§ Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number and grades of personnel currently employed within his Department's emergency planning division research group; what is the total expenditure for the research group for each of the years, 1988–89 to 1993–94, and the planned and projected expenditure in(a) 1994–95, (b) 1995–96 and (c) 1996–97; and if he will list the projects on which the research group is currently engaged.
§ Mr. Nicholas BakerFollowing the end of the cold war, civil defence planning primarily for a major nuclear attack has been replaced by a more broadly based approach to improving the national response to a disaster of whatever cause. The current programme of the emergency planning research group reflects that change. Its focus is on defining and evaluating new arrangements for responding to a wide range of disasters. The programme includes work on the development of a national air attack warning system based on the media, a review of options for radiation monitoring, investigations of the consequences of disasters and public protection measures, and the archiving of wartime civil defence related material.
The number and grades of personnel currently employed within EPRG are as follows:
Grades Numbers Scientific staff Grade 7 2 Senior scientific officer 2 Higher scientific officer 1 Scientific officer 1 Assistant scientific officer 1 Student (sandwich course) 1 Total 8 Support staff Personal secretary 1 The emergency planning research group was formed in 1990 when the scientific research and development branch was divided into its constituent groups. Expenditure data from that date are as follows:
154W
Financial year Actuals Estimated 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 423 559 799 521 433 630 663