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Ombudsman System
24. Tony Wright: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she expects to introduce legislation to implement the recommendations of the review of the ombudsman system. [139204]
Mr. Stringer: In June of this year, we published a consultation paper seeking comments on the recommendations of the "Review of the Public Sector Ombudsmen in England". We are currently evaluating the responses to the consultation paper, and we hope to announce our conclusions early in the new year.
Magistrates (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the appointment of magistrates in Lancashire. [139201]
Mr. Stringer: In her absence, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has asked me to reply. When considering magisterial appointments in Lancashire she is advised by the Lancashire Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace which has five Sub-Committees covering the 10 Benches in the county. The procedures on magisterial appointments used by the Duchy Office are substantially the same as those used by the Lord Chancellor's Department for the remainder of the country. Regular quarterly meetings between the Duchy Office and the Lord Chancellor's Department will ensure continued close working on magisterial issues.
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People's Panel
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the five policy initiatives which were most recently tested on the People's Panel. [139505]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The Panel is primarily used for research about service delivery questions. The five initiatives most recently tested using the People's Panel, are as given:
- Satisfaction with Public Services
- The fifth wave of research, published in September 2000, was carried out to support the consumer focus for public services initiative. It looked at how satisfied people were with public services and what they expected from them; and at perceptions about how public services deal with complaints.
- Policy in Deprived Areas
- The Social Exclusion Unit in the Cabinet Office commissioned a re-analysis of data from the first wave of the research to examine responses from deprived areas, to determine how they differed from those living in other areas. The results were also published in September 2000.
- Public service provision and ethnic minority communities: In June 2000, the results of a first wave of research with the recruitment of an ethnic minority booster to the Panel were published. These covered a range of questions on what ethnic minorities think of the services they receive, with comparisons across different ethnic minority groups.
- Extended Hours Provision of Public Services
- Research carried out in 1999 asked which out-of-hours services people wanted access to; what sort of business they would use them for; when they would want to be able to make contact; and how. The results were published in April 2000.
- Notifying Change of Address On-line
- The Panel was used to assess reactions to a proposal for enabling electronic notification of change of address details to be passed to Government departments in one transaction. Panel members joined workshops testing out the technology. The results were published in April 2000.
The results of all People's Panel research projects have been placed in the Library of the House and published on the internet.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
House of Commons (Maintenance)
Mr. Baker: To ask the Chairman of the Finance and Services Committee, pursuant to his answer of 14 November 2000, Official Report, column 588W, if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the £25 million spent during the 1999-2000 financial year on repairing, improving and maintaining the House buildings. [140268]
Mr. Stuart Bell [holding answer 24 November 2000]: This is a matter for the Director of Works. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.
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Portcullis House
Mr. Baker: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what measures were taken in the design and construction of Portcullis House to protect the building from the threat of flooding; and if he will make a statement on the recent floodings. [140269]
Sir Sydney Chapman [holding answer 24 November 2000]: I am assuming that the hon. Member has in mind the two unrelated incidents that have occurred since hon. Members started to move into the building.
The incident on 15 September caused a short lived and precautionary closure of the building. Full details were given in my answer to the hon. Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen) on 31 October 2000, Official Report, column 352W. Measures are now being taken to prevent this problem recurring.
The flooding last week affected the Refreshment Department's kitchens and the post room for a few hours. Although the investigations are not yet complete, there appears to have been a combination of reasons. The tank to one of the water features had been switched to "manual fill", which cut out the automatic shut off when the tank was full. It appears that the overflow pipe did not then discharge the excess water as quickly as it should. The contractor is being required to improve the safety of the system.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee when construction work outside Portcullis House will be completed. [140349]
Sir Sydney Chapman [holding answer 27 November 2000]: The road works are expected to be completed before Christmas, as is the work to complete the shop fronts and other panelling on the ground floor.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what arrangements have been made to facilitate full access by disabled people to Portcullis House while external building works continue. [140348]
Sir Sydney Chapman [holding answer 27 November 2000]: Whilst work is under way in Bridge street and the Embankment, access is possible via the underground station and the subway entrance. It is expected, however, that within a few days the work will have progressed sufficiently to permit easier access via Bridge Street and the main entrance.
Allocation of Time Motions
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the President of the Council if she will list the occasions on which Bills have been subject to allocation of time motions between 1979 and 1998. [140596]
Mrs. Beckett: The table shows dates on which allocation of time (guillotine) orders were made, or on which time was allocated to subsequent stages of a Bill already subject to such an allocation of time order.
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