Written Answers to Questions
Monday 6 October 2008
Olympics
Public Expenditure
The estimate of public expenditure on the London 2012 Games remains within the £9.325 billion package that I announced in March 2007.
I provided further details of the budget in my statement of December 2007; and my progress updates of January and July 2008.
Environment
The Olympic Board has set out its ambition to make the London 2012 Games the most sustainable in modern times.
Our Sustainability Plan, ‘Towards a One Planet 2012’ details how we intend to achieve this—for example, by cutting carbon emissions in the Olympic Park by 50 per cent. by 2013, by ensuring that 20 per cent. of energy on-site comes from local, renewable energy, and by creating a park that will encourage people to live more healthily and sustainably.
The Board discusses and monitors progress against these commitments and the many others which are contained in the plan.
The first annual update of the plan is due to be published later this year. Progress includes: the ODA exceeding its target to reclaim 90 per cent. of demolition waste for reuse or recycling, new wildlife refuges being created from the timber of demolished buildings, and construction of the new facilities in Weymouth minimising disruption to local wildlife.
Olympic Complex
Excellent progress continues to be made on both the design and construction of the Olympic Park in East London.
In particular, construction work on the two principle sporting venues—the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre—is well advanced for this stage of the programme, with both remaining ahead of schedule.
Beijing Olympics: Lessons
Beijing 2008 was a truly fantastic Games which gave the key stakeholders involved in the preparation of London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games the chance to learn valuable lessons to help us stage the best Games possible in London.
Some of the key lessons learned from Beijing include: placing athletes at the heart of the Games; providing a complete spectator experience; the vital role that volunteers play at the Games; an effective ticketing strategy to ensure that the majority of venues are full; and commencing detailed planning now with all key stakeholders for the Paralympic Games.
All stakeholder organisations are pulling together their lessons learned, and the process has been discussed by the Olympic Board. We will be sharing experiences between partners, and the culmination of this process will be a briefing session in London at the end of November by the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) for the UK, and other host and bidding cities, when we will have a greater understanding of the issues involved.
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
The Minister for the Olympics' Office is part of the Cabinet Office.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) on 1 September 2008, Official Report, column 1433W.
Departmental Paper
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1257W.
Departmental Procurement
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1258W.
Departmental Written Questions
Information on the average number of days taken to answer parliamentary questions is not readily available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Olympic Games 2012
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) are responsible for planning a torch relay but have recently been focused on the Beijing Games and the last chance to witness a Summer Games before it is London's turn. LOCOG will begin planning for the 2012 Torch Relay in 2010, and as part of this planning will work with a range of partners including central and local government across London and the UK.
Olympic Games 2012: Contracts
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has reported in its accounts for 2007-08 a payment to CLM of £106 million, including VAT, for the period up to 31 March 2008. The final total payment to CLM will depend on the organisation's performance in achieving incentive targets. CLM resources are agreed on a period by period basis and the ODA is currently negotiating the resources for the period 28 July to 31 December 2009. An update on the payments made to CLM will be given each year in the ODA's Annual Report and Accounts.
Olympic Games 2012: Disabled
The London 2012 Games will be the first to fully integrate the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games making no distinction between them in the approach to planning, delivery and standard of service to both participants and spectators.
As part of inclusive and accessible design, the Olympic Village will comply with all relevant legislation, including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and its supporting code of practice; and exceed the requirements of the UK's Building Regulations (Part M—Access and facilities for disabled people). Design will incorporate wheelchair space requirements and facilities and aids to ensure accommodation is flexible and appropriate to the comfort and varying requirements of Paralympic athletes.
The ODA's Access and Inclusion Forum has representation from a lead disability organisation within each of the five boroughs, as well as the borough Access Officers and key external stakeholders. It meets on a quarterly basis and advises on areas of inclusive design through the sharing of knowledge and experience.
In addition to the forum, ODA Access Panels provide specialist disability and inclusive design experts to review and advise on design—both at Games time and in legacy—and have final sign-off on ODA build commitments. In support of this, the ODA has appointed two Principal Access Officers—one specialising in the built environment and one specialising in transport accessibility—responsible for the development of inclusive design within the ODA's programme.
Olympic Games 2012: St. Albans
The Government and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) are working hard to ensure that the benefits of 2012 reach across the UK and have established a Nations and Regions Group (NRG) to oversee this work.
The East of England representative is Cllr Stephen Castle, who chairs the Nations and Regions East (NRE) Board. In Hertfordshire, the Ready for Winners Partnership Board (HRFWP), led by Hertfordshire county council has been set up to maximise the benefits from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As part of their legacy ambitions, they have particularly committed to encouraging children and young people to participate in 2012 related events.
Schools in Hertfordshire have already started using material from LOCOG's UK-wide London 2012 education programme, ‘Get Set', which launches on Thursday 18 September and have registered to be part of LOCOG's Paralympic Handover celebrations on Wednesday 17 September. Additionally, the “Sports in the Park” programme in St. Albans will form part of the region's plans for cultural events taking place over the Handover weekend in August. This will offer up to 2,000 children aged two to 12 the opportunity to be active and have fun over a period of six weeks this summer. Across the St. Albans district, children will design a handover flag that represents their community and what the Games means to them to take to the official 2012 flag raising ceremony on 24 August. Young people from St. Albans and the county will also have the opportunity to be amongst the 70,000 volunteers needed to help run the Games in London.
Local sports facilities for all age groups are also being improved across the county as part of the “Active Hertfordshire strategy”, with new facilities being built in Watford and St Albans. HRFWP is also developing a talented young athlete scheme and has so far channelled £12,000 to support 23 young athletes up to 2012 identified by their governing bodies as having sporting talent and high potential. Each athlete will receive nutritional advice, physiotherapy assessments, individual and group training sessions, performance lifestyle advice and free membership to Hertfordshire Sports village and some other facilities in the county.
Wales
Departmental Air Travel
Staff within my Department are always encouraged to travel economy but are not entitled to benefit from any savings made.
Departmental Appeals
We have identified one case since the establishment of the Wales Office in 1999 in which the Department, jointly with the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, sought leave to appeal to the House of Lords. Leave was granted and the appeal was successful.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
My Department has offset air miles in the last two financial years through Pure, The Pure Carbon Trust. In 2006-07 we offset 8,888 miles. This was made up of:
2,002 miles domestic
0 miles short-haul
6,886 miles long-haul
In 2007-08 we offset 6,173 miles made up of:
4,556 miles domestic
1,617 miles short-haul
0 miles long-haul
We will be offsetting through the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund in the future.
Departmental Data Protection
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There have been no disciplinary breaches at the Wales Office in the last 12 months.
Departmental Official Residences
My Department is located in both London and Cardiff; their floor area in square metres is:
London: 640.96
Cardiff: 531.47.
Neither location is newly occupied; my London office received minor refurbishment in August 2007.
Departmental Procurement
The Wales Office purchasing is done through the Ministry of Justice financial processes and cannot be desegregated from its figures.
Departmental Public Relations
No such expenditure has been incurred.
EDF Energy
EU Law
Fires: Safety
The Welsh Assembly Government was given an opportunity in 2004 to join FiReControl, the project to rationalise the 46 control rooms in England to nine regional control centres. The proposal was to reduce Wales' three control rooms to one regional control centre.
Welsh Assembly Government Ministers took a decision not to opt into the FiReControl project as a rationalisation of the eight Fire Authorities and their control rooms in Wales had already taken place in 1996.
Olympic Games 2012
As part of their duties a number of my officials (together with colleagues from Welsh Assembly Government) have and continue to work toward maximising Wales’ contribution to a successful London 2012.
Stress
The Wales Office is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work. A stress management framework, based on the Health and Safety Executive's management standards, is available to all employees and gives easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
Taxis
In the last financial year my Department has spent £3,424.16 on taxis.
Public Accounts Commission
National Audit Office
The National Audit Office informs me that National Audit Office staff are not entitled to first class air travel, and the normal class of air travel is economy. Business class or premium economy air travel may be permitted in some circumstances, taking into account the duration and timing of travel. All staff must seek prior authorisation for their travel plans from a director or manager.
NAO staff are required to book all air tickets and rail tickets in excess of £20 through contracted travel providers. The companies invoice the National Audit Office for the tickets booked. So staff cannot claim for any fare or travel in a cheaper class than the booked ticket, nor benefit in monetary terms from any difference in cost.
The NAO's budget for 2008-09, approved by the Public Accounts Commission on 4 March 2008, is a net amount of £107.7 million: £74.8 million for audit and assurance services, £24.2 million for the repair and refurbishment of the NAO's headquarters building, and the remaining £8.7 million for the provision of temporary office accommodation for London staff for the duration of the refurbishment work.
The NAO also has a capital budget in 2008-09 of £15.7 million: £1.5 million for its ongoing audit and assurance work, and the remaining £14.2 million for the refurbishment project.
Within its budget, the NAO is committed to efficiency savings of 3 per cent. across its corporate services, 2 per cent. in its value for money work and 1 per cent. on financial audit work.
Administration Committee
Department of Facilities: Fats
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Chairman of the Administration Committee.
The House of Commons catering service does not purchase hydrogenated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oils for cooking use. Furthermore, as part of its commitment to promoting healthy eating in the workplace, the catering service is working towards removing hydrogenated fats wherever possible from its supply chain.
A review of the dry and ambient ingredients purchased by the catering and retail service is approximately 70 per cent. complete and to date has identified only nine products containing hydrogenated fats or oils. The review should be complete by the end of the year, after which a review of other processed foods purchased by the department will be carried out.
Work is in hand to identify suitable alternatives for those products found to contain hydrogenated fats or oils.
Church Commissioners
Church of England: Land
Under the provisions of the Endowments and Glebe Measure 1976, a Diocesan Board of Finance has to manage its glebe property for the benefit of the Diocesan Stipends Fund of the diocese. The legal requirements before a sale is proposed are set out in the Measure and in advice published by the Commissioners.
The Commissioners’ consent to a sale is needed where the proposed transaction does not meet standard charitable criteria or where there are objections to the proposal. The policing of covenants after a sale is a matter for the Diocesan Board of Finance.
Notice of the proposed sale of qualifying glebe needs to be served on the parish priest and the Parochial Church Council. If there are objections, these are considered by the Church Commissioners’ Pastoral Committee. Objectors to and proponents of the proposed transaction may attend the Committee’s meetings and make oral presentations of their cases. The Commissioners’ decision on such cases is final.
Economic and Monetary Union
The Church Commissioners have not produced a euro changeover plan and currently have no plans to do so.
Scotland
Departmental Air Travel
All official travel is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
The Scotland Office is part of the Ministry of Justice for these purposes. Data concerning air miles and carbon emissions in each of the three categories will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for inclusion in its 2008-09 annual return.
Departmental Data Protection
Core information produced by the Scotland Office can be reused free of charge under the terms of the PSI Click-Use Licence which is administered by the Office of Public Sector Information in accordance with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There have been no disciplinary breaches by staff in the Scotland Office in the last 12 months.
Departmental Official Residences
The Scotland Office has not newly occupied any refurbished properties in the last 24 months.
The Scotland Office does not provide permanent residential accommodation for its staff.
Departmental Procurement
A list of the suppliers to the Scotland Office in 2007-08 has been placed in the House Library.
Departmental Public Relations
The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on external public relations in the last 36 months.
EDF Energy
The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999; since that date, the Office has had no contracts with EDF.
EU Law
This Government are firmly committed to the importance of the EU in delivering on 21st century challenges. The EU is of central importance to the work of HM Government across all Departments. It is relevant to a wide range of policy areas, and to the work of many Government officials. No Scotland Office officials are either wholly or mainly tasked with the negotiation, implementation or administration of EU legislation and consequent policies.
Olympic Games 2012
There are no members of staff in the Scotland Office working on policy related to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games. However, in line with the office's key role of representing Scotland's interests in Westminster, and as the Games will benefit the whole of the UK, one member of staff has this issue within her portfolio and will advise colleagues, answer correspondence and brief as required.
Stress
The Scotland Office is committed to the well-being of its staff. It has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work. A stress management framework, based on the Health and Safety Executive's management standards, is available to all staff and gives easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
Taxis
In 2007-08, the Scotland Office spent £10,885 on taxis.
House of Commons Commission
Palace of Westminster: Furniture
It has been the practice for many years to use the landing adjacent to the lower waiting hall to store furniture from the Members’ and Strangers’ dining rooms when they are both in use at the same time for functions sponsored by Members. These can take place between 4-6 pm each weekday, on Thursday evenings, and at times when the House is not sitting. The furniture has to be kept close to the dining rooms because there are only 30 minutes available to reset them for the evening service to Members.
A study during the recess has concluded that the issue could be overcome either by accepting bookings for functions in only one of the dining rooms at any one time or by taking out of use temporarily one of the adjacent rooms used by Members. The possibilities and their implications will be reported to the Administration Committee this month.
The conservation architect has advised that there has been some minor damage to the stonework on the landing.
The fire safety manager has advised that storing furniture on the landing does present a risk to effective building evacuation; how great that is would depend on the number of people in the Palace at the time, particularly in the Committee Rooms. He advised that it would be good practice to discontinue using the landing for storage. Until the Administration Committee has had an opportunity to consider the matter, arrangements are being made to advise the fire safety manager when both rooms are being used for functions.
Women and Equality
Departmental Consultants
[holding answer 15 July 2008]: The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Since that date it has taken over responsibility for equality issues from a number of different teams and Departments, including: the Disability Rights Commission Sponsorship team, based in 2006-07 in the Department for Work and Pensions; the Commission for Racial Equality Sponsorship Team, based in the Home Office in the first part of 2006-07, then transferred to Communities and Local Government; the Women and Equality Unit, based in the Department of Trade and Industry until May 2006, then in Communities and Local Government; and lawyers from DTI and HO, who transferred to CLG in May 2006. Because of the wide disposal of records in a number of different Departments and locations, the cost of answering this question would be disproportionate.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. There have been no serious disciplinary breaches since then.
Departmental Home Working
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007 and all of its current 92 staff can work from home subject to line management approval, operational need and the availability of its 16 laptops. GEO acquired 16 laptops in early June 2008. In total 32 staff have security keys which allow them to use these laptops.
Departmental Procurement
Since the Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007 it has been based in Communities and Local Government buildings and used accounting systems and policies provided by that Department. CLG's primary policy in procurement is to achieve value for money and it uses a range of measures to achieve this, including attaining discounts from suppliers in return for prompter payment of invoices.
Departmental Property
Since its establishment on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has rented accommodation in premises owned by the Department for Communities and Local Government and consequently does not enter into any of the arrangements mentioned in the question.
Departmental Public Relations
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. The following table shows its spending on external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information public relations framework since 12 October 2007.
Public relations and marketing companies £ SHAHRP Media relations support for launch of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women’s Taskforce. 3,800 Trimedia Media relations support for GEO Press Office in the run up to Equality Bill announcements. 20,000 Cohn and Wolfe Campaign to raise awareness of the rights of parents and carers to request flexible working, and to provide employers with guidance on dealing with such requests. 61,085
Departmental Publications
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Since then it has not distributed any materials to schools.
Departmental Sick Leave
According to the available data, six staff in the Government Equalities Office have had more than two periods of sickness of less than five days since its inception. Staffing levels have varied over this period, but this would represent 7.7 per cent. of GEO's current staff.
Disabled: Candidates
The Government aim to have fair representation of disabled people at every level of our democracy.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, as amended and strengthened by this Government, protects disabled people from disability discrimination and ensures that reasonable adjustments will be made to enable them to become public office holders and members of locally-elected bodies.
The Government also recently announced plans to improve the diversity of public appointments, including new targets to increase the proportion of disabled people serving on the boards of public bodies.
EDF Energy
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. It has not entered into any contracts with EDF.
Equal Opportunities: Legislation
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: As my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Women and Equality announced in Parliament on 25 June 2008, the Government remain committed to introducing an Equality Bill during this Parliament.
The content of the Bill has been subject to collective consideration by Ministers in the normal way and the Government's response to the consultation, which was published on 21 July, made the intended content of the Bill clear.
Human Trafficking
The Poppy Project, which provides refuge and comprehensive support for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, was initially piloted and then formally evaluated in 2005. The grant for Eaves Housing for Women was extended following a successful procurement exercise to commission a service that offered a high standard and ensured value for money.
The Government's progress on tackling human trafficking, including victim care is subject to regular review by the Inter-departmental Ministerial Group. On 2 July we published the Update to the UK Action Plan that highlights progress against the actions in the original plan (published in March 2007) and identifies new measures.
Rape: Victim Support Schemes
I will let the right hon. Member have such information as is available as soon as possible.
Substantive answer from Barbara Follett to Theresa May:
Eight rape crisis centres identified at imminent risk of closure have received payments totalling £175,364 (17.5 per cent.) from the £1 million emergency fund announced in March. Beneficiaries of the fund to date, and the payments they have received, are shown in the following table:
Rape crisis centre Amount awarded (£) Eva 42,500 Merseyside Rape and Sexual Abuse 23,244.07 Peterborough 11,867.99 West Cumbria 37,204 Wycombe 46,048 Cambridge 5,000 Chester 5,000 Watford 5,000 Total 175,864.06
Further awards will be made in October. This one-off fund was established as an emergency measure to enable rape crisis centres to address the sustainability issues they face. It is in addition to £1.4 million of support for victims of sexual crimes, the majority of which comes from the Ministry of Justice's Victims Fund. Spending plans for 2009-10 are being finalised.
Taxis
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 of October 2007. Since then and up to the end of July 2008 it has spent £1,792.69 on taxis.
Women: Violence
I have regular discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities as well as other ministerial colleagues about the Government's policies on violence against women.
Culture, Media and Sport
Sport: Children
We will capitalise on the London 2012 Olympics to inspire young people to play sport throughout their lives.
Over the next three years, we will spend at least £780 million on developing sporting opportunities for young people through our PE and Sport Strategy for Young People. This will mean more coaches, competition, and young people playing sport in a wide range of community as well as school settings.
Grassroots Sport
In June this year Sport England published their new strategy for sport. The new strategy for 2008-11 focuses on three key areas of grassroots sport: growing sporting participation, sustaining sporting participation, and ensuring that talented people from all backgrounds have the chance to excel. I am confident that this new framework will enable us to deliver a world leading community sports system for the country.
My Department has allocated £133.163 million of Exchequer funding to Sport England in 2008-09. In addition, they will receive a projected £125 million of lottery money.
Sport England's new strategy, published in June, focuses on three key areas of grassroots sport: growing sporting participation, sustaining sporting participation and ensuring talented people from all backgrounds have the chance to excel. I am confident that this new strategy will deliver a world leading community sports system.
Digital Switchover: Scotland
After switchover all terrestrial viewers in Scotland will be able to receive around 20 channels via the public service multiplexes. An estimated 88 per cent. of homes in Scotland will also be able to receive a further range of commercial channels. However, coverage of these services is a commercial matter for the operators concerned.
ITV: Network Programming Quota
Ofcom's chief executive officer briefed me on ITV's breach of its out-of London quota at a meeting in June. The matter is the subject of consideration by Ofcom with a view to regulatory action.
Football Clubs
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Mr. Cawsey).
Digital Media Sector
The Minister with responsibility for Culture, my right hon. Friend the member for Barking (Margaret Hodge), and I have had a number of conversations with colleagues across Government regarding the development of skills in the creative industries including the digital media sector. In particular, we have met the Secretary of State for Universities, Innovation and Skills and the Minister with responsibility for Skills, my hon. friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy), to look at how we can meet our aim for employers to create 5,000 new apprenticeship places in the creative industries by 2013.
My Department is also working with employers, sector skills councils, trade associations, the Learning and Skills Council and other Government Departments to establish high quality innovative new places of learning, such as the planned National Skills Academy for the creative sectors in Thurrock.
Free Swimming
Approximately 40.
British Residents: Holidays
VisitBritain's ‘England Marketing Department’ spend over £14 million a year in Britain on promoting England as a destination for the British.
ABL Consulting
The Department does not have a contract with ABL consulting.
Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing
In cases where the police object to a temporary event notice, licensing authorities are responsible for holding a hearing to decide whether to issue a counter notice to prevent the event from going ahead.
Police may object to a temporary event notice if they believe the use of premises for an event risks undermining crime prevention objectives. While this decision is a matter for the police, they may take into account previous offences committed, including breaches of licensing conditions.
(2) how many (a) companies and (b) individuals have been prosecuted for breaches of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of failure to display in licensed premises (i) premises licences and (ii) up to date details of the designated premises supervisor for those premises; and if he will make a statement.
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: Information relating to prosecutions or other enforcement actions on these subjects is held centrally by the Ministry of Justice. The Licensing Act 2003 did not come fully into force until 24 November 2005. The only full year for which figures are currently available is 2006.
