You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Commons Debates by date > Commons Debates - previous sessions > Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

Civil Service

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on progress with her Department's action plan to address (a) the relevant elements of the Modernising Government White Paper and (b) the more detailed proposals for Civil Service reform. [24769]

Mrs. Liddell: The Department is continuing to address the various components of the Modernising Government programme and civil service reform in conjunction with the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Executive.

Departmental Underspend

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the Department's budget in each of the last four years was not spent in the year for which it was allocated. [24774]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. In 1999–2000 the Department spent 96.1 per cent. of its budget and in 2000–01 it spent 95.9 per cent.

Departmental IT

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the change in costs resulting from her Department's IT strategy. [24767]

Mrs. Liddell: The Department's information systems are kept under review by staff as part of their normal duties. Any changes in costs in the current year are expected to be small: the costs of any future changes are not yet known.

Depreciation and Capital Charges

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the reasons for the extent of the change in the costs of depreciation and capital charges from 1999–2000 to 2000–01. [24765]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. The figures for depreciation and capital charges for 1999–2000 are therefore for a nine month period.

For my Department, the cost of capital arises mainly from the occupancy of Dover House in Whitehall. The building was professionally revalued on 31 March 1999 and, under current accounting procedures, is due to have

7 Feb 2002 : Column 1120W

a professional revaluation every five years. Depreciation of other assets is by equal instalments over their estimated useful life.

Administration Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the administration costs to her Department in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02. [24772]

Mrs. Liddell: The running costs provision of the Scotland Office was unchanged between 2000–01 and 2001–02. The Department took additional provision of £334,000 in 2001–02 to meet the cost of electoral publicity associated with the 2001 General Election. The provision for the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Scotland rose from £170,000 in 2000–01 to £300,000 in 2001–02 as the Commission began work on the 5th review of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland.

Whole of Government Accounts Project

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the financial implications for her office of its participation in the Whole of Government accounts project. [24773]

Mrs. Liddell: Work on the Whole of Government accounts project will be undertaken by staff as part of their normal duties and I expect any additional costs to be small.

Departmental Operating Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the reasons for the extent of the change in the operating costs of the Department from 1999–2000 to 2000–01. [24766]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. The operating costs of the Department for 1999–2000 were for a nine month period.

Departmental Payments

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) in what proportion of cases the Department has paid accounts within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice in 2001; [24778]

Mrs. Liddell: In 1999–2000 my Department paid 98.4 per cent. of its accounts within 30 days. In 2000–01 the figure was 99.33 per cent.

Public Service Agreements

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the target to provide any readily available free published information within five working days of receipt of a request applies to anything other than the Department's Service Delivery Agreement. [24781]

Mrs. Liddell: No.

7 Feb 2002 : Column 1121W

Efficiency Savings

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the efficiency savings declared by her Department in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02. [24771]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. The financial provision for 2000–01 and 2001–02 was set at a constant level and the Department will absorb any inflationary pressures from within its budget.

Management Information Systems

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on progress with the consolidation of financial and management information systems referred to on page 16 of the 2001 departmental report. [24768]

Mrs. Liddell: Progress with consolidation of the Department's financial and management information systems is continuing.

Staff Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the increased public expenditure in Scotland between now and 2003–04 is expected to be accounted for by staff costs. [24775]

Mrs. Liddell: Public expenditure on staff costs is a matter for the relevant bodies or departments operating in Scotland. The proportion of staff costs to other expenditure by the Scotland Office is expected to remain broadly unchanged.

Concordats

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions she has had with members of the Scottish Executive about the resource implications of the (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral concordats agreed with UK Government Departments. [24776]

Mrs. Liddell: The Memorandum of Understanding and supplementary texts are agreements between the Government and the devolved Administrations on how they intend conducting relations between the Administrations. The Memorandum of Understanding reflects best practice on issues such as co-operation, exchange of information, correspondence and parliamentary business. Supplementary texts add more detail for the international and EU fields, statistics and financial assistance to industry.

A revised version of the Memorandum of Understanding was published on 18 December 2001 as Command Paper 5240. Three hundred copies were printed, at a cost of £3,851. These costs were met from the Cabinet Office budget. The main distribution medium will be via the Cabinet Office's website: www.cabinet-office.gov.uk.

Scotland Act

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if she will make a statement on the cost to public funds of the implementation of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2000; [24784]

7 Feb 2002 : Column 1122W

Mrs. Liddell: There is no separately identifiable cost to public funds for the implementation of any of these orders, but I would expect it to be minimal in each case.

Next Section Index Home Page