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8 May 2009 : Column 458W—continued

Nimrod Aircraft

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what date he expects Nimrod aircraft to be fully operational. [273310]

Mr. Quentin Davies: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the armed forces to the hon. Member for Moray (Mr Robertson), is the Defence in the UK Debate on 26 March 2009, Official Report, column 478).

Royal Hospital Haslar

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of (a) the book value of the Royal Hospital Haslar site and (b) the anticipated annual maintenance cost of the vacated site. [265525]

Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 23 March 2009]: The "existing use" value of the asset for Defence purposes was last estimated as £17 million in 2005. The current market value of the asset is different, but difficult to assess, given current market conditions. However, it is not Ministry of Defence practice to release assessments of market value, as to do so could influence the market and not serve the interests of taxpayers generally.

If the Haslar site were to be "mothballed" the estimated annual maintenance cost would be less than £1 million. However, the Department is planning a marketing campaign for this summer and is committed to finding a purchaser who can deliver a viable and sustainable future for the Haslar site.


8 May 2009 : Column 459W

To this end Defence Estates is working closely with Gosport borough council. In particular, we are keen to ensure that plans for the re-use of the site have regard to the historical setting of the listed buildings and grounds. An inquiry led by the Prince's Regeneration Trust last November examined the opportunities and potential. All proposals to acquire the site will be carefully evaluated, particularly as regards their approach towards conservation and heritage issues.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Flood Control

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what level of priority his Department gives to the completion of his Department's programme of work on the protection of critical infrastructure from flooding in relation to work on the implementation of the other recommendations of the Pitt Report. [273132]

Huw Irranca-Davies: In undertaking to act on every one of his recommendations, the Government endorsed the importance given to this area of work by Sir Michael Pitt. While the Government will give a fuller progress report in June on all that we have done since we published our action plan on 17 December 2008, I have provided some examples of what has been done to protect critical infrastructure from flooding.

The energy sector began work on improving resilience to flooding in the autumn of 2007, with an initial focus on electricity substations being extended to include both gas and oil installations. The Energy Networks Association, working with the Government and the electricity industry, has produced a report on the steps that can be taken to further safeguard electricity substations. The matter is being given full consideration at present with the industry regulator in the scope of the current distribution companies' price review.

In addition, work has been put in place to take forward lessons from the 2007 floods in relation to water companies. All companies have considered resilience in their draft business plans, which were submitted to Ofwat in August. The plans vary, as expected, reflecting the size of the company and the specific challenges presented by their locations. In total, almost £1 billion of investment has been proposed to increase resilience.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress the Environment Agency has made on establishing the system for opting-out of flood warnings recommended by the Pitt Report. [273134]

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency systematically registers customers with its free flood warning service using publicly available information (names, addresses and telephone numbers). Customers are given the opportunity to opt out of this service. The Environment Agency pre-registered 55,605 new customers and only 521 customers chose to opt out of this service, giving an overall retention rate of 99 per cent.


8 May 2009 : Column 460W

For the Environment Agency to provide a full opt out flood warning service it needs access to ex-directory information. Since the publication of the Pitt Review, the Environment Agency has re-instated negotiations with the telecommunications companies holding ex-directory data. The Environment Agency is working hard to move to a fully opt out flood warning service by the end of 2009.

Flooding Lessons Learned Review

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of the 15 urgent recommendations of the Pitt Review into the summer floods of 2007 have been implemented; and which ones are yet to be implemented. [272890]

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government began to implement Sir Michael's Pitt's urgent interim recommendations in December 2007. In April 2008, Sir Michael noted that strong progress had been made against the majority of these recommendations, and that further work was needed in some areas, which has since been continuing.

The Government's next progress report, which will be published this June, will enable the public and the House to see what stage of implementation all outstanding recommendations have reached.

Inland Waterways

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles of British Waterways’ canals have (a) leakage and (b) erosion. [273300]

Huw Irranca-Davies: It is impossible to quantify leakage in this way. Where leaks occur, they can be potentially very serious and lead to breaches. British Waterways therefore acts quickly to plug any leaks when they are identified. Some seepage is, however, natural on both canals and rivers. With regard to erosion, canals are by definition man-made, engineered structures which do not suffer from erosion—as opposed to wear and tear—in the same way as rivers. This is in part due to the materials used in their construction, the slower flow of water and the strict speed limit imposed on waterway craft.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures British Waterways use to record the number of water vehicles using its canals. [273304]

Huw Irranca-Davies: British Waterways (BW) keep a register of licensed boats. All boats on its waterways must have a licence. BW patrols the waterways regularly to check for unlicensed boats. It also publishes an ‘online boat checker’ where members of the public can check whether a particular boat has a valid licence.


