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14 Jun 2005 : Column 269W—continued
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Correspondence
Mr. Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he has taken to ensure that all official correspondence from his Department carries (a) an e-mail address and (b) a telephone contact number. [1862]
Jim Fitzpatrick: All departmental staff are encouraged to provide such details by using an agreed template when replying to correspondence.
Council Housing
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what percentage of local authority-owned properties in each London borough are fitted with (i) smoke alarms, (ii) fire doors and (iii) double glazing; [2524]
(2) what percentage of council-owned properties had their smoke alarms checked in the last 12 months, in each London borough. [2551]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Council Tax
Mr. Hands: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what analysis his Department has undertaken of the potential effect of council tax revaluation in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham; and if he will make a statement. [3419]
Mr. Woolas: The terms of reference for the independent inquiry into local government funding by Sir Michael Lyons require him to make recommendations on how best to reform council tax, taking into account the forthcoming revaluation of domestic property. His report is due to be submitted by the end of the year to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir Michael's work will inform the Government's decisions on council tax bands.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what criteria have been drawn up for the council tax banding revaluation; [4099]
(2) whether he plans to increase the number of council tax bandings in England at the time of revaluation. [3105]
Mr. Woolas:
The terms of reference for the independent inquiry into local government funding by Sir Michael Lyons require him to make recommendations on how best to reform council tax,
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taking into account the forthcoming revaluation of domestic property. His report is due to be submitted by the end of the year to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir Michael's work will inform the Government's decisions on council tax bands.
Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the Standards Board spent on external legal advice and representation in the investigation and Adjudicants Bench Hearing into the complaint against Westminster City Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg; and if he will make a statement. [3107]
Mr. Woolas: The Standards Board for England has incurred spending of about £50,000 on external legal advice and representation in respect of the case concerning Councillor Dimoldenberg.
Councils (Audit Fees)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated audit and inspection fees to be levied by the Audit Commission for each individual council rated as excellent in their Comprehensive Performance Assessment will be in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06. [4301]
Mr. Woolas: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission. I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member and to ensure the answer is made available in the Library of the House.
Departmental Union Representatives
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many trade union learning representatives there are in his Department. [3317]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not currently have a trade union learning representative. However, the Departmental Trade Union Side is consulted on our learning and development policies on a regular basis.
Disability Discrimination
Danny Alexander: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures will be used to ensure that local authorities meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 to promote equality for disabled people and eliminate unlawful discrimination, with particular reference to the diversity of needs of people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement. [3170]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The general duty to promote disability set out in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 will place positive, proactive responsibilities on public authorities to work towards a more equal society by mainstreaming disability equality into the way in which they carry out their functions. This includes local authorities and Government Departments (including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). The general duty will come into force in December 2006.
The 2005 Act also enables Ministers to impose specific duties on public bodies such as local authorities. The purpose of imposing specific duties is to assist these public bodies to comply with the general duty to
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promote equality. Such duties might include the publishing of Disability Equality Scheme, or the monitoring of various indicators, particularly in relation to employment of disabled people.
It will be the responsibility of each public authority to ensure that it is acting in compliance with its statutory duties. If the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is satisfied that a public authority is not complying with its specific duties, it will be able to serve a compliance notice. This would require the authority to comply with its duties and inform the DRC of the measures it has taken. If necessary the DRC could ask the county court or sheriff court to order the authority to comply.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will publish a Disability Equality Scheme by December 2006, which will outline how the Office will meet its legal responsibilities.
Environmental Health Officers (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many environmental health officers were employed by each London borough per 1,000 population in the last year for which figures are available. [2488]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Faith Awareness Training
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many civil servants in the Department received faith awareness training in 2004. [3811]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) ran a series of workshops specifically dedicated to faith awareness training during 2002–03. Just over 300 staff attended. There are no plans to repeat the programme at present. Our current approach is rather to integrate equality and diversity awareness into the design and delivery of training and development programmes across the ODPM.
Faith Communities
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent consultations have been carried out by his Department with representatives of faith communities; and if he will make a statement. [3226]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister maintains the Inner Cities Religious Council (ICRC). ICRC routinely meets three times a year for the purpose of consultation with faith communities. Recent agenda items have included consultations on the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, the Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit and the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
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Fire Service
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were rescued alive by the fire service (a) from fires, (b) from fires in dwellings and (c) having been trapped or injured by industrial machinery in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [1632]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of people rescued alive from fires by fire and rescue service personnel in England are shown for each year 1994 to 2003 in the following table.
The number of people rescued having been trapped or injured by industrial machinery is not available centrally.
(9) Based on all primary fires attended. Casualties include people who were injured or required a precautionary check-up.
(10) Based on a grossed up 20 per cent. sample of primary fires attended.
(11) Data include estimates for incidents not recorded during periods of national industrial action in 2002 and 2003.
Source:
Fire and Rescue Service FDR1 returns to ODPM.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of firefighters in the Fire and Rescue Service was female in each year since 1997. [2445]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The percentage of female firefighters (wholetime and retained duty system) in the Fire and Rescue Service in England is set out as follows:
Source:
ODPM annual returns
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) railway and (b) aircraft accidents were attended by the fire service in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [1633]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Number of railway and aircraft incidents attended by the fire and rescue service in England each year, between 1994–95 and 2003–04. The following table shows the breakdown of fire and non-fire incidents attended.
Note:
Data include estimates for incidents not recorded during periods of national industrial action in 2002–03.
Source:
Fire and Rescue Service returns to ODPM.
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