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UK School Games
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what evaluation procedures are planned in respect of the delivery of the UK School Games by the Youth Sports Trust; and if she will make a statement. [88895]
Mr. Caborn: The selection of an operator to organise the UK School Games for 2006 and for 2007-11, and the subsequent grant of National Lottery money was a matter for the Millennium Commission. In my capacity as Chair of the Commission, I will write to you on this matter and arrange for copies of my reply to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.
Duchy of Lancaster
Admiralty House
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans the Government have for the two empty official residences at Admiralty house; and what the estimated (a) capital and (b) rental value is of each of the two flats. [86897]
Hilary Armstrong: There is currently one flat vacant at Admiralty house. A decision on its allocation will be taken in due course.
For information on the capital and rental value of the property, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire (Oliver Heald) on 24 January 2005, Official Report, column 136W.
Civil Contingencies Act
Mr. Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many local authorities have complied fully with the obligations contained in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004; and if she will make a statement. [87902]
Edward Miliband: Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 establishes a statutory framework for civil protection arrangements at the local level. Responders were given a six-month implementation period to put arrangements in place before the bulk of the duties came fully into force on 14 November 2005. The Act sets out clear roles and responsibilities for local responders (including local authorities) establishing a basis for effective performance assessment.
The
performance of responders against the requirements set out in the Act
is assessed through their existing mainstream performance assessment
frameworks. English local authorities’ performance is assessed
by the Audit Commission through the comprehensive performance
assessment (CPA) process.
The performance of local authorities in Wales is assessed by the Wales
Audit Office.
The Scottish Executive is responsible for making regulations and issuing guidance, under the Act, to local authorities in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, local authorities are subject to the non-statutory ‘Northern Ireland Civil Contingencies Framework’.
Deputy Prime Minister
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the total cost was of the Deputy Prime Minister’s (a) private office and (b) Central Policy Group within the Cabinet Office in 2001-02. [83030]
Hilary Armstrong: Support arrangements for Ministers include Private Secretaries, Special Advisers and Parliamentary Branch. The costs of individual Ministers’ private offices are not separately identifiable, on my department’s accounting system, from the overall support costs.
The total support costs for all Cabinet Office Ministers in 2001-02 were £2,180,503. This period includes the General Election held in June 2001 and the machinery of government changes which followed. The total cost therefore includes support for three Ministers’ offices to June 2001, and the Deputy Prime Minister and four additional ministers (one of whom, the Minister without Portfolio, was unpaid) following the General Election. These figures are therefore not representative of the typical annual running costs of Ministers’ private offices.
In addition to this, the total cost in 2001-02 of the Central Policy Group, from its foundation following the 2001 General Election, was £490,932.
Both figures include staff pay costs and general office expenditure such as staff travel costs, IT related spend and office equipment costs.
IT Contracts
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the value was of each IT contract awarded by the Prime Minister’s Office in each of the last five years; and who the contractor was in each case. [88980]
Mr. McFadden: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office. The information for the Department cannot be produced in the form requested without incurring disproportionate cost. However, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) on 6 June 2006, Official Report, column 545W.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which IT contracts awarded by the Prime Minister’s Office in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the value was in each case. [88981]
Mr. McFadden: I refer the hon. member to the answer given to my right hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, West and Royton (Mr. Meacher) on 5 October 2005, Official Report, column 2773W, and the pursuant reply on 2 February 2006, Official Report, column 667W.
Official Residence
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister paid to the Cabinet Office for the official residence of Deputy Prime Minister in Admiralty House in 2005-06 (a) in total and (b) to cover the cost of (i) rent, (ii) security, (iii) utilities, (iv) facilities management and (v) general maintenance. [85664]
Edward Miliband: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister paid £173,268 to the Cabinet Office in 2005-06 to cover the cost of rent, security, utilities, facilities management and general maintenance for the official residence of the Deputy Prime Minister in Admiralty House.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many full-time equivalent staff provide maintenance to the Deputy Prime Minister’s official residence under the Cabinet Office contract for the maintenance of Admiralty House. [85665]
Edward Miliband: Admiralty House is one of a number of buildings in London covered by the Cabinet Office’s Total Facilities Management contract. Maintenance of all buildings is carried out by a team of 11 engineers, and agency and specialist sub-contractors as required, in accordance with the Output Specification. There are no engineers specifically dedicated to the maintenance of the Deputy Prime Minister’s official residence in Admiralty House.
Post Offices
Mr.
Davey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster when the Deputy Prime Minister will be
chairing the first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Post Offices; and
if she will make a statement.
[88330]
Hilary Armstrong: Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when they meet, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion. A list of Cabinet Committees, including the membership and terms of reference of the Ministerial Committee on the Post Office Network (MISC33), is available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Year of the Volunteer
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how the £7 million allocated by the Chancellor to the Year of the Volunteer was spent; and what the measurable outcomes of the funding were. [83471]
Edward Miliband [holding answer 10 July 2006]: Grants totalling £7.1 million for the England-wide Year of the Volunteer 2005 were made by the Home Office directly to organisations in the Voluntary and Community Sector, who were responsible for the delivery of the Year. The table shows how much grant was paid to each organisation, and for what purpose. The Year of the Volunteer involved over 3,000 events across the country, 12 themed months promoting different types of volunteering and a very significant media campaign to raise awareness of volunteering overall. An independent Delivery Review, conducted by GFK NOP Social Research and published in April, showed that over a quarter of all adults in England were aware of the year, over 2.2 billion minutes were pledged by the public for volunteering (well exceeding the 1 billion minutes target) and over a third of a million people visited the website. The Year brought together new partners to promote volunteering, including contributions of an additional £2 million worth of free media. The third sector, private sector and Government have built on the success of the year with initiatives such as the continuation of Environmental Volunteering Month in May, and a new Volunteering for All Programme.
