| Home Page |
Column 795
Written Answers to Questions
Friday 14 July 1995
DEFENCE
Computer Suppliers
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to his Department and its agencies in the last five years, indicating the total value of the contracts received. [34550]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
European Procurement Collaboration
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy concerning European procurement collaborations. [34543]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The UK actively pursues defence equipment collaboration with our European allies when collaboration offers value for money and satisfies our military requirements.
Advisers
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his special adviser has previous connections with defence
companies. [34542]
Mr. Portillo: My special adviser, Alison Broom, has been a public affairs consultant during two phases of her career. Between 1 September 1993 and 20 July 1994 one of her clients was Rolls-Royce plc.
Dr. Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Mr. David Hart will remain as his independent adviser; and if he will make a statement. [34541]
Column 796
BMARC
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the applications for export licences for military equipment made by BMARC since 1985 which were examined by his Department in conjunction with the export control office. [30524]
Mr. Nelson: I have been asked to reply.
As a matter of course, my Department circulates all export licence applications dealt with under the military list to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to the Ministry of Defence.
BMARC made the following export licence applications from 1985 to 1990. All were dealt with under the military list.
|Number
-----------------------------------------
1985 |144
1986 |128
1987 |171
1988 BMARC |126
1988 Astra Defence Systems |3
1989 BMARC |50
1989 Astra Defence Systems |43
1990 Astra Defence Systems |172
1985-90 Total |837
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Legal Aid
Mr. Byers: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will state for each year the gross Crown court legal aid expenditure by each regional legal aid board for the last five years. [32901]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The information cannot be provided in the form requested because Crown court legal aid expenditure is administered by the Court Service, not by the legal aid board. The table shows gross Crown court legal aid expenditure by administrative circuit for each of the last five years.
Column 795
£ million
|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Midland and Oxford |21.479 |23.475 |28.615 |32.700 |40.285
North Eastern |15.041 |18.859 |20.642 |23.476 |24.672
Northern |19.017 |24.208 |29.335 |29.619 |34.341
South Eastern |77.114 |90.670 |108.805|113.528|113.421
Wales and Chester |7.682 |10.199 |11.237 |14.395 |19.383
Western |14.513 |16.770 |19.124 |19.311 |24.989
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to his Department and its agencies in the last five years, indicating the total value of the contracts received. [34558]
Column 796
Mr. John M. Taylor: The chief executives of the Land Registry and the Public Record Office will respond on behalf of their agencies, which are separate Departments.
For my Department, including the Court Service and Public Trust Office agencies, the information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided for all five years only at disproportionate cost.
Column 797
On the best information available, a list of the top 10 suppliers, and the value of computer equipment provided, is attached for the last financial year.Supplier |Value £ ---------------------------------------------- Siemens Nixdorf Ltd. |3,514,310 Bull Information Systems |1,144,777 HMSO |824,902 Digital Equipment Co Ltd. |664,111 Computacenter |305,325 Mitech Europe Ltd. |69,222 Digital Computer Services |58,138 Action Computer Supplies |57,342 Hewlett Packard Ltd. |44,200 Cray Communications Ltd. |33,086
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 14 July 1995:
Parliamentary Question--Suppliers of Computer Equipment
I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department to reply to your recent question about the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment, and the total value of the contracts received, in each of the last five years.
The Annex enclosed lists the top 10 suppliers and the total cost of computer equipment supplied during the five year period. Data for 1990/1 and 1991/92 is not held in a form which would enable full information to be provided for those years without disproportionate cost. However the largest supplier during those years has been shown, together with the annual cost of equipment. This relates to mainframe purchases to support the land registration application processing system, a major government computing installation.
I do hope that this answers the points raised with the Parliamentary Secretary, but please contact me if I can be of further assistance.
