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Nuclear Installations

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade   and Industry what recent assessment she has received on the adequacy of protection measures against malevolent adversaries and terrorists at nuclear installations. [173342]

Mr. Timms: My officials are in frequent contact with the Office for Civil Nuclear Security about security arrangements and the protection of civil nuclear sites.

It is not Government policy to disclose the substance of those discussions and assessments, since such information may be of potential use to terrorists. However, the Director of Civil Nuclear Security publishes an annual report on the state of security in the civil nuclear industry and the effectiveness of security regulation. His next report is due this summer.

Post Office Closures

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices have been closed in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) the constituency of Huntingdon in each year since 1997. [172632]

Mr. Timms: I am advised by Post Office Ltd. that data on post office closures by county or Parliamentary constituency is not available in the form requested as the company does not require this data for its operational purposes. However, I understand that since March 2000 the company has recorded details of post office closures
 
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on the basis of Government region and in the East of England region as a whole, the numbers of net closures were as follows:
Region: East of England

	Number
2000–01	70
2001–02	21
2002–03	33

Post Office Ltd. produces statistics on post office closures on a quarterly basis. The latest data on net closures by region currently available for year 2003–04 is to the end of December 2003. Data for the quarter to end March 2004 is expected shortly. There were 61 net closures of post offices in the East of England region to the end of December 2003. These figures include a total of 55 closures in the East of England region under the urban reinvention programme since its commencement in late 2002.

Renewable Energy

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to make it obligatory for renewable energy developers to deliver community benefit. [170174]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 12 May 2004]: I have no   plans to do so. However the Department is commissioning a study of the actual and potential impact of community benefits schemes on the deployment of renewable, especially wind, energy projects.

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to facilitate negotiations between renewable energy developers and local communities affected by wind farm development regarding the calculation and delivery of community benefit. [170175]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 12 May 2004]: The community impact of wind farm developments, and any possible compensating benefits, should be addressed through the planning process in the normal way.

The Department is commissioning a study of the actual and potential impact of community benefits schemes on the deployment of renewable, especially wind, energy projects.

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect of trends in renewable energy upon residents in Wirral, South. [170378]

Mr. Timms: As I far as I am aware recent trends in investment have not led directly to new renewables capacity in Wirral South itself. For details of developments in the surrounding Liverpool area I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) on 25 March 2004, Official Report, column 1109W, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 28 April 2004, Official Report, columns 1162–63W and my hon. Friend the Member for Bootle (Mr. Benton) on 11 May 2004, Official Report, column 248W.
 
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Accountancy Services

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department and its agencies. [166090]

Yvette Cooper: Since the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established on 29 May 2002, the value of contracts placed with the suppliers detailed in the question are listed as follows, along with the values of those let by agencies. The nature of all the contracts can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
£

ODPM
Deloitte & Touche	1,279,920
Ernst & Young	12,120,102
KPMG	3,329,904
PricewaterhouseCoopers	5,108,650
The Planning Inspectorate
KPMG	156,921
PricewaterhouseCoopers	17,625
The Fire Service College
Deliotte & Touche	9,037
PricewaterhouseCoopers	68,258

The QE2 Conference Centre has not placed any contracts with the consultancy firms in question.

Deprivation

Richard Burden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements are being made with (a) local authorities and (b) other agencies to publish by district council information on pockets of deprivation identified by the new index of deprivation. [172028]

Yvette Cooper: The Indices of Deprivation 2004, published on 26 April, contains information on small pockets of deprivation. These are known as super output areas and cover between 1,000 and 3,000 people. The published information contains a rank and score for each super output area as well as the local authority and Government office region in which it is located.

Fire Service

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to ensure that fire services for which their departments are responsible are aware of the Government's commitment to a change agenda following the Independent Review of the Fire Service. [172524]

Mr. Raynsford: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister meets with Cabinet colleagues on a regular basis. Ministers and officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are also in regular contact with colleagues from other Government Departments in the
 
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course of Government business, including matters relating to the modernisation agenda for the Fire and Rescue Service.

Grahame Park

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether Barnet council is meeting the terms of his Department's grant for neighbourhood wardens for Grahame Park; and if he will make a statement. [153840]

Yvette Cooper: The Government Office for London have pursued the issue of whether Barnet council has complied with the terms of their funding in 2003–04. It is the understanding of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that they have done so. We have been advised however that since August 2003, Barnet has not been supporting the eight street wardens and four neighbourhood wardens for annual leave, sickness and training under the scheme. Also because of where the base station has been located, wardens were spending 30 minutes of their duty at the beginning and end of the day travelling to and from Grahame Park. Funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for wardens schemes in Barnet began in December 2000 and ceased on 31 March 2004. Future funding is a matter for local agencies. Over 80 per cent. of the first round of warden schemes have already secured ongoing funding.

Green Belt

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2004, Official Report, columns 1331–32W, on Green Belt, (1) if he will estimate how much land was used for such developments in (a) 1999 and (b) each year since 2001 for which figures are available; [172478]

(2) if he will estimate how much land was used for such developments in (a) 1999 and (b) each year since 2001 for which figures are available;. [172479]

(3) if he will estimate the number of such developments in (a) 1999 and (b) each year since 2001 for which figures are available. [172480]

Keith Hill: The answers referred to gave the full extent of information currently available. Land Use Change Statistics are derived from Ordnance Survey's map revision process. In urban areas Ordnance Survey records mostly change within six months of the development taking place but in rural areas there can be up to five years between a change taking place and its recording by Ordnance Survey. Early estimates of percentages of dwellings that are on previously developed land and of dwellings per hectare on new developments have been found to be robust and are published early. Totals of land or dwellings, however,
 
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continue to increase as further data come in and at present only the 2000 figures are close enough to their final values to be published. There was a particular problem with the 1999 data, which is incomplete and will remain so.

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