| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the name and job description of each special ministerial adviser employed in his Department showing any particular outputs for which each adviser is responsible.
Mr. Redwood : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on Thursday 4 November, Official Report, column 334.
Departmental Offices (Heating Bills)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list by location the annual fuel heating bills for each of his Department's offices for the last four years, and for this year to date.
Mr. Redwood : Reliable information on fuel costs is available only from 1 April 1990, when my Department assumed responsibility for direct payment of fuel bills.
The required information from 1990-91 is given in the following table.
Column 1069
Welsh Office annual fuel<1> expenditure by property £s Property |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 |<2>1993-94 [NL] |£ |£ |£ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cathays Park, Cardiff |250,886 |283,155 |293,810 |201,302 Pontllanfraith |1,412 |449 |1,491 |<3>- St. Davids House, Cardiff |726 |3,316 |2,593 |<3>- Curran Road, Cardiff |4,483 |2,919 |4,021 |3,417 Norbury Road, Cardiff |1,041 |539 |182 |<3>- Pontfaen Road, Lampeter |4,981 |4,627 |2,462 |2,832 Barn Street, Haverfordwest |3,288 |3,408 |2,465 |541 Picton Terrace, Carmarthen |15,309 |19,176 |15,720 |8,588 Spa Road East, Llandrindod Wells |12,846 |15,332 |12,152 |6,408 Canal Road, Brecon |3,367 |3,766 |2,416 |756 Trawsgoed, Aberystwyth |86,890 |80,762 |41,658 |12,873 Arran Road, Dolgellau |2,221 |2,374 |2,368 |1,614 North Penrallt, Caernarfon |15,049 |13,715 |13,420 |7,469 Gwydyr House, London |6,968 |9,179 |7,219 |7,867 Gelliwasted Road, Pontypridd |<3>- |413 |1,186 |<3>- Gnoll Park Road, Neath |1,314 |2,384 |2,131 |<3>- Bryn Adda, Bangor |17,809 |11,854 |<3>- |<3>- Colchester Avenue, Cardiff |528 |385 |509 |<3>- Cardiff Road, Newport |1,043 |1,039 |685 |<3>- Morgan Street, Tredegar |647 |1,096 |1,116 |<3>- Ynys Street, Port Talbot |1,626 |2,414 |2,668 |<3>- Unit K, Llanelli |512 |532 |784 |<3>- Jobs Wells Lane, Carmarthen |20,893 |26,071 |25,695 |14,968 Williamson House, Cardiff |398 |288 |540 |419 Golate House, Cardiff |1,077 |1,631 |1,708 |729 Bessemer Road, Cardiff |Nil |Nil |84 |50 Hamilton Terrace, Milford Haven |430 |586 |551 |348 Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells |288 |406 |206 |136 Y Buarth, Aberystwyth |8,399 |10,971 |10,123 |7,,613 Bolero Camp, Ruthin |1,208 |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- Station Road, Ruthin |13,014 |14,269 |8,848 |3,283 New Dolanog House, Welshpool |<3>- |96 |93 |<3>-- St. Agnes Road, Cardiff |1,364 |7,237 |3,024 |361 Ty Glas Road, Cardiff |64,681 |73,602 |70,493 |28,347 Angel Street, Bridgend |852 |964 |951 |<3>- Grove House, Swansea |415 |324 |274 |<3>- Caradog House, Cardiff |9,011 |10,684 |3,916 |835 Ty Nant, Swansea |2,520 |2,958 |3,131 |139 Dinerth Road, Colwyn Bay |3,010 |4,612 |8,375 |2,851 Regent Street, Wrexham |336 |614 |689 |<3>- Chester Street, Wrexham |1,247 |1,598 |749 |<3>- High Street, Bangor |259 |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- Companies House, Cardiff |275 |<3>- |2,032 |Nil Park Street, Newtown |2,152 |2,738 |736 |141 <1>Fuel' embraces all forms of energy used in Welsh Office buildings i.e. liquid fuel as well as electricity and gas. <2>to end of November. <3>Not in occupation/vacated.
