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11 Sep 2006 : Column 2201W—continued
Defence
Armoured Vehicles
Dr. Fox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in the work undertaken to align the withdrawal from service of the current fleet
of armoured vehicles with the introduction into service of (a) the Future Rapid Effect System and (b) the Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle. [84559]
Mr. Ingram: The Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) and the PANTHER Command Liaison Vehicle will replace the FV430, CVR(T) and Saxon families of vehicles.
The PANTHER, now in the demonstration and manufacture phase, has a detailed fielding plan. Under the Sustained Armoured Vehicle Capability Pathfinder programme, work is under way to ensure that the withdrawal of FV430, CVR(T) and Saxon is coherently aligned with the introduction of FRES and that there is continuity of the required capability.
Defence Attachés
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expenditure on defence attachés was in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005. [60781]
Mr. Ingram: The overall cost to the Ministry of Defence of Defence Attachés in each financial year is as follows:
| Financial year | Costs identified (£ million) |
Under the terms of the MOD/FCO service level agreement, costs are shared with the FCO, which pays 30 per cent. of the total in respect of accommodation, fixed communications, security and some other support costs. The figures quoted in the table represent the balance (70 per cent.) attributable to the Defence Budget.
Full costs of Defence Attaché posts are not held centrally and their calculation would involve disproportionate cost.
Iran
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any British Armed Forces personnel, including special forces, are operating in Iran. [82199]
Des Browne [holding answer 3 July 2006]: No. British Armed Forces personnel are not operating in Iran. It is long standing Government policy not to comment on special forces.
Nuclear Deterrent
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Woodspring, 23 January 2006, Official Report, column 1154, on what date he first asked his officials to explore the options for replacing the nuclear deterrent with a successor system; and when he expects to be presented with their findings. [48009]
Des Browne
[holding answer 2 February 2006]: As was made clear in the December 2003 Defence White Paper (Paragraph 3.11), we have continued to take steps to keep options open on the possible replacement of Trident. As the then Defence Secretary indicated previously on 30 June 2004, Official Report, column
358W, this included concept studies on options for platforms to carry the Trident missile in the longer term, which began in May 2002.
Ministers have been briefed by officials on some of the relevant issues and have requested that further work be undertaken. As the Prime Minister said on 28 June 2006, Official Report, column 254, during Prime Minister’s Questions, decisions on this issue will be taken later this year.
Trade and Industry
Radioactive Material
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many train journeys carrying nuclear waste there were in (a) Brent, (b) London and (c) England in the last 12 months; and how much waste was transported in each case. [89155]
Dr. Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The transport of radioactive material by rail is a highly regulated activity that is carried out in accordance with stringent national and international regulations. The intention of the regulatory system is to ensure that these shipments are safe irrespective of the route chosen.
Communities and Local Government
Environmental Health Notices
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many environmental health notices were issued in each London borough since 1997. [87228]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
I am advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that the information requested is not available centrally in the form requested.
Local authorities (LAs) are required to report to the Food Standards Agency the number of food premises subject to formal enforcement action, including those to which written warnings, improvement notices, prohibition orders and emergency prohibition orders were issued. But the monitoring data returns from London boroughs cover the enforcement of both food hygiene and food standards, and the total enforcement action data cannot be divided between the two.
Information on general food law enforcement action by LAs in 2004-05 was set out in the paper presented to the Food Standards Agency Board in February 2006, paper FSA 06/02/04. I have arranged for a copy of the paper to be placed in the Library.
Social Care Funding
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the social care formula spending share per head was for each local authority for (a) children and (b) adults for 2006-07. [88798]
Mr. Woolas: In announcing the provisional 2006-07 Local Government Finance Settlement on 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 627, I explained to the House that we were abolishing Formula Spending Shares. These notional spending figures were misunderstood and misused for a variety of purposes for which they were neither intended nor suitable.
Formula grant, which comprises Revenue Support Grant, redistributed business rates and principal formula Police Grant, is an unhypothecated block grant—i.e. councils are free to spend it on any service. Because of this, and because of the calculation of formula grant, in particular floor damping, it is not therefore possible to say how much grant an authority received for a particular purpose. I would therefore refer the hon. Member to the table showing formula grant per head placed in the Libraries of the House in response to a question from the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 14 July 2006, Official Report, column 2103W.
Home Department
Abdoulie Njie
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the immigration status is of Abdoulie Njie, recently convicted of rape in Stoke-on-Trent Crown court. [81843]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 3 July 2006]: It is not our policy to comment on individual cases to Members who do not hold a constituency responsibility for the named individual.
Adelphi System
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on the Adelphi finance and human resource system. [88504]
Mr. Byrne: The total expenditure on the Adelphi programme, relating to HR, finance and procurement, from January 2003 to June 2006, is £51,907,961.
Advertising Campaigns
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advertising campaigns his Department has run since July 2004; and what the (a) date and (b) cost was of each. [81918]
Mr. McNulty: The advertising campaigns the Home Office has run since 2004-05 are listed in the table. Due to the way media are invoiced and as our campaigns are long term and not month specific, we cannot break down costs by month.
The breakdown by each financial year, however, is as follows:
| £ | |
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advertising campaigns the Department ran between 2000 and June 2004; and what the (a) date and (b) cost was of each. [87061]
Mr. McNulty: The advertising campaigns the Home Office ran between 2000-01 and 2004-05 are listed as follows. Due to the way media are invoiced and as our campaigns are long term and not month specific, we cannot break down costs by month.
The breakdown by each financial year, however, is as follows:
| £ | |
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