Top 10 suppliers of computer equipment (hardware) for each of the last five years
1990-91<1> 1991-92<1> 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBM |5,931,638 |IBM |6,676,212 |ICL Nokia Data |1,211,825 |ICL Nokia Data |1,029,705 |IBM |1,693,623
| | | |IBM |734,354 |IBM |503,939 |ICL Nokia Data |1,454,286
| | | |Pragma Ltd. |186,142 |Storagetek |195,050 |Memorex Telex |540,411
| | | |Dell Computer Corporation. |41,925 |Dell Computer Corporation. |51,219 |Storagetek |321,950
| | | |Dynatech Communications Ltd |31,175 |Dynatech Communications Ltd. |49,080 |Dell Computer Corporation. |189,474
| | | |Fivemere Ltd. |25,053 |Pragma |31,278 |Intergraph |142,367
| | | | | |Specialist Computer Centres |20,774 |Computacentre |107,274
| | | |Computacenter |6,056 |Computacenter |19,648 |Specialist Computer Centres |86,329
| | | |Technology Plc |2,795 |Technology Plc |17,220 |Fivemere |24,851
| | | |Intergraph (UK) Ltd. |1,175 |Intergraph (UK) Ltd. |13,867 |Dynatech Communications Ltd. |2,375
<1>(See Letter)
Letter from Dr. Elizabeth Hallam Smith to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 14 July 1995:
Parliamentary Question: Suppliers of Computer Equipment In the absence of the Chief Executive, who is on leave, I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply to your question about the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to the Public Record Office and the total value of the contracts. The top 10 suppliers of computer equipment in the last five years were:
1. Logica UK
2. Bull Information Systems Ltd.
3. Dell Computer Corporation Ltd.
4. Optichrome Computer Systems Ltd.
5. Computer World
6. Equanet Ltd.
7. Technology plc
8. HMSO
9. Syntax Integration Ltd.
10. Simmons MaGee
The total value of the contracts in the last 5 years was £2,374, 100.
Column 798
PRIME MINISTER
Deputy Prime Minister
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister what precedents he relied on for the creation of a Deputy Prime Minister; which of the previous Deputy Prime Ministers were Minsters without departmental portfolio; how many of these chaired Cabinet committees; and what committees were involved. [34204]
The Prime Minister: The following are precedents for a Minister acting as Deputy Prime Minister:
Name |Period in office ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The right hon. Clement Attlee (also Secretary for the Dominions 1942-43; |19 February 1942 Lord President of the Council 1943-45) |to 23 May 1945 The right hon. R. A. Butler (also First Secretary of State and Minister in charge |13 July 1962 to of The Central African Office) |18 October 1963 The right hon. (Viscount) William Whitelaw (also Home Secretary 1979-83; Lord President of the Council and Leader of |4 May 1979 to the House of Lords 1983-88) |to 10 January 1988 The right hon. Sir Geoffrey Howe (also Lord President of The Council and Leader |24 July 1989 to of the House of Commons) |1 November 1990
As I have previously stated, it is not the practice to release the details of Cabinet committees of previous Administrations.
Conservative Party Leadership Campaign
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister what was the cost to public funds of entertainment or travel expenses incurred in his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party. [34203]
The Prime Minister: Any additional costs to the public purse were de minimis and in accordance with long-standing practice; no charge will be levied.
World Wide Web
Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the work his Department has carried out in the last 12 months in making information about his Department available to the public via the Government world wide web server known as "www.open.gov.uk" and his plans and policies to make additional and new information available electronically on the server in the next 12 months. [34683]
The Prime Minister: I refer to the hon. Member to the reply given today by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Ministerial Salaries
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Prime Minister what annual salary the Prime Minister is currently (a) entitled to and (b) drawing. [34003]
The Prime Minister: I refer to the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, North (Mr. McNamara) on 9 June 1995, Official Report, column 345.
List of Ministerial Responsibilities"
Mrs. Ann Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister which Government Minister will be responsible for publishing a revised edition of "List of Ministerial Responsibilities" taking into account the recent changes in responsibilities announced in his recent Government reshuffle. [34575]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to her by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster today.
Column 800
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Sports Policy
Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on Government sports policy. [34286]
Mr. Sproat: The Government have today published a sports policy statement, "Sport: Raising the Game", which sets out our ideas for a new deal for sports at all levels. All right hon. and hon. Members have been sent a copy and copies are also available in the Vote Office.
Sport is important because it is part of our heritage. It teaches us lessons for life such as team spirit and sportsmanship and playing within rules. It is also vital as a means of introducing young people to a healthy way of life.
