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22 Jul 2004 : Column 526W—continued
Iraq
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether at any point children have been detained in the Coalition-run detention centres in Umm Qasr; and if he will make a statement. [182929]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 8 July 2004]: During decisive operations to 1 May 2003 and subsequently, UK forces have detained individuals who have been a
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threat to them and a number believed to be criminals. Some of these people were detained in the facility at Umm Qasr and some were discovered to be under 18 years of age. Those internees and detainees still held by UK forces in the Umm Qasr facility were transferred to the UK Divisional Temporary Detention Facility at Shaibah on or about 15 December 2003.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2004, Official Report, column 1235W, on Iraq, whether hooding was a contributory factor in any harm suffered by individuals in the incident mentioned. [185973]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2004, Official Report, column 1235W, on Iraq, on what basis military commanders concluded that hooding detainees could be harmful. [185974]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2004, Official Report, column 1235W, on Iraq, whether military commanders concluded following the incident concerned that the potentially harmful effects of hooding could be fatal. [185975]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Lloyd Inquiry
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has given his Department's employees permission to give evidence to the inquiry into Gulf war illness being held under the chairmanship of Lord Lloyd of Berwick. [184822]
Mr. Caplin: I wrote to Lord Lloyd of Berwick on 12 July 2004 and explained that it would not be appropriate for Ministers, officials or serving military personnel to attend his investigation. However, in the interests of openness, I intend to provide Lord Lloyd with a pack of all appropriate documents by the end of July.
Major Ian Hill
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 15 January 2004, Official Report, column 822W, on Major Ian Hill, if he is now in a position to give his assessment of the findings of the Cheshire Coroner regarding the death of Major Ian Hill. [185161]
Mr. Caplin
[holding answer 19 July 2004]: The Ministry of Defence has completed its assessment of the findings of the Cheshire Coroner in the inquest of Edward lan Hill and has noted the observations, comments and findings.
22 Jul 2004 : Column 528W
Nimrod
Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Nimrod MR4A aircraft are required to provide the same operational capability as the current Nimrod fleet. [186067]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Nuclear Submarines
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to use (a) private finance initiative and (b) public private partnership mechanisms to decommission nuclear submarines. [184663]
Mr. Ingram: There are no plans to use either the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or Public Private Partnership (PPP) to defuel and decommission nuclear powered submarines when they leave operational service. Since 1990 this work has been contracted out to Devonport Management Limited in Plymouth. As part of this process, the submarine's reactor is defuelled at the earliest practicable opportunity and the fuel—High Level Waste (HLW)—is removed for long term storage at British Nuclear Fuels plc at Sellafield.
We are undertaking Project ISOLUS, to determine storage arrangements for the Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) from the decommissioned submarines, pending a decision on a national waste management solution, and are currently considering industry outline proposals. PFI, partnering and prime contracting are the procurement options being considered. PFI will only be pursued if it can be demonstrated that it offers the most effective procurement strategy.
Prisons (Iraq)
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many (a) male and (b) female prison officers are employed in the running of British military and civilian prisons in Iraq; how many have been prison officers employed in prisons in the UK; and if he will make a statement; [177244]
(2) how many (a) men and (b) women prison officers employed in British-run military/civilian prisons in Iraq have been removed from their role as prison officers because of concern as to their suitability to be a prison officer; and if he will make a statement. [184119]
Mr. Ingram: There are no British military or civilian prisons in Iraq, and no prison officers are employed. As at 21 July 2004, around 65 personnel are based at the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) at Shaibah. This is the only British detention facility in Iraq. All custody officers are currently male, although one female custody officer was employed previously. None is known to have been removed from duty.
Special Advisers
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the comprehensive spending review will be of special advisers. [185465]
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Mr. Caplin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Boateng) on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 190W.
