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Civil Servants

Mr. Francois: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent in each year since 1997 by the Department on salaries paid to civil servants. [41586]

Bridget Prentice: The amount spent by the Department on salaries paid to civil servants in each year since 1998 is shown in the following table.

The expenditure for 1997 is not readily available as the Department had not yet started preparing formal resource accounts. In terms of providing the expenditure on a cash basis, this would involve a disproportionate amount of effort as the resource accounts are prepared on an accruals basis.

	Civil servants excluding bonuses (£)	Budget total (£)	Percentage
1997–98	—	—	—
1998–99	160,338	646,915	25
1999–2000	150,631	773,483	19
2000–01	158,747	849,331	19
2001–02	153,814	902,703	17
2002–03	183,229	995,702	18
2003–04	198,606	1,056,187	19
2004–05	209,658	1,199,118	18

Notes:
1. The salaries data was extracted from the Resource Accounts for the years 1998–99 to 2004–05 while the budget data came from the Department Report for 2003–04 and 2004–05.
2. The budget figures have been adjusted for machinery of government changes back to 1998–99.
3. The budget total includes voted resource DEL and judicial salaries paid from the Consolidated Fund.




 
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Legal Services Commission

Mr. Walker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research her Department has undertaken into the likely impact of the Legal Services Commission's decision to withdraw specialist funding from third party charities and organisations on the provision of support and advice services to the general public; and if she will make a statement. [50313]

Bridget Prentice: Research undertaken by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) which underpins their consultation paper "Making legal rights a reality" points to an increasing demand for front line advice for the most needy.

Specialist support contracts give advice to providers, not directly to clients. The decision to withdraw funding for specialist support services will mean that £2.3 million will be redirected to fund about 9,000 opportunities for people to get direct legal advice in the next financial year. This will increase access to legal aid services for vulnerable people.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Casinos

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answers to the hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire of 8 February 2006, Official Report, columns 1294–96W, on casinos, if she will list the local authorities which have made representations in support of the number of regional casinos permitted by the Gambling Act 2005. [54625]

Mr. Caborn: We have no record that any local authority has made representations in support of the Gambling Act 2005 permitting one regional casino.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the locations of bids submitted to the Casino Advisory Panel for (a) (i) small, (ii) large and (iii) regional casino licences and (b) combinations thereof. [54628]

Mr. Caborn: The closing date for formal proposals to the Casino Advisory Panel is 31 March 2006. By 27 February 2006, no proposals had been received.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service personnel are in Helmand; and what their mission is. [50353]

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the mission statement is for British troops sent to Afghanistan. [54286]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Members to the Statement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 26 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1530–49. We have started the initial deployments in support of some 3,300 who will deploy
 
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to Southern Afghanistan over the coming months. The numbers will steadily increase until they are fully operational in July this year.

For reasons of operational security, details of the specific numbers and locations of United Kingdom troops during the early stages of deployment is being withheld.

Munitions

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much ammunition is being stored by UK forces; and how much has been supplied from overseas companies. [53371]

Mr. Ingram: Information on the nature of ammunition held in storage is classified and as such is withheld as disclosure would not be in the national interest.

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the UK's anti-structures munition to enter service; and what measures he has put in place to guarantee security of supply. [54408]

Mr. Ingram: My statement of 6 February announced the award of a contract for the demonstration and manufacture of the anti-structures munition (ASM). I wish to clarify that the £40 million it refers to is the value of the entire project. ASM is planned to enter service by the end of 2010. We have addressed security of supply by contracting for a lifetime buy.

Complex Weapons

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to increase investment in complex weapons systems. [54426]

Mr. Ingram: Investment plans for complex weapons systems are detailed in the Defence Industrial Strategy (section B7, paragraph 26) a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Homelessness (Armed Forces Personnel)

Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many former members of the armed forces have been designated as homeless in (a) Bedfordshire, (b) the East of England and (c) the UK in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [49145]

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.

Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation in England is collected in respect of households, rather than persons, and distinguishes the number accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category. Following extensions to these categories in July 2002, persons vulnerable as a result of having served in Her Majesty's regular armed forces have a priority need for accommodation, and the number accepted where this was the determining factor are separately identified. Information reported by local
 
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authorities in Bedfordshire, the East of England and England in each year or part year since 2002 is presented in the table.

These figures will not necessarily represent all cases of homelessness involving ex-forces personnel, as some may be concealed within other main priority need categories—such as households with dependent children, or an expectant mother.

For corresponding information in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland I refer the hon. Member to the Secretaries of States for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Statutory Homelessness: Local authority acceptances⁽¹⁾ where the main category of priority need was reported as "Vulnerability as a result of having served in HM Forces"

	Bedfordshire	East of England	England
2002 (August to December)	0	11	38
2003	1	9	97
2004	0	7	97
2005 (January to September)	1	3	60

⁽¹⁾ Households accepted by the local authority as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need and therefore owed a main homelessness duty.
Source:
ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly)

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the number of ex-servicemen who are homeless. [49457]

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) on 27 February 2006 (question 49184), and to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 27 February 2006 (question 49775).

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