The number of (a) companies and (b) individuals who have been proceeded against at magistrates courts under section 57 of the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table. Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
2006 Number proceeded against Persons 3 Companies 0 1 Includes the following statute(s) and corresponding offence description Licensing Act 2003 s.57. Failure to produce a premises licence or copy when required to do so. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit—Ministry of Justice Our ref: IOS 476-08 (Table) Contributions for PQ 224062
These data relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
However, this type of breach may have been dealt with informally through writing or licence review. We are confident that the range of compliance and enforcement options available to the relevant authorities are adequate to allow the enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with the legislation.
Art Works: Exports
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: In 2006-07, 22 items were found by the Committee as warranting an export bar; in 2005-06 there were 18 items; in 2004-05 27 items; in 2003-04 13 items; and in 2002-03 23 items. Details of these items are set out in the following tables.
2006-07 Case 1 A painting by Francesco Solimena ‘Joseph and Potiphar's Wife’ Case 2 A painting by Michiel Van Musscher ‘Portrait of an artist in his studio’ Case 4 A watercolour painting by J M W Turner, ‘The Dark Rigi, Lake of Lucerne’, 1842 Case 5 The archive of Reverend William Gunn Case 6 A watercolour painting by J M W Turner, ‘Lake of Lucerne, from the Landing Place at Fluelen, looking towards Bauen and Tell's Chapel, Switzerland’ c. 1815 Case 7 An Anglo-Saxon gilded mount with interlace decoration Case 8 An Anglo-Saxon great square-headed brooch Case 10 A watercolour painting by J M W Turner, ‘The Blue Rigi, Lake of Lucerne, Sunrise’, 1842 Case 11 A painting by Alonso Sanchez Coello, ‘The Infante Don Diego’ Case 12 A collection of manuscript and printed maps cut as jigsaws and housed in a mahogany cabinet Case 13 An eighteenth-century mantua and petticoat Case 16 A felt appliqué and patch-worked album coverlet made by Ann West in 1820 Case 17 Diaries, correspondence and manuscript volumes of Mary Hamilton Case 18 A painting by John Constable, ‘Flatford Lock from the Mill House’ Case 21 A painting by Karel van Manderthe Elder, ‘The Crucifixion’ Case 22 A bronze statuette of ‘Marsayas’ after Pierre Legros the Younger Case 23 An eighteenth century embroidered man's banyan and waistcoat Case 24 A ‘jadeite’ Neolithic axe-head from Sturminster Marshall, Dorset Case 25 The guild roll of the Guild of St. Mary, Nottingham, 1371 Case 26 An Anglo-Saxon silver-gilt zoomorphic mount Case 27 A fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript of the Hours of the Passion Case 28 An eighteenth-century Union flag
2005-06 Case 1 A painting by Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli (1458-96), ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’, also known as ‘The Nativity’ Case 2 An Anglo-Saxon gold coin of King Coenwulf of Mercia Case 3 Seven Viking silver pieces (six off-cuts from silver ingots and a stamped arm-ring fragment) Case 6 A medieval bronze jug Case 7 The Codex Stosch Case 10 A pair of paintings entitled ‘View of the Grand Walk, Vauxhall Gardens’ and ‘The Rotunda, Ranelagh’ by Giovanni Antonio Canal, Il Canaletto (1697-1768) Case 11 An English breech-loading, magazine primed, flintlock fowling piece, 1718 Case 12 A silver cup and cover by Solomon Hougham presented to Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, HMS Shannon Case 13 The Naval Gold Medal awarded to Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, HMS Shannon Case 14 A medieval figure of a bronze equestrian knight Case 15 A pair of brocaded ivory silk satin wall hangings, ‘Verdures du Vatican’, designed by Jean Demosthene Dugourc for King Carlos IV of Spain and woven to order by Camille Pernon in Lyon around 1799 Case 16 A painting by Luca Carlevarijs, ‘View of the Molo, Venice, looking west’ Case 17 A Roman millefiori disc Case 18 A painting by Naddo Ceccarelli, the ‘Madonna and Child’ Case 19 A silver presentation trophy plateau by Solomon Hougham presented to Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, HMS Shannon Case 20 A portrait of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet in a frame by Francois-Charles Buteux Case 21 A George II Gothic painted cabinet attributed to William Hallett c. 1752 Case 22 A painting by Luca Carlevarijs, ‘View of the Molo, Venice, looking west’
2004-05 Case 1 A Mantuan parcel-gilt and silvered bronze roundel Case 2 A rare embroidered linen doublet c. 1650 Case 3 A rare silver Iron Age coin Case 4 A painting by Jan Steen, ‘The Burgher of Delft and his daughter’ Case 5 A painting by Francis Bacon, ‘Study after Velasquez’ Case 6 A draft Royal Warrant for a patent for Robert Hooke's ‘Watches with Springs’ Case 8 A painting by Hans Memling, ‘Portrait of a Man in a Black Cap’ Case 10 A Mughal ceremonial dagger Case 11 A Mughal flywhisk handle Case 12 A Mughal silver huqqa set Case 13 A Mughal flask Case 14 A George II silver eperne by Paul Crespin, London 1748-49 Case 15 An illuminated medieval manuscript, the ‘Macclesfield Psalter’ Case 16 An album of watercolours, ‘Views of Calcutta’, by James Baillie Fraser Case 17 A Cartier bandeau Case 18 A silk and wool gentleman's doublet c. 1600 Case 19 A marble sculpture by Benedetto Pistrucci Case 20 A Charles II silver dish Case 21 An oak coffer by William Beckford and H E Goodridge Case 22 A gold, silver-gilt, lapis-lazuli and enamel clock by Gustave Baugrand, Paris, 1867 Case 23 A pink satin and black bugle beaded bodice c. 1640-50 Case 25 A painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, ‘The Archers’ Case 27 The Melchett Cast-Iron Fire Basket by Charles Sargeant Jagger c. 1930 Case 28 An Anglo-Saxon gold coin from the reign of King Coenwulf of Mercia Case 29 A set of nineteen watercolours, ‘Blair's Grave’, by William Blake Case 31 A Meissen armorial baluster vase and cover Case 32 A pencil and black and red chalk drawing of Mary Hamilton by Sir Thomas Lawrence
2003-04 Case 2 The papers of Sir James Watt and his family Case 3 A portrait of Sir James Watt by William Beechey Case 5 A Regency carved mahogany centre table designed by Thomas Hope for his house in Duchess Street Case 6 A pair of paintings by Claude-Joseph Vernet, ‘Calme: A Landscape at Sunset with Fishermen Returning their Catch’ and ‘Tempete: A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas’ Case 7 A painting by Annibale Carracci, ‘The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist’ (‘The Montalto Madonna’) Case 9 A draft royal warrant for a patent for Robert Hooke's ‘watches with springs’ Case 11 A painting the ‘Virgin in Mourning’ attributed to the Master of Moulins Case 12 A Siena marble table made for William Beckford Case 13 Four silver wine coolers: one pair by Robert-Joseph Auguste of Paris and one pair by Parker and Wakelin of London Case 14 The archive of G King and Son Case 15 A collection of manuscripts and printed maps mounted and cut as jigsaws, housed in a mahogany cabinet Case 17 A painting by Richard Parkes Bonnington, ‘French Coast with Fishermen’ Case 18 The archive of General Sir Eyre Coote
2002-03 Case 1 A full suit of armour c. 1495 Case 2 A pair of George IV ormolu and mother of pearl inlaid black and gilt-japanned papier-mâché vases, c.1830, the vases by Jennens and Bettridge, the mounts attributed to Edward Holmes Baldock Case 4 A sallet by Lorenz Helmschmied, c. 1480 Case 5 Meissen figure of a vixen Case 7 Meissen figure of a crouching king vulture Case 8 Meissen figure of a turkey cock Case 9 Queen Charlotte's emerald and diamond cross (licence refused—seller refused to accept V and A's matching offer) Case 10 A miniature photograph album by Mary Dillwyn (1816-1906) Case 11 A sketch of a horse and landscape by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) Case 12 A portrait of ‘The Lieutenant General’, the Hon. Robert Monckton, by Benjamin West, 1764 Case 13 A Roman well-head, the Guilford puteal, c. 100BC Case 14 An armchair designed by Marcel Breuer, 1936 Case 15 A dressing table designed by Marcel Breuer, 1936 Case 16 A drawing, ‘Study of a Mourning Woman’, by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) Case 17 ‘A Portrait of Omai’ by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1775-76 Case 18 ‘The Madonna of the Pinks’ (‘Madonna dei Garofani’) by Raphael (1483-1520) Case 19 A portrait of Richard Arkwright junior with his wife Mary and daughter Anne by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1790 Case 20 A pair of silver wall sconces with the mark of Thomas Corbett, 1701 Case 21 A marble statue of Sir George Cooke (1645-1740) by Sir Henry Cheere (1703-81) Case 22 Letters and diaries of Claudius James Rich (1787-1821) Case 23 A miniature of the Nativity, attributed to Jean Bourdichon, c. 1510 Case 24 A bronze incense burner attributed to Desiderio da Firenze, c. 1540 Case 25 A Roman marble statue of Venus, known as the ‘Jenkins’ or ‘Barberini’ Venus, 1st-2na century AD
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The information requested is set out in the following table.
Items available for acquisition Items acquired 2006-07 19 12 2005-06 17 9 2004-05 25 9 2003-04 9 7 2002-03 23 11
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: Of the 22 items recommended by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art to warrant an export bar in 2006-07, one item (Case 1) had its export licence application withdrawn following the Committee meeting. One item (Case 26) had its export licence application refused before a decision was taken on the application because the owner was unwilling to accept a matching offer. Therefore 20 items had a temporary export bar placed on them, including one item for which a licence was issued (Case 23) as evidence was supplied, during the first deferral period, that it had entered the UK within the last 50 years.
Details of the 20 items on which temporary export bars were placed in 2006-07 are set out in the following table.
Item Case 2 A painting by Michiel Van Musscher “Portrait of an artist in his studio” Case 4 A watercolour painting by J M W Turner, “The Dark Rigi, Lake of Lucerne”, 1842 Case 5 The archive of Reverend William Gunn Case 6 A watercolour painting by J M W Turner, “Lake of Lucerne, from the Landing Place at Fluelen, looking towards Bauen and Tell’s Chapel, Switzerland” c. 1815 Case 7 An Anglo-Saxon gilded mount with interlace decoration Case 8 An Anglo-Saxon great square-headed brooch Case 10 A watercolour painting by J M W Turner, “The Blue Rigi, Lake of Lucerne, Sunrise”, 1842 Case 11 A painting by Alonso Sanchez Coello, “The Infante Don Diego” Case 12 A collection of manuscript and printed maps cut as jigsaws and housed in a mahogany cabinet Case 13 An 18th century mantua and petticoat Case 16 A felt appliqué and patch-worked album coverlet made by Ann West in 1820 Case 17 Diaries, correspondence and manuscript volumes of Mary Hamilton Case 18 A painting by John Constable, “Flatford Lock from the Mill House” Case 21 A painting by Karel van Mander the Elder, “The Crucifixion” Case 22 A bronze statuette of “Marsayas” after Pierre Legros the Younger Case 23 An 18th century embroidered man’s banyan and waistcoat Case 24 A ‘jadeite’ Neolithic axe-head from Sturminster Marshall, Dorset Case 25 The guild roll of the Guild of St. Mary, Nottingham, 1371 Case 27 A 15th century illuminated manuscript of the Hours of the Passion Case 28 An 18th century Union flag
Of the 18 items recommended by the Committee to warrant an export bar in 2005-06, one item (Case 16) had its export licence application withdrawn following the Committee meeting. Therefore 17 items had a temporary export bar placed on them.
Details of the 17 items on which temporary export bars were placed in 2005-06 are set out in the following table.
Item Case l A painting by Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli (1458-96), “Adoration of the Shepherds”, also known as “The Nativity” Case 2 An Anglo-Saxon gold coin of King Coenwulf of Mercia Case 3 Seven Viking silver pieces (six off-cuts from silver ingots and a stamped arm-ring fragment) Case 6 A medieval bronze jug Case 7 The Codex Stosch Case 10 A pair of paintings entitled “View of the Grand Walk, Vauxhall Gardens” and “The Rotunda, Ranelagh” by Giovanni Antonio Canal, il Canaletto (1697-1768) Case 11 An English breech-loading, magazine primed, flintlock fowling piece, 1718 Case 12 A silver cup and cover by Solomon Hougham presented to Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, HMS Shannon Case 13 The Naval Gold Medal awarded to Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, HMS Shannon Case 14 A medieval figure of a bronze equestrian knight Case 15 A pair of brocaded ivory silk satin wall hangings, “Verdures du Vatican”, designed by Jean Demosthene Dugourc for King Carlos IV of Spain and woven to order by Camille Pemon in Lyon around 1799 Case 17 A Roman millefiori disc Case 18 A painting by Naddo Ceccarelli, the “Madonna and Child” Case 19 A silver presentation trophy plateau by Solomon Hougham presented to Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, HMS Shannon Case 20 A portrait of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet in a frame by Francois-Charles Buteux Case 21 A George II Gothic painted cabinet attributed to William Hallett c. 1752 Case 22 A painting by Luca Carlevarijs, “View of the Molo, Venice, looking west”
Of the 27 items recommended by the Committee to warrant an export bar in 2004-05, two items (Cases 14 and 28) had their export licence applications refused before a decision was taken on the application because the owner was unwilling to accept a matching offer. Therefore 25 items had a temporary export bar placed on them.
Details of the 25 items on which a temporary export bar was placed in 2004-05 are set out in the following table.
Item Case 1 A Mantuan parcel-gilt and silvered bronze roundel Case 2 A rare embroidered linen doublet c. 1650 Case 3 A rare silver Iron Age coin Case 4 A painting by Jan Steen, “The Burgher of Delft and his daughter” Case 5 A painting by Francis Bacon, “Study after Velasquez” Case 6 A draft Royal Warrant for a patent for Robert Hooke’s ‘Watches with Springs’ Case 8 A painting by Hans Memling, “Portrait of a Man in a Black Cap” Case 10 A Mughal ceremonial dagger Case 11 A Mughal flywhisk handle Case 12 A Mughal silver huqqa set Case 13 A Mughal flask Case 15 An illuminated medieval manuscript, the “Macclesfield Psalter” Case 16 An album of watercolours. “Views of Calcutta”, by James Baillie Fraser Case 17 A Cartier bandeau Case 18 A silk and wool gentleman’s doublet c. 1600 Case 19 A marble sculpture by Benedetto Pistrucci Case 20 A Charles II silver dish Case 21 An oak coffer by William Beckford and HE Goodridge Case 22 A gold, silver-gilt, lapis-lazuli and enamel clock by Gustave Baugrand, Paris, 1867 Case 23 A pink satin and black bugle beaded bodice c. 1640-50 Case 25 A painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, “The Archers” Case 27 The Melchett Cast-Iron Fire Basket by Charles Sargeant Jagger c. 1930 Case 29 A set of 19 watercolours, “Blair’s Grave”, by William Blake Case 31 A Meissen armorial baluster vase and cover Case 32 A pencil and black and red chalk drawing of Mary Hamilton by Sir Thomas Lawrence
Of the 13 items recommended by the Committee to warrant an export bar in 2003-04, three items (Cases 2, 3 and 15) had their export licence applications withdrawn before a decision was taken on the application. One application was refused (Case 9). Therefore nine items had a temporary export bar placed on them.
Details of the nine items on which a temporary export bar was placed in 2003-04 are set out in the following table.
Item Case 5 A Regency carved mahogany centre table designed by Thomas Hope for his house in Duchess Street' Case 6 A pair of paintings by Claude-Joseph Vernet, “Calme: A Landscape at Sunset with Fishermen Returning their Catch” and “Tempete: A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas” Case 7 A painting by Annibale Carracci, The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (‘The Montalto Madonna’) Case 11 A painting the ‘Virgin in Mourning’ attributed to the Master of Moulins Case 12 A Siena marble table made for William Beckford Case 13 Four silver wine coolers: one pair by Robert-Joseph Auguste of Paris and one pair by Parker and Wakelin of London Case 14 The archive of G King and Son Case 17 A painting by Richard Parkes Bonnington, “French Coast with Fishermen” Case 18 The archive of General Sir Eyre Coote
Of the 23 items recommended by the Committee to warrant an export bar in 2002-03, no items had their export licence applications withdrawn following the Committee meeting. Therefore 23 items had a temporary export bar placed on them.
Details of the 23 items on which a temporary export bar was placed in 2002-03 are set out in the following table.
Item Case 1 A full suit of armour c. 1495 Case 2 A pair of George IV ormolu and mother of pearl inlaid black and gilt-japanned papier-mâché vases, c. 1830, the vases by Jennens and Bettridge, the mounts attributed to Edward Holmes Baldock Case 4 A sallet by Lorenz Helmschmied, c. 1480 Case 5 Meissen figure of a vixen Case 7 Meissen figure of a crouching king vulture Case 8 Meissen figure of a turkey cock Case 9 Queen Charlotte’s emerald and diamond cross (licence refused—seller refused to accept V and A’s matching offer) Case 10 A miniature photograph album by Mary Dillwyn (1816-1906) Case 11 A sketch of a horse and landscape by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) Case 12 A portrait of The Lieutenant General, the Hon. Robert Monckton, by Benjamin West, 1764 Case 13 A Roman well-head, the Guilford puteal, c. 100BC Case 14 An armchair designed by Marcel Breuer, 1936 Case.15 A dressing table designed by Marcel Breuer, 1936 Case 16 A drawing, Study of a Mourning Woman, by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) Case 17 A Portrait of Omai by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1775-76 Case 18 The Madonna of the Pinks (Madonna dei Garofani) by Raphael (1483-1520) Case 19 A portrait of Richard Arkwright junior with his wife Mary and daughter Anne by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1790 Case 20 A pair of silver wall sconces with the mark of Thomas Corbett, 1701 Case 21 A marble statue of Sir George Cooke (1645-1740) by Sir Henry Cheere (1703-81) Case 22 Letters and diaries of Claudius James Rich (1787-1821) Case 23 A miniature of the Nativity, attributed to Jean Bourdichon, c. 1510 Case 24 A bronze incense burner attributed to Desiderio da Firenze, c. 1540 Case 25 A Roman marble statue of Venus, known as the ‘Jenkins’ or ‘Barberini’ Venus, 1st–2nd century AD
Art Works: Theft
[holding answer 22 July 2008]: Having considered the views expressed in response to the 2006 consultation paper, the Government are committed to introducing legislation as soon as possible to allow national museums, that are currently prevented from doing so, to return works of art spoliated during the Nazi era. A summary of the responses received to the consultation and the Government’s conclusions are available on my Department’s website. The Government are actively seeking a legislative opportunity to bring forward these changes.
(2) which UK institutions have returned artworks or artefacts found to be the fruit of spoliation during the Second World War to their rightful owners; what items have been so returned; and if he will make a statement.
[holding answer 22 July 2008]: The Spoliation Advisory Panel has advised on eight claims since it was established in 2000 and is currently considering a ninth claim. The information sought on the claims determined is set out in the table.
Institution and date Item claimed Outcome Tate (2001) “View of Hampton Court Palace” by Jan Griffier the Elder Claim upheld. The claimant sought and received an ‘ex-gratia’ payment. Burrell Collection, Glasgow (2004) “Still Life”, formerly attributed to Chardin Claim upheld. The claimant sought either the return of the painting or an ‘ex-gratia’ payment. The Panel recommended the return of the painting. The Burrell Collection decided they could not return the painting and made an ‘ex-gratia’ payment to the claimant instead. British Library (2005) “The Beneventan Missal” Claim upheld. The claimant sought the return of the “Missal” and the British Library are trying to arrange a long-term loan to Italy. Ashmolean Museum (2006) “Portrait of a Young Girl in a Bow Window”, attributed to Nikolaus Alexander Mair von Landshut Claim rejected. The claimant did not specify whether they were seeking the return of the painting or an ‘ex-gratia’ payment. British Museum (2006) “The Holy Family” by Niccolo dell’Abbate; “An Allegory on Poetic Inspiration with Mercury and Apollo”, by Nicholas Blakey; “Virgin and Infant Christ, adored by St Elizabeth and the Infant St John”, by Martin Johann Schmidt; and “St Dorothy with the Christ Child” by School of Martin Schöngauer Claim upheld. The claimant sought and received an ‘ex-gratia’ payment. Courtauld Institute (2007) “A lion”, attributed to Carl Ruthart; “A dog lying down”, attributed to Frans Van Mieris the elder; and “An architectural capriccio”, attributed to Giuseppe Bibiena Claim upheld. The claimant sought the return of and received the drawings. Courtauld Institute (2007) “St. Gregory the Great with Ss. Maurus and Papianus and St. Domitilla with Ss. Nereus and Achilleus”; “The Conversion of St. Paul”; and “The Bounty of James / Triumphing Over Avarice” by Sir Peter Paul Rubens Claim rejected. The claimant sought the return of the paintings. British Museum and Fitzwilliam Museum (2008) “Porcelain dish” at the British Museum and “Monteith” (or glass cooler) at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Claims upheld. The one claimant sought and received an ‘ex-gratia’ payment for the “Porcelian dish”, which the British Museum is unable to deaccession and the restitution of the “Monteith”, which the Fitzwilliam Museum was able to deaccession.
