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7 Mar 2005 : Column 1538W—continued

RAF

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the drop-out rate for 16 to 24-year-olds from the Royal Air Force has been in each year since 1997. [212359]

Mr. Caplin: The outflow of 16 to 24-year-olds from the Royal Air Force for each year since 1997 is as follows:

	Percentage outflow rate
1997–98	7.1
1998–99	7.5
1999–2000	7.0
2000–01	7.9
2001–02	7.2
2002–03	6.8
2003–04	7.2

Figures are based on all outflow from the untrained and trained start strength and intake for RAF regular personnel aged 16 to 24 for each financial year. They exclude Full Time Reserve Service and mobilised reserves personnel.

Figures on outflows by age are published annually in Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 19 'Intake to and Outflow from UK Regular Forces'.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF recruits in 2004 were from (a) London and (b) Essex. [212360]

 
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Mr. Caplin: In financial year 2004–05, the number of personnel who applied to join the RAF at Armed Forces Career Offices located in London and Essex, and were subsequently recruited, are set out in the following table:

	London	Essex
Officers and non-commissioned aircrew	13	3
Other ranks	26	25

Regiments

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many representations he has received supporting the separate future of each of the three regiments due to merger into the Kings, Lancashire and Border Regiment; [219060]

(2) which (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) members of the Army Board (i) visited and (ii) met with representatives of each of the three regiments to discuss the merger into the Kings, Lancashire and Border Regiment. [219061]

Mr. Ingram: As I have made clear in my previous answers to the hon. Member, the process of infantry restructuring involved a wide-ranging and detailed consultation exercise with the infantry being invited to express their views on how the restructuring should be implemented. As part of that process, Colonels Commandant of the Divisions of Infantry represented their views to the Executive Committee of the Army Board both in writing and in person.

I am not aware that any officials have met representatives of the regiments to which the hon. Member refers, but both the Defence Secretary and I have met representatives of various regiments and regimental associations. In addition I have received numerous representations from hon. Members and members of the public in support of all our infantry regiments.

Trident

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will allow independent monitors to test for radioactive contamination at the Trident nuclear base on the Clyde. [218343]

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether testing for radioactive contamination takes place at sites up to (a) one mile, (b) five miles and (c) 20 miles from the Trident nuclear base on the Clyde; [218354]

(2) what the current level of radioactive contamination in the (a) water, (b) air and (c) land around the Trident nuclear base on the Clyde is. [218352]

Mr. Hoon: Routine independent sampling for radioactive contamination around HM Naval Base Clyde is carried out annually by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and involves a wide range of tests on air and land samples at numerous sites up to five miles from the naval base. These tests are
 
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environmentally diverse and involve rigorous scientific testing of the entire terrain. The results are published annually in SEPA's Radioactivity in Food and Environment Report, which is available on their website at www.sepa.org.uk. The latest available report, which was published in 2003, verifies that existing discharge arrangements between SEPA and the Ministry of Defence provide effective control over the levels of radioactivity that are discharged into the environment. No tests are carried out of water samples, as this source would not yield a reliable indication of the impact of contamination.

As an additional measure, the MOD carries out its own annual routine air and land samples, the results of which are published in the Marine Environmental Radioactivity Surveys at Nuclear Submarine Berths report (ISBN 11773019X). The latest version was published in December 2004 and is available from www.tso.co.uk.

CABINET OFFICE

Alcohol Policies

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will publish the report, Alcohol Policies", produced in 1979 by the Central Policy Review Staff. [217727]

Mr. Miliband: In common with other Cabinet Office records, the report will be considered for transfer to the National Archives after 30 years. The 1979 report is due to be transferred to the National Archives in 2010.

Civil Servants

Kate Hoey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he expects to issue guidance on the conduct of civil servants during and in the period leading up to the referendum on the European Constitution; and who will be responsible for enforcing the guidance. [218853]

Mr. Miliband: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch (John Cryer) on 18 January 2005, Official Report, column 899W.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil servants were (a) suspended and (b) sacked in each year since 2001 for gross professional misconduct; and in which Department each was employed. [220237]

Mr. Miliband: Information on the numbers of civil servants who were suspended and sacked for gross professional misconduct is not collected centrally.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil servants were (a) suspended and (b) sacked in each year since 2001 under suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act 1989; and in which department each was employed. [220238]

Mr. Miliband: Information on the numbers of civil servants who were suspended and sacked for breaching the Official Secrets Act 1989 is not collected centrally.
 
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Business Rates

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total subsidy provided by central Government to fund the transitional regime in respect of business rates was for the period 2000–01 to 2004–05. [219506]

Mr. Raynsford: The 2000 transitional scheme was designed to be revenue neutral but the Exchequer has had to make good the shortfall in revenue as follows:

	£ million
2000–01	415
2001–02	262
2002–03	41
2003–04	111
2004–05	(49)59

⁽⁴⁹⁾Estimated

Council Tax

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average Band D level of council tax was in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2004–05 in (i) two-tier local government areas, (ii) unitary councils in England, (iii) Metropolitan boroughs and (iv) London boroughs. [217877]

Mr. Raynsford: The information requested is shown in Table 2.2f of Local Government Financial Statistics, England, No. 15 2004", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. The table can also be found at http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/stats/lgfs/lgfs15/tables/lgfs15–2-2f.xls.

Design

Alan Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister who the ministerial design champion for his Department is. [215645]

Yvette Cooper: I am the ministerial design champion for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, as established under my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's Better Public Buildings Initiative in 2000.

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