Health Services
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many posts for salaried dentists in Wales have been advertised for each health authority area ; how many posts have been requested by each family health service authority ; how many inquiries were received for the posts ; how many applications were received for each post ; and how many appointments have been made.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : 1. The number of salaried dentists posts requested by family health services authorities in Wales are as follows :
Clwyd--two applications under consideration.
Dyfed--four, of which two were approved.
Gwynedd--26 of which four were approved. The other applications will be reviewed when the approved vacancies are filled.
Powys--two, of which one was approved and another is under consideration.
2. The number of posts advertised, inquiries and applications received and appointments made to date are :
|Post advertised |Enquiries received|Applications |Appointments made
|received
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dyfed |1 |13 |6 |1
Gwynedd |4 |6 |2 |1
Powys |1 |2 |0 |0
Public Bodies
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many appointments he has made to non-departmental public bodies in Wales where one of the nominators was an hon. Member representing a Welsh constituency.
Mr. Redwood : Since becoming Secretary of State for Wales, I have appointed one member of a national health service body who was referred to the Department by an
Column 1072
hon. Member representing a Welsh constituency ; there have been no such appointments to executive non- departmental public bodies.Cows and Ewes
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what according to (a) the most up-to-date and comprehensive data he has available and (b) the farm business survey, was the average number of (1) beef cows and (2) ewes, carried on less-favoured areas livestock farms, by county and in Wales.
Mr. Redwood : Information on the average number of beef cows and ewes on cattle and sheep farms, wholly or mainly in less-favoured areas in Wales, according to the agricultural census of June 1992 is shown in the following table. The farm business survey is a sample survey of only those farms which are considerd to be full-time commercial businesses and excludes very small farms. Also, unlike the census it records the average number of livestock on the holding throughout the year. On livestock farms wholly or mainly in the less-favoured areas the average numbers of beef cows and ewes recorded by the farm business survey on farms in Wales in 1992-93 were 20 and 643 respectively. The equivalent information at county level is not available.
Average number on cattle and sheep farms
wholly or mainly in less
-favoured areas as at June 1992
|Beef cows|Ewes
----------------------------------------------
Clwyd |11 |421
Dyfed |9 |213
Gwent |7 |208
Gwynedd |11 |337
Mid Glamorgan |13 |400
Powys |17 |440
South Glamorgan |5 |0
West Glamorgan |15 |213
Wales |12 |332
Column 1073
Farm Holdings
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the averge size of farm holding in the less-favoured areas as sampled by (a) the most recent farm business survey and (b) the most up-to-date and comprehensive data he has available, by county and in Wales.
Mr. Redwood : The farm business survey is a sample survey of only those farms which are considered to be full-time commercial businesses and excludes very small farms. The average size of cattle and sheep farms in Wales, wholly or mainly in less-favoured areas, as recorded in the farm business survey for 1992-93 is 125 hectares. The equivalent information at county level is not available. The June agricultural census covers all main holdings and the average size of cattle and sheep farms, wholly or mainly in less-favoured areas, according to the census of June 1992, is shown in the following table :
Average size<1> of cattle and
sheep farms wholly or partly in
less-favoured
areas as at June 1992
|Hectares
----------------------------------
Clwyd |68.6
Dyfed |47.8
Gwent |38.3
Gwynedd |83.1
Mid Glamorgan |66.9
Powys |75.4
South Glamorgan |27.1
West Glamorgan |58.0
Wales |65.7
<1> Total area of holding
Grant-maintained Schools
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schols in each local education authority in Wales are or have been eligible to apply for grant-maintained status ; how many in each case have held ballots under section 61 of the Education Act 1988 ; how many ballots in each case resulted in votes to seek grant- maintained status and how many of these have been subject to section 12 or 13 notices ; and how many ballots in each case resulted in votes against seeking
