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20 May 2008 : Column 264W—continued
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on the most recent redesign and implementation of her Departmental website. [200163]
Mr. Dhanda: The Government have embarked on a major exercise to review, rationalise and converge their websites. In this context, the new departmental website was launched in August 2007. Costs of £1,199,209 were incurred for research into the needs of website users, set up and site development, design, information architecture and data migration, editorial work and training.
The website is supported by the Department’s enterprise software licence and was implemented as part of the Department’s wider web rationalisation project.
Departmental Translation Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by her Department on translation and interpretation services in 2007-08, broken down by language. [205187]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on 19 May 2008, Official Report, column 36W.
The Department spent £8,681 on interpretation services in 2007-08. Details of interpretation services are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department began the research into return path usage among the elderly referred to in the minutes of the Emerging Technologies Group meeting on 27 February in relation to the digital switchover assistance scheme. [204919]
Mr. Iain Wright: Together with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department has been exploring the opportunities around providing return path functionality for recipients of the digital switchover ‘Help Scheme’, and the meeting of the Emerging Technologies Group formed part of the discussions on this issue. The Department has not commissioned specific research on the usage of services by the elderly that are provided through a set-top box with a return path; the minutes refer to emerging data on the take-up of services specifically targeted at this group through the interactive ‘DigiTV’ platform, which is provided by Kirklees council.
Fire Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times fire and rescue services evacuated residents from their homes in each of the last five years. [206786]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally.
Fire Services: Inspections
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many inspection visits to each type of premises were made by each fire authority under the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in each month since the Order came into force. [206003]
Mr. Dhanda: Information on the number of audits is submitted to the department via annual returns from each fire and rescue authority, the most recent information available is for 2006-07. As the Order came into effect on 1 October 2006, Fire and Rescue Services were not required to provide these data for 2006-07. However 16 authorities provided these figures for the period 1 October 2006 to 31 March 2007. These figures have been deposited in the Library of the House.
A complete set of figures will be available from 2007-08 onwards.
Fire Services: Manpower
John McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many emergency fire control staff are employed in local fire control rooms in each (a) fire authority and (b) region; and what indicative numbers are used by her
Department for planning purposes of control staff required for each regional control centre under steady state operating conditions. [206787]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 9 October 2007, Official Report, column 561-62W to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) which sets out the number of staff employed in each of the existing 46 control rooms. Staffing figures fluctuate for a number of reasons, including maternity cover, secondments etc.
I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 20 June 2007, Official Report, column 1856-57W to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) which details the indicative staffing figures for each of the nine Regional Control Centres (RCC). The actual number of staff employed will be a matter for each RCC Local Authority Control Company (LACC) to decide.
Fires: Warehouses
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to receive the inquiry report from the Health and Safety Executive and the Metropolitan Police into the fatal fire at the warehouse at Atherstone-on-Stour in Warwickshire on 2 November 2007; and if she will make a statement. [205816]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 15 May 2008]: The joint Police and Health and Safety Executive investigation is on-going and currently there is no date for its conclusion. The Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser is in close contact with the ongoing investigations and is keeping me informed. It would be inappropriate to comment further whilst the investigation is in progress.
Freedom of Religion: UN Agencies
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what response she plans to make to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief’s report on her mission to the UK. [193149]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government will not be responding directly to the UN Special Rapporteur’s report on her mission to the UK. The report is currently with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who are considering how to respond.
Housing
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to assist first-time buyers with house purchases in the next two years. [206430]
Caroline Flint: As set out in the Housing Green Paper, we aim to help 75,000 more householders on to the property ladder over the next three years. Building on the existing programme, the Prime Minister last week announced further help to enable more first time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder.
Housing: Regeneration
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to review the implementation of the housing market renewal area partnership business plans agreed in 2007; and if she will make a statement. [206859]
Mr. Iain Wright: From the outset of the Housing Market Renewal programme, the Audit Commission has undertaken reviews of each of the nine original partnerships every year, and this work will continue in relation to the ongoing programme. The Commission will also begin to review the Tees Valley programme from 2008, in view of its increased funding. The Commission’s reports are published on its website.