The Government are only aware of the outcome of claims that have been referred to the Spoliation Advisory Panel.
[holding answer 22 July 2008]: The Cultural Property Advice website (www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk), launched by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 2007 with support from my Department, provides advice and information to those searching for objects with an uncertain history lost or stolen during World War II and the Holocaust Era. The website includes a database of objects with uncertain provenance between 1933-45. Both this website and the department's own website provide information on the work of the Spoliation Advisory Panel.
The Government intend to introduce legislation to allow national museums, that are currently prevented from doing so, to return works of art spoliated during the Nazi era, as recommended by the panel in 2005. We continue to look for an early legislative opportunity to do so.
Arts: Finance
[holding answer 8 May 2008]: The non-departmental public bodies in question have provided the information in the following table. The table indicates those projects that have received ring-fenced funding in each of the last three years, and those scheduled to receive it in the next three years.
NDPB Financial year Project Cost (£) Arts Council England 2005-06 Creative Partnerships 31,444,000.00 Young Peoples Arts Awards 294,000.00 Youth Theatre 27,000.00 Cultural Hubs 1,115,000.00 Cultural Leadership Fund 83,329.00 European Capital of Culture 0 South Bank Centre 2,000,000.00 North West—Capital Allocation 3,000,000.00 Cultural Offer 0 Research—Taking Part Survey 300,000.00 2006-07 Creative Partnerships 34,000,000.00 Young Peoples Arts Awards 458,000.00 Youth Theatre 306,000.00 Cultural Hubs 1,350,000.00 Cultural Leadership Fund 4,266,000.00 European Capital of Culture 1,250,000.00 South Bank Centre 2,000,000.00 North West—Capital Allocation 2,000,000.00 Cultural Offer 0 Research—Taking Part Survey 400,000.00 2007-08 Creative Partnerships 34,800,000.00 Young Peoples Arts Awards 700,000.00 Youth Theatre 500,000.00 Cultural Hubs 145,000.00 Cultural Leadership Fund 4,600,000.00 European Capital of Culture 250,000.00 South Bank Centre 0 North West—Capital Allocation 0 Cultural Offer 0 Research—Taking Part Survey 400,000.00 2008-09 Creative Partnerships 35,739,000.00 Young Peoples Arts Awards 700,000.00 Youth Theatre 500,000.00 Cultural Hubs 145,000.00 Cultural Leadership Fund 4,600,000.00 European Capital of Culture 250,000.00 South Bank Centre 0 North West—Capital Allocation 0 Cultural Offer 0 Research—Taking Part Survey 500,000.00 2009-10 Creative Partnerships 36,704,000.00 Young Peoples Arts Awards 1— Youth Theatre 0 Cultural Hubs 0 Cultural Leadership Fund 3,500,000.00 European Capital of Culture 0 South Bank Centre 0 North West—Capital Allocation 0 Cultural Offer 3,000,000.00 Research—Taking Part Survey 500,000.00 2010-11 Creative Partnerships 37,695,000.00 Young Peoples Arts Awards 1— Youth Theatre 0 Cultural Hubs 0 Cultural Leadership Fund 3,500,000.00 European Capital of Culture 0 South Bank Centre 0 North West—Capital Allocation 0 Cultural Offer 3,000,000.00 Research—Taking Part Survey 500,000.00 MLA Council 2005-06 (actual) Framework for the Future 1,950,000.00 Renaissance 29,482,000.00 Strategic Commissioning 1,990,000.00 Find Your Talent 0 Taking Part 100,000.00 Joint research 0 IDeA improvements Fund 80,000.00 GIS claims fund 0 2006-07 (actual) Framework for the Future 1,890,000.00 Renaissance 32,000,000.00 Strategic Commissioning 2,338,000.00 Find Your Talent 0 Taking Part 80,000.00 Joint research 0 IDeA improvements Fund 80,000.00 GIS claims fund 36,000.00 2007-08 (actual) Framework for the Future 2,000,000.00 Renaissance 45,000,000.00 Strategic Commissioning 2,000,000.00 Find Your Talent 0 Taking Part 80,000.00 Joint research 0 IDeA improvements Fund 120,000.00 GIS claims fund 23,000.00 2008-09 (planned) Framework for the Future 0 Renaissance 46,215,000.00 Strategic Commissioning 2,240,000.00 Find Your Talent 0 Taking Part 87,000.00 Joint research 60,000.00 IDeA improvements Fund 78,000.00 GIS claims fund 150,000.00 2009-10 (planned) Framework for the Future 0 Renaissance 46,463,000.00 Strategic Commissioning 2— Find Your Talent 2,000,000.00 Taking Part 87,000.00 Joint research 60,000.00 IDeA improvements Fund 78,000.00 GIS claims fund 150,000.00 2010-11 (planned) Framework for the Future 0 Renaissance 47,744,000.00 Strategic Commissioning 2— Find Your Talent 2,000,000.00 Taking Part 87,000.00 Joint research 65,000.00 IDeA improvements Fund 78,000.00 GIS claims fund 150,000.00 2008-09 Cultural Leadership Programme 150,000.00 2009-10 Cultural Leadership Programme 2— 2010-11 Cultural Leadership Programme 2— Sport England 2005-06 Community Club Development 20,000,000.00 Sportsmatch 3,675,000.00 Coaching 14,195,000.00 School Club Links 4,500,000.00 Step into Sport 4,000,000.00 Competition Managers 100,000.00 National Sports Foundation 0 Football Foundation 0 5 hour offer 0 English Institute of Sport 0 2006-07 Community Club Development 20,000,000.00 Sportsmatch 3,675,000.00 Coaching 14,370,000.00 School Club Links 4,336,000.00 Step into Sport 4,000,000.00 Competition Managers 100,000.00 National Sports Foundation 14,500,000.00 Football Foundation 21,000,000.00 5 hour offer 0 English Institute of Sport 0 2007-08 Community Club Development 17,000,000.00 Sportsmatch 3,675,000.00 Coaching 14,370,000.00 School Club Links 4,336,000.00 Step into Sport 4,00,000.00 Competition Managers 100,000.00 National Sports Foundation 19,300,000.00 Football Foundation 16,000,000.00 5 hour offer 0 English Institute of Sport 0 2008-09 Community Club Development 0 Sportsmatch 0 Coaching 0 School Club Links 0 Step into Sport 0 Competition Managers 0 National Sports Foundation 0 Football Foundation 0 5 hour offer 14,500,000.00 English Institute of Sport 2,700,000.00 2009-10 Community Club Development 0 Sportsmatch 0 Coaching 0 School Club Links 0 Step into Sport 0 Competition Managers 0 National Sports Foundation 0 Football Foundation 0 5 hour offer 13,500,000.00 English Institute of Sport 700,000.00 2010-11 Community Club Development 0 Sportsmatch 0 Coaching 0 School Club Links 0 Step into Sport 0 Competition Managers 0 National Sports Foundation 0 Football Foundation 0 5 hour offer 11,500,000.00 English Institute of Sport 700,000.00 English Heritage 2005-06 Apethorpe Hall3 1,000,000.00 2006-07 Apethorpe Hall4 3,300,000.00 2007-08 Apethorpe Hall3 1,300,000.00 2006-07 Apethorpe Hall 2,000,000.00 2007-08 Apethorpe Hall 2,000,000.00 1 To be decided 2 To be announced 3 The cost of the Apethorpe Hall repair project 4 Includes £1.3 million purchase following the Compulsory Purchase Order
BBC: Internet
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: This is a matter for the BBC Trust. As part of the Public Value Test considering the proposal, Ofcom will conduct a market impact assessment.
British Grand Prix
My meeting with Bernie Ecclestone of 18 March on the British Grand Prix was informal and as such no minutes were taken.
Creative Partnerships: Manpower
The information requested has been provided by Arts Council England and is set out in the table.
Organisation 2007-08 Arts Council—National Office 29 East 8 East Midlands 15 London 13 North East 11 North West 14 South East 22 South West 10 West Midlands 10 Yorkshire 10 Grand Total 142
Cultural Leadership Programme
[holding answer 22 July 2008]: Five members of staff are currently employed by the Cultural Leadership Programme: a director; acting assistant director; project manager; project co-ordinator; and administrator.
The Cultural Leadership Programme has provided the following figures for the amount spent on staffing in each of the last three years:
£ 2005-06 83,329 2006-07 127,550 2007-08 278,000
The increase in staffing costs reflects the development of the programme from a call for ideas and early scoping phase, through development of provision through partners, to offering a full programme of learning to leaders in the cultural and creative industries at all levels. Core staffing and administration costs represent only 4 per cent. of the total budget.
Departmental Air Travel
Those staff in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and our agency, the Royal Parks who are entitled to business or first air travel are (i) encouraged to travel in a cheaper class to the destination but (ii) they would not be able to benefit in monetary terms or kind from the saving.
Departmental Appeals
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold the requested information centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has been heard in two appeals before Appellate Committees of the House of Lords in the last 10 years. In 2001, in Regina v. Independent Television Commission, Ex Parte TV Danmark 1 Limited [2001] UKHL 42, the Secretary of State intervened to support a successful appeal brought by the Independent Television Commission. In 2007, in Regina (on the application of Animal Defenders International) v. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport [2008] UKHL 15, the Secretary of State successfully defended an appeal brought by Animal Defenders International.
Departmental Buildings
The Department is committed to improving its energy efficiency and to deliver on the targets set down in the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate. These are to: increase energy efficiency by 15 per cent. by 2010 relative to 1999-2000 levels; and to increase energy efficiency per square metre by 30 per cent. by 2020, relative to 1999-2000 levels.
To deliver on these targets, the Department has developed a detailed energy action plan which has identified areas where energy efficiency improvements can be made. To date, significant improvements have been gained in the installation of energy efficient light fittings, new main capital plant and the replacement of gas boilers. Automatic meter readers have been installed in DCMS buildings to enable us to monitor consumption half hourly.
The Department is accredited to the Carbon Trust’s Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme.
The Department has not entered into any new agreements to rent or purchase buildings since 1999.
If the Department does enter into new agreements to rent or purchase buildings in future it will ensure this is undertaken with full reference to the Office of Government Commerce’s Common Minimum Standards for the Built Environment.
The information requested is as follows:
(a) In the last 24 months the Department has refurbished its office at 2-4 Cockspur Street, London. Floor area: 6,157 square metres.
(b) In the last 24 months The Royal Parks has refurbished The Magazine in Kensington Gardens. Floor area: 300 square metres.
No offices have been newly occupied in the last 24 months.
Departmental Databases
Since its launch in 2005, the Department's Taking Part survey has included ACORN codes. These data have been used to examine variations in sporting and cultural participation.
This month the Department purchased the additional Financial ACORN and Health ACORN codes as well as MOSAIC codes. These have been merged with the Taking Part survey data and results will be published later this year.
In 2006 the Royal Parks agency used ACORN codes to examine variations in the profile of park users against the profile of residents living in close proximity to the park.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There were no formal disciplinary breaches in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the last 12 months.
Departmental Homeworking
The Department is currently reviewing its flexible working policies and as part of that HR has set up a central database to record staff working patterns, including home working.
Departmental Information
Neither the Department for Culture Media and Sport nor its agency (the Royal Parks) has sold any data under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations in the last 12 months.
Departmental Official Residences
The Department does not provide any permanent residential accommodation for use by civil servants.
Departmental Overtime
The cost of overtime paid to staff in each month between July 2007 and June 2008 by grade is shown in the table.
Grade A(U) Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D Total 2007 July 2,005 8,370 11,978 8,049 4,063 34,465 August 864 7,749 14,084 4,870 2,835 30,402 September 1,106 2,359 4,816 2,140 236 10,657 October — 7,667 8,104 8,401 2,047 26,220 November 28 7,531 11,553 7,469 2,447 29,028 December 279 12,647 7,228 6,214 1,865 28,232 2008 January — 6,366 4,562 4,476 1,101 16,506 February — 8,142 7,617 6,680 2,575 25,014 March — 13,108 5,059 5,640 1,869 25,677 April — 9,730 6,889 4,966 2,304 23,889 May — 12,546 5,590 7,222 1,337 26,695 June — 12,829 5,625 9,902 2,890 31,247
Departmental Pay
All expenses are reimbursed in accordance with guidance set out in the Department’s staff guide and the civil service code.
The reimbursable expenses claimed by press officers in the Department and its executive agency, the Royal Parks, in each of the last three years are set out in the table.
Amounts claimed by press officers Financial year Department Royal Parks 2005-06 16,259.86 88.20 2006-07 6,774.75 233.25 2007-08 2,568.72 31.06 1 Excludes claims made through petty cash claims. These can be identified only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Procurement
I am providing a listing of trade suppliers who raised invoices for goods and services to DCMS in 2007-08 based on the purchase ledger history.
I am arranging for this information to be deposited in the House Library.
Departmental Public Participation
Information on all public reviews and consultations initiated by my Department is available via the DCMS website (www.culture.gov.uk). The following list provides details of departmental public reviews and consultations since 27 June 2007:
DCMS public reviews and consultations
(i) Public reviews
McMaster Review—Assessing excellence in the arts 1 November 2007.
The consultation period was 1 to 30 November 2007.
(ii) Public consultations (in reverse date order)
Gambling Act 2005 (Variation of Monetary Limits) Order 2008 16 July 2008.
The consultation period will run from 17 July to 9 October 2008.
Proposed Gambling Act 2005 (Gaming Machines in Bingo Premises) Order 2008 25 June 2008.
The consultation period will run from Thursday 26 June 2008 to Friday 26 September 2008.
Consultation on Community Radio 31 March 2008.
The consultation period was 31 March 2008 to 6 June 2008.
Consultation on Television Multiplex Services (Reservation of Digital Capacity) Order 2008 18 April 2008.
The consultation period was 18 April 2008 to 9 May 2008.
Gambling Act 2005—Proposals for Gambling Commission Fees from 1 August 2008 10 March 2008.
The consultation period was 10 March 2008 to 2 June 2008.
Consultation on proposal to introduce a simplified process for minor variations to premises licences and club premises certificates 28 November 2007.
The consultation period was 28 November 2007 to 20 February 2008.
Consultation on draft regulations for museums on the publication of information about cultural objects on loan under Part 6 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 21 September 2007.
The consultation period was 21 September to 21 December 2007.
Regulatory Reform Order: Proposal to Remove the Requirement for the Designated Premises Supervisor for Community Premises 8 August 2007.
The consultation period was 8 August to 31 October 2007.
The Governance of Britain, Flag Flying 24 July 2007.
The consultation period was 27 July to 7 November 2007.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a European agenda for culture in a globalizing world 29 June 2007.
The consultation period was 29 June to 10 September 2007.
The Gambling Act (Small Society Lotteries) (Registration of Non-Commercial Societies) Regulations 2007 12 June 2007.
The consultation period was 12 June to 30 July 2007.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Temporary Use Notices 31 May 2007.
The consultation period was 31 May to 23 August 2007.
DCMS Equality Scheme 2007-2010 Consultation 27 April 2007.
The consultation period was 27 April to 23 July 2007.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on the Review of Premises Licence Regulations 26 April 2007.
The consultation period was 26 April to 17 July 2007.
Departmental Retirement
In the last five years three requests to work beyond the mandatory retirement age have been received by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport—one in 2005 and two in 2008.
Departmental Surveillance
The Department and its agency the Royal Parks have not made any applications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in the last 24 months.
Dorneywood
EDF Energy
The information is as follows:
(a) The Department buys its electricity from EDF through the OGC Buying Solutions and is invoiced directly for this service. It does not have a direct contract with EDF.
(b) Our agency, the Royal Parks has one current contract for the supply of electricity with EDF.
(i) Payments over the past 10 years have been for electricity supply only. The Department only holds partial figures as prior to 2004-05, the payment for electricity on Cockspur street was being made directly by our previous facilities management contractors. The figures are broken down as follows:
£ 1998-99 63,378 1999-2000 46,427 2000-01 43,244 2001-02 47,232 2002-03 36,016 2003-04 52,745 2004-05 188,092 2005-06 253,620 2006-07 308,205 2007-08 276,742
(ii) Payments over the last 10 years for the Royal Parks are as follows:
£ 1999-2000 110,929 2000-01 101,533 2001-02 90,341 2002-03 111,098 2003-04 100,713 2004-05 105,763 2005-06 131,032 2006-07 141,196 2007-08 55,554 2008-09 (to date) 21,000
English Sports Council: Grants
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: Monitoring arrangements vary from project to project, dependent on the size and type of grant. Sport England requires applicants to ensure that adequate funds are made available over the life time of the grant award, to ensure that the facility is maintained properly.
Sport England has advised that pre-application advice is supplied to applicants through both online support and one-to-one meetings. A sample of capital projects are monitored post completion. In addition, Sport England’s regional offices are in contact with projects in their region on an ad hoc basis.
Technical Guidance on Natural Turf can be found on Sport England’s website as a free download of the Natural Turf technical publication;
www.sportengland.org/se_facilities_naturalturf.pdf.
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: Arrangements for the award and management of grants are primarily matters for Sport England. Sport England has advised that it does not require, as condition of grant, a revenue tail to fund maintenance staff. It does, however, require the applicant to ensure that adequate funds are made available over the life time of the grant award, to ensure that the facility is maintained properly. Sport England has advised that where it is known that replacement of elements of the capital facility will be required within the lifetime of the award, such as a synthetic turf surface, they will seek assurance that a replacement budget is established by the awardee to ensure the replacement is made.
Equality: Finance
The Big Lottery Fund has advised that they have not received any applications for funding from regional equality and diversity partnerships.
EU Law
This Government are firmly committed to the importance of the EU in delivering on 21st-century challenges. The EU is of central importance to the work of HM Government across all Departments. It is relevant to a wide range of policy areas, and to the work of many Government officials; currently my Department employs five officials on such work.
Gambling: USA
[holding answer 21 July 2008]: I have had no such discussions. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 15 September 2008, Official Report, column 2124W, by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Mr. Thomas), who has responsibility for trade and consumer affairs.
Historic Buildings: Protection
Buildings that are of special historic or architectural interest are listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. Listing protects a building against unauthorized demolition, alteration or extension and ensures that its special interest is taken into account when proposals are put forward that affect its character or appearance.
English Heritage, the Government’s statutory adviser for the historic environment, gave £24 million in grants in 2007-08 to protect and encourage enjoyment of historic buildings and monuments. English Heritage recommended 564 buildings for listing, and during the year, 57 buildings were removed from the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register as their futures had been secured. English Heritage is a statutory consultee in the statutory planning process and gave advice on 17,090 consent applications in 2007-08.
In April 2008, the Government published a draft Heritage Protection Bill. The draft Bill contains provisions setting out a framework to unify heritage protection regimes, allow greater public involvement in decision-making and place heritage at the heart of the planning system, thereby making the system more transparent and making heritage protection easier to understand and manage.
Institute of Groundsmanship
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: Sport England has advised that the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) is one of several membership organisations who play a role in providing a range of services to the sporting landscape. The IOG has relationships with a number of national governing bodies but not with Sport England. Sport England has advised that it has no plans at present to increase the number of national partners that it supports.
Internet: Advertising
No. The Advertising Standards Authority already have powers to deal with paid for space online and the rules in place to protect children in non broadcast advertising already apply.
Dr. Byron’s report “Safer Children in a Digital World” recommended that
‘the advertising industry should continue to drive forward activity already underway to ‘futureproof’ the current regulatory system, especially in relation to digital advertising’.
In particular the report said
‘I recommend that consideration is given to how promotional marketing in non-paid for online space can be brought within the regulatory framework for advertising, in line with principles on the prevention of harmful and offensive advertising to children outlined in the CAP code’.
On 24 June we published our action plan from implementing the recommendations from the Byron Review which stated that we would take stock of the evidence in spring 2009 and encourage any further action as necessary.
Listed Buildings
The information requested is not available. English Heritage's listed building system does not record types of ownership of listed buildings. English Heritage does however hold information on ownership of properties on the English Heritage at risk register.
London Olympic Games 2012
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are a key priority across Government. The Government Olympic Executive (GOE) was set up within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to oversee the delivery of Government objectives for the Games.