It is, therefore, the Government's objective to expand the opportunities to take part in sport, particularly for the young, and to provide the means for people of all abilities and ages to fulfil their sporting potential. The Government believe the time is right for this initiative because, from 1 January 1996, the new United Kingdom and English sports councils will replace the Great Britain Sports Council to work alongside those which already exist in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and to help to deliver our objectives. British sport will also be one of the biggest winners in the national lottery: 440 sports projects across the UK have already been awarded £74,262,000 of lottery money.
I should confirm that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland will be launching today his document entitled "Scotland's Sporting Future: A New Start" setting out proposals geared to raising the profile of sport in schools and beyond in the light of Scotland's needs and circumstances. Copies of his document are being sent to all Scottish Members.
Schools
"Raising the Game" sets out a four-point plan, which starts in schools. It is in school that lessons can be learnt about sport's potential for enjoyment, health and the development of social skills.
The new national curriculum ensures that physical education continues to be one of only five subjects which pupils of all abilities must study throughout their school life. It also gives an enhanced position to competitive sport, including team games. However, the Government believe that school sport should go well beyond what is required by the national curriculum. The recent curriculum review has freed more time for schools to use at their discretion, and the Government now wish to see two hours of formal lesson time devoted to PE and sport in all schools.
Schools must also provide opportunities for sport outside formal curriculum time, be it in lunchtimes, in the afternoons and evenings or at weekends and in the holidays. It should form a continuum with the formal PE curriculum, and there should be a clear expectation that all pupils who want to are able to play games outside school hours.
The Government also believe it is important for parents to know what is available from individual schools and how they measure up to the best. We will require schools
Column 801
to include details in their annual prospectuses of their sporting aims and provision for sport, and to record in their governors' annual report these aims and their sporting achievements during the year. Schools and others with an interest will be consulted on what information will be most useful to parents and the community. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked the Office for Standards in Education to carry out more detailed inspections of the quality and range of games both in and out of the curriculum. Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools has also been asked to report annually in future, specifically on the state of PE and sport in schools.In order to recognise those schools which have good sporting provision, the Government will be establishing a sportsmark scheme for schools which have effective policies for promoting sport. For the most innovative schools, there will be an additional award, a gold star for outstanding achievement. A consultation paper on the criteria for sportsmark is being issued today to schools and sporting organisations.
In order for schools to improve their delivery of sport, it is vital that there are sufficient numbers of qualified and competent teachers. The recent overhaul of the teacher training system will ensure that new PE specialists have the skills to deliver the strengthened system set out in the policy statement. But the Government intend to go beyond this by introducing a comprehensive programme of action on coaching. Through this, all training and serving teachers, whatever their academic discipline, and competent volunteers, will have the opportunity to acquire coaching qualifications.
Clubs
Schools provide the basis for a lifetime of sporting enjoyment but they cannot operate alone. The Government wish to see schools and clubs forming links to share facilities and resources for their mutual benefit. In order to promote such links, the Sports Council will establish a challenge fund of £2 million. All schools and clubs will be able to apply to the fund which will be available for projects such as specialist coaching for pupils and coach training for teachers.
The council will also require governing bodies of sports played in schools to include provision for effective school-club links in their business plans. The Sports Council's regional offices will also have an important part to play by using their local knowledge to assist clubs and schools in establishing links.
The national lottery provides schools and clubs with an unprecedented opportunity to forge links by making funds available for improving existing facilities, building new facilities and purchasing equipment. The Government have set themselves the target that by the year 2000 all young people will have access to quality facilities, including playing fields. The national lottery provides a means of achieving that goal.
Action must also be taken to stop the loss of playing fields, which has occurred over many years. We will therefore shortly consult on a proposal that the Sports Council should be given the status of a statutory consultee on planning proposals affecting all playing fields.
The private sector also has an important part to play in the provision of sport in the clubs and schools. The
Column 802
Government wish to encourage business sponsorship of sport in schools and have asked the Sports Council to make this a priority. The private sector can help sport in a number of ways such as sponsoring a school team, adopting a sporting facility or sponsoring coaches to work in the schools.Further and higher education
Many colleges and universities already have good-quality sporting facilities and offer students the chance to take part in sport both within the institution and in inter-college or university competitions. However, a more detailed picture of provision for sport and sports facilities in further and higher education institutions is needed if we are to know what more might be done. The Further Education Funding Council has therefore agreed to draw up a comprehensive analysis of sporting provision and facilities in the further education sector and report to us with recommendations for action. The FEFC will update its information annually and will require institutions to publish details of their sporting provision. The Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals and the Standing Conference of Principals have agreed to provide similar information for the higher education sector. They have also agreed to recommend to their members that potential students have available, through the prospectus or a similar document, information on the sports provision they offer.
