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1 Apr 2004 : Column 1603W—continued

Project Funding

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by (a) the Government on solely state-financed projects and (b) the (i) Government and (ii) private sector on public-private and private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region. [160962]

Fiona Mactaggart: The information is as follows.

(a) Information on how much has been spent on major projects is not held centrally and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.

(b) I would refer my hon. Friend to the Signed PFI Projects List, which can be found on the HM Treasury website www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public private partnerships/ppp pfi stats.

In addition payments made to the service provider on projects which are classed as public private partnerships are as follows:

	Project
	Airwave	Criminal Records Bureau
Region	National	North west
Government spend	£50 million	£30.6 million
Private sector spend	Not available	Not available

Recruitment

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of recruitment of civil servants for the Department was in each financial year since 1996–97, broken down by (a) delegated or contracted out recruitment procedures and (b) recruitment procedures carried out by the Department. [158178]

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Fiona Mactaggart: Details of the total spend on external recruitment for the central Home Office, including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), for the years 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03 are shown in the table. Figures for previous years are not available. Final figures for 2003–04 will not be available until the end of the financial year.

The costs detailed in the table cover the costs of recruiting staff into the Home Office, including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (but excluding Home Office Agencies) using external recruitment agencies. The IND figures reflect the extra recruitment in caseworkers to speed up processing times.

Details of the costs incurred for internal recruitment carried out by the department would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Money spent on external recruitment by the Home Office 2000–03

	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Home Office	(not covering immigration and Nationality Directorate or Home Office Agencies)
Total recruitment spend	1,552,682	1,241,786	967,106
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Total Recruitment spend	3,696,892	2,261,122	3,041,458
Total	5,249,574	3,502,908	4,008,564

Sentencing Statistics

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners on remand were (a) acquitted and (b) given a non-custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion each figure forms of the total prison population in each of these years. [163252]

Paul Goggins: The first table gives information relating to the estimated number of prisoners received on remand who were (a) acquitted and (b) given a non-custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years.

The average annual population of remand prisoners from 1993 to 2002 is given in the second table. It is not possible to calculate the number received on remand who were later acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence as a proportion of the remand population. To do so would require the time served on remand for each of these prisoners which is not available. Secondly, some of the time spent on remand counts towards some, or all, of the sentence served.

Table 1: Final outcome for persons remanded in custody⁽¹³⁾ at magistrates courtsNumber of persons (thousand)

Final outcome	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Acquitted or not proceeded	11.4	13.5	14.4	16.5	21.4	25.2	25.6	23.8	21.7	21.6
Total non-custodial sentence	19.1	20.1	20.7	26.0	27.1	34.7	33.0	29.6	27.8	31.4
Total immediate custody	21.6	25.8	32.4	34.9	38.0	47.1	48.9	46.0	45.9	49.5
Total number sentenced	40.7	45.9	53.1	60.9	65.1	81.8	81.9	75.6	73.7	80.9
Total	52.1	59.5	67.6	77.4	86.5	107.0	107.5	99.4	95.4	102.5

⁽¹³⁾ Includes those remanded for part of the time in custody.

Note:

Remand status shown is that given by the court.

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Table 2: Average population of remand prisoners in custody⁽¹⁴⁾1993 to 2002

	Annual average
1993	10,674
1994	12,357
1995	11,375
1996	11,613
1997	12,131
1998	12,568
1999	12,520
2000	11,274
2001	11,238
2002	12,792

⁽¹⁴⁾ Includes prisoners held in police cells in 1993 to 1995.

Speed Cameras

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his definition is of the term minimum conspicuity in relation to speed camera signs. [163625]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 26 March 2004]: I have been asked to reply.

The "Handbook of rules and guidance for the operation of the national road safety programme for England and Wales, October 2003", a copy of which is in the Library of the House, sets out in detail the standards for signing, marking, visibility and conspicuity of safety cameras.

Substance Misuse

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total budget allocated to substance misuse programmes for (a) drugs and (b) alcohol is in 2003–04. [162614]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 22 March 2004]: The information is as follows.

(a) Drugs—The total drug Pooled Treatment Budget for 2003–04 is £243.6 million. The pooled treatment budget is matched with approximately an additional £200 million of local monies from Primary Care Trust (PCT) and social services mainstream funds. The Pooled Treatment Budget provides funds for drugs only, not alcohol. The Prison Service also allocated £35.8 million for drug treatment programmes in prisons. Further budgets are also available for prevention activities for young people.

(b) Alcohol—Alcohol treatment services are funded from local monies from PCTs and social services mainstream funds.

Background:

In terms of drug funding, all Drug Action Teams (DATs) received an average increase of 24 per cent. in 2003–04.

The data on mainstream drugs spend are gathered via the DAT Treatment Plans by the National Treatment Agency (NTA).

Alcohol funds are allocated at a local level and usually cannot be disaggregated from mainstream drugs or mental health expenditure.

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DEFENCE

Accommodation Costs

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) service personnel and (b) other Ministry of Defence employees are living in privately rented accommodation in the Greater Portsmouth area; and at what cost to his Department. [164618]

Mr. Caplin: Substitute Service Accommodation is provided when there is insufficient Service family housing or single living accommodation of the appropriate type to meet demand in the area. As at 31 March 2004, there are 100 service personnel living in privately rented accommodation in the Portsmouth area at a total cost of £82,000 per month.

For other Ministry of Defence employees their accommodation requirements are an individual responsibility, although the Department does, in certain circumstances, pay specific allowances to support its civilian staff when they are relocated.

Defence Contractors

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for City of Durham (Mr. Steinberg) of 9 March 2004, Official Report, column 1401W, on defence contractors, what contracts for the supply of equipment have been awarded to RUAG and are currently in operation; what action has been taken to enforce the contract under which supplies were suspended by the Swiss Government during the Iraq war; and for what reason he maintains no records centrally of similar contract breaches by other suppliers to his Department. [161778]

Mr. Ingram: There are currently three contracts in place with RUAG Ammotech GMBH, a wholly owned business subsidiary of RUAG, for the supply of ammunition and components. No action was taken against the company in respect of deliveries of 40 mm grenades suspended during the hostilities in Iraq, as this recognised the Swiss Government's long standing policy of neutrality. There was no impact of the operational effectiveness of British forces as available stocks were more than adequate to cover the Operation Telic requirements.

The incidents of similar contract breaches by other suppliers to the Ministry of Defence as a result of action by foreign governments is considered to be so low, that there is considered to be no value in collecting this type of information.

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