London Airports
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times her Department hired VIP facilities at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) Luton and (d) Stansted airports in each month since May 2006; and what the expenditure on VIP facilities at each was in each of those months. [205008]
Mr. Dhanda: The breakdown of information in the format requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
All departmental expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Michael Clark
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will hold discussions with Leeds City Council on the events leading up to its housing of convicted murderer Michael Clark. [206393]
Mr. Dhanda: The West Yorkshire MAPPA Senior Management Board are holding a serious case review into the events surrounding Michael Clark’s release. Learning points from that review will be shared with relevant agencies locally and nationally. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will make a decision on meeting with Leeds city council after the review findings are published.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) (i) enforcement and (ii) prohibition notices were issued and (b) prosecutions were brought by fire authorities under the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in each month since it came into force. [206002]
Mr. Dhanda:
This information is submitted to the department via annual returns from each fire and rescue authority, and the most recent information available is for 2006-07. As the order came into effect on 1 October 2006, Fire and Rescue Services were not
required to provide these data for 2006-07. However 18 authorities provided these figures for the period 1 October 2006 to 31 March 2007. These are set out as follows. A complete set of figures will be available from 2007-08 onwards.
| Number | |
Sleeping Rough
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her most recent estimate is of the number of rough sleepers. [206467]
Mr. Iain Wright: The 2007 national estimate of the number of rough sleepers in England showed 498 people sleeping rough on any single night, a 73 per cent. reduction on the 1998 baseline. The estimate is based on the results of local authority street counts in those areas where a known, or suspected, rough sleeping problem has been identified.
Smoking
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many smoking shelters were built at each of her Department’s London buildings in each of the last five years. [205048]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department for Communities and Local Government’s buildings are smokefree. The Department has not constructed any smoking shelters.
Temporary Accommodation
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were living in hostels at the most recent date for which figures are available. [206468]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally.
The Homeless UK project, run by the Resource Information Service, provides information on hostels and supported accommodation for homeless people in England. There are 1,204 accommodation projects with over 57,000 bedspaces. 246 are direct access hostels with 9,000 bedspaces. Direct access hostels are short-stay emergency services aimed at rough sleepers and those in need of immediate accommodation.
Data on the number of households placed in temporary accommodation under the homelessness legislation are available in our quarterly statistical release, which provides a breakdown by type of temporary accommodation, including hostels; at the end of December 2007, there were 6,620 households placed in hostels (including women’s refuges).
Justice
Chelmsford Prison: Drugs
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of (a) remand and (b) sentenced prisoners in HMP Chelmsford tested positive for illegal drugs in each of the last five years. [206064]
Mr. Hanson: The percentage of positive random mandatory drug tests at Chelmsford prison in each of the last five financial years is detailed in the following table. The data recorded on mandatory drug testing at Chelmsford prison cannot be differentiated between remand and sentenced prisoners.
| Random mandatory drug testing at Chelmsford prison | |
| Financial year | Positive rate (percentage) |
Departmental Data Protection
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any officials in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were disciplined or dismissed for (i) breaches of data protection requirements and (ii) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [205895]
Mr. Wills: According to centrally held records in the former DCA, members of staff have been disciplined and dismissed for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years.
According to centrally held records in the public sector Prison Service, members of staff have been disciplined and dismissed for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years. In some of these cases, the inappropriate use of data is actually included as part of a wide range of charges against the members of staff.
According to centrally held records in the former NOMS and OCJR there have been no recorded cases of discipline or dismissal for breaches of data protection and inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data.
Departmental Marketing
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department plans to spend on public relations in 2008-09. [203316]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice plans the following public relations activity in 2008-09:
£160,000 in relation to community sentencing. This is provisional and subject to other planning in the course of 2008-09.
£60,000 in relation to community engagement projects in Merseyside and Cheshire.
Office for Criminal Justice Reform—a cross-departmental team which reports to Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Attorney-General's Office.
£150,000 for a promotion of Inside Justice Week.
£100,000 for a Justice Awards event.
The Office of the Public Guardian, Tribunals Service and Her Majesty's Prison Service have no agreed plans.
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