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20 Jul 2004 : Column 213W—continued
Surplus Land
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what plans (a) he and (b) English Partnerships have to (i) publish, (ii) make available for public inspection, (iii) place in the Library and (iv) place on line with full public access English Partnership's register of surplus public sector land; [183838]
(2) if he will list the (a) location and (b) size in hectares of each site in the register of surplus public sector land; and what the total (i) size in hectares of all such sites and (ii) number of sites is in each Government office region. [183839]
Keith Hill: The Register of Surplus Public Sector Land has been set up to enable Government Departments and their sponsored bodies to share information about the availability of land before it is released on the open market for disposal. The Register is part of new arrangements introduced to make better use of, and to deal with the disposal of, public sector land. This followed a review by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HM Treasury. The Register is operated by English Partnerships.
The Register provides a mechanism for Government Bodies to ensure that public assets surplus to their individual needs can be put to effective use within the public sector and to identify suitable sites to meet their own operational requirements. It is helping to deliver the policies set out in the Governments Plan for Sustainable Communities (February 2003).
There are no plans for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or English Partnerships to publish or make publicly available information about individual sites on the Register. In many cases the information provided for the Register is confidential for commercial reasons. It is for the owners of individual sites to determine if information is made publicly available.
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CBRN Training
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what training has been given to emergency services personnel in respect of coping with a potential chemical biological radiological nuclear incident. [184605]
Mr. Raynsford: Primary responsibility for mass decontamination in the event of a CBRN incident has been given to the fire and rescue service, through the New Dimension programme of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Government have provided a range of equipment to the fire and rescue service to improve its ability to cope with such an event, and are fully funding training to use this equipment.
Every firefighter has received basic CBRN training, which is now being followed by continuance training. Training has been provided by the Fire Service College and is complemented by a range of interactive training CDs and hard copy materials. Firefighters have also joined with the other emergency services in a range of local, regional and national exercises, such as that at Bank Underground station in September 2003, and the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in July 2004. Responsibility for training the other emergency services lies with their sponsoring departments.
Your Say Event (Sunderland)
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost of the Your Say event held in Sunderland on 30 June was; how many invitees attended; how many members of the public attended; and what the cost per member of the public was. [185484]
Mr. Raynsford: The total cost of the Your Say event held in Sunderland on the 30 June was £4,400:
45 members of the public attended, including 29 invitees.
The cost per member of the public, including invitees, was £98.
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost to public funds was, including publicity, of the regional hearing held at the Crowtree Leisure Centre in Sunderland on 30 June. [184178]
Mr. Raynsford: The total cost to public funds was £4,400.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many alcohol-related antisocial behaviour incidents there have been since 1997. [182295]
Ms Blears:
Statistics on alcohol related antisocial behaviour are not collected. However the table shows British Crime Survey statistics (in percentages) from 1996–2003 taken from people who believe their assailants were under the influence of alcohol when they were assaulted.
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| Under influence of drink | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
| 1996 | 40 | 53 | 6 |
| 1998 | 42 | 48 | 10 |
| 2000 | 40 | 50 | 9 |
| 2001–02 | 47 | 44 | 9 |
| 2002–03 | 44 | 45 | 11 |
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) acceptable behaviour contracts and (b) antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in the Avon and Somerset police force area, broken down by basic command unit. [184650]
Ms Blears: Data on the number of acceptable behaviour contracts agreed are not collected centrally.
The available information is given in the table, up to 31 March 2004 (latest available), on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued, as notified to the Home Office, within the Avon and Somerset police force area, by local authority area. The data collected are not identifiable by basic command unit area but by the local authority area within which the prohibitions apply.
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been issued in Nottingham in the last year; and if he will list the 10 cities that have issued the most ASBOs during this period. [182662]
Ms Blears: The available information is given in the table.
| Local authority area | Number issued |
|---|---|
| Nottingham city council | 16 |
| Manchester city council | 108 |
| Leeds city council | 99 |
| Salford metropolitan borough council | 54 |
| Oldham metropolitan borough council | 37 |
| Liverpool city council | 34 |
| Birmingham city council | 34 |
| London borough of Camden | 31 |
| Bolton metropolitan borough council | 30 |
| Trafford metropolitan borough council | 18 |
| Burnley borough council | 18 |
| Brighton and Hove council | 18 |
Bichard Inquiry Report
Ms Shipley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timescale is for the implementation of each of the Bichard Report recommendations, with particular reference to (a) departments retaining records of cases not referred to the police, (b) all posts in schools being subject to the enhanced disclosure requirement, (c) head teachers and school governors receiving training to ensure that interviews reflect the importance of safeguarding children, (d) interview panels to appoint
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staff working in schools requiring at least one trained member and (e) the introduction of a national IT intelligence system. [180583]
Mr. Blunkett: We are developing urgently a programme for implementing the recommendations in the Bichard Report. The Home Office is co-ordinating this programme, but it will involve all the Government Departments responsible for implementation agreeing a timetable and key milestones for the work. We are committed to achieving substantial progress across the range of recommendations by the time Sir Michael Bichard reconvenes his Inquiry in six months.
The current criteria of eligibility for Enhanced Disclosures have been under review. Proposals for revised criteria have been the subject of consultation and the results are being analysed. The recommendation that all posts working with children and vulnerable adults, including posts in schools, should be eligible for Enhanced Disclosures is being taken forward in the context of this review. Our aim is that new criteria should be in place by the end of the year.
Work to develop a national IT system for police intelligence is being undertaken as a key priority. It may well be two years before such a system is fully up and running. However, the work we have done with the police service to develop a strategic approach to the delivery of national IT infrastructure is already producing great progress. The Police Local Exchange (PLX) system, which indicates where forces hold intelligence on specific individuals, will be introduced as an interim solution by spring 2005. Taking into account projects such as the £500 million Airwave communication system, the new national DMA database and the investment we have put into the Criminal Records Bureau over the past three years, we have invested more than ever before. This commitment is further reinforced by the £600 million that we allocated from 2002 to the whole criminal justice IT system to improve links between the courts, policing and social services.
The other specific recommendations referred to are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Officials in his Department are already in discussion with the National College for School Leadership about ways in which appropriate training might be developed for head teachers and governors to enable them to reflect the importance of safeguarding children when interviewing for staff appointments. It will be necessary to consider the practical issues associated with delivering additional training to many of the approximately 22,100 head teachers and a proportion of the estimated 350,000 school governors before making a commitment to a timescale for this to happen.
As regards handling information about cases involving known or suspected offences against children, the Department for Education and Skills will be writing to local authorities very shortly to reaffirm the existing guidance in "Working Together to Safeguard Children" and will set out how the relevant recommendations will be taken forward in the longer term.
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