As of 1 September 2008 the GOE consisted of 71.7 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff. Of this total, no members of staff are working in roles defined as project management roles, 17 are working in roles mainly relating to legacy planning, 20 on roles mainly relating to project oversight and six on roles mainly relating to financial control/oversight. The remainder of staff work mainly on staging, strategic communications and parliamentary matters.
In terms of further specific posts relating to Olympic projects within DCMS, 7.8 FTE staff are employed on Olympic Programme Management, the Cultural Olympiad and in the Press Office. Of these, approximately 3.7 FTE are in roles relating to project management and approximately 1.1 FTE in roles relating to project oversight. The purpose of these posts is to manage the wider DCMS interests in relation to staging the Games such as elite sport, sport participation, tourism and culture. The remaining three FTE staff are full-time press officers.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Olympics on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 977W in regard to the number of FTE members of staff in the Olympic Delivery Authority.
Information relating to DCMS's other non-departmental public bodies who are working on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympics could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Future staffing levels in the GOE will remain under review, within the overall budgetary settlement agreed with HM Treasury.
Staffing levels for DCMS's NDPBs are primarily a matter for NDPBs.
Mass Media
The following figures have been provided by the bodies requested. They include subscriptions to bespoke media monitoring services and the cost of press cuttings. They do not include the costs of any transcripts or recordings, fees to the Newspaper Licensing Authority, or analysis of press coverage.
Organisation £ Organisation £ Organisation £ Arts Council England Durrants 34,953 Artis Durrants 15,160 Durrants 88,080 Romeike 29,452 Romeike 11,983 Cision 30,928 Arena Durrants 24,800 Romeike 2,678 Cision 14,252 DCMS Cabinet Office Media Monitoring Unit 34,663 Cabinet Office Media Monitoring Unit 35,426.25 Cabinet Office Media Monitoring Unit 40,537.50 EDS Press Cuttings 61,690 EDS Press Cuttings 86,945.43 EDS Press Cuttings 68,072.16 Sport England Durrants 51,537 Durrants 55,411 Durrants 55,884 Big Lottery Fund1 TNS (UK wide) 11,081 TNS (UK wide) 11,399 TNS (UK wide) 15,089 Newsping (UK wide 1,469 Newsping (UK wide 3,231 Newsping (UK wide 1,616 Meltwater(UK wide) 2,961 Meltwater (UK wide) 3,109 Meltwater(UK wide) 786 LexisNexis (UK wide) 8,023 LexisNexis (UK wide) 4,334 LexisNexis (UK wide) 608 Durrants (England) 39,573 Durrants (England) 53,813 Durrants (England) 89,005 Stratamatrix (Wales) 1,255 Stratamatrix (Wales) 1,511 Stratamatrix (Wales) 1634 Media Markets (NI) 7,575 Media Markets (NI) 4,163 Media Markets (NI) 11,272 The Press Data Bureau (Scotland) 4,799 The Press Data Bureau (Scotland) 6,038 The Press Data Bureau (Scotland) 5,361 TNS Media Intelligence (Scotland) 4,286 TNS Media Intelligence (Scotland) 4,934 TNS Media Intelligence (Scotland) 5,044 English Heritage Durrants 40,269 Durrants 54,558 Durrants 64,952 TNS Media Intelligence 5,760 TNS 6,336 TNS 5,995 GNN 45,360 GNN 46,656 — — Heritage Lottery Fund2 Cision Romeike, TNS Broadcast, Meltwater and PA Media Point 56,682 Cision Romeike, TNS Broadcast, Meltwater and PA Media Point 72,485 Cision Romeike, TNS Broadcast, Meltwater and PA Media Point 67,119 MLA Council Durrants 11,789 Durrants 33,951 Durrants 38,229 1 BIG media monitoring provides coverage across the UK for the delivery of half of national lottery good cause funding delivery as well as ‘Awards For All’; a cross-distributor programme which is funded by four lottery distributors including BIG. 2 HLF have advised us that for purposes of commercial confidentiality they are not able to disclose the individual costs associated with each supplier. Note: All figures are inclusive of vat, other than those concerning English Heritage.
Museums and Galleries: Finance
The Renaissance programme is managed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and is covered by the Funding Agreement with the Department for 2008-09 to 2010-11. As at 31 July, £1,325,000 was unallocated in MLA’s Renaissance programme contingency fund.
The MLA expects to commit the majority of this contingency during the second half of this financial year, subject to end-year flexibility arrangements agreed with the Department.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Finance
[holding answer 22 July 2008]: The national lottery distribution fund has not made any direct payments to the national lottery promotions unit (NLPU). Under the terms of the licence to operate the national lottery, the NLPU receives the contribution to its funding on behalf of distributors by means of deductions from the operator’s payments into the lottery distribution funds. The amounts received by the NLPU in respect of the distribution funds in each year were as follows:
£ 2003-04 194,860 2004-05 2,044,203 2005-06 1,530,933 2006-07 1,448,594 2007-08 1,812,900
[holding answer 22 July 2008]: Contributions to the funding of the national lottery promotions unit (NLPU) in respect of the lottery distributing bodies are made by means of deductions from the operator’s payments into the lottery distribution funds. It is not possible, therefore, to disaggregate in respect of individual distributors. From the establishment of NLPU in 2003-04 to the end of 2005-06, contributions in respect of the lottery distributing bodies met 50 per cent. of NLPU’s funding costs. With effect from 2006-07, the contributions in respect of the lottery distributing bodies have met 66.66 per cent. of NLPU’s operating costs.
Quality of Life
In 2007 Defra along with other Government Departments, devolved administrations and other stakeholders developed a common understanding of what wellbeing means in a policy context. This is now used across Government.
The common understanding across Government is that wellbeing is a positive physical, social and mental state, it is not just the absence of pain, discomfort and incapacity. It requires that basic needs are met, that individuals have a sense of purpose, that they feel able to achieve important personal goals and participate in society. It is enhanced by conditions that include supportive personal relationships, strong and inclusive communities, good health, financial and personal security, rewarding employment, and a healthy and attractive environment.
Along with the common understanding Defra released a provisional wellbeing indicator as part of their sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2007 (SDIYP). Last year DCMS contributed data on cultural and sporting participation by adults to the wellbeing indicator.
Royal Parks
DCMS has had no discussions with the Department for Transport on the proposals. The Royal Parks have responded to the consultation document.
Sports
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: Information on participation since 2005-06, broken down by frequency and by region is available via the Active People Survey, commissioned by Sport England. Data relating to 2005-06, collected as part of Active People Survey 1 can be found on the Sport England website at the following link
<http://www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/research/active_people/active_people_1/active_people_survey_ headline_results.htm>
Full detailed results are available via Active People Diagnostic, Sport England's online reporting and analysis tool, which is freely available to all. Due to the success of the Active People Survey 2005-06, Sport England is repeating the survey, and it will now run as a continuous annual survey. The second year of the survey commenced on 15 October 2007 and is due to report in November 2008.
Sports: Equal Opportunities
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The DCMS ‘Taking Part’ survey provides national data on sports participation.
The most recent results were published in June 2008 and provide provisional estimates from year 3 of the survey. The following tables provide a comparison between final baseline figures from year 1, final estimates from year 2 and provisional estimates from the first six months of year 3. There have been no statistically significant differences between the baseline and latest estimates for either of the two measures.
The first table indicates the percentage of people from the named groups that take part in active sport. The active sport indicator is defined as at least one occasion of participation in an active sport during the past four weeks.
Year 1 (annual) Year 2 (annual) Year 3 (six months) Black and minority ethnic 53.3 51.9 52.4 Limiting disability 32.3 31.2 30.0 Lower socio-economic 43.4 42.2 43.5 Females 47.7 46.2 46.0 All adults 53.7 53.4 53.3
The second table indicates the percentage of people from the named groups that take part in moderate level intensity sport. The moderate level intensity sport indicator is defined as participation in moderate intensity level sport for at least 30 minutes on three separate days during the past week.
Year 1 (annual) Year 2 (annual) Year 3 (six months) Black and minority ethnic 19.2 19.6 19.0 Limiting disability 9.5 9.4 9.8 Lower socio-economic 15.2 15.3 15.4 Females 18.5 18.3 17.6 All adults 20.9 21.5 21.6
A key element of Sport England’s new three-year strategy (2008-11) is to get one million people doing more sport by 2012-13 and they will work with and through National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) to deliver this target. NGBs will be challenged through the Whole Sport plan process to consider how they can encourage the participation of under-represented groups.
Sports: Finance
[holding answer 21 July 2008]: The Big Lottery Fund has advised that the following awards have been made for physical education and sport related projects through the Big Lottery Fund's sport and physical activity programmes in each of the last three financial years:
Financial year Awards 2005-06 £357,753,130 2006-07 £266,503,102 2007-08 £143,604,930
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: All the funding announced by the Prime Minister has been allocated through the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People for the 2008-11 period.
Since April 2008, £11.7 million of the £12.9 million allocated to the DCSF and £3.9 million of the £14.5 million allocated to the DCMS for the 2008-09 financial year has been spent.
This funding is to support a range of programmes within the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People, including Sport Unlimited; Professional Coaches; FE Sport Coordinators; Competition Managers; Multi-Sport Disability Clubs; Intra-School Competition; and School Sport Partnerships.
Stress
DCMS is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work. A stress management framework, based on the Health and Safety Executive’s management standards is available to all employees and gives easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
Strip Clubs
The Licensing Act 2003, which received Royal Assent in July 2003, and subsequent related legislation have all been subject to required impact assessments. This would have included elements of equality impact, although there has been no gender impact assessment specifically related to entertainment of an adult nature such as lap dancing and similar performances.
Supporting Excellence in the Arts
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: I will place a copy of the minutes in the Libraries of both Houses.
Swimming: Finance
£15 million per annum will be provided according to a formula based on the size of the local 60 or over population to those local authorities who choose to provide free swimming for this group. £25 million per annum will be available to provide free swimming for those aged 16 or under. Allocations will be determined subject to expressions of interest.
In addition, we are providing a total of £60 million for capital projects designed to modernise pool provision, which are integrated with free swimming.
Taxis
All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department’s Staff Guide under Travel and Subsistence and consistent with Civil Service Management Code.
The expenditure on taxis by the Department in financial year 2007-08 was £36,359.08. The figure represents expenditure on taxis provided by the Department’s contracted agent, black cabs and other taxis in London and elsewhere. In addition, some expenditure on black cabs and taxis is included in general travel and subsistence and cannot be separately identified except at disproportionate cost.
The Department’s agency, the Royal Parks, does not itemise expenditure on taxi separately on its accounting system and the cost of disaggregating this expenditure manually from the relevant travel claims would be disproportionate to the amount involved.
Television
[holding answer 24 June 2008]: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not commissioned or funded the production of any television programmes in the last three years, or in 2008-09 to date.
Tourism: Ethnic Groups
DCMS provides grant in aid to VisitBritain to promote England to the British and Britain to the rest of the world, their Rural Escapes campaign has run for two years and is aimed at attracting all sections of society to rural locations in England and has involved print, website and broadcast advertising.
VisitBritain's international inbound tourism strategy involved a campaign around Bollywood film locations aimed specifically at the Indian market. The imagery used by Britain on View, VisitBritain and enjoyEngland, is designed to reflect the fact that visitors from all ethnic backgrounds are to be encouraged to visit rural and urban destinations within the UK.
World Heritage Sites
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave her on 7 July 2008, Official Report, column 1211W.
Work and Pensions
Armed Forces
The Service Personnel Command Paper The Nation’s Commitment: Cross-Government Support to our Armed Forces, their Families and Veterans (Cm 7424), published on 17 July, sets out the first ever cross-Government strategy for support to our service personnel, their families and veterans. The strategy will ensure that service personnel and their families are not disadvantaged when seeking access to state benefits and gives improved access to employment programmes, such as new deal.
The families of service personnel already have access to the full range of benefits and services in the same way as those of non-service personnel. There are also provisions targeted specifically at family members who are accompanying service personnel overseas on operations.
For example, family members who are temporarily absent from Great Britain because they live with a serving member of the forces as part of a family are not disqualified from receiving incapacity benefit, disability living allowance, attendance allowance or carer’s allowance. This will also apply to the employment and support allowance from October 2008. Partners of current or former armed forces personnel can also have fast-track access to the Gateway stage of the new deal for young people and new deal 25+ and, from April 2009, to Stage 3 of the revised jobseeker’s allowance programme.
Some spouses and civil partners who accompany their family overseas occasionally find it hard to get paid employment while there. This may adversely affect their national insurance contribution record for entitlement to a State Pension as well as access to contribution based working age benefits. A Ministerial commitment was included in the Command Paper to consider the award of National Insurance credits in these circumstances.
Child Support
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases of child support administration the computer system has been incapable of producing a result and the case transferred to manual management in each of the last three years. [222024]
The information requested is routinely published in Table 20 of the Child Support Agency’s Quarterly Summary Statistics and further information on clerical cases is set out in the accompanying notes to the table. The latest copy is available in the House of Commons Library or via the internet at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/csa.asp.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the financial impact on parents without care facing debt recovery action for outstanding child maintenance payments by the Child Support Agency of the sanction (a) 40 per cent. deductions on net income and (b) use of debt recovery agents. [223863]
The financial impact of recovering child maintenance debt is considered for all parties involved in a child maintenance calculation before determining a suitable repayment level. The circumstances of each individual case are considered including any representations of hardship from the non-resident parent as well as the size of the debt and any other relevant factors. Should the financial circumstances of the non-resident parent prevent immediate full repayment of the child maintenance debt then the Agency will attempt to negotiate the repayment of the child maintenance debt as quickly as possible to obtain the best possible outcome for the qualifying child and the parent with care while taking account of the circumstances of the non-resident parent.
As a guideline the Agency’s view is that a complete recovery period of up to two years is broadly acceptable if all the circumstances of the case genuinely warrant such a lengthy period; as an organisation with a statutory duty to consider the welfare of any children affected by our decisions, the Agency can only justify accepting repayment agreements of more than two years in special circumstances. In a proportion of cases, this means that a repayment agreement of up to forty per cent of net earnings, which includes any regular maintenance liability and repayment of arrears, will be appropriate.
Where negotiations fail to produce an acceptable repayment offer the Agency will consider recovery through the enforcement measures available. In many cases a Deduction from Earnings Order will be imposed which requires an employer to deduct child maintenance payments at source. These deductions will not exceed forty per cent of net earnings. In cases where this is not appropriate, the Agency can apply to the courts for a liability order confirming the debt, and allowing it to pursue other legal enforcement action.
The Agency also has the power to contract debt collection agencies to recover outstanding debt on its behalf as this is an area where the expertise of private agencies can be particularly effective in helping to get more money to more children. The provisions authorising another person/organisation to carry out functions relating to child support came into force on 3 July 2006. Certain cases with outstanding debt were reviewed and where the non-resident parent failed to make an acceptable repayment offer referral was made to a debt collection agency. The process for considering the financial impact of recovering debt mirrors that used within the Child Support Agency and outlined above. There are mechanisms in place to ensure that cases are correctly handled.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency new scheme cases have been uncleared within six months in (a) Jarrow constituency (b) South Tyneside (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [223906]
The information you have requested is provided in the attached table which highlights the significant improvements the Agency has made to client service under its three year Operational Improvement Plan.
In addition to the overall reduction in uncleared cases, the Agency now clears 81% of all new applications within 12 weeks, already meeting the March 2009 Secretary of State target to clear 80% of cases in 12 weeks.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Uncleared applications over six months old Month Great Britain North East South Tyneside Jarrow June 2003 2,800 100 — — June 2004 79,500 3,900 300 100 June 2005 142,100 7,600 600 300 June 2006 135,000 7,600 500 200 June 2007 88,900 6,100 400 200 June 2008 62,700 4,800 300 100 ‘—’ Indicates a figure less than 50. Notes: 1. Figures include all uncleared applications over six months old. 2. As the current scheme came into existence in 2003, figures only go back to this date. 3. Cases have been allocated to the North East region, Jarrow Parliamentary Constituency and South Tyneside Local Authority by matching the postcode of the parent with care against the Office for National Statistics postcode directory. 4. Many uncleared applications will not have reached the point where the address details of the non-resident parent or parent with care have been recorded on the CS2 or CSCS computer systems and so can not be allocated to a geographical area. Such applications have been included under the Great Britain figure but are excluded from the regional breakdowns. Approximately 5,600 applications (9 per cent. of all uncleared applications) over six months old fall into this category. 5. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 September 2008, Official Report, column 1945W.
The information requested is not available.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new scheme cases were cleared by the Child Support Agency within six months in (a) Jarrow constituency (b) South Tyneside (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [223988]
At present, the Agency operates two schemes, the original scheme applying to cases received by the Agency from 1993, and assessed under the Child Support Act 1991, and the current scheme, sometimes known as the new scheme, applying to cases received by the Agency from 2003 and assessed under the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000.
The information provided in the attached table relates to current scheme cases from 2003 only.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Clearances under six months old Month Great Britain North East South Tyneside Jarrow 2003-04 113,100 4,200 300 200 2004-05 137,200 4,400 300 200 2005-06 190,900 5,900 400 200 2006-07 219,000 6,100 400 200 2007-08 260,000 9,100 600 300 Notes: 1. Figures include all current scheme application clearances under six months old. 2. As the current scheme came into existence in 2003, figures only go back to this date. 3. Cases have been allocated to the North East region, Jarrow parliamentary constituency and South Tyneside local authority by matching the postcode of the parent with care against the Office for National Statistics postcode directory. 4. Applications may be classed as cleared when the application is rejected or withdrawn. These applications can be rejected or withdrawn without the full address details of the non-resident parent or parent with care being recorded on the CS2 or CSCS computer systems and so can not be allocated to a geographical area. Such clearances are included in the Great Britain total but excluded from the regional breakdowns. Over 35 per cent. of clearances of applications under six months old fall into this category. 5. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. 6. '-' indicates a figure less than 50.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is issued by the Child Support Agency on absent fathers who pay larger than average contributions into their pension scheme thereby reducing the sum payable in child maintenance; and if he will amend this guidance to combat this practice. [224163]
There is currently no limit to the amount of contributions a non-resident parent can make to an occupational pension within the child maintenance system.
A parent with care can however request a “variation” to the amount of the child maintenance liability if he or she believes that there are exceptional circumstances that are not covered by the basic rules. In particular a parent with care can apply for a variation where a non-resident parent has unreasonably reduced the amount of their income by diverting it elsewhere, which can be taken into account when making a maintenance calculation.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Child Support: Proof of Identity
There are no plans to require mothers to pay the full cost of DNA paternity testing where they have named a man later proved not to be the father. The current system is working well with only 1 per cent. of cases needing a DNA test to resolve disputed parentage and in less than 0.2 per cent. of cases a DNA test fails to prove paternity.
Departmental Air Travel
The Department joined the Government carbon offsetting fund (GCOF) at its outset in 2006-07. The following air mileage was used to calculate the payment for that year:
Short-haul: 17,175,100 miles (11,551,911 kilometres)
Long-haul: 976,660 miles (1,606,233 kilometres)
1 Short-haul data includes domestic air mileage as required by the GCOF guidance for 2006-07.
This equates to a total of £37,845.74 in offsetting costs for 2006-07.
Figures for 2007-08 are subject to confirmation.
All official travel within the Department is carried out in accordance with the requirements of both the Civil Service Management Code and the Departmental Business Travel Policy.
The Department’s Business Travel Policy enables staff only to travel by business class for trips outside of the UK and no overseas business class tickets may be purchased for flights under two and a half hours duration. However, staff are advised always to consider travel in a cheaper class to their destination and they do not benefit in monetary terms or kind from the saving. DWP recommends economy class as the preferred method of air travel regardless of the destination and flight duration and first class travel is never permitted.
The Civil Service Management Code can be accessed at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/documents/doc/CSMC_April08.doc
Departmental Buildings
Details of the locations of newly occupied offices and offices that have been refurbished in the last 24 months by the Department, and the floor area of each in square metres, will be placed in the Library.
Departmental Co-ordination
A business case will be submitted to Government in April 2009. If approval is given the service will be rolled out on a national basis from 2009 onwards.
It will be the individual’s decision whether or not to use the service.
Departmental Data Protection
The Department for Work and Pensions has published details of the personal data related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner's Office in 2007-08 in its resource accounts published on 13 August 2008.
Before November 2007 the Information Commissioner's Office did not specifically keep records of instances of security breaches.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 June 2008, providing the final report on measures for data handling procedures in government.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
We are unable to provide an answer in the format required. The most serious category of misconduct in the Department for Work and Pensions is gross misconduct, which may include different breaches of the Department’s standards of behaviour. Each case is treated on its merits and the Department does not treat any act of gross misconduct as being more or less serious than another.
