19 Oct 2001 : Column: 1359W
Written Answers to Questions
Friday 19 October 2001
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Civil Service Reform
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish a bill on the reform of the civil service. [8220]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) by the Prime Minister on 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 819W.
Government Bodies
Mrs. May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Government bodies, broken down by Departments, next steps agencies and non-departmental public bodies, have been established in each of the last five years. [7807]
Mr. Leslie: Lists of central Government bodies are published regularly by the Cabinet Office. The "List of Ministerial Responsibilities" details Departments and next steps agencies and has been published at regular intervals since 1975. The specific statistics are not held in the form requested. "Public Bodies" lists non-departmental public bodies, NHS bodies, nationalised industries and certain public corporations and has been published annually since 1982. Copies of these publications are available from the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Spending
Pete Wishart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate total annual staff costs for his Department and its agencies by nation and region of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [6781]
Mr. Leslie: The estimated staff costs for the Cabinet Office by region and nation of the United Kingdom is set out in the table.
| Region/nation | Staff costs(1) |
|---|---|
| Scotland | 69 |
| Wales | 242 |
| Northern Ireland | 0 |
| North East | 7,309 |
| North West | 10,179 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 8,138 |
| West Midlands | 7,171 |
| East Midlands | 6,134 |
| Eastern Region | 6,342 |
| South East | 16,867 |
| South West | 7,470 |
| London | 70,995 |
| Total | 140,916 |
(1) Estimates for 2001–02
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Departmental Staff
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate total staff costs for his Department and its agencies by nation and region of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [6787]
Jane Kennedy: The total amount spent on staff costs for the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies for the 2000–01 financial year was £226 million. Included in this figure is £102 million for prison officer redundancy costs. The bulk of this expenditure was in Northern Ireland, with a small amount spent on costs for London-based staff.
Details of NIO expenditure on staff are not recorded strictly by location and so an exact split between Northern Ireland and London cannot be given. However an estimated breakdown is that Northern Ireland accounts for £223 million and London accounts for £3 million.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [6786]
Jane Kennedy: As at January 2001, based on full-time equivalents there were 1,359 staff from the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) employed by the Department (including Civil Servants working in the Northern Ireland Prison Service) and 195 staff from the Home Civil Service (HCS). Of these 1,554 staff, 1,415 are based in Northern Ireland, 115 in London, and 24 on secondment.
Departmental Spending
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [6791]
Jane Kennedy: The total expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office for the 2000–01 financial year was £1,149 million. The bulk of this expenditure was in Northern Ireland, with a small amount spent on costs for London-based offices.
Details of NIO expenditure are not recorded strictly by location and so an exact split between Northern Ireland and London cannot be given. However an estimated breakdown is that Northern Ireland accounts for £1,145 million and London accounts for £4 million.
London Weighting
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the total value of London weightings and London living allowances for his Department; and if he will make a statement. [6788]
Jane Kennedy: The total value of London weightings and London living allowances for the Northern Ireland Office for the 2000–01 financial year was £242,500.
Civil Service
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of each
19 Oct 2001 : Column: 1361W
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. [6790]
Jane Kennedy: The numbers and grades of staff and their average salary in the Northern Ireland Office as at January 2001, based on full-time equivalents, can be split as follows:
| Grade | Northern Ireland | London | Secondment | Total | Average salary (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NICS | |||||
| SCS | 23 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 57,741 |
| A | 121 | 0 | 3 | 124 | 39,277 |
| B1 | 125 | 1 | 1 | 127 | 29,197 |
| B2 | 161 | 1 | 1 | 163 | 23,144 |
| C | 373 | 4 | 2 | 379 | 17,497 |
| D1 | 318 | 0 | 2 | 320 | 13,038 |
| D2 | 213 | 1 | 1 | 215 | 9,937 |
| Industrials | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10,104 |
| Total | 1,359 | ||||
| HCS | |||||
| SCS | 13 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 66,435 |
| A | 8 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 36,126 |
| B1 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 26,816 |
| B2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 21,422 |
| C | 22 | 22 | 1 | 45 | 17,680 |
| D1 | 9 | 22 | 5 | 36 | 13,284 |
| D2 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 32 | 10,760 |
| Total | 195 |
PRIME MINISTER
Downing Street
Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what internal reorganisation of staff has taken place in Downing street since June 2001; and if he will make a statement; [7162]
- (2) if he will publish the staffing structures and lines of account at No. 10 Downing street consequent upon changes announced since June. [7308]
The Prime Minister: I announced a number of changes to my office in June designed to help achieve our commitment to the modernisation and reform in public services. These were outlined in a Downing street press notice dated 22 June 2001, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
Jonathan Powell remains my Chief of Staff. Alastair Campbell as Director of Communications and Strategy has responsibility for the press, strategic communications and research. Anji Hunter, head of Government Relations, is responsible for relations across Government, with the devolved Administrations, and some foreign Administrations.
Within Downing street, Jeremy Heywood remains my Principal Private Secretary. He is responsible for the management and budget for all staff in No. 10 and leads the integrated Policy Directorate covering domestic policy which has been formed by the merger of the No. 10 Private Office and the Policy Unit. The European Adviser's Office is led by Sir Stephen Wall who is also head of the European Secretariat in the Cabinet Office,
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and the Foreign Policy Adviser's office is led by Sir David Manning who heads the Overseas and Defence Secretariat in the Cabinet Office.
I have established a Delivery Unit based in the Cabinet Office which is headed by Michael Barber to help ensure that we achieve our priority objective across the four key areas of public service: health, education, crime and transport. He will report to me under the day to day supervision of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Lord Macdonald. Wendy Thomson is heading the Office of Public Service Reform also based in the Cabinet Office which is looking at how the Government's commitment to radical reform of the civil service and public services can be taken forward. She will report to me through the Cabinet Secretary. Geoff Mulgan is leading the Forward Strategy Unit which will undertake strategy projects at my request, working very closely with the Performance and Innovation Unit in the Cabinet Office.
Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the names and job titles of his personal, political and policy staffs at Downing street. [7163]
The Prime Minister: My political office is staffed as follows:
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Robert Hill | Political Secretary |
| Sally Dobson | Assistant Political Secretary |
| Razi Rahman | Assistant Political Secretary |
| Nita Clarke | Assistant Political Secretary |
Note:
Plus five secretarial and administrative support staff, two of whom work on a part-time basis
The staffing and associated costs for these staff are met by the Labour Party. As has been the case under successive Administrations, marginal costs associated with the political office are met from within the overall budget for 10 Downing street.
In addition, Rachel Cowburn works from the political office in her role as liaison officer between the Government and the Labour Members of the European Parliament and is funded by them for this purpose.
For information about my policy staff, I refer my hon. Friend to my previous answer to him today.
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