grant-maintained status.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information is as follows :
Column 1073
Outcome of ballot Outcome of ballot
[NL] |Local education authority |Number of primary schools eligible for GM status |Number of primary schools that have held ballots |For GM (number subject to S12-13 notice) |Against GM |Number of secondary schools eligible for GM status|Number of secondary schools that have held ballots|For GM (number subject to S12-13 notice)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |243 |3 |2 |1 |29 |7 |4 |3
Dyfed |313 |0 |0 |0 |31 |0 |0 |0
Gwent |213 |1 |1 |0 |31 |4 |4 |0
Gwynedd |190 |1 |1 |0 |23 |0 |0 |0
Mid Glamorgan |305 |1 |1 |0 |42 |0 |0 |0
Powys |107 |1 |1 |0 |13 |1 |0 |1
South Glamorgan 158 1 0 1 25 3 3 0
West Glamorgan 164 0 0 0 26 3 1 2
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each grant-maintained school in 1993-94 (a) the direct annual maintenance grant and (b) the central annual maintenance grant.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information is as follows :
School |Direct AMG |Central AMG [NL] |£ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Cwmcarn Comprehensive |767,868 |92,448 Bishop Vaughan Comprehensive |2,009,465 |300,708 Brynmawr Comprehensive |1,157,403 |133,258 Emrys ap Iwan Comprehensive |2,075,410 |314,569 Maelor Comprehensive |1,069,140 |146,009 Stanwell Comprehensive |1,884,510 |215,833 Caergeiliog Primary |310,238 |53,694 Derwen Primary<1> |132,403 |23,117 Eirias Comprehensive<1> |1,150,134 |178,802 Llanerfyl Primary<1> |36,399 |2,630 Pen-y-Bryn Primary<1> |174,697 |32,718 <1> Schools incorporated as grant maintained with effect from 1 September 1993.
Column 1074
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what applications were received from grant-maintained schools for capital grant for the financial year 1993-94 ; and what has been the level of grant approved in each case.
Sir Wyn Roberts : In addition to the formula-related capital grant for the purchase of equipment or small-scale capital projects, which grant- maintained schools receive automatically, applications have been received in respect of the following specific projects :
School |Project Details
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan, Clwyd |1. General rebuilding*
Maelor, Clwyd |1. Conversion of Science Block*
|2. Extension to Technology Suite
Brynmawr, Gwent |1. Refurbishment of Science
|Block and Technology Buildings*
Cwmcarn, Gwent |1. Replacement of roof on Arts
|and Science Block*
|2. General landscaping
|3. Refurbishment of heating
|system
Ysgol Caergeiliog, Gwynedd |1. Provision of 4 classrooms*
Stanwell, South Glamorgan |1. Rebuilding Science Block*
|2. Refurbishment/rebuilding of 4
|storey tower block*
|3. Refurbishment of 3 storey
|tower block
Bishop Vaughan, West Glamorgan |1. Replacement of curtain wall
|and roofing of 4 storey block*
|2. Replacement of main build-
|ing's roof
|3. Refurbishment of heating
|system
* Those marked with an asterisk have received approval in principle and schools have been invited
to submit firm estimates and tenders. It is not possible therefore, at present to provide details
of the final levels of grant involved.
Cwm Carn School
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the headteacher of Cwm Carn school left his post ; what the grounds were for his departure ; and who is responsible for the payment of severence costs involved.
Sir Wyn Roberts : I understand that the resignation of Mr. Frank Elliott, the head of Cwmcarn grant-maintained school, is to take effect from 31 December 1993. The reasons for his departure are a matter between him and his employers, the governing body of the school. The responsibility for any financial settlement is that of the governing body, although my Department is making a contribution through a special purpose grant for staff restructuring.
Correspondence
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of correspondence received by (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's agencies receives (i) an
acknowledgement within five days and (ii) a substantive reply within 15 days.
Mr. Redwood : The available information is as follows :
Departmental correspondence received since 1 January 1993
|Ministerial Per cent.|<1>Official Per cent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledged within five days |100 |100
Substantive reply within 15 days |82.3 |<2>-
Cadw
Acknowledged within five days |100 |100
Substantive reply within 15 days |<3>- |99
<1>Official correspondence transferred from another Department is not acknowledged on receipt to
the Welsh Office.
