| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
30 Mar 2010 : Column 857W—continued
House of Commons Commission
Catering: Subsidies
Grant Shapps: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was paid in subsidy towards (a) food and (b) alcoholic drink in outlets in the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate in the last year for which information is available. [324547]
Nick Harvey:
In 2008-09 the overall net cost incurred by the Catering and Retail Service in the Department of Facilities was some £6.1 million, in accordance with the
budget and pricing strategy approved by the Finance and Services Committee following advice from the Administration Committee. This represents the difference between income and the cost of the services provided. It is not possible to disaggregate the subsidy for (a) food and (b) alcohol.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what (a) voltage optimisers and (b) equivalent technologies are used in the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate. [324984]
Nick Harvey: There are currently no voltage optimisers or equivalent technologies in use in the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate. However the feasibility of installing this equipment is currently being assessed.
Nurseries
Mr. Chope: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the proposed day nursery at 1 Parliament street will be open to children other than those of hon. Members, Peers and staff employed in Parliament. [324761]
Nick Harvey: The Commission decided that the nursery will be open to children aged 0 to five of Members, Members' staff and House of Commons staff. The possibility of opening the nursery to other groups will be considered after the general election when the level of initial interest is clearer.
Wales
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on interior design in relation to office refurbishments undertaken in each of the last five years. [324685]
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what (a) voltage optimisers and (b) equivalent technologies are used within buildings occupied by his Department. [324967]
Mr. David: The Wales Office currently does not have voltage optimisers or equivalent technologies installed on its office premises. They will however be considered as part of my Department's sustainable development work in order to reduce electricity consumption.
Departmental Internet
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on external website design consultants in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [325206]
Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T. C. Davies) on 14 December 2009, Official Report, column 643W.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many complaints his Department received regarding difficulties using its website in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [325186]
Leader of the House
Petitions
Grant Shapps: To ask the Leader of the House (1) if she will bring forward proposals to require a Minister of the Crown to present to the House any bill supported in a petition signed by one million or more people eligible to vote; [324544]
(2) if she will bring forward proposals to require a debate to be held in the House on the subject matter of a petition signed by 100,000 or more people eligible to vote. [324545]
Ms Harman: On 22 February, the House approved recommendations from the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons (HC 1117, Session 2008-09) for greater public involvement in the legislative process (Recommendation 42) and for the establishment of a system of petitions requiring debate (Recommendation 43). Further work on the implementation of these recommendations will be required in the next Parliament.
I also refer the hon. Gentleman to the written answer given by the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey), representing the House of Commons Commission, on 8 February 2010, Official Report, columns 651-52W, which describes some of the work already being undertaken by the House authorities in these areas.
Scotland
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on interior design in relation to office refurbishments undertaken in each of the last five years. [324682]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not separately identify the costs of interior design in relation to office refurbishments from the routine repair and replacement of existing facilities.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost to his Department was of employing press and media officers in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of employing such staff in the financial year 1996-97, expressed in real terms. [324800]
Ann McKechin: The cost of employing press and media officers in 2008-09 was £121,033. The Scotland Office was not established until 1 July 1999.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on promotional items carrying the Department's branding and logo in the last five years; and what such items were. [324709]
Ann McKechin: The only Scotland Office spend on promotional items carrying the Department's branding and logo in the last five years was for two pull-up backdrops for public events with the Secretary of State's crest, at a total cost of £640.
Solicitor-General
Fraud: Prosecutions
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Solicitor-General on what date the Serious Fraud Office guidelines on corporate prosecutions (a) were published and (b) became effective. [324570]
The Solicitor-General: The document "Guidance on Corporate Prosecutions" was published on 6 January 2010 and came into effect on the same date.
