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CABINET OFFICE

Civil Contingency Planning

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment the Office has made of the adequacy of current civil contingency planning; what plans there are to make changes; and if he will make a statement. [126816]

Mr. Alexander: Direct assessment of emergency planning at the local level is carried out through bodies such as the Audit Commission and the emergency services' inspectorates, as part of their wider assessment role.

The draft Civil Contingencies Bill proposes that these bodies, and others such as the utility regulators, will continue to assess civil protection duties in the future, to a more rigorous standard, supported by appropriate regulations and guidance which will set out clear standards and expectations.

At central Government level, the Government are formalising standards and guidelines against which departmental contingency planning activities can be monitored and audited, to ensure that Departments' planning and preparation is performed to the high standard expected by Parliament and the public.

Ministerial Responsibilities

Linda Perham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he will publish an updated "List of Ministerial Responsibilities". [126074]

Harry Cohen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet   Office when the latest "List of Ministerial Responsibilities" will be published. [126124]

Mr. Alexander: I am today pleased to announce the publication of the "List of Ministerial Responsibilities". For the first time ever, it is being published in both paper and electronic form. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

For the electronic version, the website can be accessed at: http://www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/elmr/minister.nsf

Private Office Costs

Mr. Flight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the running costs of Ministers' private offices have been in his Department in each year since 1997. [123114]

Mr. Alexander: The running costs of Ministers' private offices, the Cabinet Office parliamentary branch and the ministerial correspondence and support team for each financial year from May 1997 to 2002–03 are set out in the table.
 
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Financial year	Number of private offices	Total net running costs (£)
May 1997–98	3	1,173,014
1998–99	3	1,368,862
1999–2000	4	1,465,634
2000–01	4	1,877,053
2001–02	6	2,173,436
2002–03	3	1,429,560

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Computer Security

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of   Commons Commission (1) whether the House of Commons Commission plans to comply with UK Security Standard BS7799, relating to computer security, by the end of 2003; [126584]

(2) what (a) technical and (b) procedural security counter-measures are in place to protect PDVN users'   data and e-mails from unauthorised internal or external interception while users are working (i) on the Parliamentary Estate and (ii) remotely. [126586]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: Security of Members' e-mails and data is important; measures are in place to ensure that users working remotely and on the Parliamentary Estate are protected. As a matter of policy, the Commission does not comment on the details of parliamentary security arrangements. However, I can say that there is a parliamentary IT security policy for information technology and systems and that work is in hand to ensure that this policy keeps pace with developments in current best practice. We have no plans at present to seek accreditation to BS7799, but the philosophy and best practice elements within the standard form an important part of our approach.

All users of the network are subject to conventional password controls, which in turn, govern file rights and system permissions to prevent unauthorised access internally. For users on the Estate, the protection of corporate firewalls and anti-virus software prevents unauthorised external access. For remote users, the introduction of data encryption, personal firewalls and anti-virus software with the new Virtual Private Network (VPN) service hosted on known parliamentary-issued personal computers will minimise the risk of unauthorised access and interception. Members and their staff using equipment other than that provided or purchased centrally are responsible for their own arrangements.

Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what timbers are being used in the Houses of Parliament ticket office that is currently being constructed; which countries these were sourced from; and what evidence has been received to confirm that all the timber being used is from legal and sustainable sources. [126026]

 
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Sir Archy Kirkwood: The softwood timber used in the construction of the new ticket office is mainly spruce and originates in either Bavaria or Finland. The contractor has confirmed that it has been harvested from sustainable sources and is covered by either the Pan-European Forest Certification scheme (PEFC) or the Forestry Stewardship Council certification (FSC), or both. Certificates are being provided; copies will be sent to the hon. Member.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Armed Forces (Recruitment)

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister for Women what plans she has for increasing the recruitment of women into the armed forces; and what discussions she has held with ministerial colleagues on the issue. [125979]

Ms Hewitt: From April 2002 to March 2003, 3,230 new women recruits joined the armed forces, an increase of 20 per cent. on the previous year. The Services' recruiting force actively encourage women to apply for the wide range of posts available to them.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women pursuant to her answer of 25 March 2003, Official Report, column 143W, on domestic violence, if she will place in the Library copies of her correspondence with the Home Secretary regarding the collection of domestic violence statistics. [125686]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 15 July 2003]: No. The correspondence relates to the analysis of policy options that are currently the subject of consultation following the publication of the "Safety and Justice" domestic violence consultation paper on 18 June 2003. It is therefore covered by Exemption 2 (Internal Advice and Discussion) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

ADVOCATE-GENERAL FOR SCOTLAND

Staff Numbers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Advocate-General how many staff are employed by her Department. [106287]

The Advocate-General for Scotland: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 3 April 2003, Official Report, column 780W.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Leader of the House when he expects to answer the question of 24 February 2003 from the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire on IT contracts in his Department above £50 million. [126902]

 
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Mr. Hain: The question to which the hon. Member refers was not tabled to me as Leader of the House of Commons. I therefore regret that I am unable to answer his question.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

A400M

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) pursuant to her answer of 24 June 2003, Official Report, columns 677–78W, on A400M, if she will place in the Library the letter of intent to Rolls-Royce dated 4 May 2003; [126039]

(2) whether she has agreed the size of the grant to be provided to Rolls-Royce; and under which scheme the support will be delivered. [126055]

Jacqui Smith: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry wrote to Rolls-Royce on the 4 May 2003 regarding the engine selection for the   A400M military transport aircraft. However, the content of this letter is commercially sensitive under Exemption 13—Third Party's Commercial Confidence's of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and it cannot be placed in the Libraries of the House.
 
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