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11 Nov 2004 : Column 842W—continued
PRIME MINISTER
Consultants
Mr. Weir: To ask the Prime Minister how much his office spent in each year since 2002 on employing (a) external management consultants and (b) external human resources consultants; and if he will make a statement. [195762]
Pete Wishart: To ask the Prime Minister how much expenditure his Department has incurred in each year since 2002 on employing external consultants to deal with the press and public relations of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [195453]
The Prime Minister:
For these purposes my office is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Members to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office gave the hon. Member for North Tayside (Pete Wishart) today.
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Departmental Estate
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the properties occupied by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2004, showing (A) for each and (B) in aggregate the area; and what in aggregate the annual rental value was. [196365]
The Prime Minister: For these purposes my office is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office today.
DEFENCE
156 Provost Company
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will issue posthumous medals to the members of 156 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, killed on active service in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [196299]
Mr. Hoon: The armed forces do not, as a matter of course, make recommendations for the award of military honours to all those who have died in the line of duty.
However, service personnel who die on operations are awarded Campaign Medals. All the Royal Military Policemen who died in Al Majarr al Kabir last year were awarded posthumously the Iraq Campaign Medal, which was presented to their families at a service at the Royal Military Police Training School Chapel on 4 September 2004.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will publish the findings of the report of the investigation into the deaths of members of 156 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, killed on active service in Iraq. [196300]
Mr. Hoon: The Board of Inquiry into the deaths of the six Royal Military Policemen who died in Al Majarr al Kabir last year has now concluded and I expect to be able to publish information on the outcome of that inquiry shortly.
The Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch (SIB) investigation has been referred to the central criminal court of Iraq. In line with usual practice we have no plans to make public the SIB findings.
Channel Islands
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) British service personnel and (b) ships will take part in the 60th anniversary celebration of the liberation of the Channel Islands in May 2005; and if he will make a statement. [196727]
Mr. Caplin: Arrangements are being made for the armed forces to be represented at events in the Channel Islands in May 2005, but at this stage it is too early to be more specific.
Departmental Publications (Accessibility)
Mr. Goodman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of
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publications issued by his Department are available in (a) Braille, (b) autoprint, (c) large print and (d) easy read format. [194298]
Mr. Caplin: Due to the lack of demand, the Ministry of Defence no longer routinely holds in store copies of its corporate publications in formats such as Braille and large print. However, in accordance with the Ministry's equality and diversity guidelines and legislative requirements, alternative formats of corporate publications are provided as and when they are requested.
Falklands War
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Ministry of Defence will sponsor a commemoration in the UK of the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands. [173790]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 17 May 2004]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him at Defence questions on 25 October 2004, Official Report, columns 1133–34.
Temporary Staff
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 November 2004, Official Report, column 223W, on temporary staff, how many agency temporary staff have been working for his Department in its central headquarters buildings in each of the last five years. [196615]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 8 November 2004]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 2 November 2004, Official Report, column 223W.
US Military Personnel (Europe)
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the implications for UK security of the decision by the US Department of Defense to re-organise its military personnel in Europe. [187568]
Mr. Hoon: US plans for the disposition of their forces are a matter for them. Our assessment, however, of the US proposals for future deployments in Europe that have, so far, been made public is that they are entirely consistent with the historic US commitment to European security and to the NATO alliance. They reflect moves across the alliance to develop more flexible and rapidly deployable force structures, including through the development of the NATO Response Force and Allied Command for Transformation. The US have made clear their intention to continue to consult allies, including the UK, as their plans develop.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Central Government Grant
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes there were in central Government grant allocated to (a) Hereford and Worcester county council for each year between 1992 and 1998 and (b) Worcestershire county council since 1998. [197379]
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Mr. Raynsford: The amount of central Government grant allocated to (a) Hereford and Worcester county council for each year between 1992 and 1998 and (b) Worcestershire county council since 1998 are in the following tables.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1993–94 | 318,044 |
| 1994–95 | 328,233 |
| 1995–96 | 277,981 |
| 1996–97 | 290,772 |
| 1997–98 | 292,429 |
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 234,279 |
| 1999–2000 | 253,735 |
| 2000–01 | 275,842 |
| 2001–02 | 296,776 |
| 2002–03 | 316,844 |
| 2003–04 | 341,186 |
| 2004–05 | 365,693 |
It is not possible to give figures for 1991–92 and 1992–93 as, under the community charge system which was in operation then, some grant was paid into the collection funds operated by lower tier authorities and hence supported expenditure by more than one tier.
The data are taken from the Revenue Summary (RS) (outturn) forms for all years except 2003–04 and 2004–05 when the data are taken from the Revenue Account (RA) (budget) form. These forms are completed each year by individual local authorities.
Grants in the table include special and specific grants inside "Aggregate External Finance", Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) reduction grant, Police grant, Revenue support grant, Central support protection grant and Redistributed Non- domestic rates.
Commonwealth Citizens (Voting Rights)
Dame Marion Roe: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister under which legislation Commonwealth citizens are entitled to vote in local government elections in the UK; and what the eligibility criteria are. [196446]
Mr. Raynsford: Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are entitled to vote in local government elections under section 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1983.
To be eligible to vote in a local government election qualifying Commonwealth citizens must be registered in the register of local government electors for that area; must not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote, age apart; and must be of voting age, that is 18 years or over.
Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are those who do not require leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Immigration Act 1971, or those who require leave, but for the time being have any description of such leave.
Dame Marion Roe:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department is planning to review the entitlement of Commonwealth citizens to vote in UK
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elections for which his Department is responsible in countries in which British citizens are not entitled to vote in elections. [196878]
Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to carry out such a review.
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