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Passports
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports have been lost in the post and reissued as a result in the last 12 months. [155999]
Mrs. Roche [holding answer 29 March 2001]: The United Kingdom Passport Agency's records indicate that in the calendar year January to December 2000 3,851 passports, out of a total of 5,488,116, were reported as having been lost in the post.
Community Penalties
Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress made by his Department in considering the report evaluating the Norfolk and Greater Manchester pilot schemes for community penalties for fine defaulters and persistent petty offending published on 29 February 2000; and when he will make an announcement on bringing these measures into effect throughout England and Wales. [156483]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government are still considering their response to the report on these new sentencing options, which have resource implications. A decision will be made in due course whether to bring these measures into effect throughout England and Wales.
Foot and Mouth
Mr. Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers are available to restrict the movements of travellers during an outbreak of foot and mouth disease; and if he will review these powers. [156713]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: Both the police and local authorities have powers to direct trespassers to leave land when certain statutory conditions are met. There are no specific powers to restrict travellers from moving around during the current outbreak of foot and mouth disease, but there are laws to prevent any person from moving into a designated foot and mouth disease area. Enforcement of the law is a matter for the relevant chief officer of police.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Arts and Tourism
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what the (a) budgeted running costs and (b) staff numbers were in 2000-01 for each (i) regional Arts Board and (ii) Regional Tourist Board; [156231]
- (2) what the budgeted expenditure in 2000-01 was for each (a) regional arts board and (b) regional tourist board. [156229]
Mr. Chris Smith: Information on the budgeted running costs, staff numbers, and budgeted expenditure for 2000-01 for Regional Tourist Boards and Regional Arts Boards are set out in the respective tables.
| Regional Tourist Board | Total expenditure including running costs (£) | Running costs including salaries (£) | Staff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumbria | 1,311,483 | 592,270 | (18)30 |
| East of England | 2,094,128 | 814,000 | 41 |
| Heart of England | 2,648,272 | 1,559,795 | 48 |
| London | 5,272,157 | 1,828,063 | 37 |
| Northumbria | 2,383,209 | 704,731 | (19)32 |
| North West | 3,816,856 | 1,531,305 | 49 |
| Southern | 4,600,000 | 1,700,000 | 60 |
| South East | 1,632,027 | 878,098 | (20)37 |
| South West | 2,600,000 | 1,174,000 | (21)43 |
| Yorkshire | 3,800,000 | 490,000 | 41 |
(18) 8 part-time
(19) 4 part-time
(20) 9 part-time
(21) 18 part-time
| Regional Arts Board | Total expenditure (£) | Total administration and overheads (£) | Staff (full time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| East England Arts | 9,690,169 | 2,028,838 | 35.5 |
| East Midland Arts | 9,598,019 | 1,534,075 | 42 |
| London Arts | 31,498,337 | 3,214,962 | 69 |
| Northern Arts | 12,623,240 | 1,407,115 | 37 |
| North West Arts | 18,643,253 | 2,071,889 | 53 |
| Southern Arts | 11,278,692 | 1,565,038 | 39 |
| South East Arts | 7,210,107 | 1,642,913 | 42 |
| South West Arts | 9,266,951 | 1,426,484 | 37 |
| West Midlands Arts | 13,766,026 | 1,637,777 | 45 |
| Yorkshire Arts | 12,775,475 | 1,665,275 | 45 |
Notes:
1. The figure for total administration and overheads includes staffing, premises, travel and subsistence, legal and company costs. It excludes everything which may be considered to be direct arts spend.
2. Figures are taken from RAB business plans.
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TREASURY
Office for National Statistics
Mr. Swinney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) personal computers, (d) servers, (e) printers, (f) fax machines and (g) vehicles are based at the Office for National Statistics facilities in (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK (A) for the year 1999-2000 and (B) forecast for 2000-01. [155084]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 23 March 2001]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Swinney, dated 3 April 2001:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about staff and resources in this Office (155084).
- The Office for National Statistics (ONS) employed 2,917 full time staff and 532 part-time staff in 1999/2000, and 3,161 full time staff and 578 part-time staff in 2000/01. All of these employees are based in England and Wales. The Office also employs an interviewing field force of 1,287, on an hourly fee paid basis, of which 73 are based in Scotland.
- The ONS' use of personal computers, servers, printers, fax machines and vehicles in these same periods is shown in the table below.
| 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Computers: | -- | -- |
| Desktop PCs | -- | 4062 |
| Laptops (UK) | -- | (22)1699 |
| Laptops (Scotland) | -- | (22)110 |
| Servers | -- | 208 |
| Printers | -- | 830 |
| Fax Machines | -- | 200 |
| Vehicles | 12 | 14 |
(22) Includes interview field force
Records of Personal Computers, Servers, Printers and Fax machines are not kept year by year, but the current position is shown.
There are more computers than people because some are pool laptops and some desktop machines are used to run specific applications. There are also some machines awaiting disposal.
Census
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has undertaken on the likelihood of (a) those with insecure immigration status and (b) those in breach of immigration control of complying with the requirements of the Census. [156225]
Miss Melanie Johnson The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Fiona Mactaggart, dated 3 April 2001:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what research has been undertaken on the likelihood of those with insecure immigration status and those in breach of immigration control complying with the requirements of the Census. I am replying in his absence (156225).
- We have not conducted specific research into this issue. Our approach to ensure returns of census information in respect of such individuals who meet the residence criteria has been twofold. First,
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- we have put in place special arrangements to enumerate those resident in communal establishments, including hotels, hostels, camps and immigration detention centres.
- Second, we have sought advice and information from local authorities with regards to the numbers and general location of such individuals living in the community. Through our community liaison programme we have sought to promote both the importance and confidentiality of the Census process. The fruits of each of these initiatives have been built into the guidance and procedures for enumerators in order to ensure compliance with Census requirements.
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he has taken to encourage compliance with the Census by people from ethnic minorities. [156226]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Fiona Mactaggart, dated 3 April 2001:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what action has been undertaken to encourage compliance with the Census by people from ethnic minorities. I am replying in his absence (156226).
- The overall publicity campaign for the 2001 Census will establish the awareness of the Census across the population as a whole, and the banner logo 'Count Me In' aims to encourage universal self-inclusion in the Census. However, the full range of ethnic newspapers will be used to advertise the Census to ethnic minorities and publicity material has been placed in a wide range of community-based publications and centres of activity.
- Customised press notices associated with all the main PR events will be disseminated to all ethnic minority media outlets. For our Recruitment Blitz the press notice directed at ethnic minority media carried a supporting quote from Civil Service Commissioner Karamjit Singh CBE, and we specifically targeted metropolitan areas at 14 sites around the country where there would be good links with local TV and radio as well as a high concentration of ethnic minority populations. Our partnership with BBC Local Radio extends to the BBC's Asian Language Network, which has already run a number of Census promotions.
- The Census questions and the information leaflet have been translated into 24 commonly used foreign languages and will be available from April 1, as will the dedicated Language Helpline which can offer help in 12 languages. In addition, an ethnic version of the promotional video has been produced using an Asian celebrity, which we hope to place on Asian cable TV.
- A new initiative for the 2001 Census is the Community Liaison Programme in which the ONS is working in partnership with minority groups, including ethnic communities in order to encourage participation in the Census and to help identify sources of field staff. A significant number of local community members are playing an active part in the census operation as members of the field staff and also by supplying local intelligence that will benefit the Census. The wide range of links established with local communities has helped with the recruitment of the local field force where our aim has been to reflect the make-up of these communities. As well as appointing Enumerators who speak other languages and who understand the needs of local communities, interpreters will be used where necessary.
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