEs and GNVQs only. 2 As standard the results reported relate to pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August and therefore reaching the end of compulsory education at the end of the school year. At national level, standards have improved across all key stages. The Primary and Key Stage 3 National Strategies, together with the measures we have taken to help schools in the toughest areas are continuing to deliver better results. Further information by constituency, is provided within the Department's "In Your Area" website available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea. Where information is not available at the constituency level it has been provided at local education Authority level. This website allows users to access key facts and local information about education and skills based on postcodes. The data available within the site offers comparisons between 1997 and the latest available year and covers five geographies. These are Parliamentary constituency, Ward, Local Authority District, Local Education Authority, Government Office Region. England figures are also provided. The information available within the website is grouped in a number of broad categories including Literacy and Numeracy at age 11, Literacy and Numeracy at age 14, GCSE / GNVQ results, Pupils with Special Educational Needs, School Initiatives, School Workforce, School Funding and Resources, Children's Social Services, Early Years, Class Sizes, Post 16, Higher Education and Adult Education. Additional information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, my Department is investigating ways in which we can disseminate more information about the effects of our policies at a local level. The In Your Area website will be further developed over the coming months to include additional information about Adult Education, School Funding, School Initiatives, School Performance, School Workforce and Post 16.

Date

21 February 2005

Reference

216019; 431 c271-2W;431 c270-1W

House

House of Commons

Dept for Transport

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc table and figures.

Asked by

Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

7 February 2005

For answer on

21 February 2005

Answered on

21 February 2005

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [215983] Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Witney constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the number of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1 billion in 1996-97 to 40.9 billion in 2003-04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality, emissions of the UK's two main pollutants--nitrous oxides and particles--fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002. The funding provided directly to Oxfordshire county council since 1997 is shown in the following table1. It has been for Oxfordshire county council to determine how that allocation has spent, in line with their local transport plan and their priorities. Oxfordshire county council £ million _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Nature of funding 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Capital maintenance 2.038 3.078 5.793 8.045 8.013 10.016 11.017 Integrated block 1.962 3.686 4.764 10.500 10.600 9.911 12.940 Major schemes 1.510 0 0 0 0 0 0 Targeted bus grants2 0.93 1.93 0.93 1.18 1.35 1.79 1.42 Total 6.44 8.694 11.487 19.725 19.963 21.717 25.377 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Funding allocations for 1997-98 not included since they cover a period proceeding May 1997 and announcements concerning the 1997-98 allocations were made in 1996. 2 Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding In addition, since 1997 the Witney constituency, which lies within the Thames area franchise has benefited from investment in new rail rolling stock.

Date

21 February 2005

Reference

431 c203-4W; 215983

House

House of Commons

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