<2>The Department has a target for replies to issue within 15 working days. Each division monitors
its performance against the target; information is not collected centrally.
<3>This figure is included in the Department's total and cannot be identified separately.
Power Cuts
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet representatives of electricity distributors in Wales to discuss what measures are required to prevent power cuts caused by the deposit of salt on electricity supply cables.
Column 1076
Mr. Redwood : I have no plans at present. However, I understand that MANWEB's Gwynedd district is investing over £2.4 million annually on overhead line refurbishment and insulator redesign in an effort to relieve the problem.
Local Government Review
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date the draft ward boundaries proposed for the planned unitary authorities were sent to local councils ; and if he will place a copy of the boundaries in the Library.
Mr. Redwood : I shall consult Welsh local authorities on proposed electoral areas soon and I will place a copy of my proposals in the Library.
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what funds will be made available to Cardiff Bay development corporation in the next financial year.
Mr. Redwood : During 1994-95 my Department will make available to Cardiff Bay development corporation grant in aid of £48.2 million.
National Health Service
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what funding he proposes to make available to the national health service in Wales in 1994-95 and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : Spending on the NHS in Wales will increase by £100 million from £1,975 million to £2,076 million, which represents a cash increase of over 5 per cent.--well ahead of retail inflation and pay increases--or an extra £35 for every man, woman and child in Wales. This will bring expenditure up to £716 next year for every person in Wales, or nearly £3,000 for an average family.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing in 1992-93 prices, the gross public spending for each year since 1990-91 and the projected expenditure for each year to 1995 -96 for each executive non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department, as listed in "Public Bodies 1992".
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 15 December 1993] : The information requested is shown in the following table. The figures for cash spend have been deflated using the GDP deflator, which is currently estimated to be runninH
Column 1075
|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95|1995-96
[NL] |£000s |£000s |£000s |£000s |£000s
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agricultural Wages Committee |1,639 |2,355 |1,960 |1,937 |1,863 |1,795
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation |41,629 |34,267 |36,400 |44,939 |<3>- |<3>-
Countryside Council for Wales |519 |15,172 |17,362 |19,272 |19,270 |19,202
Curriculum Council for Wales<1> |1,421 |1,507 |1,555 |1,651 |<3>- |<3>-
Development Board for Rural Wales |22,665 |22,576 |24,593 |25,426 |25,502 |24,061
Housing for Wales |112,291|118,615|162,650|125,443|113,019|<3>-
Land Authority for Wales |10,325 |9,656 |9,516 |9,879 |9,499 |<3>-
National Library of Wales |6,062 |6,229 |6,443 |6,245 |<3>- |<3>-
National Museum of Wales |20,003 |18,356 |16,561 |14,918 |<3>- |<3>-
Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical
Monuments in Wales |1,018 |953 |1,132 |1,170 |1,243 |1,200
Sports Council for Wales |7,8744 |7,830 |8,291 |9,021 |<3>- |<3>-
Wales Tourist Board |14,819 |13,642 |15,287 |15,056 |14,975 |14,434
Wales Youth Agency<2> |<3>- |<3>- |383 |365 |359 |352
Welsh Development Agency |164,738|164,377|162,200|166,005|155,582|<3>-
Welsh National Board for Nursing,
Midwifery and Health Visiting |9,211 |9,517 |9,871 |1,249 |1,230 |1,212
Notes:
Figures for 1995-96 are dependent on the outcome of future public expenditure surveys.
<1> The Curriculum Council will be replaced by the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales
in 1994-95.
<2> The Wales Youth Agency was first established in 1992-93.
<3> Not available.
NHS Salary Costs
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 25 November, Official Report, column 151, on national health service salary costs, (1) if he will update the figures to include 1992-93 ;
(2) if he will update the table on national health service salary costs to include 1992-93 figures.
