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NHS Staff Files
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what circumstances an NHS trust can withhold the employment history of staff seeking employment in another part of the NHS. [25490]
Mr. Hutton: All national health service employers are expected to carry out thorough pre-employment checks on all staff they employ. The checks include taking up references which must be accurate and truthful.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Radio Advertising
Ms Abbott: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the COI spent on radio advertising in the last year; what percentage of this was spent on black minority ethnic media advertising; and what the five main campaigns that the COI financed that involved radio advertising were. [26756]
Mr. Leslie: The Central Office of Information undertook no radio advertising on its own behalf in the last year.
Special Advisers
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many complaints have been reported in his Department
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under paragraph 11 of the Civil Service Code since 13 May 1999; and how many of them related to special advisers. [25330]
Mr. Leslie: The procedures for making complaints under the civil service code are set in the Department's staff handbook. Civil servants are encouraged, in the first instance, to raise complaints made under paragraph 11 of the civil service code with their line manager. If for any reason this is not felt to be possible, perhaps because the line manager is part of the complaint, individuals may take their complaint to a nominated official (or officials). It is not possible to provide a comprehensive figure for the number of complaints made within this Department under paragraph 11 of the code as there is no requirement for managers to report to the centre details of complaints which are resolved within the management line.
Civil Service
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what delegations and authorisations have been made in 2001 under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992; to whom they were made; and what were the main conditions attached to them. [26854]
Mr. Leslie: Since the last report to Parliament, 6 February 2001, Official Report, column 489W, new delegations/authorisations have been made to the Food Standards Agency and the Postal Services Commission from 1 April and 1 May 2001 respectively. These were subsequently subsumed within a later delegation/ authorisation which was necessary to reflect the machinery of government changes following the general election. Ministers, certain bodies and office holders in charge of Departments 1 were given delegated authority from 1 September 2001 under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992 by that delegation/ authorisation to:
- (a) prescribe the qualifications (so far as they relate to age, knowledge, ability, professional attainment, aptitude, potential, health and coping with the demands of the job) for the appointment of home civil servants (with the exception of the Fast Stream Development Programme) in their respective Departments or bodies; and
- (b) determine in respect of home civil servants in their respective Departments or bodies the number and grading of posts outside the senior civil service, and the terms and conditions of employment in so far as they relate to the following:
- (i) classification of staff, with the exception of the senior civil service;
- (ii) remuneration, with the exception of the senior civil service;
- (iii) allowances;
- (iv) expenses;
- (v) holidays, hours of work and attendance;
- (vi) part-time and other working arrangements;
- (vii) performance and promotion
- (viii) retirement age and redundancy;
- (ix) re-deployment of staff within the home civil service.
In some cases, where the Minister for the civil service is statutorily required to give consent to terms and conditions of service for staff appointed by statutory bodies or office holders, it was effected by waiving that requirement, subject to the condition attached to delegation/authorisation.
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The delegation/authorisation was subject to the condition that recipients comply with the provisions of the Civil Service Management Code as amended from time to time. Copies of the Civil Service Management Code are available in the Library of the House. All previous delegations and authorisations made under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992 (other than those relating to the Arbitration, Conciliation Advisory Service, the Health and Safety Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Administration) were revoked with effect from 1 September 2001.
- 1 The statutory bodies and office holders are:
- Commissioners of Inland Revenue
- Chief Charity Commissioner
- Commissioners of Customs and Excise
- Crown Estate Commissioners
- Director General of Fair Trading
- Director of National Savings
- Director of Passenger Rail Franchising
- Director General of Telecommunications
- Director General of Water Services
- Director of Public Prosecutions
- Director of the Serious Fraud Office
- Food Standards Agency
- Gas and Electricity Marketing Authority
- Government Actuary
- Head of the Registry of Friendly Societies, being the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies and the First Commissioner of the Building Societies Commission
- International Rail Regulator
- Postal Services Commission
- Public Works Loan Commissioners
- Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioners
- Rail Regulator.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Departmental Staff
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employees of (a) his Department and (b) agencies sponsored by his Department work in (i) London, (ii) areas benefiting from EU Objective 1 status, (iii) areas with Objective 2 status and (iv) other areas. [16108]
Mr. Keith Bradley [holding answer 19 November 2001]: I apologise for the delay in answering this question. Information on permanent serving staff working in London, areas benefiting from European Union (EU) Objectives 1 and 2 status and other areas is provided in the table.
| Area | London | EU Objective 1 areas | EU Objective 2 areas | Other areas | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Office | 8,532 | 1,172 | 3,350 | 109 | 13,163 |
| Agencies: | |||||
| FSS(31) | 753 | 1,624 | 2,377 | ||
| UKPA(32) | 540 | 597 | 1,398 | 121 | 2,656 |
| Prison Service | 5,947 | 770 | 34,569 | 796 | 42,082 |
| Total | 15,772 | 2,539 | 40,941 | 1,026 | 60,278 |
(31) Forensic Science Service
(32) United Kingdom Passport Agency
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Regulation
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulations his Department has proposed to Parliament since June; what regulatory impact assessments have been made for those regulations his Department has implemented in 2001; and what plans his Department has to reduce the number of regulations affecting small businesses. [21971]
Mr. Keith Bradley: We have proposed to Parliament since June some 31 statutory instruments and three Bills. Regulatory Impact Assessments have been made for the Proceeds of Crime Bill and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill and these have been lodged in the Library.
In our forthcoming regulatory reform action plan we have no specific plans for reducing the number of regulations affecting small business. Where Home Office legislation or regulations affect business, we aim to proceed through dialogue and consultation in order to ensure that any effects on business are proportionate.
Terrorism
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the projects planned under the Ghent Statement on Terrorism, Point 5, (a) to store evaluations of (i) risks, (ii) alert and (iii) intervention, (b) for the prevention of chemical and biological attack and (c) on the appointment of a European Co-ordinator for Civil Protection Measures. [22887]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to hon. Members on 9 November 2001 setting out the comprehensive review of arrangements for protecting the public that I am leading. I explained that a ministerially led sub-group was reviewing contingency and other arrangements to protect the United Kingdom against the effects of a terrorist attack using chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) means but that it is not sensible for me to elaborate on all of the arrangements we are putting in place.
More generally, a short-term action plan was agreed by the Directors General of Civil protection and this called for, among other things:
- The identification of rapid response teams and setting up a group of experts available 24 hours a day, to offer advice;
Enhancement of the existing network of 24-hour contact points to handle any request for or offer of assistance; and
Gathering information on serum, vaccines, antibiotics and availability of hospital beds for those seriously affected.
The Civil Protection Co-ordinator has yet to be appointed. Members states await details of the duties and responsibilities proposed for this post and whether these are to be purely administrative or whether an operational role is envisaged. The question of where the Co-ordinator should be located and what the reporting arrangements should be have also yet to be finalised.
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