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Young Offenders

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders have been intensively supervised in the community in each year since 1997. [35431]

Fiona Mactaggart: The numbers of young offenders who have been intensively supervised under the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme in each financial year since its introduction in July 2001 are shown in the following table.

Financial Year	Number
July 2001 to March 2002	876
April 2002 to March 2003	3,342
April 2003 to March 2004	4,705
April 2004 to March 2005	4,960
March 2005 to September 2005	2,760
Total	16,643

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Barker Review (Government Response)

Martin Horwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) calculations and (b) data sets his Department used for the (i) price and (ii) supply elasticity of housing in working out a response to the Barker Review of Housing Supply. [33693]

Yvette Cooper: The Government published as part of the response to the Barker Review a major study on the relationship between housing supply and affordability. This underpins the Government's response to the Barker Review.
 
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As part of the project, a nine-region model was developed to examine the relationship between housing supply and affordability (specified as the ratio of lower quartile house prices to lower quartile earnings). The model consists of three interrelated modules: demographic module, housing module and a labour market module.

This model is a step forward from previous analysis, including the Barker Review. For the first time we are able to model nationally and regionally the relationship between housing supply and affordability. Previous analyses looked only at prices at national level and were not able to take into account the interactions between the demographics and housing and labour markets.

The report and its technical annex give details of all the key relationships and elasticities. The report is available at www.odpm.gov.uk.

Designated Growth Areas

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, columns 1688–89W, on designated growth areas (1) what plans his Department has to make available to local authorities information regarding infrastructure costs in designated growth areas; [31847]

(2) what assessment he has made of (a) the adequacy of existing infrastructure in designated growth areas and (b) whether the infrastructure is sufficient to support planned growth; and if he will make a statement; [31852]

(3) what (a) assessment will be made of infrastructure requirements and (b) infrastructure will be put in place in designated growth areas before planned development begins; [31853]

(4) what assessment (a) has been made and (b) is planned to be made of (i) the age profile of those expected to move into designated growth areas and (ii)the effect of that profile on the (A) infrastructure and (B) housing needs of those areas. [31854]

Yvette Cooper: The Government have stated on a number of occasions that building sustainable communities means more than building new houses and that additional infrastructure and services will be required in support of a growing population as well as the existing population.

Infrastructure results vary widely from one area to another and from one development to another, and so it is not possible to apply a general formula to growth plans. In order to underpin the plans for the growth areas, studies were commissioned on the growth areas (e.g. the 2002 Milton Keynes and South Midlands study undertaken by Roger Tym and Partners) and on individual locations within the growth areas (e.g. the 2003 Milton Keynes and Aylesbury Growth Area studies, also prepared by Roger Tym and Partners). These studies have included information on infrastructure requirements and costing and have been made public in order to inform the regional planning documents relevant to the growth areas (e.g. the Milton Keynes South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy). The sub-regional strategies are now being taken forward at local level and local partners are doing their own work to prioritise and cost the infrastructure associated with
 
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growth. The Government are not planning to commission additional studies to estimate infrastructure requirements and costs for each of the growth areas.

Both housing development and infrastructure investment are on-going activities. The allocation of individual houses and expenditures on infrastructure to growth" and background levels" is not a practical option. Nor is it practical or desirable to halt all development until all of the investment contemplated in support of that development is in place. Indeed, infrastructure requirements will change over time, reflecting, for example, the detailed geography of housing and jobs, as well as changes in technology, consumer preferences and service provision. Rather, infrastructure needs to be put in place on a timely basis to support growth in a locality and needs to be planned for on a dynamic basis. We look to local partners, in particular the local delivery vehicles, to construct their business plans accordingly and to work with regional and national bodies in prioritising funding towards timely provision of infrastructure.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has produced variant population projections for the four growth areas. These were done at local authority level and projected forward population projections based on current population trends and likely additional housing due to the area being a growth area. The assumed additional population was based on past trends regarding births, deaths, household formation rates and migration.

Government looks to regional and local partners to plan dynamically for changing demographics. For example, the Learning and Skills Councils in the Milton Keynes South Midlands sub-region have collaborated on a study on the long-term learning and skills needs of the area. This study embraces a variety of demographic scenarios and recognises the need to take a strategic approach to planning infrastructure which is adaptable to a range of scenarios.

Fire Services

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list occasions since 1975 when fire and rescue authorities have been unable to cope with (a) a major fire or rescue incident and (b) civil disturbance; and which Fire and Rescue Authority fire control room was involved in each case. [36056]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many call outs each retained fire service in North Nottinghamshire has had in each of the last five years. [36231]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many times out-of-county fire appliances have been called to emergencies in Nottinghamshire due to Nottinghamshire services being already engaged in each of the last 10 years. [36232]

 
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost will be of removing the Wiltshire Fire Services Control Room from the joint services control room at Devizes when the Regional Control Room in Taunton has been completed. [35683]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Specific figures are not yet available for moving individual fire control rooms, as the FiReControl business case only exists at national level. The one-off gross cost of implementing networked regional control centres in England is forecast to be £160 million.

For Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority there may be a financial penalty associated with withdrawing from the tri-service arrangements at Devizes. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is in discussion with the authority about meeting such costs under the new burdens" rules.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many IT and communication systems are used by the South West Fire Services; how he will unify them; and how much this will cost. [35684]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold central information on all the IT and communication systems used by the South West fire and rescue services. There are no plans to unify them all, though the services will have a common radio system under Firelink, and share a regional control centre under FiReControl.

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budgets are for setting up the regional fire control centres located at (a) Belmont Business Park, Durham, (b) Lingley Mere Business Park, Warrington, (c) Cambridge Research Park, (d) Willow Farm Business Park, Castle Donnington, (e) Wolverhampton Business Park, (f) Paragon Business Park, Wakefield, (g) Blackbrook Business Park, Taunton and (h) Kite's Croft, Fareham; and if he will make a statement. [34587]

Jim Fitzpatrick: FiReControl is a national project. There are no separate budgets for each regional control centre. For information on the one-off costs of delivering FiReControl, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) on 8 November 2005, Official Report, column 358W.

Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases were recorded of attacks on firemen while working on emergencies in each year since 2003–04; how many have been recorded in 2005–06; how many prosecutions were pursued; and what sentences were imposed on those found guilty in each case in which all proceedings are complete. [35862]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is as follows:

(a) The office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has been maintaining records of attacks on firefighters since April 2004. Prior to that date their was no requirement for the fire and rescue service to report attacks on firefighters.
 
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Since April 2004 there has been in place a procedure for attacks on firefighters to be notified to the ODPM using the Fires and Incidents of Special Interest (FOSI) reporting procedures as detailed in Dear Chief Fire Officer (DCOL) letter 3/2004 issued 1 April 2004. This procedure was updated by the issue of Fire and Rescue Service Circular 5/2005 issued on 15 February 2005.

(b) ODPM to date has no available information on the numbers of prosecutions pursued and what sentences were, if any, imposed on those found guilty .

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) part-time and (b) full-time firefighters serviced (i) Suffolk and (ii) Bury St. Edmunds constituency in each year since 1997. [35464]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of firefighters employed by Suffolk fire and rescue service between 1997 and 2005 is set out as follows:
Number

Date(33)	Retained duty system firefiehters	Whole-time firefighters
1997	423	256
1998	414	252
1999	400	256
2000	396	249
2001	404	248
2002	401	253
2003	415	250
2004	399	244
2005(34)	428	257

⁽³³⁾Information provided refers to the work force at 31 March.
⁽³⁴⁾Figures are provisional.
Source:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's annual returns.

Information on the number of firefighters employed at constituency level is not available centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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