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Exports

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total value at current prices of United Kingdom exports of (a) goods, (b) services and (c) all items in each year since 1979. [10961]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 28 July 1997]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Dominic Grieve, dated 29 July 1997:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the total value at current prices of United Kingdom exports.

Estimates for imports and exports of goods and services, investment income, transfers and the total balance of payments current account back to 1975 will be published in Table 1.4 of the 1997 edition of United Kingdom Balance of Payments: The Pink Book to be published by The Stationery Office on 8 August, a copy of which will be available in the House of Commons Library. The data to be published in the Pink Book is already available through the ONS databank which can be accessed by the House of Commons Library.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Next Steps Agencies

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will ensure that the definition of the relationship between operational and policy decisions is made according to the function and framework brief of each next steps agency. [10522]

Dr. David Clark: It is the responsibility of the departmental Minister, having set the framework within which the Department's executive agencies operate, to ensure that this is reflected, as necessary, in the conduct of business. The framework documents for next steps agencies seek to set out as precisely as possible those matters assigned by Ministers to chief executives and for which the chief executives are responsible to Ministers, recognising that it is impracticable to predict every eventuality that may arise in the life span of individual framework documents.

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to review the regional operation of next steps agencies following the publication of proposals on the regional development agencies; and if he will make a statement. [10520]

Dr. Clark: This is a matter for the departmental Ministers responsible for individual executive agencies.

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will introduce guidelines requiring next steps agencies to produce key performance indicators which are comparable between agencies; and if he will make a statement. [10521]

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Dr. Clark: I have asked colleagues to pay particular attention to selecting the most appropriate key performance indicators for their agencies and to setting stretching targets for them. However, most agencies produce outputs which are not directly comparable with those of other agencies. Even where similar outputs are produced, for example in those concerned with prisons, social security and public records, direct comparisons may be misleading because the agencies concerned have different customers, operate in differing social or economic environments, or work within different legislative frameworks. The Minister concerned is best placed to decide the key performance indicators taking into account individual circumstances.

Departmental Payroll

Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list each of the functions relating to the payroll for which his Department is responsible, indicating the management system purchased, all subcontractors involved in the work, co-operative arrangements with other Departments and the costs of the systems and processes in the last year for which figures are available. [10738]

Dr. David Clark: For this purpose, I have responsibility for the Cabinet Office, including the Prime Minister's Office and the Office of Public Service and its agencies and the Central Office of Information.

Pay for non-industrial staff 1996-97

The collation and processing of pay data, including rates of basic pay, overtime and allowances--by internal pay sections.

Method of transfer of pay data from internal pay section to subcontractor--computer link known as SPIRE.

Tax, national insurance and other deductions are net payments to staff made by subcontractor--Chessington Computer Services Ltd.

Departmental internal costs--£201,000.

Cost of service level agreement with subcontractor--£217,000.

Pay for industrial staff 1996-97

The collation of pay data, including rates of basic pay, overtime and allowances--by internal pay sections.

Method of transfer of pay data from internal pay section to subcontractor--computer disk or paper-based systems where numbers are small.

Processing of pay data. Tax, national insurance and other deductions and net payments made to staff by subcontractor--Ministry of Defence, Pay and Personnel Agency.

Departmental internal costs--£115,000.

Cost of contact with subcontractor--£74,000.

Civil Service

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the monthly changes in total civil service numbers for each month since 1 January. [11155]

Mr. David Clark: Civil service staffing figures are compiled quarterly. Information for the latest available four quarters is as follows:

	Permanent staff	Casual staff	All staff
1 July 1996	492,100	21,800	513,900
1 October 1996	486,800	22,300	509,100
1 January 1997	482,800	23,400	506,200
1 April 1997	475,700	19,600	495,300

Figures for 1 July 1997 will be published at the end of August.

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Computer-related Expenditure

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his estimate of total departmental expenditure on computer-related current and capital work for (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97, (c) 1997-98, (d) 1998-99 and (e) 1999-00; and if he will make a statement. [11387]

Dr. David Clark: Estimates of the total departmental expenditure on computer-related work by the Cabinet Office, the Office of Public Service and its agencies and the Central Office of Information are:

	£ million
	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
Current	3.25	4.78	5.56
Capital	4.15	4.89	3.55
Total	7.40	9.67	9.11

Expenditure plans for 1998-99 and 1999-00 have not yet been finalised.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Ashford Great Park Development Project

Mr. Stuart Bell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received the reports from the audit committee of the Church Commissioners about the commissioners' involvement in the Ashford Great Park development project. [11515]

Mr. Straw: I have received these reports and have placed copies of them in the Library.

Juveniles

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the incidence of physical and sexual abuse by inmates in respect of juveniles in detention in the last year. [9279]

Ms Quin [holding answer 23 July 1997]: In the last financial year, there were 292 cases of assault where the victim was a juvenile. Only four of these assaults were of an alleged sexual nature.

Immigration

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued on the target waiting time for calls to the telephone inquiry bureau of the immigration directorate; and what steps he has taken to reduce waiting times. [10483]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Waiting time and staff productivity targets are reviewed regularly. Productivity targets are either met or exceeded but the need to divert staff to deal with personal callers in the public inquiry office has resulted in some failure to meet waiting time targets. Priority at busy times will continue to be given to

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personal callers but extra staff are being recruited to cover the telephones. Immigration applicants are being encouraged to make telephone inquiries to the case worker handling their case.

Mohammed Riaz and Quayyun Raja

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the tariffs to be served by Mohammed Riaz and Quayyun Raja were last reviewed; and what was the outcome of the review. [10875]

Ms Quin: The tariffs for these two mandatory life sentence prisoners were last reviewed by Ministers in 1995-96. The outcome of that review was that the tariffs were set afresh at the same level as they had been before they were quashed by the divisional court in December 1994--20 years for Mohammed Riaz and 25 years for Quayyun Raja. Following recent representations, we have agreed to look again at the circumstances of these cases.

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