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Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many appointments she has made to public bodies since 7 June; and how many are in her gift. [15486]
Mrs. Liddell: I am responsible for appointing two members of the Boundary Commission for Scotland. I have made no appointments since 7 June 2001.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the increase in the departmental expenditure limit from 200102 to 200203 will be accounted for by wage costs. [21236]
Mrs. Liddell: The level of wage costs within departmental budgets this year and in future years will be dependent on negotiations. Departmental reports published next spring will give full retrospective costs.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions she has had with members of the Scottish Executive since 3 May on free care for the elderly in Scotland; and what was the outcome of such discussions. [21627]
Mrs. Liddell: I have regular discussions with Ministers in the Scottish Executive on a wide range of issues. We have discussed the implications for the Government of the report by the Care Development Group. During these discussions, both the Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive made it clear that the provision of care services is a devolved matter for the Executive.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many press officers are employed by the Scotland Office; and how many are located in London at Dover House. [22367]
Mrs. Liddell: My Department employs four press officers, two of whom are located in Dover House.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many days were lost due to sickness absence in the Department in each of the last four years. [21331]
Mr. Leslie: The average sickness absence in working days per member of staff in the Cabinet and its agencies for the years 199699 is as follows. This is the most recent period for which a four-yearly analysis of statistics is available.
11 Dec 2001 : Column: 805W
Year | Working days absence per staff-year |
---|---|
1999 | 6.8 |
1998 | 7.3 |
1997 | 6.6 |
1996 | 6.4 |
The Cabinet Office is committed, through a series of policies and practices on monitoring absence and managing attendance, to reduce the impact of sickness absence on its business consistent with its Service Delivery Agreement targets.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the public service agreement target for the answer of correspondence to Ministers. [21257]
Mr. Leslie: The Cabinet Office public service agreement is that 90 per cent. of ministerial correspondence should be replied to within the 15 working day target, as shown on the Cabinet Office website www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/2000/ service.delivery.agreement/statement.d.htm
The Department is currently performing at 88 per cent. and figures for 200102 will be published in the Cabinet Office annual report shortly.
11 Dec 2001 : Column: 806W
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what measures are being taken to ensure that local authority websites are accessible to those with a range of disabilities; and which organisations have been consulted on this issue; [19065]
Mr. Leslie: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead), on 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 24W.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers, (a) in total and (b) by local education authority, left the teaching profession within two years of qualification in each of the last five years. [17132]
Mr. Timms: Qualified teachers who entered full and part-time regular service in the maintained schools sector in England within two years of qualification and were not in service in the third year are as follows. The most recent year for which data are available is 19992000.
(19) Some teachers had their old local authority allocated to their record after the data of local government reorganisation.
(20) Less than five
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11 Dec 2001 : Column: 811W
The figures exclude 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. of part-time teachers not included on the Teacher Pension Scheme records.
Some teachers who leave service will return after a career break.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if work has begun on the research project into why teachers leave the profession. [21862]
Mr. Timms: Work has begun on this research project. The Department has commissioned Professor Alan Smithers and Dr. Pamela Robinson, from the University of Liverpool, Centre for Education and Employment Research to undertake this study. We expect the report to be published in March 2003.
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