8 May 2009 : Column 461W

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of narrowboats which used British Waterways’ canals in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2006-07. [273305]

Huw Irranca-Davies: British Waterways does not separate narrowboats from other types of boats in its regular statistics. The total number of boats licensed in each of these years is as follows:


8 May 2009 : Column 462W

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Europe: Diplomatic Service

Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what posts in each UK mission in Europe have been (a) downgraded and (b) ended in each financial year since 2000. [271450]

David Miliband: For the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 data are not held centrally and it would involve disproportionate cost to obtain it from across the network.

Limited information is available centrally for the period up to 2006-07.


8 May 2009 : Column 463W

8 May 2009 : Column 464W
Post Downgraded Cut
From To

2000-01 to 2002-03

No data available

No data available

No data available

No data available

2003-04

112 UK staff (no further data available)

2004-05

19 UK staff (no further data available)

2005-06

33 UK staff (no further data available)

2006-07(1)

Ankara

C4

Berlin

B3,A2

Berne

B3

Brussels

SMS2

SMS1

D6x2; C4x9; B3; A2x3

D7

D6

Dublin

SMS3

SMS2

C4

Kyiv

SMS1

D7

Lille

SMS1

D7

Luxembourg

A2

Madrid

C4

Munich

C4

B3

Oslo

A2

Paris

SMS1

D7

A2

Pristina

C4

Rome

SMS3

SMS2

C4x2

Stockholm

C4

Valletta

SMS2

SMS1

B3

C4

B3

Vienna

B3; A2

2007-08

Ankara

LEVx2

Belgrade

LEIII; LEVx2

Berlin

D6; LEI; LEII; LEIII; LEIVx2; LEVx4

Bucharest

LEV

Copenhagen

B3

Gibraltar

A2; B3

Istanbul

B3; LEV

Kyiv

LEIII; LEIV; LEVx2

Lille

LEII

LEIII

Lisbon

SMS2

SMS1

Madrid

C4; LEIII; LEV

Milan

C5; LEIII; LEVxl.75

Munich

C4

Paris

SMS1;C4;B3

Prague

LEV

Skopje

LEII

Sofia

LEV

Rome

LEII

LEIII

D6x2; LEIII; LEIV LEVx2

The Hague

A2; C4

Valletta

C4

Warsaw

LEI; LEII; LEIIIx2; LEVx3

2008-09

Amsterdam

B3; C5

Athens

SMS2

SMS1

C4; B3; A2

Belgrade

LEV

Berlin

D6x2; C5; C4x2; LEII; LEII (part-time); LEIIIx4; LEV

Berne

A2; B3

Bratislava

D6; C4; A2

Brussels

D7; C5; C4; B3; A2

Bucharest

SMS1

D6

D6; C4; A2

Copenhagen

SMS2

SMS1

C4; LEIV

D7

D6

Dublin

D6; LEV

Gibraltar

C4

B3

Istanbul

D6

C4

Kyiv

SMS1

D7

C4; LEV

Lisbon

C4; B3

Ljubljana

D6; A2

Madrid

D6; B3; A2; LEIIx2

Munich

SMS1

C.5

Nicosia

SMS1

D7

C4

Paris

SMS2

SMS1

D6x3; B3x2; A2

Riga

D6

C4

B3

Rome

B3; LEII

Sarajevo

SMS2

SMS1

D6

Skopje

LEVx2

Sofia

C4

Stockholm

B3

The Hague

D6; B3

Tirana

A2

Valletta

SMS1

D7

A2; LEV

Vienna

LEII; LEIIIx2; LEIVx2; LEVx8(2)

Vilnius

D6

Warsaw

LEII; LEIIIx4; LEIVx5; LEV x4(2)

Zagreb

SMS2

SMS1

LEIIIx l.5

(1) Data not available for locally employed staff.
(2) Cut positions in Vienna and Warsaw include staff who transferred to facilities management provider, Interserve, in the first phase of the North West Europe Facilities Management Project in December 2008. In Vienna the following staff transferred to Interserve: LEII, LEIII (x2), LEIV (x2), LEV (x8). In Warsaw the following staff numbers transferred to Interserve: LEII, LEIII (x4), LEIV (x4) and LEV (x3).

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