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Millennium Exhibition
19. Mr. Spearing: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement concerning the financial viability of the millennium exhibition at the Greenwich peninsula site. [15538]
Mr. Freeman:
The Millennium Commission has agreed an indicative budget as a basis on which a grant of £200 million could be made. The commission has a target of £150 million for sponsorship and the balance will be raised from receipts and commercial income. I have every confidence that the operating company, Millennium Central--of which I am sole shareholder--will deliver on time an exhibition of which the nation can be proud.
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23. Sir Michael Neubert:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what priorities he has given in his plans for the millennium exhibition at Greenwich to the provision of facilities for visiting the site by river. [15542]
Mr. Freeman:
River-based transport forms an important part of the transport strategy for the exhibition. We expect some 14 per cent. of the visitors will want to arrive by river boat and there will be sufficient new pier capacity on the site to cope with this demand. The operating company is consulting boat operators, the Port of London authority and other river interests to ensure that the Thames is able to play its full part in the millennium exhibition experience.
20. Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what new proposals he has to co-ordinate the presentation of Government policy. [15539]
The Deputy Prime Minister:
I seek every opportunity to explain the benefits this country is gaining from the whole range of this Government's policies.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he plans next to meet the Minister without Portfolio to discuss the co-ordination of Government policies. [15524]
The Deputy Prime Minister:
My right hon. Friend is a member of the Ministerial Committee on Co-ordination and Presentation of Government Policy, which I chair. The committee meets on a regular basis.
21. Mr. Gunnell:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on (a) the role and (b) the length of tenure of his political adviser. [15540]
The Deputy Prime Minister:
My special adviser adds a political dimension to the advice available to me from civil servants. She also liaises with Conservative central office over any political engagements I undertake. She has been my special adviser for six years.
Dr. Marek:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance he has issued to departments and non-departmental public bodies on the subject of corporate governance and the role of non-executive directors. [17079]
Mr. Freeman:
Guidance on the role of non-executive directors entitled "A Guide to Non-Executive Directorships for Civil Servants" was issued by the then Office of Public Service and Science to Departments in January 1993.
General guidance on the corporate governance of non-departmental public bodies is contained in the Treasury and Office of Public Service publication "Non-Departmental Public Bodies: A Guide for Departments", substantially revised in 1996.
Revised "Guidance on Codes of Practice for Board Members of Public Bodies" was published earlier this month as an annex to the Government's White Paper "The Governance of Public Bodies: A Progress Report",
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Cm 3557. The guidance covers areas such as the corporate and individual responsibilities of board members, strategic planning and control, and handling conflicts of interest.
Copies of all these documents are available in the House Libraries.
Mr. Alan Williams:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the average increase in rates of pay for civil servants in each year since 1989. [17124]
Mr. Freeman:
The average annual increases based on a weighted average of the headline pay settlements for the main groups of staff in each year are as follows:
From 1994-95 responsibility for determining pay was increasingly delegated to Departments and agencies and the 1996-97 figure is based solely on departmental and agency settlements.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cost of additional regional staff for the Central Office of Information in the (a) current and (b) next financial year; and in which offices they are located. [17239]
Mr. Freeman:
The number of staff in the Central Office of Information regional offices varies from year to year in line with demand. It is therefore difficult to say with any exactitude which staff are additional and which are replacements. However, total staff numbers rose in
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1996-97 from 85 to 90. They are expected to fall to 88 in 1997-98. Total salary costs for each of the years in question are:
1989-90: 7.0 per cent.
1990-91: 8.3 per cent.
1991-92: 7.4 per cent.
1992-93: 4.1 per cent.
1993-94: 1.0 per cent.
1994-95: 2.2 per cent.
1995-96: 2.6 per cent.
1996-97: 3.2 per cent. (provisional).
1995-96: £2.3 million
1996-97 1 : £2.4 million
1997-98 1 : £2.4 million.
1 Forecast.
| 1995-96 | 1996-97(32) | 1997-98(32) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directorate | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Cambridge | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| London and South East | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| Newcastle | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Manchester | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Liverpool | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Leeds | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Birmingham | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Bristol | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Cardiff | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Plymouth | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Nottingham | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Total | 85 | 90 | 88 |
(32) Forecast.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what were the total cost of and whole-time equivalent staff numbers in the Central Office of Information in each year since 1993-94; and what are the projections for 1997-98.[17240]
Mr. Freeman: The information requested from the Central Office of Information is as follows:
| Staff numbers (whole-time equivalent) | Cost(33)(£000) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 543 | 15,260 |
| 1994-95 | 499 | 14,548 |
| 1995-96 | 456 | 13,607 |
| 1996-97(34) | 402 | 20,017 |
| 1997-98(34) | 300 | 9,900 |
(33) Includes early severance costs.
(34) Forecast.
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