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2 Nov 2005 : Column 1062W—continued
Climate Change (Developer Guidance)
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance on climate change for developers have been issued by his Department. [20310]
Yvette Cooper: The briefs and guides on climate change issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are listed as follows:
Departmental Finance
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much of the money spent by his office through the Sustainable Communities Directorate has been spent (a) in the North West and (b) in the South East. [20749]
Yvette Cooper: Estimated spend in the North West and South East regions through the Sustainable Communities Directorate in 2004–05 is as follows:
Note:
1. This assessment of expenditure by regions was based on total expenditure plans in Dec 2004 and is consistent with the latest edition of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses.
2. Differing methods of allocating or apportioning spend between regions have been used for the programmes. In each case the most appropriate method was used for the programme in question.
Fire and Rescue Service
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of the Working Time Directive on retained staff within the fire and rescue service; and if he will make a statement. [24106]
Jim Fitzpatrick: No specific assessment has been made by this Office of the effect of the Working Time Directive on Retained Duty System (RDS) staff within the Fire and Rescue Service. Under the current Working Time Regulations RDS firefighters can work more than 48 hours as long as they have signed a waiver for their primary employer as well as the fire and rescue service confirming they wish to opt out of the limit on working hours.
Information Security
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the compliance of local authorities with BS7799 on information security management; and if he will make a statement. [22586]
Mr. Woolas: All local authorities in England, as part of the Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) process are required to report their compliance with the British Standard on Information Security Standard BS 7799. The IEG process is subject to independent verification by the Audit Commission or the local authority's own independent external auditor.
To date there have been four completed IEG rounds, the latest IEG4 reported that 85 per cent. of council's assessed themselves as being either compliant or actively implementing BS 7799.
Literacy and Numeracy
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to promote uptake of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy among employees of his Department. [23406]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The Development and Training pages of the ODPM intranet include one called Skills for Life which provides information and web links to a variety of resources.
The Skills for Life page has a link to the Department for Education and Skills website, which promotes an online literacy and numeracy check and gives practice versions of the National Test and supporting information. Further information and resources include information and a link to LearnDirect.
All new entrants receive a personal induction chat at which attention is drawn to the Skills for Life strategy and a self-test and further information contained in their personal induction pack. In addition, Skills for Life is listed as an induction module and contacts for further advice are given, including a local supplier.
Mobile Phone Masts
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many planning permission applications have been granted for mobile phone masts in Coventry, South since 1997. [23239]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, during September and October every year the mobile network operators write to every local authority with details of their network rollout for the year ahead. When they write to the local authority they also provide details of their existing sites within the local authority area. My hon. Friend may want to contact the network operators for copies of their plans.
Rural Housing
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses built in rural settlement according to the rural exceptions policy have been built in each of the last five years. [22027]
Yvette Cooper: The requested information is currently available for the three financial years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 694 |
| 2002–03 | 391 |
| 2003–04 | 262 |
DEFENCE
Aldermaston
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the allocated expenditure on the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston (a) was in 2004–05 and (b) is in 2005–06. [21700]
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Mr. Ingram [holding answer 27 October 2005]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 15W, to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) and my hon. Friend the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn).
Armed Forces Deployment
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of armed forces personnel serving in Iraq are (a) Welsh, (b) English, (c) Scottish, (d) Irish and (e) foreign nationals. [19301]
Mr. Touhig: Information on the nationality of all service personnel serving in Iraq is not held centrally.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of (a) the British armed forces and (b) British armed forces who have served in Iraq are (i) Irish and (ii) foreign nationals. [19361]
Mr. Touhig: The percentage of UK armed forces who are Irish or Foreign nationals is set out in the following table:
| Service | Irish | Foreign |
|---|---|---|
| Naval Service | 0.2 | 1.1 |
| Army | 0.2 | 5.8 |
| Royal Air Force | 0.1 | 0.3 |
Naval Service figures are for UK Regular Forces including Nursing Services, Full Time Reserve Service and activated reservists. Army and RAF data are for UK Regular Forces (trained and untrained), including Nursing Services and excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists.
Information on the nationality of all the service personnel who have ever served in Iraq is not held centrally.
Correspondence
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to improve the Department's performance in replying to hon. Members' correspondence. [21921]
Mr. Touhig: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
All correspondence from hon. Members and Peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in 'Handling Correspondence from members of parliament, members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments'. The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
Information relating to the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers' correspondence is published on an annual basis. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–40WS.
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The Ministry of Defence plans to introduce a new intranet-based toolkit to better track and handle all correspondence in 2006. This should enable us to better monitor our performance and help early identification of problems and delays.
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