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17 July 2008 : Column 665W—continued
RAF Halton
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to upgrade the training facilities at RAF Halton; and if he will make a statement. [217579]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We have plans for a range of improvements to the training facilities at RAF Halton. The capability of training facilities at RAF Halton is kept under continuous review to ensure the station is able to deliver its outputs.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to upgrade the accommodation facilities at RAF Halton. [217595]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We have plans for a range of improvements to the accommodation and working facilities at RAF Halton.
RFA Fort Victoria
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the status of RFA Fort Victoria is; and for what reasons it has been alongside for an extended period in Portsmouth Dockyard. [218751]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: RFA Fort Victoria remains within the fleet operational cycle. In addition to providing a training facility, the time alongside in Portsmouth has been fully utilised to increase the ship’s material state prior to an upkeep period next year.
Tanks
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) unit cost and (b) in-service date of the (i) Chieftain, (ii) Challenger I and (iii) Challenger II main battle tanks was. [218236]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The unit costs and historical financial records of the Chieftain and Challenger I are no longer held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The unit cost for Challenger II was listed as £3.5 million in 1999.
The in-service dates were Chieftain 1965, Challenger I 1984 and Challenger II June 1998.
Upholder Class Submarines
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) unit cost and (b) date of commissioning of each Upholder Class submarine was. [218232]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The upholder class of four submarines was commissioned in the early 1990s and the exact dates are shown in the following table. This class was sold to the Canadian Navy in 1998.
Due to the length of time that has elapsed since their commissioning, the unit cost is no longer held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Upholder class | Commissioning dates |
Warships
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the unit cost of (a) HMS Astute, (b) HMS Ambush and (c) HMS Artful was. [218230]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The contract with BAES (Submarine Solutions) is for design and manufacture of the three astute class submarines. The National Audit Office's Major Project Report for 2007 reported a total cost of £3,798 million.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the unit cost of (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless and (c) HMS Diamond is. [218235]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As published in the NAO's Major Projects Report 2007, the unit production cost for one Type 45 Destroyer is £650 million.
Prime Minister
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Prime Minister how many (a) new builds and (b) major refurbishments for a cost in excess of £0.5 million were completed by his Office in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08. [213772]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) on 9 July 2008, Official Report, column 1625W.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister how many staff he plans to employ in 10 Downing Street in 2009-10. [219701]
The Prime Minister: The number of No. 10 staff is published annually.
Departmental Official Cars
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Prime Minister what vehicle excise duty band his official car falls into. [217772]
The Prime Minister: As has been the practice of successive Governments, for security reasons the Prime Minister's car is provided by the Metropolitan Police Service.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister how many reviews of regulation Downing Street has conducted or commenced since July 2007; and in which areas. [210814]
The Prime Minister: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) on 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 153W.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister what the staff cost of his Office was in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [217340]
The Prime Minister: The total staff costs for the Office for the financial year 2006-07 were £11.6 million. Figures for the financial year 2007-08 are not yet available.
Honours
Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what the procedure is for a (a) Canadian and (b) British citizen to return an honour; and if he will make a statement; [219556]
(2) how many honours were returned by (a) Canadian and (b) British citizens since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [219557]
The Prime Minister: The information requested is not held centrally. There is no specific procedure for people appointed to an honour to return their medals.
Intelligence and Security Committee
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister if he will take steps to ensure that the secretariat of the Intelligence and Security Committee is staffed by officials under the authority of the Clerk of the House. [219091]
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Prime Minister what steps have been taken to implement the proposals to bring the work of the Intelligence and Security Committee into line with that of Select Committees as far as possible in line with the proposals in the Green Paper, the Governance of Britain; and if he will make a statement. [218859]
The Prime Minister: Plans for the Intelligence and Security Committee were set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper (Cm 7342-1, paragraphs 235-244). On the issue of staffing, I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) on 17 June 2008, Official Report, column 883W.
Olympic Games
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2008, Official Report, columns 920-1W, on the Olympic games, what estimate he has made of the cost of his officials' attendance at the Beijing Olympic games. [219531]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 18 June 2008, Official Report, column 920W.
Oman: Diplomatic Relations
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet representatives of the Government of Oman in Muscat. [217502]
The Prime Minister: I met the Sultan of Oman in London on Tuesday; we discussed a wide range of issues. The Government are in regular contact with Government of Oman at all levels. For security reasons, my future engagements are announced as and when appropriate.
Health
Antidepressants
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been prescribed anti-depressant medication in each of the last three years, broken down by region; and what percentage of the population of each region each represents. [218862]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of people prescribed a medicine is not collected centrally therefore we are unable to provide the information requested. However, the number of prescription items prescribed for antidepressant medication(1) is shown in the following table.
(1) Antidepressant medication has been defined as those products included in the British National Formulary chapter 4.3—antidepressant drugs.
| Thousand | |||
| Strategic health authority | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Source: Prescription Cost Analysis | |||
Care Homes: Elderly
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many registered care homes for the elderly there were in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each year since 2001; [219120]
(2) how many people were resident in registered care homes for the elderly in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each year since 2001. [219121]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 14 July 2008]: Until 2001, information on the numbers of care and nursing homes were collected by the Department. At 31 March 2001, there were 10,535 care and nursing homes for older people aged 65 or over in England.
Data on the total number of care and nursing homes for older people in Lancashire are not held centrally. However, data are available showing there were 259 care homes for older people age 65 and over in Lancashire local authority area at March 2001. In addition, there were 172 nursing homes, but this figure includes all homes for adults and can not be broken down further to give numbers for older people aged 65 and over. Data for Ribble Valley constituency are not held centrally.
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) produces data on the number of care homes and places registered as at 31 March each year, beginning with 2002-03. There are some definitional differences between these data and those for the years up to 2001.
I have been informed by CSCI that care homes are not registered as, for example, care homes for older people. CSCI inspectors will decide at the time of an inspection whether to inspect a home against the national minimum standards (NMS) for care homes for older people or younger adults. This decision is based on the age profile of the residents of the home.
The following table shows the number of care and nursing homes which were active in Lancashire council area and England on 31 March at the end of each financial year shown, that had been inspected at some point prior against the NMS for older people (though not necessarily during the year in question).
CSCI is unable to provide separate data for Ribble Valley constituency.
| Number of homes | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are at 31 March for each year. 2. Information on numbers of residents in care homes is not collected centrally. Source: CSCI registration and inspection database | |
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