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CABINET OFFICE
Departmental Twinning
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many requests there have been to her Department for placement of her officials from Central, East European and CIS states as twins of her officials; how many such officials have been accepted as twins; and from which countries (a) those who were accepted and (b) those who were not accepted came. [93992]
Mr. Ian McCartney: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz).
Information Technology
Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what action the Government are taking to improve its handling of major IT projects. [95754]
Mr. Ian McCartney: We have recently begun a major study into the handling of Government IT projects. It will consider best practice from within Government, the private sector and overseas to produce recommendations to improve performance in this area in the future. The work of the study team will be closely integrated with that on delivering the Corporate IT Strategy announced in the Modernising Government White Paper.
The study will be undertaken by officials in the Cabinet Office's Central IT Unit. It will be completed by next May. I will chair a steering committee that will oversee the study, bringing together senior figures from across Government and the private sector.
Horizontal Questions Working Group
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list those proposals made by her representative to the Horizontal Questions Working Group indicating the discussions on them. [95309]
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Marjorie Mowlam:
Officials from my Department have made no proposals to the Horizontal Questions Working Group over the past 12 months.
Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if an action plan for increasing the representation of women in public life has been (a) prepared by her Department and (b) published since November 1998. [94855]
Marjorie Mowlam:
This Government are committed to the equal representation of women and men in public appointments. A plan of action has been drawn up, which includes individual departmental plans for increasing the participation of women in public life. Details of individual departments' are given in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments, 1999-2000", published by the Cabinet Office in May 1999. Copies are in the Libraries of the House and on the internet. The plans contain specific goals and objectives for increasing the representation of women on the boards of public bodies, and are updated annually in the light of progress made.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) why undertakings contained in the letter of 7 January 1998 from the Secretary of the Civil Service Commission to Michael John Smith (prison number PR 3345) were not fulfilled;[94569] (2) when Michael John Smith (prison number PR 3345) will receive a substantive reply to his letter of 10 January 1997 to the Secretary of the Security Commission; and what was the reason for the delay. [94568]
Dr. Mowlam:
This is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
Animal Procedures Committee
Mr. Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes there have been to the membership of the Animal Procedures Committee. [95863]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I am pleased to be able to say that Mr. Robert McCracken, a barrister, has joined the Committee with effect from 1 September 1999. I am sorry to have to announce the departure from the Committee of Professor Colin Johnston on grounds of ill health.
Millennium Celebrations (Security)
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional measures he plans to ensure public order and security on the night of 31 December. [95148]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Maintenance of public order is primarily a matter for chief officers of police. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has established a millennium co-ordinating committee to ensure the readiness of forces and continuity of service over the millennium period. I understand that all forces have millennium planning teams in place to ensure
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business continuity and contingency planning for this period. Arrangements are in place for mutual aid between forces should this become essential.
The infrastructure preparedness, supply chains and business continuity plans of police forces in England and Wales have been independently assessed by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary using a process based on Action 2000 methodology. All forces have been graded as blue (no identified risks of material disruption) and have millennium operating regimes in place.
A police information centre will operate at Scotland Yard on 31 December, reporting to the President of ACPO. In addition, the Home Office's own millennium operating regime will ensure that Ministers are fully appraised of developments on the night.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regular police officers will be on duty at the Millennium Dome during normal opening hours. [95121]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
There will be no police officers routinely on duty at the Millennium Dome, as security duties at the Dome site will be undertaken by the appointed Company, Group 4.
The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis tells me that a total of 89 additional officers will be seconded to the Greenwich Borough Operational Command Unit to undertake high visibility patrol, traffic patrol and crime investigation duties in anticipation of the increased numbers of people visiting the Dome and Greenwich. The secondment of these officers will last for the duration of the National Millennium Exhibition.
Mr. Baldry:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funds he intends to make available to the Thames Valley Police during the coming financial year; and what impact he estimates such funding will have on recruitment policy for the Thames Valley Police. [94938]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Last year the Government announced that the police service in England and Wales would receive an additional £1.24 billion over three years from 1999-2000. Our plans allow for police expenditure to increase by around 2.8 per cent. in 2000-01. No final decisions have been taken about the allocation of funding to individual forces for the coming financial year. We expect to announce provisional allocations towards the end of the year.
Police recruitment is not centrally managed from the Home Office. It is a matter for individual chief constables. The Thames Valley Police will be able to bid for a share of the crime fighting fund which the Government have set up to provide for 5,000 extra recruits over three years.
Mr. Baldry:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he expects police authorities to hold concerning the membership of
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freemasonry among police officers; on what basis such information will be compiled; and to whom it will be available. [R] [94942]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Police authorities will hold no such information. Chief Constables in England and Wales are in the process of establishing voluntary, internal, registers of freemasonry membership in their forces. At this stage, while arrangements for its publication remain to be determined, the information disclosed will be used for internal management purposes and to provide statistical information about the extent of freemasonry membership in the police service.
Mr. Baldry:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms he intends to be used to rehouse refugees throughout the United Kingdom; what consultations he or his Department have had with local authorities; and if there will be extra funding for local authorities to assist with the housing and other costs of accepting refugees. [94951]
Mrs. Roche:
The Department has been in extensive consultation with the Local Government Association, the Association of Local Government and a variety of local authorities about the new support arrangements for asylum seekers in Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Bill which are due to come into effect in April 2000, and the statutory interim arrangements in Schedule 8 of the Bill which are due to come into effect shortly after Royal Assent.
For the statutory interim arrangements, the Government have invited local government to devise a voluntary dispersal scheme which will enable asylum seekers to be dispersed to cluster areas around the country so that no single local authority bears a disproportionate burden. The statutory interim arrangements will underpin this scheme. The statutory interim arrangements also include provisions which will enable dispersal to take place if there is no voluntary scheme in operation.
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