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6 July 2006 : Column 1355W—continued
Mr. Ingram:
Any assessment of basing for the UK Search and Rescue Helicopter service must take account of the capability provided by the UK bases as a whole. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Ministry of Defence “Review of UK Search and Rescue (SAR) Helicopter Provision and Coverage Criteria Report—June 2001” contained a risk assessment of UK Search and Rescue, which included
the maritime western approaches. The assessment demonstrated that current basing arrangements, which include RNAS Culdrose, meet the coverage criteria.
Any new helicopter basing arrangement proposed will also be assessed, in terms of the whole UK capability, to ensure that it meets the defined coverage criteria.
Sig Sauer 228 Pistols
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Sig Sauer 228 pistols are in use in the British armed forces, broken down by unit. [80934]
Mr. Ingram: There are 117 Sig Sauer 228 pistols available to the UK armed forces, 36 of which are currently deployed for training purposes as follows:
| Unit | Quantity |
The balance are currently held in storage.
Trident
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on the development of a replacement Arming, Fuzing and Firing system for the Trident warhead; and when the system will enter service. [80013]
Des Browne: It is not our practice to comment on the details of UK warhead design. I am withholding the information requested because it relates to national security and defence in the UK.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department has carried out to verify the integrity of Trident targeting and fire control software created and tested in the US and from which US-eyes only items have been removed. [82406]
Des Browne: Each new release of Trident fire control software is certified by the US Government under the terms of the Polaris Sales Agreement (as amended for Trident). Under the agreement, the UK has the capability to validate the software models for software performance and verify that the findings are correct. This is undertaken and independently verified by UK experts to ensure the software meets our requirements before being issued to Royal Navy submarines.
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) officer and (b) rating complement is of the Trident fleet (i) at full strength and (ii) currently. [82866]
Mr. Ingram: The Royal Navy Trident Fleet consists of four Vanguard-class Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs).
The full complement of a Vanguard-class submarine in a sea-going role is 160 men, consisting of 19 officers and 141 ratings. Of these, 140 go to sea.
Six crews are provided to man the four boats; a total requirement of 114 officers and 846 ratings. The current trained strength is 110 officers and 840 ratings.
Current policy is to ensure that any submarine is 100 per cent. manned at sea, with priority given to the SSBN force.
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the training requirements of the Trident fleet crew; and if he will make a statement. [82867]
Mr. Ingram: The Trident fleet consists of four Vanguard-class Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs). Training requirements of the Trident fleet crew are subject to continual review and assessment. This process ensures that training remains up to date, and provides highly capable and well trained personnel onboard Trident submarines.
Scotland
Agency Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what average hourly rate was paid by his Department to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06. [81491]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office did not use any employment agencies during 2005-06.
Barnett Formula
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the operation of the Barnett Formula as it relates to Scotland. [81026]
David Cairns: My right hon. Friend has regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a range of issues.
Correspondence
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the average cost to his Department was of replying to a letter written by (a) an hon. Member and (b) a member of the public in the last period for which figures are available; and how much of that sum was accounted for by (i) officials’ time, (ii) cost of stationery and (iii) postage costs. [80511]
David Cairns: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006, Official Report, columns 76-78WS.
The information requested is not held in the form requested.
Departmental Chief Accounting Officer
Chris Huhne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) name, (b) professional and
academic qualifications and (c) relevant experience are of the chief accounting officer of his Department. [76709]
David Cairns: For administrative purposes, the Scotland Office is within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and the Permanent Secretary, DCA, is the Accounting Officer. The Head of the Scotland Office, Dr. James Wildgoose, is an Additional Accounting Officer and is responsible for financial and other Accounting Officer activities in the Office. He does not hold a professional accountancy qualification but has full access to advice from professionally qualified staff in both the DCA and the Scottish Executive.
Departmental Finance Directors
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) name, (b) professional and academic qualifications and (c) relevant experience are of the finance director of his Department. [80080]
David Cairns: For administrative purposes, the Scotland Office is within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). The Head of Finance at the Scotland Office is Ian Allen. He does not hold a professional accountancy qualification but has full access to advice from professionally qualified staff in both the DCA and the Scottish Executive.
FIFA World Cup
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which matches (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department attended at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany in their ministerial capacity; at what cost to public funds; and with what contributions from third party organisations. [83627]
Duchy of Lancaster
Central Office of Information
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library a copy of the Central Office of Information’s Information and Press Officers Directory. [83001]
Mr. McFadden: A copy of the Information and Press Officers Directory has been placed in the Library, for the reference of Members.
The directory is currently being revised and a new edition will be published at the end of July. The new edition, and subsequent revisions, will also be placed in the Library.
Contingency Telecommunications Provision
Mr. Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when she expects the project for a new Contingency Telecommunications Provision to be put in place; whether it is expected fully to meet contingency voice and data communications requirements; and how much has been allocated to the programme. [81482]
Edward Miliband [holding answer 3 July 2006]: The Cabinet Office last year replaced most of the aged Emergency Communications Network with satellite telephones for all responder organisations connected to the Network and a range of other bodies, thereby enhancing the quality, diversity and deployability of fallback voice communications in the event of failure of public fixed and mobile telephone networks. The current budget for this capability is some £500,000 per year.
The Cabinet Office is also taking forward longer-term work to enhance the resilience of responders’ communications, drawing on the lessons of recent incidents, especially the response to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005. This work is covering the wide range of communications systems available to responders for use in civil contingencies. Some £3.4 million per year is currently allocated for these purposes.
Departmental Estate
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much her Department has spent on the repair of water leaks within its estate in each of the last three financial years; if she will estimate likely expenditure for 2006-07; and if she will make a statement. [81929]
Hilary Armstrong: The Cabinet Office operates a number of facilities management contracts across its estate. These cover both prescheduled maintenance and minor ad hoc repairs. The scheduling and reporting mechanisms for all such works mean that it is not possible to separately identify the amount spent on water repairs from other costs.
Departmental Legislation
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what her practice is regarding meeting, discussing and taking into account the views and opinions of (a) private individuals and (b) representatives of organisations when drawing up and framing legislation to be introduced by her Department; and if she will make a statement. [81256]
Mr. McFadden:
The Cabinet Office always seeks a full range of views when drawing up and framing legislation. Consultation is a key part of the policy-making process; both informal and formal. The Department holds regular meetings with representatives of the principal stakeholder groups for our policy areas and with relevant experts.
Organisations and individuals can also contribute to the department’s formal consultations which abide by the Code of Conduct on Consultation. Known stakeholders are alerted to the fact that a formal consultation is taking place. As required by the Code, the Department then gives feedback on the responses received and on how the consultation process influenced the policy decision.
Departmental Staff
Roger Berry: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many disabled staff in her Department received support through the Access to Work scheme (a) in each of the last five years and (b) in 2006-07. [82220]
Mr. McFadden: The following table gives details of the number of disabled staff who have received support through Access to Work. These figures include staff that have started in the Cabinet Office and brought Access to Work assessments with them, who have received on-going support through the Fares to Work provision available through the scheme, and new staff who have approached Access to Work for an assessment and assistance.
| April to March each year: | Number of staff |
Cabinet Office has a written policy on the provision of reasonable adjustments for disabled staff. Access to Work is only one of the options available, with the majority of costs for assessments and reasonable adjustments being met centrally by the Department.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans she has to ensure that all flights undertaken by Ministers and officials in the Cabinet Office are carbon neutral; and if she will make a statement. [81403]
Edward Miliband: Through its commitment to the Government Carbon Offsetting Scheme, as from 1 April 2006 all flights undertaken by Cabinet Office Ministers and officials are being offset and thus carbon neutral. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases Certified Emissions Reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
Public Sector Information
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how the European Directive on the re-use of public sector information is applied to private sector bids for public sector data to be used to build added-value services; and if she will make a statement. [76638]
Edward Miliband: The overriding aim of the European Directive on the re-use of public sector information, and the Regulations that implemented the Directive in the UK (SI2005/1515) was to encourage the re-use of public sector information and stimulate the growth of the information industry and the development of value added information products and services. The key theme of the Regulations is on improving transparency, fairness and consistency. The framework set out in the Regulations is underpinned by a robust complaints process. This will help the private sector ascertain what information is available for re-use and the terms of re-use.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the performance of the Office of Public Sector Information in resolving concerns about access to public sector data for the purposes of developing added-value services; and if she will make a statement. [76639]
Edward Miliband: The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) has the policy lead on the re-use of public sector information, in accordance with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2005 No. 1515) which came into force on 1 July 2005. Since then OPSI has made a significant contribution in sharing best practice across the public sector. This includes developing an on-line licence that can be used across the whole of the public sector, developing an on-line assessment tool which gauges the effectiveness of public sector organisations in meeting their obligations, and speaking to over 400 public sector organisations about their new responsibilities. OPSI has also played a key role in setting standards of compliance and in the resolution of disputes. These initiatives help to encourage and facilitate the re-use of public sector information in the context of value added information products and services.
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