Mr. Gwilym Jones [holding answers 13 December 1993] : The information requested is as follows :
&
|1992-93
[NL]
--------------------------------------
a. Administrative and
Clerical |91,237
b. Managerial |20,127
c. Nursing |424,937
Source: Health authorities' annual
accounts
Pembrokeshire NHS trust accounts
Column 1078
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Government Car Service
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990-91 ; and how many vehicles were involved.
Mr. David Davis : The cost in 1990-91 to the then Office of the Minister for the Civil Service for use of the Government car service by its departmental Minister and the Government Whips was £243,931.
Charters
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much has been paid out in financial compensation for the failure of (a) the British Rail passengers charter, (b) London Underground customers charter, (c) Northern Ireland Railways passengers charter, (d) Contributions Agency contributors charter, (e) Contributions Agency employers charter and (f) the Benefits Agency customer charter, to meet their stated targets.
Mr. Waldegrave : British Rail, London Underground Ltd. and Northern Ireland Railways have paid an estimated £4,590,000 in financial compensation as a result of failure to meet stated targets. This is broken down as follows :
Column 1077
Charter |Compensation paid (nearest £'000)|From |To ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- British Rail passengers charter |4,427 |April 1992 |November 1993 London Underground customers charter |162 |August 1992 |8 December 1993 Northern Ireland Railways passengers charter |1 |November 1992 |30 November 1993
Column 1078
In addition, the Contributions Agency and Benefits Agency have paid an estimated £4,147,000 in special payments, broken down as follows :Column 1077
Charter |Compensation paid (nearest £'000)|From |To ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contributions Agency contributors and employers charters<1> |76 |April 1991 |March 1993 Benefits Agency customer charter |4,071 |April 1992 |March 1993 <1> Separate figures are not available for the Contributions Agency contributors and Contributions Agency employers charters. The figures represent payments made from April 1991, four months before the Contributions Agency charters were introduced.
NORWEB
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what were the reasons for the award to NORWEB of a charter mark.
Mr. Waldegrave : NORWEB was awarded a charter mark because it was able to demonstrate to the Prime Minister's advisory panel on the citizens charter, by reference to its nine charter mark criteria, that it had achieved the required high degree of excellence in its services to the public.
Special Advisers
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what redundancy terms apply to Ministers' specialist advisers.
Mr. Waldegrave : Appointments of special advisers automatically terminate with the end of the Administration, or on the day after polling day in a general election, or when their appointing Minister leaves his or her present post, or if they resign to take part in national political activities or for other reasons. In some of those circumstances, they may be reappointed. Otherwise, severance payments, subject to tax and national insurance, are made in accordance with the scale in the following table.
----------------------------------------- Less than two |3 |3.0|3 Two but less than three |3 |3.5|4 Three but less than four |3 |4.0|5 Four and over |3 |4.5|6
All special advisers, regardless of age, are entitled to one month's severance pay if their appointment is made within six months of the latest date by which a general election must take place, or if they resign to take part in national political activities within six months of their appointment.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements are made to ensure that special advisers to Ministers in his Department do not have access to the kind of information, and are not involved in the type of business, that would be likely to create suspicion of impropriety in relation to subsequent employment.
Mr. David Davis : Care is taken to ensure that special advisers do not have access to the kind of information likely to create suspicion of impropriety. They are not involved in evaluating tenders or letting contracts.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the name and job description of each special ministerial adviser employed in his Department showing any particular outputs for which each adviser is responsible.
Mr. Waldegrave : I have appointed Mr. David Rutley to be my political adviser. Mr. Rutley will take up his
Column 1080
appointment on 4 January 1994. His duties will vary. Dr. John Nicholson provides me with expert advice on a range of issues relating to public sector management.Market Testing
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will detail the estimated cost of market testing by each Department in the current financial year ; and what was the actual cost to each Department at current prices in the financial year 1992-93.
Mr. Waldegrave : The 1992-93 "Competing for Quality" programme ran from April 1992 to September 1993. The 1993-94 programme runs from October 1993 to September 1994. It is not possible, from centrally held information, to detail the cost of market testing by Department for the current and 1992-93 financial years.