The Department’s standards of behaviour and discipline policies are on the Department’s internal intranet and are available to each employee.
Departmental Home Working
DWP employees may work from home in two categories:
(a) On an ad hoc basis under our flexible working framework; and
(b) Permanently, on a contractual basis.
Statistical data are not collected about ad hoc home working arrangements, managers may exercise discretion and authorise ad hoc home working for a variety of reasons.
Details of contractual home workers are held on individual clerical records. To extract these data would be at disproportionate cost.
The Department has no plans to collate and maintain central records of employees home working.
Departmental Information
We can confirm that no data have been sold by the Department or its Agencies under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations in the last 12 months.
Departmental Official Residences
No permanent residential accommodation is provided for use by civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Departmental Procurement
The Department for Work and Pensions purchases goods and services from a significantly large number and variety of suppliers every year and information in the format requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, a list of the names and addresses of the Department’s top 30 suppliers for 2007-08 (by value of commercial expenditure), and which is readily available, has been placed in the Library.
Departmental Public Relations
Information on the number of staff in (a) the Department for Work and Pensions and (b) its agencies that have been seconded to public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies in each of the last five years is not available in the format requested.
The Department introduced a new personnel computer system incrementally from November 2006, being fully implemented by April 2007. Since April 2007 details of secondments out have been recorded under general headings. The name of the organisation is given but no details of the type of organisation.
To extract more detailed information from individual records under this category would be at disproportionate cost.
Information on numbers of staff from public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies that have been have been seconded to (a) the Department for Work and Pensions and (b) agencies of the Department for Work and Pensions is not collected centrally. This is handled locally by individual businesses. This information is therefore not available in the format requested.
To extract more detailed information from individual records under this category would be at disproportionate cost.
Disability Living Allowance
The available information has been placed in the Library.
The available information is in the following table.
Number 1993 124,900 1994 148,200 1995 165,100 1996 180,200 1997 191,400 1998 202,300 1999 210,400 2000 218,500 2001 225,800 2002 236,300 2003 243,700 2004 252,400 2005 260,900 2006 269,100 2007 279,100 2008 293,500 Notes: 1. Figures are subject to a high degree of sampling error and should only be used as a guide 2. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
EDF Energy
Contracts with EDF for the supply of electricity are managed on behalf of the Department by its estates partner Land Securities Trillium. These contracts are additional to the main suppliers for energy and are generally legacy arrangements for supply of electricity or meter operating activities, where it has been necessary for the Department to occupy additional premises. The supply for these sites is being transferred from EDF to our main providers as the contracts expire. The following table provides details of the amounts paid to EDF for electricity supplies and charges for meter services since 1998. It is not possible to provide separate figures for electricity supplies and meter service charges nor to separate out the payments made by the Department and its agencies.
£ 1998 33,856.40 1999 178,281.49 2000 19,653.23 2001 13,423.03 2002 6,860.22 2003 6,763.58 2004 14,216.70 2005 226,216.69 2006 329,267.59 2007 363,861.59
Employment and Support Allowance: Radiotherapy
Claimants receiving intravenous, intraperitoneal or intrathecal chemotherapy or recovering from that treatment, will be automatically treated as having limited capability for work and so be entitled to employment and support allowance without the need to undertake a work capability assessment. These claimants will also be automatically treated as having limited capability for work-related activity and so will be placed in the support group for employment and support allowance and receive a higher rate of that benefit.
Claimants receiving radiotherapy will also be treated as having limited capability for work in any week when they are having treatment or recovering from treatment.
Claimants undergoing other forms of chemotherapy, or who are between courses of radiotherapy, will have their entitlement to employment and support allowance individually assessed on the basis of the effect their illness or treatment has on their physical or mental function. Depending on the severity of those effects they may be assessed as being entitled to the work-related component or the support component of employment and support allowance.
European Social Fund: Trade Unions
In 2000-07, the Trades Union Congress received £13.16 million from the European Social Fund in England to deliver 41 employment and skills projects. The Department does not hold information on funding for individual trade unions.
Incapacity Benefit
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: Information about the proportion of income support claimants that are terminally ill is not available. The available information is in the following table.
Quarter ending As a total caseload (percentage) 2005 May 0.03 August 0.03 November 0.03 2006 February 0.03 May 0.03 August 0.04 November 0.03 2007 February 0.03 May 0.03 August 0.03 November 0.03 2008 February 0.03 Notes: 1. All incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance awards are non-means tested; figures include national insurance contributions only cases. 2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 3. The ‘terminally ill’ category comes from an indicator on the incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance data; no such indicator exists on the income support data. 4. The best statistics on benefits are now derived from 100 per cent. data sources. However, the 5 per cent. sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100 per cent. data sources. 5. Caseload figures have been uprated in line with WPLS 100 per cent. data and rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample
Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance are wholly non-means tested benefits. The available information is in the table.
Percentage Disability premium Both disability and enhanced disability premiums May 2007 33.3 5.2 August 2007 33.3 5.3 November 2007 33.3 5.4 February 2008 33.6 5.5 Note: 1. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Source: DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS.
Incapacity Benefit: Applications
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: Details of partners are recorded in cases where an increase is paid for a dependant adult who is caring for a child, or where the spouse is aged 60 or over. Information is not otherwise available on those claimants who have a partner.
The available information is in the following table.
Single With a partner Under 35 225,200 400 Between 35 and 44 142,000 800 Between 35 and 65 389,100 1,800 Notes: 1. Incapacity benefit is not means-tested. 2. The best statistics on benefits are now derived from 100 per cent. data sources. However, the 5 per cent. sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100 per cent. data sources. 3. Figures are subject to a high degree of sampling error and should only be used as a guide. 4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 5. New claimant figures for the latest available quarter. (February 2008) do not include any late notifications, and have therefore not been used. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample
Income Support: Disabled
The requested information is not available.
Income Support: Mortgages
The requested information is not available.
We continue to work jointly with other Government Departments to consider how best we can support the minority of borrowers who may be facing difficulties.
Jobcentres: Kilburn
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your question asking when he expects the impact assessment on the closure of Kilburn Jobcentre Plus to be completed. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
As part of our continuing national review of Jobcentres, a proposal was put forward to close six Jobcentre Plus offices in London. Kilburn Jobcentre Plus was one. The review is a consequence of the development of alternative channels for our customers to access our services and the subsequent reduction in the number of customers who need to visit a Jobcentre.
In addition, there has been a shift towards a more individualised service for our most disadvantaged customers delivered in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors. This has increased outreach work, for example in Children's Centres and partnership with providers, particularly private sector led New Deal and Pathways to Work which are provided outside of our office network.
A seven week consultation exercise took place between 3 March and 18 April 2008 with a range of stakeholders. This included the completion of a Diversity Impact Assessment. We are considering the feedback from the consultation before making a recommendation to Ministers on the closure of Kilburn Jobcentre Plus.
Should a decision to close Kilburn Jobcentre be made, the Diversity Impact Assessment will be published on the Jobcentre Plus website.
Jobcentres: North East
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your question asking how much is planned to be spent on local Jobcentre Plus centres in the North East region over the next 12 months for the provision of access to online job-search facilities and one to one advice. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The requested information is not available.
Online job-search facilities are available in each of our 45 Jobcentre Plus offices in the North East region via “Jobpoints”. In the year to June 2007 which is the most recent figure available, the contract with our local IT supplier to maintain the Jobpoints cost the Agency £230,897. Jobsearch facilities are also available via the internet. However, this is a national service and cannot be broken down by region. This year's financial allocation for staffing in the North East Region's Jobcentres is £49.4m to March 2009. This includes £17,227,212 for Personal Advisors and £5,334,184 for staff providing regular face to face support during fortnightly job reviews. I am unable to provide you with a separate figure for one to one advice.
Customers are now using our Jobcentres differently. More of our face-to-face customer contact is on an appointment basis and information on job vacancies is readily available by telephone and the internet. This enables staff in our offices to focus on those customers in greatest need of support to return to work.
Jobseekers Allowance
(2) what assessment he has made of (a) the availability and (b) the ability actively to seek work of jobseekers allowance claimants who have (i) a mental health condition and (ii) an alcohol or drug addiction;
(3) what mandatory requirements there are for a person with (a) a drug addiction or (b) an alcohol addiction claiming jobseekers allowance to seek treatment as a condition of receiving benefit;
(4) what mandatory treatment programmes there were for a person with (a) a drug addiction or (b) an alcohol addiction claiming jobseeker’s allowance.
A person must be available for and actively seeking work in order to be eligible for jobseeker’s allowance. A person can restrict his or her availability for work on grounds of a medical condition. This restriction could, for example, relate to the type of work or the hours they are available, but active search for employment must continue. When, as the result of a health problem, someone cannot meet these conditions, their claim for jobseeker’s allowance cannot continue and he or she would normally claim incapacity benefit instead, or other benefits appropriate to their individual circumstances.
Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers work with customers who need more extensive support because of their health condition. They can offer help in finding work and advise customers about a range of specialised support available such as Workstep, Work preparation and Residential Training colleges and Access to Work.
Jobseeker’s allowance customers with a history of drug and alcohol misuse can volunteer for early access to the new deal gateway in order to take advantage of the more intensive support on offer. Under the flexible new deal, which will replace the mandatory new deals from October 2009, service providers can decide to offer condition management programmes as part of the tailored back to work action plans drawn up for longer term jobseeker’s allowance customers.
We do not currently require drug or alcohol abusers to seek treatment as a condition of receiving benefit.
In our Welfare Reform Green Paper “No-one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility” (column 7363) we announced that we will explore the case for introducing a new regime for problem drug users which provides more tailored and personalised support than is currently provided by the existing incapacity benefit or jobseeker’s allowance regimes. In return for benefit payments, claimants will have a responsibility to move successfully through treatment and into employment.
Currently people with a drug addiction have access to support through the “progress2work” initiative which is a national programme for those on any working-age benefit recovering from drugs misuse. Participants are helped with the range of their problems, such as debt, housing or family breakdown. For alcohol misusers we offer “progress2work linkup” in about half of Jobcentre Plus districts.
Jobseekers Allowance: Young People
No. Children under the age of 16 are not entitled to receive jobseeker's allowance in their own right.
Motability: Finance
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: Motability is an independent charitable company which is responsible for the Motability scheme. The Government do not provide any direct funding to the scheme.
Motability also administers the Specialised Vehicles Fund on behalf of the Government. This provides grants towards the cost of specially adapted vehicles for disabled people. My Department will contribute £19.996 million this year towards the cost of adaptations and administration costs.
Motability: Fraud
(2) how many people used the Motability scheme in each year since 1997.
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: Motability is an independent charitable company and is responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme.
The information in the following table has been provided by Motability.
Number of customers using the scheme Allegations of fraud or misuse recorded and investigated Contracts cancelled as a result of fraud or misuse 1997 341,222 Not available Not available 1998 359,289 Not available Not available 1999 378,036 4,032 378 2000 388,761 2,107 253 2001 396,580 3,652 260 2002 398,744 3,728 249 2003 391,356 3,236 266 2004 391,548 2,896 140 2005 414,082 3,716 36 2006 438,290 2,704 197 2007 463,812 3,665 549 2008 (forecast) 490,000 3,750 550 Notes: 1. Consistent and reliable records of the numbers of cases of possible fraud or misuse being recorded and investigated, and of the resulting numbers of customer contracts cancelled, are only available from 1999 onwards, after Motability established a centralised team to handle such matters in 1998. 2. The fall in the number of contracts cancelled as a result of misuse between 2003 and 2005 resulted from an increase in the standard mileage allowance in 2003 (hence fewer customer contracts being cancelled for unpaid excess mileage bills) and from an improved approach to “fair wear and tear” standards, especially for damage associated with mobility aids (fewer contracts being cancelled for cars falling outside of the condition standards). 3. The increase in customer contracts being cancelled since 2005 has resulted from a stronger focus on appropriate sanctions for customers using cars in any criminal activity or using cars outside of the insurance rules (e.g. allowing uninsured drivers).
Pathways to Work
At the end of April 2007, 94,230 individuals were recorded as having participated in Pathways to Work and subsequently entering work. This number relates to job entries from both mandatory and voluntary customers. The historical cost per job in Pathways to Work is around £2,500.
Planned spending is £300 million in 2008-09, £390 million in 2009-10 and £400 million in 2010-11. Figures provided, particularly for 2009-10 and 2010-11, are indicative allocations based on current assumptions and are subject to change.
We do not formally forecast Pathways jobs, which depend on a range of factors including macroeconomic conditions and other policy changes.
Pension Credit
Latest estimates of the take-up rates, the number of pensioners who were entitled to but not claiming pension credit and the amount of pension credit unclaimed in Great Britain were published in the “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2006-07” report. A copy of this report is available in the Library.
The information requested is in the following table.
November Household recipients Individual beneficiaries 2007 5,100 6,450 2006 5,090 6,490 2005 5,060 6,410 2004 4,900 6,180 2003 3,910 4,850 Notes: 1. The number of households in receipt are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 3. Individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data
Pensioners: Council Tax
The information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Pensions: Councillors
As elected officials rather than employees of a local authority, councillors will not fall within the definition of worker that underpins the definition of jobholder. Councillors will therefore be beyond the scope of the forthcoming workplace pension reform.
Post Office Card Account
Yes, they are.
Remploy
31 employees have lost their contracts at Wirral Unilever. All employees will be offered help and support to find alternative employment through Remploy's Employment Services. Information about the outcomes of the employees is in the table.
Number of workers Outcome 25 Applied for Voluntary Redundancy. Will have support from Remploy Employment Services in finding alternative employment if they wish to. 1 On Annual Leave (it is believed the employee wants to take Voluntary Redundancy) 1 Transferred to a position with Remploy Employment Services 1 Returning to Remploy Birkenhead factory 3 Supported by Employment Services to find alternative employment. Will conduct intensive job searching activity over the next three months. Source: Remploy.
Schools
The Department for Work and Pensions has not distributed any materials to schools during the last three years.
The DWP primarily delivers benefits and services to citizens of working age and of state pension age. While we do have early school leavers of 16 and 17 years who may be eligible for social security benefits, these individuals approach the Department direct.
Sick Pay
The penalties which can be imposed on an employer for refusing or repeatedly refusing to pay statutory sick pay are up to a maximum of £3,000. The maximum weekly amount of statutory sick pay payable is £75.40; the maximum period for which this amount is payable is 28 weeks leading to a total maximum payment of just over £2,100. The level of penalties is therefore reasonable and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has no plans to revise them.
HMRC staff now refer to penalties in correspondence and phone calls relating to disputes where appropriate. Early indications are this prompts employers to respond to requests for information.
This Department and HMRC are jointly developing plans to co-ordinate better HMRC enforcement activities to encourage employer compliance with statutory sick pay processes.
Information on the average time it takes employers to pay statutory sick pay is not available.
Employers are responsible for the payment and administration of statutory sick pay. They are required to pay their employee statutory sick pay at the same time as they would have paid wages for the same period. Employers are advised that delays in paying statutory sick pay may cause their employee financial difficulty.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has operational responsibility for statutory sick pay, carries out regular compliance checks.
This Department and HMRC work together to improve the service offered to both employees and employers across all aspects of statutory sick pay, including the disputes process.
The payment and administration of statutory sick pay are the responsibility of employers. There is no provision in statutory sick pay legislation for compensation to be paid by an employer to an employee for late payments. Any compensation for non-payment within a specific timescale is therefore a matter between the employer and their employee.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) handles disputes between employers and employees in relation to entitlement to statutory sick pay and may in some exceptional circumstances take on responsibility for paying Statutory Sick Pay in the case of defaulting employers or where employers are insolvent.
Where there is an unreasonable delay in a payment by HMRC of statutory sick pay, an ex gratia payment may be considered under the provisions of the HMRC complaints policy. There is no automatic right to such payments.
Sight Impaired: Disability Living Allowance
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance may be paid to people who are unable or virtually unable to walk. At the end of February 2008 there were 1,723,150 people in receipt of the higher rate mobility component, 4,640 of whose main disabling condition is recorded as blindness.
If the entitlement conditions for the higher rate mobility component were amended to include all partially and severely sight impaired people we could expect the numbers in receipt of that component to increase by just over 60,000 to around 1,783,250. Most of those who would be newly entitled to the higher rate would be people who receive the lower rate mobility component at the moment.
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The available information is in the following table.
Cases in payment: February 2008 Wakefield metropolitan district council 420 Hemsworth parliamentary constituency 110 Great Britain 64,730 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. Where the claimant is eligible for both care and mobility components, the disabling condition associated with the mobility component is shown here. Where more than one disability is present only the main disabling condition is recorded. 4. A diagnosed medical condition does not mean that someone is automatically entitled to DLA. Entitlement is dependent on an assessment of how much help someone needs with personal care and/or mobility because of their disability. These statistics are only collected for administrative purposes/ 5. Partial and severe sight impairment cannot be separated individually. 6. These figures are published at www.nomisweb.com. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Social Fund: Finance
The available information broken down by Jobcentre Plus budget area is in the tables.
2006-071 2007-081 East of England Essex £14,923,029 £13,412,523 Norwich Benefit Delivery Centre £28,069,475 £25,753,252 East Midlands East Midlands North £19,342,193 £18,277,376 South East Midlands £22,621,886 £20,739,261 London Central and East London £25,269,947 £21,708,685 London South £38,383,269 £32,853,209 North and North East London £22,857,023 £21,206,623 West London £15,709,849 £13,354,462 North East Northumbria £16,929,699 £15,815,463 South Tyneside and Wear Valley £16,925,575 £17,125,954 Tees Valley £14,440,674 £13,813,267 North West Chorlton Benefit Delivery Centre £66,904,699 £62,929,808 Greater Liverpool and Cheshire £47,375,823 £42,824,560 Scotland Inverness Benefit Delivery Centre £25,681,880 £23,338,906 Springburn Benefit Delivery Centre £59,164,971 £55,274,217 South East Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey £15,231,730 £15,426,221 Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent and Sussex £38,335,562 £38,065,260 South West South West Central £37,929,724 £33,884,729 Wales Llanelli Benefit Delivery Centre £11,439,723 £11,672,162 South East Wales £30,522,165 £27,304,760 West Midlands West Midlands Social Fund £66,336,387 £59,234,565 Yorkshire and Humberside Bradford £18,025,465 £16,285,137 Sheffield £47,579,252 £41,699,600 1 Loans budgets for Jobcentre Plus districts (now budget areas) are therefore given only for the final reallocation or in year allocation in the 2006/07 and 2007/08 financial years. These figures do not include some end of year adjustments to ensure no budgets were overspent. These adjustments were made possible because of underspends elsewhere.
£ East of England Essex 2,347,144 Norwich Benefit Delivery Centre 6,083,490 East Midlands East Midlands North 3,690,502 South East Midlands 5,027,738 London Central and East London 7,177,466 London South 8,985,071 North and North East London 4,314,406 West London 3,660,504 North East Northumbria 2,627,314 South Tyneside and Wear Valley 2,622,220 Tees Valley 2,456,473 North West Chorlton Benefit Delivery Centre 12,402,721 Greater Liverpool and Cheshire 8,141,316 Scotland Inverness Benefit Delivery Centre 5,743,635 Springburn Benefit Delivery Centre 15,605,303 South East Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey 2,630,592 Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent and Sussex 5,865,720 South West South West Central 8,060,436 Wales Llanelli Benefit Delivery Centre 2,555,656 South East Wales 5,616,541 West Midlands West Midlands Social Fund 13,207,411 Yorkshire and Humberside Bradford 3,200,914 Sheffield 8,977,427 Notes: 1. There are not separate budgets for crisis loans and budgeting loans, but rather a combined loans budget for both. The loans budget is managed centrally and re-allocations are made to Jobcentre Plus budget areas quarterly and towards the end of the year. Funds are taken from some of those budget areas with a projected end of year underspend and given to other budget areas. 2. To provide comparable data, budgets are presented on the basis of the current budget area structure. In recent years, there have been many changes to the boundaries of Jobcentre Plus districts, which have led to adjustment of the budgets for the districts involved. In some cases, a district has been split and the parts merged with other districts. For the districts involved in such a situation it is not possible to give comparable budgets from April 2003. The last split took place in August 2006. 3. Community Care Grants for 2006-07 were set before the boundary change in August 2006 involving a split district, and so are not given here. Community Care Grants budgets are not reallocated during the year. However, some allocations were made from the Contingency Reserve in 2007-08. These have not been included. The budgets for 2008-09 are the same as for 2007-08. Source: Departmental records of budgets.
Social Security Benefits: National Insurance Contributions
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: The requested information is not available.
