Civil Defence (Hansard, 28 July 1988)

§ Mr. Thorne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his present policy in relation to protection of the public in the event of hostilities(a) by evacuation, (b) by shelter in situ or (c) by a combination of both; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. John Patten
I refer my hon. Friend to the replies I gave to his earlier questions on 25 July.

§ Mr. Thorne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers are available to him to use against local authorities to compel them to meet their statutory civil defence duties; what action he has taken so far; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. John Patten
Paragraph 4 of the Civil Defence (General) Regulations 1949 (SI 1949 No. 1432) empowers the designated Minister to discharge the functions himself or to require another authority or person to do so, in either case in the name and at the expense of the authority failing or refusing properly to do so. It has not been necessary to use these powers in recent years.

§ Mr. Thorne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out a schedule of his planned programme for implementation of civil defence and protection regulations giving priorities and target dates for specific achievements; how this planned programme is being monitored; what success there has been so far; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. John Patten
The planned programme for implementation of the Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1983 was introduced in October 1986. Initial priority was given to the development by local authorities of detailed operational plans. The programme for the first three years up to October 1989 was set out in Home Office circular No. ES 1/1986, a copy of which is in the Library. Analysis of the returns by local authorities is a continuing process, but our interim judgment is that replies are generally satisfactory and indicate progress in many areas. Progress remains patchy, however, and all authorities still have some way to go.
419W

§ Mr. Thorne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are his plans and method for keeping the public informed about civil defence and protection measures(a) during a period of increased international tension, (b) after hostilities have commenced and (c) after nuclear or chemical attack.

§ Mr. John Patten
Guidance on information services in a war emergency is contained in section 6 of the "Emergency Planning Guidance to Local Authorities", a copy of which is in the Library. Arrangements for issuing information to the public are kept under review, method and content would depend on circumstances at the time.

§ Mr. Thorne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the current progress in local authorities' surveys in their areas into what public buildings could in a crisis be rapidly converted into a measure of protection for the public in time of hostilities.

§ Mr. John Patten
Comprehensive information on progress in planning for shelter is unlikely to be available centrally until the end of 1989, in line with the monitoring arrangements set out in the Government's planned programme for implementation (PPI) of the Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1983. Supplementary guidance on planning shelter surveys was issued in June following pilot studies undertaken jointly by the Home Office and a number of local authorities.