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11 Jan 2005 : Column 222W—continued
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many units of social housing are deemed not to meet thermal efficiency rating Standard Assessment Procedure 65, broken down by local authority area. [204629]
Keith Hill: In 2001, 2.9 million social sector dwellings had a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) rating of less than 65. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect this data by local authority area.
Ethnic Minorities
Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the extent to which his Department's policies meet the needs of ethnic minorities. [205771]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made a commitment, in its Race Equality Scheme, to considering the impact of its policies and functions on ethnic minorities.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Race Equality Scheme was published in May 2003 on our website, and highlights key activities where race is a consideration. The scheme was developed in consultation with staff across the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its agencies and with external stakeholders, including the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). To date there have been two reviews of the scheme. The first review is available on our website and in hard copy. The second is to be submitted to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's board shortly, together with an outline for the new scheme. Again, this will involve consultation with both internal and external stakeholders.
Nine training seminars, developed in line with CRE guidance, have been rolled out to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's staff with responsibility for undertaking race impact assessments on policy.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister continues to be actively involved in the development and implementation of the Home Office led Community Cohesion and Race Equality Strategy and with the Department of Work and Pensions led Ethnic Minority Employment Strategy with senior representation on the steering groups of each and a high level of official interaction.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also continue to work closely with CRE on race equality issues, a recent example being the production of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit ethnicity monitoring guidance for partnerships.
Fire Control Centres
Nick Harvey:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what arrangements are in place to begin construction of regional fire control centres; [206904]
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(2) if he will make a statement on the cost of building a new regional fire control centre in the South West; [206907]
(3) if he will make a statement on the proposed site for the South West regional fire control centre. [206908]
Mr. Raynsford: The buildings for the proposed new Fire and Rescue Service Regional Control Centres, including that for the South West, are currently being procured through a competitive tender process. The sites will not be known until the process is complete and developers have been chosen. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects this in the first quarter of 2005. Thereafter the chosen developers will be required to make appropriate arrangements for the construction of the control centres, on the sites they have put forward, to meet the project timescales and requirements. The developers will bear the costs of construction and will carry construction risk. The cost of the lease in each region will be known once the developer has been chosen.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be working in each regional fire control centre; and what equipment will be installed in each one. [206905]
Mr. Raynsford: The number of staff to be employed in each Regional Control Centre (RCC) will vary regionally, reflecting different demand levels. The requirement for fall back also means that RCC network is being designed to include the capacity to operate under spate and extreme conditions, even if one or more of the centres were to be unavailable for any reason.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently procuring the control centre technology under the EU's negotiated procedure to provide modern, high quality technology including an integrated command and communications system, a mobilising and resource management system, GIS and gazetteer, and an automatic vehicle location system in each RCC. The most advanced brigades in the country—including Norfolk, London and Greater Manchester—have formed the basis for a large number of our requirements. We are taking the best features of these and other systems and enhancing them to create a complete solution for the benefit of all fire and rescue services. The procurement will also provide networking equipment to connect together the RCCs, creating a national resilient network.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has given to brigades which will be required to relocate to the new regional fire control centres on costs which may be incurred from relocation. [206906]
Mr. Raynsford:
Fire and Rescue Authorities have been advised that net additional costs associated with the transition to regional control centres will be supported in line with new burdens principles. The 'new burdens' principle means that, where a central government department's policies or initiatives increase the cost, in any specific financial year, of providing local authority services, the Government will fund the additional expenditure, provided that the aggregate value of the burdens across all authorities in England is greater than £100,000.
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Fire Control Rooms
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what evaluation has been undertaken of the technology to be used in emergency fire control rooms; and what its anticipated cost is per room. [207298]
Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is undertaking a major procurement under the EU's negotiated procedure to provide modern, high quality technology, including integrated command and communications systems mobilising and resource management system, Graphical Information Systems (GIS) and gazetteer, and an automatic vehicle location system, for each Regional Control Centres (RCC). The most advanced systems in existing fire and rescue control rooms have formed the basis for the requirements. We are taking the best features of these and other systems and putting them together to create a complete solution for the benefit of all fire and rescue services. Information on expected costs is included in the draft outline business case, available on the FiReControl website at http://www.firecontrol.odpm.gov.uk.
Fire Service
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on the inclusion of representatives of the fire service unions other than the Fire Brigade Union within the new negotiating machinery for pay and conditions within the fire service. [206062]
Mr. Raynsford: It remains Government policy, as set out in the White Paper "Our Fire and Rescue Service", that union participation in negotiating arrangements for the Fire and Rescue Service should be widened. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes that voluntary reforms will achieve this and it is understood that negotiations about voluntary reform are continuing. However, the Government have taken reserve powers under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 which would enable them to set up new statutory arrangements if voluntary reforms do not result in improvement.
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many fire control officers were employed on (a) 31 March and (b) 30 September by each of the English fire and rescue authorities. [206067]
Mr. Raynsford: The following table shows the information requested.
Source:
Fire and Rescue Authority annual returns to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
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No additional data are collected in year, and therefore the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not have different figures for numbers of staff at 30 September.
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether technology other than TETRA will allow direct voice communication between personnel from different services at the scene of an incident under the proposed Firelink Integrated Radio System for the fire services. [206078]
Mr. Raynsford: Firelink is a wide-area radio system (covering communications between a control room and fire appliance). It does not replace the Fire and Rescue Services at-incident communications.
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