Social Security Benefits: Pensioners
The information is not available in the form requested.
South East
Information on expenditure in the South East region is published annually in the DWP departmental report, while expenditure on housing and council tax benefits is published at a local authority level on the Department’s website. The remainder of the requested information could be made available only at disproportionate cost.
Stress
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work. A stress management framework, based on the Health and Safety Executive’s management standards, is available to all employees and gives easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
In addition, DWP has an employee assistance programme, which is designed to offer individual staff and managers a confidential advice and support service on a wide range of issues, including work related stress. This service is available to all employees any time of day or night.
Taxis
The Department's expenditure on taxis in the last financial year (2007-08) was £2,024,431. This figure includes expenditure on minicab/taxi firms and black cabs. Details of the separate payments made by the Department and its agencies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Written Questions: Government Responses
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1180W.
Leader of the House
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
No disciplinary action has been taken against any staff in the Leader's Office in the last 12 months.
Departmental Overtime
(2) what the cost of overtime payments paid to staff in her Office was in each of the last 12 months, broken down by pay grade.
The number of hours and cost of overtime payment paid to staff in the office of the Leader of the House of Commons, broken down by pay grade, is given as follows:
Month Grade Hours worked £ October 2007 C 13 174.63 B1 40 662.89 B2 46 521.01 November 2007 C 266 3,450.61 B1 93 1,883.89 B2 101 1,030.77 A (Grade 7) 61 915.00 December 2007 C 296 3,794.37 B (Faststream) 68 803.94 B1 88 1,888.34 B2 80 629.70 A (Grade 7) 40 603.75 January 2008 C 177 2,265.59 B1 57 1,430.18 A (Grade 7) 20 300.00 February 2008 C 244 3,109.15 B (Faststream) 68 806.91 B1 104 2,164.97 B2 42 633.46 A (Grade 7) 42 630.00 March 2008 C 201 2,573.64 B (Faststream) 58 678.87 B1 68 1,413.42 B2 47 318.60 A (Grade 7) 39 581.25 Notes: No claims for overtime were made during August 2007 and September 2007. Figures for the months of April 2008, May 2008 and June 2008 are not unavailable at this time as they have not yet been audited.
Taxis
The Leader of the House of Commons' Office has spent £3,233.69 on taxis in the last financial year (2007-08).
Electoral Commission Committee
5th Avenue Partners
The Electoral Commission informs me that the position remains as stated in the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 16 May 2007, Official Report, column 748W.
Departmental Buildings
The Electoral Commission informs me that the landlord of its London offices is a public sector body.
Fines
The Electoral Commission informs me that it imposed no fines from 2001 to 2006, in line with its policy of encouraging political parties to develop the necessary procedures and expertise to comply with their legal obligations under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
In January 2007 the Commission put parties on notice that penalties would increasingly be imposed where there was the power to do so. Since then, 154 fines were imposed in 2007 and a further 94 in the period 1 January to 30 September 2008.
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
The Electoral Commission informs me that in July 2008 it published a paper titled “Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom: the Government's proposals—The Electoral Commission's response”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. In that document the Commission reiterated its view that the introduction of a wider range of civil sanctions should complement rather than replace the existing criminal penalties regime in respect of offences under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA).
The Commission further informs me that it strongly supports the detailed proposals for civil sanctions which have since been set out in the Political Parties and Elections Bill. The Commission believes that the proposed regime will enable the Commission to regulate in a proportionate way in accordance with the Hampton principles of good regulatory practice.
Political Parties: Finance
The Electoral Commission informs me that no letters of reprimand were issued to regulated donees for late reporting between 2001 and 2007. During this period, the Commission focused on providing guidance and advice. The Commission began to issue letters of reprimand to regulated donees in February 2008 and has issued 150 such letters for late reporting of donations up to 30 September 2008.
The Electoral Commission informs me that in July 2005 the then Director of Regulatory Services ordered the destruction of hard copy records on the grounds that there was no current or future business need for them and they did not hold any historical value for the National Archives.
Schedule 7 to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requires all regulated donees to report all donations to the Commission within 30 days of accepting them if the value of the donation is above certain thresholds. The Electoral Commission informs me that between 2001 and 2007, the Commission's primary focus was on encouraging registered parties and regulated donees to comply with their statutory requirements. During that period, no record was kept of whether donations to regulated donees were reported late or on time.
The Commission now considers that parties and regulated donees have had sufficient time to acclimatise to the obligations placed upon them by the regulatory framework. Since 1 January 2008 all cases of late reporting have been identified and details have been published on the Commission's website.
The Electoral Commission informs me that in July 2005 the then Director of Regulatory Services ordered the destruction of certain hard copy records on the grounds that there was no current or future business need for them and they did not hold any historical value for the National Archives.
The paper files destroyed comprised: by-election expenses, party campaign expenditure, policy development grants records, donation returns for all candidates and parties during the years 2001 to 2003, and statements of accounts for all parties and accounting units for the years 2001-02.
The Commission further informs me that it does not hold information as to the exact number of documents destroyed or how many were original regulated donee forms. All information in these documents which the Commission is required to publish on its registers was retained and is available on its website at:
www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not proposed that a compliance grant be provided for political parties. The Commission informs me that whilst parties may have to bear some costs, these are expected to be modest and offset by the benefits as indicated in the consultation paper. The Commission will publish guidance and provide training for all parties in time for the preparation of the 2009 statements of accounts.
The Electoral Commission informs me that under section 43 and schedule 5 of PPERA, registered parties and accounting units are required to have their accounts audited if:
their income or expenditure in any financial year exceeds £250,000, or
their income or expenditure is lower than this but the Commission directs that their accounts should be audited.
Where a party or accounting unit does not carry out such an audit within the statutory time limits, the Electoral Commission may appoint an auditor and may recover the auditor’s expenses including remuneration.
The Electoral Commission further informs me that it is currently developing an audit strategy which will include audits by the Commission of the accounts of registered parties and local accounting units whose income or expenditure in a financial year is lower than £250,000 where a risk assessment indicates that this is appropriate. The Commission is not proposing to recoup the costs of such audits.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it is not yet in a position to estimate the length of the guidance manual. The Commission will develop the guidance in discussion with party treasurers to ensure that it is as comprehensive and user-friendly as possible.
The Electoral Commission informs me that the Ministry of Justice played no role in the preparation of the consultation paper ‘Standardising Statements of Accounts for Parties and Accounting Units’.
The Electoral Commission informs me that the position remains as stated in the answer I gave the hon. Member for Leeds, North-East (Mr. Hamilton) on 27 March 2008, Official Report, column 349W.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it will confirm the nature of any proposed new regulations, and the associated timetable for the publication of draft regulations and guidance, in the light of the public consultation which ended on 3 October 2008. If the Commission decides to proceed with the proposals set out in the consultation paper, it proposes to consult on the draft regulations and guidance with registered political parties and other stakeholders in November.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not quantified the estimated costs to political parties, but that it has set out its assumptions on the level of the costs and benefits in the draft impact assessment contained within the consultation paper ‘Standardising Statements of Accounts for Parties and Accounting Units’. A copy of the Commission’s consultation paper has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
The Commission has invited views on the draft impact assessment as part of its consultation, and will review any comments it receives and reflect any changes in the final impact assessment.
The Commission informs me that it estimates the set-up costs to public funds of implementing the proposals at approximately £90,000 and that it has allocated funds from its existing budget to cover these costs. The Commission does not expect implementation of the proposals to result in any significant additional ongoing cost to public funds.
The Electoral Commission informs me that its consultation paper proposes that accounting units in receipt of transfers from the central party should show these in their statements of accounts as income (paragraph 4.9), and that gifts including gifts of services should be reported as income (paragraph 4.7). The Commission will consider the responses to these and its other proposals when considering the way forward.
A copy of the Commission’s consultation paper, ‘Standardising Statements of Accounts for Parties and Accounting Units’ has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it is committed to imposing the minimum necessary administrative burden on regulated bodies, in accordance with the principles of good regulation. The Commission’s consultation paper included a draft impact assessment and invited views on its analysis. The Commission informs me that it will publish a final impact assessment after considering the consultation responses. The final assessment will include consideration of the issues covered by the Small Firms Impact Test where appropriate.
A copy of the Commission’s consultation paper, ‘Standardising Statements of Accounts for Parties and Accounting Units’ has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Powers
The Electoral Commission informs me that use of its powers is subject to judicial review.
Representation of the People Act 1983
The Electoral Commission informs me that it publishes guidance for candidates and agents in advance of each election, including guidance on matters falling within schedule 4A of the Representation of the People Act 1983. These guidance documents are not formal codes of practice of the kind described in paragraph 14 of Schedule 4A.
Copies of the guidance published for candidates and agents in the 2008 English local government and Greater London Authority elections have been placed in the Library of the House.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Air Travel
The figures requested, which are expressed in kilometres, are shown in the following tables.
Km Short haul 3,624,659.72 Long haul 279,077 Total 3,903,736.72
Km Domestic 3,207,504 Short haul 97,462.96 Long haul 258,625.57 Total 3,563,592.53 1 For 2007-08 an additional category for domestic flights was added.
Official travel for the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies is arranged in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code and departmental travel policy. Staff do not benefit in monetary terms or kind from the savings of travelling in a cheaper class.
Departmental Buildings
Details of the offices newly occupied and refurbished in the last 24 months by my Department are as follows:
Square metres Lisburn Chambers, Linenhall Street, Lisburn, County Antrim 2,493 Linum Chambers, Bedford Square, Bedford Street, Belfast 2,802 Ballymena Chambers, Parkway, Ballymena, County Antrim 2,494 Omagh Chambers, 2 Townhall Square, Omagh, County Tyrone 2,265 Foyle Chambers, 35 Limavady Road, Londonderry, County Londonderry 2,364
No agency properties were newly occupied and refurbished in the last 24 months.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
The details of the five most serious breaches cannot be released because to do so might identify the individuals concerned.
The disciplinary offences the Department has dealt with in the past 12 months fall into three broad categories: fraud, email abuse and bad time-keeping.
The Northern Ireland Office takes any breach of discipline seriously and within the last 12 months five civil servants have been dismissed for serious disciplinary offences. When the circumstances of a disciplinary offence have not merited dismissal, individuals have been issued with a written warning. A written warning has a two-year life span during which the individual concerned has restrictions placed on them which include:
not being considered for promotion;
not being considered for temporary promotion opportunities that may arise;
considered not to have satisfactory service if a departmental reference is requested.
The Civil Service Code and the Northern Ireland Office staff handbooks set out the standards of behaviour expected of all staff employed in the Department.
Departmental Information
In the last 12 months, no data have been sold by the Northern Ireland Office or its agencies under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations.
Departmental Official Residences
Where, for business reasons, staff are required by the Department to work away from their appointed office and commuting is not practical they are provided with accommodation. The total is as follows: London 18, Belfast four, Dundonald one, Holywood one and Helens Bay three. The standard provision is a flat but there are three houses in Northern Ireland. The properties are occupied by staff at all grades.
Departmental Procurement
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) would be able to provide the information requested only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Relations
The Northern Ireland Office and its agencies have made no payments to any of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework during the last 36 months.
Departmental Surveillance
Figures on public authority use of covert techniques controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) are published annually by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner who each have particular inspection and oversight responsibilities under RIPA. The latest reports were laid before Parliament and copies placed in the House Library on 22 July.
The figures provided in the reports are not broken down by individual public authority use of specific covert technique as, depending on the particular technique and authority using it, this could either reveal sensitivities or be misleading. The question of further disclosure for any particular public authority is a matter for the relevant Commissioner.
EU Law
This Government are firmly committed to the importance of the EU in delivering on 21st century challenges. The EU is of central importance to the work of HM Government across all Departments. It is relevant to a wide range of policy areas, and to the work of many Government officials. As such, the specific information requested is not held centrally, and to provide it would involve disproportionate costs.
Fish
The Northern Ireland Office does not keep a record of the amount of expenditure on fish, the species purchased or whether it met the Marine Stewardship Council standard. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Government Communications
The Northern Ireland Office and its agencies have a total of 14 staff classified as Government communicators. Of these staff, 11 have access to the Government Communications Network.
Olympic Games 2012
No members of staff in the Northern Ireland Office are working on policy relating to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics games.
Royal Ulster Constabulary: Reserve Forces
The Royal Ulster Constabulary Part Time Reserve is already recognised by:
(i) the award of a long service medal after 15 years service;
(ii) payment of an Northern Ireland allowance (on a pro rata basis); and
(iii) a stakeholder pension scheme (since 2001).
Royal Ulster Constabulary: Special Branch
The Chief Constable has provided the following figures for the number of officers leaving Intelligence Branch:
Retired Transferred to other police forces 2007 47 0 2008 23 0
Stress
The Northern Ireland Office is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has in place policies on the prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
The office also runs regular events to promote health and well-being.
Taxis
(a) During 2007-08, the Northern Ireland Office's (NIO) expenditure on invoiced taxi fares was £42,455. Taxi fares were also claimed by employees as reimbursable expenses but these costs can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
(b) The invoiced expenditure on taxi fares for the NIO's agencies during 2007-08 are shown in the following table:
Agency Amount (£)t Northern Ireland Prison Service 1,433 Forensic Science Northern Ireland 1,796 Youth Justice Agency 25,589 Compensation Agency 1,167 Total 29,985
Further taxi fares were claimed by employees as reimbursable expenses but these costs can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Duchy of Lancaster
Civil Service: Codes of Practice
Information on complaints received within Departments is not collected centrally.
The Civil Service Commissioners report on the number of appeals they have handled each year in their annual report. Copies of the Commissioners' annual reports for the period 1997-98 to 2007-08 are available in the Library and can also be obtained online at
www.civilservicecommissioners.org.
Departmental Databases
The Cabinet Office makes no direct use of MOSAIC or ACORN data.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
(2) what the five most serious disciplinary breaches in the Prime Minister's Office were in the last 12 months; and what steps were taken in response to each breach.
There have been four cases where disciplinary charges have been proven in the Cabinet Office, which includes the Prime Minister's Office, within the last 12 months. To protect the privacy of individuals, and in accordance with statistical conventions, details have not been provided.
Where charges of misconduct have been proven, Cabinet Office employees are penalised in line with the Cabinet Office disciplinary policy. Penalties for serious or gross misconduct might include one or more of the following:
Formal written warning;
Downgrading;
Withdrawal or withholding of pay award and/or bonus awards;
Ban on promotion;
Loss of security clearance;
Removal from post attracting additional pay or allowances;
Suspension with no pay;
Dismissal.
If a breach has occurred because of management failure or a weakness in policies or practice, a review is carried out and appropriate remedial action taken.
Departmental Retirement
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) on 25 October 2008, Official Report, column 488W.
Employment: Lincolnshire
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 6 October 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many (a) part-time and (b) full-time jobs there were in (i) Cleethorpes constituency, (ii) North East Lincolnshire and (iii) North Lincolnshire in each year since 1997. (222784)
The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS). This is the preferred source for estimates at the detailed level requested although the estimates refer to the number of people in employment rather than the number of jobs.
The attached table provides estimates of the number of people aged 16 and over, in full and part-time employment, resident in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.
Thousand Cleethorpes2 North East Lincolnshire3 North Lincolnshire3 Full time Part time Total Full time Part time Total Full time Part time Total February 19984 28 10 38 47 18 65 53 20 73 February 19994 25 11 37 44 18 62 52 19 71 February 20004 29 10 39 49 16 65 51 18 69 February 20014 33 13 45 51 20 70 53 18 71 February 20024 32 11 43 52 19 71 53 18 72 February 20034 32 12 43 51 20 72 53 19 72 February 20044 29 12 41 55 21 77 53 19 72 March 20055 29 12 42 49 21 70 55 20 75 March 20065 30 12 42 50 19 70 54 21 75 March 20075 28 12 41 52 21 73 54 22 76 1 Includes those full-time and part-time on New Deal. 2 1995 parliamentary constituency boundary to February 2004,2005 parliamentary constituency boundary revision thereafter. 3 Local Authority District. 4 Based on annual Labour Force Survey (LFS). 5 Based on Annual Population Survey (APS). Notes: 1. As these estimates are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. 2. Due to rounding the totals may not sum. 3. Figures are based on the most recent population estimates published in 2007. Source: ONS Annual Population Survey and annual Labour Force Survey
EU Law
Staff in the European and Global Issues Secretariat work to co-ordinate the collective agreement of the Government's international economic and European policy. This includes negotiation, implementation and administration of EU legislation and consequent policies. At 31 March 2008 the Secretariat had 31 staff working in this context.
Local Government Finance
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 6 October 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question about what assumptions about (a) local authority house-building rates and (b) the rate of net migration have been made in individual local authority projections for (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne of 12 June 2008, Official Report, column 498W, on local government finance. [222642]
The subnational population projections are based on observed demographic trends. They provide the population levels and structure that would result if the recent trends in fertility, mortality and migration levels continue. No specific account is taken of house-building except as it may have already contributed to past population growth which feeds into the population projections.
The projections used in current local government finance settlements are the 2004-based revised sub-national population projections. On this basis, the net-migration estimates for 2008 and 2009 (but not 2010) are available on the ONS website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/2004_BasedProj_Revised/18_Migration summaries_LAs.xls.
In June this year ONS published 2006-based projections, and the net-migration estimates for 2010 are available from this set of projections. However, these estimates were not available at the time of the local government finance settlements.
Ministerial Policy Advisers: By-elections
The rules relating to the involvement of special advisers and other civil servants in political activities are set out in the Civil Service Management Code and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. The rules do not provide for special advisers or other civil servants to be seconded to a political party to work on a by-election campaign.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister: Pensions
The pension arrangements for special advisers are set out in the ‘Model Contract for Special Advisers’.
International Development
Afghanistan: Overseas Aid
In the next 12 months the Department for International Development (DFID) expects private sector investors to commit approximately US $250,000 to the Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility for its first year of operation.
There are very few multinational companies operating in Afghanistan and the private sector remains small and underdeveloped. This investment will be a significant contribution in a challenging business environment where corporate social responsibility is an unfamiliar concept.
Africa: Education
(2) pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2008, Official Report, columns 1167-8W, on Africa: females, what steps his Department is taking to support access to education of girls and women in Africa in 2008-09.
The Department for International Development's (DFID) work in the education sector in Africa is guided by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which call for the achievement of universal primary education and for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. We plan to spend some £214 million bilaterally on education in Africa this year (2008-09). In addition, DFID provides core funding to a range of multilateral organisations who work to develop education in Africa. A large proportion of our bilateral support is routed through national budgets, notably in Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya and Rwanda. This is in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness which calls for 50 per cent. of bilateral assistance to be channelled through country systems by means of long-term general budget or sector support. There is a particular emphasis throughout our education sector programmes on increasing school attendance, and a key part of this is getting more girls into school.
During the visit of President Sarkozy earlier this year, we agreed to work jointly with France to help get 16 million more children into school in Africa by 2010. We have also committed £150 million to the Education for All Fast Track Initiative for 2006-8 to help countries speed up the implementation of their education plans. The Fast Track Initiative is supporting education work in 18 Africa countries.
There is still a long way to go to achieve these MDGs in Africa, but there has been some worthwhile progress. Free primary education has brought millions of children into school: in Zambia and Tanzania, over 97 per cent. of children are now enrolled, with equal number of girls. In Lesotho, Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi gender parity rates have reached 98 per cent. or more. In Ethiopia, our support helped one million more children to enter school in 2006. In Malawi, providing better toilet facilities in schools and support to teenage mothers has improved school attendance by girls.
Our current work in the education sector across Africa is set out in the following table.
