Vol. 474 No. 6
275 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Defence when the last review of Civil Defence was undertaken; the main recommendations contained therein; the number of personnel engaged in a volunteer capacity in Civil Defence by county; the central fund cost of Civil Defence since 1990; the main features of such expenditure; and the mission of Civil Defence. [3455/97]
My Department completed its most recent review of Civil Defence in consultation with each local authority in early 1992. This review resulted in the launch of the "Towards 2000" programme which consists of 12 development activities designed to focus the organisation to better serve the needs of the local community. These include stewarding, providing an enhanced search and rescue capability, river, lake and coastal area search and recovery, responding to radiological emergencies and environmental problems, assisting in hazardous weather conditions, forest fire fighting and evacuee reception.
The Civil Defence organisation is administered on a local authority area rather than on a county basis. At present there are about 6,000 active volunteers in the organisation and some 3,000 trained persons who are no longer active but are available in an emergency.
The total expenditure by my Department on Civil Defence for the period 1990-96 was £16,481,921. This expenditure in the main, related to grants to local authorities to cover local administration, training and maintenance of equipment. The balance related to capital purchases of vehicles and equipment by my Department for issue to the local authorities for Civil Defence use, the running of the Civil Defence school and the organisation of national exercises annually to assess the preparedness of Civil Defence volunteers for their main tasks.