The cost of market testing by Department for the 1992-93 "Competing for Quality" programme will be published in the citizens charter second report.
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which government Departments, non-departmental public bodies and next steps agencies are undergoing market testing at present ; and which are planned to undergo market testing in the near future.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Member to the "Citizen's Charter First Report" ; the supporting material to my announcement of 4 November 1993 to the House of Commons Official Report, columns 526-37, on the "Competing for Quality" programme ; and the "Market Testing Bulletin", all of which have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Correspondence
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of correspondence received by (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's agencies receives (i) an
acknowledgement within five days and (ii) a substantive reply within 15 days.
Mr. Waldegrave : Correspondence received by my office from 1 January to 30 November 1993 has generally been acknowledged within five working days, with the exception of write-in campaigns. For correspondence receiving a ministerial reply, 67 per cent. received a substantive reply within 15 working days, which is the departmental target. For correspondence receiving an official reply, 71 per cent. received a substantive reply within 20 working days, which is the departmental target. No record is kept against a 15-working-day target for official replies.
The above figures include correspondence passed to agencies for replies to be drafted for ministerial signature. The position for correspondence received direct by agencies and answered by them is as follows :
Chessington Computer Centre
From 1 January to 30 November 1993 100 per cent. of written enquiries were acknowledged within 10 working days. 97 per cent. received a substantive reply within one calendar month. No records are kept against other targets.
Civil Service College
Correspondence from customers concerning courses has a target reply time of 24 hours. General correspondence has a target of 15 working days, with as much as possible answered within five. The College keeps no records against these targets.
Column 1081
Occupational Health ServiceNo records kept of reply times. However, all correspondence usually replied to within 15 working days. Acknowledgements are not usually sent.
Recruitment and Assessment Services
All letters are acknowledged within five working days and receive a substantive reply within 15 working days.
Her Majesty's Stationery Office
From 1 January to 30 November 1993, of MPs' letters passed to the chief executive to reply, 100 per cent. were replied to within five working days. 97 per cent. of correspondence for the chief executive was acknowledged, by letter or telephone, within five working days and 94 per cent. received a substantive reply within 15 working days. No records are held centrally of other correspondence received by HMSO.
Central Office of Information
All correspondence to the chief executive receives a reply within 15 working days. No records of other correspondence are held centrally.
Public Bodies
Mr. Straw : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what record is kept of the number of individuals who hold multiple positions on public bodies : and what is the policy in respect of their remuneration.
Mr. Waldegrave : Responsibility for the 42,000 appointments to public bodies rests with individual Ministers and their Departments. No central record is kept of those appointed.
The majority of public appointments are part time and unpaid. Those which are paid are the more senior public appointments which place greater demands on the individual, in terms of the size of the task and the time commitment. The remuneration for such appointments recognises this, and the Cabinet Office "Guide on Public Appointments Procedures" makes clear that in setting remuneration appropriate account should be taken of any existing paid public appointments.
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Church Closures
Mr. Bates : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, how many churches in the diocese of Durham have been closed since 1984 ; and for what reasons.
Mr. Alison : Since 1 January 1984, nine out of some 310 churches in the Durham diocese have been declared redundant under the provisions of the Pastoral Measure 1983. Two had not been used since 1964, one was replaced by a new place of worship and the remaining six were no longer required as parish churches or chapels of ease. We have been notified of one further new place of worship opening in the same period.
Theological Colleges
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what funding the Church Commissioners provide to support theological colleges in England.
Mr. Alison : The commissioners have advanced loans totalling £3.75 million, on an equity-sharing basis, to theological colleges and courses to assist in the provision of housing for staff and students.
Column 1082
TRANSPORT
Departmental Offices (Heating Bills)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by location the annual fuel heating bills for each of his Department's offices for the last four years, and for this year to date.
Mr. Norris : The Department holds information only for the last three financial years. A breakdown of the figures could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The heating bills were :
|£
------------------------------
1990-91 |898,569
1991-92 |1,036,760
1992-93 |909,408
Figures for the year to date are not held centrally.
| Next Section
| Home Page |