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1 Apr 2004 : Column 1610W—continued
Opinion Sampling
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of total expenditure by his Department on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each year from 1995–96 to 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [162762]
Mr. Caplin: The Government want to hear what people have to say about proposed new policies and ideas and are committed to obtaining the best value for money. Public opinion research, including focus groups and polling, is subject to the usual strict rules that spending must represent good value for the taxpayer and must not be used for party political purposes. Research is widely used to inform the development, delivery and evaluation of policy.
Information on the totality of quantitative and qualitative surveys carried out by the Ministry of Defence and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Personnel Numbers
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the average number was of (a) military and (b) civilian full-time staff or equivalent employed in financial year 2002–03 by the (i) Fleet, (ii) General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), (iii) Field Army (Theatre Troops), (iv) 1 (UK) Armoured Division, (v) 2nd Division, (vi) UK Support Command (Germany), (vii) 3rd Division, (viii) Joint Helicopter Command, (ix) 4th Division, (x) Land Support and (xi) 5th Division management groups; [164662]
- (2) what the average number was of (a) military and (b) civilian full-time staff or equivalent employed in financial year 2002–03 by the (i) 1 Group, (ii) 3 Group 2 Group, (iii) Deputy Commander-in-Chief, (iv) British Forces Cyprus, (v) British Forces Gibraltar, (vi) Permanent Joint Headquarters, (vii) Sovereign Base Areas Administration and (viii) British Forces Falkland Islands management groups; [164665]
(3) what the average number was of (a) military and (b) civilian full-time staff or equivalent employed in financial year 2002–03 by the (i) Personnel Management Agency, (ii) Core HQ, (iii) Training Group Defence Agency, (iv) Internal Costs, (v) Programme Account and (vi) Nuclear management groups; [164666]
(4) what the average number was of (a) military and (b) civilian full-time staff or equivalent employed in financial year 2002–03 by the (i) Flag Officer Training and Recruiting, (ii) HQ, (iii) Naval Secretary, (iv) Army Personnel Centre, (v) Adjutant General, (vi) Army Training and Recruiting Agency, (vii) Army Programme, (viii) Service Children's Education and (ix) General Staff management groups; [164663]
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(5) what the average number was of (a) military and (b) civilian full-time staff or equivalent employed in financial year 2002–03 by the (i) Defence Fuels Group, (ii) Dep. Chief of Defence Logistics, (iii) Defence Communication Services Agency, (iv) Defence Logistics Support HQ, (v) Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency, (vi) DG Equipment Support (Land), (vii) Warship Support Agency, (viii) DG Equipment Support (Air), (ix) Defence Storage and Distribution Agency, (x) Director Land Service Ammunition, (xi) Defence Transport and Movements Agency and (xii) British Forces Post Office management groups; [164664]
(6) what the average number was of (a) military and (b) civilian full-time staff or equivalent employed in financial year 2002–03 by the (i) Personnel Director, (ii) War Pensions Agency, (iii) Pay and Personnel Agency, (iv) Surgeon General, (v) Defence Vetting Agency, (vi) Dep. Chief Defence Staff (Personnel), (vii) Defence Export Services Organisation, (viii) Defence Secondary Care Agency, (ix) Finance Director, (x) Defence Dental Agency, (xi) Defence Analytical Services Agency, (xii) Defence Housing Executive, (xiii) Defence Bills Agency, (xiv) Defence Medical Training Org, (xv) Chief Constable MOD Police, (xvi) Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency, (xvii) Chief Scientific Adviser, (xviii) Defence Estates, (xix) Policy Director, (xx) Deputy Chief Defence Staff (Commitments), (xxi) Deputy Chief Defence Staff (Equipment Capability), (xxii) Director Special Forces, (xxiii) Chief of Defence Intelligence, (xxiv) Defence Geographic and Imaging Intelligence Agency and (xxv) Defence Intelligence and Security Centre management groups. [164667]
Mr. Caplin: There has been a delay in providing this statistical information. I hope to be able to respond in detail soon and I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Public Private Partnerships (Specialist Reviews)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is his policy to require (a) the public sector comparator and (b) other commercial bids to undertake a public private partnership, to be subject to an independent specialist review to test their manpower and financial assumptions. [162672]
Mr. Ingram: All major spending projects including all Public Private Partnerships are subject to independent review by the Ministry of Defence scrutineers supporting the Department's Investment Approvals Board. In some cases Her Majesty's Treasury will also scrutinise bids. Certain commercial bids are referred to external advisers for specialist advice.
