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13 Mar 2008 : Column 590W—continued
Newcastle upon Tyne
Halton
Rochdale
Walsall
Brent
Oldham
Barking and Dagenham
Wolverhampton
Easington
Wear Valley
Gateshead
Stockton-on-Tees
Bolton
Hartlepool
Blackburn with Darwen
Derwentside
St. Helens
Preston
Burnley
Bolsover
Working Neighbourhoods Fund: Leeds
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will meet hon. Members representing constituencies in the Leeds city council area to discuss working neighbourhood funding allocations for 2008-09; and if she will make a statement. [191131]
John Healey: I have already discussed the matter with hon. Members representing constituencies in the Leeds city council area and offered to meet them to discuss both the working neighbourhoods fund methodology and how the funding going into Leeds in the next three years can be used to improve jobs and skills opportunities for people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the city.
Duchy of Lancaster
Civil Service Appeal Board
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of appeals by employees of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were (i) heard and (ii) upheld by the Civil Service Appeal Board in each of the last 10 years; how much was awarded in compensation by the Board to each successful appellant in each year; what the reason was for each compensation award; how many appellants were reinstated by the Board in each year; and what the reason was for each (A) dismissal and (B) reinstatement. [192518]
Mr. Watson: Statistics on numbers of appeals heard in individual Departments and agencies for each of the last 10 years can be found in Appendix 2 of each of the Civil Service Appeal Board's annual reports. These are available on the Board's website at:
Copies are also available in the Library of the House.
The Cabinet Office does not centrally record information on appeal cases, and so the information requested on the outcome of the appeal, compensation awards or cases of reinstatement could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Official Residences
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what guidance has been issued on the use of official residences by former Ministers of the Crown; and what liability such individuals have for meeting associated costs; [193174]
(2) what guidance his Department has issued on the council tax liabilities of Ministers in official residences in the last 12 months. [193176]
Mr. Watson
[holding answer 10 March 2008]: The Ministerial Code provides guidance on the use of official residences. Arrangements are in place to ensure that Ministers who are allocated official residences are provided with guidance on their council tax liability. In addition, Ministers who are allocated official residences pay tax on ancillary services associated with
the residences, which are provided for use in the private part of the accommodation and which constitute a taxable benefit in kind.
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) the Prime Minister and (b) (i) civil servants and (ii) special advisers in the Prime Minister’s Office staying overnight in (A) mainland Great Britain, (B) Northern Ireland, (C) the Republic of Ireland and (D) other countries in the last 12 months. [193541]
Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by the Cabinet Office in each of the last three years. [191527]
Mr. Watson: The numbers of staff, over the age of 55, that have been recruited by the Cabinet Office in each of the last three financial years are as follows:
| Financial year | Number of staff |
Departmental Pensions
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of staff in his Department were making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions in each of the last two years. [193558]
Mr. Watson: In the Cabinet Office, 138 members of staff (9 per cent. of the total number of staff on the Cabinet Office payroll) were making additional voluntary pension contributions through deductions from their pay in February 2007. This has increased to 176 members of staff (13 per cent. of the total number of staff on the Cabinet Office payroll) who were making additional voluntary pension contributions through deductions from their pay in February 2008.
Fairtrade Initiative
Mr. Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his Department's policy is on the use of fair trade goods (a) in staff catering facilities and (b) at official departmental functions and meetings; and if he will make a statement. [183875]
Mr. Watson: We have no specific policy on purchasing fairtrade products. However, we actively encourage our total facilities management provider to purchase fairtrade products for all retail sale and hospitality purposes, where commercially and practically viable.
Industrial Health and Safety
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many reports of incidents involving those working in (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) 10 Downing street were made under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08 to date. [191081]
Mr. Watson: The information requested is as follows.
| Cabinet Office | 10 Downing street | |
This information is provided on a financial year, i.e. April to March, and not on a calendar basis, i.e. January to December.
Joint Ministerial Committee on Devolution
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Joint Ministerial Committee on Devolution last met; and if he will make a statement. [193968]
Edward Miliband: In 2001, the UK Government and the three devolved administrations agreed to participate in a Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) consisting of UK Government, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Ministers.
