---

17 Nov 2004 : Column 1471W—continued

Public Conveniences

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to amend section 87 of the Public Health Act 1936 in order to make it mandatory for local authorities to provide public conveniences. [198787]

Phil Hope: The Government have no plans to amend section 87 of the Public Health Act 1936 to make it mandatory for local authorities to provide public conveniences.

Regional Co-ordination Unit

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the functions are of the Regional Co-ordination Unit; what guidelines have been issued governing its activities; and to whom it reports. [198156]

Phil Hope: The unit's current responsibilities are set out in the Regional Co-ordination Unit and Government Office Network Corporate Plan 2004–05. A copy of this has been made available in the Library of the House.

Fire Service

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the terms of the tender for the regional fire control centre for the South West were; how many bids were received; how many were shortlisted; and what shortlisting process was used for the tenders. [197356]

Mr. Raynsford: The tender for the control centre was for a private developer scheme using the "Restricted" procedure of the EU Services Directive, advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union on 21 April 2004. In parallel, submissions were invited from the public sector to be put forward with the endorsement of the relevant Regional Management Board. In the South West 31 sites were put forward in 28 submissions, including regional submissions. The criteria for the evaluation were determined by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Corporate Procurement. A financial evaluation was undertaken of the private sector submissions. A technical evaluation was undertaken on a like for like basis of private sector and regionally submitted sites, including site visits by local property advisors. Those that passed the criteria were then visited by the full technical team. Each stage of the process concluded with a moderation meeting. The meeting at the final stage was attended by a representative from the Local Government Association.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role regional chambers (a) have and (b) will have in relation to fire and rescue services. [198486]

Mr. Raynsford: The regional chambers have no role in relation to fire and rescue services. There are no plans to change this.
 
17 Nov 2004 : Column 1472W
 

Regional Housing Boards

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) which regions have established regional housing boards; [198482]

(2) how regional housing boards are funded; and what their estimated budgets are in the forthcoming financial year; [198483]

(3) if he will make a statement on the relationship between regional housing boards and regional chambers. [198484]

Keith Hill: The Communities Plan, published in March 2003, introduced a regional housing board in each of the nine English regions, chaired by the regional director of the Government Office. The boards receive no direct funding: secretariat costs are met from within existing Government Office budgets. The regional chamber (in London the GLA) is a key member of each board. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting on our proposal that to achieve greater integration at the regional level between housing and planning responsibility for the work of the regional housing boards (i.e. production of a regional housing strategy and making recommendations to Ministers on allocations for housing capital investment) should pass to the regional chamber, which, in each region, is already the regional planning body.

Select Committee Recommendations

Mr. Allen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many recommendations by parliamentary select committees have been adopted by his Department since June 2001. [197771]

Phil Hope: Select committee reports are given very careful consideration by the Ministers in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Since June 2001, several committees of both Houses have made recommendations on matters for which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible. Select Committee reports and their responses are a matter of public record.

South East England Regional Assembly

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost will be of the south east England regional assembly sending a questionnaire to households to gauge their views on housebuilding. [198338]

Keith Hill: The regional assembly currently estimate it will cost in the order of £175,000 to provide leaflets with a brief questionnaire to all households and to local authorities for wider distribution, in order to gauge views on spatial options for future development in the south east.

PRIME MINISTER

Butler Report

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 3 November, Official Report, column 250W, whether he has a timescale for completing the implementation of the Butler recommendations. [198348]

 
17 Nov 2004 : Column 1473W
 

The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to my answer of 3 November, Official Report, column 250W.

Honours System

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister what changes he plans to make to the Honours system. [198335]

The Prime Minister: I shall respond to the reviews carried out by the Public Administration Select Committee and Sir Hayden Phillips shortly.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will publish the evidence on the basis of which he disputed the findings, published in The Lancet, estimating the number of Iraqi civilians killed as a result of military actions since 20 March 2003; [196013]

(2) what bodies are (a) funded and (b) supported by the British Government to gather, collate and publish the number of Iraqi civilians (i) killed and (ii) injured by the military actions of coalition forces; [196014]

(3) pursuant to his oral answer of 3 November 2004, Official Report, column 301, to the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon) if he will request the Iraqi Ministry of Health to furnish him with a breakdown of the 3,000 deaths by (a) gender, (b) age, (c) location and (d) cause; [197271]

(4) what action he plans to take to ensure independent assessment of civilian casualties in Falluja as a result of the recent military activities; and if he will make a statement. [199140]

The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement "Iraq: Casualty Estimates: Lancet Study" made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Straw) today.
 
17 Nov 2004 : Column 1474W
 

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon) of 3 November 2004, Official Report, column 301, if he will request the Iraqi Ministry of Health to furnish him with the number of civilian deaths in the six months from November 2003 to April 2004, broken down by (a) gender, (b) age, (c) location and (d) cause. [197270]

The Prime Minister: The Iraqi Ministry of Health only began collating figures for civilian casualties in April 2004. They are unable to provide figures for periods before that.

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon) of 3 November 2004, Official Report, column 301, if he will list the sources other than the figures provided by the Iraqi Minister of Health which caused him not to accept figures of civilian deaths reported by The Lancet. [197334]

The Prime Minister: As I made clear in my answer to the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon) on 3 November, Official Report, column 301, the figures to which I referred were from the Iraqi Ministry of Health.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects Saddam Hussein to be brought to trial; and if he will make a statement. [198375]

The Prime Minister: Saddam Hussein was arraigned by an Iraqi court on 1 July and appeared before the court again last month. It is for the Iraqi courts to determine the timing of Saddam Hussein's trial.

---