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Voluntary Sector
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to follow up the recommendations of the Diaxone Commission Report on the future of the voluntary sector; and if there have been changes in the Government's policy on the matters in the report since publication of the Government's response in "Raising the Voltage". [32878]
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Mr. Michael:
Working with the voluntary sector is a high priority for this Government. We have studied the findings of the Deakin Commission on the Future of the Voluntary Sector in England and consider its Report is a valuable contribution to debate about the relationship between Government and the voluntary and community sector. We agree with many of its conclusions.
We are taking a number of steps to develop this relationship. Our main vehicle for this relationship will be a Compact between Government and the voluntary sector on which we are currently collaborating with principles which should govern the relationship, and progress is being made through a Working Party of Ministers which has also considered progress towards Compact arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the longer term, the Government will monitor the Compact, and relations in general, through a Taskforce of Ministers chaired by my right hon. Friend.
Angela Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence the Government have submitted to the inquiry on the funding of political parties by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. [33903]
Mr. Straw:
We have submitted a memorandum on the funding of political parties, by way of background evidence, to the Committee chaired by the Lord Neill of Bladen QC. Copies have been placed in the Library.
Angela Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the electoral system for elections to the European Parliament. [33900]
Mr. Straw:
It is fundamentally important that any voting system is appropriate to the nature and functions of the body which is being elected. On Second Reading of the European Parliamentary Elections Bill on 25 November 1997, Official Report, column 803, I stated that the Government believed the regional list system set out in the Bill to be the most appropriate system for elections to the European Parliament in Great Britain. Under such a system, an elector may cast his vote in one of two ways--for a party list or for an independent candidate. However, having received separate representations from the Liberal Democrats and Charter 88, I undertook to listen to the arguments for adopting a system similar to that which operates in Belgium, whereby an elector may cast his vote in one of three ways--for a party list, for an individual candidate on a party list or for an independent candidate.
I have studied the matter very carefully. As part of the consideration process, I commissioned a study of voter opinion by National Opinion Polls, the results of which have been placed in the Library.
I have concluded that there is no advantage in adopting in Great Britain a system of the kind used in Belgium.
The type of system which is in use in Belgium has some superficial attractions. An elector may express a preference for a particular candidate, rather than simply endorsing all the candidates on a party's list. However, the system suffers from a fundamental and incurable
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weakness, in that voters' preferences for individual candidates are not necessarily translated into electoral success.
I am placing in the Library some numerical examples to illustrate how the system works in practice. These indicate that even where votes for individual candidates amount to as much as 40 per cent. of a party's total vote, those candidates receiving the fewest individual votes can be elected while those receiving the most are not. I believe that such an outcome could lead to substantial disillusionment among the electorate following an election.
The overwhelming majority of citizens in the European Union elect their Members of the European Parliament using a system of the kind for which the Bill currently provides. This seems to me to be the most suitable one to use in a situation where (as the National Opinion Poll study demonstrated) most people vote for parties rather than individuals.
The Government are committed to fulfilling their manifesto promise to put in place a proportional voting system for elections to the European Parliament. I remain convinced that the simple regional list system in the European Parliamentary Elections Bill is the most appropriate way of delivering that commitment.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Attorney-General if he will estimate for each of the last five years, the number and percentage of new civil servants in his Department who attended Oxford or Cambridge University, broken down into the number of entrants joining the Department from (a) the regular Civil Service entrance procedure, (b) the fast stream and (c) the private sector. [33097]
The Attorney-General:
The full information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, in the case of lawyers in my office, the Treasury Solicitor's Department and the Serious Fraud Office who have in the last 5 years joined the Government Legal Service, I am advised that in 40 cases (32%) Oxford or Cambridge Universities have been attended and that in 85 cases another university or polytechnic has been attended.
For the same reason it is not possible to provide the further figures requested but I am advised that the great majority of new recruits come from outside the Civil Service and are selected through regular Civil Service procedures.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Attorney-General if he will estimate the number of civil servants in his Department, at each grade, who received their schooling in the independent school sector. [33096]
The Attorney-General:
Figures in relation to my Departments are not readily available and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Attorney-General if he will estimate the number and percentage of civil servants in his Department, at each grade including and above higher
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executive officer who (a) attended university and (b) attended either Oxford or Cambridge University. [33095]
The Attorney-General:
The information provided below relates only to lawyers in my own office, the Treasury Solicitor's Department and the Serious Fraud Office. I am advised that there are 237 such lawyers and that the information held in respect of them shows that between them they have completed 280 courses at various universities and polytechnics; some having attended more than one institution. In 89 cases (32%) the institution attended was Oxford or Cambridge University.
Figures in relation to other staff (at HEO level and above) and figures in relation to the Crown Prosecution Service could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Forth:
To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will list the Government Ministers currently occupying publicly owned accommodation, giving the (a) precedents, (b) rationale for such use and (c) total annual cost in each case; [24478]
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the living accommodation provided out of public funds to members of the Government; and to whom it has been granted. [26791]
Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those Ministers provided with official residential accommodation in London. [27320]
The Prime Minister:
Official residences are assigned to Ministers either on grounds of security or in order to allow them to perform better their official duties.
No 10 and No 11 Downing Street have traditionally been the residences of the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Carlton Gardens has traditionally been the residence of the Foreign Secretary. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has also traditionally been provided a flat at Hillsborough.
Other Northern Ireland Ministers have the use of Government accommodation while on duty in Northern Ireland. These costs are not separately identifiable.
Admiralty House and the Government house in Pimlico have in the past been assigned to a wide variety of Ministers including the President of the Board of Trade, the Attorney-General, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Lord President of the Council, the Chief Whip, the Lord Privy Seal, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Paymaster General, the Minister without Portfolio, the Minister for Overseas Development, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State
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for Northern Ireland. Accommodation is currently occupied by the Deputy Prime Minister, the President of the Board of Trade, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
In addition the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland also have the use of Chequers, Dorneywood, Chevening and Bute House, although none of these is owned by the Government.
(2) when he expects to reply to the question from the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 16 January 1998 (reference 24478) relating to Government Ministers occupying publicly owned accommodation. [33347]
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