It is established practice not to disclose the details, including the dates, of Cabinet Committees.
Official Residences: Admiralty House
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) who occupies, or was the most recent occupier of, each official ministerial residence in Admiralty House; [189521]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2008, Official Report, column 246W, on Admiralty House, which Minister occupies or last occupied the flat with one or two bedrooms; and which Ministers occupy or last occupied the two flats with three or four bedrooms; [189577]
(3) pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 25 October 2007, Official Report, column 490W, on Official Residences: Admiralty House, what the floor area is of each of the three ministerial flats in Admiralty House; and what the current or most recent occupier is of each. [189578]
Mr. Watson:
One flat in Admiralty House is currently occupied. My right hon. Friend Lord Malloch-Brown occupies the flat which has three or four bedrooms depending on the configuration adopted. The other two flats are currently unoccupied. The last occupants of the flats were my right hon. Friend the former Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer), who used the flat with one or two bedrooms depending on the configuration adopted, for official entertaining and other engagements, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon)
who used the flat with three or four bedrooms depending on the configuration adopted. The floor areas of the flats are 293 sq m, 325 sq m and 241 sq m respectively.
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Day Care
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will estimate the proportion of children (a) under five years, (b) of primary school age and (c) of secondary school age who will have access to child care if required between 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. and for 48 weeks a year in (i) England and (ii) each local authority in (A) 2007-08, (B) 2008-09 and (C) 2009-10. [192930]
Kevin Brennan: Information is not available in the form requested.
Section 11 of the Childcare Act 2006, which came into force in April 2007, placed a duty on local authorities to complete a child care sufficiency assessment before April 2008. They will have to complete an assessment at least every three years, and keep it under review between assessments, especially where there are key demographic changes or as new data becomes available.
The assessment process will give local authorities the evidence and information they need to facilitate and shape a child care market that is flexible, sustainable and responsive to parents’ needs. It will also help local authorities to develop their strategies for meeting the new duty to secure sufficient child care which will start in April 2008.
Tables 1 to 3 provide information about population estimates for each local authority area for the years 2008-10 have been placed in the House Libraries. From April 2008 local authorities will need to secure sufficient child care places for working parents of these children.
Children: Disabled
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of disabled children who are waiting for (a) assessment and (b) reassessment in relation to direct payments, in each local authority area. [174563]
Kevin Brennan: There is no information collected or estimates made regarding the number of disabled children waiting for (a) assessment or (b) reassessment for direct payments. However, data are collected on the number of disabled children aged 16-17, and the number of carers of disabled children, receiving direct payments at 31 March each year. The most recent data available are for 31 March 2006, and show that 649 children and 4,170 carers were receiving these payments in England. These data are also available by local authority, and have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Children’s Commissioner for England: Finance
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the budget is for the office of the Children's Commissioner for England in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10. [186748]
Beverley Hughes: The current budget is a matter for 11 Million (formerly the Office of the Children's Commissioner). Rob Williams, the Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with information about the current financial year and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library. The budget for the next two financial years has yet to be finalised.
Letter from Rob Williams, dated 13 March 2008:
I have been asked by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to write to you in response to parliamentary question numbers 186751 and number 186748,
I have enclosed a copy of our annual report for the years 2006-07 which contains financial details from our inception until March 2007, which contains financial details from our inception until March 2007.
For 2007-08 and 2008-09 the figures are:
| Analysis of budget breakdown 11 MILLION 2007 to 2009 | ||
| £ | ||
| 2007-08 budget | 2008-09 draft budget | |
I hope this answers your question. If you think it would be helpful I would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss the work we have been doing and to talk through with you our work plan for the coming financial year.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will give a breakdown of the expenditure by the office of the Children's Commissioner in England by main budget heading since inception of the office. [186751]
Beverley Hughes: These are matters for 11 Million (formerly the Office of the Children's Commissioner). Rob Williams, the Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with information about the current financial year and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Rob Williams, dated 13 March 2008:
I have been asked by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to write to you in response to parliamentary question numbers 188751 and number 186748,
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