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8 Mar 2004 : Column 1261W—continued
Security Passes
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in departmental agencies in the last 12 months. [147976]
Fiona Mactaggart: The total number of security passes reported lost or stolen by departmental agencies for the year ending 31 December 2003 was 227: 215 lost and 12 stolen.
Passes issued by the agencies do not afford the holder access to central London Home Office buildings and Ministers.
CABINET OFFICE
Civil Servants (Pay)
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what pay award was awarded to civil servants in Great Britain on 1 April 2003. [158633]
Mr. Alexander: Pay outside of the Senior Civil Service is delegated to individual Departments and agencies. Information on individual pay awards is not held centrally.
The pay ranges for Senior Civil Servants were increased by 2.25 per cent. Individual Senior Civil Servants received performance related pay awards of between 0 and 9 per cent. depending on their personal contribution.
Contingency Planning
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what part virtual reality equipment plays in enabling Sir David Omand to provide central co-ordination for contingency planning and the resilience capability programme. [158979]
Mr. Alexander: Computer-based scenario work is used extensively in developing the UK's civil contingency doctrine and planning, including the resilience capability programme.
In addition, the Emergency Planning College at Easingwold is studying the feasibility of adapting military synthetic environment technologies for the training of joint, multi-agency emergency management teams fundamental to the UK's resilience under a collaborative arrangement with the Defence Procurement Agency's Training and Simulation Integrated Project Team.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what arrangements are in place for those involved in contingency planning to receive appropriate professional and career development. [158980]
Mr. Alexander: The Emergency Planning College at Easingwold is the primary provider of training and professional development for emergency planning staff employed in the public sector, including local government and the emergency and health services. The latter groups account for some 80 per cent. of the college's annual training throughput of 6,500. The college currently delivers a range of generic courses reflecting the diverse requirements of its customers.
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Major changes in the training regime have been under development since last summer. These will take effect in September 2004, when the college will introduce a new programme based on a spine of core courses and a range of optional modules tailored to meet specific needs. This architecture reflects best practice and will provide the foundation for subsequent professional and academic accreditation of the college's courses across the span from NVQ to postgraduate.
Asset Sales
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assets were sold by his Department in each year since 1997 to date; what the value of each item was; and if he will estimate the value of asset sales planned for 2003–04 and 2004–05. [159344]
Mr. Alexander: Assets that are routinely disposed of include plant and machinery, which in the main comprise motor cars, owned by the Government Car and Despatch Agency, and fixtures and fittings, which includes office furniture and IT equipment.
| Year ended 31 March | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,698 |
| 2001 | 1,703 |
| 2002 | 1,608 |
| 2003 | 14,928 |
| 2004 | (3)4,274 |
| 2005 | (4)— |
(3) Estimate
(4) Not available
Details prior to 2000 are not held.
Better Regulation Taskforce
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what account is taken of the promotion of sustainable development in the work of the Better Regulation Taskforce. [159335]
Mr. Alexander: The Better Regulation Task Force advises the Government on action to ensure that regulation and its enforcement meet the principles of good regulation. The Task Force's principles are entirely consistent with our commitment to sustainable development and we seek to apply them when implementing policy. For example, the Government has accepted the helpful recommendations made by the Task Force in its report "Environmental Regulation: Getting the Message Across" (July 2003) on ways to improve the implementation of regulations on producer responsibility.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the most recently enacted legislation is which he proposes to repeal following a report of the Better Regulation Taskforce. [159339]
Mr. Alexander: The Government seeks to act on the recommendations of the Better Regulation Task Force wherever possible. Major reforms currently
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underway, or recently enacted, that follow earlier recommendations made by the Task Force include the reform of planning law, liquor licensing and fire safety.
Business Regulations
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many proposals to impose new regulations on business have been dropped following regulatory impact assessments. [159340]
Mr. Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) of 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 715W.
Civil Contingencies Bill
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to table amendments to the Civil Contingencies Bill. [158901]
Mr. Alexander: Following a commitment given to the hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam during Committee Stage, the Government will amend the Bill to require a declaration of compatibility with the Human Rights Act to be made when emergency regulations are brought forward.
The Government will also amend the Bill to make provisions regarding cross-border co-operation, following a commitment given to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland. This follows discussions with the Scottish Executive.
The Government will keep the need to table further amendments to the Bill under review.
Information and Communication Service
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the expenditure of the Government Information and Communication Service's operations within the Cabinet Office was (a) in the latest year for which figures are available and (b) in 1996–97; and if he will make a statement. [159576]
Mr. Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 767W.
New Deal for Disabled People
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people have been employed in (a) central Government and (b) the public sector under the New Deal for Disabled People. [159342]
Mr. Alexander: 20 people joined the Civil Service under the New Deal for Disabled People in the period 2 July 2002 to 1 October 2003. Data for the most recent quarter ending 1 January 2004 is not yet complete, but at least 12 people have joined under the scheme during that quarter.
Data on the number of people that have been employed in the public sector (excluding the Civil Service) under the New Deal for Disabled People is not collected centrally.
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Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the expenditure by non-departmental public bodies of the Office was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available in (i) cash, (ii) real terms and (iii) as a percentage of gross national product. [159333]
Mr. Alexander: The expenditure by non-departmental bodies of the Cabinet Office in cash and real terms for 1996–97 and 2002–03, the latest year for which figures are available, is set out in the following table.
| Financial year | Cash terms£ million | Real terms£ million | As percentage of gross national product |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 1.047 | 1.212 | 0.00014 |
| 2002–03 | 2.088 | 2.088 | 0.00019 |
DEFENCE
Defence Housing (Aldershot)
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) single living units and (b) married quarters in the Aldershot constituency (i) are unoccupied and (ii) have been unoccupied for three months or more. [156830]
Mr. Caplin: As at 26 February, of a total of 1,808 family quarters in the Aldershot constituency, 247 were unoccupied. 113 of the properties had been unoccupied for more than three months. Unoccupied service family housing may be allocated or under offer to incoming families, awaiting modernisation or earmarked for disposal.
Services single living accommodation (SLA) in the Aldershot constituency comprises 6,643 bed spaces, shared between two sites, Aldershot and Minley. Of these, some 1,064 are currently unoccupied. Some vacancies are unavoidable, since various groups have to be accommodated separately from others, for example, female personnel from male, and successive training troops from each other.
No figures are available that identify those bed spaces unoccupied for more than three months.
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