Defence
Armed Forces: Health Services
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding has been allocated to UK rehabilitation centres for wounded servicemen and women in each of the last five years; and how much such funding is planned for the next three years. [321092]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Defence Medical Services manage an extensive armed forces rehabilitation network which meets a wide range of requirements for rehabilitation treatment, including treatment for operational casualties. The network includes primary care rehabilitation facilities and 13 regional rehabilitation units (RRUs) in the UK, as well as the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court in Surrey, where seriously wounded servicemen and women are normally treated following the completion of their secondary care.
Funding for the treatment of wounded personnel has been, and will continue to be, made available to match clinical requirements, including surges in casualty numbers. Our future budgetary plans assume a continuing need for additional investment in facilities and staff at Headley Court. Comprehensive financial data for the past five years are not readily available.
Headley Court has received steadily increased investment in facilities and staff over recent years. The unit's operating costs, including estate management, are about £20.4 million in the current financial year, as compared with some £10.7 million (actual costs) in 2005-06. Significant new facilities brought into service over recent years, at an additional total cost of about £7.5 million, include a 30-bed ward annexe (May 2007), a 58-bed staff and patient accommodation block (January 2009) and the new Centre for Mental and Cognitive Health (opened last spring). For many years the Headley Court estate,
which is owned by a charitable trust, has also benefited from additional funding of projects by that trust and other charities.
In addition to funding the projects just listed, we announced in May 2008 an extra £24 million in capital funding over the next four years for a Headley Court development programme. Over the first two years (i.e. up to April 2010) this funding is being mainly applied to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) contribution to the Help for Heroes rehabilitation complex, which will come into service in a few weeks, and a utilities upgrade for the whole site. Assessment work has also started on a project to re-develop the clinical areas, which would replace and expand the unit's current ward bed capacity (66 beds) and deliver other benefits, with an expected completion date in late 2011. As a prudent contingency measure, we are also providing additional ward accommodation of up to 30 ward beds later this year.
On 11 February the MOD launched the new Army Recovery Capability in partnership with Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion as well as other service charities. The ARC marks a further step forward in the support to our armed forces and will ensure the best possible care and management is provided to our wounded, sick and injured personnel. The MOD is investing around £30 million over the next four years to fund the Army Recovery Capability. This will include the provision of military and civil service personnel to co-ordinate, manage and deliver the Army Recovery Capability, including the personnel recovery centres.
Armed Forces: Housing
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2010, Official Report, column 203W, on armed forces: housing, how many requests for repair call outs were made in respect of family housing. [314204]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I will write to the hon. Member.
Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Willie Rennie:
In my answer of 29 January 2010 (Official Report, column 1117W) I undertook to write to you with details of how many of the 42,645 repair calls-out received in 2009 by Turner Estates Solutions (TES)-the Regional Prime Contractor for Scotland-related to Service Family Accommodation (SFA).
As previously explained, TES is responsible for maintaining the majority of the defence estate in Scotland, including SFA, Single Living Accommodation, technical buildings and infrastructure. While the total number of calls received by the TES helpdesk is recorded, the subject of each call is not unless it results in a repair and maintenance work order being raised by the helpdesk. Most calls do result in a work order, as was the case in 42,474 of the 42,645 calls received in 2009.
The following work orders for SFA were raised by the TES helpdesk in 2009:
| Month in 2009 | Total Work Orders | Of which the following were Emergency | And the following were Urgent or Routine |
Emergency orders are raised when repairs are required immediately, such as when there is a heating failure, burst water pipe or a leaking roof. These are typically dealt with in a matter of hours. Typically, Urgent orders are raised when there is a partial loss of essential facilities, such as hot water, and Routine orders for such matters as replacing washers or fixing dripping taps. Urgent orders are normally dealt with in four days against a contractual target of seven. Routine orders are normally dealt with in 11 days, against the target of 20.
Armed Forces: Lost Property
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what armed forces' equipment was reported as (a) missing and (b) stolen from operational theatre in the last 12 months. [321730]
Bill Rammell: A comprehensive list of each item of armed forces' equipment reported as missing or stolen from operational theatres is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |