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13 May 2004 : Column 559W—continued
Young Service Personnel (Deaths)
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the UK armed forces under the age of 18 have died while serving in each of the last 10 years. [171799]
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Mr. Caplin: Between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 2003, 28 regular armed forces personnel under the age of 18 have died in service. These deaths occurred in the following years:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 0 |
| 1995 | 3 |
| 1996 | 2 |
| 1997 | 0 |
| 1998 | 3 |
| 1999 | 5 |
| 2000 | 2 |
| 2001 | 5 |
| 2002 | 4 |
| 2003 | 1 |
| Total | 28 |
CABINET OFFICE
Buckingham Palace Garden Parties
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer of 26 April, to Question ref 168814, on garden parties, whether an exception has been made in the last 10 years to the policy of not permitting nominations for Commonwealth citizens to be made on the nomination form used by hon. Members. [169727]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply
The arrangements under which Commonwealth citizens are nominated by their High Commissions for invitations to Royal Garden Parties have been in place for well over 10 years. I am not aware of any exceptions having been made.
Green Minister
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the meetings his Department has been present at regarding the delivery of sustainable development across Government as coordinated by the Ministerial Sub-committee of Green Ministers. [167740]
Mr. Alexander: Departmental officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the delivering of sustainable development across Government.
As regards to Cabinet Committee business, it is established practice under exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose such information.
Recycled Paper
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of paper for printed publications used by the Department in 2002–03 was from recycled sources; and how much post-consumer waste this paper contained. [167733]
Mr. Alexander:
Since August 2002 all printing contractors used by the Cabinet Office use the cross-departmental framework contract for the supply of
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recycled paper for printed publications. Paper supplied is 100 per cent. recycled with a minimum post consumer waste content of 75 per cent.
Shareholder Executive
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what consultations have been conducted by the Shareholder Executive on corporate finance and governance; and which of these consultations have been published. [171616]
Mr. Alexander: The Shareholder Executive has conducted a wide range of consultations on shareholder and governance issues, including with shareholding departments, companies owned by Government and other relevant parties outside Government. The Shareholder Executive is using these consultations to inform its work to improve Government's performance as a shareholder.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) resource budget, (b) administration cost and (c) staff numbers of the Shareholder Executive were for 2003–04; and when the annual report will be published. [171617]
Mr. Alexander: The resource budget allocated to the Shareholder Executive for 2003–04 was £2.2 million. The outturn administration cost, currently estimated at £1 million, reflects the Shareholder Executive being created only part way through the year. At the 31 March 2004, there were 12 members of staff in the Shareholder Executive. The Shareholder Executive is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and its activities are covered by the Cabinet Office's annual report.
Timber
Ms Walley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the Office plans to contribute financially to the establishment of the second phase of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber. [167623]
Mr. Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Morley) on 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 31W.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Ethnic Minorities
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to bring the number of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds in (a) the Police Service and (b) the judiciary into line with ethnic breakdown of the population in Britain. [171081]
Ms Blears:
The Government are committed to achieving a culturally diverse workforce in the police service that is representative of the local communities it serves. We are engaged with the leadership of the police service in addressing diversity and promoting race equality in the areas of recruitment, training and development.
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We are pursuing a number of positive initiatives to improve representation in the police service. We have introduced national recruitment, assessment and selection processes that are fair and transparent and designed to weed out applicants with racist attitudes. Within this, we are encouraging, for example, all forces to use members of their minority communities as assessors in their selection processes.
In January we launched a new action plan "Breaking Through—Promoting Minority Ethnic Employment in the Police Service" to help forces focus on steps to improve recruitment, retention and progression of ethnic minorities.
We have recently conducted advertising aimed at ethnic minorities and have produced a new ethnic minority recruitment leaflet for forces. Our relaunched police recruitment website encourages applications from ethnic minorities and women.
In terms of the Judiciary, my right hon. noble and learned Friend, the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor has introduced a bill to create a new, independent, Judicial Appointments Commission which will inspire a more diverse range of applicants through a more open, transparent and accessible system. The Department is also examining whether other barriers exist to deter applicants from minority groups, while continuing to run its comprehensive outreach programme.
Active Communities Unit
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who the recipients of grants made by the Active Communities Unit were in (a) 2003–04 and (b) in each of the previous five years. [171064]
Fiona Mactaggart: A full listing of Active Community Unit grant recipients in 2003 04, and in each of the previous five years, has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Active Communities Unit's budget is for 2004–05. [171066]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Active Community Unit's budget for 2004–05, rounded to the nearest million pounds, is currently £84 million. In addition, the unit is responsible for £57 million of the Futurebuilders Fund, which is being distributed by an independent provider under contract to the Home Office.
Antisocial Behaviour
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) anti-social behaviour orders, (b) curfew orders and (c) other measures have been used to ban individuals from railway stations without intent to travel in each year since 1997. [171904]
Ms Blears:
(a) Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)—Introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act (1998) ASBOs have been available to the courts since 1 April 1999. The statistical database does not identify the type of restriction imposed on orders.
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(b) Curfew Orders—It is not possible from the information collected centrally to identify the individual requirements of Curfew Orders imposed at magistrate's courts and the Crown Court.
(c) Other measures— British Transport Police advise that it is their policy to ask for extended conditions to keep offenders of the railway when a Football Banning Order (FBO) is applied for. Currently there are 30 subjects whose FBO has conditions stopping persons from travelling upon the railway.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued against businesses in each of the last five years, broken down by region. [172427]
Ms Blears: Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) cannot be made against businesses, they can only be made against named individuals.
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