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Devolved Administrations
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is with regard to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department giving evidence to (i) Scottish Parliament, (ii) Welsh Assembly and (iii) Northern Ireland Assembly Committees; and to what categories of document he gives (A) full access, (B) restricted access and (C) no access to (1) Scottish Parliament, (2) Welsh Assembly, (3) Northern Ireland Assembly and (4) House of Commons Select Committees. [7042]
Dr. Whitehead: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) on 15 October 2001, Official Report, columns 1003–05W.
Departmental Staff
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many and what proportion of each civil service grade in his Department is located in each region and nation of the UK; what the average salary is for each grade; and if he will make a statement. [6802]
Dr. Whitehead: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will estimate the number of staff employed by his Department by region and nation of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [6798]
Dr. Whitehead: I should like to refer the hon. Gentleman to the existing publication "Civil Service Statistics 2000", published on 31 August 2001, especially to Table D (page 42). This gives a regional distribution of staff, as at April 2000, for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR(C)) and for its agencies. A copy of this should already reside in the House of Commons Library.
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| Regional distribution of staff | Totals on a full-time equivalent basis |
|---|---|
| London | 4,350 |
| South East | 870 |
| South West | 1,760 |
| West Midlands | 790 |
| North West | 730 |
| North East | 370 |
| Merseyside | 80 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 740 |
| East Midlands | 550 |
| Eastern | 840 |
| Wales | 3,690 |
| Scotland | 390 |
| Northern Ireland | 0 |
| Unreported and elsewhere | 1,930 |
| Total | 17,070 |
We estimate that once the Machinery of Government changes are complete, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR(C)) will employ approximately 3,400 staff. This represents a net reduction of 490 staff in London and SE and a net reduction of approximately 150 in the SW. The other figure shall remain the same for the other regions.
Ministerial Travel
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will list all official overseas visits undertaken by Ministers in his Department in each year since May 1997, indicating (a) the cost in (i) cash and (ii) real terms, (b) the number and grade of (i) civil servants and (ii) special advisers accompanying Ministers and (c) the number of official engagements or meetings undertaken on each visit; and if he will make a statement; [6891]
- (2) on how many occasions in each year since 1992 non-commercial flights were used by Ministers in his Department for official overseas visits; what the (a) destination, (b) Ministers involved, (c) cost and (d) reason for use of non-commercial flights were on each occasion; and if he will make a statement. [6892]
Dr. Whitehead: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) on 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 823W.
Departmental Spending
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total expenditure was on (a) advertising, (b) polling, (c) focus groups, (d) design consultants, (e) caterers, (f) production of departmental publications and (g) photographs/photographers by his Department for each year since 1995 in (i) cash and (ii) real terms; what was (A) the annual percentage increase in spending on each category and (B) spending on each category as a percentage of the total departmental running costs; and if he will make a statement. [6890]
Dr. Whitehead: The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) was created in June 2001. Answers to the above questions for the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and its predecessors could be provided
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only at disproportionate cost to the public purse. Expenditure on advertising by the former DETR and its predecessors in financial years since 1992–93 was reported to the House on 23 April 2001, Official Report, column 60W.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total amount of spending by his Department was in each nation and region of the UK, in the last year for which figures are available; what proportion of his Department's total spending this constitutes; and if he will make a statement. [6803]
Dr. Whitehead: An analysis, by function, of totally managed expenditure by country and region can be found in Chapter 8 of the "Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2001–02" (Cm 5101) published in April 2001. Tables 8.6a, 8.6b, 8.7, 8.11 and 8.12 give cash data for 1999–2000, the most recent year for which the analysis is available.
In 1999–2000, around 98 per cent. of the then DETR's expenditure on its main programmes was incurred in England. The majority of public expenditure in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is incurred by the relevant devolved Administration (see table 8.7).
Correspondence
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will place in the Library for each year since 1995 the total number of (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords dealt with by his Department; what percentage took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if he will make a statement; [7041]
- (2) if he will place in the Library for each year since 1995 the average response time for providing a substantive answer to (a) hon. Members' correspondence, (b) correspondence from members of the public and (c) written parliamentary questions in the (i) Commons and (ii) Lords. [7040]
Dr. Whitehead: The effective handling of correspondence and parliamentary questions is an issue to which I, and ministerial colleagues, attach great importance.
General information on the volumes of correspondence received across Whitehall and on overall performance is published by the Cabinet Office. Figures for 2000 were published on 6 April 2001, Official Report, columns 324–28W, and on 19 July 2001, Official Report, columns 454–56W.
The information requested in respect of parliamentary questions prior to the formation of this Department on 8 June 2001 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In the period 8 June to 20 July 2001, my Department answered 616 parliamentary questions from hon. Members and 60 from noble Lords. All of those questions were answered within one month.
Special Advisers and Press Officers
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many
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(a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed (i) full time, (ii) part time and (iii) on a contract basis by his Department in each year since 1992. [6889]
Dr. Whitehead: The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions was formed on 8 June 2001. On that date, the following press officers were employed by the Department:
- 1 Assistant Press Officer;
- 16 Press Officers, one of whom was employed on a casual contract basis;
- 9 Senior Press Officers, of whom one worked part-time;
- three Grade 7 Press Officers; and
- one Grade 6 Press Officer.
Isle of Wight Council (Borrowing)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what permissions to borrow have been given to the Isle of Wight council for the years (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01 and (c) 2001–02; and if he will indicate which are for a specified project or projects. [7958]
Ms Keeble [holding answer 16 October 2001]: Since 1999–2000, the Isle of Wight council has been given permission to borrow as credit approvals the following amounts:
| Year | £ |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 10,689,000 |
| 2000–01 | 9,412,056 |
| 2001–02 | 11,385,773 |
Within these totals, the Isle of Wight Council is required to use the following amounts of credit approval for the following purposes:
(20) Projects include school repairs, IT facilities, and community regeneration projects
(21) Capital receipts initiative
Note:
1. Figures for the current financial year reflect the situation at the moment. The finalised figures are likely to be different.
2. Figures only include credit approvals that are allocated for capital expenditure. They do not include trading supplementary credit approvals, which attract no revenue support grant.
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