§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if1008W he will publish his Department's contribution to the Cabinet Office's review of the future of emergency planning. [33755]
§ Mr. SpellarI am advised that copies of all the responses to the Emergency Planning Review will be placed in the House of Commons Library soon, and that a summary of the responses to the Emergency Planning Review will be put on the Cabinet Office website within the same time scale. There are no plans to publish my Department's response separately.
§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much funding has been awarded by central Government to local authorities to cover the expense of(a) preparing plans, (b) training staff and (c) engaging in multi-agency exercises to promote the integrated emergency management approach advocated by central Government. [33524]
§ Mr. LeslieI have been asked to reply.
I informed the House on 23 January 2002, Official Report,column 891W, that, subject to the Civil Defence (Grant) Bill completing its passage through Parliament, the Government will maintain the total level of grant at this year's level, currently estimated at some £18.6 million. A high proportion of this year's grant is used by local authorities to meet the costs of preparing plans, training staff and engaging in exercises.