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4 Sep 2006 : Column 1652W—continued
There was also an expenditure of £17.7 million in 2004-05 and £20.7 million in 2005-06 for the coalfields regeneration trust, for which the regional breakdown is not currently available.
In addition, there was a central support expenditure of £9.7 million in 2004-05 and £6 million in 2005-06 for the new deal for communities programme.
Departmental Staff
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff worked in the private office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2005-06. [83079]
Angela E. Smith: For information relating to 2005-06, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Under-Secretary of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the hon. Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick) on 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 1245W.
Disabled Staff
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid to her Department from the access to work scheme for adjustments for disabled staff in the last year for which figures are available; from what budget she plans to meet the costs of reasonable adjustments for disabled staff following withdrawal of access to work funding for central Government Departments; and if she will make a statement. [89015]
Meg Munn: The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was established on 5 May 2006. Staff now working within DCLG were formerly employed in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Home Office.
In 2005-06, £9,278 was paid to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from the access to work scheme. To date in 2006-07, no access to work funding has been paid out to this Department, although applications for funds totalling £10,662 have been made. The costs of future reasonable adjustments will be met from departmental resources.
The Office of Disability Issues (ODI) will also be monitoring the overall situation to ensure that there is no detriment to current and future employees who are disabled.
Environmental Regulations
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what regulatory simplification proposals her Department has received in relation to environmental regulations since the start of the initiative; which stakeholders have been consulted on each proposal; and if she will make a statement. [81029]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government have received no simplification proposals in relation to environmental regulations. The Government are continuing to engage with a wide range of stakeholders from the private, public and voluntary sectors as part of a radical programme of reform to reduce unnecessary and burdensome regulation. The Government welcome suggestions from stakeholders for regulatory simplification.
Fire Control Project
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Department and its predecessors spent on external consultants on the fire control project in each year during the period May 2002 to March 2006. [86801]
Angela E. Smith: Consultants provide a wide range of specialist services and skills to the project. Among the staff they provide are project managers, lawyers, IT specialists, accountants, architects, building engineers, and experts in the property market and in security and resilience. Staff with these skills are not readily available in the civil service.
The following table(1) gives the information requested:
(1) The figures are stated net of reimbursements and exclude costs from within the public sector.
| £ | |
| (1) At the end of 2005-06 the Department clarified its policy in relation to VAT and this resulted in a significant charge to expenditure of VAT that had previously been treated as recoverable. | |
Fire Service
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 16 May 2006, Official Report, column 924W, on the fire service, whether armed forces personnel would be required to cross picket lines in the event of a fire strike to collect fire appliances and equipment in order to provide emergency fire and rescue cover. [88251]
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firemen (a) retired and (b) retired on the grounds of ill health, broken down by type of ill health, in each year since 1997. [88442]
Angela E. Smith [holding answer 25 July 2006]: The available information is set out in the following tables:
| Firefighter retirements in England (whole-time and retained duty system) | ||
| Total retirements | Of which: ill health retirements | |
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the staffing costs, excluding administrative costs, of its fire service group were in the last five years for which figures are available. [86802]
Angela E. Smith: Since 2002 responsibility for fire services within my Department has been restructured several times and historical figures are not available in the form requested. In 2005-06 the fire service directorate was merged with the civil resilience directorate. The staffing costs (includes pay, temporary agency staff and secondees) for the combined directorate in 2005-06 was £18.5 million.
Fires
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) accidental and (b) non-accidental fires were recorded in each London borough in 2005. [88959]
Angela E. Smith: Information provided by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) is tabulated as follows:
| Fires attended by the London Fire Brigade in 2005 | ||
| Accidental | Non-accidental | |
| Source: LFEPA | ||
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