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14 Mar 2006 : Column 2143W—continued
Inspection Regimes
Mr. Soames: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost to West Sussex County Council was of inspection regimes instigated by his Department in each of the last five years. [58163]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for the sponsorship of the Audit Commission, which undertakes inspection of local services. There are no agreed or reliable figures to calculate the indirect costs of inspection to local government.
The ODPM is, however, committed to ensuring that inspection is co-ordinated and proportionate and responsive to the improvement priorities of each council. The ODPM is working across Government to significantly change the inspection landscape and significantly reduce the cost and amount of inspection carried out.
Lancashire Fire Authority
Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) full-time and (b) retained fire-fighters have been (i) employed and (ii) taken early retirement in Lancashire Fire Authority in each year since 1996–97. [58595]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of firelighters in Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service that have (i) been employed in each year since 1996–97 and (ii) taken ill-health retirement since 1998–99 is presented in the table; information on ill-health retirement for individual fire and rescue services prior to 1998–99 is not held centrally.
(33) The figures provided refer to the workforce at 31 March each year..
(34) Information not held centrally
(35) Figures are provisional
Source:
ODPM annual returns
14 Mar 2006 : Column 2144W
Local Government Pension Scheme
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the organisations and individuals who responded to the consultation on the draft regulations concerning the local government pension scheme; and if he will make a statement. [57181]
Mr. Woolas: The statutory consultation exercise on the draft Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (No.3) Regulations 2005 ended on 28 February. Approximately 700 responses have been received. These are being carefully considered before any decisions are taken on the scope of the final regulations. A summary of the responses received will be made available on the Office Deputy Prime Minister's LGPS website at: www.xoq83.dial.pipex.com in due course.
National Land and Property Gazetteer
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what information the National Land and Property Gazetteer holds on domestic properties; [54535]
(2) how the National Land and Property Gazetteer (a) was compiled and (b) is updated. [54536]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister supports the effective use of address based information, however, as the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) is an Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) product, it is not for ODPM to comment on its content or specification.
Planning
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received on planning applications for telecommunications equipment. [57528]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister receives many representations on matters relating to the telecommunications industry. The information about such representations is not readily available in the breakdown requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
School Playing Fields
Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many school playing fields are owned by his Department. [57466]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not own any school playing fields.
14 Mar 2006 : Column 2145W
DEFENCE
Accommodation
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of (a) single living and (b) family accommodation in (i) the UK and (ii) overseas is at (A) standard 1, (B) standard 2, (C) standard 3 and (D) standard 4 for condition. [58310]
Mr. Touhig: This information is not held centrally but is being compiled from a number of sources. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as the material is available, and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Afghanistan
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the British armed forces have been (a) injured and (b) killed in Afghanistan since the start of the conflict. [58334]
Mr. Ingram: Two members of the United Kingdom armed forces have been killed by hostile action in Afghanistan since the start of the conflict. I refer my hon. Friend to the previous answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 506W, and my answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 20W, with respect to the number of UK forces who have been injured in Afghanistan during that time.
Argentina
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his Argentine counterpart regarding that country's recent naval and air incursions into British airspace and territorial waters. [57480]
John Reid: There have been no recent Argentine naval or air incursions into British airspace or territorial waters.
Boards of Inquiry
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 506W, on boards of inquiry, whether there are circumstances in which families are allowed to bring legal representatives to a board of inquiry. [58293]
Mr. Touhig [holding answer 13 March 2006]: The purpose of a board of inquiry is to investigate a matter and to report. Its role is different from that of an inquest into a fatality and legal representation is not normally appropriate. However, in exceptional circumstances, legal representation is allowed at a board of inquiry—for example, where a family member is invited to attend as a witness.
Budget
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the defence budget has been allocated to the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy in each of the last seven years. [57981]
14 Mar 2006 : Column 2146W
Mr. Ingram: The defence budget is not broken down by individual service, but by Top Level Budget (TLB) holders. These broadly equate to: Commander-in-Chief, Fleet and Second Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command in the Royal Navy; Commander-in-Chief, Land Command, Adjutant-General (Personnel and Training Command) and General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland) in the Army; Commander-in-Chief, Strike Command and Commander-in-Chief, Personnel and Training Command in the Royal Air Force. Full details of the defence budget, and its division between all TLB holders can be found in the Main and Supplementary Estimates and the Annual Report and Accounts since 2002–03 and the Defence Resource Accounts since 1999–2000, for each year, which are in the Library of the House.
Correspondence
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the letter from the right hon. Member the Minister of State for Defence (Mr. Ingram) to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) of 2 March 2006, whether each of the planes listed (a) was a US state aircraft for the purposes of the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation 1944 and (b) had requested and obtained permission to land from UK authorities. [58468]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
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