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Departmental Expenditure (Publications)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years. [30100]
Dr. Whitehead: The expenditure on centrally procured newspapers, magazines and periodicals in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions for each of the last four years to the nearest £10,000 is as follows:
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 280 |
| 1998–99 | 310 |
| 1999–2000 | 270 |
| 2000–01 | 310 |
Titles covered by these spending figures include daily newspapers, weekly magazines, trade and technical journal and official publications including Hansard. The figures relate solely to central procurement in the central Department and exclude spend managed in the line as well as expenditure on the part of the Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Compiling the corresponding data for non-centrally procured material would involve disproportionate cost.
Transport Infrastructure
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to change the financing of transport infrastructure investment to alter the balance between payment by funders and passengers once it is used and payment up-front. [29794]
Mr. Jamieson: In financing transport infrastructure projects we continually examine and keep under review alternative options, to ensure that we are providing taxpayers with value for money, within public expenditure constraints. These matters will be an important part of our review of our 10-Year Plan for Transport, which is being carried out in parallel with work on Spending Review 2002.
Departmental Sponsorship
Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the financial resources and initiatives sponsored by his Department in the last 12 months for Dorset which are additional to the Government SSA grants. [29895]
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Dr. Whitehead: For the financial year 2001–02 local authorities in the county of Dorset were provided with the following grants and borrowing approvals:
| Authority | Major repairs allowance (MRA) | Annual capital guidelines (ACG) | Disability facilities grant (DFG) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christchurch | 0 | 291,000 | 126,000 |
| East Dorset | 0 | 509,000 | 194,000 |
| North Dorset | 0 | 593,000 | 98,000 |
| Purbeck | 826,000 | 466,000 | 97,000 |
| West Dorset | 0 | 866,000 | 199,000 |
| Weymouth and Portland | 0 | 380,000 | 122,000 |
Local Transport allocation to Dorset county council was £8.435 million comprising £2.628 million for integrated transport and £5.807 for maintenance.
Dorset Rural Bus Subsidy Grant allocation for 2001–02 was £739,801 and we also awarded the county £462,000 grant under the Rural Bus Challenge bidding round for a scheme spanning the financial years 2001–02 to 2003–04.
Travel Plan Co-ordinators were allocated £30,000 per year, starting June 2001 going though to March 2004.
The South West of England Regional Development Agency planned spending for Dorset in 2001–02 totals £1,773,260. This includes some spending in Poole and Bournemouth on its Business Recovery Fund and Skills Development Fund which has not been separated out.
Local Authority Policies
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what effort he has made to encourage local authorities to be more (a) family friendly and (b) sensitive to caring responsibilities in order to attract and retain women representatives; and if he will make a statement. [29970]
Dr. Whitehead: It is for local authorities rather than central Government to establish their own terms and conditions for councillors. We would hope that in doing so they will take into account the need to be family friendly and to attract and retain female councillors, as well as members from all sections of society.
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) Regulations 2001 allow local authorities to pay allowances to members for expenses of arranging for the care of their children or other dependants while carrying out their council duties.
House Fires
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people died in house fires in each of the last five years for which figures are available in the age groups (a) 0 to 18, (b) 19 to 40, (c) 41 to 65 and (d) over 65 years. [29752]
Dr. Whitehead: The table shows the number of people who have died in dwelling 1 fires attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000 2 .
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1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
2 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
| Age group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 19–40 | 41–65 | Over 65 | |
| 1996 | 76 | 99 | 180 | 206 |
| 1997 | 68 | 113 | 145 | 234 |
| 1998 | 74 | 124 | 133 | 181 |
| 1999 | 45 | 90 | 136 | 183 |
| 2000(7) | 40 | 87 | 140 | 172 |
Dr. Whitehead: The table shows the number of people who have died in fires in multiple occupancy dwellings 1 attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000.
- 1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They also include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
| Number of deaths | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 209 |
| 1997 | 201 |
| 1998 | 204 |
| 1999 | 171 |
| 2000(6) | 153 |
(6) 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is taking to reduce the number of fires in houses of multiple occupation. [29754]
Dr. Whitehead: The Housing (Fire Safety in Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 1997 requires that local authorities ensure that adequate means of escape and other fire precaution equipment are provided in all houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) of at least three storeys. Local authorities are encouraged to use their discretionary powers to enforce adequate means of escape and other precautions in other types of HMOs. A local authority will not register an HMO under a control scheme applying to its district unless it is satisfied that adequate means of escape from fire and other precautions have been provided.
The Home Energy Conservation Bill currently before Parliament would provide for a mandatory control scheme for HMOs of certain categories. When parliamentary time allows, all HMOs will be covered by the new housing condition regime, the Housing Health and Safety Ratings System (HHSRS). This risk assessment based system will give greater flexibility to local authorities in dealing with the potential risk of fires in individual HMOs and in enforcing remedies, than under the existing system.
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Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries were caused by fire in domestic homes by constituency in each of the past five years. [30630]
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Dr. Whitehead: The table shows the number of deaths and injuries in dwelling fires for each local authority brigade area in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. Data are not available centrally below brigade area level; therefore separate figures cannot be supplied for each constituency.
(7) Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They also include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
(8) 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
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Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries were caused by fires in council-owned domestic homes by local authority in each of the past five years. [30631]
Dr. Whitehead: The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what initiatives are being pursued to promote the use of sprinkler systems in domestic houses; and if he will make a statement. [30632]
Dr. Whitehead: The Government are committed to reducing the number of accidental dwelling fire deaths. To underpin this commitment we have set a target to reduce preventable dwelling fire deaths by 20 per cent. by 31 March 2004. We aim to achieve this reduction through greater efforts in educating householders, by means of publicity campaigns, about what measures they can take to make their home safer from fire.
It has been our policy for some time that smoke alarms have a vital role to play in saving lives as they provide the vital early warning of fire and therefore help people to escape. Since 1987, when the cost of smoke alarms became affordable at around £5, we have conducted, and will continue to run high profile national and regional television campaigns promoting smoke alarms, which have proved very successful.
The Government nevertheless recognise that in some cases more direct protection from fire may be appropriate and therefore provides guidance on a range of other fire protection measures, such as domestic sprinklers. The issue of domestic sprinklers is included in the 'Toolbox' of education and publicity material developed by the National Community Fire Safety Centre for use by fire brigades and others. We also plan to produce later this year a publicity leaflet to inform the general public about domestic sprinklers.
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