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South West Regional Rescue Control

Diana Organ: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to shortlist only private bidders for the proposed South West regional rescue control centre; when he will announce the shortlist; and on what criteria he will base his decision as to who will gain a place on the shortlist. [192028]

Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently running a competitive procurement for fire and rescue regional control centres under the EU Restricted Services Directive. Tenders have been invited from both public and private sector. Submitted sites have been evaluated against criteria such as accessibility (to both people and services), demographics, vulnerability to threats such as flooding, and suitability for development. During the procurement process we are unable to release any information on the tenderers and their proposals to anyone who is not directly involved in the procurement process.
 
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Emergency Services (Thames Gateway)

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many additional (a) fire stations and (b) firemen and women will be required under the Government's current growth plan for an additional 120,000 houses to be built between 2003 and 2016 in the Thames Gateway. [191518]

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Government introduced a new system of integrated risk management planning by fire and rescue authorities in April this year. Under Integrated Risk Management Planning, London, Kent and Essex Fire and Rescue Authorities will be responsible for determining their own policies and standards for prevention and intervention in the light of the risks identified. It will be for these authorities to take into account the planned development and to assess and manage the risks accordingly in light of the Government agenda for the Thames Gateway.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has supplied all Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) with computer software which enables them to identify the risks in their area, to plan responses and allocate resources to fire stations to minimise these risks. This software makes use of the National Census data, the road network and details of shops, offices factories etc.

SCOTLAND

Ministers' Private Offices

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in his Department have been in each year since 1997. [191374]

Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

In the period 1 July 1999 to 31 March 2000, the costs of running the ministerial private offices were not recorded separately. The costs of running the ministerial private offices of the Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General after March 2000 were:

	£
2000–01	522,721
2001–02	614,146
2002–03	591,886
2003–04 est	514,813

The figures do not include accommodation costs and other overheads.

Parliamentary Constituencies

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to lay the conclusions on the new Scottish parliamentary constituency boundaries before Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [191334]

Mr. Darling: I am required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as soon as may be after the Boundary Commission for Scotland has submitted its
 
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report to me, to lay that report before Parliament together with a draft Order in Council for giving effect, with or without modifications, to the report's recommendations.

The Boundary Commission has not yet submitted its report. The timing is a matter for the Commission.

Theft and Fraud

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. [191422]

Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

The cost of theft to the office in 1999–2000 was estimated at £2,200. Since then, no cases of theft or fraud have been reported to the office.

TRANSPORT

Air Safety

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures his Department takes to guarantee the airworthiness and safety of aircraft operated by foreign airlines and freight companies into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [192803]

Charlotte Atkins: International civil aviation is governed by the Chicago Convention. Under the Convention, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is responsible for establishing minimum safety standards which contracting states are required to implement. States are required to recognise the certificates issued by other contracting states unless they have reason to believe that they have not been issued in accordance with ICAO standards. ICAO also audits contracting states' aviation authorities to help identify and address any deficiencies in the implementation of international standards. The reports of these audits are made available to all contracting states.

If we have doubts about whether an aircraft or airline complies with international safety standards we will arrange for the aircraft to be inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority. Such inspections are carried out in a format established under the European Civil Aviation Conference's (ECAC) Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAPA) programme. Reports of all ramp inspections conducted under the SAFA programme are held on a central database and are available to all ECAC states. ECAC is also finalising a system to ensure that all member states are alerted when a significant safety issue with a foreign airline is identified.

Any airline from outside the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland which wishes to pick up or put down passengers or cargo in the UK requires a permit from the Secretary of State for Transport. It is a condition of the permit that the airline should be operated in accordance with international safety standards established by ICAO. Permits may be refused, and existing permits suspended or revoked by the Secretary
 
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of State. This may occur where there is a breach of a permit condition, which would include non-compliance with international safety standards; however action can also be taken for reasons other than safety. Permit decisions will be reviewed in the light of new information or changed circumstances.

Air Travel Services

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of (a) levels of passenger numbers and (b) volume of freight carriage required to sustain the airports servicing the Yorkshire and Humber region following the opening of the Robin Hood airport in South Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement. [192504]

Charlotte Atkins: The Air Transport White Paper, published in December 2003, did not contain forecasts for the growth of Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, as such issues were examined in detail at the public local inquiry into its development as a civil airport. An assessment of the impact of passenger abstraction on other airports in the region has subsequently been made to inform consideration of the application for Objective 1 funding to support its development.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the percentage change in real terms in the costs of (a) internal and (b) international air flights for each year from 1975 to date, taking the 1975 cost to be 100. [193099]

Charlotte Atkins: Data are not available for UK internal flights or for more than the recent past for international flights. However, the historical global trend has been of an annual average decline of 3 per cent. in real terms since 1975. Taking 1975 as 100, this would imply a current index value of about 45. More recently, the average annual decline in real terms in the average fare to EU countries since 1994 has averaged 4.5 per cent. per annum.

Aircraft Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what maximum percentage decrease he expects to be achieved in aircraft emissions by 2020 from technological advances. [193100]

Charlotte Atkins: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1314–1315W.

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