Project Title Country Commitment (£000) Supporting improved delivery of Education Burundi 6,000 Secondary School Access for Returning Refugees 1,020 Primary Education, North Sankuru (Catholic Relief Services) Democratic Republic of Congo 400 Access to Primary Education 10,410 Education Innovatory Fund Ethiopia 300 Pooled Operation Fund 995 Protection of Basic Services Secretariat 250 General Education quality improvement programme 150 Basic Education Support for Poverty Reduction The Gambia 3,500 Support to Education Strategic Plan Ghana 100,000 Support to Education Strategic Plan 5,000 Support to Kenya Education Sector Support Programme Kenya 50,000 Support to Kenya Education Sector Development Programme 5,000 Malawi Poverty reduction Budget Support 2007-08 Malawi 22,000 Infrastructure Support 7,800 Education Sector Wide Approach Technical Assistance 750 Education Sector Support II Mozambique 45,000 Education Sector Support 1,000 Niger: Support to Girls Education Niger 7,105 Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria Nigeria 105,910 Joint Education Sector Support Programme Rwanda 13,000 10th Anniversary of Genocide - support to education 961 Capacity Building Technical Assistance for Joint Education Sector Support 300 Support to Teacher Census Sierra Leone 750 Sierra Leone 10 year Education plan 15 Save the Children (UK): Education, Hiran Somali Democratic Rep 1,408 UNESCO / UNICEF Agreement 6,000 Africa Education Trust: Formal Assessment and Certification on Somalia and Somaliland Project 1,000 UNICEF Emergency Education 2008 320 Scholarship Programme for Sudanese Students Sudan 410 Training Scheme Phase II 1,400 Reflect Literacy Programme (GOAL) 421 UNICEF Southern Sudan Go-to-School 1,777 UNICEF Education Project Abyei 2,000 Research on Poverty Alleviation Tanzania 900 Support to Hakielmu (NGO) 1,100 Education Sector Technical Assistance Support 180 Zambia Education Sector Wide Approach Zambia 19,000 Education Expertise SADC1 300 Mapping of Higher Education 240 Association of African Universities: Revitalising Education Africa Regional 3,500 Association for Development of Education in Africa: Books Working Group 220 Financing for Development 100 African Virtual University Board Participation 25 1 SADC: Southern Africa Development Coordination Committee
By the end of 2007, the Government of South Sudan and UNICEF’s ‘Go To School’ campaign produced an increase in school enrolment to 1.3 million children up from 850,000 when the campaign began two and a half years ago. The Government of South Sudan and UNICEF aim to increase this figure to 1.6 million enrolled by the end of 2008, 1.9 million by the end of 2009, and 2.5 million by 2012.
In March 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) donated £1.2 million to purchase school materials in support of this important initiative.
Africa: EU Water Initiative
Improved co-ordination is a key aim of the EU Water Initiative Africa Working Group. The Group is an integral part of the EU Water Initiative’s Multi-Stakeholder Forum. The composition of the Group also encourages co-ordination, through its rotating membership.
EU member states, the EC and other donors, such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank, participate in Africa Working Group key activities. Meetings are generally programmed as an integral part of major events, such as the recent World Water Week in Stockholm. The membership of the Africa Working Group management “Troika” rotates on a yearly basis between EU member states. This arrangement promotes a wide range of active involvement in the Group. For example, the UK co-Chairs the Group this year with the African Ministers Council for Water representative from Congo-Brazzaville and next year Austria will co-Chair with a South African representative. Country governments are involved in the Africa Working Group activities. For example, Ethiopia is a leader in the Group’s country dialogue process which develops a strategic planning and financing framework for the water sector. Civil society, such as the Women for Water Partnership and the African Water Network, participate in regular events such as Africa Working Group meetings and the Multi-Stakeholder Forum.
Co-ordination will also be improved through the new communications strategy which we have funded through our support to the Africa Working Group “Troika”. This strategy takes a comprehensive longer-term look at the Group’s requirement.
Africa: Overseas Aid
The African Community Access Programme (AFCAP) has a total Department for International Development (DFID) budget of £7.5 million over five years. The Programme Management contract was awarded to Crown Agents through competitive tender with a financial limit of £1.222 million over the first three years. The Programme formally began only in June 2008 and no disbursements have yet been made. The Management’s initial task of identifying transport research projects in six African countries has recently begun; once these have been designed in collaboration with participating governments, invitations to tender for their implementation will be issued, and specific project costs will become available.
Africa: Regional Trade Facilitation Programme
The Regional Trade Facilitation Programme (RTFP) has been working at promoting trade through harmonisation of regional trade policy and trade facilitation. Through the RTFP there has been an increase of at least 1,278.4 metric tonnes between 2005 and 2007 on tea, coffee and nuts.
These can be broken down as follows:
Metric Tonnes Tea 600 Coffee 280 Mixed Nuts (including organic) 398.4
Africa: Rice
This year the Department for International Development (DFID) will be making a grant of £500,000 for core funding to the African Rice Centre. It will not be earmarked. Depending upon the allocation of this grant by the centre to its different programmes some of this may be used to support the New Rice for Africa project. The percentage of the centre's overall expenditure of US$ 10,518,272 for 2007 spent on administrative costs was 24.7 per cent.
Africa: Trade
Outside Southern Africa, the Department for International Development’s (DFID) work to facilitate cross-border trade is focused in East Africa (the East African Community (EAC)—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi). DFID is preparing a major new regional programme to facilitate trade by EAC member states. It will focus on expanding intra-regional trade through reducing the costs of trading across borders by supporting one stop border posts, customs reforms and the development of revenue sharing arrangements between countries.
DFID has already been helping the Government of Uganda to implement its EAC commitments and has supported the East African Business Council to undertake a study of the EAC Customs Union implementation. This highlights the major reforms necessary to reduce the barriers to trade across East Africa. As a result of this work, a notable success is the 24 hour opening of Mombassa port to allow for more efficient processing of containers.
Climate Change: Natural Disasters
The Department for International Development’s (DFID) 2006 White Paper stated that disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a crucial part of climate change adaptation. DFID’s climate change implementation strategy incorporates DRR and recognises the need to draw on existing mechanisms to reduce risk when designing new programmes to adapt to climate change. The Bali Action Plan, which the UK signed up to last December, emphasises this when it refers to the importance of using
“disaster reduction strategies to address loss and damage associated with climate change”.
DFID is developing an integrated DRR and adaptation mainstreaming programme to be rolled out across the Department over the next year. We are also developing joint risk and vulnerability assessments, beginning in five countries in South Asia, to provide staff with the tools and skills needed to assess climate and disaster risk when designing development programmes.
DFID has also commissioned a review to assess how DRR and adaptation programming could be better aligned to identify mechanisms for joint funding and programming; and to make recommendations for addressing remaining gaps in the system. This work is in progress, but initial recommendations include: supporting more visible engagement of the DRR community in climate negotiations; promoting stronger convergence of the DRR and adaptation teams within DFID and multilateral agencies; and supporting the generation of integrated knowledge and guidance, including by documenting success stories of where integration has worked.
Climate Change: Non-governmental Organisations
The Department for International Development (DFID) is working to ensure that adequate scientific information on climate change is available to all stakeholders working with vulnerable communities, including non-governmental organisations. Work we are currently supporting in this area includes:
The Climate Change Adaptation for Africa initiative (£24 million);
The Climate Information for Development Programme (ClimDev Africa);
Designing climate change adaptation programmes for the Latin American/Caribbean and Asian regions (up to £50 million);
A Chinese climate change adaptation programme, specifically aimed at improving science and information on climate change (£3 million from DFID and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); and
DFID is also working to establish an international climate change centre or network to help address developing countries’ knowledge and capacity gaps on climate change, as announced by the Secretary of State for International Development, at the Foreign Policy Centre on 6 February 2008.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Humanitarian Aid
Numerous field missions have come to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the past year: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) donor Support Group, Pooled Fund Evaluation, Central Emergency Revolving Fund evaluation (CERF), and internal field missions undertaken by the in-country humanitarian team. Recommendations emanating from these missions include:
The need to strengthen the role of the Humanitarian Coordinator;
Better needs and gap identification;
Improved coordination between UN agencies and NGOs;
Donors to provide flexible, timely and unearmarked funding.
The Department for International Development (DFID) is at the forefront of humanitarian reform internationally and within DRC. In DRC, this has translated into the establishment of a common Humanitarian Pooled Fund in 2006 ($120 million from eight donors in 2008) to provide the Humanitarian Coordinator with funds to target critical needs; support for the design of the yearly DRC Humanitarian Action Plan that better defines need and strategic priorities and is more measurable; and support for the Cluster Lead Agency coordination system that brings NGOs and UN agencies together to determine priorities and strategy under a common framework. Although work remains to improve the humanitarian response, all above elements, with DFID support, are improving the timeliness, effectiveness and quality of humanitarian assistance provided in the DRC.
Departmental Air Travel
Since the Government Carbon Offset Fund was established, the Department for International Development's (DFID) air mileage incurred through departmental travel was as follows:
2006-07 2007-08 Short haul 5,964,021 6,320,553 Long haul 72,475,244 67,851,587 Domestic 1— 3,932,618 1 Domestic was not separately identified in 2006-07.
Departmental Appeals
Neither the Department for International Development nor the Treasury Solicitor keep central records and we have not been able to identify any cases to which the Secretary of State applied for leave to appeal to the House of Lords and was refused. We cannot, therefore, say whether there were any such cases and, if so, how many.
Departmental Buildings
The Department for International Development (DFID) is fully committed to the targets set out for sustainable operations on the Government estate. These include targets for carbon emissions from buildings and energy efficiency. It is not possible to directly compare their energy efficiency with five or 10 years ago, as we have both moved and expanded our offices over this period, and occupancy levels have increased as we have improved the effectiveness of the use of our estate, including closing our third office.
We are continuing to work towards the Government's long-term sustainable operations 2010 and 2020 targets, and will look to build on measures already taken such as changes to operational arrangements, more energy efficient equipment, and behavioural changes.
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not provide free or discounted room hire for other organisations. We have no agencies which have property.
The information requested is as follows:
Country office Place Classification Completed Total floor area DFID Pakistan Islamabad New build and refurbishment May 2006 1,192 DFID Ethiopia Addis Ababa New build September 2006 1,354 DFID Sudan Khartoum New build and refurbishment November 2007 679 DFID Afghanistan Kabul New build August 2006 725 DFID Uganda Kampala New build December 2007 1,340 DFID Nigeria Kano Refurbishment October 2006 153 DFID Nigeria Abuja Refurbishment July 2008 1,532 DFID Indonesia Jakarta Refurbishment July 2008 186.19
Departmental Conferences
(2) if he will list the conferences hosted by his Department in each of the last two years; and what the cost was of each conference.
This information is not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs to answer.
Departmental Databases
The Department for International Department (DFID) and its agencies do not make direct use of MOSAIC or ACORN data.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
The five most serious disciplinary breaches in the Department for International Development (DFID) in the last 12 months, and the response to each, are set out in the following table.
Each case was handled following DFID's Disciplinary Procedures. These procedures can be accessed by all staff through Peoplesight, which provides online guidance for staff on human resources policies and procedures as part of our intranet site.
Disciplinary breach Outcome Gross misconduct Dismissal Fraud Dismissal Fraud Dismissal Fraud Dismissal Misconduct Written warning
Departmental Information
Core information produced by the Department for International Development (DFID) can be reused free of charge under the terms of the Public Sector Information (PSI) Click-Use Licence which is administered by the Office of Public Sector Information in accordance with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.
DFID and its agencies have sold no data under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations in the last 12 months.
Departmental Manpower
The Department for International Development (DFID) operates a market based internal posting system and sometimes has people between posts for short periods. Currently there are no permanent members of staff classed as surplus or part of a people action team.
Departmental Official Hospitality
The Department for International Development's (DFID) total spend on entertainment within administration cost budgets for 2007-08 was £271,587. Projected expenditure for entertainment for 2008-09 is £253,007.
These figures include costs for working breakfasts and lunches, refreshments at meetings and official entertainment.
It is not possible to breakdown our costs to provide amounts spent in the UK only, without incurring a disproportionate cost.
All expenditure has been made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety.
Departmental Official Residences
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not provide residential accommodation for any staff in the United Kingdom.
Accommodation is provided for all staff posted overseas, irrespective of grade. Information is not retained centrally about the location of these properties, but as at the end of June the number of UK-based staff working overseas was 391.
Departmental Pay
We are unable to provide this information on the grounds of disproportionate cost.
All reimbursable expenses are made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Departmental Procurement
It is not possible to disaggregate information on organisations from our creditors’ index without incurring a disproportionate cost. The names of companies that have major contracts with us are published on the Department for International Development (DFID) website:
www.dfid.gov.uk
The addresses of these companies are available from Companies House:
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Expected underspends in individual annual country budgets are re-allocated to other programmes within the same financial year. If this is not possible, the underspends contribute to the Department’s End of Year Flexibility entitlement.
The following table shows underspends and overspends against budget for country programmes for the financial years 2003-04 to 2007-08.
£000 (Over)/under spend 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Africa East and Central Africa Ethiopia (10,395) (6,746) 1,682 2,969 443 Tanzania (2,319) (6,052) 801 636 819 Sudan 9,345 859 (11,535) (304) (12,151) Democratic Republic of the Congo 8,843 (8,458) 2,708 (15,803) 2,679 Uganda 8,507 2,046 3,263 1,816 8,076 AED Other (11,713) (9,820) (17,614) 12,552 391 Kenya 999 (2,151) (14,019) (10,615) 5,332 Somalia — — — — 3,779 Rwanda 6,866 1,397 (22,128) 858 (6,061) Burundi — — (2,362) 179 4,571 Total 10,133 (28,925) (59,204) (7,712) 7,878 West and Southern Africa Nigeria (2,876) (193) (10,852) (1,227) 18,029 Ghana (1,022) (4,945) (15,287) 1,913 (16,549) Malawi 3,893 (8,059) (6,014) 2,117 3,247 Mozambique (2,608) (2,618) (1,437) (9,331) 3,273 Sierra Leone (2,160) (5,239) 6,207 (4,799) (12,219) Zambia (664) 1,755 (6,928) 729 1,910 Zimbabwe 852 3,783 2,164 940 (1,223) Southern Africa Regional (inc Lesotho, Angola) (7,637) (1,453) 7,216 1,753 13,329 South Africa — — (9,543) 612 (5,707) Liberia — — — — 2,105 Lesotho 189 — — — — Total (12,033) (16,969) (34,474) (7,293) 6,195 Pan-Africa Strategy and Programmes Africa-ATP — (2,644) — — — Africa Regional Budget 8,000 10,756 29,342 10,778 15,102 Humanitarian Assistance 1,185 14,488 3 4,198 (837) Other (3,245) — — — 2,247 Africa Policy Fund (7,014) (10,816) 682 (8,147) 2,943 Total (1,074) 11,784 30,027 6,829 19,455 Africa total (2,974) (34,110) (63,651) (8,176) 33,528 South Asia India (17,425) (7,751) (1,938) 1,245 3,814 Bangladesh 7,700 (2,962) 1,427 584 (14,808) Afghanistan 3,396 (9,142) 3,494 3,442 (1,697) Pakistan (2,221) 31,656 4,149 1,631 7,695 Nepal (1,778) 1,650 (1,535) 2,029 (10,989) Asia Regional Policy and Programmes (14,552) 1,544 9,275 14,674 (3,875) Sri Lanka — — — (2,323) 980 Asia Reserve (inc Post Tsunami Rehab) — 15,000 — — — South Asia total (24,880) 29,995 14,872 21,282 (18,880) Europe, Middle East Americas, Central and East Asia Europe/Central Asia EU Accession/Pre Accession Countries (756) (459) (169) — — Central Asia, South Caucasus, Moldova (1,769) (1,958) 1,486 1,396 2,062 Balkans 803 2,522 (1,449) (26) 687 ECAD Regional 2,500 — — — (83) Ukraine 255 1,222 (474) (704) 73 Russia (2,498) 923 (71) 14 125 Total (1,465) 2,250 (677) 680 2,864 Americas/Overseas Territories Latin America (529) (2,597) (465) 336 234 Caribbean 1,254 603 (451) 4,230 (574) Overseas Territories (341) 137 (1,535) (3,241) (2,049) Latin America -ATP — — — — 14 Total 384 (1,857) (2,451) 1,325 (2,375) Middle East/North Africa Yemen 1,575 1,131 164 (438) (3) Palestinian Authority 4,132 (856) (5,157) 39 (18,002) Middle East Regional 787 (260) (158) (59) (34) UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (4,646) 202 15 — — Iraq (4,656) (3,296) (1,174) 2,084 1,319 Total (2,808) (3,079) (6,310) 1,626 (16,720) EMAD Regional Programmes Research/Consultancy/EMAP Regional 22 (89) 107 (7,291) 8,175 EBRD subscription (Capital) (778) 331 174 — — Other (25,990) 6,000 — — — Total (26,746) 6,242 281 (7,291) 8,175 South East Asia China 4,348 (7,465) 564 (3,416) 24 Vietnam — — (330) 500 (341) South East Asia (3,938) 2,864 4,497 9,982 (2,468) Total 410 (4,601) 4,731 7,066 (2,785) Total Europe, Middle East, Americas, Central and East Asia (30,225) (1,045) (4,426) 3,406 (10,841) Total—country/regional programmes (58,079) (5,160) (53,205) 16,512 3,807
Departmental Public Relations
The information is as follows:
(a) The Department for International Development (DFID) has issued two contracts using the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months:
1. In financial year 2005-06, DFID used Weber Shandwick Worldwide to provide support and deliver public relations support (in the UK and Asia, specifically India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal) to the Asia 2015 conference at a cost of £173,547.71 + VAT. The Asia 2015 conference, held in London on 6-7 March 2006 brought together key decision-makers from Asia and across the world to learn from Asia’s success, and to identify future challenges and solutions.
2. In financial year 2007-08, DFID used Munro and Forster Communications Ltd. to develop and deliver public relations support for its caring consumer campaign at a cost of £84,961.59 +VAT.
(b) DFID does not have agencies.
Departmental Responsibilities
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a working definition of ‘think tank’. DFID provides funding to a number of organisations which may be involved in relevant activities, such as policy analysis and research. For example, DFID has a Programme Partnership Agreement with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) for £3.4 million over 2008-11.
DFID also works with a number of other organisations, in the UK and in partner countries, involved in similar work but collation of a full list of relevant projects would incur disproportionate cost.
DFID provides funding to UK charitable civil society organisations (CSOs) in four ways:
Programme Partnership Agreements provide long-term, predictable funding to UK CSOs working in development;
Humanitarian assistance is provided to CSOs to provide relief in emergency situations;
The Civil Society Challenge Fund is open to CSOs working in development to bid for project specific funding of up to £500,000. Details on individual projects are available online at www.dfid.gov.uk;
Country programmes and central DFID departments may provide funding to, or procure the services of, CSOs working in developing countries to carry out development activities.
Summary figures on DFID funding to UK CSOs are provided in the following table. More detailed data, by organisation, is available in the DFID publications ‘Statistics on International Development 2007’ and ‘Statistics on International Development 2008’. These publications are available online at
www.dfid.gov.uk.
£000 Type of funding 2006-07 2007-08 Programme Partnership Agreements 89,141 89,695 Humanitarian assistance 85,423 80,412 Civil Society Challenge Fund 13,539 14,688 Country programme and other DFID 86,207 131,860 Total 274,309 316,655
Departmental Retirement
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a mandatory retirement age. It continues to observe the national default retirement age of 65.
With the implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations in October 2006, we introduced the Right to Request to Work Beyond Age 65 procedure. No requests have been denied under this procedure.
Since 2000, eight staff have retired at age 65 or above through personal choice.
Developing Countries: Natural Disasters
The UK believes that the most effective early warning systems are those which are owned by national governments and involve vulnerable communities, rather than focusing only on developing high-tech equipment. Examples of Department for International Development (DFID) support include:
£1.5 million to the United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) to support an Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System (IOTWS).
£2.15 million to an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) disaster risk reduction programme which involved a component on early warning systems.
£7.5 million to Bangladesh (since 2004) to improve its early warning systems through a Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme. This programme, among other things, has established a Disaster Management Information Centre which in the coming period is expected to develop one nation-wide community early warning system, and implement training and simulation exercises with key technical and operational partners.
Developing Countries: Water
The Department for International Development (DFID) co-ordinates the four-year EU-funded project European Union Water Initiative European Research Area Network, EUWI ERANET and is working with its 15 European partners to:
1. Collate and synthesise information on European funded research programmes in developing countries. This aims to support collaboration between existing initiatives and projects.
2. Review research management practice, and develop guidance on good research management. This aims to improve the effectiveness of future programmes and activities.
3. Identify thematic priorities as a basis to develop future activities, jointly agreed and funded by the European partners. Planning work for future activities is currently being carried out.
Disabled
The Department for International Development (DFID) is responsible for undertaking a wide variety of reviews and evaluations of the work that we support throughout the developing world. This includes, for example, project reviews, country programme reviews and evaluations of DFID’s partnerships, such as with United Nations agencies.
DFID’s Evaluation Department is currently managing a stocktake of DFID’s Social Exclusion policy, which will look into (among other things) how disability is addressed throughout our programmes, including through reviews and evaluations. We are also currently developing a cross-DFID policy on evaluation which will set principles, norms and standards for evaluations and reviews. There will be a public consultation on the draft policy document at the end of this year. In this context, we would welcome public views on how to tackle complex issues such as addressing the inclusion of disabled people on a more systematic basis in our reviews and evaluations.
Economic and Monetary Union
The Department for International Development's (DFID) Euro Programme Initiation Document (PID) is dated May 2005. The most recent review was in May 2007. A copy will be placed in the Library.