Royal Irish Regiment (3rd Battalion)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for the Third Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment to be (a) disbanded and (b) incorporated into other battalions; and whether it will remain fully operational after April 2005. [164951]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to my response to her question which I answered on 23 June 2003, Official Report, column 544W.
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Works Projects
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the proposed highway works in Northumberland, pursuant to project 4374. [163968]
Mr. Caplin: The highway works are on the A696 (T) and are in support of the infrastructure developments at the Otterburn Training Area to accommodate live firing of AS90 and multiple launch rocket system.
The works include nine traffic lay-by holding areas for use during the management of convoy movements. The works were undertaken on behalf of the MOD by the Highways Agency and are virtually complete.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Carbon Monoxide
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that householders (a) obtain and (b) use certified carbon monoxide detectors. [163386]
Mr. Browne: Carbon monoxide alarms conforming to the relevant British Standards are a useful back-up precaution for householders, but should not be regarded as a substitute for proper installation and maintenance of gas equipment by a competent installer registered with Council for Registered Gas Installers (CORGI).
In the meantime recommendation of CO alarms as a secondary line of defence has been included in the latest HSE guidance on gas safety and HSE is co-operating with industry on research to resolve questions around long-term reliability.
Gas Appliance Safety
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what discussions he has had with gas suppliers on (a) the need for regular gas checks and (b) the efficient operations of gas appliances in the domestic setting; [163389]
- (2) if he will convene a meeting at the earliest opportunity with the gas supply industry, the Health and Safety Executive and other relevant agencies to plan a national campaign to address the dangers of carbon monoxide poison from domestic gas appliances. [163392]
Mr. Browne: Officials from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have already met with representatives from the gas supply industry, who are currently developing a strategy for future national gas safety awareness campaigns. The industry players have committed to produce an agreed strategy for implementation in time for autumn 2004.
This is in addition to existing measures to promote awareness of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. These measures include the annual winter gas safety awareness campaign overseen by HSE, which this year targeted particularly vulnerable groups, such as students and other first-time renters, elderly people and parents of young children.
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HSE's domestic gas safety website contains information on the causes and symptoms of CO, and what to do if poisoning is suspected. HSE produces free leaflets on gas safety both for general consumers and landlords, including information on CO, in 12 community languages as well as English.
It also operates a Gas Safety Advice line providing free advice to callers. Additionally, where possible, HSE officials participate from time to time in awareness-raising events run by other organisations, such as local community groups.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will introduce a statutory requirement for all homes to have their gas appliances checked on a regular basis. [163390]
Mr. Browne: Residential landlords are already required by law at all times to maintain, in a safe condition, the gas appliances in their rental properties, and to carry out a gas safety check on an annual basis. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also strongly recommends that owner-occupiers put in place a regular servicing and maintenance routine for their gas appliances. However, when the question of introducing mandatory safety checks was examined by the Health and Safety Commission in 2000, the Commission concluded that such an approach would be difficult to justify on both cost and practicality grounds. The recommendation of their Review was that efforts should instead be focused on further publicity and guidance in order to raise awareness of the need for all gas appliances to be regularly checked for safety and services in accordance with manufacturers' instructions. I fully support this position.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions there have been in each of the last 10 years of landlords whose neglect of gas appliances caused the death of their tenants. [163391]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.
| Number of cases | Number of information laid | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 5 | 14 |
| 1998–99 | 3 | 22 |
| 1999–2000 | 5 | 6 |
| 2000–01 | 3 | 25 |
| 2001–02 | 1 | 24 |
| 2002–03 (provisional figures) | 0 | 0 |
Source:
Health and Safety Executive, Safety and Enforcement Statistics.
Each case relates to an individual landlord against whom one or more informations may have been laid; for example, a landlord may be prosecuted for failure to maintain gas appliances at a number of different properties
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