To allow as many sportsmen and women to train and compete at the highest level while studying for higher education qualifications, a number of universities have established systems of sports scholarships. These universities provide a number of services to their sports scholars such as flexible study times and bursaries to provide for training and travel costs. To encourage the wider spread of best practice in university sports scholarships, and to encourage further private sector sponsorship, the Government are setting up a working group to look at the whole question of sport scholarships at university, and related matters of sport for students. I am pleased to announce that Sir Roger Bannister has agreed to serve as its chairman. The CVCP and SCOP have agreed to be represented on the working party. An announcement on membership will be made shortly. Finally, the statement takes forward the process of building a real British commitment to the development of elite sport, and sets out proposals for a network of institutions to provide the facilities and services to enable those with talent to compete at national and international level.
The Government therefore want to see established a British academy of sport for top athletes. The Government envisage that a British academy of sport would offer residential accommodation, scholarships and bursaries, the highest level of training, coaching, sports facilities, sport science and sports medicine. To take this proposal forward, the Government have asked the Sports Council, and its successor bodies, to work up proposals for the academy and then, following consultation, to invite bids.
The sports councils across the UK will invite bids for national lottery funding including, if appropriate, for revenue or endowment funding.
The Government also envisage the setting up of regional centres of excellence. These would also be eligible for lottery funding.
Column 803
Academies of individual sports, to be set up and run by the governing bodies of those sports, would also be eligible for funding from the lottery.Together, the Government's radical proposals for putting sport back at the heart of school life, for encouraging a far closer link between schools and sports clubs, for setting up a national academy of sport, with the highest possible standards, and for putting more money into sport than we have ever done before combine to make this the most important day for sport in a generation.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many contracts and for what total sum were let out by her Department and agencies for which it is responsible to (a) Coopers and Lybrand and its subsidiaries, (b) Peat Marwick and its subsidiaries, (c) Ernst and Young and its subsidiaries, (d) Arthur Andersen and its subsidiaries, (e) Price Waterhouse and its subsidiaries, (f) Grant Thornton and its subsidiaries, (g) Stoy Hayward and its subsidiaries, (h) Robson Rhodes and its subsidiaries and (i) Pannell Kerr Forster and its subsidiaries for privatisation, market testing, management advice, accounting, audit, consultancy and other services in 1993 94 and 1994 95. [33913]
Mr. Sproat: Neither my Department nor its agencies have let contracts with Coopers and Lybrand, Arthur Anderson, Grant Thornton, Robson Rhodes or Pannell Kerr Forster in the years 1993 94 and 1994 95. However, contracts with the following companies were let by my Department and its agencies during that period:
|Number of |Total cost
Company |Contracts |£
---------------------------------------------------
1993-94
KPMG Peat Marwick |2 |104,200
Ernst and Young |1 |4,500
Stoy Hayward |1 |9,500
1994-95
KPMG Peat Marwick |3 |98,012
Price Waterhouse |1 |19,000
Consultants
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which her Department has been engaged since 1980. [33467]
Mr. Sproat: My Department commissioned a consultant to examine future options, one of which was privatisation, for the future of the BBC transmission service. The cost of this consultancy was £172,000. Neither of my two agencies has commissioned any consultancy of this nature.
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will indicate which five consultancy firms have received most contracts from her Department (a) by number of contracts and (b) monetary value in the last five years of which figures are available. [33448]
Column 804
Mr. Sproat: My Department was established in April 1992 and took on responsibility for funding its own consultancies in August 1992. All contracts are awarded on the basis of value for money. To date the five consultancy firms which have received the most contracts from my Department, by number of contracts and monetary value, are as follows:
Number of contracts Consultancy firm |Number of contracts ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KPMG Peat Marwick |6 Watts and Partners |5 Search Training International |4 Hill Samuel Bank Limited |3 Moon Communications |3