Staffordshire Regiment
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Staffordshire Regiment. [185603]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Claiming Asylum Leaflet (Welsh Version)
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment he made of the demand for a version of the Community Legal Services leaflet Claiming Asylum to be printed in Welsh, before the leaflet was printed. [185938]
Mr. Lammy: Section 5(1)(a) of the Welsh Language Act 1993 provides that English and Welsh languages should be treated on a basis of equality in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice in Wales. In accordance with these obligations, the Legal Services Commission has produced the 'Claiming Asylum' leaflet in Welsh and all the Community Legal Service (CLS) Direct leaflets will be available in Welsh by autumn 2004.
Community Legal Service
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) which legal suppliers have over-billed for services provided on behalf of the Community Legal Service in each year since 1997; and what the total cost was of over-billing in each year; [185647]
(2) how many of those legal suppliers that over-billed for services provided on behalf of the Community Legal Service had their contracts terminated in each year since 1997; and on what date each termination took place. [185648]
Mr. Lammy: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) monitors whether costs claimed by suppliers are reasonable, either by individual bill submitted (for civil representation) or by auditing a sample of files (for controlled work under an LSC contract). At some stage, virtually all suppliers in receipt of public funding will have had their bills reduced, either by the LSC or by the court through its assessment process.
The LSC does not record costs in a way which enables them to identify the total cost for over-toiling in each year. Neither does it distinguish between those firms that have stopped doing work because the LSC has actively terminated contracts, and those firms that have withdrawn voluntarily. The LSC may terminate contracts for a range of reasons including over-toiling.
The LSC carries out cost compliance audits on all firms who are contracted with them to measure whether the suppliers are claiming correctly on their files. This is an
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objective audit where LSC compares what is claimed by the suppliers against what is actually evidenced in those files. Where a supplier is confirmed as 'category 3'—the lowest rating under the LSC's cost assessment audit— the Commission recovers the amounts claimed from the supplier. In 2003–04, the LSC recovered in excess of £7 million from 711 suppliers as a result of these audits.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what issues will be covered by the recorded message relating to education on the new Community Legal Service Direct advice line. [185260]
Mr. Leslie: Issues covered by recorded messages on the Community Legal Service (CLS) Direct advice line relating to education are as follows: parents rights relating to school exclusion, advice for parents unable to obtain a place for their child at their preferred school, rights and responsibilities of a parent whose child is truanting and advice for students facing difficulties with their university.
The Legal Services Commission plans to introduce further messages as other commonly experienced education-related problems are determined. Further topics are covered in leaflet number 20 of the CLS Direct Leaflet Series, entitled "Education: Parents' and Children's Rights at School." The leaflet is widely available in hard copy and also through the CLS Direct website.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) visitors to the Community Legal Services website and (b) callers to the Community Legal Services direct telephone line were received each day in the last month for which figures are available; and how many (i) website visits and (ii) calls he expects in the next year. [185261]
Mr. Lammy: The website of the Community Legal Service (CLS) was known as 'JustAsk!' prior to 14 July 2004, and 'CLS Direct' from this date. Figures for daily visits to the website, in June, are detailed in table 1.
The Community Legal Service Direct telephone line was launched on 14 July 2004 (although the line had been operational from 2 July 2004). Figures for calls to CLS Direct, in July, are detailed in table 2.
The increased publicity generated by the launch of CLS Direct is expected to increase significantly visits to the website and phone calls made. No precise estimates of total calls, or website visits, next year can yet be made.
Note:
The server was down for periods of time while essential work was being carried out in preparation for the launch of CIS Direct. A substantial number of visitors to the website are likely not to have been captured during this time. Average monthly website visits number around 60,000. Figures for July will be available in August 2004.
22 Jul 2004 : Column 531W
| Date | Number of calls |
|---|---|
| July 2004 | |
| 2 | 140 |
| 3 | 1 |
| 5 | 218 |
| 6 | 169 |
| 7 | 144 |
| 8 | 117 |
| 9 | 136 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 11 | 1 |
| 12 | 204 |
| 13 | 167 |
| 14 | 158 |
| 15 | 175 |
| 16 | 222 |
| 17 | 6 |
| 18 | 1 |
| 19 | 178 |
| 20 | 212 |
| 21 | 218 |
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