Scotland
Departmental Publications
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in date order the (a) Green and (b) White Papers produced by his Department since October 2005. [81647]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office published one Command Paper between October 2005 to date: Command No. 6834 Departmental Report, published on 24 May 2006.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the unnumbered command papers produced by his Department in each session since 1976; how (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public can (i) inspect and (ii) obtain copies; and if he will make a statement. [81650]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
Documents which are laid before Parliament as Unnumbered Command Papers are generally restricted to Explanatory Notes to Treaties, Explanatory Memorandum to Statutory Instruments and some Treasury Minutes. All other documents are published in the Numbered Command Papers series.
Copies of the Office's Explanatory Memoranda to Statutory Instruments are, as is the usual practice, made available via the Vote Office.
Disabled Staff
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was paid to his Department from the Access to Work Scheme for adjustments for disabled staff in the last year for which figures are available; from what budget he plans to meet the costs of reasonable adjustments for disabled staff following withdrawal of Access to Work funding for central Government departments; and if he will make a statement. [89004]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office has received no funding under this scheme.
Information Technology
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) USB (i) flash drives and (ii) memory sticks, (b) compact discs, (c) DVD-ROM discs, (d) laptop computers, (e) external computers hard drives, (f) internal computer hard drives and (g) desktop computers were purchased for use in his Department in each month since March 2005. [88763]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not collect this information in the form requested.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what the value was of each IT contract awarded by his Department in each of the last five years; and who the contractor was in each case; [88976]
(2) which IT contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the value was in each case. [88979]
David Cairns: I refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) on 4 July 2006, Official Report, column 939W.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department were awaiting a reply on 10th July 2006; which of those had been waiting longer than (a) two and (b) three weeks for a reply; and what the reason for the delay was in each case. [85195]
David Cairns: As at 25 July, one outstanding Scotland Office parliamentary question remained to be answered. It is an ‘ordinary’ written reply for 24 July and will be answered at the earliest opportunity.
Questionnaires
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) questionnaires, (b) statistical inquiries and (c) investigations have been carried out, wholly or partly at public expense on behalf of or by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) nature, (ii) purpose and (iii) cost was of each. [83162]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established in July 1999 and has executive responsibility for the conduct of elections to the Scottish Parliament and the handling of legislation under the Scotland Act 1998. To date, this Office has not issued any questionnaires or carried out statistical inquiries or investigations.
Statutory Instruments
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what occasions a statutory instrument sponsored by his Department has been reported by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments as defective since October 2005. [85177]
David Cairns: Reports from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments contain full details of the statutory instruments which they have reported.
Leader of the House
Northern Ireland Members
David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House if he will bring forward proposals to impose the same financial penalties on any hon. Members from Northern Ireland constituencies who do not take their seats as will be imposed upon members of the Northern Ireland Assembly with effect from 25 November 2006. [88338]
Mr. Straw: There are no plans to impose financial penalties on Members representing Northern Ireland constituencies who do not take their seats. The Northern Ireland Act 2006 provides for the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the indefinite postponement of the next Assembly elections if an Executive has not been formed by 25 November 2005. In these circumstances, it would not be appropriate for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to continue to receive salaries and allowances.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Leader of the House how many parliamentary questions tabled and due for answer were still awaiting a substantive reply at 25 July 2006. [87957]
Mr. Straw: None.
Anne Main: To ask the Leader of the House if he will take steps to ensure that the drafting of answers to parliamentary questions in Government Departments is undertaken by officials with direct responsibility for the subject matter. [88783]
Mr. Straw: However they are drafted, Ministers are responsible for answers given.
Departments must ensure that the answers to questions abide by the terms of the Ministerial Code and the guidance issued in respect of the accuracy of answers.
I therefore have no plans to issue guidance on the administrative arrangements for the preparation of answers to parliamentary questions, which must remain a matter for each Minister and his or her Department.
House of Commons Commission
Accommodation
Mr. Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2006, Official Report, column 8W, on accommodation, why the houses are structurally unsuitable for use as offices. [87140]
Nick Harvey: The houses are unsuitable for use as offices because the floor loading capacity is inadequate, there is limited fire protection with no secondary means of escape and there are no facilities for disabled access. The buildings are also tall and narrow, resulting in limited accommodation on each floor. It is furthermore unlikely that the necessary listed building consent would be given for the extensive physical alterations which would be required for conversion to office use.
Mail Delivery
Mr. Hancock: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent research the Commission has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the length of time it takes for mail to reach hon. Members’ and hon. Members’ staffs offices after arriving on the Palace of Westminster estate; and if he will make a statement. [88184]
Nick Harvey: After mail arrives at the Palace of Westminster it is delivered to Members offices’ within the parliamentary estate on the day it arrives. Alternatively it is forwarded by the Royal Mail Special Delivery service to constituency offices to arrive the next working day by 1 pm. The next day service is guaranteed and is tracked and traced throughout its entire journey.
Passholders
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many passholders are non-UK citizens, broken down by nationality. [87303]
Nick Harvey: 280 House of Commons passholders are non-UK citizens, covering over 90 nationalities, including dual and multiple nationalities. 71 of these are UK citizens with other nationalities. Hon. Members are not included, because they are not required to complete a pass application form. A full list of nationalities and the numbers for each nationality has been placed in the Library of the House.
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