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26 Apr 2006 : Column 1100W—continued
House Building (West Chelmsford)
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are being taken taken to ensure there are sufficient levels of water supply to cope with the levels of house building in West Chelmsford constituency. [64722]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 24 April 2006]: All water companies have water resource management plans which look ahead 25 years and include projections of current and future demands for water. These are regularly updated to take account of factors including projections of household numbers, occupancy rates, and the implications of climate change. The management plan for Essex and Suffolk Water includes proposals for an extension to the Abberton reservoir by 2014.
Mobile Telephones
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2006, Official Report, columns 31–2W, on mobile telephones, what the timescale is for the implementation of the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Directive. [65947]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The Department is currently engaged in conversations with key stakeholders on the best way to implement the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. I will be announcing a new timetable before the parliamentary recess in July.
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Single Farm Payments
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many new applicants have sought to register land for single farm payments; and how much land not previously registered under the integrated admission and control system has been registered. [63500]
Jim Knight: Since December 2004 some 50,000 customers have registered land for the purposes of the Single Payment Scheme and the Environmental Stewardships schemes. The increase in land is 0.95 million hectares.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for registering land for single farm payment have been made in total from North Essex. [63501]
Jim Knight: 78 applications have been made to register land in North Essex from customers who were not registered under the old IACS (integrated administration and control system).
Sporting Facilities (Drought Orders)
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the requirements of (a) professional and (b) amateur sporting facilities in the event of the introduction of drought orders; [64721]
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to exempt (a) county cricket clubs and (b) community sports facilities from drought orders; and if she will make a statement. [65112]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 24 April 2006]: I recognise that any drought order made to restrict use of water may impact on how sporting facilities and clubs maintain their grounds. However, serious drought is an exceptional event and provisions must be in place to allow water companies to fulfil their duty to supply water to domestic customers.
Drought orders can be made only after careful consideration of all the issues raised by objectors to an application. A hearing will normally be held by an independent Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. Objectors have the opportunity to be heard by the Inspector. In determining the application the Secretary of State will take into account the objections raised and the Inspector's recommendations.
Vital Villages Funding
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which villages have received vital villages funding; when each received such funding; and which villages have applied for funding but have been unsuccessful. [65952]
Jim Knight:
Between 2001 and March 2005 the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages programme met its target to help over 1000 rural communities to help themselves by assisting them in identifying service needs, piloting the adoption of alternative approaches to addressing these needs and having a greater say In their own affairs.
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We do not keep central records on all the information you have requested but I have placed in the Library of the House the following information provided by the Countryside Agency which I hope will be of interest:
Annex 1—A list of all agreed and between 2001 and 2005, including which each is located. Unfortunately the projects received their funding is not completed Vital Villages projects details of the Parish/District in year when each of these recorded on this list.
Annex 2—A list of unsuccessful applications for Vital Villages grants. Unfortunately the Parish/District location been recorded of each of these has not been recorded.
Water Storage (South-east)
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to build new water storage capacity in the South East of England. [64974]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 24 April 2006]: Water companies rather than Government are responsible for considering new reservoirs as part of their duty to maintain adequate supplies of water. Water companies serving customers in the South East have identified a number of schemes to build new reservoirs or expand existing ones in their 25-year water resources plans prepared in 2004.
DEFENCE
Aircraft
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the role of the Jaguar aircraft in Royal Air Force service will be after April 2006; and if he will make a statement. [64794]
Mr. Ingram: The role of the Jaguar Force from April 2006 is to continue to contribute to any UK or NATO commitments which require its capability, especially in the role of ground attack or reconnaissance.
Army
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Answer of 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 12W, on the army, when he expects the full Territorial Army strength of 45,590 to be attained based on current levels of recruitment. [65524]
Mr. Ingram:
The current strength of the Territorial Army (TA), excluding the Officer Training Corps (OTC), stands at some 31,950 against an establishment of approximately 38,500, excluding OTC. This represents approximately 83 per cent. of the manning
26 Apr 2006 : Column 1103W
requirement. Achieving full manning of the TA is dependent not only upon recruitment levels but also retention. Major efforts are under way to address both issues and recent increases in TA recruitment are encouraging. It is not possible at this time to predict when full manning of the TA might be achieved.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of (a) staff and (b) new staff employed in (i) his Department and
26 Apr 2006 : Column 1104W
(ii) each of the agencies for which he has responsibility were registered as disabled in each of the last three years for which data are available. [61373]
Mr. Touhig: Departmental records of disabled staff are solely based on voluntary declarations of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act and not connected to a formal register of disability.
The following table gives the civilian staff headcount strength and details of disabled staff, employed by the Ministry of Defence, as recorded at 1 April 2004 and 1 April 2005. Comparisons between agencies should be treated with caution due to the different response rates for self declaration. Data prior to 1 April 2004 has not been published and are not available due to insufficient quality.
(2) Army Training and Recruitment Agency was formed in July 1997 by absorbing AITO plus recruiting.
(3) Known as the Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency until 1 July 1999.
(4) Defence Analytical Services Agency formed July 1992.
(5) Defence Bills Agency was formed in December 1996.
(6) Defence Communications Service Agency formed April 1998 and absorbed lots of bits from DGIC, CHOTS, RAF Comms, RAFSEE and LISA.
(7) Defence Dental Agency was formed February 1996. Ceased Agency status on 1 April 2005.
(8) Known as the Defence Estates Organisation until 1 March 1999 and subsequently merged with Defence Housing Executive on 1 April 2005.
(9) Level 1 is defined as civilian permanent and casual personnel employed by the department and the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Level 0 all those at Level 1 plus staff in the Trading Funds and Locally Engaged Civilians. The revised definitions of civilian personnel are used throughout, full details of which are available on the DASA website at www.dasa.mod.uk
Notes:
1. Figures quoted are headcount.
2. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, as a result totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. For visibility rounding has only been applied to figures of 10 and above.
3. Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency was formed in April 1997.
4. Defence Geographic Imagery Intelligence Agency formed April 2000 and included JARIC and Mil Survey. In April 2005 was absorbed into the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI).
5. Defence Intelligence and Security Centre was formed October 1996. In April 2005 was absorbed into the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI).
6. Defence Medical Education and Training Agency was launched on 1 April 2003, and subsumed the Defence Medical Training Organisation and the Defence Secondary Care Agency.
7. Launched on 1 April 1999 assuming responsibilities of the Specialist Procurement Services Agency.
26 Apr 2006 : Column 1105W
Disability data for new staff employed in the department are given as follows. Only the full financial
26 Apr 2006 : Column 1106W
year 2004–05 is currently available.
Notes
1. Data relate only to staff who have declared a disability and whose disability was recorded centrally at the time of commencing employment with the department.
2. New staff to the department have been classified to include recruited, reinstated/re-hired, loaned and transferred from other Government Departments.
3. The proportion of staff with disabilities is calculated only from the numbers where a disability status declaration has been made by the individual.
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