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21 Feb 2005 : Column 326W—continued

E-Government

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy min Minister what plans the Government have to continue funding for e-government after the completion of IEG4. [216648]

Phil Hope: Following the Office of the Deputy min Minister's notification of a satisfactory IEG4 return, local authorities in England will be eligible to apply for further IEG capital grant of £150,000 towards achieving e-government covering the period 1 April 2005–31 March 2006. The equivalent IEG capital grant for National Park Authorities in 2005–06 is £100,000.

Empty Dwellings

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy min Minister how many empty homes there have been in each Government Office Region in England in each year since 1997. [216037]

Keith Hill: The available information on empty residential dwellings in England by Government Office region is tabled as follows:
Vacant dwelling stock at 1 April, 1997 to 2004

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
North East	41,000	44,000	49,000	50,000	46,000	47,000	44,000	40,000
North West	125,000	126,000	127,000	138,000	141,000	136,000	135,000	128,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	81,000	86,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	94,000	88,000	85,000
East Midlands	67,000	67,000	67,000	68,000	63,000	58,000	59,000	59,000
West Midlands	73,000	78,000	77,000	80,000	79,000	77,000	73,000	76,000
East of England	81,000	73,000	70,000	70,000	63,000	64,000	63,000	60,000
London	122,000	114,000	114,000	105,000	105,000	101,000	101,000	100,000
South East	101,000	96,000	95,000	87,000	86,000	85,000	81,000	84,000
South West	78,000	70,000	67,000	64,000	68,000	71,000	76,000	63,000
England	767,000	753,000	767,000	761,000	751,000	732,000	720,000	694,000

Sources:
The Office of the Deputy min Minister's Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return and Housing Corporation's Regulatory and Statistical Return.

Exchange Flags

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Deputy min Minister what progress has been made in reinvesting in Liverpool the sum repaid by the Walton Group in respect of Exchange Flags, as promised by his Department on 4 April 2003. [216461]

Yvette Cooper: English Partnerships (EP), the Government's national regeneration agency, is currently working on a number of schemes in Liverpool including one to significantly enhance the Lime Street Gateway. This will include new public space, improved accessibility and potentially a new landmark building. English Partnerships will seek to allocate the Exchange Buildings windfall to a scheme including environmental improvements, in line with the intention behind the original grant. One option is the proposed investment in the Lime Street scheme where EP is working with Liverpool Vision, Liverpool city council, Network Rail, Merseytravel and the private sector.

Detailed design work and financial analysis is ongoing with a view to obtaining the necessary approvals for this scheme by the summer.

Fire Authority (Lancashire)

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Deputy min Minister if he will make provision for district council representation on the Fire Authority in Lancashire. [216212]

Mr. Raynsford: The Lancashire Combined Fire Authority comprises of 25 councillors representing Lancashire County and the Unitary Authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. There are no proposals to alter the composition of the Authority.

Fire Deaths (Leicester, South)

Mr. Gill: To ask the Deputy min Minister how many fire-related deaths in dwellings in Leicester, South there were in each year since 1997. [216937]

 
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Phil Hope: This information is not published at constituency level. Fire statistics are compiled by the Office of the Deputy min Minister for each fire and rescue authority. In this case, Leicester, South's fires and casualties are reported as part of the Leicestershire total.

Figures supplied by the Leicestershire fire and rescue service are tabled as follows:
Fire related deaths in dwellings: Leicester, South constituency, 1997 to date

	Number
1997	1
1998	2
1999	2
2000	0
2001	0
2002	1
2003	1
2004	1
2005 (to date)	0

Fire Service

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy min Minister what his Department's estimate is of the (a) capital and (b) start-up cost of the Firelink communications system. [216614]

Mr. Raynsford: This information is commercially sensitive. The Office of the Deputy min Minister is conducting an open competition under EU procurement procedures for the Firelink contract, with a view to letting a contract by mid 2005. The imperative is to run a fair and open competition in order to deliver best value for money for the public purse.

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy min Minister what advice he has given to fire and rescue authorities regarding retention of skilled fire control staff in the period up to the introduction of regional fire control centres in 2007–08. [216618]

Mr. Raynsford: Fire and Rescue Authorities are the employers of control staff and are best placed to understand what is required to retain them. The Office of the Deputy min Minister has provided draft guidance to the Employers' Organisation, which they may wish to use. It has also indicated a willingness to fund sensible retention programmes devised by local Fire and Rescue Authorities taking into account the proximity of the location of existing controls to the RCC, the local employment market and other local conditions, and provided for the first element of those costs in 2005–06 under new burdens" principles.

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy min Minister what estimate his Department has made of the capital receipt that would be achieved from the sale of radio spectrum released by the fire and rescue services upon completion of the Firelink Project. [216624]

Mr. Raynsford: The sale of spectrum is a matter for Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Deputy min Minister what recent studies his Department has commissioned on fire services. [217150]

 
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Mr. Raynsford: The following sets out recent studies (commissioned in this financial year) that were commissioned by the Office of the Deputy min Minister on fire services (or their work):

A study to standardise terminology used by police and fire services.

A study to examine the potential for a low cost suppression system for the domestic environment.

A study to explore Fire and Rescue Service experiences of implementing key components of the Integrated Personal Development System (IPDS).

A study to establish and assess the range of interventions currently available at rehabilitating known or suspected arsonists, or aim to prevent a young child's interest in fire from developing into more serious fire-setting behaviour.

A study commissioned a specialist consultant to review existing materials relating to fire investigation standards/protocols, and to devise new standards for fire investigation applicable to all professionals who investigate fires (eg fire, forensic service, Ministry of Defence fire services etc.).

A survey of retained duty system personnel working to establish their main or primary employment and the extent to which their current employers support them in taking time off work to undertake retained duties.

A study to evaluate the work of the Community Fire Safety Innovation Fund in its first two years.

The Building Disaster Assessment Group commissioned three elements of work to further inform fire and rescue service operating procedures. These are (a) the development of computer programme to inform personnel of the pressures and flows available for dry rising fire mains in tall buildings, (b) an initial review of the performance of externally located systems for measuring core body temperature, and (c) formal agreement with the Australasian Fire Authorities Council on the joint development of a fire brigade intervention model.

A scoping study to define requirements for the development of decision making support tools for incidents involving hazardous materials.

A study to examine the effectiveness of casualty showering as a decontamination process for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents.

A joint study between the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) evaluation of personal protective equipment (PPE), including the FRS gas tight suit.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Deputy min Minister how many firefighters were (a) wounded and (b) killed on duty in (i) 2004 and (ii) each of the previous seven years. [217151]

Mr. Raynsford: The latest available information reported to the Office of the Deputy min Minister by fire and rescue services via the FDR1 return is in the following table:
Firefighter casualties incurred while fighting fires in England, 1997–2003

	Fatal casualties	Non fatal casualties(175)
1997	0	538
1998	0	509
1999	0	499
2000	0	428
2001	0	375
2002	1	336
2003(176)	0	361

⁽¹⁷⁵⁾ Excludes precautionary checks
⁽¹⁷⁶⁾ Provisional
Source:
Fire and Rescue Service returns to ODPM





 
21 Feb 2005 : Column 329W
 

From others sources; there were two firefighter fatalities reported in 2004. Full information on non fatal injuries to firefighters in 2004 is not available at present.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy min Minister what representations he has received on the impact his proposed regional reorganisation of the fire service will have on services in North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement. [215953]

Mr. Raynsford: The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service operates under the direction of a Fire and Rescue Authority made up of elected councillors from York and North Yorkshire. The Office of the Deputy min Minister has no plans to change these arrangements.

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