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Army Pensioners (Cumbria)
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the number of Army pensioners who have lost income through the taxation EMV who are resident in (a) Cumbria and (b) the Workington constituency. [32775]
Dr. Moonie: Information on the number of Army pensioners resident in Cumbria and the Workington constituency who are so far known to have been incorrectly taxed on their invalidity pensions could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Defence Employees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed in Scotland by (a) his Department and (b) executive agencies responsible to his Department; where these staff are located; and how many staff are employed in (i) England, (ii) London and the south-east, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) United Kingdom in total. [32439]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 1 February 2002]: The latest figures for the number of Ministry of Defence Service and civilian personnel employed in Scotland (i) England, (ii) the south-east, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the UK in total are published in the UK Defence Statistics 2001 (Table 2.4), copies of which are available in the Library of the House. A breakdown by location in Scotland is currently being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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Research Contracts
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has awarded in research contracts by region in the most recent financial year. [32452]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 1 February 2002]: Gross expenditure outturn for the Ministry of Defence's major customers, research budgets and the Appropriation Accounts for financial year 2000–01, published on 23 November was £513.458 million. This sum includes research work placed with Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) but excludes technology demonstrator programmes, and loans and grants to DERA. It is not possible to provide a regional breakdown of research expenditure from available data.
Service Accommodation (Scotland)
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many single accommodation places exist for each of the services in Scotland for (a) officers and (b) other ranks, by location. [32443]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 1 February 2002]: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
Getfitta Scheme
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role Ministers plan to play in the getfitta scheme launched on his Department's website. [32151]
Dr. Moonie: [holding answer 4 February 2002]: The time to getfitta campaign, launched on 28 December 2001, is a corporate marketing PR campaign to raise awareness of the Territorial Army (TA) and act as a prelude to a new TA television advertising campaign in March 2002. The campaign is intended to raise awareness of, and interest in, the TA in advance of the March TV campaign, by encouraging principally young people to contact their local TA for help in getting fit, and encouraging those who are already fit to join the TA and take their fitness one step further. The campaign has been a great success and has received widespread and favourable media coverage. At the end of January, some 25,500 registrations have been achieved, which is double the expected number, 70 per cent. of them via the internet. In view of this success, no direct ministerial involvement is currently planned for the campaign.
Armed Forces (Medical Downgrades)
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF were considered to be medically downgraded on 1 February, stating in each case the (i) number deployable to the front line, (ii) number deployable on military operations other than the front line, (iii) percentage of establishment this represents and (iv) percentage of trained forces in each service this represents; and if he will make a statement. [31817]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Cleaner Coal Technology
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will publish the conclusions of her review into the case for Government support for cleaner coal technology demonstration power plant. [34118]
Mr. Wilson: The report on the review has been published today. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library. The report can also be accessed from the DTI's website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/cct/ cctdemohome.htm
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on progress with the target on total overhead costs. [23162]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Weights and Measures Laboratory first included this Ministerial target in 2000/01. In the Annual Report and Accounts for 2000/01 the National Weights and Measures Laboratory reported that overhead costs were 53.9 per cent. of total costs, meeting the target that overhead costs are less than 55 per cent. of total costs. Overhead charges are defined as the costs not allocated to a specific service area.
Minimum Wage
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employers in Stathkelvin and Bearsden constituency have breached the national minimum wage regulations. [33654]
Alan Johnson: The Inland Revenue enforce the national minimum wage on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry. They do not keep statistics for parliamentary constituencies. However, for Scotland as a whole, the number of employers found not to be complying with the national minimum wage legislation is:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 103 |
| 2000–01 | 183 |
| 2001–02(13) | 162 |
(13) Up to and including December 2001.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Police (Northern Ireland) Act
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance the Chief Constable has issued under section 51.2 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2002; how many officers have responded; and what information is being collected to construct the statistical information to be presented in the annual report of the Chief Constable under section 58 of the Act. [297807]
Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable has not yet issued guidance under section 51(2) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, though work is in hand. Before issuing any guidance to police officers, the Chief Constable will consult the Policing Board, the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
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PHOENIX Database
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information contained on the PHOENIX database is accessible by police in Northern Ireland; what authorisation is required for an officer to access this information; and what penalties are available to prosecuting authorities to deter unauthorised use. [29941]
Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable has advised me that members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland who have completed the necessary training course, the majority of whom are with the Criminal Records Office, can directly access the PHOENIX Criminal Record System via the Police National Computer (PNC). The use of a unique, personal password is required.
Authorised personnel can interrogate criminal records; access information on wanted or missing persons and impending prosecutions.
Penalties for unauthorised access are detailed in the relevant legislation—section 60 of the Data Protection Act 1998 and sections 1 and 2 of the Computer Act 1990.
Plastic Baton Rounds
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 878W, how many plastic baton rounds are held for training and potential use by the PSNI. [29808]
Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable has advised me that the current stock of plastic baton rounds is 69,148 of which 7,200 are currently held by PSNI Firearms Training.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Central Office of Information
Mr. Love: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will report on the outcome of the quinquennial review into the Central Office of Information. [33837]
Mr. Leslie: The quinquennial review of the Central Office of Information has shown that the COI has performed very well over the past five years. It has provided good value for money in its procurement, project management and strategic consultancy services.
The COI will continue in its present status as a Department, an executive agency and a trading fund for a further five years.
The review recommended two significant changes which will now be implemented to create two centres of excellence.
The Chief Executive of COI will have an additional role as the Government's chief adviser on marketing communications and information campaigns reporting to the Director of Communications and Strategy at No 10. This will strengthen the co-ordination and planning of departmental publicity strategies across Whitehall and changes should be in place by 1 April 2002.
COI's Regional News Network and its News Distribution Service will be transferred to the Government Information and Communication Service in the Cabinet
5 Feb 2002 : Column 859W
Office. This will ensure more effective presentation of cross-departmental and regional issues while maintaining links with Government publicity and communications generally. It will also have stronger links with the Government offices in the regions to give a better service to both the regional media and the general public.
The review also recognised the importance of the need for major research studies which tackle cross-cutting issues. COI communications is in the ideal position to undertake this role.
I intend that these changes should be in place by 1 April 2002, supported by a revised Framework Document, which will be placed in the Library of the House.
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