EDF Energy
The Department for International Development (DFID) has had three contracts with EDF for the supply of electricity. The payments made on those contracts are as follows:
Financial year London HQ 1 Palace Street London Annexe 20 Victoria Street East Kilbride HQ Abercrombie House Total 2001-02 127,453 14,558 0 142,011 2002-03 74,105 21,520 0 95,625 2003-04 45,409 12,048 0 57,457 2004-05 217,271 20,658 0 237,929 2005-06 307,611 24,215 68,372 333,605 2006-07 391,139 28,309 201,732 621,180 2007-08 377,362 0 195,728 573,090 2008 (year to date) 123,665 0 70,390 194,055
Environment Protection: Overseas Aid
The bulk of the £24 million—£19 million—is the UK's contribution to implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements under the EU's Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. These agreements will support improved forest governance in timber producing countries and implement a licensing scheme to ensure that their timber trade with the EU is legal. £12 million is for West and Central African countries and £7 million for Asian countries. Funds will go to both Government agencies and civil society organisations in these countries with allocation in each varying according to their specific programmes. The remaining £5 million is for international supporting actions, including policy research and support to civil society (approximately £1.326 million allocated to date), involvement of the private sector (£901,000 allocated to date), work with major non-EU timber importing countries (£233,000 allocated to date), and general programme coordination (£558,000 allocated to date). Further information is available on the Department for International Development website at:
www.dfid.gov.uk/mdg/forest-govern-trade2.asp
Grants to date for the private sector work have totalled approximately £901,000. These have included a grant to the UK Timber Trade Federation to work with its own members and with sister associations in the UK and other countries to adopt policies and practices that favour trade in legal and sustainable timber; support to WWF's Global Forest Trade Network to link businesses working to produce legal and sustainable timber in China and Ghana; and support for implementation of the UK's public timber procurement policy.
Grants and contracts for policy research, communications and advocacy work have totalled approximately £1.326 million to date. This has included meetings and research conducted by Chatham House; development of briefing notes to explain the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan; support for production of short films and booklets about the problem of illegal logging and solutions to it; support for a civil society network between countries negotiating voluntary partnership agreements with the EU; and contribution to the European Forestry Institute to support the European Commission in negotiating and implementing voluntary partnership agreements.
Grants for work with major timber importing countries have totalled £233,000 to date. This has included support to the GLOBE Dialogue on Illegal logging associated with Japan's G8 Summit and initiation of work with India. It has also included government-to-government dialogue with the United States, Japan, China and other EU member states.
Commitments to date on programme coordination has totalled approximately £558,000. This has included fees for a programme facilitator, and annual independent programme monitoring.
Ethiopia: Overseas Aid
UK Aid to Ethiopia was: £90.5 million in 2006-07 and £139.5 million in 2007-08 and is budgeted to be £140 million in 2008-09. These allocations have been made in recognition of the needs of the large poor population and the Government of Ethiopia’s commitment to poverty reduction, strong financial management capacity and programmes to improve capacity. The UK Government have been able to establish a strong development partnership that is delivering real impact in terms of better service delivery and poverty reduction.
UK Aid to Eritrea was £3.49 million in 2006-07 and £3.37 million in 2007-08 and is budgeted to be £2.1 million in 2008-09. UK Government assistance is limited to a humanitarian programme, which is channelled through international relief agencies. The UK Government do not have a development programme in Eritrea because it has not been possible to establish a development partnership with the Eritrean Government.
EU Law
The Department for International Development (DFID) has a core Department of 20 staff working exclusively on European Union (EU) aid policy and implementation. This includes two posts in the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the EU (in Brussels). In addition, a variety of other departments in DFID deal with specific issues to which EU policy is relevant, including: trade, migration, aid effectiveness, climate change and preparation of the EU-Africa strategy. None of these other departments, however, are exclusively EU focused.
Global Cluster Appeal
An independent evaluation of the cluster approach was carried out in 2007. The review found that
“Most evident were improvements made in filling gaps and extending capacity. Predictability of leadership was also considerably enhanced by lead agencies accepting responsibility for the totality of their sectors.”
The Department for International Development (DFID) continues to work with the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sir John Holmes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and lead agencies at both policy and operational levels to ensure cluster leadership responsibilities are a core function of their organisation.
Government Communications
Communication is integral to the Department for International Development's (DFID) mission. We do not keep central records of all staff working on communications across the Department and this information could not be gathered without incurring disproportionate costs. DFID does not have any agencies.
All staff who work in a communication role can access the Government Communication Network (GCN) and the resources that it provides.
Horn of Africa: Food Aid
Analysis made by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA), drawing on a range of assessments made by UN agencies and NGOs, suggests that at least 17 million people are currently in urgent need of food and other humanitarian assistance. This is a result of conflict, forced displacement, starvation and disease, poor agro-climatic conditions and high food and fuel prices. This analysis is supported by Department for International Development (DFID) humanitarian experts who have visited some of the worst affected areas in the Horn in the past two months.
Prospects for 2009 depend on the harvests and condition of pasture lands, and these in turn depend on the rains. In south east Ethiopia and Somalia the level of insecurity is an important determinant of the level of humanitarian needs.
Humanitarian Aid
With increasing humanitarian needs and the requirement for a stronger global system, the Department for International Development (DFID) works with multilateral agencies to enhance their effectiveness in providing humanitarian support and response. Core funding arrangements, which are linked to additional performance, are currently in place with the: International Organisation for Migration (IOM), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Office for the Co-ordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Food Programme (WFP), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). Total funding for these agencies for 2008-09 is £39 million.
Indian Ocean Tsunami
During the period 2006-07, as part of our post-tsunami reconstruction, the Department for International Development (DFID) provided £2 million bilateral funds, supporting work on local economic governance and improving the management of recovery and reconstruction.
£1.5 million was allocated for the North East Provincial Council to empower communities and improve service delivery in the North East by strengthening local government capacity.
£0.5 million was allocated to the Asia Foundation to improve the overall business environment, contributing to improved welfare and political stability in multi-ethnic and tsunami-affected areas of the country.
DFID's bilateral development programme in Sri Lanka has now closed and our funding (£1.5 million per year) is now focussed through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCCP) working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to support peace building activities in Sri Lanka.
Iraq: Reconstruction
The information requested is as follows:
Project description Amount (£) Refurbishment of electricity transmission and distribution networks and of water treatment plants and pumping stations. 20.0 million Provision of emergency infrastructure support and employment generation in Basra, Al Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Maysan. 16.5 million Construction of three 25m water towers and three 8000 cubic meter water reservoirs. 10.0 million Refurbishment of a pumping station to boost the oil pressure that feeds three power stations in southern/central Iraq. 9.2 million Refurbishment of 48 public buildings across Southern Iraq, including hospitals, universities and governorate offices. 7.7 million Provision of six new blades for two damaged turbines at Khor Az Zubayr power station in southern Iraq. 4.0 million Repair of one of the 90m chimneys at Al-Hartha power station, north of Basra. 1.6 million Refurbishment of a reverse osmosis water purification unit and replacement or repair of two water filter membranes. 650,000 Construction of a training centre to train water technicians to repair and maintain southern Iraq's water infrastructure. 334,000 Replacement of 15 water pumps and refurbishment of 7 pumps at Al-Hartha pumping station. 315,000
To ensure the security of infrastructure projects, DFID has engaged the government of Iraq or local communities as appropriate. The majority of projects have been situated within existing government of Iraq facilities and DFID has therefore agreed security arrangements with the relevant government ministry. In other cases, because of the benefit projects will bring to the local community, tribal leaders have agreed to ensure the security of sites.
Lebanon: Land Mines
In immediate response to the conflict in the Lebanon in 2006 the UK Government provided funds of over £3 million to clear mines, cluster munitions and other remnants of conflict in south Lebanon by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and Mines Action Group (MAG). Our commitment continues, with around £1 million committed to fund the work of UNMAS and MAG in south Lebanon over the next two years.
Maldives: Overseas Aid
In 2005-06 Department for International Development (DFID) bilateral overseas development assistance (ODA) to the Maldives was £1 million. In 2005-06 the UK also provided £5.5 million to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Tsunami Recovery Programme. This included £5 million through the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The funds have supported four of UNDP’s five tsunami projects; shelter, livelihoods, disaster risk management and aid co-ordination.
Since 2005-06 DFID has not provided any bilateral overseas development assistance to the Maldives. However, DFID continues to provide support to the Maldives through its contribution to the European Community (EC). The amount of EC Aid provided by DFID to the Maldives in 2005 was £131,529, £915,020 in 2006, and £620,902 in 2007. There are no data available yet for 2008.
Overseas Aid
The Department for International Development (DFID) supports UNDP with core funding (£190 million in 2004-07), as well as supporting specific initiatives, such as the UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), and our country programme work. For example, this year DFID gave £200,000 to a UNDP trust fund that supported Kofi Annan’s role in helping resolve the post-election crisis in Kenya. It is not yet possible to provide figures for financial year 2008-09 or an administration cost breakdown. UNDP’s administration costs vary according to the programme and context, but the amount in many agreements is between 7 and 11 per cent.
DFID has procedures for routinely assessing aid programmes and has adapted the normal framework for its Country Programme Evaluations to take account of the specific requirements for aid effectiveness in fragile states, following the OECD-DAC Principles for Good International Engagement in fragile states.
A table listing the 163 programmes supported by £13.5 million from the Civil Society Challenge Fund (CSCF) during 2006-07 will be placed in the Library.
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not track administrative costs for each individual CSCF programme. During 2006-07, DFID's administrative cost for consultancy support to the CSCF as a whole was £227,518.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has joint funding schemes with four Research Councils. We estimate that spend on these programmes this financial year will be as shown in the following table.
Programme £ million Medical Research Council 5.4 Joint Natural Environment Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council Eco Systems Programme 0.5 Economic and Social Research Council 3 Biology and Biological Sciences Research Council 1.7
The DFID cost of administering these schemes is estimated at 2 to 3 per cent.
Pakistan: Overseas Aid
The Department for International Development (DFID) is planning to spend approximately £35.6 million on national health programmes in Pakistan between April 2008 and March 2009. This will be distributed in a variety of ways, including:
(i) £15 million to the Ministry of Health for implementation of the national health facility (NHF). This supports seven priority national health programmes:
HIV/AIDs, TB and Malaria control, Nutrition, Immunization, access to basic health care and family planning from female health workers, and a Population and Welfare programme.
(ii) £10.7 million to the Ministry of Health's Maternal and New Born Health (MNH) programme.
(iii) Approximately £1.6 million for research, advocacy, monitoring and capacity building support in managing the NHF and MNH programmes.
(iv) £3.3 million support to National and Provincial HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes (provided through a World Bank Trust Fund)
(v) £5 million to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF to support the national polio eradication programme.
The Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting priority national health and population welfare programmes in Pakistan through the National Health Facility. These are: Lady Health Workers, Population Welfare, Immunisation, Nutrition, TB, Malaria and HIV/AIDS.
DFID’s financial contribution between financial years 2005-06 and 2007-08 totalled £52.5 million. This funding was disbursed to all seven programmes. It has helped achieve the following health outcomes in Pakistan for the period 2002-07:
The TB Programme has reached a target of 87 per cent. of cases successfully treated, three years ahead of schedule; case detection rates have also increased sharply, to 69 per cent. in 2007 and are also likely to reach the 2010 target (70 per cent.) ahead of schedule. (Source: National TB Control Programme Management Information System, 2007)
23 per cent. increase in children fully immunised by the Expanded Programme of Immunization. (sources: Pakistan Survey Living Standards Measurement 2006-07; Pakistan Integrated Household Survey 2001-02).
450,000 more cases of malaria confirmed and treated (Source: Malaria Control Programme Management Information System, 2007).
In 2008-09 DFID is planning to continue providing support to all but one (the Faisalabad Area Upgrade Programme) of the 10 programmes referred to in our answer of 18 June 2008, Official Report, columns 1041-42W.
The current 2008-09 forecast for our 10 largest programmes is as follows (note this is subject to change, and it is difficult for us to provide a full breakdown by calendar year):
Amount General Budget Support 20,000,000 Pakistan Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation 19,500,000 National Health Facility 15,000,000 Strengthening Education in Pakistan 11,800,000 Maternal and Newborn Health 700,000 Financial Inclusion Programme 10,000,000 Polio Programme 5,000,000 HIV/AIDS Programme 3,000,000 Humanitarian Assistance to Flood Victims and Internally Displaced People 3,000,000 Devolved Social Services Programme Financial Support 2,500,000
The Earthquake Rehabilitation programme is currently scheduled to end in April 2010 and is subject to approval. Other projects supporting pro-poor growth, social protection and the elections are also scheduled for completion, though we will follow up with further diagnostic work.
The Pakistan Financial Inclusion Programme (FIP), designed by the State Bank of Pakistan and the Department for International Development (DFID), has a joint Steering Committee which makes all key strategic decisions.
The purpose of the FIP is to ensure that more poor people benefit from the provision of financial services in Pakistan. It aims to increase the number of microfinance users from 1.4 million to 3.0 million by 2010 and to 5.0 million by 2012. It will improve the regulatory framework for private financial service provision, strengthen public private partnerships, and ensure the effective use of technology in ways that will help benefit excluded groups. It will also help mobilise up to £50 million from the private financial sector to help improve access to finance, including in rural areas.
Remittances Task Force
The UK Remittances Task Force was set up in 2006, with support from the Department for International Development (DFID), to pursue the Key Findings and Recommendations of the UK Remittances Working Group. Originally set at 12 months, our support to the Task Force has been extended already as a response to the need for further work to fully achieve its objectives. DFID’s financial support to the Task Force is £23,600 from March to December 2008. DFID also provides advice to the Task Force and regularly dialogues with its Steering Committee. We will continue to review this support on an ongoing, needs assessed basis.
Estimates suggest that remittances from the UK are upwards of £2.7 billion, with the largest flows going to Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Jamaica and Ghana. DFID recognises the positive impact that these money transfers can make on people’s lives in developing countries, and has an active agenda to improve the developmental impact of remittances, seeking to help make remittances cheaper, safer and more accessible. When responding to a DFID funded survey in the UK, almost a third of remittance senders said that their money would be used to buy food, a fifth said it would help with medical bills and one in six reported that the funds would help pay for schooling. 80 per cent. of those surveyed said the money would make a real difference to the lives of their relatives back home.
Sierra Leone: Females
In preparation for the local elections in July 2008 the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) carried out a mapping exercise of female candidates to guide the development of focused support programmes. These aimed to motivate and enhance their skills in areas that included; developing their own manifestos and agendas; advocacy/lobbying; overcoming intimidation from males; and public speaking.
The GoSL also worked closely with non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI), 50-50 Women’s Group and the National Accountability Group (NAG) to develop and carry out specific training focused on the empowerment of female candidates. Some of these NGOs are being funded by DFID under an umbrella programme Promoting Voice and Transparency around elections (PIVOT).
The results of the council elections show a 100 per cent. increase in the number of successful female councillors, from 9 per cent. to 18.9 per cent.
Sierra Leone: Human Rights
The Department for International Development understands that a review of the study prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will be undertaken by the UN co-ordinated gender focus group. This forum was established to monitor the implementation of the Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. A date is yet to have been agreed.
Sierra Leone: Water
The principal partner for this nationwide programme is the Government of Sierra Leone—primarily the Ministries of Energy and Power, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development at the national level and the district councils at the local level. We are also working with UNICEF and non-governmental organisations which include PLAN, Oxfam, and Goal.
Stress
The Department for International Development is committed to the well-being of its employees and has a number of procedures in place to help reduce stress at work. A stress management framework, part of our Better Balance initiative, is available through a dedicated website on the Department's intranet. It gives all employees easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
Better Balance brings together the “toolkit” for dealing with all aspects of managing pressure at work, stress and work/life balance. Some examples of assistance include:
UK-based staff can access the Heath and Wellbeing Team who can provide individual counselling and coaching services to staff to support them in managing pressure and stress at work;
All staff working overseas have access to a 24/7 counselling service;
Debriefing and counselling arrangements are available for staff working in hostile environments;
Better Balance workshops on managing work/life balance under pressure and which can be tailored to specific teams;
An interactive health and emotional well-being website, provided by the counselling services and written by medically qualified professionals, that gives advice on all aspects of physical and emotional well-being;
Leadership Impact reports for senior managers, helping them to understand the likely impact of their leadership style on the levels of engagement, well-being and performance in their workgroup;
Access to Occupational Health Services.
Taxis
It is not possible to disaggregate costs in respect of taxis across all offices of the Department for International Development (DFID) without incurring a disproportionate cost. The figure available for UK based staff costs in relation to taxis, for financial year 2007-08, was £195,483.
Thailand: Refugees
The UK Government is aware of recent reports of forced returns of Karen refugees from Thailand to Burma. The British embassy and Department for International Development officials in Bangkok frequently raise refugee welfare issues with the Royal Thai Government, most recently in August 2008.
In 2008-09 DFID is providing £1 million to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium for its work supporting Burmese refugees in Thailand and internally displaced people inside Burma. This is a 30 per cent. increase on our 2007-08 contribution. In addition, DFID will provide £550,000 for assistance to internally displaced people through community-based organisations inside Burma, an increase of £150,000 over 2007-08. This aid will reach over 100,000 displaced people, mostly in Karen communities, living near Burma's border with Thailand.
The UK Government condemns the continuing human rights abuse inflicted by the Burmese regime on its people, including ethnic groups such as the Karen. A political settlement acceptable to the ethnic nationalities is key to a durable solution to Burma's problems. The UK Government frequently brings reports of human rights abuse to the attention of the international community, the United Nations and the Human Rights Council.
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The information is as follows.
(a) Inclusive development assistance
The Department for International Development (DFID) is aware of the importance of international cooperation as stated in Article 32 of the UN Convention. We understand the need to find ways to promote the inclusion of disabled people into mainstream development as well as looking for ways to build the capacity of representative organisations of disabled people. Our Civil Society Challenge Fund identifies disability as a cross-cutting issue so all applications need to demonstrate how they are engaging with disabled people. The latest round of applications saw a record number of projects with disability as the main focus (22 out of 145) which indicates that more international organisations are becoming aware of the need to promote the rights of disabled people.
We are supporting several initiatives aimed at increasing the capacity of disabled people's organisations. We have a Programme Partnership Agreement (PPA) with UK- based Action on Disability and Development which is working directly with disabled people's organisations (DPOs) in eight countries across Africa and Asia. Recently we also committed to providing substantial support to a new Disability Rights Fund (DRF) set up to empower DPOs to participate effectively in the implementation and monitoring mechanisms set out in the UN Convention. This is one of the first foundations to support organisations run by disabled people in the developing world.
As suggested by Article 32 DFID is also looking at ways to increase the amount of disability related research. We are currently funding the Southern Africa Federation of Disabled People Research Project (SRP) which is an innovative project designed and run by disabled people in the region. This project is helping local DPOs to research issues linked to disability and poverty and is already starting to produce evidence of the kinds of barriers disabled people face when trying to access basic services.
(b) Inclusion of disabled people in programme reviews and evaluations
All major country and thematic reviews are now quality assured to ensure they will address the exclusion of different groups. This includes disability as well as for example, gender and people affected by HIV and AIDS. Currently we are developing a new strategy for evaluation which will include reference to disability. The strategy will be available for public consultation.
UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs
The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £0.5 million over three years (2006 to 2008) to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to support its efforts to strengthen UN humanitarian leadership at country level. OCHA has established a team at headquarters dedicated to humanitarian coordinator (HC) strengthening through delivering training and guidance to humanitarian coordinators in the field; expanding the number of experienced humanitarian coordinators available for deployment, including through improved leadership development; and enhancing the knowledge and skills of humanitarian coordinators through knowledge sharing and best practice.
Western Sahara: Politics and Government
The Department for International Development (DFID) supports Sahrawi refugees through its share of the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office’s (ECHO) budget, and contributions to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). ECHO plans to provide €10 million in 2008 to support Western Saharan refugees of which the UK share is approximately €1.7 million. In 2007, the UK contributed $56 million to UNHCR for its work with refugees across the world, including from Western Sahara. DFID’s funding to UNHCR in 2008-09 is shortly to be agreed.
Zimbabwe: Overseas Aid
The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe is expected to worsen further this year as inflation, economic decline and hunger increase. The Department for International Development (DFID) has already made a contribution of £9 million in this financial year to the World Food Programme (WFP) for food aid and will consider making a further contribution if required. We also plan to spend £10 million this year through the Protracted Relief Programme. This complements emergency food aid by supporting livelihoods and helping to prevent families from falling into destitution.
Other DFID programmes provide support to Zimbabwean migrants, orphans, essential health care including maternal and infant mortality reduction, and to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS. All DFID programmes in Zimbabwe have been designed to react rapidly to deepening humanitarian needs.