HC Deb 29 March 1988 vol 130 cc385-7W
Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those(a) county and (b) fire and civil defence authorities that have (i) an operational county main emergency centre and (ii) an operational county standby emergency centre; and if he will list those London group emergency centres that are currently operational.

Mr. John Patten

The information requested is as follows. It is based on local authorities' returns due by 1 October 1987 under the Government's planned programme for implementation of the Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1983.

(a) County authorities with operational emergency centres

The County authorities with both main and standby centres operational are: Cleveland; Clwyd; Durham; Essex; West Glamorgan; Gwent; Gwynedd; Hampshire; Isle of Wight; Leicestershire; Nottinghamshire; Suffolk; Surrey; Warwickshire; Wiltshire; North Yorkshire.

The County authorities with main centres only operational are: Bedfordshire; Cambridgeshire; Cheshire; Cumbria; Devon; Kent; Lancashire; Norfolk; Oxfordshire; Powys; Salop; Somerset.

The County authorities with standby centres only operational are: Avon; Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Gloucestershire; Lincolnshire; Northamptonshire.

(b) Fire and civil defence authorities (FCDAs) with operational emergency centres Merseyside and West Yorkshire have main and standby centres operational. Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire have main centres only operational.

(c) London group operational emergency centres

The London groups with operational centres are: North East; South West and South East.

Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will identify those local authorities that will receive civil defence grant towards the construction or conversion of emergency centres during each of the years 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91; and if he will indicate the likely scale of the provision involved in each year.

Mr. John Patten

We expect grant-eligible expenditure on emergency centres to total about £3.5 million for each of the financial years mentioned but details will not be available until relevant expenditure for each authority has been approved.

Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will identify those local authorities that have received civil defence grant towards the construction or conversion of emergency centres during each of the years 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987–88; and if he will indicate the scale of the expenditure involved in each year.

Mr. John Patten

The local authorities concerned are listed as follows. Expenditure attracting grant at the rate of 75 per cent. totalled £1.7 million in 1984–85, £2.1 million in 1985–86 and £3.3 million in 1986–87. The expected figure for 1987–88 is £3.5 million.

County authorities in receipt of grant in all years stated Avon; Bedfordshire; Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Cambridgeshire; Cleveland; Cornwall; Derbyshire; Devon; Dorset; Durham; East Sussex; Essex; Gloucestershire; Gwent; Gwynedd; Hampshire; Hereford and Worcestershire; Hertfordshire; Humberside; Isle of Wight; Kent; Lincolnshire; London; Norfolk; Northumberland; North Yorkshire; Nottinghamshire; Oxfordshire; Somerset; Suffolk; Surrey; Wiltshire.

County authorities in receipt of grant in some of the years stated

  • Cheshire: 1986–87; 1987–88
  • Clwyd: 1984–85; 1987–88
  • Cumbria: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1987–88
  • Dyfed: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1987–88
  • Greater Manchester: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1986–87
  • Lancashire: 1985–86; 1986–87; 1987–88
  • Leicestershire: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1987–88
  • Merseyside: 1987–88
  • Powys: 1984–85; 1986–87; 1987–88
  • Salop: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1987–88
  • South Glamorgan: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1986–87
  • Staffordshire: 1985–86; 1986–87; 1987–88
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  • Warwickshire: 1984–85; 1985–86; 1986–87
  • West Glamorgan:: 1985–86; 1987–88
  • West Sussex: 1986–87; 1987–88

Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authority emergency centres have been inspected by officials from his Department; and if he is satisfied with the facilities provided by local authorities for emergency communications and control.

Mr. John Patten

Visits by officials to local authority emergency centres occur in support of detailed consideration of a number of issues, including the installation of new communications equipment, but no comprehensive record is kept of the instances. Progress made by local authorities in meeting their statutory responsibilities to establish, equip and maintain emergency centres is monitored under the Government's planned programme for implementation of the Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1983.